Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Another book store appears to be in danger. A reliable source tells us that the 30-plus year-old Shakespeare & Co. location at 716 Broadway has lost its lease.

Per our tipster: The landlord wants more money for the storefront here between Washington Place and Waverly Place… an increase that's too much for Shakespeare to manage.

There isn't any official word yet from the store about a possible closure … and our tipster says that there is interest among some regulars in launching a fund-raising campaign to help the store either stay in its current location or find a new home.

The Shakespeare & Company closed on the Upper West Side back in 1996. The location on East 23rd Street closed several years ago. There are still locations on Lexington Avenue near Hunter and in Brooklyn near Brooklyn College.

[Image via Yelp]

Closed for renovations: Veselka until tomorrow; Tofu House till who knows when

As you can see from the sign, Veselka is closed until tomorrow morning...

We wanted to give you all a heads-up that Veselka will be closed for a little maintenance from MIDNIGHT SUNDAY until TUESDAY MORNING.
— Veselka Restaurant (@veselkanyc) April 5, 2014

All the tables and chairs were moved from the dining room and workers were buffing/something the floors.

Meanwhile, at 6 St. Mark's Place, the Tofu House closed yesterday...



Signs point to a renovation.



There's no other information available. Phone calls get routed to a generic Verizon voice-mail box. The Tofu House Facebook page hasn't been updated since December 2011.

Report: Clayton Patterson leaving the Lower East Side for the Austrian Alps

[Photo of Elsa and Clayton from 2011 courtesy of Curt Hoppe]

As you may have heard, longtime neighborhood documentarian Clayton Patterson and his companion Elsa Rensaa are moving away from the city.

In an article from the Times yesterday (online Friday) titled "Last Bohemian Turns Out the Lights," Patterson discusses his decision to leave after 35 years on the Lower East Side.

Early this winter, to the shock of those who knew him, he made an announcement: He was leaving New York. This was news in what remained of the creative underground that sits below 14th Street. After all, one of the last men who could credibly claim the title of Manhattan’s last bohemian had not only decided he was quitting the city, he also figured he could find a richer existence 4,000 miles away — in the Austrian Alps.

“There’s nothing left for me here,” said Mr. Patterson, who, at 65, is still a physical presence, with his biker’s beard, Santa Claus belly and mouth of gold teeth. “The energy is gone. My community is gone. I’m getting out. But the sad fact is: I didn’t really leave the Lower East Side. It left me.”

Read the whole article here.

Vote expected tomorrow on the proposed 9-story hotel next to the historic Merchant's House

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to vote tomorrow on the proposed 9-floor hotel next to the Merchant's House Museum on East Fourth Street between the Bowery and Lafayette.

Ahead of the meeting, the third on the matter, preservationist groups are rallying for support in protecting the circa-1832 building.

As the city’s only Federal-style house that survives with an intact exterior and interior (including family furnishings), it is a miraculous, irreplaceable, but fragile architectural artifact.

The Merchant’s House Museum previously suffered severe damage from the demolition of 31 East 4th and the subsequent below-the-surface drilling for the acquifer that is located there.

While there isn't any public testimony tomorrow, the Merchant's House is encouraging people to show up in support… and these stickers will be available to wear…



Meeting details:

Tuesday, April 8, 10:45 a.m. (Arrive 10:15 a.m. to sign in. Bring a photo ID.)
Place: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
Municipal Building
1 Centre Street (at Chambers St.), 9th floor.

Find Curbed's coverage of the proposed development here. BoweryBoogie has more details/background on this today right here.

The Merchant's House was the sixth landmark designated in 1965, when LPC was first created.

The space next door to the museum is currently this one-level structure… housing Al-Amin Food Inc., which stores food carts…


[Via Google]

Previously

The Philip Seymour Hoffman memorial on East 1st Street looks freaky at night

[February]

The artwork for Centre-fuge Cycle 12 has been up since February on the rotating outdoor gallery/construction trailer here along East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Cycle 12 includes Michael DeNicola's tribute to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Several EVG friends just noticed, and pointed out, how eerie the memorial looks at night when the lights are on inside the trailer…

Because we haven't posted any photos of The Jefferson in like 3 weeks

There's always something new to look at outside the Jefferson, the incoming condos at 211 E. 13th St. near Third Avenue … from windows to a new sidewalk … and now, that entryway has finally taken shape…



Anyway, the new 82-unit building at the site of the former Mystery Lot in the North West East Village is reportedly all sold out as of December.

