Actually, this one is more of a checklist than a message...
Previously.
[Photos by Bobby Williams]
Monday, April 23, 2012
The latest message at 35 Cooper Square
This spring, someone has been leaving messages for/about developer Arun Bhatia at the formerly historic 35 Cooper Square ... we're on to message No. 3 now... (the first one is here ... and the second is here...)
Actually, this one is more of a checklist than a message...
Previously.
[Photos by Bobby Williams]
Actually, this one is more of a checklist than a message...
Previously.
[Photos by Bobby Williams]
A weekend morning streetscene
Single Linds Reflex sent along the above photo from early Saturday morning on First Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... not sure what's going on here. Sitting on a stoop with a smartphone ... locked out... lost... getting an early start for Saturday night... regardless, she was attracting attention from passersby...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
At First Park Green's Earth Day
Despite the dreary weather, the show went on today at First Park Green ... Earth Day (today!) marked the grand opening of the Park's first season of cultural programming ... including the unveiling of a sculpture by Robert Sestok ...
Photos by Bobby Williams.
Previously.
Photos by Bobby Williams.
Previously.
Internet making woman who sits on newspaper boxes on Bleecker and the Bowery world famous
Gothamist has an item about that woman who you also see lying on newspaper boxes on Bleecker and the Bowery... Someone posted a photo of her on Reddit yesterday in a thread titled "This lady knocked down the newspaper stand so she can devour her pickle comfortably...only in New York." So far, people have left more than 1,100 comments.
Not sure how long that she has been doing this here outside Think Coffee. The Voice noted it last fall.
h/t @Sharkbitenyc
Week in Grieview
The Marshal seizes Kate's Joint (Tuesday) ... and the "for rent" signs quickly arrive (Wednesday)
Summering in Tompkins Square Park (Friday)
Filming at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge (Wednesday)
A bike rack for East Ninth Street (Wednesday)
CB3/SLA OKs Joe's to Josie's (Monday)
A campaign to save the library at the Neighborhood School (Thursday)
007 moving to East Fourth Street? (Friday)
A bigger Bean for First Avenue (Wednesday)
FDNY rescues resident from a Shaoul-owned building after staircase is removed (Thursday)
Noted
Israel has a shortage of civilian gas masks, but you wouldn’t know it from walking down Manhattan’s St. Mark’s Place, where the masks are on sale in half a dozen stores for a mere $25 each.
The Israeli model 4A1 gas masks on display in the East Village — where storefront noodle shops bump up against vintage clothing stores — might not protect you from a chemical weapons attack. That’s because their protective filters have been removed and replaced with foot-long acrylic bongs meant for smoking marijuana.
According to the article, the bongs feature the rubber-triangle seal of Shalon Chemical Industries Ltd., the Tel Aviv-based company that makes all the civilian gas masks of Israel. And they are likely surplus, "sold by the Israeli government in bulk without filters."
Previously on EV Grieve:
This fall's must have item: Gas Mask Bongs
[Image via The Forward]
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Sales continue outside Billy's Antique's
Well, you know that Billy's Antique's & Props closed up at the beginning of the year... Still, you can, on occasion, find the crew out front selling various odds and ends. Like earlier today. Here, Billy Leroy and Sugar-Bear discuss the finer points of selling a Lincoln hubcap.
[Updated] Tomorrow: First Park Earth Day
From the EV Grieve inbox...
This is the first event here since the BMW/Guggenheim Labbers left last fall.
Also, in case of crap weather... the organizers hope to do this rain or shine... Per one of the organizers on Facebook: "if weather is bad, we have a small pavilion to put up, and a large tarp, and if need be we can take shelter in #35, next door to the park, starting the after party early."
Join our April 22nd Earth Day grand opening of our first season of cultural programming in First Park at 33 East First Street from 2:30 – 6:30 p.m. We will unveil a sculpture by Robert Sestok, listen to guitar wizard, Gary Lucas, and Sunday New York Times columnist Rosie Schapp. There will be dance, collaborative painting, and children's events. The day will provide a sample of the season to come.
