The back room at Otto's Shrunken Head reopens tonight

As you know, a fire severely damaged Otto's Shrunken Head on 14th Street on Oct. 24. While the front room reopened on Oct. 30 ... the back room needed a lot more attention. Otto's regular DJ Xerox passes along the good news that the back room reopens tonight with the Rebel Night Rockabilly dance party, and then the first bands take the stage tomorrow night.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Assessing the damage at Otto's Shrunken Head

Breaking: Early-morning fire at Otto's Shrunken Head

Bank robber looks familiar

Police have released the photo of a man they say robbed the Capitol One Bank at 21 University Place on Eighth Street, according to DNAinfo.



Despite the similarities in the photos, I suppose we can rule out one possible suspect....

A reader question

An EV Grieve reader sent this photo of an ad for the M15 Select Bus Service that just went up this week ... the reader wondered why the ad was in the N-Q-R stop on Broadway and 40th...

EV Lambo makes its national debut

[Thanks to @CaitlinDomke for the photo!]

This car needs a nickname

Several readers have noted the red Ferrari parked here on Avenue B near Tompkins Square Park earlier this week. What will EV Lambo have to say about this?

St. Brigid's in need of more divine intervention?

The renovation of St. Brigid’s is more extensive than expected, The Villager reports this week.

Lincoln Anderson reports that "a number of alarming rumors have been circulating in the neighborhood about the project, including that the $10 million restoration fund for the church has already been spent and that there is a significant cost overrun; that the church’s windows’ being removed in 2006 caused water damage that weakened the walls, requiring extra work to shore up the foundations; and that both the north and south walls need to be removed and totally rebuilt so that the eastern wall can be tied into a stable structure."

However, Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for the New York Catholic Archdiocese, said the rumors are untrue. He also denied that the church is seeking more donations to complete the renovations.

In addition, Zwilling didn't offer an anticipated completion date for the church.

Last summer, Edwin Torres, chairman of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's, told me the work was expected to be wrapped up in the summer of 2011. Looking at the church today, that time line doesn't seem very likely.



Previous EV Grieve St. Brigid's coverage here.

Lights, cameras: Rolf's unleashes its annual holiday extravaganza

So the holiday lights at Rolf's on Third Avenue at 22nd Street seem to be up a little bit earlier than usual...





Not sure what else to say on the matter. As EV Grieve wrote in November 2008:

It gets horribly crowded at Rolf's during the holidays, of course...Just grab a seat at the bar (if you can during off-peak hours)...the food is too heavy for my tastes (hmmm, suckling pig), unless I'm trying to spike the LDL level in my bloodstream. In any event, if Rolf's is mobbed, Paddy Macguire's down the street — between 19th and 20th — is a decent alternative for drinks during the holidays. They have some lights as well — and a much smaller carbon footprint.

Good advice!

Previously on EV Grieve):
'Tis the season for keeping ConEd in business: The holiday lights are up at Rolf's

Gramercy Park preps for Slurpees

And on the way home after visiting Rolf's...at Third Avenue and 20th Street...

A tweet from RCN

Yesterday, I sent out a tweet about the RCN-Chico post... and RCN responded ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
RCN Cable discovers 'illegal graffiti' two years later

Avenue C ATM deemed 'unauthorized'

The DOT has left notices here in front of 131 Avenue C between Eighth and Ninth Streets stating that this ATM is "encroaching onto the city sidewalk." The ATM sits between Babel, the hookah place, and Summit, the fancy drinks place. The letter is addressed to Babel's landlord...





I'm guessing this wasn't the only ATM cited... one of the other 47,891 ATMs near here likely encroach the city sidewalks as well...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Avenue ATM (aka, how many stupid ATMs does one block need?)

Scott Stringer: Enough with the ATMs!

About Superdive the other night

On Wednesday evening, we heard that Superdive, despite being closed and for sale, looked kinda open... We asked management for an explanation. "Sorry you missed Babydive, Momadive, and Papadive having our family dance party and contemplating the next move..."

Squirrel photo of the day

Courtesy of EV Grieve wildlife photographer Blue Glass outside the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.

Cooper 35 Asian Pub putting up a fight before being torn down

As I first reported two weeks ago, the building that houses the Cooper 35 Asian Pub is part of the recently signed development deal at Sixth Street and Cooper Square.

An employee at Cooper 35 confirms to Washington Square News that the bar will closed and be torn down in the coming months. The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors and Asian Pub are circulating petitions to landmark the building.

Jeremiah has a comprehensive history of 35 Cooper Square here.

(WSN link via BoweryBoogie)

RCN Cable discovers 'illegal graffiti' two years later

As Jeremiah reported on Monday, workers at the RCN Cable building on Avenue C and Sixth Street painted over the Obama-McCain election mural and others on the site last week....



Now...



Patrick Hedlund has a follow-up piece today at DNAinfo. He speaks with an anonymous RCN spokesperson who sounds a little huffy about Chico's mural, which graced the wall for two years.

"The bottom line is the building had illegal graffiti on it and we cleaned it up — period."

And!

But the RCN spokesman quickly dismissed the idea that Garcia might return to work on the wall.

"We're not interested in doing business with him again," he said.

Curious to see how long the building sits tag free.... this little doodle was quickly painted over....



Anyway, there were all sorts of Chico murals on this corner...



Are you telling me that RCN just figured out that there are murals here? (What about the illegal ads?) And it wasn't as if Chico just ran up here and tagged the wall in the middle of the night... this corner art took a long time to create... And this entire time RCN was unaware of the activity?

A side note, perhaps ... graffiti artist Jairo Pastoressa, accused of murdering Christopher Jusko, helped Chico create this mural ... His signature was in spray paint below Chico's name.


[Photo via DNAinfo]