At the Domino Sugar Refinery

By now, there are likely thousands of photos posted around the internets from the open house (factory?) at the Domino Sugar Refinery earlier today. (Every person I saw there had a camera.) So here are a few more shots. As you probably know, developers want to turn this iconic factory from the 1880s north of the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn into pricy condos and what not. Neighborhood activists wants to see the riverfront property preserved and redeveloped as affordable housing.
















(No one was allowed inside, of course. Still! Here's what it looks like from that vantage point.)

Lousy economy preventing people from overpaying for Yankees memorabilia

The last ball hit out of Yankee Stadium, courtesy of Jose Molina, was one of several big ticket items that failed to sell in early bidding yesterday at Madison Square Garden on a trove of Yankees artifacts. It was expected to fetch up to $400,000, but was pulled after offers fell short of the suggested opening bid of $100,000. (espn.com)

Nice furniture that won't look right in an East Village apartment

In this week's Habitats in the Times, a couple struggles to find the right apartment for their unique furniture, particularly an antique mahogany table she was going to inherit from her grandmother:

It certainly wasn’t going to look right in one of those swaths of raw space near St. Marks Place or in any of the other 138 spaces, downtown and uptown, that the couple checked out in the course of a year in the mid-1990s.

The Sheraton-style table required just the right setting, as did the circa 1790 Hepplewhite serpentine-front sideboard. So, apparently, did Ms. Houlgrave, 46, a model who has worked for Glamour, Vogue and Self magazines, and who has a second career as a wedding and fashion photographer.

“I didn’t want to live in the stinky East Village,” she said with characteristic directness. “It was so unattractive. I am from Richmond, Virginia.”

The couple now lives on the Upper West Side.

An EV Grieve FYI -- in case you were going to buy a shitload of FroYo today at 16 Handles

The guy who decorated the new bar in edgy Alphabet City

The real estate section in the Post this week includes a profile of renowned interior designer Carleton Varney. He designed the fancy new cocktail lounge Ella, 9 Ave. A, in the Lower East Village -- as its owners refer to the area -- that serves $12 cocktails. (Reservations are referral only.) Here's a passage from the Post:

Later, down in edgy Alphabet City, a rather different crowd raised the roof at the public unveiling of Varney's latest design project, a duplex cocktail lounge and piano bar called Ella.

At first glance, Varney, 69, hardly seems an obvious choice to decorate a bar on Avenue A. As chronicled in "Houses in My Heart," the designer built his considerable reputation working in far more upscale enclaves.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New bar on Avenue A has pianos, fancy drinks and referral-only reservations

Fall skies

The sky is not falling.

A Fucked Up cover

Fucked Up and, urp, Moby cover the Ramones...part of Fucked Up's 12-hour show at Rogan on Bowery and Bond Tuesday.



[Via Stereogum]

BOA not DOA

What bank branch glut? Esquared reports that there's a new Bank of America branch opening Monday on Canal and Broadway. Say goodbye to the vendors and makeshift stores on the northeast corner.

Falling fat cats

Wall Street: Fall of the fat cats (CNN.com)

Excerpt:

"These guys were spending more than $250 billion a year," Robert Frank said. "They bought mansions in Greenwich and Palm Beach. They bought art for $100 million a painting."
Frank, author of "Richistan," says the enormous amounts of money earned by Wall Street elite made them practically a nation unto themselves.
"They just looked at the guy with the bigger house, the nicer Ferrari, the better artwork," he said. "And it was all competitive spending."

East Village soon to exceed maximum capacity for dessert places

We've been far too curious about the fate of 159 Second Ave., the hallowed ground that was home for 27 years to the beloved A. Fontana Shoe Repair. There has been lots of activity there in recent weeks. Anyway, we started (sarcastically) speculating about the future tenant. Based on the above photo, there was one undeniable conclusion: high-end dessert place!

Well, guess what?

An unimpeachable source -- an anonymous tipster, who, for the purposes of this post, we'll call Jeremiah Moss -- passed along the following news on the location late yesterday:

I went by today and a worker told me it's going to be "a vegan ice cream shop." I saw soft-serve machines in the background. Should be open in 2-3 weeks. Could it be another Lula's Sweet Apothecary? Or competition?

Time will tell! Anyway, there's going to be an all-out dessert war in this area now (as if there wasn't one already)...FroYo vs. Vegan Ice Cream vs. TheLiteChoice vs. Chocolate By the Bald Man Who Kind of Looks like Moby vs. the M&M's we can buy at the corner bodega vs. ChikaLicious vs. Dunkin' Donuts vs. Cold Stone Creamery vs...(Meanwhile, we'll just be at Ray's.)

Oh, here's what the space looked like in August...



Let the "bald man" jokes begin!

[Jeremiah has a thoughtful post on what used to be in this space, A. Fontana Shoes.]

Lack of progress at Tompkins Square Park playground irks some parents

Per The Villager: The $1.5 million redesign for the Tompkins Square’s playground will include a water-play area with motion-detecting ground jets, a jungle gym that resembles a rock-climbing wall and parent-friendly cafe-style tables. The playground closed in August, and is expected to reopen in the spring. And some local parents are unhappy.

“We’re thinking of getting a little demonstration together,” said Susan, who withheld her last name and who was spending last Thursday afternoon watching her daughter try out a new skateboard in the park. For Susan, the construction’s progress seems to be going at snail’s pace.
“I don’t see a lot of people working there each time I pass by,” she said. Susan heard rumors that the project will take six months — and “That’s too long,” she said.

Episode 2 review of Life on Marzzzzzzz (a 10-second review)

So! Week two. Better than the first. But it already seems tired after just two episodes. Keitel's ball-busting routine is getting old. Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) has the personality of a salami. (And he really wasn't going to eat that vegetable lasagna?) When is he going to loosen up and have some fun? Why not look up his parents? Something! Will give it one more week...

Now something much more entertaining: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain does "Life on Mars."