And I hope the security guard working at the CU is feeling better today.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Walking alongside the new Cooper Union building
Hey now. The sidewalks are open alongside the new Cooper Union building.
And I hope the security guard working at the CU is feeling better today.
And I hope the security guard working at the CU is feeling better today.
I knew, but I didn't want to be the one to tell you and ruin your weekend
Meanwhile, on Friday, Paper checked in with a Superdive update, including:
Those who aren't quite as eager to work on their beer bellies can order a mixed drink (starting at $6) but, despite rumors, aren't welcome to DIY behind the bar, which on a recent night was cordoned off. Claiming that people misunderstood the mix-your-own concept, manager Keith Okada (the owners wish to remain anonymous) clarified that bartenders will make the drink in a shaker which you can then Tom-Cruise-in-Ray-Bans-style strain into a plastic cup.
Another T-shirt place for St. Mark's Place?
A fairly credible person tells me the former Village X shop at 36 St. Mark's Place will become another T-shirt shop. Anyone want to say "at least it's not a ramen place or froyo?"
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Following up on two previous posts
Last Thursday I reported that 167 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street (the former NoTell Motel) will become the latest eatery from Jason Hennings and Robert Giraldi.
Hennings confirmed this to Eater. According to Eater: "Restaurateur Jason Hennings writes in today to report that the 167 Avenue A spot ... is indeed his, but his frequent partner Bob Giraldi is not involved. Hennings is bringing his deathwatched but still kicking West 10th venture Diablo Royale to Avenue A."
Also. In the Australian Homemade post from Wednesday, a reader shared the following information:
Actually the place closed when the landlord suddenly tried to raise the rent to a crazy high level. They could not afford to be there any more so they left. Now the store is empty and the landlord is getting nothing. Good business in a recession???
It was a combination of rent hike and tax increase as I am told. The landlord was passing on his city tax hikes to the store (as was probably in the lease) but the store could not pay it. They tried to negoitate a lower amount but the landlord would not budge.
Looking at Derek Jeter's cozy little waterfront shack
The New York Post has an article and slideshow on the new waterfront home Derek Jeter is having built in Tampa. The 31,000-square-foot space in the Davis Islands community "will boast seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two three-car garages, an entertainment room, a billiard room and a memorabilia room."
Of course, there's controversy! Jeter also wants to construct a 6-foot fence around the property. Tampa ordinances limit the height of the fence to 3 feet. But Jeter wants permission for a 3-foot masonry structure topped by a 3-foot-high wrought-iron fence.
By the way, as the Post notes: "Jeter's house will be Tampa's biggest -- and twice the size of the Tampa home owned by the Boss, George Steinbrenner."
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Today's sign of the apocalypse: "Bandslam"
Oh, boy. Just caught this over at Idolator. It's "Bandslam," and stars Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka. It opens. Aug. 14.
As Idolator's Maura Johnson notes, "Maybe in 2049 we’ll see a teen flick that has a scene with kids running through the ruins of the John Varvatos store currently in that space… but probably not."
Meanwhile, I am hopeful for an epic comment from Alex.
As Idolator's Maura Johnson notes, "Maybe in 2049 we’ll see a teen flick that has a scene with kids running through the ruins of the John Varvatos store currently in that space… but probably not."
Meanwhile, I am hopeful for an epic comment from Alex.
Karaoke taking over Mondo Kim's space
We've all been curious what would take over this enormous space on St. Mark's between Third Avenue and Second Avenue since Jeremiah broke the news that Mondo Kim's was leaving...
Reminder today in TSP
July 11, 2009 from 2-6 p.m.:
BLACKOUT SHOPPERS PRESENT
2 Iconicide
2:40 Skum City
3:20 Trauma Team
4 World War IX
4:40 Blackout Shoppers
5:20 Star Fucking Hipsters
More info. here. Thanks to the Shadow.
Oh, before and after the show, why not stop by Ray's?
Because a $450 keg of Stella rolled over to your table is low-key and NOT over-the-top
The Times dips its toe into the Superdive pool today with a hefty piece on NYC's new, low-key nightlife mantra. The article begins at a new bar called Superdive. Shall we?
Superdive is pretty much nothing. And nothing is as hot as anything these days.
Superdive, which opened in late June, is a much blogged-about bar on Avenue A in the East Village that has deconstructed nearly every imaginable pillar of the over-the-top New York night life scene.
The bathrooms have plywood stalls, a scrawny doorman checks IDs but little else, and instead of bottle service, Superdive offers keg service — tableside.
“Since everything else is so chi-chi,” the manager, Keith Okada, said while pushing a plastic cup of beer toward a young woman at the bar last Monday night, “we thought, ‘Why not offer keg service?’ ”
At a table, a group of men in their 20s and 30s shared a 5-liter keg of EKU Pils beer to celebrate what they call “Manday,” a semiregular male-bonding night out.
