Hudson's sign fading away on East 13th Street

Seems as if the on-again, off-again construction at 103 E. Third Ave. at 13th Street has been going on forever. I forgot now what's even going on up there. There was talk of a hotel some years back.



In any event, the new paint job on the 13th Street side is getting awfully close to the faded ad of one of the site's former occupants, Hudson's Army-Navy Store.



What are the chances the developer has an appreciation of history, and will let the old Hudson's ad stay as it has been for years...?



You can just make out a smidgen of a Hudson's street sign on the bottom left in this undated photo of the Third Avenue El by David Pirmann from nycsubway.org. (Pirmann took the shot looking south from the 14th Street station.)



The nycsubway site includes an article on the launch of the Third Avenue El from Aug. 27, 1878. A reporter asked business owners along Third Avenue about the new noise casued by the elevated train. This included the proprietors of 103 E. Third Ave.:

At Lamke Brothers', grocers, No. 103 Third avenue: "Naw, we are used to noises on this avenue."

Meanwhile, take a ride on the Third Avenue El via YouTube. You may have seen this before, but...:

'Tis the season for keeping ConEd in business: The holiday lights are up at Rolf's

One of my favorite NYC holiday traditions. The over-the-top holiday lights -- some 70,000 light bulbs in total -- and Victorian-era tchochkes went up at Rolf's last week. For the last month, a few members of the staff at the French-Bavarian eatery at 231 Third Ave. at 22nd Street have been putting up the decorations after hours...they'll be on display until the middle of January. The restaurant opened in 1958, and the lights apparently started going up a few years after that...(at times, it still feels like 1958 in here...). Anyway! The lights!









It gets horribly crowded at Rolf's during the holidays, of course...Just grab a seat at the bar (if you can during off-peak hours)...the food is too heavy for my tastes (hmmm, suckling pig), unless I'm trying to spike the LDL level in my bloodstream. In any event, if Rolf's is mobbed, Paddy Macguire's down the street -- between 19th and 20th -- is a decent alternative for drinks during the holidays. They have some lights as well -- and a much smaller carbon footprint.

New bar El Dorado opens today in the East Village

Here's the scoop!

Everyone knows that working for the press has it’s advantages. This week I was lucky enough to check out the new El Dorado bar before it even opened. Located in the East Village where the Hong Kong Club used to be this is going to be a bar to look forward to.

El Dorado is not what I would characterize as a typical dive bar. The new owners have created an entirely new atmosphere by renovating and improving the previously neglected bar. The bar mixes old school dive bar decor with a slightly modern twist that exudes sophistication. The deep red booths and long 70’s era bartop inlayed with classic comics of decades past add a certain charm that together create the comfort of a timeless lounge. The East Village bar perches on the edge, hovering between a barfly dive and a hip hangout.

The four young owners, three of which are brothers, have a certain cadence to the way they pour their drinks, they put as much care and thought into each drink they make as they did into the details of the bar. From the gold flaked floor, vintage jukebox, wood finishings above the bar and hanging chandeliers this is the type of old-fashioned bar you can tell their minds envisioned going to when they got older; a type of bar their grandpa would have gone to is his heyday.

The result is an attractive, comfortable, friendly Dive-Lounge that provides independent entertainment, honest prices and consistent, cordial service. El Dorado’s purpose was to provide East Village residents and visitors with the highest quality neighborhood lounge, and I for one fully believe they have achieved this.

Oh. Right. HUH? Hong Kong Club? So I didn't know that San Diego has an East Village too. This is from the SanDiegoish blog. Anyway, for my bar and beer news in San Diego, I prefer Beer & Burritos.

Per-man, per-hour moving war takes strange, hunky twist.

My fascination continues. Spotted on Fourth Avenue:



Meanwhile, thanks to the anonymous commenter Friday for some inside information:

Anonymous said...
Back in the 80s and early 90s I was part of an moving/trucking/van outfit based in the EV. We charged $25-$35/hr for 1 guy and a van, $55-$65 for 2 guys and a van/truck. All other expenses such as flights of stairs, boxes, reasonable mileage around town, tape, blankets etc. were included in the price. We also did a huge number of band jobs--$50/round trip to and from your gig in the city.

