Veselka Bowery now hiring, putting out chairs

As the signs show here on Veselka's new East First Street location... the open call for the waitstaff and what not starts today...

And look — chairs!

No exact date just yet for the opening. But ... it's ... getting... closer.

Tonight in Tompkins Square Park: 'Pope of Greenwich Village,' permed hair

Tonight marks the sixth of the free music-movie nights in Tompkins Square Park. This evening's photoplay: One we're looking forward to watching in the comfort of our own home — "The Pope of Greenwich Village," starring Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts' permed hair. (C'mon, admit — it is a little distracting, that hair.)



And upcoming...
Aug. 11 — Kickass
Aug. 18 — Rosemary’s Baby
Aug. 25 — The Godfather
Sept. 1 — Stake Land

Here's the official website for the summer movies.

Community gardens main selling point for million-dollar condo on East Eighth Street

So this two-bedroom condo with a balcony... an in-unit washer-dryer ... Zuma soaking tubs ... Peitra Cardoza counters in the kitchen... is for sale over on East Eighth Street near Avenue C.

With all these fine amenities, what does the listing start with?

"Surrounded by community gardens and a half block from Tompkins Square Park, 331 East 8th offers high design and functionality in a stunning environment."

Noted a very special friend of EV Grieve: "It does sound better than 'surrounded by blocks that would have gotten you killed 20 years ago...'"

Anyway, it's going for $1.299 million... and you're in luck — there's an open house tonight from 5:30-7.

And now, a way to support a local business and buy (allegedly) the greatest pen ever

We turn the floor over to EV Grieve contributor Dave on 7th for a moment...

I just wanted to take this opportunity to further spread my message of the Fisher Space Pen, which I was able to purchase for $21.95 (a good price) at the Essex Card Shop, a great local merchant.

I recently lost my first one after many years of daily use. There is a joke that the Americans spent millions on creating a pen and the Soviets used pencils. It's better than a pencil. It never breaks down, it fits in your pocket. I'd buy you one if I knew you.

Woo! Free pens on Dave!

Because you wanted to see John Legend's half-naked model girlfriend in her Bowery home

Chrissy Teigen, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who lives with John Legend, let Esquire into the couple's home at 52E4 — the 15 stories of condo on the Bowery and East Fourth Street.

"Is that the Cooper Square Hotel or are you just happy to see me?"

There are plenty of other photos at Esquire featuring various states of boobage and buttocks.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Layers of the East Village by James Maher]

A mentally disabled man who lived in an East Village group home died after being left alone in a parked van (NBC)

Last night at Banjo Jim's (Marty After Dark)

The soul of the Chelsea Hotel is leaving the building (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

And here's who's buying the hotel — be sure to read the comments (The Real Deal)

A rally to save The Bialystoker Nursing Home on the LES (BoweryBoogie)

A history of The Saul Birns Building on Second Avenue (Off the Grid)

When you can be alone in McSorley's (Lost City)

Before the Mars Bar

[Photo by EV Grieve reader Shannon O'Toole]

At the Times this past weekend, Dan Glass checks in with an article on the artistic history of the Mars Bar. And there's this passage about the bar's debut:

When the bar opened in 1984, at First Street and Second Avenue, the facade was gleaming. “We thought, 'Oh no, another sushi bar; there goes the neighborhood,'" said Jim Sizelove, who was part of the rowdy art scene called the Rivington School.

As Glass notes, that crowd hung out at the bar/performance space No Se No at 42 Rivington St. near Forsythe. When No Se No closed several years later, "Mars became the unlikely new home."

Fortunately, there is a well-curated website for The Rivington School and No Se No. You can find it here.

A few shots from the site... showing the bar's exterior and interior...

Per an essay by Freddie the Dreamer: "Getting to No Se No on Rivington Street was a trip through shattered and burnt buildings, empty lots of scattered bricks bordered by sagging cyclone fences, once were homes but now were fields where whores and junkies were busy about. Respite from the desperation of the streets, warmed with thick smoke and black lights, cheap beer and whiskey, through the door of No Se No and the magic of life became an impending adventure."

There are also photos and background on The Rivington School Sculpture Garden on Rivington at Forsythe featuring Cowboy Ray. (Access that here.)

The garden-clubhouse was adjacent to Adam Purple's space. The city bulldozed the Rivington School Sculpture Garden in late November 1987.

[All images ©1980-2009 rivingtonschool.com and photos ©1980-2009 Toyo Tsuchiya]

BMW Guggenheim Lab provided with 'contemporary urban life' case study during opening night party

[Photo by Bob Arihood]

Bob Arihood was outside the gates for last night's opening night party here for the BMW Guggenheim Lab. He has a whole photo sequence here.

Anyway, the photo above is something for the think tankers to discuss while finding "forward-thinking solutions for urban life."

TenEleven is closed while awaiting a new liquor license

We certainly don't need any more bad bar news around here. However, on July 18, TenEleven on Avenue C near 11th Street went before the CB3/SLA committee for a license renewal "with complaint history."

And according to Eater's report, CB3 refused the renewal of "after complaints that it did not abide by stipulations they would sound proof, have security and not host promoted events or live DJs."

