But... per the reader, "The icing on the cake was the dead rat, which was still pulsating, chilling in a swarm of flies by the still broken-down sandbox."
In the summer of 2010, New York magazine named this one of the city's best playgrounds.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Trash and a dead rat at the Tompkins Square Park Playground this morning
A reader this morning noted an unusually dirty playground in Tompkins Square Park on East Ninth Street and Avenue A ... newspapers, half-eaten containers of food, etc. ...
But... per the reader, "The icing on the cake was the dead rat, which was still pulsating, chilling in a swarm of flies by the still broken-down sandbox."
In the summer of 2010, New York magazine named this one of the city's best playgrounds.
But... per the reader, "The icing on the cake was the dead rat, which was still pulsating, chilling in a swarm of flies by the still broken-down sandbox."
In the summer of 2010, New York magazine named this one of the city's best playgrounds.
How do we feel about a Tim Hortons opening on East Houston?
As you may have noticed in recent weeks... hanging in the vacant space next to Katz's on East Houston...
EVG reader Chris F. sent along the above photo. BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down both recently noted the arrival of Tim Hortons, launched by the former NHL star who spent some 20 years in the league.
Per the website:
And...
There are now 3,000 locations in the United States and Canada ... including 11 in the city. (This will make No. 12.)
I'm not at-all familiar with the chain (except what I posted above) ... though I'm not sure I like the sound of "Timbits"...
EVG reader Chris F. sent along the above photo. BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down both recently noted the arrival of Tim Hortons, launched by the former NHL star who spent some 20 years in the league.
Per the website:
The Tim Hortons chain was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario. The chain's focus on top quality, always fresh product, value, great service and community leadership has allowed it to grow into the largest quick service restaurant chain in Canada specializing in always fresh coffee, baked goods and homestyle lunches.
And...
Sadly, Tim did not live to witness the chain's great success. He was traveling back to Buffalo from a game at Maple Leaf Gardens when he was killed in an automobile accident on February 21, 1974. The Buffalo Sabres retired his Number 2 sweater as a tribute to his memory. At the time of Tim's death, there were 40 Tim Hortons restaurants.
There are now 3,000 locations in the United States and Canada ... including 11 in the city. (This will make No. 12.)
I'm not at-all familiar with the chain (except what I posted above) ... though I'm not sure I like the sound of "Timbits"...
Tomorrow is NYU Freshman Move-In Day
Tomorrow, NYU welcomes nearly 4,000 new students during the school's official Freshman Move-In Day. For the new students and parents, this means a day of great excitement and stress. For you, well, tomorrow may not be the best day to, say, finally decide to rent a car and run errands, like drive to P.C. Richard on East 14th St. to buy that new air conditioner you've been talking about all summer.
Meanwhile, at other NYU residences, some students are already moving in, such as here on the Bowery at East Second Street...
Anyway, please be on your best behavior tomorrow. Any encouragement, words of wisdom, neighborly advice, etc., to pass along ...?
Friday, August 24, 2012
Today in photos of a Home Depot cart tied to a light pole with plastic on East 9th Street
Phew.
Pic by Bobby Williams.
Tonight at the Pyramid Club: 'Rise great spirit of Avenue A!'
From the EV Grieve inbox... heh ... at the Pyramid tonight starting at 10 ...
Tonight join Rosalie Knox & Jacquelyn Gallo as we journey into the unknown where unicorns frolic, faeries shine & nails get did.
With musical offerings by DJ MIKE BILL$ and DJ MAX GERONIMO, we summons the olden gods of yore who once burst through ye olde Pyramid Club with splendor and majesty. Rise great spirit of Avenue A!
If it pleases the court, our pro go-go dancers including seasoned contortionist AMAZING AMY + majorly bonerific ARIC-SHUN aka JUGGERNUT + the unihorned wonder REVE and many more will grip their feet and steady their beat to music curated by the best djs in our friends list — all MC'd by Mr JOHNNY BIZARRO himself.
A place where only oddity reigns supreme, costumes are encouraged.
Searching into the darkness, we jump into the abyss. What do we say to the God of death? Not today.
~FOR WE ARE HORNY~
BASEMENT OF PYRAMID CLUB
DOWNSTAIRS FROM 80S NIGHT!
$5 - entrance to both!!
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition
Lawsuit claims East Village trainer is bedding his clients, dumping them via Facebook (New York Post)
Counting the driving infractions on Delancey and Essex (Animal NY)
The fate that awaits Colony Records (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
Bloomberg thinks the city's homeless shelters are a pleasurable experience (Runnin' Scared)
The Voice is leaving Cooper Square (DNAinfo)
What if the Bowery had a different name? (Ephemeral New York)
One on One's new neon (BoweryBoogie)
Something new in the works for 13th Street and University Place (Flaming Pablum)
... and THE SUMMER OF BEES RETURNS... Swarm found on Grand Street (The Lo-Down)
Josie's opens tonight on East Sixth Street
Tonight at 6, Josie's opens at 520 E. Sixth St., former home of the late, great Joe's Bar here between Avenue A and Avenue B.
The bar closed last Thanksgiving after proprietor Joe Vajda died. (Joe's opened in that space in 1973. Joe and two other partners previously had a place across the street.)
Earlier in the year, as we first reported, Richard Corton and his business partner Kirk Marcoe, who own Mona's and Sophie's, purchased the bar from Dottie, Joe's longtime domestic partner.
The two considered all this as more of a restoration than a renovation. So you'll find a space that looks and feels very familiar... Which is all good.
As Dave on 7th noted after a recent look-see:
"The bar has been beautifully refinished. I spent 10 years of my life in this bar and I think what they're doing is going to be beautiful and authentic."
