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: Hannah Rad
Occupation: Radio Presenter, DJ, East Village Radio (Thursdays, 6-8pm)
Location: EVR, 1st Avenue between 1st and 2nd Streets
Time: 6:15 on Thursday, Aug. 1

I’m from a suburb about 30 minutes south of Pittsburgh. It was a small, kind of farm country area. Right before I moved here after graduating college in 2004, my sister and I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. We stopped in the gift store and they had this massive record sale. I grabbed a handful, and out of every record I could have picked out, I was like, “Oh, the New York Dolls.” I had no idea what they even sounded like, but I wanted to seem really cool when I got to New York and I thought this is going to be the album that does it. And then I come to find out years later that it’s truly such a vital piece of the East Village history and the entire New York music scene. It was those guys in bouffants on that cover that just made it for me.

Coming here was quite the culture shock. I don’t know that I ever considered moving to the city when I was younger, but I knew that I needed to get out of where I was from. I had a tough time when I first moved here. I hardly knew anyone. The first year or so I was like, “Do I belong here and is this where I need to be?” And then I started venturing out more and kind of getting lost in the city. I always found myself gravitating around this area. And now that I’m here I can’t imagine being any place else.

My first job was with a hotel company doing hospitality. It had nothing to do with my field of expertise — graphic design and communications, although that’s become pretty much antiquated now. It seems like everything I learned in college you can do with an app now. What is my degree worth now? Nothing. And I turned that into a design job. I was like, “Listen, I can do this, this and this but I can also do your design,” which eventually took me to working with a number of magazines and art directing. Then I landed at a job at Clear Channel, doing design for them. So I got pretty connected within radio, although EVR and Clear Channel had nothing to do with one another.

I had a lot of free time in between design projects, so I had amped my game up — I was writing a music blog, and it really took off at that time. One of the hosts on EVR, Jason Eldridge, who hosts Accidental Rhythm, had become a fan and we had communicated a little bit but we had never met. And then he emailed me out of the blue one day and said, “You know, I’m going to be out of town for 4 weeks, do you want to fill in?”

After a few weeks, they gave me my own show, and a few months after that they asked me to work here full-time. In that respect, I was able to fuse what I was doing with my blog and transfer that to the EVR site in terms of ramping up the content.

My show is from 6-8 pm on Thursdays. I play a lot of music from the UK and I try to break new artists. I’m taking newer acts and still using this platform and this area and name, this East Village stamp of approval, and saying, you know, we’re still fostering and cultivating new talent. It’s still a creative area.

I love working in the booth. I had been in the habit of leaving the door open when I first started the show. It gets a little weird at times. One of the more memorable moments was when this guy walked by, and I was like, “Oh shit, I think this is Howard Stern right now” and the guy comes in. He looks and sounds exactly like him and he hands me a card — he’s a Howard Stern impersonator. He had the voice and the look. So I put him on the mic and he was like, “Hey this is Howard Stern, East Village Radio.” That’s just one of the typical characters who walk by at any given time.

[Madonna was] my initial introduction to the East Village while growing up in rural Pittsburgh. I knew Madonna had been in this area on East 4th street when she was getting started. She just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the debut album, which excites me. I love reading the story of her just hanging out on a fire escape and just seeing those pictures. It’s just awesome to see that stuff, someone that you idolized so young and you see the progression where they’ve went, and you think, well maybe that will be me.

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

Demolishing the 96-year-old Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church

Demolition day arrived yesterday at the Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on East 12th Street. Workers are making their way forward as these photos from a variety of residents show.

For part of the day, workers left the gate on Avenue A open, which provided a clear view of the carnage.


[Via an EV resident]

Reactions were varied. At one moment, standing nearly side by side on Avenue A and East 11th Street, we spotted a woman saying a prayer... and another woman hopping out a cab, frantically searching for Westville East.

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The following photos are by Paul DeRienzo, which show the start of the church's demolition...











