Chico back to create an anti-violence mural

Lyn Pentecost, executive director of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, passed along this message on Friday evening:

The Lower Eastside Girls Club has brought Chico back from Florida to paint a few murals before the snowflakes fall:

He’ll start next week on an Anti-Violence message mural to be designed and painted by Chico and the POP (Power of Peace) Youth Anti-Violence Coalition founded a year and a half ago when Tina Negron -- the older sister of a Girls Club member -- was murdered at Key Food on Avenue A.

Since then POP has held a youth conference with Rosario Dawson, Ben Valentin (Tina’s brother) Angel Seda (GOLES) and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez at City Hall, a community march last Spring, three widely attended handbill clinics and competitions, and now -- in response to the recent tensions -- we’ve brought back Chico...the master messenger.

I'm told that he'll be starting at Avenue B and Houston.

Previously on EV Grieve.

Superdive is helping fight hunger

Tonight, Superdive is hosting a Drag Bingo Night....



Proceeds benefit the S.A.F.H. soup kitchen on Ninth Street.

Seizures: Layaly shuttered on Avenue B

B&T hookah hotspot Layaly at 98 Avenue B near Sixth Street was shut down last week.



Even the vanity ATM is gone.

Before:


Now:

Something finally coming to 95 Avenue A

The corner northwest corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street has been empty forever, it seems, since that place called Le Zoccole shuttered... As EV Grieve reader Creature points out, something called Cien Fueguos LLC will go before the CB3/SLA tonight for a liquor license...they're aiming for a sidewalk cafe too...

Smooth sailing tonight...???

Also tonight on the CB3/SLA docket: the long-awaited Caffe Buon Gusto at Fifth Street and Avenue B goes for a liquor license. Meanwhile, the space continues to attract a variety of street art... such as this sailboat made from red tape...should be plenty of red tape tonight too...



Read my previous 5,987 posts on Caffe Buon Gusto here.

Outtakes from a walk in the rain, part 1 of 1

On First Street, lining up for brunch at Prune before their 10 a.m. opening...



In Tompkins Square Park...



Houston and Avenue B...



On First Avenue and First Street... an MTA driver patches up her bus with tape...

Very bad things: Joe's Bar is closed, at least temporarily

Swung by Joe's last night on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... seemed like a good bet to escape people watching sporting events on TV...and it was closed...no note to patrons or anything either.



Apparently the bar has been closed for several days now. We don't know why for sure. However, a neighbor vaguely said something about a paperwork glitch with the state. Hmm.

And this is what the bar should have looked like last night...



Let's hope this isn't the beginning of a Joe's curse.

Image via.

The Times goes to the Mars Bar with one of those guys who's in "Gossip Girl"

The Times does its "A Night Out With" feature this week with Penn Badgley, one of the "Gossip Girl" cast members. Other Music starts the night. Then!

He stopped first at the John Varvatos store on the Bowery that replaced CBGB. After poring over dress shirts and vintage stereo equipment that cost about the same, Mr. Badgley declared, "At least they didn’t turn it into a bank."

A few blocks east, he arrived at Mars Bar, the grimy dive where tourists go in search of authentic punks and authentic punks go to start drinking at midday. He seemed unsure of his choice of bars ("I think it's closed," he said), but then he threw open its front door and entered.

A Sid Vicious cover of "Something Else" was blaring on the jukebox, and the narrow bar was crowded with colorful patrons. "I think we're wearing the same sneakers," Mr. Badgley said, pointing to a barfly in a patchwork of tattered winter gear and brown Nikes. (The woman with him was similarly attired, wearing a hula hoop as an accessory.)

As Mr. Badgley reached across to grab a watery Bud Light, he accidentally nudged someone with a tattoo of a revolver on his neck and quickly apologized. "That's all right, brother," the man said. "You’re beautiful-looking."

His girlfriend, tall and thin with her hair in long bangs, clearly recognized Mr. Badgley but acted as if she didn’t care. "I think it's completely ridiculous," she said of "Gossip Girl." "I don’t really watch it 'cause it's not my scene."

And the piece ends on this note:

As Mr. Badgley left the bar, Black Sabbath’s "Fairies Wear Boots" was playing. "I've found that people are cool if you don't treat them like jerks," he said.

Image via.

"Entering the East Village come weekends is like wandering into Dante’s Eighth Circle of hell..."

A few East Village-related items from the "Best of Manhattan" issue of NYPress this week...

