Workers take out the downed willow tree in La Plaza Cultural

Ugh. Workers are removing the Irene-damaged willow tree from La Cultural Plaza on Avenue C at Ninth Street this afternoon...

Photos by EV Grieve reader Jill Woodward.

Read more about the history of the tree here.

Why people are talking about Trash and Vaudeville these days in Italy, Denver

Thanks to Neighborhoodr, we learned that Italian Maxim features the venerable Trash and Vaudeville in its current issue...

Also, the Denver Post featured the store recently as well... find that clip here.

Agata Olek's yarn cart on Second Avenue gets new addition; plus, more photos!

Agata Olek's yarn-covered grocery cart on Second Avenue at Fourth Street has received an addition.... A BEAU face ...

Meanwhile, when the cart was parked on Avenue A and Seventh Street, people eventually filled it up with trash...

Same thing happened on Second Avenue...

Meanwhile! Bonus photo! Here's Vashtie taking the cart for a spin...

[First three pics by Bobby Williams]

What was this the summer of?

Well, we're not really into labeling things (too much!) ... as you may recall, somebody dubbed last summer The Summer of Bedbugs hereabouts.

So, what will this summer be remembered for?

The Summer of the Doorshitter?

The Summer of the Discarded Mattress Epidemic?

The Summer of the Walk Man?

Or, of course, The Summer of Giant Chipmunks?

The Summer of Irene?

Oh, or Rats. The Summer of Rats.

We likely know where this one is headed. Vote early and often!

Online Surveys & Market Research

[Photo last summer by EV Grieve reader Dan N.]

Strummer of Love

Hot Strummer Nights
Strummer in the City
Strummer Loving
The Strummer of 2011

Sorry.

Noted

[Bobby Williams]

Just a hole in Tompkins Square Park. Probably nothing.

A Coney Island Blondie, and other photos in Bob Gruen's new book

[© Bob Gruen, 1977]

Rock 'n' roll photographer Bob Gruen has a new career-covering book out of his work, such as that photo of Debbie Harry at Coney Island in 1977. Abrams released the book yesterday. We're going to go find it at the St. Mark's Bookshop. Karate Boogaloo has more on it at stupefaction. Check out Gruen's website here.

The Chillmaster immortalized on Google Street View

Via Shawn Chittle. For more on the Chillmaster, please visit Marty After Dark.

Where the wild things are — Astor Place

Earlier today. Photo by EV Grieve reader Grant.

Kim Kardashian was in the East Village on Tuesday, ever so discreetly

[Zinno Park]

These photos were taken by Zinno Park at I Love East Village. For unknown reasons, Kim Kardashian and her sister Klyde Kourtney were shopping at Healthfully Organic Market on East Fourth Street east of Second Avenue on Tuesday. It's possible that we have nothing else to say on the matter.

[Zinno Park]

Memorial for the downed willow tree at La Plaza Cultural

Ninth Street and Avenue C. Photo by Steven Matthews. Why this tree is significant here.

Hurricane Irene observations from afar, and closer to home

[Shawn Chittle]

Perspectives on the East Village/New York City via the national/international media leading up to Hurricane Irene:

The Los Angeles Times:

"Happy Hurricane Day," a burly, bearded man named Carlos said as he walked into Mona's, a longtime watering hole in New York's East Village, on Friday night and asked a barmaid to pour him a whiskey. "Nah, that's Sunday," came the barstool reply from a short, clean-shaven man who looked like the actor Fisher Stevens (and may in fact have been him).

A kind of stoic comedy, with a kick of gallows humor, permeated New York late Friday night as the city braced for what meteorologists predicted could be one of the worst natural disasters in its history. In preparation for Hurricane Irene, the state was already taking the unprecedented step of shutting down mass transit at noon Saturday, a move that equates roughly to Los Angeles banning cars on city streets during the weekday rush hour.

... The East Village, where Mona's is located, is one of New York's premiere nightlife districts. Well past midnight on almost any weekend night, bars are typically packed, the sounds of noisy inebriation — emanating from those who've traveled miles from homes in suburban New Jersey or blocks from dorm rooms at New York University — filling the streets.

