NYPD Daily Blotter item on Friday night's arrests

Here's a description of the arrests Friday night following the Donut Social. From the NYPD Daily Blotter in the Post today:

Five protesters were arrested Friday after clashing with police in the East Village following a rally against police brutality and gentrification.

Cops said the rally, on East Fifth Street near First Avenue down the block from the 9th Precinct station house, had ended peacefully at 8 p.m. when anger flared.

One man was busted for throwing objects at police.

The arrest sparked more violence from the crowd and led to the arrest of a man who allegedly threw a chair at cops.

Two protesters were arrested for damaging patrol cars, including an 18-year-old man.

A fifth person, an 18-year-old woman described by police as homeless, was arrested when she tried to interfere with police, laying down in the street and refusing to move, cops said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Friday night in Tompkins Square Park: Unity and a sitdown (and several arrests)
At the Donut Social
Coverage at Neither More Nor Less

Friday night in Tompkins Square Park: Unity and a sitdown (and several arrests)

Details are sketchy. Here's what Mrs. Grieve saw (a little before 9). She was traveling solo at the time:

Cop cars racing down Avenue A. People hovering. Some kind of disturbance. Cops seemed over-anxious. A skinny kid picked up a chair and threatened to throw it. The cops said to put it down. He threw it anyway. Cops went ballistic. Chased after him. A crowd followed. A few minutes after, a sit down occured in front of a cop car. Lots of people gathered around in support and just watching. Cops stood emotionless as the crowd called for them to quit, commit suicide . . . and called them Nazis.





To be continued.

[Update: Bob Arihood has more details and photos at Neither More Nor Less. In short, he reports on his site: After the Donut Social, several protestors, including Leftover Crack singer Scott Sturgeon, traveled to Tompkins Square Park "to continue the music with a more intimate acoustic version of the donut concert. For some reason -- we did hear that the arrest may have had something to do with Sturgeon having hurled donuts at the cops earlier at the Donut Social -- police broke-up the gathering and arrested Sturgeon at 8:45 pm . Members of the gathering attempted to prevent the police cruiser carrying Sturgeon from leaving the park. The mini-riot that ensued resulted in 3 more individuals being arrested." ]

At the Donut Social

On First Avenue and Fifth Street. The folks in attendance were kept inside a fenced-in area next to Rite Aid. I was only able to stay for 30 minutes or so. The music was ordered to be kept at such a low volume, I couldn't really hear it. And I wasn't too far away from the speakers.




Meanwhile, several people standing on the north side of Fifth Street wondered why this officer had his hand on his gun the entire time. We were worried about making any sudden moves.






A little video:



Please check in with Bob Arihood's Neither More or Less for many more photos and details.

Leftöver Crack, "Rock the 40oz"

Do you have what it takes to tear down Yankee Stadium?

New York City is looking for demolition companies that think they can tear down Yankee Stadium without damaging any of the seats or other pieces that might be sold to collectors.

The razing of the famous ballpark is scheduled to start in March and last as long as a year, according to a solicitation form issued by the city’s Economic Development Corporation. The first stage of the demolition will involve salvaging all of the stadium seating as well as some large features like the white frieze that adorns the wall behind the bleachers and the 120-foot-tall bat-shaped boiler stack outside the main entrance.

(City Room)

EV Grieve Storm Center

Many good things to do outdoors tomorrow, from Howl! to the East Village Radio festival at the South Street Seaport. However, the remnants of the deadly Tropical Storm Hannah promise to wash away any of those plans. (The Art Parade in Soho has already been canceled.) 

I've been following Rolando's informative posts at Urbanite on Hannah...He also takes a look back at Hurricane Gloria, which smacked Long Island in September 1985. (His last post includes Weather Channel footage of Gloria via YouTube.)

Speaking of Gloria and YouTube...Here are a few jokesters in Brooklyn who made a parody of reporters covering a storm back during Gloria's days in 1985. (It's in two parts; the second half shows a wee bit of Coney Island.) Watch only if you're really bored.

"NYC for the most part is a dead playground for yuppies and trustfunders"

Yesterday, BoingBoing posted an excerpt from the July Vanity Fair essay by Christopher Hitchens on the demolishment/development of Greenwich Village.

