So do you want to be a member of Community Board 3?

Anyone interested?

And I'm still upset that Chloe Sevigny never pursued it...

Tompkins Square Park memories starting to get heavy

Or else it was the wind... Or those kids. Photo late this afternoon by Bobby Williams.

Previously on EV Grieve:
What's your memory of Tompkins Square Park?

On this date in End of Prohibition history...

Via the John's of 12th Street Facebook page...

"Our famous candle at the back of John's of 12th Street was started on December 5, 1933 to celebrate the end of Prohibition!"

FAB Café is closing on East 4th Street; 'FAB Lab' on the way

[Via]

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) announces the closure of FAB Café at 75 East 4th Street in Manhattan, New York. FABnyc will be holding a Closing Holiday Party, open to all 5-7 PM on December 14, 2012, the Café's last official day of service.

FABnyc plans to transform the café space into what will be called "FAB Lab." FAB Lab will function as a shared creative workplace and hub for community events and programs. Though forgoing its food service operations, FABnyc is excited about this transition, believing that it will better serve the neighborhood by providing new opportunities for creativity. FAB Lab is set to open in January 2013.

FABnyc originally decided to expand the scope of its non-profit community service by assuming the lease at 75 East 4th Street and opening the FAB Café in January of 2011. FABnyc broke a NYC record for opening a new café, from lease to health inspection, in under one month. The café was staffed and managed by artist-baristas who helped make the it a creative hub for the neighborhood.

FABnyc was also able to relocate the East Village Visitors Center, a collaboration with the Lower East Side History Project, to the space, creating a vibrant spot for tourists and locals alike to learn more about the neighborhood. The FAB Café & East Village Visitor Center has hosted a total of 11 art exhibitions since its opening, curated by Joyce Manalo and Keith Schweitzer.

After consulting with board and community members, FABnyc has determined that the FAB Café space will better serve by acting as a hub for artists, creatives, and local culture aficionados who desire to work and learn together. East Village Visitors Center is anticipated to continue operations out of 75 East 4th, however the structure and hours of EVVC are yet to be determined.

Closing Holiday Party:
December 14, 2012
5PM-7PM @ 75 East 4th St.

Previously.

[Updated] Today at Cooper Union: tuition protests continue

The Cooper Union tuition protests continues... there's a rally outside the Foundation Building...

And 11 students are still barricaded in an office suite on the 8th floor... students are sending them notes of support via these red balloons...

[Via @ChangeThruArt]

NOT JUST 11 STUDENTS. A wall full of solidarity notes sent up to the Peter Cooper Suite by balloon. #Solidarity twitter.com/FreeCooperUnio…

— Free Cooper Union (@FreeCooperUnion) December 5, 2012

And here's an update on what's happening via The Huffington Post.

Previously.

[Photos via Marjorie Ingall]

Updated 5:15 p.m.

Here are a few more photos from today via EVG regular peter radley ...

Checking in on the Memories of Tompkins Square Park poster

[Bobby Williams, from Monday night]

We noted yesterday the arrival of a poster board thingy in Tompkins Square Park... that asked people to share their Park memories. The sign survived another night remains up ... there are a few more sentiments...

...though some of the comments are getting rather ugly...

And thanks to everyone who left a favorite memory on our post...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Karen
Occupation: Retired, Social Worker
Location: 10th Street and 1st Avenue
Time: 1:15pm on Monday, December 3

I’ve lived in Manhattan my whole life. I was born on 26th Street and I lived in Stuyvesant Town for most of the time, and I’ve been living in this neighborhood for 5 years. But I had relatives living on 7th Street since I was born, so I’ve always been around here. I would visit my grandmother and my aunt. That’s why I feel very connected to this area.

I’m retired now. I was a social worker for the Veterans hospital on 23rd Street. I worked there for 30 years and then I just felt like I had enough. It was a hard job but I was glad that I did it.

