Name: Mildred Guy
Occupation: Paraprofessional, The Neighborhood School
Location: 3rd Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.
Time: 3 pm on Tuesday, April 14.
I was born in Puerto Rico, and came here when I was 7 years old. That was over 54 years ago. Until March 26, I had been living in the same apartment on 45 E. Seventh St. [at Second Avenue] for 45 years. I was recalling the other day when we moved there. We were moving into a nice big apartment. We had seven rooms. We were happy. Before we were all cramped into a railroad apartment that had the tub in the kitchen and the bathroom in the hallway. The tub was right next to the sink. I said, ‘Oh my goodness, what were they thinking?’ Now we didn’t have to run to the hallway.
We came from a smaller apartment and we just went crazy running from room to room. There was a lot of space and deciding who was going to have what room. Until this day, the rooms have names. This was Jenny’s room and Gilda’s room and then it changes to Hill’s room and Lewis’ room. Whoever occupied that room for a length of time, it was their room and they had their name on it.
I had four sisters and two brothers. We all lived there on 7th Street. It was a big, close-knit family. In my apartment we had all the family activities. My sisters used to come from wherever they worked. My mother was holding court. She wanted everybody to come and we used to always fix the food and cook and were all either in the kitchen or in the living room reminiscing.
I remember when my niece was born. Her mother brought her home from New Jersey and we all got together and there was a picture that had all these different generations together — the little ones in the front, the older cousins in the middle, my mom is right in the middle sitting on the sofa, and my sisters are all surrounding her. That’s how it was. We always came for Mother’s Day, Christmas Eve, Easter. We were always there.
When we first moved in back in 1970, there were a lot of artists and authors. It was pretty quiet, quite different from what it’s been in the last few years. [Recently] we had a lot of young people who would come in, rent the apartment to NYU students, in-and-out because they don’t stay there too long. There were people in one apartment who were just party animals. The party was just going on and they said, ‘That’s why you live in the East Village, so you can party.’ I said, ‘I don’t know where you came from, but this is not the building to be partying.’
I work as a paraprofessional — one-on-one mostly. I have been one-on-one since day one. I used to volunteer in my son’s school, PS 19 and I was there from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. And then somebody said, ‘Why don’t you go apply for a job with the Board of Education, you’re here volunteering and going on the trips and doing all that stuff.’ There was going to be an opening as an office aid. They said, ‘You know Spanish, you have some college, why don’t you apply for a paraprofessional’ and that’s what I did. Then I got a call from the Neighborhood School and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve been doing that for the past 23 years.
I remember the first time I went camping with the school. Oh man, it rained all three days. We were in platform tents and it rained for three days. They took pity on us and they said, ‘OK, we’ll come and dry some of your clothes.’ We did all the activities in the rain. I said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is my initiation’ and it was great. I have gone camping every year ever since. It was wonderful, seeing the kids all working together, doing the activities, helping each other. I love working with the children. It’s always a learning experience.
My son and his wife relocated three weeks prior to the fire [on March 26]. We all lived together. And he said, ‘Mom I don’t know how you’re keeping it together. I’m so mad and upset.’ I said, ‘You’re able to be mad and upset, and I’m able to hear you be mad and upset, and that’s the blessing that we have.’
People say, ‘How do you keep it together?’ I say, ‘I am so grateful and blessed that my son, my grandson and my daughter-in-law had relocated. My son would have been there in that apartment with the baby. If I had not had a staff meeting… I said, ‘I don’t want to hear anyone griping about staff meetings because I’m here to come in because I was in a staff meeting.’ I feel grateful and very blessed that my family is OK and I’m OK. Everybody has been so supportive — the Neighborhood School family, the staff, the colleagues. On that day, everybody was saying, ‘You want to stay here? You want to stay there?’
The people from my church, Church of the Nativity, have also been so helpful. They’re planning to close, The archdiocese gave us until November. They want us to unite with another church. [They say] there’s too many Catholic churches here, low attendance, and not enough priests. We have a website, Keep Nativity Open. We’ve been trying to have a lot of activities and showcase what we do. We’re a very small, poor community, and the community has changed because the neighborhood has changed. People cannot afford to live in this neighborhood anymore, so they move away. At the beginning, they come and still attend, but then they find their own parishes and churches nearby.
I have volunteered there for over 20 years. I used to run a summer program called HAP for the low income and families for the kids to have something for the summer for six weeks. I am very involved and I think that is what has helped me. When I came back two days before the spring break they said, ‘What are you doing here? I said, ‘I need a routine. I need to be kept busy. I need something else in my mind.’ I was very happy to come.
I love this neighborhood. Everything is so accessible and I love to walk. I went to see a studio from Cooper Square. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness — I cannot describe it. I was suffocating in the hall just to get to the apartment. It was so narrow. But I said, I will take anything and I am going to take the studio for the very simple reason that I’ve been living for the last few days in the Y on 47th Street. I want a place of my own and [for my family to come back to]. That’s what I want, but for now all I want is to know where I’m going to sleep every night and to be able to make my coffee and my oatmeal, which I miss.
I feel blessed and thankful and I want a roof over my head. I want my home replaced that I lived in for 45 years even if it’s not going to be quite the same.
“We’ve loved bringing an elevated level of Indian dining to our guests in Melbourne,” says Jennifer. “But coming back to my hometown (of NYC) has been a long-time dream of ours.”
So, Babu Ji NYC was born. Like the Melbourne restaurants, the New York outpost will offer modern Indian classics as well as Indian street food created by Punjab-born Jessi.
Melbourne favourites such as papdi chaat, India’s take on nachos – with mini pappadums and chickpeas topped with salsa, slaw and pomegranate – will feature on the menu in New York. House-made kulfi Indian ice cream made with cardamom, honey and pistachio will also make an appearance.
“We’ve always been baffled by the state of Indian dining in some of the world's greatest cities, like New York. Although there are some great Indian restaurants at the low and the fine-dining end of the spectrum, there is a void in the middle,” says Jennifer.
SenYa is committed to provide the highest standards of Japanese Food Dining. We prepare our meals freshly and with the finest ingredients of the season.
April 18, 2015, 1:58am, St. Marks Place in the East Village, NYC. No idea, two men get involved in an altercation, an unmarked police car pulls over, but the plainclothes cops decide this dispute is not worth the time. The block where this dispute took place is located on the east side of Third Ave, between st. Marks place, and E. 9th St.
Since the explosion, 128 Second Ave. has accrued 87 violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, along with two additional violations and a stop-work order from the Department of Buildings, according to city records. The building has been without heat, hot water, or cooking gas for three weeks.
Residents of 128 Second Ave. say Icon has neglected the building, bullied rent-stabilized tenants and hired unqualified workers to do construction without permits. Icon denies the claims.
In court last Tuesday, Manhattan Housing Court Judge Cheryl Gonzales expressed impatience with Icon’s lawyer, who asked for 45 days and a “right of extension” to repair the boiler, citing aging infrastructure, warmer weather and lengthy waits for permits.
“People have to take showers every day,” Judge Gonzales said. “Make it work.”
Judge Gonzales also showed concern about the building’s 89 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development violations, including 58 the department considered “immediately hazardous” and must be fixed within 24 hours. The bulk of the violations relate to gas and deteriorated external fire escapes.
Even though the crew still carries a full-blown liquor license, the cellar club isn’t happening. At least not yet. Instead of libations, this space is designated as an in-house spa of sorts. Patrons can take advantage of massages and facials, so we’re told.
A Boogie birdie tells us that Naturees is two weeks from opening...