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From East 12th Street resident Kym Gomes, who has lived across from the church the past 20 years...





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From Bobby Williams...







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From an East Village resident...



...workers are also bringing down the former school on East 11th Street...



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... and the end of the day... via @surajstar ...



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The church opened in 1917. Developer Douglas Steiner bought the property last fall for an unspecified residential complex.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site

Scaffolding arrives for demolition of Mary Help of Christians

Alpha Women Attack Otto's tonight

From the EVG inbox... info on the latest Alpha Women Attack the East Village party...

LEO PARTY at the new monthly Wednesday party hosted by Our Lady of Perpetual PMS (a Leo Lady) & D.J. Feo

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 E. 14th St. (btwn A & B)
NO COVER
(Donations collected for performers)

8/7 Theme: We Are Leo, Hear Us Roar! A Leonine Party that ROARS, brings home the bacon, & parties on top of the patriarchy!

classic punk, 90's grrrl anthems. Iconic ladies & their comrades, keeping it punk, weird, badass:
X, Bags, Blondie, Babes in Toyland, L7, Veruca Salt, Le Tigre, Lydia Lunch, etc. & Local NYC legends

9:30 pm: SKUM CITY: (NYC's best H/C Punk band decrying the demise of NYC & putting what's left loud, gritty, & in your face!)
10 pm: JESSICA DELFINO (The Lower East Side's own Queen of the Obscene! The return of our resident muse.)
10:30 pm: ANGEL EYEDEALISM (Legendary E. Village avant garde performance artist, classically gifted singer & theremin player)
11 pm: Avant Entertainment Hour with LeAnne & Olga's guitar & bass originals, street poetry & Spoken word by PMS & Feo, & more subversive performers!!

Copies of the brand new Shadow, NYC's only underground newspaper, published peroidically since 1988, will be available for $1.

Plus more treats TBA, we promise!

Suggested dress: Your tributes to the Lioness, Feline, & Cat Lady best. Leopard print, fiery flash, royal reds & blacks. Embrace the Leo Power! Leos welcomed & worshipped.

Find the Facebook event page here.

This open, airy, East Village studio seeks $2,600 a month

Unit has bright floor-to-ceiling fencing throughout. The hard floors and stainless steel finishes complete this great unit. Have a summer move-in with spring pricing! Call the leasing office today. Close to restaurants, shopping, subway. Students OK.

Sooooo. Thanks to EVG reader juan TRED for the description and photo... this thing arrived on East 14th Street near First Avenue last Friday. Probably some kind of construction storage thingy. Or is it? Anyone?

Noted

There goes the Russo's mural on East 11th Street at First Avenue. (Not sure exactly when this happened.) The most recent Russo's mural arrived in September 2011.

Suspicious characters at the National Night Out Against Crime

Goggla shared this photo from this evening's annual National Night Out Against Crime outside the 9th Precinct on East Fifth Street...

Meanwhile, on Facebook, Slum Goddess has (understandably!) posted 87 photos of the police officer on stilts...

A memorial for John Blanco on Avenue D

Here's a follow up on the post this morning about John Blanco, a popular bouncer at Croxley Ales on Avenue B. He died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident early last Thursday morning.

Stacie Joy shared these photos from outside where John lived on Avenue D...

[Updated] Nestor the blue puppet is missing

Spotted on Avenue B between East Ninth Street and East Eighth Street... $100 reward for his return...

Updated 6:04
And this is legit — not some wacky viral marketing campaign... We emailed Tim, who confirmed the loss.

Going off the Deep End starting tonight

Paper brings word of a new pop-up shop on First Avenue called The Deep End Club. Proprietor Tennessee Thomas explains the idea behind the concept:

I'd been walking past empty shop fronts in the East Village and fantasizing about having a shop/HQ in the vein of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's Let it Rock, a place to collaborate with all the incredible creatives in my scene, feature all their creations and create more. After looking at a few spaces I realized it was financially unrealistic. But I mentioned it to a few friends, and a couple of months later a friend said "I think I found you a shop" and introduced me to these ladies on 1st Ave. who owned A Repeat Performance and had just taken the lease on the shop next door and were looking for a partner to collaborate with.