The Guardian UK:

[EV Grieve reader Lauren]

You get used to odd sights in New York, especially in the East Village, a crowded artsy neighbourhood known for a bohemian mix of hipsters and gritty old-timers, which boasts a bar on virtually every corner.

But panic-buying supplies for a hurricane? That was still a novelty for even the most jaded Manhattan eye. Yet there they were: crowds of people lined up outside local supermarkets and thronging "deli" corner stores.

The queue outside the Trader Joe's supermarket on 14th Street stretched all the way down the block, filled with a cross section of East Village life from suited-up young office workers to people clad in gym gear to smartly dressed nighthawks.

Seeing the line it was easy to be briefly disappointed at a lack of fortitude in a city that celebrates a reputation for toughness and scepticism of danger. But, gratifyingly, the line for the cheap wine shop next door was even longer.

Upon hearing about the panic shopping, an EV Grieve reader, stuck out of town last weekend, observed via email: "Have we become a bunch of pussies?"

For some reason I tried to put it in some perspective. I explained that it was equal parts media hysteria and Mayor Bloomberg's grim soundbites that helped spark the frenzy. Or maybe we are a bunch of pussies.

Still, it was a dangerous storm that killed 40 people in 11 states ... with damages estimated anywhere from $3 to $13 billion depending on your news source.

Chris Smith at New York thinks Bloomberg got it right. "Given the facts and the odds as Irene churned up the East Coast, Bloomberg made the right calls, evacuating low-lying parts of the city and endorsing the transit shutdown. That the storm didn't hit as directly or devastatingly as it could have doesn't change the rightness of the mayor's actions."

Meanwhile, there has been plenty of discussion on the media's shrill tone in the days leading up to its arrival in the area. I found the coverage unnecessarily dire and (sorry) overblown. I went to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website for updates. They don't have sizzling graphics or branded personalities. Just facts.

Jeff Jarvis called the media coverage "storm porn." Countered David Ropeik, a consultant in risk communication, on MSNBC: "Yes, the information the media presented was wrapped up in breathless alarmism ... But ... under all the alarmism was really important information that helped people stay safe: storm track timing, tips for preparedness, evacuation routes. It was alarmist in voice, but an informative tool. And that probably helped more than it hurt."

(You can read more about the storm coverage at The Columbia Journalism Review, where I found the above passages.)

I waited a few days to post any of these various perspectives... let a little time pass. Maybe we'll feel a little differently about the media coverage and Bloomberg's actions now...

This Halloween, illustrate how scary you find NYU’s massive expansion plans

On Tuesday, Off the Grid — the blog by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) — noted NYU and Community Board 2 Children’s Halloween Parade. There's a contest to design an image for this year’s parade.

Per Off the Grid:

Well, we couldn’t think of anything scarier than NYU’s massive proposed 20-Year Expansion Plan, in which the university asks the City to give them public land, lift zoning restrictions, loosen open space requirements, and eliminate urban renewal deed restrictions in order to allow the addition 2.5 million square feet of space (the equivalent of the Empire State Building!) south of Washington Square Park...

So GVSHP invites you to submit your best design illustrating just how scary you find NYU’s massive expansion plans. See the rules and contact information here. (Bottom of the post.) Deadline is Sept. 8. OK, designers — get to work...

You have 20 shopping days left until the East Village IHOP opens!

I stopped by the incoming outpost here on East 14th Street last evening ... and the makeshift file-folder sign greeted me.

But! Daniel Maurer at the Local learns that the EVIHOP will open Sept. 20.

Twenty days from now! Oh, crap. Or is it 19? I hate math!

Which means! You will have time still to to take part in IHOP's Carmel Apple Sensations — "good through Oct. 30" as seen via IHOP.com.



And now, for a limited time only, the complete EV Grieve IHOP collection...

• And the hits keep on coming! IHOP opening on East 14th Street

• New East Village IHOP will employ more than 200 people

• Breaking: IHOP sign going up on East 14th Street

• Behold your East Village IHOP

• East Village IHOP passes first major test; plus, a sneak peek inside!

• Will the EVIHOP feature the Toto SS113-01 Cotton White SoftClose Toilet Seat? (Kidding! But I'm working on it!)