Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Jocelyn Francon Saldana
Occupation: Actress/Model
Location: 6th Street Between Avenue A and B
Time: 3:50 on Monday, Sept. 24

I’m an actress and a model. I’ve been doing it since I left home at 18. I’m from Boston but I grew up all over. I graduated from Connecticut and I came right here after.

I’ve lived on this block for about a year. I’ve also lived on 3rd between C and D, 3rd between A and B, and on 2nd and 2nd. Kate’s Joint was around for awhile, that was a big part of my life. I worked there and I’m good friends with Kate. It just closed recently though. I love Sidewalk Cafe and Manitoba’s is good too, but I usually hang out more on the Lower East Side.

Everyone in my life right now I’ve met in the East Village and it’s how I got my start really, doing what I’m doing now. I was sort of running around with this band and modeling for them and doing shows here and there around the area and I met Richie Rich here — he’s a former club kid who has a fashion line called Heatherette. He kind of put me on the map.

I have a one-woman show coming up in December; I’m on my way to that meeting right now. It’s based on Valerie Solanas; she’s the woman who shot Andy Warhol, and she wrote a manifesto about hating men, so that’s who I’m going to play.

I am moving out of the neighborhood this month. I’m kind of wild and there are a lot of older people in my building, and people who weren’t so keen on noise, so I’m moving out to Brooklyn, to South 4th and Bedford.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Here is what's left of the former 227 E. Seventh St.

An update from 227 E. Seventh St. near Avenue C ... where the one-level structure was quickly demolished by workers, as this photo by Dave on 7th shows. (And so much for that asbestos abatement lasting until March...)

Coming soon: A new six-floor residential building. Some day. The DOB hasn't approved the plans just yet.

And can anyone recall what used to be in this storefront?

It seems as if it had been empty for years.

Another shot from yesterday via Bobby Williams...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Asbestos abatement on East Seventh Street, then a new 6-story building

[Updated 9-26] Demo crews will remove part of the school wall at 420 E. 12th St.

Demolition crews rolled into the Mary Help of Christians parking lot on Avenue A at East 11th Street late this afternoon...

Workers on the scene said that they would be taking out part of the upper wall of the East Side Community High School. The wall, adjacent to Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, was found to be separating from the rest of the structure yesterday.

A worker said that they wouldn't know the extent of the damage until they "get up in there."

We haven't heard an official comment just yet from East Side Principal Mark Federman. The address is also home to the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School.

Updated:

A few more photos from late afternoon by Kimberly Fritschy via Facebook...

Updated: 8:19 p.m.

Updated 9/26:

According to this notice from the Department of Education posted outside the school ...

[EVG reader Steven Matthews]

The structural defect "will require the immediate demolition and subsequent rebuilding of that wall."

They expect the demolition work to take "several weeks," and there will likely be evening hours as well.

Marco is missing

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Tompkins Square Park yesterday. Photo by Bobby Williams]

Remembering the Dugout on Third Avenue and East 13th Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

NYC crime up thanks to iPhones, iPads, etc. (Gothamist)

Publicist who slashed his girlfriend's throat in her Clinton Street home pleads guilty; faces 25 years to life (The Daily News)

A marriage proposal at MudSpot Coffee on East Ninth Street (DNAinfo)

Proposed nightspot pissing off neighbors on Rivington (BoweryBoogie)

On second thought: City says no to Yo! bus stop on Essex (The Lo-Down)

Shawn Chittle noted extra school guards this morning outside PS 19 on First Avenue... where the displaced students from East Side Community School headed today...

One East Side parent told us that city inspectors continue to examine the school on East 12th Street to determine the extent of the damage to the building's east wall...

What happened to the sidewalk bike mechanics?

[Photo from spring 2011 by Bobby Williams]

A reader asked us if we had seen Peter Corbin, aka the Bike Man, who usually sets up shop outside Niagara during the summer.

Now that summer has come and gone ... No, we don't actually recall seeing him in some time. Ditto for Natividad Zirate, who was fixing bikes around Houston and Second Avenue. As you may recall, the Parks Department confiscated and trashed his set of tools in May 2011, as BoweryBoogie reported. A Good Samaritan came forward with new tools for Zirate.

In a feature from 2009 on Corbin and Zirate, the Times noted that:

Both men said they had a friendly relationship with the local police, but the official status of their shops is tenuous to non-existent. A permit from the Department of Consumer Affairs is needed to sell anything besides food on the sidewalk, which neither could produce. The city caps the number of permits at 853 for non-food vendors, and the waiting list for a new permit is so long and turnover is so slow, the department has stopped accepting new names.

Perhaps the Bloomberg Administration cracked down on them for good? This DIY-business mentality is certainly at odds with the direction the city is headed. Anyway, does any reader know what happened to either Corbin or Zirate? Let us know in the comment or via email.

TV guide: 'Smash' at Saxon + Parole; 'Elementary' on East Eighth Street

Let's see, crews from NBC's "Smash" will be all over the Bowery today...

