Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Report: Cops bust Craigslist apartment scammer

In the Post today, there's an NYPD Daily Blotter item about a woman trying to lease a man an apartment on East Sixth Street that was already occupied.

The victim responded to an ad on Craigslist and arranged with Emma Hunt, 25, to lease the pad on East Sixth Street, between First and Second Avenues, for $3,250, court papers claim.

The victim forked over the money and was given a set of keys that didn’t work, cops said.

Hunt was arrested Oct. 19 and charged with grand larceny.

What do we think of the renovated Met Foods so far?

Renovations continue over at Met Foods on Second Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street... One reader remarked that it was "nice to have it looking clean."



It certainly is cleaner... and it looks bigger. I'm not a regular here, so I don't have much to say on the matter... New deli is in the works...


Curious what will happen with the floor...


As Jeremiah has written about, a Ratner's was located here for more than 50 years ... (Read Jeremiah's post here.) The R remains, but for how long? Hate to see another sliver of history disappear...



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

9th Precinct asking supers and maintenance workers to meet this morning

Several weeks ago, the NYPD put up "beware!!" and "be safe!!" flyers on sections of East Third Street and East Fourth Street between First and Second Avenue...


And several readers told of having their apartments broken into by someone who accessed the buildings via the roof...

So now... if you walked along First or Second Avenue the last few days, or side streets between Second and Sixth... then you probably saw these flyers...


EV Grieve reader Steph took this photo... we're told that it's an educational-type meeting for the workers. You know, when you go on a lunch break, lock the door behind you and what not.

I took a look at the 9th Precinct crime stats for the year... As you can see, there has been an uptick in burglaries in the past 28 days — 22 reported during the period, which is 11 more than the same time period last year. (100 percent increase! Call the Post!)


Overall, though, reported burglaries are down this year compared with 2010.

Tonight at Theatre 80: Transgendered Jesus, Juggernut and more

[Transgendered Jesus via]

The Howl! Arts month-long benefit supporting HOWL H.E.L.P. is winding down... (H.E.L.P. = Howl Emergency Life Project. Read more about them here.)

And an evening of music and what not tonight: Transgendered Jesus, Juggernut, The Love Butchers & The Blowdryers

8-11 p.m. $10.00 Theatre 80 St Marks, 80 St Marks Place

Find the whole schedule through Monday here.

The Meatball Factory opens today, puts up new mailbox

Earlier in the month, a resident who lives above the new Meatball Factory on Second Avenue and 14th Street noted that the restaurant had switched addresses.

The address of the previous tenant — the Arthur Treachers-Nathan's-Pizza Hut combo! — was 251. E. 14th St. But the Meatball Factory is using the address of the apartment building — 231 Second Ave., which caused some mail confusion ... all the Meatball Factory mail was going to the residents.

Anyway! Problem solved... the Meatball Factory put up a mail slot in the lobby of 231 Second Ave.


And thank you if you made it this far.

Oh, and The Meatball Factory opens today.

Cookies in return for info on stolen bike

Oh, met to post this the other day... spotted along Fourth Avenue near 12th Street...

Monday, October 24, 2011

'My Mars Bar Movie' world premiere on Thursday

Thursday marks the "world theatrical premiere" of "My Mars Bar Movie," the 87-minute documentary directed by Jonas Mekas, the 88-year-old filmmaker-poet-writer-curator... (His full bio is here.)

Here's a description of the film via YouTube:

For some twenty years Mars Bar, on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue, Manhattan, has been my bar. That's where we went for beer and tequila whenever we had to take a break from our work at Anthology Film Archives, and it was also a bar where most of those who came to see movies at Anthology ended up after the shows. We always had a great time at Mars Bar. It was always open, there was always the juke box, and very often there was no electricity, and it was old and messy and it didn't want to be any other way — it was the last escape place left in downtown New York. So this is my love letter to it, to my Mars Bar. Mars Bar as I knew it.



Find ticket info here.

H/t to One Folded Sunset for the post yesterday.

See hawk




Early one recent evening in Tompkins Square Park. Photos by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[via EVG reader Tom]

Protest at 515 E. Fifth St. (The Villager)

Good news from the revamped Waverly diner (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Cooper Square Hotel sells for $90 million (The Wall Street Journal ... via Curbed)

Pete Seeger at Occupy Wall Street (Slum Goddess)

Another night with the Chillmaster (Marty After Dark)

Sauce opens on Rivington (BoweryBoogie)

East River Park still rather stalled (The Lo-Down)

New sign for David Schwimmer's place on East Sixth Street

You may recall that the new home going up at 331 E. Sixth St. may possibly belong to David Schwimmer... And someone had added a message to the "what's going on here?" sign... The sign was this way for weeks ...



Anyway, workers have finally replaced the old sign...


And what's happening behind the sign? A quick look through the peephole...


Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

[Updated] Why you need to give Jamshed Bharucha a call today

From the EV Grieve inbox...via the Cooper Square Committee


Please contact Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha immediately. President@cooper.edu or (212) 353-4250.

A Board committee is meeting [today] to decide if they will reduce St Mark's Bookshop's $20,000/month rent by $5,000. Thousands of emails or calls will influence the decision.

Tell the President to reduce the bookshop rent to $15,000 a month until the economy improves. You can add any additional comments.

Your support is invaluable.

Updated. Missed these reports from earlier... both Gothamist and Runnin' Scared noted that there wasn't any meeting scheduled today... A Cooper Union spokesperson told Runnin' Scared that the discussions are ongoing and "the outcome will be announced by the end of this month."

Mermaid Inn closed for renovations this week


The sign explains what's happening... "installing new floors, redoing our bathrooms, painting, retiling and generally sprucing up the place."


Back open Friday.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue



[h/t Neil Simon]

Fine Fare takes steps to curb recycling-related issues

Quick follow-up to the story that Patrick Hedlund reported on at DNAinfo last week... A lot of roughhousing and stuff happening at the recycling center outside the Fine Fare on Avenue C and East Fourth Street... which was causing quality-of-life issues for nearby residents...

As Hedlund reported in a follow-up piece, Fine Fare put up some signs and painted a no-hanging-out zone along East Fourth Street...

We swung by this past weekend to take a look and take a few photos...




BMW Guggenheim Lab continues to shrink

Yesterday, a work crew and very large crane arrived on East First Street to pack up the BMW Guggenheim Lab... toward the end of the day, this is what it looked like...

Comings and goings on Second Avenue

Something called Health Mart Pharmacy is opening at the former UPS Store near 11th Street...


... and Crembebe, a boutique specializing in kid's fashions near Fourth Street, has closed...

Here's the Gingersnap's Organic awning

Last Monday, we had details on Gingersnap's Organic, which will feature "handcrafted conscious cuisine" at 130 Seventh St. just west of Avenue A.

And now, the awning...


No opening date announced just yet...

[Updated] Street verse

Spotted on the Bowery and St. Mark's Place...




evflip came across another poem today... this one on Second Avenue and Fourth Street...

[Weekend recap] NYPD cites two bars for 'illegal sale of alcoholic beverages'

We first posted this on Saturday morning... kind of got lost with all the dog costume photos...

Multiple readers sent along word that the Undercover/Underage Patrol was out in full force last night...

There's a "closed by court order" sign at Bar 81 on Seventh Street... "restraining order" says for "illegal sale of alcoholic beverages."


...and a "restraining order" and a whole bunch of legalese papers on U2 (or 2U) Karaoke on St. Mark's Place... for "illegal sale of alcoholic beverages."


Know of any other bars that the NYPD cited last night...?