In the last several years, I worked in a program for women veterans. I totally changed what I did. That became a whole different thing because their needs weren’t being met by the hospital because the hospital was used to serving men. That was very different and a lot of the women had a lot of problems.

Unfortunately, the VA is closed right now because of the storm. They had very bad electrical damage and they don’t know when it’s going to open up. The veterans who depend on it have to go to the Brooklyn VA or other places.

During the 1970s and 1980s, it was a horror show around here. Unfortunately, a lot of the bad stuff is the stuff that stands out. Like, I still get creeped out whenever I go over to Tompkins Square Park. Even though it’s OK there now basically, I can’t psychologically, I just cringe when I walk near that Park, because it was so horrible. I remember these tents and burning garbage cans and all of these really awful, dangerous homeless people. Avenue A was my cutoff point; I wouldn’t walk further east. Avenue B, C, D — forget about it.

I had a boyfriend in college — both his front teeth were knocked out in Tompkins Square Park. I think it was just a night mugging and it didn’t even seem that shocking to me.

And then I had this other boyfriend who lived on the block where the Hells Angels lived, and he went into a supermarket. I’m not sure if it was a Key Food or an A&P, but he was attacked in the supermarket and he had to pick up a broom to defend himself in there. I think he went in there to steal tuna fish.

My favorite place right now is this little dive — it’s just a counter and there no tables. It’s called Stage [Restaurant] and it’s next to that "Stomp" show. I love that place. I get their beef goulash; and their potato pancakes; and pierogies; and blintzes; and soups; and meatloaf; just about everything that I’ve had there is really good. You can go and spend 12 bucks for a full meal and the guys are so nice.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Marketing 166 Second Avenue in the 1920s: 'a desirable location for the modern home'

On Monday, Curbed had a post titled "19 Vintage New York City Real Estate Ads and Photos." This reminded me of the following item that I found at Columbia University's New York Real Estate Brochure Collection. (I have more brochures from around here if you're interested.)

It's a marketing brochure for 166 Second Avenue between East 10th Street and East 11th Street ... it isn't dated, but I'd put it around the mid-to-late 1920s.

Here's how Warren Hall was being marketed...

Location: "In the heart of the old aristocratic Stuyvesant and Astor Place section, a new and distinctive residential neighborhood is rapidly spring up. This district, so rich in City tradition, is once more coming into prominence as a desirable location for the modern home."

Sounds nice. But what about the traffic?

"The congested state of New York's transportation will never become a menace to residents of WARREN HALL. Within two blocks is the Astor Place Place station of the Fourth Avenue Subway, the 9th Street station of the Third Avenue Elevated and any number of surface lines leading in all directions."

[Click image to enlarge]

And all this cost a fortune for the times, really. Look at the rent.

[Click image to enlarge]

The least-expensive apartment was the two-room home on the third floor for $700 (assuming this was monthly, right?). The top-of-the-line penthouse home ("designed in the form of country bungalows, yet have all the city conveniences") went for $2,600.

Interestingly, the brochure notes that "the building will be completed in October, 1929" — right in time for the Stock Market Crash! Wonder how that hurt the move-in rate.

166 Second Avenue isn't called Warren Hall anymore... still a fine home. Here's a description of the building on Streeteasy ... interesting to see how it is being marketed circa 2009 (pre Nicoletta!) or so:

This is a dangerous location for food lovers! Blackhound bakery is right downstairs and the famous Veselka Polish diner is one block away. You can sit out front and enjoy your iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts before heading across the street to take advantage of the twice weekly farmers market.

The four active listings range in price between $2,700 to $8,400.

Benefit for Occupy Sandy Saturday at Sidewalk

Via the EVG inbox...

BoysLikeBarbies and MERMAIDFARM Media Arts present I HEART HURRICANE RELIEF, a benefit for Occupy Sandy at the Sidewalk Cafe.

Music, poetry, comedy, plus live auctions and raffles to support those in the process of recovering from Hurricane Sandy. $10 suggested donation. 5:30 p.m. — midnight.

