The Ram-into-the-ATM-in-a-van bandit busted

As only the Post can report:

Cops who busted a dumb-as-chum crook suspected of trying to steal an ATM won't have trouble finding the loot from his previous heists -- he used his one call from the station house to contact a friend and blurt out: "Get all of the cash out from my mattress!" sources said yesterday.

The bizarre saga -- which included a dip in the East River -- began when Valentin Garcia attempted to swipe the cash machine outside a store at 23 Rutgers St. on the Lower East Side by knocking it from its foundation with his van, the sources said.

Cops said Garcia is also the prime suspect in a rash of other knock-over ATM thefts around the city, including the LES, in December and January.

Honoring Linda Stein

From Page Six:

When Mandy Stein debuts her movie, "Burning Down the House: The Rise and Fall of CBGB," tonight, she won't just be honoring the now shuttered club's most famous band, the Ramones, but her late mother, Linda Stein, as well. Linda was the band's manager and a punk rock scenester before she became uptown's real estate broker to the stars. She would have celebrated her 64th birthday today, had she not been tragically murdered in 2007. "The film is dedicated to Linda, who would lead the celebration of her daughter's film," said a spokesperson for the flick. Debbie Harry, Mary-Louise Parker and Jim Jarmusch are expected to toast the Steins during the Tribeca Film Festival screening tonight at the Village 7 and the after-party at Bowery Electric.

[Photo by Bob Gruen]

Fashion models

The Times recently had a photo essay that I liked on Lifestyle Forms and Display, which "designs and produces mannequins and clothing forms at a plant at Cozine and Alabama Avenues near Starrett City in Brooklyn."

And, despite Kim Cattrall, I've always been fascinated by mannequins. Need to get my mannequins set up on Flickr. Meanwhile. Until then...

From somewhere on 27th Street. (And if these aren't the scariest damn things around....)



And...

During the recession, marketers turn their attention to yuppies, pervs

How else to explain these newish ads on 14th Street near Third Avenue?





Yeah! Get into it!

Drinking this new tea will give you that sexist pig feel

A new ad in the Cemusa shelter outside Lucy's on Avenue A.

Reliving the 1980s in the Financial District

There's a fairly nondescript frame shop at the corner of John Street and Pearl Street that I never paid any attention to....Until now. What chestnuts!

It would be a much better post had the Federal Cafe busted out a "Recession Special" happy hour

As a follow-up to Tuesday's post on the new Federal Cafe at the Hotel Reserve in the Financial District... They've introduced some specials...

"I would like you to be a slim attractive girl who is OK with occasionally walking around or hanging out in her underwear"

Nerve brings several Craigslist ads to our attention, including this one:

$130 Unique offer for a unique woman (East Village)

Many of you who read this ad are going to find it very offensive. Please understand that while this offer might not work for you, there are people out there in this world that have different levels of comfort with certain ideas that might be offensive to the majority of the population.

I got this idea from an article in Time Out New York that I read a while ago. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment that I inherited and now own. I live alone in the East Village, and have an empty bedroom and a lot of space. I am offering the empty room w/private bathroom for only $130 a month. Here is the catch...of course there is a catch. I'm a white late 20's guy that works in finance. I work A LOT and therefore my social life has become nonexistent. So, I want to add a little bit of excitement to my life. I would like to rent the room to a woman between the age of 18-27.

You should be a free spirited, liberal minded person who is very open minded. I would like you to be a slim attractive girl who is OK with occasionally walking around or hanging out in her underwear <---yes...that would be the slightly crazy part.

I would never ask you to strip or do anything at all. You must be someone who occasionally walks around like that and is ok with me being around when you do. I know this is a strange arrangement, but like I said earlier, I am trying to add some exitement to my life:) I am not looking for anything to develop into a relationship, or to have you start acting like a girlfriend. If you are interested, send me an email so I can discuss it further with you. There is no sexual contact or anything involved. I WOULD NEED THE ARRANGEMENT TO BE 100% CONFIDENTIAL. I know that it makes no sense to put my pic on here if I want it to be confidential, but I figured it was a necessary risk to take if I wanted solid responses. If you are interested please send me your pic. It does not have to be a provocative pic. But a body pic would help.

The apartment is huge-near St Marks. The kitchen is big...very bright living area. The room for rent is very big too AND HAS ITS OWN BATHROOM. I don't need the money which is why I am able to do this. The $130 is just a nice round number I came up with. PLEASE do NOT respond by saying "WHY WOULD A GUY AS GOOD LOOKING AS YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS". We all have our reasons.....Thanks
-Keith

At the new Yankee Stadium

As I mentioned, I had a free ticket to the Yankees game Tuesday night, which gave me the opportunity to walk around the new stadium, shop, eat and mingle with friends (if I had any with me). Oh. And perhaps watch some baseball. (For the record, I didn't shop or eat. But I did have a few beers. And checked out the Yankees-A's.)

First thing, of course: The place is a palace. You've read about all the amenities. In fact, you've probably already read too much about the new Yankee Stadium. That's the thing: Between the hype and the backlash (cost overruns, city's shady role in the construction, etc.), it's nearly impossible to actually just come here and watch the game.

Anyway, it doesn't seem as if any expense was spared, except for maybe chintzy seat cup holders. So, despite ample amounts of Yankee history everywhere ....



... (not to mention the location), the new stadium feels like suburbia. Where the parents can let the kids run around sitter-free while they bask in the glow of the food court. For me, it seemed like a vacation: Some resort that was kind of fun, but I miss home. And it doesn't help that the stadium feels a little cold and manufactured, though I'm sure things will improve with age.



So here's a quick tour, which begins with Derek Jeter channeling Paul Bunyon next to the Hard Rock Cafe...



