Arnold Schwarzenegger filming Amazon MGM's holiday movie 'The Man With the Bag' in the East Village tomorrow

Photos by Steven 

Crews for Amazon MGM's holiday movie, "The Man With the Bag," will film in parts of the East Village tomorrow.

We've spotted filming notices along Avenue A from Seventh Street to 10th Street... and St. Mark's Place, Ninth Street, and 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

The plot for the action comedy, per IMDB: "When Santa's magic bag is stolen, he turns to his naughty list to find Vance, a former thief, to help him get it back." 

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Santa and "Reacher"'s Alan Ritchson is Vance. (The production has been filming around NYC in recent weeks.) 

And thinking about other large-scale shoots in the neighborhood in the last 30+ years... Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson filming on Avenue A and Tompkins Square Park for 1995's "Die Hard With a Vengeance."

   

Also, Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino at Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street for 1997's "The Devil's Advocate" ... and Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman on 10th Street/Stuyvesant Street for 2005's "The Interpreter." What else?

Reminders: The 41st Annual New Year's Day Marathon Reading

[Photo from Jan. 1, 2014 by Ted Roeder via]

The Poetry Project's annual marathon reading is set to start Thursday at 2 p.m. at the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.

Some 140 writers, musicians, dancers and artists will be involved this year.

Here is a list of who is expected to take part:

Adam Fitzgerald, Adeena Karasick, Alan Felsenthal, Alan Gilbert, Alex Cuff, Ali Power, Alli Warren, Andrew Durbin, Anne Waldman w/ Fast Speaking Music, Anselm Berrigan, Ariel Goldberg, Arlo Quint, Avram Fefer, Beth Gill, Bill Kushner, Billy Cancel, Bob Rosenthal, Brandon Brown, Brendan Lorber, Bruce Andrews & Sally Silvers, CAConrad, Callers, Charity Coleman, Charles Bernstein, Christine Kelly, Cliff Fyman, Cori Kresge, Dan Owen, Danniel Schoonebeek, David Berrigan, David Henderson, David Vogen, Dia Felix, Diana Rickard, Don Yorty, Dorothy Friedman August, Dorthea Lasky, Douglas Rothchild, E. Tracy Grinnell, Ed Friedman, Edgar Oliver, Edmund Berrigan, Eileen Myles, Elinor Nauen, Elizabeth Willis, Erica Hunt & Marty Ehrlich, erica kaufman & Matt Longabucco & Nicole Eisenman, Ernie Brooks, Peter Zummo & Bill Ruyle with Walter Baker & Billy Fica, Evan Kennedy, Farnoosh Fathi, Filip Marinovich, Foamola, Georgia Faust, Gina Myers, Grey Vild, Ian Spencer Bell, Janet Hamill & Lost Ceilings, Jason Hwang, JD Samson, Jennifer Bartlett, Jess Fiorini, Jim Behrle, Joanna Koetze, Joel Lewis, John Coletti, John Giorno, John Kruth, John Priest, John S. Hall, Jonas Mekas, Joseph Keckler, Karen Weiser, Karinne Keithley Syers, Katy Bohinc, Katy Lederer, Kiely Sweatt, Kim Rosenfield, Kristin Prevallet, Laura Henriksen, Lee Ann Brown, Lenny Kaye, luciana achugar, Marcella Durand, Maria Acconci, Mariana Ruiz Firmat, Martha King, Maryam Parhizkar, Matthew Shipp, Mel Elberg, Michael Veal, Mike DeCapite, Miriam Atkin, Monica de la Torre, Morgan Parker, Morgan Vo, Nat Otting, Nick Hallett, Nicole Peyrafitte, Nicole Wallace, Niv Acosta, Norman MacAfee, Patricia Spears Jones, Penny Arcade, Peter Bogart Johnson, Philip Glass, Pierre Joris, R. Erica Doyle, Rachel Levitsky & Susan Bee, Rachel Tractenburg, Ray Brown, Rob Fitterman, Samita Sinha, Sara Jane Stoner, Simon Pettet, Simone White, Siobhan Burke, Steve Dalachinsky, Steve Earle, Steven Taylor, Tammy Faye Starlite with Steve Earle, Ted Dodson, Thom Donovan, Thomas Sayer Ellis & James Brandon Lewis, Todd Colby, Tom Savage, Tommy Pico, Tony Towle, Tonya Foster, Tracey McTague, Ursula Eagly, Vito Acconci, Will Edmiston, Xena Semjonova, Yoshiko Chuma, Yuko Otomo, Yvonne Meier and others TBA.