This is the first event here since the BMW/Guggenheim Labbers left last fall.
Also, in case of crap weather... the organizers hope to do this rain or shine... Per one of the organizers on Facebook: "if weather is bad, we have a small pavilion to put up, and a large tarp, and if need be we can take shelter in #35, next door to the park, starting the after party early."
Tomorrow: De-Flea Market at Bar 82
We always enjoy these.... thanks to Our Lady of Perpetual PMS for organizing and hosting...
And a few photos from the March De-Flea Market via Stacie Joy...
Friday, April 20, 2012
Claim: Crusties will be returning to Tompkins Square Park this spring and summer
Previously on EV Grieve:
Crusty Row, now with a vacancy in Tompkins Square Park
From the Times:
In East Village, Harbingers of Spring Are Missing
[Photo last year by Melanie at East Village Corner]
Tomorrow is Record Store Day
It's that time of year again, when I receive news releases like this:
Longstanding Fugazi fans, JuiceheaD and Osaka Popstar, teamed up and took on the challenge of covering the punk classic, “Waiting Room.” A limited copy of the cover’s 7” will be released on Record Store Day (April 21st) with exclusive artwork by world-renowned Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant Art/Studio Number One).
Meanwhile, Iggy Pop is serving as the 2012 Record Store Day Ambassador. (Which means, basically, that you can enter to win this poster.)
Several East Village shops are participating... such as!
Here is a list of area stores participating. Right here. And Pitchfork has a listicle titled The Top 45 Releases of Record Store Day 2012 here.
Finally, found this chart at the Times from 2008 ... showing how many record stores had closed in recent years... and look how many more stores have closed since then...
Behold the inside of St. Brigid's
We continue to watch the renovations at St. Brigid's on Avenue B at East Eighth Street... while we have a good idea of how the exterior of the historic church that was left for dead is shaping up, we haven't seen the inside in some time...
Yesterday, Bobby Williams had a chance to take a look...
Previously.
Yesterday, Bobby Williams had a chance to take a look...
Previously.
Is James Bond moving to the East Village?
Well, at least Daniel Craig, the actor who has played James Bond of late ... along with his wife Rachel Weisz, the Academy Award-winning actress ... The Post reported yesterday that Weisz looked at the soon-to-be-on-the-market 238 E. Fourth St., that condo with a private garage (paparazzi shield, as Curbed put it) near Avenue B.
This address is/was a favorite of EV Grieve, who, we're told, posted a lot of items on the construction. (Obsessively so, to be honest.)
Let's take a quick look back at the EVG archives...
In November 2008, Grieve noted that Bellet Construction at 238 E. 4th Street near Avenue B was coming down... At that time, the paperwork taped to the front said the space will become a two-family residence....
Soon enough!
Turns out that those Novogratz people with 38 kids designed the penthouse...
In any event, Weisz-Craig have reportedly been looking all over town for a place to live ... so the chances of them landing here seem somewhat remote...
This address is/was a favorite of EV Grieve, who, we're told, posted a lot of items on the construction. (Obsessively so, to be honest.)
Let's take a quick look back at the EVG archives...
In November 2008, Grieve noted that Bellet Construction at 238 E. 4th Street near Avenue B was coming down... At that time, the paperwork taped to the front said the space will become a two-family residence....
Soon enough!
Turns out that those Novogratz people with 38 kids designed the penthouse...
In any event, Weisz-Craig have reportedly been looking all over town for a place to live ... so the chances of them landing here seem somewhat remote...
EVG repost: When the Gap moved into the East Village
We first posted this item on Jan. 15, 2010 ... Given all the talk about a certain chain/franchise opening on St. Mark's Place, we thought it was a good time to revisit this one...
A reader comment from last Friday's post on the St. Marks Cinema:
Indeed, an article from May 4, 1988, in Women's Wear Daily discussed the neighborhood's reaction to the Gap, which opened at St. Mark's and Second Avenue in March 1988. They paid some $33,000 in monthly rent, which pretty much blew the curve for any other merchant.
