Everything that you wanted to know about the Cadillac with the Tiger in it

EVG readers may know that we've long admired the Cadillac on East Second Street ... the one with the stuffed Tiger in it. In previous weeks we've present three true East Village stories from the view of the Cadillac with the Tiger in it. It comes to an end today, though, as the Cadillac with the Tiger in it moves on to a new owner. There is a farewell for the car today from noon-3 p.m. on East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Hello from the Cadillac with the Tiger in it
Part 4: Fun Facts about the Cadillac

• My Year, Make & Model: 1978 Cadillac Sedan Deville

• My name: "the Cadillac"

• The Tiger's name: "Tiger"

• Engine: 425 8 cylinder

• Mpg: City 10-12 Highway: 18-20

• Color: Pistachio Green w/White Vinyl roof

• Mileage: Approximately 450,000 (odometer stopped working at 207,362 about 20 years ago) This is almost the distance to and from the earth and the moon.

• Purchased in 1992 for $450

• Current owner is the 3rd owner

• All mechanical equipment has been replaced at least once except the engine and timing chain

• 1st came to East 2nd Street in 1992 when the black locust trees bloom in the cemetery

• Most memorable road trip moment: Crossing the state line into Alabama while my owner sang the line from Neil Young's song, "Alabama": "...Your Cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track..." until his cat pawed him in the face to get him to shut up

• Estimated number of photos taken of me by passersby each week: 350-650

• Most mysterious photographer: A woman who took one photo of me every day for a year and then she vanished

• The Tiger decided to get a gold leash when the Lorde song, “Royals,” was released.

• Vandalism damage to car while parked on East 2nd Street 1992 to 2011: $0

• Vandalism damage to car while parked on East 2nd Street 2011 to present: $1,900

• Vandalism damage since the tiger has been in the front seat: $0

• Date of retirement: Today. The black locust trees bloomed two weeks ago.

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

And now, stories from the Cadillac with the Tiger in it on East 2nd Street

And now, another story from the Cadillac with the Tiger in it on East 2nd Street

Alas, the end is near for the Cadillac with the Tiger in it on East 2nd Street

Also! The Cadillac with the Tiger in it now has its on website. Find that here.

Modern 'Lovers'

The new record from Echo & The Bunnymen (now Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant) arrived this past Tuesday... and here's the first video from Meteorites, titled "Lovers on the Run."

They'll be at Irving Plaza on Aug. 16-17.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo from Tompkins Square Park by Fallopia Tuba]

Stuy Town's overlord is now officially Stuy Town's owner — for now (Curbed)

More on the end of East Village Radio (Fast Company)

Remembering a little brick building on Grand Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Lunch with Christo and the fam (Gog in NYC)

Love for Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books (Off the Grid)

A look at Flinders Lane on Avenue A (The New York Times)

Calvin Trillin visits Russ & Daughters Café (Eater)

Checking out Smart Crew's installation in Chinatown (Animal NY)

Lobster Joint ready to reopen? (BoweryBoogie)

About the big-ass yacht moored off Pier 36 (The Lo-Down)

All about the opening of the Ludlow Hotel (The New York Observer)

Opening today: "Frightening and fascinating, 'Master of the Universe' offers a penetrating glimpse behind the curtain of high finance, revealing the psychology, the mechanics, and the sobering reality of a world that deeply affects all of us but that few of us fully understand." (Anthology Film Archives)

The origin of counterculture icon Alfred E. Neuman (Dangerous Minds)

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Volunteers erected a stage in El Jardin del Paraiso (East 4th Street between C and D) this week for the year-end show by East Village Dance Project. Seventy kids will dance here tomorrow and Sunday at 5 p.m. More details here.

CB3 study: More restaurants, higher rents and less retail diversity

[Random EVG photo]

The Villager this week summarizes the results of an East Village retail diversity study that Columbia University students recently presented to CB3's Economic Development Committee.

