[Updated] You may THINK BIG in Union Square through October

[Photo via @UnionSquareNYC]

Sculptor Jim Rennert's 12-foot THINK BIG sculpture arrived Wednesday on Union Square. And today, you can meet Rennert from 10 a.m.-noon at the site of the work — the southeastern triangle at Union Square East, between 14th and 15th Streets.

Per the press materials:

The monumental bronze businessman stands at over 12-feet tall gazing up at the Manhattan skyline, considering the endless possibilities that lay ahead. Rennert encourages visitors to consider his message that anyone can achieve their dreams and goals if they 'think big.'"

The sculpture will be up through October.

Updated 1:47 p.m.

So far, the early word on THINK BIG has been fairly negative, at least here in the comments and on Facebook... Here, East Village resident Courtney Lee Adams Jr. shared her feelings about the sculpture ...



"I think this is an enormous mistake."

East Village Shoe Repair resurfaces in Bushwick

[EVG file photo]

The sliver of a shoe-repair shop on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue rather abruptly closed late last November, as we noted here.

Then there was a rumor that the owners were taking over the now-vacant David's Shoe Repair on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Those plans never materialized.

Now BoweryBoogie learns that East Village Shoe Repair, with its name intact, reopened under the JMZ line at 1083 Broadway in Bushwick last month.


[Photo via Popdiatry]

Wonder if Francesca Vuillemin ever got her shoes back?

Saturn Night outside the former Mars Bar tonight

[Photo from April via EVG reader Spike]

Local astronomy buff Felton Davis passed along the following …

If it stays clear I will set up on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and East First Street tonight at 8:30, and try to focus in on the rings of Saturn.

Saturn

1) Saturn is the sixth planet out from the Sun, after Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter.

2) Saturn is the second largest planet, after Jupiter.

3) Saturn is 75,000 miles in diameter, with its rings bringing the total diameter to at least 150,000 miles.

4) Saturn is approximately 890 million miles from the Sun, about nine times as far from the Sun as Earth.

5) Saturn emits no light of its own. We're able to see it because sunlight bounces off it and is reflected back to Earth, taking about 45 minutes to reach us at the speed of light.

6) Saturn takes almost 30 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun, and therefore will be looping back and forth in the constellations Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Capricornus during the next 10 years. It will not be high in the night sky like Jupiter until the late 2020s.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Searching for Comet ISON with East Village resident Felton Davis

Comet spotting with East Village resident Felton Davis

Report: 'Sharknado' sequel promo shows NYC's 1st Citi Bike fatality

Earlier in the week, we looked at some statistics from Citi Bike showing that, thankfully, there haven't been any Citi Bike-related fatalities in the first year of the program's existence.

That is about to change, at least in the world of the SyFy channel. Gothamist notes this morning that SyFy has released a quick promo for "Sharknado Part Duh" (or whatever it is called) set to debut July 30.

If you watch the NYC-based sequel's promo closely, then you will spot a Citi Bike rider (on a sidewalk) get, um, Sharknadoed.

We've reached out to Citi Bike officials to see if members will incur overtime fees for being swallowed by a waterspout-propelled land shark.

Meanwhile, enjoy the trailer...

Plans filed for new 8-story hotel next to the historic Merchant's House Museum on East 4th Street

[EVG file photo from March]

On April 8, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approved plans for an 8-floor hotel to rise next door to the landmarked Merchant's House Museum at 27 E. Fourth St. (Read Curbed for all the background here.)

And yesterday, the developers officially filed those plans with the DOB. The proposal shows a 17,141 square-foot building (13,755 residential; 3,386 commercial) with 28 "dwelling units" or hotel rooms here between the Bowery and Lafayette.

The April 8 decision came nearly 18 months after the developers first brought the proposal before the LPC. "Yeah, the building is boring, but it's appropriate," Commissioner Michael Goldblum said of the latest hotel renderings, as Curbed reported.

During this process, preservationists and museum advocates discussed how the construction could possibly damage the circa-1832 Merchant's House. Of particular concern: the 182-year-old building's original plasterwork, "which is considered by some experts to be among the finest in the nation," according to The Villager.

Demolition to the east of the Merchant’s House in 1988 caused nearly $1 million worth of structural damage and forced the museum to close for two years, but it spared the plaster. Now, the advocates believe jackhammering and bulldozing on the western lot will leave the museum in danger of losing the plaster forever — or, at the very least, require highly expensive preparations just to minimize that damage.

27 E. Fourth St. currently houses Al-Amin Food Inc., which stores food carts. Look for demolition permits for this one-level structure next.


[Via Google]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Landmarks Preservation Commission OKs plans for hotel next door to the Merchant's House

Reader mailbag: How often does your mail get delivered?

From the EVG reader mailbag:

I know everyone agrees that the Cooper Station Post Office has sadly gone downhill.

I'm also wondering if other people in the neighborhood are having problems with their home mail delivery? As in sometimes it doesn't even get delivered?! About half the apartments in my building turn over very quickly, with college or just post-college students staying for a year and then leaving.

This results is a lot of mail for people who no longer live here. The mail delivery people lately just leave it on the floor or on the radiator and it gets strewn about the entry area. This is annoying in itself, but also sometimes I find my own mail on the floor, or mail for other people who are definitely residents. (If I know they live here, then I rescue it and slip the mail under their doors). This makes it really obvious when the mail has been delivered that day.

The second issue is that sometimes it seems like mail isn't delivered at all. In addition to there not being new mail on the floor/radiator, the mailboxes have little slots, so you can see when they're all empty. Recently this has happened more and more often -— twice a week or so. This is a lot, especially when one is waiting for a check to arrive! What the Hell?

Well, we would have posted this sooner, but the P.O. just delivered the EVG reader mailbag to us yesterday. (It was postmarked Feb. 6!)

