Thanks to some Internet haters, a nice story has an unhappy ending

There's a humdinger of a City Room post from yesterday....that resulted in one of the world's greatest blog responses.

Back story! Yesterday, City Room reported on a young Ivy League graduate who lost her class ring down a grate on 42nd Street. She wrote about the great lengths that some helpful folks from the MTA and Con Ed went to in order to help her retrieve the ring. She posted on this slice-of-life from the city on her blog.

Of course, this brought out some haters. While some readers enjoyed this one-of-millions-of-stories-that-unfold-here-each-day tale....others....didn't. From the comments:

First, I can’t believe you reported this story about this absolutely absurd space cadet who cost the city, literally, several thousands of dollars because she couldn’t get it together, after several years of having a too-large ring, to have it resized.

Second, and then you report the entire ridicu-blog. She sounds more like a high school kid.

Third, I find it hard to believe she graduated from Penn. Just doesn’t fit the known facts as we see them here.

Heartwarming this story was not. She needs to be reprimanded by a grown-up.

And:

No kidding. How hard is it for this ditz to have her ring re-sized?

Maybe she should go back to Pennsylvania. I hope someone in the Con Edison accounts billing department sends her an invoice for her stupidity.

And:

As a New Yorker, an Asian American and an Ivy Leaguer (Columbia University), my opinion is that Jean Hsu is definitely a pain in the butt. Unfortunately, NYC does continue to attract absolutely clueless individuals like her.

Meanwhile, the young woman with the class ring is upset...and the episode reminds her why she should "NEVER BLOG AGAIN."

In a post on her Essential Luxuries blog today, she writes:

But how is my uplifting story TWISTED by the cynical and narrow-minded people of the heinous Internet!!?! I am some stupid moron ditz who was practically asking for my ring to fall in a grate just so I could see how many people would be willing to come running to my beck and call. Wasting both time and money. WRONG, FOLKS.

She goes on to chastise the Times and Sam Roberts, who wrote the post:

Can I just first mention that for a reporter and editor of the New York Times, he wrote a completely disappointing and pointless blog. I know that my own blog is pretty pointless at times, but I also don't often think my writing or opinion is worthy of being published in the New York Times. And I write it to humor my friends who GET ME. And my pointlessness. But Mr. Roberts could DEFINITELY have done a better job in getting the ACTUAL POINT ACROSS about my story. Or at least formulating his own opinion about the situation.

Anyway, if you're interested, she sets the record straight today about what happened, corrects the Times and has words for each of the haters (like the one "ridicu-NAZI") who said horrible things about her.

Her last paragraph:

Before I depart, I wanted to take a moment to thank all my friends for being supportive, enjoying the story like they were supposed to, and ensuring me that all aforementioned haters have no lives and will be probably be really busy calling into WCBS tomorrow while listening to my radio interview. HI HATERS.

LES survey: "Small businesses are constantly facing the possibility of rent increases or eviction"

This week's issue of The Villager reports on the results of the Good Old Lower East Side survey titled, “No Go for Local Business: The Decline of the Lower East Side’s Small Business Identity.”

It's about as grim as you'd expect:

The survey found that small businesses are constantly facing the possibility of rent increases or eviction. Almost half of small business owners reported that their overhead costs were rising. Nearly one-third identified rising commercial property rents as their “greatest challenge,” and three-fourths said that their profits are not growing at a sustainable rate compared to the substantial increase in the cost of doing business on the Lower East Side.

Ninety-five percent of small business owners surveyed rent their store space, and nearly half of them hold leases of five years or less.

Redevelopment and gentrification of the Lower East Side were cited by 46 percent of business owners as directly affecting their businesses.

You had me at "My name is Menachem"

Someone -- presumably Menachem himself? -- put copies of this photocopied note around apartment buildings in the East Village last night.




I'm sold!

A few more signs from the recession

At the already reasonably priced La Isla Restaurant on 14th Street near Avenue B.





