Madonna is over New York

Former East Village resident Madonna, a singer who, like Cher and Donovan only goes by one name, is over New York. She says this in the new issue of Vanity Fair.

As reported on by New York magazine's Daily Intel:

“It’s not the exciting place it used to be. It still has great energy; I still put my finger in the socket. But it doesn’t feel alive, cracking with that synergy between the art world and music world and fashion world that was happening in the 80s. A lot of people died.”

Daily Intel's response: "Oh, yes, because living in a giant, ultraluxe townhouse in Marylebone, London is so CBGB circa 1983, Madge."

[Image: Madonna © 1983 Amy Arbus]

It's not your imagination: There are more buildings going up (and why you can blame Albany)

Says this week's New York magazine:

According to a Department of Buildings spokesperson, there’s been “a significant jump in the number of jobs filed for residential-building permits between January and February.” For all five boroughs, the DOB has received notifications—meaning that excavation’s starting within days—for 298 jobs, noticeably up from the year before. Brooklyn saw an increase of more than 20 percent. (The actual number of permits has fallen a bit, but that appears to be a paperwork lag.)
Why? A tax program known as the 421(a) abatement is set to expire—at least in its current form—this summer, and developers are rushing to get started before the deadline...

Yankee Stadium 2009 Opening Day

Every so often, EV Grieve will -- gasp! -- venture above 14th Street. Such as catching a game at Yankee Stadium. Today, of course, is opening day at Yankee Stadium, the last one in its current home. (Not that they'll even play today -- looks like rain.) What will opening day in the schmancy new stadium look like next year? Here you go. Meanwhile, I'll go look for a $14 cup of Budweiser and $7.50 stale pretzel.

Meanwhile, just another day in the neighborhood

And our dumpsters being rated today? Wonder what a two-star dumpster looks like? (Sorry...)

27 years, 1 dumpster

Jeremiah had the awful news about Fontana's shoes being gutted on Friday. Walked by myself and saw the aftermath.



He had been at this location for 27 years; been in business in the neighborhood since 1962. Jeremiah has more photos here. And there's this feature from The Villager. Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder what Angelo is doing now. He's 75, and doesn't want to stop working.

“I would like to stay another 10 years, well maybe five years,” he told The Villager. “I’m used to working all my life. I don’t want to stop now. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m not the kind of person who sits and watches TV all day. I like to be active.”

Why was this man's life destroyed? So the landlord could try to make an extra $1,500 a month in rent from Angelo, who was already paying $4,000 a month.

This whole thing bothers me on so many levels...the greed...the heartless removal of a neighborhood institution...the fact that this kind of thing is happening too often today...

There was also something comforting about the shop. For several years my walk home from work took me by his shop...no matter how shitty things seemed to be, you could always count on seeing Angelo working away in his rather ramshackle store ... the TV with the rabbit ears that was always on but no one ever seemed to watch...

My walk home included passing by the Bendiner and Schlesinger medical buildings on the northeast corner of 10th Street and Third Avenue. The buildings weren't much to look at, though there was a plaque on the 10th Street side commemorating Peter Stuyvesant, whose family once owned the buildings. Oddly enough, I found comfort in this place too. At night, I'd look up to a paneled office in the lab. I could see enough to tell that it looked as it the place was frozen in time circa, say, 1974. It reminded me of an office my father had.

Of course, though, these historic buildings were demolished in 2005 to make way for more soulless apartments and a Commerce Bank. You can read more about it here.

The best time to enjoy St. Mark's Place

About 7:45 a.m.

Our next restaurant will be named Doomed

So how many different restaurants have tried 171 Avenue A and failed? I've honestly lost track.

Tourists will have to go online to buy their CBGB T-shirts

More from the Voice.

Meanwhile, I'm looking into renting the space. May try to open a frozen yorgurty place, Grieve Berry -- served with a side of despair.

Important decisions of our time

Walking on St. Mark's Place.




Very Berry? Or Pinkberry?

An Olsen twin hangs out at a nice new bar the New York Post considers a dive

Not sure why I'm bothering with this one. First, it's outside the geography of EV Grieve. Second, well... Let's just say this Page Six item today annoyed me for various reasons:

LOWER East Side pub crawlers, who tend to hop from bar to bar on skateboard, were a little surprised to see two black Escalades roll up to Orchard Street dive bar Sweet Paradise at 2 a.m. Sunday. Passing up standard hot spots, Mary-Kate Olsen and her posse slummed it up with some die-hard hipsters. Page Six overheard one bystander comment, "An Olsen just went in there." When asked which troll-sized twin it was, our witness replied, "I think it was the fat one."

The Post's definition of dive bar is different from mine. Sweet Paradise is just fine -- I have no problems with the place. (And I'm a fan of their other spot, Welcome to the Johnson's, though only when it's not full of yahoos.) But a bar that opened in the summer of 2006 isn't a dive bar. I don't care how much the owners recreated the physical characteristics of some old dump that serves a working-class demographic, one without trust funds and $200 haircuts.

