Movies returning this summer to Tompkins Square Park?

Another item of note from May's CB3 docket of meetings...

This sounds similar to last summer's EPIX Thursday night movie-concert series... And what highlights! Don King and Gilbert Gottfried in person! "The Warriors!" "Rosemary's Baby!" Of course, not everyone appreciated the corporate presence in the Park.

Anyway, we're sure they'll be more on this later...

East Village student aspires to redesign the MetroCard

Melanie Chernock, an East Village resident who is a graphic design student at SVA, recently launched a site titled The MetroCard Project. It's an ongoing project that aims to redesign the the Metrocard, which the MTA put into full usage on May 14, 1997. (Fast Company featured her work last Friday here.)

For example...

We asked her about the project.

[It] stemmed from an assignment to "create a deck of cards." I knew that I did not want to do something expected, so I immediately started to think of all the different types of cards there are. The concept of redesigning the MetroCard felt natural to me ... The card gets so much exposure and should be something thoughtfully designed. Creating the cards is an experimental process for me. I found that the first few cards I made were very conventional and as the project progressed they became more unusual. The purpose of the project is to show the many ways there are to design a better MetroCard and to promote better design within the city.

You can visit her site here.

Meanwhile, let's bring back the subway token!

Legalese: The MetroCard Project is in no way associated with the MTA. It is a school project intended only for creative purposes.

Caffe Buon Gusto lives on Avenue B!

Well, Caffe Buon Gusto does, indeed, live on Avenue B at East Fifth Street. We first reported the Italian eatery's incoming arrival in June 2009. However, through the years, the space became dormant, serving as a makeshift shelter and a canvas.

In fact, it is almost one year to the date since we last saw the gates open. Last week, though, readers saw activity inside.

Last night, multiple readers noted that the place was having its grand opening this week. (Last night looked like a family-and-friends evening, per one reader.) Workers were busy fixing up the space for the opening...

[EVG reader Duke]

[EVG reader Andrew]

[EVG reader AC]

...and here's the menu... they'll be opening for lunch too... and it looks as if they have a sidewalk cafe on the East Fifth Street side ...

[EVG reader AC — click to enlarge]

A reader said that they are related to the Caffe Buon Gusto outpost on the Upper East Side.

Saturday: Sixth Street Community Center celebrates its 35th anniversary

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Find tickets here.

[Updated] NYPD arrests two during Cooper Union protest

[Photo by DP in EV]

In the aftermath of Cooper Union's decision to start charging graduate students tuition, a protest of sorts broke out late this afternoon outside the school. As DNAinfo reported, "a one-man protest against Cooper Union's decision ... turned into a hour-long standoff with cops when the dissenter scaled the Peter Cooper statue."

DNAinfo ID'd the man as Jesse Kreuzer, a recent graduate of Cooper Union, who, at one point, reportedly moonwalked atop the statue. In total, he was up there for an hour and 40 minutes, according to the Daily News.

Per DP in EV who took the photo: "It started as usual and ended with 50 cops and a cherry picker to arrest the [man] on top of the Peter Cooper memorial."

In addition, some students walked out of class today at noon, per the GalleristNY.

Also, from a Cooper Union student via email: "Additionally, a female student was arrested for — no one is really sure. The police were trying to lock our school down so no one could go in or out, and in the ruckus of pushing everyone toward the building, suddenly like 4 cops tackled her and she was taken away in a squad car."

According to the Daily News:

"Cops also arrested Sara Abruna, 23, of Brooklyn, who tried to duck under a taped-off area. She was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration."

Sinkhole closes East Sixth Street

The block between Avenue A and Avenue b remains closed for now... depending on who you speak with, a truck either got stuck in the sinkhole or caused the sinkhole late this afternoon. Various city types got the truck's tire out of the hole... and a crew is on the scene now to repair it...

...and that's enough photos, Bobby Williams!

...and from Matt LES_Miserable ...

Today is the deadline to bid on the IHOP building

Back on Jan. 3, we pointed out that 235-237 E. 14th St., which houses the IHOP, was on the market for $14.5 million. The Massey Knakal listing noted that IHOP was paying $45,833 per month on a 10-year lease.

According to the listing, the deadline to bid on the property is today. So get that bidding paperwork in order! (And sorry for the short notice!)

To refresh your memory, here are details on the building:

The property, situated on the north side of East 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues, contains 17 low income housing units and a retail space. The building, erected in 1988, has approximately 4,300 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and approximately 18,019 square feet of residential floor area on floors 2 through 7.

And a new addition to the listing since January...

This IHOP location is one of the top performing in the country.

Previously on EV Grieve:
One explanation for the existence of IHOP on East 14th Street

Is this home fit for James Bond?

Or at least an actor who has played the character in the movies...

Last Thursday, the Post noted that Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig were continuing their house hunting around town... and that Weisz, who previously lived on East 11th Street with ex-husband Darren Aronofsky, looked at 238 E. Fourth St. just west of Avenue B.

At the time, the listing for 6,500 square-foot condo (asking $8.5 million) was not yet online.

Now it is.

Let's take a look via Town:

Surrounded by charming cafes and the most beautifully tended gardens in Manhattan, discover a published, discreet home, stunning from the moment you pull into the garage and enter this gracious, four story residence. Enter this beautiful home, and enter another era where true artisanship is revered. From the ceramic tiled foyer, which guides you past the chic, whimsical powder room, and into an awe-inspiring great room, with dramatic 18 foot custom-crafted wood coffered ceilings, created by the millwork artisan of the Gramercy Hotel Rose Bar, this home enchants the spirit as well as the senses. The great room serves as a grand, yet comfortable living space, centered around the massive, Italian Renaissance-style wood burning fireplace, which graces a sleek, poured concrete epoxy-finished floor.

Oh lordy. Make it stop. There are actually four more overly descriptive paragraphs just like this one. But you get the idea.

Just look now...

And floor plans...

Previous 238. E. Fourth St. coverage here.

[Images via Town]

15-second cinema: Opening the hatches at Cooper Union

Yesterday, in our post on the most out-of-place new buildings in the neighborhood, several readers broke the rules and selected a building not on the list.

The picked the newish Cooper Union building, which still is NOT being sold to NYU.

Anyway, maybe this will change your minds... After all these few years, we finally witnessed the automated windows opening at 41 Cooper Square the other week. (Please turn off all cell phones and pagers during the performance.)

Various reports: Grad students will start paying tuition at Cooper Union

[Outside Cooper Union earlier this week. Photo by Bobby Williams]

As you may have heard, Cooper Union announced yesterday that it will begin charging graduate students next year. There will also be fees for other professional and continuing education programs and online courses.

Meanwhile, for now anyway, the school's no-tuition policy remains in place for undergraduates. (You can read more here in the Times ... or at Gothamist ... or the Journal ... take your pick — everyone has the story... )

Previously.