We were always busy and had a great crew of people and a really good rep. We also advertised exactly as these companies still do-those flyers bring back memories *sniff*.

Back then we heard plenty of horror stories from people who had made use of these $16/hr outfits because first of all, there were extra charges for EVERYTHING. Even as 1 guy with a van, you make NO MONEY charging $16/hr in this town. That isn't even going to cover insurance for the van and all of the expenses incurred, like parking/moving tickets, supplies, gas, phone, advertising, and the aggravation factor.

[Examples of the aggravation factor--showing up to move someone and finding out they live on the top floor of a 6th floor walk-up and have packed all of their belongings, including their 3 full sets of encyclopedias, into Hefty bags. Or that the person you are trying to squeeze in between 2 other jobs lied about how much crap they have and there is no way you will make it to your next job remotely on time.]

I have a million stories of stuff you can't even imagine from those years.

If you consider that the people who come to move you will be handling all of your personal stuff, it's not always a good idea to go for the cheapest deal. And moving is usually a stressful adventure so unless you count a futon, a hotplate and an autographed poster of Zeppo Marx as your only belongings, set some dough aside and don't forget to tip if they do a good job. Over the course of my time in the biz, we moved some people repeatedly and a great way to develop a relationship is to show that safe transport of you and your most important belongings to a new location is worth more than a couple bucks.

Mayor Mike's monarchy

Fred Siegel, senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Civic Innovation, has an opinion piece in today's Post titled "KING BLOOMBERG:
MIKE IS A MAYOR RUN AMOK."

An excerpt:

While arguing over whether to reauthorize Off Track Betting, the Mayor clashed with the normally mild-mannered Governor Paterson, whose support is essential for the city; Paterson came away describing the mayor to the Post's Fred Dicker as "a nasty, untrustworthy, tantrum-prone liar who has little use for average New Yorkers."

Another!

Bloomberg is so committed to his ideal of the "luxury city" run by and for the wealthy and organized interest groups that the Wall Street collapse took him completely by surprise. Like Lindsay's successor, the hapless Abe Beame, Bloomberg seems not to understand what's happening around him. His budget projections are based on the notion that the future economic path will be shaped like a U, but it's more likely to look like an L.

New York, which became ever more dependent on Wall Street's high rollers to create each new job a thousand-dollar meal at a time, is going to have to rethink its economic future. Wall Street as we knew it is never coming back. The high taxes and over-regulation Bloomberg prefers pushes out the small- to medium-size businesses that will have to drive much of our economic growth in the future.

Greenwich Village Sunday -- 1960 (also, 1944 and 1981)

The Times examines the ongoing battle for Washington Square Park today.

Meanwhile, let's take a look back at the Park and neighborhood in something called "Greenwich Village Sunday -- 1960."



Here's a little more of the neighborhood, circa 1944:



And 1981:

Articles that I stopped reading after the first paragraph

From the real estate section in the Times today:

THE duplex five-bedroom apartment on Attorney Street that Daniel Vosovic calls home seems ready-made for a television sitcom. There’s the location, on the of-the-moment Lower East Side, with its mix of detox juice bars and Old World knishes, runway models and streetwise misfits. There are Mr. Vosovic’s four roommates, who work in disparate industries — cupcakes, high fashion, education and sofas.

Stopping the music

Last July, I posted the intro to the most deliriously awful movie set in New York, 1980's "Can't Stop the Music" starring Steve Guttenberg, Bruce Jenner and the Village People.

Well! I just got a little note from the folks at YouTube about the video...



Harumpf!

Still, there are other copyright enfringement videos that you can enjoy until the YouTune killjoys remove them...

Like the intro to the arthouse hit Weekend at Bernie's!



Or my exclusive video of Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls on the East River...

Buffalo Exchange ready for action (as soon as the gates go up today that is)

Buffalo Exchange opens today on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...at the former spot of Rififi/Cinema Classics. How many used/vintage stores does this make now in a row on 11th Street? Five? Six?




Took these photos a few hours ago. Wonder if they plan on keeping the Cinema Classics sign?