Among the items that the shop will feature in the next few months, per Paper: medical science-inspired jewelry by Meghan Farrell, dresses hand-painted with organic, small batch dyes made by Audrey Louise Reynolds and artwork by Adam Green.

[Photo @TheDeepEndClub on Instagram via Paper]

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[10th and D via Bobby Williams]

Here comes CVS to East Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Katz's getting the coffee-book treatment (Zagat)

Somehow I missed this news of the one and only Mick Farren's death (The New York Times)

LES resident launches the Get Off My Bike Lane blog (The Lo-Down)

Man likes to have his photo taken with Citi Bikes (Runnin' Scared)

History of 809 Broadway (Off the Grid)

A feature on Shakespeare in the Parking Lot (AP via The Wall Street Journal)

Video: The last days of Maxwell's (NJ.com)

From the realtor who used "Bedwick" (Bushwick meets Bed-Stuy) in an ad: "I don’t see the big deal—I think people should embrace change. If people are that afraid of gentrification, that’s their fault." (Gothamist)

The old Woolworth Building's grand lobby (Curbed)

Development battle lining up at the Parish House of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

...and EVG reader Adam Price noted the spiffy new sign/awning combo that went up Saturday on East 10th Street and First Avenue...



... previously...



And tonight as part of the ongoing MoRUS Film Festival: Home in Loisaida Films! Featuring "B/Side," directed by Abigail Child; and "Not For Sale," directed by Yael Bitton.

At La Plaza Cultural, Avenue C and East Ninth Street.

Q-and-A with Amy Nicholson, director of 'Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride'

"Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride" examines the greed and politics that have helped gut the neighborhood. The film centers on Eddie Miranda, the Zipper's operator who, despite turning profits, was forced to shut down after 38 years of operation.

Director Amy Nicholson's film also includes an interview with developer Joe Sitt, whose rezoned-to-death vision is turning the neighborhood "into a chain store wasteland," as the Observer put it.

"Zipper" has been on the film festival circuit, and now receives a week-long theatrical release starting Friday at the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue. While the documentary focuses on Coney Island, Nicholson explores issues that are being experienced in other NYC neighborhoods.

Here, she answers a few questions about the film and the ongoing march of luxurification throughout the city.

When we last talked, you had a slot at the First Time Fest 2013 in the East Village. How does it feel to get a theatrical release now at IFC?

I feel so lucky and I keep thinking someone is going to call and take it all away. It’s kind of unreal. I couldn’t be more excited.


[Via the "Zipper" Facebook page]

What do you think makes a place like Coney Island so special?

There’s something magical about carnival atmosphere. It’s pure fun. All the lights and noises and people screaming and everything moving and the smells from the food ... Then you combine all that with a beach and you add in all those sounds and smells and it’s just heaven.

But what makes Coney Island so special is that it has a very rich history of being a place where people can come and blow off steam, let it all hang out. You can scream, dance, eat a hot dog, eat some candy, wear whatever you want, act freaky, look at something freaky, be amazed, be scared — it’s all there. And all are welcome.

Does Coney Island still feel special to you? Or is it starting to become Anywhere On a Beach USA?

Something big is missing now and I really think it left along with some of the people who were displaced with the rezoning. Coney Island’s history isn’t just baked into the place, it is baked into the people who are down there. They grew up there and they could tell you stories that a kid in corporate khakis and a polo shirt can’t.

I also think it has lost some of its aesthetic value. So much of the great hand painted signage was literally just thrown out. Why did Paul’s Daughter on the boardwalk have to be “cleaned up?” That was one of the most photographed buildings in the world! And then there’s the new carousel building, which is trying way to hard to be fun with those big kooky letters. I don’t know — it all just seems off.

