Saturday, March 19, 2011

Table tennis now a permanent part of Tompkins Square Park

Earlier today, the city installed a new permanent ping-pong table in Tompkins Square Park, as DNAinfo has been reporting...



The table is dedicated to longtime Tompkins Square Park manager Harry Greenberg, who retired last fall....


...and if you want to play...



All photos by EV Grieve Ping-Pong Sideline Photographer Bobby Williams.

Warming up for the Supermoon

Last night...


And tonight!

Tonight's full moon will be the largest and brightest seen for 19 years, appearing 14 percent bigger and shining 30 percent more brightly than usual. (So that's 44 percent?) Here's more on Gothamist.

Missing dog alert

From our Friend Cat Sitter in the City:

There is a little brown dog running loose. He was last seen near Beth Israel Hospital ... He was either headed west or north. Please alert friends in the area so they can be on the lookout for him. Sorry I don't have more info. I just know he is a little brown dog.

Read the whole post here.

'All the Bowery is gold'


Some passages from the piece on the Bowery in the Times ... titled "The Skids? Hardly"

Gene Kaufman, whose architectural firm has been commissioned to design a hotel on the Bowery, said that the street had become “stuck in time.”

“And a city that does not change dies,” he said.

And!

Hamid Rashidzada bought a studio at 199 Bowery five years ago for $390,000, when prices had not yet begun to soar. Now, he needs something larger and is selling the apartment for $549,000, confident that at that price he will find a buyer, because it is tough to find an apartment anywhere on the Bowery for under $1 million.

And!

The new Bowery is defined by apartment prices approaching those in Manhattan’s most expensive neighborhoods. Just off the Bowery, at 48 Bond Street, a 5,000-square-foot penthouse with an additional 1,100 square feet of outdoor space is listed for $15.8 million. Last month, another penthouse on the strip sold for more than $13 million. There are now half a dozen condos on the Bowery on the market for over $3 million.

And!

Alan P. Miller, the senior director of the real estate investment firm Eastern Consolidated, who brokered the hotel deal, said that although parts of the market remained sluggish, investors were eager to get a piece of the Bowery.

“All of the Bowery is gold,” he said.

Today in 'the bad old days may be here again' articles


From the Post:

Hammered by budget cuts, the NYPD will field its smallest force by the middle of next year than at any time since 1992 — raising fears that, with fewer cops on the beat, a resurgence of crime could return to the city.

Read the article here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The "bad old days" are here again story of the day

Trend alert! The bad old days are here again!

Are the "bad old days" here again...again?

The "bad old days" are here again story of the day

Today in photos of very large cranes

You always take pictures of cranes. Like this one here on Second Avenue at Second Street...


And from EV Grieve reader Steven on Second Street near Avenue C...

Friday, March 18, 2011

Get the balance right

Late afternoon in Tompkins Square Park....





Photos by Bobby Williams.

This time he's gonna really tell the boss



Prompted by the Joe Strummer mural tagging this week.

Other East Village signs maybe someone can take issue with

This is just the beginning!



Cienfuegos adding a 'bitters tasting room'

Looks as if some new elements are being added to the Cienfuegos Cuban-eatery complex on Avenue A at Sixth Street... First, EV Grieve reader Creature notes that Carteles, the one-time sandwich shop here...


...will now be Amor Y Amargo — "a bitters tasting room" ... and a few other things...




Meanwhile, EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams noted some work being done on EL Cobre, the main restaurant yesterday ...



Later in the day, Bob Arihood took this photo... looks as if they'll be some open-air dining-drinking now on the corner...

[Via Nadie Se Conoce]

And, as a PS, El Cobre is named after the town where Cuba's patron saint is located... a duplicate statue is on display inside...

[Bobby Williams]

Previously

The invasion of the building snatchers

During this past year, I started taking photos of the old and new buildings brushing up against one another around here ... The new buildings seem like intruders — lurking, menacing in the background ... Like those unwanted interlopers who find your bar or move in upstairs with desires to take over ...

Here are a few of the shots... It's a work in progress... (a progress in work?)