The next development to note here will likely be the sight of moving trucks…

Previously on EV Grieve:
City approves new building for Mystery Lot

The last days of the Mystery Lot

Before it was the Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot developers using famous dead comedians to sell condos at The Jefferson

The Jefferson reveals what '21st Century living in the heart of Olde New York' costs

Today's sunset

Via Bobby Williams…

Art around the Park

The Mona Lisa, Donald Trump, Arsenio Hall, Spike Lee and the First Family along Tompkins Square Park today… photo by Bobby Williams

Week in Grieview

[Thanks for the nightmares!]

Watch a documentary about the great Flo Fox (Friday)

Memorial details for d.b.a. co-founder Dennis Zentek (Wednesday)

An update on the 16 floors of glass coming to Third Avenue (Monday)

Co-op lottery! (Monday)

The Sunburnt Cow is closing at the end of the month (Thursday)

A few early 1990s pics from around the East Village (Thursday)

Concern over this proposal for a sidewalk cafe on Fourth Avenue (Thursday)

Here comes the New York Sports Club on Avenue A (Friday)

An Out and About in the East Village 2014 recap (Wednesday)

More details about Max Fish 2014 (Tuesday)

RIP Warsaw Bakery sign (Tuesday)

Is this a gag? "Fresh, artisanal bacon from all over the world." (Tuesday)

Post Office rant! (Wednesday)

Checking in on 31-33 Second Ave., presently being Shaoul-ed (Wednesday)

Not much happening at the Mono + Mono space (Thursday)

Kung Fu Tea now open on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

An eviction notice for This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef (Monday)

Red Hook Lobster Pound opens in Extra Place (Wednesday)

This morning

Tompkins Square Park…

Reminders: The M8 weekend service resumes TODAY

[EVG file photo from May 2009]

It's true! The M8 will now run from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Starting today. Right now!

The weekend service was discontinued in June 2010 to help ease the MTA's $400 million financial shortfall. This route and others came back via NYC Transit's "2013-14 Service Enhancements Program."

Here is the M8 route...



Previously on EV Grieve:
M8 weekend service resumes next Sunday (13 comments)

Memorial for Spike in Tompkins Square Park

Lisa Julian (aka Spike or Lucretia) died after an SUV struck her on Third Avenue on March 27 …

Today, her friends created a memorial for her where she was likely best known — Tompkins Square Park…



Photos by Bobby Williams

Previously

2 vendors added to the Tompkins Square Greenmarket starting tomorrow

[File photo of Bread Alone taken at Union Square]

Via the EVG inbox...

Two farms added to the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket lineup for this Sunday, April 6 — one returning, one new!

• B&Y Farms of Tioga County, N.Y. returns to the market with their Animal Welfare Approved pork, lamb, poultry and eggs, in addition to their yarn, fleeces and pickles.

• Bread Alone of Ulster County, N.Y. also joins the market, bringing their mostly certified organic breads and pastries.

The Bowery Workout

An EVG reader shared this photo and report from today on the Bowery between East Third Street and East Fourth Street…

"A group of people dressed in camouflage fatigues (mostly men) walking in a group led by a huge American flag ... then they all dropped to the ground and started lifting their backpacks and doing sit-ups(?) as someone counted 50 reps…"

Zoltar can see clearly now, the tags are gone

Last Saturday!



This Saturday!



It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

H/T Johnny Nash

That late 1970s show

[St.Mark's Place 1979]

Alex at Flaming Pablum uncovered a cache of photos from Patrick Cummins, a Canadian archivist. Of particular interest is his set of 250-plus photos on Flickr dubbed "NYC 78-83."

