10 Housing Works activists arrested today during World AIDS Day protest

Housing Works clients, staff and supporters joined other AIDS activists, as well as members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, for a World AIDS Day march downtown today.

A group of the Housing Works staff dressed in Robin Hood costumes to demand a Robin Hood Financial Transaction Tax and a Millionaires Tax to pay for housing, treatment and other critical services to people with HIV/AIDS.

East Village resident Andrew Coamey told us that activists — many of them chained together — blocked traffic on Broadway in front of City Hall Park for more than 30 minutes to make their point. In total, 10 were arrested, said Coamey, CFO and senior vice president for Housing, Housing Works.

Housing Works has operated the Keith D. Cylar Residence and Healthcare Center on 9th Street and Avenue D since 1996 and serves more than 150 local residents with HIV/AIDS at this location each day.

Find more Housing Works information here.

Noted

[Updated] Meanwhile, on Cooper Square...

Updated:

East Village-based photographer James Maher sent this along... visual confirmation...

Vazac's has a new name... for today

Over on Seventh Street and Avenue B, Vazac's (or 7B ... whatever you prefer) has been renamed The Bushwhack (heh) for the day while crews film the NBC series "Smash."

Photo by Dave on 7th.

That was fast: New tenant already in place for the former Quantum Leap space

Jeez, Quantum Leap closed on Nov. 17. Workers at the vegetarian restaurant on First Avenue near 12th Street had told regulars that their landlord hiked the rent.

This morning, EV Grieve reader Gamelan notes that there's a new sign up for a Vietnamese eatery called Sao Mai. We don't even recall a "for rent" sign here.

So where's that horrible-looking hotel coming to 347 Bowery?

Of late it seems that all we do around here is chronicle buildings being demolished. Such as:

• 51 Astor Place

• 9-17 Second Avenue

• 74-76 Third Avenue

• 185-193 Avenue B

• 326-328 E. Fourth St.

• 316 E. Third St.

• 35 Cooper Square

• 331 E. Sixth St.

So what's left next?

Our money is/was on 347 Bowery at East Third Street, where that French guy is going to build a boutique hotel at the site of the Salvation Army's East Village Residence. Let's refresh your memory:

Oh, yeah — come to daddy!

On Jan. 12, the Post first reported that France’s Louzon Group bought the former Salvation Army building for $7.6 million with plans to turn it into a boutique hotel with one of their restaurants on the ground floor.

So, nearly 11 months later, we took a look at the DOB to see if Louzon had any permits on file for sidewalk sheds, complete demolition, etc. There is nothing on file. With the exception of someone removing the big Salvation Army sign a few months ago, the place looks pretty good for being vacant for three years.

(Off topic: Is there any address in the area that Wacky Wok hasn't left a menu?) In any event, awfully quiet here. Perhaps the French were scared off by the incoming 7-Eleven next door? To be continued.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

Why do the French hate us?

Speaking of expensive things on the Bowery ...

Back in October, we pointed out John Legend's home that he was selling inside 52E4 — the 15 stories of condo on the Bowery and East Fourth Street. Unit #9 is on the market for $2.95 million.

Yesterday, #8 hit the market... a similar looking two-bedroom apartment (right next door?) with a $2.9 million price tag. (According to StreetEasy, the apartment originally sold in October 2009 for $2 million.)

You can read the Douglas Elliman listing here. You know the drill: FrenchOakfloorsaccentuatesleekMasterbathfeaturesLeaCeramiche&CiottilewallsventedLGW/D&custom closets...

We just want to look at the pictures.

Open house is Sunday from 1-2:30 p.m. Think that the pool is still open? Cannonball!

And how will the incoming hotel next door block impact the views here?

More on East Village backhouses

Tuesday's post on backhouses — via Off the Grid — piqued our curiosity about other such buildings in the neighborhood ... (A backhouse being residential structures that are separate from and located behind other buildings facing the street.)

We already had our eye on the one here that EV Grieve reader Spike mentioned... just east off Second Avenue between First and Second Street...

Apparently the entry is through 26 Second Ave. ...

Goggla pointed out that there is one off East Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... another reader lived in one at 519 E. 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. There's also one at 325 E. 10th St., which you can see here.

Puddin' due next week on St. Mark's Place

We've been keepin' an eye on Puddin' ... (See our posts here ... and here.) According to the Puddin' website, the place is the creation of Clio Goodman, who worked at Café Boulud, Bar Boulud and Union Square Café before going into business as a private chef.

And according to a typically annoying writeup yesterday at Urban Daddy, Puddin' opens next week, but the pudding pops don't arrive until the spring.

Noted

Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury is suing Yoga to the People on St. Mark's Place. Choudhury claims that founder Gregory Gumucio is illegally using his copyrighted poses and super-heated rooms inside Yoga to the People classes, according to DNAinfo.

