Good sights: Lucy's back open last night

Lucy's has been closed of late (without a note, per usual) ... Didn't get the chance to stop, though, to see what was happening ... a reader had said that she was off on her annual visit to Poland....

[Updated, sort of] The dream is apparently over: De La Vega Museum closes on St. Mark's

Per an alert reader... The De La Vega Museum, run by artist James De La Vega, appears to be closed... the store is all but empty.... (which may explain why he was giving away art recently....) We'll have more on this later...

Friday morning:

Swung by the shop/museum last evening and this morning... all closed up... Considering his penchant for signs in the window...



....I'm surprised there isn't one letting people know what happened...



Meanwhile, near the shop, an unattended mattress sits without a "become your dream" slogan.



Previously on EV Grieve:
De La Vega calling for a boycott on Cafe Mogador, for some reason

Noted

From the Post today:

For a group of NYU students this fall, the only room will be at the inn.

About 50 to 60 students returning to the Greenwich Village campus will be forced to check into a Manhattan hotel because the university has run out of dorm space.

But the young scholars can forget about raiding the minibar or dialing up room service. NYU officials say they'll limit the amenities to phone, cable and Internet service -- but, unlike the dorms, their rooms will get twice-a-week housekeeping.

The photography of Flo Fox

A friend recently introduced me to the work of acclaimed photographer Flo Fox... I asked her via Facebook if I could post a few of her photos from the 1970s and early 1980s in NYC... she agreed... and here's a sampling...








All this is even more remarkable given her background... Fox, who grew up in Woodside, Queens, was born blind in one eye.

Here's an excerpt on her from a profile in Alternative Photography:

According to her, she was an automatic photographer because she never needed to close an eye to take a picture. She lost the vision in her other eye in 1975 and was declared legally blind just at the time that she photographed herself nude for Playboy and Penthouse. It was at this time that one of Flo’s sisters was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Soon thereafter Flo began experiencing numbness in one of her hands and legs and had herself tested for MS. The results were positive. She has remained determined to not let this news change anything in her career as a fine arts photographer. This has not been easy with her direction in the medium which is predominately street imagery of people and places predominately set in New York City.

When asked how her disabilities have affected her work, Fox said that she started seeing interfering patterns in 1975 and soon thereafter could no longer focus on an image because of dead nerve endings. As her MS progressed, Flo’s muscle tone deteriorated and she went from using a cane to a motorized scooter.

Check out this interview on Tom Snyder...



You can watch part 2 here.

There are more photos on her website here. Or maybe you could friend her on Facebook.

Cat Days of August

Spotted this kitty out in Red Hook.

Standing outside the Copper Building (waiting on a friend)

Oh, nothing really to note here at the Copper Building at 13th Street and Avenue B... just seeing how easy it will be to look into someone's apartment from street level...






Thought maybe we'd get a response out of EV Grieve reader Despiser of the Copper Crapper too...

The Wall Street Journal on Avenue C

As The Wall Street Journal notes today:

[W]hile the night life has turned Avenue C into a top party destination for young professions and college students, the added noise and traffic is causing increased friction between residents and revelers.

Older residents who moved to the neighborhood in the '60s are now trying to keep out new bars. They have taken their complaints to the Community Board 3, which is restricting the number of new establishments that can sell alcoholic beverages.

According to the community board's website, Avenue C between Houston and 14th streets, an area with 23 liquor licenses, is deemed to have "greatly diminished the quality of life" for residents.

Some say the night life helps the area. "I understand sometimes there is too much noise," said Benjamin Alter, owner of Arcane, "but to me, the more business you have in the neighborhood, the better it makes the economy for the neighborhood."

Yes! Woo!



Anyway, let's flashback via the Times to 2005:

"C will keep its edginess for five more years," predicted Melvina Goren, a partner at Porch, 115 Avenue C (Seventh and Eighth), a candlelit bar known for its large backyard. "And then the scene will move on to Avenue D."

Well, any thoughts on that prediction?

Cafe Hanover back in business on St. Mark's

The marshals paid a visit to the new Cafe Hanover in the old Mondo Kim's space back on July 20.... and, as several readers have noted, they have reopened ...



[Thanks to MT for the photo!]

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

NYC murder rate up 17% so far in 2010 (Runnin' Scared)

Is this finally the economic collapse? (Fortune)

Hmm.. not so cheery with the headlines so far... We need a cheery song!



Update on saving the community gardens (The Gog Log)

Watering on East Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Arby's quickly shutters in landmarked building (Eater)

The Grumbler questions the no-shoes rule (The Grumbler)

Resident discards mattress WITHOUT bedbugs (NYC the Blog)

Sleeping on the sidewalk to beat the heat in 1910 (Ephemeral NY)

New Belgian place that isn't German on Second Avenue gets more Belgianie (DNAinfo)

East Village Radio livestreaming tonight's White Rabbits show from East River Park (The Lo-Down)

And the man surrounding by police officers on First Avenue near 10th Street in the photo below? He allegedly stole a bike.



This happened last Thursday... via justindisgustin's Flickr page ...where there are more details (and photos!) about the incident.

DBGB, Pulino's and Gemma helping peddle Sala on the Bowery

A few weeks ago, we made note of the "restaurant available" sign on the Bowery and Great Jones...right there on Sala's wall...



For unknown reasons, we never actually explored that listing... until now...and tapas specialist Sala is on the market...



As you can see, lots of big-time eateries nearby...it's almost as if all those places are part of the deal. No, you'll just have to make do with the two liquor licenses that Sala has...