EV Eatery Etc.: La Esquina blows out a door; Birdbath gets a sign

Saturday's storm blew out the door at La Esquina down on Kenmare ...

[Photo sent by @Anewyorkmoment]

As Jeremiah first reported, Birdbath — the green bakery chain — is taking over the dorm corner on Third Avenue at Ninth Street... and now, a new sign is up...

The cafe inside Sustainable NYC on Avenue A has reopened after a brief renovation...

The new look...

The Loews Village 7 on Third Avenue and 11th Street is the latest East Village theater to receive a DOH visit...

EV Grieve reader Crazy Eddie asks, When did 13th Step get a sidewalk cafe?

I believe they were OK'd back after taking over the Telephone, who always had sidewalk seating...

And EV Grieve reader AC continues to keep tabs on the renovations at Caffe Cotto on Avenue C and Eighth Street... looks as if they're knocking open the previously bricked-up windows...

New traffic lights for Cooper Square

During the weekend, we noticed that someone had covered the crosswalks around Cooper Square... thinking perhaps that it was some sort of art project or prank...

Then a reader noted that these were new traffic/pedestrian lights ... Oh, duh. Right! We took a look at a Google image and a photo from a few weeks ago...

Sure enough... New!

A good idea seeing as this can be a treacherous intersection... plus, we'll something here to help guide traffic once developer Arun Bhatia puts up a new dorm or condo here on the corner of Sixth Street...

Prima Strada's three meals a day

Here's a bit of a progress report on Prima Strada, the new Italian restaurant coming to the former Elephant space on East First Street... Signs are up indicating the team behind Summit Bar on Avenue C will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as The Feast reported back in December.

The Elephant closed in December. (You can read its history here, including an interview with the manager.)

Fork in the Road posted an in-progress video teaser of the space a few weeks back.

And a shot of last night's moon by Bobby Williams...

Along for the ride

Today at the farmer's market at Tompkins Square Park....

Photo by Bobby Williams...

Week in Grieview

A Q-and-A with "Blank City" director Céline Danhier (Tuesday)

Violations at 35 Cooper Square (Friday)

The 35 Cooper Square developer listens (Wednesday)

A missing East Village teen found (Wednesday)

Life at 610 E. 9th Street (Wednesday)

A CB3/SLA recap (Wednesday)

Looking at the Electric Circus (Friday)

We spotted Wonder Woman in her short shorts (Thursday)

A new 3-story Brick Lane Curry House coming soon (Tuesday)

Retail space for Second Street and Avenue B (Monday)

Mini Burger shuttered (Tuesday)

A note for the Prune brunch crowds (Monday)

A 20-foot boob at Cooper Union (Friday)

The Four-Leaf Clover Lady of the East Village

Yesterday afternoon, EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams saw Hildegard Ford — AKA the Four-Leaf Clover Lady of the East Village — in action in Tompkins Square Park... You've certainly seen her do this before...

... she collects the lucky clovers to hand out to police officers and firefighters for their acts of bravery... Ford has been collecting clovers since she was a girl in Germany...

You can read more about her in this feature from the Daily News from 2008.

Newsflash: New bars and restaurants revitalizing the 'far' East Village

The Post helpfully notes notes that the "once gritty far" East Village is getting "revitalized" by a lot of new bars and restaurants...

The 10-eatery chariticle lists several over-hyped places such as Goat Town, Edi & the Wolf, the Cienfuegos complex, Bedlam and Octavia's Porch... as well as places that may not be as well-known on the greater NYC radar, such as Percy's Tavern on Avenue A and 13th Street and Revision Lounge, Johnny's B's spot at the former Musical Box on Avenue B.

You can read the article here.

Breaking: Storm topples Mystery Lot monster

Before!

[Via James and Karla Murray]

After last night's storm!

Previously.

And how was your storm last night?

Reminders: Tax Day is tomorrow

A reader sends along this photo from Avenue A at Fifth Street...

Likely not endorsed by the IRS...

How to sell a Chevrolet in New York City in 1960

At Streit's, a tradition

Parade magazine today features Lower East Side institution Streit's matzo factory. (Read the feature here ... which includes a photo essay.) When the factory opened in 1925, lines for people waiting for fresh matzo "snaked around the block." (Ed. Note: Call 311!)

Today? “Now, 20-somethings roll out of the after-hours bars across the street in the morning,” says Alan Adler, [founder Aron] Streit’s great-grandson.

And!

Despite lucrative real estate offers, the company has stayed put. “Being a family business, we have a legacy,” Adler says. “We try to keep tradition alive as best we can.”

[Photo via Jeremiah's Vanishing NY]

Noted

You won't be able to count on the crosswalks here around Cooper Square... since they've been covered in some sort of art project or prank...

It's Record Store Day

It's Record Store Day, and some record-store nerds hearty souls were in line outside Kim's on First Avenue an hour before the store opened (early) at 9 a.m. ...

And, for the record (heh), I went back after 9 and picked up a few things myself...

