Tuesday, June 2, 2009

In response to recent violence in the East Village: Alphabet City Neighbors



If you've been following Bob Arihood's work at Neither More Nor Less, then you're well aware of the recent attacks that have occurred in the neighborhood. In response to the uptick in violence, an East Village resident has launched the site Alphabet City Neighbors.

This neighborhood will not succumb to violence and thuggery. Alphabet City -- Avenue A through Avenue D -- is a place where people -- whether they be homeless people who enjoy Tompkins Square Park or Wall Streeters who live in penthouse suites -- should feel comfortable. Mostly, it's a neighborhood full of decent people trying to live decent lives. We won't let thugs change that.


Rob at Save the Lower East Side and BoweryBoogie have also checked in with the story.

LostLES: A celebration of an iconic neighborhood

On Friday, Michael Brown, an environmental designer and East Village/LES resident, debuts "LostLES" — described as a panoramic installation that celebrates "the vivid character of the Lower East Side through its distinct architectural heritage."



The installation will be on display throughout the summer at Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop at 129 Rivington St.

Brown, founder and creative director of Lot71, answered several questions about the project via e-mail for EV Grieve.

How will the historic spirit of the Lower East Side be reflected in the installation/mural?

Kevin Gregor, my friend and owner of Tiny's Giant, approached me in February with the idea of designing an installation for his restaurant. Having lived in the East Village/LES for 12-plus years, I have long been a fan of this part of Manhattan.

The neighborhood has a cultural diversity different than any other part of the five boroughs. The historical heritage of immigrants — my family's included — resounds in this area through the architecture, the storefronts, and the lasting cultural markings of industry and arts. I have often drawn from the rawness of spirit and visceral character unique to the EV/LES in my work and my research. Ultimately, I began to consider the "place" (neighborhood, community, environment) as the driving narrative for the work I would create.

LostLES has been described as a true celebration of an iconic
neighborhood. Can you elaborate?


LostLES is a celebration of this iconic neighborhood in several ways. Tiny’s is set behind two plate-glass windowed walls that create a transparent, double-sided environment — from the outside, an intimate space on a vibrant LES street corner; from the inside, court-side seats to experience the vibrancy flow by, in all directions. Inspired by the camera obscura photography of Abelardo Morell, the mural is a reflection of the old Lower East Side superimposed across the new.

I shot a photograph of an old tenement building on Orchard and Broome that we will project inside Tiny's Giant from a single source. The image will streak across the walls and ceiling of the space, and a group of scenic artists (several who are local to the EV/LES) will then paint the mural from this guide. The resulting effect will appear as a cast silhouette, or reflection, of the old architecture that has redefined the sculptural space of the restaurant.

Ultimately, the graphic/2-d image will transform the 3-d space, rendering the space with a new narrative/experience. In the work is a metaphorical play on exterior space over-layed on interior space, as well as a visual comment of the old tenement architecture re-imagining a space for the new. It will transform Tiny's Giant into a jewel-box, experiential stage of the LES.

The work is intended as a gesture of honor to the old architecture, and in our painting style, the scenic artists will be informed by the longstanding traditions of street mural and graffiti artists in the neighborhood.



Some longtime locals are upset about the changing skyline — the condos, the hotels — and feel as if these changes take away from the spirit of the neighborhood. How do you feel about this mix of the old and the new?

I, too, am discouraged by some of changing skyline of the EV/LES. While I'm not entirely well-read on the matter, I find it staggering that this area was not landmarked or otherwise, considering that close to 25 percent of U.S. citizens can trace their genealogical roots to this neighborhood.

I certainly appreciate modern architecture — there are qualities of Tschumi's Blue Building, as well the New Museum, that appeal to me within the context of the EV/LES. However, respect for the past and balance of context for the new is very important to me, and there are certainly several instances of egregious condo-fication here that pain the eye.

Ultimately, the context/balance of which I write guided the choices I made for LostLES. I am hopeful that with my installation I am able to create a space that celebrates the past with a deference to the present. I do not intend my work to be sentimental, but rather simply an encouragement to open one's eyes anew and reflect on our surroundings — cultural, architectural, and spatial.

To learn more about the project and make a pledge to support the work and community, watch this video.

On the liquor license docket: Butter Lane Cupcakes

Here's what's on tap for the next Community Board 3's SLA & DCA Licensing Committee meeting on June 15:




Of interest: Butter Lane is going for a liquor license. Beer and cupcakes anyone?

Such as serving alcohol to minors?


A spokesperson for Angels & Kings tells PEOPLE: "There was an outstanding legal issue which the owners are now working to correct."

Previously.

I'm lovin' it!



The McDonald's ad is getting painted over on First Avenue near Second Street. I'm curious, though, do you suppose in, say 20 years, we'll be excited about the discovery of a faded McDonald's ad?

Pearl Street officially a street again -- with a parked Mercedes to prove it

May 8


Today



Previously on EV Grieve.

I looked so you don't have to



Stupid viral ads. These Lucy fliers have seemingly been everywhere on Second Avenue. I finally looked at the advertised url. Fat chance that it's going to be another cutesy, annoying subway romance tail. The fliers are for a new Web series on IFC.