Here are a few responses to the essay/post:

#9 POSTED BY SEYO , SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 11:25 AM
The only thing that will save NYC in general, let alone the Vill., would be a brutal global recession. An economic downturn that would drive the rich people away and back to the burbs, and that would make foreigners stay home. Crime rates rising, budgetary deficits forcing reduction of police, and infrastructure breakdowns would help. In other words, the 1970's all over again. Not likely to happen. Bloomberg has a budgetary surplus, and has devoted his mayoralty towards turning Manhattan into a "luxury product" for financial service executives, lawyers, media moguls, international restaurateurs and fashion designers, and foreigners from the wealthy EU and Arab nations. His strategy is impervious to recession. While the rest of the country might be experiencing contraction, NYC, specifically Manhattan, has stayed stable. He doesn't give a shit about Bohemian culture, nor do the wealthy people flocking here. What they want is an Epcott Center simulacra of NYC grit and edginess because it is so Sex and the City, but they certainly don't want the real thing.

#14 POSTED BY ORCATEERS , SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 11:54 AM
I think that in a lot of neighborhoods like this, small business owners get punished for their success. They stick it out for years in a non-central neighborhood with a high crime rate and after all their hard work, the residual benefit of their business (increased community interaction, more pedestrian taffic, etc.) causes rents to rise outside their grasp, or for wholesale redevelopment to occur.

Recently I visited a traditionally downtrodden suburb of Seattle and my first thought was "wow, so many authentic, diverse, independent businesses, this place doesn't stand a chance!"

#15 POSTED BY NEWWAVE , SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 12:03 PM
Forget the Village, there isn't a single neighborhood in New York that resembles what it was in it's "heyday". Most of the people complaining have already missed the party. NYC for the most part is a dead playground for yuppies and trustfunders. Look in your backyard before you head to NYC looking for bohemia. The real thing is probably closer than you think.

"It'd be a great thing to see more opportunity for small businesses to grow again"

Gothamist interviews Steve Cohen, station manager at East Village Radio.

(EVR is throwing a music festival tomorrow at the Seaport...hope the stupid weather holds out...)

Included in the Q-and-A:

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York?

In the old days every neighborhood in New York was uniquely different than the next. Lots of different family businesses that lent a lot of character to the city. It'd be a great thing to see more opportunity for small businesses to grow again. Believe it or not, in the mid 70's, I worked as a busboy and was able to afford an apartment in Manhattan! It's always a good idea to try and feed peoples souls, now that'd be a change.

More change coming soon to the Bowery?

East Village Podcasts brings the news that the Salvation Army’s East Village Residence at 1 E. Third St. at the Bowery is closed. EVP reports: "We can confirm that we have absolutely no confirmation of a destructive demise for the residence, but we did try to call the number on the door’s sign for more info and received the Army’s voicemail replete with lilting British Isles accent."

Meanwhile, I have taken a solemn oath not to end posts with sarcastic asides such as, "Expect a [Duane Reade, Bank of America branch, PinkBerry, dessert bar, Dunkin' Donuts, 24 Hour Fitness with Derek Jeter, etc., etc.] soon. So I'll let EVP do the work for me with their headline on the post: "Salvation Army Leaves, Wine Bar Next?"

Report: Burglaries up in the East Village and LES last month

The Villager is reporting a spike in burglaries in the East Village and Lower East Side:

In the Ninth Precinct, which covers the East Village, grand larceny surged to 22 for the week ending Aug. 24 this year compared to 12 the same week last year. Grand larceny increased to 81 in the 28-day period ending Aug. 24 this year compared to 65 in the same period last year.

Burglaries also spiked in the Fifth Precinct, which covers the Lower East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown from Broadway to Allen St. between Houston St. and the Brooklyn Bridge, during the week ending Aug. 24 when 10 were reported compared to four the same week last year. For the 28-day period ending Aug. 24 there were 22 burglaries compared to 13 the year before.

Reminder: Donuts and etc. tonight at 6

Here's an earlier version of the flier and social from several weeks ago. (Please note that the time and location have changed.)  This hung on the Ninth Street side of the Christodora for two whole days. (Surprised that it wasn't removed sooner than that....)