Among the not-really-shocking bullet points for the CB3 area (the East Village, the Lower East Side and part of Chinatown):

• Struggle to retain affordable housing stock
— 42% increase in average rent between 2000 and 2012
• Struggle to retain local businesses
• Rapid displacement of family owned businesses
— Ever growing bar and restaurant industry
— Increasing rents
• Increase in liquor-licensed establishments
— Decreased quality of life
— Nighttime noise complaints
— Inactive daytime storefronts
— Little attraction to residents
— Lack of local retail services
— Increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic congestion

From the Villager article:

More startling perhaps was what the data showed about full-service restaurants and watering holes. In 2004, there were 248 food-services and drinking places in Alphabet City. By 2012, that number had ballooned to 514, significantly outpacing any other kind of business and increasing these businesses’ area "market share" to 32 percent.

Yet, Alphabet City’s number of bars has actually fluctuated, from 24 in 2004, up to a high of 80 in 2008, and back down to 59 in 2012. Meanwhile, full-service restaurants have simply exploded, from 175 in 2004 to 380 in 2012.

The study also found a big increase in median household income — by an average of nearly 45 percent, from just under $37,000 in 2000 to $62,000 in 2012. (In some census tracts in the study area, the median household income jumped 100 percent to $144,821, as The Villager noted.)

Back to the article:

The data also added some weight to claims that city planners under former Mayor Bloomberg targeted the East Village as a "destination neighborhood" for tourists. This is a view with which Stacey Sutton — a Columbia urban planning professor and mentor to the students who did the report — somewhat agrees. A 2012 report prepared for CB3 by Mary de Stefano, the board’s former planning fellow, reached a similar conclusion about the former mayor's intentions.

The area’s food-services and drinking places drew in a hefty $200 million in 2012, according to the report. These were also far and away the area’s chief employers among types of businesses studied, with more than 6,100 workers, up from more than 5,200 in 2006.

The report included some recommendations, including:

• Maintain existing but limit future restaurant, bar, and chain store openings
— Develop initiatives to inform and persuade building owners to look for and keep small business tenants
Materials to support these initiatives:
1) An updated land use inventory
2) A list of retail needs other than restaurants and bars
Require special permits or special zoning regulations to make it difficult for these retail types to open in the area

The meeting was May 7. As The Villager article noted, "Despite the issue’s purported urgency, however, turnout was low at the meeting, which drew few local community members."

We don't recall hearing anything about it … outside the usual monthly email listing all the committee meetings, a number which can be as high as 15.

Find a PDF of the study here.

Alas, the end is near for the Cadillac with the Tiger in it on East 2nd Street

EVG readers may know that we've long admired the above Cadillac on East Second Street ... the one with the stuffed Tiger in it, yes. So then we are especially thrilled to be presenting four stories from the Cadillac with the Tiger in it in the coming weeks... these are all true East Village stories told from the view of the Cadillac with the Tiger in it.

Stories from the Cadillac With the Tiger in it: Part 3: The End is Near

OK people — you have until tomorrow to say goodbye to me and the tiger.

It was too long of a winter. I'm tired. I'm done. But I'm going out on my own terms. After I smell the sweet fragrance of the black locust trees in the cemetery one last time.

I made it but other neighbors haven't been so lucky. Pete and Sandy used to keep an eye on me while they were living in their car. Pete is in his late 60s and he was born and raised on East 2nd Street. They were the supers in the building down the block for several decades until the new building owner kicked them out and had marshals confiscate their personal effects from the basement.

They lived in their car for a year after that turning down offers of housing in other boroughs. "Why are you doing that?" everyone asked Pete. "Because I live on this block" Pete would say "and I want to remind the new owner of my building of that fact."

You know what? That's the real reason I've stayed around as long as I have. It started when the newcomers started complaining about my presence and I was vandalized by the weekend partygoers. My owner and I decided I would be a reminder — a big middle finger to all that's gone on here.



Twice a week in the morning my owner starts me up with a roar to move me for the street sweeper. On the few occasions he drives me to the gas station we pass everyone on their way to work — drawing smiles and "thumbs-up's" from the local old-timers and gasps and looks of disdain from most of the white collar professionals.

To the old-timers, I'm a relic and a connection to the old neighborhood — a survivor.

To the newcomers, I'm an eyesore and nuisance. I don't fit in with the new demographics and people are coming after me. I still can't figure out who called the four fire trucks and three cop cars who surrounded me late Easter Eve/early Easter morning.