Superdive suited them more than a noisy club with menacing velvet ropes and $400 bottles of vodka, said David Sitt, 32, a Manday regular and psychology professor at Baruch College.
“When you watch the Flintstones and they are at the Water Buffalo Lodge,” he said, referring to the homey clubhouse where Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble and pals partied, “they don’t have bottle service there.”
“We’re in a period where a snotty attitude is not helping people feel better about themselves,” he added.
Super fancy is out. Revenues are down 20 to 40 percent in the last year at those throbbing Manhattan nightclubs that flourished by catering to Wall Street guys who casually swiped their credit cards for four figures, club owners said. Many once-hopping clubs, like Lotus, Mansion and Room Service, have closed or are being remodeled.
At Marquee, the West Chelsea club and gossip-page fixture, revenues are down 22 percent so far this year compared with last, said Noah Tepperberg, one of the owners.
“Three or four years ago it seemed like every bar in New York had a rope and some imposing looking guy,” said David Rabin, an owner of Lotus and the president of the New York Nightlife Association.
Now, he said, haughtiness is as stylish as a balloon payment.
Club owners are searching for a new night-life formula, something that jibes with the culture’s low-key mood and yet shakes free whatever is left of the city’s disposable income.
Ideas differ, but the owners agree on one thing: the word “club” has about as much cultural relevance as the Macarena. And they go to lengths to avoid the word. Mr. Tepperberg, for instance, is calling Avenue, his newest endeavor that opened last month, a “gastro-lounge.”
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tomorrow in Tompkins Square Park...
July 11, 2009 from 2-6 p.m.:
BLACKOUT SHOPPERS PRESENT
2 Iconicide
2:40 Skum City
3:20 Trauma Team
4 World War IX
4:40 Blackout Shoppers
5:20 Star Fucking Hipsters
More info. here. Thanks to the Shadow.
No drinks with your Supper — for a little while, anyway
A note from a reader about Supper at 156 E. Second St.:
Supper (of Lil Frankie and Frank empire) did not put in the application for renewal for their liquor license in time. Normally when that happens an establishment can request a waiver from the Community Board to serve alcohol in the interim when the new license is in effect. However, due to the massive complaints they have received from community members for noise and blocking the sidewalk with their patrons waiting for tables, CB3 did not grant the waiver. This means that Supper does NOT have a liquor license currently and I believe they will not until mid August. ... Last night the police were called to be informed that they were serving alcohol without a license and the bar and at least one table from the sidewalk cafe was shut down. I'm not sure when they actually can start serving alcohol again.
Revisiting Punk Art
Back in May, we did an interview with Marc H. Miller, the founder and director of Ephemera Press. He had launched 98 Bowery: 1969-1989 — View From the Top Floor.
Marc recently wrote to me about a new section on the 98 Bowery site: Punk Art. As he notes at 98 Bowery:
Miller has posted the long out-of-print Punk Art catalogue, which features new pictures and video. He also rewrote the introductions, adding stories connected to the exhibition, and updates on the artists.
My favorite section is on Punk Magazine. Or maybe the section on Alan Suicide and Art-Rite magazine. Or...
Here are the covers to the first three issues of Punk...
...and an ad featuring Debbie Harry (photographed by Chris Stein)
Anyway, you can go here and see it all for yourself.
Marc recently wrote to me about a new section on the 98 Bowery site: Punk Art. As he notes at 98 Bowery:
As Bettie Ringma and I watched various musicians at CBGB successfully launched under the rubric of Punk Rock, it occurred to us that we might do the same for the visual artists who were part of the extended scene. It was partly tongue-in-cheek, partly hype, but secretly we actually believed we were presenting something new and important. The year was 1978 and the show we mounted with Alice Denney at the Washington Project for the Arts in Washington DC has gone down in history as the world's first Punk Art exhibition ... We repeated the Punk Art show twice: first as a one night, multimedia event at the School of Visual Arts in New York (November 1978) and then in a small exhibition at Art Something in Amsterdam, Holland (June 1979).
Miller has posted the long out-of-print Punk Art catalogue, which features new pictures and video. He also rewrote the introductions, adding stories connected to the exhibition, and updates on the artists.
My favorite section is on Punk Magazine. Or maybe the section on Alan Suicide and Art-Rite magazine. Or...
Here are the covers to the first three issues of Punk...
...and an ad featuring Debbie Harry (photographed by Chris Stein)
Anyway, you can go here and see it all for yourself.
Today's sign of apocalypse: Michael Jackson East Village pub crawl
Ohhh! A warning shot by Village Pourhouse reminding Superdive that they are, in fact, the tackiest bar in the neighborhood.