Let's quote Alex's post on the photos:

Everyone talks about how “gritty” New York City used to be, and it’s almost become this quaint little descriptor that people blithely toss around, but Cummins’ photographs hit you like a sooty, graffiti-slathered stone. His remarkably composed black and white shots of various city spaces can be chilling and stark, revealing a great city in decline. Suddenly, your eye fixes on some random architectural flourish or landmark, and you recognize the location. More than a few of these pictures had me positively gasping.

Here's a sampling of the photos from around these parts (his photos span from Harlem to Coney Island) …


[Looking east on Union Square from 1979]


[Bleecker at the Bowery, undated]


[Crosby and Bleecker 1978]

Jeremiah posted a selection of Cummins' photos on Thursday at Vanishing New York.

Find this set and a lot more at Cummins' Flickr account.

'Shoot' to thrill

Please welcome The Spits with "Don't Shoot" from 2003.

The Spits re-released their rarities compilation, "Kill the Cool," a few weeks ago.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[A sign of spring in Tompkins Square Park...]

Author Cari Luna on the squatters of the East Village (Jacobin via The Lo-Down)

A look at the possible development for the former Billy’s Antiques space on East Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Yet another push for Beastie Boys Square on the LES (DNAinfo)

A look inside the former Domino Sugar Factory (Curbed)

What tickets for the rides at Coney Island looked like 100 years ago (Amusing the Zillion)

Details about a memorial to honor Rene Ricard (Hotel Chelsea Blog)

Rough Trade NYC is hosting an interactive LCD Soundsystem gallery (East Village Radio)

$6 million in upgrades at the "dirty and dangerous" Aqueduct Racetrack (The Wall Street Journal)

And the Times has a feature on Jim Jarmusch:

Though he misses the wildness of those days (in the SoHo of the late ’70s, “I looked out my window at about 3:30 a.m., and I saw a man walking a llama down Prince Street”), “I’m not nostalgic,” he said. “Because New York’s only about change and conning everybody out of whatever they have. That’s just what New York is.”

---

... and via the EVG inbox... the Ruff Club at 34 Avenue A is hosting fundraiser this Sunday to benefit Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue ...

So what's the deal with 'Master Softee?'

Our friend Christine Champagne spotted this yesterday on East 14th Street and First Avenue. So when did Mister Softee become Master Softee?



Or is this just a rogue operation?

--

Rejected headlines: Master and Serve It

Watch this 10-minute documentary on the amazing street photographer Flo Fox

A friend introduced us to the work of acclaimed photographer Flo Fox several years ago. Her life and work make for a remarkable story... and Brooklyn-based filmmaker Riley Hooper has captured Fox in a 10-minute short titled "Flo: Portrait of a Street Photographer."

Here's the film's description:

This 10-minute documentary explores the life and work of photographer Flo Fox, who, despite blindness, multiple sclerosis, and lung cancer, continues to shoot the streets of New York City. No longer able to hold a camera, she instructs her aides to take photos for her. She’s an incredible woman with a feisty spirit, sharp wit, and dirty sense of humor.

We asked Hooper a few questions about the project.

How did you first learn about Flo?

I met Flo in 2011 as she was preparing a solo photo show at Gallery 307 in New York City (now the Carter Burden Gallery), where my friend was working. The gallery represents artists over the age of 60. I was immediately drawn to her photography. Her witty captions especially grabbed my attention. I think she and I have a similar sense of humor

What are your thoughts about Flo after having the chance to spend so much time with her?

There's obviously a lot of wisdom and inspiration to be gleaned from this story. On a personal level, it's sobering to think that Flo bought her first camera when she was about the same age as I am — and that four years later she would be diagnosed with MS. Yet it's inspiring to see that her positive outlook and intense passion for her work has allowed her to persevere. It's a motivating reminder to never take anything for granted in my life, or make excuses in pursuing my filmmaking. Those are, of course, cliched maxims. Yet they're ones I now resonate with on a deeper level, and I have Flo to thank for that.

Do you think they'll be more to Flo's legacy than just her incredible body of work?

Oh, certainly! I hope that people remember Flo not only for her photography but also for her incredible drive and positivity. She's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Hooper recently released the film.

You may watch it right here.