The Donut Social takes place at Fifth Street and First Avenue. Bob Arihood has more details at Neither More Nor Less.  The Donut Social also has its own MySpace page. 

On Avenue A

In front of Bendel's

On Fifth Avenue.

A fool and his e-mail (New York Yankees/Ticketmaster edition)

My good friends at the New York Yankees and Ticketmaster sent me a nice e-mail yesterday with this subject line:

"Only three series remain at Yankee Stadium."

No kidding. It has been well reported that tix for the final 10 home games are going for a premium via StubHub and scalpers. But!



Hmm, well, maybe they released some tickets. Maybe I'll nab a decent seat in Tier Reserve or something! So I click on the links in the e-mail to Ticketmaster for the individual games. Guess what? Every game is sold out! Just like I thought. Thanks for the e-mail!

Will the (soon-to-be-former) Knitting Factory space become a nightclub?

As you know, the Knitting Factory is closing its Leonard Street location in Tribeca and moving to Williamsburg. According to an article posted on the Tribeca Tribune site Aug. 29, the Tribeca location is expected to close in January. Here's a little more from the article:

For Jared Hoffman, the club’s owner, the move signifies a rebirth for the Knitting Factory legacy. For Leonard Street residents, the club’s departure means the end of years of complaining about noise, garbage and loitering outside the club.

“It’s not fun to be somewhere where you’re seen as the bad guy,” Hoffman said during a recent interview in a converted Brooklyn apartment that’s the club’s new office. “There’s just no way, in that environment, not to annoy some people. It’s an un-winnable situation.”

“People are expecting Tribeca to be as quiet as a suburban street in Greenwich, Connecticut,” he added.

Ahn-Tuyet Pollock, who has lived next door to the Knitting Factory for eight years, said she and many of her neighbors have been waiting for the day that the club would close and the sidewalk be free of its patrons.

“It’s been a struggle for us ever since we moved in,” Pollock said. “[Club-goers] line up in front of the building, they smoke, they make all kinds of noise, they want to come into our building to use our bathroom...it’s a nuisance.”

While the departure of the Knitting Factory is welcome news to many Leonard Street residents, their respite from club-going throngs could be short-lived.

Joe Rosales, a broker for Lee Odell Real Estate, closed on a $12 million sale of the six-story building at 74 Leonard Street to the Laboz Family Trust in July, and the space, he said, has already drawn interest from developers looking to install another nightclub.

“The way that space is laid out, it has to stay commercial,” Rosales said.

Posted without comment (or smartass headline)

On Clinton Street near Rivington on the LES.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A short history of subtle butt-in-the-air billboards downtown

Dropping dead 33 years later

Gov. Paterson has said New York is facing a 1970s-style fiscal crisis. So with all this talk of economic woe facing the City, I revisted the infamous Daily News cover from Oct. 30, 1975.

What struck me more than anything...Stocks Skid, Dow Down 12!

12?

(By the way, I was unaware that there was an NYC-based record label called Ford to City Drop Dead)

Reward of the day

On Second Avenue at Seventh Street.

HOWL: Temporarily returning the East Village to its "humble beginnings"

New York Press on the HOWL! festival, which starts Friday and runs through Sept. 11:

Saving the iconic neighborhood from what one performer describes as “yuppie scum,” the HOWL! Festival’s organizers vow to temporarily return the East Village to its humble beginnings: Before streets became “crowded with people drinking,” as [artist Riki] Colon says, and before the upper middle class invested in housing while anxiously awaiting graffiti-free streets. HOWL! seeks to revive the beat poetry shouted from street corners and the days when artists were viewed as visionaries. This year’s festival has an additional endeavor: to make HOWL! relevant to a new generation, thereby passing along the East Village’s explosive, controversial and irreplaceable legacy.

