Friday, July 15, 2016
Orange crush
British singer/composer Dev Hynes released his new Blood Orange album "Freetown Sound" on July 1... from that record is "Augustine," featuring a few familiar faces and places.
He'll be among the many performers during next weekend's Panorama festival on Randall's Island.
Sign of the times
Getting in on the Pokémon Go action at Bar Virage on Second Avenue at Seventh Street ... photo via Vinny & O.
EV Grieve Etc.: The Mayor's Rivington House indifference; the swooping baby hawks
[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]
Rivington House scandal: While the report issued yesterday by the Investigation Department did not suggest that any criminal activity occurred, "it repeatedly found fault with the actions and, at times, indifference, of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration" and: "The report found that top City Hall officials were informed of the progress to lift the restrictions on the nursing home but took no action, and displayed little interest." (The New York Times)
Heat advisory in effect today (Gothamist)
11th and B in 1983 (Flaming Pablum)
Cake Shop looking for partners to buy the upper street-level cafe space (The Lo-Down)
Outdoor dining at Esperanto on Avenue C (Patch)
A guide to inexpensive meals at the Essex Street Market (Grub Street)
"The East Village D.J. Who Became the Savior of a Decaying British Estate" (Vanity Fair)
Those super swooping baby hawks in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)
[Photo by Bobby Williams]
The Soho House on Ludlow Street pranked (BoweryBoogie)
Should the arts community give up on the city altogether? (Brick Underground)
Back Forty West — sibling of former Avenue B restaurant — closing on Prince Street, Dig Inn coming to take its place (Eater)
Corner outside Forest Hills high school to be named after the Ramones (DNAinfo)
...and here's Ruby the parrot on Second Avenue...
[Photo by Lola Sáenz]
Revisiting Ray's Occult Books on St. Mark's Place
[Photo on July 7 by Derek Berg]
The "Ghostbusters" reboot is in theaters starting today ... which accounts for the multiple Ecto-1 sightings around, such as on Second Avenue and Fourth Street.
While on the topic, seems like a good time for a "Ghostbusters" flashback... to when 33 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue served as the exterior for Ray's Occult Books in "Ghostbusters 11" from 1989...
[Click to go big]
[Ditto]
Here's some history of the shop via the "Ghostbusters" wikia:
Ray's Occult Books is a bookstore owned and operated by Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) after the Ghostbusters were served a judicial restraining order.
Following the collapse of the Ghostbusters, Ray opened up an Occult book store; specializing in the bizarre, somewhat strange, and hard to find books. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) is a frequent customer, as demonstrated by his having an account; he has been seen buying a book titled "Magical Paths to Fortune and Power".
Unfortunately, the store's lifespan was short-lived. Citing a change in buying trends and demographics on the block, Ray closed the shop before the movie even hit theaters.
And the block today...
CB3 committee votes against height variance for new 14th Street development
[Photo from July 9]
Last month, reps for the new development at 432-438 E. 14h St. made their case for a zoning variance for a 12-story building — four more than the area's zoning allows — before a CB3 committee.
For their part, CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee asked the reps to return after "exploring alternatives to increasing building height and requesting a greater percentage of 'affordable' units," as DNAinfo reported at the time.
The North Avenue A Neighborhood Association, the 12th Street Block Association, the 13th Street Block Association, residents of 13th Street and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation made their case to deny the developer’s request for a variance at the site of the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office between Avenue A and First Avenue.
On Wednesday night, reps for the developer (Benenson Capital Partners in association with the Mack Real Estate Group) appeared again before the committee.
A neighborhood leader was in attendance and shared this:
"At the meeting they presented minor changes to the 14th Street façade, but did not alter the height or offer a detailed financial analysis for their need for the variance. They did not consider the committee's concerns about the physical characteristics of the building and residents' concerns about the small number of additional affordable housing units on the additional floors.
They were denied by a vote of 13-0 with 1 abstention.
As we first reported in May, the developers were asking for a variance because:
"Unusually elevated groundwater levels and exceedingly soft and unstable soil (owing to the presence of an underground stream) ... result in extraordinary construction costs, which make a complying development with affordable housing infeasible." (An analysis of the project put the extra construction costs due to the substandard soil at $8.8 million.)
The developers will next go to the city's Board of Standards and Appeals, though without any approval from the local Community Board.
Per the resident: "While not a victory yet as the BSA could still rule in their favor, it's a big step in stopping this out-of-scale development."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished
The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building
New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room
A look at the new building coming to the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office property
Developers for post office-replacing project seek variance for a 12-story building
[Updated] Report: CB3 wants alternatives for a larger 438 E. 14th St.
Sushi comings and goings
An EVG reader noted the recent closure (end of June) of Iron Sushi on East 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... a for rent sign has been up on the storefront... their Upper East Side location remains open...
Meanwhile, one block away, a sushi restaurant is opening at 350 E. Ninth St. near First Avenue...
The space was home to A.K. Shoe Repair until last August ... then a tobacco-variety shop came and went here fairly quickly.
Thanks to Steven for the photos
Room with a view
One of my favorite movies, Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window," is playing at the Anthology Film Archives this weekend as part of the
Voyeurism, Surveillance, and Identity in the Cinema series.
The showtimes:
REAR WINDOW
July 15 at 6:30 PM
July 16 at 9:00 PM
July 18 at 6:30 PM
The creepy "Peeping Tom" is also in the series...
PEEPING TOM
July 15 at 9:00 PM
July 17 at 5:00 PM
July 18 at 9:00 PM
The Anthology is on Second Street at Second Avenue. Details here.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
East Fifth St. Tree Committee takes action after downed limb strikes car
A reader passes along word that a large branch — "assumed to be broken off by lightning" — fell on top of a car on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.
The downed branch was spotted by a member of the East Fifth Street Tree Committee, who notified the FDNY. Firefighters, who happened to be on the block responding to a reported gas leak on the block, removed the tree parts that had covered the car.
The Tree Committee member contacted the Parks Department, "who quickly sent someone to take photos and assured the block residents that the tree parts would be removed by morning."
Storm chasing
[Click to go big]
EVG reader Mike Brown shared these views as the storm clouds rolled through the Lower East Side late this afternoon...
No sign of Ian Ziering.
Lanza's is closed for now
The state's fluorescent SEIZED sticker (for "nonpayment of taxes") has arrived at Lanza's on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street, as this photo via EVG reader Muzz shows.
There is also a notice from the State's Department of Taxation and Finance. There isn't any other information about the situation at the moment…
Remember that these seizures aren't always permanent, as we saw at Sahara East, among other businesses.
The old-world Italian restaurant first opened in 1904.
A plaque now marks where Basquiat lived and worked on Great Jones Street
Last evening, the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation, in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, unveiled a commemorative plaque outside 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery... marking the site of Jean-Michel Basquiat's home and studio from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988...
Shawn Chittle shared these photos from during (and after) the event...
[Phil Hartman of Two Boots with Lannyl Stephens of the GVSHP]
The artist was found dead here of a heroin overdose on Aug. 12, 1988. He was 27.
Off the Grid has more about Basquiat's life and work in the neighborhood here.
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