Le Souk now a supply closet

Given the long, tumultuous history surrounding Le Souk, it's understandable that some Avenue B residents remain uneasy about the now-shuttered hotspot... it doesn't help that Le Souk still looks like a functioning restaurant at a quick glance.



Though the menu is from the summer 2008... Still, there was that private party on New Year's Eve.



However, take a look inside...




Or maybe this is the latest in nightlife trends: Party as if you're in a supply closet!

Disarmed and dangerous on Avenue B: Pizza statue maimed

Meanwhile, across Avenue B, we recently noticed that the Finest Pizza and Deli guy at the corner of Fourth Street was missing a few things, such as his sign and right thumb...



And Saturday night, an EV Grieve reader passed by only to discover that his right arm was torn off by some vandals...



...and discarded a short distance away...

Cafe Brama becoming pizzeria

On Saturday, workers were inside the former Cafe Brama on Second Avenue near 10th Street. A source there said new owners were opening a pizzeria ... with an anticipted late-May opening.

On Sunday, the clean out continued. And the new owners were selling a few old Cafe Brama items to interested passersby...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe Brama closes

Gemma still tempting us to take all their table settings and run as if we just didn't steal something

Back on Friday, we dedicated a post to how easy it would be to borrow place settings and what not from Gemma at the Bowery Hotel ... only, of course, if we were the type of people to borrow table settings from hotel eateries...

Anyway! We walked by Sunday morning, and found the tables and set up with zero adult supervision...



Also, thanks to our friend Esquared for passing along a City Room link at the Times... J. David Goodman used our post as a jumping off point for a piece on the great responsibility that comes with great weather. As he writes:

While there’s no data in the post to show that cutlery et al. are not routinely pilfered from these tables, the very fact that it’s all laid out there nonchalantly seems to prove, not that New York restaurateurs are reckless, but rather that we pedestrians are just not that larcenous as a group.

You can read the whole piece here.

Noted (Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria edition)

While walking on the Bowery last night at Houston during prime dinner hours, I came across Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria ... and it was (!!!) empty...



Has the magic faded after just one week?

Oh. They're not open for dinner...yet! Until Friday, anyway...



And, according to Foursquare, who's the mayor...?

Another interior shot of the former Telephone Bar

Last Monday we posted a photo that we quickly took of the former Telephone Bar's gut renovation on Second Avenue... Since then, an EV Grieve reader got inside for a much better photo of the work being done...



Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village to somehow get frattier: What's coming to the former Telephone Bar

Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

From yarn to meat on 14th Street

The Knit New York shop on 14th Street near Second Avenue closed last April...



...and the space finally has a new tenant...

Batman and other things about superheroes

Sadly, Batman the cat is missing around Avenue B...



Speaking of superheroes...on Saturday afternoon, we had the first-ever Superhero Olympics in the neighborhood... we regret not taking any photos... we saw at least one woman in a Super(wo)man costume... and a few other caped crusaders... yet another group of people who think it's perfectly cool and fun to run through the neighborhood, forcing everyone to be part of their fratty tomfoolery...





You can read more about it here.

Third Avenue, 10:13 a.m., March 21

A spring solstice celebration today at La Plaza Cultural

Today -- all day -- at La Plaza Cultural on Ninth Street and Avenue C...in honor of the spring solstice. Read more about what's happening here.

26 years later, it's apparently cool to like Huey Lewis and the News

Trends piece in the Post!

On a night in the East Village last month, the near-empty burger joint Black Iron was gearing up for the dinner rush. “You know,” a bearded bartender remarked to his fellow servers, “I need to start the night properly.”

He cut the music and cued up a new album: “Huey Lewis & The News: Greatest Hits.” Excitement rippled through the room. There was even some whooping. For the next half hour, all conversation revolved around Huey’s guitar prowess. Apparently, it’s very hip to be square right now.

In fact, this spring, the cheesy ’80s are back in full force, with power ballads, film remakes and pink lipstick leading the way.

