EV Grieve

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Get it by the ounce: New FroYo joint now open for business on St. Mark's

In lieu of sarcastic comment, please scream. At the location of the former Spots Cafe. I now miss the dog.

(Oops...didn't see that Grub Street posted the news a little bit earlier today...)

Former Five Rose's space gutted

Our friend Hunter-Gatherer just snapped these photos of the former Five Rose's space on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street....(He would have posted them himself, but he was a little pissed/depressed about all this...)

Ouch. Last rumor we heard: another pizza place was moving in... And has anyone heard from Krystyna?

For further reading:
Five Rose's Pizza (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
Five Rose's Krystyna Says “I’ll Be Back” (Hunter-Gatherer)
The former Five Rose's is for rent; memories remain (EV Grieve)

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

"And frankly, when I lived in a high-rise apartment in the Financial District, more of my shit got swiped by my rich young businessmen neighbors than ever got taken from me when I lived in the East Village in a basement. Yeah, I KNEW you were taking my stuff, Mr. Apartment 14C. YOU DIDN'T FOOL ME. YOU AREN'T SO SLICK. So yeah, rich people can suck it." (Fear and Loathing NY)

One day with John Lennon changed his life (BoingBoing)

We'll take Manhattan: NYU's plans for 2031 (Esquared)

Jeremiah sees digital Snickers bars (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

It's likely that you have swine flu (The New York Times)

Tagging Kleen-Stik (BoweryBoogie)

Another HBO show with a cupcakes storyline (Hunter-Gatherer)

Skipper needs a home (Washington Square Park)

Kurt Strahm at Restless regarding Cooper Union and the Cooper Square Hotel:

And though I see the hotel as a bookend to the New Museum further down Bowery — anchoring the conversion of yet another distinctive swath of NYC into something (Bloomberg and) the yacht club set can enjoy — I admire its fetishistic finish and space-age look, and the honesty of its arrogances. Where Donald Trump's erections hide amid the skyscraper grass of Midtown, the Cooper Square lords over the puny East Village like a mammoth alien sexual appliance shot from space — Battlestar Dildactica? — a monument to the penile enhancing power of unapologetic greed, and decadence that is an end in itself.

The Post keeps 'em coming

Previously. I just hope details don't emerge that call for a "Kung Poo" headline.

Tompkins Square Park playground completion now set for summer

Late last summer, the city began a $1.5 million upgrade on the main playground in Tompkins Square Park. The playground has been closed since late August.

As the sign just off Avenue A at Ninth Street notes (as of yesterday), the project is set for completion this spring.

However, according to the Parks Department Web site, the anticipated completion date is now this summer.

Uh-oh. Several annoyed parents and residents have already complained about a spring completion. As The Villager reported last October, the construction has "disrupted the rhythm of their lives."

“This was the main gathering area, not just for the kids, but also for the parents,” said Susan. “When you live in spaces as small as we do in the East Village, then these community gathering areas are really important. And, especially, like single parents — where do you go? You go to the playground and you can talk to other single parents. It’s an important resource.”

“They closed it and we lost like 20 friends maybe?” said Luis Castro, who was with his partner, Isabel Bigelow, and friend Jan Kuba Gontarczyk, all taking turns pushing their 2-year-old daughters on a tire swing in a smaller playground in the southeast corner of Tompkins Square Park. Parents they used to see every day now “go to different parks,” said Castro.

Meanwhile, a few random shots of the playground from recent months...

The stickers do not come off very easily

Previously.

Tempo's cheeky new ad

Here's the latest ad (seen on Third Avenue near 14th Street) for Tempo, the coming-soon condos at 23rd Street and Second Avenue. I'm curious if the Tempo spa will be co-ed. So, if I decided to buy a place here, then I can expect topless models in the spa? Topless models who'll stand there looking as if they'll drop that towel at the first sign of, say, a sweaty municipal bond trader?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Measuring Tempo

Meanwhile, someone artfully arranged these bricks on Water Street outside the new Duane Reade.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Butter Lane owner: "We are not turning into a bar!"

Maria Baugh, one of the owners of Butter Lane Cupcakes, sent me an e-mail late yesterday afternoon about my post titled, "Is Butter Lane turning into a bar?"

Here's what she had to say:

Hi E.V. Grieve,

My name is Maria Baugh and I’m one of the owners of Butter Lane. I wanted to introduce myself and try to address your questions/concerns about Butter Lane’s application for a liquor license.

We’re applying for a liquor license because we would like to occasionally offer champagne mostly for events or special promotions. We are also exploring the idea of offering wine pairings with cupcakes. We are not turning into a bar!

Also, just so there’s no confusion, we’ve been open until 11 pm on weeknights and midnight on Friday and Saturday (10 pm on Sunday) since we opened in November. Our hours have not changed.

Our main objective is to offer great-tasting, high-quality cupcakes to residents of the East Village and beyond. We love the neighborhood and our many customers who are also our Butter Lane neighbors.