Set during the 1980s, the drama will re-create the neighborhood's mix of struggling artists and musicians living alongside Puerto Rican and black families. Along with its growing bohemian and celebrity population, which also included graffiti artists, break-dancers, rappers and DJs, the neighborhood was plagued by illegal drug activity and violent crime.
We r*n around the streets, alleys and parks of the NYC metro area in our never-ending quest for beer, food, good times and beer. Hashing . . . it's a mixture of athleticism and sociability, hedonism and hard work; a refreshing break from the nine-to-five routine. Hashing is an exhilaratingly fun combination of r*nning, orienteering, and partying, where bands of Harriers and Harriettes chase Hares on eight-to-ten kilometer-long trails through town, country, jungle, and desert, all in search of exercise, camaraderie, and good times.
Around junior year, many NYU students make a mass exodus to the East Village, where they pay $2500/month to live in filthy, creaky 6-floor walkups, but can at least smoke weed without towling the door. Recently a rather elegant acrobat has been burgling the East Village, somersaulting through windows or lowering himself through skylights and striking fear in the hearts of those of us with windows facing the street. The police recently posted signs on all of the buildings on E. 13th street warning us of this talented thief, and I have spent the past few nights waking up every 10 minutes to make sure he’s not perched on my fire escape. Luckily ... Mr. Spiderman has been caught! Rest easy, East Villagers. Your laptops and iPods and drug money are safe… for now, at least.
I talked to Peter today..They should be open around the 23rd of this month..some bullcrap with his "company" name or something..he had no real health code violation problems..but I went in there today and he was in there and they really did a lot of work on the place! All freshly painted, polished and gleaming..he was stocking the shelves and they had new menu signs hung up-bigger and brighter ones..It wasn't all fro-yo'd upped and gross though..still looks like good old whole earth-just spiffed up! I told Peter we were all worried and he was flattered and eager to reopen for business next week!
Back then the moniker for the 45-square-block area south of 14th Street and east of First Avenue sent shivers down middle-class spines, conjuring up images of drug zombies and muggers. During the last decade, the term fell into disuse as wealthy new arrivals arrived, along with college bars and bistros. When the term finally ceased to register any fear, the rich claimed the Alphabets for themselves. In its 2007 Best 'Hoods issue, Time Out awarded Alphabet City the dubious honor of being the "#1 Best Hood."
Despite the turnaround, Lopez says he preferred the lonely streets and coke bodegas to the loud "frat boy" parties that have invaded his neighborhood. "On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, it's really bad," he says, before breaking into an almost-apologetic smile. "I prefer the old way. I felt safer."
Lopez's crack about frat boys, however, masks darker fears. "Was I concerned that someone got killed?" he asks rhetorically, then shrugs. "Yeah. But I can’t say I was really surprised. There are shootings around here all the time."
Arihood paints a perfect storm of social, economic and political factors, which combine to insure that successive waves of incoming NYU students, and upper-middle class tenants, remain ignorant of how bad things are in the 'hood — thereby continuing to splurge on tuition and "million-dollar condos."
East Village residents of all ages, races and classes worry that bullets are flying with increasing frequency these days.
Many have lived east of First Avenue for 10 years or more, so they know what a gunshot sounds like. Some claim that the crime statistics released from the local Ninth Precinct do not adequately tally all the shootouts. Others express fear that the uptick in violence will serve as an excuse for police to curb the civil rights of the locals.
The developers of 184 Kent, the high-end rental building about to open in Williamsburg, will be hitting the streets of the Lower East Side in a van, looking to take well-to-do hipsters to the Brooklyn waterfront. They won't actually be driving them there. But the idea is to troll for arty, young Lower East Side-type professionals where they live and hang out, parking the van -- plastered in ads based on the quirky "WilliamsburgLove" mock dating site -- in front of popular clubs. "We're looking at the Avalon Bowery project on Chrystie Street in the Lower East Side as comparables," says Jason Halpern, managing partner of the building's owner, JMH Development.
Tomorrow night, the 3rd Annual Lesser Known Characters Circle Up fundraiser ... "Come on by to find new music, win raffle prizes, and most important let these young adults that they still have tons of love and support."
Featuring:
Seth Weinstein
Josh Weinstein of decibel.
Ali Eskandarian
Jodie Manross
Harold Barnard
Thursday, Sept. 17
7:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Mehanata
113 Ludlow St. (between Rivington and Delancey)
Seven of the incidents were in the Ninth Precinct, which has seen nearly a 90 percent surge in burglaries in the month ending Sept. 13, compared to the same period last year.
Burglaries are up about 32 percent in the precinct for the year.
