Bowery and First Street likely not ready to blow up

I bravely walked again on First Street near the Bowery... where all those fire trucks were the other day. It looks as if ConEd is on it.



The problem should be fixed by the fall. Of 2011.

The Big Black Bus on Avenue A

Earlier today I spotted this parked along Avenue A...





Looked up that Web site and found that it's country singer Kelli Lidell. This vehicle is called The Big Black Bus. I have no idea why it's parked here. Anyway, I read more of her bio... and as a kid she liked Dave Dudley and Jimmy Dean, among others.

All I have to say: Dave Dudley knew.

Avenue B entrance to Tompkins Square Park still locked up...

While out for a walk around Tompkins Square Park a few minutes ago this morning...I noticed...




The entrance to the Park is still locked up on Avenue B and Eighth Street at roughly 11 a.m. I'd say maybe the Park folks were all busy deicing the eastern approach to the dog run...but it's still a solid sheet of ice.

Eastern approach to Tompkins Square Park still treacherous

There's some improvement here from yesterday. But it's still treacherous... solid ice with no clear pathway.

Noted

In front of the Redhead, 13th Street near First Avenue.

A special Valentine's via Craigslist: "have fun jerking it to the pics you took of the bartenders"

Epic smackdown via Criagslist.

Douchebag at LIT obsessed with my teeth, - w4m - 37 (East Village)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2010-02-13, 5:06AM EST

Yeah, you're the "hipster" ass at LIT who insulted me for no reason than I caught you buying Maxim or some pathetic mag at the bodega. You obviously have women issues to just walk up to me in a bar and throw insults - especially when my teeth are white and perfect. Jealous much? Horny much?..then of course, you run away when I talk back. You are pretty unattractive in the first place - and you probably haven't gotten laid for years..you should just masturbate before you go out clubbing..then you may stand a chance. You're uncalled for hatred of me spoke volumes about your lonely pathetic "life". I may not be a model, but i'm way more attractive than you are in anyone's book..What a douchebag you are - insult my teeth then run away. I would gladly have told you off more since I live on that block for 17 years and was quite comfortable there - but you were out of your hood so you must have hopped in your little old cab to Billyburg..Ah well, hope to see you at LIT again soon - i'll surely remember your ugly face and since they love me there we are bound to have a GREAT time...See ya soon...have fun jerking it to the pics you took of the bartenders..Maybe you'll get them in Vice even! Oh - and besides your crooked teeth, you have a bad nose, zits and a gross body I noticed. Sorry-just being honest! I'm sure you've heard it all before!

Reminders tonight: Ray's delivery service starts

Here's that number: 718-473-9636

Previously:
Ray's new Saturday evening delivery service starts tomorrow

Practice Run for Ray's Delivery Project and Other Things Ray (Neither More Nor Less)

Miguel, call Lilly with the partially shaved kitty!

Have you seen all those "Desperately seeking Miguel" fliers on Second Avenue? The person here met Miguel at Lit, and he lives on Second Avenue and Sixth Street...



I hesitate to even post something like this...given it's likely a viral markerting scheme for an HBO show or some urban art project... Still! I looked up the number convenitently listed on dozens of fliers on public sidewalks ... and it took me to this Web site (NSFW). This number brought me to Lilly on My Red Book, a place for "Escort, Massage, and Strip Club Reviews."

Funny what you can learn about someone on the Internet... Such as she has a "partially shaved kitty."



Anyway, Miguel! Call her!

Parks Department apparently doesn't care if you fall on your ass on the way to the Tompkins Square Park dog run

Where the term "sheet of ice" is acceptable to use. I've heard some people grumble about this... things like, "Would it kill them to throw down a little salt over here..."

Paying our respects to the pay phone

[My photo from Second Avenue at St. Mark's]

Interesting piece in the Times today ... Manny Fernandez does a day in the life of a vanishing part of our streetscape: The pay phone ... He talks with different folks using a pay phone on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens... A few facts from the article:

The Queens Boulevard pay phone is one of 16,358 on the city’s sidewalks, according to the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the city agency that regulates them. The total has steadily decreased as cellphone usage has proliferated — 33,335 in 2000, 28,971 in 2004, 16,358 today. There are thousands more inside bars, restaurants and private buildings that the city does not regulate.

