Rhong Tiam still pretending as if it's open

Yesterday afternoon....



Of course, the space at Second Avenue and Fifth Street has been closed for more than a week... And, last week, owner Andy Yang told Grub Street that he has closed the East Village outpost of Rhong Tiam... yet the "closed for private party" sign emerged...and the sign was not there Friday or Saturday...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Kurve/Rhong Tiam's long, strange trip is apparently over

Scenes from a fancy new apartment

Our friend Cat Sitter in the City has a funny post from Friday evening... in which she got a glimpse across the way into one of those new buildings in the neighborhood with the floor-to-ceiling windows...there was a party going on...then!

"At one point, a couple went into the bedroom right off the living room and closed the door. Like the living room, the bedroom didn't have any blinds or drapes.

"The girl foraged through a dresser and grabbed a silky top. She was changing when the guy, who was probably her boyfriend, whipped off his khakis and underwear, threw his arms up in the air and started air thrusting. She doubled over laughing."

Avenue B, 1:49 p.m., Aug. 15

Reminders tonight: Sensitive Skin at the Bowery Poetry Club

There's a reading tonight at 6 with Sensitive Skin magazine. There will be readings by Darius James, Christian Hunter, Drew Huebner and Rob Hardin with music by Kurt Wolf (ex-Pussy Galore) and video by Rebecca Gaffney. Details here.

Art show at the Mars Bar today

Featuring work by East Village artist Terry Galmitz...

[Via IloveEV]

20-plus years of keeping Tompkins Square Park in shape

[Photo credit John Penley]

In case you haven't already seen it... Lincoln Anderson has a nice piece in The East Villager this week on Harry Greenberg, who's retiring after more than two decades as the supervisor of Tompkins Square Park.

There are plenty of passages to highlight...

Greenberg is quick to credit his staff for keeping Tompkins clean. Actually, the number of his workers has shrunk over the years, forcing him to do more with less. In 1990, he had 15 permanent workers in Tompkins Square Park, and also managed part of Parks District 3, which is contiguous with the East Village and Lower East Side’s Community Board 3. Today, he only has four permanent workers for Tompkins, who also have to maintain 34 other sites in a portion of the district, such as the planted islands on East Houston St., for example.

And!

Although there are drugs in the park, it used to be far worse. Plus, Greenberg noted, “What park doesn’t have drugs?”

“I used to come to this park early in the morning, and there were drug dealers and hookers. Now it’s normal people,” he said, though adding with a laugh, “They could be hookers and drug dealers.”

Find Philly

Police presence in Tompkins Square Park

Seems to be more police than usual in Tompkins Square Park the last few days... Late Thursday afternoon, there were six police cars on the scene... and the only noticeable offense was a man receiving a ticket for an open container... more police cars were prowling around early Friday morning... asking some questions of a few Park regulars, such as John and Hot Dog...

NYU sets up temporary dorm on Seventh Street

Heh. OK, that was really bad. Just thinking about this story. Anyway, the castle is part of the Yorkiest Block Party on Seventh Street... where there are FREE hot dogs!

Free hot dogs on Seventh Street!

Oh, and The Yorkiest Block Party via CityLight.

A rainbow in Tompkins Square Park

Earlier this morning. And you see the unicorn too right? Right! Tell me that you see the unicorn!

Noted

Avenue A at 10th Street.

The young ones

Sensitive Skin live Sunday at the Bowery Poetry Club

Sensitive Skin magazine has been revived by publisher Bernard Meisler and managing editor Tim Beckett... The print version ran on the Lower East Side in the 1990s, and published such luminaries as Richard Hell, Taylor Mead, Herbert Huncke, Bob Holman (who now runs the Bowery Poetry Club), among others.

And Sensitive Skin is having their first reading since like 1998 at the Bowery Poetry Club this Sunday at 6. There will be readings by Darius James, Christian Hunter, Drew Huebner and Rob Hardin with music by Kurt Wolf (ex-Pussy Galore) and video by Rebecca Gaffney.

Here's the first issue from 1991 ... when it was called 'Peau Sensible' (that's French for sensitive skin...)



For further reading:
Check out Jeremiah's interview with Bernard and Tim at Vanishing New York.