[Updated] Memorials for LES Jewels in the East Village

There are at least four memorials now in the neighborhood for Joel Pakela, aka LES Jewels, who died this morning from what some people have said was a drug overdose. (No official word just yet.) There is a memorial now on Avenue A at East Ninth Street...









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St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue...





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... and outside the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) on Avenue C...





There are also several candles lit in his honor outside Ray's on Avenue A.

Thanks to our dear friends at MoRUS for the above photos.

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Updated 9-15

Steven Hirsch shared these photos from last night on Avenue A and East Ninth Street...











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This morning around 7:30 ...


[EVG]

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP LES Jewels (35 comments)

RIP LES Jewels

[Photo from 2011 by Bob Arihood]

Word is circulating in Tompkins Square Park today that LES Jewels, a familiar figure in the neighborhood, has died. Park regulars said that Jewels, aka Joel Pakela, died as a result of a drug overdose. [Update 9-16: A cause of death has not been confirmed. There are other theories, as you can see in the comments.] Friends said that he was 43.

According to sources, Jewels was found unconscious this morning at 7:44 on Avenue A at East Ninth Street. An EMS crew tried unsuccessfully to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His drug- and alcohol-fueled rampages along Avenue A and in Tompkins Square Park were well-documented by Bob Arihood at Neither More Nor Less.

One longtime resident recently introduced himself to Jewels ... and wasn't sure what to expect.

"He couldn't have been nicer."

Here's the last photo that we've seen of Jewels, taken Sept. 8 at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) on Avenue C...


[Photo via MoRUS]

Giuseppi Logan ready for the day in Tompkins Square Park

EV resident Brian Kubovcik shares this photo from this morning... where Giuseppi Logan is setting up in Tompkins Square Park.

Per Brian: "Always brightens my day to see him out there."

Agreed!

Tina Turnstile sings, 'We don't need another Starbucks...'

Details per YouTube:

Tina Turnstile has had it with the corporate takeover of NYC neighborhoods and has something to say about it!
Tina Turnstile — Written/Performed by: David Ilku
Directed & Produced by: Parker Posey & Jodi Lennon

And sung to the tune of Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)"...

"We don't need another Starbucks ... we don't another Duane Reade... we don't need another bank branch..."

[H/t Doug at Big Gay Ice Cream]

Noted

Dave on 7th notes that Citibank has apparently moved the Jacob Riis Houses a few avenues to the west...

To your next apartment

"Cockroach," the new one off the fourth record by Crocodiles.

Davey's Ice Cream opens tonight; free scoops alert

[Photo via @salim]

As noted earlier ... over at 137 First Ave. just north of St.Mark's Place...

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on Davey's Ice Cream, opening later this summer on First Avenue

A walk in Alphabet City in 1978: 'I was in love. I stayed.'

EVG reader and East Village resident ilyse kazar recently shared a few photos from 1978... Shot on East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.





I asked ilyse if she had any memories to share with the photos. Here's what she said:

In 1978 I took a long walk with my camera, heading eastward from my apartment on 2nd Avenue. As I strayed farther and farther into the burnt out and rubble-lot blocks of Alphabet City, I was simultaneously shocked by the desolation and desecration and urban neglect and conditions people had to live in, and awed by the subcultures and the bright and energetic spirit of the people.

Here and there the community was beginning to claim this land and these buildings that had been redlined by banks, burned down by owners, and ignored by government. Some lots had been cleared, some little gardens started. Amidst the drug dealing and desolation were murals and interesting stores and kids playing stickball.

Spray-painted on the side of one building alongside a rubble-filled lot was "Milagro de Loisaida," with a big flower springing up from the destruction.

I was in love. I stayed. I raised my kids here. I'm growing old here. I cling to the little scraps of evidence that the renegade, tenacious, creative spirit still lives amidst the alarming suburbanization of my neighborhood.

Looking forward to seeing more of ilyse's photos from this time...

[Photos © by ilyse kazar. Reposted with permission]

First sign of more development on East 14th Street?

[Image between A & B via Google]

As you know, many storefronts along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B have been cleared out ahead of some new development that will eat up a good portion of the block. (Read about this here.)

Now it appears that it's time to starting clearing out storefronts just to the west... between Avenue A and the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office, whose lease expires in February.



The USPS will lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

Back in April, we noted this about the single-level businesses lined up next to the post office: "This is all drool-worthy space for some developer."

And just like that, an EVG Facebook tipster notes that the Stuyvesant Stationery shop next door has lost its lease and is closing...




For now, there are only the usual rumors about what's next here (NYU dorms are always a popular guess) ... and how will the other businesses along here fare in the coming months? Will the rest of the block to Avenue A go away to make way for a new development?



Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

Give me 'Liberty:' New mural on East 9th Street honors Tompkins Square Park

Throughout the week, we've been watching a new mural go up on the side of Doc Holliday's on Avenue A and East Ninth Street... Bobby Williams has been keeping tabs on the progress...