You can buy advance tickets for $20 each here. All proceeds benefit the continued existence of the Poetry Project.

Summer Fridays rehash: Desperately Seeking 1985 New York City

Hey, we're digging into the EVG archives for these next few summer Fridays... first posted on July 22, 2008, before I learned when a post was getting too fucking long... (and keep in mind that there is not a free screening of the movie tonight — this was four years ago...)

------------


There's a free screening tonight of 1985's Desperately Seeking Susan at McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint. It's a silly movie (stolen ancient Egyptian earrings! amnesia! mistaken identities!) that I enjoy watching every summer. (In fact, I just watched it Sunday night.) As Brian J. Dillard writes in his review at allmovie.com, "A classic Hollywood screwball comedy transposed to modern-day Manhattan, Desperately Seeking Susan offered mid-'80s moviegoers a mall-friendly version of hip New York style, much like Madonna did throughout her early musical career."

I like it for a lot of reasons, such as seeing youngish John Turturro, Steven Wright and Giancarlo Esposito, among others, in small roles. And director Susan Seidelman rounded out the film with several downtown musicians/performers — Richard Edson, Rockets Redglare, Richard Hell, John Lurie, Arto Lindsay, Ann Magnuson. And, of course, you get to see some mid-1980s New York, including several scenes in the East Village. (Nice, too, that many of these places are still around some 23 years later, including Gem Spa, Trash & Vaudeville, B & H Dairy and Love Saves the Day.)

Wacky Neighbor had a post on Susan's production design in September 2004. As he notes, the players behind the look of the film were Woody Allen regulars at the time.

Meanwhile, here are a few screenshots from Desperately Seeking Susan.

On St. Mark's.

On Second Avenue.

In front of Love Saves the Day.

Ohhh! Don't mess with the guy with the bucket of the Colonel hanging around Second Avenue and 7th Street!

Scary clubgoers! Do all New Yorkers look like this?!

Outside the Magic Club. (In the film, the club is said to be on Broadway. According to Wikipedia, some of the interiors and exteriors were filmed in Harlem.)

Now, some Desperately Seeking Susan trivia from Wikipedia, which means it may or may not be right:
* The filmakers had initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play the roles of Roberta and Susan. But the director decided to cast newcomers Rosanna Arquette and Madonna instead. 

* Bruce Willis was up for the role of Dez. Melanie Griffith was up for the part of Susan as well.
* Madonna barely beat out Ellen Barkin to the part of Susan. Barkin was the producers first choice for the part, but the director claimed Barkin had a lack of substance.
* The Statue of Liberty can be seen in the film when it is still covered in scaffolding during its two year renovation.
* The DVD commentary track for the film (recorded in 1996) noted that after Madonna's first screen test, the producers asked her to take four weeks of acting lessons and get screen-tested again. Although the second screen test wasn't much of an improvement, the director still wanted her for the role, as much for her presence and sense of style as for anything else.
* The 1964 sci-fi movie The Time Travelers is playing in scenes 6 and 23 (melts at the end of the movie).
* The movie was originally filmed in the summer of 1984, early in Madonna's rise to popularity, and was intended to be an R-rated feature. However, following the success of the singer's 1984-85 hits "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl," the film was trimmed in content by Orion Pictures in order to receive a PG-13 rating in order for Madonna's teenage fanbase to be able to see it
* The interior / exterior shots of The Magic Club were filmed in Harlem.
* Some of the scenes were filmed in Danceteria, a club that Madonna frequented and which gave her a start in the music business.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Spotted on 11th and B the other day ... photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C]

The great chain explosion (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Nolita House closes on East Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Midnight movies at the Sunshine (The Lo-Down)

IHOP invading Carmine Street (DNAinfo via Eater)

Krist Novoselic the keynote speaker for the CBGB Festival (Rolling Stone)

Iggy and Patti casting choices revealed for CBGB biopic (Variety)

20-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis busted for having an 8-ounce beer in the Union Square subway station (Gothamist)

Bob Egan's PopSpots (Curbed ... PopSpots ... previous NYC album photo quizes on Flaming Pablum)

And now, Joshua Jackson (probably!) on a payphone on Avenue A

As the flyer shows, crews for a film called "Lay the Favorite" are currently shooting some scenes on Avenue A and East Fifth and East Sixth Streets...

