Looking at Kmart's subtle new ad campaign

We nearly wandered into Second Avenue traffic to look at this new ad campaign from Kmart, featuring a site dubbed Show Us What You Got.

Apparently, Kmart's ad team nixed "Let's See That Vagina" and "Hey, This is My Dick."

Dov, it's your move.

When Paul Richard curated an art exhibit in the Astor Place Kmart

[Image via PaulRichard.net]

This talk about Kmart reminded me of Kmart's history on Astor Place ... That and the fact that I brought up the now-defunct Kcafe in the comments last week... here's an article from the Times, dated July 8, 1999, titled: "Corn Dogs, White Sales and . . . Modern Art?; In East Village, Atypical Kmart Gives a Nod to Irony as Its Cafe Becomes a Gallery."

The story looks at an art show by Paul Richard inside the Kcafe.

To the story!

You can put a Kmart in the East Village, but you can't keep the East Village out of Kmart.

When the behemoth discount store arrived on Astor Place in 1996 — much to the chagrin of many neighborhood eccentrics — corporate officials knew they would have to adjust. They expected the people with green hair and nose rings who now stroll through the aisles of polyester pants and plastic kitchenware. They knew the handy spacemaker shelf organizers would sell better than the pitchforks in the garden center. They axed the auto department and stocked up on tacky glittery nail polish.

So maybe it should not be so surprising to find an art exhibit on the walls of the KCafe.

And later!

In some ways, having a Kmart in Astor Place at all is a kind of self-parody. The teen-agers with tattooed arms and the actresses with cellular telephones strapped to their ears look odd among the stacks of faux-wood furniture and knockoff Knicks T-shirts. But while officials refused to release sales figures, [Kmart executive Greg] Abraham said the store increased revenue 25 percent from 1997 to 1998 by tweaking its inventory: More clothing for juniors, less of lines like Jaclyn Smith's. Lots of makeup and exercise equipment, not so much fishing gear. Paint sells well, as does Martha Stewart's line of bed and bath items.

"Whether you're a hip person or not, there's a lot of basic essentials that people need," Mr. Abraham said. "We're just trying to tailor to those."

You can read the whole article here.

Tonight

[Dave on 7th]




[8E]



[Bobby Williams]

[roger_paw]

Workers remove Astor Place token booth

Or "customer assistance booth." Since tokens are long gone... They broke it down and took it away this morning, as these photos by Elizabeth Frayer show...

We're on our own down here now. Woo!

First day back to school Dumpster of the Day

P.S. 63 this morning on East Third Street. "Daddy, why is the teacher's desk in the trash?"

More photos from this morning's Second Avenue manhole fire

Our friend Elizabeth Frayer of New York Natives sent along photos from this morning's manhole fire on Second Avenue at Seventh Street.

As she notes, "Con Ed emergency trucks, Second Avenue closed off, firefighters blasting water at a smoking manhole..."

Readers reported smelling smoke up to 10 blocks away.

[Updated] Breaking: Fire on Second Avenue at Seventh Street

Via @arielkaye

Waiting for more details... we heard four trucks were on the scene.

Updated: 9:32

Looks like a manhole fire... via @dens

DOH temporarily closes Via Della Pace

Multiple tipster report that the DOH paid a visit to Via Della Pace — Danilo Gallinari's favorite restaurant! — last night here on Seventh Street near Second Avenue. The inspection report isn't online yet.

Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Yesterday, we posted that comment from a reader who believed a cast member from "Friends" was the owner of 331 E. Sixth St., the now-demolished circa-1852 townhouse.

As the day progressed, a few commenters left hints pointing to David Schwimmer — you know, Ross.

And now, an anonymous commenter left us this juicy piece of detective work on the "Friends" post:

Gary Kress is the manager of 331 East 6th St Townhouse, LLC. That LLC is the current owner of this property. Gary Kress is also a name partner of Murphy & Kress, an accounting firm in Santa Monica that has numerous Hollywood types among its clientele. He has a relationship with Schwimmer through Dark House, a production company whose president Schwimmer is.

Indeed.

Well, as Muckety pointed out a few years back, Murphy & Kress is "an accounting firm that takes care of a clientele so exclusive that it refuses to confirm its clients. FEC filings indicate that Murphy & Kress handles financial affairs for Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Denzel Washington ... among other prominent figures in the film industry."

According to CorporationWiki, "Dark Harbor Stories, Inc. has a location in Santa Monica, CA. Active officers include David Schwimmer and Gary J Kress. Gary J Kress serves as the registered agent for this organization."

If all this does come back to Schwimmer... well, then he's your new neighbor!

Let's assume that this is his new home... We're wondering why:
• With all the available upscale townhouses on the market in the city, why did he buy this historic building only to tear it down?
• Didn't his people think tearing down this historic townhouse would raise the ire — and suspicion — of neighbors?
• What was so special about this particular location? Proximity to Indian food?
• How often will a busy person like Schwimmer actually even stay here?
• What does he have in store for the place? Indoor pool? Theater? Bowling alley?