Here are some passages from the article, which isn't online:
----
The Gap's move onto St. Marks Place here has not engendered neighborly love. Far from it.
The situation is a dramatic example of how sportswear chains, in the fight for market positioning, have come to be seen as harbingers of change in older, deteriorated neighborhoods, bringing with them the threat of escalating rents and a squeeze on smaller retailers.
Reaction to the 4,000-square-foot store, which opened March 16, ranges from quiet discontent to strident opposition. Similarly, when the 700-unit chain opened on the corner of Haight & Ashbury Streets in San Francisco last year, locals picketed the store and threw eggs at the windows for several days.
A frequent response to the glare of The Gap's fluorescent lights has been, "There goes the neighborhood." The store, at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue, is at the intersection of the East Village's two primary shopping streets.
The East Village is unquestionably on the move; opinions vary on whether the direction of the move is to be applauded. The Gap could be the magnet that attracts other retail chains to the area and changes the face of the neighborhood forever.
Many observers predict the arrival of The Gap will speed gentrification and push out long-time tenants. It is an old story reminiscent of other areas of the city -- the West Village, Columbus Avenue and lower Broadway. Local retailers fear rents will soar and they will be forced to leave. Some stores have already relocated to side streets.
----
While landlords cheer the appreciation of their proporety, tenants boo the deterioration of another bohemian mecca.
"The East Village is original. There is nothing like it," said Christine Braun, manager of Trash & Vaudeville, a store known for its funky to contemporary clothes. "But slowly it's changing and the Gap is a sign that there will be more."
According to Braun, there is a new clientele on St. Marks adhering to the norm and rejecting the underground values that once prevailed. "These kids have credit cards. Years ago they never did."
Retailers credit the unique boutiques for improving East Village shopping traffic and doubt The Gap will lure people downtown. They also argue that The Gap's clothing would not compete with their merchandise. Some mentioned that they only thing The Gap might do is assuage those tourists who are intimidated by the neighborhood.
-------
Pete Mayo, owner of East Village Leather, on St. Marks Place, elaborated: "Anyone who has a lease pending hasn't got a shot in hell." He signed a lease in October 1987 -- "probably the last one on the block before The Gap moved in" -- at a fifth of The Gap's price.
Mayo's partner also owns St. Marks Leather, which until three years ago shared The Gap's space along with Shazaam, a designer boutique, and the St. Marks Theater. He and Mayo opened East Village Leather because the lease at St. Marks Leather will be up for renewal soon and they wanted to insure a spot on the block.
"Who knows what will be happening here with rents then?" said Mayo. "It's getting to the point where the small retailers are having to grab what they can. Many are moving off St. Marks and Second Avenue to the side streets, like Fifth between First and Second Avenues. Only about four businesses have been on this block for over 10 years."
"Mayo, like most of those interviewed, expressed a desire to see the new Gap fail. Residents want to it to close on principle. They say The Gap is ruining the neighborhood.
"There are tour buses coming down the block now," said a 10-year veteran of St. Marks Place. "On Sunday afternoon it's scary with all the blue blazers and gold buttons."
One East Village painter was so angry the night after the store opened that he threw a cinder block at the full length glass windows. They didn't break. "The windows buckled, but after three blows I gave up," he said.
--------
Garrick Aug Associates, one of the largest commercial store leasing companies here, arranged the deal for The Gap in the East Village. According to Faith Consolo, vice president of Garrick Aug, The Gap pays $100 per square foot annually. Rent on the 4,000-square-foot-store is therefore $33,333 per month. It is "absolutely" the most money paid in the block's history, according to Consolo.
"The Gap has broken the barrier of what that area is all about," said Consolo. "It will be the anchor. The Gap will have the same impact as Tower Records did the same impact as Tower Records did on lower Broadway. And the East Village will eventually like lower Broadway or Columbus Avenue. There will be less color and more sophistication."
Consolo predicted the East Village would have fewer galleries, restaurants, and family-run shops. "Chain stores are interested in the East Village now, sophisticated merchants, both national and local."
