Saturday, January 24, 2009

Did Sid really kill Nancy? Maybe not! (Says new film)


The Daily Mail has the story...about a new film called Who Killed Nancy? So, maybe Sid didn't actually kill Nancy some 30 years ago at the Hotel Chelsea...To the article!

Its makers claim to have uncovered evidence which reveals that a series of police blunders and apathy by detectives led the authorities wrongly to pin the blame on the star.

In fact, the film contests, medical tests carried out on Vicious at the time of his arrest showed the musician would have been incapable of the attack, because he was out cold at the time after taking so much of a powerful sedative that it would have killed all but the most hard-bitten drug users.

Instead, the film Who Killed Nancy? asserts for the first time that 20-year-old Spungen, the daughter of a wealthy middle-class Philadelphia family, was killed by another resident at the hotel - a shadowy British man named Michael, who spent that last fatal night in the room with the couple.

As the murderer robbed and killed Spungen for the huge stash of cash they kept there, Vicious, it is claimed, slept through the attack, only waking to find his lover's dead body in the morning.

The documentary's British director, Alan G. Parker, who has spent 24 years investigating the life and death of the star and has written a series of well-received books on the subject, tracked down more than 180 witnesses and unearthed previously unseen police reports.

He also spoke to several witnesses who are adamant that Vicious was innocent. Crucially, Parker says police found the fingerprints of six people who had been in the couple's room at New York's rundown Chelsea Hotel in the early hours, but none was ever interviewed.


Here's the trailer...

When the system works: Longtime EV resident Richard Leck receives a proper burial



I recently posted a link to the Village Voice's obituary of longtime EV resident Richard Leck. Without any living relatives, there was concern that this veteran might be laid to rest in Potter's Field. Here's an update from the Voice:

Richard Leck, the East Village habitue whose death we reported two weeks ago, was buried today in Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island.

Leck, 75, a former soldier, died of heart disease on Dec. 19 without next of kin. His friends had contacted the Voice because they feared that he would end up in a pauper's grave.

But the city Medical Examiner, the Mayor's Office of Veteran's Affairs, the VA, and a coalition of veteran's groups got together in impressive speed and took care of the transportation and burial of his body.

In other words, the system worked. Kudos to them.

We wrote about Leck because he was one of that disappearing class of people who make the neighborhood colorful and interesting.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Valentine Six

Here's the wildly underrated Valentine Six. Later becoming Parker and Lily, another overlooked act. (Per allmusic.com: "Have been called the John Doe and Exene Cervenka of N.Y.C. angst pop.")


Get warm (and depressed)

Our friend Karate Boogaloo posted this preview of "Last Summer at Coney Island" over at Stupefaction. He has more details there...Meanwhile, get warm (and depressed, because this will likely all be gone) by taking a trip to the boardwalk and beach....


The Chocolate Wars (well, not at all, but we needed something that sounds CONTROVERSIAL)


In his Nabe News Wednesday, BoweryBoogie included a link to my post on Bespoke Chocolates opening shop on Extra Place. Rachel Zoe Insler, the owner of Bespoke, left him the following comment. Which he reposted in a post. Anyway! Here's BB....and Rachel:

Rachel Zoe Insler, owner of the new Bespoke Chocolates set to open on Extra Place, wants to set the record straight. Her message is clear, don't bemoan Bespoke! Per a comment received earlier this morning:

Hi! I'm the owner of Bespoke...I specifically left the opening date so open-ended because the fiery hoops you have to jump through to open a small business (especially in a corporate-owned building) in New York City will never cease to amaze me. It's been months trying to get the appropriate permits to install a sink. Anyway, we'll be open soon enough, and I'm hoping that my small, independently owned shop making handmade products manages to make more people happy than it does horrifically offended. Cheers, Rachel P.S. EVGrieve: where's your sense of humor? "Charming" is a joke!


She also responded to his post:

You're speedy! Thanks for posting. If I ever get my damn doors open, please come by for a chocolate and a chat!

I've lived on East First between First and Second for a few years now. I love the East Village and I'm excited to be part of a long history of unique small businesses.

To be clear: I am not trying to say that people shouldn't prefer things "the way they were." Bemoan me all you want; a little controversy is hard to come by when you make chocolate anyway. :)

But I am asking that folks give me a chance and at least let me open my doors before deciding that I am going to be a detriment to the neighborhood. Remember: CBGB's was once a new business. So was Moshe's Bakery.

Times are tough, and small locally owned businesses need all the support they can get, lest Extra Place be filled with six more Chase Banks. I'm proud of my handmade products and the fact that I can create a few new jobs for New Yorkers.

I will yield your blog back to you now, thanks. :)


I'll have more to say on this tomorrow in the first installment of my 12-part series, "How Bespoke Chocolates singlehandedly ruined the East Village."

Heh. But seriously! I'm all for small, locally owned businesses...and I'm happy to hear that she lives in -- and appreciates -- the neighborhood. This place aside....generally speaking, with the proliferation of FroYo places and the comings-and-goings on Dessert Row, the Momofuku's Bakery & Milk Bars of the neighborhood, and what not, I have to admit I feel a little desserted out. And annoyed when the SATC crowd shows up to eat said desserts. In any event, we do wish her all the best with her new store.