You were at the last day of Big Nick's on July 28. What closures around the city have been particularly painful for you to see?

Colony Records, Joe’s Dairy, The Rawhide, Max Fish... In my neighborhood [Greenwich Village] in the past three years alone we’ve lost Joe Jr’s, The Food Emporium, Groom-o-rama Pet Shop, Jefferson Market, which, as we speak, is being transformed into the Rudin Sales Office for Greenwich Lane – the ultra-luxury condo, maisonette and townhouse development going up on the former St. Vincent’s Hospital site. They’re advertising the “discretion” their new residents will enjoy, whatever that means.

These closings are all so painful. And in their places we see an explosion of banks, frozen yogurt chains, cellphone stores – all the businesses that can afford the astronomical rents.

Do you see any end to the chaining of NYC?

Not yet. My husband and I talk about this all the time. It will only end when those businesses have no customers and the landlords realize that they can no longer charge those rents that moms and pops can’t touch. We’re talking about a very long process to try and undo what has been done.

Nearly six years went into making "Zipper." Do you have another documentary subject in the works?

Not yet. But I have a few ideas. First I am going to sleep and save some money.


Zipper Trailer

Find more about the movie here. Find IFC showtimes here.

RIP John Blanco

Several readers noted the flowers and candles outside Croxley Ales on Avenue B late last week. This is a memorial for John Blanco, a popular bouncer at the bar, who died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident early last Thursday morning.

"He was very much loved," said one family friend of Blanco, who lived on Avenue D.

We'll share more information when it become available.

Condo conversion picking up at former East 6th Street synagogue

The condo conversion continues at the landmarked Congregation Mezritch Synagogue on East Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A ... construction signage arrived last week, though various crews and contractors have been on the scene dating to the spring...



A reader also noted a few pieces of broken furniture (left in front of the neighboring building) a rusted dumpster with a hole ...





... and discarded prayer books ...



The DOB approved the interior demolition in June. On July 29, the DOB disapproved the following:

CHANGE OF USE, OCCUPANCY, AND EGRESS FROM THE EXISTING CELLAR, 1ST, 2ND & 3RD FLOOR, AND CREATE NEW 4TH FLOOR & 5TH FLOOR, OVER EXISTING ROOF, AS PER PLANS FILED.

As previously noted, the historic building was in bad shape and the congregation has apparently dwindled. Synagogue leaders reportedly signed a 99-year lease with East River Partners worth some $1.2 million. The renovations include a penthouse addition and an elevator. The synagogue will reportedly retain space on the ground floor and basement for their use.

Rabbi Paul (Pesach) Ackerman, the popular longtime rabbi of the synagogue, died in June from complications of pneumonia, The Villager reported. He was 84.

Per this article:

In his final days, Ackerman was instrumental in working out a development deal for the badly deteriorating synagogue building that will revitalize the landmarked structure and also guarantee that space will be reserved there for the synagogue for the next 99 years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Plan to add condos to historic East Sixth Street synagogue back on

Play spot the potential penthouse atop the East Village synagogue

The Summer Antifolk Festival starts tonight at Sidewalk Cafe

From the EVG inbox...

The 10-day Summer Antifolk Festival at Sidewalk Cafe will feature performances by more than 90 acts in a jam-packed showcase of music and other performing arts that characterize the ongoing creative scene at the renowned East Village venue. The Fest, which runs August 6 through 16, is the concluding event in the year-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of Antifolk at Sidewalk Cafe. It brings together a large cross-section of performers who have been part of the close-knit Sidewalk community over the last two decades, many of whom are returning to the club for rare appearances.

It also features some of the brightest newcomers in the scene. The Summer Antifolk Festival runs August 6 through 16 at Sidewalk Cafe, 94 Avenue A (at Sixth Street). There is no cover charge for shows, although there is a one-item food or drink minimum.