What else do you want to ask?

Final destination for 11-17 Second Ave.

Been some time since we checked in on 11-17 Second Ave., the buildings — including the Mars Bar space — that will be demolished to make way for a 12-story apartment building. There are some whispers about why nothing much has happened here of late.

In any event, this past Saturday, workers were on the scene. When asked, a worker said they were removing the sewer and water lines from the property... a necessary step before demolition...

Expect to see some scaffolding soon. The City issued that permit in early August... not to mention the debris chute.

So all this is to say ... expect some scaffolding here soon enough...

And now, a look at the naked mannequins inside Veselka Bowery

So we saw people decorating here at Veselka Bowery last evening... dunno if this is for a special event of sorts... or if the new restaurant will look like an airport gift shop ...

Tonight in Tompkins Square Park: Rosemary's Baby (And he STILL has his father's eyes!)

Tonight is the make-up date for "Rosemary's Baby," which was rained out back on Aug. 18.



We're your friends, Rosemary. There's nothing to be scared about. Honest and truly there isn't!

So that's it for the free summer movies. "The Warriors" was my favorite. You?

Meanwhile! A look back at a few of the summer movie highlights ... Please view while humming "That's What Friends Are For."

July 1!

[Bobby Williams]

July 21!

[Photos by Bobby Williams]

More dessert for St. Mark's Place

A "coming soon" sign is up directly next door to Jane's Sweet Buns... And that looks like dessert to us...

More details to follow.

[EVG flashback] Allen Ginsberg's former 12th Street apartment now on the market

The item yesterday about Larry Fagin, who lives down the hall from Allen Ginsberg's former apartment, prompted me to revisit the following post. This entry first appeared on Aug. 25, 2010, and became one of the most visited EVG posts in our nearly four-year history.

The Allen Ginsberg Project recently had the chance to see Ginsberg's longtime home at 437 E. 12th St. — up on the fourth floor. As Jill reported at Blah Blog Blah back in June, Ginsberg's apartment — where he lived from 1975 to 1996 — is being renovated. (He had three apartments in the building: this one in which he lived; one in which he worked; and one that he sublet to friends and students. As NYC Songlines notes, he lived here longer than any other home in New York.)

Jill's friend, whose apartment looked into Ginsberg's kitchen, shared some memories in June about her neighbor here between First Avenue and Avenue A. "We didn't bother with each other much, but he'd take photos of my shirtless carpenter boyfriend when he'd use the fire escape for an impromptu workshop. You never knew who'd be gathered around his kitchen table: a PBS film crew, a minion of men with black garb and payis chanting Sabbath prayers, etc. I never took photos of him, but Allen with his robe open illuminated by refrigerator light is burned into my retina, for better or worse! After he left, I found myself missing him."

Peter Orlovsky, the poet and longtime partner of Ginsberg, stayed in the apartment up until about a year ago, I was told. (Orlovsky died this past May of lung cancer at a respite care center in Williston, Vermont.) The apartment sat empty for nearly a year before the renovations started late in the spring.

Here's a photo that The Allen Ginsberg Project took a few weeks ago... along with one of Ginsberg's own shots...




The Ginsberg caption reads: "View out my kitchen window August 18 1984, familiar Manhattan back-yard, wet brick-walled Atlantis sea garden's Alianthus (stinkweed Tree of Heaven) boughs waiving in rainy breeze, Stuyvesant Town's roof two blocks north on 14th Street - I focused on the raindrops on the clothesline." [Allen Ginsberg Estate]

I figured this apartment was probably ready to hit the market. I contacted Dmitry (Daniel) Kramp, Kramp Residential Team, City Connection Realty Inc., who has been renting some of the other renovated apartments in the building.

I asked him when the apartment might be available for rent and if the listing will include a mention of its former occupant. Kramp responded, saying he wasn't sure if Ginsberg's name would be referenced since he already had a suitor lined up for the apartment.

Later, though, Kramp sent along the listing, which includes a line about Ginsberg, as well as photos of the renovated space. The apartment is going for $1,750.







Harry Smith stayed here for nine months in 1985 while he recovered from an accident. The small spare room he used (dubbed "Harry's Room") has been converted into a bathroom.



Through the years, this building has been host to an array of poets, musicians and artists.... some of whom are in the photo below...



Via: Edith Ginsberg, Cliff Fyman, Bob Rosenthal, Allen Ginsberg, John Godfey, Steven Taylor, Peter Orlovsky, Greg Masters, Michael Scholnick, in front of 437 E. 12th St., where all except Edith lived. Nov. 14, 1982. photo: c. Stephen Shames.

Among the many other notables.... Arthur Russell lived here for many years... ditto for Richard Hell.