Verizon, which owns many, though not all, of the city’s pay phones, operates about 7,000 on the sidewalks and another 18,000 in subway stations and buildings.

My favorite pay phones -- today, at least -- are at the Subway Inn.

Be my Valentine

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Panty time on Houston and Orchard, courtesy of American Apparel, of course.

New Web site writes about NYC store openings and closings (Launch Stalker)

Jeremiah has a history of Village Paper... and some fire theories. (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Melanie got a look inside the old Australian joint on St. Mark's that will soon be D.O.B. (East Village Corner...Musings by Melanie)

Eco-indulgent living on 11th Street selling well (Curbed)

A recap of Day of Ray (The Villager)

A shortage of bitters on the LES (The Observer)

Big Kisses on Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Aside from the peepee phone, of course: Public bathrooms in NYC (Untapped New York, via Patell and Waterman’s History of New York)

This photo by Ozier Muhammad in the Times pretty much sums up why we hate Bloomy's public plazas in Times Square. New York Traffic Experiment Gets Permanent Run.

Is the Bowery and First Street next to blow?

I'm not one for cheap scare tactics. But. STAY AWAY FROM THIS BLOCK! RUN! RUN!

Anyway, I didn't think much of this at the time. While walking on First Street toward the Bowery in the flurries howling blizzard that nearly crippled the Eastern Seaboard Wednesday afternoon, I saw six fire trucks roar up to just across the street from the Bowery Avalon Condo Building Thing.




No one looked particularly alarmed. The firefighters stood around a little bit. There was talk of a live wire and the salt on the street causing some sort of problem or something. The firefighters then cordoned off these two vehicles, that were apparently on top of some hot spot under the street. Then they left. Someone standing there watching was like, "That's it?" Someone else said, "That's all they can do for now until ConEd arrives."




Given the recent fires/explosions on Greenwich Avenue and Sixth Avenue, I haven't been back this way.

My counsel: When you go to the Mars Bar later, please approach via Second Avenue. I'll be this guy by the door.



And can I pee in this thing?


[Fire retardant suit via]

Welcome to the Yunniegle: Guns and Roses played at John Varvatos last night

A headline I never thought I'd write. Brooklyn Vegan has the scoop.

Ray's new Saturday evening delivery service starts tomorrow

You may have seen the menu earlier this week at Bob Arihood's Neither More Nor Less... Starting tomorrow, a group of Ray's devotees/volunteers are starting a new delivery service every Saturday from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. So now you can get all of Ray's faves brought right to your door... Two of the organizers — Kyla Raskin and Arianna Gil — answered a few questions for me:

Why did you decide to start this?

An idea about a delivery project had been circulating for a while. Emily Allan had proposed this informally to a bunch of neighborhood kids when she worked at Ray's, and when all the news about his back rent came out we decided it would be a good time to make it really happen. We all really care about our neighborhood, each of us grew up in the East Village and remember Ray's from our childhood. We continue to pay the place frequent late night visits. The idea of Ave. A without Ray's was too scary for any of us to sit by and watch it close. Hopefully this project will attract more customers to Ray's, and help pick up the slow winter nights.

How many delivery people are involved?

There are 10 delivery people signed up for shifts so far: Emily Allan, Kyla Raskin, Arianna Gil, Max Brown, Bobby Yankou, Max Aserlind, Nate Hohouser, Zamber Diekman, Robin Giordani, and Becca Sturcken. These are all volunteer shifts that happen every Saturday from 7 pm-5 am, in two, five-hour shifts with two people per shift. We have had several meetings to organize it and the turn out has been really positive. What's cool about the project is that it has attracted a pretty eclectic group of kids from the East Village.

What does Ray's mean to you?

Ari: Ray's is a place I love for several reasons. First being that it is one of the few things that I can clearly remember existing when I was growing up. I really grew to love it though when I started going there with my friends there late nights after shows and such. Fries and Milkshakes at 2 in the morning was beyond amazing. Most importantly though it is an East Village business that has a tight relationship with the community. I have seen so many businesses move into my neighborhood, even my block, that I never seen people from the community utilizing. The only thing they really contribute to is higher rent. Ray is a true old school New Yorker, he is so warm and positive and that really translates in his business.

