This week's sign of the apocalypse

[Via Gothamist]

An important update on fast-food mascots

In the Subway post from yesterday, a commenter mentioned that Quiznos had/has a rat for a mascot. Heh. Well, I dunno. There was the Quiznos in the complex at 19-23 St. Mark's ... once home to the Dom, the Electric Circus, etc. (No need to get into that!) Anyway, the St. Mark's Quiznos closed in 2007...I've never been to a Quiznos...and have no idea what their mascot is...So I actually looked it up...and unless this is some wacky spoof, then Quiznos really did have a rat for a mascot...one with crazy-ass eyes and a bowler hat...accompanied by something with a guitar and pirate hat.

East Seventh Street, 5:54 p.m., Feb. 18

McSorley's celebrated its 155th (or 147th) anniversary last night. Not the horror show that I expected (police barricades, barfing in the streets, etc). Of course, it was still early. Oh, and for the record: I didn't go in...Just walking by...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

NYU President John Sexton not a supporter of lowering the national drinking age (Washington Square News)

Coping with the collapse (BoingBoing)

Remembering the Hotel Diplomat (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

Karate Boogaloo comes across two car crashes (Stupefaction)

Visiting two NYC classics (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

The Mars Bar is the best bar here -- or anywhere...(Slum Goddess)

Sitcom wisdom (BoweryBoogie)

Some love for the St. Mark's Automat (New Yorkier)

King Bloomberg begins his reelection campaign with lots of flash (City Room)

Now and then coffee signs (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

The always compelling shift shots (NYC Taxi Photo)

Happy one-year anniversary to East Village blogger Cat Sitter in the City (Cat Sitter in the City)

The challenges of making the Sex and the City sequel "recession-friendly"

US Weekly has this press release from Access Hollywood:

Sarah Jessica Parker says it's a challenge making the Sex and the City sequel recession-friendly.

"How do we do that well? And how do we do that in a not lazy way? How do we address these economic times in a franchise that has a lot to do with luxury and labels?" Parker tells Billy Bush for Access Hollywood.

"There is a lot that we have to think about because times are very different. So these are nice challenges, these are good challenges," adds Parker -- who once said her character Carrie Bradshaw would end up "in a hospital" if she couldn't afford her trademark $600 Manolo Blahnik shoes.

And what can we expect in the sequel?

"I think we want this one to be a romp," she says. "The last one, we got to tell a really mature sophisticated story that had real heartbreak in it, and this time, I think we want a romp. We want our audience to have a massive romp."

Hmmm....Romp, eh? I think SJP meant to say...."I think we want something like 'Romper Stomper.' We want our audience to have a massive romp."

Yes!



[And I'm late to all this...Esquared had this important SATC news last night -- check out his 40% off photo....Daily Intel also had the goods...)

Whatever happened to the Two Boots Restaurant? Plus: NYCHA puts up two prime storefronts on Avenue A for rent

BoweryBoogie had an update on Two Boots LES (still closed!) yesterday. Meanwhile, I never did get my arms everything that had happened with the former Two Boots Restaurant that became ReBoot at 37 Avenue A near Third Street. It had been open since 1987. There were some family issues, and I had heard that owner Doris Kornish was having problems with the landlord, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). According to the ReBoot Web site:

2008 -- Lease ended in May and was not renewed by NYCHA. No negotiation or explanation was offered by NYCHA. In legal proceedings from May to September, up to four offers were made by ReBoot to renew the lease. NYCHA refused, even after instruction from a New York district judge to move forward with the lease renewal. New York City statutes state that a judge cannot force the renewal, but can strongly advise. Considerable amounts of money and time were squandered by NYCHA, although they constantly complain about being broke. With no willing communication from NYCHA, the restaurant is currently closed with all its equipment inside.

Meanwhile, there are "for rent" signs up...



I'm curious what will happen to the illustrations...I always rather liked them...



Meanwhile, the long-shuttered coffee shop at 41 Avenue A on the corner is also up for grabs. Last summer, Jeremiah reported the good news that the Essex Card Shop would be expanding into that space. Unfortunately, that deal with the NYCHA must have fallen through...there's a "for rent" sign at the old coffee spot now...the Essex Card shop is still in business (thank God).



