Last day for SlimaFest on the Lower East Side

File photo of Count Slima by Walter Wlodarczyk 

Today is the last day of the weekend-long SlimaFest at the Lower East Side gallery Foreign & Domestic.

The show pays tribute to poet Joseph "Count Slima" Williams, a longtime local resident (and Sophie's regular and former Two Boots staffer). 

Open today from noon to 6 p.m. 

The gallery is at 24 Rutgers St. between Henry and Madison. If you can't make it, check out the PDF here.

CBGB at 50

CBGB has been in the news this past week... Hilly Kristal opened the venue on the Bowery 50 years ago today — Dec. 10, 1973. (Some sources also list Dec. 3 as the opening.) This was a rebrand after four years as Hilly's on the Bowery. 

Among the anniversary pieces: NPR ... NY1 ... the Post ... and the Daily News. 

The club closed in October 2006... John Varvatos took over 315 Bowery in April 2008.

Saturday's parting shot

The holidays are on at Search & Destroy, 25 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue ... the anarchy Christmas wreath recently arrived over the door...

Dec. 9

From Third Street just west of Avenue B. Concerned Citizen asks, Too soon? (Or maybe too late?)

Anyway, let's just get Christmas over with. Don't forget to watch the New Year's Eve ball drop next Saturday, Dec. 16!

Check out the Sirovich Holiday Art Sale

Only just saw this (and missed day 1!) ... day 2 of the annual Sirovich Holiday Art Sale is today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ... in the auditorium at the Sirovich Center for Balanced Living at 331 E. 12th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

We've bought a few things here through the years... the proceeds support the programming at Sirovich.

Saturday's opening shot

Early morning Midtown views...

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

A lot of 2 Bros. Pizza on the move on Second Avenue ...

Always be my Baby

 

Here with "Eddie My Love" is the Chicago-based Brigitte Calls Me Baby ... from the band's debut EP, This House is Made of Corners.

And see them live at Baby's All Right in Williamsburg on Feb. 13.

This afternoon in Tompkins Square Park

Could it be our old oppossum friend Opie aka Nicodemus Punch Sugarpop????? (Background here and here, as to what the *&^%$%^^ we're talking about.)

Thnaks to the reader for the pics!

Here is the 2023 SantaCon East Village bar map

Many people will be seeing red tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 9). 

SantaCon 2023 returns for another year of binging, bar crawling and losing iPhones even though it's actually in your pocket where you last left it after all that. 

The official festivities begin at 10 a.m. at places you've never been on Seventh Avenue near 42nd Street. 

The $15.93 "donation" (read about their charity here) gets your Santa Badge and access to participating bars, mainly in Midtown West and East... and these nine East Village establishments (seven are carry-overs from last year): 

• Amsterdam Billiards & Bar, 110 E. 11th St. at Fourth Avenue 
• The Laurels, 231 Second Ave. at 14th St. 
• Coyote Ugly, 233 E. 14th St., between Second Avenue and Third Avenue 
• Solas, 232 E. Ninth St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue (serving as a "Huge Venue")
• Bull McCabe's, 29 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue 
• The Phoenix, 447 E. 13th St.,  between Avenue A and First Avenue 
• Doc Holliday's, 141 Avenue A at Ninth Street 
• Horseshoe Bar/7B, 108 Avenue B at Seventh Street 
• The Grayson, 16 First Ave. near First Street

However, as we've seen in previous Cons, bars not on the official list are often all too happy to participate.

For instance, here are the Santacades outside Downtown Social (ex 13th Step) on Second Avenue at Ninth Street. (Pic today by William Klayer.)

As NBC 4 noted, presumably for non-residents of these areas: "For those preferring to avoid the event at all costs, steer clear of Midtown East and West as well as the East Village."

Happy No. 139 to the Ottendorfer Library branch!

The Ottendorfer branch of the New York Public Library on Second Avenue is celebrating its 139th anniversary this week.

The library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, had an opening ceremony on Dec. 6, 1884, at 3:30 p.m. and then opened the following Monday, Dec. 8, 1884, for regular service. 

To mark the anniversary, the library is hosting a walking tour tomorrow (Saturday) from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Details!

We will celebrate the German heritage of the East Village that brought it to fruition. When the revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe failed, many young German-speaking revolutionaries fled to the East Village, which became the largest German-speaking community in the world after Berlin and Vienna. 

With the freedoms of the New World, Little Germany, or Kleindeutschland, as it became known, was a crucible for their energies and talents. On this tour, we will walk to places where Europe's failed revolutionaries made their mark and consider their legacy.

Find more info here. 

Branch manager Kristin Kuehl shared this trivia with us: Ottendorfer is the oldest NYC public library still operating in its original building.

Also! Half of the 8,000 original books were in German, with the other half in English. 

Below is an undated archival photo by J. Frederick Stein from the NYPL Digital Collections.

    

Get ready to Cookie Walk this way

Photo last month by Steven

The Cookie Walk, a favorite local holiday tradition featuring more than 60 varieties of homemade cookies and desserts, returns this weekend (as we've been noting) at St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church on Avenue A and 10th Street. 

The festive event in the church basement occurs tomorrow (Saturday!) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ... and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. (or until they run out).

As the name suggests, you take one of the provided boxes (or two) and walk around cookie-filled tables (no pushing, please) to pick your faves. More details here.

This is the first Cookie Walk since 2019.

Thursday's parting shot

Thanks to Pinch for this early morning view today from 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Noted

We received several photos today that attemtped to show today's flurries (#ItsSNOWING)... hard to tell in any of the photos, unfortunately, so... as far as we can recall, this does mark the first snowfall of a) today b) December 2023 and c) the 2023-24 winter season.