East Village Cathedral stars alongside Angelina Jolie in 'Salt'

Waaaaay back in May 2009, Angelina Jolie, the former semi-crusty of Tompkins Square Park, came to the East Village while filming "Salt," the mineral-turn-CIA thriller....



The crew filmed on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue inside the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection. In honor of the movie opening today... let's take a look at the role the Cathedral played in the film...



First! Woo! Angelina over here! Here she is on Second Street!



With the ball-in-chain in tow on the Cathedral steps...



Anyway, according to the website, the crew used the Cathedral to replicate the interior of the Makariev Monastery in Russia when it was an orphanage in 1970s Soviet Russia. You see, Angelina plays a spy who may or may not be Russian...so this might be some flashback scene or something...






No idea whether these scenes made it into the movie... Perhaps I'll by a pirated DVD from that guy on the corner for $5 to see.

Also, curious about what kind of location fee the Cathedral received...

Updated: A Scouting Life shares a "Salt" review with us... "It took years, but 'The Last Boy Scout' finally has competition for the most ludicrous action film ever made."

Ouch! That's seriously bad.

And I asked if the Cathedral made the cut. Yes, but!: "They did shoot the orphanage but the scenes there were all pretty soft focus and dreamlike so you didn't see much of it."



Previously on EV Grieve:
Why the paparazzi will be in the East Village tomorrow (OMG! Angelina!)

I hope that "Salt" is a more exciting movie than these photos

About Angelina Jolie's "semi-crusty phase" in Tompkins Square Park

Everyone getting in on the Russian spy hoopla

Speaking of Russian spies, have you noticed how some people are trying to cash in on the recent alleged-Russian-spy hoopla in the tabs? (Steve Cuozzo sort of did at the Post — he wrote a piece on it the other day...sort of — work with me...)

Which brings me to Flashdancers... you may recall their cab ads featuring the Hooters-waitress-from-Orlando-looking, uh, model in the campaign....



... and now, the new Flashdancers cab ads have a harder, Natasha-cold-war-spy model type...

It's nice to see Ray's again

Hey now, workers removed the sidewalk shed on the Avenue A side too... Melanie has a shot of the workers in action here...


Previously on EV Grieve:
Sidewalk shed partially down on Seventh and A

Scaffolding to cover Ray's, Yuca Bar

Rag & Bone early contenders for John Varvatos preservationists of the year

Back in March, I noted the for lease signs going up on the southeast corner of Houston and Elizabeth above the cozy Cafe Colonial, which opened here in 1994... this is what the landlord was selling the space as... (thanks Keith McNally!)



Now, the new tenant here -- Rag & Bone -- is opening shop today... as I witnessed from the sidewalk, they had a pizza/beer preview party the other evening... (Is that pizza from Pulino's?)




In any event, Racked has more on the new store, include a message from ownership not to take the change in businesses personally... Per Racked:

A company rep did emphasize to us that Rag & Bone "did not swoop in" and kick Café Colonial out with capacity to afford higher rent payments. The beloved restaurant already lost its lease before talks even began, but now at least the nabe gets a shiny new store as opposed to a sad empty storefront. Rag & Bone did make a strong effort to keep many of the iconic signature from ye old Café Colonial, including the lovingly-worn blue and white tile floor, the white kitchen wall tiles and the white painted pressed tin ceilings.

This reminds me of Jeremiah's essay last week titled Faux-dora, in which he wrote:

More and more, beloved icons of the city are getting their guts ripped out for revamping, given over to the wealthy, made exclusive, though the husks are kept intact for the cultural cachet they bring to the new owners, who pride themselves on their dedication to preservation, and receive praise for saving the old holes in the wall from turning into banks.

Well, Cafe Colonial doesn't qualify as a beloved icon, but the trend continues...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Future of 276 Elizabeth apparently doesn't include the Cafe Colonial

The early reviews of 'Salt' are in

Oh, c'mon... I'm kidding...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Why the paparazzi will be in the East Village tomorrow (OMG! Angelina!)

I hope that "Salt" is a more exciting movie than these photos

About Angelina Jolie's "semi-crusty phase" in Tompkins Square Park

Reminders: Saturday in Tompkins Square Park

As mentioned earlier for this Saturday...

The SHADOW Presents: The Headless Horsemen, David Peel + The Lower East Side, Rapid Deployment Force, Sexual Suicide, BANJI and *Star Fucking Hipsters* [Surprise speakers and more bands to be announced]

Noted, and ugh

Verizon fights back against cupcake graffiti

We've been documenting the back-and-forth with the brown paint alongside the Verizon building on 13th Street at Second Avenue.... these appeared the other today...



And, courtesy of EV Grieve reader evilnyc, we see that Verizon has quickly struck back today...




I have a feeling they're going to need a lot of brown paint.

Previously on EV Grieve:
First tag reappears on the Verizon building

Brownout: Verizon building graffiti painted over

Tea Lounge opening on East Fourth Street

That long-vacant former Moroccan place on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B has a new tenant...




Thanks to EV Grieve reader Collin Schwartz for the photos of the coming-soon Tea Lounge...

Looking at Crustypunks

I've been spending a lot of time lately reading Crustypunks, a blog featuring photos and first-person accounts by the many men and woman traveling through Tompkins Square Park.

Here's a portion of Illy's story...


[Photo by Steven Hirsch via Crustypunks]

"I got a forty smashed over my face. Last night. Basically a chick started calling me out saying, I was some sort of dumb ass saying I'm full of shit. So I said something I should not have said and I deserved a forty but she had no reason to cut off my dreads. With scissors. I thought she was pulling my hair. I stood and took it like a homeboy. She kicked me in the face. Smashed a forty over my head. Gave me a few punches. You know I'm not gonna hit a homegirl."

The site is the work of Steven Hirsh, a noted photographer now teaching at Pratt.

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Cary Conover for telling me about the site.

No more skateboard park at Cooper Union, but WaterWorld is still active

On Tuesday, we linked to Quartersnack's post about the Cooper Union brass placing spiked bars on the skakeboarding ramp out front...


[Photo via Quartersnack]

Anyway, in the comments, our friend NYC Taxi Photo pointed out the following about the Cooper Union:

"[I]t's also a great piss spot on the back alley of the building. I went for a wiz there, and there was another guy with a drink in a paper bag that morning, commenting on my choice location who stepped right into that corner to do his number one right after i was done.

I have to give kudos to the cooper union for destroying the classic and putting up this new thing with so many great shady crevasses for the public to utilize best."

Hmm... and we know exactly the spot that he's talking about...



Should we expect outdoor urinal cakes next?

Meanwhile, speaking of bodily fluids, we have not heard from EV Heave in some time... I fear the worst...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Cooper Union puts the brakes on its skateboarding bank

While we were discussing the First Avenue bike lanes yesterday ...

Workers were putting down the green paint ... Perhaps this will help ease some of the confusion for everyone along here...




And noted...



Thanks for all the comments on yesterday's post...jump on in...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Looking at the First Avenue's new bike lane and "floating lane"

Dear apartment hunters: Please do not bother Wiz Kid Management

Outside the Wiz Kid office on 10th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. And what if we are interested in getting a lock of Julian's hair?

A lot of house and yard for $1 million on East Ninth Street

I'm always on the lookout for interesting real-estate listings in the East Village... and this listing on Trulia for 735 E. Ninth St. fits the bill...



Obviously a mistake... unless someone leaked Bloomberg's vision for the area...