A look back: East Village Summer 2011

Today is the first day of fall. Or, if you wish, autumn. But fall really sounds less pretentious.

This past summer, we posted 1,036, uh, posts.

Here are just a few of them.

JUNE: (311 posts)

At the Howl Festival...

--

Three weeks with a pop-up piano in Tompkins Square Park...

[Bobby Williams]

--

Another summer of free concerts in Tompkins Square Park ...

[High Teen Boogie, by Bobby Williams]

--

First word viaThe Villager that the St. Mark's Bookshop was struggling...

[JVNY]

--

We learned about the doorshitter...

--

Famed camouflager Liu Bolin camouflaged himself in Kenny Scharf's mural on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall ...

[Photo by Samdarko Eltosam]

--

A June afternoon outside the Mars Bar...

[Photo Bobby Williams]

--

The former 35 Cooper Square on June 3 — mission accomplished!

[Bobby Williams]

--

The travelers/crusties returned...

[Bobby Williams]

--

Open Road Park closed ... and reopened ...

JULY: (316 posts)

Introducing the Flaming Cactus of Astor Place...

[Bobby Williams]

--

Walk Man quickly came and went...

--

Redrum went missing... and was found...

--

How hot was it...?

[EV Grieve reader Rita]

--

Longtime bartender John Leeper retired from the Grassroots Tavern ...

--

It was (is!) the TSP Ratstravaganza...

--

Did we mention that it was hot?

--

We somehow survived Smurfs Week ...

--

A-ten-hut! ...

[Bobby Williams]

--

Banjo Jim's closed ...

--

Farewell, Mars Bar ...

[Goggla]

--

Celebrating the life of d.b.a. owner Ray Deter, who died July 3 following a bicycle accident...

[jdx]

--

A memorial for Monica Shay ... who was shot and killed at the Pennsylvania country home she shared with her husband Paul.

[Bobby Williams]

AUGUST: (409 posts)

The BMW Guggenheim Lab opened, think tanking ensued.

[Photo by Bob Arihood]

--

At the 'Let Them Eat Cake/Eat the Rich/ No Comfort Zone street party' ...

[Photo by Gil Robichaud]

--

The NYPD went all out to find the people who beat up Gavin DeGraw ...

--

Cooper Union chopped down some trees at 51 Astor Place...

--

Earthquake...

[AC]

--

Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc in the aisles at Key Food...

--

..and, much worse, neighborhood parks and community gardens...

[Dave on 7th]

--

7-Eleven began its Slurpeevasion on the Bowery...

--

See you next summer ...

[Bobby Williams]

Community center and supportive housing project underway on East Ninth Street

Yesterday, workers began putting up the sidewalk shed at 710 E. Ninth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D... at the Henry Street Settlement Day Care #3 building...

We reported on this project in May 2010.

The project includes a community facility space on the ground floor and in the basement... the upper levels will house 46 units (28 studios and 12 one-bedroom apartments). The housing will serve homeless young adults and young adults aging out of the foster-care system. An additional 12 units will be set aside for young single adults with a child.

The project is a joint venture among Phipps Houses ... University Settlement/The Door ... and Loisaida, Inc. SLCE Architects created the plans...

And proof that not every single new development in the neighbor is for the wealthy...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Community center and supportive housing coming to East Ninth Street

[Photos by Bobby Williams]

How Cooper Union has been giving back

Many East Villagers are unhappy with Cooper Union these days. There's been a lot of talk about what they're taking away from the neighborhood. Like turning Astor Place into an office park. Or perhaps being unsympathetic to the plight of the St. Mark's Bookshop. But let's be fair. Cooper Union has been giving to the neighborhood...

Such as with the free outdoor air conditioning. (We wrote about this here.)

...free outdoor urinal...

...and free place to rest for a moment...

About the sign to the bicyclist who hit the woman on Avenue A and Third Street

Have you seen this sign on Avenue A at Third Street? Probably a good story behind it, huh?

Well, yes there is! And our friend Jen Doll at Runnin' Scared has the details. It concerns Cynthia Wright, an actress who also teaches at NYU. A cyclist clipped her while she was crossing Avenue A. She sustained multiple injuries, though was able to continue on her journey. The police on the scene made some anti-Bloomberg cycling comments. The cyclist apologized. And now that Wright, a cyclist herself, has had some time to rest and think about what happened...