Check out the Sidewalk website for more details and complete list of performers.

When you received 'no finer service anywhere' at this cleaners

Yesterday, EVG reader Patrick noticed that Aura Cleaners on East 14th Street just east of Avenue B was getting a new sign... not really newsworthy (except for on this site — woot) ... However! In pulling down the old awning... the workers exposed a little ghost signage... "No finer service anywhere" in a fine font...



Curious about the date of the original... Patrick found a tax photo dating to 1983 showing the sign in place...



The two-level building was erected here in 1949... and the first commercial tenant was a restaurant, according to the Certificate of Occupancy.

That photogenic St. Mark's Place

Photo this afternoon via Bobby Williams

Just after midnight in Tompkins Square Park

A reader submitted photo from late last night on the lawn in the Park.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Painting the exterior of the Theater for the New City yesterday. Photo by Bobby Williams]

Soho House Ludlow vs. LES Dwellers on Thursday (BoweryBoogie)

Interview with the co-creators of Centre-fuge on First Avenue (The Lo-Down, photos of the new murals at GammaBlog)

Watch the surf-punk of the Coffin Daggers in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

The No 7-Eleven skit (Save the Lower East Side!)

Revisiting "Raising Victor Vargas" (The A.V. Club)

Magic Shoe Repair shop on Carmine Street closes (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

And tonight as part of the ongoing MoRUS Film Festival:

"Home in Loisaida" Films! Featuring LES, directed by Coleen Fitzgibbon; HEART OF LOISAIDA, directed by Marci Reaven and Beni Matias; VIVA LOISAIDA, directed by Marlis Momber. Filmmakers Marci Reaven and Marlis Momber in attendance!

Fitzgibbon’s LES features striking footage of the Lower East Side’s buildings and people in 1976. A fake documentary, LES investigates the Island of Manhattan’s fiscal problems, which have resulted from the nefarious activities of the John Dough Cult. (16 min)

HEART OF LOISAIDA focuses on efforts to form tenant associations in buildings that have been ravaged by neglectful slumlords. (30 min)
VIVA LOISAIDA explores the strong identity of Loisaida through the eyes of the neighborhood’s prolific photographer, Marlis Momber. (40 min)

The program runs 86 minutes. Doors open at 7:30pm and the films begin at dusk. All filmmakers will be in attendance to introduce their films. Show up early for a good seat (or bring your own chair or blanket). $5 (suggested) at the door.

The films show at La Plaza Cultural, Avenue C and East Ninth Street.

Here's the trailer for LES...

Checking in on the 13 Portals, an interactive street art project for the East Village

On Saturday, Nicolina and Pérola Bonfanti unveiled the latest in the interactive street art project known as 13 Portals. Portal No. 5 is at 98 Avenue A. Every Saturday this summer, the pair will unveil a new portal. Participants have an opportunity to find one of 64 keys that gives them access to a final event on Oct. 5 that will reveal what the whole puzzle means.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Cities features Nicolina and the 13 Portals in an article today:

The paintings tell a story rooted in research of numberology, ancient history, and science, according to Bonfanti, who served as an assistant professor at Rio's esteemed Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage. But they are also just to put some beautify out where it's needed, added Nicolina — among regular people in their everyday lives.

This is the core motivation behind the Free Art Society — to free it from institutions, from economic barriers, and in the end, from people's own minds. Asked about the potential actual effects of these projects, she says, "Hopefully this opens other people up to be more expressive themselves. Creative expression is contagious."

And there's plenty of creative expression which each unveiling ... here's the scene for Portal No. 3 on East 10th Street from July 20....



Check out the 13 Portals website for more info. Read more about Nicolina here.

The bell towers of Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church

A look at the bell towers at the doomed Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on East 12th Street via EVG reader Ruth... from last night (above) and this morning...



Workers have prepped the church for demolition to make way for a new residential complex.