On Avenue C, a battle to be the 'St. Patrick's Day Official Party Headquarters!'

First, on Avenue C and 10th Street... at the East Village Tavern...

and across the way at Royale...

Meanwhile, you can find me in my bunker today.

[Photos by EV Grieve Holiday Correspondent Bobby Williams]

Exclusive: Inside a Drinking Water Sampling Station

The other day, EV Grieve reader Steven noticed that the Drinking Water Sampling Station on First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street...

...was open! For some reason, I've never seen inside of one... So now we know, despite the rumors — and swarms of bargoers! — they are not actually dispensing draft beer...

And this post at NYC.gov tells you what the stations are actually used for.

The wrong profile: Joe Strummer gets tagged

As a reader noted in the comments, someone tagged the Joe Strummer mural outside Niagara on Seventh Street and Avenue A a few days ago... added a little color to the lapels and sleeves ...

The lonely job of cleaning Kenny Scharf's mural

As noted yesterday, Kenny Scharf's mural was bombed again on Houston and the Bowery... (BoweryBoogie reports that it was hit twice now in the last few days...)

And this evening, a worker just started the clean-up process...

Tonight, let it be Löwenbräu

After a hard day at work...

[Via Brad]

... it's off to the International...

Photo courtesy of Uncle Waltie.

No. 2 on the 6

Breaking: UCB will remove the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign!

Alex Sidtis, managing director of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Chelsea, just sent along an e-mail about the group's Hot Chicks Room sign on their new home on Avenue A at Third Street:

Rather then fight, the UCB have decided to change the sign. Our goal is to make people laugh by presenting the best comedic material in town and not to cause a stink over a silly sign.

They have decided to take my suggestion — Hot Hick's Room.

Kidding!

What will the new sign say?

"Not sure yet, but we're not likely to be provocative in this case."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Your 'Hot Chicks Room' sign update

[Updated] Resident starting a petition to have the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign removed at the Upright Citizens Brigade

A new look and new employees for The Acme Bar & Grill

About this time yesterday, we were told that the venerable Acme Bar & Grill on Great Jones was closing after 25 years. As we pointed out, Fork in the Road and DNAinfo also verified that the restaurant was history. But then! Owner Bob Pollock left a comment at Grub Street late yesterday afternoon saying they would just be closed for renovations.

Rebecca Marx at Fork in the Road tracked Pollock down today to see what is going on here:

"I know this is insane," Pollock says of the sudden closure. "But we had to make some drastic changes." The almost 25-year-old restaurant, he explains, "was built on a shoestring" and has long been in dire need of renovations. "A new HVAC, kitchen, exhaust system" are among the structural updates he'll be making during Acme's closure, which he estimates will be a few months.

And then there are the updates to the restaurant's staff. "We're dealing with a problem right now at the bar where employees didn't come in and didn't know what was happening," he says. "We had a bunch of drunk employees in the place." He pauses. "They've been loyal employees for years. We just need some changes."

Can he elaborate upon why he's rewarding their loyalty in this manner? "I don't know what to tell you." Another pause. "It's become a little sloppy."

And!

Pollock is hoping the food will attract "new faces and new money," though he claims he'd like Acme to remain "a neighborhood bar" and to retain its clientele. Whether his current customers will recognize the new Acme remains to be seen: When it reopens, Pollock says, "it's not going to be the roadhouse look anymore. It will have a more contemporized look. Warm and at the same time contemporary. When you go in there, you'll have the reminiscence of Acme. It'll be on the walls."

Would any former Acme employees like to chime in? (grieve98@gmail.com)

[Photo via Gothamist, who has more on this story here.]

Hat hards required, though shirts and bras are apparently optional

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Brad for this shot along the constructed-filled corridor of East Fourth Street between the Bowery and Lafayette...

Life at the renovated 325 E. 10th St.