At Life Cafe, 10th Street and Avenue B. (If this wasn't so blurry, you could easily spot the "weekly recession specials" in the upper right-hand corner.)



Flier for a dog-washing shop on East Ninth Street.



Signs from around the neighborhood.




Near Wall Street.



On John Street in the Financial District.



Previously on EV Grieve:
A few signs from the recession

Locals will no longer have to walk a few blocks out of their way for a Subway

As Jeremiah reported a few weeks back, a Subway was taking over the former Burritoville space on Second Avenue near Ninth Street...the signs are going as we speak. Or type. Or something.




Domination not yet complete!

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Do you remember Sally's Hideaway at the Hotel Carter? (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

Enjoy some music ephemera, including Glenn Danzig's Samhain (Stupefaction)

2X4 A.K.A E4volution A.K.A Ambiance is down to a four day a week schedule (Hunter-Gatherer)

Who fucked up Isabella's Oven? (Eater)

75 year old evicted from the Hotel Chelsea (Living With Legends)

A stupid new distraction on Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Woody Allen when he was funny (Flaming Pablum)

Back to 1962: A Bobby Dylan review (Runnin' Scared)

Please note: Santogold changes her name to Santigold (Brooklyn Vegan)

Jeremiah Moss in the Daily News: "Many of us are feeling giddily optimistic about this city for the first time in a decade"

Jeremiah Moss has an opinion piece in the Daily News today. Here's an excerpt:

Supposedly, all of New York City is suffering from a mass collective malaise, a dark cloud of shared pessimism. But the truth is very different. In reality, many of us are feeling giddily optimistic about this city for the first time in a decade.

Who are these crazy optimists? Head-in-the-sand deniers of the economic calamity? No, just people who welcome the possibility that the unique character of New York, sanitized in the Giuliani and Bloomberg years, may finally return.

As the writer of the blog Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, where I catalogue the city that's being lost to hypergentrification, I have heard hope rising from many vocal readers -- hope that we'll at last have our beloved, wild, creative, eclectic city back.

Since the boom began approximately 10 years ago, many New Yorkers have watched with grief and anger while the city we love was crushed by overzealous development, the all-encompassing renovation plan of Mayor Bloomberg. This plan has gutted countless mom-and-pop businesses and landmarks like Coney Island and Yankee Stadium. It has extended to the use of eminent domain to seize private property from its owners. What we have received in return has been a city of glass, cold and calculated, built for only the superrich seekers of safety to enjoy.

[Image: dboo/Flickr]

Before heading to Pa., John Penley leaves his photography collection to archenemy NYU; still annoyed by NYU students

You may have heard the rumblings since last fall that "Slacktivist" leader John Penley was moving away from the neighborhood for the wilds of Erie, Pa. It is true...and today's Washington Square News has a feature on Penley, who's giving his extensive photo collection to the NYU Tamiment Library. (Scoopy reported this last month -- Runnin' Scared had the news back in October.)

To the article!

Penley made a name for himself documenting the turmoil of life on the Lower East Side and protesting big business, including NYU expansion, through the last decades of the 20th century.

“This one is my favorite,” Penley laughed, holding a Daily News front cover photograph he took after he discovered locals were growing marijuana plants in Tompkins Square Park.

“It was obvious. I mean, I know what pot plants look like,” Penley said. After Penley called the Daily News, a reporter from the paper went to the scene and brought a leaf of the plant to a professor at NYU who confirmed it was, in fact, marijuana.

Penley started taking photographs as a journalist in Nicaragua in 1983 when he covered the Contra War and continued to document life in the Village until about six years ago.

“I quit. I got completely burnt out. You know, it’s a very hard way to make a living. I was arrested multiple times,” he said. “I got tired of looking at stuff like fires and car wrecks.”

The activist will move away from the Village to live in Pennsylvania next month where he plans to deejay at his friend’s bar and ice fish in his spare time.

“To be honest with you, I’m really sick of the [Village]. The people who would generate creative things there have been forced to leave the neighborhood,” he said.

