Bad Brains. CBGB. 1982.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Paying homage to Joan Crawford on Avenue A
Another item from Eater:
The PR behind the new project in the old Julep space, writes in with an update: "This September owners Josh Boyd, Darren Rubell and Jordan Boyd (owners of Plan B and Gallery Bar) launch what they call the LEV's (Lower East Village) first piano bar and cocktail lounge....Varney designed the late Joan Crawford's homes and dedicates the space to her."
LEV?
A bartender at the Library told me a piano bar was opening in the old Julep space on Avenue A. I honestly thought she was joking, though.
Say goodbye to Marion's
Eater bring us the bad news: Bowery pioneer Marion's is closing now for good.
Read their tearful goodbye note here.
You may need some boots for this walk
As you know, there's a public hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Vanderbilt Hall at NYU's School of Law to discuss the 141-block rezoning of the East Village and Lower East Side.
Ramping up to that, the Daily News went on a walking tour of the neighborhood with Amanda Burden, who chairs the city planning commission and will lead Wednesday's meeting.
Here are a few excerpts from the article:
She looks at each neighborhood block by block, lot by lot. To her, the city is a jewel that needs constant care and safekeeping.
"Each neighborhood has its own personal DNA," says Burden, who had an immediate impact on the city when she took her position in 2002 by allowing restaurants, bars and cafes additional sidewalk space for outdoor dining. "It's my job to find it and save it."
To understand communities, Burden walks miles of city streets. Armed with a tape measure, sunglasses and comfortable yet stylish shoes (she is, after all, a former socialite), the planning commissioner eyes building heights, studies the flow of people and contemplates how an area's past relates to its present and future.
"It's my job to affect the process for the betterment of the people who live here, shop here and own businesses here," says Burden, pointing to the row of iron fire escapes that give a sculptural frame to the brown brick tenement buildings of the lower East Side.
"I picture myself part of the community. Here, there is a vibrant commercial and residential history. We want to keep ground-floor retail and ensure nothing can be built that will take away from the symmetry of these historic buildings. The magic here is in the density of people using these streets and living together."
"This wasn't here two weeks ago," Burden says, sneering at a vacant lot. "There was a building. Once you lose a building, you lose character and history. The Bloomberg administration is about growth and preservation. This is why we have to act fast to change the zoning, so developers aren't allowed to come in here and build whatever they chose. I don't mind a building that is in context with the others, meaning the same height with architectural guidelines, but small streets shouldn't have large development."
Orchard St. bustles on a Sunday afternoon. People shop, eat outside and ride bikes on narrow streets. Some construction sites show tall buildings made of concrete with no ground-floor retail.
"I'm biased toward skyscrapers," says Henry Brown, a physics student at City College who moved to the neighborhood from St. Louis. "I like them. I don't like ugly buildings. But even if they rezone, won't all these modern stores still look different than the old ones?"
"The essence of the East Village is tree-lined cool streets, small boutiques and community gardens," Burden says, walking along Avenue B toward Tompkins Square Park. "That's its DNA. Once you break it down to that fabric, you can act. Here, we want five- to seven-story buildings and small retail on the first and second floors. And we have to ensure these gardens stay put. No other community has this asset."
EV Grieve FYI: Martin Scorsese edition
Oscar winner Martin Scorsese is in negotiations to direct HBO's drama pilot "Boardwalk Empire." Scorsese already is exec producer on the project, based on Nelson Johnson's book, which chronicles the 1920s origins of gambling mecca Atlantic City. [Hollywood Reporter, via MediaBistro]
"New York is now a museum, a relic"
"Now we end up with this nice, beautiful city, but like Rome or Athens, they were never a leading cultural center again. New York now is a museum, a relic. It's over. I'm not saying you can't be corporate, be picked up here like Britney Spears, but the whole avant-garde, Allen Ginsberg-world can't ever exist here again." -- Clayton Patterson talking to the Observer
Previous Clayton Patterson coverage on EV Grieve is here.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Things that I never thought I'd do
Wait in line for expensive pizza.
Doesn't look like much, to be honest. But it was really good.
Doesn't look like much, to be honest. But it was really good.
EV Grieve continues to leave notes from EV Grieve
Well, I'll be on Day Four of the guest stint at Curbed. Here's some of the posts from there the past three days...
The Awful Tooth About This Corner of Chinatown
Future Thoughts: Remember When There Was a Gas Station in the East Village? One That Only Charged $4.35 a Gallon?
Beyond Gentrification
Long, Hot Summer At the Christodora
Development Plans on Pearl Street Now Short Term
Also, the Seller Needs Your Help to Transfer What Remains of a Total Contract Sum of $283,600,000 Out of Nigeria
Jumping on the BLT Bandwagon on St. Mark's Place
Gross Out Tuesdays: A Sign for Every Secretion
Auto Parts Store Fighting More Than One Battle
Recalling a Pre-Gentrified East Village in Black & White
Proposed New East Village Synagogue Looks Suspiciously Like Apartment Building
Well Zippity Doo Da, Tribeca: You're No. 1!
When will it be time for Pussy Galore in the headline?
As I've mentioned, I only follow the Sean Connery/neighbor-on-71st-Street fued to see how the Post can work in a James Bond reference. So today!:
SON OF 007 FOILS NEMESIS 'DR. NO'
By DAREH GREGORIAN
August 7, 2008
Previously in the Post:
007 IN A FIX OVER TOWNHOUSE
By DAREH GREGORIAN
July 30, 2008
Sean Connery's downstairs neighbors are proving to be a bigger headache for the former James Bond than Dr. No, Blofeld and Goldfinger combined.
'HOUSE ARREST' AT THE CONNERYS'
By MELISSA JANE KRONFELD and CHUCK BENNETT
July 26, 2008
Sean Connery's family nemesis - his neighbor "Dr. No" - was at it again yesterday.
JUDGE POINTS 'SCOLD' FINGER
CONNERY & FOE SPANKED
By DAREH GREGORIAN
MOLD FINGER:Dr. Burton Sultan (left) accuses Sean Connery of causing water leaks and other mayhem at their East Side condo.
December 27, 2007
A Manhattan judge has had enough of a court feud between Sir Sean Connery and his neighbor, and is urging the James Bond star and his arch-enemy Dr. Sultan to make peace.
Remembering the Sic F*cks
Girl About Town has the story on Tish and Snooky, "the legendary ladies of St. Mark's Place." "[F]or a short time in New York City in the late 70s, the sisters were part of local band Sic F*cks, who played their trashy style of glam punk at CBGBs and ruled the East Village."
[UPDATED: Sorry, I had Sick F*cks earlier...not Sic F*cks!]
Tish and Snooky at the Limelight, 1986.
[Video by Nelson Sullivan]
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Looking back at the blackout of 2003
GammaBlog gets a jump on the fifth anniversary of the 2003 blackout, which occurred Aug. 14, with this video (which doesn't always seem to work here...you can hit GammaBlog's link below for the video...):
Northeast Blackout 2003 - NYC from GammaBlog on Vimeo.
Northeast Blackout 2003 - NYC from GammaBlog on Vimeo.
Police beat
The black lips
I'm so easy. Deface a movie poster, and I'm going to take a picture of it.
Oh, and speaking of the Black Lips.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Seth Rogen backlash begins
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