But seriously. What the Hell? At the apartment home of EVG, someone shows up to deliver the mail maybe four times a week. You?

-------------

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...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)

Reader mailbag: What has happened to the Cooper Station Post Office? (41 comments)

Reader mailbag: Can the landlord 'drill' the lock to gain access to my apartment for simple repairs? (15 comments)

Reader mailbag: Should we receive a rent abatement for having sporadic heat and hot water?

So you want to rent the former This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef space

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef, the four-plus-year-old restaurant known for mixing beef and Cheese Whiz at 149 First Ave., closed for good this past March.

The listing arrived for the storefront between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street back in April.

An East Village resident with an interesting in leasing the address looked into what it would take to open a business here. The reader shared that information with us to illustrate what it takes to pay for a small retail space around here these days.

The asking is $9,500 rent per month, with another $50 per month in real-estate taxes. So that would be $9,550 per month.

$9,500/4 = $2,375 per week in rent

$9,500.00/30 = $316.66 dollars a day in rent

The store is 10 feet wide by 50 feet deep without a garden. (The broker said that it was 500 square feet on the top floor and 500 square feet in the basement. They are counting the basement as a rentable floor.)

The landlord wants six months up front plus the first month's rent. So just to lease that space ($9,550 x 7) you'd need $66,850. For the year: $9,550.00 x 12 = $ 114,600

Aside from rent, there are the renovation costs … and then the ConEd bill, insurance, trash pickup, phone/Internet, credit card processing fees and various taxes, and so on. Not to mention payroll. And something for the owner.

Per the resident: "What can you sell legally in a 10-foot-wide space to generate all that income? I'd like to know."



Find a PDF of the retail listing here.

The buzz about Alpha Bee City tomorrow night at MoRUS

[Via the King RoyalBee Instagram account]

Via the EVG inbox …

Climate change, pesticides and the loss of native plant habitats are among the factors putting the honeybee population at risk of extinction. With one-third of the U.S. diet derived from insect-pollinated plants, the bee community is essential to the survival of humanity.

In allegiance with the community gardens of the East Village, which has the largest concentration of community gardens in the country, The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) will host a special event devoted to raising awareness about the significance of bees.

Offering scientific, artistic, practical and nutritional information about bees and honey, “Alpha Bee City” will take place at MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets tomorrow night at 7 (rescheduled from April 28).

With a mix of slide presentations, discussion and demonstration, contributors to “Alpha Bee City” include:

• Dr. Amy Berkov, community gardener and tropical ecologist, The City College of New York Biology Department, associate at The American Museum of Natural History and The New York Botanical Garden

• Royal KingBee, graffiti artist whose iconic “Bee” signature character is used to raise awareness worldwide about the declining bee population

• Jacqueline Pacheco, fitness, nutrition and honey enthusiast

• Jan Werner, beekeeper from Green Oasis Garden, 8th Street between Avenues C and D.

Admission is free and open to the public. A suggested donation of $5 is always appreciated and bee-themed attire is encouraged.

Unidentified Flying Chickens is officially coming soon

Just noting that the sign is up at 60 Third Ave. for the incoming Unidentified Flying Chickens outpost. The Jackson Heights-based Korean fried chicken restaurant is taking over for the failed 3-week-old Apiary revamp.

Paper first reported on UFC's arrival last Friday. The restaurant will reportedly be "a more casual spot with 18-20 craft beers on tap."

NYPD searching for this East Village rape suspect

Police are searching for a suspect who attempted to rape a woman after she entered her East Village apartment building Monday night.

According to WNBC New York:

The 23-year-old woman was walking into her home near 2nd Avenue just before midnight when the man allegedly followed her, lifted her dress and tried to assault her, police say.

The victim screamed, prompting the suspect to run away.

The suspect is described as male, white, between 20-25 years old, around 6-1 and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing khaki pants, a dark zip-up sweater and a baseball cap.

As Gothamist reported, the NYPD has not released the location of the attack, only that it happened within the territory of the 9th Precinct.

The NYPD also released this surveillance footage of the suspect lingering outside the victim's apartment building.



Anyone with information about this case can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[St. Mark's Place rooftop photo by Ricky Knapp]

The hawk nest is getting crowded on the Christodora House (Gog in NYC)

Details on the Lower East Side Film Festival (The Lo-Down)

A gym for the former Plantworks space on East Fourth Street? (BoweryBoogie)

Remembering when Andy Warhol was shot (Off the Grid)

A look inside The Black Ant, now open on Second Avenue (Gothamist)

Where you can get the mozzarella from Joe's Dairy as a retail customer (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Manhattan's first ambulance (Ephemeral New York)

The Astroland Rocket is back at Coney Island! (Amusing the Zillion)

Patti Smith on Tom Snyder's classic "Tomorrow Show" (Dangerous Minds)

Chinatown at night (Animal NY)

... and tomorrow evening, via the EVG inbox...



Underground Soho presents "People of New York: 1990-1991" These 8 ft. pencil drawings by Michal Sedaka Perry are not to be missed. Michal moved to New York from Israel in 1989 and took pictures of people she found interesting in the street. This series originally showed at the Klarfeld Perry Gallery on Broome Street in 1991. Underground Soho is located at 83 Mercer St. (between Spring and Broome).

The giant rat is back outside Ben Shaoul-owned building on East 5th Street

The inflatable union rat was back out this morning at 515 E. Fifth St., where landlord/developer Ben Shaoul continues to fight for a zoning variance that would make legal the illegal addition that he added in 2006.

An EVG reader sent along these photos ... and the flyer explains the presence of the rat ...





As for No. 515 here between Avenue A and Avenue B, they'll be another Board of Standards and Appeals hearing about the illegal addition on July 15.