EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

The Mars Bar gets painted white (Little Stories and Maybe Poems from Now and Then)

The clothesline returns behind the Coop (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Thompson LES honcho: "Part of the process is to ingratiate the neighborhood and realize that the hotel, the pool, the restaurant, the bar are actually an asset and do make for a better, safer, cleaner neighborhood that creates more jobs and creates more energy and ultimately has a positive ripple effect for residents, for merchants, for everyone around it." (Grub Street)

At the Bowery Stakeholders' meeting (BoweryBoogie)

At the Peppermint Lounge in July 1982 (Ephemeral New York)

NYC has the fucking worst fucking road rage (Gothamist)

Some UK dive bars for you — and will they put on the Yankees game instead of this soccer? (Hunter-Gatherer)

A guide to Gramercy (Lost City)

Slum Goddess at the Chicago Blues Festival (Slum Goddess)

Q-and-A with director Susan Seidelman (FlavorWire)

Oldest bar in NYC? (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Finally, thanks to the reader who sent me this. However, I don't accept advertising on this site.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

New York has the worst economic outlook of any state in the nation (New York Post)

Clowns and tie-dyed ferrets in TSP (Slum Goddess)

Friday night on Avenue A (Neither More Nor Less)

Dead boys ephemera (Stupefaction)

Remembering Johnny Thunders (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

Spring skyline from atop the Municipal Parking lot on Ludlow/Essex Street (BoweryBoogie)

Old and new in Tribeca (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Sicha and Balk launch The Awl (The Awl)

"On the first Saturday that New York's brand new stadia were open for regular season baseball business -- and on a beautiful day, too -- there were more than 7,000 unsold seats in Yankee Stadium, more than 5,000 in Citi Field. When parks such as Camden Yards, Coors Field and Jacobs Field opened, they sold out, over and over, again and again. That's because fans were treated as logical humans, embraced as customers and not targeted for muggings. (Phil Mushnick, New York Post)

Displaced by the Yankees, some Bronx athletic teams go homeless (New York Times)

The party buses were out Saturday night.



Must be loudmouth season. (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Cindy Adams has the lowdown on the toilets (and other things) at the new Yankee Stadium

It's difficult to say which is more wretchedly excessive...

The column today by Cindy Adams in which she secretly tours the new Yankee Stadium....

Or!

The new stadium's amenities...

It's up to you, brave soul, to decide.

Architectural Digest bedrooms aren't as classy as the players' locker room. Stainless steel rods just to hang their socks. Individual wooden closets. And let it be known my behind sat in Derek Jeter's space even before his.

Their can is blue granite. Four urinals, five commodes, enough shower space for 16 naked Yankees with their bats and balls.

Alongside's a hydrotherapy blue- and white-tiled area with whirlpools and a Swimex thing wherein the current moves but you don't and it's as if you've swum 15 laps. Plus a trainers room for massages, rubdowns, X-rays, specialists, first aid and God knows. Plus a doctor's office. Signs signifying each room are in Yankee pinstripes. Plus, to duck the dreaded press, a hidden super-private dressing room with giant wall mirror and 12 luxury closets. Plus a wall-to-wall mirrored gym (no equipment in it yet) so elegant it looks like a dance studio. Thoughts of Hideki Matsui at a ballet barre ran through my head.

The players' 30,000 square feet just for themselves includes a dining suite. Two rooms. One with the handmade Yankee logo rug has couches for lounging, sipping, noshing and TVing. The other, with chafing dishes plus wherewithal to prep individual menus, is a catering hall. I mean, talk of catering!

And!

Now, for the fans. Honoring The Bronx's Grand Concourse grandeur, a giant, wide, 31,000-square-foot Great Hall. Said Valerie Peltier, managing director of the project and daughter of developer Tishman-Speyer's Jerry Speyer: "It's where you'll meet and greet, buy your programs and peanuts and goodies." Wheelchair accessible, there are 1,300 doors, 10 ticket kiosks, 16 elevators, 30 stairways, escalators, ramps, concession stands, 1,100 flat high-def TVs everywhere, including in the ladies' gorgeous johns. I tell you the truth - it was a real pleasure to go.