Save the date/reminder

Photographer/filmmaker Nathan Kensinger -- an EV Grieve favorite -- has a new show opening tomorrow night at 7 at Union Docs called "Abandoned Brookyn."

Martha Stewart to help drive up rents on East 10th Street



First Anthony Bourdain, now this....The New York Post brings us this item today:

FORGET 46th Street - Martha Stewart has crowned a new Restaurant Row.

In a four-part restaurant tour kicking off Monday on "The Martha Stewart Show" (11 a.m., Ch. 4), the domestic diva is visiting a quartet of tiny downtown eateries on E. 10th Street.

"I have never been on a street anywhere in New York where restaurant after restaurant is just so, so good," says Stewart, citing "diverse" menus and "fantastic" prices as reasons for her latest foodie obsession.


Hmm-mmm.

While E. 10th Street seems to be edgier territory than Stewart's usual four-star stomping grounds, this funky strip popular with college kids and night crawlers isn't such a big departure for Stewart.

"She's just as game to be in the East Village as she is uptown," says [Stewart supervising producer Lisa] Wagner. "She has her favorite places - it's not always Nobu."

Go to Ray's Candy Store


Bob Arihood has written about the plight of Ray at Ray's Candy Store, which has been at 113 Avenue A for 35 years. Now Scoopy has more details in his column (last item) in this week's issue of The Villager. Writes Scoopy:

Friends of Ray Alvarez are really getting concerned about his situation. Alvarez has operated his Ray’s Candy Store, on Avenue A at Seventh St., for years, and everyone just assumed he’d saved up a nice nest egg. But it turns out, he’s broke. He needs new glasses and has a bad hernia you don’t want to hear the details of, and his diet is mainly leftover potatoes that he doesn’t make into Belgian fries and maybe some soft ice cream.


Anyway, it's a complicated situation. So, stop by. Or at least visit the MySpace page that Eden Brower created for him. As his bio reads there:

Ray is a lower east side icon who is loved by many...He makes the best belgian fries around and will serve you with love and a smile...Home to old timer regulars, drunks, tourists, wingnuts, political activists and hipsters, Ray's is a unique piece of old new york in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.. Please come to Ray's and support this beloved treasure!!

One opinion (not mine) on the "Top 10 New York Bar Names"


Meet Now Live's Nightlife and Bar Guide, which gave us the "Top Ten Dirtiest Bars in New York," has another listicle. Presented here in its entirety without comment. It's up to you to decide if they were trying to be funny. Or offensive. Or...

Funny, Stupid, Sexual, Weird, whatever…these are the top 10 New York bars with the best names. Some I’ve been to, some I refused to go to…if you’re at one of these bars, hit “broadcast now” from the bar’s mobile MNL page to let us know!

Here are the top ten great bar names of New York:

1. Wogies - West Village - anyone have any clue where this came from?

2. Murphy & Gonzalez - West Village - So an Irishman and a Mexican walk into a bar…

3. 1 2 3 Burger Shot Beer - Midtown West - It’s like calling your bar “$3 Drafts”

4. Kettle of Fish - West Village - wtf?

3. Arlene’s Grocery - Lower East Side - No Arlene and definitely no groceries going on in this place.

4. No Idea - Flatiron - exactly, no idea.

5. Otto’s Shrunken Head - East Village - uhhmmm….yyyyyeah.

6. Chumley’s Bar - West Village - Sounds like something you do after a long night of boozing or could be one of those sex postions…”I gave some girl the sickest Chumley last night!”

7. Galway Hooker - Garment District - So many guys walk into this place with a handfull of cash and completely pissed off.

8. Burp Castle - East Village - Amazingly this place is actually a nice place to bring a date.

9. The Redhead - East Village - If you go downstairs to the basement, it too is also red.

10. I’m Gonna Kill You Tavern & Grille - OK, I made this one up.

Honorable Mention:

Happy Ending - Chinatown - because a happy ending is NOT what you get here

Slaughtered Lamb - Greenwich Village - just a gross name

Nowhere - East Village - cause thats exactly where you tell people you were last night if you went here last night

Ding-Dong Lounge - Upper West Side - AKA “Penis Tavern”

Walking by the Lululemon Athletica shop

I'm always curious when I see storefronts being renovated, like the one at 156 Fifth Avenue at 20th Street. After quite a bit of work, it turned out to be a Lululemon Athletica shop, a place that sells yoga-inspired women's athletic wear. The store opened on Black Friday, Nov. 28. Fine. So I was a little startled when I walked by the store again this week...to see that's it's closing...and moving to a new Union Square location, which opens today. Dumb question, but why would you spend all the money to renovate a space only to close and move two months later...?


Pussy Galore in Times Square

Recent Times Square in the 1970s/1980s/1990s posts by Alex at Flaming Pablum and Ken at Greenwich Village Daily Photo prompted me to dig out one of my favorite records, Pussy Galore's "Corpse Love." The CD sleeve includes each of the five band members standing in front of an appropriate marquee on 42nd Street. Only included the shots of Messrs. Hagerty and Spencer here...


New wave!

An ad from Wednesday's Post.



The new wave of markerting...?

And previously.