Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A missing son

Given the number of lame viral marketing attempts involving missing people, we can't help but be cynical about fliers we see in the neighborhood...these fliers went up this weekend... (A friend told me he says these in several other parts of the city....)



After doing a little research, this seems to be a genuine missing person. Here's an article on the man from the Pocono Record.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Gleaming the Coop

Curbed has noted some of the shenanigans occurring on the ramp outside Cooper Union's new academic building... got a chance to see some tomfoolery myself Friday night... About five or six teen skateboarders were enjoying the new makeshift park...






This went on for a good five minutes. Right when someone watching remarked, "I can't believe security hasn't said anything," a lone security guard brandishing a walkie talkie appeared... one of the skateboarders yelled "go, go, go" to his friends, who took off and hung a left on Sixth Street.

Welcome to the neighborhood!: First tag spotted on the new Cooper Union Building



Also, noticed that some folks are finding shelter alongside the building.



I also noticed that someone threw up alongside the building. I took a photo. But I decided to spare you.

Xoom coming soon



The new canopy is up at Zoom on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. We noted back in August that Xoom, a healthy smoothie shop, would be opening soon.

The owner left a comment on that post explaining a little more about Xoom:

Hello everybody. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jennifer London and I am the owner of Xoom. I live in the Lower East Side and am very fond of the East Village, which is why I chose to open there. I wanted to assure you that although there are three other Xooms (all owned and operated by the founder in Tucson), Xoom is far from a chain. I was a regular at Xoom when I lived in Tucson and became friends with the owner. This spring, I asked him if I could open a Xoom in New York and he agreed. For all intents and purposes, this is a locally owned business with its own personality that I assure you will make a good neighbor in the East Village. If you have any questions feel free to go to our website, click on the New York side of the site and you can find my contact info there.


(And for the record, in that post, we also misspelled Tucson about 50 times.)

Showy is missing -- marshal's office to blame?

On Seventh Street and First Avenue.


Joe's has reopened



A very good sign...Joe's was closed due to what one commenter described as an "insurance snafu." It was shuttered for at least one week...the above photo was taken Saturday...Anyone know when it reopened? I didn't go by Thursday or Friday nights.

Previously on EV Grieve:
"Joe's is only closed temporarily"

"Something Sweet is back"



Good news. Per EV Grieve reader rmom Friday evening: "Something Sweet is back. I walked by today, Cathy wasn't there but the son was."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Not so Sweet: Old school bakery temporarily closed

Ad takeovers



As the Times reports, there was "a bizarre cat-and-mouse game" on billboards across the city yesterday.

One group of artists and activists spread across Lower Manhattan, transforming innumerous wheat-pasted posters — the ones that readily sprout over scaffolding — into their own canvas.

They would whitewash the posters and then create their own work, or allow anti-advertising advocates to spread their own messages.

But just as quickly as they whitewashed and put up art, workers arrived to put up new posters where the artists had obscured the old ones.

And so it went, back and forth, with drama, confrontation and even a few arrests by day's end.

The takeover efforts were organized by an artist, Jordan Seiler, who founded a group called the Public Ad Campaign to question and challenge the use of outdoor ads in public areas.


I took the photo here on Seventh Street and First Avenue.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Tompkins Square Park, 1:16-1:17 p.m., Oct. 25



Helicopter city



Have now counted four different helicopters flying over the neighborhood the last 90 minutes...from Houston up to Stuy Town and back around.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated! Mysterious, low-flying helicopter returns...

Turning "Cocktail" into a Broadway musical isn't the worst idea ever -- it just seems like it



Page Six has the story today:

Tom Cruise's "Cocktail" is to be turned into a Broadway musical by legendary producer Marty Richards -- and Katie Holmes could be up for a role. The '80s movie is being adapted by Heywood Gould, who wrote the original book and film. Gould told us, "I am writing it as we speak. Marty Richards is on board and he's working on the score. It's far too early to talk about casting. We haven't approached anybody yet. But I do like Katie Holmes." Gould was guest of honor at the other night's "Cocktail" 20th anniversary party at TGI Friday's at Penn Station.

Pup crawl: Drinking for Zoey



More details are here.

Reminders: Halloween Freakfest today in Tompkins Square Park



From 2-6 p.m. A free Halloween-themed show in Tompkins Square Park, featuring great music, creative costumes, a costume contest, a clothing swap, political speakers, helpful information and lots of surprises.... Details.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Since it's raining cats and dogs out...Halloween Dog Parade rescheduled for tomorrow

Ha. Borrowed that headline from dogster.org...the annual Halloween Dog Parade has been rescheduled for tomorrow...

Noted

"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has spent $85 million of his own money on his latest re-election campaign, more than anyone in U.S. history." (The New York Times)

Friday, October 23, 2009

Ghouls Gone Wild!



Ghouls Night Out, one of the many great bands playing the Halloween Freakfest Sunday in Tompkins Square Park. {Uh, sorry -- as you'll see in the comments...this is a different Ghouls Night Out...this is not the band playing in TSP Sunday....)

Car accident on First Avenue and Fourth Street leaves one dead


Streetsblog has the story, with an update here from Gothamist, who's reporting that a 55-year-old woman was killed in the two-vehicle collision.

