EV Grieve

Friday, June 1, 2012

Also, be on the lookout for walking crosswalk signs

In Tompkins Square Park.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[St. Mark's Place at sunset. Photo by Guido H.]

Remembering (and honoring) the Justus Schwab Saloon on East First Street (DNAinfo ... and some history via Off the Grid)

Hilly Kristal's son Dana continues to fight CBGB movie (SPIN)

CIA "frame job" in the East Village? (BoweryBoogie)

About the Funny Songs Festival next week (The Lo-Down)

Growing pains for Chelsea Residents (The Wall Street Journal)

Stars canoodle at one of those places foodies like on First Avenue (Page Six)

Day trip to Asbury Park (The Gog Log)

When New York was the King of Beer (Capital New York)

For no reason: Guns N' Roses ban fans from wearing Slash t-shirts to their UK gigs (NME)

White Rabbit Coffee officially opens today (with something free for EVG readers)

White Rabbit Coffee officially opened today... it's is the new daytime component of Jim Chu's White Rabbit bar/lounge (formerly Den of Thieves and Idlewild) on Houston Street between Eldridge and Forsyth (or, First Avenue and Second Avenue if it helps...)

In addition to selling coffee and sandwiches and what not during the daytime hours... his friend Rob Aloia will share his pop up art shows featuring local artists in the space. Plus, Chu aspires to encourage the development of community and collaborative work. "I am inviting small groups to use reserved space during the day, free of charge and obligation, to develop their work, be it arts, philanthropy or entrepreneurial," he told us via email. "The goal is to create a living expression of the environment that people from my generation were so lucky to have."

You can read more about all this via an interview with The Lo-Down the other day. (BoweryBoogie has more on this news here.)

Meanwhile! Chu is offering EV Grieve readers "a free beverage of their choice" (during cafe hours!) ... to the first 20 customers who swing by 145 Houston today and mention EV Grieve (no shouting) ...

Photo via The Lo-Down.

What will this be the summer of....?

It's June 1, might as well go ahead and declare/label this the summer of something around here. Why wait?

After the summer of 2010, some blogger the worldwide media declared that it was the Summer of the Bedbug(s). Last year, the Summer of the Rat(s).

Among the 2012 contenders: The Summer of the Bee. Or The Summer of the Swarm.

And we're well on our way. With the swarm on the Bowery a few weeks back (which ended up in Tompkins Square Park). And how about the swarm the other day at the Seaport?

It's happening. Out on the streets. People know.

And we've obtained photos that city officials don't want you to see.

And the City's Frontline Bee Responders practicing, uh, responding.

I'm happy to have this be the Summer of Something Else. Just let me know in the comments. Will work on it.

Why yes — you can rent an apartment on East Fifth Street between A and B for $13,000 a month

The last time that we checked in on 532 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, the new, eco-friendly building had two-bedroom apartments for upwards of $5,600. We paid a return visit to Streeteasy and found one listing for — $13,000. (And no fee — ha!)

Just a few specifics mentioned at the No Fee Rentals website ... (Three bathrooms ... private balcony... deck) It is available starting today...

The listing for a $13,000-a-month apartment hilariously mentions that "The East Village attracts people not only for its diversity, but for its relatively affordable rents."

Hell, yeah — we're just giving stuff away over here!

The market price has been set on this block. Your move, Ben.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Beaming up on Fifth Street

Demolition on East Fifth Street

On the way: A five-story apartment building for Fifth Street

Alejandro is missing has been found

Alejandro (aka Ale "All-AY") got off his leash last night near his Avenue A home... here is the flyer his distraught owner has made...

Updated 12:41 p.m.
Alejandro has been found... apparently some employees of Grey Era Vintage on East Ninth Street found him last night and took him in for safekeeping..

[Updated] 6 months after drug bust, Sunburnt Cow reopening garden with a 'just say no' party

Last December, the NYPD closed Sunburnt Cow Avenue C due to "suspected illegal drug activity." Since then, the bar-restaurant-drunken-brunch destination has only been open on weekends and for special events ... So.

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Celebrate the opening of the outdoor garden at The Sunburnt Cow with a party that would make Nancy Reagan proud! Boldly declaring their stance on drugs, The Sunburnt Cow invites you to join them and “Just Say No” on Friday, June 1, 2012.

Dine under the stars in the breezy outdoor retreat just in time for summer.

JUST SAY NO AT THE SUNBURNT COW
FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2012

OUTDOOR GARDEN OPENED 7 DAYS A WEEK
4:00 PM – 2:00 AM

And we had asked the Sunburnt Cow folks for a comment about all this... Via a rep:

"The Moo Life Group does not support or condone drug use of any kind at its properties and this evenings 'Just Say No' event reinforces that fact through The Sunburnt Cow's usual irreverence and humor."

Previously on EV Grieve:
NYPD shuts down the Sunburnt Cow

3 East Village restaurants closed this past week

Heard from a few people yesterday who were surprised to learn about the various closures... so a recap:

Vandaag, Second Avenue at Sixth Street

[peter radley]

Typhoon Lounge, St. Mark's Place near First Avenue

Zaitzeff, Avenue B near East Second Street

I actually thought there would be two more on this list... heard about two other places near the end.

