Friday, May 24, 2013

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition


[Bike Week continues... photo by Derek Berg]

Rev Jen on getting fired from the Tenement Museum (BoweryBoogie)

Man accused in East Village assault will not face hate crime charges (NY1)

Jeremiah Moss explores Edward Hopper's New York inspirations (The New Yorker ... find more at Vanishing New York)

Facebook relocating to 770 Broadway? (The Observer)

Some photographs from Slum Goddess (Slum Goddess)

When 12 St. Mark's Place was the German-American Shooting Society Clubhouse (Ephemeral New York)

Cooper Union students perform leaked transcript of trustee meeting (Runnin' Scared)

Spider-Man shoots hoops in Chinatown (The Lo-Down)

Interview with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols from 1977 (Dangerous Minds)

And the folks at Devorado, the vintage boutique on East Ninth Street, note that some shoplifters left the store with nearly $1,000 of goods on May 17 ... they made flyers ...



... and released this video of the alleged theft in action...

And now, more complaints about Citi Bikes docking stations



EVG reader Mark White spotted a resident hanging these clips on the docking station on East 13th Street at Avenue A this morning...



... it's a photocopied article from the Post about workers removing a bike station on West 13th Street...

As for the resident with the flyers... Per Mark: "She was very upset and very concerned for safety, and let's just say she wasn't too pleased with Bloomberg. She want down the block taping them to buildings. Told me to call 311."

Now's a good time to repost the following from CB3 regarding complaints about Citi Bikes:

Bike Share will launch May 27. Issues that must be dealt with immediately, such as a blocked driveway or loading zone, should be emailed to the community board office (info@cb3manhattan.org) and we will work with DOT to have these sites inspected immediately.

There are other concerns regarding placement of installations or size of installations, or the number of installations in close proximity to each other. We are asking people to wait until bike share is in operation for a month to see what works and what doesn’t. What installations are not being used to capacity? What installations do not accommodate the number of bikes needed?

The Community Board 3 Transportation Committee will meet on Tuesday, July 16 to hear concerns. DOT will attend the meeting to note these concerns and address or inspect and follow up. Please check the CB 3 website for the meeting location or sign up to receive monthly agendas (join cb 3’s mail list on website).

Anyway, at least it wasn't dog poop.

Early verdict on Citi Bikes: Kids love 'em!



Students from (the middle school housed at?) PS 19 have discovered the Citi Bikes, which arrived on East 11th Street near First Avenue.

Look at those happy faces!

Video via MoRUS.

They're heeere





At least on East 11th Street near First Avenue ... where workers moved this docking station 17 blocks across First Avenue yesterday ... did you spot any others?

A quick trip back to the East Village of the early 1990s

I just added New York in the 1990's Photo Archives to that jumbled mess of a blogroll over on the right-hand side of this page.

A little background: As a student here in the early-to-mid 1990s, Grégoire Alessandrini was always carrying a camera around with him... and he has been uploading the photos from that time to his blog. (Alex has featured his work at Flaming Pablum while Curbed has also highlighted his photos of Times Square and the Meatpacking District.)

I wanted to point out a few of his photos from the East Village, where he lived on Avenue A and East 12th Street. He lives in Paris these days (Vélib, the bike-share program, works very well there, he says) ... Regarding the photos: "I really do miss these times."



St. Mark's Place

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East 14th Street

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100 Avenue A

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Eddie's Tower of Toys on East Sixth Street

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The Bowery at Bond

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Wigstock, Tompkins Square Park

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You can spend your holiday weekend now rooting through his photo archives here.

Here's the sign for Dojo, David Bouhadana's new sushi restaurant on First Avenue



The new sign is up now at 110 First Avenue, former home of the dearly departed Polonia, the homey Polish diner that closed in December 2011.

The new space is Dojo, a sushi restaurant by David Bouhadana (the "twentysomething sushi wunderkind" per Grub Street) that is expected to open this spring.

