This week in discarded mattress epidemics in the East Village

If I took a photo of every discarded mattress that I spotted this past week, well, then I'd have a lot of photos of discarded mattresses to share...

Still, with these, you get the idea...

Dave on 7th sent these next three shots along... And Dave on 7th said, "never seen so many discarded mattresses as I have in the last week."

Seconded.

And I only spotted one mattress that had been wrapped in plastic per the City's wishes...this one of Avenue C at Second Street...

Inside the fire-damaged laundromat on Avenue B

On Tuesday night, a fire started inside the Laundry & Dry Cleaners at 44 Avenue B. Now residents want to know what what happened. Laundromat management believes some "oil-filled clothes" from a nearby restaurant were left behind in a dryer.. and were the cause of the blaze. Nothing conclusive, just a theory... Stacie Joy sends along some photos from the damaged laundromat...

Bold Bowery bums burglarize Bowery Beef

Grub Street has news that Bowery Beef has been robbed several times of late... Here's part of the email to Grub Street from Bowery Beef's Ray LeMoine, who says that since opening, "we've seen some spectacular bum crime."

Most notably, in the last week nights our register has been robbed three times. By the third attempt the take was approximately $6 in coinage--pretty baller. Last night they just took the whole register. This morning, just after opening, another cool junkie snatched aniPod from behind the counter while our barrista used the bathroom. In the last seven days crime has cost us over $1000. Of course, we are a unique operation. Our cafe is the entryway to the Bowery Poetry Club, known for open mic poetry slams, sweet late-night funk fusion concerts and "Ladies in Free B4 11"-style ragers. But they post a security guard in the cafe. So these are some bold junkies.

20 years later: An East Village riot and the closure of Tompkins Square Park

Paul DeRienzo presents the story of a riot on May 27, 1991 (Memorial Day) that was the pretext used by NYC officials to close Tompkins Square Park and evict a tent city of homeless people on June 3. The Park remained closed for the next 14 months...

DeRienzo created the following via his reports on WBAI radio (with images by Bob Arihood). He posted all these this week on the 20th anniversary of the events.









You can find more of his segments here. The Times has an article today on the anniversary here.

This weekend, the Howl! Festival; plus Allen Ginsberg photos

You can visit the Howl! website for schedules and stuff. There are more details at the East Village Howler blog.

Meanwhile, Allen Ginsberg was born on this date in 1926.

And here are two photos Ginsberg took of Jack Kerouac in 1953... you may have seen other shots from this series on Seventh Street...

...and in front of Vazacs on Avenue B and Seventh Street...

... and lastly, Ginsberg walking on, according to the Getty Images caption, 10th Street at Avenue B in June 1966.

2 views of Tompkins Square Park — from 1936 and 1942

Well, with the attention on Tompkins Square Park this weekend... here are some archival photos via the Parks & Recreation website.

First!

Looking southeast on Jan. 14, 1936... with St. Brigid's in the background...

And!

Looking northwest from Seventh Street and Avenue B, July 29, 1942

If you look closely on the bottom right of the photo, then you can see someone tagging "yuppies go home" on the entrance way...

An idea for Tompkins Square Park circa 1879

Continuing along... via the Parks & Recreation website, here is a rendering from 1879 of a music pavilion for the Park.

And what the bandshell, built in 1966, looked like at the time of its demolition in 1991.


[Bandshell photos via Flickr]

And the Big Finish

Lastly, from Parks & Rec, a photo simply titled:

'The Finish, Tompkins Square Park' Manhattan, 1906 Annual Report

Were these motorcycles torched because of a parking-space dispute?

Yesterday morning, someone apparently torched the two motorcycles that are always parked along the 200 block of East Third Street...

EV Grieve reader Gregory Patrick notes that the owner of the bikes often shuffles the motorcycles around to ensure himself a permanently available parking spot in front of his house.

And according to Gregory, it "looks like someone did not approve of such greed in these times of increasingly difficult available parking."

This would not have happened on another block of East Third Street...

