The city is working hard to fine you for throwing away household trash

Yesterday morning, we spotted a city sanitation agent pulling up to the trash can on the corner of Avenue C and 11th Street. He put on a pair of latex gloves and carefully began to sift through its contents.

He paid particular attention to a bag (Lord & Taylor?) that someone had placed next to the can. He spent several minutes pulling out pieces of mail and inspecting them.

Eventually, he found some letters/bills with someone's name on them. He walked away with that mail.

Anyway, the city can and will fine you $100 for throwing trash from your apartment into city-owned trash cans on the street — like this one! Just ask the 83-year-old Upper East Side who was treated like crap for doing so. Plus, there is a warning right on the side of the can.

For $100, you could probably buy a top-of-the-line executive shredder.

Parents group upset about number of rats in Tompkins Square Park

Well, OK, if you've walked through the Park lately, there do seem to be a good number of rats (still!) running about.

The rats are particularly noticeable in the recently renovated, $1.5 million playground off Ninth Street and Avenue A, The Villager reports this week.

So a group of parents have banded together, calling themselves the Tompkins Square Park & Playgrounds Parents’ Association. "'The fact that, in less than 12 months, the playground has gone from being a crown jewel of the New York playground system to a state of such disrepair is depressing,' said [group founder Chad] Marlow, whose 2-year-old daughter plays in the playground daily."

A Parks Department spokesperson said the city is willing to listen to the association’s concerns, The Villager reported.

Read the whole article here. Also, Bob Arihood has some excellent night-time photos of the rats in the wild. This may be my favorite shot from 2009. I added a few more rat links to Neither More Nor Less. Like these.

[Photo of dead rat in Tompkins Square Park by Bobby Williams]

The cornerstone to 51 Astor Place won't be part of the demolition

So you know that workers will start the demolition process at 51 Astor Place soon enough...

Meanwhile, EV Grieve reader Mark noted this. Several weeks ago, he spotted workers futzing with the building's cornerstone...

...and, a few weeks later, he noticed that the workers had actually removed the cornerstone... and then bricked up the corner space where it had been...

So where is the cornerstone now? Perhaps in the Architectural Salvage Warehouse?

A good sign outside Sidewalk yesterday

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams notes the progress at Sidewalk on Avenue A and Sixth Street ... signs of a reopening...

As we first reported two weeks ago, Sidewalk management is aiming to reopen by Aug. 5. The place closed on March 1 for renovations.

Previously.

41 Bond backup plan: How about this $15k a month apartment down the street?

So all but one of those expensive homes (from $5 million to $8 million for the penthouse) have sold out at 41 Bond, as Curbed noted last week.

Well, if you missed out, then consider this "rarely available home" at 49 Bond St., now on the market for $15,000 a month. According to the Prudential Douglas Elliman listing:

According to the Prudential Douglas Elliman listing:

**1800 SF 2 BED / 2 BATH PRE-WAR LOFT ON BOND STREET WITH TERRACE** Total Gut Renovations combined with Old World Charm makes this the needle in the haystack you've been waiting for! As you enter, you are welcomed by a WALL OF CASEMENT WINDOWS letting in PHENOMENAL NATURAL LIGHT with both North and South Exposures and views of Cobblestone Bond Street. ... As if all this is not enough, there is also there is also a 150 SF TERRACE off the Master Bedroom! Located on famous Bond Street where trendy meets urban exclusivity literally steps from Il Boco, Bowery Electric, and the B,D,F,M,4,6, Subways. RARELY AVAILABE HOME - MUST BE SEEN!

And are the B,D,F,M,4,6 lines trendy or exclusive?

Where are the signs for the Upright Citizens Brigade on Avenue A?

In response to our post Wednesday about an opening date for the Upright Citizens Brigade's new home on Avenue A ... a reader noted that all signs are off the space... Well, sure enough...we hadn't even noticed.

A UCB rep told us the other day that there isn't an opening date yet for the longtime-coming comedy club... Grub Street first broke the news in January 2009 ... the renovations on the space began in July 2009.

In Tompkins Square Park — Kirk, Spock and Gottfried

Even though the new "Star Trek" is playing tonight ... someone brought along the old guys...

...as well as Gilbert Gottfried, who for some reason introduced the film ...

... and made Gottfried-like faces.

Photos by Bobby Williams.

A few scenes from the heatwave

All photos by EV Grieve Heatwave Correspondent Bobby Williams...

Hawked again

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams was hanging out in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon when guess who just plopped down next to him...

Yes, it's Tommy, the red-tailed hawk sponsored by "The Smurfs Movie," coming to you in 3D next Friday!*


* Just testing out some names and corporate partners...

City officials further shame NYC by declaring Smurf Week

Our friend Jen Doll over at Runnin' Scared has the details about Smurf Week. Which city officials announced yesterday. It's all a big marketing thingee leading up to the release next Friday of "The Smurfs Movie," the latest Dogme 95 film by Lars von Trier.

Anyway, is this a big deal? Those little fuckers have been running rampant here the last few months anyway...

Karl Fischer designing new East 12th Street residence

'Tis the season for coming back from the dead ... Let's see, we mentioned 401 E. Eighth St. yesterday ... and 75 First Ave. earlier this summer.

Now! That long-dormant pit also-known-as 427. E. 12th St. across from the East Side Community School is primed for a six-story, 11-unit residence designed by Montreal-based architect Karl Fischer, who is behind several overly luxurious condos on the Bowery. (The Observer has details on his latest at 255 Bowery.)

Like with the two Bowery properties, Shaky Cohen is the developer at 427 E. 12th St., according to DOB records.

We didn't find any renderings at the Fischer website... but here's what 263 Bowery looks like (at least as of last fall) via BoweryBoogie:

Related reading:
Want to see how Fischer is making (leaving?) his mark over NYC, then check out the Curbed archives here.

Last night in the East Village: A solidarity march for the Pelican Bay State Prison hunger strike

[Photo via @volt4ire]

Last night around 10, witnesses spotted a group of a dozen (or so!) protestors marching down Ninth Street near First Avenue handing out flyers in solidarity with the Pelican Bay State Prison hunger strike in California. The three-week-long strike began due to poor conditions at the prison. A little background via Southern California Public Radio:

"The strike originated in the Special Housing Unit of the prison, which houses 1,100 inmates who are completely isolated from one another in soundproof cells and are let out for only one hour each day. The strike has spread to thirteen other state prisons with 6,500 inmates participating over the past few days, thus making it the largest prison strike in California in a decade."

Witnesses told Bob Arihood at Neither More Nor Less that the group — mostly dressed in black — "emptied trash containers and tossed newspaper dispensers into 2nd avenue while chanting anti-police rhetoric." Bob has a photo of the aftermath on Second Avenue here.

Could have been more dramatic. For instance, yesterday in Seattle, organizers hung a banner, tossed flyers and set off a smoke bomb in a busy downtown intersection.