Saturday, November 5, 2011

And now, your 7-Eleven branding on the Bowery

As we first reported on Aug. 29, 7-Eleven is opening shop on the Bowery in the long-dormant retail space at 52E4 — the 15 stories of condo...

Anyway! The green, orange and red has arrived...



A thank you from St. Mark's Bookshop


Now, on to the next crisis...

Previously.

Do rats know how to Push?

In our ongoing coverage of the TSP Ratstravaganza, we've discussed the problems with the trash outside the Park — specifically on the corners of 10th Street and Avenue A that provided another possible source of food. You know, just dart across the street for the smörgåsbord.


Anyway, the city has added new Push tops on the corner cans.


We waited to post these until the early reviews were in... so far, the new Push lids haven't been reviewed on Yelp.

Buy a book... or a children's book


Jeremiah has declared this as a Buy (Another) Book Weekend at St. Mark's Bookshop... Meanwhile, EV Grieve reader and blogger Marjorie Ingall notes in a post yesterday what a great resource the store is for kiddy books... with a small but well-curated section. She also talked with co-owner Bob Contant about the children's book section.

Friday, November 4, 2011

The good German



The Passions with "I'm in love with a German film star" from 1981.

The long lines for the M15 Select Bus service on First Avenue

[The line on Tuesday morning for the M15 Select Bus ticket machine on First Avenue between Second and Third streets]

The M15 Select Bus Service debuted back in October 2010. We haven't heard much about it since then.

However, in the last three to four months, EV Grieve reader Jenny notes that there are problems with the stop on First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street.

Per Jenny: "Nearly every morning one of the two machines is out of service and there are lines of 60-70 people at a time. You have to wait 15 minutes just to get through the line, and then sometimes the bus will wait another 10 minutes for others to get on the bus."

One way to bypass this: Jump on the bus, hop off at 14th Street to pay where there are more machines, and get back on the bus. For Jenny, this worked a few times — until the MTA police caught her without a receipt and fined her $100. She explained that the machines were down and showed them all her previous receipts. But, you know.

A solution: Add a third machine to this stop on First Avenue. Or at least send around crews more often to repair the machines.

RIP Crazy Landlord sign

Construction continues at the incoming Bean on Second Avenue and Third Street... You can see the progress as of yesterday in this photo by EV Grieve reader Marjorie Ingall ... Notice anything different?


The plywood is gone! Which means!

NO MORE CRAZY LANDLORD SIGN!

We first noted the sign on March 30, 2009.



Then there was this addition to the sign back in March...


Thanks for the memories, Crazy Landlord sign corner...



RUMORS: Memorial tree for Steve Jobs planned for Tompkins Square Park

On Wednesday, workers removed the stump from the Irene-damaged tree in Crusty Meadow ...

[Bobby Williams]

Now there's a rumor that the hole here will be filled with a Redwood tree honoring the late Steve Jobs.

We're not sure that we believe any of this... even the people who passed along the information were skeptical... but you never know...Not sure of any East Village-Steve Jobs connection, though we once saw someone drop an unprotected iPhone in the Park and smash the screen.

P.S.
DId you ever see the Steve Jobs tribute on Bond between Bowery and Lafayette?

Developers secure $200 million loan to help make Astor Place look like an industrial park in, say, Dallas this


According to the Observer yesterday: "The full-block office tower set to rise at 51 Astor Place has closed on a construction loan valued at between $165 and $200 million with Bank of America."

And per Crain's, construction on the only commercial office building going up in New York City without a tenant should be completed by the spring of 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village — the new Midtown?

Helping publish 'Time and Space on the Lower East Side'



Lower East Side-based photographer Brian Rose is wrapping up his Kickstarter campaign to raise money to publish "Time and Space on the Lower East Side."

Golden Section Publishing, a small company run by photographer Bill Diodato, is publishing the book, which has more than 100 photos split between 1980 and 2010. (Such as the two 1980 shots above, and the before and after below.) Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega wrote the book's introduction. (Rose and Vega have a long history together involving music and photography.)

The book should be available in the first part of 2012. You can find out more about about the Kickstarter campaign here. We first wrote about the project in July 2010. You can find that post here.

An East Fifth Street before and after from the book...


BareBurger not looking so bare inside

As you know, an outpost of organic hamburglar BareBurger is opening on Second Avenue at the site of the former Sin Sin space...


...and some of the blackout paper along the front windows fell back... and EV Grieve reader Pedro took a look...


Find the BareBurger menu here (PDF)

Today's tweet of the apocalypse

Introducing Artist Alley @ Extra Place

From the EV Grieve inbox....

[ Image via Forgotten New York]

On Saturday, November 19, Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) will present Groundbreak, the inaugural exhibit in a rotating public art program for Artist Alley @ Extra Place. This exhibit is the latest in a series of temporary art installations in atypical locations in the East Village/Lower East Side through FABnyc's ArtUp program. Artist Alley @ Extra Place is tucked behind the former CBGBs and surrounded by several galleries, including La MaMa E.T.C.'s La Galleria, Fuse Gallery, The Hole, and The Proposition to name a few.

FABnyc recognizes Extra Place as a cultural marker in New York City's Punk and No Wave scene and its potential as fertile ground for a new generation of creative exchange. Abe Lincoln Jr., Jon Burgerman, and Ellis Gallagher are New York based artists who will reclaim the concrete sidewalk as their blank canvas.

