The Spiderman sightings continue

I continue to read about Spiderman sightings in the neighborhood. The most recent sighting came over the weekend on The Wednesday Weekly, who reported: "Spidey had just gotten off the L Train from Brooklyn (I thought he lived in Queens...) and appeared to be heading somewhere in the East Village."


[Photo via The Wednesday Weekly]

MeikMeik has also noted Spiderman's presence... and Apa Chu... and Michael’s posterous ... and Hypernova ...


[Photo via Apa Chu]

And, might as well play this again...

DBGB signage as pretentious as you'd expect

DBGB opened June 5 on the Bowery... in case you haven't seen the etched signage on the windows of Avalon Bowery Place.






To make matters worse, when I was standing there, one of the etchers yelled, Quel imbécile! Mais qu'est-ce que tu fabriques?

OK, that's not true. But I wish it was!

A quick look inside Keith McNally's new joint on the Bowery

On the topic on high-profile new restaurants on the Bowery... Been some time since I've heard any updates on Keith McNally's new place at Bowery and Houston... there's a whole lot of plywood there to keep the snoops at bay...but the other day, a worker left the door open...



...just for a moment...and this is what's going on inside...

Bread and Butta needs more bread

It seems as if the problems continue for aspiring eatery Bread and Butta on Avenue C near 11th Street.

Reader DianeB passed along these photos... According to her: "I saw the notice, $12,200 in back rent due. This is the third non-payment notice in about 8 months. If this place actually opens a buttered roll and coffee will have to sell for $19.99 to take care of all the debts piling up."

Things that you will be able to smoke on Avenue B

Thanks to reader Elliot for passing along information on the former Lhasa Boutique on Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.

We now have a photo of the store's new signage... The Exclusive Smoke Shop.



As Elliot noted: "It looks like there's already a good selection of bongs on the shelves inside."

Noted

According to a Web site called OMG!: "We get it Gaga; you have great legs. Now, do us all a favor, and get yourself a real pair of pants."

Last day for the Virgin Megastore (and why you will see so many people wearing Virgin Orlando T-shirts)

Just before 10 a.m. today, some 30 people were waiting in line for the last day of the Virgin Megastore on Union Square. I was not one of them. But when the doors opened, I decided to go in... I was ready to take a picture of the crowd entering the store, but a woman carrying a small dog shoved me.



Everything was 90 to 90 percent off.... One of the workers yelled, "Buy everything people!" And I said, Good luck with that, people.



I was unfamiliar with 90 percent of the artists left behind. Well, there was the Jimmy Buffett Christmas record.



The remaining crap for sale was kept to a small space. The rest of the hulking store sat empty. Somewhere downstairs, workers were yelling, their voices echoing throughout the former Megastore. First time that I'd ever been in here without some music or movie blaring from the speakers.






Somehow, people found stuff to buy. Mostly what was left... I'd say 500-800 Virgin Orlando T-shirts...$1 each!

Gusher on Third Avenue

A fire hydrant sprung a leak this morning at Third Avenue and 12th Street.




Someone had called 911. Just a matter of waiting and being entertained...




Within, say, 8 minutes, a crew arrived from the Department of Environmental Protection.



The oil screw on top of the hydrant was stripped...



So the crew had to shut off the valve under the street. (I don't really know hydrant-speak...you get the idea.)



And why not?

A red-tailed hawk on Seventh Street

On Seventh Street yesterday afternoon...between First Avenue and Second Avenue... There were, oh, 15 to 20 people standing on the north side of the street, looking up toward the roof of the building at No. 80 across the street...As you can sort of see from these photos, a red-tailed hawk was on the top-floor fire escape...




There was plenty of speculation about the hawk's presence, such as the baby pigeons who were nesting in the rain gutter. Efforts to reach the residents in the top-floor apartments were unsuccessful to this point. (And it wasn't made clear what the residents on the top floor were to do with this information.)



Unfortunately, we had to keep walking. We're not sure how this turned out...Before we left, someone joked that, perhaps, the cigar smoke from the ground floor would chase away the hawk...

For further reading on red-tailed hawks:
Today in Tompkins Square Park : Red Tail Drops Lunch in the Snow (Neither More Nor Less)
The Hawks of New York are dying... (Plain in the City)

James Franco vs. Robert Pattinson

Important casting news from ABC News:

James Franco and Robert Pattinson are neck-and-neck for the honor of playing musician Jeff Buckley in a biopic.

Buckley, who lived in the East Village, died in a drowning accident in Memphis on May 29, 1997.

And ABC's pick?