By the way, according to Cindy, the dugouts are heated and air conditioned. Not at the same time, though. (Sorry...too much Cindy.)

[Image via NYY Stadium Insider]

Report: Man steals security camera that caught him breaking into an East 14th Street apartment

The NYPD is searching for a suspect they say broke into an apartment on 14th Street near Avenue A, ripping off some electronics as well as the home-security camera that captured him inside the residence.

Via Patch:

According to police, the suspect picked the lock of an apartment on 14th Street near Avenue A and made off with $964 in electronics, including an iPad 4 and a Canary security camera which recorded the incident. The 29-year-old man who lived there was not home at the time of the break-in. The incident happened at 1:37 p.m. on July 22.

The man is very visible on the home security footage, below, and can be seen picking over the electronics on the man's desk before toppling the security camera. He is described as Hispanic, and was wearing a blue Yankees hat, green-striped polo shirt and gray cargo shorts at the time of the burglary.

Per Gothamist: "While the suspect stole the video camera, the footage was kept on the cloud. Thanks, Big Brother!"

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Places where I never watched a baseball game in 2012

Veselka Bowery.

Had always planned to watch a game here during the regular season, which ended Wednesday night for the Yankees. I often saw the chalkboard sign noting the game time. And there are several flat-screen TVs at the bar.

I was going to do a post on watching a game at a seemingly unusual place. The thought of doing this at Second Avenue and East Ninth Street would be very strange.

But I suppose the Bowery branch is trying to build a bar crowd, tap into the increasingly sports-minded neighborhood. The things that you have to do to survive.

Anyway, guess I can go for a playoff game...

Veselka Bowery has closed

After a 17-month run at Avalon Bowery Place, Veselka Bowery has closed, as we first reported yesterday morning. They closed at 4 yesterday, then held some "private event" in the space. (Food for Cheap Trick?)

The consensus among readers and others we talked with: Sad but not surprising. It never seemed all that full. There were attempts to get a bar crowd by showing Yankees games ... Veselka also launched a free pedicab service: "If you don't want to wait for a table at the original Veselka, we will give you a free Pedicab ride to our new restaurant Veselka Bowery."

And we recall an inauspicious opening in October 2011, where Veselka Bowery teamed up with Urban Daddy, who usually champions the likes of Superdive, for a $75 sneak preview tasting menu that includes a "five-course pierogi-and-vodka pairing." (Read the comments from that post.)

At the end of the day, people seemed to just want a diner. But that concept isn't going to work here, at a glass-and-steel factory like Avalon Bowery Place.

Anyway, the food press will likely have some exit interviews with the Veselka folks about what happened here. For now, the signs on the Veselka Bowery door thank people for their patronage, "Love and Light to you all!"

The Blarney Stone is still closed

Perhaps they'll reopen in time to capitalize on the Yankees World Series victory parade Friday morning.

Previously.

Guest post: The day the music died

Here's a little something different for today...a guest post...



By Larry Koestler

I grew up in Stuyvesant Town and lived there for 27 of my 29 years, and so as you might imagine, I am (or was) rather well-versed in the nightlife offerings of Avenues A, B and C.

However, age, relationships and maturity have significantly curtailed late-night group outings, and so I haven’t gone out here with any regularity in some time. Which is why I was incredibly sad to discover that The Musical Box (formerly at 219 Avenue B between 13th and 14th Streets) has closed, and has apparently been that way since the end of April.

My friends and I discovered Musical Box in 2003. Like most people, we weren’t even sure what it was from the outside, given the lack of signage and mysterious curtains completely shrouding the interior.

Thankfully, we went on in anyway, and it was pretty much love at first sight. The first thing one noticed upon entering the Box was the generously sized and dimly lit front bar room, with a reasonable-if-not-great beer selection, and fair prices.