The movie features Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joshua Jackson.

EV Grieve reader Faces caught a scene earlier on Avenue A... possibly Joshua Jackson on the payphone...

We walked by this morning and snapped a quick, random photo at Fifth Street of the trucks. And we didn't notice that someone was, uh, asleep on the sidewalk ... An extra? Vince Vaughn?

And no reported sightings of Bruce Willis... who would be making his triumphant return to the East Village after filming "Die Hard III: Dying Harder than the Last Time We Died Hard" in 1994 (for its 1995 release) ...

The name Gruber mean anything to you?

Speaking of Seventh Street and Avenue A... almost time for the annual viewing of "Die Hard With A Vengeance," the Best Worst Bruce Willis movie... as you may or may not know, this cheeseorama includes a scene filmed in Tompkins Square Park and on Avenue A...

[Updated] Proposed Bowery eateries make their pitch to CB2 (retractable patio roof alert!)

Two new Bowery hopefuls went before the CB2/SLA Board last night in the NYU Silver Building on Waverly Place. Final verdicts will be (I think!) released later this week... Here are two proposed restaurants of particular interest:


[Photo via BoweryBoogie]

1) 264 Bowery.

Before sitting empty for a few years, 264 Bowery was home to the Lenny Kravitz-Denzel Washington-backed bold-faced-named club Kos. As New York magazine noted, Kos had a plush room dubbed the "Kitty Box," where the likes of Bruce Willis, P. Diddy and Steven Tyler could hobnob. So it was loud and exclusive.

Anyway! The six principals aiming to open an eatery here are well-aware of the noisy past at this address. Which is why the group said they'd be a "neighborhood-friendly restaurant" and "we want to be open to our neighbors." And no velvet ropes! The concept: "Seasonal tapas." And they'd be open 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5 p.m.-3:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The place would seat 48, with another 13 at the bar. The group hasn't decided on a name yet. The current working name is Bowery Row.

Three of the principals were on hand for the presentation. They were asked about the hours. They said they wouldn't want to open earlier because there isn't any foot traffic and no one around who'd want to eat. Someone near me suggested the crowds at the New Museum may have another opinion about that. Another person said the people working at the nearby restaurant supply companies may like to have another lunch option. And they'd need to be open late because something about their kind of "seasonal tapas" was the food that groups of four to six would be ordering.

Later, one of the principals mentioned being a destination. But wait, don't you want to be "neighborhood friendly?" He corrected himself, sort of: A neighborhood-friendly destination place.

Several nearby residents spoke out against more noise and bargoers on the Bowery. One resident singled out Keith McNally, saying that he got a free pass from CB2 with Pulino's. McNally promised a neighborhood friendly restaurant. And he put Bar first in the name: Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria.

So, the bottom line (paraphrasing), don't be hoodwinked by slicksters who promise to be neighborhood friendly.

(BoweryBoogie has more on 264 Bowery here.)



2) 348 Bowery

I wrote about this yesterday... I was wrong on a few details, though the proposal is for the first New York branch of Segafredo Zanetti Espresso Café, the Italian-style coffee bar.

I was wrong about the Alexander Duff involved with the proposed cafe. This Alexander Duff, it turns out, was the co-owner of Pacific East in Amagansett and later in Chelsea. (You can read how all that turned out here.) He has partnered with Holly Roberts, who also spoke before CB2. She is involved with High Bar andAspen Social Club, among others.

So!

This is proposed for the current home of Downtown Auto and Tire, which is now on a month-to-month lease.

This would be a Segafredo franchise open starting at 7 a.m., closing at midnight on weekdays; 2 a.m. on weekends. The cafe would hold 74, with another 16 in a patio roughly where the tires are kept now, as it was rather sadly/comically pointed out.

And the best part: The patio will have a retractable roof with soundproofing ... and sound-resistant sliding doors for the later evening hours. Roberts said that have state-of-the-art soundproofing, installed not by the best soundproof engineer in New York City, but in the entire country.

