Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Paving and peace on East 11th Street

The DOT is currently prepping parts of East 10th Street tonight for repaving... signs said they'd be doing all this tonight and tomorrow... from Avenue D westward...


... workers seem to be randomly tossing down barrels to block off various streets and Avenues and bike lanes ...


...a little later...

[Bobby Williams]

And last Thursday and Friday, crews worked on East 11th Street... and it kinda seemed festive... (maybe not for the workers on a hot and humid night)...

A few shots from the weekend...

[Shawn Chittle]

[EVG reader Allison]

... and on another section of East 11th Street...


Kenny from 11th St. reported that some neighbors decided to help out — because you never know when those extra chopsticks will come in handy to decorate the street ...


...and perhaps some repaving-related damage to this tree?

[Shawn Chittle]

Or is this our very own Virgin Mary Tree?

A disagreement on Cooper Square

Just a brief moment from the afternoon on Cooper Square, where a disagreement of sorts broke out between the driver of a delivery truck and a cyclist...


Bobby Williams, who took the photos, figures there would have been a fistfight had the NYPD traffic officers not intervened...


And all those involved then went on their way.

170-174 E. 2nd St. hits market for $16.5 million; Allen Ginsberg among the former tenants


Massey Knakal added the listing today:

The subject properties are two well-managed adjacent mixed-use buildings located on the North side of East 2nd Street, between Avenues A & B. 170-172 East 2nd Street has 3 retail stores and 34 residential units; 27 Free market, 6 Rent Stabilized and 1 Rent Controlled. 174 East 2nd Street has 1 retail store and 9 residential units; 8 Free Market and 1 Rent Stabilized. The buildings share a boiler that burns #2 oil from a 4,000 gallon tank. The electrical systems/wiring were upgraded in 2008 and tenants pay their own electricity.

And No. 174 has nearly 3,600 square feet of air rights available. Total price: $16.5 million.

Anyway, you may have seen the plaque out front of No. 170 showing that Allen Ginsberg lived in apartment 16 from August 1958-March 1961 ... this was one of the many places he lived in the East Village until his death in 1997

In a Habitats feature from August 2000, The New York Times ran a feature on the apartment where Ginsberg wrote "Kaddish" — "a mournful elegy for his mother, Naomi, that is considered one of his best works."

(New York Songlines also noted that Ginsberg edited "Naked Lunch" while living here... as well as "where Ginsberg and Timothy Leary began planning the psychedelic revolution.")

As the Times said of this block, "Not long ago, this was major drug territory, and landlords had to defend their turf assiduously; now it is being infiltrated by students from New York University."

The Times reported that two NYU students were living in the two-bedroom apartment, paying $2,000 a month in rent.

To the article:

When the plaque went up on the East Village building saying that it was where Allen Ginsberg once lived, the two young men who now occupy the poet's old apartment had only this to say:

Who was he?

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition


Recap of the successful St. Mark's Bookshop cash mob (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Chinatown Working Group is in favor of the East Bowery Preservation Plan (BoweryBoogie)

LaMama paints its roof (The Lo-Down)

Comparing NYU's old and revised expansion plans (Curbed)

Bicyclists may have to go to a safety class for receiving a ticket (The New York Times)

Through the years at Fifth Avenue and East 14th Street (Ephemeral New York)

The Bandit spotted on East Fifth Street (The Gog Log)

Forbidden Planet moving down Broadway (Flaming Pablum ... Gothamist ... EV Grieve)

Last of the older businesses on West Bleecker is closing (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

And a photo showing the progress of One World Trade Center... taken Saturday by Bobby Williams...

Incoming construction at the Mystery Lot: A 'nightmare' or 'nightmarish'

As noted yesterday morning, workers brought in equipment to start the big dig for the 82-unit, eight-story development here at the Mystery Lot...

We looked at the site last evening... Workers put up barriers on the north side of East 13th Street, putting an end to any parking along here for the foreseeable future...


We exchanged emails with a few residents who live facing the lot... and they each used either "nightmare" or "nightmarish" to describe the impending construction...

Meanwhile, EVG reader Katja shared photos from the beginning and end of the first day of construction...


Mars Bar underpass now with security cameras

A few weeks back, we noted the rather desolate walkway set up to navigate the construction site on the southwest corner of East First Street and Second Avenue... where the 12-story apartment building is (quickly) rising ...

EVG reader AC walked through the other day... and noted that someone has now mounted several security cameras throughout the walkway...


So far, the cameras haven't deterred anyone from adding some writing on the walls...

