Met Foods removes the R

Renovations seemed to have wrapped up over at Met Foods on Second Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...

As Jeremiah has written about, a Ratner's was located here for more than 50 years ... (Read Jeremiah's post here.)

The R from Ratner's remained inside the front entrance... given the renovations, it seemed unlikely that this sliver of history would survive...

Sure enough. From a reader:

Manager of the Met on Second Avenue explaining why they removed the R from the floor: "it was cracked and disgusting, you really should have seen it."

Workers put in a new floor here this past week...

And so far, that exposed piece of Ratner's old wall is still there.

Well, perhaps we should just be thankful that the store survived its fight against NYU. We could be looking at a dorm instead...

Does this mean you'll have to sever your arm with a dull knife to eat Pizza Roma?

Spotted outside Whole Foods Bowery... Referencing "127 Hours" to sell pizza seems a little ... odd.

2 men and a chair inside 35 Cooper Square

On Friday afternoon, Bobby Williams spotted two workers inside the gate at the seemingly dormant 35 Cooper Square space...

... perhaps they entered to prop up this chair. Rather like the look of this now. Still life. Or target practice.

Your chance to run a cafe and kiosk in Union Square

To be honest, we've lost track of exactly what was happening with the restaurant opening at the north side of Union Square Park in the retooled pavilion ... After lawsuits and squabbling and stuff, City Farm Cafe was supposed to open here this spring ... But, per the Times, that group withdrew from the deal last fall...

Yesterday, we noticed the following public notice in the Post...

It's a 15-year lease... with "compensation to the city" starting at $300,000 in Year 1, escalating to $453,777 by Year 15... Given how slow this whole process has been, a restaurant should be in place here in 15 years...

Coming soon to Second Avenue: Gelato

EV Grieve reader abrod passes along word of this incoming gelato shop on Second Avenue near East Fourth Street... previously home to Crembebe, a boutique specializing in kid's fashions...

Oh, and Gelato Ti Amo is part of an international Tuscany-based chain who only use products branded FSC, Forest Stewardship Council, according to the Gelato Ti Amo website.

Today in red-tailed hawks eating pigeons in Tompkins Square Park

It was a busy day for hawk watching today in Tompkins Square Park... where onlookers were watching a red-tailed hawk dine on a pigeon...

Eventually, another hawk came along and watched the action as well...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Meanwhile, for no reason, in Times Square

From a very special correspondent who wanted to keep haunting us with Smurfs.

July 4 — ruined

On Thursday morning, we noted that the lights on the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree were still illuminated... and we said that we hoped they would stay on until July 4. (For no apparent reason.)

Uh, well, Thursday night — the lights were off. (Sorry — horrible picture.) And they remained off all weekend...

We took a closer look at the tree this weekend... and the lights are still attached ... so it's just a matter of plugging in the cord...

However, the NYPD has the tree under 24-hour watch to prevent this from happening.*

[* Not really. But we like to pretend...]

Artichoke expands on East 14th Street

Just two weeks ago, we noted that Curly's Vegetarian Lunch moved on, and the similar-menued 14 Carrot Vegetarian opened in its space on East 14th Street ... and just like that ... @SamStorer is back with this news: 14 Carrot is gone, and neighbor Artichoke has expanded...

Week in Grieview

[76 Third Ave. coming down]

A look at Mary Pupillo's 95 years in the East Village (Wednesday)

The scoop on the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation closing (Wednesday)

Restoring the Joe Strummer mural (Friday)

More about Bikinis opening on Avenue C (Tuesday)

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space coming to C-Squat (Monday)

A black-tie wedding reception at Katz's (Sunday)

Retna finishes work on the Houston/Bowery wall (Monday)

Jim Jarmusch is your East Village poets and poetry tour guide (Tuesday)

Why Steve Jobs is now a permanent part of Tompkins Square Park (Friday)

'World's most wanted hacker' lived on Avenue D (Tuesday)

Obscura opens on Avenue A (Sunday)

'Imagine a park' at 51 Astor Place (Tuesday)

The painting Billy Leroy left behind

So the tent is gone now here at Billy's Antiques...

Proprietor Billy Leroy passed along this photo of a painting that he accidentally left behind on the property...

BoweryBoogie has coverage of the funeral possession here.

Today at Bar 82

Depending on the time, it may be an hour later than you think

Remember the whole "spring forward" thing tonight...

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Bye bye Billy's

Here's the tent at Billy's Antiques last evening on Houston at the Bowery ...

[Photo via Fresh Paint NYC]

And today, the tent came down... a funeral procession ensued...

Look for a two-story brick building some day (and subsequent dozens of posts) ... Billy says that he will return...

Bottom two photos by Bobby Williams.

Fire on East Ninth Street

8E sends along this photo from a fire earlier this evening at 55 E. 9th St. (between Broadway and University) ... don't know the extent of the damage just yet...

[Updated] Family members react to Cabrini's closure

We mentioned yesterday that WNBC 4 was working on a Cabrini-closure story... Here are a few excerpt's from Gus Rosendale's story...

Family members of residents found out this week that they would have to make other arrangements once the East Fifth Street home closes, likely in July. The Cabrini Center has another nursing home facility in Westchester.

"My mother is in a wheelchair," said Malanke Savanovic, of Bayside, Queens. "We don't know where to put her."

Joe Torre, who lives nearby in Gramercy, makes daily visits to his mom in the nearby home and now fears he'll have to move her to another borough, further away.

"You need to be in there to see the love in there," he said.

Also.

Elizabeth Herring, who lives nearby and whose father lives in the home -- and has spent his whole life on the Lower East Side — vowed to fight the sale of the building.

