EV Grieve

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Saturday's parting shot

A snapshot of today's weather on St. Mark's Place this afternoon ... photo(s) by Steven...

Tonight's free screening in Tompkins Square Park

If you're looking for a last-minute idea to spend some time outdoors tonight... the Movies Under the Stars series presents the box-office hit "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" on the asphalt in Tompkins Square Park.

The synopsis for the G-rated film: "When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn't the only Night Fury, he must seek "The Hidden World", a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first."

The film is set to start at 8 p.m. As of 7, no one had arrived yet for a good seat.

Outdoor cooling centers

Two of the best outdoor spots for a quick blast of cool air...

• Delivery entrance (11th Street side) at the Loews Village 7 on Third Avenue.

• The south-facing side of the Cooper Union building on Sixth Street (as we've mentioned in the past).

Find details on the city's cooling centers here.

Open Garden Day NYC is today

[6th & B Garden via Instagram]

More than a dozen neighborhood community gardens are participating today in Open Garden Day NYC.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. you'll be able to take part in activities such as plant tours, composting and cooking demonstrations.

You can visit the NYC Parks website here for details on participating gardens... or look at this map thing...

Friday, July 19, 2019

The big 'Sick'

Vivian Girls have announced their first record in eight years (and their third overall). An LP titled Memory is due in September. Ahead of that, the trio just released this audio track for a song called "Sick."

EVG Etc.: Remembering Steve Cannon; saving the Tompkins Square Park asphalt

[A view downtown Wednesday night via Bobby Williams]

• Remembering Steve Cannon (The New York Times ... previously on EVG)

• Revisiting the case of Michael Stewart, who died in police custody in 1983 "and changed the city’s creative community forever" (BBC)

• Man who was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the 2009 strangulation death of a 39-year-old East Village resident was released from prison after a state appeals court found that the judge in the case violated the defendant’s constitutional rights during jury selection. (Gay City News ... previously on EVG)

• Why NYC skaters want to save the Tompkins Square Park asphalt (Highsnobiety ... previously on EVG)

• One suggestion on spending a day in the East Village (amNY)

• Man has throat slashed in barber shop bloodbath on Stanton Street (Daily News)

• Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero program is faltering (City & State)

• Why it will take at least four years to expand Citi Bike to other parts of NYC (Streetsblog)

• A brief guide to NYC Bike Etiquette (Gothamist)

• 13 Emmy nominations for "Russian Doll," the Netflix series set in the East Village (Deadline... previously on EVG)

• A pop-up for new Adidas' AriZona Iced Tea sneakers turns into a "mini Fyre Festival" on the Bowery (Patch)

• Actor Justin Theroux part of the team opening this new bar on Chrystie at Rivington (Eater)

• Catch a late-night screening of "Rock 'n' Roll High School" this weekend (Metrograph)

Next steps in the plan to rebuild East River Park

On Wednesday night, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer hosted a public hearing at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, and the city's updated (as of last fall) plans to stormproof East River Park from Montgomery Street to 13th Street.

Under the current plan, now on tour through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), East River Park will close from March 2020 to (fingers crossed) summer 2023.

Aside from what city officials say will reduce flooding from coastal storms and the rise of sea level on the East Side, the all-new East River Park — elevated by eight feet — would include new amenities.

You can read about what transpired at the meeting via Gothamist ... and Curbed.

An excerpt from Gothamist:

“Whatever the park is giving us, you’re going to take it all away,” said Yvette Mercedes, a Baruch Houses resident, whose children play in the park. “We need fixing, but why do it all at once?”

Over 25 people testified at the hearing, and expressed their anger at how City agencies — the Department of Design and Construction, and the Department of Parks and Recreation — are handling the project.

The complete park closure, and health hazards brought on by the dumping of landfill are the two most contentious points among residents and city officials. Residents have also pled with city officials for a “greener” plan that is not only flood-safe, but environmentally friendly.

And Curbed:

Though Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer called for a two-month delay on the project’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) first deputy commissioner Jamie Torres Springer said at the hearing that only the DEIS comment period will be extended for two weeks.

