Pop music

XTC with "This is Pop" circa 1978.

Thrillseekers enter the Mystery Lot for photo opps

Kids today! A little bit ago... Waited until they left to post...

The Enterprise flies over downtown Manhattan

As you probably know, the space shuttle Enterprise was scheduled to fly over the city today... one day to live on the Intrepid ...

Here are photos that Lee S. Berman sent along to us... he took them on Grand Street near the FDR...

And we suddenly want to watch "Moonraker."

One way to bust an ATM thief

We came across this scene this morning on East Sixth Street near First Avenue...

... not sure if this is legitimate information... but it appears that someone wrote down information about the ATM thief...

Hello, it's Eak the Geek

Here's Eak the Geek (aka Eduardo Arrocha), longtime East Village resident...

He is a senior cast member of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow ... having performed there for more than 15 years...

These photos by Stacie Joy are from a recent Congress of Curious Peoples at Coney Island USA, where he performed.

While we're not sure how much Eak the Geek will perform there this year, the Sideshows are under way, currently held on Saturdays and Sundays... and the shows will expand as the season progresses ... Visit the Coney Island USA site for all the details...

Dr. Geller, I presume?

Spotted this morning outside Villa Schwilla (uh, David Schwimmer's new home at 331 E. Sixth St.)...

Report: Police guns stolen from 9th Precinct

Since February, someone has stolen four 9mm handguns, two bulletproof vests and other items from a locker room at the Ninth Precinct, the Post reports today.

Despite an Internal Affairs investigation, the thefts have continued, usually during the night shift at the station on East Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

"Whoever is doing this is pretty ballsy. I can’t believe the department, especially the Internal Affairs Bureau, isn’t taking this more seriously," an unnamed source tells the Post.

The NYPD believe it us an inside job — the room is inaccessible to anyone walking in off the street, the Post notes. And nearly 180 people work in the station house.

And how is the thief penetrating the lockers?

"If you just bang on the lockers they pop open," said one source.

[Image via New York Songlines]

The rent for the Lucky Cheng's space

A few weeks ago, Eater reported that Steve Kamali Hospitality was looking for an operator to take over the Lucky Cheng's space on First Avenue at East Second Street.

At the time, we couldn't find the listing... here it is, though there isn't a mention of rent...

A tipster with knowledge of the lease told us the asking rent: $40,000 a month for the massive space that includes two full-service kitchens, three full liquor licenses and a cabaret license.

On April 10, owner Hayne Suthon told us that there are several interested parties, but no deal yet. She plans to leave the space for Midtown in mid-July.

For more on the history of the space, visit Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

Previously.

From Con Ed to Con Ed

Here's a penthouse view from the Con Ed power plant on East 14th Street looking west toward the Con Ed HQ on Union Square ... taken yesterday morning with the compliments of Mr. Gleason.

On the subway with Stanley Kubrick

As you may know, the Department of City Records unleashed some 870,000 photos of Manhattan dating back to the mid-1800s. But, no one can access them — the overwhelming demand shut down the site, as BoweryBoogie noted yesterday.

So. While we wait ... check out some photos that Stanley Kubrick (yes, that Stanley Kubrick) took on the NYC subways for LOOK Magazine in 1946...

[Museum of the City of New York]

You can find this photo and several others at the Museum of the City of New York blog.

[Updated] New, larger Rai Rai Ken opens Sunday on East 10th Street

As you may have noticed, the small noodle bar has moved a few storefronts to the east here between Second Avenue and First Avenue... into the former Teriyaki Boy space...

After a few tasting parties, per the sign, the place opens to the public on Sunday...

...Meanwhile, the former Rai Ren Ken space at 214, is empty at the moment...

The former location(s) are on the May CB3/SLA agenda:

Corporate Change (not heard at committee)
• Rai Rai Ken (Sobaya Restaurant Inc), 214 E 10th St (b)
• Curry-Ya (Shinko Foods Inc), 214 E 10th St (wb)

One neighbor heard that this would become a sake bar. Trying to get this one straightened out...

Updated 9:12 a.m.
Ev Grieve reader Michael notes that he ate in the new space last weekend... no special invitation or anything. It was just open.

It always seems so much more glamorous on TV

Doesn't it always though? Off the red carpet and away from the paparazzi ... you don't see the dingy entrance to usher the talent into the Loews Village 7 on Third Avenue or the sidewalk shed protecting people from a now-demolished Nevada Smith's or smell the urine coming up from the nooks and crannies of the darkened sidewalk...

Sa Aming Nayon appears closed on First Avenue

Several readers have noticed that Sa Aming Nayon, the Filipino restaurant that opened here between 12th Street and 13th Street last June, has been closed of late... here it is last evening...

... with these dishmachine notices on the rolldown gate...

It took over the space when Wai? Cafe moved to Avenue B. Readers had mostly positive comments about Sa Aming Nayon. Perhaps too ambitious at the outset? They were also open for breakfast.