Said Roberts, "We are not a bar. We are not a nightclub. We are a cafe." She also described it as "a walk-up space. We don't anticipate people coming up in cabs." It will be like a cafe that you see in an Italian piazza, she said.

In any event, Roberts said that they were there with open arms, very willing to be flexible in their operating plans. They want to be good neighbors.

There was plenty of opposition. CB2 regular Zella Jones, a Bleecker Street resident who founded the NoHo/Bowery Partnership, presented a petition against the cafe signed by 148 residents representing 88 addresses in the immediate area. Jones noted that there will be 27 full liquor licenses (including four for the Great Jones Hotel) within 500 feet of this space. She also pointed out the six coffee shops in close proximity.

A gifted speaker, Jones talked about the changing composition of the neighborhood, how it has become a "party atmosphere." She made reference to a previous speaker who called the Bowery "a strip." "It's not a strip, it's a neighborhood." And as for the suggestion that the Downtown Auto and Tire Club was "junky" (that comment was made by someone from the New York Nightlife Association), "We like that garage. We use that garage. The garage reminds us of what was." And later, "We are losing our businesses that don't serve alcohol."

Like 264 Bowery, residents can't help but wonder if the proposed cafe will turn out, in the end, to just be another bar.

Wondered Jones: Why would a cafe need a retractable roof and soundproofing?

Update:

Grub Street also has coverage of last night's CB2 meeting.

The board rejected plans for both proposed Bowery eateries. Also, as GS notes, the two dudes who spoke last night for 264 Bowery are managers at the MercBar.

This is what happens when you fall asleep in the back of the room.

John Penley taking a break from Slacktivating

From Scoopy's Notebook in this week's issue of The Villager:

John Penley tells us he has had it, is “burned out” and is leaving and “going somewhere else,” to “parts unknown.” He wouldn’t be more specific. “I’m really busy, I’m moving my photo archives right now,” Penley said when we called on Tuesday afternoon. “I’m tired — no one had to walk in my shoes this summer.” It just won’t be the same without Penley leading the L.E.S. Slacktivists in chants of “Die Yuppie Scum” and feeding us items about…well, about everything and everyone under the sun in the East Village and Lower East Side. But apparently a summer spent tilting at Bruce Willis, the Economakises and the Christodora House has worn him out — but only temporarily, we hope.

Penley in action during the "Let them eat cake" protest last July:



Previously on EV Grieve:
The John Penley collection

The New York Post on John Penley: "quite possibly New York City's cuddliest anarchist"

The New York Post profiles John Penley today.

And we begin:

AS the unofficial leader of what is known as the East Village "slacktivist" movement, John Penley routinely protests: real estate developers, wine bars, wine bars owned by Bruce Willis, landlords, Republicans and the evergreen that is yuppie scum. "Frat boys throwin' up or takin' a p - - s on your building," he says. "Drunk, blockin' sidewalks, not lettin' baby carriages pass . . ." The 56-year-old Penley also enjoys shouting down obnoxious NYU students, inserting himself into neighbors' landlord disputes and making daily calls to newspapers and networks about area goings-on.
Penley is also, quite possibly, New York City's cuddliest anarchist: a burly 56-year-old Vietnam-era military man and ex-felon with two gold front teeth, lots of tattoos and a deep affinity for children, animals and the writings of Thomas Wolfe. He was married once, briefly, but doesn't like to talk about it.
One of his roommates was rock star Cat Power, who moved out and on long ago, but still pays her third of the share on Penley's $600-a-month apartment on Avenue B, where he has lived the bulk of his 25 years in the city. (His other roommate is a graphic artist.) Penley is something of a local on-call baby sitter, and is quick to dispense loose change or cigarettes to anyone who asks.

Read the whole article here.

Here's a quick video clip of Penley from the protest at 47 E. 3rd St. from July 11.



For further protest reading on EV Grieve, here's where to go.