Hordes of NYU students only add to Penley’s annoyances with the comparatively bland flavor of the area has taken on in recent years.

“I think it was irresponsible to dump that many students on the Lower East Side without educating them about how to behave in our neighborhood,” he said.

Meanwhile, who will step up to become, as the Post famously described Penley last July 31, "New York City's cuddliest anarchist"? No one, of course!

Previous John Penley coverage on EV Grieve here.

[Photo for WSN by Arielle Milkman]

"No Reservations" at Sophie's: Feb. 23

Back on Nov. 25, I reported that globetrotting chef Anthony Bourdain filmed a segment of his show "No Reservations" at Sophie's. The Bourdainster was joined by Nick Tosches to discuss great old haunts of NYC.

Well! It appears as if that segment is ready to air this Feb. 23 on The Travel Channel...The segment, titled "Disappearing Manhattan," starts at 10 p.m. Don't worry -- it will be repeated many times, according to the schedule...

Taking another look at Pearl Street (and did Madonna and Britney ever get that wood?)

We've been watching the drama unfold on Pearl Street in the Financial District for years now...back to the days in 2003 when preservationists worked to rescue 211 Pearl St. from demolition by Rockrose Development Corp. Well. You know how this story ends. At least they were able to save the façade...

In case you don't know all the back story, here's a quickie from Downtown Express in 2003:

One of only a handful of existing Greek revival buildings that survived the great fire of 1835, 211 Pearl St. was constructed in the early 1830s by William Colgate, the founder of Colgate-Palmolive. Colgate used the building as a warehouse at a time when Pearl St. bustled as a hub for trading in dry goods.

The building's current owner, Rockrose Development Corporation, received demolition permits for 211 Pearl from the city's Buildings Department on Dec. 13, 2002, a Buildings spokesperson said. Rockrose is considering plans to demolish the building to make way for a rear entrance for a new, 650-unit residential development the company is constructing west of Pearl St., near Maiden Lane, Platt and Gold Sts.

"It's kind of ironic that, after having endured the tragedy of 9/11, we're talking about destroying a building that symbolizes the strength and endurance of New York," said Councilmember Alan Gerson.

Curbed ran an update on 211 Pearl yesterday...I don't have much to add to their recap from what I had ready to go...except...the What's Going on Here? sign for the project gives a finish date of Dec. 31, 2008. Definitely by Dec. 31, 2009!



And it's probably a good thing the northern side of the building is windowless...Someday they'll likely be a hotel next door...



Meanwhile, there's just that empty lot...




Complete with a handy place to sneak in...looks like a nice spot for some tags.



By the way! Before 211 Pearl St. was demolished, M. Fine Lumber Co., Inc. in Greenpoint bought all of the building’s pine ceiling beams -- roughly 350 in total. According to an article from the Oct. 7, 2003, Downtown Express:

At 211 Pearl St., only a silver remains of the historic Greek revival building that had stood there since the early 1830s. But elsewhere in the city, parts of the demolished interior have found new life, in a restaurant on the Upper West Side, in a tree guard on E. Fourth St., and possibly even on a music video set for Madonna and Britney Spears.

See if you can spot any pine ceiling beams:



Here's a post I did on the space for Curbed:
Development Plans on Pearl Street Now Short Term

That's a lot of gluten-free pastries and desserts

I was skimming over an article in Gourmet (no snickering!) on vegan bakeries ... and this passage about BabyCakes, on Broome Street between Orchard and Ludlow, jumped out at me...:

Since opening on New York’s Lower East Side in late 2005, it has enjoyed great success among vegans and non-vegans alike. BabyCakes reportedly grossed $1.2 million in sales last year, and, thanks to a significant number of customers whom McKenna describes as “celebrities who aren’t even vegan but [are] health conscious,” will open a second Los Angeles location in the spring, right around the time the BabyCakes cookbook is scheduled to hit shelves.

Grub Street finds, shoots (his photo!) Spots

On Mulberry...Daniel Maurer has the scoop. But was there a reward?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Unlucky dog?