Thinking about renting the spaces? Here are the details from the NYCHA Web site. Rent at 37 Avenue A is $57.50 per square foot;$86,250 per year -- $7,187.50 per month. And 41 Avenue A: $65.00 per square foot;$101,075 per year -- $8,422.92 per month.

Nino's is back in business; hearts float over the East Village

Nino's on Avenue A and St. Mark's was back open yesterday after a temporary closure by the DOH...(and yes -- the naked Santa is still on the window...)



Meanwhile, a Nino's employee had dozens of heart-shaped helium balloons (Valentine's Day goods gone unused...?). And he simply walked out out Nino's and let them go...



And we watched the balloons go up...



...up...



and up...until we couldn't see them any longer.

However, the impact it could have on the lines for brunch at Prune has yet to be determined

A little something to take your mind off the recession. From the City Room: "A report released on Tuesday concluded that the city’s average annual temperatures could rise by 4 to 7.5 degrees, annual rainfall will increase by 5 to 10 inches and sea rise could rise by 12 to 23 inches, or even 41 to 55 inches if the rate of ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica continues to accelerate."

It's Feb. 18, and we've already exceeded our quota for stories on Subway for 2009

First, sorry! Anyway, we're just admiring the original deals that Blimpie's and Subway have going right now...and, in my estimation, Subway had the deal first.




More important, though. Slum Goddess got a shot of the Subway Sub guy dude handing out fliers on St. Mark's to the new Second Avenue location. (It was part of her "Fancy Embarrassing Brunch" post yesterday.)



As Anonymous said in the comments Monday: "they had a man dressed in a cartoony sub costume handing out flyers. i almost took a pic of him but felt too sorry for the guy."

The last weekly issue of Page Six Magazine: Meet the "Recession Vultures"

The last weekly issue of Page Six Magazine didn't fail to disappoint this week. The winner is the story titled "New York's: Recession Vultures."

Here's the intro:

For the city's movers and shakers, it's suddenly cool to be frugal in the new economy. But for young employed New Yorkers, Manhattan is suddenly a sky's-the-limit playground. Meet the city's recessionistas, who are living large while everyone else is down for the count.

Yes!

"The recession has not affected me at all financially," says Karen Granit, 26, who works as a sales manager for Godiva Chocolates and lives in a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate near Union Square (her roommate, Laura, lost her newspaper editor job last October). "Laura better find a job because she has to pay half the rent," says Karen. "I'm on the lease, so it's my responsibility."

The magazine will now be publishing on a quarterly schedule.

Former Vasmay Lounge space is now the Local 269

So, when did this pop up...? I swear it wasn't here Friday...The Local 269 was open for business last night at Houston and Suffolk on the LES (the bar's address is 269 Houston)...enticing 2-for-1 happy hour sign on the sidewalk...As enticing as this all was, I didn't have time to stop in and check it out...Another day. Or night.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The way we were, Vasmay Lounge edition

The bar at Cedar Tavern is moving to Austin, Texas

Grub Street's Daniel Maurer has the scoop on the fate of the beloved Cedar Tavern on University Place. No surprise. "Longtime owner Mike Diliberto now confirms with us that he won’t be reopening the Cedar. “As much as I know it’s going to be missed,” he says, “I think putting a bar beneath a condominium doesn’t do much for the value.” Oh, and the actual turn-of-the-century bar that we loved to stare at was sold to some nightlife types in Austin, Texas.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Two Boots LES still closed (BoweryBoogie)

Nino's Pizza on St. Mark's and Avenue A temporarily closed (Slum Goddess)

A visit to the Lexington Candy Shop Luncheonette (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

FIlm Forum unspools Depression-era gems (Esquared)

The rust of Port Morris (Nathan Kensinger Photography)

The deathmobile (Hunter-Gatherer)

Five views of the future. Consensus? Grim and grimmer (The New York Times)

A sociologist’s look at graffiti (City Room)

New data shows that we are still fucked, though not quite as fucked as before (The New York Times)

"The madness of rent stabilization" (New York Post)

ZOMG! Justin Timberlake moving to NYC! (US Weekly) Maybe they'll live in Tribeca?

Digging into the archives

In the last few days, Jill at Blah Blog Blah has posted many photos from her 1980s archives of the East Village/LES, such as the one above of the northwest corner of Second Street and Avenue A. You can find her photos here and here and here. But not here. Meanwhile, Alex has also dug into his thankfully-never-ending archives at Flaming Pablum.