Mosaic Cafe has closed on Avenue C

Dave on 7th passes along the news that Mosaic Cafe has closed on Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street...

They opened last November, and seemed to be a good neighborhood spot ... The sign left for customers says that they might relocate...

The 4th Street Food Co-op temporarily closing for renovations

Here's a message from our friends at The 4th Street Food Co-op:

The 4th Street Food Co-op will be closed from Friday until Sat. Oct 8 (reopen day subject to change) for renovations. We will be replacing our floors and relocating our cooling compressors. More details about the work and re-open dates can be found on our blog.

Please come stock up before Thursday night on dry goods such as bulk rice, oats, nuts, olive oil, and maple syrup, so that we don't have to move as much stuff!

Remembering the Twin Towers on East Fourth Street

The Fourth Arts Block is featuring the work of Lower East Side-based photographer Brian Rose ...

His panorama of various facades of the former Twin Towers is mounted on the ArtUp Scaffolding Bridge at the 70 East 4th Street Cultural Center. And FAB Café is hosting a concurrent exhibition of Rose’s work at 75 E. 4th St. The opening event is tonight from 7-9.

Meanwhile, Rose tells us that he is going forward with publishing "Time and Space on the Lower East Side," working with a small publisher. He just launched a Kickstarter campaign to facilitate funding. The project page is here.

We first wrote about the project in July 2010. You can find that post here. Bonus photo of his from the 1980s...



On the Bowery looking north toward East Fifth Street — now JASA/Cooper Square Senior Housing and the Cooper Square Hotel

Former Octavia's Porch space yielding to a Mexican restaurant at 40 Avenue B

CB3 hasn't even yet distributed the SLA commitee agenda for October ... though we already know of one applicant here at 40 Avenue B. Looks as if the name might be Fonda operating as a contemporary Mexican restaurant. The owners will be aiming for a beer-wine license.

In May, the "Global Jewish" restaurant from "Top Chef" alum Nikki Cascone closed after six months. Chabela's and Russo's have been in and out of here in fairly quick succession in recent years.

'Modern Love' filming at Vazac's today

Filming continues around here today for the pilot episode of "Modern Love," a series for Lifetime. Per Vulture, the show "centers on the science editor at the New York Times (or a modified version thereof) who suddenly becomes the 'Modern Love' editor while his marriage is dissolving and he's raising a 15-year-old daughter."

And today they'll be filming inside Vazac's/7B at Seventh Street and Avenue B ... so you may need to find another place to drink in the afternoon... (And did they ever find that "hip, eclectic type loft or apartment?" for the series?)

Also! Be sure to bring your Eric Stoltz and Ally Sheedy paraphernalia to have signed. These under-appreciated actors are the leads.

Speaking of Ally Sheedy, may we recommend her in "Man's Best Friend" from 1993...

Helen Stratford in Tompkins Square Park today

Helen Stratford by Bobby Williams.

Michael Moore at St. Mark's Bookshop this Thursday night

From the folks at St. Mark's Bookshop...

We’ve arranged a signing for Michael Moore’s new memoir HERE COMES TROUBLE at St. Mark’s Bookshop this Thursday at 7 p.m. It’s all a bit impromptu but we will have a mic on hand.

Today in photos of an abandoned bra hanging from a WALK/DON'T WALK sign on Second Avenue

This morning on Ninth Street and Second Avenue via Bride of 7th.

Reader report: Flying bullets last night on 13th Street and Avenue B

We received several reports from readers — via email and Twitter — of gunfire last night near 13th Street and Avenue B. A reader shares this report:

At 9 p.m. or so, 6 shots were fired somewhere around 13th and B. I was on a roof in the area. We walked to the edge and didn't see anything. And no one running around. So I sat back down. Two minutes later, 6 more shots are fired. One bullet flew over my head within I would say 10 feet of me. Unmistakable sound of a bullet whizzing past my head. We bolted back into the apartment. Called 911. There were a lot of reports of shootings. The cops came and said they had no information. Seemed frustrated that we didn't see anything. Based on how close the bullet came to us and the fact we were on the 9th floor of a building I am not sure it was a street-level shooting. Very scary.

