The Pigeon Lady proving more elusive than originally thought!

A reader snapped this shot on Avenue A near Ninth Street earlier today... just missing the notorious Pigeon Lady, though in time for the aftermath...

When Joey Ramone went to the day spa

Marjorie Ingall uncovered a long-lost treasure from her time at Sassy: An article from the never-published last issue (December 1994) in which the magazine sends Joey Ramone to a day spa. However, thanks to the Internet, the article — written by Andrea Linnett — lives on...

An excerpt!

With Joey's hair saturated, Getty placed a pure plastic cap on his head and led the famous songwriter to a heat-lamp throne, where he enjoyed reading about his socialite friends in Town & Country magazine. After about 20 minutes of pure 18-carat relaxation, Getty took Joey to the extravagant hair washing massage bed so he could receive an aromatherapy scalp rub and shampoo. Joey was on cloud nine as he purred, "I'm finding this very pleasant. I'm in nirvana. (not the band)"

Hairdresser to the rich and famous Hugh Mac Dill arrived to blowdry and style the golden voiced singer's newly revived locks to perfection. Joey's reaction? "My hair's fluffy full." Rejuvenated and ready for the fast-paced life of a superstar, Joey bid Brian and his team farewell, and headed home to his luxury apartment in Manhattan's superexclusive East Village, where a bag full of Aveda products awaited him for his whirlwind tour of glitzy Czechoslovakia.

You can read the whole piece here.

Writes Marjorie on her blog: "I remember everyone gushing about how terribly sweet and terribly shy Joey Ramone was on his spa day."

Related reading, kind of, on EV Grieve:
Forget James Cramer and his ilk, how would Joey Ramone invest in this troubled market?

Another reason why the super may have been pissed at Lady Gaga

[Photo by Cat Sitter in the City]

Yesterday, our friend Cat Sitter in the City told us that Lady Gaga was giving Anderson Cooper and film crew a tour of her old Lower East Side haunts, including her onetime home at 176 Stanton. This apparently ticked off the super, who called the NYPD to complain about her intrusion...

In any case, as a tipster told us, perhaps the super didn't want anyone to know that workers were renovating part of the building — without any proper permits from the DOB.

Also, several readers pointed out that this interview will be part of Cooper's "60 Minutes" feature on Lady Gaga that airs before the Grammy Awards on Feb. 13.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Anderson Cooper interviews Lady Gaga on Stanton Street; police called

Bad news-good news-maybe good news about Avenue A retail

The bad: East Village Pharmacy on Avenue A and Fifth Street has lost their lease...

The good: They're just moving to 41 Avenue A at the corner of Third Street, the site of the long-dormant coffee shop... this will help bring a little life to this lonely stretch of Avenue A...

Maybe good news: Maybe something else decent will move into the soon-to-be-empty East Village Pharmacy space... the sign says no restaurants, but food OK...

Jimmy McMillan just lost the cyclist vote

Jimmy McMillan, the rent is too damn, blah, blah guy, is running for president. He's even holding a news conference in Tompkins Square Park next week to announce his candidacy.

Meanwhile! The Local East Village conducted a Q-and-A with McMillan ... to an excerpt!

Bike lane use is a big issue in the East Village. How would you handle that issue?

Get rid of them. You have cars running up on bicycle lanes – people are getting run over. These are idiots! There are not enough bicyclists. I did a personal count. In one week in the East Village on First Avenue and Second Avenue, there were about 25 people on each avenue. It’s not enough. They’re better for states with warmer climates, like in Florida. You cannot have bicycle lanes where there is snow.

Today in subtle beer pong ads

Outside Amsterdam Billiards on 11th Street at Fourth Avenue.

Another Avenue B storefront for rent

Been some time since I did a count of the empty storefronts along Avenue B ... (Last time: December 2008.) Anyway, the space that housed the eclectic discount store is gone... meanwhile, a few doors down, La Bonne Bouffe closed in December...

Tonight in $250,000 cars parked on East Fifth Street

Maxwell Z. sends along a photo of this Rolls-Royce motor car (and the vanity plates read something like GUD MONY GUD DAY) ... I was thinking about saving to buy one like this.

Rockefeller Center holiday tree dumped on East 10th Street?

OK, OK... but this thing is enormous... bigger than the car behind it... the sanitation crew is going to need a bigger truck...

