On this date in NYC history: The smoking ban goes into effect

Can't believe that it has been six years already...

From the AP, March 30, 2003:

In a smoke-choked Manhattan tavern, Cynthia Candiotti asked a neighbor for a light and took a deep drag on her cigarette, savoring a last barstool puff before the city outlawed smoking in bars and nightclubs.

For Candiotti, 26, the ban is a double whammy: "I can't tell you how many dates with cute guys I've gotten by looking into his eyes while he lights me up. That's as good as smoking."

With fear, loathing and lament, the city of Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart and Philip Morris USA was ushering in the smoke-free age Sunday, one tick after midnight.

Goodbye to the cloying smell of cloves. The wispy white rings that settle into a layer of haze at bars, pubs and nightclubs. The smoker's hack and smelly clothes after a night out, whether you smoked or not. The phone number written on a matchbook cover.

"First they cleaned up Times Square, then they said you couldn't dance in bars or drink a beer in the park. Now you can't even smoke when you go out on the town," said Willie Martinez, 37, who sat, chain-smoking, in an East Village bar. "This is like no-fun city."

Helen Levitt, 95

"Helen Levitt, a major photographer of the 20th century who caught fleeting moments of surpassing lyricism, mystery and quiet drama on the streets of her native New York, died in her sleep at her home in Manhattan on Sunday. She was 95." (The New York Times)

[Image taken from “Crosstown” by Helen Levitt.]

Crazy like a landlord

That storefront that has been vacant for what seems like years on Second Avenue at East Third Street (northeast corner) has a new "for rent" sign...



...the likes of which we can't recall having ever seen... is this creative real-estate marketing or the work of a prankster? Or both!

Important notice about "partying" in Shaoul buildings on East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street

Spotted on 514-516 E. Sixth St. ... and the building behind on 515 E. Fifth St.






Click to enlarge, of course.

Update: And thanks to Jeremiah for pointing out these are the controversial Shaoul buildings. As The Villager reported in December:

The Board of Standards and Appeals ruled at the end of last month that the Department of Buildings was wrong to issue permits to add two extra floors to two East Village tenements.
The B.S.A. ruled that the additions to the five-story buildings at 515 E. Fifth St. and 514-516 E. Sixth St. violated the state’s 1929 Multiple Dwelling Law in regard to fire safety and elevator requirements.

Timber

The transformation of the former Mo Pitkin's space at 34 Avenue A continues....seems as if the folks behind the new bar, Aces & Eights, are giving it a ....



rustic log cabin/lodge kinda look...



It has come a long way from the vintage feel of Mo's...

Ayyy: It's Mr. C's on Avenue C

In which I date myself by making a "Happy Days" reference. As I mentioned a few weeks back, a brick-oven pizza place is opening soon at 102 Avenue C between Seventh Street and Sixth Street...The sign is up now...Say hello to Mr. C's:




Will Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli approve? And didn't Mr. C run a hardware store?

Automat to Baoguette

As it has been reported, the former BAMN! automat on St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue is becoming the second Vietnamese sandwich shop for Baoguette. Anyway. The signs for the new place are now live.




For further reading:
The Shutter: Felled Bamn! to Become Baoguette? (Eater)
Bánh Mì Boom: The Vietnamese Street Eats Just Keep Coming (Grub Street)

Cafe de Nova space for rent; Avenue B back up to 22 vacant storefronts

Last Thursday I mentioned that La Bonne Bouffe was the third new cafe-bakery-small-plates-type place to open on the south end of Avenue B since January... I failed to mention in that discussion that Cafe de Nova on Avenue B near 11th Street closed up earlier this month... This cafe-bakery-small-plates-type place opened late last spring...



How long will the bagels remain in the window?



So, with this, we're back up to 22 empty storefronts on Avenue B.

I sense that Robin Raj gets a new upstairs tenant

A clairvoyant! Chakra balancing! At 114 Third Ave.

For the complete EV Grieve mini-series on Robin Raj, please click this.

Dollar days on St. Mark's

New York City Daily Photo has the above shot of the various $1 deals on St. Mark's Place. I, too, will pass on the $1 sushi.

Noted

"It has been a rough month for New York City archery, one of the more obscure sports in this sports-obsessed city."

Tales from the rent-is-falling front

“Probably somebody who’s relocating would still be surprised today: ‘This is the size of apartment I get for this price?’ ” said Caroline Bass, an associate broker with Citi Habitats. “But New Yorkers think this is great right now. Maybe you appreciate it more if you spend more time here.” (The New York Times)