While we're on the topic of Avenue D.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
"Ode Fro Avenue D"
I've quoted Dave Crish, an editor at Not for Tourists, hereabouts in the past...Here's a piece he did for NFT from Jan. 20, 2007, titled, "Ode Fro Avenue D."
Began perambulation 'pon th'eponymous rue of yours true, D, fro corner at Second Ave, Biblioteca Fish. North to pole at pipestack, left at 12th to Tompkins Square. Vista clear, slightly bloodshot like 'em passing. Marinated of cheaply attained dose of cognac passant boutiques novel as Bertolt's idiom, Village East. O'er C to entrepot spirito plein of tattered clients at two o'clock. Mezzagiorno. Fro acquiring new slick to park loo and amidst chat of weathered Russians, two, coking, model damsel whispered past shadows dressed in denim torn, purple locks. Trans whiff to make mist of eerie mer, here -- terre trod of fading 'hemia beaux, though, not bent as once it were, however -- cracked as ever in relation the lamin' isle's elsewhere. Demarcated smoked Avenue D. Alphabet City's Z, la.
A "showcase" on East Seventh Street
The Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarn East Seventh Street, described as "a Beaux Arts synagogue built in 1908 for a congregation of Hungarian Jews," was designated a historic landmark last March.
It was split into five residences in the 1980s. Today, the Times features the folks who live in the building's penthouse.
Notes the article, titled "Once Sacred, Now Their Showcase:"
Until pull-down shades were recently installed, neighbors in the tenement walkups and condominiums across East Seventh Street were afforded unobstructed glimpses of the couple’s king-size platform bed, egg-shaped bathtub and clear-glass shower. The blinds might be optional this summer, as the stands of black bamboo that ring the cedar-lined terrace reach full growth, blocking out any Peeping Toms.
[Photo: Michael Falco for The New York Times]
Noted
This Ain't the Summer of Love reports that Bronx native Ace Frehley will be among the guests christening the new Hard Rock at Yankee Stadium today.
Think he might play this one?
Think he might play this one?
Manhattan home sales: Worse than the decline in the auto industry
"Manhattan co-op prices dropped the most since 1995 and transactions for all apartments plummeted 48 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as the recession and Wall Street unemployment cut demand." (Bloomberg)
"The drop in sales was worse than the decline in the auto industry. In March, sales at General Motors were off 45 percent from March 2008." (The New York Times)
The Topshop truck as you've never seen it!
Without 150 undergrads huddled around trying to get free shit. Spotted on East 13th Street near Third Avenue. And why the grabby-grabby frenzy? What is this, 2006?
Former Downtown Music location now available
They moved earlier this year from the Bowery to Chinatown.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Downtown Music Gallery is leaving the Bowery
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
At age 98, Bob Sheppard announces his retirement
Whether or not you hate the Yankees, you have to appreciate the iconic Bob Sheppard, who has been the team's PA announcer since 1951. Now, at age 98, he's retiring. Yankee games will never be the same. (Via Gothamist)
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition
Signs of life at Ruby's (Kinetic Carnival)
East Houston to be a nightmare for the next, oh, three years or so (BoweryBoogie)
What's left of Etherea (Flaming Pablum)
Ghosts (East of Bowery)
Part two of the Panorama (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
On the campaign trail with Reverend Billy (Slum Goddess)
Stone Street ready for warmer weather (Esquared)
The early days of the Williamsburg Bridge (Ephemeral New York)
The inside scoop on the East Village outpost of Whiskey Dick's
A note from EV Grieve: Starting today, you'll notice a slight change in the editorial. Previously, I enjoyed chronicling every day life in the neighborhood and elsewhere...lamenting the changes that were occurring in the process. However, to be honest, there's no money in that. So we'll be doing a little more publicist-friendly posts that, I hope, will make this site more attractive for a corporate purchase a la Daily Candy. Anyway, I hope that you do give my new direction a chance. After all, I'm just a guy who lives in the neighborhood.
I have the scoop on a new bar opening "very soon" in the East Village. Can't say much for now, though I will provide some tantilizing clues to its whereabouts in this post!
As I pass my favorite strip of shops, Blockbuster, Subway and Dunkin' Donuts, I come face to face with the glorious plywood, the likes of which has served as a welcome sign of our (long overdue) revitalization of the East Village. Anywho, after shooing aside someone with a digital camera trying to sneak a peak behind the wood, I step inside and come face-to-face with a neon Sam Adams sign. Hello, beautiful! I knew that I had found my new home away from home!
Then I met "Ingrid," the proprietor of this soon-to-be glorious space. She is a longtime EV resident, having moved here in 2005 from her native South Florida where she was slinging drinks at the always popular Whiskey Dick's. She plans on bringing some of the madcap mayhem that marked so many Spring Breaks in SoFa to the East Village. Holla, bitches!
