Mourning lost bars; early morning at Downtown Beirut

The 6th Floor, the blog of The New York Times Magazine, checked in yesterday afternoon with a piece titled "Manhattan’s Most-Mourned Bars."

The neighborhood is well-represented in the listicle: Mars Bar, Downtown Beirut and The Holiday Cocktail Lounge. (And two nearby: The Cedar Tavern and Good World Bar and Grill.)

A lot of room for debate in that list. Which was probably the point, of course.

But! It's a fine time to revisit this EVG post from Jan. 5, 2009 titled Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m. It included this video...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m.

Exclusive: The Bowery to receive its first Monimax 4000W wall mount ATM

You may have seen this hanging on the Bowery near East Fourth Street.

This. Not the headless mannequins.

EV Grieve has learned exclusively that this will soon be a real live Monimax 4000W wall mount ATM. As you probably know, the Monimax 4000W wall mount offers unprecedented deployment flexibility while supporting a robust set of traditional ATM service offerings. It is ideal for sites where real estate is at a premium, such as on the Bowery. According to Nautilus Hyosung officials, the makers of the Monimax 4000W, "the Monimax 4000W delivers total cost of ownership results in a reliable, secure platform."

Indeed.

And now you will be the first to know how to use the Monimax 4000W with this almost interactive chart.

Please note that Cincinnati Bengals fans from Phebe's will be charged a $10 service fee during game days.

Top photos by Bobby Williams. ATM blather via the Nautilus Hyosung website.

This is what the entrance at 93 E. Seventh St. looked like on Oct. 10, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East Seventh Street. Photo by Bobby Williams]

If you happen to be in Echo Park: Dee Dee Ramone will have a posthumous gallery exhibit of his artwork via Shepard Fairey (The Los Angeles Times)

Long live El Faro (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

NYPD says suspect in fatal stabbing near Union Square left for Mexico (The New York Times)

Macaron Parlour opens tomorrow on St. Mark's Place (BoweryBoogie)

Brooklyn Flea's Smorgasburg popping up shop at the Whole Foods Bowery (Gothamist)

Cafe Katja reopens tonight on Orchard Street (The Lo-Down)

And at The Awl today, Choire Sicha weighs in on the new East Village/Lower East Side Historic District in a post titled "The Permanent East Village: A Fascist Swamp of Crappy Buildings Now Historic."

An excerpt!

The district stretches down Second Avenue, which is now referred to as "Little Dartmouth Gangsta's Paradise," due to the habits of the khaki-clad worthies who clog its congested sidewalks of an evening, alternately issuing mating shrieks and vomit.

Finally, please put your stickers somewhere else besides Joe Strummer's sunglasses...

[This morning]

Something new in the works for PS 64?; plus sidewalk bridge expiration anniversary

[Last week on East Ninth Street]

EVG reader @fashionbyhe sent along the photo below, asking what was going on with the former PS 64 and noting that the permits for the sidewalk bridge expired...

...on Sept. 29, 2011.

[Bobby Williams]

Aside from noting the one-year anniversary of the sidewalk bridge's expiration date, there is some other activity to report here at the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street and 10th Street just east of Avenue B.

Tomorrow night, there's a CB3 Landmarks Subcommittee meeting. And on the agenda:

Certificate of Appropriateness: Proposal for window replacement project, as part of façade restoration project, at former PS 64/ 605 E 9th street

The windows could use a good replacing, as you can see here on the East 10th Street side.

On Aug. 8, the DOB disapproved a plan to repair and restore the façade, a job with an estimated cost of $510,000, per city documents.

Of course, the building's controversial owner, Gregg Singer, reportedly had workers hack away at the ornate dormer windows and terra cotta trim back in 2006. Could have saved himself some future trouble by keeping everything intact.

In addition, city records show that there is a new architect of record on the permits — Mark Ginsberg of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLC. (Among many other projects, the firm designed the plans for turning the former PS 90 in Harlem into 75 apartments and a community space. However, PS 64 was landmarked in 2006; the property deed limits the property to community use.)

Singer is still listed at the DOB as the owner of 605 E. Ninth St. He bought the formerly city-owned building in 1998 for $3.15 million. Aside from a whole lot of neighborhood drama, not much has been happening with the space for 10-plus years. (There's not enough time in the day to get into all the history here since 1998. The Villager has extensively covered this story through the years. Check out their archives here.)

In March, a deed for "community facility use only" arrived at Massey Knakal, who noted, "Ideally, the highest and best use for the property would be to renovate the existing structure and convert it into a modern school or college dormitory." (No price was listed.)

The listing is no longer on the Massey Knakal site. So, a question that people have have been asking for years remains: Will something finally happen to the space now?

Meanwhile, we do know what has been going on with the former school, at least on the East 10th Street side: Some folks have created temporary housing under the sidewalk bridge...

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[EVG]

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Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

A memorial for Donald Suggs on Avenue A

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

A memorial went up yesterday outside Exit9 on Avenue A where Donald Suggs worked. The longtime East Village resident died this past weekend of an apparent heart attack. He was 51.

His many friends and loved ones are planning a celebration of his life. In the comments last night, Exit9 owner Charles Branstool wrote that he would share information about any memorial/celebration on the store's website and Facebook page. We'll post those details here too.