No word on Cloverfield 2, though

At least three pictures at this year’s Toronto Film Festival "take an unusually deep look at the city as it roiled its way through the messy, magnificent, slightly mad 1970s." (New York Times via Gawker)

The ambiance? Upscale

The owners of 2 by 4 on Second Avenue and Fourth Street (you know 2 by 4) have put up new signage indicating that the bar will become an upscale lounge called Ambiance. (Grub Street)

Here's New York's review of 2 by 4:

2 by 4 used to be the gay cruising spot The Bar, but the large metal mud-flap girls on the wall sum up the sexual reorientation. Straight college dudes now come here looking for sauce and sass that follows a tried-and-true Coyote Ugly formula of cheap booze and choreographed bar-top theatrics. A center rail splits the action: At the billiards table, young Ronnie Wood look-alikes get hustled by neighborhood bike messengers; at the bar, scantly-clad barmaids navigate spins on the in-house stripper pole.

And the lone reader comment:

"This place sucks. Enough said. You could not pay me to go back."

Despite economic downturn in city, expect four more American Apparel stores

In a piece titled "City Feels the Economic Pinch, but It’s Only a Pinch, So Far" in the Times today, Kathryn S. Wylde, chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, described the City's current economic climate: “[I]t’s not a crash like the Great Depression. It is a gradual letting the air out of the balloon, an economy that is deflating. And that could be a process that’s 2 years or 10 years for New York.”

Meanwhile, as the article notes, some businesses are hurting while some chains are continuing with plans to open more stores.

Take the case of American Apparel . . . It has opened two stores in New York City in 2008 and plans to open four more before year end, according to Adrian Kowalewski, the company’s director of corporate finance and development.

“We haven’t seen anything but an increase in our business, despite the slowdown in the overall economy,” Mr. Kowalewski said. “Many of our customers are young, urban dwellers, and so are not as exposed directly to increases in fuel prices or the meltdown in the housing market."

And we're off! (on 350 W. Broadway)

Was in Soho the other day. So I took a peak to see how the soon-to-be-swank digs are doing at 350 W. Broadway. We have beams!

Meanwhile, check out the faboo penthouse: 2,902 square feet with 1,381 square feet exterior. Priced at $12.2 million. And the accompanying marketing copy?

“I’ll tell you why I need to live in Manhattan,” he trilled while thrusting his martini shaker into the air. “An Englishman must live on an island!”

“I’ll tell you why I need to live in a penthouse,” she replied with her
signature deadpan. “I’m only happy when I’m on top.”

“And the reason you live with me?” he asked while refilling her
glass. “You own the penthouse.”

Not sure if this is supposed to be funny. And on the street level...

The East Village loses another mom-and-pop shop

Jill at Blah Blog Blah laments the closing of David's Bagels on First Avenue. She writes that this is "a serious loss for the East Village, a neighborhood formerly crawling with places to get fresh bagels. No more. Now we will have to either go very far to find a fresh bagel, or buy them from the heinous Hot & Crusty, which is more crusty and less hot." (The Hot & Crusty chain store was conveniently placed right next door to David's.) As Jeremiah has noted, we should get ready to say goodbye to this stretch of First Avenue.



[Photos by Jill at Blah Blog Blah]

Got a minute for "the Most Annoying People in Lower Manhattan?"

The Voice has the story on "the Most Annoying People in Lower Manhattan": the college-age canvasser. (Subhead: "The young bleeding-heart carnivores who hunt you down on your lunch hour."

"Hi-my-name-is-Garth-and-I'm-from-Children-International-and-we're-trying-to-help-children-in-poverty. Children-in-abject-poverty. There-are-kids-dying-every-day- because-they-don't-have-something-as-silly-as-food-and-water. I-mean-even-a-bum-in-New-York-can-have-two-meals-a-day!"

Despite the fact that his breathless spiel is all monologue, Garth's job title is "dialoguer." It's a term coined by an Austrian company known as the Dialogue Group, which helped to develop this brand of street confrontation and brought it to U.S. cities a few years ago with a subsidiary called Dialogue Direct.

Garth pauses to catch his breath and then whips out a laminated picture of his own sponsored child, an innocent-looking boy sitting in a hut thatched with palm fronds. The location, he says, is the Dominican Republic. He checks to see whether he still has the attention of the woman in front of him. He does, but then realizes he's talking to a reporter.

"Children are dying and you're wasting my time!" he says, scowling. Mramor drops the laminated photograph back into his duffel bag. He doesn't apologize for seeming rude. "Being nice doesn't work," says the irritated college student. "I signed up two people today by being an asshole, and I'll continue to do that. Have a nice day."

