The Grim Reaper at Manitoba's

On Avenue B.

Open Your Eyes

The Lords of the New Church.

Young former Wall Street workers ponder their next move

The Times has a lengthy piece today on the recent college graduates who suddenly find themselves without jobs on Wall Street:

Mr. Menzul, 22, is among the untold numbers of young finance types caught in limbo by the economic crisis, yearning to stay in the nation’s financial heart yet fearful that no market rebound is in sight. It is impossible to gauge how many such strivers are leaving New York or considering it. But interviews over the past two weeks with affected workers and recruiters revealed an emerging portrait of newly minted college graduates suddenly jobless in a frightfully expensive city, and forced to contemplate a change in career — or address.

And:

Adjina Dekidjiev, an operations manager at Manhattan Apartments Inc., said she had been seeing more people trying to break leases, some leaving, some just looking for cheaper places to live.
“A lot of people are doing their math, asking, ‘How can I stay in the city, for as long as possible, and try to find a job?’ ” said Win Hornig, who started the blog bankergonebroke.com after being laid off from JPMorgan in September. “People are definitely going to leave the city if the market doesn’t come back. It’s just too expensive.”

And before you make a smartassy, ha-ha comment, the Times wants you to understand this:

Many in New York have delighted, at least a little, in a sense of schadenfreude over investment-banker woes, having viewed them as a greedy breed that helped homogenize and gentrify the city. But the market crisis has already had widening ripple effects, and many young people working in jobs related to the finance sector were never making a mother lode.

Met Food lives

Good news from Scoopy's Notebook this week: "Met Food supermarket on Second Ave. and New York University have finally settled on a lease that will allow the market to keep serving the East Village customers who depend upon it and championed its cause so fiercely." (The Villager)



Now, perhaps, can they take down the sale sign for clam shell salads? I took this photo Aug. 30. And the sign was still up the last time I walked by...

Another season comes to a close at Belmont Park

The Fall Championship Meet at Belmont Park ends Sunday. The Park will be dormant until the spring.

To commemorate the end of the season, here's a look back at Belmont Park fashions in 1957...If we shot this today, how many of the spectators would be wearing sweats or cargo pants?

Fatcats to pay top dollar for chance to heckle Jets upclose

By now, no doubt, you have already registered for the ultra-supreme tickets at the New Jets Stadium. Check out the Coaches Club...where you can stand on the field -- just five yards off the Jets bench! Oh, and access to a private 20,000 square-foot bar and lounge!



As the Post reports, at least one fatcat has already overpaid, which prompted giggles. And quips!

Looks like the mystery mortgage mogul who shelled out $400,000 for the rights to buy the two best seats in the house for Jet games fumbled the timing of the market.
That's because the "personal seat licenses" for nearby seats in the much-hyped Coaches Club section at the new stadium are selling for less than a third of the price the fat-cat fanatic paid.
"Maybe he's used to overpaying for assets," quipped Kyle Burks, president of Season Tickets Rights, referring to the current mortgage meltdown.

He must now also fork over another $14,000 per year for his actual season tickets.

And check out the incredibly life-like artist rendering...And just what is going on with head coach Eric Mangini on the far left?

Is the game in his pocket?

Extra Place gets its first tenant...And it's dessert (shocker!)

Terrifying news from Time Out New York's The Feed yesterday afternoon (via Curbed):

This just in from budding chocolatier Rachel Zoe Insler, previously of the pastry kitchen at Union Square Cafe and now the owner and mastermind of the soon-to-open Bespoke Chocolates...Two pieces of good news (we cherry-picked the best for you):

(1) BESPOKE CHOCOLATES HAS AN OFFICIAL ADDRESS!

The lease on the shop has been signed and it looks like our fabulous landlord will be turning over the keys on Halloween. Scary, yes, but also exciting! By the end of November, you will be able to visit us in the East Village at 6 Extra Place, New York, NY, 10003.

Two pieces of good news? I didn't make it to that second piece of good news in The Feed post. Now can someone tell me what the first piece of good news is?

Extra Place coverage on EV Grieve is here.

Tonight: Episode 3 of "Life on Marzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Tonight at 10, we will bravely soldier on and watch "Life on Mars."

Meanwhile, Hunter-Gatherer, an aficionado of classic TV from here and abroad, weighs in today on the U.S. version of "Mars":

Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen, is now officially out of ideas. The first two episodes borrow so heavily from the UK version that one wonders at first if ABC bothered hiring writers at all for the domestic offering. But after watching a bit of the show I quickly realized that dialogue this flacid could only be made in the good old USA. Is there such a thing as TV karaoke?
I love Harvey Keitel, and I really like Michael Imperioli and Gretchen Mol. But good actors as they are, they are all hogtied by a dreadful script that attempts to Americanize a UK concept for pablumesque primetime consumption. In this portrayal of life in 1973, howlers reign supreme and Michael Imperioli’s character, Det. Ray Carling, leads the cavalcade of cringe with lines like “he’s as crazy as a fruit bat at a cranberry convention” ……….wow.

Well put.

And HG ends with a sensible question: "[W]hy not just show the original series?"

See you at 10!

Still on the record

Alex posted some dandy NYC-related album covers yesterday. I love that Kiss "Dressed to Kill" cover.

