Coming soon to Second Avenue: Gelato

EV Grieve reader abrod passes along word of this incoming gelato shop on Second Avenue near East Fourth Street... previously home to Crembebe, a boutique specializing in kid's fashions...

Oh, and Gelato Ti Amo is part of an international Tuscany-based chain who only use products branded FSC, Forest Stewardship Council, according to the Gelato Ti Amo website.

Today in red-tailed hawks eating pigeons in Tompkins Square Park

It was a busy day for hawk watching today in Tompkins Square Park... where onlookers were watching a red-tailed hawk dine on a pigeon...

Eventually, another hawk came along and watched the action as well...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Meanwhile, for no reason, in Times Square

From a very special correspondent who wanted to keep haunting us with Smurfs.

July 4 — ruined

On Thursday morning, we noted that the lights on the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree were still illuminated... and we said that we hoped they would stay on until July 4. (For no apparent reason.)

Uh, well, Thursday night — the lights were off. (Sorry — horrible picture.) And they remained off all weekend...

We took a closer look at the tree this weekend... and the lights are still attached ... so it's just a matter of plugging in the cord...

However, the NYPD has the tree under 24-hour watch to prevent this from happening.*

[* Not really. But we like to pretend...]

Artichoke expands on East 14th Street

Just two weeks ago, we noted that Curly's Vegetarian Lunch moved on, and the similar-menued 14 Carrot Vegetarian opened in its space on East 14th Street ... and just like that ... @SamStorer is back with this news: 14 Carrot is gone, and neighbor Artichoke has expanded...

Week in Grieview

[76 Third Ave. coming down]

A look at Mary Pupillo's 95 years in the East Village (Wednesday)

The scoop on the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation closing (Wednesday)

Restoring the Joe Strummer mural (Friday)

More about Bikinis opening on Avenue C (Tuesday)

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space coming to C-Squat (Monday)

A black-tie wedding reception at Katz's (Sunday)

Retna finishes work on the Houston/Bowery wall (Monday)

Jim Jarmusch is your East Village poets and poetry tour guide (Tuesday)

Why Steve Jobs is now a permanent part of Tompkins Square Park (Friday)

'World's most wanted hacker' lived on Avenue D (Tuesday)

Obscura opens on Avenue A (Sunday)

'Imagine a park' at 51 Astor Place (Tuesday)

The painting Billy Leroy left behind

So the tent is gone now here at Billy's Antiques...

Proprietor Billy Leroy passed along this photo of a painting that he accidentally left behind on the property...

BoweryBoogie has coverage of the funeral possession here.

Today at Bar 82

Depending on the time, it may be an hour later than you think

Remember the whole "spring forward" thing tonight...

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Bye bye Billy's

Here's the tent at Billy's Antiques last evening on Houston at the Bowery ...

[Photo via Fresh Paint NYC]

And today, the tent came down... a funeral procession ensued...

Look for a two-story brick building some day (and subsequent dozens of posts) ... Billy says that he will return...

Bottom two photos by Bobby Williams.

Fire on East Ninth Street

8E sends along this photo from a fire earlier this evening at 55 E. 9th St. (between Broadway and University) ... don't know the extent of the damage just yet...

[Updated] Family members react to Cabrini's closure

We mentioned yesterday that WNBC 4 was working on a Cabrini-closure story... Here are a few excerpt's from Gus Rosendale's story...

Family members of residents found out this week that they would have to make other arrangements once the East Fifth Street home closes, likely in July. The Cabrini Center has another nursing home facility in Westchester.

"My mother is in a wheelchair," said Malanke Savanovic, of Bayside, Queens. "We don't know where to put her."

Joe Torre, who lives nearby in Gramercy, makes daily visits to his mom in the nearby home and now fears he'll have to move her to another borough, further away.

"You need to be in there to see the love in there," he said.

Also.

Elizabeth Herring, who lives nearby and whose father lives in the home -- and has spent his whole life on the Lower East Side — vowed to fight the sale of the building.

"This is not over by a long shot, and we are in it for the long haul," she said.

Meanwhile, here's a snippet from NY1's report today:

Joanne Floyd said she has not slept since learning the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in the East Village is closing. Her husband, who has Parkinson's disease, lives in the center.

"I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to say. It's the most frightening thing I've ever faced," said Floyd. "I can hardly talk. I cared for him at home for four-and-a-half years, he fell, he hit his head and he came here. I've come every day for a year-and-a-half, I didn't miss one day."

Here's our story on it from Wednesday ...