Commie controversy at Cooper U!

From the City Room:

After complaints to the city Buildings Department, and concern from the Urkainian community in the East Village, Cooper Union removed a giant banner with a reproduction of a Picasso drawing of Joseph Stalin. That decision has outraged Lene Berg, the 43-year-old Norwegian artist who included the banner as part of her one-woman art installation, “Stalin by Picasso, or Portrait of Woman with Mustache,” in the school’s historic Foundation Building, on East Seventh Street.

“I didn’t get any explanation of what happened,” Ms. Berg, who is based in Berlin, said in a phone interview this week. She said Cooper Union officials removed the banner last Friday, five days after it went up, without consulting either her or Sara Reisman, associate dean of Cooper Union’s School of Art and the curator of the exhibition.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red Square has Lenin; Cooper Union now has Stalin

Everyone wanted to help make a difference

At 8th Street and Avenue B.

It has begun: The downturn

According to the Times anyway:

EVEN though the average price for a Manhattan apartment, at $1.5 million, is higher than it was a year ago, some New York neighborhoods have already started to feel the downward tug that has wrenched the housing market elsewhere in the nation.

Such as:

Other neighborhoods that experienced price drops include the Lower East Side and the East Village, where median prices fell 5.5 percent...

Autumn in Tompkins Square Park

A little late for this work week...

Movie party tonight

Many thanks to Flavorwire for asking me to write a post on the demise of the Pioneer Theater. The post is here.

Meanwhile, the Pioneer folks are throwing a farewell party tonight at 6 with popcorn, free movies and, we hope, some good schlock.

Giving Extra Place the warm, comfortable feel of suburbia

The Villager has an update on Extra Place:

Neil Cardi was walking down E. First St. between Second Ave. and the Bowery, when he stopped. He was wearing a worn-out rocker T-shirt and black skeleton biker gloves, complete with trench coat slung over his shoulders. Standing by the small, cul de sac in midblock, he sneaked a smirk at the grimy, graffiti-covered walls and scraps of trash that decorated the obscure alley.

“This place gives me comfort,” said Cardi, a former amateur musician who has struggled with substance abuse. “I remember spending a night or two here as the Rolling Stones rolled out the back of that door. It used to be CBGB.”

The unmarked place Cardi stood in front of is a deserted street known as Extra Place and some say that since the 1970s this historic alleyway has given character to the Lower East Side.

Sigh.

AvalonBay’s advertisements that run along the walls between the Bowery and Second Ave. read, “The Redefined Bowery.” And redefining is exactly what residents of 11 E. 1st St. and 22 E. First St., together known as Avalon Bowery Place condominiums, want for Extra Place.

“Clean it up!” and “It’s pretty ugly” were the reactions of people coming out of both buildings as they walked from pressure-washed sidewalks surrounding the new buildings to aged, gum-covered splats of cement. Jennifer, a resident of two months who declined to give her last name, said of the attraction of fixing up Extra Place with cafes: “The less I have to travel for nightlife the better.”

So is Extra Place nothing more than an alley that needs a sprucing up or is it one of the last remnants of old New York? The vote is split.

“It’s kind of famous as the back door of CBGB’s. It’s the backdrop of The Ramones’ ‘Rocket to Russia’ album,” said Fred Harris, senior vice president of AvalonBay, of Extra Place. He said it’s unclear if the parcel is even an officially mapped city street, but, “Regardless of its status, or whether or we own it or not, we just want to clean it up, light it and maintain it and pedestrianize it.”

Extra Place coverage on EV Grieve

David Duchovny really needs to hire better help

From The Villager's police blotter this week:

Police arrested three men shortly before 1 a.m. on Fri., Oct. 24, and charged them with stealing four bottles of oral-sex drops, three bottles of massage oil, a porn movie tape, a package of nipple cream and a sex toy, all from Cherry Box, an erotica shop at 162 W. Fourth St. The suspects, Corey Brown, 31; Malcolm Anderson, 26, and John Francis, 28, were charged with grand larceny after the woman who was tending the shop identified them, police said.

Developing!: A sign appears at 159 Second Ave.

A few weeks ago, we passed along word that the former A. Fontana Shoe Repair at 159 Second Ave. and 10th Street was becoming a vegan ice cream joint. Well, the front windows have been papered over for weeks. And then! A sign just appeared, as this photo from our tipster shows:



Stogo? As in consultant Malcolm Stogo of the Ice Cream University?

Whether this place has anything to do with Stogo, we'll share his bio anyway -- because it's delicious! (heh):

For the last 25 years, Malcolm Stogo has been in the forefront in developing today's ice cream concepts leap years ahead of the industry. He is the author of Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts, co-author of Ice Cream Cakes, and author of a new book titled How To Succeed in the Incredible Ice Cream Business. He is President of Malcolm Stogo Associates, an international ice cream consulting firm, as well as founder of Ice Cream University, a seminar series and publishing company on ice cream production, and marketing and publisher of Batch Freezer News and Ice Cream Store News, two quarterly newsletters on everything one needs to know about ice cream production and marketing. In the 1980's, he co-owned Ice Cream Extravaganza (New York), the largest single frozen dessert operation ($1,500,000 in sales). He also invented the chocolate dipped waffle cone now being produced and sold all over the world.

I can't get past Ice Cream University. ICU? Go Defibrillators! (And do they have a football team?)

