At the Coney Island USA Spring Gala 2013

Coney Island USA held its annual Spring Gala last night at Webster Hall. The Gala's theme: The Burlesque Manifesto, which honored the role Coney Island USA played in beginning the neo-burlesque movement.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there and shared a few photos (maybe a little NSFW)...

















Find out more about Coney Island USA here. See Stacie's photos from the 2012 Gala here.

Richard Hell's New York (Mystery Lot shout-out!)

Richard Hell continues to do some press in advance of the release of his memoir, "I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp," on Tuesday.

Today, the Post features the longtime East Village resident in its weekly My New York feature... You can read it here.

And he was a Mystery Lot fan!

10. Vacant lot, north side of 13th Street, between Second and Third avenues (now a construction site)

“Whenever I would have to walk across town, I’d try to wrap myself down 13th Street. The lot was all overgrown. And when you were walking down 13th, the buildings that were still standing on 14th Street gave it this kind of broken-toothy kind of edge to it. A friend of mine wanted to make a movie with me — and my first idea was to do something in that lot. I put on a bunch of wounded-person makeup and staggered out from behind one of the 14th Street buildings. I have the footage, somewhere.”

Aside from the interviews that we've already mentioned (The New York Times last Sunday, the Observer), there have also been Hell Q-and-As in New York magazine... Esquire ... Spin has some book excerpts here.

Previously.

There's something about Marty

Here's the completed work at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall, which was unveiled yesterday at noon ... a surprise to honor legendary graffiti photographer Martha Cooper's 70th birthday.

A growing number of graffiti artists started the tribute yesterday morning at 7. Cooper arrived with her cousin at noon, thinking that she was going to be seeing a new mural — something other than her nickname on the wall.

Brooklyn Street Art has a lot more about the event... with photos and names of everyone who collaborated on the work.

Per BSA:

The brand new “Marty” mural is up for an incredibly short time, possibly only days, so if you have an opportunity or inclination, catch this personal and public display of affection for a lady who helped us all appreciate art in the streets.

Animal NY has more from yesterday here.

Morning tweet

Best breakfast deal in the #EastVillage? B&H on 2nd Ave. twitter.com/evgrieve/statu…

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) March 10, 2013

Yes, aside from making breakfast at home, because someone always says that. At 127 Second Ave.

On a clear (leafless) day, you can see...

From Tompkins Square Park today... always liked the view... via Bobby Williams...

A false alarm on St. Mark's Place

The FDNY responded to a report of a fire this afternoon on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A... according to reports, it, thankfully, turned out to be a false alarm... here are a few photos via Bobby Williams showing the firefighters in action...

If you were looking at this tomorrow, it would be 4:45

Spring forward tonight. So if you were looking at that clock outside the Upper Rust on East Ninth Street tomorrow, as the headline suggests, if would be 4:45 and not 3:45.

So. What do you plan on doing with the extra hour that you lose?

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Happy birthday Martha Cooper!

Legendary photographer Martha Cooper, who chronicled the city's graffiti scene in the 1970s-1980s, celebrates a birthday today. (No. 70.)

To honor (and surprise!) her, new art is going up on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall...

Happy Birthday Martha Cooper:-) twitter.com/BKStreetArt/st…

— Brooklyn Street Art (@BKStreetArt) March 9, 2013

Brooklyn Street Art has a photo of Martha's reaction to seeing the mural right at noon.

h/t @LunaPark

The am New York Doll?

EVG Facebook friend Edward Arrocha spotted this last night on Avenue A...

The NYPD says this woman stole someone's wallet at Key Food on Avenue A

The NYPD is looking for the woman in the photo above ... via the Post:

A cute 20-something snatched a woman’s wallet at the Key Food supermarket on Avenue A in the East Village on Jan. 31, police said.

The perp — wearing a white blouse, glasses with rectangular frames and her long dark hair tied back — then used the victim’s ATM card to make withdrawals at a Bank of America, police said.

Aside from "cute," the Post describes her as 5-3 and 120 pounds.

The City Room at the Times has more info here. The woman also allegedly stole a wallet in Brooklyn in November, and withdrew $2,000 in cash from the victim's account.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call an agent, freelance journalist or, probably better, Crime Stoppers.

Newsflash! It is very nice out today

But that comes with a 80 percent chance of Woo.

Up top, Tompkins Square Park this morning.

Birds and rat squirrel fight over slice of pizza in Tompkins Square Park

So some birds were enjoying a slice today near Tompkins Square Park, as this photo from Bobby Williams shows...



Then! Lurking! A rat! Steals the slice...[Updated: Err, maybe it's a squirrel. Sorry. Still.]



Sort of slo-mo via the Grievestrator...



And guess what? The birds got it back...



Safety in numbers. And don't fuck with the Park's birds.

'Monkey' shines

In honor of Richard Hell week... Perhaps the only existing live footage of the Dim Stars, the super group featuring Hell, Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley and Don Fleming. (With Robert Quine in the studio?) They released one record in 1992. Here, with "Monkey."

Man who held Bar Veloce hostage sentenced to 240 years in prison; tells judge to suck his dick

In June 2002, a heavily armed Steven Johnson held patrons at Bar Veloce on Second Avenue hostage. He fired shots inside the bar, doused patrons with kerosene and shouted, "White people are going to burn tonight!" (In total, three people suffered bullet wounds.)

He was found guilty on Feb. 4. Today, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Daniel FitzGerald sentenced Johnson to 240 years in prison, the Daily News reported.

And last words from Johnson? "In closing, I'd just like to say, fuck you and suck my dick," he reportedly told FitzGerald.

Here's more from the Post. And DNAinfo.

Updated:
Important info to add via the AP:

"It was Johnson's third trial. The first trial deadlocked in 2004. The second trial resulted in a conviction and a 240-year prison sentence but was overturned on appeal."

[Image via the Daily News]