(Stuffed) Pizza Rats sighting on 1st Avenue

Here's a New York City Nature Scene from this afternoon on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street...



EVG correspondent Steven, who took these photos, didn't see anyone around to take credit for this installation...



However, the Pizza Rats are the work of Tina Trachtenburg, a.k.a. "Mother Pigeon," who creates soft sculpture pigeons and other urban vermin that she sells in city parks. She recently unveiled her Pizza Rat plushie in honor of the real-life Pizza Rat.

Week in Grieview

[Last Sunday's Super Blood Moon via Derek Berg]

Murder conviction for man who beat grandfather to death on East Sixth Street (Monday)

Someone tagged the 1832 white marble stoop of the Merchant’s House Museum — again (Tuesday)

NYPD searching for two suspects in armed robbery Monday night at VideoGamesNewYork (Wednesday)

The historic Charlie Parker Residence is for sale on Avenue B (Friday)

Blink Fitness coming to Avenue A (Monday)

Closing time: Portraits of three newly shuttered storefronts (Wednesday)

Subway (sandwich shop) closes on Third Avenue and NYU (Thursday)

Catching up with two former East Village residents six months after the Second Avenue explosion (Monday … Tuesday)

Out and About with Matthew (Wednesday)

Moms speak out about guns with the help of an illustrated book (Thursday)

Owners of the Cock head straight to State Liquor Authority for Lit Lounge space (Thursday)

Arepa Factory coming soon to Avenue A (Wednesday)

Demo time for East 13th Street garages that will yield to luxury condos (Tuesday)

A new mural and beer store on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street (Monday)

Shorty's eyeing former Bodhi Tree space on Third Avenue (Friday)

Look at 137 Avenue C now (Tuesday)

Maybe reporting excessive Airbnb works (Monday)

About community Wi-Fi in the East Village (Tuesday)

Asbestos removal underway at Peter Brant's incoming gallery space on East Sixth Street (Thursday)

It's Hitchcocktober! (Thursday)

Bleecker Street charmer has a chance to look like its pricy condo neighbors (Friday)

East Village Cheese opens (Tuesday)

Madina Deli Shop opens in former Reciprocal Skateboards space on East 11th Street (Friday)

East Village home prices are up by 38% since 2004 (Wednesday)

… and spotted waiting for the 4-5-6 train at Union Square yesterday…


[Photo by @Doug_e_Doug]

St. Stanislaus on 7th Street represents in the 78th annual Pulaski Day Parade

In case you are just waking up or watching the Jets game in London … today is the 78th annual Pulaski Day Parade in New York City. This year's theme: "Polish-American Businesses and Leaders, the Building of America."

As always, St. Stanislaus on East Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue took part in the parade… EVG Senior Float Photographer Derek Berg provided these shots of the church's 2015 edition.

A look at the Ray's Candy Store photo exhibit

You have two more days to catch "At Ray’s: Connection Is Why We’re Here," the photography exhibit highlighting Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A by Whitney Browne.

EVG regular Peter Brownscombe stopped by the gallery space at 103 Allen St. and Delancey yesterday (the opening was Thursday night)...









Gallery hours today are 2-8 p.m. … and Monday, 6-9 p.m.

Find more details here. The exhibit is co-presented with miLES.

You can read our Q-and-A with Browne here.

Headless man, walking backwards, ready for colder weather

Happy early Halloween … Photo Thursday by Russell Atwood (author of "Losers Live Longer") on Second Avenue between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street…

The coast is clear...

Tompkins Square Park today by Bobby Williams...

Replacing and extending some water mains on the Bowery

Meant to note last week the start of the water main upgrade on the Bowery between East Fourth Street and Great Jones …



Tried to find a completion date for this via the DDC website… came up with this… a June 2019 timeline.



That's probably for the entire Bowery project (though it is conceivable that it could take the city three-plus years just for this block) … the DDC map shows the extension/replacement work going down to Canal.

Chucky's in love at Mikey's

I always like (and actually look forward to seeing now) Andre Trenier's 1980s-inspired murals on the roll-down gate at Mikey Likes It, 199 Avenue A near East 12th Street.

