I know what we did last summer

Since Memorial Day, I've posted nearly 750 items... and, for as quickly as the summer seemingly passed by, looking back at some of these things from the summer seems like years ago...

Let's go back to Memorial Day weekend... and work our way to Labor Day... here are a few items from the last three months...

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2 Cooper Square is charing upwards of $20,000 a month for rents... the most ever for the East Village...

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Shrek was put on sale then thrown away on Avenue A...

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People discarded couches and fake fries...

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Someone overturned all the trash cans in Tompkins Square Park...

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We went to Bike Noise 3 in Tompkins Square Park...

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We went to the Loisaida Festival on Avenue C....

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We went to the BP protest on Houston....

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The new fence at the Cooper Square Hotel got tagged... and cleaned...

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You had a chance to become Tom Cruise's neighbor....

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We looked at the changing corners of the Bowery...

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The Post investigated the shocking truth that people under 21 will often try to buy beer and drink it.

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We were told not to shoot heroin during brunch at 7A.

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There was a wild scene in front of Northern Spy.

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L.E.S. Jewels went to jail.

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We debated over the future of Avenue A and Second Street, where Frank Prisinzano wanted to open a fast-food Italian eatery.

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We learned about the Dogs Tied Up site.

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The Mosaic Man returned to his trail with an apprentice.

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Construction started on the new home for the Lower Eastside Girls Club.

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The Shepard Fairey mural got ugly fast.

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Germany 4, England 1.

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More press for the East Village noise wars.

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We saw how fabulous and diverse 2 Cooper Square will be.

JULY

A man was charged for stomping a puppy to death in Tompkins Square Park.

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Germany invades Avenue C.

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It was pretty fucking hot for a long time.

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The fire on Avenue A and Houston.

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Tompkins Square Park lost trees to Dutch Elm disease.

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Tuli Kupferberg passed away.

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Ray got a three-year lease.

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The summer of bedbugs.

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Cooper Union shuts down its skateboarding ramp.

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We discussed the First Avenue bike lanes. Which we're still doing today.

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Summer of Sammy.

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RIP Markey Hayden Bena.

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We continued to protect our community gardens.

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The 13th Step owner talked with us about his new bar.

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Chloe Sevigny is still not on the Community Board.

AUGUST



Another weekend in the neighborhood.

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120 St. Mark's Place still doesn't have a Certificate of Occupancy.

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We looked at stupid pretzel ads.

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Kurve/Rhong Tiam finally closed.

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Tompkins Square Park supervisor Harry Greenberg retires.

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We invented the community board/State Liquor Authority Drinking Game.

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Cheap Shots ditches the truck bombs.

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Luster retired the Mariah Carey armpit-sniffing photo.

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East Village No. 1 for hipsters!

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[Bob Arihood]

Drama at the Key Food recycling center.

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The Shepard Fairey mural was removed.

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NYU returned to classes.

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There was a deadly shooting outside Sin Sin.

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Village Fabrics says goodbye.

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Oops! A reader wondered why we didn't include something about the Smurfs!




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Tell me more, tell me more...

Celebrating Labor Day by standing in line to eat roast beef sandwiches, cupcakes

There was some kind of line today for Butter Lane Cupcakes on Seventh Street....



Meanwhile, EV Grieve Correspondent Blue Glass noted the crowd waiting here on First Avenue and Ninth Street for This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef... (In the background, the usual sidewalk shed denizens....)

[Updated] Last night at Diablo Royale Este

The EV Grieve inbox is lighting up this morning about a blowout at Diablo Royale Este — home of the Hopsicle! — on Avenue A.... More details and photos from last night's party are appreciated.


Updated 11:40 — A reader notes that there is a whole lotta broken beer and booze bottles this morning in the street in front of Diablo Royale Este...

Also last night

A bike is tossed into a trashcan along Tompkins Square Park on 10th Street.

Personally, I blame the new bike lanes for this.

An update on yesterday's early-morning crash on First Avenue

There are several follow-up stories to yesterday's horrific crash at First Avenue and Third Street. At the Post, six reporters got a byline for their report. A few details from their piece:

The injured:

Preston Krupin, 71, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with neck and back injuries after the out-of-control cab mowed him down as he sat in The Bean on First Avenue and Third Street around 1:20 a.m.

Krupin, who lives near the shop, was in serious but stable condition yesterday morning, but hours later, doctors performed a lengthy operation. He was said to be in recovery last night.

The accident occurred as cabby Syed Nazir, 49, was driving up First Avenue with a passenger, Kristin Kunkel, in the back seat.
He collided with a Jeep Cherokee driven by Robert Batista, 19, who was trying to turn onto the avenue from East Third Street.
Nazir swerved, but hit the Jeep anyway, and then jumped a bike lane and curb.

He hit two men riding bicycles, and finally stopped after smashing through The Bean's front window.

"All I remember is that he was swerving," said Kunkel, 30, who lives in Midtown. "I put my hands in front of my face, and the next thing I knew, I was in the coffee shop.

