The Times captures the rickshaw-pulling Spider-Man of the East Village

Pass the Dramamine. City Room post here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

More on the EV's kiddie crime spree (New York Post)

New doc explores NYC's downtown music scene circa 1975-1985 (Stupefaction)

When bacon attacks (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis are co-writing a screenplay on the tragic suicides of East Village artists Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake (Page Six)

How many ATMs are there on the LES? (BoweryBoogie)

An end to beer pong? (Blah Blog Blah)

Bill Thompson hates trees? (Alphabet City Soup)

In an item on Death & Co. possibly opening an LA outpost: "They were also the subject of a neighborhood feud in the East Village because the East Village is filled with people who hate bars and have nothing else to do than go to community meetings and pressure the State Liquor Board to deny liquor licenses." (BlackBook)

95 Delancey next to fall? (Curbed)

RIP Capt. Lou (BoingBoing)

Three years ago today...

Wow. This Ain't the Summer of Love reminds me that today marks the three-year anniversary of the closing of CBGB. Seems longer.

[Image via.]

Reading reviews of Tompkins Square Park on Yelp

And did you know that city parks are reviewed on Yelp?



To the Yelpers!

Here's a 3-star review:

The inhabitants of Tompkins Square Park are people you could probably find in any large metropolitan area in the world. What makes TSP unique is the high concentration of mentally and/or chemically imbalanced folks, mixed in with some hobos, burnouts, stoners looking to score, scorers looking to stone and locals who're looking for some sun. Everybody and nobody is there, and if you're into people watching, it makes for a good couple of hours.

What ruined my day was the fat lady sitting across from me wearing a jean skirt and no panties. How did I know this?

Cause she was sitting like a dude.

I didn't even mean to look. You just couldn't avoid it because she took up about 1/2 of my field of vision.

And a 1-star review:

When I walk through this park, I'm constantly looking over my shoulder for fear of getting mugged or stabbed.

I have no problem with homeless people finding shelter in the park. I do have a problem with hardcore drug users shooting up and smoking crack. Call me crazy, but that disturbs me.

On my last trip there, this coked up lady took it upon herself to change outfits three times right in the middle of the park. Her version of a fashion show. Another bum sat on a bench by the entrance with blood spewing from his nose. No worries, he was too high on something to notice.

The park is crack-tastic at best.

And another 1-star review:

Errrmmm, maybe I'm just not "getting" this park. I was here for an hour last Sunday and spent my time circling the park looking for a hobo-free zone. The southwest corner, especially, seemed to be packed with a dirt-crusted crowd of semi-homeless people of mixed ages. Several of the younger Tompkins hobos were dressed in clothes that were probably quite fashionable at one point, but now caked in dirt and quite brown in color. I was impressed that they were not just resigning themselves to dirty jeans and ratty t-shirts; maybe they were homeless by choice.

There was a small portable soup kitchen type cart in that corner of the park serving this brown-colored mushy-looking food to these folks who ate with their fingers and licked the plates. When I finally did manage to find an isolated bench to read my book, there were strange smells emanating from the bushes behind me that I tried to ignore. It was probably p00p; the grass didn't seem to stand a chance of making it out of the ground clean. After a few pages of reading, I was interrupted by a comparatively presentable stranger. He commented that I looked "uncomfortable" (undeniable) and proceeded to attempt to read my sign and, I think, ask me on a date. He had weird tics and stared way too intensely at me during all this time. I am not sure why I stuck around long enough to let the conversation progress to that point.

In short, I am TOTALLY one of "those people who finds Tompkins Park gross." It's just not the place for me to have a relaxing Sunday afternoon. I don't want a park with "character" when what I really want is to nap outside without worrying about being pissed on, touched, robbed, etc. So, back to Central Park it is, where I will hazard my chances with the strollers, toddlers and frisbees. Or, Madison Square Park, where I can eat my Shack burgers and hang out with the designer dogs eating frozen custard.

What a booth at the Bowery Bazaar will run you

Thanks to the EV Grieve reader for passing along more information about the Bowery Bazaar, which opens Nov. 1 in the E2E4 building on the Bowery between Third Street and Fourth Street.



As the sign out front says, the Bazaar "...welcomes up-and-coming artists, young designers, and enthusiastic collectors to exhibit their goods."

And how much will it cost to exhibit those goods?