This month it's Charles Lee Ray … aka Chucky from the Academy Award-winning "Child's Play."

And the flavor of the month: Child's Play: spiced pumpkin ice cream with cinnamon streusel, buttered pecan pieces and cheesecake chunks.

Calling all Cars

Seattle's buzzy Car Seat Headrest — basically Will Toledo now with a touring band — has put out 11 self-released records in the past few years. No. 12, "Teens of Style," is arriving later this month via Matador.

And Toledo/the band will be playing several shows here for CMJ, including Oct. 15 at the Cake Shop on Ludlow.

The video is for a new track called "Something Soon."

The historic Charlie Parker Residence is for sale on Avenue B

The listing for 151 Avenue B between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street arrived on Streeteasy today. (Halstead is the broker, though the link appears not to work at the moment.)

Built circa 1849 and bordering Tompkins Square Park to the East, individually designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, The Charlie Parker Residence is a rare example of a Gothic Revival style townhouse. Original details include the double wood doors, a trefoil relief beneath the projecting box cornice, slender hood moldings above most windows and the well-preserved pointed archway with clustered colonettes that is surmounted by a prominent horizontal molding.

There are 4 full-floor apartments: Garden floor, former home of Jazz great, Charlie Parker, Parlor floor, the third floor and fourth floors, each with 2 bedrooms. The Penthouse, with a huge private deck, is set-back with 1 bedroom and extra loft space. Handled with care throughout the years, this elegant building holds court in the vibrant neighborhood of the East Village.

It also has the honor of 3 designations: The New City Landmarks Preservation Foundation, The State Register of Historic Places and The National Register of Historic Places. The archway is featured in Bricks and Brownstones by Charles Lockwood. Great for investors OR it can be converted into an owner's duplex with income or single family.

Price: $9.25 million.

According the Charlie Parker Residence website, Parker lived here from 1950-1954. "With Chan Richardson and their three children, Parker occupied the ground floor apartment at the height of his career."

Image via Wikepedia Commons

EV Grieve Etc.: Extell sues over construction delays; OddFellows turns to ice cream sandwiches

[Wednesday on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg]

Extell suing East 13th Street neighbor over construction delays (Town & Village)

6 months without gas for cooking in building on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street (NBC New York)

Maps shows the availability of remaining air rights in NYC (Curbed)

On East Fourth Street, OddFellows will now just serve ice cream sandwiches (Grub Street)

Another look at East Village Radio's return (The Guardian)

Harry & Ida’s on Avenue A "turning out some of the best pastrami in town" (BloombergBusiness)

The erosion of the neighborhood bar (The Awl)

Honorary street names along First Avenue (Off the Grid)

So long to Sounds — and St. Mark's Place (Flaming Pablum)

The International Center of Photography pushes opening on the Bowery back to the spring (BoweryBoogie)

Robert Sietsema tests the new menu at the former Yunnan Kitchen on Clinton Street (Eater)

An interview with writer Eileen Myles (The Guardian)

Museum of Chinese in America celebrates Chinatown's architecture through the years (The Lo-Down)

Jonathan Ames doesn't really miss NYC anymore (The Village Voice)

A look at Billy Name’s Warhol-era photos (Dangerous Minds)

Photographer Miron Zownir has just published NYC RIP, a collection of photographs capturing the "day-to-day lunacy" of New York City in the 1980s (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

... and our apologies for not noting that Chest of Pleasure is now open at 31 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...


[Photo by Steven]

They opened in late August, and sell things like the (waterproof) Neon Luv Touch Mini Mite and edible massage oils.

Updated 10/3

The Harvest Post has been postponed until next Saturday, Oct. 10.

... and tomorrow it's the return of the 6 B Garden Harvest Fest (rain date Sunday) ... on Avenue B between East Sixth Street and East Fifth Street...

Desire to panic shop wanes as Joaquin expects to head out to sea

[EVG file photo of Key Food]

From DNAinfo:

Forecasters are now predicting Hurricane Joaquin will veer offshore into the Atlantic and miss the city completely.