Jeffrey Lewis
Victor Varnado
Debe Dalton
John F. O'Donnell
Madison Cano
Jessica Delfino
Bernard King Presents
Myka Fox
Bridget and the Squares
The DeLorean Sisters
Tim Shea
Peter Loureiro
Sean T. Hanratty and the Mighty Mighty

Hosted by A Brief View of the Hudson

ON THE AUCTION BLOCK:
- Vintage jewelry and accessories from Dusty Buttons
- A Photograph from rock and roll photographer Jonnie Miles
- A gift certificate to Mark Garrison Salon
- 2 $25 bar tabs at the Sidewalk Cafe
- A Bridget and the Squares shwag bag
- A $50 bar tab at Sophie's Bar
- A $50 bar tab at Mona's Bar
- A $50 bar tab at Josie's Bar
- A complimentary massage from Jessica Laine Trugman Massage

IN ADDITION to monetary relief, we are asking all in attendance to please go take a look at the Occupy Sandy website, and are encouraging all to bring any supplies they are currently requesting to the event. They have expressed a dire need for volunteers, especially on the weekends, and team leaders and organizers who can commit for extended periods of time. A representative from the Occupy Sandy group will be there accepting donations and have information for the ways in which you can help!

There's also a Facebook page with more information here.

Cooper Union update

Students for a Free Cooper Union have been in the Peter Cooper Suite for >28 hours. Candlelight vigil on the ground: twitter.com/FreeCooperUnio…

— Free Cooper Union (@FreeCooperUnion) December 5, 2012

Here's an update on this situation this evening via WNYC.


Previously.

Get your Lucky Beggar Wallet!

[Image via Curbed]

Uh-oh.

Per Jezebel this afternoon:

Ah, yes, the "iconic," "quirky" poverty of the New York City streets! Imagine having a wallet that conjures all the romance of sleeping on sidewalks in a city where an unprecedented number of people are now without a roof over their heads.

H/T Curbed.

What's your memory of Tompkins Square Park?

Yesterday afternoon, a group of people (students?) created this poster board that they put up near the middle of Tompkins Square Park.

There are a few markers attached to the paper. Someone wants people to share: What's your memory of Tompkins Square Park? (There is a Twitter account written on the poster, though it doesn't appear to be too active.)

[Top photos by Bobby Williams]

I wasn't sure what to expect for answers. The poster made it through the night. For the most part, people seemed to seriously respond to the question (though it's still early) ... I didn't spot any jokes or expletives...

Students for a Free Cooper Union call for press conference this afternoon

From the EV Grieve inbox...

We, the Students for a Free Cooper Union, who reclaimed The Peter Cooper Suite from the current Cooper Union administration yesterday at noon, have established base overnight. We will continue holding this space until our demands are met or we are otherwise removed: we will not negotiate.

To this point we have publicly presented our terms and principles and reached out to the broader community and press, but we have yet to be contacted in any capacity by the president. Faced with ideological opposition to the expansionist model, Jamshed Bharucha has withdrawn from public view and shirked his responsibilities overseeing the college.

We denounce our president’s repeated absence in the face of community organizing. Last year, while the New York City Police Department arrested our students, our administration was nowhere to be seen; and chants of “Where is our president?” still echo today. We need transparency, not invisibility. In contrast, the public has come together in support of our principles and demands. Displays of solidarity — from tweets all around the world to a candlelit vigil eight floors below — resonate our rejection of the global system of student debt and articulate aggravations that are felt worldwide.

Yesterday, an anonymous source shared a report with us detailing the results of a committee convened to analyze the feasibility of implementing undergraduate tuition in the School of Engineering. The research concluded that within 10 years, students could face between $40,000 and $80,000 in tuition fees.

Since we received and shared this document, other members of the community have stepped forward to clarify the nature of the report. It is our understanding now that this committee was one of many tasked to research revenue generation for the school. We struggle with the fact that all of this information has come to light solely from a leaked document, and not the from our expectations of transparency and candor.