Price List
Friday-Sunday Monthly Rate

Individual Shops
5.5 Ft x 7 Ft ………………………….…….$1200.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
5.5 Ft x 8 Ft…………………...……………$1300.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
5.5 Ft x 9 Ft………………….…………..…$1500.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
5.5 Ft x 10 Ft……………….………………$1800.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)


Right Window Shop
6.5 Ft x 14 Ft…….................………………$2500.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)

Left Window Shop
5.5 Ft x 12 Ft….................…………………$2300.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)

Display Counters
36" x 3Ft ……………………………….........$500.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
48" x 3Ft ………………….......$600.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY) ONLY TWO

Free Standing Table Area
6’ x 4’ tables…………………….............................................................$800.00-$1000.00

So it's open just on the weekends... as our readers points out, that's 12 times a month .... say you take the 5x7 individual shop for $1,200...that's $100 per day... I'm curious about how many vendors this place will hold... and why didn't some faboo designer type like John Varvatos lease this space?

Previously.

P.S.
I'm aware security is spelled incorrectly...that's how the Bazaar sent out the information...

From the EV Grieve photo files

Insert "can you hear me now?" joke headline, though it's not really funny

Just following up on a post from March... where I noted the sign here at the former Bondy's on Park Row. (Need a Walkman!) The store closed in 2007. Anyway, the space has finally been leased....

Noted

Per MediaPost:

"The $100 million marketing blitz Yahoo launched two weeks ago to revitalize its brand may be having the opposite effect, according to early consumer feedback. Perception of Yahoo among U.S. adults has fallen steeply since the company kicked off its global campaign centered on the tag line "It's You" on Sept. 28, based on YouGov's BrandIndex, which tracks daily consumer perception of brands. It found Yahoo's buzz score had tumbled from 35.4 on Sept. 22 to 25.5 as of Monday."

Previously on EV Grieve:
I will NOT be commenting on Yahoo!'s new ad campaign

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

News about Hot Dog (arrested for pounding a door with an onion?), Cut Man Eddy and the Mosaic Man (Neither More Nor Less)

"Oliver Twist-like kid burglar" responsible for rash of East Village thefts? (NY Post)

Art show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Bicycling with David Byrne (New York Times)

Bloomy buys BusinessWeek (MediaBistro)

World's longest article on Amanda Burton (New York Observer)

Stuy Town may default (Lux Living)

Sifton's review of DBGB starts with "HEY, ho, let’s go!" (New York Times)

Finally, I missed the report on Eater that Birdies on First Avenue near Ninth Street has closed and moved (or maybe the other way around). The storefront is for rent.

Bazaar in retail space of million-dollar condos with gated driveway "aims to bring a sense of authenticity" back to the Bowery

Thanks to the fliers plastered on the windows on the ground floor of E2E4, we now have a little more information about what the Bowery Bazaar is going to be all about between Third Street and Fourth Street...



Well, if you can make out the photos below..."A new bazaar set to open in the heart of Manhattan's oldest thoroughfare: The Bowery."

Hmm. A few other snippets...

"A hip, new indoor market set to open on the Bowery this November 1..."

"The bazaar is already creating a lot of buzz."

"The Bowery Bazaar will merge antiquity with modernity in a wonderful melting pot of trendy design, unique memorabilia, and antique pieces."

"...welcomes up-and-coming artists, young designers, and enthusiastic collectors to exhibit their goods. Just down the block from the Bowery Hotel and Cooper Square Hotel, the bazaar will be open to the public at large."

"The Bowery Bazaar aims to bring a sense of authenticity back to a part of Manhattan that's been transformed from central throughway, to a gritty nab, and back again."




Previously.

The East Village has a new landmark

According to an e-mail alert from The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation yesterday afternoon:

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to landmark the 1838 Isaac T. Hopper House at 110 Second Avenue in the East Village, a designation strongly supported by GVSHP. This impressive Greek Revival house located between 6th and 7th Streets is a rare intact vestige of the earliest stages of the East Village’s urban development. Since 1874 it has also served as the home of the Women’s Prison Association (WPA), a reform organization seeking to better the lives of women who have been through the criminal justice system. The house is named for Isaac T. Hopper, the Quaker Abolitionist and reformer who founded the WPA. Hopper’s daughter, Abigail Hopper Gibbons, was the first president of the WPA.

Read the entire history here. (PDF)

Of course, there's plenty left in the neighbor to preserve.

Zine talk tonight at ABC No Rio

Zines and Beyond: Independent Publishing in the Real and the Virtual

7 — 9pm (free)

Panelists: Michael Carter, Jim Fleming, Fly, Billy Miller and Seth Tobocman

ABC No Rio invites speakers with a wide range of backgrounds in zines, comics, radical book publishing and independent social networking sites to share their experiences and explore the role of DIY publishing. The five panelists will present their own experiences with independent media as well as consider its role for the distribution of political content in both the digital and print form.

