EV Grieve

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Trend stories we very likely won't read

As hard as they tried, the Times couldn't find anyone to say Yes

Hasn't this story been done already?....From the Times today: As Hard Times Loom, Will New York’s Streets Get Meaner?

Uh-oh!

If a shrinking economy, soaring jobless claims and a troubled financial sector are not angst-producing enough, the threat of increased crime is leading many conversations toward a nagging and persistent question: Will the bad old days of record numbers of murders and ubiquitous street muggings be far behind?

YES! RIGHT?

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, for his part, said he has heard this all before.

He said similar worries were being voiced as he took over in 2002 for a second stint as the city’s top police official: Things were headed in the wrong direction, the economy was devastated after Sept. 11, 2001, and there were predictions that crime would increase.

Instead, overall crime has dropped nearly 30 percent in the last seven years, he said, and in 2007 the lowest number of killings was recorded since the city started keeping what it considers reliable records, about four decades ago.

“There’s a lot of predictions that crime is going to go up as a result of the economic crisis,” Mr. Kelly said on Friday...

“The fact of the matter is that hasn’t happened,” Mr. Kelly said. “The fact is we’re down 14 percent, and we’re down in every category across the city.”

Hmm, well...I'm sure this story will be revisited in another month or so.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

The latest on Etherea

Karate Boogaloo has the latest today on Etherea: It's officially closed, but employee DJ Brion hopes to get the lease and reopen/rebrand the shop. (Stupefaction)

The Times profiles a "community citizen"

The Times profiles Robert Lesko today...here are a few passages from the piece:

When he’s not working, there’s a good chance that Mr. Lesko, 48, will be standing up for some cause. While not alone in perpetual protest, he is certainly among the more ubiquitous activists at Manhattan rallies. Each week, Mr. Lesko scours NYProtest, a listing of street demonstrations distributed by e-mail by a fellow activist, and chooses three or four that match his leftist political leanings.

He is known on the scene as a colorful character who often wears costumes that attract news photographers. Several years ago, to protest the presence of Coca Cola products on the New York University campus, where he is a secretary in the George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, Mr. Lesko wore a Coke-can costume that he had made ...

“You have to figure out what will work,” he said at another rally a week after the vice squad protest. “Today I couldn’t think of anything.”

This was last Saturday, and the event was a march in the East Village to protest the proposed elimination of the M8 bus line. He attended this event in street clothes.

“This is Saint Bobby right here,” said Michael O’Neil, a media manager for Reverend Billy, a comic preacher who organized the march. “He’s a pillar of our community because he shows up. Bobby is the epitome of the community citizen.”

[Photo: Frances Roberts for The New York Times]

Sort of good news from the East Village of Des Moines!

An update from the Des Moines Register:

A classic 1930s service station in the East Village has been saved, for now.

Historic East Village Inc. is raising the $60,000 needed to move the building from property purchased by businessman Jim Cownie in August. The group has already raised $40,000, including $10,000 from a Cownie family foundation.

The move will be to a temporary site at one of several possible locations until a permanent owner and location for the one-story building can be found, said Sarah Oltrogge, president of Historic East Village.

In October, the 78-year-old service station was identified by the Des Moines Rehabbers Club as one of the city's seven most- endangered buildings because of Cownie's plan to demolish it to create a site for development.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Something about the East Village of Des Moines seems strangely familar

Friday, February 27, 2009

"New Rose" x two

A remake that I don't hate..."New Rose" by the (underappreciated?) Gumball and Mr. Don Fleming...

And the original...

The other day, the Fresh Direct truck pulled in front of St. Brigid's between Seventh Street and Eighth Street to park...in doing so, the truck got a little too close to the scaffolding around the church...the truck scraped forward anyway (you can see the marks...) What a noise! To be honest, I was worried this might shake the scaffolding enough to cause a collapse. And it wouldn't be the first time there has been a scaffolding collapse here.

Noteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed

Off Broadway in the 20s.

Spanky and our gang?

Three teens, maybe 15 or 16, were walking along Tompkins Square Park.

Teen 1: "I'm not gonna get married 'till I'm 34."

Teen 2: "I'm going to wait until I'm 29."

Teen 3: "I'm just going to keep masterbating."

A sign that I like

On Third Avenue in the 20s.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

"The high cost of living has hit the Bowery"

From the caption that accompanied this archival AP photo:

A prospective customer grumbles under his breath at the prices scribbled on the window of this Bowery restaurant on New York's Lower East Side, Sept. 26, 1947. The high cost of living has hit the Bowery like every other place and it's tough on the residents. One of the biggest selling items is soup and coffee, for 10 cents. It used to be a Nickel. A room with a partition and an electric light is up from 30 cents to 40 cents. The dormitories are 35 cents up from 20.

[AP Photo/Ed Ford]

Steamed hot dogs?

Near the New York Stock Exchange.

Old and broken and new and shiny on the Bowery

One shit playoff game...and we quickly forget

On Park Avenue South.

Trash treasures

Someone tossed a huge box of magazines out on the curb the other day. On top, the June 2001 issue of GQ featuring Heath Ledger on the cover.

Could have been easy money for someone...the issue is going for a starting price of $14.99 on eBay...

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

The formula that killed Wall Street (Wired)

Remembering Candy Darling (The New York Times)

A record shop will stay in the Etherea space (Stupefaction)

Western Union at the Ludlow (BoweryBoogie)

Washington Square Park Blog turns one tomorrow! (Washington Square Park)

The story behind the Two Boots artwork (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

More economic malaise street stickers (Slap you in Public)

The way we ate then (Hunter-Gatherer)

Plays for 37 cents each (East Village Podcasts)

Hmmm...the Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

While Lucy is on holiday (temporarily, we hope!) revisit some of her past with this short feature from 2004 in the Voice.

"Sophie's...remains a good place to stop time"

I finally watched the "Disappearing Manhattan" episode of "No Reservations" (this after blabbering away about it the last three months!). It debuted Monday night, and will air several more times. Grub Street yesterday provided a nice synopsis of what the episode covered.

In particular, I was interested in the last segment, in which Anthony Bourdain shoots the shit with Nick Tosches at Sophie's. It was all of about three minutes (and the shoot at Sophie's took nearly three hours, I was told).

Here's most of what transpired at Sophie's....