Looking at Centre-fuge Cycle 14

Just checking out the now-complete Centre-fuge Cycle 14, the rotating outdoor gallery/construction trailer here along East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Artists represented in Cycle 14 are Adam Kidder, Alexander Prosser, J. David McKenney, Jeromy Velasco, Master Moody Mutz, Nether and Raquel Echanique. For more information on each artist, go here.













Find more info about Centre-fuge here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

Former cop acquitted of raping an East Village resident files $175 million lawsuit against his accuser and the city (Daily News)

Rivington House, the city’s only nursing home for AIDS patients, is closing in November (The Lo-Down)

Watch this video of a woman stealing an iPad from Dempsey's (DNAInfo)

"Now that the East Village is filled with artisanal restaurants and upscale boutiques, HiFi is no longer just another dive but a tether to this neighborhood’s faded bohemia." (The New York Times)

Chat 'N Chew closes on Union Square (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York) … and will relaunch in two weeks as Little Sal's (DNAinfo)

DAMEHT embarks on an August residency at the Pyramid Club (BoweryBoogie)

"Solar Tower" planned for Chrystie and Broome (Curbed)

The kestrel family on the Lower East Side (Gog in NYC)

NYC through the eyes of Woody Guthrie (Dangerous Minds)

In Midtown, "The Hardest Working Man… In Shoe Business." (The New York Observer)

An appreciation of The Modern Lovers (Nooga.com)

And tonight as part of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space's Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest …

Orchard Alley Community Garden
350-54 East 4th Street (between C and D)
Lynne Sachs (the director will be in attendance to introduce the film and for Q & A)
YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT
2013, 64 minutes
8 p.m.

Immigrant residents of a “shift-bed” apartment in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown share their stories of personal and political upheaval. As the bed transforms into a stage, the film reveals the collective history of the Chinese in the United States through conversations, autobiographical monologues, and theatrical movement pieces. Shot in the kitchens, bedrooms, wedding halls, cafés, and mahjong parlors of Chinatown, this provocative hybrid documentary addresses issues of privacy, intimacy, and urban life.

In honor of Summertime on Avenue A

Once again just noting the new roll-down gate art at Mikey Likes It, the newish ice cream shop at 199 Avenue A near East 12th Street.

The Will Smith mural is in honor of this month's Flavor of the Month: "Summertime (tropical lemonade) dedicated to The Fresh Prince and possibly the greatest summer song ever, Summertime."



Previously!

July and George Michael…



June and Prince…



September will be dedicated to Mr. Mister. KIDDING. But that would be strangely funny. Kind of.

The light, light show

Photo from last night by James and Karla Murray. Anyone happen to know what was happening here beyond the Williamsburg Bridge?

It was probably something top secret like this, but I could be wrong.

Parking report

EVG reader Charlie Chen shared this parking hierarchy from last night. A McLaren parked behind a Maserati parked behind a BMW on Second Avenue at East 12th Street.

Cool confusion

The Clash with "Overpowered by Funk" ... the song is from 1982's "Combat Rock" ... the compilation video (not the official one for the song) is from the 1981 shows at Bond's and includes Mick and Paul at Coney Island...

Large sneaker cutout provides photo ops on East 4th Street

Between Second Avenue and the Bowery via EVG contributor Derek Berg...

Where the streets have no cars driving on them for a few hours tomorrow

[Spotted at Astor Place]

As the Times notes today:

This Saturday will feature the first of three Summer Streets events this month, when Lafayette Street downtown and a long stretch of Park Avenue will be closed to traffic and open instead to bikers, in-line skaters, walkers and wanderers.

And here is the official map from the City about all this:



Previously on EV Grieve:
Takin' it to the streets like the Doobie Brothers

Summer loving had me a blast, Summer loving happened so fast

No more corny Summer Streets headlines until next summer, probably

Aug. 1

Wow. The summer seems to be going by so quickly! So much left to do on your to-do list! Like, take the Christmas tree down to the curb.

East 10th Street and Second Avenue this morning via EVG reader Olivia.

Manhattan politicos respond to the Attorney General's investigation of Steve Croman

[State Sen. Brad Hoylman speaking out against Steve Croman at rally in Tompkins Square Park in May]

Via the EVG inbox...

State Senators Daniel Squadron and Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, Borough President Gale Brewer, and Councilmembers Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin released the following statement regarding landlord Steve Croman:

"Steven Croman’s pattern of tenant harassment must come to an end. Tenants from his buildings have contacted us with accounts of chronic harassment and intimidation – including disruptive building maintenance, frivolous lawsuits, and most egregiously, the dispatching of a ‘private investigator’ to apartments to intimidate tenants.