Indeed.
Corton and Marcoe even found a company in Los Angeles to replicate the exact same wallpaper that adorned Joe's through the years...
And here's a shot of the old wallpaper before it was removed ...
There is a new pool table and jukebox ... and likely some new music. Dottie took all of the country-and-western CDs with her...
Also, expect the return of the giant, Soviet-era Lowenbrau clock (once it's working again). But there aren't any seedless mandarins.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Joe's Bar is joining the Sophie's-Mona's family
2 additional floors coming to 205 Avenue A; another Lowenberg-Issac production
205 Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street is resident-free as workers have gutted the building this past week... According to the DOB, two additional floors are on the way via developer Terrence Lowenberg and architect Ramy Issac.
Perhaps we can expect to see more dorm-like conditions upon 205's unveiling, much like the previous Lowenberg-Issac production at 326-328 E. Fourth St., where there is a six-bedroom unit available for $8,000. (The two also teamed up for the in-progress additions at 154 Second Ave.)
Meanwhile, there are two complaints dated Wednesday on file with the DOB... from next door at No. 203:
CONSTRUCTION AT THE ADDRESS LSITED IS NOT TAKING PROPER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS AND AS A RESULT NAILS, SCREWS AND OTHER DEBRIS IS FALLING ONTO ADJACENT PROPERTY
Previously on EV Grieve:
City has OK'd one-floor addition for Ben Shaoul-owned building on Avenue A and East 12th Street
[VIDEO] 'Suffering terribly' from the mystery noise on East Ninth Street
Earlier this week, we posted the signs about the "terrible screeching noise" from somewhere behind a building on East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C ...
There's also a video.
Per the description on the video: "If anybody has any idea what the noise might be and how it can be stopped, please let me know."
There's also a video.
Per the description on the video: "If anybody has any idea what the noise might be and how it can be stopped, please let me know."
Checking in on the Axis of 11
Back on Feb. 24, we noted that a 7-Eleven was in the works for 813 Broadway near 12th Street ... the cheap-o DVD shop packed up and moved across the street...
Jeremiah noted the arrival of the all-too-familiar signage yesterday...
The march continues...into the 7-Eleven zone...
Previously on EV Grieve:
7-Eleven to give its regards to Broadway
Jeremiah noted the arrival of the all-too-familiar signage yesterday...
The march continues...into the 7-Eleven zone...
Previously on EV Grieve:
7-Eleven to give its regards to Broadway
Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine has looked closed of late
Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine quietly opened at 82 Second Ave. (the former Mission Cafe space) back in the middle of June... and it has looked closed of late. The above photo is from a few nights ago... paper now hangs in the window... the always-reliable fellow at the deli next door said that the owner was "impatient" and decided to close...
However, another tipster on the block said that the owner will likely reopen with a different concept. Back in February, Crain's reported that the owner had signed a 10-year lease here.
Summer Fridays rehash: Nearly 90 years of Lower East Side history in 5 minutes (or so)
Hey, we're STILL digging into the EVG archives for these next few summer Fridays... We first posted this on July 10, 2008...
-------------
[Window Shade Repairman, St. Marks Place, New York, 1938, by Joe Schwartz. Via Stephen Cohen Gallery]
I was just looking through the archives from 1851-1980 at the Times. (Bought a few articles for some research.) There's a handy free preview with each article that let's you see the headline, date published, author and first paragraph. (While looking at the first paragraph, I was reminded of my first day in a newswriting class, when my professor told us that, with a strong lead, someone doesn't need to read the rest of the article.)
In any event, here are some kind-of random headlines and first paragraphs of articles from the Times that span nearly 90 years. This isn't meant as an exhaustive LES history, just a snapshot that provides a slice-of-life of, uh, life in the neighborhood . . . as well as its subsequent cultural transformation.
• SPLIT ON THEOSOPHY'S ROCK; MORE TROUBLE IN THE WILSON INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. Resignation of the Matron, Mrs. Armstrong, and of Miss Kirkwood, a Teacher, Requested at a Hurriedly-Called Meeting Lost Friday -- The School, Left Almost Without Teachers, Ordered Closed -- Managers Have Taken Sides, and Serious Dissension Is in Prospect.
-------------
[Window Shade Repairman, St. Marks Place, New York, 1938, by Joe Schwartz. Via Stephen Cohen Gallery]I was just looking through the archives from 1851-1980 at the Times. (Bought a few articles for some research.) There's a handy free preview with each article that let's you see the headline, date published, author and first paragraph. (While looking at the first paragraph, I was reminded of my first day in a newswriting class, when my professor told us that, with a strong lead, someone doesn't need to read the rest of the article.)
In any event, here are some kind-of random headlines and first paragraphs of articles from the Times that span nearly 90 years. This isn't meant as an exhaustive LES history, just a snapshot that provides a slice-of-life of, uh, life in the neighborhood . . . as well as its subsequent cultural transformation.
• SPLIT ON THEOSOPHY'S ROCK; MORE TROUBLE IN THE WILSON INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. Resignation of the Matron, Mrs. Armstrong, and of Miss Kirkwood, a Teacher, Requested at a Hurriedly-Called Meeting Lost Friday -- The School, Left Almost Without Teachers, Ordered Closed -- Managers Have Taken Sides, and Serious Dissension Is in Prospect.
June 26, 1893
The spread of Theosophy among the Faculty of the Wilson Industrial School for Girls, at St. Mark's Place and Avenue A. has culminated in the dismissal of two other teachers and the indefinite closing of the school.
