Things that were closed on Christmas

The McDonald's on First Avenue near Sixth Street.

Fly away

Not ELO, but The Motors.

Things to do today

Seventh Street, 9:36 a.m., Dec. 25

Second Avenue, 9:21 a.m., Dec. 25

Hope that they were on sale.

So this is Christmas....

Christmas Eve blockbusters -- Cooper Square Hotel in default on $52 million in loans: report

The Real Deal has the blockbuster:

A German bank claims the developers of the year-old sleek 21-story Cooper Square Hotel in the East Village are in default on $52 million in loans, at the same time the building owes millions to contractors.

Not only is the project in financial distress, but developers and investors in the 145-room hotel at 25 Cooper Square at East 5th Street could owe as much as $6 million in personal guarantees, the recent lawsuit says.

Commercial lender WestLB filed to foreclose on $52 million in loans given to Cooper Square Hotel, Cooper Square Mezz Lender and seven individuals including the hotel's co-developer Matthew Moss and real estate investor Kyle Ransford, a lawsuit filed Dec. 14 in New York State Supreme Court says.

Walking on 14th Street: Nordstrom setting a date; Baked by Melissa and Subway coming soon

Maybe I should walk on 14th Street near Union Square more often. Or not.

Noticed that a Baked By Melissa shop is coming to 14th Street just east of Fifth Avenue. She bakes tiny cupcakes.



You know that the Nordtrom Racked store is opening at the former Virgin Megastore location... Now a date has been set for the opening: May 11, 2010. (And will they actually make that date?)



And the city's 8,976th Subway is opening right along the Chipotle and Bravo Pizza in the Zeckendorf Towers on the northwest corner of Irving Place and 14th Street.



EV Grieve reader Nowooski pointed this out the other day...

Time to toss the tree already?

Jeez, I usually wait until Christmas morning to chuck the Grieve tree.

On Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Speaking of trees....

Plenty left on Second Avenue in front of the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery...



You'll likely be able to get a bargain seeing as they're throwing all the dead trees in a pile...

Things to do this holiday that involve watching movies

For your holiday movie viewing pleasure, consider EV Grieve favorite "Blast of Silence," the black-hearted NYC noir from 1961... it concerns a hitman on assignment in New York City during the Christmas holidays... and Bad Boy Frankie Bono really hates Christmas. And cities. And pretty much everything.

To the trailer...



While here, Frankie stays at the Valencia Hotel on St. Mark's Place (now the St. Mark's Hotel)...



Thanks to EV Grieve reader Mykola (Mick) Dementiuk for this screenshot...

On my list, there's Martin Scorsese's first film, "Who's That Knocking at my Door," whose opening scene is on a stretch of Houston that you may recognize...



Thanks to the Graffiti Friend of EV Grieve (GFOEVG, of course) for passing this along via Smart Crew.

And as a P.S., an old stuffy favorite, "Weekend at the Waldorf."

Things to do this holiday season (or any other day): Go to Ray's

When you're out and about this holiday season, stop by Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... the food is tasty...and...

...business isn't so good. As Slum Goddess noted:

He cut the price of his Belgian "Obama" waffles to $2.00..Don't know if it was the right thing to do..but his business is slow...PLEASE go there and support Ray's Candy Store..If he closes Avenue A will have lost an icon..

And Scoopy reported this week...

[H]e said, this is the first time since he bought the hole-in-the-wall store in 1974 that he’s never paid his rent on the first of the month. "They might throw me out," he said matter of factly. "If I work alone — no girls, no help — I will make $100 a day and pay my rent. ... And if lose my store, I lose my apartment, too. This is my only income, and it’s too cold to collect cans." He wasn’t kidding.

Also, according to Bob Arihood, look for some new coffee products soon at Ray's...

And now, my collection of the newish American Apparel ads

The dialogue balloon coming from her rear says, "Hello my name is objectified flesh..."

Sorry to ruin your holidays