At Pogopalooza 10 in Tompkins Square Park

Pogopalooza 10, the annual world championship of the sport of extreme pogo, took place this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park.

Per the xpogo website:

Xpogo athletes from across the world attempt to qualify for spots in the next-day’s finals in three disciplines: Big Air, Best Trick, and High Jump. The qualifiers are open, so on-site sign-ups are permitted. Throughout the day, athletes will be attempting to break all of the 13 recognized Xpogo World Records, in association with Guinness World Records.

And word was that Biff Hutchinson broke his own record for Highest Frontflip at 8'2" ....



The finals are tomorrow afternoon in Union Square. Any Pogopalooza reaction from those who were in the Park today? Someone described it as a "shitshow" — but not in a good way.

Photos by Bobby Williams.

[Updated] Reader report: DOA in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by Derek Berg]

A sad scene this morning. Multiple readers pass along word of a police investigation in the lawn at Tompkins Square Park early this morning...

Police investigating a dead body in Tompkins square park. Very grim. @evgrieve @Gothamist

— Danny M. (@trealist_) July 27, 2013

According to witnesses, someone discovered the body of a man in his mid-twenties. Early word is that this was the result of a drug overdose. However, this has not been confirmed.

Will update later when we hear more details...

Updated 8:15

WCBS New York had a short report on the discovery... Per WCBS, the man was discovered round 8:20 a.m. ... the man was said to be in his 30s.

The man who found the body contacted Gothamist...

I am the person who noticed him, found him unresponsive, and knew he looked dead. I didn't touch him and asked around if anyone knew him because he was in a bad way, and some people said they think he had been there like that all night.

Witnesses said authorities removed the body around 12:30 p.m.

Sunday: the first of the 25th Annual Tompkins Square Riot Reunion concerts

[Flyer created by Fly]

Tomorrow afternoon in Tompkins Square... the first of the 25th Annual Tompkins Square Riot Reunion concerts... the lineup:

-Fever Dream
-InCircles
-Team Spider
-Sexual Suicide
-Ruckus Interruptus
-Roger Manning
-Sewage

We'll have more on the shows and the Riot reunion later next week... Here is the Facebook event page for more details.

The whitewashing of the East Village continues

[June]

As noted last month, Tu Casa Recording Studio is leaving its longtime home at 95 Avenue B between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.

Early last evening, EVG reader Ann noted that workers were starting the paint over Tu Casa's mural...



Tu Casa has been around since 1972. A very lengthy list of musicians have played here through the years... including Butch Morris, Black Flag, the Bush Tetras, Dee Dee Ramone, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... (Find more names here.)

We don't know if Mario is moving Tu Casa to a new space in Brooklyn ... or closing altogether. We called Tu Case, though the number has been temporarily disconnected.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tu Casa Recording Studio is leaving Avenue B

Stanley Kubrick's Shoe Shine Boy

[Avenue C circa 1947]

On the occasion of his birthday yesterday, we posted a photo that filmmaker Stanley Kubrick took on the subway from 1946 for LOOK Magazine...

EVG Facebook friend Sharon shared the above photo...In 1947, Kubrick followed a 12-year-old kid named Mickey around for a LOOK pictorial on shoe shine boys... any guesses on what the cross street is for the above photo at Avenue C? (I don't know, so...)

The Museum of the City of New York has more photos and information about the series here.

Hockey clinic for kids Sundays in Tompkins Square Park

[NOT the old-time hockey taught in Tompkins Square Park]

EVG reader and East Village resident Brian Kubovcik shared this info ... he's a volunteer coach with NYC Street Hockey ... and they work with the Parks Deptartment and the New York Rangers to provide free Street Hockey Clinics to boys and girls ages 5-15.

"It's meant to get kids outside and active. We teach the basics of hockey on sneakers (not skates) and all equipment is provided. No prior hockey experience necessary. We're putting on the clinics in Tompkins Square Park (basketball court area at the corner of 10th Street and Avenue A) Sundays from 10 am - 12:30 until Aug. 25."

From the official website, where you can find registration info.

As a result of the continued success of the NYC Parks/NY Rangers Street Hockey Program, now in its third year, Parks will be offering free youth street hockey clinics for boys and girls aged 5-15 during the summer. The weekly scheduled clinics focus on introducing youth to the sport of hockey and teaching them the importance of an active, healthy lifestyle and eating a balanced diet. Sports instruction will focus on individual skills, team participation, and fundamentals of the game such as passing, shooting and stickhandling. All equipment is provided and no prior experience is necessary to participate.

Today at the Tompkins Square Park charging station

Photo by Bobby Williams

Garden party

Siouxsie and the Banshees with "Hong Kong Garden" from 1981

Happy birthday Stanley Kubrick

The great Stanley Kubrick was born on this date in 1928 in the Bronx.

Before his filmmaking career, he worked as a commercial photographer... he shot the NYC subways for LOOK Magazine in 1946...


[Museum of the City of New York]

You can find this photo and several others at the Museum of the City of New York blog.

