EV Grieve

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

A fine Sunday in Tompkins Square Park (Neither More Nor Less)

Friday afternoon with Hank Penza outside the Mars Bar (The Gog Log)

CB3 making it easier for local companies to hire LES residents (The Lo-Down)

Remembering downtown's independent record stores (Ephemeral New York)

The New York of "American Psycho" (Scouting New York)

Last night at the Chelsea Hotel (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

The photography of Arlene Gottfried (Runnin' Scared)

Burkina NYC moving from Houston to First Avenue and Fourth Street (BoweryBoogie)

Lunch at the Brindle Room (East Village Eats)

When the 2nd Avenue Deli will open its UES location (Eater)

And as EVGrieve reader Atron noted, a Jim Joe tag made a guest appearance on the most recent episode of FX's "Louie" ...

About the short life of the 'Walk Man' in Tompkins Square Park

Late yesterday morning or early afternoon, some one or some thing rammed the 3-day-old "Walk Man" sculpture in Tompkins Square Park, as first reported by Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo.

Our own Bobby Williams was on the scene... and captured the aftermath...

Figuring that this might become an ongoing art-vs.vandal battle, artist Scott Taylor decided to remove the sculpture and take it home...

Now all that's left of "Walk Man" — a few holes in the ground.

Based on anecdotal research, the reaction to this (roughly!) falls into four groups:

• Now this is the East Village that I remember!

• It's too bad that we can't have anything nice here.

• Fucking crusties.

• I don't really care.

A sampling of the comments from the 17 left on our post yesterday:

Oh boo, what goddamn lowlife had to knock it over? I liked that thing; a spot of pure white amidst the greenery and dirt of the park.

IT WAS THE RATS. THE RATS, I SAY!

I like to see art in the park, but this sculpture is beyond wack. It's just so corporate and inoffensive and unimaginative and BLAH.

The sweater livelied it up ... the ramming was probs rude, yes, but my god -- toughen up Walk Man! You are the symbol of walking in NYC traffic and you wee-wee-wee all the way home at the first sign of hostility? Where is your street cred, man? The old "WALK/DONT WALK" letters would never put up with this shit! If they got rammed they'd fucking stand up the next day, battered and ready to brawl!

I'm sure there's some nice office building in Midtown where you can rest peacefully next to the security desk. I can't promise that security folks won't also find you super lame, art-wise, but at least you'll be safe. From sweaters.

You have another 10 months left to discuss the Flaming Cactus at Astor Place

[Photo by JCN. Find more here]

Speaking of art, the zip-tie installation — Flaming Cactus — that went up over the weekend prompted more comments here than I expected. (Read the post here.)

Meanwhile, someone connected with the projected left this comment:

Hello all. I was part of the installation. I just wanted to chime in to assure readers that WE, the group that installed them, are responsible for the removal of the zip ties once the installation has run its course. ANIMUS was commissioned by the DOT to install Flaming Cactus at Astor Place after seeing it on Governors Island during FIGMENT. Flaming Cactus doesn't aim to be highbrow; the underlying goal is just to demonstrate that everyday objects can be transformed into something interesting just by combining them in unusual ways. It's art on a shoestring budget. Those of you that like the piece - enjoy. Those of you that don't — suck it up, we'll be back to take it down in June 2012.

123 Third Ave. is already cracking up

Here at the home of million-dollar condos at 14th Street and Third Avenue. There's a nice crack along this section on 14th Street where the Capital One Bank will reside one day...

Mysteries: Why was there a Sizzler balloon outside 35 Cooper Square?

So we spotted this yesterday wedged under the fence at the former 35 Cooper Square — a balloon for Sizzler! The nearest Sizzler is in Forest Hills.

Perhaps developer Arun Bhatia had Sizzler officials here to sell them on anchoring the ground-floor space of whatever goes up here. Or! More seriously! It's just a random balloon that ended up here. Still.

Mediterranean-style bakery opening on East Ninth Street

Yesterday morning, Dave on 7th passed along word that a new bakery is opening on East Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. (433 E. Ninth St. to be exact.) Looks like the name will be Zucker.

Meanwhile, DNAinfo checks in with a story... turns out the space will be a "Mediterranean-style bakery serving up gourmet cookies" run by Zohar Zohar.

According to DNAinfo, "Zohar attributes her style of cooking to her grandparents — Polish and Czechoslovakian Jews who brought a European sensibility to their cuisine when arriving in to Israel." Her friend Johnny Iuzzini, the head pastry chef at Jean Georges, is serving as an adviser.

Something Sweet had nothing to do with the loss of the Russo's mural

As we noted the other day, workers painted over the Russo's mural on East 11th Street. Blue Glass talked with the folks at Something Sweet. Because the mural was technically on their wall, there's a perception that Something Sweet ordered the paint job. Apparently several people have said unkind things about this to the Something Sweet staff.

Anyway, Something Sweet had nothing to do with the makeover. The building's landlord did. As for a new mural, the staff at Russo's was fairly noncommittal on the issue.

Hopper Lives ... in Open Road Park

The folks at NYC Streets & Eats sent us this shot of the Hopper Lives Vans ad going up in Open Road Park off of East 12th Street...Scoboco also passed along a link to this short film about the painters who bring ads like this to life...

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.

And a close-up of the Dennis Hopper ad...

Monday, August 1, 2011

Sinkhole forming on Second Avenue at Seventh Street

Uh-oh! We have another sinkhole forming on Second Avenue at Seventh Street... (We had one here two summers ago...)

... this one promises to get serious enough to attract corporate sponsors for the City.

Anyway, be careful.

Flashback to August 2009!