Meanwhile! Sort of related, but not really! Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals" ... from 1983. Good NYC scenery. (For Alex!)

Just three shopping days left until the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame NYC Annex opens!

In case you want another feature story on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, the Post delivers today:

It's one for the money, two for the show, and $26 to go-go-go to the first-ever annex to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum, opening soon in NYC. "When we were looking for places to really do something special, New York was the obvious choice," says Joel Peresman, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation president and CEO.

Whatever! Just hope they feature that Debbie Harry photo on a very large wall.

Oh and a great reader comment from my Annex post yesterday:

Ron House said...
it's always nice to get a watered-down version of something from cleveland.

More Marzzzz on the way

From USA Today:

Life on Mars got a small new lease on life — four extra episodes — and a big new time slot behind Lost, Wednesdays at 10 ET/PT starting Jan. 28, when the show is now scheduled to air 10 times behind ABC's returning hit. Mars has been yanked to preserve new episodes for the new slot....ABC's programming chief is a Mars fan and decided to give it another try.

Maybe I'll give it another try. I tuned out after the third episode.

Maybe we'll get to see more of Annie Norris too...



Previous Life on Mars coverage here.

Noted

Why the frenzy to get into Trader Joe's this morning? Thanksgiving rush?

Waiting for Mary (and the camera guy to show more of Debbie Harry's legs)

Here's Pere Ubu doing "Waiting for Mary" on "Michelob Presents Night Music," the NBC late-night TV show hosted by Jools Holland and David Sanborn. On from 1988 to 1990. Debbie Harry is along here for the show.

Just another random photo of a woman who bet that she could eat 10 hot dogs in 20 minutes at Crif Dogs

On St. Mark's. Via dpstyles at Flickr.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

The Dolls of Avenue B (East of Bowery)

Debbie Harry: Trailblazer (Punk Turns 30)

When lofts were new to NYC (Runnin' Scared)

On New Year’s Eve, the Knitting Factory will close for good -- Has Manhattan become too soulless for the famed club, or is it the other way around? (NYPress, via Grub Street)

Why there may be more tourists than usual at PDT, Death & Co. and other "secret" underground clubs around town: They were featured this month in United Airlines' magazine (Hemispheres)

The old-school charms of Arturo's (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Why Wall Street will really need to bailed out by 2100 (Red Green and Blue)

101 reasons to heart NYC (The 405)

Real World Brooklyn on Avenue B: Find out what happens when... (NYPress)

Take a trip down Charles Lane (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Those "historic" eyesores (A Stitch in Haste)

Something new and different for Allen Street: A restaurant! (BoweryBoogie)

Historic designation for Trash & Vaudeville? (Esquared)

NY cheesecake: Chloe Sevigny in a bikini (The Superficial)

Just four shopping days left until the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC opens!

And The Times has a preview of sorts today.

The Clash looked down from a wall-size 1978 photograph at a roomful of workmen sawing, measuring, painting and lugging. Vintage amplifiers were wheeled in from the chill outside, passing by plexiglass exhibition cases, Bruce Springsteen’s tarp-covered 1957 Chevrolet and a 26-foot scale model of Manhattan. Then came the heads-up.

“Here comes the phone booth,” somebody said, and in rolled the wooden phone box from CBGB, plastered with decades-old stickers like a punk sarcophagus. Workers stood it up beside graffitied wall sections from that landmark club, along with two of its loudspeakers and a metal frame for the “CBGB & OMFUG” awning that hung over 315 Bowery until the place closed two years ago.

These were among the hundreds of artifacts being prepared for the opening on Tuesday of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, a $9 million branch of the Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. The Annex, in a 25,000-square-foot basement space at 76 Mercer Street in SoHo — upstairs, facing Broadway, is an Old Navy store — was created as a smaller, quicker offshoot of the headquarters.

A trip through should take about 90 minutes, and costs $26; in Cleveland, where admission is $22, the full experience takes four or five hours. As in Cleveland, you can hardly turn a corner in the Annex without bumping into a smashed guitar, yellowed lyric sheet or pointy bustier.