"My vote's on James Franco. Pattinson may be the hot young thang, but Franco can handle the tough roles and has Hollywood staying power. Plus, there's that eerily similar facial structure."

Anyway, according to another report: Jeff Buckley's mom, Mary Guibert, will help oversee the project and says the actor playing her son must sing and play the guitar himself. She claims, "Whoever gets the part will need a lot of self-discipline because they won't be able to fake it. It's going to take a phenomenal set of skills."

True love

About "Loud Fast Jews"

The Times on the "Loud, Fast Jews" event last Thursday night featuring Tommy Ramone, Chris Stein, Lenny Kaye and Handsome Dick Manitoba:

Punk’s New York origins as a do-it-yourself, three-chorded return to music basics — and a fashion style and attitude — were no accident, said Richard Bienstock, a senior editor at Guitar World magazine who curated the forum. “It’s New York,” he said, “and anything that starts here, there’s a good chance Jews are involved.”

Blood simple

Bloods at the Peppermint Lounge circa 1980.

Life with those Yelpers: 'This is one store I wouldn't mind if it ever closed and was replaced with a Starbucks'

I recently looked up the number to David's Shoe Repair on Seventh Street. His hours can be a little irregular, so...

Anyway, I get the Yelp listing... and I spotted the two reviews...

The one-star review!

Renee C.
New York, NY
10/27/2008
seriously, what the hell is wrong with this old guy? since this is the closest shoe repair place to my apartment, i head over eagerly with my favorite pair of black boots in tow. i arrive in the store and innocently show him the boots and ask him if they are repairable. the old guy takes one look at my boots (which are admittedly on their last leg, no pun intended) and begins wagging his finger and shouting at me "NO! I SELL BOOTS HERE. $175 DOLLARS. YOU BRING ME JUNK. NOTHING BUT JUNK! GOODBYE!! GET OUT OF HERE!!" completely shocked at this outburst, i reply back "these are expensive boots! i like them," to which he responds "GOODBYE!! GET OUT!! DON'T WASTE MY TIME!" i walked out of the store defeated and teary eyed. really there is no need to yell!

oh and against my advice, my roommate went to this place to see if she could get her shoes repaired and the old guy yelled at her too!!

seriously, i really REALLY hate new yorkers sometimes.

And a two-star review...

margs k.
New York, NY
3/13/2008
I don't like patronizing businesses that treat me poorly or do sloppy work and in this case, both reasons apply for why I won't be returning here with my shoes and bags. I dropped off a purse here with a broken zipper on a Saturday. The guy sort of grunts at me gutterally and tells me to come pick it up on Tuesday. Also, they make you leave a deposit, which isn't typical for this kind of work. I show up on Tuesday and the guy looks confused when I ask him for my bag. He finds it under a pair of boots, obviously not worked on, and tells me to come back the next day. NOT COOL. I don't appreciate having my time wasted. I come back the next day to pick up my bag and not only did I pay $25 for a cheap gold zipper (when the metalwork in my bag was SILVER) but I had to listen to him complain how long it took to do.

This is one store I wouldn't mind if it ever closed and was replaced with a Starbucks.

[Photo via Jeremiah's Vanishing NY]

An FYI (FroYo Information)

In case you missed this yesterday afternoon: A new FroYo place opened on St. Mark's.

(P.S. Apologies for that headline up there.)

From the EV Grieve Reader Mailbox

Hey,
Hope you are doing well, am from Africa. i read your story about the ATM SKIMMER. am here looking for it with a wireless camera. i want to buy it. do you have it or can you link me to those people who can sell those gadgets to me?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Julius

Automated Thief Machine

From The Villager's Police Blotter this week:

An automated teller machine with an undetermined sum of money was discovered missing on Friday morning June 6 from in front of 602 E. 14th St. near Avenue B, police said. Police said they were investigating the theft but were unable to say how the A.T.M. was spirited away. On April 21, Valentine Garcia, of Queens was arrested in connection with the theft of several A.T.M.’s on the Lower East Side and elsewhere by knocking them down with a white van and driving off with them. Garcia was being held pending a July 28 court appearance.

Vanity Fee

Speaking of ATMs, have you checked out the vanity money dispenser in front of B&T hookah hotspot Layaly at 98 Avenue B near Sixth Street...?

FLicKeR

"FLicKeR" looks interesting...playing this weekend at the Anthology Film Archives.

Get it by the ounce: New FroYo joint now open for business on St. Mark's

In lieu of sarcastic comment, please scream. At the location of the former Spots Cafe. I now miss the dog.

(Oops...didn't see that Grub Street posted the news a little bit earlier today...)