Today in Tompkins Square Park

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival takes place at 3 this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park. Details here.

Seventh Street, 2:41 p.m., Aug. 29

Missing bike

Avenue A, 9:46 a.m., Aug. 29

Save the M15

Gonna take a walk down to Union Square...

Karate Boogaloo's pick from over at The New York Nobody Sings.

"Avenue A will never be the same"

NY1 filed the following report this afternoon after the funeral of Eric "Taz" Pagan:

Church volunteer Mike Rodriguez, the cook at Forbidden City, said he heard the shot that killed his friend.

"Sometimes we played cards, or we drank, just to relax," said Mike Rodriguez. "Just a split second, that's it. Life is too short."

Those who came to the funeral at Immaculate Conception Church on 14th Street, where Pagan was baptized as an infant, remembered the late bouncer as a warm-hearted man.

"I come from Florida to pay my respects for my brother, a great guy," said friend German Fernandez.

"He's such a nice guy. We always had a good laugh to come in with," said bar customer Michael Cruz. "I remember him fixing the ceiling once, just completely taking it apart more than he needed to do. It was the funniest thing to watch him do. He had some much energy coming in and out of that place."

"Taz was always the protector. I used to work at the bar next door to where he used to work and he was always there if we needed him," said bartender Laurie Beck. "We used to hang out for years, I knew him since I was about 17 years old. It's been about 10 years and there was always so much love. Like a big brother to me, you know? Anytime anybody ever needed him, Taz was there. He's such a wonderful guy and he's so missed. Avenue A will never be the same. You walk down the block and expect to see him."

Perhaps the biggest endorsement of how loved Pagan was came from the victim's own parish priest.

"He always maintained optimism in his life," said the Reverend Joy Mampilly. "Also, he tried to instill a warm feeling into the lives of people who came around him. You don't have to be a friend to know him well."

Previously on EV Grieve:
EV bars come together to create college fund for Eric "Taz" Pagan's children

EV bars come together to create college fund for Eric "Taz" Pagan's children

I just received the following notice:

East Village bars Drop Off Service, Planet Rose, Forbidden City, Common Ground, Habibi Lounge, and Superdive will donate 50% of their register on Monday, Aug. 31 (all day and night) to set up a college fund for the children of murdered bouncer Eric “Taz” Pagan.

I'm told that bar owners in the area are devastated by what happened early last Sunday morning.

Previously.

And the people apparently want signature cocktails

From Fork in the Road at the Voice:

What's this city coming to when even dive bars have to start serving signature cocktails?

"Well, we don't have to," says Mike Stuto, owner of Hi-Fi. "It's just about giving people what they want."

Reminder tonight: Rally for homeless outside the Christodora

Scoopy has more in this week's issue of The Villager:

“We’re going to ask Michael Rosen to adopt us — me, Jim Power and Biker Billy,” L.E.S. Slacktivist leader John Penley explained. Penley said he hasn’t actually read Rosen’s new book, “What Else but Home: Seven Boys and an American Journey Between the Projects and the Penthouse,” in which Rosen recounts the story of how he and his wife opened their home to a group of local youths. “I heard reports. People said it’s not bad,” Penley said of the book. “We’d like to move into the penthouse, too — if he wants three new sons... . We’re not all that young!” Penley added that the camp-out concept is being well received: “A lot of people expressed gratitude that somebody’s doing something that’s a little radical this summer,” he said.

For further reading:
"Mosaic Man" and the "Slacktivist" Promise New Tent City for the Homeless ... (Neither More Nor Less)

Long, hot summer at the Christodora (Curbed)

When it gets down to five seconds, very calmly START RUNNING

Thanks to EV Grieve reader dianeb for passing along the following shots of the fancy new walk-don't walk signs at 14th Street and Third Avenue...



As she noted, "Kind of cute, letting you know how much time you have until you're squashed by a truck."

Not to kick a Bald Man when he's down, but...

Epic takedown in The Villager this week... Been awhile since we've read an article and yelled yes...YES...YES!!!

Here's some of what Dottie Wilson had to write:

Though I never once dined at the famous “Chocolate by the Bald Man” corporation, this place gave me indigestion, headaches even. While nearby mom-and-pop establishments struggled to stay afloat, Max Brenner was constantly packed, mostly with tourists. These people would come all the way to the East Village — just to eat at a chain restaurant. I didn’t get it.

And with childhood diabetes on the rise, as well as obesity, I thought “society” was supposed to be eating more sensibly. But not at this joint. Struggling with menus the size of a hefty coffee-table book, its carefree patrons were devotees of a restaurant defined by indulgence, i.e., dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner and drinks. In this land of “sugar on fat, on top of sugar on fat” (read “The End of Overeating” by David Al Kessler), this was an altogether obscene environment.

The restaurant’s outdoor tables, usually loaded with out-of-towners, took up an unusually large portion of sidewalk, and this annoying protrusion provoked many a resident on his or her way to and from the Astor Place or Eighth St. subways. On Friday and Saturday nights, human gridlock was the norm.

