Wednesday, December 17, 2008

One corner that won't be a condo (anytime soon)


The City Room reports that the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated two new landmarks yesterday, including St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church at 288 E. 10th St. at Avenue A. According to C'ty Room, the church was "built in 1882 and 1883 as the Memorial Chapel of St. Mark’s in the Bowery, one of the city’s oldest Episcopal parishes, as the gift of Rutherford Stuyvesant, a descendant of the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant, in memory of his wife." This will be on the midterm.

Your chance to heckle a grump!


Joking! Please be nice to Mr. Reed! From The Villager's A-list:

Lou Reed will be making a special appearance to read from, discuss, and sign his book, “Pass Thru Fire: the Collected Lyrics.” Containing a body of work that spans more than three decades, “Pass Thru Fire” (Da Capo Books, December 2008) is a compilation of the lyrics of an American original. Beginning with his formative days in the Velvet Underground and continuing through his remarkable solo career—albums like Transformer, Berlin, New York, Magic and Loss, and Ecstasy--Pass Thru Fire is crucial to an appreciation of Lou Reed, not only as a consummate underground musician, but as one of the truly significant poets of our time. Wed., Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. Free. Housing Works Book Café. 126 Crosby St. (betw. Prince & Houston Sts.)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

That inevitable first snow of the season photo



In Tompkins Square Park.

Meter beaters

Jeremiah has the gory photos of the old parking meters being ripped out of the ground today in the East Village.

Earlier today on EV Grieve:
More old-school parking meters to meet their maker, join 45 RPM jukeboxes in coin heaven

Back to the Stones age

That malarkey about an impromptu Fall Out Boy show yesterday at Washington Square Park made me want to...Oh, forget it.

On May 1, 1975, the Stones announced their summer tour by playing an impromptu set on a flatbed truck on lower Fifth Avenue. Here's some shitty-looking footage about the surprise gig from two newscasts...I love the couple's reaction at the 2:18 point.

A pessimistic economic forecast gets more pessimistic (aka, Holy Fucking Shit — We're Screwed!)


Gothamist has the not-so-chipper economic news for the city:

New York City's budget gap will be as much as $1.9 billion in fiscal 2009 and could possibly balloon to as much as $5 billion by 2011, according to a wholly depressing new report from City Comptroller (and mayoral hopeful) William Thompson Jr. ... The recession could cost the city some $935 million in tax revenues next year, a figure that includes a $525 million shortfall in real estate-related taxes, a $345 million reduction in personal income and business taxes, and a $65 million loss in property taxes.

The annual report, titled The State of the City’s Economy and Finances (Or, Time To Move Back In With Your Parents), paints an even bleaker picture than Mayor Bloomberg's November budget proposal. In it, Thompson writes, "Waves of negative economic developments during 2008 have given way to a tsunami of financial anxiety and caused us to issue a more pessimistic forecast than was put forth by the mayor. As the economy erodes, the outlook for New York City’s fiscal future will continue to change."

Perhaps Susan Cheever is just running with the wrong crowd


Susan Cheever writing in the Times:

The New York apartments and lofts which were once the scenes of old-fashioned drunken carnage — slurred speech, broken crockery, broken legs and arms, broken marriages and broken dreams — are now the scene of parties where both friendships and glassware survive intact. Everyone comes on time, behaves well, drinks a little wine, eats a few tiny canapés, and leaves on time. They all still drink, but no one gets drunk anymore. Neither do they smoke. What on earth has happened?


And!

In the old days, drunkenness was as much part of New York City society as evening clothes. This is the city where Zelda Fitzgerald jumped wildly in the fountain in front of the Plaza, the city of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” written by another fabulous alcoholic, Truman Capote. It’s the city of late nights with sloshed celebrities at the Stork Club. It’s the city that gave its name to Manhattans and Bronx Cocktails, the city of John O’Hara and Frank O’Hara, of drunken brilliance and brilliant drunks.

There are more than 20 empty storefronts along Avenue B

Let's take a walk up Avenue B, starting at Second Street.....









This spot will soon be home to a new coffee shop...but until then...





























Still with me? By my count, that's 21 empty storefronts in 14 blocks, though you can't really count the three blocks on Avenue B that border Tompkins Square Park....so make that 21 storefronts in 11 blocks.

Speaking of Avenue B, that store I'll be able to afford now has signage



Previously on EV Grieve:
A new store is opening that people may actually be able to afford

More old-school parking meters to meet their maker, join 45 RPM jukeboxes in coin heaven

Jeremiah had the post last month on the end of the old parking meters...and the introduction of the Muni-Meters. Starting today, more of the old meters will be removed. This sign was on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.



Soon, more sterile Muni-Meters to match the increasingly sterile city.

The former Five Rose's is for rent; memories remain

The "store for rent" sign is up at Five Rose's, the beloved pizza shop on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street that closed Nov. 29.



Meanwhile, in the right front window...Let's see how much longer the landlord will allow the memories to last...I took these photos late Sunday afternoon...[Update: See the comments...Jeremiah reports that the thank-you sign and photos are gone...while another commenter correctly points out that the landlord is the former owner of the business.]









For further reading:
Five Rose's Pizza: Vanishing (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Five Roses’ Krystyna Says “I’ll Be Back” (Hunter-Gatherer)

Monday, December 15, 2008

Boss Hog re-emerges after eight years of Bush


EV Grieve favorite Boss Hog is playing in NYC for the first time in eight years. They're at the Bowery Ballroom Wednesday night. Boss Hog singer Cristina Martinez talked with Time Out this week.

Is it challenging to get over the supersexy image you had when Boss Hog started?
Yeah, I’ll never be able to live that down. [Laughs] That’s probably the most worrisome thing for me. Sometimes it does make me a little sad. I’m totally aware of the possibility of people being disappointed in me in any way.

Meanwhile, NME.com had this about the Bowery date:

The performance, taking place December 17, will be the band’s first hometown gig in eight years, a reunion that ties in nicely with the end of George Bush’s second term as President, according to the band's frontwoman.

It’s been two torturous terms of Republican disease and culture death,” Martinez says. “Now that we're free, it's the perfect time for us to bring back our own brand of sick in celebration.”



Here's Brooklyn Vegan's review (with a zillion photos) of Boss Hog's Dec. 3 show at Maxwell's.

Here are some shots from their gig at All Tomorrow's Parties' Nightmare Before Christmas gig in the UK on Dec. 7.

For more Boss Hog stuff.