Anderson Cooper interviews Lady Gaga on Stanton Street; police called

Exciting international news developing now on Stanton Street ... CNN's Anderson Cooper with camera crew is interviewing former LES resident Lady Gaga. And our very own Cat Sitter in the City is on the scene. She filed a live report ... Lady Gaga is showing Anderson her old stomping grounds at 176 Stanton... it appears that they enter the building for a tour... afterwards, the pair walk toward Clinton Street, where a police car pulls up. Lady Gaga says hello, etc. They move on. Then! The police car pulls in front of 176 Stanton, where someone who could be the super emerges and starts screaming and gesturing. Basically, he's pe-od that Lady Gaga got into the building... Minutes later, the super is still screaming.

One other note. "She was not dressed properly for the weather," Cat Sitter reports. "But she's Lady Gaga." So, no sleeves, stockings, that kind of thing.

Possible delay in emergency responses today

We'll periodically have information on local fire companies that service, in part, the East Village ... including when they are closed for periods of time...

Ladder 11 (as well as Ladder 6 and Ladder 18 that serve the area) will be conducting Building Inspection today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (as well as every Wednesday). During this time, they may be delayed to emergency responses because parts of their Buidling Inspection District are not in their 1st, 2nd or 3rd due emergency response area.

Further, E-15, located on the LES on Pitt Street but responding to parts of the East Village, will be CLOSED from 12:30 PM-4:30PM for training at the Fire Academy.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Cops: Bouncers helping thieves steal purses and stuff from East Village bars (DNAinfo)

What happens to The Alamo with the Astor Place reconstruction? (Neighborhoodr)

36 hotties on the subway (Refinery29)

Two new roller coasters for Coney Island (The Wall Street Journal)

Also: A new exhibit on 26th Street, “Nickel Empire: Coney Island Photographs 1898-1948” (Amusing the Zillion)

The rat killer of Washington Square Park (NYC the Blog)

The subway map of 1972 (Nonetheless)

America's best Chinese restaurant is in ... Bryn Mawr, Pa.?! (NY Post)

Greek treats on Essex Street (With Leftovers)

Looking at vintage NYC menus (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Busier days for Ray's (Nadie Se Conoce)

High-end bread for Orchard Street (BoweryBoogie)

"Murray Hill Is For Douchebags, Arrested Development" (Runnin' Scared)

A new look for EugeneMerinov.com ... where you'll find many fine photos, such as this one of Richard Hell...

On the trail of the Pigeon Lady

As we've noted, someone — dubbed with some affection, "the Pigeon Lady" — continues to drop about 50 pounds of bread a few times a day at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park at Ninth Street and Avenue A ...

This morning, a reader notes the aftermath of a recent bread dump...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Capturing the Pigeon Lady

Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

Yesterday, thanks to Curbed, we all got a look at the new boutique hotel coming to Third Street and the Bowery:

Oops, crap. Wrong image. Sorry! Here it is!

Sorry! Blogger is giving me problems today!

This likely isn't surprising, but no one seems to like the design... or the thought of another hotel along here...

Here's a sampling of Curbed comments:

And people thought the Bowery was bad in the "old days"? I'd take the Salvation Army building over this any day.

Pretty much everything new going up on the Bowery now says "crap-tastic" + "major ego at work". This new building looks like the winner of a contest where crazed architects are asked to design their weirdest fantasy buildings.

Eventually the Bowery will have a NEW reputation, as the place tourists can go to see the absolutely *ugliest* collection of buildings in NYC.

And!

Odd to think that the Bowery was actually better and had a peculiar, if worn and gritty, charm before qualified "designers" took it upon themselves to show the uneducated masses how things might be. As it stands, they should rename it the Rue de Pretension.

Gothamist ran a post with a headline, "The Bowery's Next Hotel Is Looking Pretty Ugly." Per commenter Newhce: "Holy crap. What is this, 'New Brutalism'"?

Runnin' Scared went with the headline, "New Bowery Hotel Uglier Than The Last."

And at EV Grieve? Here's a sampling of the comments:

Cookiepuss said...
Both of these images horrify me! The skinny structure every time I see it, either in person or in a photograph brings me all the way back to points in my life where I experienced trauma. Both structures mimic the symmetry of Hitler's army. Sometimes I think that architects and developers are trying to create a new and superior race!

And!

Bowery Boy said...
The merits of each individual hotel on the new Bowery can be debated, but taken as a whole, this is about to be the worst stretch of Manhattan ever planned. Ok, maybe not planned, but developed. It looked better as Skid Row. The individual developers are getting their money, so they don't care, but one-by-one they are turning the Bowery into an architectual freak show. So sad.

And!

cvinzant said...
Does anyone know what those ridiculous white boxes are that jut out for no purpose? Are they made of stone? Metal? How much will the pigeons enjoy roosting on them?

And on the EV Grieve Facebook page, Luc Sante left this comment:

It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater.

Meanwhile, I've taken it upon myself to make a few suggested changes... Work in progress people...