Crain's reported in January that Bouhadana signed a 15-year lease for the space.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Looking at the former Polonia space, soon to be home to David Bouhadana's sushi restaurant Dojo

The Loisaida Festival is Sunday



This is the 26th year for the festival ... on Avenue C from East Sixth Street to East 12th Street... rain or shine!

The Lo-Down has the entertainment schedule here. The official Festival site is here.

Find some previous EVG coverage of the Festival here.

Today in advertising opportunities



Spotted on Third Avenue and NYU. What would you want to advertise here?

Looking at David Schwimmer's front door(s)



While we've seen 3/4 of the incoming Schwimmer Estate on East Sixth Street, we've yet to take in the actual front door(s) ... until EVG contributor peter radley noticed all this while walking by yesterday...



Hope to see more once we get that invite for the first rooftop BBQ.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Here is David Schwimmer's East Village home

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The way it was



After the rain late this afternoon on East 10th Street and Avenue C... Photo by Bobby Williams.

A hard rain is falling (as you may have noticed)



Flash flood warning until 5:30. Head to your nearest docking station.

Photo by Nick Solares.

Trading places: Citi Bikes docking station making the move on East 11th Street; annoyance ensues



The Citi Bikes docking stations on the southeast corner of East 11th Street at First Avenue are on the move, as these photos by Greg Matherly of Reciprocal Skateboards show.



The docking stations are headed across First Avenue, to the northwest corner across from Veniero's on East 11th Street. No sooner than this happened did we hear that business owners on this stretch of the street are very unhappy with this move. "That is a serious business killer — especially on holidays and weekends," said one.

Of course, business owners at the previous spot of the docking station were unhappy too. Carlo Giurdanella of Bella Tile had complained that one of the new bike docks had taken away his loading zone.

"I don't know how we’re going to be able to operate really now effectively," he told CBS New York on May 1. "It's sad, dramatic negative impact."

Perhaps the move will mark the return of the longstanding Halal cart here. The made way for a truck after the docking station arrived on the southeast side of East 11th Street...


[May 4]

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site


[Bobby Williams]

The lot that includes Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on East 12th Street is slated for demolition to make way for a new residential complex.

However, East Village community and preservation groups are hoping that the historic church that Douglas Steiner plans to develop can be spared. Members of the groups noted this last evening during a rally on the steps of Mary Help of Christians.

Meanwhile, there's a new development that could possibly put a hold on the production: dead bodies. According to a news release distributed after last evening's event:

The church was formerly the site of the cemetery of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where thousands of people were buried starting in the early 19th century. This was only the third and at the time the largest Catholic Cemetery in New York. While the graveyard was moved to Calvary Cemetery in Queens in 1909, it is not known if all remains were removed and cleared from the site or if some still lie in burial underneath.

The preservation organizations have written to developer Douglas Steiner and the city’s Department of Buildings and Landmarks Preservation Commission to notify them that a very large cemetery was formerly found on this site, and calling for a complete archaeological evaluation of the site as required by law in such cases before any work proceeds, to prevent disturbance of any burial site or human remains which may remain here.


[BW]

Those gathered called upon Steiner to build upon the adjacent church yard, which lies outside of the boundaries of the former 11th Street cemetery, rather than upon the site of the church, school and rectory.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, the Historic Districts Council and the East Village Community Coalition were all represented during the rally.

"Mary Help of Christians is certainly one of the most historic buildings in one of the most historic neighborhoods in our city and country," Lower East Side Preservation Initiative president Richard Moses said in prepared comments distributed to the press. "Starting in the early 20th century it played a central role in Italian-American history, and the building still commands a very imposing architectural presence in the neighborhood."

Early last year, preservationists submitted a request to the Landmarks Preservation Commission asking them to landmark the church. The LPC denied the request. (Read about that here.)

Specs for the retail portion of the complex mention a "140 unit market luxury rental building" for the space.

"It would be a tragic waste and shame if these beautiful buildings, so full of New York's history, were demolished for expediency’s sake," said Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman.

The church opened in 1917.


[Crazy Eddie]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Long-dormant East 13th Street lot is back in action; 6-floor new building next?



