Reminders: CB3/SLA meeting tonight; what is Nice Guy Eddie's future?

CB3's SLA Licensing Committee meets tonight at 6:30 — JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery. We looked at the agenda here. The full docket is here.

Here's a recap of a few of the more interesting items on the docket:

• Major alterations are in store for the public spaces at the Standard East Village (April 12)

• 34 Avenue A is now off this month's CB3/SLA docket (April 9)

• Joe's Bar is joining the Sophie's-Mona's family (March 29)

Meanwhile, it looks as if Nice Guy Eddie's run on Avenue A at East First Street is coming to an end. (As far as we know, CB3 member Dave McWater is still involved with the current ownership of Eddie's.)

An entity called Downtown Dining LLC is looking to open a restaurant in this space, according to documents on file at the CB3 website (PDF).

The applicant's paperwork doesn't mention anyone by name. However, in the section about principals having other businesses in this area... three are listed: Tower Brokerage, Ella and The Gallery Bar...

Knowing that Josh Boyd is a principal at Ella and The Gallery Bar, I sent him a message via Facebook about the Nice Guy Eddie's space... Boyd responded that he isn't involved with the new venture; that his partner Darin Rubell is.

Rubell, who's related to Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell, is also the founder of Mercadito on Avenue B.

In any event, at this point, I don't have any other details on the venture... no word on the fate of Chico's Kiss mural either...

[Old photo of the mural via Eater]

One reason why there were police barricades outside the Starbucks on Astor Place yesterday

Several news photos related to the events Saturday night outside the Astor Place Starbucks show police barricades alongside the store... such as this one in DNAinfo...

The accompanying caption notes, "The Starbucks on Astor Place with police barricades in front on April 15, 2012." (The Daily News published a similar photo.)

Yes, those are police barricades. However, it's unclear from any media accounts or live tweets whether police actually used the barricades Saturday in the skirmish that led to the arrest of three men.

However, one thing is certain about the police barricades... the NYPD used them earlier on Saturday for an Astor Place street fair.

Crews likely stacked up the barricades after the street fair ended early Saturday evening for pick up later.

This doesn't change what transpired on Saturday night... but there is a difference between using the barricades to block off an intersection for a street fair and put them to use to protect a storefront from so-called anarchists.

Previously.

[Street fair photos by Bobby Williams]

Here's your Proto's Pizza signage; and no $1 slices

Sign is up now at Proto's Pizza, where Enzo's was on Second Avenue between Third Street and Second Street... Enzo's closed last May...

Neighborhoodr has more on the incoming pizzeria:

The owner’s first go at a pizza place. Aims to hit the sweet spot of offering a high-quality slice for around $2.50. No dollar slices here. "I'd rather go out of business than have to compromise quality. You’re in New York. Do it right," says Mr. Proto, a Brooklyn native.

Updated:

EVG reader @bndo sent along this photo from Saturday...

Patricia Field announces move on the Bowery

Oh, just a follow-up on our post from last month about the Patricia Field boutique moving up a storefront on the Bowery to the current Patricia Field showroom ... Signs are now up announcing the move...

302 Bowery, home of the current Field shop, is on the market for $30,000 a month. Details here.

Noted

Outside JoeDough on First Avenue. Photo via @PeterHambyCNN

[Updated] Report: NYPD arrest 3 men in last night's melee in the East Village

[The broken window at 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place. Photo by Shawn Chittle]

The Post is reporting this evening that the NYPD arrested three men who were involved in last night's melee on Astor Place and St. Mark's Place.

The Post, who in the headline refer to the men as "anti-government goons," reported that "a gang of 25 authority-haters, some wearing masks, wielded 8-foot-long metal pipes and smashed the windows of the Starbucks at Astor Place and Lafayette Street, police said."

The NYPD news release notes that Starbucks patrons hid under tables during the incident. However, a store manager told amNewYork "there was no damage done and that the only 'panic' was outside the store."

The Post article says that two police officers were treated for minor injuries; an NYPD news release on the incident cites one injury.