[Rolling Stone cover via Rolling Stone]

StuyTown Blockbuster is closing

Thanks to the tipster for pointing out that the Blockbuster on First Avenue at 19th Street is closing...




Which leaves the Houston (also rumored to be closing) and Eighth Avenue locations to do you Blockbustering... (and the one on Broadway and 10th Street closed then?)



Or maybe you can just you the Blockbuster machine at Duane Reade on 14th Street near First Avenue...

Things to do on a nice spring day: Buy something from an independent bookstore

An EV Grieve reader sends along the following e-mail...

St Mark's Bookshop is my favorite bookstore. They've been a gathering place for authors and readers on the cutting edge of literature, politics, art, and cultural theory for over 32 years now. And they're facing a daunting retail economy at the moment. I'm challenging my friends to SUPPORT ST MARK'S BOOKSHOP *TODAY* by buying a book (or 2, or 5) Today, if you are so moved.

Stop by the store on 3rd Avenue, call them up at 212-260-7853, or check out St Mark's Web site:

A FEW BOOK SUGGESTIONS:

JUST KIDS, by Patti Smith, a memoir about her young days with Robert Mapplethorpe, *SIGNED*, $27 (they're actually now out of signed copies...)

LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN, a novel of New York in the 1970s by Colum McCann, $15

"STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York" A beautiful and heartbreaking book of photography by James T. Murray, Karla L. Murray, $65

A new book of poetry, BORIS BY THE SEA, by Ugly Duckling Presse editor, Matvei Yankelevich, SIGNED, $14

THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE, a memoir of a journey from surviving a heartbreaking Jamaican childhood to discovering her voice, by Brooklyn performance artist and Def Jam poet, Staceyann Chin.

THIS IS BERLIN NOT NEW YORK, a DVD about 10 underground New York artists traveling to Berlin to make art and friends. $16

Thank you for that e-mail... of course, there are many fine independent book shops around...such as East Village books...



And Bluestockings on Allen Street...Here's a list of independent book sellers in NYC. And this is a favorite topic of Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. He has written extensively about the loss of stores, particularly in the West Village. Here's a post on the new location of Left Bank Books.

Seizure be damned! Mary Ann's back open

Yesterday morning, we snapped some photos of the fresh "seized" stickers on Mary Ann's at Second Avenue and Fifth Street... EV Grieve reader Peter e-mailed to say the Mexican eatery was still closed as of the afternoon...but returning to the corner last night after 9...



"They were open and completely full up. I guess they paid
their bills!"

Sniff and the tears

Filming a cafe scene at the former Astor Place Starbucks

And hey! James Van Der Beek called. He wants his "Dawson's Creek" look back.

Third Avenue, 11:01 a.m., March 19

Oh, there is a spring break vibe outside. Feels like one of those days. Shenanigans galore.

Mary Ann's seized; Fifth Street and Second Avenue a jinxed location for eateries?

As Eater first reported last night, Mary Ann's on Second Avenue at Fifth Street has been seized...




Tough corner these days, apparently... as you'll recall, the Moonstruck Diner on the northeast corner briefly closed in February... And on the northwest corner, Rhong Tiam East/Kurve...and we don't even know where to begin... Kurve was briefly shuttered last November

Best sidewalk cafe from which to start your own restaurant

As we exclusively reported, it will be sunny and warmish-for-March out today and tomorrow. Which means many people will be taking to sidewalk cafes for eats and drinks and stuff. And there are many fine sidewalk cafes hereabouts ... and many of them make it awfully easy to borrow something from a table while walking by...as if management thinks they're operating somewhere other than a huge city....




To our continued amazement, nothing beats Gemma at the Bowery Hotel for pure potential lawlessness... Management really makes it tempting to borrow a table setting or two... At certain parts of the day, things are left unattended...



We've walked by so many times that, by now, we could have enough stuff to open our own restaurant... (patrons not included)



And we'll be charging $32 for the scrambled eggs. Not that we approve of serving $32 eggs ... or borrowing stuff from restaurants -- best to leave the stuff alone.

