Opening today: 'Music Machine' in Artist Alley at Extra Place

From the EV Grieve inbox ...

Running May 19, 2012 - November 2012

Works by Sonni
Curated by Keith Schweitzer of MaNY Project
Presented by FABnyc's ArtUp Program

Artist Reception
Saturday, May 19 @ 2PM
Artist Alley @ Extra Place

Music Machine is the second exhibition for FABnyc's ArtUp Program site, Artist Alley @ Extra Place. Artists create work on the pavement alley of the former CBGB's, a cultural marker in NYC's Punk and No Wave scene and fertile ground for a new generation of creative exchange.

About the Artist
Sonni was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He began his career by painting murals in different neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, creating a following with his cheerful "characters de faciones" painted in primary colors. He is considered to be part of the first generation of street artists in Argentina. He was commissioned to do a public mural in Buenos Aires subway stations and the Glace Palace Museum. He was also invited to participate in solo and group shows in Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, The United States, Canada and Taiwan. In 2008, he was invited to work with art company FriendsWithYou as Senior Art Director.

Also going on this weekend... NoHo Design District ... here's a map of what's going on where.

[Updated] Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Today's street fair festival is on Third Avenue from East 14th Street on down to East Sixth Street (we think!)...

...vendors were just setting up when we walked through around an entirely too early hour.

With the Dance Parade and the Ukrainian Festival, traffic should be nice and snarly...

Updated: Noon

An aerial view via @AndrewPettit ...

Clearing East 10th Street for DanceFest 2012

The NYPD was out early this morning clearing streets need to prepare for today's DanceFest 2012... Photos by Shawn Chittle...

In Tompkins Square Park from 3-7 p.m.

Find the complete schedule for the DanceFest here.

Meanwhile, around the corner, the barricades are in place for Dance Parade 2012

The barricades are now in the place for the grand opening of 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place the annual Dance Parade ...

[Top two photos by Dave on 7th]

[Top two photos by Shawn Chittle]

The DanceFest 2012: Dance Parade kicks off at 1 ... (Details here)

Avenue A at 13th Street, 5:30 a.m., May 19

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

Avenue A, 8:58 p.m., May 18

Earlier today in Tompkins Square Park

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Circuit breakers

The Polecats with "Make a Circuit With Me" circa 1983.

This weekend: The Ukrainian Festival on Seventh Street; DanceFest in Tompkins Square Park

The Ukrainian Festival...

...and tomorrow... the DanceFest 2012: Dance Parade kicks off at 1 ... (Details here)

Then! In Tompkins Square Park from 3-7 p.m.

Find the complete schedule for tomorrow's DanceFest here.

And now, photos of a boot with flowers on Avenue A

New Avenue A beautification project?

Spotted at East Sixth Street today....

Photos by Dave on 7th...

Oh, and here's another angle via Andrew Adam Newman on Avenue C ...

Everyone loves a really bad meatball sandwich!

EV Grieve reader MP sent this along from outside JoeDough today on First Avenue near St. Mark's ...

Heh.

And here's the Yelp review from February...

Probably the worst meatball sandwich (special of the day) I have had in the tri-state area in my 32 years of living here, especially for $12. In all fairness I have not had the other sandwiches but with prices like that coupled with underwhelming food and slow service this will be a skip in the future. Joe Hell No!

Reader report: Starbucks back open on Second Avenue, but the sidewalk cafe is gone

[The now former sidewalk cafe via Google Street View]

A reader notes that the Starbucks is back open after Monday's temporary closure. Curious what had transpired, the reader went inside...

"I just chatted with the girl behind the counter. They were shut down Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week for illegally offering outdoor seating. The seating is now gone and they have no plans to bring it back."

The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Back in March, we introduced you to Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street, whose owners recently brought her home from a shelter.

[Kita in March]

Since then, the cards and letters continued to arrive at the EV Grieve P.O. Box. How is Kita? How is she adjusting to life here? That kind of thing.

So we got in touch with Kita's owner for an update.

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has spent her days acclimating to the neighborhood. She had a close call with some sort of terrier mix that got off its leash while crossing Avenue A and lunged for poor Kita.

Being the wonder dog that she is she literally leapt out of its clutches and received an ovation from the people seated outside Café Pick Me Up. Kita is heavy into the dog run across the street. While she enjoys chasing pigeons, we’ve tried to explain to her that there’s nothing stealth about a dog with three noisy dog tags and a bright yellow ball in her mouth trying to sneak up on a flock of unsuspecting birds.

She remains undeterred.

Kita spent a recent weekend up in Connecticut and went on a little boat ride.

Once we were smack in the middle of the lake, (Bantam Lake, in Litchfield County, the largest natural lake in Connecticut for those who might be interested) she promptly fell or jumped in — it was hard to tell which. Turns out to be a reasonably good swimmer.

On the next episode: Kita applies for a liquor license.

City temporarily closes Baoguette on St. Mark's Place

Yesterday, Baoguette Cafe on St. Mark's Place was closed... workers were cleaning up the place...

[Bobby Williams]

Now with the gates down, you can spot the DOH stickers...

A handwritten sign says "Sorry we are closed. Need to renew expired permit tomorrow! Hope to open tomorrow."

The expiration date on the document is April 30, 2012.

However, there's more to it than a simple expired permit. According to the DOH website, Baoguette was hit with 80 violation points during an inspection, including evidence of various live things.

Meanwhile, we spotted this under the Baoguette sign out front.. a reminder of the former tenant... Ah, Bamn! (And their website is still live!)