Meanwhile, as for his films... In 1955, he borrowed $40,000 from an uncle and directed, wrote, edited and photographed "Killer's Kiss" — one of my favorites... (the images in the trailer show up at the 28-second mark...)



[H/T Dangerous Minds]

Tim Hortons 'temporarily closed for utility line maintenance'

That Tim Hortons-Cold Stone Creamery combo opened late last year on East Houston near Ludlow... As the photo via @fnytv shows, they are temporarily closed... perhaps a victim of the never-ending Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction...

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street discovers the summer vacation

Time to check in with a few friends who had the chance to travel this summer.

Recently Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street vacationed on Nantucket. We are unsure whether she’d ever been to the ocean before and given the calamity of her last water visit at Bantam Lake last summer we were concerned about how she’d react.



Turns out while she loves water she isn’t crazy about waves. But chasing her ball into the surf kept her busy and happy for hours and hours.



She also quickly acclimated to the natives and quite naturally substituted chasing seagulls and rabbits for her usual pigeon and squirrel obsessions in Tompkins Square Park.

More than anything we think she enjoyed being sans-leash with unfettered access to the great outdoors without the four flights of stairs she has to navigate at home.

On the next episode: Despite the strong performances by Al Pacino and John Cazale, Kita finds the lack of actual canines in "Dog Day Afternoon" rather disappointing.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

The further (often truly) amazing adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Happy holidays from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has her first ever annual checkup

At the Sagamore Cafeteria, 'always filled with bums snoozing over a cold cup of coffee'

Recently spotted this on the Old New York page on Facebook...

Description:
"Cafeteria near Cooper Union on Bowery. 1942. Photo by Marjory Collins. Photo from the Library of Congress."

As people in the Facebook comments pointed out, this was the Sagamore Cafeteria, St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue. Jack Kerouac called it "the respectable bums' cafeteria."

In his memoir, the poet Ted Berrigan recalled:

"The Sagamore was a big place always filled with bums snoozing over a cold cup of coffee. When you entered the place, you went through a turnstile and took a ticket, whih had various monetary values printed along its edges. Then, as you went down the cafeteria line, each counter man punch your new total cost.

Nobody bothered anybody, so it was a good place to sit if you wanted to talk for hours, which we usually did. Good, that is, if you could ignore so much human misery around you."

And today, of course, it looks like this...

The Taking of Astor Place...

Ah, EVG reader J.J. sent along a clip from one of our favorite NYC movies — "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" from 1974. (Anyone ever watch the 2009 remake? If not, then please don't.)

Anyway, the 90-second clip highlights a key scene that takes place on Lafayette Street up to Astor Place... As J.J. notes: "Luckily the Mud Truck wasn't there that day."

And we always liked the original movie poster...

Jupiter 21's mail campaign

A reader shared this Jupiter 21 marketing brochure that he randomly received in the mail yesterday... (did you receive one?)

It touts the amenities at the new luxury high rise on Second Avenue and East First Street, which, according to this brochure, is located in Noho...



Funny that this address wasn't considered Noho before this...

A new suitor for 269 E. Houston St.

There's a potential bar/restaurant in the works for 269 E. Houston St., the building at Suffolk with nine different for rent/sale signs.

This applicant is on the August CB3/SLA committee docket:

• Lower East Side NY Bistro Corp, 269 E Houston St (op)

Dunno anything about it just yet... though the word "bistro" makes it seem as if it will be a more upscale tenant than in past years.

As for recent history here... The Local 269 never reopened last fall after a flood apparently KO'd much of the live music venue's equipment. The space was previously home to Meow Mix and Vasmay Lounge. The Local opened in February 2009.

Applicants who were previously involved with the Apocalypse Lounge (2004-2007) on East Third Street apparently had designs on a new bar here. However, the applicants apparently never appeared before the CB3/SLA committee back in March, according to the CB3 meeting record.

We'll have more on the August CB3/SLA meeting later... the meeting is set for Aug. 19 at 6:30 pm.

EV Grieve Q-and-A recap

On this summer Friday, we're revisiting some of the Q-and-As that we've done with various filmmakers, artists, writers, bikes, etc., through the years. They are presented below in no particular order, except for the last one, which should be last.


[Lydia Lunch]

Lydia Lunch, underground legend, town crier

John Linnell, 1/2 of They Might Be Giants

John Hokmstrom, founding editor, Punk Magazine

Leonard Abrams, publisher of the East Village Eye


[Sylvain Sylvain, left, and David Johansen in 2006]

Sylvain Sylvain, New York Doll

Nick Zedd, filmmaker, artist, writer

Penny Pollak, fire-breathing East Village actress and writer


[John Holmstrom, left, and friends]

Anonymous, author of 'Diary of an Oxygen Thief'

Robert Sietsema, food writer

Fly, activist, squatter, artist

Michael Dominic, director of 'Sunshine Hotel'

Mickey Leigh, musician

Victoria Linchong, writer, actor, director

Curt Hoppe, artist

[Céline Danhier]

Marc H. Miller, founder of Ephemera Press, 98Bowery.com

Brian Rose, photographer

Jessie Auritt, filmmkaer

Andrew Kotliar, festival director for Kinofest NYC

Céline Danhier, director, "Blank City"

Unknown bike, iconic symbol of the 2010 Holiday Blizzard

East 14th Street corridor now nearly business-free ahead of new development

[Photo by Hawkeye Bulletin]

The storefronts continue to disappear on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. Yesterday, Rainbow finally shut its doors. The junior retailer joins now-former block neighbors The Blarney Cove... Bargain Express ... Petland ... the ABC Animal Hospital ...