The Post has just filed a report too, saying the victim was a passenger in the minivan involved in the collision.

[Photo via an EV Grieve reader]

Le Souk will have their liquor license cancelled



An SLA spokesperson told me: "[The SLA] will re-serve the cancellation order, which will terminate their liquor license."

From the State Liquor Authority:

COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS STATE LIQUOR AUTHORITY DECISION

Liquor Licensees Must Comply with SLA Rules Mandating Health and Safety

Albany NY – State Liquor Authority Chairman Dennis Rosen today announced the New York State Court of Appeals has upheld the SLA’s determination in the matter of 47 Ave. B. East, Inc. vs. the New York State Liquor Authority. Yesterday’s decision by the Court of Appeals reverses the order of the Appellate Division with costs, dismisses the petition of 47 Avenue B (doing business as “Le Souk”), and holds that the SLA’S findings that the licensee allowed the premise to become overcrowded and failed to supervise was supported by substantial evidence. Most significantly, the decision upholds the validity of the SLA rules, which provide the SLA with the regulatory power to ensure licensees comply with local health and safety rules.

On April 9, 2008, 47 Avenue B challenged a March 3, 2008 determination by the SLA canceling the bar’s liquor license. In an earlier lower court decision issued on May 21, 2009, the Appellate Division ruled in favor of the 47 Avenue B, finding that the record did not contain substantial evidence of overcrowding, that it was beyond the rule-making authority of the SLA to issue a rule requiring licensees “to insure that a high degree of supervision is exercised over the conduct of the licensed establishment at all times,” and that it was beyond the rule-making authority of the SLA to issue a rule requiring, “all on-premises licensees, regardless of type of premises, to conform with all applicable building codes, fire, safety and governmental regulations.”


“The Court of Appeals correctly found that the SLA must have the authority to act when bars break local laws,” said Chairman Rosen. “Bars that allow overcrowding or fail in their basic duty to adequately supervise their premises are often just setting the stage for more serious violations to occur. The Court's decision yesterday was essential for the SLA’s continuing efforts to ensure public safety at licensed establishments.”

This matter was handled by Senior SLA Attorney Scott Weiner, under the supervision of Thomas J. Donohue, Counsel to the Authority.

Previously on EV Grieve:
At CB3/SLA meeting: Le Souk denied; residents speak of "mayhem" and "crazy fistfights"; proponent suggests people would prefer living in Staten Island

"LE SOUK IS BACK!"

Your chance to nab a piece of junk from Le Souk

Get your Freakfest on Sunday in Tompkins Square Park



THE TOMPKINS SQUARE HALLOWEEN FREAKFEST IS ON!!

A free Halloween-themed show in Tompkins Square Park, featuring great music, creative costumes, a costume contest, a clothing swap, political speakers, helpful information and lots of surprises....

Halloween Freakfest is part of a series of shows that celebrate the vitality of the counter cultural scene that has survived on the Lower East Side, despite the rampant gentrification, soaring rents and lost venues that have contributed to the cultural genocide sweeping New York City.

SHADOW Press/PMS productions present:

HALLOWEEN FREAKFEST! FREE PUNK AND VARIETY SHOW
Come Wig Out in the Park!
Sunday 2-6pm, Tompkins Square Park

Co-Emceed by OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL PMS (GLOB - Gorgeous Ladies of Boodwrestling) and DIANE O' DEBRA (subversive-comedic rap songs)

LONE VEIN: (Day of The Dead-inspired rock gloom-tunes)
SKUM CITY (amazing punk from our own gritty city)



CATHY CATHODIC (one woman avant-rap artist from Boston)
GHOULS NIGHT OUT: (all female MISFITS cover band featuring members of Kissy Kamikaze)
THE CHI-CIONES (craftastic Halloween-themed burlesque dancers/muses)
RACHEL CLEARY (political speaker)
ENDANGERED FECES (demented comedic punk from Queens — sounds like every toilet in Queens flushing simultaneously)
RACHEL TRACHTENBURG AND SUPERCUTE (Teen Girl pop-rock band doing a set of political songs plus a few Halloween specialties)
DETHRACE (a theatrical art rock experience...10 ft. tall fiberglass super-robots, playing 666 volts of metal!)



JUGGERNUT (Manly Freak Electro-Punk featuring 2 hot back up dancers in nutsack suits)
GLOB — GORGEOUS LADIES OF BLOODWRESTLING Live lady warriors, with ridiculous vendettas, wrestling in face blood to punk rock! w/special guests the Gorgeous LADS of Bloodwrestling!

Also featuring a CLOTHING SWAP.
Bring or take clean fall/winter clothes only.
Plus a COSTUME CONTEST.
Come in your Halloween best (or perhaps find some stuff in the swap!

A SHADOW Press/PMS production: (producers of June's: ALPHA WOMEN ATTACK THE LOWER EAST SIDE

Breaking mews (sorry, you'll realize how corny this headline is when you read the post...)



At the Anthology Film Archives tonight and tomorrow night: The Cat Art Film Festival. Includes a screening of the original "Pink Panther."

V.A. Musetto, taking a break from interviewing Asian film starlets, has a feature on the festival in the Post.