You can learn more about the speakers here.

[Image via]

Sunburnt Cow building was peddled on Bid in the City

I read about Bid in the City -- eBay for real estate, as it has been said -- back when it launched this spring. After seeing some commercials for it on TV (ESPN!) this past weekend, I thought I'd check out the site...



I looked to see what had been offered in these parts. And what went on the block in June? 137 Avenue C, which, among other things, is home to stand-in-line-for brunch hotspot the Sunburnt Cow.



Original Price:$3,200,000
Starting Bid:$1,450,000
Closing Bid:$1,605,000

I have no idea how any of Bid stuff works. But, at first glimpse, this seems like a pretty good deal. It's a four-story building with six apartments and the Cow, in which patrons are dared to drink as much as possible in two hours for $20.



According to the property taxes, the building is worth $2.6 million.

Speaking of the Sunburnt Cow, have you seen my collection of Moo Mobile photos?

Previously.

In the end, New York's historic first world trade center on Pearl Street razed for a condo, parking lot and goodburger

Well, nearly six years after first hearing about the project, the destruction of the historic swath of 211-215 Pearl Street between Gold Street and Maiden Lane in the Financial District — home to the city's first world trade center — is nearly complete. First, a brief bit of history about this space
per Pearl Street Revival:

The three neo-Classical business buildings at 211-215 Pearl St. are the last remnant of the Pearl Street dry goods district of the early 19th century, and are a valuable relic of New York and the nation's early commercial history. The city sold a very large portion of what commercializing Americans bought. The combination of overseas commerce and burgeoning domestic trade established New York as the commercial capitol (not just the biggest seaport) of the United States after 1815, and Pearl Street was the center of that trade.

211-215 Pearl Street is also tribute to merchants and manufacturers like William Colgate "who's entrepreneurial daring would set New York on course for becoming the world-class city that it is today".

Anyway. The Rockrose-owned condo is up and it appears to be running. Now just the small matter of the ground floor retail. Which appears to be set with coming-soon signage for a double food whammy — goodburger and a Pret deli.






As Pearl Street Revival noted, "Pearl Street was considered the city’s richest street and the highest valued mercantile establishments were located on this particular block."



Now, of course, it looks like any other block of a suburbified city.



For further reading:

3 Buildings From 1830's Threatened By a Tower (New York Times)

Lot still vacant where Pearl St. artists lost homes (Downtown Express)

Shaky Pearl Street Building Now Even More Endangered (Curbed)

Champagne Tuesdays at Superdive: "I'm pretty certain that everyone in the bar had just recently moved to New York"

Well, you know, we haven't made it over yet for Superdive's Champagne Tuesdays just yet... A reader almost got in.



However, blogger Fired 'n' Fabulous was there. Here's an excerpt of her report:

As soon as I stepped foot into the bar, I instantly wanted to turn around and run as fast as I could in the opposite direction. It was so crowded, and the hodgepodge of people was really just...weird. Ya know in the movie "Clueless" when Cher walks through the school campus with Tai and explains all the different cliques? That's what it felt like (minus the cool kids). Probably the most annoying group of people I witnessed were the Upper East Side frat boys with their faded T-shirts, backwards caps and flip flops. They were totally out of their comfort zone, and this, no doubt, was their first time making it down past 42nd Street. Guys, do a favor for all of us and stay uptown where you belong.

I'm pretty certain that everyone in the bar had just recently moved to New York, and this was their first big night out. It had to be. They were just so gosh darn excited about everything. And there was one guy behind me that was talking extremely loud to a group of people about "having sex all day long." Whoa, cool man. Is that his get-laid tactic? Does he think that's a turn-on? Let's hope for his sake that's not the only Ace up his sleeve, or else he's gonna have one lonely winter.

Photo via.

Tree used for missing persons flier now missing

For several weeks now, there has been a "missing persons" flier attached to the tree right on Avenue A at Ninth Street. I don't recall all the details — a young man had not been seen for some time. Very sad.

Walking along A the other day, I saw that the tree with the missing persons flier was now missing too.

Spa games on 13th Street

On 13th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue....

First, this spa on the north side of the street lost their lease....



...and they're moving up the street where Upland Trading used to be.



I bring this up because... at first glance, the renovations at Upland Trading had a bar/cafe vibe. But a worker at the site assured me it was just the spa moving up the street.

Happy holidays!

Or maybe these holiday lights on First Avenue near Fourth Street have been up for a long time and I just noticed them Sunday...? Just being honest. Anyway, let's just skip Halloween and Thanksgiving and get to the Big Stuff!

A sad note

Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.