For more along these lines, read Jeremiah's post from a few weeks ago titled "Schizo New York," in which he writes ... "There is a split in the city ... It's often expressed architecturally —the war between old and new, the radical shift, the loss of bricks to glass and sheen."

Checking in on the Mars Bar sidewalk beautification project

Maybe it's the first stage of the redevelopment here on First Street near Second Avenue?



If so, then it's perfect...

Your last chance to move into 2 Cooper Square, maybe

According to ads, there are only four units left for rent here at 2 Cooper Square...


And that doesn't include the empty bed that Joe Jonas left behind when he broke up with 2 Coop resident Ashley Green.

Previous stories that no one read on EV Grieve:
Who you'll find lounging at the 2 Cooper pool: A Jonas brother! That one woman from 'Twilight'!

The mattress mobile


Second Street and Second Avenue. Photo by Steven Hirsch.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Today

EV Grieve holiday correspondent Bobby Williams passed by a few local St. Patrick's Day hotspots earlier today...





Also today...


[Photo via Goggla]

Just your everyday penthouse combo connected by a stainless steel slide

Oh my.

Well, this just came to our attention. We're still processing all this over on 14th Street.

So. Meanwhile.




Here's the story from the Turett Collaborate Architects website:

TCA has had a lot of experience connecting smaller apartments together into a seamless whole, but this adventurous client requested something we'd never seen before. In a newly constructed multi-residential development, in the East Village of NYC, TCA had the opportunity to meet a unique client's desire to combine two penthouse condos... with a helical slide. In this transformation, two identical 1-bedroom units, one atop the other, were combined into a duplex 2-bedroom home with the option to descend in the usual way on a new Italian-made "Rintal" stair, or more speedily, in a seated position, careening through the new double-height atrium.

The half-tube stainless steel slide starts on the top floor near the office, and lands below near both the living and dining areas. The sculptural slide is housed in a newly created 18’ tall double-height space, which includes custom designed glass railings. The image of the stainless steel curves in front of the oversized window to the city beyond, to say nothing of the irrepressible glee of grown adults on the slide, is surprisingly poetic; with careful detailing, the playground element is an unexpectedly elegant addition to the space.

Upon completion, the owner enjoys not only the newly combined total of 2,400 square feet, but also a new game room, office, putting green on the terrace, and of course, the slide.

TCA managed to creatively and successfully turn this now 2 story East Village duplex penthouse into a perfect place for both work and play."

Thanks to The Awesomer for bringing this to our attention. I think.

Your chance to add more floors to a 'rare 1860s' townhouse


The listing at Prudential Douglas Eliman tells the story:

MOTIVATED SELLER RETIRING & MOVING OUT OF NYC WANTS TO HEAR ALL OFFERS! Rare 1860's four story single family townhouse located in the most coveted East Village neighborhood with the potential to be the truly special home of one's dreams. This house could easily be restored to a luxurious residence or developed into a lucrative boutique, restaurant, condominiums or Bed & Breakfast, especially considering the building's F.A.R. which would permit the addition of two more floors (500-600 ft of buildable space). Current owner has short-term roommates. The East Village has never been more attractive as a burgeoning cultural center with immense residential interest and incredible investment opportunity in terms of income growth potential. January 2011 through 2012 NYC Property Assessment Value is $3,885,000. This house will be Delivered Vacant and will be on any user or investors short list, due to its versatility and value.

The price was reduced this week by 5 percent to $3.985 million.

What happens when you tag Pete Wentz's Angels and Kings

There was a rapid and heavy police response last evening on 11th Street just east of Avenue A... Bob Arihood was on the scene, and took these photos shortly after 6:30. There were reports of a fight on the corner.


As witnesses told Bob, police had arrested a young man in his 20s. Witnesses said that he tagged the rolldown gate at Angels & Kings.


An owner/manager type from the bar came outside and ran after the tagger, who had a bicycle. But he didn't get far.



Is all this response (I count 12 officers and detectives in the above photo) really necessary to apprehend a kid with a can of spray paint ... especially outside a bar that describes itself as having a "rock and roll atmosphere"?

[And be sure to see more of Bob's work at Nadie Se Conoce]