More on Mr. Zero

[Update: The link to This Ain't the Summer of Love's Mr. Zero post/photo archives is currently down...we'll let you know when it's back up...]

In case you missed his comments yesterday on my Urbain Ledoux/The Tub post, NYCDreamin at Ain't the Summer of Love dug around for some more information on Urbain Ledoux, the man behind the former diner/greasy spoon The Tub on St. Mark's in the 1930s:

According to what NYCD found:

Urbain J. Ledoux -- better known as "Mr. Zero" -- introduced a novelty in the form of a 5-cent turkey dinner. He fed turkey dinners at "The Tub" in the basement of 33 St. Marks Place, on the basis of "All you can eat for a nickel," and said that he was able to break even financially. Dealers furnished the turkey and trimmings at cost, the cooks volunteered, the diners waited on themselves, there was no overhead and and at the end of the day the ledger showed no red ink marks, according to Zero, who claims credit for the world's greatest achievement with the 5-cent piece.

NYCD also found further Ledoux-related archival photos...as well as this video..."Near the end of this clip, you can see some of the men from the Bowery taking a meal at one of Mr. Zero's charity relief soup kitchens," NYCD wrote...

Signs of the coming Depression?

Two times in two different locations in the East Village...I saw someone walking down the street blowing on a harmonica. One more sighting and this is enough for a trends/lifestyles piece in the Times.

At the Tub, Christmas 1933

From an archival photo from Corbis dated 1933. Here's the original caption:

Homeless and Unemployed Men Eating at Relief Center
Mr. Zero A Real Santa To Them. Nearly 5,000 homeless and unemployed men were the guest of Urbain Ledoux (Mr. Zero), at a Christmas Day dinner served by him in his haven for the needy, called the Tub at 33 St. Mark's Place, New York City. The principal item was Mulligan stew, made of turkey, chicken, goose and squabs, and how they enjoyed it. Here are some of the needy "digging in" at the savory meal prepared for them.

33 St. Mark's Place is now home to, among other things, Rockit Science Records.

(Hat tip, Mick)

[Image: via Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS]

Don't mess with Mr. G

Been a little slack. On my to-do list since, uh, last summer...join Jeremiah's Urban Etiquette Signs pool at Flickr. Anyway, here are a few candidates from making the rounds in recent months...

Jaws

A few weeks back our pal BoweryBoogie mentioned the Western Union ads on the vacant groundfloor storefront along the Ludlow...

Anyway, this damn thing continues to terrify me...

Appreciating a great bar on a day where it's not safe to go into any bars

Mars Bar, of course. First Street at Second Avenue. Not that you'll see anyone here today in green plastic hats and what not, but you never know what pub crawlers might be around on March 17...












Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. May you not have to spend it near anyone who has been drinking Irish Truck Bombs. (Yeah, it's a pitcher instead of a pint.)

Just another photo of a dog trying to hotwire a van

Looking how guilty he/she looks! Caught on Ninth Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

What's wrong with this picture?

Spotted in the Financial District.

Avenue ATM (aka, how many stupid ATMs does one block need?)

A new ATM was recently installed in front of the China Wok on Avenue B at Third Street....



Fine, though there was already an ATM across the street by Mama's Bar...



and one a few feet away farther south on Avenue B...



and one a few feet farther than that on the same side of the Avenue...



and two directly across the street from these...



Not to mention the ATM outside the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union on the northeast side of Avenue B at Third Street.

For those who need some spiritual intervention while preparing your taxes this year

On Avenue D.

What's on the minds of the neighborhood's youth?

Let's take a look at the chalk art some schoolchildren recently left in Tompkins Square Park...based on this they seem to be well-read...with a firm grasp of important societal issues....





And they seem to be reading the tabloids as well...

Looking at the crack at St. Brigid's

The Villager recently has an article on the architectural plans to renovate St. Brigid's at Eighth Street and Avenue B....One of the major challenges: the large crack on the north side, which is partially detached from the church. Here's what it looks like:

Two posts from one year ago on EV Grieve...

East 7th Street, 4:50 p.m., March 16



Just wait until tomorrow.

AND:

You've been warned



AKA Amateur Hour.

Tweet and lowdown...the tweet smell of success...tweet dreams...the tweet hereafter....after dark, my tweet...

Heh. Sorry. A just love bad Tweet puns! So. For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me yet, I signed up for a Twitter account, so I can start writing insightful things like, "Meeting Jeremiah for brunch at Chocolate by the Bald Man." Well, not really. Anyway, if you want to get in on the hot 140-character action, here you go!
BoweryBoogie is there too. And maybe a few other people.

Wide load?

At Second Avenue and First Street.

The "Eyes" have it: For five bucks

Back in January we linked to a post the Bowery Boys did on the old NYC howler "The Eyes of Laura Mars" starring Faye Dunaway. A friend of EV Grieve reported that this hammy laugher was in the $5 bin at the Union Square Virgin Megastore... well worth the hours of entertainment the film will provide. Uh, in other words, I bought a copy.

The Condo Fucks

I'm still looking for my 7-inch of "Fuckin' Gary Sandy." Anyway! The backstory of the Condo Fucks:



(Thanks, BrooklynVegan)

Meanwhile, another Condo-Fucky-y band to enjoy....

Friday photo follies (with apologies)

Just passing some time at Nathan's at Coney Island...

Two good bags: At J. Baczynsky's East Village Meat Market

I love everything about J. Baczynsky's East Village Meat Market at 139 Second Ave. near Ninth Street...seen here in this shot taken by EssG (via Flickr).



...including their shopping bags. I treat the bags like a piece of art. While I could recycle them whenever I go visit to the shop, I greedily get another one...




...which is one reason they may have run out of the bags the other day...they were left to use the common "I heart NY" variety...



I was told the bag shortage was only temporary. Still, these things can't be cheap to make.

For further reading:
Bye-bye Burritoville (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

We hope the Archdiocese didn't spend any of the $10 million on the new "no parking" sign for St. Brigid's

At Eighth Street and Avenue B.