EV Grieve

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Mayor Bloomberg gave his last State of the City address today

Fuck. And I missed his ~~73rd~~ 12th and final speech.

Gothamist has the "Top 10 Quotes From Bloomberg's Final State Of The City" as well as copy of the whole ~~shebang~~ speech. Find that here.

Apparently he talked a lot about "development," per this Gothamist graphic.

Why a lot of people think that Verizon sucks, especially along Avenue C

The WNYC News Blog has a post on how some residents and business owners in the East Village — particularly along Avenue C — have quit Verizon after extended phone and Internet outages dating back to Sandy. Many businesses were unable to process credit-card orders, and have lost business in the process.

Among those business along (or near!) Avenue C that made the switch to other providers, such as Time Warner and Clear: Bobwhite Lunch Supper Counter, Alphabet City Wine Co., Barnyard Cheese Shop and Brix Wine Shop.

Verizon "wouldn't say how many people and businesses are still without service and couldn't fully explain the persistent outages and poor communications along Avenue C," according to the article.

Said a Verizon spokesperson: "There are certain instances where we have access issues, getting into certain buildings, but people and businesses should feel confident that we’re working 24-hours, around the clock, with not only building managers and property owners, but also within our own network to get this restored."

Read the whole article here.

Have you been affected (or maybe infected) by the Verizon outage?

[EVG file photo]

Is this the cutest couple in the East Village?

As you may have heard, today is Valentine's Day. (Exclusively reported here first.) Anyway, on this occasion, The Village Voice speaks with Pilar and Walter La Rosa, the owners of Pilar Jewelry Repair at 32 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

The couple, who are originally from Lima, Peru, have been married for five decades. And they've been running this shop for 20 years. Reporter Araceli Cruz talked to Pilar about love and marriage and romance ... "Couples are too independent today. Couples should do everything together. Women go off with their friends too much. Instead they should bring them over, even the singles ones."

Read the whole piece here at Runnin' Scared.

[Photo via the Voice]

Incoming 7-Eleven franchise on Avenue A still in need of an owner

There has been a lot of discussion about the 7-Eleven being carved out of the former Bar on A and Angels & Kings on Avenue A and East 11th Street.

Current home of that remarkable plywood structure...

As for the construction, there hasn't been a whole lot of activity here in recent months. (Perhaps the building changing hands had something to do with this slowdown...?) Workers gutted and plywooded the space back in September. Work picked up again in December. Bobby Williams took a look inside the space last week...

Meanwhile, a reader the other day pointed out that this location was still on the market for an owner, per the 7-Eleven Franchising site. According to the site, the estimated opening date is May 2013.

Related:
The organizers behind the East Village No 7-Eleven movement were guests Tuesday night on "Let’s Get Real With Chef Erica Wides" on the Heritage Radio Network. You can listen to the archived program here. The show is #56 and titled "7-Eleven Is To The East Village What Pringles Are To Potatoes."

Mass schedule for St. Brigid-St. Emeric

Meant to note this earlier... in case you wanted to see the inside of the recently unveiled Church of Saint Brigid-Saint Emeric on Avenue B and East Eighth Street... (And, of course, to attend a mass.) Signs went up last week showing the times for the various masses... (And the church has a new website here.)

Good chance to practice up to be the next Pope.

The New York Times apparently didn't like Pouring Ribbons

The New York Times checks in today with mini review of sorts on Pouring Ribbons, the bar on Avenue B (across from Mona's near East 14th Street) that opened last September. The place is from "veterans of Death & Company and Milk & Honey," the kind of place where you can order "Norwegian-inflected Hagar & Helga, which includes Linie Aquavit, dry Curaçao, cumin syrup and cinnamon bitters."

Never been to this place. Never planned on it. Anyway. Pretty brutal write-up. Like!

"[T]here’s little interest in conjuring a Prohibition-era ambience — or really much ambience of any kind."

And!

While free of trite preciousness like gold damask wallpaper and birdcages, Pouring Ribbons’ plain décor and unflattering lighting offer minimal atmospherics.

And the description of the crowd:

A step above the Murray Hill bar crawl. Women wore Ann Taylor pashminas and matching cardigans, riding coats and corduroy blazers. Men looked comfortably frumpy in college hoodies, big button-downs and boot-cut denim. It’s an after-work congregation for those who have outgrown Bud Light-doused happy hours.

If you could turn back time: Spend your Valentine's night with Cher, sort of

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Many years ago, Reverend Jen had an epiphany: She didn't know or care who St. Valentine was. Not only that, she cared even less about Valentine's Day. Her solution: Name the holiday after someone she and others recognize and love. For some inexplicable reason, Cher came to mind and Valentine's Day quickly became "Cher Day." On Cher Day, celebrants are encouraged to listen to Cher's music, watch Cher films and dress as Cher (or as one of her loves.).

What could be more fun than Cher Day? How 'bout a Cher Day that falls on a Thursday when Rev. Jen hosts her open mic, The Anti-Slam! As a result, Rev. is throwing a very special Cher Day Valentine extravaganza!

Along with the regular open mic, there will plenty of crazy fun bonus activities including an "Art Star Dating Game" and a raffle (benefiting Waggytail Rescue) where guests can win special prizes like vibrators (who needs a significant other?) and gently worn "elf panties." Guests, are of course, encouraged to dress as Cher, reenact her films or simply be groovy and fabulous!

Starts at 7:30 at the Pyramid, 101 Avenue A. Here is the Facebook events page with more info.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam is back; starts tonight at the Pyramid

Last-minute Valentine's Day gift ideas, if you're feeling lucky

Step right up to the (slightly refurbished) Treasure Chest here then on East 14th Street near First Avenue ... outside the Community Grocery & Candy store.

The game of chance has been stocked in recent weeks with some nice Valentine's Day-related items.

But. If you want a sure thing, then we suggest that you try Zoltar.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Before Zoltar, there was Treasure Chest

Crowdsourcing campaign winding down for Rawvolution — in Santa Monica

Rawvolution, the raw vegan cafe/retail store on East 12th Street, closed "for renovations" back in early December. At the time, Jill heard from an employee that they would reopen Jan. 1.

A week or so later, a former employee said the Rawvolution was done here, that the owners were focusing on their Santa Monica, Calif.-based flagship store.

Claimed the employee: There was "no warning, or heads up to their employees…shady shady." Said another former employee: "Furthermore, they failed to pay their entire staff their last two paychecks."

The Rawvolution website still says: "At this time we are not delivering locally to New York City, this is only temporary and will keep you updated when we do start again."

Meanwhile, in Santa Monica, a crowdsourcing campaign is winding down to save that shop. Per IndieGoGo: "Our landlord is trying to evict us. He has been trying to find ways to take away this community hub of amazing food and inspiration for years and to replace RAWvolution with a corporate coffee bar. We need $38,000 to keep the doors open and to ensure that we have enough capital to ensure a sustainable future." [Updated: Good point per a commenter: No mention in this campaign of the East Village location.]

With about 20-some hours left, the owners are nearly $34,000 short of their goal.

An East 12th Street resident told us that the storefront has been gutted, with some "real-estate types" in and out of the place.

Rawvolution opened in August 2011 here just east of Avenue A.