But the real reason the Box became my go-to bar over the last seven years was actually not the alcohol selection, but the layout, design aesthetic, overall relaxed mood and almost zen-like vibe of the bar. In addition to the lengthy front bar area, Musical Box boasted an even more generously sized second room in the back, filled with more hideous-but-comfortable old couches than the eye could see. With the exception of certain times on Friday and Saturday nights seating was seldom a problem; a trait few bars can claim.

Of all of the bars I’ve ever been to, The Musical Box was my absolute favorite. I celebrated several birthdays, Halloweens and countless other occasions at the bar over the years; loved to go during the week when there wasn’t a soul to be found; and even during the weekend when it was slightly more crowded with clueless fools who only showed up because they heard it was the latest hot spot.

Any time a friend wanted to meet up for a drink, Musical Box was almost always our default destination. And most important for me, I took my future wife to The Musical Box on our very first date, and we even ended up featuring a photo of the now-destroyed mural on the brick wall of the patio on our Save-the-Date — I can’t imagine there are many other people who went on a first date at Musical Box and ended up marrying that person.



Unfortunately, the unloyal crowds — who helped annoyingly clog the lines for the two unisex bathrooms — that started swarming the place after word got out around 2005-2006 would most likely end up being its death knell.

While I haven’t read anything definitive as to why Musical Box actually closed — although the conspiracy theorist in me thinks it may have something to do with the ugly new condo building that’s been under construction directly next door for the past few years — there was a noticeable decline in attendance during the past few years. Though nothing makes me happier than a completely empty bar that my friends and I have all to ourselves, it’s also rather hard for a drinking establishment to continue to exist when it doesn’t receive enough patrons.

And so while I knew this day would eventually come, it doesn’t make it hurt any less. So here’s to you Musical Box: Thank you for providing a relaxing drinking venue in a city full of frenetic, overcrowded and painfully loud bars; countless memories; and for playing a pivotal role in my personal life. You’ll be missed, and most likely never replaced.

Larry Koestler is the former author of This Is What We Do Now, a humor blog about twentysomething life in New York City, and currently blogs about the Yankees at Yankeeist. He can be contacted at larry at koestlermedia dot com.

Chico photo via Flickr.

Tompkins Square Library branch hosts the NYPL's Summer Reading kickoff event

The Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B has the honor of kicking off the NYPL's Summer Reading event on Thursday.

"[This] is a huge deal for us, and it's the first time we've ever had it here," branch manager Corinne Neary told me.

The festivities (mostly) take place in Tompkins Square Park from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (In case of rain, the activities will happen inside the Tompkins Square Library branch.)

Here's more via the EVG inbox... (and find all the activities at this link):

We will have giveaways (including tickets from the New York Yankees,) face painting, tie dye, henna tattoos, photo booths, crafts, games, tech gadgets and more! There will also be visits from Sesame Street, the North Shore Animal League, and a slew of neighborhood organizations.

Sesame Street's Grover will make appearances at 10:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., and 1:30 p.m.

10:30 a.m: DJ Dance Party! Get the day started with DJ Carol C, music, bubbles and beach balls!

11 a.m.: Opening Ceremony

11:30 a.m.: Drag Queen Story Hour and author Jessica Love — Join "Julián is a Mermaid" author Jessica Love and Drag Queen Story Hour's Rev. Yolanda for a fabulous literary experience that celebrates diversity, builds empathy and teaches tolerance. For children of all ages.

12pm: MAPS (Music Art Puppet Sound) artists Rachel Sherk and Aaron Rourk will be leading a fun-filled, art-making project for children of any age.

12-1 p.m.: The North Shore Animal League will have some adorable and adoptable animals inside the branch. Stop by the second floor children's room to meet them.

12:30 p.m: Musical Performance: Third Street Music School — Featuring music and dance performances by students from the school.

1:15 p.m.: Dance Performance: LEGACY, a professional Hip-Hop based dance company founded by head director/choreographer Lacey Thomas.

2 p.m.: NYPL Sings — Join us for a fun sing-along with some fantastic librarians!

