Saturday, November 28, 2015

A guest at the Bowery Hotel lost this heirloom ring



Via the EVG inbox... from a guest at the Bowery Hotel...

Lost Heirloom Ring
Lost on St. Mark's Place and/or the surrounding area
Substantial reward if found or returned, no questions asked.
Please call 310-429-9011
Very much appreciated!

Gas work in building temporarily shuts down Hot Kitchen on 2nd Avenue



Hot Kitchen, the Sichuan restaurant at 104 Second Ave. near East Sixth Street, has been closed this past week.

EVG correspondent Steven passes along a photo of the signage on Hot Kitchen's front door...



The note explains that ConEd has shut off the restaurant's meter "due to the work [the] landlord is doing to the building main gas piping."

The note also says they hope it will take a week or less to compete the repairs. That seems awfully optimistic given how long it has taken gas service to return to other East Village restaurants, such as Second Avenue neighbor B&H Dairy. On Avenue A and St. Mark's Place, Nino's and Yoshi Sushi have been closed for five weeks now due to a gas issue in its building.

And of course, Hot Kitchen sits nearly directly across the Avenue from the site of the deadly gas explosion this past March 26.

When the birds of Tompkins Square Park sound like whales



EVG regular Grant Shaffer picked up on the birds communicating with one another today... and slowed it down...

What happened to Invader's Woody Allen mosaic?



You've likely seen the mosaics that French street artist Invader has placed around the East Village/Lower East Side the past few weeks.

Not sure what happened to the Woody Allen mosaic on East Fourth Street at First Avenue... a good chunk of it is now missing...


[Photo yesterday by Peter Arkle]

At last look, the others that we've spotted, like the Andy Warhol outside the Standard East Village, remain intact...



According to a recent piece in the Times: "Invader's work has become popular with collectors. In March, a large piece sold at auction for almost $350,000 at Christie’s in Hong Kong."

He also reportedly received the OK from building owners to install the mosaics here, which means...

These legal works are likely to be out of reach to collectors and thieves. To thwart those who might take down his work for their own profit, he said, he has sought out sites with natural architectural recesses or filled-in windows. By installing a piece in the exact size and shape of these nooks, he leaves little wiggle room for anyone who might try to pry them out.

In recent years, he has also used larger, thinner tiles: Try to jimmy them off, and they’ll chip apart rather than popping off intact.

Another year without grubby ol' St. Nick on East 14th Street; what to tell the children?

[Happier days in 2013]

For the second year running, it appears that the beloved grubby Santa that has adorned the top of the xmas RV on East 14th Street and First Avenue in years past remains AWOL

The Sidewalk Holiday Tree Stand is now apparently fully operational... and, like last year, some rather generic inflatables (stupid nutcracker) grace this place...





As for what to tell the children. Well, I'd change the subject and try to distract them at Papaya Dog. Look, Twix bars for breakfast!...

-----


[2012]

The roof, 6:44 a.m., Nov. 28



#nofilter

Friday, November 27, 2015

Tonight's sunset



The view (to the southeast) this late afternoon/early evening via Goggla...

Some holiday Cheer



You have several chances to check out Bronx Cheer in the days/weeks ahead... starting tonight at the Bowery Electric and tomorrow at Cake Shop.

The above video features the NYC trio's song "Prism."

[Updated] NYPD releases photos and video of East River Park rape suspect


According to published reports, a man raped and robbed a 26-year-old woman who was jogging in East River Park around 7:30 Wednesday night.

The NYPD has now released photos and video of the suspect, who used the victim's credit card after the attack, which took place in the East River Park amphitheater near Jackson Street, according to media accounts.

Here is the video via Gothamist...


Surveillance of East River Park rape suspect by Gothamist

Emergency responders took the woman to Beth Israel, where she was treated and released.

Updated 7:47 p.m.

Per WPIX...

Thanks to numerous Crime Stoppers tips, the suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Paul Niles who is described as being 5’9″ and weighing 200 pounds.