• PARKHURST RAID SUCCEEDS; Evidence Against a Tammany Man Discovered in St. Mark's Place -- Inspector Thompson Finds Little.
March 9, 1900
Marked contrast was shown between two raids of alleged poolrooms in this city yesterday. When agents of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, of which the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst is President, swooped down upon a place at 9 St. Mark's Place they surprised more than 300 men and boys, and caught two alleged principals with money in their hands, and also seized a wagonload of poolroom paraphernalia.
• GAMBLERS RESIST RAID.; Throw Furniture at Detectives Who Enter Resort in St. Mark's Place.
May 9, 1912
Lieut. Becker and nine members of the "Strong Arm" squad drove up to 6 St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon in a moving van, sprang from it, and ran up to the second floor of the house, where they found themselves confronted by an icechest door. While they battered at this with axes several shots were fired from inside the room and the detectives fired back. No one was hit.
• CHIEF AND GANGMEN HELD FOR MURDER; 'Dopey' Benny's Crowd Rounded Up and Charged with Killing Court Clerk Straus. MITCHEL AND McKAY ACT Mayor Will Give Police More Power -- Capt. Sweeney Suspended for Neglect.
January 11, 1914
Edward Morris, better known as "Fat Bull," a former Special Deputy Sheriff and official "bouncer" of Arlington Hall at 19-23 St. Mark's Place, before which Frederick Straus, a clerk of the City Court, was shot and killed on Friday evening; broke down last night under questioning by Second Deputy Commissioner Dougherty and Inspector Faurot.
• OLD ESTATE SALE.; St. Mark's Place Holdings of Wealthy Goldbeater at Auction.
February 28, 1915
Three tenements on St. Mark's Place (East Eighth Street) will be sold in the Vesey Street Salesroom by Joseph P. Day on Tuesday. Over half a century ago St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue were as fashionable residential thoroughfares as could be found in the city. The property is to be sold for the Nicholas Schultz estate.
• 12-FOOT WALL HIDES ONCE DAZZLING SHOP; It Is Designed to Check an Exodus of Doctors from St. Mark's Place. CONCEALS A SODA OASIS Menchell's Methods of Attracting Trade Became Unpopular with Medical Neighbors.
August 26, 1915
When the shop of Isrial Menchell at 13 St. Mark's Place, which dispenses candy, soda water, cigarettes, and souvenir postal cards to the inhabitants of that particular section of Manhattan Island, began to thrive and prosper some eight months ago, Menchell's neighbors, instead of showing pleasure at this prosperity, were inclined to carp and criticise.
• BLACK HAND PANICS SPREAD IN SCHOOLS; Three More Scares in One Day -- Police and Teachers Hunt the Troublemakers. LOLLYPOPS PARTLY BLAMED Black Candy in Shape of Hand Sold to Children -- Excited Mothers Add to Disorder.
June 18, 1926, Friday
Stirred by three more Black Hand panics in schools on the lower east side of Manhattan yesterday, in one of which 2,300 children and almost as many mothers and friends milled about the building in excited mobs, Police Commissioner George V. Mclaughlin and Superintendent of Schools William J. O'Shea took active steps yesterday afternoon to bring the scare to an end.
• FOUND WITH DYNAMITE, HELD IN PALMIERI CASE; Subway Blaster's Helper Had Fashioned Bomb, but Says It Was for Fishing Expedition.
March 6, 1927
A man who identified himself as George Falley, 40 years old, of 414 East Ninth Street, a blaster's helper in the subway, was arrested in a furnished room at 63 St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon on the charge of having dynamite in his possession illegally, which is a felony.
• SNOWFALL A BOON TO THE JOBLESS; 300 at The Tub Are Put to Work Clearing Streets and Ledoux Postpones Auction. HE OUTFITS HIS WARDS Bankers' Journal Says One Cause of Unemployment Is Strikes In Coat Fields.
March 10, 1928
Because the Street Cleaning Department needed snow shovelers, the scheduled auction of unemployed by Urbain (Zero) Ledoux, in his shelter, The Tub, 12 St. Mark's Place, did not take place yesterday afternoon.
• RECEIVER DEBATED FOR 'MR. ZERO'S' $37; Court Decrees It Must Act for "the Tub's" Rent if There Is a Bank Account. FUNDS NOT HIS, HE SAYS But Counsel for Landlord Seeking $7,345 Contends Contributions Were Pledged by Ledoux.
June 10, 1931
Urban J. Ledoux, who as Mr. Zero carries on relief work for Bowery derelicts, appeared before Supreme Court Justice Walsh yesterday to oppose an application by Mrs. Anna M. Brindell for the appointment of a receiver for his property in an effort to collect something on a judgment for $7,345 obtained against Ledoux a year ago for rent of The Tub at 12 St. Mark's Place.
• FINDS LOWER EAST SIDE SUITED ONLY TO RICH; Housing Expert Says Land Value Demands Costly Dwellings -- Doubtful of Present Plans.
March 18, 1932
Addressing the housing section of the Welfare Council last night, Carol Aronovici, housing and town-planning expert, decried the efforts to rehabilitate the lower east side as a residential area for the poor.
• CROWD AT WEDDING STAMPEDED BY FIRE; ONE KILLED, 40 HURT; 250 Rush for Exits of Hall as Flames Start in Canopy Over Head of Bride-to-Be.
June 16, 1935
Fire that started in the canopy beneath which the bride-to-be was sitting, just before the wedding ceremony was to have begun, drove 250 relatives and friends into a stampede for the exits of a first-floor hall of The Mansion, 57 St. Mark's Place, just before last midnight.