The young woman lost two front teeth in the crash.

The two bicyclists were in stable condition. Nazir suffered back and neck injuries.
Batista kept going after the accident, but then pulled over and stepped out, looking dazed, one witness said.
Police administered blood-alcohol tests to the drivers, and the results for both were negative.

The scene:

Jordyn Thiessen, who lives across the street from the site, called it a "devastating scene."

"I was helping hold one of the bicyclists. He was on his side bleeding profusely from his head," she said. "I was saying prayers that everyone would be OK."

Thiessen added that First Avenue has had at least three accidents in the last month since a concrete barrier had been installed to create a separate lane for bicyclists.

"I think a lot of people are really thrown off," by the changes, she said.

One of the incidents she described involved a pedestrian getting struck by a cyclist.

"The bicyclists are not following the rules," she said. "They are going through red lights. They are just speeding along the way."

Police were not able to immediately confirm the incidents she cited.

The reconfiguration of First Avenue for bike lanes is currently being discussed in the comments here.

[Updated] Out-of-control cab kills one, injuries six on First Avenue and Third Street

[Updated 10:46 a.m.] Other news outlets are reporting that five people were injured in the accident. Earlier, WPIX had reported a fatality in the accident. CBS 2 and the Daily News are reporting five injuries: two cyclists, the cab driver and his passenger; and a 71-year-old man who was inside the Bean. Meanwhile, police are working to determine who is to blame for the accident.

Per the Daily News:

The taxi was heading north on First Ave. when it collided with the Jeep, which was turning onto the avenue from E. 3rd St., police said. The taxi jumped the curb, hitting and injuring two bicyclists before smashing into the coffee shop.

Earlier...


According to reports, an out-of-control cab jumped onto the sidewalk early this morning and slammed into a group of six people, killing one, according to WPIX.

The cab careened into a crowd of people standing in front of the Bean Coffee Shop on First Avenue at Third Street around 1:30 a.m.

Five other people were also injured and were taken to Bellevue Hospital. The extent of their injuries is not yet known, WPIX reports.

The driver was transporting a passenger when the accident occurred.

The images below were taken by Vautrin and Stacie Joy, who were returning from a photo shoot at the time of the accident. Stacie told me they tried to help comfort those who were injured before EMS crews arrived.










A reader notes that the cab struck a cyclist, pinning the person under the vehicle.

The Bean reopen after last night's accident

Given the horrific scene here early this morning, wasn't sure what to expect walking by the Bean at First Avenue and Third Street ... the cafe is open.... and it seems like business as usual.... a few people asked what happened... one worker on duty professed not to know many details of the accident....











Outside, a woman walked by carrying flowers... which she laid on the street. "Someone needs to put flowers here," she said.



Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Out-of-control cab kills one, injuries six on First Avenue and Third Street

Shepard Fairey back up at Houston and the Bowery (sort of)

An addition to the Deitch wall where Barry McGee (aka Twist) is now holding forth...

A little respect

Second Street and Avenue B.

Noted

Today, the Post blows the lid off the underground party scene hereabouts ... let's just jump right in, shall we?

It’s a typical Saturday night on the Lower East Side, and the streets are packed with partygoers consulting GPS systems for bars and clubs. Skillfully dodging the bridge-and-tunnel types that crowd the neighborhood on weekends, Fatima Siad makes her way to Ridge Street.

“It’s not as fun to go out on weekends in the Lower East Side,” says Siad, a 24-year-old downtown stunner who once appeared on “America’s Next Top Model.”

Surely, a hip person such as Siad is headed to a hot new boite with a velvet rope, or a fancy rooftop bar? Not even close.

Her destination is a tenement building that has the front door propped open with a brick. Inside, a staircase leads to an abandoned second-floor unit, which was reportedly a drug den three years ago. Tonight, this newly cleaned-up spot is the place to be for roughly 40 tastemakers, who are part of the city’s burgeoning pop-up party scene. Fed up with commercialized, overpriced nightclubs, creative young New Yorkers are taking night life back, according to 27-year-old artist Adam Aleksander, who organizes pop-up parties like the one that happened here two Saturdays ago.

[Photo of a recent Renaissance-style party via the Post.]

It's still summer because... Street Fair!

On Fourth Avenue, from 14th Street to 10th Street. Perhaps your last chance to stock up on Magic Silk Skirts and tube socks until probably next weekend.

Over? Did you say "over"?

Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Sign at Think Coffee on the Bowery.

Always the sun

Seems like a nice little end-of-summer song from 1980... the Marine Girls... featuring Tracey Thorn.

Investigating that weird thingamajig on the Second Avenue Chase branch

The last time we looked at the Chase branch on Second Avenue at 10th Street, Rev. Billy & the Church of Life After Shopping had placed some coal mountain mud in the lobby... this afternoon, EV Grieve correspondent Blue Glass notes the presence of something else...



This!



There's only one (or two!) explanations... per Blue Glass: "Is this a DOT/ConEd curse?"