At 35 Cooper Square — that's all, folks

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams took these yesterday afternoon. Mission accomplished!

Previously.

Your chance to hear about the demolition of 51 Astor Place on Monday nightt

On Monday night, you can hear about the demolition plans for 51 Astor Place — the former Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art building.

I haven't heard anyone upset by the demolition of what looks like some auxiliary college campus building circa 1973.

Meanwhile, you know what's coming next...

[Top image by Bobby Williams]

Cornerstone Cafe now open on Avenue B and Second Street

With an Italian flavor...

Previously home to La Bonne Bouffe.

Former East Village Burial Society Now a Hole in the Ground

I'm doing a little guestwriting over at Curbed today and tomorrow... I posted this earlier...

When we last checked in on 326 and 328 East Fourth Street in November, preservation groups were fighting a losing battle to landmark the former Uranian Phalanstery and First New York Gnostic Lyceum Temple, an artists’ collective and burial society.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission said the buildings didn’t merit landmarking status, giving developer Terrence Lowenberg and penthouse-making architect Ramy Issac the green light to add two stories to the top here between Avenue C and D.

The 170-year-old buildings have been undergoing a gut renovation in recent months. We caught a glimpse behind the plywood, and didn’t see much of the guts left.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Historic East Fourth Street artists' collective soon to be condos

Two side-by-side townhouses on East Fourth Street await your renovation

City doesn't give a shit about these historic East Village townhouses

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

More on the 'Dateline' clip and Bikes By George (The Villager)

How some Airbnb users are breaking the law (BetaBeat)

More of the Garment Center vanishes (City Room)

East River Ferry Service starting June 13 (Runnin' Scared)

About Cape Cod on Avenue A (Neither More Nor Less)

Elliott Pharmacy, circa 1898, closes in Gramercy Park (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

New Roma Pizza on Delancey closed for renovations (BoweryBoogie)

Details on the 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival (Nathan Kensinger Photography)

On Avenue C near Third Street, the local dry cleaner rather suddenly closed...

NYPD searching for suspect in several East Village robberies

Police are looking for this suspect who reportedly robbed several women in the East Village in mid-May. (DNAinfo)

Exit 9 exiting from Avenue A

After 16 years at 64 Avenue A, Exit 9 is moving. June 19 will be the last day here for the gifts-and-novelties shop. Per the sign on the front door, the store has outgrown its space.

No word yet on a new location...

Ping pong table 1, taggers 0

Over the weekend, we pointed out that someone had tagged the 2-month-old ping-pong table in Tompkins Square Park ... Well, those claims from the owner that this thing is indestructible are so far proving to be true... The table is tag-free again....

Previously.

Is this the beginning of an Avenue A food-truck invasion this summer?

We were having an email conversation with Dave on 7th last evening. He asked if we saw the Go Burger food truck on Avenue A near Ninth Street. Why, yes — we even took a photo...

Per Dave, "With all this talk about these new-fangled food trucks everywhere ... this is the first one I've seen east of Second Avenue except for the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck a couple of times. Could just be the beginning."

True. We can only really recall seeing Mister Softee on Avenues A-D.

Meanwhile, Bobby Williams took shots of the DessertTruck on A near Seventh Street on Tuesday evening...

In any event, I kind of thought that the food truck revolution had somehow bypassed this part of the East Village. But there doesn't seem to be any stopping the food truckers. Maybe just $5-a-gallon gas?

Bonus!
Photo of Luke's Lobster truck refilling on Seventh Street...

Joe Strummer mural on Seventh Street helping sell an apartment — on 11th Street

In an otherwise innocuous ad for an expensive apartment, one thing stands out...

The three-bedroom unit in question is on East 11th Street. Not exactly close to Seventh Street and Avenue A, where the Joe Strummer mural resides. Perhaps the realtor should have "The Magnificent Seven" playing on the site too.

Bowery Bar unveils new awning

If anything, it will provide a nice shelter for people waiting for the southbound M103 in the rain.