Sunday, November 20, 2011

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Squirrel(s) vs. hawk in Tompkins Square Park today





Photos by Bobby Williams

Meanwhile, lunchtime with a rat




Photos by Bobby Williams.

More of the rat lunch today in Tompkins Square Park

Our friend BaHa sends along a few more photos of a rat lunch today in Tompkins Square Park...





About the First Street Green Cultural Park


Now that the BMW Guggenheim Lab has moved on to confront comfort in Berlin, what's happening to the lot? Gothamist got the scoop yesterday from the volunteers at First Street Green:

The lot-turned-park will host dance, sculpture, painting, readings, music, performance, film, and annual competitions to build temporary canopies to house all of those things.

There's a kick-off party on Dec. 10 ... as Gothamist noted, First Street Green will unveil a "wishing wall" ... where you can suggest ideas for the space. (And preferably ones that don't involve liquor licenses ...)

Bobby Williams took the photos here yesterday... workers are putting in a new gate and what not.


Ave. A Deli & Food is now open


And now, 893 posts about Graceland later ... Here at Second Street, the corner deli opened on Thursday night... bringing closure to the drama that included Graceland closing, Frank's fast-food eatery not getting CB3 approval and 7-Eleven threat theatrics...

We'll have complete live team coverage — Assignment: Ave. A Deli & Food — all weekend, though I wouldn't count on it.

And now, a photo of the floor that I accidentally took...

Breaking: Workers removing more scaffolding at St. Brigid's


We've been getting a good look this week (here ... and here) ... at the renovated St. Brigid's on Avenue B at Eighth Street... this morning, a reader alerted us that workers were back at the scene removing the rest of the scaffolding on the historic church's north wall...

A note from our far-flung correspondents

From Dave on 7th, walking on 14th Street:

I just need to report that at 1:30 on Friday night, the IHOP is basically full.

And we shall call it, Squirrel in Silhouette


Early morning in Tompkins Square Park.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Today in photos of model Kate Upton in Tompkins Square Park



Shooting a commercial today with the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model ... thanks to @MichaelTSanchez for the photos...

Dazed and Confusion



A little New Order and NYC circa 1983.

Quantum Leap is closed


Rggulars of Quantum Leap on First Avenue passed along word this week that the vegetarian restaurant would have to close after getting socked with a rent hike. Yesterday was their last day.

@robbyohara passes along word (and the above photo) that the restaurant has been closed all day ... there's no note for customers... and that workers were removing supplies from the basement...

Frances Goldin could kick a cop in the balls and not get arrested, probably

[Andrew Burton/Getty Images]

Frances Goldin, founder of the Cooper Square Committee and catalyst for getting the rent reduced at the St. Mark's Bookshop, was among the many Occupy Wall Street protestors yesterday. The 87-year-old literary agent is a longtime activist who has been arrested nine times. She is quoted in a feature at MSNBC today:

"And I was sure I'd be arrested today, but the cops were determined because of the bad publicity for them, to not arrest an 87-year-old woman."

"I said [to an officer], 'What if I socked you in the eye?,' and he said, 'I'd give you a free shot,'" Goldin said. "'Well, what if I kneed you in the groin?,' and he said, 'No, you're not going to get arrested!'"

And here she is on NBC New York...

In-flight entertainment


A reader captured our friend in action today in Tompkins Square Park.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[14th Street and Avenue A this morning. By Shawn Chittle]

Helping Caffe Vivaldi (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Occupy Wall Street's Day of Action yesterday (Daily Intel ... Runnin' Scared ... The Gog Log)

Clayton Patterson at the Zuccotti Park evacuation (BoweryBoogie)

How the NYPD doles out credentials to the press (The New York Observer)

Danny Hoch on Broadway, gentrification (Gothamist)

You guide to New York City's hidden mews (Curbed)

Here comes Santa Claus.... right down Avenue A, sort of


I was the only one who noticed a man in a Santa hat sitting near a holiday movie ad today. A reader submitted the above shot...

Prepare to welcome The Standard East Village


Page Six has the following news today (via Eater):

André Balazs is turning the Cooper Square Hotel into The Standard East Village. Sources say the high-flying hotelier’s deal to buy the beleaguered East Fifth Street Cooper Square gem will close today. Sources added that, under Balazs and his partners, the 105-room hotel's public spaces will be reconfigured, its rooms refurbished and its restaurants overhauled over the course of the next year. The property will be The Standard's more "intimate and residential" location than its boisterous site straddling the High Line...

And, in an exclusive, we have obtained The Standard's plans for renovations right here... Not yet confirmed for authenticity...

Is this finally the end for the Mary Help of Christians Catholic church on East 12th Street?



From a parishioner at Mary Help of Christians on East 12th Street:

There are rumors that the church and school property are being sold by the Spring ... I'm afraid that NYU is buying it and going to build dorms.

We haven't heard much about this space in the last three years. Those in the know in the community are most certain that NYU isn't involved. (We asked NYU spokesperson John Beckman, though we haven't heard back just yet.)

Still, there is some precedent for the worry. In February 2004, the archdiocese sold St. Ann’s on East 12th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue for a reported $15 million. There is now a 26-story NYU dorm at the site. But that was before the 111-block rezone.

[Image via]

Let's go back a few years. In May 2007, The New York Times reported that the 109-year-old Roman Catholic church would close as part of a realignment by the Archdiocese of New York. Per the Times:

While this East Village church will continue to have two Sunday Masses for the immediate future, they will be overseen by a different church, Immaculate Conception on 14th Street and First Avenue.

In September 2008, The Real Deal reported that "Two thirds of a 15,000-square-foot East Village playground ... is under contract in a quiet, all-cash sale for $10.4 million."

The playground — home to the weekend flea market — is divided into three ownership lots, according to The Real Deal. Two of the parcels are (or were) owned by a Roman Catholic order called the Salesian Society. The Archdiocese owns the church located on a 13,000-square-foot lot.

Joseph Zwilling, spokesperson for the New York Archdiocese, didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

Meanwhile, for whatever reasons, the parishioners are hearing the rumors of the church's demise once again. Perhaps with the continued progress at St. Brigid's on Avenue B — one optimistic estimate had the church's renovations complete by the end of next summer — Mary Help of Christians is becoming expendable.

The church in 1920 via the NYPL Digital Gallery ...