Most little kids like me, especially since the tiger took up residence in my front seat. (Although some well-heeled moms will tug the arms of their kids and pull them away from me if they show too much interest.)

And I sure am popular with the tourists. (If I had a buck for each photo taken of me, I could be restored mechanically and cosmetically from top to bottom!)

My owner doesn't mind them taking photos as long as the tourists are not too obnoxious.

----------------------------------------------

All in all, it's been a good long ride — and I"m finally ready to go. But, where do I go, who do I go to?

My owner put up a "for sale" sign in my window last year to gauge interest and, while he got a few responses, there were only three serious offers.

One guy from Bleecker Street who said he was a mechanic for years has no place to store me.

Another fellow from Avenue D said he's been walking past me the entire 22 years I've been on East 2nd Street. He said that he wants to park me on his block so he can look out his window every day and see me. He also wants me to accompany him every Wednesday when he picks up groceries from the supermarket with his meager extra cash to deliver to the homeless shelters on Bowery. (What's left of them anyway). He does this weekly run because he said a young priest helped him out at one of those missions in the 1960s when he was a former Gold Gloves boxer turned junkie. The priest helped him get clean and he never forgot that favor.

And then there's Ernest. He's been hounding my owner ever since he saw the "for sale" sign my owner put in my window. He's young and works as a custodian at the school on the corner. He claims he has a spot in a garage for me in either Brooklyn or the Bronx and wants to take his time and restore me. Ernest has been saving up each week so he can give my owner about $500 for me.

So who's it going to be? Well, my owner is going to surprise Ernest and give me to him for free. I'm OK with that. Ernest said he's going to take good care of me and the tiger. And who knows, if he follows through and does a good job on me, maybe someday I'll come back to my block.

So that's what's happening, folks! Hurry up and say your good-byes. My owner is having a little farewell gathering for me on the block tomorrow from noon until 3 p.m. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. All of my local admirers should stop by — maybe take a photo and drop a buck or two in the bucket for Ernest's restoration project of me.

Until then, I'm going to smell those black locust trees and get ready for my big farewell!

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

And now, stories from the Cadillac with the Tiger in it on East 2nd Street

And now, another story from the Cadillac with the Tiger in it on East 2nd Street

Also! The Cadillac with the Tiger in it now has its on website. Find that here.

Stained-glass windows removed ahead of condo conversion at Congregation Mezritch Synagogue

There's finally activity to report at the soon-to-be-condoed Congregation Mezritch Synagogue at 415 E. Sixth St.

On Wednesday, workers removed the stained-glass windows here where Eastern European immigrants founded the synagogue in 1892, per Goggla's photo above.

Otherwise, it has been pretty quiet here.

As previously reported, the city approved the condo-conversion plans back on Dec. 27. Workers will renovate the building and add two floors.

The landmarked building was in disrepair and the congregation's population had dwindled. Synagogue leaders 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.

The sign out front points to a winter 2015 completion.

And if you're keeping track at home, this is just one of 26 NYC houses of worship that are being replaced by condos.


[Photo from April by Bobby Williams]

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

A final look inside the Anshei Meseritz synagogue on East Sixth Street

[Updated] You may THINK BIG in Union Square through October

[Photo via @UnionSquareNYC]

Sculptor Jim Rennert's 12-foot THINK BIG sculpture arrived Wednesday on Union Square. And today, you can meet Rennert from 10 a.m.-noon at the site of the work — the southeastern triangle at Union Square East, between 14th and 15th Streets.

Per the press materials:

The monumental bronze businessman stands at over 12-feet tall gazing up at the Manhattan skyline, considering the endless possibilities that lay ahead. Rennert encourages visitors to consider his message that anyone can achieve their dreams and goals if they 'think big.'"

The sculpture will be up through October.

Updated 1:47 p.m.

So far, the early word on THINK BIG has been fairly negative, at least here in the comments and on Facebook... Here, East Village resident Courtney Lee Adams Jr. shared her feelings about the sculpture ...



"I think this is an enormous mistake."

East Village Shoe Repair resurfaces in Bushwick

[EVG file photo]

The sliver of a shoe-repair shop on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue rather abruptly closed late last November, as we noted here.

