Santa swarms

[Via Dave on 7th]

Reports are coming in from everywhere. Swarms of Santa. Everywhere. One resident asked to send in reinforcements of people not dressed in Santa suits. Just wait till sundown!

And thanks to Jen Doll at the Voice for asking my thoughts on the day of terror Santa thing.

You can read the piece at Runnin' Scared here.

Avenue A, 8:51 a.m., Dec. 10

Yesterday afternoon on Avenue A

At St. Mark's Place. Photos by Bobby Williams.

Reader reports: Shots fired at Campos Plaza II early this morning

[VH McKenzie]

The EV Grieve inbox is full of reader reports of a shooting last night at Campos Plaza II on 13th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. V.H. McKenzie said that the police helicopter started circling the area around 12:30 "Just timed it — making a full revolution over the neighboring bldgs every 39 SECONDS, with search lights." Readers described hearing a series of explosions — or shots in a few cases — before the helicopters arrived. EV Grieve reader AC said that police at the scene wouldn't say what was happening.

Another reader claimed "that this kind of shit happens there all the time."

On Wednesday, The Lo-Down reported that security cameras would be installed at this public housing complex.

Kate's Joint has a challenge for Lady Gaga

Thanks to @HanserHanser for passing along this photo outside Kate's on Avenue B and East Fourth Street... Hope that's not steamed tofu...

Keep your Shirts on

The Shirts, from Brooklyn, circa 1978.

Gutting continues at 315 E. 10th St.

This morning, we reported that Ben Shaoul had purchased The Educational Alliance building at 315 E. 10th St. ... big plans in the works here — conversion to residential, and maybe, just maybe — an additional floor ... Meanwhile, as Dave on 7th notes, the gut renovation continues this afternoon...

Why there's a Hank Williams Jr. doll on Avenue C

EV Grieve reader Sam spotted this today outside Bobwhite Lunch and Supper Counter, coming soon to Avenue C near East Sixth Street... the place will serve Southern-style comfort food. Perhaps they need a better spokesdoll than Hank Williams Jr. though...

Breaking: Holiday lights going up now in Tompkins Square Park

Thanks to @harrisonmarkey for sending along this photo... the official tree lighting (the 20th anniversary) is Sunday afternoon at 4.

Breaking: East Village has the most pizza places of any neighborhood in Manhattan

That's the word from the New York City Economic Development Corporation today... Using the latest available data from the Department of Health restaurant inspection results, researchers found that the East Village (zip 10003) has 33 pizza places.

The StatsBee Tumblr has more details on the survey... which you can find here.

[Image: NYCEDC analysis of NYC DOHMH data]

About that really loud noise around 14th Street and Avenue B last night

[Not last night. But it could have been!]

From a reader who lives in Stuy Town near 14th Street and Avenue B:

Just wanted to see if anyone else had heard or contacted you yet about this really loud noise I experienced last night. Around 3:30 am I woke up from a deep sleep to the noise of what sounded like a jet literally hovering over my area. I woke up my boyfriend so that he could hear it too and so that I knew I wasn't dreaming. This noise went on consistently for about a half hour.

They didn't spot anything out the windows... Anyone else experience this? I'm going with UFO. No crackpot conspiracies, please.

Report: Fire at 26 St. Mark's Place

DNAinfo is reporting that a fire broke out this morning at 26 St. Mark's Place. (T-Kettle is the ground-floor tenant.) Per DNA, the fire started on a mattress on the third floor of the six-story building. "Some residents of the building ... had to be evacuated using a ladder as firefighters battled the blaze," Julie Shapiro reported.