Today in Urban Bike Etiquette Signs: 'Stop being a dick'

EVG reader Ryan spotted this sign on Seventh Street in front of Big Bar this past weekend...

"Douche bag

Your bike is in the basement of 'big bar' because they are very kind. Stop being a dick + locking your bike to our bikes."

What the rent is for the former Luca Lounge space on Avenue B

I can't tell you exactly when the Luca Lounge closed on Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street... I'm guessing it was in April?

In any event, the space is for rent...

Happened to spot the listing at the Croman 9300 site... and it refers to the Luca Lounge as "legendary" ... which must explain why the asking rent is $19,995 dollars per month...

Meanwhile, the Luca Bar remains open on St. Mark's Place...

521-523 E. 12th St. sells for $10.9 million

On Friday, Eastern Consolidated reported that it "represented the seller and procured the purchaser in the sale of this 5-story, 40 unit walk-up apartment building" at 521-523 E. 12th St. The building between Avenue A and Avenue B was sold for $10.9 million.

According to public records, an entity called JMS Village LLC purchased the property from EL-LOU Holding Company. The JMS contact on the documents is Jack Avid, whose name came up in two Village Voice articles about SROs being converted to tourist-class buildings back in the late 1990s. You can find those articles here ... and here.

More noticeble progress at the incoming Ludlow Hotel

Back in the spring, work resumed at 180 Ludlow, a four-plus-years-in-the-making eyesore that will one day be the 20-story, 170-room Hotel Ludlow...

And there's noticeable progress at the site...

[Via @mCase513]

In October, Curbed reported that BD Hotels — the team involved with the Maritime, Chambers, Greenwich, Jane and Bowery hotels — bought the stalled site for $25 million.

We'll find out soon enough if the Lower East Side can absorb yet another hotel... another hotel that figures to be a nightlife destination ... and what impact the double-whammy of luxury with the Ludlow next door will have on surrounding businesses...

Anyway, for more on the drama background here, you can check out BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down.

Week in Grieview

[East Fourth Street. Photo by Bobby Williams]

'Heavy construction' promised for any remaining tenants of 50-58 E. Third St. (Thursday)

Dining at the IHOP at 4:15 a.m. (Monday)

Construction starts at the Mystery Lot! (Monday)

St. Mark's Bookshop crowdsourcing funds to move (Wednesday)

DOT removing bike racks on Astor Place (Tuesday)

Looking at short-term rentals on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

170-174 E. Second St. hits the market for $16.5 million (Tuesday)

Demolition starts at the former Charles Theater on Avenue B (Thursday)

Looking at the East Village Brownstone on East 12th Street (Wednesday)

Two new restaurants open on Extra Place (Tuesday)

And photos galore from the derecho of the century.... here and here and here...

[Bobby Williams]

The poor, potential geyser got overlooked by the derecho! (Thursday)

[Updated] Perhaps the greatest missing bike flyer ever

[Click to enlarge image]

East 10th Street and Third Avenue last night via the Bagel Guy.

Per the sign, possibly a fake but still entertaining — "no reward."

"I don't even want this bike back. I just made these flyers to tell you that I hate you, bike thief. I hope you ride my bike without a helmet and get hit by a monster truck. I hope my bike takes you straight to Hell."

Updated:

Ah, so the sign is old... but apparently people are still putting them up... perhaps to help sell these T-shirts. Per the comments, the flyer is the work of David Shrigley.

When the shoe repair shop is closed

Drop-off service? Avenue C near Seventh Street.

(Just another) Saturday night on Avenue A...

At East Ninth Street... photo by Shawn Chittle.

Hieroglyphs on Avenue B

A photo via Dave on 7th showing Sixth Street and Avenue B... now that Avenue B has been repaved, it's time to tear it up again...

Last weekend for Magic Fingers, Old Good Things on East 10th Street

This is the last weekend for Magic Fingers, Old Good Things, at 220 E. 10th St. (Between First Avenue and Second Avenue.) Earlier this summer, we reported that longtime East Village resident Susan Leelike was closing her 20-plus year-old shop ... she has sales on her vintage jewelry and collectibles.

She'll be open from 3-7 p.m.today and tomorrow.

Noted

Crazy Eddie notes that the testing truck is back on Avenue A this morning...

Brunch for preservation tomorrow

From the EV Grieve inbox...from the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative...

[Click image to enlarge]

Organizers say the benefit event is mostly for the meal and conversation ... though they will touch on some strategizing on preservation and landmarking in the East Village and Lower East Side moving forward... More details here.

Free today in Tompkins Square Park: 6th Annual New Village Music Festival

Check out the event website for more information...

'Garbage' time

The Cramps circa 1980... with "Garbage Man."

Are you missing a bird?

From a reader just now in Tompkins Square Park:

I saw a smallish, grey and blue (maybe some purple) budgie or parakeet or little parrot looking bird flying around tompkins square park at about 12:30 today. He was on the fence on the west/north side of the center lawn. When I stuck my hand out he flew away (he can fly pretty well) to the rail on the lawn just west of the center lawn. I tried to get close to him but he wouldn't let me. He was hanging with the wild birds and they weren't attacking him so maybe he'll be ok, but he must belong to someone.

Unfortunately, the reader didn't get a photo... but if you are missing a bird...

Earlier this morning on East Second Street and First Avenue

Photo by Shawn Chittle ... and a continuation of today's stuffed animal theme...