... the mural is now complete...



What's it all about? Per a tipster:

A gift from Dorian Grey Gallery [on East 9th Street] and UK street artist STIK to the neighborhood. The mural is titled "Liberty" in honor of the history of Tompkins Square Park.

This month: A lot of community garden plays and art on the Lower East Side

From the EVG inbox...

1) COMMUNAL SPACES: A GARDEN PLAY FESTIVAL

This September, five short plays inspired by and performed in Lower East Side community gardens will take place. The 2013 version of writer, director and native New Yorker Lillian Meredith's Communal Spaces marks the outdoor festival's third annual installment. Meredith, whose body of work uses site-specific productions to "explore the boundaries of performance and the role of the audience in live theater," has commissioned five 30-minute plays. Each takes place in a different Lower East Side community garden.

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 13-15, 20-22 and 27-29. Each play is 30 minutes.
For more info, visit lillianmeredith.com. Admission is FREE. No
reservation needed.

Schedule: Fridays - Sundays: Sept. 13-15, Sept. 20-22, & Sept. 27-29.

11:00am - Tim and Tuna in Town.
Written by Josh Gulotta, Directed by Jaki Bradley
Siempre Verde Garden on Stanton and Attorney Streets
(no performance on Sept. 14)

12:30pm - Extinguish Yourself
Written by Angela Santillo, Directed by Michael Padden
Miracle Garden on East 3rd Street btw Aves A and B

3:00pm - Yield!
Written by Will Arbery, Directed by Stella Powell-Jones
All People's Garden on East 3rd btw Aves C and D

4:00pm - CO . OP
Written by Patrick Shaw, Directed by Lillian Meredith
Parque de Tranquilidad on East 4th btw Aves C and D

6:00pm - Limoncello Limoncello.
Written by Alexandra Bassett, Directed by Lillian Meredith
Green Oasis Garden on East 8th btw Aves C and D

Find more details here

2) LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens)
SECOND ANNUAL HARVEST ARTS FESTIVAL IN THE GARDENS

Saturday, September 27 & Sunday, Sept. 28
24 Community Gardens
Loisaida / The East Village / The Lower East Side / The Village

WHAT TO EXPECT

A multidimensional arts festival that reflects the creative spirit of the neighborhood and the integral part that community gardens play in the culture and life of Loisaida. Scheduled events include music, dance, performance, films, photography, puppets, environmental workshops, yoga. Each garden is designing its own program, so we know it will be interesting.

In addition, The Communal Spaces Play Festival, five 30-minute plays inspired by the selected garden landscapes, will wrap up its three-week run during the Harvest Arts Fest.

We hope you'll join us for an hour, a day, or the full weekend.

WHAT IT COSTS
Nothing. Nada.

HOW IT HAPPENS
The 2013 Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens is organized by LUNGS (Loisada United Neighborhood Gardens).

This year's festival is sponsored in part by a generous grant from The Citizens Committee for New York City.

Find more details here.

Archie & Sons now sporting neon signage

Over on Third Avenue just off St. Mark's, the newish Archie & Sons (try the tuna melt) now features a new neon sign... right there.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Archie & Sons, a new luncheonette, opening very soon at 23 Third Ave.

Tonight's thunderstorm in action

From tonight's storm... looking northeast toward the East Village and Brooklyn..

Via EVG reader Ariel E. ... Taken with 8-20 seconds exposure with Panasonic G3, through the closed window...

A hard rain fell

East 10th Street and Avenue C tonight. Photo by Bobby Williams.

The Feast of San Gennaro starts tonight: Do you care?

[EVG file photo]

Or maybe the question is, Will you go?

Anyway! I haven't been since 2009, and that was before anything was open for the day.

Also, Eater has a food preview here. The official Feast site is here.

That Cadillac that we've long admired on East 2nd St. now has a stuffed tiger on the front seat

Yes, this one on East Second Street. It has been for sale, and the addition of the stuffed tiger makes it all the more...

Thanks to EVG reader Ann for the photo.

5 pretty amazing photos of Tompkins Square Park in 1904

Thank you to esquared™ for pointing out these photos of Tompkins Square Park from the Museum of the City of New York... these photos date to 1904, and are from an "Arbor Day" celebration in the Park ...











Can we get that overhead seesaw thing back?

And head on over to the Museum's website for more photos... they are available for purchase as well as gawking...

Avenue A is for... Avoid?

Well, no. But we have talked with a lot of people in the last month who are dreading the Construction Hell that awaits parts of Avenue A ... between the new residential complex at 181 Avenue A, aka the former Mary Help of Christians lot between East 12th Street and East 11th Street ... and the impending destruction of 100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street ... which will yield a new residential building and retail space...



And for good measure... there's the out-of-place-looking 7-Eleven opening soon enough on East 11th Street...



Not to mention the loss of the familiar — the Odessa Cafe and Bar, which had been around since 1965. At least the Joe Strummer mural is coming back to East Seventh Street and Avenue A.