East 12th Street and Avenue A tonight: Waiting for the President to pass by

Our photographer friend Michael Sean Edwards was among the many stuck waiting at 12th Street and Avenue A tonight ... He passed along a few photos from the corner...

... and the money shot...

So what was the story? The NYPD wasn't letting anyone cross 12th Street from C to Fifth Avenue for nearly 30 minutes? One person told me that, though we weren't sure exactly what the wait time was...

EV Grieve TV, 8:57 p.m., Nov. 30

At the end of Christmas in Rockefeller Center. Just curious who — or what — the Mayor spotted.

[Updated] All the President's motorcades

A few moments ago on East 12th Street... as President Obama zipped through town ...

Via @PatriciaSexton ...

... and a little video shot by @AndrewGothelf ...



...EV Grieve reader Robbie sent along these shots... the endless motorcade heading west...

... and an officer telling residents that they need to still inside their apartment building...

Previously.

A few minutes on ago on East 12th Street

Lockdown! (Pretty much.) Between First Avenue and Avenue A (all of East 12th Street actually)... waiting for the President's motorcade to pass... Here's why.

Here's another shot via @pinsuda ...

[Updated] East 12th Street prepped for Obama visit

As you likely know by now, President Obama is in town this evening... Among other things, he'll be holding a dinner fund-raiser thing at the Gotham Bar & Grill (we hear that the roasted cauliflower risotto is good!) on East 12th Street between University Place and Fifth Avenue...

Here are Officers Weber and Sanchez...

Meanwhile, multiple readers have noted an incredible NYPD presence in the area ... and there are reports of the NYPD randomly towing cars all along 12th Street — down to Avenue C. And a reader notes that parts of Avenue C are shut down. There's even a rumor that the fund-raiser tonight at a private residence is in the East Village (note to self: pick up some hummus).

[Thanks to Christina Holmes for the photos ... and Shawn Chittle for the tips]

Updated: A few photos from Bobby Williams...

Handsome Dick Manitoba has been polyresinated

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Handsome Dick Manitoba ... leader of The Dictators and owner of Manitoba's on Avenue B ... has been promoted to throbblehead status...

Per the news release: "This figure capturing Richard's signature modern day look is limited to 1,000 numbered units, stands at 7 inches tall, and is made of super strong polyresin. Manitoba is the 12th person to be polyresinated by Aggronautix. In May of 2009, the company launched with a highly popular G.G. Allin '1991' figure, which was limited to 2,000 numbered units. Pre-orders open now, shipping February 2012. Link is here."

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Dog eyes squirrel in Tompkins Square Park, by Bobby Williams]

Looking at "An Exhibition for Free Education" at Cooper Union (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Looking at the "Legends of the Lower East Side" coloring book (BoweryBook)

Please don't ask Alistair Economakis about the garage (Scoopy's Notebook, 2nd item)

Pat Place of the Bush Tetras among those exhibiting at Keyes Art Projects (Stupefaction)

Chillmaster Dance Party VI (The Gog Log, Marty After Dark)

President Obama eating at Gotham Bar & Grill on East 12th Street tonight (Grub Street and Eater)

Thank you to NYC Menu Girl for the kind post today! (NYC Menu Girl)

Prohibition-era Bill's Gay Nineties files for bankruptcy (Crain's via Eater)

The 'peaceful vibes' of Avenue C and East 12th Street

A reader notes some new art (as of about Nov. 19 or so) on the corner of Avenue C and East 12th Street...

The Terra Fossil Dinosaurs were created by graffiti artist Zimad ...

... and the French graffiti crew Le Moche (pictured) did the LES piece mural...

Per the reader: "The corner sends peaceful vibes to the East Village with the ThreeDotDash.org morse code peace sign, traditional peace sign (posted days after 9/11) and a memorial to Gil Scott Heron by Chico."

Behold the future of 74-84 Third Ave.

As we first reported, the stretch of 74-84 Third Ave. has been cleared out, with Nevada Smith's moving on after Sunday.

Our sources said that a large apartment building would go on this site. According to Nevada Smith's goodbye-for-now message: "Our old home's almost done now with developers poised to demolish most of the block and replace our place, and yours, with a new luxury apartment block."

We're waiting for renderings of this new monstrosity ... Meanwhile, RFK (via PDF) is peddling the retail space. Here's what we're looking at...

That's likely a generic rendering. (Where's the theater? Unless that will eventually be a goner too.) Regardless, it's a large retail space — more than 13,000 square feet. This space anchors what RKF describes as a 126,000 square-foot building featuring studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom residences.

Hope that the apartments have good soundproofing!

Compare this with how this stretch of Third Avenue looked in the late 1970s at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smith's

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building