Now why did I just go look inside the former Cedar Tavern...

These days, I don't have much reason to walk along University Place. However, I did head over that way this past weekend after reading Alex's post at Flaming Pablum last week about 82 University Place.

I'm not going to get into all the background about the formerly two-story building that held the last incarnation of the Cedar Tavern. As Joey Arak once put it at Curbed: "The history is long and tortured and recapping it just makes every former Cedar fan a basket case..."

Anyway, here is the new building, whose six full-floor units hit the market several years back ... now there's fresh scaffolding (for façade restoration, per the DOB), as Alex noted ...

...and the retail space where Cedar Tavern once lived is still for lease (it was going for $17,000 a month in 2010 with a different broker) ...

As far as I can recall, Cedar Tavern closed in December 2006, supposedly temporarily ... And I foolishly looked in at the old space... I'll spare you the "before" photo...

More about Graffiti Me opening soon on East 10th Street

As we first reported on Sept. 4, Graffiti was taking over the former bridal shop next door to its small restaurant on East 10th Street. Grub Street got more details about the new space, called Graffiti Me, from chef-owner Jehangir Mehta:

The space won't be an extension of Graffiti — they'll have separate entrances, kitchens, and menus. Like Graffiti, the new one has fourteen seats, here in the form of a communal table. Taking advantage of this setup, the chef hopes to offer the space for customizable private dining. "If you've caught a fish, you can bring it to us, and we'll create a five-course meal from it," he said. "Or if you have a special bottle of wine, we can match a menu to it."

The 17th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality

A little bit earlier this evening, people taking part in the 17th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation made their way through part of the neighborhood... they started with lectures and activities at Union Square...

Bobby Williams spotted the group on East 10th Street heading east toward Avenue D... under the watch of a large contingent from the NYPD...

Report: Cop pleads guilty to stealing guns from the 9th Precinct

Nicholas Mina, the cop who reportedly stole guns from lockers at the 9th Precinct on East Fifth Street, pleaded guilty today.

Per the Daily News:

The 32-year-old officer agreed to serve 15 ½ years in state prison, avoiding the 20 year maximum sentence, for being part of a large drug and gun ring.

The four-year veteran of the NYPD was reportedly hooked on prescription drugs, and gave four stolen guns and a bulletproof vest to his drug dealer to pay off debts.

Mina is expected to be sentenced on Nov. 7.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Former Internet millionaire part of 9th Precinct gun heist story

[Image via New York Songlines]

More on the Tompkins Square Bagels bust

The NYPD identified the man arrested for allegedly stealing a laptop computer and other items from Tompkins Square Bagels last week.

He is 18-year-old Christopher Lyles, according to the NYPD Daily Blotter at the Post, who reported that he was linked to 10 other recent robberies in the area. The NYPD made the arrest on Friday.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Tired of being a punching bag on East Fourth Street]

A treasure trove of 1980s NYC photos (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Dates set for CBGB Festival 2013 (BoweryBoogie)

Wyndham Garden hotel on the Bowery opens Nov. 1 (The Wall Street Journal via Curbed)

New bar from B-Side team is hiring (The Lo-Down)

New East 13th Street restaurant only serves the croque monsieur (Daily News)

Remembering the Ritz (Flaming Pablum)

Remembering the Hotel Lafayette on East Ninth Street (Ephemeral New York)

Family of woman killed by hit-and-run truck on Union Square sues city for $30 million (DNAinfo)

Video interview with LES photographer Vivienne Gucwa (Art:Seen via Vimeo)

And on Avenue A at East Third Street ... White Furniture is closing its showroom...

... and they've already been Wacky Wok'd ...

... and happy 63rd birthday Stiv Bators... wherever you are...

And how was your morning?

A photo from Shawn Chittle this morning on East 11th Street at Avenue A...

Also, a Facebook friend asked, "Did anyone hear those series of mini-blasts and rumbles in the E. Village starting around 7:45 a.m?" This was roughly in the northern stretch of Avenue B.

And an observation from an early-morning walk ...

More people sleeping around Tompkins Square Park this a.m. than people jogging around it.

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) October 22, 2012

21 E. First St. comes into view

Noticeable progress to note at the former stretch of 9-17 Second Avenue at East First Street...

Windows!

Soon enough, Mars Bar will return to the new retail space on the corner and... OK, but a handful of residents who lived in the building are getting the chance to come back and pay $10 for one of the apartments in the 12-story complex, as previously reported.

City wants you to remove your bike — or at least what's left of it

Back in June, WNYC listeners submitted hundreds of photos of abandoned bicycles around the city ... As Alex Goldmark reported:

But most of them will not be removed by the city. ... The life cycle of a bike left to rot on NYC streets is long, and intentionally so. The complaint process is as clunky as the cast off bikes themselves and the criteria for removal is stiffer than the U-lock holding this pilfered cruiser to a bike rack on Bleecker Street.

The first obstacle is that what you consider an abandoned nuisance taking up your prime bike parking is property to someone else. Most bikes reported to the city as abandoned aren’t abandoned enough to be removed.

Anyway, in the last 7-10 days... I've noticed a handful of locked bike parts tagged as part of a "derelict bicycle removal program" ... (and dated 10/13)...

It doesn't appear to be a neighborhood-wide program... I noticed the tagged bikes on a few side streets between Avenue B and Avenue D... (and one on Avenue C) ... the top photo of two fairly broken-abandoned bikes by Cooper Union weren't tagged, for instance.

Anyway, fair warning in case you left a wheel locked up on East Ninth Street and Avenue C... oh, and have you noticed any tagged bikes on your block? Just wanted to get a feel for how widespread program is...

Backhoe Beamer joins ranks of classic neighborhood cars

You may have seen this yesterday... photos which are now going viral or something... The Backhoe Beamer...

[ Via @DicksCottons]

Anyway, it now joins an elite group of historic neighborhood cars...

• Icicle Audi

[Photo/Steve Sandberg]

• EV Lambo

[Goggla]

• The Rent is Too Damn High Mobile

Checking in on the Standard East Village plywood grafitti

The plywooding of the Standard East Village for its renovations finished up early last week... We wondered how long before someone tagged the wood... We noticed one little squiggle on the East Fifth Street side on Wednesday...

...and by Saturday...

The previous regime here at the Cooper Square Hotel was pretty speedy when it came to removing any tags, though that was on a permanent fence and not just construction plywood... The Cooper Square folks also commissioned four graffiti artists for that mural project on the hotel's south side...

Union Market update: 'Inching ahead, day by day'

A few readers have noted that workers have been stocking the shelves at the incoming Union Market on Avenue A and East Houston with some non-perishable items... Originally, we heard that the opening date was ... today.

However, in a few sort of recent tweets about an opening date in the East Village, Union Market's tweeters wrote: "Looks like 3 - 4 weeks! Inching ahead, day by day." ... (which is not part of a lyric from "Godspell.")