Kyla: Ray's started as a place my friends and I would go to after our activity for the night (be it a concert, etc.) was over, but we weren't ready to head home yet. We'd stay for hours and hang out with all the East Village folks that have spearheaded hanging out around the neighborhood. Ray is always inviting, and always such a positive way to end a night — eventually he was teaching me how to make milkshakes (I wanted to impress a boy who loved his milkshakes), and later, my friend and I started spending time on the other side of the counter, helping Ray out in the after-hours shifts, making fries as the sun came close to rising.


Ray and Arianna testing out the phone system [Via Bob Arihood]


What was Ray's reaction to your idea?

When we brought Ray our proposal he received it really well. His main concern was if people were really going to show up for their shifts. We printed out an old school facebook of all the people involved to show him how many people had committed. We told him how they were all kids who grew up in the neighborhood, he said "oh beautiful" with a smile. The only thing he seemed reluctant about was that he'll get calls when he doesn't have a delivery person handy, but we set up the Internet phone so that that was impossible. Saturday nights, we'll always have one person sitting by the computer and one out making the deliveries. Our biggest fear is that it won't generate enough profit to be a substantial project, so CALL US! (1-718-473-9636).

For further reading:
Bob has updates on Ray receiving help with obtaining his Social Security...and other ongoing challenges at the store...

Just when we were starting to feel better about Ray's...

... a court document shows up at the store last night. Bob Arihood has all the details. As Bob writes, "It can likely be dismissed but Ray does have to answer at the clerks office claiming a court date to argue the details. Ray has paid his December and January rent but not his February rent. Ray needs to make some money this long holiday weekend to pay his February rent..."

Slum Goddess has more here.

Things that go hump in the night

We interrupt your Friday morning with the most important survey maybe of the morning. From NBC New York:

More than two-thirds of New Yorkers hear their neighbors bumpin' and grindin' at all hours of the night, but most don't confront them about it (yikes!) or call city hot lines to complain (we don't think 311 takes those calls anyway), a new survey found. The study, conducted by NYC homeowners' Web site BrickUnderground.com., suggests you and your significant other may want to muzzle your moans regardless of whether your neighbors whine about the volume of your sexual trysts. Nearly a fifth of those surveyed actually became aroused by the sounds of their neighbors getting it on.

Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

On Monday, we wondered if the new owners of the former Telephone Bar would keep those iconic booths out front...



An EV Grieve reader talked with some workers in front of the bar. "They informed me the landmark Telephone booths will be sold at an auction soon too. So sad."

Given that the new bar coming here is named after a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by an AA member to a newcomer in AA... telephone booths really don't fit the theme...


[Telephone photo via]

Your chance to clutter up Ludlow Street even more

New to the market ... 159 Ludlow, which is currently going for $2.5 million.

A 25 wide vacant lot which is off the corner of Stanton Street. The lot has 4,250 square feet of buildable air rights. The property is in a neighborhood that is undergoing lots of development. There is also a lot of demand for retail space for bars and restaurants and art galleries. This zoning allows commercial as well as residential development. This property is a prime development opportunity or a great user opportunity. For a user they can build a nice town house or use the lot for parking. The seller can get a variance for the buyer to build under the old zoning.

Buy this 11th Street apartment building, where the residents "quiet, respectful of the property, orderly, and pay timely"

Quiet? Respectful? Orderly? When can I move in!? This 1900-era tenement on East 11th between Avenue B and Avenue C is fresh on the market for $6.7 million.






Per the listing:

Perfectly Renovated Pre-War 20 unit Building

Renovated units: (11) free market rents
#of two bedrooms: (5)
Annual rents: $ 405,900
Boiler: 3yrs.
Roof: 2yrs.

Real Estate Taxes: $26,000 approx.
Water and Sewer: $1200
Gas Tank size: 1,080

Potential rent increases (9) apartments

Maintenance is very low due to the number of renovated (11) apartments and the new systems.
Tenants are quiet, respectful of the property, orderly, and pay timely.

But are the bargoers walking back to wherever they came from as quiet and respectful?