Her hopes in placing the sign are that the guy, who she describes as a "handsome young hipster guy" with dark hair, helmetless, and probably in his 20s, riding a black bike with a thin frame, will see it and contact her. "It's come to me since," she said, "If I were he, I would be willing to help this person by buying her a new pair of pants, help her with having to see the osteopathic physician, and the other work."

So, if you're reading this "handsome young hipster guy," then you may have to buy some pants and what not.

Read the whole post here.

The Porch moving on from Avenue C

Very reliable sources tell Dave on 7th that The Porch, the summery, two-level bar between Eighth Street and Seventh Street, is relocating to another part of the city. We stopped by last night. The place was closed. And no one was answering the phone.

Never been here ourselves. Kind of knew what it was all about. Per the Porch website: "More than a bar or lounge, 'The Porch' is an oasis for the mind, body and spirit. One step inside and you will be transported to a magical world that simultaneously elicits nostalgic memories of swinging on your grandmother’s porch swing while sipping a cool glass of lemonade as a child and of traveling to a distant, mysterious and romantic land."

[Dramatic pause]

Oh, and the source says that an Indian restaurant is taking over the space. At least that's what the rumor is along here.

Veselka Bowery, now with awnings

Look. Awnings! Still looking at an early-mid October opening. Probably.

Holy smoke! Cigar shop slated for 24 Avenue A

RyanAvenueA passes along this tip about one of the newly created storefronts at 24 Avenue A: Cigar shop.

As mentioned Wednesday, the revived Houston Deli & Grocery is taking over the corner space at Second Street...

Oompah alert! So long summer, it's time for Oktoberfest

At Zum Schneider on Avenue C and Seventh Street... Starting tomorrow. Details here. Unfortunately, I accidentally put my Bundhosen in the dryer.

Noted

Bowery and Houston.

New bakery now open on Ninth Street

A reader reports that Zucker, a Mediterranean-style bakery, opened today... The reader says that the place has a "nice, laid-back vibe" with Stumptown coffee and a limited selection of baked goods as they were still filling the cases.

As Patrick Hedlund noted at DNAinfo, Zucker is "the brainchild of Village resident Zohar Zohar, an Israeli native who decided to return to the culinary world after taking nearly a decade off to devote to her family."

We stopped by for a quick photo and will check it out once they are a little more settled in...

Previously.

Last rites for Second Avenue buildings

Firefighters were on the scene this morning outside the condemned buildings at 9-17 Second Avenue... one day to become a 12-story apartment building.

They were marking the building with an X. As a firefighter on the scene put it, the X means "to stay out."

And up Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street... a crew arrived for testing at the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel.

In June, Off the Grid, the blog of the Greenwich Village Preservation Society, reported that the owners have applied to make substantial changes to the 1937 building. Indeed.

On Sept. 9, the city approved plans to "Remodel the existing three story building and add 3 stories on top." The architect is Ramy Issac — "The controversial penthouse king of the East Village." Per the DOB, the ground floor is marked for commercial use. We haven't seen any renderings just yet... (let us know if you have...) Also looking forward to the marketing materials — "your chance to live in luxury above a former funeral home! Featuring kitchens with granite countertops and high-end appliance packages such as Kohler and Bosch!"

Anyway, pay your respects while you can. And check out the history of the Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

A look inside St. Brigid's

Dave on 7th checked in on the progress with the St. Brigid's renovations on Avenue B and Eighth Street... A worker said that the renovations were going "slowly but surely."

He also spoke with one of the stain glass glaziers, who said that the crew was trying to get the windows in by winter so that they could work inside. Unfortunately, none of the original St. Brigid's windows were saved. The worker said that they were getting their stock of salvaged windows from other churches (via the Archdiocese of New York) and then they were filling in with new colored glass.

Bonus night shot via Dave on 7th ...

Please don't feed the rats in Tompkins Square Park

In the last few days, it seemed as if the Tompkins Square Park rat population had been thinning out a bit... We've outlined all the steps park workers are taking to combat the problem.

A reader sent this shot along the other day... with a note "I think the problem is subsiding."

Then yesterday. Walking through the park... just missed someone dropping off the breadwagon right near the playground at Ninth and Avenue A. Within moments, rats started darting out from various holes ... soon there was a frenzy...(though we didn't get good shots of the 8-9 rats on the bread pile...)