A Manhattan family that intrigues, intimidates and nauseates


Well, in case you haven't read about the Novogratz family yet... The UK Times checks in with a feature, asking in the headline: Is this the world's coolest family?

Prepare to be intrigued, intimidated and, if you are the jealous or private type, possibly a little nauseated. The Novogratz family — two good-looking parents and seven photogenic children, along with their $25 million Manhattan mansion, Brazilian beach house, New England country estate, famous friends and cool parties — could soon be the name that you associate with everything from sandwich bags to boutique hotels.

Robert Novogratz, 46, his wife Cortney, 37, and their brood, which includes two sets of twins, have been renovating dilapidated buildings in New York’s up-and-coming neighbourhoods for 13 years. Along the way, they have charmed the city’s style magazines and blogs with their ability to combine French salvage, flea market finds, undiscovered artists and high-end fittings to striking effect.


[Photo by Christine Seib via]

An update on the East Village of Des Moines


Remember that classic 1930s service station in the East Village of Des Moines, Iowa, that was saved?

It's now for sale on eBay for $26,000. (Via The Des Moines Register)

Monday, June 1, 2009

Fire trucks at Fifth Street and First Avenue

Around 6 p.m. Turned out to be a false alarm. But it provided for a few moments of drama.





And people watching.

A lot of motorcycles on the FDR

The reader e-mail continues to get more interesting... Here are shots someone took yesterday afternoon showing hundreds of motorcycles traveling south on the FDR... Anyone know what this was about...?




At 2 x 4: Another bar, another awning?

The Evolution is not dead after all!



According to the door, the bar is being renovated...



As a commenter noted last time:

My roommate and I have been going to 2 by 4 for years now, so when I saw that it shut down, we had to find out what was up. We swung by there last night and saw Eric and Heather inside, so my roommate banged on the door and they opened up. The whole place was gutted and they're doing massive renovations, but they're reopening in mid-July.

It won't be 2 by 4 anymore, but the ownership is staying the same.


Hmm, perhaps the owners needs some suggestions on a theme for the new bar? I'm sure all of you have some good ideas to share. I've always wanted to open a Patrick Swayze Theme Bar — The Swayyyyyyyyyze. Made in his likeness. With drinks like "Next of Kin" and "Red Dawn." But it seems insensitive given his health.

Weekend in review: Theatre 80 to remain a theater



As the headline says, Theatre 80 to remain a theater.

More people left comments on the pink-sweater-at-the-Mars-Bar post.

Cops shut down Angels & Kings.

A band called DNA (but not the good one) filmed a video at the Cooper Square Hotel.

It got cloudy.

It got sunny.

Noted



Friday night at 3Ten Bowery. As the above copy notes, "With summer right around the corner, who could ask for a better motivator to start hitting the gym.... Ladies, you no longer have to wait for Halloween to come around to have an excuse to 'flaunt' it. Men, strip to your skivvies, and be ready to kick it Hefner style with NY's sexiest ladies. Drink, dance and be merry with 75-100 other sexy, confident singles."



Moving into the Coop

A few weeks back in The Villager, Scoopy reported that school officials planned to move into Cooper Union's new academic building at 41 Cooper Square by the summer. (The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new building is Sept. 15.) Well, this seemed awfully ambitious to me. However, sure enough, over the weekend... the moving trucks lined up....




Meanwhile! The scaffolding is gone from in front of the new building! The graffiti! No!




By the way, what's there now looks a little different from the original rendering...

Step Up 3D returns to the East Village



Filming continues today and tomorrow in the East Village on what will likely be the greatest 3D movie about teen street dancers ever made. Parts of Third Avenue, Second Avenue, Ninth Street, 10th Street and 11th Street will be affected by the dance fever.

Angels & Kings closed today for "maintenance issues"


Such as peeling off notices from the NYPD?

And TMZ checks in...

Jack Black ushers in the return of ads to Third Avenue and 12th Street

After a few months of, uh, blankness, an ad has returned to grace the side of the building on Third Avenue near 12th Street...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Off the wall

Mr. C's on C now open



On Avenue C near Seventh Street. An Italian Trattoria. Previously.

Here's a reader comment from my last Mr. C's post:

I am one of the owners of Alphabet City Wine Co., the wine shop next door. Not sure how the place is gonna turn out but I have had a couple tours of the place and It looks really nice in there. Classic shit. Nothing too fancy. They even have a little backyard seating arrangement.The chef is pretty excited to get started and is doing solid Italian fare. It will be good to have some energy flowing from next door.

Thai coming to former sad pizza place

The former Mambo Italiano Pizzeria (AKA, the sad pizza place) at 347 E. 14th St. near First Avenue closed late last year...



... will become a thai restaurant... (not sure how long the signs have been up, to be honest...)



And a reader comment from the sad pizza post:

My friend and I used to eat at Mambo from time to time a few years ago, but we stopped for a couple of reasons. First of all, the pizza wasn't great. Probably not even good. But what really turned was off was the dough-tossing incident, which still makes us laugh when we talk about it. The last time we went there, two little boys (they were kids of someone who worked there because they kept going into the back of the pizza shop) were running around playing with the pizza dough, literally throwing it around like it was a football as we sat there wondering if they had gotten their hands on the dough that our pizza had been made with... It was funny but a little scary!