• Nine Persons Routed From Tenement Homes When Wall Cracks, Threatening Collapse
March 10, 1938
Nine persons, imperiled by a cracked wall that caused an inspector to declare the building in danger of collapse, were ordered from their homes in an old-law tenement at 82 St. Mark's Place last night, while the police roped off the sidewalk to keep passers-by from possible injury.
• Changes Are Noted in Lower East Side; Indoor Markets Eliminating Pushcarts
February 21, 1939
The lower East Side of Manhattan is in the public eye these days. This old neighborhood south of Fourteenth Street is undergoing many changes which realty men and property owners hope will help to bring about the long-awaited revival of interest in the district.
• Fewer Tenements on the Lower East Side Now Unprotected Against Hazard of Fire
August 8, 1940
Thousands of tenants of old buildings on the lower East Side of Manhattan below Fourteenth Street are living in quarters which are much safer from fire hazards than they were a year ago.
• Mecca Theatre on Ave. A Sold for $170,000; Site Included in East Side Housing Project
April 23, 1943
The Mecca Theatre and the adjoining stores occupying the west side of Avenue A from Fourteenth to Fifteenth Street, have been acquired by the Acropolis Holding Corporation, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, as part of the site for the big post-war housing project which the insurance company will erect on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
• COURT SANCTIONS STUYVESANT TOWN; High State Bench Approves Building of 'Walled City' on East Side After War
December 3, 1943
By a vote of 4 to 2, the Court of Appeals refused today to enjoin the building in the post-war period, of Stuyvesant Town, the eighteen-block "walled city" planned by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company on Manhattan's lower East Side
• HOLD-UP SUSPECTS CAPTURED IN STORE; Police Balk 3 Armed Men as They Line Up Victims in St. Mark's Place Shop
January 29, 1946
Balked by a patrolman breaking in through a side door, three armed hold-up men who were lining up eight victims in the rear of a candy store at 102 St. Marks Place, near First Avenue, were captured yesterday and one of them was shot when he made a dash for freedom.
• AIR RAID TEST SET IN EAST SIDE AREA; Drill Tomorrow Evening Will Be Based on Assumed Atom Bomb Drop 3 Miles Away
June 24, 1954
A four-block area on the lower East Side, just above Manhattan Bridge, will be the center tomorrow night of the third annual Civil Defense training exercise in this city.
• Our Changing City: :Old Lower Manhattan Area; New East Side Housing Provides Most of Difference in the Last 25 Years
June 24, 1955
The oldest part of New York -- from Fourteenth Street southward --looks and is pretty much as it was twenty-five years ago with one spectacular exception.
• CAR KILLS 1, HURTS 7; Plows Into Pedestrians on Sidewalk on East Side
November 27, 1961
A man was killed and seven other persons were injured yesterday when a station wagon mounted a sidewalk at St. Mark's Place and Avenue A on the East Side, struck pedestrians, smashed a fire hydrant and then hit a car that rammed a third car.
• It's Stupendous, Colossal Tiny; It's a Circus With Clowns and Animals and Even Poetry on St. Mark's Place
By GAY TALESE
December 21, 1961
St. Mark's Place, a rather bizarre street of the avant garde and Russian bath rubbers, was made no less whimsical yesterday by the sight of a llama staring languidly down from a window at pedestrians below.
• Black Jeans to Go Dancing at the Movies: It's Inevitable
April 11, 1966
WHAT does one wear to go dancing at the movies? Anything.
• THE NEW BOWERY: AN ERA OF CHANGE Shops, Theaters and Artists Drift Down the Street
The spread of Theosophy among the Faculty of the Wilson Industrial School for Girls, at St. Mark's Place and Avenue A. has culminated in the dismissal of two other teachers and the indefinite closing of the school.
• PARKHURST RAID SUCCEEDS; Evidence Against a Tammany Man Discovered in St. Mark's Place -- Inspector Thompson Finds Little.
March 9, 1900
Marked contrast was shown between two raids of alleged poolrooms in this city yesterday. When agents of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, of which the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst is President, swooped down upon a place at 9 St. Mark's Place they surprised more than 300 men and boys, and caught two alleged principals with money in their hands, and also seized a wagonload of poolroom paraphernalia.
• GAMBLERS RESIST RAID.; Throw Furniture at Detectives Who Enter Resort in St. Mark's Place.
May 9, 1912
Lieut. Becker and nine members of the "Strong Arm" squad drove up to 6 St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon in a moving van, sprang from it, and ran up to the second floor of the house, where they found themselves confronted by an icechest door. While they battered at this with axes several shots were fired from inside the room and the detectives fired back. No one was hit.
• CHIEF AND GANGMEN HELD FOR MURDER; 'Dopey' Benny's Crowd Rounded Up and Charged with Killing Court Clerk Straus. MITCHEL AND McKAY ACT Mayor Will Give Police More Power -- Capt. Sweeney Suspended for Neglect.
January 11, 1914
Edward Morris, better known as "Fat Bull," a former Special Deputy Sheriff and official "bouncer" of Arlington Hall at 19-23 St. Mark's Place, before which Frederick Straus, a clerk of the City Court, was shot and killed on Friday evening; broke down last night under questioning by Second Deputy Commissioner Dougherty and Inspector Faurot.
• OLD ESTATE SALE.; St. Mark's Place Holdings of Wealthy Goldbeater at Auction.
February 28, 1915
Three tenements on St. Mark's Place (East Eighth Street) will be sold in the Vesey Street Salesroom by Joseph P. Day on Tuesday. Over half a century ago St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue were as fashionable residential thoroughfares as could be found in the city. The property is to be sold for the Nicholas Schultz estate.