Anyway, perhaps a Filipino resurgence isn't going to happen (And RIP Elvie's Turo-Turo, Krystal's Café and Pistahan). Still, we hear a lot of good things about Maharlika down First Avenue at Seventh Street.

EV Eatery Etc.: Tink's signage; Cafe Amore's for rent signs

Catching up on a few items...

[Bobby Williams]

Back in December, we first spotted the signage for Tink's Cafe coming soon to 102 E. Seventh St. As you can see, workers added an awning on Tuesday for the eatery, which will serve Middle Eastern comfort foods...

A few weeks ago, the Marshal seized Cafe Amore's Pizza on East 14th Street... guess it's for good — "for rent" signs went up late last week ...

[Bobby Williams]

... and "United States of Food" and its host, chef Todd Fisher, have been filming around the neighborhood... outside the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop yesterday... (it's on the renamed Planet Green network — Discovery Communications... )

Doug Quint at Big Gay Ice Cream said that it was for a bacon episode — a breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktail and dessert all with bacon ... filmed at Crif Dogs a few days ago....

FroYo arriving soon on First Avenue

Several readers pointed out the arrival of the NLYU FroYo awning at 159 First Ave. near East 10th Street. One reader thought that this was the sole location for NLYU.

Today in rumors of another Starbucks opening in the East Village

Last week, when the "for rent" signs went up outside Kate's Joint on Avenue B, a reliable tipster told us, "There is a very real possibility that a Starbucks will open here."

Perhaps, though it seems unlikely given that Kate's has a full liquor license.

Meanwhile, today. EV Grieve reader Greg Masters spotted workers at the retail space of the newly unveiled 219 First Ave. at 13th Street.

"A construction worker at the site ... believes a Starbucks will be moving into the ground-level space."

History proves that construction workers aren't always the most reliable sources of information. New DOB permits show that work is starting today on an "interior fit-out of existing commercial space." No mention of a tenant just yet for 219 First Ave.

Still, the retail listing for 219 First Ave. was chain/franchise baiting... so you might expect something chainy-franchisey here...

2 East Village 'historic places' selected for Partners in Preservation program

[EVG file photo]

Today, officials from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced 40 NYC finalists for their Partners in Preservation program, which provides preservation grants for local historic places. Per the news release: "The program will infuse $3 million in grants to preserve the city’s historic buildings, icons and landmarks."

Here's more from the Partners in Preservation website:

From April 26 through May 21, 2012, local residents and people across the country are encouraged to vote for their favorite of 40 historic places throughout the five boroughs of New York City to receive preservation funding.

Voters are allotted one vote per day ... The four projects that receive the most public votes will have their grant requests fully funded, and the remainder of the $3 million in grants will be given to a number of the other sites after review by American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and an advisory committee composed of civic and preservation leaders from New York.

Through this partnership, American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation seek to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of historic preservation in the United States and to preserve America’s historic and cultural places. The program also hopes to inspire long-term support from local citizens for the historic sites at the heart of their communities.

Anyway, of the 40 places that they selected, two are in the East Village...

• St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
Project: Restoration of the portico

• DMAC - Duo Multicultural Arts Center on East Fourth Street
Project: Restoration of 6 murals, decorative tin ceiling

[A Duo before and after via the Duo website]

You can learn more about the program ... as well as vote right here.

Disclosure:
Organizers asked EV Grieve to be part of their Partners in Preservation Blogger Ambassador Program. We'd just need to visit 3-5 sites and attend a couple of the events they had planned. Then we'd write about them, noting that the posts are "sponsored." For this, we'd receive a $2,000 stipend. We declined. Actually, we never responded to the three emails about it. Regardless, we still wanted to mention that this is happening.

Breaking: Teens getting body parts pierced on St. Mark's Place

It's "mutiliation" as Andrea Peyser describes it in her Post column today.

To an excerpt!

Mutilation. It’s all the rage — for middle-schoolers. Six girls, some in braces, lined up in front of a storefront on St. Marks Place after school this week. At least it looked like St. Marks Place. For this once-grungy stretch of the East Village, where a 7-Eleven recently joined the hodgepodge of bong-selling head shops, has turned into the mecca for a special form of self-expression: St. Marks is the body-piercing capital of North America.

She learns that there aren't any statewide regulations in place related to age minimums for body piercing. Anyway, all this can be dangerous for the teens, she writes — "potentially permanent damage." Not to mention infections. "Until adults act, we’re bound to see mutilated preschoolers," she concludes.

You probably saw this one coming

You write "hand rolls" on plywood and... well.

Anyway, Iconic Hand Rolls is opening here on First Avenue at St. Mark's Place next month... the former home of Cotan ... and Shiki Kitchen before that...

Rejected headlines included:
Isn't it iconic. Don't you think?

Revisiting the East Sixth Street sinkhole

Just checking in again on the sinkhole that formed and opened yesterday on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... it shut down the street for several hours while workers rescued a truck tire and what not.

How's it looking this morning?

Fixed! Or, repaired! Or, filled in! (Temporarily so, for the most part.)

And we were hoping to do this again if the city didn't fix it so quickly...


[August 2009]