Perhaps!

Marlene, 1988

Clayton Patterson's photo page, in which he publishes work from his vast archives, is my favorite feature of the newly launched Villager spinoff, The East Villager.

This week, Patterson presents this photo of Marlene Bailey in Tompkins Square Park from 1988. You may know her better as "Hot Dog."



“I think it’s great to see her looking like that,” Patterson said in the feature. “I think it’s a good example of the difficulties and hard life of living on the street. She’s a neighborhood icon to some — a reprobate to others. I think she’s one of the last of the real survivors out there on the street — one of the street warriors.”

Here's a more recent photo of Marlene (with Poet John Lesko) from Bob Arihood's excellent new photo site, Nadie Se Canoce.

Last day to help the East Side Community High School win $500,000

Over on 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, students and teachers are outside with computers to get people to vote online so that the school can win $500,000 in the Kohl's Cares for Kids contest.

The Villager has a nice feature on this.... As part of the competition, Principal Mark Federman has been sleeping in a tent out front of the school since Aug. 23

If you go to www.eschs.org, then you'll find more details.

The 8 types of cyclists you'll encounter on East Village streets

At several junctures during the summer, we've had posts updating the developments on the new First Avenue and Second Avenue bike lanes... and each post prompted a spirited debate in the comments: Pedestrians vs. cyclists. Cyclists vs. cyclists. Everybody vs. cyclists. Seemingly.

(You can find some of those posts here ... and here. And here.)


In many cases, all cyclists were dumped into one large "all cyclists are bad" category. While I like nothing more than grotesque stereotypes (woo!), it just seemed too easy to have people list problems that they've had with individual cyclists, which in turn made it seem as if anyone on a bike was a law-breaking cycling commando out for blood.



So! I enlisted the help of someone who knows more about cycling than I do — The Cycling Friend of EV Grieve (CFOEVG), who helped create and write these eight categories. However, CFOEVG is not totally confident that this list is a wholly accurate depiction of cyclists on the streets. So our intention is to illustrate that there is more to the NYC cycling community other than just 100 percent "rogue bikers."

Feel free to add your own categories. Plus, it's probably fair to, at some point, categorize the different types of pedestrians, motorists and bloggers too...

So now, to the list:

• Professionals — Those who work for a business outfit or courier firm. As CFOEVG says, they are "ironically, dangerous riders."

• Restaurant Delivery Workers — Often cooks or dishwashers who are put on a bike. Not to be confused with "all bikers." Some of the worst offenders for sidewalk riding.

• Pro/Amateur Racers — Usually on their way to a race, a park or New Jersey. Members of this group have a tendency to avoid bike lanes because they can't go fast enough in them.

• Triathletes — Typical greenway-variety, some of the most hated riders since they ride so poorly and can be so rude, says CFOEVG. Generally not a problem on surface streets.

• Weekend Warriors — Usually too slow to be of harm, but can end up on sidewalks. Occasionally a problem, but not to be confused with your average cyclists.

• Responsible commuters — Group members here are aware that cyclists are being watched, so they won't block crosswalks or ride on sidewalks. Increasingly, the majority of people you see riding.

• Irresponsible commuters — "Too good/too cool" for bike lanes who like to say that bike lanes are for wusses, but are actually more dangerous to pedestrians.

• Tourists — Uh-oh! Run! Tourists ride the wrong way in the park, too fast on the sidewalk. Just bad all around. Especially when the tourists are riding and unfolding a map at the same time.

P.S. As a bonus for making it this far... From 1986, the "Cocktail" of bike messenger movies...

At the Mars Bar, 'hipster' entourage forced to drink Bud, pay with cash

A little slice-of-Mars-Bar life via Matt Rosen at les pensées insouciantes:

Curly bleached blonde ‘do — sides buzzed…

Skin-tight, distressed boatneck top, with a low enough scoop to show off some of that tasty —- and Manly™ —- burger meat…

Obligatory skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors…

Without a moment’s hesitation, confidently, like he’s done a hundred times before:

“Three PBR’s.”

Bartender:

“We don’t have it.”

Hipster:

[Look of utter disappointment and confusion. Noticeably rattled. You can see the immediate calculation going on in his head…“Dare I be caught drinking something as bourgie as…a Budweiser?” He regroups, poised just enough to mumble…]

“Bud is, fine.”

His order placed, he shrugs off this initial misstep and falls back into the comfort of his group while the drinks are prepared.

The bartender returns.

Our hipster whips out the plastic.

Bartender:

“Cash only.”

Hipster:

“Uh, oh…okay.”

Back to the pack. Hands struggle down deep into tight, practically vacuum-sealed front pockets for some crumpled up greenbacks.

Just enough.

Phew.

Our hipster takes a cool sip from the unfamiliar bottle, his hand shaking a little, a bead of sweat emerging from his forehead. He turns back into the pack and starts to bop his head to what he’s pretty sure is The Stooges playing on the jukebox.