Well, that's all I need to see! And $26!? Fuck me! I'm going to go twice! I shouldn't be so sarcastic. I'm sure it will be a rockin' good time. Anyway, I'm already standing in line for the opening. I'm with Alex and Hunter-Gatherer. Just keep them away from the Billy Joel! OK, OK...lies. Anyway, some photos from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex press conference from last August courtesy of the CBGB Web site:





Question: Bloomy looks so natural behind the wheel of Springsteen's '57 Cadillac. Think he has ever even driven a car?

Bonus!
The best rock and roll photo that I've seen of late? Hunter-Gatherer has it today.

Survival of the independents

From an editorial in The Villager this week titled "Helping small stores"...a few excerpts:

A main victim of the city’s development boom has inarguably been the small businessperson, as mom-and-pop shops struggle to operate in a dense metropolis increasingly driven by real estate interests.

But with the recent economic meltdown — a reality check that exposed Wall St.’s avarice — some small businesses have received a precarious stay of execution as the market chills and rents freeze in place.

While not the best circumstances for a reprieve, the current economic situation does raise interesting questions about ensuring the survival of independent, locally owned retail businesses.

From restaurants and grocers to hardware stores and barbershops, the plight of Village- and Downtown-area mom-and-pop stores has been well publicized, as neighborhood institutions like the Jefferson Market face rising rents and competition from chain operations.

...

In the end, much responsibility lies with us — the consumers — to support our local stores by patronizing them.

Without our support, the city’s diversity of offerings will give way to a streetscape of banks, chain drugstores and fast-food restaurants. And a Starbucks on every corner.

[Photo by Jeremiah Moss]

Brazen entry in the per-man, per-hour moving wars

This past summer, I -- exclusively -- was on the front lines covering the ugliest battle this neighborhood has seen since the 10 (or so) FroYo places opened within 50 yards of each other. Yes, of course I'm talking about the per-man, per-hour moving wars.

Just to freshen your memory:







And now! A new player has entered the market, brazenly slapping up these fliers along First Avenue:



Whoa. $22 an hour!? What, does Lindsay Lohan show up or something? These guys been working in, say, Dubai or someplace where they're not in a repression (recession-depression, you know)? Given that gas prices have plummeted and money is tight all around, you'd think people would be charging less, not more. Why wouldn't someone just go to the guy charging $16 an hour? What am I missing?

Looking at Life (via Google)

Morning time sucker: Search millions of photographs from the Life magazine archives, from the 1750s to today, thanks to Google.

Here are a few shots that I liked from the neighborhood:



"Members of the 10th Street artists group, a loose group of abstract expressionist artists, dancing during a party at artist Milton Resnick's studio." From 1956.



"Peter Stuyvesant Village Housing Project." From 1949.



"A group of artists bringing work into the show at the Tanager Gallery on 10th Street." (Which was 90 E. 10th St.) From 1956.



"Overshot of East 10th Street." From 1956. (Anyone recognize the block...?)

More photo fun: Catching up with Then/Now

As you may know, Times photograher David W. Dunlap has been revisiting some of the sites he shot for 1978's "The City Observed: New York," a guidebook to Manhattan by Paul Goldberger, who was then the architecture critic for the Times. (He's now at The New Yorker.)

The series started on Sept. 11, and has been running every Thursday. Dunlap explains his assignment:

Because I can still remember what the weather was like on the days I took these pictures, what the city sounded and smelled like, I was startled to look through my contact sheets recently and realize how much Manhattan had changed. New York did not just crawl out of its near-collapse in the mid-70s, it had boomed almost without interruption. Towers were inserted. Landmarks were deleted. And even in cityscapes that looked unchanged, I knew that far wealthier occupants -- residential and commercial -- could now be found behind familiar old facades.
My editors and I thought that pairing photos from then and now would be a graphic way to examine the phenomenon of urban churn that so defines this city. The series will visit a dozen or so neighborhoods, uptown and downtown, before the end of 2008. Each diptych tells its own tale, but the overall story is clear: It doesn't take much longer than a generation for New York to regenerate itself completely.

You can see the whole series here.