While telling me more about her plans (including a contest to find who can make the most noise on the sidewalk at closing time), she poured me a new Sam Adams Spring Fling Amber Bock. I reached in my pocket for a sawbuck, but she said it was on the house. (Then she gave me a knowing wink!) Dang, had I known this, I would not have had to use that icky-looking graffiti-filled ATM down the street!
Ingrid regaled me with stories from back in the day when NYC was really gritty -- 2000. Oh, what a glorious time that must have been here! Though I'm glad I wasn't here. Where would I have lived? Wait! I know what you're thinking: I said that she moved here in 2003. Guilty! Her cousin lived on Long Island and she paid her a visit a few times in 2000. She got a good feel of the place from Valley Stream.
In any event, she gave me the dish on what to expect: beer pong, hookah, frisbeer, keg stands, flip cup, drink-and-drown nights, college-kids-get-in-free nights. Not to mention her special nosh -- small plates of ramen. Delish! She's even arranging a deal with the city in which Mayor Bloomberg (pray that he's reelected!) renames the East River the East Ramen for her grand opening. (Other ideas for naming rights are Central Dick's or the Financial Dick-strict.)
Well, it's nice to finally find a bar that promises to be full of people who look as if they may actually have a job! (Or soon will have a job on Wall Street!) And, more important, people who don't smell and look old or artsy.
One word of caution: As I said, this place is near Houston. (Oopsy I slipped!) Whatever you do, don't walk east on Houston by Katz's to get here. Smelly! Like pickles! My North Face jacket had to be dry cleaned several times after I walked by just once. Gross.
More TK!
One more delicious reason to eat foie gras and not feel guilty at all!
Man, will Momofuku think of next! Hope they can open another shop soon! Anyway! See you in line!
Meet the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
In addition to exciting new bar openings, this site will feature the work of off-the-radar, up-and-coming indie bands that don't receive much attention in the mainstream media. To that end, here's the new single for the buzz-worthy New York trio called The Yeah Yeah Yeahs... led by the fashionable Karen Oh, whose father is Sadaharu Oh -- “The Japanese Babe Ruth.”
I expect big things from these kids!
I expect big things from these kids!
A Delancey update (with special appearances by Jesus and Bloomy, or at least someone named Mike)
Back in August, BoweryBoogie broke the news that hotelier Sam Chang bought the parcel of buildings at 148-154 Delancey for $15.75 million. (Finally, the hotel this area so desperately needs!)
Haven't been down this stretch for a few months...So I was expecting the worst...though...it looks exactly like it did last summer...Which isn't great, but....
For how long, though...Meanwhile! Bloomy, we assume....?
And directly across the street...
Haven't been down this stretch for a few months...So I was expecting the worst...though...it looks exactly like it did last summer...Which isn't great, but....
For how long, though...Meanwhile! Bloomy, we assume....?
And directly across the street...
Has Vinyl Market closed?
Vinyl Market appears to be closed. Perhaps just temporarily? The electronic/DJ specialty shop on East 10th Street just west of First Avenue is under construction. The space is split in two now. No sign of any records inside. DJ/owner Kaz Okura has closed before while he travels to various gigs. But he usually leaves a note on the door.
Another new convenience store for First Avenue
The former location of Wilfred's Tailors at 149 First Avenue near Ninth Street will soon be a convenient store.
This spot was vacant for some time since Wilfred's moved to 23rd Street. Well, uh, at least it's not another Momofuku?
Previously on EV Grieve:
A new convenience store for First Avenue
This spot was vacant for some time since Wilfred's moved to 23rd Street. Well, uh, at least it's not another Momofuku?
Previously on EV Grieve:
A new convenience store for First Avenue
Hea thyself*
The folks behind Hea, which opened last September, must have spent a fortune renotvating the former bodega/nail salon housed next to the Toll Bros. tower on Third Avenue at 13th Street. Now, Hea is closed for "renovation."
* Man, that's one bad headline.
* Man, that's one bad headline.
My own worst enemy
LES native Rosario Dawson, age 15 when she was asked to star in "Kids."
In 2006, you moved to L.A. Do you ever miss the Lower East Side?
Sometimes, but my old neighborhood has changed. When I visit, they probably think of me as yuppie scum. I think, Young urban professional — yes, that’s me. When did I become the enemy? (The New York Times Style Magazine)
Ideas for the next Unemployment Olympics
SportsByBrooks weighs in on yesterday's Unemployment Olympics:
While events like Bashing a Pinata are nice, they are hardly in the spirit of actual Olympic events. With that in mind, I’ve come up with a few suggestions for new events to add if the Unemployment Olympics come back in 2010:
--The 100-Meter Dashed Career Expectations
--The Long Jump From Being A Senior Vice President To Working At Kinko’s
--Synchronized Drowning In A Sea Of Unpaid Bills
--Bad-News-Minton
--The 110-Meter First Interview Hurdle
--Waiting Tables Tennis
--The Try-Supporting-A-Family-On-Unemployment-Athlon
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