Tuesday, August 2, 2011

July 31


So. For starters, EV Grieve reader Grant sent this photo along knowing that, perhaps, this tree might not be eligible because a) It's artificial and on Greene Street at Waverly Place (maybe beyond EV Grieve's boundaries?) ... and b) well, there is no b. Regardless, there is the Sunday Times for verification.

It's not up to us to decide these things. So we sent the information to Gruber MacDougal, spokesperson for the International Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring and Summer (ICTTSS). Unfortunately, he is at the Anantara Hua Hin Resort & Spa in Thailand for an elephant polo tournament and unavailable for comment.

Finding the right 'street-smart attire' for tonight's BMW Guggenheim Lab opening party

As we pointed out last month, The BMW Guggenheim Lab Team is hosting an opening reception of the BMW Guggenheim Lab tonight. Including! An evening of music curated by Thurston Moore, long-lost footage from TV Party (1978–1982) presented by Glenn O'Brien, and summer fare by the Brooklyn-based Roberta’s.

Fine. All fine! However! This part of the invite is quite perplexing:

Street-smart attire

What is street-smart attire? Given the context of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, it means Urban Think Tank meets The Barney's Warehouse Sale ÷ Vincent Spano in "Alphabet City" + the Coreys. We've consulted with several in-the-know people, who recommend a combination of these looks:





Let us know how it goes over!

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition


A fine Sunday in Tompkins Square Park (Neither More Nor Less)

Friday afternoon with Hank Penza outside the Mars Bar (The Gog Log)

CB3 making it easier for local companies to hire LES residents (The Lo-Down)

Remembering downtown's independent record stores (Ephemeral New York)

The New York of "American Psycho" (Scouting New York)

Last night at the Chelsea Hotel (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

The photography of Arlene Gottfried (Runnin' Scared)

Burkina NYC moving from Houston to First Avenue and Fourth Street (BoweryBoogie)

Lunch at the Brindle Room (East Village Eats)

When the 2nd Avenue Deli will open its UES location (Eater)

And as EVGrieve reader Atron noted, a Jim Joe tag made a guest appearance on the most recent episode of FX's "Louie" ...

About the short life of the 'Walk Man' in Tompkins Square Park

Late yesterday morning or early afternoon, some one or some thing rammed the 3-day-old "Walk Man" sculpture in Tompkins Square Park, as first reported by Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo.

Our own Bobby Williams was on the scene... and captured the aftermath...



Figuring that this might become an ongoing art-vs.vandal battle, artist Scott Taylor decided to remove the sculpture and take it home...


Now all that's left of "Walk Man" — a few holes in the ground.


Based on anecdotal research, the reaction to this (roughly!) falls into four groups:

• Now this is the East Village that I remember!

• It's too bad that we can't have anything nice here.

• Fucking crusties.

• I don't really care.

A sampling of the comments from the 17 left on our post yesterday:

Oh boo, what goddamn lowlife had to knock it over? I liked that thing; a spot of pure white amidst the greenery and dirt of the park.

IT WAS THE RATS. THE RATS, I SAY!

I like to see art in the park, but this sculpture is beyond wack. It's just so corporate and inoffensive and unimaginative and BLAH.

The sweater livelied it up ... the ramming was probs rude, yes, but my god -- toughen up Walk Man! You are the symbol of walking in NYC traffic and you wee-wee-wee all the way home at the first sign of hostility? Where is your street cred, man? The old "WALK/DONT WALK" letters would never put up with this shit! If they got rammed they'd fucking stand up the next day, battered and ready to brawl!

I'm sure there's some nice office building in Midtown where you can rest peacefully next to the security desk. I can't promise that security folks won't also find you super lame, art-wise, but at least you'll be safe. From sweaters.

You have another 10 months left to discuss the Flaming Cactus at Astor Place

[Photo by JCN. Find more here]

Speaking of art, the zip-tie installation — Flaming Cactus — that went up over the weekend prompted more comments here than I expected. (Read the post here.)

Meanwhile, someone connected with the projected left this comment:

Hello all. I was part of the installation. I just wanted to chime in to assure readers that WE, the group that installed them, are responsible for the removal of the zip ties once the installation has run its course. ANIMUS was commissioned by the DOT to install Flaming Cactus at Astor Place after seeing it on Governors Island during FIGMENT. Flaming Cactus doesn't aim to be highbrow; the underlying goal is just to demonstrate that everyday objects can be transformed into something interesting just by combining them in unusual ways. It's art on a shoestring budget. Those of you that like the piece - enjoy. Those of you that don't — suck it up, we'll be back to take it down in June 2012.

123 Third Ave. is already cracking up



Here at the home of million-dollar condos at 14th Street and Third Avenue. There's a nice crack along this section on 14th Street where the Capital One Bank will reside one day...

Mysteries: Why was there a Sizzler balloon outside 35 Cooper Square?


So we spotted this yesterday wedged under the fence at the former 35 Cooper Square — a balloon for Sizzler! The nearest Sizzler is in Forest Hills.

Perhaps developer Arun Bhatia had Sizzler officials here to sell them on anchoring the ground-floor space of whatever goes up here. Or! More seriously! It's just a random balloon that ended up here. Still.

Mediterranean-style bakery opening on East Ninth Street


Yesterday morning, Dave on 7th passed along word that a new bakery is opening on East Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. (433 E. Ninth St. to be exact.) Looks like the name will be Zucker.

Meanwhile, DNAinfo checks in with a story... turns out the space will be a "Mediterranean-style bakery serving up gourmet cookies" run by Zohar Zohar.

According to DNAinfo, "Zohar attributes her style of cooking to her grandparents — Polish and Czechoslovakian Jews who brought a European sensibility to their cuisine when arriving in to Israel." Her friend Johnny Iuzzini, the head pastry chef at Jean Georges, is serving as an adviser.

Something Sweet had nothing to do with the loss of the Russo's mural


As we noted the other day, workers painted over the Russo's mural on East 11th Street. Blue Glass talked with the folks at Something Sweet. Because the mural was technically on their wall, there's a perception that Something Sweet ordered the paint job. Apparently several people have said unkind things about this to the Something Sweet staff.

Anyway, Something Sweet had nothing to do with the makeover. The building's landlord did. As for a new mural, the staff at Russo's was fairly noncommittal on the issue.

Hopper Lives ... in Open Road Park


The folks at NYC Streets & Eats sent us this shot of the Hopper Lives Vans ad going up in Open Road Park off of East 12th Street...Scoboco also passed along a link to this short film about the painters who bring ads like this to life...

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.


And a close-up of the Dennis Hopper ad...

Monday, August 1, 2011

Sinkhole forming on Second Avenue at Seventh Street

Uh-oh! We have another sinkhole forming on Second Avenue at Seventh Street... (We had one here two summers ago...)


... this one promises to get serious enough to attract corporate sponsors for the City.



Anyway, be careful.


Flashback to August 2009!

Second Avenue sinkhole gets first celebrity endorsement

Tourists around the Fountain


Just a slice of Tompkins Square Park life this afternoon... photo at Temperance Fountain by Bobby Williams.