3 p.m.: Music Performance: RPM, an acoustic improvisational group.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street

Someone actually paid $57 million for this East Village building

Wow. $57 million for this dorm-looking thing on Third Avenue and East 11th Street? (And you thought that the Yankees overpaid for Beltran!)

Oh, anyway, this 12-story residential thing with retail space hit the market back in April. Now The Wall Street Journal reports that the Benchmark Real Estate Group LLC is the new owner.

Per the Journal:

The mixed-use property has 55 rental apartment units and 10,500 square feet of retail space. The current commercial tenants are the Smith, an American restaurant, Asian market M2M and NY Copy Printing Co.

Benchmark plans to invest money from its $45 million first mortgage to renovate and upgrade the apartment units and increase the retail space by 15% to 20%, said Russell Frahm, head of Mesa West's New York origination team.

The original listing noted that "[a] buyer may wish to expand the residential floor plate above and restore the building above by reskinning glass." And this is the rendering...



Oh boy.

Easter Sunday at the Blarney Cove

Who keeps playing the Joe Cocker on the jukebox? Like Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" is any better. Jimmy figures you can live to 100 by drinking and having sex. Maria says she doesn't drink or have sex anymore. But she has a short beer after her shift. Jimmy figures he has another 10 years. Or at least two years, he admits. The Yankees lose. Who's this closer for Kansas City anyway? He's quite good. Now it's John Denver and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" -- first the live version, then the studio recording. Can you skip the jukebox, or is that rude? Is the person in the green hoodie a man or a woman? (Doesn't anyone notice the sideburns?) Ah, Leonard Cohen. Squiggy is asking who won the NCAA men's basketball tournament. "North Carolina." Angel Cabrera wins the Masters! Who is he again? He's from Argentina, not Nicaragua. By the way, does anyone know that the heat is on in here?

"What they may have ended up with is the House that Mute Built"

Joel Sherman in the Post talks about yesterday's new era at Yankee Stadium:

If regular-season Game 1 of this new building is any indication, the dimensions made it across the street from the old stadium, but not the passion. The Yankees wanted to build a museum, a palace, a mall-park. And what they may have ended up with is the House that Mute Built.

Incredibly, after all the anticipation and hoopla, the sellout crowd at this grand opening had about the same zeal as grandmothers playing mahjong. Why? The ticket prices mean a lot more corporate patronage in the seats close to the field, which means far fewer diehards near the action, screaming, taunting, making it uncomfortable for the opposition.

Lucy's will return Aug. 14

Lucy is on her usual summer break here on Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street… back open on Aug. 14…



Meanwhile, a random Lucy's photo from the EVG archives…



As I recall, this photo is from early on a Saturday night last November. Someone asked Lucy to turn on a specific college football game. She found a Yankees Classic on YES and asked if this was OK.

With high rises and new shops in the works, it's time to take a look at the area around Yankee Stadium

A few weeks back, the Post had the following item:

First, a new stadium. Next, a new neighborhood.

Just as The Bronx gears up for Opening Day at the new Yankee Stadium, city planners yesterday unveiled a proposal to transform the blocks around the ballpark into a neighborhood of high-rise towers, wider sidewalks and new shops.

The plan, which would rezone a stretch of River Avenue and 161st Street, would clear the way for developers to replace streets filled with the one-story bars, souvenir stands, empty lots and repair shops that now dominate the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, like Jeremiah, I was curious about what kind of impact the Stadium would have on businesses now a little farther away from the new digs. Before the game Tuesday night, I figured I'd better take a look around...

The first casualty appears to be the Press Cafe on 157th Street. With panini sandwiches and Stella on draft, the owners were trying to be a little more upscale... With high rises and other luxuries coming, the Press Cafe was maybe a little before its time...



The bodega is gone on 157th and Gerard. Lost to a fire. (Was always a good spot to drink a few beers before games. No one seemed to mind. Just be cool.)



I imagine the city's plans call for the destruction of these shops and old structures along Gerard Avenue.





