[EVG Flashback] Shopping in the East Village — then and now

On occasion we'll revisit an old EVG blog post ... like this one from Aug. 14, 2008...

Here are some archival photos I came across showing locals doing their shopping on Avenue C and Sixth Street in April 1950.



Here's a photo I took the other day showing locals doing their shopping on Seventh Street near Avenue B. 

Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?

Earlier today in Tompkins Square Park... photos by Bobby Williams...

You are forgiven

A little something off "Sandinista!"

Closing delayed at Banjo Jim's

Banjo Jim's on Avenue C was set to close this past Tuesday night... however, as this message on the venue's website shows... the place will remain open a little longer...

C'mon, people — look sharp! The Google Street View car is still around

[@jwegener]

Bob Arihood spotted the car on Wednesday on Seventh Street at Avenue A. Now, as of this morning, the car has made it all the way over to 13th Street and Second Avenue...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition ladder

[From a recent false alarm on Eighth Street]

A dramatic arrest outside Tompkins Square Park (Neither More Nor Less)

Ah, Crusty Meadow (East Village Corner)

Selling off some punk memorabilia (Stupefaction)

The P&G closes one last time (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Free sunglasses if you rent this crummy LES apartment (BoweryBoogie)

The majestic pool at Chelsea’s London Terrace (Ephemeral New York)

Bodega cats! (Runnin' Scared & City Room)

A tribute to the clocks of NYC (The Times)

Psychedelic Animation of Ken Kesey’s First Magic Trip on LSD (Wired)

Lady Gaga 'wants to play Amy Winehouse in Hollywood biopic' (NME)

Dave on 7th noted that workers were putting up a new banner outside the St. Brigid School on Seventh Street at Avenue B...

Or else there were testing new way to discipline students...

And noted. Those bastards.

Is Fine Fare trying to kill this tree?

A reader sends along these photos from in front of Fine Fare on Avenue C at Fourth Street. According to the reader:

"Fine Fare did some repairs to their sidewalk and the workers just dumped the leftover cement onto the tree bed and left it there. This has been there for at least 2 weeks. This is a huge old majestic tree. I don't know what effect this is having on the tree, but it can't be good."

Nublu has (temporarily) moved — to OUTER SPACE!

A tipster passes along this shot... Nublu has temporarily moved from its current home at 62 Avenue C... The eclectic music club will be at 24 First Avenue for the time being...

Why? Here's Nublu's message to fans on Facebook:

"hey friends, the liquor issue is taking longer than expected so we're packing our bags and moving to a new temporary location (for at least 2 months) at 24 First Avenue btw 1st and 2nd street. The space is cool, low key and fits our vibe, and we're bringing our staff, our bands, our DJs and our spirit to this new location we call NUBLU IN OUTER PLACE. We're going to be open every night starting Wednesday."

Let's home they come back soon... Avenue C is losing its music... Banjo Jim's is gone ... TenEleven is waiting for a liquor license ...

For more on Nublu, read this piece in the Times from June.

Street party protest tomorrow night will include stop at the BMW Guggenheim Lab

John Penley passes along word that, after tomorrow's show in Tompkins Square Park, there will be a "LET EM EAT CAKE/EAT THE RICH/ NO COMFORT ZONE street party" starting at 8 p.m.

First stop: the Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street near Second Avenue.

"This street fiesta will feature poetry by LES Jewels, music by Hank who plays on the street and others TBA. Afterwards we will go the the Mars Bar for beer. The Mars Bar is closed so it will be street. F the developer Donald Capoccia we will roast and eat him with bbq sauce."

Updated: In the comments, Penley notes that the protest will include a stop at the BMW Guggenheim Lab.

[Photo from the July 2008 protest outside the Economakis Dream Mansion]

Plan B for the former Graceland space

Yesterday, we looked at the status of 34 Avenue A ... today. let's check in on 24 Avenue A, where Graceland closed in April 2010.

Since then, not much has happened. Well, aside from Frank Prisinzano, who owns EV Italian empire Frank, Lil' Frankie's and Supper, wanting to open a fast-food Italian joint here. CB3 never approved the application. (Read that drama here.)

