EV Grieve

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Pin... what?

Just noting the latest mural by Tats Cru on East Second Street at Avenue A... went up this past week... an ad for Fancy, the social photo sharing website and app...

... and the logo is written over the Pinterest logo...

Second Avenue, 9:27 a.m., April 7

Nearly time for the Time's Up! Easter Sunday ride

Starts at 2 in Tompkins Square Park tomorrow.

There's a promo video too!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Subway, 108 First Ave., 8:26 p.m., April 6

Last week here. A trend?

Billy's Bowery Boys refuse to let Billy's Antiques die

Billy's Antiques may be dead for now on East Houston near the Bowery, but... the sales live on...

[Right to left] Toothless Pete, Sugar Bear and Trinny-Trinidad

Earlier via Bobby Williams...

Jesus walks in the Second Avenue bike lane

Good Friday celebration this afternoon on Second Avenue near East Fifth Street... photos by peter radley....

[Updated] Something rammed this tree along Tompkins Square Park

~~Not sure how else to describe it...~~ only noticed the damage this morning on Avenue B while walking around Tompkins Square Park...

Doesn't look like an accident...

Updated 2:11 p.m.

A photo from EV Grieve reader Steven shows more damage to the tree... the work of a truck, perhaps...

[Updated] EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[On East Eighth Street, Bobby Williams]

Hear the "new" Joey Ramone single (Spinner)

The end of the city's rent regulation laws? (The Villager)

Proposed development for empty Rivington Street lots (BoweryBoogie)

At the East of Bowery reading at Sidewalk (Tripping With Marty)

A new era for Orchard Street shopping? (The Lo-Down)

The $14,000 penthouse at Blue on Norfolk (Curbed)

Here comes "MePa Creep" (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

5 years without Chumley's (Off the Grid)

The West Side Piers of the early 1980s (Gothamist)

An Alamo Drafthouse Cinema slated for the UWS (Eater)

Ruby's renovations under way on the Coney Island boardwalk (Brooklyn Paper)

DeNiro-less, Scorsese-less "Raging Bull 2" is really happening (IndieWire)

...and as you probably read this week, One World Trade Center has reached 100 floors... the view from the East Village...

[BW]

And from EV Grieve reader Mike ...a little life at the old Life Cafe space this afternoon....

Astor Place this morning

All is still quiet at Schwimmer Manor

Work appears to still be suspended at David Schwimmer's new home at 331 E. Sixth St. following Tuesday afternoon's debris mishap. The city issued a full Stop Work Order. We didn't spot any workers as usual this morning.

A Good Friday look at Mary Help of Christians

Mary Help of Christians on East 12th Street near Avenue A opened in 1917... and the ornate Roman Catholic church closed in 2007, as the Times reported. It was part of a realignment by the Archdiocese of New York.

Rumors of development here have been swirling since 2008, when The Real Deal reported that two-thirds of the playground space along Avenue A had been sold in an all-cash deal for $10.4 million.

Some four years later, the Church and adjacent school are still standing. But for how long? We heard from a longtime parishioner back in November, who said: "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." (Reps from NYU and the Archdiocese didn't respond to emails requesting comment.)

There is still a Spanish-language mass at the church every Sunday morning at 11:30. (The sign also mentions an English-language mass, but a church volunteer told me that they did away with that about 16 months ago.)

I went to mass there a few months back. There were perhaps 50 people there, an equal mix of older parishioners and young families with toddlers.

Last week, Off the Grid interviewed Janet Bonica, a parishioner who was born and raised in the East Village.

Here was her reaction to the church closing in 2007:

Our very foundation was pulled out from under us. We were always told that being a Catholic was more than just going to Sunday Mass; it was being a part of a parish community. We had a vibrant, active community, and it was taken away from us.

If Mary Help of Christians Church is demolished, I don’t think I will ever be able to go past that property again.

There are no words to describe the loss I feel. It is as deep as losing a beloved family member and, tied to the loss of the church, is the loss of our beloved Salesians of St. John Bosco. I cannot help but feel that we lost our church because it is sitting on a valuable parcel of real estate.

Indeed. Just look at the aerial view (via Off the Grid)... think what a developer could/would do with this prime real estate... the church, adjacent school and rectory, and playground where vendors set up for the weekend flea markets... (the three buildings on the southeast corner of 12th Street and Avenue A aren't owned by the Archdiocese...)

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and other community groups submitted a request to the Landmarks Preservation Commission asking them to landmark the church. The LPC denied the request. (Read about that here.) Janet Bonica said that she has written to Mayor Bloomberg and Cardinal Egan to no avail. She said they have even written the Vatican. As she told Off the Grid, "Obviously nothing helped."