Friday, August 5, 2011

You may now sign up for the TV/VCR


Outside St. Brigid School on Avenue B yesterday ... FYI — I have dibs on it today from 1-1:16 to watch 8 Minute Abs With 8 Minute Buns.

Exit 9 on schedule to open new Avenue A store next month

After 16 years at 64 Avenue A, Exit 9 packed up and moved away in late June ... but, as Jen Doll reported at Runnin' Scared, they were only moving across the street to the former Urban Roots space.

So, work continues in their new home.


Per the store's Twitter feed:


Previously on EV Grieve:
Exit 9 exiting from Avenue A

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Smiles, everyone, smiles! The Google Street View car is in the East Village!

Bob Arihood caught the car in action yesterday. (Neither More Nor Less)

Report: Man in van allegedly selling narcotics leads police on 10-block chase

From the NYPD Daily Blotter today in the Post:

An ex-con drug dealer on parole fled from cops in a stolen minivan after allegedly being spotted peddling narcotics near Tompkins Square Park, authorities said.

At 7 a.m. on July 27, officers approached a 2008 Chevrolet Uplander on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A and asked the man behind the wheel, Robert Ball, to step out, court papers state.
But Ball, 37, hit the gas and almost clipped a sergeant, cops said.

With police in pursuit, he sped for almost 10 blocks, blowing red lights, before getting caught in traffic, cops said. He was cuffed, and a license-plate check revealed the minivan had been stolen that day, court papers add.

Former Sin Sin space back on the market


Earlier today, a tipster noted that the city slapped a stop-work order on the under-renovation space on Second Avenue at Fifth Street that once housed Sin Sin.

Apparently the bakery-cafe-bar concept is dead. The space is now on the Tower Brokerage site ... currently asking $15,000 per month.

This weekend in Tompkins Square Park — 'Riot reunion'


Brought to you by The SHADOW, Wombat in Combat and ... Those Fucking Anarchists...

A stop-work order for the former Sin Sin space


A tipster notes the stop-work order here on Second Avenue at Fifth Street. Per the DOB: "BORO COMMISSIONER HAS ORDERED ALL WORK STOPPED IMMEDIATELY DUE TO PERMIT HOLDER WITHDRAWL UNDER PERMIT #120552286-01-EW-OT"

Yes, of course!

As DNAinfo first reported, a cafe-bakery-bar called Sweet Boutique is in the works for this space. Sweet Boutique withdrew its application for the July CB3/SLA meeting.

Legacy Russell's East Village Open Ceremony project

It's likely that, in the last few weeks, you've seen Legacy Russell sitting with her typewriter in Tompkins Square Park or outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.

[Photo by Digital Man]

The artist has been transcribing people's memories of the East Village and Lower East Side as part of her Trust Art project, Open Ceremony.

Per the news release, the project is broken up into four "rites," each aiming to experiment with a different facet of public worship and remembrance as inspired by those rapidly changing neighborhoods.

The first of the four, Rite of Remembrance: Memory Transcription, brought Russell to Tompkins Square Park, Sarah Roosevelt Park, and St. Mark's Church with a table, two chairs and a typewriter, asking residents both old and new: "What memories do you have of living in this neighborhood?" (Sample response! "I remember paying 80 dollars a month in rent. Now THAT is rent control.")


Russell will be out today in Tompkins Square Park from 3-7 p.m.

I asked her what inspired her to do this.

"I am born and raised in the neighborhood and as an artist so much of my own history and so much of what I am today is in many thanks to the creative climate of the East Village," she said. "Living in the Lower East Side now, I am curious to come to a better understanding of what the current climate is in the area — who my neighbors are, how people are processing these changes (mourning the losses, feeling a sense of anticipation about what's to come, etc.), how folks arrived at this site, why people choose to leave, why people choose to stay or move here, and so forth."

And how does she think the first phase of the project has gone so far?

"The project thus far has surpassed my wildest expectations in its reception — people have been lining up to share their stories, have emailed me, have reached out with a real readiness to discuss how they feel about the East Village and Lower East Side as two sites undergoing major shifts," she said. "Acting as a 'native stenographer,' I want to be sure to reach as many people as possible, in the interest of making sure that as many of these personal narratives and histories are chronicled."

She posts some of the memories @OpenCeremony. And on Facebook. For more on the project, go here.

34 Avenue A is for rent, again

There is a new "for rent" sign up in the window at 34 Avenue A, most recently home to Aces & Eights ...


Backing up for a minute. We first noted the building was for sale back in May for $4.65 million. The listing is no longer active at the Living Real Estate Group. Someone removed the listing at Streeteasy on July 16. Nothing in the city property records indicates that a sale was made... or is in the works.

So, we can assume the current owner is now trying to lease the space again. A rep for Coldwell Banker Commercial said that she was hired by the owner to lease the current retail, and said she knew nothing about the building sale. (So much for the rumor via a commenter that there was a lease on the table for a Subway sandwich shop here.) The rental listing wasn't online as of last evening at the Coldwell site.

Meanwhile, as you probably know, CB3 has rejected all the recent plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here.

At this point, it's clear that the CB3 won't approve any nightlife-related operation here. How about a shoe store then?

Sidewalk now re-opening next week

When we last checked in on the Sidewalk's reopening, an insider told us they were aiming to be open by Aug. 5. As in tomorrow.

However!

A publicist working for the Sidewalk said: "We are currently looking at opening the second week of August as opposed to August 5." There is a soft opening Monday for family and friends.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Bobby Williams took these photos of workers removing the graffiti from the restaurant's rolldown gates on Avenue A and Sixth Street.



... and a quick look inside the dining room...


Previously.

Veselka Bowery now hiring, putting out chairs

As the signs show here on Veselka's new East First Street location... the open call for the waitstaff and what not starts today...


And look — chairs!


No exact date just yet for the opening. But ... it's ... getting... closer.

Tonight in Tompkins Square Park: 'Pope of Greenwich Village,' permed hair

Tonight marks the sixth of the free music-movie nights in Tompkins Square Park. This evening's photoplay: One we're looking forward to watching in the comfort of our own home — "The Pope of Greenwich Village," starring Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts' permed hair. (C'mon, admit — it is a little distracting, that hair.)



And upcoming...
Aug. 11 — Kickass
Aug. 18 — Rosemary’s Baby
Aug. 25 — The Godfather
Sept. 1 — Stake Land

Here's the official website for the summer movies.