EV Grieve

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" filming today on Sixth Avenue: What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

Lots of film equipment parked around the Boobs Barf & Beyond store on Sixth Avenue. Run, Chelsea, run!

Jeremiah has the tally from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" so far.... And here's BoweryBoogie's coverage of the Nic Cage pic.

100 years of LES subway ridership

Over at Reuters yesterday, Felix Salmon had details on the following chart that uses spark lines to explore 100 years of New York City subway ridership on a station-by-station basis. Salmon focused on the Lower East Side.

As he writes:

"It’s well known that the Lower East Side has been resurgent of late — and so the increased traffic at the 2nd Avenue F stop comes as little surprise. (To give you an example of the timescale here, the grey box covers the years from 1952 to 1977.)

"What fascinates me about this map is how four stations all of which are quite close to each other can have such very different ridership experiences — a true demonstration of how New York really is made up of very small microneighborhoods."

"Without the fancy job or the big nut, it gets harder to hang around"

In The New Yorker this week, Nick Paumgarten writes a piece titled "The Death of Kings -- Notes from a meltdown." The story is online, though you need to be a registered New Yorker user for access.

An excerpt:

"As for the co-op classes, the Wall Street set, it can seem that the loss they fear most is the loss of face. No one seems to want anyone to know. In one sense, there is less shame in failure now, because it is widespread and undiscerning. Still, it smarts. There are successful circles in which success (to say nothing of money) isn't everything, but without it you'd better bring something else. Charm, wit, talent, kindness and generosity certainly help, but only if they complement characteristics that could be more readily converted into social or professional capital. Without the fancy job or the big nut, it gets harder to hang around."

Monday, May 11, 2009

Information on recent TSP attacks

Bob Arihood has detailed reporting on several recent attacks in Tompkins Square Park — one of which may have resulted in the death of a young woman. Meanwhile, something seems a little different this year around the Park— more menacing, perhaps. As a commenter noted on Neither More Nor Less, "I've been somewhat worried about this summer in TSP. There are a lot more people hanging out already than there was this time last year."

Reminders: The Ukrainian Festival starts Friday

How the recession may change New York City

New York magazine's cover story this week is titled "Recession Culture." And it begins:

It’s a truism now that money was an engulfing, distorting force of the boom years, particularly in New York. At the level of urban development, it skewed our economy; at the level of culture, it misshaped values; at the level of individual behavior, it corrupted habits and discolored thoughts: This is your brain on money.

Come, let us dance like children of the night

In Tompkins Square Park Friday evening. A bit of a Wes Anderson moment, someone said. And, yes, the fellow is playing "Wish you Were Here" on the guitar.

Meanwhile, Slum Goddess has more from the weekend, including photos of the Bodies of Pyongyang performance at TSP.

Like a Virgin Megastore going-out-of-business sale (groan)

As you may have heard, the Virgin Megastore is closing on Union Square. I was finally lured in Saturday like a sucker with the "up to 40 percent" off signs... Also, I wanted to make a bid on the Lady GaGa banner in the window. (Unfortunately, my offer of "You pay for the can of gas and I'll rip it down and set it on fire on 14th Street" wasn't accepted.)

Well, as for the rest of the store. The new CDs that are usually marked for sale with a $13.99 sticker over the $18.99 sticker...were all $18.99 again. And they were 25 percent off. Ditto for the DVDs. Most new DVDs were $24.99. So with the 25 percent off -- you're pretty much paying what you were paying before the store was going out of business. I'm sure there were bargains elsewhere. Or not. I didn't stick along long enough to dig. Oh, one thing I saw for 40% off? Stationery! Which was all sold out. And the Blondie pocketbooks were also 40% off.