Blarney Cove memories

Jeremiah captures the spirit of the beloved Blarney Cove on 14th Street today. Another EV Grieve favorite. Reading his post reminded me of one of my first visits, whenever that was. (Also, seems as if my dive-bar anecdotes all involve food.) Three of us went in during some off time in late January one year. Only one other person was at the bar, way down by the door. It was the first time that I'd seen this bartender. And he certainly didn't know us. He was friendly as all the BC folks are. After a few rounds, he asked us if we were hungry. Not really. Still, he said he had some food that he could put out for us. "Oh, thank you very much. That's very nice of you. We're just not hungry at the moment." Perfect! With that, he bolted down the basement steps and gingerly came back up carrying a six-foot party sub wrapped in plastic. Where this thing had been stored (and for how long), we didn't know. With the care of, say, a paleontologist, he unwrapped the beastly thing. I may be wrong about this, but I swear after the unveiling the bartender did a little "ta-da!" Keeping with the paleontology theme, the bread was as hard as a fossil. We politely nibbled at it and thanked him. And ordered another round.

The timeless appeal of Donohue's Steak House

Donohue's Steak House, 845 Lexington Ave. near 64th Street, opened in 1950. Except for the newish flat-screen TV in the bar area and the prices on the menu, I don't think much has changed here in the last 58 years. Let's just say I love this place. There's a long, rectangular bar then a dining room with 10 black vinyl booths. The walls are adorned with nautical art. A phone booth is still in operation in the back right corner. It rings a lot. No one really wants to answer it. The daily specials are written on chalkboards, one in the front window and one on the back wall. There's wood paneling. Black tile floors. Ceiling fans. (And extra-large urinals in the men's room.)

I prefer sitting near the front window, watching people rush by on Lexington. Especially on rainy days. When I'm glad I'm not out in it with everyone else. Now if Frank would only keep the volume down on the TV while behind the bar. He watches the dreadful local news (Not NY1, mind you). It can ruin the mood.




If I have the history right, it goes something like this: Martin Donahue opened the restaurant in 1950. It was then run by his son, Michael, and his granddaughter Maureen. Michael died in March 2000 at age 70. Maureen is still running the place. Oh, and you can likely thank Michael Donohue for the modern era of brunch in the city. According to an item in the Daily News upon Michael's death: "His personal appeal to former Governor Malcolm Wilson helped pass legislation allowing bars to open at noon on the Sabbath." I would have looked into this claim a little more carefully, but I hate brunch. Not to mention some of the people who go to brunch, especially the ones who stand and wait on the sidewalks. Though I do like drinking. And on Sunday mornings.

Joe was my favorite. He was a dapper Irishman who seemed to take great pride in his appearance. Every one of his thick gray hairs was in perfect order. He wore a tie and neatly pressed shirt with cuff links. He tended to tell the same anecdotes during each visit, but they were entertaining. Haven't seen Joe for -- what now -- four or five years? I can't remember. He retired to take care of his ailing wife. Funny to think that he retired. Joe must have been 75 to 80.



There have been a few times when I'm the youngest person in Donohue's by, oh, some 40-plus years. Depending on how much I've had to drink, this can depress me. Particularly during the holidays. I look at the table of four women in their 80s. Their husbands or partners must be dead. The women are in no hurry. Must be difficult to turn the tables over quickly during a dinner rush. I also see the old married couples. Sometimes they talk to each other. Mostly they just stare into the vacant space in the booth. They live in the neighborhood. They're dressed up. This may just be their big outing for the day.
Then I get really hokey and wonder if Mrs. Grieve and I may be sitting there 40 years from now. I sure hope so.

More on the Day of the Dead bike ride

I had a post Monday on the Day of the Dead bike ride in the East Village. The organizers sent me this wrap up of the events that took place Sunday:

Cyclists, zombified with white and black face paint and dressed in bright, festive colors, took downtown Manhattan for a two hour ride on Sunday, November 2. They rose the dead with loud cheers, "viva bicicletas!" (live on bicycles) and "celebramos los muertos!" (celebrate the dead), in addition to visiting sites of cyclists hit and killed by cars and holding mock funerals.

Village environmental group Time's Up! organized the Day of the Dead bike ride in order to promote safer streets and remember and celebrate the cyclists Brandie Bailey, Rasha Shamoon, Brad Will and their community.

A garbage truck hit Bailey on Houston St. at Ave. A in 2005. Cyclists stopped first at her white "ghost" bike memorial, in order to celebrate the lives of all people killed on this dangerous street. After a moving speech that ended with, "let's celebrate the dead and fight like hell for the living," cyclists cheered and danced to Mexican music performed by former Blood, Sweat and Tears trumpet player Lew Soloff.

Next cyclists rode to where Shamoon was struck by an SUV at Delancey and Bowery on August 11, 2008. They held a 'mock" funeral in the divider of the intersection. Then they theatrically "died" and were "buried" under the wheels of a parked taxi in the Allen Street bike lane, demonstrating the danger caused by motorists parked in the bike lanes.

The final celebration for the dead on the bike ride occurred at a community garden, where Will dedicated much of his activist effort when he wasn't promoting bike riding. Cyclists ended their ride at St. Marks Church, filled with renewed energy to continue their fight for safe streets for all present and future cyclists.

They asked Mayor Bloomberg to join them in the quest for safer streets for all the New Yorkers, who are often eager to get on their bikes, but discouraged by unprotected, un-enforced bike lanes. They called for the city to honor its commitment to making the roads bike-friendly and green.

There are more photos like the one above on the Time's Up! Flickr page.