That means the five boroughs will barely get any Joaquin-related rain or wind — a huge improvement on the doomsday scenario city officials had been preparing for.

“It’s tracking far enough [away] we shouldn’t even see winds,” said National Weather Service spokeswoman Carlie Buccola.

Despite this, forecasters still predicted long lines at Trader Joe's just because it's the weekend and stuff.

Shorty's eyeing former Bodhi Tree space on 3rd Avenue

The folks behind Shorty’s Authentic Philly Steaks & Sandwiches are planning to open their fifth NYC location at 58 Third Ave. between East 10th Street and East 11th Street.

According to the application (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website ahead of this month's SLA committee meeting, the bar-restaurant would be open 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. seven days a week. The paperwork shows a configuration with 19 tables — good for 34 seats, and a bar with a 10-seat capacity.

There are currently Shorty's located on Madison Avenue in the Flatiron District, Pearl Street in the Financial District, First Avenue on the Upper East Side and the first location, which opened in 2006, on Ninth Avenue by Port Authority.

Here's New York magazine with a rundown of the Ninth Avenue location:

[T]he sports-bar-like space—glammed up with red walls and chrome tables—features 20 brews on tap and several plasma TVs, making it a convenient place to catch a post-work game. But the main attraction is the thinly sliced sirloin cheesesteak served in true Philadelphia fashion: on a freshly baked hoagie (shipped in from Philly) with fried onions and plenty of cheese. You can choose provolone, American, or the classic Whiz. Other guilt-inducing menu options include the roast pork special, burgers, and sides like cheese fries, fried mozzarella triangles, and wings.

And!

Just don’t expect to have a quiet conversation: In addition to simultaneous sports-game screenings, a D.J. spins from his laptop.

Bodhi Tree, a Thai restaurant, quietly closed after nearly six years in late July.

The SLA committee meeting is Oct. 19 at the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Madina Deli Shop opens in former Reciprocal Skateboards space on East 11th Street

[Photo by Shawn Chittle]

The deli is just getting up and running here on 11th Street just east of First Avenue… in one of the storefronts that previously housed Reciprocal Skateboards.

Reciprocal closed in March after five-plus years in business. In a Facebook post, owner Jon Eastman wrote: "We are unfortunately completely out of resources to continue operating any further. And by resources, I mean money."

Bleecker Street charmer has a chance to look like its pricy condo neighbors

The 4-story, vacant building at 25 Bleecker — between the Bowery and Lafayette — is new to the market.

Imagine the possibilities via this Cushman & Wakefield listing:

The building is ripe for conversion as current ownership already has LPC approval for a redesigned façade and mixed-use conversion of the existing SF. Alternatively, a purchaser could seek to maximize the buildable envelope by seeking a residential variance for a condo development as seen at nearby projects such as 40 Bond Street and 41 Bond Street.

The property is across the street from the new condo building The Schumacher at 36 Bleecker Street where multiple units are under-contract over $3,000/SF and behind 41 Bond where the PH unit is currently under-contract for over $4,300/SF.

Here's a rendering showing the possibilities of an expanded No. 25 …



Price tag for the existing building: $6.5 million

Images via Cushman & Wakefield

A 'beautiful tradition of fur, feathers and family' Saturday at the Immaculate Conception Church

Via the EVG inbox…

In celebration of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the beloved patron saint of animals, Immaculate Conception Church, located at 14th Street and First Avenue, will hold its annual Blessing of Pets in front of its main doors on Saturday Oct. 3 at one in the afternoon. Please note that pets need not be Catholic to be blessed.

We invite all to join us in this beautiful tradition of fur, feathers and family.

Moms speak out about guns with the help of an illustrated book

This morning outside PS 188 on East Houston and Avenue D, a group from The Lower Eastside Girls Club’s (LESGC) Moms Speak Out campaign — women who have been affected by gun violence — joined City Council Member Laurie Cumbo, and reps from the Middle Project of Middle Collegiate Church to launch the distribution of 3,500 copies of William Electric Black's illustrated book "A Gun Is Not Fun."