The Yankee Tavern on 161st Street and Gerard Avenue has some new awnings...(By the way, the Tavern's owner, Joe Bastone, was charged yesterday with evading more than $1million in state and city taxes.)



A few other signs and scenes from the neighborhood...






I also looked to see if any new businesses popped up along River Road directly across from the new Stadium. No... but the McDonald's on the corner got a big outdoor facelift...And you have to wonder how long places like a family eyecare center and a 99-cent store will last directly across the street from a $1.5 billion stadium.



The DUGout (pictured below on the left), has been around for five years. As the Times noted March 27, it became "the most coveted location on the block." It's directly across the street from the new Stadium. The bar's owner, Tyrone Robinson, 31, expanded the 2,400-square-foot space by 4,000 square feet and opened a roof deck, the Times reported. “There’s a term I’m looking for,” Robinson said in trying to describe his bar to the paper. “Midtown comes to the Bronx — that’s it.”



Finally, in that March 27 feature, the Times wondered whether the new Stadium would have an impact on the 30-year-old Stan's, the bar that once had the closest proximity to the Stadium... On Tuesday night, Stan's was packed...More crowded than the DUGout.



For further reading:
A Late Rush to Tidy Up the Yankees’ New Home (The New York Times)
Bonus excerpt:

Wally Jimenez, 27, an audio engineer who grew up in the neighborhood, said the work was not primarily for the community’s benefit.

“They want to turn this into a commercial area, but they don’t think about the consequences for the people around here who don’t have the resources to get a new place when rents go up,” he said. “They are trying to push the community out.”

Mr. Jimenez said of the cleaning efforts, “I’ve never seen something like this, and I was born and raised in this area.” He added, “It’s good that they are cleaning up, but they are definitely not doing this for the community.”

Seventh Street, 1 p.m., Sept. 27

City businesses will reportedly miss out on making $141 million this fall because the Yankees failed to make the playoffs. How much will the city lose if the Mets lose today and miss the playoffs? (Oh, sorry -- I don't have the answer...just curious...)

Investigation for excessive force demanded after social-distancing arrests on Avenue D

An NYPD officer has been placed on modified duty following an ugly confrontation on Saturday afternoon when an attempt to enforce social distancing rules escalated on Avenue D at Ninth Street.

A passerby shot a now-viral video of the encounter. Gothamist spoke with him:

Witness Daquan Owens, who took the video below, said the incident started after plainclothes officers approached a man and a woman talking outside a deli around 5:30 p.m. and ordered them to separate. But Owens says the two people were maintaining a six foot distance in accordance with rules intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"They were social distancing," Owens said in a telephone interview on Sunday. "The girl was standing by the phone booth, the guy was sitting on a milk crate. When the cops pulled up she said he’s not doing anything. They grabbed her and started tussling with her. Then the guy on the milk crate got mad and started yelling at police."

Here's a narrative of the video below:

Owens's video begins as several plainclothes officers attempt to handcuff two people outside the deli at the northeast corner of Avenue D and East 9th Street. At roughly the 35 second mark of the video, one of the officers turns and advances on bystander Donni Wright, 33, pointing a taser at him. Owens says the officer called Wright the n-word, which can be heard at the 37 second mark, and Wright can be heard asking the officer if he used the racial epithet.

"Move the fuck back right now," the officer shouts. "Don’t flex."

Also in circulation: Security footage showing the start of the incident...



According to the Times:

The police said that one man, Shakiem Brunson, was holding a bag of marijuana and became aggressive toward the officers, who moved to arrest him. While he was being handcuffed, a woman, Ashley Serrano, tried to intervene, the police said, and was also arrested.

Donni Wright, a groundskeeper for the NYCHA these past 10 years, was also arrested, and charged with assaulting a police officer.


[Donni Wright, pictured on the street]

The Times identified the officer in the Yankees cap as Francis X. Garcia, who is now on modified duty pending an internal investigation.

The city has paid out at least $182,500 to settle lawsuits involving Garcia, an eight-year veteran who works in the Housing Bureau, the Times uncovered.