Police sources tell PIX11 that Niles was last arrested for masturbating in front of a school.

Updated 11/29
Niles is now in police custody. He surrounded to police at a precinct in Queens, per reports.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Someone threw black paint bombs at the naked women condo ad along 100 Avenue A



An EVG reader notes that last night, someone (vandal? folk hero?) tossed a few black paint bombs at the naked-women-clad plywood at 100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street...



... where developer Ben Shaoul is putting in a 6 8-floor condoplex where prices will range from the high $1,000s per square foot to north of $2,000 per square foot.

Perhaps these real paint bombs are fitting to the whole marketing concept. Broker Ryan Servant recently explained the campaign this way on Instagram:

This is a real model, with real paint. This is my team, my developers, my clients, my friends, my family, my fans. This is for everyone who sells something who does it differently. This is for the kids who wear clothes other kids won't or don't. This is for the the Dad who goes back to school to make his kids proud. This is for the student who turns in 2 pages of a 5 page essay - and aces it. This is for everyone who has been bullied, talked about, made fun of, and pointed at.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Wooing the condo crowd with naked women motif on Avenue A

The retail space at Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A is available for $24.5 million; plus, naked model marketing clarification!

Oh Christmas trees, oh...



As you probably noticed, the stockades are going (have gone!) up on sidewalks and corners everywhere, well last in least the usual places where holiday trees are sold, like in front of the Rite Aid on First Avenue and East Fifth Street (above)... and on First Avenue and East 13th Street...



... and we received a news release about Tree Riders NYC, which is launching its fifth season at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at East 10th Street today at noon.



Per the release...

Tree Riders NYC – run by local artists and adventurers – offers hand-selected Fraser firs from the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, as well as Douglas and Canaan firs from central Pennsylvania.

Tree Riders NYC offers same day cargo bike delivery service throughout Downtown and Midtown Manhattan; post-Christmas tree removal and clean-up service; handmade wreaths, garlands, and mistletoe; Christmas tree stands; and lights.

“We just returned from our annual trip to Virginia where we harvested the trees we hand-tagged at the end of August for this holiday season,” said Joseph Schommer, co-founder of Tree Riders NYC. “Through this careful selection process, we’re able to guarantee our community the freshest, farm-to-home Christmas experience.”

Find more info here.

Anyway, enjoy your tree, should you choose to buy one. And just as an FYI, the city has already released dates for the 2016 MulchFest — Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 9-10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

REPOST: A Black Friday improv gag on First Avenue


The following post originally appeared on EVG on Nov. 26, 2012...

On Friday (Black Friday!), the folks at Improv Everywhere, a NYC-based "prank collective," had some 100 people camp out in front of the 99-cent store on First Avenue next to the Rite Aid.



The group even had someone pretend to be an NBC News reporter interviewing people waiting in line...


The store's proprietor arrived at 9 and figured the mob was for Rite Aid... then someone in line told him that it was for the 99-cent store...

When the store opened, the shopping began...



The participants did come in a few at a time and buy stuff... You can read the entire recap at the Improv Everywhere website.

Eventually the Improv leader told the store owner about the gag. "He was really excited about the whole thing and definitely appreciated the business, even if it didn’t make total sense to him why it had happened."

The Improv members also donated some of the purchases to an unnamed local charity.



[All photos via the Improv Everywhere website]

Thursday, November 26, 2015

For the birds



Christo and Dora at St. Brigid's today... photo by Bobby Williams

And the revamped 1st Avenue Dunkin' Donuts is back open; now with new banner



Less than two weeks after closing for renovations, the Dunkin' Donuts on the corner of First Avenue and East Sixth Street is back open with a fresh-new DD look...



However, the giant DD cup never returned...


[Photo from 2009 via Flickr]

...and they apparently never found an advertiser for their Complimentary Hand Sanitizer, which workers have discarded...



Updated:

OK! Here's a daytime shot showing the new DD banner. OPEN LATE.