Chico's tribute to Mom on Avenue B and Houston

Yesterday morning, Chico and friends started their new mural on the liquor store on Avenue B at Houston...



They're also putting up new local ads on Houston...



Later yesterday, Chico had wrapped up his work...



This is a tribute to the owner of the great liquor store here. She passed away earlier this year.



No word yet on the fate of the store. Her nephew is weighing the options, I'm told. Scoopy had an item on this store. As he reported: "The nephew is currently trying to locate the paperwork for the old tenement, the upper floors of which have sat empty for some 20 years. 'Maybe there's some money in the building, a secret hideaway — could be, I didn't say there is,' Chico quipped. As for 'Mom,' he said, 'She used to give everybody credit. She was a hard-working woman. She would lock the gates. She was open till midnight.'"

Long dormant Dance Tracks soon to be home to a vintage clothing store

Looks as if the former Dance Tracks, which closed in November 2007, finally has a new tenant here on Third Street near First Avenue.



Here's what a source tells us:

-- This will become a vintage clothing store that buys and sells, kind of like Buffalo Exchange.

-- That the woman who owns the store also has other locations, kind of like Buffalo Exchange.

The source thought this could be part of a vintage store chain.

In any event, a worker was renovating the space the other night... and there are clothing racks brought in...





Last we looked, the rent here was $9,500 a month... and at one point, as East Village Podcasts pointed out, a wine store was opening here.

[Top photo via EVP]

Valentine's Day tragedies: When you mix up Gramercy Cafe and the Gramercy Tavern

We heard about this third-hand... So we can't verify the authenticity of it. But! A man from out of town was here this past weekend to be with his girlfriend. She is new to the city, and was interested in trying one of Danny Meyer's highly regarded eateries, such as the Union Square Cafe or Gramercy Tavern.

Anyway, some details were apparently lost in translation, and the couple arrived here at the Gramercy Cafe on 17th Street and Third Avenue for an early Valentine's Day weekend dinner on Saturday...




Not all was lost. After realizing their error, they made their over to the Gramercy Tavern on 20th Street near Park Avenue South... they eventually got seats at the bar...

East Village Tagging Committee finally welcomes 52E4 and the neighborhood's first gated driveway

To be honest, there's bit of a backlog. At the gated driveway at the 15 stories of condo on the Bowery near Fourth Street.

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

Bowery/Extra Place gets a little more luxurious... more appealing for anyone with a shoe fetish

Here in the Avalon Bowery Place complex on First Street and Extra Place, a Tashkent by cheyenne showroom has opened...

Meanwhile, Extra Place continues to maintain its proud heritage

Previously.

Predators lurk outside Michael Huynh's new eatery on St. Mark's Place

Michael Huynh's D.O.B. opens soon on St. Mark's Place at the site of the former Australian Homemade... They'll be serving French Vietnamese cuisine...

And look at those new scorpions adorning the wall...





A few doors down, I see a theme emerging...



Hell, of course.

On Avenue B, Zaitzeff is reaching out to neighbors about its new liquor license

Not sure what else to say about this flier from the burger joint other than what's on the sign..



...and that it seems like a thoughtful thing to do. For instance, I can think of a few bar managers/owners who promised to meet with concerned neighbors after opening... Flashing back now to August...

One of the organizers said that Superdive has agreed to a meeting with neighbors, and that CB3 and 9th Precinct officials may attend as well. No date was mentioned.

Lou Reed's Olympic Moment

If you're watching any of the Winter Olympics, then you've likely seen this AT&T ad featuring Gretchen Bleiler, 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist in Snowboarding...

And you know the song by Lou Reed...



And it's not the first time a VU/Lou Reed song has been used in an ad.

When models are off duty, they hang around here just like us!

The Post has a fashion spread titled "Model Off Duty" today... "When these beauties are off the clock, their looks still rock (and how!)" .... Apparently when they're off-duty, they're hanging around here... locations include Tompkins Square Park, Max Fish and Schiller's...





In the paper, each photo (shot by Tamara Beckwith), include a caption such as "You wish you could look this good sitting on a pool table." (The Max Fish shot.) My caption would be: "Cher called, she wants her outfit back."

Update: Melanie has a shot of the photo shoot at TSP back in January...and a photo of the model.

MTV looking for Lower East Side residents with "SERIOUS roommate issues"

Per Craigslist:

TRUE LIFE: I Have Roommate Issues

Has your living situation become a nightmare? Are you fighting ALL the time?? Got some SERIOUS roommate issues??


Email us DIRECTLY at:
--- roommate@mtvn.com ---

Tell us as much about your situation as possible. Also, please be sure to include your name, location, PHONE NUMBER, and photo.

Please note that it would help if you had ripped abs, big boobs and are incredibly stupid.

TV pilot now filming in the Tompkins Square Park dog run

In case you're wondering what's going on there now...

We are shooting a television pilot in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and we are looking for dogs and their owners for a scene in a dog park. We are shooting early tomorrow morning, February 15, 2010, so please respond ASAP with a picture of the dog, and any other relevant details.
There is no pay, but there will be FREE FOOD!!
You must provide your own leash, and it would probably be a good idea to bring a water bowl, as the filming will last until sundown.

That's the trouble with you readers, you know all the plots.

Oh. And watch the ice!

Valentine's Day cheese and bacon recap

Avenue A loses some shade

You know that nice tree on Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street, roughly in front of San Loco? This one:



It's gone. A resident who lives in one of these buildings said the tree was seemingly healthy. Then one day last week: There's a "guy in a cherrypicker outside my window with a chainsaw taking the tree apart."





And notice how much else has changed on Avenue A... that Google streetview shot is from spring 2009...

Noted

On Avenue C and Seventh Street.

Tagging trends

One more photo and we have enough for a trend! Your move, dickchicken!

The Bowery, 10:22 a.m., Feb. 15

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.