Anyone else have any further information?

Lower East Side second in the city with 19 stalled developments; plus, Scott Stringer's plan for them

[Stalled site on Eighth Street and Avenue D]

From the EV Grieve inbox ...

Challenging New York to "turn sore spots into bright spots," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a new report [yesterday morning], "Arrested Development: Breathing New Life into Stalled Construction Sites," which calls for a campaign to revitalize these sites — and their surrounding neighborhoods — with imaginative temporary uses.

The Borough President’s surveyed all 129 stalled construction sites in Manhattan and found that 37% had problems with litter; 60% had fencing that was in disrepair or vandalized, and half of the sites had sidewalk obstructions. New York may be living with these eyesores for several years, the study found, because even if the economy turned around today there would be a considerable lag time before construction resumed and was finally completed on all 646 of these stalled sites citywide.

His report calls for the city to to pass legislation that permits property owners and government to create temporary public spaces on private property. "New York should also streamline the approval process for private uses — such as farmers markets, cafes, and performing arts spaces — and pass legislation guaranteeing that such temporary uses will not remove previous approvals for the site."

Interesting ... though could this open the door for more douchebaggery? Stringer cited the Timeshare Backyard on Ludlow Street as a good example of this temporary usage. We only ever heard complaints (noise ... water) about this place, where, among other things, you could pay to spray a woman wearing a white T-shirt with a hose for entertainment.

But. Given the right idea... How about putting up a screen (or paint a wall) and have a weekly movie night...? Nothing mainstream. Find someone to curate the series. Show some John Cassavetes or something. You get the idea.

In any event, according to the report, Community District 3 — which includes the Lower East Side, Chinatown and the East Village — had the second-most number of stalled sites in the city with 19. (District 1, which includes Tribeca and Lower Manhattan, had the most with 20.)

Several of the stalled projects in this neighborhood are being, uh, unstalled, such as 75 First Avenue and 427 E. 12th St.

It's a comprehensive report, which you can find here...

Arrested Development: Breathing New Life Into Stalled Construction Sites

A Cooper Union memo about St. Mark's Bookshop

An anonymous reader left this comment yesterday:

Internal Memo from today.....
To: The Cooper Union Community
From: The Office of Public Affairs
Monday, September 26, 2011

Last week the Board of Trustees discussed the ongoing matter regarding St. Mark’s Bookshop, which we understand many in the Cooper community have been following. We are sharing with you the outcome of that meeting before we inform those outside of The Cooper Union who have expressed interest in the resolution of St. Mark’s request. The Board of The Cooper Union is giving serious consideration to the matter regarding St. Mark's Bookshop. After discussion at its recent meeting, the Board decided to have the situation thoroughly examined by its Finance and Business Affairs committee. The Board believes that the request deserves the committee's analysis, the outcome of which will be announced at the end of October.

This is in line with what the St. Mark's owners told Jeremiah Moss last Friday.

Large warehouse wanted

So we spotted this on the plywood along Third Avenue between 13th Street and 12th Street Saturday...

Intrigued, we emailed the address listed...

Turns out the people behind Unicorn Meat NYC — "an underground, art based nightlife production group" are looking for permanent space. Per the Unicorn Meat website:

We will fill the walls and ceilings with LED art and 3D projection. It is our belief that people controlling the underground nightlife scenes in NYC are simply not doing what they could be doing with warehouse space. It's our dream and passion to bring you an eclectic and electronic based space that will blow you away and take you to another place.

In the email, Unicorn's Alex Kay wrote, "We get large multi-thousand person crowds and need to be able to put them somewhere we can run. Venues in NYC are difficult to work with so we are starting our own."

Also:

"We put some of the signs up in ... Williamsburg and they disappeared. Why? I believe they were taken down by brokers who don't want us going around them. The one in the city stayed up."

Actually, as of Sunday, someone had removed this poster too. Or maybe someone wanted a closer look at the American Pole Fitness Championship crotch.