At last evening's Ben Shaoul 'meeting' on Broadway

As reported earlier in the week, longtime East Village activist John Penley was planning a weekend-long campout at the offices of developer Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate on Broadway. However, those plans changed, from a weekend-long campout to what Penley said would be "a meeting about the situation especially about others affected by Shaoul and his sledgehammer."

From these photos, via Facebook, you can see that several people joined Penley in front of the Magnum offices on Broadway just below Houston...



The NYPD was on the scene, though we're unaware of any actions that they may have taken again Penley and company...





At 9 p.m., Penley planned to stop by the former the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street to protest developer Gregg Singer's plan to turn the building into a dorm. We hope to have more on that later.

As for the "sledgehammer" nickname, that dates back seven years... you can read background at Curbed and The New York Times.

Previously on EV Grieve:
John Penley changes plans for weekend campout at Ben Shaoul's office; gentrification meeting instead

Girls! Girls! Girls!

The Slits with "Typical Girls" circa 1979...

Reminders: 7th annual NYC Anarchist Book Fair is this weekend

Book Fair begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow and Sunday... until 9 p.m. or so. At the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk St. Find more info here.

The Anarchist Film Festival will be held at the Cultural Center from 5-10 p.m. tomorrow. You can view the Film Fest info here.

First sign of spring on East 9th Street

Workers are removing the wintertime doors from Lime Tree Market at First Avenue...



Photos via William Klayer.

Cheap Trick celebrating 35 years of 'Budokan' at John Varvatos on the Bowery

Cheap Trick is celebrating the 35th anniversary of "At Budokan" with a show April 28 at the John Varvatos boutique on the Bowery, Brooklyn Vegan first reported today.

There are, apparently, a super limited number of VIP tickets available for the show at the former CBGB. The tix are part of an anniversary boxset deal that costs... $500. (Ain't that a shame?) Find ticket info here. You will also be able to watch the show live via Livestream.com.

And does anyone know if Bun E. Carlos will be playing with the band?

Identity getting a new Identity on East Sixth Street

For a bar called Identity, this place on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B sure didn't have one. (You know — Identity.) Two floors of a little bit of anything. Sports! DJ! Darts! From the outside, it looked like a place you'd find in a suburban strip mall with a crowd to match. (I admit — I was never inside. Still. C'mon.)

But! All this is changing... As we understand it, the owner dismissed his bar staff... and now you'll find four former bartenders from the recently closed Bar 82 here — Dan, Jackson, Meghan and Nicole.

[The owner] is letting us be the vibe. If we pull its head out of the water we can make it a bar to remember," bartender Jackson Riffe told me via Facebook. "It's an awesome opportunity to keep us together and rock that crazy Bar 82 vibe into the future. Just trying to keep some real Lower East Side culture on the Lower East Side."

So in the coming weeks there be making plans on putting to use the underutilized basement space. Meanwhile, Identity's resident DJ, C2, is gone... and Jackson, who works weekend nights, is now playing the music from behind the bar — "1977-style punk with country songs about booze and drugs, with some 60's hot French go-go music paired with surf songs about the jungle."

[Image via Time Out New York]

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

Today, Ray's East Side 99-cent store on East 14th Street near Avenue B will close, as these photos by East Village Hawkeye show...





Ray has already moved around the corner, where he set up a 99-cent store in the base of the Copper Building last fall. The landlord here apparently wanted a big rent hike.

However, we do not know what will happen to Ba, who has a sliver of a shop next to East Side where he sells socks, gloves, phone chargers, etc. Ba told EV Hawkeye that he wants to stay in the neighborhood, but hasn't found a space yet. (Ray doesn't have enough space on B to accommodate Ba.)

Meanwhile, the storefront to the east, where La Isla was, remains for rent.



And there are several empty storefronts just to the west. ABC Animal Hospital moved last week to Avenue A ... Bargain Bazaar closed for good on Jan. 3 ... its neighbor to the east, Petland, closed and is supposedly relocating...

A still-unspecified new development will, some day, eat up much of the block. As we previously reported, eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. (excluding No. 520) were leased for a 99-year period by the respective owner of East Village 14 LLC.

As we understand it, the remaining businesses will not have their leases renewed. What will be gone...

Another time, we'll discuss the next block up, past Avenue A, where all those single-level businesses are lined up next to the likely-closing Peter Stuyvesant Post Office. This is all drool-worthy space for some developer ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

Conspiracies: What next for 14th Street and Avenue A?

Those ongoing rumors about the future of East 14th Street between Avenue A and B

Petland is moving away from East 14th Street, fueling more new development rumors

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

Bargain Express has closed on East 14th Street

Favorite East Village places: Lucy's

[Click image for a better view]

A glance inside 135 Avenue A.

Photo by EVG contributor Michael Sean Edwards.

Here then, your new Third Avenue Subway signage

At the former home of Ben & Jerry's here at Third Avenue and NYU, as we promised the other day. No word if cabbies will get a discount here too.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Subway taking over from Ben & Jerry's on Third Avenue

That movie Keanu Reeves filmed in the East Village opens May 3

Remember back in the fall of 2010, when Keanu Reeves was around the neighborhood filming scenes for that low-budget indie called "Generation UM"?

Yeah, I didn't either.

But! I revisited the archives... (Here and here.)

Out friend Cat Sitter in the City remembers! From Oct. 6, 2010:

I keep getting distracted by the sound of someone yelling instructions and people cheering. I just went outside to see what's going on, and I found myself standing about six feet away from Keanu Reeves on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue A. Dressed all in black, he is tall and handsome as you would expect.

I didn't want to snap a photo of him because I felt like I would be invading his privacy (I wouldn't fare so well as a paparazzo, would I?), so I took a picture of the other people in the scene with him. They were all dressed like cowboys and cowgirls, and they kept chasing Keanu out of the parking lot and down 11th Street.

Anyway, the film starring the "Point Break" star (Johnny Utah!) opens in New York on May 3. And I just received an official media (woo!) invite for the screening (really likely not going).

Here is the official trailer. Take it away, Keanu!



OK then. And now, one more look back, when Keanu was supposedly living during the filming in a nice place on East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...

[EVG reader Steve from October 2010]

Oh, how you will entertain in this East Village Villa-in-the-Sky

If you like luxurious listing porn, then you are home! Here's a new-to-market condo at 125 E. 12th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue ... via Halstead:

VILLA-IN-THE-SKY

Entertain on not one, but two spectacular terraces in this exquisite architect-designed duplex penthouse loft located in a discreet 24-hour doorman condominium right at the crossroads of Greenwich Village and Union Square!

This unique and utterly private 3BR/2.5 Bath residence has been meticulously renovated using quality materials and features careful attention to detail throughout. A wide entrance foyer paved with Basaltina stone, leads to a perfectly proportioned Living/Dining room with elegant striped wenge and oak flooring, classic columns with Venetian-plaster finish, a wood burning fireplace, and beautiful light from a wall of oversized windows with French doors that open onto a lovely landscaped terrace.

Ohhh!

A custom built-in desk is perfect for quiet moments with your laptop, while a floor-to-ceiling glass door floods the room with natural light and opens onto the terrace, beckoning you to enjoy your morning coffee or catch up with the New York Times. At the opposite end of the apartment, you'll find the private Guest wing consisting of 2 bedrooms, a large hallway closet, and a beautiful guest bathroom with custom Hastings tiles and Dornbracht fittings.

Hummana hummana...

An additional access door to the terrace provides a seamless flow between public and private spaces and completes the lower level of this amazing home. Back in the Living room, a floating sky-lit staircase leads to the sumptuous Master Bedroom suite, a pin-drop quiet sanctuary with 12-foot vaulted ceilings, open city views, a large fitted walk-in closet, and a luxurious windowed bathroom clad in hand-cut beach glass and Carara marble featuring a custom sink, dual heated towel warmers, a glass-enclosed rain shower, and a deep Kholer soaking tub for two.

But wait — there's more!

This relaxing retreat is only rivaled by what awaits you outside the Master suite where a door opens onto an enormous magical landscaped roof garden replete with mature trees, specimen plantings, multi seating areas, a gas grill, and magnificent city views including the iconic Con Ed Clock Tower with its multi colored night time lights - all providing for the ultimate outdoor entertaining experience.

Phew. Just hand over $4,75 million and the place is yours...

Get your Load OUT tomorrow on East 3rd Street

From the EV Grieve inbox... via Fourth Arts Block...

Load OUT!
A Reuse and Repurposing RIOT

Saturday, 12-3PM

Location:
19 East 3rd Street
Between Bowery and 2nd Avenue

FREE E-Waste & Clothing/Textile Collection:
By Lower East Side Ecology Center and GrowNYC / Wearable Collections, April 6th, 12-3PM.

Admission to Load OUT!:
FREE admission for artists and art students
$5 for the general public

At Load OUT!, enjoy an afternoon of repurposing and recycling activities that showcase creative thinking about sustainability and the arts!

GET: Attendees are invited to take home all the donated costumes, props, and furniture they find. Artists are invited to participate for free. The general public will be charged a $5 entrance fee to participate. Whatever you decide to take away with you is FREE of charge.

GIVE: Load Out! also features clothing, textile and e-waste community collections — all open and free for everyone. A full list of accepted donations and other art-related activities is available below. Call 212-228-4670 ASAP to schedule an early donation.

For more details here.

Find articles about this year's event at DNAinfo and Gothamist.

Also.

Artist Amanda Browder will be working with FABnyc for the next few months to create a new piece that will cover a building on East 4th Street. DONATE FABRIC during Load OUT! for Amanda's project. Here are some suggested fabrics that you can donate for the project:

*Cotton, stiff fabrics that are not stretchy (flannel, wool, polyester, etc.)
*Colorful or striking patterns
*Bigger sections than a 1ft square — small scraps are always welcome, but the big stuff is useful.

[Image via Fourth Arts Block]

Reminders: Extra Place is open to the public

Spotted this sign the other day in Extra Place, the former alley that ran behind CBGB... And nearly six years on, it seems as if Avalon Bowery Place is still trying to make this "a slice of the Left Bank, a pedestrian mall lined with interesting boutiques and cafes."



As we've cut-n-paste written before, it hasn't been easy here. Businesses have come and gone. It took four years to finally replace the roadway with a sidewalk and add lights.

Do you think this will ever work as a destination location for nightlife, etc.? And do you want to make it too public?

Previously on EV Grieve:
With new restaurant opening, will Extra Place finally become a dining destination?

Extra Place now officially a Dead End

Meanwhile, Extra Place continues to maintain its proud heritage

Flop sweats: Dreams of being fit today in Tompkins Square Park

Well, darn — we missed this today in Tompkins Square Park... "FlipFit or Flop" was here. Where, per the website: "Contestants come from all 50 states in hopes of becoming the Next Best Fitness Star. Fit or Flop, an online reality series, features personal trainers and fitness instructors with a passion for fitness and a dream to make it big."







Bobby Williams and his personal trainer were onhand for these photos.