EV Grieve

Saturday, November 5, 2011

And now, your 7-Eleven branding on the Bowery

As we first reported on Aug. 29, 7-Eleven is opening shop on the Bowery in the long-dormant retail space at 52E4 — the 15 stories of condo...

Anyway! The green, orange and red has arrived...

A thank you from St. Mark's Bookshop

Now, on to the next crisis...

Previously.

Do rats know how to Push?

In our ongoing coverage of the TSP Ratstravaganza, we've discussed the problems with the trash outside the Park — specifically on the corners of 10th Street and Avenue A that provided another possible source of food. You know, just dart across the street for the smörgåsbord.

Anyway, the city has added new Push tops on the corner cans.

We waited to post these until the early reviews were in... so far, the new Push lids haven't been reviewed on Yelp.

Buy a book... or a children's book

Jeremiah has declared this as a Buy (Another) Book Weekend at St. Mark's Bookshop... Meanwhile, EV Grieve reader and blogger Marjorie Ingall notes in a post yesterday what a great resource the store is for kiddy books... with a small but well-curated section. She also talked with co-owner Bob Contant about the children's book section.

Friday, November 4, 2011

The good German

The Passions with "I'm in love with a German film star" from 1981.

The long lines for the M15 Select Bus service on First Avenue

[The line on Tuesday morning for the M15 Select Bus ticket machine on First Avenue between Second and Third streets]

The M15 Select Bus Service debuted back in October 2010. We haven't heard much about it since then.

However, in the last three to four months, EV Grieve reader Jenny notes that there are problems with the stop on First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street.

Per Jenny: "Nearly every morning one of the two machines is out of service and there are lines of 60-70 people at a time. You have to wait 15 minutes just to get through the line, and then sometimes the bus will wait another 10 minutes for others to get on the bus."

One way to bypass this: Jump on the bus, hop off at 14th Street to pay where there are more machines, and get back on the bus. For Jenny, this worked a few times — until the MTA police caught her without a receipt and fined her $100. She explained that the machines were down and showed them all her previous receipts. But, you know.

A solution: Add a third machine to this stop on First Avenue. Or at least send around crews more often to repair the machines.

RIP Crazy Landlord sign

Construction continues at the incoming Bean on Second Avenue and Third Street... You can see the progress as of yesterday in this photo by EV Grieve reader Marjorie Ingall ... Notice anything different?

The plywood is gone! Which means!

NO MORE CRAZY LANDLORD SIGN!

We first noted the sign on March 30, 2009.

Then there was this addition to the sign back in March...

Thanks for the memories, Crazy Landlord sign corner...

RUMORS: Memorial tree for Steve Jobs planned for Tompkins Square Park

On Wednesday, workers removed the stump from the Irene-damaged tree in Crusty Meadow ...

[Bobby Williams]

Now there's a rumor that the hole here will be filled with a Redwood tree honoring the late Steve Jobs.

We're not sure that we believe any of this... even the people who passed along the information were skeptical... but you never know...Not sure of any East Village-Steve Jobs connection, though we once saw someone drop an unprotected iPhone in the Park and smash the screen.

P.S.
DId you ever see the Steve Jobs tribute on Bond between Bowery and Lafayette?

Developers secure $200 million loan to help make Astor Place look like an industrial park in, say, Dallas this

According to the Observer yesterday: "The full-block office tower set to rise at 51 Astor Place has closed on a construction loan valued at between $165 and $200 million with Bank of America."

And per Crain's, construction on the only commercial office building going up in New York City without a tenant should be completed by the spring of 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village — the new Midtown?

Helping publish 'Time and Space on the Lower East Side'

Lower East Side-based photographer Brian Rose is wrapping up his Kickstarter campaign to raise money to publish "Time and Space on the Lower East Side."

Golden Section Publishing, a small company run by photographer Bill Diodato, is publishing the book, which has more than 100 photos split between 1980 and 2010. (Such as the two 1980 shots above, and the before and after below.) Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega wrote the book's introduction. (Rose and Vega have a long history together involving music and photography.)

The book should be available in the first part of 2012. You can find out more about about the Kickstarter campaign here. We first wrote about the project in July 2010. You can find that post here.

An East Fifth Street before and after from the book...