“We’ve worked closely with a coalition of tenants and advocacy groups like Good Old Lower East Side, Cooper Square Committee, and the Urban Justice Center to address Croman’s tactics of driving tenants, many of whom are rent regulated, out of their homes. We applaud the Attorney General’s investigation into Croman, and we will continue to support tenants’ efforts as it unfolds."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Watch a lot of people speak out against Steve Croman and 9300 Realty

Despite plea, landlord doubling rent on East Village family with cancer-stricken 2 year old

Report: State Attorney General launches Steve Croman investigation

The Mudtruck hits the road ahead of renovations at Astor Place

[File photo from February via @sammers133]

The Mudtruck has temporarily ended its long tenure parked on Astor Place. Yesterday marked the last day for the truck as the reconstruction of Astor Place and Cooper Square continues.

"It's a good time to take a summer break and ride out the Astor Place construction," Mudspot General Manager Yasmina Palumbo told us. "Will keep on truckin' at the Mudspot and Mudpark."

Palumbo said that the Mudtruck will definitely return at an undetermined date in the future.

The blog Asshole At The Center Of The Universe first reported this development yesterday. (H/T Gothamist!)

A warning about (or for?) dog nappers

EVG reader Melissa Elledge spotted this warning sign on East Eighth Street and Avenue B.

Has there been an outbreak of dog thefts of late?

Specialty Hungarian bookshop closes on East 12th Street

An EVG reader passed along word that workers were clearing out 10,000 Steps A Hungarian Bookstore at 545 E. 12th St. on Wednesday.

We stopped by here between Avenue A and Avenue B to find an empty shop yesterday … and there was a notice from the Marshal posted to the door…



The store opened in April 2008 "to serve the Hungarian community, those with Hungarian roots in North America and all others from our base in the New York Metropolitan area." The store sold an array of books, magazines, CDs and DVDs.

The store's website still appears to be active.

The new Max Fish reopens tomorrow

Per the Max Fish Facebook page:

Not really much else to say besides...The Fish is back in the L.E.S. Thanks for all the love since we've been closed, see you this weekend!

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St.

Owner Ulli Rimkus told DNAinfo that "people will see a bunch of the same things they saw on Ludlow Street. They just have to come and look for it."

The bar's former pool table will also return, though not until after a back wall is knocked down. (There will be pinball machines too.)

While the new version of the bar will retain familiar elements, Rimkus said she also plans to make space to show work by new artists.

"I don't want it to be a Max Fish museum," she told DNAinfo, who also has photos of the new interior.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

This weekend in Tompkins Square Park

Here are the bands set to play …

Saturday: Iconicide, Nihilistics, Ruckus Interruptus, Transgendered Jesus and Urban Waste

Sunday: Hammerbrain, David Peel, Bowery Boys, Sewage, Penguin, Rosabelle Selavy and The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

Today's move-out haul

[Random trash photo — NOT the trash mentioned below]

An EVG reader shared this email with the subject line "Left items from transitional suburban students"

"I go out back to put my recycling in the bin, and there are mounds of crap this month's brats have left behind. Feeling badly for our super, I attempt to sort everything into glass, paper, trash, etc.

Among other items I found: 1 $20 Starbucks card, 1 $18 MasterCard gift card, a Metro Card, several travel toiletries, 1 French nail kit, etc.

My point — we could make a list of places these kids could be giving this stuff to.

The reader sent a follow-up note:

"I found out the Metro Card had $7.50 left on it during my trip to work!"

Reader report: Hit-and-run on East 7th Street and Avenue B

EVG reader Mayra Diaz passed along this photo and info just after 9 this evening:

Yellow cab hit an elderly man on a bike and left speeding away. Police and ambulance were called. Bicyclist can walk and is in ambulance.

However, Mayra noted that the cab driver returned to the scene 15 minutes later and gave a statement to the NYPD. No word if any charges were filed ...

The NYPD installed a surveillance camera at East Seventh Street and Avenue B back on June 26.

Last sunset of July...

And look for our post tomorrow — The 31 Best Things That Happened This July. No. 12 Will Blow Your Mind.

Photo by Bobby Williams

Laundry day

Outside Keepers Self Storage on East 10th Street near Avenue D...

Photo by EVG contributor Michael Sean Edwards

Cash in the shade on East 5th Street

[EVG photo from yesterday]

Earlier today we mentioned that the liquor store, check-cashing shop and Today's Cut hair salon at 300 E. Fifth St. just east of Second Avenue have been closed this week due to some structural issues in the building.

Word is some unlicensed work in one of the apartments led to a tenant putting his or her foot through the floor. So the city hit several apartments and the ground-floor businesses with a vacate order.

Not good for business, obviously. Bourad at Today's Cut is cutting hair five doors to the east at 304 E. Fifth St. in the meantime.

And Jaime (aka "The Tall Guy"), the longtime proprietor of the checking-cashing shop, is operating out of this armored van in front of his storefront. He tells EVG contributor Derek Berg that he will go out of business soon if he has to continue to run his business this way...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

And here is a storefront shot from last January via Goggla ...