Then there was a rumor that the owners were taking over the now-vacant David's Shoe Repair on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Those plans never materialized.

Now BoweryBoogie learns that East Village Shoe Repair, with its name intact, reopened under the JMZ line at 1083 Broadway in Bushwick last month.


[Photo via Popdiatry]

Wonder if Francesca Vuillemin ever got her shoes back?

Saturn Night outside the former Mars Bar tonight

[Photo from April via EVG reader Spike]

Local astronomy buff Felton Davis passed along the following …

If it stays clear I will set up on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and East First Street tonight at 8:30, and try to focus in on the rings of Saturn.

Saturn

1) Saturn is the sixth planet out from the Sun, after Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter.

2) Saturn is the second largest planet, after Jupiter.

3) Saturn is 75,000 miles in diameter, with its rings bringing the total diameter to at least 150,000 miles.

4) Saturn is approximately 890 million miles from the Sun, about nine times as far from the Sun as Earth.

5) Saturn emits no light of its own. We're able to see it because sunlight bounces off it and is reflected back to Earth, taking about 45 minutes to reach us at the speed of light.

6) Saturn takes almost 30 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun, and therefore will be looping back and forth in the constellations Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius and Capricornus during the next 10 years. It will not be high in the night sky like Jupiter until the late 2020s.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Searching for Comet ISON with East Village resident Felton Davis

Comet spotting with East Village resident Felton Davis

Report: 'Sharknado' sequel promo shows NYC's 1st Citi Bike fatality

Earlier in the week, we looked at some statistics from Citi Bike showing that, thankfully, there haven't been any Citi Bike-related fatalities in the first year of the program's existence.

That is about to change, at least in the world of the SyFy channel. Gothamist notes this morning that SyFy has released a quick promo for "Sharknado Part Duh" (or whatever it is called) set to debut July 30.

If you watch the NYC-based sequel's promo closely, then you will spot a Citi Bike rider (on a sidewalk) get, um, Sharknadoed.

We've reached out to Citi Bike officials to see if members will incur overtime fees for being swallowed by a waterspout-propelled land shark.

Meanwhile, enjoy the trailer...

Plans filed for new 8-story hotel next to the historic Merchant's House Museum on East 4th Street

[EVG file photo from March]

On April 8, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approved plans for an 8-floor hotel to rise next door to the landmarked Merchant's House Museum at 27 E. Fourth St. (Read Curbed for all the background here.)

And yesterday, the developers officially filed those plans with the DOB. The proposal shows a 17,141 square-foot building (13,755 residential; 3,386 commercial) with 28 "dwelling units" or hotel rooms here between the Bowery and Lafayette.

The April 8 decision came nearly 18 months after the developers first brought the proposal before the LPC. "Yeah, the building is boring, but it's appropriate," Commissioner Michael Goldblum said of the latest hotel renderings, as Curbed reported.

During this process, preservationists and museum advocates discussed how the construction could possibly damage the circa-1832 Merchant's House. Of particular concern: the 182-year-old building's original plasterwork, "which is considered by some experts to be among the finest in the nation," according to The Villager.

Demolition to the east of the Merchant’s House in 1988 caused nearly $1 million worth of structural damage and forced the museum to close for two years, but it spared the plaster. Now, the advocates believe jackhammering and bulldozing on the western lot will leave the museum in danger of losing the plaster forever — or, at the very least, require highly expensive preparations just to minimize that damage.

27 E. Fourth St. currently houses Al-Amin Food Inc., which stores food carts. Look for demolition permits for this one-level structure next.


[Via Google]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Landmarks Preservation Commission OKs plans for hotel next door to the Merchant's House

Reader mailbag: How often does your mail get delivered?

From the EVG reader mailbag:

I know everyone agrees that the Cooper Station Post Office has sadly gone downhill.

I'm also wondering if other people in the neighborhood are having problems with their home mail delivery? As in sometimes it doesn't even get delivered?! About half the apartments in my building turn over very quickly, with college or just post-college students staying for a year and then leaving.

This results is a lot of mail for people who no longer live here. The mail delivery people lately just leave it on the floor or on the radiator and it gets strewn about the entry area. This is annoying in itself, but also sometimes I find my own mail on the floor, or mail for other people who are definitely residents. (If I know they live here, then I rescue it and slip the mail under their doors). This makes it really obvious when the mail has been delivered that day.