Meanwhile, RyanAvenueA tells us that the storefront has been been chopped into two pieces this week. (Signs went up in November showing how the space could be hacked into three spaces.)

For rent signs remain over the two spaces. And that new, smaller space makes us nervous — looks exactly the right size for, say, a Subway (sandwich shop) or Papa John's. Or Dunkin' Donuts.

Wouldn't you rather have had Raguboy?

Previously on EV Grieve:
"All uses considered" at former Graceland

More here.

The Chillmaster

[Photo taken Wednesday by Bobby Williams]

For further reading: Marty After Dark

City gets results from digging through the trash

Two weeks ago, we noted watching a sanitation department official sort through discarded mail in the trash can on the corner of Avenue C and 11th Street.

So, yeah the city can and will fine you $100 for throwing trash from your apartment into city-owned trash cans on the street.

EV Grieve reader thisboyshouts passed along this yesterday: "Someone in my building, a couple of doors down from that corner, got a ticket this morning for doing exactly that from the sanitation dept. It was tacked on to the front door of the building for all to see. The SD has the address, you think they could at least mail it..."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The city is working hard to fine you for throwing away household trash

'Rent is too Damn High' guy facing eviction because his 'Rent is too Damn Low'

That's the story the Post has today. In which former gubernatorial candidate Jimmy "The Rent is too Damn High" McMillan says he is being booted from his rent-controlled ground-floor apartment on St. Marks Place, where he pays $872.96. He has had the place since the late 1970s.

Meanwhile! The building's owner, Lisco Holdings, claims that McMillan has violated his lease because he doesn't really live here — he actually lives in Brooklyn. McMillan says this is his office and party HQ.

To be continued. Expect more drama and bad puns.

Read the whole article here.

Looking at the incoming Agave Azul on First Avenue

Several people have asked us what's going on with the former David's Bagels space at 228 E. First Ave. near 14th Street... workers began renovating the space back in April 2010.

Soon enough, this will be home to an "authentic home-style Mexican" restaurant called Agave Azul. CB3 OK'd a liquor license for them this past April.

And how's how things look inside Agave Azul yesterday, via a photo from blue glass...

... and Crazy Eddie sent along this shot a little earlier...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will 228 First Avenue become part of Taco Town?

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Outside St. Brigid School on Avenue B yesterday ... FYI — I have dibs on it today from 1-1:16 to watch 8 Minute Abs With 8 Minute Buns.

Exit 9 on schedule to open new Avenue A store next month

After 16 years at 64 Avenue A, Exit 9 packed up and moved away in late June ... but, as Jen Doll reported at Runnin' Scared, they were only moving across the street to the former Urban Roots space.

So, work continues in their new home.

Per the store's Twitter feed:

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exit 9 exiting from Avenue A

Smiles, everyone, smiles! The Google Street View car is in the East Village!

Bob Arihood caught the car in action yesterday. (Neither More Nor Less)

Report: Man in van allegedly selling narcotics leads police on 10-block chase

From the NYPD Daily Blotter today in the Post:

An ex-con drug dealer on parole fled from cops in a stolen minivan after allegedly being spotted peddling narcotics near Tompkins Square Park, authorities said.

At 7 a.m. on July 27, officers approached a 2008 Chevrolet Uplander on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A and asked the man behind the wheel, Robert Ball, to step out, court papers state.
But Ball, 37, hit the gas and almost clipped a sergeant, cops said.

With police in pursuit, he sped for almost 10 blocks, blowing red lights, before getting caught in traffic, cops said. He was cuffed, and a license-plate check revealed the minivan had been stolen that day, court papers add.

Former Sin Sin space back on the market

Earlier today, a tipster noted that the city slapped a stop-work order on the under-renovation space on Second Avenue at Fifth Street that once housed Sin Sin.

Apparently the bakery-cafe-bar concept is dead. The space is now on the Tower Brokerage site ... currently asking $15,000 per month.