Best East Village Bar to Get Trashed and Evade the B-and-T Hordes: International Bar
120 1st Ave. betw. St. Marks Pl. & E. 7th St., 212-777-1643
Entering the East Village come weekends is like wandering into Dante’s Eighth Circle of hell, in which hair-sprayed ladies and six-pack men lick, suck and swallow their way into new, louder personalities that we’d like to pop in the mouth. Thank heavens for the neighborhood’s sole refuge, International Bar. In the dark, railroad-car confines, we love plugging metal into the juke and popping a squat at the bar — there’s often a seat, no matter the night. And then we order the combo that’s as deadly as fugu: a can of Schaefer and a two-ounce blast of sweet well whiskey, priced at $4.

Best Headstone for the Corpse of the Bowery: DBGB Kitchen and Bar
299 Bowery at E. 1st St., 212-933-5300
Celebrity chef Daniel Boulud may not be the first inspiration-starved millionaire to burnish up his Bowery project with the memory of punks, but his antiseptic new bistro, DBGB (an awkward pun on CBGB’s,) definitely makes him the No. 1 offender. Standing on the corner of the Bowery and E. First Street, it perfectly embodies the death of the punk rock idyll and the wide cursive script painted around its steel-framed gray windows quite literally gives the restaurant the look of a cemetery — or an up-market option in a Rochester Mall.


Best Bar Idea with the Worst Execution: Superdive
200 Ave. A betw. E. 12th & E. 13th Sts., 212-448-4854
Tableside keg service, democratic access to the soundtrack, mix-your-own cocktails—what could go wrong? In a word, everything. The ideal form of Superdive — which brings what we can only imagine to be the worst of the Midwestern college town drinking experience to the East Village — is bespoilt by human nature. Douchy dudes drink until they get shouty and shovy and play hip-hop ironically at unsafe levels. Mix that with girls who are impressed, and you’ve got a problem.

Just desserts

Thee Milkshakes.

Only three letters?

Just sitting around today, trying to complete the always-challenging In Touch crossword puzzle...

Village Green opening its houses this weekend

Village Green, everyone's favorite "eco-indulgent" new condo on 11th Street, will be holding open houses this weekend. The $2 million penthouse is still up for grabs... According to the listings, at least nine of the 36 units are in contract.

Anyway, in case you can't make it, here's what it may or may not look like:







Upon seeing the open house ads, we thought the plywood on the ground level might be gone. As of last night, still no view of that gym.



Previously.

Not so Sweet: Old school bakery temporarily closed

Rounding the corner on 11th Street at First Avenue yesterday, I saw a disturbing site...



Something Sweet is closed for a "personal matter." And the shop, open now some 30 years, is already missed...




For further reading:
Rich cookies come in small packages (The Villager)

Will a bite at the Roxy ever be the same?

The Roxy Food Shop, an EV Grieve favorite on John Street in the Financial District, is one of the few great old luncheonettes left...



Been there since 1944. As Jeremiah noted back in January, "It's got everything a luncheonette should have: chrome swivel stools, a quilted stainless steel backsplash, and good egg creams."



Was upset to see it closed for remodeling the other day. The new sign is already in place... Meanwhile, we'll remain hopeful that some of its charming greasy ambiance is left intact...



[Photo of swivel stools via Jeremiah]

Holy cow! Beer and burgers now being served at St. Mark's Burger

As the sign on the cow shows, St. Mark's Burger is now open at 33 St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue. And serving beer for some reason. They're on the CB3/SLA docket Monday night for a beer/wine license... as well as to extend the license to serve beer/wine in the space within the building limits out front.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Shockers: Something other than a noodle/ramen/FroYo shop opening on St. Mark's Place

The Times captures the rickshaw-pulling Spider-Man of the East Village

Pass the Dramamine. City Room post here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

More on the EV's kiddie crime spree (New York Post)

New doc explores NYC's downtown music scene circa 1975-1985 (Stupefaction)

When bacon attacks (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis are co-writing a screenplay on the tragic suicides of East Village artists Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake (Page Six)

How many ATMs are there on the LES? (BoweryBoogie)

An end to beer pong? (Blah Blog Blah)

Bill Thompson hates trees? (Alphabet City Soup)

In an item on Death & Co. possibly opening an LA outpost: "They were also the subject of a neighborhood feud in the East Village because the East Village is filled with people who hate bars and have nothing else to do than go to community meetings and pressure the State Liquor Board to deny liquor licenses." (BlackBook)

95 Delancey next to fall? (Curbed)

RIP Capt. Lou (BoingBoing)

Three years ago today...

Wow. This Ain't the Summer of Love reminds me that today marks the three-year anniversary of the closing of CBGB. Seems longer.