We've been following the gut renovation at 325 E. 10th Street across from Tompkins Square Park...As we reported in October, the front building is part of the Hotel Toshi empire, the short-term apartment rental network in New York City. Meanwhile, the rear building is residential. (Check out our tour of the building here.)

One of the first residents of the building recently shared his experiences at 325 E. 10th St. since moving in last fall.

According to the reader:

- No heat until December 15th
- No mail (or mailbox) for the first three months
- We've never met our landlord
- Leaky Ceilings
- Rats in the hallways
- Almost NO hot water
-...and to this day, the entire building is still without function gas stovetops in the kitchen, as they forgot to rerun the gas line to the back building during the renovations.

The resident said that the landlord is now knocking $150 off the rent, though that didn't start until last month. As far as the cooking issue, the management company delivered hot plates to their doorsteps. (The Toshi guests now have electric ranges.)

As for the actual apartments, "They're nicely appointed but [there have] been horrible living conditions." According to Streeteasy, the prices here range from $2,000 for a studio to $4,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.

Meanwhile, we asked the resident about the Toshi tenants. The arrival of a Hotel Toshi in at least one neighborhood hasn't always gone so well. In a May story from The Brooklyn Paper titled "Neighbors say Hotel Toshi is a horrorshow hostel":

A hipster hotel that occupies part of a converted loft building in Williamsburg has become such a crash pad that some renters are moving out.

Tenants of a six-story building on Driggs Avenue and S. Fifth Street are accusing the operators of Hotel Toshi of creating a nuisance by allowing their transient guests to throw rowdy late-night parties.

Per the 325 E. 10th St. resident: "Toshi hasn't been loud in this building. Luckily, we have a courtyard separating us, so they aren't roaming around our hallways, and we have a separate roofdeck. My only issue with Toshi residents is they leave their trash in the hallways and front stoop when we have area for all of that in back."

[Updated] Your 'Hot Chicks Room' sign update

As mentioned Monday night, a resident is circulating a petition (where, I have no idea) to have the "Hot Chicks Room" sign removed from the incoming new home of the Upright Citizens Brigade on Avenue A at Third Street...

Via e-mail, I asked Alex Sidtis, managing director of the UCB in Chelsea, for his reaction... and about a possible opening date.

"We've gotten a lot of positive attention and support from the community so I'm not sure where the ire is coming from," he said. "The fact as the matter is that no one who has a problem with this sign has personally come forward and talked to me about this sign. We are shocked there is a petition going around over this but are eager to understand the cause for concern."

(He said he'd be happy to talk about the sign with any concerned residents. The UCB main number is 212-366-9176.)

After our e-mail exchange, he spoke with CB3 District Manager Susan Stetzer about the sign, and will have further discussions with her about it.

"We really aren't trying to be straight up offensive, and it feels really surreal," he said.

Meanwhile, he also said that no one involved with the UCB placed the signs on the East Village mailbox.

And! As for an opening date... soon...

"We're eagerly awaiting clearance from the city to open and start booking shows."

[Updated]

Patrick Hedlund has more on this story at DNAinfo:

Angry local residents have recently taken their complaints to the local community board and even 311 after the sign went up near the comedy troupe's forthcoming space near East 3rd Street, said CB 3 district manager Susan Stetzer.

"The issue that that has been expressed to me is that they feel like it looks like 1970s Times Square," said Stetzer, who lives on East 3rd Street near the space and agreed with grumbling residents that the sign wouldn't discourage the hordes of rowdy bar-goers that regularly flood the block.

Stetzer's building-mate is even starting a petition to get the sign taken down.

"I just find it, for this neighborhood, very inappropriate and repulsive," said Felicia Catgiano, 66, who noted there is an elementary school and church just up the block.

"We don't need a sign like this here. This is a neighborhood — this is not the Red Light District."

Previously. (It's worth you time to read the 40-plus comments.)

Another new outdoor dining option on the Bowery

And could someone please check to see if my burrito is done?