• 12-FOOT WALL HIDES ONCE DAZZLING SHOP; It Is Designed to Check an Exodus of Doctors from St. Mark's Place. CONCEALS A SODA OASIS Menchell's Methods of Attracting Trade Became Unpopular with Medical Neighbors.
August 26, 1915
When the shop of Isrial Menchell at 13 St. Mark's Place, which dispenses candy, soda water, cigarettes, and souvenir postal cards to the inhabitants of that particular section of Manhattan Island, began to thrive and prosper some eight months ago, Menchell's neighbors, instead of showing pleasure at this prosperity, were inclined to carp and criticise.
• BLACK HAND PANICS SPREAD IN SCHOOLS; Three More Scares in One Day -- Police and Teachers Hunt the Troublemakers. LOLLYPOPS PARTLY BLAMED Black Candy in Shape of Hand Sold to Children -- Excited Mothers Add to Disorder.
June 18, 1926, Friday
Stirred by three more Black Hand panics in schools on the lower east side of Manhattan yesterday, in one of which 2,300 children and almost as many mothers and friends milled about the building in excited mobs, Police Commissioner George V. Mclaughlin and Superintendent of Schools William J. O'Shea took active steps yesterday afternoon to bring the scare to an end.
• FOUND WITH DYNAMITE, HELD IN PALMIERI CASE; Subway Blaster's Helper Had Fashioned Bomb, but Says It Was for Fishing Expedition.
March 6, 1927
A man who identified himself as George Falley, 40 years old, of 414 East Ninth Street, a blaster's helper in the subway, was arrested in a furnished room at 63 St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon on the charge of having dynamite in his possession illegally, which is a felony.
• SNOWFALL A BOON TO THE JOBLESS; 300 at The Tub Are Put to Work Clearing Streets and Ledoux Postpones Auction. HE OUTFITS HIS WARDS Bankers' Journal Says One Cause of Unemployment Is Strikes In Coat Fields.
March 10, 1928
Because the Street Cleaning Department needed snow shovelers, the scheduled auction of unemployed by Urbain (Zero) Ledoux, in his shelter, The Tub, 12 St. Mark's Place, did not take place yesterday afternoon.
• RECEIVER DEBATED FOR 'MR. ZERO'S' $37; Court Decrees It Must Act for "the Tub's" Rent if There Is a Bank Account. FUNDS NOT HIS, HE SAYS But Counsel for Landlord Seeking $7,345 Contends Contributions Were Pledged by Ledoux.
June 10, 1931
Urban J. Ledoux, who as Mr. Zero carries on relief work for Bowery derelicts, appeared before Supreme Court Justice Walsh yesterday to oppose an application by Mrs. Anna M. Brindell for the appointment of a receiver for his property in an effort to collect something on a judgment for $7,345 obtained against Ledoux a year ago for rent of The Tub at 12 St. Mark's Place.
• FINDS LOWER EAST SIDE SUITED ONLY TO RICH; Housing Expert Says Land Value Demands Costly Dwellings -- Doubtful of Present Plans.
March 18, 1932
Addressing the housing section of the Welfare Council last night, Carol Aronovici, housing and town-planning expert, decried the efforts to rehabilitate the lower east side as a residential area for the poor.
• CROWD AT WEDDING STAMPEDED BY FIRE; ONE KILLED, 40 HURT; 250 Rush for Exits of Hall as Flames Start in Canopy Over Head of Bride-to-Be.
June 16, 1935
Fire that started in the canopy beneath which the bride-to-be was sitting, just before the wedding ceremony was to have begun, drove 250 relatives and friends into a stampede for the exits of a first-floor hall of The Mansion, 57 St. Mark's Place, just before last midnight.
• Nine Persons Routed From Tenement Homes When Wall Cracks, Threatening Collapse
March 10, 1938
Nine persons, imperiled by a cracked wall that caused an inspector to declare the building in danger of collapse, were ordered from their homes in an old-law tenement at 82 St. Mark's Place last night, while the police roped off the sidewalk to keep passers-by from possible injury.
• Changes Are Noted in Lower East Side; Indoor Markets Eliminating Pushcarts
February 21, 1939
The lower East Side of Manhattan is in the public eye these days. This old neighborhood south of Fourteenth Street is undergoing many changes which realty men and property owners hope will help to bring about the long-awaited revival of interest in the district.
• Fewer Tenements on the Lower East Side Now Unprotected Against Hazard of Fire
August 8, 1940
Thousands of tenants of old buildings on the lower East Side of Manhattan below Fourteenth Street are living in quarters which are much safer from fire hazards than they were a year ago.
• Mecca Theatre on Ave. A Sold for $170,000; Site Included in East Side Housing Project
April 23, 1943
The Mecca Theatre and the adjoining stores occupying the west side of Avenue A from Fourteenth to Fifteenth Street, have been acquired by the Acropolis Holding Corporation, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, as part of the site for the big post-war housing project which the insurance company will erect on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
• COURT SANCTIONS STUYVESANT TOWN; High State Bench Approves Building of 'Walled City' on East Side After War
December 3, 1943
By a vote of 4 to 2, the Court of Appeals refused today to enjoin the building in the post-war period, of Stuyvesant Town, the eighteen-block "walled city" planned by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company on Manhattan's lower East Side
• HOLD-UP SUSPECTS CAPTURED IN STORE; Police Balk 3 Armed Men as They Line Up Victims in St. Mark's Place Shop
January 29, 1946
Balked by a patrolman breaking in through a side door, three armed hold-up men who were lining up eight victims in the rear of a candy store at 102 St. Marks Place, near First Avenue, were captured yesterday and one of them was shot when he made a dash for freedom.