Second Avenue sinkhole gets first celebrity endorsement

Tourists around the Fountain

Just a slice of Tompkins Square Park life this afternoon... photo at Temperance Fountain by Bobby Williams.

Noted

samo sends these along from Houston and Attorney.

Which reminds me: Whatever happened to EV Lambo?

Breaking: 'Walk Man' pulled from Tompkins Square Park 3 days after installation

Last Friday, artist Scott Taylor unveiled "Walk Man," his new sculpture for Tompkins Square Park. Yesterday, Agata Olek put a sweater on him.

And ~~last night?~~ late this morning or early afternoon? Someone (or thing!) rammed the sculpture and knocked it over, Patrick Hedlund is reporting at DNAinfo.

Per DNAinfo: “I’m going to pull it,” Taylor said from the scene Monday afternoon, noting that he planned to rent a truck to cart the 7-foot-tall steel figure back to his Lower East Side home. “I’m afraid to put it back here.”

Looking at the slim August CB3/SLA agenda: Heathers up for renewal; Plump Dumpling wants beer and wine

The CB3/SLA docket is now live... and it's pretty lean — 16 items in all.

And, for people curious about a new place from Mars Bar owner Hank Penza, there's nothing on this agenda that fits that description ...

The meeting is next Monday at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence - 200 East 5th Street at Bowery

And now a few of the items of interest:

Renewals with complaints
• Heathers, (Ariel, Inc) 506 E 13 st (op)

Heathers went before the CB3/SLA committee in September 2009 ... and there was a lengthy discussion. The Times checked in with a lengthy article in January 2007 about the ongoing noise issues between the bar and neighbors.

Owner Heather Millstone opened Veronica People's Club in Greenpoint last summer.

Applications within Resolution Areas
• St. Marks Red House, TDD & G LLC, 126 St Marks Pl (wb)

The former Why? Curry space ... now Lychee... soon to be called The East Village Red House. We'll have more on this one later.

Alterations/Upgrades
• Preserve 24 (Aegis Holding Houston LLC), 175-177 E. Houston St (alt/op)

• BOP (Peels) Radley Realty Corp, 325 Bowery (alt,reorg)

New Liquor License Applications
• Plump Dumpling (Big Dumpling Corp), 174 2nd Ave (op)

The Plumpsters, who brought in Yummy House, are looking to serve alcohol ...

• Basketball City, Ark Basketball City Corp, Pier 36 at 299 South St (op)

Wow. This one will whip up some drama. This is the former Office of Emergency Management ... The Lo-Down has background on this controversial rec center...

• TBD, Asian Chef Express Inc, 96 3rd Ave (wb)

• TBD, Ichibantei LLC, 401 E 13th St (wb)

This is the the eatery that serves a range of Japanese "soul food" just east off First Avenue ...

• Hot Kitchen (Hot Kitchen Inc ), 104 2nd Ave (wb)

This is the former Matsukado ... that closed six months after taking over the old Baluchi's space ... Hot Kitchen? Perhaps this will be the "modern Australian" place from Morgan McGlone, the former private chef and caterer on the Upper East Side?

• Quality Meats Downtown (Mozzarella Sticks LLC), 199 Bowery (op)

BoweryBoogie has the scoop on what's in the works for this place.

Banjo Jim's closing after tomorrow night

As we first reported on July 14, Banjo Jim's will be closing... and the space on Ninth Street and Avenue C will become an "artisanal neighborhood cocktail bar" called The James Daniel.

As the sign shows out front, the bar will shutter after Tuesday night's show...

And per the Banjo Jim's website...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Banjo Jim's space to become home to an 'artisanal neighborhood cocktail bar' (47 comments)

Is this the beginning of the end for the Mystery Lot?

An alarmed EV Grieve reader/Mystery Lot aficionado has noted the arrival of workers testing soil samples to monitor the water level...

Or else someone stole this truck and simply tossed it over the fence? Probably not. In any event, such exploratory drilling is required prior to the start of any construction project. The lot has sat vacant since workers demolished the shell of the old Jefferson Theater in 1999.

Builtgross Associates, a subsidiary of Milstein Properties, owns the property. Anthony Bergamo, vice chairman of executive planning for Milstein Properties, told the Local East Village back in March that they didn't expect anything to happen at this site in the near future.

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation: That empty lot on 13th Street

Another view of the Mystery Lot

Claim: No construction until next year at 35 Cooper Square; empty lot all ours for remainder of 2011

In case that you missed this Friday afternoon... Goggla told us that the boards and sidewalk shed were coming down at 35 Cooper Square.

And here's what the lot looks like now...

Also, a worker told her that new construction is not set to happen until next year.

Bonus photo! Leftover food.

Do you know who stole Westville East's bench?

Sorry... a little late on this one... just noticed these flyers in the window here on Avenue A at 11th Street... by now the bench has probably already crossed state lines...

Regardless, I'm going to need to know where each of you were on July 13 at this hour. Alibis please.

Also! While we're at it, did you steal this chair from outside the Cure Thrift Shop on East 12th Street? Someone did, according to the Cure blog.

Cure photo and tip via Neighborhoodr.

Latest taker for former Mondo Kim's — NYC Tofu House

Cafe Hanover quickly flamed out at the former Mondo Kim's space on St. Mark's Place ... Now something called NYC Tofu House is ready to give the place a whirl...

Last we looked, the rent here for the two levels was an amazing $50,000 a month. That's a lot of tofu.

And now, another place to shop for tattoos and tobacco accessories on St. Mark's Place

Speaking of new businesses on St. Mark's Place ... there's a new tattoo-tobacco accessories-piecing shop called NYC Kulture opening in the St. Mark's Strip Mall that also houses Chipotle and Supercuts...