Now to the other first thing: The food choices. Sushi and ramen, which made me feel as if I was right back on St. Mark's!



There's popcorn....



...and, oddly, pears. Danjou and Bartlett. Two for $3.



...white tablecloth restaurants...



...lots of meat...



...and well-displayed sandwiches.



There are also many lounges to have food and watch the game on a flat-screen TV. Though not any ol' schlub can walk in: You need the tickets that also give you the right for access to, say, the Jim Beam Lounge. I did not have the right tickets, but the guy working the door was friendly and said that I was welcome inside. Really, they guy working the door was friendly.





Also, the Jumbotron big screen thing in center field is as high-def as they come.



As the season progresses, I'm sure there will be more interesting things to say about the player who's up to bat.



Meanwhile, only at the $1.5 billion stadium does a penny cost $1.01.



Eventually the novelty of the stadium will wear off, and people will turn their attention to the game again.



I've talked with several Yankees fans who said they'd never set foot in the new stadium. I'm sure people said that about the renovations that neutered Yankee Stadium in the mid-1970s. I understand that point of view. I think I'd go again. See how it feels in a few months. Maybe even without a free ticket.



If you want to know more about how people felt when the stadium reopened in 1976, check out the April 26, 1976, issue of Sports Illustrated and the article by Robert Lipsyte titled "A Diamond in the Ashes."

Meanwhile, across 161st Street....

The old stadium sits empty... looking a little derelict...







... waiting to be torn down...







... while the new trophy wife gets all the attention.



Of course lifelong Yankees fans/NY residents talk about how Yankee Stadium hasn't been the same since the renovations of 1973-1975. As Maury Allen wrote in Baseball Digest when Yankee Stadum reopenend 1976:

"It was a building of stone and steel, that old Yankee Stadium, a massive monument to excellence in the middle of The Bronx, a structure of love and life and legend.

It is gone now, the old replaced by the new, the low fence in right where Babe Ruth set records and Roger Maris broke them, the vastness of DiMaggio's center field country, the hanging facade from the roof that Mantle would crush one day, the bullpen fence jumped by Joe Page, the dugout where Casey sat, the soft dirt around home plate where Lou Gehrig stood and thousands cheered.

Now it is of the past. Only the memories remain, the awe and the shock, the pride and the wonder, when a young man walked up through that tunnel and saw those seats, that size, that history surround him."

To be fair, I'm sure a kid will have that same sense of awe walking into the new stadium today.

A quick word on the cup holders at the new Yankee Stadium

They don't work all that well.... at least the ones in the cheaper ($20!) 400-level seats... When I arrived at my seat Tuesday night, the ground was wet...which was a little odd given that the seats were covered by the roof. Anyway, the guys next to me were drinking beer. They seemed decent enough. Like, not the type to dump beer on each other. Anyway, I put my full beer ($10 for 20 ounces of Miller Lite — plus the souvenir cup!; or, 12-ounce drafts were available for $6) in the cup holder in front of me.

And now I figured it out.



The cup holders are at a slight angle. And by placing a full beer in the holder, the first, oh, four ounces will slowly start trickling onto the ground. "We did the same thing," the guys next to me said. At these prices, they said it would be like throwing away gold. Or something.



To combat this, you need to buy the 16-ounce plastic bottles of beer for $9. Or just hold your cup until your taken a few swallows.

Off Target

And the ad almost covered the Anarchy symbol...at St. Mark's and Avenue A.

Where you can hang out with the actor who did the voice in five episodes of "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" today and tomorrow

Yes! Of course we mean Jeff Goldblum! You can maybe pretty much find him anywhere from Avenue B to D on Seventh Street and Eighth Street ... when "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" comes to the neighborhood...




And look at the movie credits listed behind Goldblum's name...."Captain Planet and the Planeteers"? "Mad Dog Time"? Someone is trying to be funny...

Freddy Sez inside Yankee Stadium

After being denied entrance to the new Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Freddy Sez was back in the ballpark (or mallpark, to some) last night. (Something about this story seems a little premeditated for my taste...) Oh, I was there too at the game -- received a free ticket (A $20 Grandstand jobbie) from a friend.

May take a moment to collect my thoughts on the experience at the new stadium. It was just a little... weird. Like your parents moving from your ramshackle childhood home into a new cushy retirement condo. And everyone who works there is super friendly. "May I help you?" "Hi, are you guys having fun?" "Thanks for coming! Have a good night!"

P.S.

Here's a photo of the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.



The 400 Section (the $20 seats) where I was sitting was nearly full...

The signs at the Olympic Restaurant

Truth is, I saw the telltale neon signs appear on the windows a few weeks back at what is arguably my favortite restaurant around, the Olympic at Delancey and Essex on the LES. I didn't have the nerve to take an upclose look.



I always figured this corner was doomed in the new Blue LES... so, farewell to the Jade Fountain, which has been around since 1920...



...and the Olympic. With its little lunch counter and surprisingly comfortable stools.





Well, I finally decided to check it out this past week. Read the "Closing. Thank you to our customers" sign upclose. And what did I find on that orange sign?

News of expanded hours! Now open 24 hours Thursday through Saturday!

Heh. Well. Serves me right, Mr. Doomsday. So I went in and had the eggs, bacon, toast, home fries, juice and coffee -- $6 as always.

Per usual, the EMT guys were there. They sit down to eat inside the Olympic, but always get the food served in to-go containers -- in case they get a call during their meal. Never have seen that happen since I've been going there. (I figure the first time I need a paramedic -- perhaps from eating so many eggs-and-bacon meals from the Olympic -- the EMTs will arrive with food from the Olympic...)

Maybe another day I'll write more about the Olympic. Meanwhile, if you do go, check out the restrooms up the stairs in the back....