10,000 and counting: The final chapter, a new beginning

Well, we're wrapping up a four-day tour of old EVG items in honor on this site's 10,000th post.

And on Monday, we unveil a new chapter here. We've hooked up with some local businesses to present a more challenging site. The various lawyers have finally agreed on the name: The BMEVW GuggenGrieve Lab, a hyperlocal think blog that will confront discomfort, like, what to do when your personal shopper calls in sick or you have to wait for that fucker to climb the stairs with your Thai delivery because the elevator is out.

As fun as that sounds, we're only joking. Thank you for reading.

[EVG Flashback] The community board-State Liquor Authority drinking game

Originally posted on Aug. 16, 2010...


To help pass the time during the dull stretches of community board/state liquor authority meetings... we started getting stupid(er), like, given the boozy topic, maybe we should create a drinking game to play ...

So! You have to do a shot every time an applicant says:

"I just want to be part of the community."

"I'm just a guy from the neighborhood."

Someone speaking against a proposed bar/restaurant says, "I like the concept, just not on this block."

Someone speaking against a proposed bar/restaurant uses any of the following words: fraternity, sorority, hell, zoo, spring break, Bourbon Street or woo woo.

The applicant wears a Bluetooth throughout his or her presentation.

Two shots if:

A priest speaks for the applicant.

The applicant's previous restaurant experience was working as a club DJ or promoter.

The applicant has 500 signatures in support, though only 3 of the residents actually live on the block in question.

The applicant says that his or her new place will be an upscale restaurant that will be open until 4 a.m.

The applicant says that the new place will be for the neighborhood, with entrees starting at $32.

They just want the license to pair wines with dessert.

The applicant's attorney says, "This is New York City -- it's supposed to be noisy."

Supporters of the applicant suggest that, if opponents don't like noise, they should move to, or move back to, [Ohio, Delaware, Schenectady, et al]

Three shots if:

The bar name is a nod to homeless people, welfare recipients, alcoholics or serial killers.

The applicant says that he or she is willing to work with the community, and to prove it, the restaurant/bar will close at 1 a.m. on Sundays.

The applicant uses the words "artisanal" or "gastro."

Four shots if:

The applicant uses the words "artisanal" and "gastro" together.

You're told dear old mom from the Old Country will be the chef.

The applicant says if he or she doesn't get approval, the space will likely become a chain store, bank or halfway house for pyromaniacs.

The applicant says that the restaurant will sponsor art classes for kids in the neighborhood.

Chug if:

The applicant gives each committee member an envelope with cash.*

The applicant promises to keep the spirit of the previous owner's establishment alive by having the now-deceased owner stuffed and mounted over the bar.

* We're not suggesting this has ever happened...

[EVG Flashback] Mars Bar regulars get in the way of a Drew Barrymore photo shoot

Originally posted on Oct. 19, 2009...

Over the weekend, we had a very important post about some guy from "Gossip Girl" going to the Mars Bar for one of those "A Night Out With" features in the Times.

And the conversation turned to Drew Barrymore's recent photo shoot at Mars Bar for the new issue of Nylon. So here are the shots from that Mars Bar photo shoot in the magazine. (Dunno why the guy in the newsstand got so annoyed when I did this!)





Um, you can't even tell it's the Mars Bar. As EV Grieve reader ak commented, "still trying to decide if i believe that the background was photoshopped out of the others." And Goggla said: "I was there for the Barrymore shoot and the weird thing is they used white backdrops for the photos. If they wanted to block out all the graffiti, why go in there in the first place? (they also made sure to block out all the regulars)" And Jeremiah found some outtakes from the shoot here:







Since Goggla was there, I asked her more about the shoot...:

There were about 14 regulars in there and they just had the ones sitting at the end of the bar move out of the way. They shot back by the bathrooms and up front by the windows, but put backdrops up in both places. They didn't even hang around to drink, so I really don't know why they bothered.

[EVG Flashback] When the Christodora House became a Greek house

Originally posted on Sept. 9, 2008...

[Photos by Charlie Kerman]

In 1983, when the Christodora House on Avenue B was still abandoned, members of the Tau Delta Phi, Delta Eta Chapter at Cooper Union, placed their Greek letters on the west side atop the 17-floor building. Don't have a lot of details, such as how long the letters remained there. Long enough for a photo opp, of course. Photos of the letters crew are below. (Note the condition of the Christodora...)



Thursday, November 3, 2011

Rat on the menu again in Tompkins Square Park




Photos by Bobby Williams.

Small fire on East Second Street this afternoon

Bobby Williams reports that there was a fire in a building on East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue this afternoon around 3. According to sources at the scene, the fire was on the fifth floor in an apartment that workers were renovating. No injuries were reported at the scene.





76 Third Ave. slated for demolition; will we ever know what was behind those curtains?

We've been writing here and there about the future of 74-76 Third Ave. Nevada Smith's, the current tenant at 74, is slated to move up the block to 100 Third Ave. As for next door, at the former Yummy House...


EV Grieve reader Grieving noted: "According to the DOB website, the permit to tear down the first of these two buildings was issued last week. Don't know if they are taking them down in piecemeal or waiting for the Nevada Smith's lease to run out to take them both down."

Indeed, there is a permit, dated Oct. 24, for "FULL DEMOLITION OF A 5 STORY BUILDING USING MECH. MEANS."

Meanwhile, any final guesses what is/was behind those two single windows and grubby curtains in the floors above the old Yummy House?

I'm going with 24,400 cases of old Yummy House menus.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smith's

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building