He was spotted, so to speak, by two of our commenters/fellow bloggers...and I didn't get around to doing a follow-up...

bryan said...
I don't think it's the same dog, but there's one like it on Mulberry Street over the door to an Italian place. Careful to whoever's calling Mulberry above Canal "Chinatown": those kind of words could still get you hurt!

February 3, 2009 4:42 PM
Jill said...
I am sure it's the same one. My camera battery died on me during Chinese New Years, but Mulberry Street sounds exactly right. How many big brown dogs perched over a canopy can there possibly be in one small town?

New Diesel campaign has no regard for men's nipples

Suspenders without a shirt? Oh, the chafing! At 14th Street and Avenue A.

About last night's CB3 SLA meeting...

Yesterday, I noted that Sintir, an aspiring Moroccan place under wraps at 424 E. 9th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, was going before the Community Board 3's SLA Licensing Committee.

So, how did it go? Bailly Roesch was there last night to cover the meeting for Eater.

Here's the lowdown on Sintir:

Sintir . . . met some opposition from nine members of the Block Association. They collected a petition with 109 signatures trying to block the restaurant and cited ads the owners had apparently posted on their MySpace pages advertising upcoming live music performances. After a half an hour struggle, the ap was denied, the owner was in tears.

You can read the rest of Roesch's report here.

Two items of interest:
There's a new restaurant going into the old Affetati/East Village Pie Lounge space at 131 E. Seventh St. Cure will serve Italian cured meats and cheeses along with Italian wine.

And! One thing that I was confused about...I noticed on the CB3 site that there was a transfer from Lucky Stiffs to something called Stokes (a sports bar, natch) at 211 Avenue A. According to Grub Street: "They were approved to open the bar with the stipulation that the outdoor patio be removed from the request."

Drop Off Service is at 211 Avenue A near 13th Street. Do they share an address with the now-closed Boysroom next door on the corner? Never been to Drop Off Service... just want to make sure that I didn't miss anything.



BONUS:
Salvatore D'Aquila, the first boss of what is now the Gambino Organized Crime Family, was shot and killed on Oct. 10, 1928, in front of 211 Avenue A.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning edition

A memorial for the Peeler Man (Flaming Pablum)

Preservationists look to, uh, preserve former Fulton Fish Market HQ (City Room)

Manhattan mysteries: Torn pages from a book flutter over Hell's Kitchen (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Revisiting the coldest February in NYC history (Ephemeral New York)

Speaking of which: Get your Fucking weather report here (The Fucking Weather)

Secure luggage on Ludlow (BoweryBoogie)

Two PETA protestors dress in KKK garb to protest the Westminster dog show at MSG (Gawker)

Hope you don't have to fly out of Newark (Gothamist)

And from the Superficial: "Because the apocalypse is at hand, Courtney Love was named 'Woman of the Year' at the 2009 Elle Style Awards this weekend. Apparently, looking like a slowly-melting version of Madonna on heroin is this year's black. Who knew?"

Coyote Ugly's Sweet Sixteen

Good lord, has Coyote Ugly really been there on First Avenue near Ninth Street for 16 years? I don't think I've been there in 15 and half years...

So what I have missed?



And of course!



Man! Has there ever been a more accurate portrayal of moving to NYC?

Looking at the New York Inn; so bad, Trip Advisor reviewers use five exclamation points for emphasis!!!!!

I've been curious about the New York Inn (there on the left) on Eighth Avenue between 46th Street and 47th Street. A few weeks back, the NYI was named the third dirtiest hotel in America by the voters at Trip Advisor. Is that good for the Bronze Medal? (And the Hotel Carter on West 43rd Street was tops...)

Anyway, haven't had a chance to get up there yet...However, Scouting New York was there and took a few nice shots, particularly of the faded ad on the side of the NYI.

In the meantime, like Scouting NY did, check out a few reviews of the NYI via Trip Advisor...where out of 116 user reviews, they received 93 one-star reviews!