Consequently, I guess, a crazy person from a nearby apartment building started to get sick and tired of the music from the place’s outdoor speakers. He hated getting woken up every morning and night by the loud, clanking metal chains and padlocks that were used to prevent the theft of their ugly tables and chairs. Employees from the restaurant who took their breaks at the entrance of his building — smoking and laughing it up till all hours, and accidentally buzzing his apartment by leaning on the intercom buttons — drove him nuts.

Previously.

Update: Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen remains closed for renovations

Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen, which has operated at 130 St. Mark's Place since 1991, closed Aug. 14 for renovations. The shop was expected to reopen Aug. 18, as the signs noted. However, a walk by yesterday afternoon revealed that the renovations continue... the gate is partially open. It looks as if someone is inside working...



Anyone have information? Anyone talk to Peter?

Previously.

Posts that I never got around to posting: What's left behind at the former Jersey Shore Store?

The Jersey Shore store on Broadway between 11th Street and 12th Street closed back in early July. (It was only planned to be temporary.) The space is available.



Anything left behind inside the store?



Hmm — seems about right.

Dog shit days of summer

One of these days I'll post some urban etiquette signs on my Flickr page...when I do, I'll include this one from 12th Street near Avenue B.



I appreciate people being direct...

Sharpie-wielding artist off the hook; MTA misses out on making some money

Back in February, pop artist Yoshitomo Nara, spent the night in jail for doodling a smiley face on the wall of the First Avenue L-train stop. Thank God this fiend was busted! Oh, the charges were dropped today.

His attorney modestly told the Post: "He can get back to wowing the art world with his great art."

The paper also notes the following:

The always cash-strapped Transit Authority missed an opportunity to make some money off the incident -- their efficient employees wiped the graffiti off the wall. It's been estimated the brick it was on could have been sold for an estimated $10,000.

Image via.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Contemplating "Rear Window" and the rears in the window at the Standard (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

“GRAF: Reading the Writing on the Wall; images of the L.E.S. 1968 to present" continues through Monday at the Tompkins Square Park Library Gallery (The Villager)

Another long night on the streets for the Mosaic Man (Neither More Nor Less)

Remembering the 82 Club on East Fourth Street (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

A lot of people want the Aqueduct (The Real Deal)

What you get for $1 from the Condom Lady (Slum Goddess)

Gettin fit in Stuy Town! (Stuy Town's Lux Living)

Meet-and-greet Kiss for $995 (Brooklyn Vegan)

Boy on a leash (BoweryBoogie)

Be a wingwoman for these guys — $30 an hour! (Hunter-Gatherer)

Breaking news: Second Avenue sinkhole paved over!

Oh! A reader alerted us that city crews filled in the crater yesterday. Hmmm... this blows our theory that the MTA was merely getting ready for the Second Avenue Subway dig expected down here sometime around the year 2987.

Anyway, let us take a look back at this most precious of sinkholes. (And I have an unconfirmed report that "The Second Game of Preaseason Football Pub Crawl" got swallowed up by this thing....)





Previously.

Meet the Man in the Van

You may recall reading about Jimmy Tarangelo back in March. For the past eight years, he has lived with his four dogs in a 20-foot-long Boise Cascade Aristocrat (with a Ford Econoline for storage) over on a street in the West Village...

Now, Brooklyn-based filmmaker Sean P. Dunne has put together a fascinating six-minute documentary on Tarangelo.

Man In Van from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

For further reading:

Mobile Home (New York magazine)

The Aristocrat: The Mystery of the West Village Camper (Scouting New York)

Van man sleeps in park (New York Post)

What's going on with the playground at Mary Help of Christians?

There was a fund-raiser for Mary Help of Christians outside the church on 12th Street near Avenue A this past Sunday.



There are still two masses here on Sunday mornings.

Anyway, seeing this fund-raising sign made me wonder.... Whatever happened to the sale of the former school's playground?



It has been nearly a year since The Real Deal reported the following:

Two thirds of a 15,000-square-foot East Village playground that was home to a popular flea market is under contract in a quiet, all-cash sale for $10.4 million to the Archdiocese of New York, court documents said.

The playground, divided into three ownership lots, is adjacent to the shuttered Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on the east side of Avenue A between 11th and 12th streets. The Archdiocese owns the church located on a 13,000 square foot lot, city records show.

The two parcels, under contract since July, total 7,500 square feet and are owned by a Roman Catholic order called the Salesian Society, based in New Rochelle, NY. The third part of the playground, totaling 7,500 square feet, is owned by the Archdiocese, records show.

The Archdiocese did not respond to requests for comment, but real estate professionals speculated the church parcel and playground would be sold and developed into residential housing.

The only thing growing here now are weeds. Which is fine by me. Couldn't this space be turned over for community use? Do we really need another condo or dorm?






The Mary Help of Christians market vendors relocated last fall to the playground behind Earth School, Thompson Square Middle School and P.S. 64 on Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. I believe the flea market is done for the summer, though...

For further reading:

Bob Arihood has posts on the faithful souls who come to the church steps every night to say the rosary. Here.... and here. (The third photo in this post is one of my all-time favorites...)

The Church Ladies (The New York Times)