Starting tomorrow at 11 a.m.:
King of Pop Pub Crawl:
Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
Moonwalk your way up 2nd and 3rd Ave of NYC in memory of the legendary Michael Jackson. We begin at Village Pourhouse at 11am where your free white glove awaits and we will start living life OFF THE WALL. Let your style SCREAM by dressing up as Michael and look as BAD as you can. Each bar will celebrate musical genius by showcasing our favorite MJ albums in order of release date.
You will feel like a SMOOTH CRIMINAL with a full day of drink specials. Toast Mikey with $1 Bud Lite Drafts, $2 Well Drinks, and 2 for 1 BLACK OR WHITE cocktails (Black and Tans)
You will truly BEAT IT with our final stop at SideBAR at 5pm with 2 for 1 Margarita “King of Pop-sicles.” It is here that we will pay a final tribute with an organized THRILLER dance scene with every Michael in attendance.
If this is too tacky for you, then there's always the Michael Jackson wine pairing.
Another new "eating/drinking establishment" for Avenue B
Cafe de Nova closed up back in March. And now that space on Avenue B near 11th Street is under wraps...
According to the work permit on the door: NEW EATING AND DRINKING ESTABLISHMENT AT EXISTING COMMERCIAL SPACE.
Dunno if there's a need for another restaurant here. Um, there are already five restaurants on this side of the block between 11th Street and 12th Street alone.
According to the work permit on the door: NEW EATING AND DRINKING ESTABLISHMENT AT EXISTING COMMERCIAL SPACE.
Dunno if there's a need for another restaurant here. Um, there are already five restaurants on this side of the block between 11th Street and 12th Street alone.
Love is in the Air tonight in Tompkins Square Park
It's the second year for Films on the Green, brought to us by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. They'll be at TSP the next three Fridays.
From the Web site... tonight!
Plus d'infos sur ce film
And will there be any illegal bag searches this summer...?
Upcoming French films in TSP:
July 17: "Works"
July 24: "Claire's Knee"
From the Web site... tonight!
"Love is in the Air"
Screening: around 8:30 p.m.
Genre: Comedy (2005) | French Title: Ma vie en l’air | Duration: 103 min | Director: Rémi Bezançon | Starring: Marion Cotillard and Vincent Elbaz
In French, with English subtitles, not rated
Yann Kerbec, an instructor for an airline company, is paradoxically afraid of flying. His panic, linked to his birth, stopped him from following the woman of his dreams to the end of the world. Later, he reflects upon his trauma and his love affairs. Yann has reached a crossroads: he must overcome his demons and accept that he must grow up.
Plus d'infos sur ce film
And will there be any illegal bag searches this summer...?
Upcoming French films in TSP:
July 17: "Works"
July 24: "Claire's Knee"
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Grab your duvetyne! It's almost "Date Night"
As mentioned, "Date Night" is filming on Seventh Street/St. Mark's, uh, tonight. Meanwhile, the crew is relaxing and enjoying the catering. We're sure they have a permit for allowing open flames out on Seventh Street!
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition
The entire Curbed network is live blogging from Superdive right now.
Marc Jacobs has designed two bags named after St. Mark's Place (Racked)
Inside the Yiddish Artists and Friends Actors Club on Seventh Street (The Villager)
The history of 46 E. Houston St. (Tenement Museum)
Jack White's Third Man Records opening a pop-up shop on Chrystie (Brooklyn Vegan)
Another movie in which NYC bites it (The Vulture)
New Yorkers talk loudly and are annoying (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
Read about North Brother Island's tragic past (Ephemeral New York) and watch a program on the Island's bird sanctuary (13-PBS)
Natalie Wood in 1950s NYC (Esquared)
Remembering 1984 NYC and Simple Minds (Hunter-Gatherer)
Jason Lee tossed from Max Fish for fighting and being a jackass (Page Six)
Next stop, 500!: And the cargo shorts comment thread continues to grow (EV Grieve)
Looking at 167 Avenue A: Another Hennings-Giraldi production?
In recent weeks, there has been increased activity at the long-dormant 167 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street, which has housed, in recent years, NoTell Motel and Starlite Lounge. A worker offered the vague "restaurant" when asked what was going into this spot.
The space has been gutted. Someone is putting a lot of money in here. So I checked out the liquor license for the address. According to the SLA:
Jason Hennings and Robert Giraldi? Hmmm... those names may be familiar to you...The vets were behind the now-defunct E.U. on East Fourth Street... and Hennings owns Black Iron Burger on Fifth Street... and Giraldi owns Tonda and Butcher Bay ... (and has done things such as direct Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video). And he went through some epic battles with CB3 in 2006 to try to obtain a liquor license for E.U. Anyway, this all promises to be interesting...
