Held hostage by Santa

Earlier today...photos by SantaCon correspondent Blue Glass...

Virage reopens

Virage on Second Avenue at Seventh Street closed this week for renovations... and, per their sign, they were expected to reopen last night... and they were open...

When children talk for a long time on payphones

Second Street at Avenue A.

Santacon taking over Starbucks, Second Avenue

Via @prismpop


Via @katemax


Via @experiri

Meanwhile, on First Avenue

Via @pegchandler

Reporting for duty

11th Street and Second Avenue this morning. Santacon is on. Do with this information what you want. They're a) fun-loving thrillseekers enjoying some holiday camaraderie b) obnoxious twats.

Tompkins Square Park, 9:19 a.m., Dec. 11

14 shopping days left until there are no more shopping days left

Today and next Saturday at dba.... via Patell and Waterman’s History of New York.




Grieve: Crap, is is time for xmas already?

Bryan on December 10, 2010 at 7:26 pm
“Crap, is is time for xmas already?”

Hence holiday fair IN A BAR.

Ah!

Also this weekend

Duran Duran still draws a crowd

Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes stopped by Mark Ronson’s Authentic Sh*t on East Village Radio tonight... and... Wooooo!




Read more about it here.

Stepping away for a few minutes — keep an eye on things

Sunshine on a gloomy day

Great shot from inside the Sunshine Theater on Houston via JDX.

So... how's the M15 Select Bus service faring?

A few days ago EV Grieve reader Mike checked in with a report on the M15 Select Bus... been awhile since we heard anything about it...

So while waiting to buy ride and get receipt, I chatted with both the woman in front and back of me. Both of them loved the Select Bus! The biggest negative continues to be the lines that form for the machines to get tickets during rush hour. And that lady this morning who apparently decided that she didn't need to wait in line like everyone else, even when she cut right in front of me and I explained that the queue of people wasn't just folks fond of loitering — she acted dumbfounded and was not responsive, but hopefully that was from shame more than from being an asshole, which is how it seemed.

Rest in Peace M15 Limted Bus, Long Live M15 Select Bus!

And this morning, Mike noticed that the MTA looks to be installing MORE machines at 14th Street and First Avenue... which could help alleviate those rush-hour ticket lines...

Shit Week continues: Majestic willow tree butchered on Eighth Street

An EV Grieve reader out walking his dog this morning was shocked to find that the majestic willow on Eighth Street near Avenue C....



... had been hacked down... seemingly overnight...





Per the reader: "maybe it was diseased, but it looked perfectly healthy to me."

Melanie just posted a photo of this willow at East Village Corner. In the comments I said that I loved this tree.

UPDATE:
A reader sends along another photo, noting that "it looks worse in the daylight."



Ugh.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The willow trees of Loisaida

11th Street condo owners want to chop down this willow tree

Fade away

The mourning continues for the Mars Bar... Yesterday's various news account all but confirm what no one really wanted to acknowledge... the Mars Bar is going away... as early as the spring... Per Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo:

Circumstances outside the construction timeline — which could take as many as three years or more from the bar's closure until its theoretical reopening — could make it difficult for the diminutive dive to see new life.

The above photo is of Roy, a Mars Bar employee for years... outside the bar that he opened every morning for as long as anyone can remember... He passed away in June. Thanks to Eliesha Grant for permission to use this photo.

Long before the Mars Bar on Second Avenue

Thanks to Goggla for passing along this NYPL Digital Library link ... it's an undated photo of Second Avenue... looking north to First Street... The Mars Bar building once housed the Woolworth Theater. I couldn't find anything on it (granted, it was a quick search) ... So if you happen to know anything about the theatre... I wonder if people were devastated when the theatre shuttered?




Seeing the past helps put the present in perspective (OK, that was lame)... In trying times, I usually turn to the good book for inspiration.

"New York ... would seem on the face of it to be founded on progress, on change, on the bulldozing of what has faded to make way for the next thing, the thing after that, the future. The lure of the new is built right into its name; it is the part of the name that actually registers ... Manhattan is a finite space that cannot be expanded but only resurfaced and reconfigured ... New York has no truck with the past. It expels its dead."

— Luc Sante, "Low Life"

Jeremiah has more on Before Mars Bar today here.

Pools that I may crash

A reader directed me to one of the amenities at the ritzy 15 Union Square West fishbowl condo ... Woo! (When is the caddy swim? 1-1:15?)



And is that a red or burgundy dress? And is she a bridesmaid? Why is she walking around USW dressed like that? Why is she gazing into the camera? Why is the room so empty and cold-looking? Is this a fantasy scene?



I hope that it's red. So. Before taking a swim, I may serenade her...

Doomed corners

Oh, I'm just taking photos of some seemingly doomed locations... spots where you figure a condo will be plopped down some day soon... Avenue C between Houston and Second Street the other day....

Noted

An EV Grieve reader passes along some pointed restroom graffiti from an undisclosed East Village restaurant.

Johnson's World comes down again

The other day we pointed out that the beauty salon on 14th Street and Third Avenue was relocating... exposing some ghost signage in the process ...