...including a set inside Saxon + Parole at Bleecker...

...Meanwhile, the new CBS series "Elementary" (a modern-day Sherlock Holmes living in NYC) is filming on a few side streets between Avenue B and Avenue C ... and as Bobby Williams notes, crews are setting up for a scene at 337 E. Eighth St.

There are probably 5-6 other shoots around today that we're missing, so...

A new era (and awning) for First Avenue Pierogi & Deli

A few weeks ago we noted that EVG favorite First Avenue Pierogi & Deli was closed for renovations...

[December 2011]

A reader sent us the good news last night that the shop looks ready to reopen... However, the bad news, depending on your fondness for old signs ... was that an awning had replaced that great old sign...

On the bright side, we do like that font...

Plantworks 'probably closing and not moving'

This won't be news to you if you've been by Plantworks on East Fourth Street lately... I had not. And so I never noticed the "retail space available" sign here between the Bowery and Lafayette ...

Plantworks has been around since 1974. In 2009, the Voice named it the city's Best Plant Shop:

The best mom-and-pop nursery in the city, it's packed with everything from common spider plants and bamboo to towering palms and Dracaena. The shop also sells an excellent selection of ceramic pots, seeds, fertilizers, and a noteworthy device called the Drip Drip, a ball that slowly releases drops of water onto your plant while you're away on vacation.

But in the new era of the Bowery, "mom and pop" might as well mean "doom and gloom." Across the street is where the controversial hotel project threatens the well-being of the Merchant's House Museum. This stretch of East Fourth Street includes the B Bar, the upscale housing at 2 Cooper Square and the boutique hotel Lafayette House.

The space has apparently been on the market for some time... the listing at RKF note that the "current tenant is month-to-month" on the lease. Also, "food not accepted." And 7-Eleven gets billing as a neighbor.

I asked the Plantworks folks if they were planning on moving. "Probably closing and not moving."

Incoming St. Mark's Place wine and liquor store to feature realistic Dirty Old New York touches

Heh. Previously.

Reader report: Tattoo parlor coming to 31 Avenue A

An EVG reader hears that the vacant storefront between Petopia and Joyful Nail on Avenue A is going to be a tattoo parlor ... The tipster didn't have any other information at the moment. Perhaps you heard this rumor too?

Meanwhile, the empty storefronts owned by the the New York City Housing Authority between Second Street and Third Street are filling up ... also on this stretch, Angelina Cafe should be opening soon.

[Updated] Structural damage prompts evacuation at East 12th Street school building

The following notice went out this afternoon:

FROM: Notify NYC

Staff/Students of East Side Community School (420 E 12th St) will be relocated to PS 19 (185 1st Ave) 9/25 until further notice.

There isn't any other information at the moment on the school's website or Twitter feed... Currently, the school's entrance is blocked by caution tape... a hard hat at the scene said that they were "still trying to figure out" what happened...

The address is also home to the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School. According to DNAinfo, students at Girls Prep were sent to P.S. 188 on East Houston.

More details as they become available...

Updated 7 p.m.:

Here's a message on the East Side Community School website from Principal Mark Federman...

As you may know, earlier today we experienced a structural issue concerning our school building. The building’s East wall (adjacent to the nearby church) was found to be separating from the rest of the structure. Experts from the city’s Department of Buildings and the School Construction Authority are still assessing the situation but we know for certain that extensive review and repairs are required to ensure the building’s safety before we may re-enter it.

For tomorrow (Tuesday), our school is relocating to nearby P.S. 19, located at 185 1st Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets. Students should arrive by 9am (and there will be a parent information session for parents who are able to attend.) High school students will be dismissed at 12:30 pm and middle school students will be dismissed at 3:30pm. Beacon is available tomorrow at P.S. 19 until 6 pm for families who cannot make other arrangements after school.

We will be located off-site on a day-to-day basis, until the building situation has been resolved. Please remember that school is out on Wednesday for the Yom Kippur holiday. For Thursday, our school may have a temporary home for the duration of the repair work. The temporary site will be determined shortly and as soon as I have that information, I will pass it along to all of you as well as hold an information session. The Department of Education will also be holding an informational session with parents and staff to discuss in more detail what happened at our building and the nature of the repairs required to allow our safe return.

DNAinfo noted that the discovery of the structural problems prompted school officials to evacuate the building.

DNAinfo has more on the story here.

Updated 9-25:
The account in the Post adds a little drama.

Some students ... said they felt desks shake just moments before school officials notified them of the structural damage.

Updated 2:45 p.m:

Here's the latest via DNAinfo:
"Beginning Thursday, students at Girls Prep Lower East Middle School will be housed in P.S. 158, located at 1458 York Avenue ... The East Side Community School will move to Norman Thomas High School at 111 E. 33rd Street.

Meanwhile, the DOB issued full vacate orders at the school ... as well as for the Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church next door ... and the adjacent Mary Help of Christians school on East 11th Street.

Both properties had been vacant. The church closed for good after mass on Sept. 9.