For further reading:
Gastropub is hungry for a beer and wine license (The Villager)
The space has been gutted. Someone is putting a lot of money in here. So I checked out the liquor license for the address. According to the SLA:
Jason Hennings and Robert Giraldi? Hmmm... those names may be familiar to you...The vets were behind the now-defunct E.U. on East Fourth Street... and Hennings owns Black Iron Burger on Fifth Street... and Giraldi owns Tonda and Butcher Bay ... (and has done things such as direct Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video). And he went through some epic battles with CB3 in 2006 to try to obtain a liquor license for E.U. Anyway, this all promises to be interesting...
For further reading:
Gastropub is hungry for a beer and wine license (The Villager)
Remembering Babyland: "We all want to go back to the womb, and here we are"
Speaking of NoTell Motel... I was looking for some background on the bar and came across an article from the Times dated June 26, 1994, titled "Set 'Em Up in Crib No. 2, Captain Kangaroo." It was about NoTell owner Deb Parker's new (at the time) hipstery/rather insufferable Babyland on Avenue A near Fifth Street. Used to be a mom-and-pop infant shop called Ben's Babyland. Anyway, brought back a few memories (not all pleasant)...
To the article!
The boys in the white crib looked comfortable enough, sitting together on the edge of the mattress pad, separated by a huge, dirty pink teddy bear. One was sucking on a bottle (filled, incidentally, with a vodka tonic), and the other was silently mowing down an ice cream sundae.
The crib was surrounded by other big boys and girls, most of them in their 20's, who were sitting in undersized chairs and drinking cocktails or quietly reading "Danny the Dinosaur" or "Goodnight Moon."
And!
Babyland appears to be inspired by Roald Dahl, its walls covered with childhood record-album covers and every corner filled with old toys: stuffed animals, supposed-to-be-sweet-but-actually-spooky-looking clowns, the Playskool barn with the mooing door, plastic letter magnets and dog-eared books. Naked Barbie dolls spin out of control on top of a ventilator, and a plastic baby-doll face has been plastered on a blender.
And!
Bar owners in the East Village face the special challenge of courting coolness by offering a hip, novel theme while still remaining cheap...
Childhood nostalgia is indeed a fashion statement, and the summer streets are full of women in little-girl dresses and sneakers, or T-shirts with Josie and the Pussycats decals ironed on to the front. It makes sense that the East Village corners of cool would capitalize on childhood comfort zones: Limbo, a cafe on Avenue B, serves up nonalcoholic treats to the many who pour in to play board games. Babyland will soon offer Twister and pinball in the basement.
And!
"We are all really babies, so this theme is great," said Sonja Patillo, a production coordinator who dragged two friends from Texas to the bar on Tuesday night.
[A]s Jack Dawe, 25, pointed out: "We all want to go back to the womb, and here we are."
P.S.
There's another article on Parker in the Sept. 7, 1997, Times.
"Yes, I'll take the new Famous L. Renfroe 'Florine EP' and, uh, 'Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King' please"
This week's issue of The Villager looks at the local independent record-shop scene post Virgin Megastore. "Local stores have been closing almost as rapidly as global CD sales have been falling. But for the stores that remain, managers say they’ve noticed an influx of a younger crowd — the last vestiges of Virgin, come to find their Hannah Montanas, Dave Matthews Bands..."
Noted
Spotted on Second Street near Avenue A. And let me know if you really want the Web address ... your path to becoming rich! rich! rich!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Australian Homemade shuttered and seized
The Australian Homemade ice cream/candy shop on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A abruptly closed down. It was open as of yesterday...and today:
According to the sign, the business was seized...
As you may recall, the St. Mark's shop was "temporarily closed for construction" back in January.
Perhaps it had something to do with this... on Jan. 22, Australian Homemade was inspected by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)...and promptly shut down. According to city records, nine violations were cited, resulting in 93 violation points. (Anything more than 27 violation points means they will conduct a follow-up inspection.) As the DOHMH noted, the violations included "expired milk," "not vermin proof," "personal cleanliness inadequate" and "evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas."
The Australian Homemade at 33 E. Eighth St. remains open.
According to the sign, the business was seized...
As you may recall, the St. Mark's shop was "temporarily closed for construction" back in January.
Perhaps it had something to do with this... on Jan. 22, Australian Homemade was inspected by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)...and promptly shut down. According to city records, nine violations were cited, resulting in 93 violation points. (Anything more than 27 violation points means they will conduct a follow-up inspection.) As the DOHMH noted, the violations included "expired milk," "not vermin proof," "personal cleanliness inadequate" and "evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas."
The Australian Homemade at 33 E. Eighth St. remains open.
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