Gothamist points out that one of the men arrested is Alexander Penley, an attorney who has been an Occupy Wall Street organizer. Police took one man in custody at Starbucks. Police arrested Penley and Nicholas Thommen at the Sixth Street Community Center about 90 minutes later. The two were attending a party related to the 2012 NYC Anarchist Book Fair. Among the reported charges: "assaulting a police officer, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest and inciting a riot."

According to various reports, the group that swept through the neighborhood last night was not associated with #OWS.

Previously.

At the 2012 NYC Anarchist Book Fair

The 2012 NYC Anarchist Book Fair ends today...

...here's the website with all the details.

Meanwhile, Joann Jovinelly attended yesterday and shared some photos...

Boukiés opens tomorrow

The Post has a feature today on new Greek restaurants around the city... and they note that Boukiés opens tomorrow on Second Avenue and East Second Street. It's the latest place from restaurateur Christos Valtzoglou, who also owns Pylos on Seventh Street. Previously, this space was home to the short-lived Heartbreak Cafe.

Previously.

More about last night's Tompkins Square Park closure and the black bloc on St. Mark's Place

Last night, we watched the NYPD shut down Tompkins Square Park around 9. We spoke with several people watching the police assemble on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place. One man spoke of a "mob" that broke windows at the Astor Place Starbucks. And that this pack was headed toward the Park. He seemed excited about this prospect. Another couple confirmed hearing the "mob" story as well. Several of the officers who arrived said that they didn't know why they were there. "We just show where they tell us to go," said one.

@mcompost, described as an Oakland, Calif.-based "anarchist legal worker," followed the group. @mcompost later described what happened as a "very loosely organized anti-police protest" — aka "NYC FTP"

I got roped into attending a NYC #FTP march. About 40 mostly white punk kids. My hopes are not high.

— Marcus (@mcompost) April 15, 2012

From there, this so-called black bloc headed down St. Mark's Place between Third Avenue and Second Avenue.

About 50 ppl dressed in black bashing windows, attacking 7-11 sign, chanting "nypd go to hell" @evgrieve

— Ewing (@Ewingweb) April 15, 2012

(Runnin' Scared has a recap of the events here.)

Six undercovers just tried to grab someone.crowd rushed back and freed their comrade. Shit is heating up

— Marcus (@mcompost) April 15, 2012

After a few run-ins with the NYPD, the group quickly dispersed.

And poof, they're gone! Crowd split up, presumably to regroup elsewhere. #nyc #ftp

— Marcus (@mcompost) April 15, 2012

A whole lots of nypd rolling through tompkins but no protesters at all. No idea where they went. #nyc #ftp

— Marcus (@mcompost) April 15, 2012

Later last night, as Gothamist reported, the NYPD shut down East Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C and arrested two men at an after-party of the Anarchist Book Fair at the Sixth Street Community Center. There were reports that someone was throwing bottles from a rooftop.

At the time last night, several people thought these incidents were all related. However, attendees of this party told Gothamist that the two incidents were unrelated.

(There were a lot of crazy stories making the rounds last night. One person told us the police closed Tompkins Square Park because it "smelled like urine.")

Meanwhile, this morning, we walked on Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. There wasn't any evidence that windows were broken at the Astor Place Starbucks. However, as noted last night, someone did smash a window at the soon-to-open 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue.

Someone also smashed the side of this payphone on St. Mark's Place. Of course, this could have been a typical Saturday night act of vandalism...

Ditto for all this...

Previously.

East Houston Street, 9:12 a.m., April 15

Step right up! No line.

And you have until Tuesday to file your tax returns according to our sources at the IRS.

Meanwhile on Avenue A and East Fifth Street, a penis balloon

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

And Ha...

[Updated] NYPD shuts down Tompkins Square Park

The NYPD has shut down Tompkins Square ... witnesses report unrest in the neighborhood spilling over from an earlier march today that started at 7 p.m. at Washington Square Park... details still coming in...

There are dozens of police officers now on guard on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place.... the officers that we spoke with on the scene won't say why they are currently blocking the park... the NYPD closed every entrance to the Park in the last hour...