EV Grieve reader Jacob happened by when workers were peeling off another previous store sign....

Tompkins Square Park, 4:15 p.m., Dec. 9

Photos courtesy of Bobby Williams.

Tompkins Square Park red-tailed hawk is 'much more cool than a hipster'

I totally missed Stephanie Cohen's piece in the Post today of the red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park.... An excerpt!

" ... this Tompkins Square chick boasts something just as important: downtown street cred. Call her the hipster hawk.

So it’s only fitting that Jonathan Ames, the indie writer behind the HBO hit 'Bored to Death,' is a fan.

“I was thrilled to see such a proud and fierce raptor in Tompkins Square Park,” says the Brooklyn-based Ames.

“Right after seeing the hawk, I saw a young man projectile-vomit, so it was quite the full outing.”

Per a Post commenter: "Please, she's no hipster. She kills rats and pigeons and lives off of them. She's much more cool than a hipster."

Many thanks to BaHa for the two photos...

That darn cat!

So! Earlier I shared my exclusive interview with Minnie McSorley... Well! I was unaware that there was a second "exclusive" interview today! Anyway, Jen Doll at Runnin' Scared also has a fun interview with Minnie today... you may find that here.

PS
Q: What do you get if you cross a cat with a bottle of vinegar?
A: A sourpuss!

This is what the Mars Bar may look like one day

BoweryBoogie attended last night's CB3 subcommittee meeting to hear more about the future of lower Second Avenue at First Street. He took that photo of the proposed 12-story building coming to where the Mars Bar is... and may return in two years.

The Local East Village, who first broke the story, was also at the meeting. Read that report here.

UPDATE:

Curbed has coverage too, with the bone-chilling headline: Mars Bar Faces Wrecking Ball as New Tower Gets Unveiled

Exclusive: Minnie McSorley's first interview

As you've likely heard, Minnie, who lives at McSorley's, is being sued... Per the Post the other day (read more here):

A New Jersey woman has kicked up a feline fury at the 156-year-old McSorley's Old Ale House, by filing a lawsuit claiming she was viciously attacked by the venerable bar's pet cat and had to be hospitalized.

Now, Minnie has a Facebook page... So, via Facebook, I asked Minnie for an interview. I realized that, on the advice of her attorney, she couldn't discuss the specifics of the pawsuit. However!

Intro:

"Things are calming down here so I have some time on my paws. I'm glad to learn I have fans, but really the saloon is the celebrity — and all the nameless, faceless cats working out there every day to make hoomans a little more civilized. With that said..."

(Transcribed, as always, from my dictation. I do not type well with paws.)

How are you coping with your new-found celebrity?

Minnie: Celebrity, like a full food dish, is fleeting. Many famous people have visited McSorley's and I've heard tell that its age made them all feel a bit more humble. Although we don't usually get the arrogant ones. We got John Lennon, and Elvis and TR and Houdini and Chet Arthur and Belushi. The stuck-up ones go elsewhere. Meh. Their loss.

Besides, while dogs have been known to let fame and fortune go to their head (Lassie demanded bowls of red kibble only on her dressing room), we cats always land on our feet and therefore keep them planted firmly on the ground.

I will say I'm enjoying the outpouring of support. I don't even mind the requests for autographs. I love the cat people and am even patient with the non-cat hoomans, the well-meaning ones who'll ask me to "do something." Uh, come again? I met the Purina Cat Team a few times. They do tricks and are the exception to the rule.

Best/worst part about living at McSorley's.

Minnie: The best part of living in McSorley's is the opportunity to experience things you can't find anywhere else. I ask you, where ELSE could an 18-month-old cat get sued! Mew, mew, mew! (Transcriber: Here Minnie broke down in laughter.) Seriously, I love the history of McSorley's and the look on people's faces when they first walk in the door. Usually you only get that sort of look when you see a cat walk into the Vet's office. I can pick a first-time visitor 10 miles away. (Our eyesight is keener than humans, and so are our metaphors.)

I am also very fond, as McSorley's cats have been for a century, of the potbellied stove — especially this time of year. One of us was in e.e. cummings lap while he wrote the poem "I Was Sitting in McSorley's," about a snowy day in the saloon.

Worst part? There is really no worst part about McSorley's, unless you count Bloomberg's thugs stomping around and picking on us. "Why, yes, there is dust and the occasional fly, Mr. Health Inspector! Shocking in a 150-year old bar. Do you go to the Pyramids and complain about the dust? Do you go to the Statue of Liberty and complain about the corrosion? Do you go to Venice and complain about the trash in the canals?"

Wait, never mind. Bloomberg probably does.

That line etched in the window, Mr. Mayor, the one that says "we were here before you were born"? That's a message from 30 generations of McSorley's cats — and we'll be here after you're gone, too.

Do you prefer the light or dark ale?

Minnie: Light or dark, the eternal question. I'm afraid I don't drink the ale. I go to the bar and order Guinness. (Transcriber: More cat laughter.) No, just kidding. Of course all cats love the dark; we can see in it.