[Image via.]

Reading reviews of Tompkins Square Park on Yelp

And did you know that city parks are reviewed on Yelp?



To the Yelpers!

Here's a 3-star review:

The inhabitants of Tompkins Square Park are people you could probably find in any large metropolitan area in the world. What makes TSP unique is the high concentration of mentally and/or chemically imbalanced folks, mixed in with some hobos, burnouts, stoners looking to score, scorers looking to stone and locals who're looking for some sun. Everybody and nobody is there, and if you're into people watching, it makes for a good couple of hours.

What ruined my day was the fat lady sitting across from me wearing a jean skirt and no panties. How did I know this?

Cause she was sitting like a dude.

I didn't even mean to look. You just couldn't avoid it because she took up about 1/2 of my field of vision.

And a 1-star review:

When I walk through this park, I'm constantly looking over my shoulder for fear of getting mugged or stabbed.

I have no problem with homeless people finding shelter in the park. I do have a problem with hardcore drug users shooting up and smoking crack. Call me crazy, but that disturbs me.

On my last trip there, this coked up lady took it upon herself to change outfits three times right in the middle of the park. Her version of a fashion show. Another bum sat on a bench by the entrance with blood spewing from his nose. No worries, he was too high on something to notice.

The park is crack-tastic at best.

And another 1-star review:

Errrmmm, maybe I'm just not "getting" this park. I was here for an hour last Sunday and spent my time circling the park looking for a hobo-free zone. The southwest corner, especially, seemed to be packed with a dirt-crusted crowd of semi-homeless people of mixed ages. Several of the younger Tompkins hobos were dressed in clothes that were probably quite fashionable at one point, but now caked in dirt and quite brown in color. I was impressed that they were not just resigning themselves to dirty jeans and ratty t-shirts; maybe they were homeless by choice.

There was a small portable soup kitchen type cart in that corner of the park serving this brown-colored mushy-looking food to these folks who ate with their fingers and licked the plates. When I finally did manage to find an isolated bench to read my book, there were strange smells emanating from the bushes behind me that I tried to ignore. It was probably p00p; the grass didn't seem to stand a chance of making it out of the ground clean. After a few pages of reading, I was interrupted by a comparatively presentable stranger. He commented that I looked "uncomfortable" (undeniable) and proceeded to attempt to read my sign and, I think, ask me on a date. He had weird tics and stared way too intensely at me during all this time. I am not sure why I stuck around long enough to let the conversation progress to that point.

In short, I am TOTALLY one of "those people who finds Tompkins Park gross." It's just not the place for me to have a relaxing Sunday afternoon. I don't want a park with "character" when what I really want is to nap outside without worrying about being pissed on, touched, robbed, etc. So, back to Central Park it is, where I will hazard my chances with the strollers, toddlers and frisbees. Or, Madison Square Park, where I can eat my Shack burgers and hang out with the designer dogs eating frozen custard.

What a booth at the Bowery Bazaar will run you

Thanks to the EV Grieve reader for passing along more information about the Bowery Bazaar, which opens Nov. 1 in the E2E4 building on the Bowery between Third Street and Fourth Street.



As the sign out front says, the Bazaar "...welcomes up-and-coming artists, young designers, and enthusiastic collectors to exhibit their goods."

And how much will it cost to exhibit those goods?

Price List
Friday-Sunday Monthly Rate

Individual Shops
5.5 Ft x 7 Ft ………………………….…….$1200.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
5.5 Ft x 8 Ft…………………...……………$1300.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
5.5 Ft x 9 Ft………………….…………..…$1500.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
5.5 Ft x 10 Ft……………….………………$1800.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)


Right Window Shop
6.5 Ft x 14 Ft…….................………………$2500.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)

Left Window Shop
5.5 Ft x 12 Ft….................…………………$2300.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)

Display Counters
36" x 3Ft ……………………………….........$500.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY)
48" x 3Ft ………………….......$600.00 (PLUS ONE MONTH SECURTY) ONLY TWO

Free Standing Table Area
6’ x 4’ tables…………………….............................................................$800.00-$1000.00

So it's open just on the weekends... as our readers points out, that's 12 times a month .... say you take the 5x7 individual shop for $1,200...that's $100 per day... I'm curious about how many vendors this place will hold... and why didn't some faboo designer type like John Varvatos lease this space?

Previously.

P.S.
I'm aware security is spelled incorrectly...that's how the Bazaar sent out the information...