We don't know about any of these charges... According to the State Liquor Authority, who has the final say in these matters, TenEleven's license expired on July 31.

This message is on the bar's Facebook page: "Hey everyone! Teneleven will be closed this week as we await our liquor license renewal. Stay tuned!"

In any event, TenEleven is the kind of bar we need more of around here ... featuring the works of local photographers and artists ... and hosting the occasional musician as well as group events...

[Bottom photo via CitySearch]

The Wayland aiming for a fall opening on Avenue C

Just an update on the new bar coming to Ninth Street and Avenue C, where Banjo Jim's threw a closing-night party last evening.

The working name had been The James Daniel, after two of the grandfathers of proprietor Rob Ceraso and his business partner. The new name is The Wayland. (And they have a website up and running now.)

Ceraso said that they still plan to work with Banjo Lisa to continue to host some live bluegrass and American roots music at the Wayland.

He is aiming for a fall opening.

Subway looking for ways to make you fatter, jumpier

So on Monday, the Subway here on the Bowery started advertising some new items... Coffee! And! Pizza(?).

And why are there still grand opening signs up? This location opened at the end of 2009.

And just so you'd have to notice, the Subwayers hung the notices from the sidewalk shed outside the Whitehouse next door...

Not sure if other participating Subway shops are offering these items.

To be honest, I did walk into the new Subway on Avenue B over the weekend. For jolleys. And, the weirdest thing — one foot off Avenue B and it felt as if I'd been transported to the basement of Penn Station. I swear I even heard someone mention Ronkonkoma. I quickly left.

Previously on EV Grieve:
And this pretty much sums it up: City's 45,679th Subway taking over former Downtown Music space on the Bowery

Tonight at the BMW Guggenheim Lab: free screening of 'Blank City'

As you might know, the documentary provides an oral history of the No Wave Cinema and Cinema of Transgression movements in the Lower East Side in the late 1970s into the mid-1980s via interviews with Jim Jarmusch, Nick Zedd, John Waters, Deborah Harry, Fab 5 Freddy, Richard Kern, among many others.

And the film is playing this evening for free. Seating at 6; screening starts at 6:15. All this is followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Bette Gordon and James Nares.

"Blank City" director Céline Danhier answered some questions for me back in April when the film played at the IFC Center.

Bonus excerpt:

Do you think a creative movement such as No Wave Cinema is possible again in the East Village?

Of course the East Village is a very different place now and there is a lot more money here, but still I would have to say yes. I think art movements are very cyclical and I do think that a lot of that same raw energy and creative frequency is here. It is still what brought me to New York in the first place. Perhaps now that same youthful creative explosion is happening more in Brooklyn than the East Village, but the City is always in flux. As Jim Jarmusch notes in "Blank City," New York was initially a trading post and then a city grew around it and it is always constantly changing. There are new people coming in and out of the city and the East Village daily from all over the world and I think you can’t help but find inspiration from that sort of environment. All the ingredients are there for something new to happen in the future.

Read the whole interview here.

[1978 on the Bowery © GODLIS Used with permission.]

First look at the opening night party for the BMW Guggenheim Lab thing

So, here we are at the Opening Night Party ... I wasn't invited... but jdx was there, and he shared these photos...

It opens tomorrow to the public. At 1 p.m.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Guggenheim wants our rat-infested First Street lot

Residents pitching in to help refurbish First Street garden

Designs for urban life apparently don't include trees

NYPD unveils latest weapons to combat Lower East Side nightlife

OK, OK... it's the National Night Out, an annual crime and drug prevention event... Bobby Williams took these shots at the Campos Plaza off Avenue C...

And a reader sends these along from Stanton and Attorney ...

The reader notes how nice it was to see a lot of people enjoying themselves. BMW Guggenheim Lab — your move.

Second Avenue sinkhole still in play, though now without pesky trash can protecting your tires, teeth

Last evening!

This evening!

Noted

July 31

So. For starters, EV Grieve reader Grant sent this photo along knowing that, perhaps, this tree might not be eligible because a) It's artificial and on Greene Street at Waverly Place (maybe beyond EV Grieve's boundaries?) ... and b) well, there is no b. Regardless, there is the Sunday Times for verification.

It's not up to us to decide these things. So we sent the information to Gruber MacDougal, spokesperson for the International Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring and Summer (ICTTSS). Unfortunately, he is at the Anantara Hua Hin Resort & Spa in Thailand for an elephant polo tournament and unavailable for comment.

Finding the right 'street-smart attire' for tonight's BMW Guggenheim Lab opening party

As we pointed out last month, The BMW Guggenheim Lab Team is hosting an opening reception of the BMW Guggenheim Lab tonight. Including! An evening of music curated by Thurston Moore, long-lost footage from TV Party (1978–1982) presented by Glenn O'Brien, and summer fare by the Brooklyn-based Roberta’s.

Fine. All fine! However! This part of the invite is quite perplexing:

Street-smart attire

What is street-smart attire? Given the context of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, it means Urban Think Tank meets The Barney's Warehouse Sale ÷ Vincent Spano in "Alphabet City" + the Coreys. We've consulted with several in-the-know people, who recommend a combination of these looks:

Let us know how it goes over!

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.