We haven't checked in on that long-dormant lot at 536 E. 13th St. near Avenue B in awhile ... the site became a dump (really, look) after construction on a new building here caused cracks in the foundation next door.

Now a resident on the block points out the arrival of a new fence ... and work permits at the site...



The new permits on file reads: "FOUNDATION, EXCAVATION & SHORING WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NEW BUILDING."

Approved plans for the six-floor building note proposed community facility/health care center use in the cellar with six total residences on the upper floors. David Howell of DHD Architecture and Design is listed as the architect of record. Ranga Krishna of East Village Realty is listed as the owner.

Another empty lot to scratch off our list?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your chance to own a stalled project lot on East 13th Street

A dormant construction site on East 13th Street

[December 2009]

Report: 9th Precinct traffic safety sergeant worries about an increase in accidents with Citi Bikes

As the apocalypse© The Apocalypse® approaches with the arrival of Citi Bikes on Monday, there isn't any shortage of pros and cons to read out there about the bike-share program ... (This Curbed post from yesterday links to many of the various articles on the topic.)

Meanwhile, in an interview with DNAinfo's Serena Solomon, Amber Cafaro, a traffic safety sergeant stationed at the 9th Precinct, echoes what some people against the bike share have said: there will be an increase in accidents.

To the story.

Cafaro listed recent accidents in the East Village involving distracted cyclists talking on phones and running red lights, along with one biker who slipped on a wet roadway and wound up putting his hand through a car windshield.

"Bikers don't realize you can't do that," Cafaro said, describing behaviors that could endanger cyclists. "You have to stay off the phone, you have to stay in the bike lane and you have to stop at red lights."

The East Village recently saw a spike in reported bicycle crashes, with eight in the 28-day period ending May 19, compared to just four in the same period the previous year, Cafaro said.

Read the whole article here.

Meanwhile, at Slate, there's a "10-point resolution to end the decades-long conflict between walkers and bikers."

[Image via Citi Bikes]

Pop-up exhibit will support the 'Save Our CHARAS Community Center' movement



From the EV Grieve inbox...

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space will host a pop-up exhibit in support of the movement to Save Our CHARAS Community Center (SOCCC).

Come celebrate and learn about the vibrant history of CHARAS/El Bohio and demand the return of this historic cultural institution. The exhibit will open tonight when community leaders, local activists and concerned neighbors will gather for a show of unity.

With guest speakers: Chino Garcia, Rosie Mendez, Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, Senator Brad Hoylman. More guests, performers and announcements TBA.

May 23 - 31, 2013
Opening Night:
Thursday, May 23, 2013
6-9 pm

Meanwhile, here's footage from last week's rally and march from PS 64 on East Ninth Street to Cooper Union.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Efforts continue to fight the dorm planned for the former PS 64 on East 9th Street

Report: The Joffrey Ballet School will lease 2 floors of the former PS 64 for student housing

For rent sign appears at David's Shoe Repair

Jeremiah and I both noted on Tuesday that a big rent hike is forcing David's Shoe Repair on East Seventh Street to relocate to... Midtown.

A reader noted yesterday that the for rent sign is now up in the front window. Didn't spot a listing for the small space online anywhere just yet. Curious to see what the landlord will be asking here.

David's last day in the East Village is May 31.

Report: Max Fish closing at the end of July ahead of move to Williamsburg

As you probably know, high rents are sending Max Fish packing to Williamsburg later this year. We were told earlier that Max Fish is eyeing an August closing date on Ludlow Street.

The Lo-Down gets the word straight from owner Ulli Rimkus that the bar will close here at the end of July. Rimkus also divulged a few other details, like "she really wants to create something new — not necessarily a replica of the LES classic."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

More details released about the CBGB Music & Film Festival this October



From the EV Grieve inbox...
For four decades, the name CBGB has been synonymous with all musical genres emerging from the indie and punk underground. This year, CBGB will be breaking more new ground with the expansion of the CBGB MUSIC & FILM FESTIVAL, a five-day festival/conference.