Desperately Seeking 1985 New York City

There's a free screening tonight of 1985's Desperately Seeking Susan at McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint. It's a silly movie (stolen ancient Egyptian earrings! amnesia! mistaken identities!) that I enjoy watching every summer. (In fact, I just watched it Sunday night.) As Brian J. Dillard writes in his review at allmovie.com, "A classic Hollywood screwball comedy transposed to modern-day Manhattan, Desperately Seeking Susan offered mid-'80s moviegoers a mall-friendly version of hip New York style, much like Madonna did throughout her early musical career." Hmm, that's about right. I like it for a lot of reasons, such as seeing youngish John Turturro, Steven Wright and Giancarlo Esposito, among others, in small roles. And director Susan Seidelman rounded out the film with several downtown musicians/performers -- Richard Edson, Rockets Redglare, Richard Hell, John Lurie, Arto Lindsay, Ann Magnuson. And, of course, you get to see some mid-1980s New York, including several scenes in the East Village. (Nice, too, that many of these places are still around some 23 years later, including Gem Spa, Trash & Vaudeville, B & H Dairy and Love Saves the Day.)

Wacky Neighbor had a post on Susan's production design in September 2004. As he notes, the players behind the look of the film were Woody Allen regulars at the time.

Meanwhile, here are a few screenshots from Desperately Seeking Susan.

On St. Mark's.

On Second Avenue.

In front of Love Saves the Day.

Ohhh! Don't mess with the guy with the bucket of the Colonel hanging around Second Avenue and 7th Street!

Scary clubgoers! Do all New Yorkers look like this?!

Outside the Magic Club. (In the film, the club is said to be on Broadway. According to Wikipedia, some of the interiors and exteriors were filmed in Harlem.)

Now, some Desperately Seeking Susan trivia from Wikipedia, which means it may or may not be right:
* The filmakers had initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play the roles of Roberta and Susan. But the director decided to cast newcomers Rosanna Arquette and Madonna instead. 

* Bruce Willis was up for the role of Dez. Melanie Griffith was up for the part of Susan as well.
* Madonna barely beat out Ellen Barkin to the part of Susan. Barkin was the producers first choice for the part, but the director claimed Barkin had a lack of substance.
* The Statue of Liberty can be seen in the film when it is still covered in scaffolding during its two year renovation.
* The DVD commentary track for the film (recorded in 1996) noted that after Madonna's first screen test, the producers asked her to take four weeks of acting lessons and get screen-tested again. Although the second screen test wasn't much of an improvement, the director still wanted her for the role, as much for her presence and sense of style as for anything else.
* The 1964 sci-fi movie The Time Travelers is playing in scenes 6 and 23 (melts at the end of the movie).
* The movie was originally filmed in the summer of 1984, early in Madonna's rise to popularity, and was intended to be an R-rated feature. However, following the success of the singer's 1984-85 hits "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl," the film was trimmed in content by Orion Pictures in order to receive a PG-13 rating in order for Madonna's teenage fanbase to be able to see it
* The interior / exterior shots of The Magic Club were filmed in Harlem.
* Some of the scenes were filmed in Danceteria, a club that Madonna frequented and which gave her a start in the music business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
In case why you were wondering why some SATC fans are now into Richard Hell

EV Grieve Etc.

[For no reason, a photo of Hilly Kristal, which was taken by Spencer Drate. Via Gothamist]

The area around 1 Jackson Square getting closer to becoming that "charming urban oasis." (Jeremiah's VNY)

Alex sees a legitimate punk rocker on Saint Mark's -- and a lovely sunset (Flaming Pablum)

Out with Madonna . . . in 1984 (Ephemeral New York)

The horror: Jill comes face-to-face with "the deep-core rottenness of the 'new' East Village" (Blah Blog Blah)

Please DO NOT take photos of the Bayview Correctional Facility. (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

"Kinda sad to see Manhattan as it is now." (Bohobait)

Overheard on the Bowery: "Bruce Willis owns a spot around here, let's find it." (Colonnade Row)

Claim: Bruce Willis doesn't own any part of the Bowery Wine Co.

According to the Observer, in a piece posted last night:

“Basically, he’s not really a partner,” confessed Bowery Wine Company co-owner Chris Sileo, one of two people whose names actually appear on the controversial wine bar’s liquor license (Mr. Willis not included).
“We’re old friends,” Mr. Sileo said of the famous action-film hero. “He lets me attach his name to the place to do me a favor because he knew it would help me. We just say he’s involved in the project.”
Given all the fuss stirred up by Mr. Willis’ supposed involvement in the place, however, Mr. Sileo might want to rethink his celebrity endorsement deal.
“I could do without it,” he said of all the recent hubbub. “I think most of it was because Bruce’s name was attached, and they saw an opportunity to get in the paper.
“I have no problem with activists,” he added. “But it is totally misdirected.”
Echoing the sentiments of fellow Bowery retailer John Varvatos—whose splashy opening of a trendy clothing store on the site of the hallowed CBGB rock club sparked similar demonstrations this past spring—Mr. Sileo said his small business is not responsible for the overall upscaling of the neighborhood.
Blame the landlords, he said; not the tenants: “If you want to direct it at Avalon, fine. But don’t direct it at some New York guy who happens to open a place in the Avalon. We could’ve easily opened down the block; we just opened there because it was a decent location and we got a decent rent.”