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Derek Berg (and Nikita)
Occupation: Photographer
Location: 9th Street and 1st Avenue
Time: 11:45 am on Monday, Oct. 8

"I've lived in the neighborhood since 1977. When I first moved in I was actually nervous on my own block. I remember people sitting in the back of Veselka at the payphones, before cellphones, with newspapers searching for jobs.

I’ve seen strippers on the street at 9 in the morning getting change. You’re never really surprised to see something you’ve never seen before. It’s kind of unusual when you’ve lived here for over 30 years to say I’ve never seen that before. It’s been very stimulating.

I used to drive a taxi. It was around the same time that they made the movie 'Taxi Driver.' I wouldn’t see it until I finished driving. I’ve been working on a serious project about taxis myself. Mine had nothing to do with passengers, just the taxis. I did pretty much all black and white until I picked up a digital camera. Black and white was my main interest. I went to digital because I kinda had to. I lost my darkroom for awhile. I now have a darkroom again so I hope to get back to it.

I also photograph dogs a lot. I love the dog stuff because I have one and they’re everywhere and fun to shoot. I’ve got a lot of dog photos in calendars and post cards and thing like that. I photograph a lot of different things. I’ve done portraits of strippers for Penthouse magazine; I’ve done weddings; all types of things. I like to keep it varied. It keeps it interesting.

Oddly enough, I didn’t do much photography around the neighborhood. There were so many homeless people or people that were having a hard time and I found it hard to point a camera at them. I mean, I have some of that stuff but it’s not what I prefer to shoot. Although now with everyone taking pictures with their cellphone, it kind of eases it up, because with a real camera it kind of looks like you know what you’re doing. There is no privacy for anybody anymore."

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

How you can help the displaced students from East Side Community High School

A parent from the East Side Community High School forwarded us this email yesterday... slightly edited for length...

Greetings from the East Side Community High School Diaspora! We're sure you've read about us in the news recently. We are temporarily locked out of our East Village location because of structural damage to our building.

As a result, we have no access to our building. We cannot get to any of our teaching, student or office supplies, technology, sports equipment, etc. While the building is being assessed and repaired, we are housed in different schools. We don't know when we can get back home.

This is a very difficult situation, but we've always been The Little School That Could — we are a community of about 650 students and teachers from some of the city's most disadvantaged populations. Yet, we have received an A on our progress report for all of the years the NYC DOE has issued them. Our students have a tremendous record of success in every realm.

We will survive our temporary situation, but it's tough. It's tough being locked out. It's tough to be a community when half of us are in Midtown and half in Chinatown. It's tough not to able to go to our library, to sit at our familiar desks ...

Our top priorities are to keep our kids' spirits high during a difficult and unsettling time and to maintain a supportive environment that is both educationally and creatively stimulating by replacing the books, materials and technology that are in the building, which is off limits until it is deemed safe.

East Side has always been rooted in the community, and we are reaching out to our community now. We could use your help, and we invite you to make an investment in our community's future.

How can you help East Side students and teachers?

• Offer food (breakfast/lunch), snacks and/or water/juice to make our kids (and/or teachers) feel good.

• Provide school supplies for our students and teachers.

• Offer your venue for a class field trip (museum, film, play, pool, bowling, rock climbing...). Our students are working out of small, tight spaces with minimal space for recreation.

• Provide use of your space for activities, recreation, or meetings.

• Make a financial donation to help us purchase necessary items for our students and teachers and to cover travel expenses for activities and field trips.

• Donate a gift certificate or item to be auctioned/raffled off to raise money

• Supply gift cards (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Staples...) to help us with necessities.

• Help with technology — many of our staff and some students will be working in hallways and very tight spaces. Laptops would allow us to be more productive and make life a little easier.

To learn more about East Side, please go to our website. To speak to someone directly, contact Jodi Caplan, Director of Community & Family Partnerships, at jodic@eschs.org

And courtesy of Pumpkin Patch, here's the direct link to the donations page.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Schools making it work while repairs continue at 420 E. 12th St.

When marching bands march: A Cavalcade of Pomp tonight on East Village streets

From the EV Grieve inbox...

The New York HONK! Festival continues tonight with the East Village Cavalcade of Pomp.

Seven bands descend upon the Lower East Side.
Step-off at 7:30 pm from seven different locations around the neighborhood.

With:
Environmental Encroachment (Chicago)
Two Boots Avenue A — 42 Avenue A and Third Street

Stumblebum Brass Band
Two Boots Pizza — 74 Bleeker Street

Pink Puffers Brass Band (Rome)
The Bean — 147 1st Avenue at 9th street

Minor Mishap Marching Band (Austin, Texas)
The Bean — 54 2nd Ave at 3rd street

Hungry March Band
Lower East Side Girls Club — 56 E1st between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave

Rude Mechanical Orchestra
Times Up /MORUS — 155 Ave C between 9th and 10th St

After Party at The Delancey Lounge with a Performance by The Himalayas
168 Delancey Street
Happy Hour prices from 8:30 to 10:30 pm with wristband
Doors: 8:30pm / No Cover – Donations Requested

The New York Times had more bout the Honk! Festival yesterday here.

A Second Avenue and East 12th Street now and then

Here's a good one from our friends at NYC Corners... Second Avenue and East 12th Street... in 1930 as The Yiddish Art Theater ... and today as the Village East Cinema...

Find more corners here.