• AIR RAID TEST SET IN EAST SIDE AREA; Drill Tomorrow Evening Will Be Based on Assumed Atom Bomb Drop 3 Miles Away
June 24, 1954
A four-block area on the lower East Side, just above Manhattan Bridge, will be the center tomorrow night of the third annual Civil Defense training exercise in this city.
• Our Changing City: :Old Lower Manhattan Area; New East Side Housing Provides Most of Difference in the Last 25 Years
June 24, 1955
The oldest part of New York -- from Fourteenth Street southward --looks and is pretty much as it was twenty-five years ago with one spectacular exception.
• CAR KILLS 1, HURTS 7; Plows Into Pedestrians on Sidewalk on East Side
November 27, 1961
A man was killed and seven other persons were injured yesterday when a station wagon mounted a sidewalk at St. Mark's Place and Avenue A on the East Side, struck pedestrians, smashed a fire hydrant and then hit a car that rammed a third car.
• It's Stupendous, Colossal Tiny; It's a Circus With Clowns and Animals and Even Poetry on St. Mark's Place
By GAY TALESE
December 21, 1961
St. Mark's Place, a rather bizarre street of the avant garde and Russian bath rubbers, was made no less whimsical yesterday by the sight of a llama staring languidly down from a window at pedestrians below.
• Black Jeans to Go Dancing at the Movies: It's Inevitable
April 11, 1966
WHAT does one wear to go dancing at the movies? Anything.
• THE NEW BOWERY: AN ERA OF CHANGE Shops, Theaters and Artists Drift Down the Street
October 16, 1966
The Bowery is slowly changing. Theaters and antique stores are to be found on the dismal thoroughfare and at the intersection Cooper Square at its northern end. Artists who once only rented lofts on the Bowery have begun to purchase and convert buildings; the number of studios increases yearly.
• TALK IS STRANGE IN EAST VILLAGE; Drug Users Are 'Heads' and a 'Bag' Is an Event
April 16, 1967
"This is the real bag. The scene here is where it's at and we don't need any outsiders. We've all sees shrinks and they couldn't help us. We have to find out ourselves where our head is and then we're O.K."Crime and Violence Are Commonplace in Nether World of Lower East Side March 20, 1969To the casual observer, the Lower East Side block where a youth was tortured and burned to death this week is a grimy string of dingy tenements, murky storefronts and nondescript industrial establishments.
• Swinging in the East Village Has Its Ups and Downs; UPS AND DOWNS IN EAST VILLAGE
July 15, 1967
Hundreds of Negroes and whites from all over the city and from Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island are converging in the East Village these nights to dance at the old Polish National Hall building at 23 St. Mark's Place.
• 500 HIPPIES DANCE AND PLANT A TREE; St. Mark's Place Jammed as Police Watch Patiently
August 13, 1967
Five hundred hippies and hangers-on jammed St. Marks Place near Third Avenue for about two hours late last night. They danced, shouted and planted a 5-foot evergreen in the middle of the street.
• Downtown Boutique For Uptown Crowd
January 5, 1968
THERE'S no one named Gussie or Becky at Gussie Becky. Ruth Graves, designer and owner of the boutique at 20 St. Mark's Place, just likes to play with names. Now there's a new Gussie Becky up one flight at 717 Lexington Avenue (between 57th and 58th Streets).
• 60 Hippies in a Bus See the Sights of Quaint Queens
September 23, 1968
A group of East Village hippies who became annoyed with the increasing number of tourist buses visiting St. Mark's Place turned the tables with a vengeance yesterday.
• For Many Hippies, Christmas Means Emptiness; HIPPIES' LAUGHTER MASKS EMPTINESS
December 26, 1968
A raw wind rattled the gates of the closed stores along St. Mark's Place yesterday. The street was cold and empty and filthy.
• Not a Boy, Not a Girl, Just Me'
November 2, 1969
JACKIE CURTIS, 21, 5 feet 11 inches, gender male, "not a boy, not a girl, not a faggot, not a drag queen, not a transsexual -- just me, Jackie," grooving down St. Mark's Place in miniskirt, ripped black tights, clunky heels, chestnut curls, no falsies ("I'm not trying to pass as a woman"), Isadora scarf gallantly breezing behind her, is the newest playwright to make the Off Off Broadway scene.
• You Don't Have to Be High
December 28, 1969
IT's 2 A.M. at the Fillmore East, just down freaky Second Avenue from St. Mark's Place, and John Mayall, lanky in white bell-bottoms and a headband, is going "chicka-chicka" into his harmonica and driving the audience wild.
• 'VELVET' ROCK GROUP OPENS STAND HERE
July 4, 1970
SAN FRANCISCO: The Velvet Underground was playing experimental rock in 1965 when the Beatles just wanted to hold your hand and San Francisco was still the place where Tony Bennett left his heart.
• W.H. Auden Plans to Move Back Home to England
February 7, 1972
Another great institution is leaving New York City -- a one-man corporation of letters named W. H. Auden.
• Rock Meets Disco: Where To Try It; Rock Meets Disco: Where To Try It The Mudd Club Hurrah Trude Heller Now The Rocker Room Club 57 and Studio 10
April 27, 1979
THERE'S a different sort of disco in Manhattan these days, and its proliferation shows every sign of becoming a genuine trend. These "new wave" discotheques are still mostly large, dark places with flashing lights and eager crowds dancing to pulsating, heavily amplified music. But the music they are dancing to isn't disco; it's rock-and-roll.
• The Pop Life; Growth, change and David Johansen.