Bonus: Bruce Willis from his wine cooler days!

Things are getting really tough at the Fed

Outside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Liberty Street, 11:20 a.m., June 12.

Bonus (Or, perhaps, Punishment):

Jeremy Irons rips off the Federal Reserve in Die Hard: With a Vengeance

(Because we're such big Bruce Willis fans!)

Bring it on (aka GOP Hard)

The Battle of the Bowery continues...On Page Six. Yesterday, we learned the New York Young Republican Club held a monthly social event at the Bowery Wine Company, which Bruce Willis has something to do with. In response to comments made by John Penley in April, one young GOPper told Page Six, "Needless to say, we're going to fill his neighborhood whether he likes it or not. We're coming with briefcases and BlackBerrys in hand to stake our claim."

And today?

The Bowery turf war between yuppie Republicans and local lefties will resume next Friday, when East Village gadfly John Penley will lead a demonstration in front of the Bowery Wine Co. with the Rev. Frank Morales of St. Mark's Church. Besides protesting "right-wing Republicans [a reference to Bruce Willis] opening yuppie wine bars in our neighborhood," as Penley put it, the rabble-rousers will blast the court decision allowing the owner of the tenement at 47 E. Third St. to evict his tenants so he can use the building as a one-family mansion. The New York Young Republican Club, which just held its monthly social at the Bowery Wine Co., is invited to counter-demonstrate - but, Penley told Page Six, "they have to show up in suits carrying briefcases so we can tell them apart."

Anyone know what time the demonstration will take place next Friday...?

Earlier on EV Grieve:

"We want to show our opposition to right-wing Republicans opening yuppie wine bars in our neighborhood"

Looking at "a cozy downtown watering hole with an uptown look"

In the Sunday Pulse section of the New York Post, we're taken on a cozy tour of the Bowery Wine Company, which Bruce Willis has something to do with:

WHEN this boxy nouveau wine lounge (and the sterile luxury condo complex that houses it) replaced a longtime, unkempt Bowery lot in early April, owners and lifelong New York City residents Chris Sileo and Lenny Linar were befuddled to hear locals complain that their little watering hole would ruin the neighborhood. Now a buzzing after-work hangout for downtown yuppies and longtime locals alike, the 124-person haunt is a cozy downtown watering hole with an uptown look.

This "Making the Scene" feature also points out that the CD jukebox offers classic rock from Springsteen and the Stones. And a bunch actors from The Sopranos -- including James Gandolfini -- "have all but made this their real-life Vesuvio's." And the $9-$13 panini menu is an "after-work hit."

Take your VIP tour here.

Previously:

"We want to show our opposition to right-wing Republicans opening yuppie wine bars in our neighborhood"

"We want to show our opposition to right-wing Republicans opening yuppie wine bars in our neighborhood"

From today's Page Six:

BRUCE Willis is not being warmly welcomed by the anarchists, Marxists and counter-culture riffraff of the Lower East Side now that he's opened the Bowery Wine Company on East First Street. "We want to show our opposition to right-wing Republicans opening yuppie wine bars in our neighborhood," activist John Penley told Page Six. Penley, who is organizing the August celebration of the 20th anniversary of the riots in Tompkins Square Park, said, "We're getting a pig and we're naming it Bruce." The whole, roasted pig from Chinatown will be served while folk singer David Peel serenades with his anthem, "Die Yuppie Scum!"

East Village Podcasts recently paid a visit to BWC and filed this report:

BWC feels like an upper west side transplant with its wide-open, gymnasium-like space and track lighting. I’d say loft-like.. but the whole Avalon Place structure reminds me of a new development from the suburbs - spotless and well-fireproofed. Surely, there must be a few doctor’s offices nearby.

[Image Weber Anita/SIPA]