This will take place Wednesday, October 9 to Sunday, October 13, 2013 within NYC's rich and varied music venues throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Landmark Sunshine Theater on E. Houston St. will serve as the conference and film festival hub.

The new CBGBers haven't announced any acts yet. But that number is expected to be... 525 bands, 100 film screenings and 40 seminars ... there is ticket information, which you can find here.

And here's a snappy video about the festival...



At the Mary Help of Christians rally this evening


[Photo by Crazy Eddie]

Various community groups and residents came together for a rally tonight at Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on East 12th Street ...

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman (pictured) has said that there is plenty of open space on this parcel for a new residential complex, and that the existing properties "would be great candidates for adaptive re-use."

We'll have a report on the rally in the morning.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Tonight in walk-in specials



EV resident Rachel Borg spotted this on East 10th Street and Fourth Avenue this evening...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition


[Photo by Derek Berg]

The East Village photography of Ann Sanfedele (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Turmoil at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum? (BoweryBoogie)

Bialystoker Building landmarked (The Lo-Down)

Revisiting "The Warriors" (Flaming Pablum)

More great photos from the Dance Parade (Gog in NYC)

"Psycho Killer" with Arthur Russell on cello (Dangerous Minds)

Some history of 17th Street and Irving Place (Ephemeral New York)

Time's Up has put together this video highlight the drama that unfolded last week at the Children's Magical Garden on Stanton and Norfolk ...



And tonight at 7, Mike Malone reads from his recently published novel, "No Never No More," which is set at the Village View apartments in 1999. "The main character, Declan Coulter, bristles when his neighborhood is called the East Village. Growing up in the Village View, it will always be the Lower East Side to him." The reading is at Dorian Gray Tap & Grill, 205 E. Fourth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Mary Help of Christians rally tonight; workers spotted taking apart rectory roof

As noted Monday, various preservationists and community groups are coming together for a rally tonight at Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on East 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...



Developer Douglas Steiner has plans filed to demolish the now-vacant parcel of Mary Help of Christians, which includes the church, school and rectory.

This morning, a reader spotted workers started to tear up part of the roof of the rectory...



"The first affected — a family of starlings nesting in the northeast corner of the roof," the reader said. "It was a sickening feeling I had when I heard those saws cutting up the roof."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher
Name: Edward “Eak the Geek” Arrocha.
Occupation: Coney Island Circus Performer
Location: East River Promenade, East River Park.
Time: 3:30 on Friday, May 17.

I’m a suburban kid. I was born in downtown Mexico City but I grew up in a neighborhood called Lomas Verdes, which was known to be the most ‘Fresa,’ which would be the equivalent of the word square, suburban neighborhood in Mexico City. My dad’s a lawyer from Mexico and my mom’s a professor from the East Coast. I didn’t want to be a professor or a lawyer but you don’t really aspire to be a circus performer. I actually think I was the kid who had the balls to do what I wanted to do.

It was my lifelong dream to live here. I remember going to Times Square and thinking I wanted to be there. It was perverted and cool and weird. I moved to the East Village in the early 1990s and I’ve lived in the same apartment for 20 years. There used to be dealers in the building where I live. The prostitutes would sometimes be plying their trade in the halls at 4 in the morning. I always had a soft spot for the working girls. I kind of feel that in a lot of ways they’re somebody’s sister or somebody’s mother. I used to kick them out of the building but they always were nice to me. The dealers and the junkies and the working girls, I was always nice to them and they were always nice to me for whatever reason. The ones who were really nasty were the Johns. They had paid for it and would be like, “Mind your own business,” and I would go into my apartment and walk out with a baseball bat and that was it.

My first job here was as a street vendor, selling jewelry. I moved here to make it as an artist. I really was not into being a sideshow performer. I played in bands as a vocalist. I was into weird bands, anywhere from somewhat punk and hardcore to weird art bands. I was more of a screamer than anything else. I also wrote a lot of poetry and did a lot of poetry readings. I still write poetry — it’s kind of what I do. I write everyday. I’ve never really had a straight job. I didn’t want to become the hamster in the wheel going around and around in a circle. That, to me, was perhaps the most terrifying place to end up in.

