'Confessions of an Indie Bookstore Clerk'

Our friend Karen Lillis has a memoir in progress titled, "Bagging The Beats At Midnight:
Confessions of an Indie Bookstore Clerk." Here's an excerpt via Undie Press.

"From age 27 (the age that rock stars die) to age 35 (the age that women stop stating their real age), I had the privilege of working at St Mark’s Bookshop in Manhattan’s East Village. During my short decade as a bookstore clerk, books were the stuff of my daily life: My friends were bookshop employees and bookstore hounds, and my friendships revolved around the books we recommended to each other, enthused about, lent out, insisted be read, threw across the room, and gave each other with heartfelt inscriptions. When I was in the red, I looked for ways to sell books on the side of my dayjob as a bookseller. My retirement account was a pile of stowed-away first editions which I hoped would increase in value. Days off were often spent at used bookstores. Weeks off were spent in the bookstores of other cities."

Keep reading here.

Bus shelter move has Second Avenue residents concerned

Here on Second Avenue between 14th Street and 13th Street... the M15 stop near the KFC...



... will soon be relocated a few hundred feet to the south...



...right smack in front of the entrances of several apartment buildings..




...a move that is making several residents along here uneasy.... As one resident here told me, given: "the fratty bars, the KFC, and the bus...it makes for a lot of strange lingerers and plenty of litter." And noise.... any course of action for residents to fight against the move of a bus shelter? Doesn't seem to be much of a 311 call...

So what's the least expensive apartment now for sale in the East Village?

That would be at 99 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street... (At least according to Streeteasy listings.) This is a 265-square-foot unit going for $225,000 (that's $849 per square foot).

Here's the listing for the home that has been on the market for 147 days:

WELCOME HOME to this Prime East Village Gem! Situated just steps from Tompkins Square Park and the beautiful "6th & B" community garden, this darling studio apartment is the perfect oasis in the middle of it all. Located in a renovated pre-war elevator co-op, this first floor unit features hard wood floors throughout, exposed brick walls, track lighting, updated pullman kitchen, windowed bathroom, and a generously sized private storage unit. Building amenities include a common courtyard space, landscaped roof deck with fabulous views of Manhattan, laundry room, and bike room. Pied-à-terres and parents buying for children are permitted, and pets are allowed. Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity and fantastic VALUE!

And no mention in the listing of being so close to one of the better bars around — Manitoba's?

No sign of a condo as flea market returns to the Mary Help of Christians

As I mentioned, The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market comes back this Sunday to 11th Street and Avenue A



Reminders! No drugs and porn!



Anyway, the return of the flea market here on a regular basis makes me wonder whatever happened to the deal to develop this space?

A tree for Harry

During the Howl! Festival this past weekend, the Howl! Board honored outgoing Tompkins Square Park supervisor Harry Greenberg. The city has planted a tree in his honor. Next week, Greenberg retires after 20-plus years on the beat... you can read a profile of him here in The Villager.

[Photo courtesy of Stacie Joy]

The former De La Vega Museum is now called....

An EV Grieve reader sends along a photo this afternoon of the new signage at the former De La Vega Museum on St. Mark's Place.... freshly painted....



Junk!




Soon to be home to an outpost of the Williamsburg store. This store has nothing to do with the Williamsburg location... they just borrowed the same name...

South Brooklyn continues East Village invasion

Eater is reporting that South Brooklyn Pizza is taking over the Ruben's space on First Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's. This should not make the neighbors happy.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors!: Will PJ Hanley's be opening a pizza shop on First Avenue?

A Stop Work Order for the P.J. Hanley's pizza parlor on First Avenue

Opposition to South Brooklyn Pizza's liquor license

[Photo via Eater]

'Draconian regulations' for 2 Coop's pool and club

A tipster passes along the following from 2 Cooper Square:

New draconian regulations for roof deck, pool and club level at 2 Cooper Square. Airlines can take some pointers from these guys. Seriously, Bernie Madoff doesn't even have this many rules in prison.

We're still going over the ample rules. Hmm. Two guests per unit per day? Guests must wear Guest Wrist Bands? Bathers must shower before entering the pool? NO SMOKING or GLASSWARE OF ANY KIND!

Pool partiers will have to take it to the A Building then...

Something sweet from Something Sweet for free today

EV Grieve First Avenue correspondent Blue Glass notes that Something Sweet at 11th Street will be giving out a free small dessert today between 1 and 3... good chance to sample a neighborhood staple...

UPDATE: Oh, per the comments, I didn't know this was so widespread, this dessert giveaway. Here are more details.

Spreading the fear of bed bugs to the F train

Thanks to our friend AWKWORDrap for these shots....

Hurry! Listing for the last of the Allen Ginsberg apartments goes live this morning

Given how much interest there was the last time around... Dmitry Daniel Kramp at City Connections Realty tells me that the listing will be live this morning. It will appear at Streeteasy later. $1,875 for a renovated one bedroom.... More info here on the history.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Allen Ginsberg's former 12th Street apartment now on the market

Allen Ginsberg's former apartment quickly rented

Facing mounting criticism from neighbors, Sin Sin puts up a new neon sign

Late yesterday afternoon. That should sooth over all the tensions....



Previously on EV Grieve:
'The neighborhood will not rest until you are gone and Sin Sin’s license is revoked'

NYPD hosting meeting between Sin Sin and neighbors tonight

East Village noise wars new battlefront: Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge

Why the president of the East Fifth Street Block Association carries a baseball bat

Did Mayor Bloomberg kill Moroccan restaurant's business?

Sintir on East Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is now officially gutted...



After some neighborhood opposition, the Moroccan eatery/lounge opened in May 2009... it was run by the Marrakech-born Hassan Hakmoun, considered the Jerry Garcia of the sintir in his native country....

Anyway, the place looked cute enough....Despite some so-so early reviews, I wanted to give it a try...



...and every time I walked by, I saw the photos of Hakmoun prominently displayed on the restaurant's front window...posed next to Mayor Bloomberg....



These were the only two photos up... no Katz's-like Wall of Fame or anything...

"Maybe he doesn't realize that having a photo of Mayor Bloomberg in the front window in this neighborhood isn't really a selling point," Mrs. Grieve helpfully said after I decided that I really didn't want to try it. Always wondered if anyone else felt the same...

World's long private party almost over: Rhong Tiam is returning!

The space formerly known as Rhong Tiam on Fifth Street and Second Avenue was all lit up last night... as if it was — open!



The space is being cleaned up.... and some of the garish fixtures have been moved around...





I asked a worker if they were reopening. He said no. Then he said a new place would be open next month.

As Grub Street reported last month:

"Andy Yang tells us he has closed the East Village outpost of Rhong Tiam. “It was a miscalculation,” he says of its predecessor Kurve, with its infamous Karim Rashid design." He's also considering whether to remodel it (bringing the kitchen upstairs) and reopen it with a less off-putting décor, or to simply let go of the space.

Looks as if he is going the remodeling route.