EV Grieve

Thursday, February 18, 2010

On the up and up: The Museum of the American Gangster opening on St. Mark's Place

To the news release from Eric Ferrara

I am proud to announce the opening of the Museum of the American Gangster at 80 St. Marks Place (between 1st and 2nd Avenue), inside the historic Theater 80 building.

The Museum will be open daily for previews beginning Sunday, March 7, 2010. The official launch will be Spring 2010, date TBA.

The Museum of the American Gangster (MAOG) presents an opportunity to gain insight into the hidden, inside world of the American gangster through artifacts and stories told by those involved. We are working with a team of criminal authors, historians and related institutions, as well as family members and estates of pivotal crime figures, to create a museum that both casual fans and invested scholars could enjoy and benefit from. Beyond exhibits and artifacts, MOAG will offer dedicated research facilities, access to original source documents and articles, oral histories, workshops, walking tours, live performances, historic reenactments, lectures, movies and presentations.

MOAG's goal is to objectively and authentically present the role that crime has played in shaping the politics, culture, myth and lore of New York City. Criminals will not be glorified or sensationalized, nor will they be vilified -- rather, this institution intends to allow visitors insight into how and why criminals (on both sides of the law) chose the life they did. Where did they come from? What were their options? What was their relationship to the community? This is a chance to dig deep into the lives and minds of some of the country's most successful crime figures.

Here's that Gangster site.

For further reading on EV Grieve:
Raising awareness of the East Village/Lower East Side

Is the McSam hotel getting taller on Fourth Avenue?

Real-estate blogger Andrew Fine has been keeping a watchful eye on the McSam hotel seemingly stalled at Fourth Avenue and 13th Street... (It's the 11-story, 162-unit hotel brought to you and me by Sam Chang.) When I walked by the other day, I noticed something that I couldn't recall seeing before on the roof....

What is that, exactly? An observation tower to see if anyone from the DOB is coming for an inspection -- given the complaints from neighbors about the hotel being too tall? .... Despite the partial stop-work order, someone called the DOB four times in January saying that work continues....

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is Sam Chang's Fourth Avenue hotel too tall?

d.o.b. gets t.a.g.g.e.d.

Over at Michael Huynh's new French Vietnamese place on St. Mark's Place, some graffiti artists used the front for a tapestry the other evening...

...and just as quickly, the window was cleaned off...

We saw this happen with great frequency over at Caffe Buon Gusto on Avenue B and Fifth Street... graffiti would go up, some poor fool would remove it the next day... and the cycle never ended...until the restaurant just gave up, apparently.

Bleach patrol

Do you know who poured a gallon bleach on this car on Second Street last month? If so, $500 may be yours...

New Vietnamese restaurant coming in March for Second Avenue

At the former Sea between Fourth Street and Fifth Street...

..something called Le Da Nang...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dead water on Second Avenue?

EV Grieve's final contribution to Fashion Week coverage

Look! A Nicole Miller truck on Cooper Square...

Your chance to be a rock God

Spotted on Third Avenue near 12th Street. Hmm, the greatest thing since the Dead...the Stones...Linkin Park?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Block party

There was some kind of mini photo shoot happening on Second Avenue at Sixth Street in front of Block Drugs a little bit a go... For some reason, an attractive young woman in jean shorts jumping around in front of a photographer made people slow down and watch...

Noted

It was all about a bit of bed head and sexy, smudgy eyes on the Marc Jacobs runway. The designer wanted models to have a dirty look as if the hair and makeup had been slept in. “This look is what you’d see on a girl from the East Village or St. Germain des Pres — an existentialist with a modern twist,” said Nars Cosmetics founder and Creative Director François Nars in a news release.
[Via L.A. Times, image via]

Yankees pitchers and catchers report today; meanwhile, take me out to what's left of the old ballpark...

Today at noon, pitchers and catchers report to the Yankees complex in Tampa. Back up hereabouts, workers continue dismantling the old Yankee Stadium. I checked in at the The Demolition of Yankee Stadium Web site for the latest...(from yesterday):

[Photos by Bobby Jackson]

As Eric Okurowski at Stadiumpage.com noted:

"[I]t seems like they are making progress. At this point the seating plank for the field and loge levels has been demolished. The upper deck is basically intact except for what seems to be the last section. The stairwell 'pod' next to the left field end has been removed which caused that part to be demolished. Most of the exterior remains. If I were to guess, there will still be a considerable amount of the structure left when the season begins in April. However, if the pace is increased, it could be done before then."

Here are some rather haunting images that Eric took:

View the rest of his photos here.

In the Financial District, Mariah Carey helps usher in the start of the bikini bar war

For years now, the duff-and-tumble Nassau Bar on Nassau Street has ruled the FiDi Bikini Bar scene...

Now, though, a new player has emerged on the scene: Hook and Ladder II, sibling of the Kip's Bay Hook and Ladder, on John Street near Water Street (and right around the corner from the luxury rentals at 200 Water)...

According to the signs, this rather humdrum spot is celebrating a (rebranding) "grand re-opening"...

...featuring the "Hook and Ladder II bikini bartenders," one of whom looks a lot like Mariah Carey in a firefighter's uniform ...

(Oh, wait! That IS a picture of Mariah Carey... nice of her to lend her image to the gang at Hook and Ladder II!)

Perhaps this new feature at the Hook and Ladder II will make up for the loss of Gramaldi's as an amentity for those Wall Street boys looking at 200 Water Street...