[Voice photo by Andy Kropa]

Balls 2: The Revenge

On Lafayette near Broadway.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Balls

An unfortunate typo in the Post

Allow me to veer off topic for a moment. From the online version of the Post today:



Bristol Pain?

Coming soon to 282 Bowery . . .

Grub Street reports: Keith McNally has officially signed the lease on 282 Bowery.

No pressure or anything

City businesses stand to miss out on making $141 million this fall if the Yankees fail to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, according to a study commissioned by the Post. The report conducted by NYU adjunct professor John Tepper Marlin shows that if the Yankees snag at least a wild-card berth, a first-round appearance could fill the coffers of bars, restaurants and other businesses across the city with $26 million. [New York Post]

Two Boots Video lives

Given the high rents in the neighborhood...and the fact that no one seems to go to a store to rent DVDs these days...here's some postive news. The folks at Two Boots Video are remodeling and consolidating their space on Avenue A. They'll be squeezing everything into the southern part of their stronghold on Avenue A and Third Street. There's more information on the Two Boots Video site...Such as! The space will now be called the Two Boots Video Nook. (Sure, "nook" doesn't conjure up images of massive selection, but I'll take it.)

Staying put on East Third Street

Residents at 176 E. Third Street have been offered up to $125,000 apiece to move out of their rent-stabilized apartments. They declined. As the Post notes:

The residents charge that the buyout bid by Icon Realty Management, owned by Terrence Lowenberg and Todd Cohen, would destroy the building's sense of community.
"They offered me $120,000," said Carolyn Chamberlain, 65, a secretary who pays $400 for her two-bedroom apartment in the six-story, prewar building.
"I told them I would only be interested if it was middle-six-figure offer. It's outright harassment," she said.
Alexander Camu, a bartender, said he turned down a $125,000 offer.
"I moved here when the neighborhood was crap," he said. "I turned down the offer because I'm being paid to leave my life."

Bob Arihood has been covering this story at Neither More Nor Less. Read his coverage here.

Ninth Street Espresso opening on 10th Street today

Next to Life Cafe. (Meanwhile, the flagship Ninth Street Espresso on Ninth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D will be closed all this week.)



Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street Espresso coming to 10th Street

Celebrities are just like us! (Dive bar edition) (aka: OMG! It's Keanu!)

According to this week's Page Six Magazine, "stars are forgoing getting trashed at clubs —- and seeking a far trashier scene." Like bars WE like to go to! And so the magazine features six such places where you don't have to pay $12 for a bottle of beer: "Pull up a stool to New York’s greatest, and grubbiest, dive bars." (Their words, not mine.)

Here's their report on Joe's on East Sixth Street:

Alphabet City Dive-y-est Element: Gunk-covered floor and bathrooms tinier than airplane stalls — all presided over by the toothless but friendly day-shift bartender, Tommy.

Celebrity Customers: While the former speakeasy hasn’t changed — or perhaps been mopped — since owners Joe and Dot (who refuse to give their last names) took over in the ’60s, stars have made Joe’s their dirty little secret. “Drew Barrymore comes here and so does Matt Dillion,” reports barfly Magda. “Keanu Reeves was just in last month, playing pool,” she adds. “Celebs are sick of getting their covers blown and want a taste of reality,” says Tracy Westmoreland, owner of legendary but now-closed dive Siberia. That “shipwrecks” like Joe’s are more popular than ever signals “the new golden age for dive bars,” he adds.

What season-ticket holders will be paying next year at Yankee Stadium

The Yankees announced the prices for their 2009 season-ticket plans the other day. As the AP notes, "Even seats behind the outfield fence will be costly at the new Yankee Stadium."

But!

"Behind those four sections of seats, and to the rear of the bullpens closer to center field, are nine sections of bleachers priced at $12, the same as the cost this season in the final year of the 85-year-old ballpark."

Team COO Lonn Trost said other than 4,300 pricy seats, the tickets are "not being raised significantly. And remember, 24,000-plus seats will have no price increase at all."

Individuals game prices haven't been set.

Meanwhile, wonder how much these seats will cost next season:



From That Touch of Mink.

Previous ticket stories on EV Grieve: Go here.