LESGC's Moms Speak Out participants plan to distribute the books in front of every public school and day-care center with Pre-K through 2nd grade classes in the East Village-Lower East Side.



"I wrote this book because we are losing too many young people of color to gun violence," said Black, aka Ian James, who received seven Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on "Sesame Street." "It is a plague facing our nation and something must be done so I decided to use the 'Sesame Street' target audience and start educating them about this timely, and too often deadly, issue."



Photos by Stacie Joy

Connections and photos at Ray's Candy Store

[Copyright© 2015 Whitney Browne Photography]

Tonight is the opening reception of "At Ray's: Connection Is Why We’re Here," a photography exhibit by Whitney Browne.

Browne, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, HuffPost and Time Out, has worked on and off at Ray's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A, the past two years. And she brought along her camera during shifts.

We asked Browne a few questions about her time at the shop alongside 82-year-old proprietor Ray Alvarez ...

How did you start working at Ray's?

I have been going to Ray’s as a customer since 2006, but in 2013, I started helping him out behind the counter. I go in when I can, which is sporadic at best. Sometimes I am in there for weeks at a time, and then I can’t make it in for months, but whenever I walk in the door Ray welcomes me in.

In 2013, I wandered into Ray’s and he taught me how to make my own egg cream. People started coming in so he taught me how to make fries and shakes. He said he needed some help, so I just started coming back and helping when I could. For a few months in 2013, I was in between apartments and was able to stay in Union Square. I could not sleep, so I would go in and help Ray during the graveyard shift. In all honesty, a big part of why I went to Ray’s and still do, is because I get lonely, and when I am at Ray’s I feel useful.

What intrigues you the most about Ray’s?

I am intrigued by Ray’s perseverance. I love that he has been around for over 40 years. The East Village has always been where I am drawn to in the city, and I like feeling connected to a part of the city that I cherish.

The regulars are also super special to me. I love that people come to Ray’s to hang out and chat. There really aren’t many places of this kind that I know of. Ray’s is a hub. We talk about what’s going on in the world and the city.

I know why I come to Ray’s, it’s personal. About me needing some interaction. I wonder why other people are there too. We all say to hang out, but I think going to Ray’s does something more. I like the characters who walk through the door.

What has been your most memorable moment from your time at Ray’s?

I really don’t know if I have a most memorable moment. It all kinda gets rolled up into an experience.

Maybe the first few times Ray went to lay down in the back and he left me to run the shop. I can remember thinking, "wow, Ray trusts me."


[Copyright© 2015 Whitney Browne Photography]

"At Ray’s: Connection Is Why We’re Here," on view tonight through Monday at 103 Allen St. and Delancey.

Gallery Hours: tonight and Friday 6-9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 2-8 p.m., Monday, 6-9 p.m.

There's a raffle tonight for a framed print from the exhibit. The ticket will be drawn at 7:30 p.m. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20. All the proceeds from the raffle are going straight to Ray.

Find more details here. The exhibit is co-presented with miLES.

Hitchcocktober starts tonight at Village East Cinema with 'The Birds'

Once again, Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at East 12th Street is presenting Alfred Hitchcock films (Hitchcocktober!) on Thursday evenings in October...

Tonight at 8! "The Birds."



And upcoming:

Oct. 8 — "Shadow of a Doubt"

Oct. 15 — "North by Northwest"

Oct. 22 — "Marnie"

Oct. 29 — "Rear Window"

You can buy advance tix online here.

Subway (sandwich shop) closes on 3rd Avenue and NYU

The Subway location at 41 Third Ave. in the base of NYU's Alumni Hall between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street remains closed for now.

The sign on the door notes that they will be closed for a renovation, presumably…



The interior has been stripped clean.



If this is permanent (and it looks like it), then this will mark the fifth Subway sandwich shop to close in the East Village in the past three years, joining the one on the Bowery … East 14th Street … First Avenue … Second Avenue…