The second issue is that sometimes it seems like mail isn't delivered at all. In addition to there not being new mail on the floor/radiator, the mailboxes have little slots, so you can see when they're all empty. Recently this has happened more and more often -— twice a week or so. This is a lot, especially when one is waiting for a check to arrive! What the Hell?

Well, we would have posted this sooner, but the P.O. just delivered the EVG reader mailbag to us yesterday. (It was postmarked Feb. 6!)

But seriously. What the Hell? At the apartment home of EVG, someone shows up to deliver the mail maybe four times a week. You?

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We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)

Reader mailbag: What has happened to the Cooper Station Post Office? (41 comments)

Reader mailbag: Can the landlord 'drill' the lock to gain access to my apartment for simple repairs? (15 comments)

Reader mailbag: Should we receive a rent abatement for having sporadic heat and hot water?

So you want to rent the former This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef space

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef, the four-plus-year-old restaurant known for mixing beef and Cheese Whiz at 149 First Ave., closed for good this past March.

The listing arrived for the storefront between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street back in April.

An East Village resident with an interesting in leasing the address looked into what it would take to open a business here. The reader shared that information with us to illustrate what it takes to pay for a small retail space around here these days.

The asking is $9,500 rent per month, with another $50 per month in real-estate taxes. So that would be $9,550 per month.

$9,500/4 = $2,375 per week in rent

$9,500.00/30 = $316.66 dollars a day in rent

The store is 10 feet wide by 50 feet deep without a garden. (The broker said that it was 500 square feet on the top floor and 500 square feet in the basement. They are counting the basement as a rentable floor.)

The landlord wants six months up front plus the first month's rent. So just to lease that space ($9,550 x 7) you'd need $66,850. For the year: $9,550.00 x 12 = $ 114,600

Aside from rent, there are the renovation costs … and then the ConEd bill, insurance, trash pickup, phone/Internet, credit card processing fees and various taxes, and so on. Not to mention payroll. And something for the owner.

Per the resident: "What can you sell legally in a 10-foot-wide space to generate all that income? I'd like to know."



Find a PDF of the retail listing here.

The buzz about Alpha Bee City tomorrow night at MoRUS

[Via the King RoyalBee Instagram account]

Via the EVG inbox …

Climate change, pesticides and the loss of native plant habitats are among the factors putting the honeybee population at risk of extinction. With one-third of the U.S. diet derived from insect-pollinated plants, the bee community is essential to the survival of humanity.

In allegiance with the community gardens of the East Village, which has the largest concentration of community gardens in the country, The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) will host a special event devoted to raising awareness about the significance of bees.

Offering scientific, artistic, practical and nutritional information about bees and honey, “Alpha Bee City” will take place at MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets tomorrow night at 7 (rescheduled from April 28).

With a mix of slide presentations, discussion and demonstration, contributors to “Alpha Bee City” include:

• Dr. Amy Berkov, community gardener and tropical ecologist, The City College of New York Biology Department, associate at The American Museum of Natural History and The New York Botanical Garden

• Royal KingBee, graffiti artist whose iconic “Bee” signature character is used to raise awareness worldwide about the declining bee population

• Jacqueline Pacheco, fitness, nutrition and honey enthusiast

• Jan Werner, beekeeper from Green Oasis Garden, 8th Street between Avenues C and D.

Admission is free and open to the public. A suggested donation of $5 is always appreciated and bee-themed attire is encouraged.

Unidentified Flying Chickens is officially coming soon

Just noting that the sign is up at 60 Third Ave. for the incoming Unidentified Flying Chickens outpost. The Jackson Heights-based Korean fried chicken restaurant is taking over for the failed 3-week-old Apiary revamp.

Paper first reported on UFC's arrival last Friday. The restaurant will reportedly be "a more casual spot with 18-20 craft beers on tap."

NYPD searching for this East Village rape suspect

Police are searching for a suspect who attempted to rape a woman after she entered her East Village apartment building Monday night.

