Saturday, January 28, 2012

Watch a red-tailed hawk snatch a rat in Tompkins Square Park



The other day in Tompkins Square Park. Uploaded to YouTube by KiddBowery.

Marketing the Mystery Lot

So you know developers are turning the long-empty Mystery Lot off 14th/13th Streets near Third Avenue into condos... The Real Deal reported yesterday afternoon that the developers "hired Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Developers, to promote the property, which is slated for groundbreaking this summer."

Jackie! (Jac? JU?) have WE got some marketing ideas for you! Let's talk! [motions with pinky-thumb to ear as if holding a phone].


More on this later. Meanwhile, the future Mystery Lot address is officially 211 E. 13th St. And another tidbit from Real Deal:

The project will feature a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space on East 14th Street. Amenities include a gym, lounge and roof deck with an outdoor kitchen. Buyers will have a chance to purchase private storage and roof terraces.

And on a clear day, you'll be able to smell bacon.

Reader report: Small fire on St. Mark's Place


Several readers passed along word that firefighters were on the scene late last night on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Looks as if the FDNY was at 20 St. Mark's, high above the Grassroots.

Photo via @IrisBlasi who noted: "Fire on St. Marks. (Seems to be put out; everyone ok)"

Friday, January 27, 2012

Storm clouds on First Avenue


...and at the future home of Starbucks at East Third Street...


Photos by Bobby Williams.

Ughybargy



Fitting song for the week. Squeeze with "Another Nail in My Heart" from 1980.

Neighbors asked to be vigilant about construction at 315 E. 10th St.

As renovations continue at 315 E. 10th St. in the East 10th Street Historic District*, neighbors are being asked to be vigilant about how the work is being done... EVflip sends along photos of these signs spotted on East 10th Street today... (Technically, the sign asks for people to be "vigillent" ... we get it...)




Previously on EV Grieve:
A bid to protect the integrity of 315 E. 10th St.

Landmarks Preservation Commission expedites hearing on East 10th Street Historic District

Workers quickly start dismantling roof of historic 315 E. 10th St.

[Updated] Reader report: Renovations begin in earnest at 315 E. 10th St.

In the shadows of old Astor Place


Photo of Jerry Delakas, the newsstand guy of Astor Place, taken last night by James Maher.

Read more about Jerry's plight at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

On a cloudy day, you can see Fourth Avenue (for now)


The now-demolished 51 Astor Place courtesy of EV Grieve reader peter radley.

Coming soon.

Noted

In "The Hunt" column this week at The Times, two third-year NYU law students go through the trials and tribulations of finding off-campus housing...

"Michael said, 'I don’t care if I am in Alphabet City, as long as I have a nice apartment,'" [real-estate agent Julia] Perez said. That was unlike most of her apartment-hunters. "Everyone wants to have a nice apartment on Second Avenue."

A celebration of Mike Hamm's life


Mike Hamm moved here from Austin, Texas, two years ago. He worked at Lancelotti Housewares and Alphabets on Avenue A.

"He loved the East Village — it inspired him," Cara Brininstool told me via email. Mike, like many others, had the dream of moving to New York City and exploring what life had to offer, she said.

The two of them moved here together. She said that they were best friends.

Mike died on Jan. 7. He was 29.

Cara said that he had an undiagnosed condition called arteriovenous malformation that caused a series of brain hemorrhages. He remained in a coma through another hemorrhage and a stroke. Cara said that Mike's family and friends never left his side during the 11-day hospital stay.

"We actually got complaints that we were causing a fire hazard because there were so many friends who had gathered in the waiting room," Cara said.

"Mike was the kind of person who got excited when the music playing in his headphones synced up with the bustle of the city around him," she said. "Turning a corner or breaching the city's surface from the subway at the climax of the song — things like this thrilled him and made him giddy."

Next Friday, Mike's friends and family are gathering at Heathers on East 13th Street to celebrate his life.


As previously noted, the Centre-fuge Public Art Project is dedicated in his memory.