One more photo of the derecho of the millenium

7:30 last night looking south from the East Village ... Photo by c ring.

When we almost lost St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery to a fire

[Photo via]

On July 27, 1978, a fire nearly destroyed the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, long a focal point of the community. At the time of the blaze, workers were nearly done with a $500,000 restoration of the historic church on Second Avenue and East 10th Street.

According to an account by Tom Sotor in the East Side Express:

The fire began when a workman's welding instrument ignited a section of the timber cornice, and from there the blaze spread rapidly. "Smoke was pouring out of the hell tower when we arrived," recalls one of the first firefighters on the scene. "I said to myself, 'This ceiling's going to go.' And sure as hell, there was a partial collapse." The rear section of the 50-foot high peaked roof collapsed a half-hour after the fire began.

The 75 firefighters involved with the three-alarm blaze Were faced with many other problems as well. A six-foot iron fence that surrounded the church and a graveyard on one side prevented the companies from utilizing anything but portable equipment. Consequently, a tower ladder had to be employed to spray the front and rear, while the sides of the church remained practically unassailable.

There was also danger of the 150-foot steeple collapsing. "We kept an eye on the steeple'supports," explains John J. Moffatt, the commander in charge of the fire. "If it fell, we would have had a lot of injuries."

There weren't any reported injuries... though the fire caused major damage to the church, including the loss of the roof and nine of the 23 stained-glass windows.

[Via East Side Express]

The Citizens to Save St Mark's was founded to raise funds for its reconstruction ... supervised by architect Harold Edelman. The restoration was completed in 1986, with new stained-glass windows designed by Edelman, who personally supervised the entire project, according to his obit in the Times from 1999.

And a little snippet of the history via the Church website:

The St. Mark’s Church and its yards are just a few reminders of the once vast “bouwerie,” or Dutch plantation, which Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Amsterdam purchased in 1651 from the Dutch West India Company. When Stuyvesant died in 1672, his body was interred in a vault under the family chapel he’d had built in 1660. In 1793, Stuyvesant’s great-grandson, Petrus Stuyvesant, donated the chapel property to the Episcopal Church with the stipulation that a new chapel be erected and on April 25, 1795, the cornerstone of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery was laid.

Bike rentals at Busy Bee

[Bobby Williams]

We've been writing about the upcoming Smurf Bike Citi Bikes share ... we meant to note that Busy Bee on East Sixth between First Avenue and Avenue A offers one of the above bikes — $30 for 24 hours...

60 hours of Conrad Schnitzler on East First Street this weekend

[Via AVA]

Via a post at Gallerist, we learn the following: Audio Visual Arts on East First Street (just east of Second Avenue) is presenting a nonstop marathon of the audio work of the late German artist and musician Conrad Schnitzler outside its storefront. Per AVA — Nothing will be repeated.

The Schnitzler starts at 6 tonight and runs through to 6 a.m. on Monday.

Some Schnitzler background via AVA:

Conrad Schnitzler (1937 – 2011) is legendary in the German electronic and avant-garde music scene as a founding member of Tangerine Dream and of Kluster, but his intermedia work from the 60s, 70s and 80s is far less known. On the anniversary of his passing, New Yorkers will have a rare opportunity to see and hear many of his seminal multi-channel concerts and film/video works, most of which have never been screened or performed in the US until now.

First of the Tompkins Square Park Riot Reunion shows this Sunday

From the EV Grieve inbox...

THE TOMPKINS SQUARE REBELLION IS ON!!

24th ANNUAL TSP RIOT REUNION!! Commemorate the anniversary of the mini police riot of July 30, 1988, followed a week later by the infamous 6 hour riot inside and outside of Tompkins Square Park on August 6, 1988, in which hundreds of "New York's Finest" from all over the city descended on our neighborhood, indiscriminately clubbing anyone in their sights in furtherance of a non-existent midnight park curfew.

Where: Tompkins Square Park: When: July 29 + August 4 + 5, 2012

These shows celebrate the vitality of the counter cultural scene that has survived on the Lower East Side, despite the rampant gentrification, soaring rents and lost venues that have contributed to the cultural genocide sweeping New York City.

Sunday, July 29:
Blest Mess
Dust Angel
Gas NYC
Nihilistics
Rejuvenate
Iconicide

We'll post the lineups for the shows on Aug. 4 and 5 later next week...

A Mystery Lot slice of life

From last evening... via EVG reader Katja... featuring an NY1 crew... an NYPD cruiser ... and more ...

Posts featuring stuffed animals that we never got around to posting

Derrrrecho!

[Bobby Williams]

[Bobby Williams]

[EVG reader Katja]

Meanwhile, right before the end of the world...

AKA more photos of the derecho (a derecho?) ... Hey, more incoming storm photos ... these shots via EVG reader Tony Devers...

In case you already haven't done so, RUN! HIDE!

Oh, just cashing in on the bad weather hysteria... Still, be careful out there...

[Via @edwardzick]

[Via EVG reader Chris M]

Reader report: Potential geyser on East 12th Street?

A reader notes that people have called 311 to report water bubbling up through a crack on East 12th Street.

"They said to call 911 if it gets worse. People are stopping to check it out. Maybe I should charge admission to this natural wonder."

More demolition shots from 193 Avenue B

Earlier today, we noted that workers were now demolishing the old theater on 185-193 Avenue B... EVG reader Rik Rocket shared some photos from the start of work yesterday....