I lost my street vending job and I needed a job badly, so this woman said they needed a ticket guy in Coney Island. It was incredible. There was so much energy and so much weirdness. There was such an intense vibe. It really was a war zone, although once you got to know people it was not a bad place.

The people I worked with were interesting but the people who really intrigued me were the people who hung out there. You’d have the kite flyers, the beach walkers, the beach combers, you had the people who would sit there and watch the sun all day, you’d have some old Italians who had been there for many years, you had the people from the projects who were really nice and coming to enjoy the beach. You had a wide variety of people that made up New York. No matter that they had all these gangs, it still had this nice and laid back vibe.

There was a big difference when I tattooed my face. A lot of people get really obsessed with the tattoos and then they start talking to me and realize I’m more than just the tattoos. When I tattooed my face I had to go work inside and there was a bed of nails and I said, ‘Oh, let me go do that.’ Little did I know that I would be Eak the Geek. I was the guy who got squeezed by the bed of nails. I was the pain proof man. It was one of the classical sideshow acts.

It was always really hard, hard, gritty work. There was a time when you would do 12, 45-minute shows a day. People would get very tired and beat up from doing the shows. It was not ideal working conditions. You spent a lot of your year with the five people in the backstage, that you’d see everyday, everyday, everyday. You were kind of a dysfunctional family. There was a lot of fighting and arguing.

After 15 years, when it stopped becoming a place for me to write about, that’s when it became time to leave. It had an interesting shelf life and then it became a job. I always liked fishing but I began to fish seriously in 2007 after I left the sideshow. The sideshow took so much of my time and life that I needed something to fill in the void.

What an amazing day to go fishing.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Countdown to Citi Bikes bike share in the East Village



The Citi Bikes bike share program will officially launch on Monday for the 8,000 or so people who bought the annual membership in the City. (We saw on Twitter that at least one East Village resident received her membership card in the mail.) For everyone else, weekly and daily passes go on sale June 2.

Ahead of this, Citi Bike officials were checking out the docking stations to make sure each rack works here on East 13th Street and Avenue A, as EVG reader Gary pointed out...



This was the docking station that someone festooned with dog poop and colorful signs last week. In fact, this post (briefly) served as the backdrop for Greg Mocker's report on Citi Bikes Sunday night on WPIX ...



Here's the segment. (Thanks to Shawn Chittle for this.)

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Meanwhile ... several readers noted that someone placed MasterCard stickers on the docking stations on East Second Street at Avenue B... and East Sixth Street at Avenue B... Seventh Street and Avenue A... initially we thought this might be some act of tomfoolery, though that's not the case... The program is funded jointly by Citibank and Mastercard, who paid $41 million and $6.5 million, respectively, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.





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Finally, as a refresher. For accurate (probably) information on how Citi Bikes work... here is the official information on pricing ... and here are FAQs.

Sad sale of the 9th Street Bakery continues

As you probably know, 9th Street Bakery is closing in the next few weeks. And owners Oleg and Tetyana are selling off pieces of the bakery, including the dry-curved glass showcases.

Even more of the bakery's accessories are now on Craigslist... this one is a gut wrencher — the sale of the wood-framed chalkboard noting the daily specials...



A juice/smoothie shop is apparently taking over the space.

CB3 turns down The Living Room's bid to move to East 2nd Street

Catching up with Monday night's CB3/SLA committee meeting. One item of particular interest: The Living Room's proposal to take over the soon-to-be-former Klean & Kleaner laundromat on East Second Street. (Read the background on this here.)

Living Room co-founders Jennifer Gilson and Steve Rosenthal (pictured) were on-hand to make their case, though, ultimately, to no avail. The committee voted down the applicants. Let's have BoweryBoogie pick up the action:

As it stands, this stretch of Second Street was grandfathered into a general residence district, and doesn’t allow for any performances with cover charges. There was reportedly contact with the DOB to settle this issue, but the Living Room hadn’t heard any news as of last night. And they didn’t have the luxury of laying over the application another month due to landlord/lease constraints, so a vote had to transpire.