In response to the undervaluing of student voices and the continuous dismissal of community organizing, Students for a Free Cooper Union are holding a press conference on Tuesday, December 4, 2012 to address the aforementioned points. We are organizing our fellow students as public intermediaries to speak on our behalf while we retain the Peter Cooper Suite.

We invite everyone to this press conference in front of Cooper Union at 7 East 7th Street at 2:30 PM

The New York Times had more on the story here yesterday.

Previously.

Here is the schedule for the first day of MoRUS on Avenue C this Saturday

As noted last week., The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) will open its doors to the public on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Co-founder Laurie Mittelmann passed along the schedule (all subject to change):

3:00 Chain-cutting ceremony and proclamation by Rosie Mendez
3:45 Slideshow by Seth Tobocman with Eric Bliss, Ben Barson and Joe Merolla
4:30 Talk and slideshow by Adam Purple
4:45 Reading by Maggie Wrigley
4:55 Reading by Felix
5:05 Slideshow by Mac McGill
5:35 Talk by Ben Shepard
5:50 Slideshow by Fly
6:30 Talk by Frank Morales
6:40 Spoken word by Pete Missing
7:00 Sermon and songs by Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping
8:00 March by Rude Mechanical Orchestra
8:30 Performance by Rude Mechanical Orchestra
Deejaying by DJ Dirtyfinger

MoRUS is at 155 Avenue C between East 10th Street and East 9th Street. Visit the MoRUS website here for more information.

Previously.

Whole Earth Bakery needs your help on St. Mark's Place

If you're a fan of Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen on St. Mark's Place (like me), then you may want to know about this... there's currently a crowdsourcing campaign underway to help the Bakery raise money... like many businesses, they took a hit following Superstorm Sandy... You can read more about the campaign and the incentives at Lucky Ant.

Here's a video with owner Peter Silvestri, who ran the bakery with his mother starting in 1978. He has been on St. Mark's Place since 1991.

New deli on First Avenue looks like every other new deli

The deli on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place closed for a renovation (same owners) back on Oct. 22...

...and yesterday, workers unveiled the new sign...

[Bobby Williams]

Well, most new delis have this food court/regional airport terminal look these days... all selling panini, tossed salad, etc. Two quick examples...

Or maybe we need to say that they're better than [fill in the blank] a 7-Eleven...?

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Another East Village corner market closes; 13 and counting for the last year or so

Cafe Racer proposed for St. Mark's Place

Here's another quick look at an applicant on this month's CB3/SLA docket. Per CB3 documents, a group of applicants are seeking a beer-wine license for Cafe Racer at 127 St. Mark's Place near Avenue A. The cafe, serving panini sandwiches and salads, would have seven tables with proposed hours of 11 a.m. to midnight seven days a week.

Most recently, the address was home to the short-lived San Matteo Panuozzo, which never reopened after being "closed for renovations" in September. Previously, this address was home to Motek, the crepe place.

The committee meeting is Monday night at 6:30, JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery.

In case you needed a $14,950 sublet overlooking Union Square

You're in luck then with this two-bedroom home at 840 Broadway at East 13th Street that is available starting Feb. 1.

Per the Streeteasy listing:

What could be better than living downtown in a 2800' full floor corner loft steps away from Whole Foods, great shopping, fine restaurants and superior transportation? Imagine getting off the elevator and stepping directly into your dramatic new home with its sweeping New York City vistas including a view of Union Square Park, high ceilings and beautiful details throughout. Best of all, there is an updated modern kitchen for you to cook the wonderful fresh produce you've scored from the nearby Union Square farmers market ... You have the option of renting this special home with the owner's tasteful furnishings ... or you can bring your own.

Asking $14,950 a month.

The great Block Drugs on Second Avenue is currently without the services of its D

A cat encounter on East 10th Street

Photo by Bobby Williams.