Bye bye Billy's

Here's the tent at Billy's Antiques last evening on Houston at the Bowery ...

[Photo via Fresh Paint NYC]

And today, the tent came down... a funeral procession ensued...

Look for a two-story brick building some day (and subsequent dozens of posts) ... Billy says that he will return...

Bottom two photos by Bobby Williams.

Fire on East Ninth Street

8E sends along this photo from a fire earlier this evening at 55 E. 9th St. (between Broadway and University) ... don't know the extent of the damage just yet...

[Updated] Family members react to Cabrini's closure

We mentioned yesterday that WNBC 4 was working on a Cabrini-closure story... Here are a few excerpt's from Gus Rosendale's story...

Family members of residents found out this week that they would have to make other arrangements once the East Fifth Street home closes, likely in July. The Cabrini Center has another nursing home facility in Westchester.

"My mother is in a wheelchair," said Malanke Savanovic, of Bayside, Queens. "We don't know where to put her."

Joe Torre, who lives nearby in Gramercy, makes daily visits to his mom in the nearby home and now fears he'll have to move her to another borough, further away.

"You need to be in there to see the love in there," he said.

Also.

Elizabeth Herring, who lives nearby and whose father lives in the home -- and has spent his whole life on the Lower East Side — vowed to fight the sale of the building.

"This is not over by a long shot, and we are in it for the long haul," she said.

Meanwhile, here's a snippet from NY1's report today:

Joanne Floyd said she has not slept since learning the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in the East Village is closing. Her husband, who has Parkinson's disease, lives in the center.

"I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to say. It's the most frightening thing I've ever faced," said Floyd. "I can hardly talk. I cared for him at home for four-and-a-half years, he fell, he hit his head and he came here. I've come every day for a year-and-a-half, I didn't miss one day."

Here's our story on it from Wednesday ...

East Village bars hosting first-ever Furry Vest Pub Crawl

Tomorrow, starting at 2.

[UPDATED] Did the Yogurt Station close on St. Mark's Place?

That's what a reader asked. With the paper over the windows/doors and all. Perhaps just a remodeling.

Does anyone know?

Meanwhile, we went to Yelp to see if we could find any clues ... There's a reluctant 2-star review from last Saturday... The Yelper asked, "What HAPPENED!!!!"

Yeah, what happened?

There were only two flavors: red velvet and chocolate. I'd go for the red velvet. MELTED!!!!! So I went for chocolate (eh, nothing special). By the time I got to eat it, it was already melted.

There was a good amount of flavors, mind you. And they STAYED frozen to the last bite. Not tonight!

Not to mention, the girl behind the register had quite the grumpy face. Before then, there was a friendly girl that worked the register. This makes me sad. Maybe service went downhill because the employee(s) there don't care about maintaining the store.

Anyway, the last time that we saw paper over the windows at this address... from February 2009...



UPDATED:
Nope, still open! Just closed for remodeling or something.

Seventh Street sunrise

This is what the north east corner of 13th Street and Fourth Avenue looked like on March 3, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

Yet so close to home...

A new one (circa January!) from Brooklyn's A Place to Bury Strangers. Called "So Far Away."

WNBC 4 on the Cabrini closure story

Was curious if or when the mainstream media would pick up on the impending closure of Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on Fifth Street and Avenue B... Here's our story on it from Wednesday ...

Let's start talking about the TSP Ratstravaganza again

Spotted this video over at Runnin' Scared. A staffer at the Comptroller's Office, which conducted an audit about not-so-swell conditions for kids in City parks, sent along the video from Tompkins Square Park ... not sure when this was made (not recently, a little green out) ... But it brings us back to the heady days of the TSP Ratstravaganza from last summer.

Speaking of rats. Here's some gore from this week in Tompkins Square Park...

Not this one...

Police looking for these men wanted for slashing 2 victims outside IHOP

[Via DNAinfo]

A Crime Stoppers alert, via DNAinfo ... Per the report:

Police are searching two suspects wanted for slashing two men in front of the IHOP restaurant on East 14th Street.

The suspects allegedly argued with the two victims, who are in their 20s, on the street outside the IHOP, which opened late last year at 235 E. 14th Street, on March 3 about 6 a.m. The suspects then slashed at both victims with an unknown object before fleeing the scene, police said.

Info on these guys? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[Spotted on the Bowery, by Bobby Williams]

City's SPURA vision includes big-box retail (The Lo-Down)

Life living next door to a hacker on Avenue D (The New York Times ... Gizmodo)

At the Odessa Cash Mob (East Village Corner ... Tripping With Marty ... It Was Her New York)

Remembering the Fillmore East (Off the Grid)

West Bleecker bloodbath (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

The "Mapping Roots" exhibit at the Carlton Arms Hotel (BoweryBoogie)

The 100 best NYC songs? (Time Out New York)

Screening tonight of the documentary, "The Quest for Cameltoe," featuring Reverend Jen.
8-11 pm at LaunchPad (film begins at 9:30).
721 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn
Free but $5 Donation appreciated.
Details here.

And, noted last night on the first warm day of the year...

Here are Robert Sietsema's choices for best East Village restaurants (2012 edition)

[The Village Voice]

At Fork in the Road this morning, Robert Sietsema unveils his list for the best East Village restaurants circa 2012.

Here's the list. Please go over to Fork in the Road for his explanations and critiques of each...

10. Downtown Bakery

9. Dirt Candy

8. Back Forty

7. Zabb Elee

6. Vandaag

5. South Brooklyn Pizza

4. Il Buco Alimentari and Vineria

3. Ramen Misoya

2. Momofuku Ssam Bar

1. Prune

His list prompted more than 50 comments here the last time (in 2010). What do you think of these choices...?

Note: Per Fork in the Road, Sietsema is friends with the chefs at Goat Town, Porsena and Porchetta, so they were not considered for the list.

What it takes to build a six-floor mansion on a narrow East Village street

We're hearing from more and more residents complaining about the construction at 331 E. Sixth St. ... and the noise/congestion is only intensifying ... (Didn't help that film crews for the Coen Brothers were on the block for three days this week...)

Anyway, here's a quick look at the work taking place at the ol' Schwimming hole ...

The city has logged a few complaints at the future David Schwimmer home ... the most recent at the DOB is dated March 2, stating:

ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION WORK BEING DONE AT THIS LOCATION WITH EXPIRED PERMITS. WORKERS CAN SEEN ON-SITE BETWEEN 7AM-6PM. TONIGHT THEY WORKED UNTIL 8PM

Photos by Bobby Williams.

P.S.

Goggla notes that an old piece of the wrought-iron fence leftover from 331 E. Sixth St. is there for the taking...