BoweryBoogie also has news of what went down with the Soho House vote on Ludlow Street. (Spoiler: Denied, though it likely won't matter in the end.) Head on over to BB's for more details on the three-hour drama.

Eater has more on Monday night's meeting here. The Lo-Down has coverage here.

[Photo via BoweryBoogie]

Avenue A's incoming 7-Eleven loses its plywood, gains a sidewalk


[Bobby Williams]

Workers continued to pour the new sidewalks outside the incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A and East 11th Street yesterday ... which is expected to be ready now for a November opening...



And there was someone on duty during the evening to prevent anyone from doodling on the fresh concrete...

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Left behind by Treeman perhaps?



Bobby Williams spotted this today outside Tompkins Square... just one day after the Treeman sightings in these parts ...

On a sunny afternoon...



Via Ray's Candy Store on Facebook.

[Updated] Report: Gay man attacked on Avenue D last night

Reports are coming in about an apparent gay bashing in the East Village last night...



The attack reportedly happened on Avenue D and East Fourth Street. NightllifeGay.com has more details about the incident:

Allegedly, witnesses are reporting the assailant was yelling "f*ggot" as he was kicking and beating Dan. Neighbors rushed to Dan's aid and chased after the attacker but unfortunately he got away. The police are investigating the assault now and have not determine it a hate crime.

Read more about this here. Towleroad has a report here.

Last night in the West Village, an estimated 1,000 people marched to Sixth Avenue and West Eighth Street, where 32-year-old Mark Carson was murdered this past weekend. Police have charged Elliot Morales with the second degree murder-hate crime of Carson. Morales reportedly made anti-gay remarks before shooting Carson in the head.

Updated:

A gay couple in their 40s were attacked early this morning while walking on Broadway between Prince and Houston. Via WNBC 4:

The men were both punched, and one suffered an eye injury, sources said.

Police said two men, 32 and 33, were arrested and face a charge of assault as a hate crime.

As The Advocate notes: "This brings the number of New York City gay bashings in the past 30 days to an alarming seven."

Updated 5-22

WPIX had an interview with the victim, 45-year-old Dan Contarino. This report said the incident happened on Avenue D.

"You don’t expect this to happen. Sometimes certain people just snap, maybe its marriage equality, something on people’s minds, the anger that comes out when they drink,” said Dan Contarino, who believes that is how he became a victim of the latest anti-gay hate crime in New York City.

He says a man who he had seen before in the area where he lives, started yelling at him on the street near Avenue D in the East Village Monday night.

“Are you a f****t, things like that. Certain things I don’t usually like to publicly say. It just happened so quick, I’m still absorbing the shock,” he told PIX 11 News.

You can watch the video of the segment here.

While this report makes the attack seem random, The New York Times reported that Contarino and the man accused of the assault, 39-year-old Roman Gronell, who lives at the Bowery Mission, had know each other for the past month.

Via the Times:

The first attack took place late Monday after what began as an afternoon of drinking between two men, who had known each other about a month, turned violent, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said.

At around 10:45 p.m., as they walked near the Bowery Mission, where one of the men lives, they discussed the fact that one of them was gay. While the conversation was initially friendly, Mr. Kelly said, “suddenly, according to the victim, his assailant just snapped, became enraged and yelled antigay expletives.”

The Post has other details.

A few hours earlier, Dan Contarino and another man went out for drinks at the Yuca Bar on Avenue A and then to the Boiler Room, a gay bar on East Fourth Street, where they drank shots and beer, police said.

After a pizza stop at around 11 p.m., they started up a conversation about homosexuality while walking back to a homeless shelter where they both were staying.

That’s when the other man snapped.

Updated 9:30

WABC 7 reports that the NYPD made an arrest in the case.

Police say Gornell Roman was charged Wednesday with assault and aggravated harassment, both as hate crimes.

Roman is accused of yelling an anti-gay remark and attacking a drinking companion in the East Village on Monday. Roman and the victim, Dan Contarino, lived at a nearby homeless shelter.