Sunday, September 6, 2015

2nd Avenue, 8:23 a.m., Sept. 6

Morning!



It's really a nice morning out. Mostly. A reader shared this...

Here on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and B, we opened our doors to quite a spectacle of nature this morning. Pigeons feasting on a large pool of food waste right in the middle of the street... Can't wait until the rats show up!

Really glad someone seems to have thought it would be funny to throw a garbage bag in the middle of the street for cars to crush. Such a refreshing change from the overturned trash cans on the corner of 6th and A.

Apparently a resident will grab a shovel to remove this, but…

I really want to see the meathead who did this clean it up. With his or her bare hands, ideally.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Candy you were so fine



A little weekend entertainment via this clip from "The Arsenio Hall Show" from January 1991... when former Avenue B resident Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson of The B-52's were guests...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Go on a tour of Iggy Pop's East Village in 1993

Friday, September 4, 2015

Someone puts penis cake pan up for grabs on East 6th Street



Why not, we live among the land of the original penistrator ... and so many knockoffs...



Photos on East Sixth Street via Shawn Chittle

Some great reward



Thee Oh Sees (John Dwyer and a rotating cast of musicians) are out on tour in support of their latest release, Mutilator Defeated At Last.

They'll be playing at the Bowery Ballroom Tuesday (sold out!) then Thursday and Friday at the Warsaw.

From that new album, here's "Lupine Ossuary" (marked here as "Lupine Dominus" and with the band's previous lineup).

And how was your Thursday Happy Hour?



From an EVG reader:

This gentleman greeted people on Avenue A yesterday with a special happy hour show. He was fairly pleased with himself. The show ended with a grand finale where the naked gentleman spread his gluteal muscles for those interested in a closer inspection.



Death Star inflatable rat attack!



The inflatable union rat is currently perched outside 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star ...

EVG correspondent Steven reports that occupant St. John's University is the target... via the District Council No. 9 Painters and Allied trades, who are protesting claims of the school hiring workers and not giving them the wages and benefits that were established in the area by said District Council.



The crew is handing out flyers...



Maybe later the rat and rabbit can mix it up.

Developing: Uni K Wax Center sign is on its way up; lime green and violet never looked so good



Anyone who things the Friday before Labor Day is a slow news day, well — you're wrong.

This morning, crews are carefully putting into place the Uni K Wax Center signage here at 120 Second Ave. near East Seventh Street... behold the pleasing lime green-violet color combo...



The waxing center has also nailed the three most important qualities when it comes to waxing — all natural, safe AND affordable, at least in the opinion of this blogger.



As previously noted, the address here is returing to its spa roots. After a short-lived time as the froyo spot Twister, the storefront housed a Spa Belles.

Updated 12:03 p.m.

And ta-da!


[Photo by EVG waxing correspondent Steven]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former froyo spot will become body waxing center on 2nd Avenue, just because

A step back in time on the Bowery



The Subway (sandwich shop) closed on the Bowery at the end of June. The storefront at 342 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond is currently for rent.

While recently researching 342 Bowery, Jeff Klepper, who was born and raised in Manhattan and now lives in Boston, came across our Subway closing post.

He shared the following photo with us... of his great-grandfather, Aaron Klepper, in front of his diamonds and jewelry shop at 342 Bowery just about 100 years ago ...


[Photo courtesy of Jeff Klepper]

We asked Jeff for a few more details, such as if his great-grandfather and family lived in the apartment above the shop.

Aaron's daughter, my great-aunt Sue, talked about living "behind the store" in one large room, in which her father had built some partitions. There was no heat, except for a kerosene stove, and the toilet was outside in back. But I think she was referring to their tenement on Allen Street.

I'm guessing they moved to the Bowery around 1905, and probably lived in an apartment above the store, because she said that her father would "go upstairs" to sleep when he was ill.

Jeff said that this photo had been hanging in his house for years, but he never knew the street until one of his cousins figured it out based on the 1920 census records.

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office closer to demolition



Reps filed the demolition permits to take down the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office at 438 E. 14th St. last October...

And now workers are finally erecting the sidewalk bridge and requisite netting on the former PO's East 13th Street side...



As previously noted, an 8-story retail-residential building will eventually rise here. The residential entrance will be on the East 13th Street side.

The 114-unit residential portion will include exercise and rec rooms, a quiet lounge and private dining room.

SLCE Architects are listed as the designer of record. That firm's résumé includes such high-profile projects as 432 Park Ave. (with its $95 million penthouse) and the Blue building on the Lower East Side.

The PO closed in February 2014, though the wounds of waiting for a package that just isn't there remain fresh.

H/T EVG reader dwg!

Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

First sign of more development on East 14th Street?

Asbestos abatement to begin at former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office

Davey drill arrives ahead of rumored development at former East 14th Street post office

Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room