Several people around the park said that protestors have smashed windows at the Starbucks on Astor Place... as well as the incoming 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place...

[@Ewingweb]

About 50 ppl dressed in black bashing windows, attacking 7-11 sign, chanting "nypd go to hell" @evgrieve

— Ewing (@Ewingweb) April 15, 2012

There are conflicting reports what is happening... some have said it is related to #OWS ... Cops aren't talking... Anyone with more information?

UPDATED 10:23 p.m.

Updated 11:08 p.m.

Various readers have said that the activity tonight was related to an "NYC FTP" protest...

11:20 p.m.

Multiple residents say that East Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C is closed...

@ChristRobbins is on the scene... He reports that "witnesses say it was an anarchist book after-party at 6th street. Two men say police 'beat people.'"

11:59 p.m.

"It was a very loosely organized anti police protest."

7 a.m.

Christopher Robbins at Gothamist reports that the NYPD arrested two men outside the Sixth Street Community Center last night. The community center was hosting an after party for the Anarchist Book Fair. However, attendees at the community center say the events on East Sixth Street and the unrest on St. Mark's Place were unrelated. There were reports that people were throwing bottles and other items off the center's roof, which employees say would have been impossible. An employee of the community center told Gothamist: "The police just came and brutalized two guys who were standing outside the stoop."

Report: The Lakeside Lounge closes at the end of the month

That's the word via a report at New York Music Daily, who note that the Lakeside, which opened in 1997 on Avenue B near 10th Street, "will be replaced by a gentrifier whiskey joint, no doubt with $19 artisanal cocktails and hedge fund nebbishes trying to pick up on sorostitutes when their boyfriends are puking in the bathroom – or out of it."

Read the rest of the post here about the bands who played at the Lakeside.

This and Banjo Jim's now within the past eight months. Ouch.

Here's the rest of the Lakeside's calendar for the month. Go say goodbye.

Ink Lake shares some Lakeside memories here.

Canned goods for the homeless on Avenue A

A good samaritan gave two men sitting in front of the former East Village Farms on Avenue A some canned goods. Unfortunately, the men do not have a can opener.

Photo by Dave on 7th.

[Updated] Cute pet alert for Tompkins Square Park today!

The pet rally is under way... the flyer here tells you what's going on...

And, when people rush the stage for Randall, voice of "The Honey Badger," I'm stealing this...

Updated Sunday morning

Here are a few photos of the event via Bobby Williams...

'Imagine you're a deer ...'

Today in Tompkins Square Park ... photo by Bobby Williams...

Previous Deer joke here.

'Empire' state

The Mekons with "Empire of the Senseless" circa 1989.

Cash mob for St. Mark's Bookshop Sunday afternoon

Citing an article in Publisher's Weekly, Jeremiah Moss reports that the St. Mark's Bookshop is struggling financially again.

Per Publisher's Weekly:

"We’re hanging in there, barely," says co-owner Bob Contant. "It’s a difficult April. Traffic is down. Without an increase, we can’t rebuild our inventory. We’re 20% short of where we need to be."

Last fall, more than 44,000 people signed a petition to help save the bookstore and to lobby Cooper Union to reduce its rent for 2012.

Jeremiah is organizing a cash mob for Sunday afternoon:

#cashmob St. Mark's Bookshop, Sunday April 15, at 1:00 pm. Spend $15 on a book. Spend your tax refund! Then go drink at The International on First Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. Please re-tweet...spread the word.

While all this might be fine in the short-term, Jeremiah notes that "in this iZombie culture, what St. Mark's Bookshop needs most is a powerful new business plan — something that will sustain them in the long run, something that will keep attracting book buyers, day after day."

Meanwhile, the Bookshop has recently joined the Twitterverse — @stmarksbookshop

East Village 2 months late throwing New York Giants ticker-tape parade

Oops. EV Grieve reader Steven notes this mess on Avenue A near 10th Street this morning... Explanations?

This morning in Tompkins Square Park

By Dave on 7th.