Related reading:
A Sign of Spring on Avenue A : L.E.S. Jewels Absconds With a Pitcher Full of Sangria From Yuca Bar's Window ... and Drinks It All Too (Neither More Nor Less)

Black Market opens its gates

Last month, the former Pizza Shop on Avenue A became Black Market... And the owners reportedly planned to keep the iron gates down even when they were open...

Now, though, the gates are up... making it look more inviting for commoners who aren't Bono or Michael Stipe or the Olsen Twins...



Meanwhile, given the recent parade of bold-faced names, a few people wondered if any of them ventured over to Ray's afterwards... perhaps they read about his troubles in the Times and want to help out a neighborhood institution...

Auditing the Federal Reserve's response to graffiti

As we reported last week, someone tagged the Federal Reserve building in the Financial District last week with the words "audit me." We watched last Thursday as a Fed Graffiti Removal team worked dilligently to remove the offending comment.



When we checked back in, the always-classy poster board and duct tape were back up on the wall...along with a few warning pylons.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Federal Reserve tagged

East River Park Bandshell 1992-93

I really like these photos of the old East River Park Bandshell (circa 1992-93) that were taken by Jen Williams (aka beatricethecat)...





The venue was refurbished in 2001 with, randomly enough, the help of Erin Brockovich.

And Jenn has more photos on her Flickr page.

Painting of Ronald McDonald's long-lost half brother surfaces on Avenue C

Spotted at 11th Street and Avenue C.

Reminders: Bake-in Rally at City Hall today

Parents whose children attend the East Village Community School, one of four progressive public schools in the East Village, are among the organizers of a bake-in (not that kind) at City Hall this afternoon.

A quick overview:

On Thursday March 18th there will be a protest against Regulation A-812, limiting the sales of home-baked goods at public school bake sales. It’s from 4-6pm at City Hall. Activist parents will have two tables: one with home-baked goods, and another with the “approved” items: Doritos, Fritos, Pop-Tarts, and Snapple.

EV resident Marjorie Ingall has more on the issue on her blog. And there's more information here on NYC Green Schools.

City workers remove holiday lights before Easter comes calling

City workers have arrived at Tompkins Square Park this morning to remove the holiday lights... really.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On St. Patrick's Day, a Christmas miracle in Tompkins Square Park

When High Society hits the Doghouse Saloon

So you may or may not know about CW's docu-reality show "High Society," which, according to the description, follows "Tinsley Mortimer, New York's most talked-about 'Park Avenue Princess,' as she and her circle of often-controversial friends circulate through New York's most prestigious black-tie affairs, outrageous parties and fashion exclusives, with never-before-seen access from behind the velvet rope."

In last night's episode, resident alleged racist homophobe and dumb-thing-sayer Jules Kirby went to the Doghouse Saloon on Orchard Street. And Emily Exton at Entertainment Weekly recaps some excerpts from Jules:

“Every now and again I like to go downtown and like hang out with poor guys.”

“For a couple of uptown girls it is like sort of slumming going downtown. We like to toy with guys. Like, a girl who walks into a bar with heels there, it’s like unheard of.”

“It’s fun to go hang out with blue collar people at a scummy bar. They do fratty things like play beer pong.”

“The best thing about going to like a downtown bar like that is that it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day; we can just like leave after sort of screwing with them.”

Outside, her friend Cleo asked a passerby for a cigarette, Jules quickly scolded her, saying: “People like don’t have jobs and stuff down here!”

If this was scripted for Jules, then it's lame. We can do better! Oh, and if she really said this?

On St. Patrick's Day, a Christmas miracle in Tompkins Square Park

Upon walking in Tompkins Square Park last night... I was, quite frankly, not surprised, to see the holiday tree all lit up for the first time in a few months...




I noticed in January that no one had actually ever removed all the lights... and the extension cord was still lying there...




So, a fellow decided to take a rest under the tree last evening, and he apparently plugged in the tree...