Ian Michaels, a spokesperson for the DDC said that the comment period for the DEIS, which has been open since April, will now be extended until Aug. 30.

Next up: The City Planning Commission hearing on July 31 at 10 a.m., at 120 Broadway. The final vote via City Council is expected in late September.

Meanwhile, City Limits took a deep dive on the issue leading up to Tuesday's meeting. It's a good primer for what has happened to date. Read that here.

An excerpt:

Charles Krezell, the co-founder and president of LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens), was in disbelief last fall when he heard about the city’s new plan. “No one was prepared for it,” he says.

He is unsure that this project can be completed in just three years and worried that it will stretch beyond the current terms of elected officials who will approve it, diffusing accountability. “No one else [in city office now] is going to be in office at that point, so it’s going to be very difficult, the city can walk away, the city can run out of money, anything can happen,” he says. “We can have a flood tomorrow, there’s no barrier to protect us from anything.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
At East River Park

RIP East River Park

We're having a heat wave

[Cooling center at St. Stanislaus on 7th Street]

As you're likely well aware by now, the city is in for a heat wave — featuring oppressive heat and humidity and unbearable "Baked Apple" puns — through the weekend.

As always in situations like this, I cut-n-paste from The Wall Street Journal:

The National Weather Service said it predicts temperatures of up to 101 degrees in some parts of the city on Saturday. It is the first time since 2012 that temperatures in the city have been more than 100 degrees, according to the weather service.

In New York City, a heat wave is declared when the heat index is 95 degrees or higher for two or more consecutive days.

The heat situation here is bad enough that Mayor de Blasio canceled a weekend trip to Iowa and other early primary states as part of his presidential campaign, per the Journal.

Cooling centers are opening citywide. You can find an interactive map here to find one near you...

Nearby options include...

• Campos Plaza
611 E. 13th St.
Open: M - F 8a-11p; Sa - Su 3p-11p

• John Paul II Friendship NSC
103 E. Seventh. St.
Open: M - F 8a-4p

• Jacob Riis Community Center
80 Avenue D
Open: M - F 8a-11p; Sa - Su 3p-11p

• Sirovich Center
331 E. 12th St.
Open: M - F 8a-8p; Sa 9a-3p

• Lillian Wald Houses Senior Center
12 Avenue D
Open: M - F 8a-4p

• Ottendorfer Library
135 Second Ave.
Open: M - Th 11a-7p; F - Sa 10a-5p

In addition, outdoor pool hours are extended to 8 p.m. at all of the city's Olympic- and intermediate-sized outdoor pools today through Sunday. (Around here, that means the Dry Dock Pool on 10th Street and Hamilton Fish Park on Pitt.)

Find the city's heat tips here. Watch a fan video for "Heat Wave" from Bronski Beat's 1984 excellent debut The Age of Consent here.

Report: Red-tailed chick in Tompkins Square Park died from rodenticide poisoning

Rodenticide poisoning was cited as the cause of death for Amelia and Christo's chick, the one who was found unresponsive in early June. The result came from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as Goggla reported.

Here's Goggla with more:

Secondary rodenticide poisoning happens when the chicks are fed poisoned rats, mice or any other prey that has ingested rodenticide. The parents, Christo and Amelia, likely didn't eat the same food, or not as much of it, so didn't die. However, they are exposed to the same danger every time they eat.

The NYC Parks Department does not use rodenticide in Tompkins Square Park. However, it is used throughout the city and the hawks do not restrict their hunting to the park, so they can pick it up anywhere.

And...

The Parks Department has been using dry ice to control rats in Tompkins Square. I think it's very effective and is not toxic to other animals, plants or people. However, if you look around the park or the streets of the East Village on any given day, there is trash and food everywhere. Until we, as a community, stop feeding the rats, nothing will change.

Find more details about alternative pest control options at her site.

Both of Christo and Amelia's offspring died this year, the first at the end of May. (The body of the first chick was never found.) Both chicks presumably died from rodenticide poisoning.

In the past two years, Amelia and Christo have lost three of their four offspring. In 2018, the chick died from a combination of rodenticide and West Nile virus.