August 17, 1979
ROCK-AND-ROLL can be a cruel profession, enforcing stylistic limits on those who'd like to grow and branding others as losers before they've even had a chance to win.
The Bowery is slowly changing. Theaters and antique stores are to be found on the dismal thoroughfare and at the intersection Cooper Square at its northern end. Artists who once only rented lofts on the Bowery have begun to purchase and convert buildings; the number of studios increases yearly.
• TALK IS STRANGE IN EAST VILLAGE; Drug Users Are 'Heads' and a 'Bag' Is an Event
April 16, 1967
"This is the real bag. The scene here is where it's at and we don't need any outsiders. We've all sees shrinks and they couldn't help us. We have to find out ourselves where our head is and then we're O.K."Crime and Violence Are Commonplace in Nether World of Lower East Side March 20, 1969To the casual observer, the Lower East Side block where a youth was tortured and burned to death this week is a grimy string of dingy tenements, murky storefronts and nondescript industrial establishments.
• Swinging in the East Village Has Its Ups and Downs; UPS AND DOWNS IN EAST VILLAGE
July 15, 1967
Hundreds of Negroes and whites from all over the city and from Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island are converging in the East Village these nights to dance at the old Polish National Hall building at 23 St. Mark's Place.
• 500 HIPPIES DANCE AND PLANT A TREE; St. Mark's Place Jammed as Police Watch Patiently
August 13, 1967
Five hundred hippies and hangers-on jammed St. Marks Place near Third Avenue for about two hours late last night. They danced, shouted and planted a 5-foot evergreen in the middle of the street.
• Downtown Boutique For Uptown Crowd
January 5, 1968
THERE'S no one named Gussie or Becky at Gussie Becky. Ruth Graves, designer and owner of the boutique at 20 St. Mark's Place, just likes to play with names. Now there's a new Gussie Becky up one flight at 717 Lexington Avenue (between 57th and 58th Streets).
• 60 Hippies in a Bus See the Sights of Quaint Queens
September 23, 1968
A group of East Village hippies who became annoyed with the increasing number of tourist buses visiting St. Mark's Place turned the tables with a vengeance yesterday.
• For Many Hippies, Christmas Means Emptiness; HIPPIES' LAUGHTER MASKS EMPTINESS
December 26, 1968
A raw wind rattled the gates of the closed stores along St. Mark's Place yesterday. The street was cold and empty and filthy.
• Not a Boy, Not a Girl, Just Me'
November 2, 1969
JACKIE CURTIS, 21, 5 feet 11 inches, gender male, "not a boy, not a girl, not a faggot, not a drag queen, not a transsexual -- just me, Jackie," grooving down St. Mark's Place in miniskirt, ripped black tights, clunky heels, chestnut curls, no falsies ("I'm not trying to pass as a woman"), Isadora scarf gallantly breezing behind her, is the newest playwright to make the Off Off Broadway scene.
• You Don't Have to Be High
December 28, 1969
IT's 2 A.M. at the Fillmore East, just down freaky Second Avenue from St. Mark's Place, and John Mayall, lanky in white bell-bottoms and a headband, is going "chicka-chicka" into his harmonica and driving the audience wild.
• 'VELVET' ROCK GROUP OPENS STAND HERE
July 4, 1970
SAN FRANCISCO: The Velvet Underground was playing experimental rock in 1965 when the Beatles just wanted to hold your hand and San Francisco was still the place where Tony Bennett left his heart.
• W.H. Auden Plans to Move Back Home to England
February 7, 1972
Another great institution is leaving New York City -- a one-man corporation of letters named W. H. Auden.
• Rock Meets Disco: Where To Try It; Rock Meets Disco: Where To Try It The Mudd Club Hurrah Trude Heller Now The Rocker Room Club 57 and Studio 10
April 27, 1979
THERE'S a different sort of disco in Manhattan these days, and its proliferation shows every sign of becoming a genuine trend. These "new wave" discotheques are still mostly large, dark places with flashing lights and eager crowds dancing to pulsating, heavily amplified music. But the music they are dancing to isn't disco; it's rock-and-roll.
• The Pop Life; Growth, change and David Johansen.
August 17, 1979
ROCK-AND-ROLL can be a cruel profession, enforcing stylistic limits on those who'd like to grow and branding others as losers before they've even had a chance to win.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Joey Pepperoni now selling his $1 slice on First Avenue
An EVG reader tells us that Joey Pepperoni's Pizza is now open (festive balloon alert!) on First Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street... If you try it, then let us know how it is. Or, if you don't try it, then let us know what you think it is like ...
Coming Sept. 9: Tompkins Square Iron Chef
For immediate release - Thursday, August 23, 2012
Greenmarket proudly presents Tompkins Square Greenmarket Iron Chef: Veselka Bowery versus Hearth Restaurant/Terroir Wine Bar.
Come see two culinary cornerstones of the East Village in the hot seat as Veselka Bowery and Hearth Restaurant/Terroir Wine Bar face off to claim the title of Tompkins Square Iron Chef.
Each chef has just an hour to transform a "mystery basket" of market ingredients into a delicious dish. Traven Rice of The Lo-Down and our esteemed panel of judges will crown a winner, and limited samples will be available to the public.
Sunday, Sept 9
1-4pm
Tompkins Square Greenmarket
7th St by Avenue A
Oh, and that's not an official logo for the event — just something I whipped up in 4 seconds...
The charmingly shabby interiors of 104 E. 10th St.
I've mentioned this neo-classical townhouse at 104 E. 10th St. before ... where playwright, poet and performance artist Edgar Oliver once lived, as Jeremiah wrote at Vanishing New York here.