Today in brunch lines

EV Grieve reader Mike notes the following this morning in front of the Clinton Street Bakery Co. ...

Per Mike:

"The line is being subjected to backhoing and sledgehammering like 5 feet from where they will be standing. It's too loud to even talk, and fumy and dusty. I mean, I imagine it's a pretty good brunch, but no brunch is worth that..."

Avenue A, 9:31 a.m., April 16

Today in fences being painted

EV Grieve contributor samo notes that members (and friends!) of the New York Junior League are painting the fence this morning at First Park...

Spring fling

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Chances are

James White and the Blacks from "Downtown 81."

No. 25,000

Last evening, EV Grieve passed a milestone that he or she wanted to mention... Marty Wombacher left the following comment... which also turned out to be the 25,000th comment in EV Grieve's history. (And we're so pleased that this historic comment included "penis.")

And it's also an opportunity for a sincere thank you for reading and continuing to take the time to offer your opinions and anecdotes and share your thoughts and experiences... To the next 25,000 comments then.

'Hot Chicks Room' sign will now bring ruin to compost

Dave Itzkoff at the Times reports on an impromptu ceremony outside the future Upright Citizens Brigade home on Avenue A today. Amy Poehler, a star of “Parks and Recreation” and a founding member of UCB, presented the founding directors of the nonprofit group Earth Matter with that darn "Hot Chicks" sign. Per the article:

The sign will decorate a compost learning center run by Earth Matter on Governors Island. This “Hot Chicks Room” will feature a greenhouse containing chickens who, in their own way, will teach visitors about the nutrient cycle and waste-reduction practices and help create a fertile soil additive for the island.

Previously.

[Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times]

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Molloy: Rape trail is 'is compelling tale of two cruel, stupid officers' (Daily News)

So long Siren: Voice introduces the 4Knots Music Festival at the South Street Seaport (The Village Voice)

Where you can still get jumbo platforms in the East Village (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Late-night ping pong in Tompkins Square Park (Nadie Se Conoce)

A new tattoo parlor for the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

Dry Dock Playground getting Domino tables (DNAinfo)

Talking Times Square porno and NYC noir with Bette Gordon (The L Magazine)

... and check out here work at the Anthology Film Archives this weekend.

And a false alarm yesterday on East Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D...

[Bobby Williams]

You've been warned

Last week, we provided photographic evidence that several monsters/creatures had been spotted nesting in the area.

It's getting worse. Our friend Goggla sends along a dispatch: "They've infiltrated Spring and Sullivan...I predict more pods will hatch as the weather gets warmer."

Indeed!

If the Electric Circus were to open today

At first, this was meant as nothing more than an appreciation of some photos (via Getty Images) of the Electric Circus from 1968 ... with the original photo captions on the first three...

"Patrons at Electric Circus, 23 St. Marks Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City. stops for check. Girls not wearing bras are admitted free on Sundays."

"UNITED STATES - JUNE 27: Transparent plastic bra strap, virtually invisible around back, gives a topless look to formal mini at the Electric Circus at 23 St. Marks Place, New York City. (Photo by William Quinn/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)"

"Fashionable crowd mill about outside the Electric Circus 23 St. Marks Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City."

Then I started thinking about the reaction if this very same venue would open here today... A hot club promoter (in this case, Jerry Brandt) ... celebrities... crowds from everywhere showing up on St. Mark's Place... how would the community respond? No bra night?! Sounds like some stunt Superdive would have pulled. And look at that mob on the sidewalk! Call 311! (And what would those local bloggers write!) Has the influx of bars and jackasses and woo-wooing in recent years made us intolerant of any nightlife? Or maybe just some nightlife? Or a certain type of nightlife? (I can keep going with the vague rhetorical questions!) Regardless, I would have liked to seen this concept go before today's CB3/SLA committee...

Anyway, here are several more photos from the Getty archives... the Electric Circus closed in 1971... the address now houses a Supercuts and Chipotle ... as well as $17,000 apartments...

By the way, this wasn't meant as a history of the space... plenty has been written about it, including, but not limited to:

Jack Newfield Catches the Electric Circus Opening on St. Marks (The Village Voice)

FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER: The Electric Circus (The Bowery Boys)

Streetscapes / 19-25 St. Marks Place; The Eclectic Life of a Row of East Village Houses (The Times)

Live on St. Mark's Place for only $17,000 per month! (EV Grieve)

Reminders: Record Store Day tomorrow

Support your local record stores tomorrow with, uh, Record Store Day... Still several local record stores left, of course ... Like! Norman's ... Kim's ... Good Records NYC ... Rockit Scientist ... Turntable Lab ... A-1 Records ... Other Music ... Academy Records ... Gimme Gimme ... Hospital Productions... Sounds ...

And not all of the record stores participate in Record Store Day... Check out the site for the full listing... And I have a bad feeling I'm missing an East Village record store or two...

Meanwhile, perhaps Record Store Day has become too commercial? The Daily News discusses that here.