"This is not over by a long shot, and we are in it for the long haul," she said.

Meanwhile, here's a snippet from NY1's report today:

Joanne Floyd said she has not slept since learning the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in the East Village is closing. Her husband, who has Parkinson's disease, lives in the center.

"I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to say. It's the most frightening thing I've ever faced," said Floyd. "I can hardly talk. I cared for him at home for four-and-a-half years, he fell, he hit his head and he came here. I've come every day for a year-and-a-half, I didn't miss one day."

Here's our story on it from Wednesday ...

East Village bars hosting first-ever Furry Vest Pub Crawl

Tomorrow, starting at 2.

[UPDATED] Did the Yogurt Station close on St. Mark's Place?

That's what a reader asked. With the paper over the windows/doors and all. Perhaps just a remodeling.

Does anyone know?

Meanwhile, we went to Yelp to see if we could find any clues ... There's a reluctant 2-star review from last Saturday... The Yelper asked, "What HAPPENED!!!!"

Yeah, what happened?

There were only two flavors: red velvet and chocolate. I'd go for the red velvet. MELTED!!!!! So I went for chocolate (eh, nothing special). By the time I got to eat it, it was already melted.

There was a good amount of flavors, mind you. And they STAYED frozen to the last bite. Not tonight!

Not to mention, the girl behind the register had quite the grumpy face. Before then, there was a friendly girl that worked the register. This makes me sad. Maybe service went downhill because the employee(s) there don't care about maintaining the store.

Anyway, the last time that we saw paper over the windows at this address... from February 2009...



UPDATED:
Nope, still open! Just closed for remodeling or something.

Seventh Street sunrise

This is what the north east corner of 13th Street and Fourth Avenue looked like on March 3, 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...

Yet so close to home...

A new one (circa January!) from Brooklyn's A Place to Bury Strangers. Called "So Far Away."

WNBC 4 on the Cabrini closure story

Was curious if or when the mainstream media would pick up on the impending closure of Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on Fifth Street and Avenue B... Here's our story on it from Wednesday ...

Let's start talking about the TSP Ratstravaganza again

Spotted this video over at Runnin' Scared. A staffer at the Comptroller's Office, which conducted an audit about not-so-swell conditions for kids in City parks, sent along the video from Tompkins Square Park ... not sure when this was made (not recently, a little green out) ... But it brings us back to the heady days of the TSP Ratstravaganza from last summer.

Speaking of rats. Here's some gore from this week in Tompkins Square Park...

Not this one...

Police looking for these men wanted for slashing 2 victims outside IHOP

[Via DNAinfo]

A Crime Stoppers alert, via DNAinfo ... Per the report:

Police are searching two suspects wanted for slashing two men in front of the IHOP restaurant on East 14th Street.

The suspects allegedly argued with the two victims, who are in their 20s, on the street outside the IHOP, which opened late last year at 235 E. 14th Street, on March 3 about 6 a.m. The suspects then slashed at both victims with an unknown object before fleeing the scene, police said.

Info on these guys? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[Spotted on the Bowery, by Bobby Williams]

City's SPURA vision includes big-box retail (The Lo-Down)

Life living next door to a hacker on Avenue D (The New York Times ... Gizmodo)

At the Odessa Cash Mob (East Village Corner ... Tripping With Marty ... It Was Her New York)

Remembering the Fillmore East (Off the Grid)

West Bleecker bloodbath (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

The "Mapping Roots" exhibit at the Carlton Arms Hotel (BoweryBoogie)

The 100 best NYC songs? (Time Out New York)

Screening tonight of the documentary, "The Quest for Cameltoe," featuring Reverend Jen.
8-11 pm at LaunchPad (film begins at 9:30).
721 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn
Free but $5 Donation appreciated.
Details here.

And, noted last night on the first warm day of the year...

Here are Robert Sietsema's choices for best East Village restaurants (2012 edition)

[The Village Voice]

At Fork in the Road this morning, Robert Sietsema unveils his list for the best East Village restaurants circa 2012.

Here's the list. Please go over to Fork in the Road for his explanations and critiques of each...

10. Downtown Bakery

9. Dirt Candy

8. Back Forty

7. Zabb Elee

6. Vandaag

5. South Brooklyn Pizza

4. Il Buco Alimentari and Vineria

3. Ramen Misoya

2. Momofuku Ssam Bar

1. Prune

His list prompted more than 50 comments here the last time (in 2010). What do you think of these choices...?

Note: Per Fork in the Road, Sietsema is friends with the chefs at Goat Town, Porsena and Porchetta, so they were not considered for the list.

What it takes to build a six-floor mansion on a narrow East Village street

We're hearing from more and more residents complaining about the construction at 331 E. Sixth St. ... and the noise/congestion is only intensifying ... (Didn't help that film crews for the Coen Brothers were on the block for three days this week...)

Anyway, here's a quick look at the work taking place at the ol' Schwimming hole ...

The city has logged a few complaints at the future David Schwimmer home ... the most recent at the DOB is dated March 2, stating:

ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION WORK BEING DONE AT THIS LOCATION WITH EXPIRED PERMITS. WORKERS CAN SEEN ON-SITE BETWEEN 7AM-6PM. TONIGHT THEY WORKED UNTIL 8PM

Photos by Bobby Williams.

P.S.

Goggla notes that an old piece of the wrought-iron fence leftover from 331 E. Sixth St. is there for the taking...

Joe Strummer gets a fresh coat and shave

Last Friday, we noted that someone had added a few details to the Joe Strummer Mural on Seventh Street at Avenue A outside Niagara...

Anyway, all gone. Joe got touched up a bit yesterday afternoon as these photos by Bobby Williams show...

...and last night...

[EVG]