----------
Charles FitzGerald, landlord, store owner and resident of the East Village, elaborated on The Gap's appearance and influence on the area: "The Gap could have used the corner space to experiment with new merchandising techniques that would appeal more to the local customer rather than just putting up the formula store."
FitzGerald sees The Gap's effects from two perspectives -- as a landlord and as a long-time resident. He arrived on St. Marks Place in 1959. Seven years later, he purchased 9 St. Marks -- where he lives and also operates Bowl & Board, a home goods store -- and, a year after, 12 St. Marks. In 1984, FitzGerlad bought 33 St. Marks Place, adjacent to the site of the new Gap.
"As a real estate owner, it is obviously positive," declared FitzGerald. "Property goes up in value and there is an inferred stability with The Gap's presence."
"Now I can get the money to renovate the building. I wasn't able to before The Gap or something like it came in and stepped up the area to a new retailing plateau." FitzGerald has been losing money on the building from the start.
As a longtime resident, FitzGerald would like to see the area go back to the way it was in the Sixties but realizes it just won't happen. "Because of the low rents -- when I moved here I paid $20 per month with a bunch of people -- there was opportunity for the individual's creativity. Everything was new and that's what made the East Village a vital place.
"Slowly our neighborhood has undergone the transformation from being a caldron of creativity to a standard business operation. You used to have to do something very individual to get people here."
He doubts whether The Gap will last in its new locale, noting that people go to the East Village to get away from the mid-America image The Gap projects. He said the same merchandise with a different name carrying a less negative connotation might go over fine.
----
Many interviewed ... said The Gap is always empty. "No one has been flocking there so far," said Bellomo. Among the few customers on a Friday afternoon were a couple of Dutch tourists. "I was surprised to see it here," said one. "I heard people outside complaining, but I heard they had cheap jeans."
Jean Martinez, another Gap customer, also found The Gap on St. Marks an odd sight. "It sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn't want to come in but my husband needed jeans really badly," she said. "I said to him I hope no one I know sees me in here."
Corporate executives of The Gap, based in San Bruno, Calif., declined to be interviewed for this article, but Greg Odem, assistant manager of the East Village store, took issue with those who said things were dull inside: "We are busy at night and on the weekends. The adult store (a Gap Kids shares the space) is above corporate projections. We didn't expect the store to be doing as well so soon."
Odem said the store generated more than $1,000 a day and added that it was already evident the store would make it on Second Avenue. Although the store has entrances on St. Marks Place and Second Avenue, the chain opted to go with the 133 Second Avenue address.
"They think we are destroying the East Village image, but like everywhere else, they will accept it," said Odem. "It's just going to take some getting used to one both our parts. Besides, developers were already planning to revamp the area. We just happened to be the first to move in."
He admitted, though, that there was resistance: "We get stickers on our window asking, 'Why are you here?' or saying 'Go away' and so forth every morning."
-------
Postscript.
The St. Mark's location closed in 2001, one of the eight Gap stores that were shuttered in 2001 and 2002.
The corner today....
A reader comment from last Friday's post on the St. Marks Cinema:
I remember when the Gap opened — and one of the local street peeps dropped his drawers, backed up and shat directly on the big plate glass window. The East Village was very creative, vocally and fecally, about expressing its opinion on the encroaching gentrification...
Indeed, an article from May 4, 1988, in Women's Wear Daily discussed the neighborhood's reaction to the Gap, which opened at St. Mark's and Second Avenue in March 1988. They paid some $33,000 in monthly rent, which pretty much blew the curve for any other merchant.
Here are some passages from the article, which isn't online:
----
The Gap's move onto St. Marks Place here has not engendered neighborly love. Far from it.
The situation is a dramatic example of how sportswear chains, in the fight for market positioning, have come to be seen as harbingers of change in older, deteriorated neighborhoods, bringing with them the threat of escalating rents and a squeeze on smaller retailers.
Reaction to the 4,000-square-foot store, which opened March 16, ranges from quiet discontent to strident opposition. Similarly, when the 700-unit chain opened on the corner of Haight & Ashbury Streets in San Francisco last year, locals picketed the store and threw eggs at the windows for several days.