According to WNBC New York:

The 23-year-old woman was walking into her home near 2nd Avenue just before midnight when the man allegedly followed her, lifted her dress and tried to assault her, police say.

The victim screamed, prompting the suspect to run away.

The suspect is described as male, white, between 20-25 years old, around 6-1 and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing khaki pants, a dark zip-up sweater and a baseball cap.

As Gothamist reported, the NYPD has not released the location of the attack, only that it happened within the territory of the 9th Precinct.

The NYPD also released this surveillance footage of the suspect lingering outside the victim's apartment building.



Anyone with information about this case can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[St. Mark's Place rooftop photo by Ricky Knapp]

The hawk nest is getting crowded on the Christodora House (Gog in NYC)

Details on the Lower East Side Film Festival (The Lo-Down)

A gym for the former Plantworks space on East Fourth Street? (BoweryBoogie)

Remembering when Andy Warhol was shot (Off the Grid)

A look inside The Black Ant, now open on Second Avenue (Gothamist)

Where you can get the mozzarella from Joe's Dairy as a retail customer (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Manhattan's first ambulance (Ephemeral New York)

The Astroland Rocket is back at Coney Island! (Amusing the Zillion)

Patti Smith on Tom Snyder's classic "Tomorrow Show" (Dangerous Minds)

Chinatown at night (Animal NY)

... and tomorrow evening, via the EVG inbox...



Underground Soho presents "People of New York: 1990-1991" These 8 ft. pencil drawings by Michal Sedaka Perry are not to be missed. Michal moved to New York from Israel in 1989 and took pictures of people she found interesting in the street. This series originally showed at the Klarfeld Perry Gallery on Broome Street in 1991. Underground Soho is located at 83 Mercer St. (between Spring and Broome).

The giant rat is back outside Ben Shaoul-owned building on East 5th Street

The inflatable union rat was back out this morning at 515 E. Fifth St., where landlord/developer Ben Shaoul continues to fight for a zoning variance that would make legal the illegal addition that he added in 2006.

An EVG reader sent along these photos ... and the flyer explains the presence of the rat ...





As for No. 515 here between Avenue A and Avenue B, they'll be another Board of Standards and Appeals hearing about the illegal addition on July 15.

Out and About in the East Village, Part 2

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: Christopher Reisman
Occupation: Police Officer, retired
Location: 9th Precinct, 5th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue
Time: 11 a.m. on Monday, May 5

Read Part 1 here.

In 1975, my partner, Andrew Glover and my boss, Sgt. Fred Reddy were murdered. It was a stupid killing. It was on 5th Street, between Avenue A and B. They were just getting into the car … it was a replacement, because the regular car they had was in the shop. The replacement cars were almost always clunkers. They worked just well enough to roll. So they’re getting into the car and my partner sees a car double parked behind him and a guy is behind the wheel.

There was always pressure to write summons and he was driving the boss, so he said, ‘I’m gonna go back and check this guy’s license.’ To make a long story short, he asks the guy for his driver’s license, and the guy reaches for his driver’s license and shoots my partner in the chest. Then he runs up to the police car. The sergeant was sitting in the passenger seat, but the door was so stiff that you couldn’t open it. You had to turn and kick the door open with both feet. By the time he got the door open the guy was on him and shot him and then he went back and shot my partner.

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The Hells Angels chapter was founded here after I came. There had been a small gang run by a fellow named Sandy Alexander. I think the Angels today are much more circumspect than they were then. There was a fellow they use to call Big Vinny. Vinny was large ... he never wore a shirt. All he wore was the patch with the colors and that was it. Vinny was arrested for allegedly throwing a girl off the roof at a party in 1977.

The District Attorney’s office, in their infinite wisdom, allowed him out on bail, which meant that all the witnesses to this disappeared. But Vinny died about that time anyway from a burst pancreas.

Anyway, most of the people who were victims of the Hells Angels kind of provided themselves. These were exotic characters; they were bikers, outlaws. The clueless would gravitate to them. They would like to hang out with them not realizing that the Angels were a closed group. They were kind of hermetically sealed within themselves. If I was a Hells Angel and I considered you a good friend and another Hells Angel was mad at you and hit you, then I’d hit you too. As far as they were concerned, anybody outside of the club was a civilian.