"All of Manhattan has lost its soul to money lords"

That's Cheetah Chrome in today's New York Post discussing the new i-banker playground off the Bowery. "Extra Place," as it's being called, is in the former piss-filled alley behind CBGB. (See the Ramones photo above.) As the Post notes, that spot is "getting dragged into the 21st century with a makeover that would make Martha Stewart proud." Yes, because she could afford the kinds of things that are going into "Extra Place." (How not just call it "Extra Expensive"?)

Saint Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, Easter 2008

Prefab Sprout -- Hey Manhattan!

Music video from 1988. Prefab Sprout, a Brit pop band from the 1980s...and I never told anyone that I actually liked them. But what a sunny little song, so gosh-darn happy about being in the city.

East 10th Street just off Second Avenue, 7:50 a.m., March 23

Too many bank branches? Too many Sarah Marshall movie ads? Too many small businesses like Fontana Shoes closing?

Sophie's will be big in London

From the UK Guardian:

New York magazine recently handed out its annual gongs for all that is good in the city - from burgers to dive bars. Former Gawker restaurant critic Joshua Stein offers his alternative awards

They say: Mars Bar (25 E 1st St, +212-473-9842).
We say: Sophie's (507 E 5th St, + 212-228-5680). I mean a dive bar is a dive bar is a dive bar. The appeal is the same: cheap booze, no pretension, hopefully a toilet seat with a lid. Sophie's has all three plus, it has picaresque East Village characters who seem to have walked out of the pages of Henry Roth's Call It Sleep; a truly wonderful jukebox (everything from The Pogues to Gang of Four); and a wickedly competitive pool table.

First day of spring looks and feels more like fall

An open house on East 12th Street

For no good reason this past Sunday, Mrs. Grieve and I decided to go to an open house on East 12th Street between A and B. I've watched this eight-story apartment building go up in recent months and was curious what it would look like inside. (I wish I could remember what was on this lot prior to this apartment building...) Plus, I saw the open house ad in the Times with the price range...$2,900 for studios to $4,900 for two-bedroom apartments (roughly 920 square feet) a month. More than anything, I guess, I wanted to know what nearly $5,000 -- an amount that seems criminal to me -- would get you in the East Village today. The short answer: Not as much as I'd like. By the way, this post isn't meant to rip this new building...everything was top of the line...and I'm really so tired of grumbling about the continued ridiculous rents being charged in this neighborhood...I'm sure I'll have to move away soon enough. But until then! Might as well have some fun.

Many of the larger apartments come with a small balcony that overlooks the back of the buildings on East 13th Street. I can only imagine the joy the folks on 13th Street will experience while watching you sit on a tiny balcony in an apartment that costs nearly $5,000.

There's also a lovely rooftop deck with panoramic views of the city. [Updated 3/20: To be fair, the rooftop deck was nice...I sounded sarcastic when I wrote "lovely" -- I often sound sarcastic even when I'm being serious!...the photo below mostly shows the adjacent building's roof...Regardless, a nice rooftop hardly makes up for the steep rents.]

The building opened on March 1...and I was told that it was nearly half full as of Sunday. For my money, I'd prefer to live in the building right next door....this is more my style.

You've been warned

AKA Amateur Hour.

East 7th Street, 4:50 p.m., March 16

Just wait until tomorrow.

Live like Jimi Hendrix (but maybe without all the mysterious death part)

This rental notice caught our eye (must have been the five exclamation points) in today's New York Times:

Jimi Hendrix Lives On!!!!!

More like his old house lives on. But, yes, starting April 1, you can rent "The Cottage," the unique home at 50 W. 8th Street that Hendrix once lived. Can be yours for $7,950 a month. (Hendrix's legendary Electric Lady Studios is at 52 W. 8th Street.)

The online version of the ad in the Times doesn't mention Hendrx. Neither does the listing at Buchbinder & Warren.

Still, sounds nice, huh?

One of Manhattan's most unique properties offering country living in the heart of Greenwich Village. This 2bdr/2bth home, with washer/dryer and fireplace, offers stylish and sophisticated living with a private outdoor garden/patio area perfect for gardening and entertaining. A secure private entrance leads to this glass enclosed living space where the oversized, sky-lit solarium looks and opens onto the outdoor patio garden. FEATURES- Striking architectural elements include sky-lit solarium/greenhouse - Spacious contemporary 2bdr/2bth home with open plan living/dining areas- Fully-appointed, modern kitchen with custom cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, and stone counter tops- Gas-fueled fireplace- Washer/dryer- Central AC/heating throughout- Pre-wired intercom and cable - Two modern tiled windowed bathrooms- Central Greenwich Village location convenient to wonderful restaurants, great shopping and all transportation.

Great shopping? Like all those shoe stores that went out of business on 8th Street?

By the way, LES native Norman Buchbinder, a principal in Buchbinder & Warren, died early last year. He was 84. The feature obituary in The Villager mentions "The Cottage."

Another signature property he owned known as “The Cottage,” fronting into the backyard garden at 50 W. Eighth St., was once the residence of rock-and-roll legend Jimi Hendrix.