Previously on EV Grieve:
Checking out the Vigilant Hotel: "Perfect for the bored with responsibilities of maintaining a traceable address"

Elk in the City

At the Hotel Edison: An appreciation

Ivana more Page Six Magazine

As you may have heard, Page Six Magazine, which is free in the Sunday Post after you pay $1.25 for the paper, will now appear quarterly. The Feb. 15 edition will be the last on the weekly schedule. The recession and continued advertising decline are the culprits. Some staffers will be let go. Of course, I'm sorry to see anyone lose a job.

Selfishly though, how will I get my weekly fix of the likes of Ivana Trump's Ivana-logues column? This and other P6M features are arguably some of the most over-the-top, what-recession?, yuppiefied crap ever put to paper.

For instance, consider this week's installment of the Ivana-logues, under a headline "God forbid you sit next to some fatso at Fashion Week." Indeed!

Anyway, in another titillating item from this week's column:

I underwent a "recession makeover" for the March issue of Harper's Bazaar (on stands February 17), and it was fun, to a point. There are three things I dislike: rice pudding, social climbers and photo shoots — though not necessarily in that order. I knew they were going to put my hair down. My hairdo has become my trademark and my curse because if I show up at a gala with my hair down, people shriek, "We want Ivana!" And I say, "You have Ivana." And they say, "No, we want the Ivana hairdo." So I told Bazaar, "I will not cut my hair, because if I do, I cannot put it in a chignon." But the crew was fabulous. And I had a great laugh about the story. If people were not interested, magazines would not write about me. I am what I am.

Doesn't get much better than this!

So! What other gems have we picked up from Page Six Magazine through the months...?

"Private Clubs: Hideouts of the Rich and Shameless"

Meet the new Carrie Bradshaw

The Oct. 19 Ivana-logues (bonus excerpt!):

"You think I'm going to send a $10,000 Dolce & Gabbana suit to Honduras? UPS takes like three weeks. It's never going to arrive because somebody will steal it." Countries like that are beautiful but they are very poor, OK? So I am passing on that. Rossano is just looking for adventure. But I am really slightly worried. In the jungle there are no mobile phones, no computers and no cigarettes, but there are plenty of tarantulas, cockroaches and snakes. I hate those slimy things. I can deal with the sharks on Wall Street and the barracudas on Madison Avenue, but this is really too much."

Celebrities are just like us! (Dive bar edition)

And finally the most bestest ever Page Six Magazine column...from June 15 -- "The Socializer" by "woman-about-town" Kelly Killoren Bensimon. She wants to be a real-life Angelina Jolie (or something) and see Africa. You just have to read her column for yourself. (Click on the image for a better view.)



Gawker picked up my post ... Page Six Mag: African Suffering Is Trendy. Hey Look, Diamonds!

Someone in the Financial District is actually hiring

A new T-Mobile store is opening soon at 175 Water Street at Maiden Lane (the former site of the Gabes House of Flowers.)

Bowery blues

From Bowery Street to the Bowery District, there's no shortage of attempts to call the Bowery everything but the Bowery of late. In a blog post today, Michelle and James Nevius, authors of "Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City," discuss previous attempts to change or repurpose the Bowery name through the years:

By the late 19th century, the Bowery had become synonymous with skid row.

A lot of the Bowery’s reputation was deserved, but at least part of the blame for its near-universal name recognition was the musical A Trip to Chinatown, which featured the song “The Bowery.” Its chorus boasts:

The Bow'ry, the Bow'ry
They say such things and they do strange things,
On the Bow'ry! The Bow'ry!
I'll never go there any more.

By 1916, the street’s reputation had gotten so bad that civic groups battled to come up with a new name for the thoroughfare. One suggestion was “Cooper Avenue” in honor of Cooper Union founder (and Jell-O pioneer)* Peter Cooper.

A rival proposition recommended “Central Broadway.” It’s hard to imagine the chaos this name change might have brought about in a city that already featured Broadway, West Broadway, and East Broadway.