Santa is coming (came) to the 9th Precinct

The 9th Precinct's annual holiday party is going on right now ... until 1 p.m. on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

And there's probably a SantaCon joke here somewhere...

Nobody makes a better entrance then #SantaClaus arriving at our #EastVillage neighborhood party #NYC @NYPDCommAffairs #NYPDConnecting pic.twitter.com/oJ0mzrkjy8

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) December 16, 2017

[Updated] Report of a fire at 80 E. 3rd St.

FDNYalerts MAN 2-ALARM 80 E 3 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE IN THE SHAFT BETWEEN BUILDINGS,

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) December 16, 2017

The address is between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Fire in East Village pic.twitter.com/bkPOcgIKBF

— Nick Shippers (@nickshippers) December 16, 2017

Updated 12/16
NY1 reports one person was injured. (The report described it as non-life threatening.)

FDNY officials said the fire started in a shaft on the third floor of the five-story building. No word on a cause yet.

Updated 9 a.m.

A look at the building now...





Updated 10:45

An EVG reader who lives in the building shared these photos of the apartment where the fire started...



The resident of this unit has apparently lived in the building for a very long time...



The reader lives in the back of the building ... and that apartment only suffered minor water damage. People living in the front needed to leave. Those apartments have extensive water damage.

Much ado about 'Nothing'

"Nothing Feels Natural," the debut record from Washington, D.C.'s Priests, made a few top-10 lists this year... the above video features live versions of "JJ" and "Nothing Feels Natural."

Noted

10th Street and Avenue B this afternoon...

EV Grieve Etc.: Lead-dust nightmare on 12th Street; more vendors for the new Essex Market

[A view on Avenue A yesterday by Grant Shaffer]

An ongoing lead-dust nightmare in this 12th Street building currently owned by Madison Realty Capital (The Villager)

City Council passes bill to increase transparency for urban renewal areas (The Lo-Down)

Thoughts on "What About Me," Rachel Amodeo's drama shot in the East Village in the early 1990s, playing Dec. 27 and Jan. 1 as part of MoMa's "New York Film and Video: No Wave–Transgressive" series (The New Yorker)

Critic Robert Sietsema likes Gino Sorbillo Pizzeria, recently opened on the Bowery (Eater ... previously)

Incoming vendors at the New Essex Market include a new concept from Radouane Eljaouhari, who ran Zerza (and briefly, the dubious 'Merica) on Sixth Street (The Lo-Down)

A cinematic celebration for Jonas Mekas’s 95th birthday (Anthology Film Archives)

A feature on the mother-son who run Au Za’atar on Avenue A at 12th Street (The Daily Meal)

Some photos from the East Village Arts Festival at the Tompkins Square Library (Slum Goddess ... previously)

Essex Crossing rental will be named for Sonny Rollins (Curbed)

The Luke’s Lobster’s "Star Wars" giveaway (The Voice)

From the Gilded Age, Christmas in the tenements (Ephemeral New York)

And several EVG readers have shared crowdfunding campaigns currently underway for two East Village residents... Barbara Caporale, a longtime community gardener and activist who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, is in danger of losing her home. You can read about the campaign here. There's also a campaign for Jimmy Carbone, owner of the currently closed Jimmy's No. 43 on Seventh Street. The campaign is to help him cover medical treatment and other debts. Read about that here.

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Photos and text by Susan Schiffman

Tenant: Johnny Rozsa, since 1999

When I moved here in 1999 I [started] living on Avenue A. I sublet from a friend of mine and I had that place on Avenue A for two years. It was a railroad apartment and it was really nice. I didn’t need an AC because there was a magical through breeze. When I moved out I found my present flat accidentally.

This apartment and the apartment next door were both available. The apartment next door had a basement. Mine has a sunroom, so I went for the greenhouse. That’s been there for like 30 or 40 years. I brought all of my stuff over, I just walked it all over from the other apartment.



What do you love about your apartment?

Even though it is tiny, it is warm and cozy in the winter. It’s got 12-foot ceilings ... so it doesn’t feel cramped. And it’s only me. I don’t need to be in LA in a 12-room mansion — I don’t need that. I’ve had that and it’s OK that I don’t have that now. I also had a little cabin in the woods in the middle of Beverly Hills. It was sort of like this.

What I love about this is I have the backyard and I have the Park in the front. Look at how quiet it is. I don’t hear sirens, I don’t hear anything. It’s quiet. It is dead quiet. I’ve got so many pluses. I don’t feel like I’m in New York City — I feel like I’m upstate somewhere.

It’s nice to have the greenhouse so the lemon tree will survive the winter. I love the mourning doves, hundreds of them, every day. It’s just like living in the country.

















If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.

Thursday's parting shot

Happy holidays from Seventh Street ... photo today by Derek Berg

Citi Bike of the day

Spotted on Allen and Stanton on the LES... at least you wouldn't have to adjust the seat. Or worry about the tire pressure.

Last SantaCon reveler ready to call it a week?

Kidding! This looks like a real Santa.

Photo from Ninth Street and Avenue A this morning via @xtea ...

A morning scene from Tompkins Square Park

Photo today via Peter Brownscombe ...

The lion in winter*

Outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery this morning via Lola Sáenz...

* OK, technically still fall for another week

Bea Arthur Residence nearly ready to accept first tenants on 13th Street

[Photo from Sunday]

The Ali Forney Center recently celebrated a major milestone — the naming ceremony of the now-completed Bea Arthur Residence at 222 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

As previously reported, the 18-bed facility will house participants in the center's two-year transitional living program designed to prepare homeless LGBTQ young people for successfully living alone.

From a Facebook post on Dec. 1 via the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth...

This building ... was made possible by the love and generosity of the icon Bea Arthur. We are proud to dedicate this residence in her honor, and humbled to celebrate this momentous occasion alongside Bea Arthur's son and grandson.

The Bea Arthur Residence marks an important shift in the way that we are able to house and care for young people who have been discarded by their families simply because of who they are. Pending city approvals, we hope to begin housing young people here within the next few weeks.

To the countless staff, donors, city and state officials, architects, and friends of the Ali Forney Center who have breathed life into this remarkable project, we extend our sincerest gratitude and love, and look forward to moving our young people in to begin their journey to a bright future.

Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Center in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence.


[Image via the Ali Forney Center]

Plans for this long-abandoned building were first announced in 2012. (The property had been owned by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.) The groundbreaking took place in July 2015.


[EVG photo from 2012]

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth