Monday, September 23, 2013

Fall shadows



East 11th Street.

After 5 years, time to repair fire hydrant outside the Miracle Garden on East 3rd Street


[Via Facebook]

There has been a long-standng problem at The Miracle Garden on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Basically, every year, volunteers obtain a permit to use the hydrant on the street to water the garden... unfortunately, the hydrant has a crack in it... and just as much water ends up on the sidewalk and street as it does in the garden...



Despite five years of calls to the city, FDNY, local elected officials, etc., etc. ... the hydrant remains cracked... and wasting so much water in the process...

This new video, released Friday, sums up the situation in 80 seconds...

Please help us fix the hydrant (1 min. & 20 sec.) from Artola Digital on Vimeo.

[Updated] Asbestos concern at the Neighborhood School



We've heard from some parents over at The Neighborhood School/PS 63 on East Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...

As we understand it, officials from the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) announced last week that they will begin removing asbestos from the building this fall ahead of a 2- to 3-year school renovation... the removal will occur after school hours starting at 4, which will disrupt a fair number of programs

From an email from a parent that is in circulation:

[Last] week my fellow parents and I were alarmed to find out that the scaffolding surrounding our school is there to take out asbestos and remove lead paint. I was even more upset to discover that no work was done over the summer and that the contractor wants to start now when school is session. We cannot allow this to happen!!! Asbestos and lead that are airborne due to construction pose serious health threats.

There's a meeting this morning with school officials to begin to address these issues (available parents are encouraged to show support outside the school, per the above flyer) ... there will be also be a Neighborhood School community meeting on Thursday morning at 8:40 with SCA reps.

The parents hope to postpone the work until next summer ...

Updated 9 a.m.
Serena Solomon has more details on this story over at DNAinfo.



Cornell Edwards Way


[Saturday morning]

On Saturday morning, the office of City Councilmember Rosie Mendez led a co-naming ceremony on East 13th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

It is now also known as Cornell Edwards Way.



This is in honor of Edwards, who opened The Flower Stall at 143 E. 13th St. in 1967. He passed in April 2011.

It Was Her New York wrote about Edwards and his role on the block for so many years.

"Cornell wasn't just a neighbor to the people on his block. Cornell was a neighbor to his neighborhood."

It Was Her New York shared three stories about Edwards in October 2011. You may find those here ... here ... and here.

Reader rumor report: 504-508 E. 11th St. has been sold



A tipster shares this report... which we're posting verbatim...

As if 11th Street wasn't under enough stress with that plastic scourge from the 'burbs, 7-11, on the verge of puking up its burnt weenies and Slurpees all over the corner of 11th and A. Now it seems that the nearby building of 504-508 E 11th Street has been recently sold to a real estate investment cabal with big plans to cash in on the current East Village real estate feeding frenzy.

And there's certainly copious amounts blood in the neighborhood waters these days. Word has it that the new dollar sign eyed owners intend to clear the 28 unit building of its tenants asap, "renovate", and then jack up the rents to the grotesque amounts commanded by landlords utilizing the rapidly fading vapors of EV hipness to entice the legions of eager neighborhood newbies waving fistfuls of dollars. Boy howdy, what could cooler than having a brand spanking new 7-11 right on your corner!

To date, nothing in the NYC property records indicates that the building has recently changed hands. But, given the frenzy described above, it's certainly not surprising to learn that a deal is in the works ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your guide to construction hell on East 11th Street

The Halal Guys are now open on East 14th Street and 2nd Avenue



A recap from Saturday... This past Friday, the fellows with the popular food cart on 53rd and 6th opened an outpost on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Second Avenue... they are open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

At the 1st annual Nuyorican Poets Cafe Block Party



Yesterday, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe commemorated 40 years of presenting poetry, music, theater and other events to the neighborhood... EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there on East Third Street to capture some of the event...






















First sunset of fall



Photo via Bobby Williams

Zoltar feels the cold shoulder of the Key Master



See?

Outside Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Photo by Hugh Burckhardt, who does an excellent job of documenting the neighborhood from his blog More Than Usual.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Gem Spa stunner: Zoltar now has Key Master competition; doomsday predicted

Week in Grieview


[At the first Nuyorican Poets Cafe Block Party yesterday, photo by Stacie Joy]

Illegal penthouse disappears on East 6th Street (Thursday)

The Joe Strummer mural returns (Friday)

Astor Place ready for its reconstruction (Wednesday)

Peephole season at this community garden (Friday)

David McWater vs. residents at CB3/SLA meeting (Tuesday)

An improvement at 14th and First (Monday)

A mural for LES Jewels in Venice Beach, Calif. (Thursday)

Out and About with Christopher Tanner (Wednesday)

St. Mark's Bookshop looking for help (Tuesday)

The big plans for SPURA (Thursday)

When Tompkins Square Park had a Milk House (Monday)

The story of the old glass at the new Standard East Village lobby (Tuesday)

7-Eleven AC update (Thursday)

East Village murals of the early 1990s (Tuesday)

Stand-up comedy in an East Village apartment (Friday)

Fake fed robs real couple (Wednesday)

Citi Bike docking station posts are always fun (Thursday)

That early-morning sky



Photo by Nick Solares.

The NFL took my baby away



Eh. You can do much better than that headline.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Halal Guys are now in the East Village



The fellows with the popular food cart on 53rd and 6th have opened an outpost hereabouts... per the above tweet... they announced this back in June.

Reader report: Jazz legend Giuseppi Logan jumped on East 9th Street



EVG reader Bayou talked with a bloodied Giuseppi Logan in Tompkins Square Park... The 78-year-old Logan, a familiar sight in the Park with his saxophone, said that he had been attacked earlier in the morning on East Ninth Street ... He said the assailant(s?) didn't take anything — because he didn't have anything... Bayou brought him bandages and a little something to eat... The soft-spoken Logan didn't provide any other details.

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For further reading in the Times from April 2012:
Giuseppi Logan’s Second Chance