Local blogger stops talking about Mars Bar closing long enough to thank everyone

I was honored to be named Best Neighborhood Blog in the First Annual Village Voice Web Awards Tuesday night. I was nominated alongside four other excellent sites: BoweryBoogie, New York Shitty, Ditmas Park Blog and Fucked in Park Slope.

So, many thanks to the Voice and to the folks at FourSquare, who selected the winner in the Neighborhood category. And I said this to Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo, who wrote a piece on me and BoweryBoogie this week:

"The site wouldn't work without the participation of so many people sharing comments, opinions, tips and photos. Their passion for the East Village inspires me every day. For that, I'm very thankful."

Thank you.

And here's a complete list of all the recipients.

Today's sign of the apocalypse: a Starbucks on Avenue A?

Allow me to bury the lead. Our friends at Neighborhoodr have some coffee-related gossip/news. First, they hear that the former Revitali hookahry on First Avenue between St. Mark's and Seventh Street will become some sort of coffee shop...



Then! Neighborhoodr links to Barney-Mugging, where Ruthy notes:

Someone told me today that there is a STARBUCKS rumored to be opening on Avenue A sometime in the near future. Personally, I don’t care for burnt coffee or impersonal service, but I still fear it’s going to give all of my beloved cafes in the area a run for their money…

Well, there's certainly enough empty storefronts to choose from... and they could afford the rent... And this isn't the first rumor of another chain on Avenue A.

Will El Cobre be an El Shitshow?

After sitting dormant for several years, the restaurant space on Sixth Street at Avenue A finally got a new tenant in the fall of 2009 after CB3 enthusiatically endorsed a full liquor license (and within a resolution area) for the Cienfuegos complex that eventually included take-out sandwich shop Carteles and a fancy rum bar called Cocteleria....



Grub Street's Jenny Miller reports this week that El Cobre, the main-floor eatery, is opening very soon... We walked by last evening, and it sure looked ready for action — minus diners...



... Per Grub Street, El Cobre is named after the town where Cuba's patron saint is located... a duplicate statue is on display inside...



The CB3 license is also good for a sidewalk cafe, so expect a foodie shitshow here come warm-weather months...

By the way, the food at Carteles gets high marks from some readers (try the sancocho!) ... though, as the crowds descended on the upstairs rum bar...



...waits for take-out on weekend nights got too long for some neighbors ... (same kitchen services Carteles and Cocteleria... and, presumably, El Cobre...) ... The neighbors moved on to make way for the weekend warriors.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The future of 95 Avenue A

Something finally coming to 95 Avenue A

Coming soon: Work starts on Cienfuegos at long-dormant (and soon-to-be-expanded) 95 Avenue A

Looking for volunteer opportunities during the holidays

A reader, fairly new to the neighborhood, is looking to volunteer somewhere in the East Village during the holidays... "Do you know which churches/shelters in the area accept volunteers?" Thought I'd open it up for suggestions... perhaps come up with some ideas a little off the radar ... and maybe inspire someone else to volunteer...

Day hawk

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Bobby Williams for these shots of a red-tailed hawk from late yesterday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park...




Perhaps daydreaming of Shake Shake line waiters?

Fab Cafe now open, serving Mud coffee

CuppaCuppa recently closed on East Fourth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... As promised, the Fourth Arts Block would take over the cafe...

And well: The FAB Cafe is now open... They're also serving Mud coffee....

Max Fish owner: 'I do think that the alternative culture is being forced to get out, but I don’t think we should'

Grub Street's Daniel Mauer snagged an interview with Max Fish owner Ulli Rimkus earlier this evening... Yes, the 21-year-old Ludlow Street bar is closing at the end of January... she's hopeful that she can relocate somewhere in the LES...

A few passages from the Q-and-A:

So how certain is it that you’ll close? And how long has this been in the cards?
It’s definite. I tried all year to strike a deal with the owner, and then in the end I just said, “If we can't strike a deal, give me an extension,” and he drafted this contract that basically said that after the year extension he’d be the owner of everything and not leave us with anything, so we’re getting out. It’s over; there’s no more negotiation.

Do you think the loss of places like Mars Bar and Max Fish mean that the character of New York City is changing somehow, or is it just the usual story?
I do think that the alternative culture is being forced to get out, but I don’t think we should go. I don’t agree. We have a right to live here as much as anyone else.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Baby, it's you

In case you haven't seen it yet... there's a really entertaining piece on Eden & John's East River String Band in The Wall Street Journal:

Both musicians hail from Queens. They met 14 years ago when he was the manager at Forbidden Planet comic-book store on Broadway. Ms. Brower was a new hire.

"He would prank call me from the office and I fell for it every time," she said, noting that it wasn't always easy to tell the difference. "We'd get questions like, 'Who do you think is stronger: the Hulk or the Thing?' That'd be a real call at the store."

Read more about John's new release, "Baby, How Can It Be? Songs of Love, Lust and Contempt from the 1920s and 1930s," over at the home of Slum Goddess (um, Eden, if you didn't make the connection...)

Read the Journal article here.


PS
It's the Hulk, right?

[Photo via Slum Goddess]