People still miss the Mars Bar

A new message on the plywood on Second Avenue at East First Street ... outside the former Mars Bar, which closed for good last July 18.

This is what ABC No Rio looked like on May 27, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

Thursday, May 31, 2012

One consequence of all the photo shoots in Tompkins Square Park

Everyone starts posing.

Photos by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Last hope for Astor Place newsstand? (The Villager)

Historic Pen and Brush Club becoming a single-family mansion with pool on East 10th Street (New York Post, 2nd item)

New York magazine on punk in 1979 (Flaming Pablum)

Sending good wishes to Steve Ben-Israel (BoweryBoogie)

Someone put bubbles in the fountain at Union Square (Gothamist)

Chelsea Gallery Diner has closed, one more loss for the non-trendy crowd (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Olek beach yarn-bombing in the UK (BBC)

DayLife on Orchard Street Sunday (The Lo-Down)

"Artisanal, Reluctant Branding Pioneer, Dies at Age 474" (The Atlantic Wire)

The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble

[EVG, July 2011]

Troubling news from over at 9 Bleecker Street, longtime headquarters of the counterculture group and home of the Yippie Museum Cafe. There's a campaign under way to help revitalize the space. (Last summer, the Yippie Museum Cafe closed to make some renovations and add new menu items.)

[Click to enlarge]

According to a letter on the Yippie's online donation page:

As a Sea of Starbucks engulfs the East Village, one of the Last Castles of Free Thought and Artistic Freedom is under siege. The Yippie Museum Café is a movement encapsulated into a Coffee House Performance space, founded by artist/activists, maintained by artist/activists, and is still run by artist/activists. It is a rare state of affairs these days.

"The Yippie has every intention of remaining an East Village bastion of vibrant and varied live music, free speech, challenging art, the demand for social justice, and a place to get some affordable caffeine. But like many non-corporate businesses, the Yippie is suffering financially. It needs a new HVAC system, new equipment for its backline, and some essential physical upgrades. Help the Yippie, protect one of the last great East Village Castles."

As of last night, they had collected just $230, well short of its planned $10,000 goal. Megan Hayes, the Yippie's events coordinator, told me that "every penny is going to improving and revitalizing the space." (According to an article from 2006 in the Sun, the Yippies partnered with a group called the National AIDS Brigade to purchase their longtime headquarters for $1.2 million in 2004.)

There's also fundraiser on Sunday from 4:30-10 p.m. hosted by John Murdock and Joey Gay of WBAI's Occupational Hazards. There will be other various speakers and musicians during the late afternoon and early evening as well.

Is there any danger of The Yippie Museum Cafe closing?

"If we can't pay off our bills, sadly yes," Hayes said.

Witness to a new development: Avenue C's Kingdom Hall back on the market

The 3,050-square-foot, two-story Kingdom Hall owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses is on the market, Crain's reported yesterday. The site at 67 Avenue C near Fifth Street is zoned for a residential property of up to 10,000 square feet. Crain's notes that there is no asking price on the space.

Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, who's marketing the property, said: "I am sure this property will be highly sought after by smaller residential developers."

Perhaps. But the current space is 3,050 square feet. And it's zoned for up to 10,000 square feet. You can do the math.

[Via Curbed August 2009]

There isn't the first name this property has been listed. I wrote about a potential sale back in August 2009 during a guest stint at Curbed.

Per that post:

For sale signs went up [last] week at the Lower Manhattan Congregation Jehovah's Witness at 67 Avenue C near East 5th Street. According to the Massey Knakal listing for the property, the space "is ideal for a user, investor or developer and will be delivered vacant." Indeed; asking $2.2 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New world order for Avenue C?

The CBGB movie will mostly be filmed in Savannah, Ga.

Seems as if there's more CBGB movie news coming out every day... Two weeks ago, the filmmakers announced that Alan Rickman will portray CBGB founder Hilly Kristal in the biopic about the club's origins.

Yesterday, BoweryBoogie had more casting news, including Joel David Moore as Joey Ramone...

[Via The Strut]

Now I'm wondering where husband-and-wife filmmakers Jody Savin and Randall Miller might shoot some of the scenes about the early days of CBGB on the Bowery...

Certainly the magic of movie-making can transform any block or soundstage into another world... Anyway, we have part of our answer here. According to post on the WTOC-Savannah website Tuesday, crews will be filming in that Georgia city starting June 25.

Per the article:

The inside of the bar is set to be built in Savannah's Meddin Studios, where all the filming will take place. Nadine Jolson, spokeswoman for the film, said director Randall Miller was drawn to Savannah and to Meddin after producing the film Savannah in the Hostess City last year. Georgia's generous film tax credits were another draw, Jolson said.

As for exteriors, in an interview published yesterday in the Savannah Morning News, Miller said "we'll do some shooting on the streets of downtown Savannah — and finally a few days in New York. We're using both Georgia and New York for New York."

According to the Times Miller hopes to debut the film at Sundance in January with a release later in 2013.

Next thing you know, there's a pork bun in the oven

Boooo!

And a Missed Connection, which you never know are for real...

You had me at "Can I get just one pork bun?" - m4w - 30 (East Village)
Date: 2012-05-30, 5:10PM EDT

My first Ippudo, you were so generous with the cucumber.

Let's try Alta next?