Checking in on the First Avenue bus bulb

Over on First Avenue between First Street and Second Street ... the MTA is building sidewalk extensions (bus bulbs!) for the M15 and the Select Bus Service.

A quick update.

May!


Now!


The sign says something about completion during the fourth quarter of this year...

And what is a bus bulb?

As Streetsblog puts it: "Bus bulbs — sidewalk extensions into the street at bus stops — keep bus shelters and ticket machines out of the way of pedestrian traffic. And by allowing buses to load passengers without having to pull to the curb and back into traffic, they also make for faster rides."

A tree grows on East Second Street (on a building)

Via Dave on 7th...


Bowery and East First Street in 1938, 1942

You may have seen this over at Gothamist yesterday... a feature titled "21 Photos Of The Bowery From Before You Were Born."

Anyway, here's one of the photos... the Bowery and East First Street circa 1938...

[Courtesy of the MCNY via Gothamist]

Reminded us that we posted a now-and-then of this corner back in May... Here's that post again:

----------

Our new friends over at NYC Corners launched their site last month... Per their description:

Whenever possible, we will show side-by-side photos of a particular street corner taken years or decades apart... and that's when the real magic happens.

And here's one of particular interest: the southeast corner of East First Street and the Bowery circa 1942 and today...

Monday, July 23, 2012

Cat on a hot polished concrete ping pong table


Today in Tompkins Square Park. Photo by Bobby Williams.

And it's OK to boo-hiss the headline.

'Desperately seeking a dog'

Spotted these flyers around this past weekend...


Bobby Williams took a photo of this one today on Avenue B at Ninth Street.

Breaking: Construction starts in the Mystery Lot


[In dramatic voiceover, maybe a little James Earl Jones like]: It has begun.

Photo via EVG reader Jodi.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Mystery Lot likely facing a luxurious end

The last days of the Mystery Lot

'Many opportunities' for new-to-market Sixth Street building

407 E. Sixth St. is now back on the market for $3.5 million. And the listing (via Corcoran) has a familiar tone to it... single-family conversion... available air rights...

On a prime East Village block between Avenues 1st and A, this historic, Italianate style, 5 story townhouse is located around the corner from Tompkins Square Park. Boasting a generous 21 feet of building width, 5000sf of interior space and lot depth of 91 feet with a beautiful rear garden, this home affords many opportunities for use including single family conversion, condominium conversion, live/work use or multi unit rentals.

Currently configured as 5 full floor apartments, the ground floor allows for commercial use. The property is NOT in a landmark zone and has additional available air rights of over 3500 buildable square feet. This house has been lovingly owned and occupied by the same family for over 50 years and will be delivered vacant. Bring your architect.

Anyway, this property briefly hit the market before ... and was promptly delisted several times, in November 2009 and April 2011, per Streeteasy.

And this is one of many buildings that have been for sale with both air rights and single-family aspirations.... such as this one on Avenue D ... this one on Avenue B ... or this one on Seventh Street ...

First sign of 51 Astor Place above ground

Just a few photos of the Death Star 51 Astor Place from Friday and Saturday... the steel beams are rising!





Previously on EV Grieve:
51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

East Village — the new Alderaan? Midtown?

Lucy (and Lucy's) will be back on Aug. 9

On Avenue A, Lucy's, an EVG favorite, is on her usual late summer break...


... and back on Aug. 9.


Meanwhile, speaking of Lucy, Shawn Chittle ran into her on Avenue A late Saturday afternoon...


[Top two photos by Bobby Williams]

And how was your weekend?

Hey, haven't done this in a few weeks... a few observations via Twitter...





Meanwhile, at the East Village IHOP...


4:15 a.m. Sunday. Per Tenacious C, who took the photo: "I wish it was staged."

EV eatery etc.: Benny's expands on A, gelato signage arrives on Second Avenue

Just a few quick storefront items... Sal's closed back in March... and, as several readers have pointed out, Benny's is taking over the space next door here on Avenue at East Sixth Street... Benny's used to run their to-go business from this side...


...and on Saturday, signage went up for the new gelato place/cafe coming soon on Second Avenue between St. Mark's and East Ninth Street...

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Noted


Multiple readers have reported this sign on East Sixth Street and Avenue A. Have you seen others?

Today in photos of a Lamborghini with a 'WINNING' license plate on East Ninth Street





Someone told Bobby Williams, who took these photos, that Paris Hilton was the passenger in the car... (not true...)


Updated: According to Jalopnik, the car belongs to a divorce attorney who lives on Long Island. Read about him here.