As NBC 4 pointed out, the incident "has caught the attention of activists and New York City leaders who have demanded the city enact fair and uniform enforcement of social distancing across all communities."

Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera is demanding an investigation into the use of excessive force.

I’ve contacted NYPD. We have demanded an investigation for excessive force. Regardless of what transpired before the video, what is the justification for the rage? Where's the professionalism and de-escalation tactics we should expect? We will hold these officers accountable. https://t.co/C7js7wl62D

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) May 3, 2020

Meanwhile, David Rankin, a civil rights lawyer representing Wright, told the Times that "the arrest fit within the police department’s long history of violating people’s rights to observe an arrest and called on the officer to be investigated 'fully, quickly, and thoroughly.'"

"The idea that he is doing this without any gloves and no masks, and using profanity and racially charged language, is just completely unacceptable," he said.

Now we know why the new Mets stadium is named after a bank

I've had several posts this summer about how expensive it will be to see the Yankees or Mets in their fancy-schmancy new stadiums next season. Well, the Mets just announced their 2009 ticket prices. How bad are they? Bad enough the Post made it part of its Page 1 cover package.

No wonder it's named after a bank - Met fans are going to have to open up their safe-deposit boxes to afford seats at Citi Field next season.
The choicest seats will cost $495 - a 79 percent increase.

On the lower level, where tickets at Shea were an average of $77 to $85 - depending on the opponent, day of the week and the Mets' five-tiered pricing system - comparable seats at Citi Field will average $150 to $225.

Michael Bakal, 27, of Baldwin, LI, hanging out at Virgil's in Midtown, expressed the frustration of many a Met fan.

"It costs more to put gas in the car, or to take the train, and now it costs more to get a seat in a stadium that we paid to build," Bakal said. "It's kind of insulting to New Yorkers. Go find the money somewhere else. Give us a break, leave Joe Public alone."

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Excellent new exhibit at Bullet Space (Blah Blog Blah) Jill also published an East Third Street photo essay.

Pizza at Ray's? (Neither More Nor Less)

An idea for your leftovers (With Leftovers)

Why it should be Black Sabbath Day today (Flaming Pablum)

One reason to go to the Time Warner Center (Stupefaction)

Legendary New York Yankees PA announcer Bob Sheppard officially retires (The Sporting News)

Thanksgiving at HoJo's (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

How those lights get up on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (Lost City)

East River String Band's new CD "Drunken Barrel House Blues" is now available (Slum Goddess)

New Yankee Stadium wasn't built in 26 seconds -- or was it? (Plus, where is the old stadium?)

As you read here exclusively, the Yankees have a new stadium. And today is the home opener in said stadium. And here it is being built.



And here is a video uploaded in March 2008 titled "Yankee Stadium 2009 Opening Day Presentation." Notice anything missing in this soundless video? Like the old Yankee Stadium? And what about some of those businesses that line River Avenue? Where's Ball Park Lanes?

The Earth School Spring Auction is Saturday (and for a good cause)

The Earth School over on Sixth Street at Avenue B is holding its largest fundraising event of the year on Saturday evening. The Department of Education cut funding for enrichment programs like P.E., music and overnight camping trips a few years back. So the Parents Association raises funds to make up for the deficit. Here are details via the EVG inbox...

This isn't just any adult school fundraiser. This is an underground party with plenty of food & drinks to get you warmed up, live and silent auctions, one-of-a-kind art, live music and later a DJ for dancing the night away! Some of the items up for grabs during the silent and live auctions: NY Marathon Entry, Field Level Tickets to a home Yankees game, Camp Speers One-Week Summer Overnight Camp, One Cup Of Coffee for Life from Madman Espresso, and so much more! All proceeds benefit the kids at The Earth School.

Venue address: Saint Nicholas Hall, 157 Avenue A (corner of 10th Street)
Event dates and times: Saturday, May 6, 6-10pm
Event prices: Admission is $30 (pre-sale at link) and $40 at door (ticket includes food and 2 bar drinks).