The house has been on the market this time around for more than three months, with an asking price of $3.9 million, per Streeteasy. (The price started at $6 million back in March 2011 before it disappeared from the listings.)
We didn't see interior photos of the house on our previous visits to the listings... At some point, the broker added some shots to Streeteasy ... and it looks kind of like I thought it might...
While I rather like the dilapidated, well-worn look and feel ... the house is certainly in for a makeover. Here's the listing:
Built in 1879, this magnificent, sun-drenched residence is a restoration enthusiast's dream project.
The building offers an unparalleled opportunity to design the home you've always wanted. Its current features include four floors, eight fireplaces, skylight, original moldings, a quaint south-facing garden, an English basement with a separate street entrance, plus a basement below. With additional air rights, this building is primed for vertical expansion, offering opportunities for a roof deck, duplex unit, and more.
This distinctive residence occupies a unique place in New York's history, having served as a community hub and boarding house for East Village artists since the early 1900s. A Landmarked building located on one of the city's finest blocks, it offers easy access to public transportation, as well as some of the city's best cafes, restaurants, bookstores, and universities.
I'm imagining the spirits of these East Village artists of days gone by congregating in that front room with the paint chips on the floor and the weed working its way inside the window... and wondering, What in the hell happened to the neighborhood.
Going back to Jeremiah's post on the building from last September:
Now I suppose some god-awful heiress will move in with her zombie husband and hollow-eyed children to fill the place with their flat-screen lives. This is how it goes.
Reader reports: Bar on A has closed
We've now heard from various tipsters and Avenue A sources that Bar on A has closed. (We're told that Sunday was its last day.)
Owner Bob Scarrano passed away in March 2010.
Since then, a few regulars felt as if the low-key bar, going on its 17th year, didn't quite have the same spirit ... the bar was also for sale last summer, though one regular told us that a deal never materialized for the ample, 1,500-square-foot-space at East 11th Street.
A memorial on Avenue B: 'I hope you will have a good time in heaven'
Several weeks ago, we spotted a notice about the passing of Elisa Martinez, a longtime resident at 28 Avenue B ...
Amazingly, given the weather, film shoots and hordes of nightlifers along this corridor, a memorial remains today outside the door to her building ... and her friends and loved ones have left several cards and letters in her honor ...
We did not know her. She obviously meant a lot to many people... Here's one from Chris and his family that starts "I hope you will have a good time in heaven ... ."
Amazingly, given the weather, film shoots and hordes of nightlifers along this corridor, a memorial remains today outside the door to her building ... and her friends and loved ones have left several cards and letters in her honor ...
We did not know her. She obviously meant a lot to many people... Here's one from Chris and his family that starts "I hope you will have a good time in heaven ... ."
No James Bond tonight; Films in Tompkins series over for the summer
The weather on July 26 forced the cancellation of the free screening of "Goldfinger" in Tompkins Square Park. Afterwards, reps for the Films in Tompkins series said that the James Bond actioner would be rescheduled for tonight.
Unfortunately, that is no longer happening. The rep said yesterday that the organizers have "concluded the series for this summer."
So console yourself with this discussion about Dame Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" theme song...
Unfortunately, that is no longer happening. The rep said yesterday that the organizers have "concluded the series for this summer."
So console yourself with this discussion about Dame Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" theme song...
This is what the corner of First Avenue and East Fifth Street looked like on Aug. 17, 2012
This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tompkins Square Park rat population thinned by 1
This after our earlier post about people noticing more rats in Tompkins Square Park... Bobby Williams spotted a read-tailed hawk dining on one a little while ago...
Trash can trouble in Tompkins Square Park
Word circulating in Tompkins Square Park is that a feud between two crusties ...
... resulted in one of them getting whacked in the head with a trash can lid...
The general sentiment is that this group of crusties are more violent than groups seen in previous summers...
Photos by Bobby Williams.
... resulted in one of them getting whacked in the head with a trash can lid...
The general sentiment is that this group of crusties are more violent than groups seen in previous summers...
Photos by Bobby Williams.
Report: Boozier Beagle reopens Saturday
Per Grub Street: "The spot has gotten even more into booze in the time away, so look for an expanded sherry list and updated cocktails. The food menu from new chef Jeffery Ryan Creager (formerly of 'inoteca) has been pared down."
Eater has more on the new menu here.
[Image via @TheBeagleNYC]
Restocking shelves at Fares Deli on Avenue A
Last week, we noted that Fares Deli was reopening on Avenue A...
Earlier today, our friends at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop saw workers restocking the store's shelves...
No word just yet on a reopening date...
Earlier today, our friends at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop saw workers restocking the store's shelves...
No word just yet on a reopening date...
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition
City Planning Commission OKs SPURA plan (The Lo-Down)
Some history of The Claremount on East 12th Street (Off the Grid)
Mama's owner Jeremiah Clancy on the new, "very homogenous" East Village (The Atlantic)
10 "great punk songs about New York City" (Prefix)
Other Music's new record label (The Village Voice)
The trip wire atop 118 East 4th St. (Occupy East 4th Street)
What would Bloomy's big soda ban do to EV bubble tea shops? (DNAinfo)
A history of NYC's push carts (BoweryBoogie)
New music venue for Coney Island (Curbed)
Jeremiah Moss writes a High Line op-ed today for the Times titled "Disney World on the Hudson" (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
Bonus excerpt:
It’s easy to forget that until very recently, even with the proliferation of art galleries near the West Side Highway, West Chelsea was a mix of working-class residents and light-industrial businesses.
But the High Line is washing all that away.
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