RAE's 'Word of Mouth' exhibit opens tonight in vacant corner deli on 12th and C

From the EVG inbox...

"WORD OF MOUTH"
RAE
October 26 - November 16, 2013
Opening: October 26, 7-10pm
Corner Avenue C & East 12th Street

Post-opening exhibition hours:
Thursday - Saturday 2:00 pm-7:00 pm
*(closed on Halloween)

The Voice interviewed the Brooklyn-based RAE yesterday. Excerpt!

I've been working on this show for about a year and a half, and I always wanted to do something inside a store because every time I went into a store, the signage and everything in there, to me, felt like art. The misspelled signs, how things are put together haphazardly on cardboard always appealed to me. Just the imperfections of things. It just made sense for me to have a show inside a space like this, but obviously I wanted to take over the space. Even if you have an entire gallery, you still have limitations. Here, there are no limitations for me. I can do whatever I want. I almost have to hold back because I want to write on the ceilings and the floors.

Photos via Mark White

Fall, in bloom

Goggla shared this photo from yesterday in Tompkins Square Park... where fall is on display...

That's it for Heathers ... for now

[Image via]

Word on East 13th Street was that Heathers would close at the beginning of December. However, that closing came earlier than expected, as Grub Street first reported late yesterday afternoon. Per Grub Street, "the locks have been changed illegally."

Ray Lemoine and Michael Herman took over the bar just east of Avenue A during the summer of 2012.

Back to Grub Street:

Lemoine and Herman say they were gradually being pushed out of the bar, which came with a history of complaints and controversy. Initially, a cash settlement with the landlord established an end date of December 1, 2013 for the East 13th Street space.

Heather Millstone opened Heathers in 2005 ... and the bar quickly became a lightning rod for noise complaints. (The Times had a lengthy article in January 2007 about the ongoing noise issues between the bar and neighbors.) You can read more about the bar's CB3 issues here.

We asked Lemoine a few questions via email last night about what's next.

What are your feelings about how things came to a rather abrupt end here?

Sad. Staff is sad, customers are sad. But I'm kind of happy I can stop drinking for a bit. Would have a proper send off.

Are you looking to relocate in the East Village?

We have a few great options right nearby and are looking to close a deal ASAP. We love the North East Village.

What's your assessment of the East Village nightlife scene these days?

I like many of the old bars. I love Lit for its club scene. But there aren't many cool new spots despite all the blogs telling you about these cool new spots. ACME is great, but it's in NOHO. Cocktail bars and $9 sandwich shops should be banned. Nightlife is pretty dead in the East Village in terms of, say, hearing a great DJ and dancing and not paying $12 for a drink. I miss The Hole. I mean, now that Heathers is closed, there isn't even a lesbian/heroin rock bar left in the East Village (frown face).

There's a Boycott 7-Eleven rally tomorrow

Via the EVG inbox from the No 7-Eleven blog...

Banksy's grim reaper and the old Bowery ghosts

[Image via jerebles]

As you may have heard or seen, Bansky's latest street installation is on East Houston and Elizabeth ... at the site of Billy Leroy's former big tent.



The above video of the Grim Reaper Bumper Car comes from the official Banksy site, which includes an audio guide. (Banksy labeled this Bowery on his site.)

Catch it while you can, I mean, if you want to. Tonight through Sunday, dusk until midnight, apparently.

Find more photos, and what not, at Gothamist... BoweryBoogie ... and AnimalNY, who posted this video...



We reached out to Billy Leroy for comment... he is currently in Los Angeles... enjoying the start of the third season of "Baggage Battles" on the Travel Channel.

He said he was unaware that Banksy would be using his former Billy's Antiques spot for this installment.

"I support art and I like Banksy's work," Leroy said via email. "A year and a half ago we did the whole Death thing and buried the old Bowery with music. It's a compliment that a world-class artist would do a similar idea. The ghosts of the old Bowery told me they are still happy,
but will never allow anything to be built on that spot."

Come aboard

"Hellbound" by the Breeders from 1990.

Something that you don't see in the trash every day

Discarded outside the Church of the Immaculate Conception today on East 14th Street at First Avenue...

Photo via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.

There's goes the R-I-T-E A-I-D on East 14th Street

Our friend DJ Xerox passes along this photo... showing a worker removing the last of the sign from the Rite Aid between Avenue A and Avenue B... The store is one of several along East 14th Street to close to make way for something to look like...



Anyway, apparently the Rite Aid moved up its original Oct. 30 closing date.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

East 14th Street corridor now nearly business-free ahead of new development

Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail

Swoon at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Well, we've done a lousy job of documenting Swoon's Hurricane Sandy mural that went up this week at the Bowery Wall... and it is likely our favorite mural in recent memory here...





There'll be an official dedication on Tuesday, Sandy's one-year anniversary...



Find more photos at GammaBlog ... BoweryBoogie ... the Lo-Down ... AnimalNY...

Bloomberg: The Citi Bike program isn't profitable yet, but you should be happy

[This morning at 13th and A]

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that the Citi Bike program hasn't turned a profit yet some six months after the bike-rental program launched.

Per the Post:

“It is, I think, better than anybody had anticipated in terms of usage,” Bloomberg said during a press conference at the Department of Transportation.

“It’s a way to commute, it’s a mass-transit system that requires no federal, state or city monies whatsoever.”

And!

The program is run in conjunction with NYC Bike Share, a subsidiary of Alta Bicycle Share, which designs and manages the massive system of docking stations.

“If they make money, we’re going to share in the profits,” Bloomberg said.

“So, you know, everybody should be happy with this.”

Today's lost and found

Spotted on East Second Street near Avenue C.



To discretely claim, you may now find it atop the cube in Astor Place.

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time?

After last week's reader question about finding places in the neighborhood that still have an older East Village vibe... and after assuring me that he was not pulling one over on the Griever ...

The scenario from a reader: The neighbors are new as of the beginning of September. They are recent college grads who seem fairly well off and pretty insular. (Meaning they're not the let's-meet-the-new-neighbor types.) They have some unknown office jobs. They both arrive home around the same time each night (7ish). And then just about every waking moment in the evenings, mornings and weekends, they're smoking pot. And it's likely not for medical reasons.

While the reader isn't opposed to you know, partying, he doesn't want to have to smell the weed all the time. It has become annoying.

So. Urban Etiquette Sign? An awkward knock on the door? Call the landlord's management company? 311? The cops? If you don't like pot, then move to ________?

I did a little research and found this piece from the Daily News from May 2012 on the topic.

Important soundbite:

"New York courts have recently found that secondhand smoke constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability, which is a non-waivable obligation imposed on all residential landlords [including co-ops] to insure that the premises are fit for human habitation and do not contain any conditions that would be dangerous, hazardous, or detrimental to tenants' life, health or safety," says Ian Brandt, a real estate lawyer at Braverman & Associates in Manhattan. "The threat of habitability violations might be sufficient economic incentive for a landlord to begin eviction proceedings."

The reader wanted to know if anyone has managed a similar experience (preferably successfully). Any advice? Anyone...?

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We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...