It was kind of a blue-collar fraternity in a sense, and that’s not being fair to blue-collar people or fraternity people. Quite often drugs were involved. For the most part, they made an effort to avoid us largely because of the organizational structure. It was kind of a standoff. It was considered bad form to get locked up. You were bringing ill repute on the club and they didn’t want further examination.

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Drugs became worse in the 1980s and, not surprisingly, it was when many more white kids came to the neighborhood. The kids from the outer boroughs came in here, often because of music, drugs or a combination of such. The kids were street savvy in the sense that a blue-collar kid knows a lot more than a white collar kid, but they weren’t that down and mean.

Then you had the whole punk rock era, which was great. This was always a very creative area. There were a lot of poets. There were a lot of well-known artists, not necessarily famous, but well-known within their own artistic community. Even if kids were screwed up on drugs, they would get these tremendous creative influxes, but they wouldn’t last long. You would find an abandoned apartment and there would be half a project, and you’d go into another and there would be another half a project, whether they were building something with wood or painting, then for whatever reason they would move on.

The drug organizations became bigger and they got meaner. They became more organized. The neighborhood had already started to be crushed. The housing was diminished by fire and neglect. So we had the guy who might have been selling small bundles of heroin out of his apartment and now he’s moved to Brooklyn and he’s connected with another guy, so instead of selling a small bundle of dope, now he’s got a kilo of dope. He’s got an organization, and the moment you’ve got an organization and the moment you’ve got a lot more money, you in turn are much more vulnerable.

It’s true of all crime. The thing that the criminal needs more than anything else is a police department. This is what the Mafia does. There’s no such thing as a sit down where they plot bank robberies. There’s a guy who controls the area and it’s understood that if you ply your trade in his area you have to pay tribute, and if you pay tribute then nobody else can rob you.

It was the same with narcotics. The very fact that it became a much bigger business and there was much more money at stake, encouraged more sophisticated firearms. I have no way of proving this, but I often wonder if reduced homicides were just due to the drug business becoming more efficient. There is always a certain number of homicides that will never go down. Husbands will always stab wives and vice versus, somebody will just be stupid, and lots will happen in a neighborhood, but homicide is bad for the drug business.

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Two things changed the police department — the video camera and the machine gun. All of a sudden the bad guys had much better weapons than the police department and anything you did on the street was very likely to be recorded. Mostly the weapons were a function of protecting the drug situations, but if you were facing life in prison you would take a chance on killing a cop.

Here’s where I’m going to sound very pompous. If police work were simply a matter of apprehending criminals and throwing brush-back pitches at them — I think there are as many as 29,000 sworn officers in the city — you might need a thousand. The other 28,000 exist to protect me and you and our individual inner jerk. It’s the same as a stoplight. The police exist to stop me from that momentary lapse in judgment. It’s 3 in the morning and nobody is around and I’ll run this light or something. It’s to stop somebody from doing something stupid.

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

Previously on EV Grieve:
Out and About in the East Village, Part 1

Construction watch: 535-537 E. 11th St.

The scaffolding and construction gear recently came down at 535-537 E. 11th St. near Avenue B.

Subsidized by HPD's Supportive Housing Loan Program, the 8-floor Mary Spink Apartments will feature 46 units of affordable housing for formerly homeless and mentally disabled East Village residents. The studio apartments "will allow the residents to learn to live independently in a nurturing environment," according to a description of the building at the website of Edelman Sultan Knox Wood Architects.

Per the site:

In a response to the needs of the community, a connection between E. 11th Street and Joseph Sauer Park, located on E. 12th Street and abutting the rear yard, has been incorporated into the design. During the day, the public can access the park from 11th Street via a passageway running along the east side of the building. Additionally, a public toilet has been located at the rear of the first floor and can be accessed by both the building residents and community members visiting the adjacent park.

Spink, a respected community activist, CB3 member and executive director of Lower East Side People's Mutual Housing Association, died in January 2012 at age 64.


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 11th Street lot prepped for the Mary Spink Apartments

Empty East 11th Street lot will yield to 8 stories of affordable housing (49 comments)

Big crane work at the incoming Mary Spink Apartments on East 11th Street

Your guide to construction hell on East 11th Street