From the EV Grieve photo files

Insert "can you hear me now?" joke headline, though it's not really funny

Just following up on a post from March... where I noted the sign here at the former Bondy's on Park Row. (Need a Walkman!) The store closed in 2007. Anyway, the space has finally been leased....

Noted

Per MediaPost:

"The $100 million marketing blitz Yahoo launched two weeks ago to revitalize its brand may be having the opposite effect, according to early consumer feedback. Perception of Yahoo among U.S. adults has fallen steeply since the company kicked off its global campaign centered on the tag line "It's You" on Sept. 28, based on YouGov's BrandIndex, which tracks daily consumer perception of brands. It found Yahoo's buzz score had tumbled from 35.4 on Sept. 22 to 25.5 as of Monday."

Previously on EV Grieve:
I will NOT be commenting on Yahoo!'s new ad campaign

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

News about Hot Dog (arrested for pounding a door with an onion?), Cut Man Eddy and the Mosaic Man (Neither More Nor Less)

"Oliver Twist-like kid burglar" responsible for rash of East Village thefts? (NY Post)

Art show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Bicycling with David Byrne (New York Times)

Bloomy buys BusinessWeek (MediaBistro)

World's longest article on Amanda Burton (New York Observer)

Stuy Town may default (Lux Living)

Sifton's review of DBGB starts with "HEY, ho, let’s go!" (New York Times)

Finally, I missed the report on Eater that Birdies on First Avenue near Ninth Street has closed and moved (or maybe the other way around). The storefront is for rent.

Bazaar in retail space of million-dollar condos with gated driveway "aims to bring a sense of authenticity" back to the Bowery

Thanks to the fliers plastered on the windows on the ground floor of E2E4, we now have a little more information about what the Bowery Bazaar is going to be all about between Third Street and Fourth Street...



Well, if you can make out the photos below..."A new bazaar set to open in the heart of Manhattan's oldest thoroughfare: The Bowery."

Hmm. A few other snippets...

"A hip, new indoor market set to open on the Bowery this November 1..."

"The bazaar is already creating a lot of buzz."

"The Bowery Bazaar will merge antiquity with modernity in a wonderful melting pot of trendy design, unique memorabilia, and antique pieces."

"...welcomes up-and-coming artists, young designers, and enthusiastic collectors to exhibit their goods. Just down the block from the Bowery Hotel and Cooper Square Hotel, the bazaar will be open to the public at large."

"The Bowery Bazaar aims to bring a sense of authenticity back to a part of Manhattan that's been transformed from central throughway, to a gritty nab, and back again."




Previously.

The East Village has a new landmark

According to an e-mail alert from The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation yesterday afternoon:

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to landmark the 1838 Isaac T. Hopper House at 110 Second Avenue in the East Village, a designation strongly supported by GVSHP. This impressive Greek Revival house located between 6th and 7th Streets is a rare intact vestige of the earliest stages of the East Village’s urban development. Since 1874 it has also served as the home of the Women’s Prison Association (WPA), a reform organization seeking to better the lives of women who have been through the criminal justice system. The house is named for Isaac T. Hopper, the Quaker Abolitionist and reformer who founded the WPA. Hopper’s daughter, Abigail Hopper Gibbons, was the first president of the WPA.

Read the entire history here. (PDF)

Of course, there's plenty left in the neighbor to preserve.

Zine talk tonight at ABC No Rio

Zines and Beyond: Independent Publishing in the Real and the Virtual

7 — 9pm (free)

Panelists: Michael Carter, Jim Fleming, Fly, Billy Miller and Seth Tobocman

ABC No Rio invites speakers with a wide range of backgrounds in zines, comics, radical book publishing and independent social networking sites to share their experiences and explore the role of DIY publishing. The five panelists will present their own experiences with independent media as well as consider its role for the distribution of political content in both the digital and print form.

You can learn more about the speakers here.

[Image via]

Sunburnt Cow building was peddled on Bid in the City

I read about Bid in the City -- eBay for real estate, as it has been said -- back when it launched this spring. After seeing some commercials for it on TV (ESPN!) this past weekend, I thought I'd check out the site...



I looked to see what had been offered in these parts. And what went on the block in June? 137 Avenue C, which, among other things, is home to stand-in-line-for brunch hotspot the Sunburnt Cow.



Original Price:$3,200,000
Starting Bid:$1,450,000
Closing Bid:$1,605,000

I have no idea how any of Bid stuff works. But, at first glimpse, this seems like a pretty good deal. It's a four-story building with six apartments and the Cow, in which patrons are dared to drink as much as possible in two hours for $20.



According to the property taxes, the building is worth $2.6 million.