A frequent response to the glare of The Gap's fluorescent lights has been, "There goes the neighborhood." The store, at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue, is at the intersection of the East Village's two primary shopping streets.
The East Village is unquestionably on the move; opinions vary on whether the direction of the move is to be applauded. The Gap could be the magnet that attracts other retail chains to the area and changes the face of the neighborhood forever.
Many observers predict the arrival of The Gap will speed gentrification and push out long-time tenants. It is an old story reminiscent of other areas of the city -- the West Village, Columbus Avenue and lower Broadway. Local retailers fear rents will soar and they will be forced to leave. Some stores have already relocated to side streets.
----
While landlords cheer the appreciation of their proporety, tenants boo the deterioration of another bohemian mecca.
"The East Village is original. There is nothing like it," said Christine Braun, manager of Trash & Vaudeville, a store known for its funky to contemporary clothes. "But slowly it's changing and the Gap is a sign that there will be more."
According to Braun, there is a new clientele on St. Marks adhering to the norm and rejecting the underground values that once prevailed. "These kids have credit cards. Years ago they never did."
Retailers credit the unique boutiques for improving East Village shopping traffic and doubt The Gap will lure people downtown. They also argue that The Gap's clothing would not compete with their merchandise. Some mentioned that they only thing The Gap might do is assuage those tourists who are intimidated by the neighborhood.
-------
Pete Mayo, owner of East Village Leather, on St. Marks Place, elaborated: "Anyone who has a lease pending hasn't got a shot in hell." He signed a lease in October 1987 -- "probably the last one on the block before The Gap moved in" -- at a fifth of The Gap's price.
Mayo's partner also owns St. Marks Leather, which until three years ago shared The Gap's space along with Shazaam, a designer boutique, and the St. Marks Theater. He and Mayo opened East Village Leather because the lease at St. Marks Leather will be up for renewal soon and they wanted to insure a spot on the block.
"Who knows what will be happening here with rents then?" said Mayo. "It's getting to the point where the small retailers are having to grab what they can. Many are moving off St. Marks and Second Avenue to the side streets, like Fifth between First and Second Avenues. Only about four businesses have been on this block for over 10 years."
"Mayo, like most of those interviewed, expressed a desire to see the new Gap fail. Residents want to it to close on principle. They say The Gap is ruining the neighborhood.
"There are tour buses coming down the block now," said a 10-year veteran of St. Marks Place. "On Sunday afternoon it's scary with all the blue blazers and gold buttons."
One East Village painter was so angry the night after the store opened that he threw a cinder block at the full length glass windows. They didn't break. "The windows buckled, but after three blows I gave up," he said.
--------
Garrick Aug Associates, one of the largest commercial store leasing companies here, arranged the deal for The Gap in the East Village. According to Faith Consolo, vice president of Garrick Aug, The Gap pays $100 per square foot annually. Rent on the 4,000-square-foot-store is therefore $33,333 per month. It is "absolutely" the most money paid in the block's history, according to Consolo.
"The Gap has broken the barrier of what that area is all about," said Consolo. "It will be the anchor. The Gap will have the same impact as Tower Records did the same impact as Tower Records did on lower Broadway. And the East Village will eventually like lower Broadway or Columbus Avenue. There will be less color and more sophistication."
Consolo predicted the East Village would have fewer galleries, restaurants, and family-run shops. "Chain stores are interested in the East Village now, sophisticated merchants, both national and local."
----------
Charles FitzGerald, landlord, store owner and resident of the East Village, elaborated on The Gap's appearance and influence on the area: "The Gap could have used the corner space to experiment with new merchandising techniques that would appeal more to the local customer rather than just putting up the formula store."
FitzGerald sees The Gap's effects from two perspectives -- as a landlord and as a long-time resident. He arrived on St. Marks Place in 1959. Seven years later, he purchased 9 St. Marks -- where he lives and also operates Bowl & Board, a home goods store -- and, a year after, 12 St. Marks. In 1984, FitzGerlad bought 33 St. Marks Place, adjacent to the site of the new Gap.