Despite all this history, I'm not sure what kind of spirit, if any, can still exist in such an extensively renovated apartment, a place where Ginsberg, Orlovsky and assorted guests such as Herbert Huncke and William Burroughs held forth around a crowded kitchen table.

As Jill's neighbor wrote back in June: "Soon I'll look out at yet another set of white mini-blinds behind cheap replacement windows, illuminated by halogen floor lamp, with soundtrack by yet another long-past-teenage idiot amping-up to "Baba O'Reilly" as irony sails over his head and out into the beer-soaked night."

For further reading:
Howl (Blah Blog Blah)

The Allen Ginsberg Project



Via: Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Louis Cartwright, Herbert Huncke, William Burroughs, Allen & Peter's new apartment, 437 E. 12th St., New York City, December 1975. Photographer unknown.

People like the Department of Transportation's Flaming Cactus installation, the Department of Transportation says

[Bobby Williams]

The Times has an update on Flaming Cactus, those neon zip ties on light poles on Astor Place/Cooper Square ... And EV Grieve readers make an appearance in the article:

To judge from a few of the anonymous comments on the EV Grieve blog [Ed note: WOO!], a couple of people would happily start the untying tomorrow. Others wonder about how the ties will look after a few seasons have passed. Or they worry that the needlelike loose ends of the ties might poke a child or a dog in the eye.

But Scott Gastel, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said on Friday that the agency had received no complaints so far; only compliments.

Read the whole article here. You have until next June to enjoy/hate it.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tying one on at Astor Place (32 comments)

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

How much has it been raining of late...?

Spotted on Avenue C and Ninth Street.

'One of the East Village’s last standing bohemians soldiers on'

The Times has a feature today on Larry Fagin, who continues to give private creative-writing lessons as well as edit and produce various small publications. Article excerpt:

Four stories above East 12th Street, down the hall from Allen Ginsberg’s old apartment, one of the East Village’s last standing bohemians soldiers on.

Mr. Fagin, 74 years old, second-generation beat, New York School veteran, friend of Ted Berrigan, publisher of Ashbery, lives with his wife, Susan Noel, also a writer, in adjoining rent-controlled apartments in the building near Avenue A.

The article notes that he pays $150 a month in rent "in what he calls the 'Chelsea Hotel of the East Village.'"

Read the article here.

RUMOR: Which 'Friends' cast member demolished the historic East Sixth Street townhouse?

Yesterday, we had the sad news about the total demolition of the circa-1852 townhouse at 331 E. Sixth St.

Per a commenter:

Rumor has it that this building was bought by a former "Friends" cast member, not sure which one. Funny how that show portayed outrageously unrealistic NYC apartment living. The reality is so much more outrageous!

Hmm, well, we have no idea about this one. Well, it could be true, though it likely isn't.

Still, let's blame LeBlanc.

The Hot Chicks Room lives on!

Last night, as we noted, the Upright Citizens Brigade opened its East Village outpost (dubbed UCBeast) on Avenue A at East Third Street.

So we stopped by to see what was what. And, on the wall in the bar area, in plain view of everyone walking to and from church, school (think of the children!), the leper colony...

The Hot Chicks Room lives!

Well, the sign is a nod to a UCB skit. (Watch it here.) As you're probably painfully aware from this past March, a concerned resident was ready to circulate a petition to have the "Hot Chicks Room" sign removed from above the doorway on Avenue A. As the resident said: "I just find it, for this neighborhood, very inappropriate and repulsive."

[The sign BEFORE UCB removed it]

And eventually the UCBers removed the sign. In a ceremony, UCB alum Amy Poehler, presented the sign to Earth Matter on Governors Island, where the sign is presumably now offending a compost learning center.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Your 'Hot Chicks Room' sign update

[Updated] Resident starting a petition to have the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign removed at the Upright Citizens Brigade (47 comments)

Breaking: UCB will remove the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign!

Enough is enough: 316 E. Sixth St. was the fourth pre-Civil War townhouse to be destroyed in the last year

While on the topic of 331 E. Sixth St., which is between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) noted, this is the fourth pre-Civil War building in the East Village to be demolished in the past year.

The others: 326 and 328 E. Fourth St. and 35 Cooper Square. Meanwhile, 316 E. Third St. is next on the kill list to make way for a luxury apartment building.

So let's send it right to GVSHP:

Enough is enough! The demolition of 331 East 6th Street only highlights the urgent need for landmark protections in the East Village. Several months ago the Landmarks Preservation Commission proposed two historic districts in the East Village, a critical first step in preserving the neighborhood's significant historic architecture. However, the Commission has given us no information as to when they will hold a public hearing on the proposed districts (the second of three official steps in the landmarking process). While we wait, more and more of the neighborhood's complex and colorful history is being destroyed.

How to Help:

Send a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission urging them to hold a public hearing on the East Village Historic Districts and calendar 316 East 3rd Street. A sample letter may be found HERE. Please send copies of all letters to gvshp@gvshp.org.