Early word on Mast

The used book store opened yesterday on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Fourth Street...



And the store is not called (regretfully?) THINGS WITH WORDS AND PICTURES IN THEM THAT ARE NOT GLOWING RECTANGLES or Off Track Books or Better Books Than Those Sold By That Crazy Sassmonster In Front Of The Old Methadone Clinic Down The Street Who Threatened My Girlfriend After She Laughed At His Sea Shell Chandelier...

Anyway, people who shopped here yesterday have good things to say...
EV Grieve reader BaHa said, "Not just art and photography, good selection of fiction. Picked up an Edith Wharton I had wanted for 30% off cover. Nice people, too."

And from another reader:

I bought an hp lovecraft book and "all the pretty horses." They were around $6 each. Curated I think in this case means "classics" or well known or essential reading. Which is kind of nice as long as they have more of a more recently published selection. I asked them what the store was called and they said "mast."

Previously on EV Grieve:
More on the Avenue A used bookstore

Paul Richard sign removed from Shepard Fairey mural

Yesterday!



Today!



Previously on EV Grieve:
Paul Richard asks that you do not tag Shepard Fairey's mural

The problems with selling stuff out of converted bread trucks

The Daily News today has a piece on NY artist Marco who is now selling his wares from a refurbished bread truck:

"[T]hings don't always go smoothly.

On a recent night, Marco parked his truck on the lower East Side, drawing quite a bit of unwanted attention.

Hordes of drunken revelers stopped by, expecting to order food.

"They wanted shawarma, falafel," Marco said. "They want meat patties and pizzas."

Jack Kerouac on Seventh Street

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Mykola "Mick" Dementiuk for sending along this link to Book Patrol... As you may know, there's an exhibition of Allen Ginsberg photos now on display at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. titled "Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg."

Here's one of the photos...



The caption reads:

Jack Kerouac wandering along East 7th street after visiting Burroughs at our pad, passing statue of Congressman Samuel "Sunset" Cox, "The Letter – Carrier's Friend" in Tompkins Square toward corner of Avenue A, Lower East Side; he's making a Dostoyevsky mad-face or Russian basso be-bop Om, first walking around the neighborhood, then involved with The Subterraneans, pencils & notebook in wool shirt-pockets, Fall 1953, Manhattan.

The exhibit runs through Sept. 6.

Paul Richard asks that you do not tag Shepard Fairey's mural

Per an EV Grieve reader:

There's a Paul Richard tag on the Fairey mural. It's one of those Paul Richard gallery label tags, a larger one than usual, more a warning size sign. Perhaps located near the earlier hole in the Fairey mural. It says, IIRC, "Please do not graffiti the mural."

No Leviticus posters, yet.

An open house for a new restaurant on Avenue A

At 12th Street and Avenue A... a new bar/restaurant is in the works...



Did anyone go to this open house?



Previously on EV Grieve:
New bar slated for 12th Street and Avenue A

Street fair!

On Second Avenue below 14th Street... bring your umbrella sunglasses...



... and Tums....

East Houston, 9:42 a.m., May 8

Shep's mural tagged again

The Bowery and Houston.

To all the noisemakers

Noted

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

EV Heave discovers why people have been barfing by the Coop — at least this past week (EV Heave)

EV Heave thanks New York for making him or her the fastest-growing blog about the Cooper Union Serial Vomiter probably in the world (EV Heave)

The top-10 things that make NYC look like crap (Lost City)

Presale SATC2 tix already on sale at the Loews Village 7 (Nonetheless)

The Downtown Dream Hotel is ugly and shiny (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Subway banners are up at 66 Delancey (BoweryBoogie)

A walk with Goggla (The Gog Log)

Look at the new New School building (Curbed)

Martial arts in Union Square (Slum Goddess)

Outrage over LES gas outages (The Lo-Down)

More iPad ad tomfoolery.



And a reminder about tomorrow:



For additional information, visit The East Village Community Coalition Web site.

"A reminder of how beautiful our neighborhood can be"

That was the e-mail message from EV Grieve reader Anthony Devers, who sent along this shot this morning from St. Mark's Place...

"Crazy Landlord" cleans up his corner: Here comes a "sexier Balthazar"

On March 20, 2009, we first noted the "crazy landlord" sign on the long-dormant corner of Second Avenue and Third Street... Since then, the corner has attracted plenty of street art...




...even with the rumored Belgian Ale House coming in here...

After a back-and-forth between painters and taggers, the street art team seemed to have won, as the corner full of wheat paste and spray paint and stickers remained for months... Yesterday, though, workers came and painted the whole thing...



...even the "crazy landlord" sign came done...



This is serious!

Last week, Eater had more gory details on the new Belgian joint coming to this location... it will be called the Belgian. Here are the owner's words to Eater:

It is a beautiful high ceiling space with a very Gothic basement with a sidewalk vault all around, similar to Bacaro. The basement will have a separate bar and dining as well as beer and wine cask rooms and an area for brewing.
The main floor will have a large canopied bar, large tables beer hall style with old oak and mahogany church pews. The large french doors will open to a wraparound sidewalk cafe sitting 40 or so under large colorful awnings. It will be romantic yet appropriate. Think a sexier Balthazar marries a corpulent Fette Sau and the offspring is The Belgian.

[Sigh]

Thanks for the memories, Crazy Landlord corner...