"As a real estate owner, it is obviously positive," declared FitzGerald. "Property goes up in value and there is an inferred stability with The Gap's presence."
"Now I can get the money to renovate the building. I wasn't able to before The Gap or something like it came in and stepped up the area to a new retailing plateau." FitzGerald has been losing money on the building from the start.
As a longtime resident, FitzGerald would like to see the area go back to the way it was in the Sixties but realizes it just won't happen. "Because of the low rents -- when I moved here I paid $20 per month with a bunch of people -- there was opportunity for the individual's creativity. Everything was new and that's what made the East Village a vital place.
"Slowly our neighborhood has undergone the transformation from being a caldron of creativity to a standard business operation. You used to have to do something very individual to get people here."
He doubts whether The Gap will last in its new locale, noting that people go to the East Village to get away from the mid-America image The Gap projects. He said the same merchandise with a different name carrying a less negative connotation might go over fine.
----
Many interviewed ... said The Gap is always empty. "No one has been flocking there so far," said Bellomo. Among the few customers on a Friday afternoon were a couple of Dutch tourists. "I was surprised to see it here," said one. "I heard people outside complaining, but I heard they had cheap jeans."
Jean Martinez, another Gap customer, also found The Gap on St. Marks an odd sight. "It sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn't want to come in but my husband needed jeans really badly," she said. "I said to him I hope no one I know sees me in here."
Corporate executives of The Gap, based in San Bruno, Calif., declined to be interviewed for this article, but Greg Odem, assistant manager of the East Village store, took issue with those who said things were dull inside: "We are busy at night and on the weekends. The adult store (a Gap Kids shares the space) is above corporate projections. We didn't expect the store to be doing as well so soon."
Odem said the store generated more than $1,000 a day and added that it was already evident the store would make it on Second Avenue. Although the store has entrances on St. Marks Place and Second Avenue, the chain opted to go with the 133 Second Avenue address.
"They think we are destroying the East Village image, but like everywhere else, they will accept it," said Odem. "It's just going to take some getting used to one both our parts. Besides, developers were already planning to revamp the area. We just happened to be the first to move in."
He admitted, though, that there was resistance: "We get stickers on our window asking, 'Why are you here?' or saying 'Go away' and so forth every morning."
-------
Postscript.
The St. Mark's location closed in 2001, one of the eight Gap stores that were shuttered in 2001 and 2002.
The corner today....
A St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue now and then
Speaking of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue... Why not do an now and then of the northwest corner... These photos are from Off the Grid, the blog of the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation...
First, a mansion that was once on the corner circa 1903...
... and sorta today... (yes, the coffee place changed names...but still...)
Off the Grid has more on this corner here.
First, a mansion that was once on the corner circa 1903...
... and sorta today... (yes, the coffee place changed names...but still...)
Off the Grid has more on this corner here.
And one more thing about St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue
One more thing on this corner, St. Mark's and Second Avenue... the St. Marks Cinema, which we have mentioned here. According to Cinema Treasures, a theater was in operation at this location from 1914 to the spring of 1985. (Jeremiah had a Jim Jarmusch-related post on the Cinema in July 2008 that you should read.)
And "Mask" and "Sixteen Candles" on the same bill in the photo circa 1984?
1 7-Eleven down, 113 to go!
The 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place opened Wednesday.
We weren't actually going to mention it, but then several readers were like, "You aren't actually going to mention it? You did 500 posts on it until this point."
So, here (or up there), for the record.
And as the Daily News reported on Monday:
Long live Gem Spa!
Photo yesterday by Bobby Williams.
We weren't actually going to mention it, but then several readers were like, "You aren't actually going to mention it? You did 500 posts on it until this point."
So, here (or up there), for the record.
And as the Daily News reported on Monday:
At least 114 7-Eleven stores are set to open in Manhattan over the next five years, more than six times the number already here.
Long live Gem Spa!
Photo yesterday by Bobby Williams.
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