Noted

A reader passed along this photo outside the new deli on Avenue B and Fourth Street. And presented without comment.

Psychic continues First Avenue sidewalk office expansion

We've been keeping tabs on the First Avenue psychic's growing sidewalk empire here next to Coyote Ugly.... check out these photos by First Avenue correspondent Blue Glass ...

Early October!



A little later!




This week!



As Blue Glass notes, "When she gets a couch — watch out!"

On second thought, maybe those snowflakes weren't so pretty this morning

Introducing EV Transitions

Well, apparently all that time EV Grieve regular Pinhead spent on the NYPL archives is being put to good use for our benefit! Check out EV Transitions, Pinhead's newly launched blog. Per the description:

Call it "Streetscapes Lite," after Christopher Gray's column in the Sunday NY Times. I apply my full geek powers and talent for time-wasting to researching the history of locations and buildings and other places in my neighborhood that I find interesting.

Meanwhile, EV Grieve, EV Heave and EV Lambo have all collectively sued Pinhead for violating our EV copyright!

Kidding... I love the site... though it will be better once he gets that full liquor license...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Here comes Walmart, again (Crain's)

An early look at the "New York Dive" documentary (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Saying goodbye to Ruby's (The Brooklyn Paper ... Amusing the Zillion has more coverage. ... ditto for Grub Street)

An Eighth Street video now and then (Flaming Pablum)

Protesting against an NYU tower (Curbed)

About that boyfriend-stealing Lady Gaga (Runnin' Scared)

A drink at Nice Guy Eddie's (Eater)

At the SPURA rally (BoweryBoogie)

EV Lambo's Midtown friend (Stupefaction)

And from [jdx] — extra place, squared

Cafe Hanover closed on St. Mark's

EV Grieve reader Ryan notes that the ginormous, 24-hour Cafe Hanover in the old Mondo Kim's space is closed right now...



The state already seized the then-two-month-old Cafe back in July.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2U (or U2) Karaoke is now open on St. Mark's Place; Hanover Cafe coming soon

[Updated!] Breaking: Rogue snowflakes spotted in our skies!

[Updated. Hail!]

What is taking over the Superdive space

The owner of the former Aces and Eights space at 34 Avenue A isn't the only person reaching out to the neighborhood.

Signs are up now at the Superdive space. The new owners of the space are on this month's CB3/SLA docket.




As you can see, the new owners want to meet the neighborhood tonight — with promises of cider and pastries. I sent Han Kao an e-mail Saturday morning asking for more details on what people can expect here, though he didn't respond.

However, a neighborhood power broker tells me the new owners are thinking something nouveau American cuisiney but aren't going to commit to anything until they meet with the neighborhood. The resident says while the new owners sound friendly enough, nearby neighbors would love a business that doesn't require a liquor license. One resident along Avenue A asked, "Why can't the landlord bring in a Yoga/Meditation center with a juice bar?" Noted another neighbor: "Great idea. Wrong lifetime."

An Avenue A now and then

Well, we continue to look through through the New York Public Library photo archives... EV Grieve reader Lambert Jack sent along these shots...

Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street from 1937...



...and today...



For more on the old Hollywood Theater, check out this post.

And facing south on Avenue A at Sixth Street from 1941...



....and today...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

The Mission Cafe has closed

Back in August, I noted that the Mission Cafe on Second Avenue was for sale... Perhaps the sale went through: The Mission is now closed.



But, as the sign on the gate says, you can hit their big sister cafe across the Avenue...

Mary Ann's remains closed

Last week, I noticed that Mary Ann's on Second Avenue at Fifth had been closed for "renovations." The place was expected to reopen Thursday, per their sign...



However, Mary Ann's remained closed during the weekend....



Here's a look inside on Sunday...



Dunno what this current closure is all about... As you may recall back in March, the state seized the restaurant for nonpayment of taxes...

Not such a "New Deal:" FDR pizza and 99-cent slices opening on Second Street

Another inexpensive pizza option in the East Village....at the site of the barber shop that closed last summer just a little east of Avenue A...

Skylarking

A shot to end the weekend from Blue Glass... taken on 10th Street...

Seems like 4:41

10th Street along Tompkins Square Park. And I'll keep making that Daylight Savings joke.

"He possessed knowledge that most people don't even come across today"

Las week, we passed along that sad news that Howard O'Brien, a longtime bartender at Sophie's, had died after an eight-month battle with cancer.

Patrick Hedlund has a lovely feature on Howard at DNAinfo:

When friends came to clean out the apartment of Howard O'Brien, the longtime neighborhood bartender who passed away last week, they found his Yale University master's degree diploma still rolled up in its original packaging.

Friends said that was typical for a man who, despite his extensive education and vast accomplishments, chose to spend nearly 25 years behind the bar at Sophie's on East 5th Street, one of the last true local haunts left in the East Village.

"Maybe he took it out to look at it once and then put it back in the tube. That's how nonchalant he was about something like that," said Bob Corton, 57, the founder and former owner of Sophie's, who grew up with O'Brien in Westchester and helped empty his East 3rd Street apartment last week.

"He possessed knowledge that most people don't even come across today."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Howard O'Brien, 1954-2010

Lost and Found

I found a pair of men's Hanes underwear on Avenue C near 10th Street. I tried them on, but they didn't fit. So if these are yours, just let me know!

9:02 a.m. or 10:02 a.m., Second Avenue, Nov. 7

Booze beat for the LES?

The Post has this "exclusive" item today:

Fed up with drunken antics on the Lower East Side, a neighborhood business association hopes to get off-duty cops to walk what would essentially be the city's first booze beat.

If approved by the NYPD, the moonlighting crime fighters -- in uniform -- would patrol the beer-soaked lanes between Houston and Delancey streets Thursday nights and on weekends.

They wouldn't be permitted to work inside or at the front doors of the many local gin mills, but they could lasso sidewalk lushes.

"We think having a cop on the beat . . . would really help nightlife establishments be quieter and safer," said Lower East Side Business Improvement District Executive Director Bob Zuckerman.

The Post also managed to speak to one person opposed to this idea.

And barflies voiced concern that the off-duty cops could become the fun police.

"This is a noisy city," music writer Nicole Wasilewicz, 25, said outside Pianos on Ludlow Street. "You come here to make some noise."

[Image via]

5C Cultural Center and Cafe needs support

The owners of 5C Cultural Center & Cafe at Avenue C and Fifth Street are back in court Wednesday to battle being evicted by their landlord... they can use some support...Willie Mack will be playing some Harlem-based jazz there tonight at 8. $5 cover.

Noted

Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place. Somehow, I still find this confusing.