Meanwhile, here are two that don't need much explanation:

Oh, and as for this Sinatra cover...I have no idea if it's New York...I just like it.

Here comes the bailout...?

When 2-3 apartments in the same building just aren't enough

Tom Cruise has reportedly gobbled up five units in the American Felt Building on 13th Street, where he and Mrs. C have been staying of late. "One they use for a gym, and two apartments are for staff." You may now make a "he must have a big staff" joke. Or not. (Page Six)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Noted (ZOMG edition)

At old Yankee Stadium before Game 1 of the World Series

The Phillies beat the Rays 3-2 in Game 1 of the World Series last night in St. Petersburg, Fla. Meanwhile, for this occasion, I ventured up to the Bronx to visit old Yankee Stadium before the game. In no particular order, it was rather cold, lonely and depressing outside Yankee Stadium. Pretty much what I expected. (Except for the cold. Check the weather forecast next time.) Few people were around. Except for the Yankee office entrance and the gift shop, the old stadium was shut tight. I couldn't help but imagine the mob scene right about now had the Yankees not been so underwhelming* this past season...and actually were hosting Game 1 of the Series.

[* open to other suggestions to describe the 2008 season.]

On River Avenue, which runs across from the Stadium, the gift shops and bars were closed for the season. Ball Park Lanes was open -- several teens milled about on the inside. Here's a bit of what Yankee Stadium and vicinity looked like...

Portions of the walls outside the stadium are filled with messages from fans.

Across 161st Street, the new Yankee Stadium looms (lurks?).

The only action was at the venerable Yankee Tavern, which was full with a boisterous happy hour crowd.

I have more photos on my Flickr page.

Many people are trying to hook up right now...and we're watching, so to speak

What happens when you mash Google maps with Craigslist Casual Encounters? Hookupmaps show where the, uh, hookups are happening right now. (Via BuzzFeed)

So who's trying to hook up right now in the East Village...?

For the record

Oh, hello! So don't mind me or Alex here. We're just having a little fun picking out some album covers that feature NYC.

So I'm starting with an easy one...Blondie's "Autoamerican" from 1980.



And I can't say that I'm much of a Gloria Gaynor fan, though I dig the cover to her "Park Avenue Sound" record from 1978.

Historic church on Second Street plans its ruin

Rob at Save the Lower East Side! brings us some troubling news on the development front for the neighborhood. Among the approved projects: The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection and Chapel of St. Innocent of Irkutsk on Second Street is planning to add eight residential stories to its current 60-foot height. WTF?

Forget James Cramer and his ilk, how would Joey Ramone invest in this troubled market?

Given our recessive economy, Theresa K. at Punk Turns 30 asks a sensible question, Where is stock market wiz Joey Ramone when you need him? Indeed! As she notes, "While Joey Ramone made his mark in public singing songs like 'Teenage Lobotomy' and 'Cretin Hop' and seeming to endorse a loser way of life . . . in reality, he was very well aware of his stock portfolio. Yes, the man had investments. He was no dummy although he played one on (m)TV."

This article in the Guardian UK from July 2006 examines the friendship Ramone struck with the Money Honey, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. At first, though, she igonored his e-mails when they first appeared in 1998. Probably just another weirdo!

After a while though, curiosity got the better of her and Bartiromo, arguably the most recognisable business journalist in the United States, replied. "I started getting e-mails from him and he would say Maria, what do you think about Intel or what do you think about AOL and I thought who is this person emailing me? It's crazy, he's calling himself Joey Ramone," she recalls. "Sure enough it was him and we developed this friendship. And he was attuned to the markets. He really understood his own investment portfolio. Joey Ramone was a fantastic investor."

Ramone, of course, also wrote the song "Maria Bartiromo," which appeared on 2002's "Don't Worry About Me," the first posthumous release to come from his estate.

As the song goes:

What's happening on Wall Street
What's happening at the stock exchange
I want to know
What's happening on Squawk Box
What's happening with my stocks
I want to know
I watch you on the TV every single day
Those eyes make everything OK
I watch her every day
I watch her every night
She's really out of sight
Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo

Bartiromo had this to say about the track:

"He said to me Maria, I wrote a song about you and he said just come down to CBGBs in Manhattan, be there at midnight. I said, Joey, I'm sorry to tell you but I have to be on the air at 6am and I can't be anywhere at midnight except in my bed, so I didn't go." Instead, at Ramone's urging, she sent a camera crew. "Sure enough, the cameraman came back with the tape and there's him and his band with this song Maria Bartiromo and I just love it. It's a tremendous tribute. I just love that. It's great, just great."

Here are two versions of the song....the first with some Money Honey cheesecake...

An erection year cover up?

The McCain/Erection '08 poster I saw this past weekend on Seventh Street and Avenue C...



...has been replaced...



Conspiracy theories anyone?

OK, I think we get it...

Avenue A near 12th Street.

Hanging out on St. Mark's Place

Another view of the coming recession

Last Tuesday, Jeremiah had a post with a photo of "the recession" graffiti at the "coming soon" Capital One branch on 8th Street and University. Meanwhile, I just saw the front page of last Friday's Washington Square News:



I really like this shot by WSN photog Ben Norman. Perhaps this will be one of the iconic images of this time in NYC...