One business is actually staying on the block: the laundromat, which is moving east ...



... to the space Ray's East Side 99-cent store had before moving to the Copper Building.


[Photo by EVG reader Michael]

After the laundromat moves, just Rite Aid will remain between Avenue A and 520 East 14th St. (not part of the land grab).

A still-unspecified new development will eat up much of the block. As we first reported last December, eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. (excluding No. 520) were leased for a 99-year period by the respective owner of East Village 14 LLC.

Turns out the identity of "East Village 14 LLC" was right under our noses this whole time.

Back in April, The Real Deal examined the late real-estate mogul Sol Goldman's $6 billion portfolio. As part of their reporting:

And in November, city property records show, Gary Barnett of Extell Development signed a 99-year lease worth $35.14 million to rent eight Goldman-owned properties across the street from Stuyvesant Town, including 516 East 14th Street, 530 East 14th Street and 222 Avenue A.

Extell has been busy with such high-profile luxury properties around the city like One57 ... an "ultra-luxe condo tower" at 217 West 57th Street ... and One Hudson Yards.

So. You can likely count on something really tall and luxurious here one day.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

Bargain Express has closed on East 14th Street

Reader report: Odessa Cafe closes for good after Aug. 15

[File photo via Shawn Chittle]

Word is spreading among Odessa Cafe and Bar regulars that the space on Avenue A will close for good after Aug. 15.

The closure rumors started last summer after the building at No. 117 was sold to 9300 Realty (owned by Croman Realty).

Paperwork filed ahead of this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting showed that six principals are part of a team who is buying the business ... at least one of which is a "former owner and general manager" of Tribeca's Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs, according to public documents posted on the CB3 website.

And CB3 OK'd the applicant's license, with the stipulations:

• it will operate as a full-service American brasserie restaurant, with a kitchen open and serving
food during all hours of operation,
• its hours of operation will be 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. all days,
• it will play recorded music at less than entertainment level, and not have live music, DJs,
promoted events, scheduled performances or any event at which a cover fee will be charged,
• it will close any façade doors and windows at 10:00 P.M. every night,
• it will not commercially use any outdoor areas,
• it may have "happy hours" from 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.,
• it will not host pub crawls or party buses

The closure of Odessa Cafe and Bar does not impact the newer Odessa next door at 119 Avenue A... though we hear this Odessa will have more of a bar environment now later in the evening hours.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that houses Odessa Cafe and Bar for sale on Avenue A

Is the end nearing for Odessa Cafe and Bar on Avenue A?

Former GM from Tribeca's Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs part of team to buy the Odessa Cafe

The Yippie Museum Cafe will reopen next Wednesday

[Photo from June 27 by Donna Rae]

The Harmony Kitchen, the food vendor at the Yippie Museum Cafe, closed at the end of June ... At the time, it was unclear what would happen with 9 Bleecker Street, the longtime headquarters of the counterculture group and home to the cafe just a few storefronts west of the Bowery.

On June 10, Colin Moynihan at The New York Times reported that Yippie leaders have been fighting an attempt by a lender to foreclose on their three-story home.

The space has been shut all this month, with a "closed for re-calculating" sign up...

However, there's an additional sign now... noting that they space will reopen next Wednesday for performances and events, though without any food or coffee...



The sign says Harmony "packed their bags and split. They left many unanswered questions and bills."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble

Unattended ladders and new bedbugs at 132 E. Seventh St.

Construction continues at 132 E. Seventh St. at Avenue A... at the residential portion above Niagara... (work started back in April) ... DOB permits point to "facade repair" on the building.

A resident here shares a little about the ongoing construction this summer...

I got home from work [the other night] to find that the construction crew (who themselves have been notably professional and diligent) had left their ladder set up. Since the scaffolding went up, we have had two incidents of strangers scrambling their way up and wandering around on the scaffolding after dark and that was without a handy ladder.

And how have the renovations been going?

When they started construction, they (again with no warning) entered all of our apartments and started to cut holes in our ceiling. After we stacked and moved all of our belongings and furniture, they continued by putting anchor bolts and plates through our walls. Ostensibly this was to reinforce the existing structure; however, in conjunction with the "roof patio" they have built and the in-wall a/c units they are insisting on installing, it's our (the tenants) guess that they are looking to either flip these into more "luxury units" or more aggressively, try to add another floor on top.

Also, we got bedbugs after they cut the holes in the ceiling.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Straight to hell: Keeping a watchful eye on the Joe Strummer mural