Noted

"A $24 ticket bought directly from the Mets costs $37.50." (Phil Mushnick)

More signs from the recession

Spotted on Avenue A and Third Street.


On the Bowery.


Second Avenue near Second Street.


Think everyone has seen this already, right? At Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue. Gray's Papaya.

The Bea Arthur tag

The "Bad Pussies" mural on the side of Mama's at Third Street and Avenue B (which "passes off a subtle message of yuppicide") has always fascinated me...



...and even more so now with the passing yesterday of NYC native Bea Arthur, who was 86.



...the Bea Arthur tag has been there for as long as I can remember... I just never knew why. I've seen the Bea Arthur tag a few other places around the neighborhood...just can't remember where at the moment.

You're so vain, you probably think this post is about you

From the Post today:

Going to college in New York City has never looked better. The city's 50 hottest college students -- vamping it up in steamy poses sure to distract even the most dedicated bookworm -- will soon appear on campus newsstands as a glossy magazine debuts May 4.

"We wanted to photograph interesting, hot people that make going to school in New York City so awesome," said Kane Sarhan, 22, a Pace University junior and publisher of the magazine, The College Gossip Chronicles, and its accompanying Website, thecgconline.com.

And the paper lets us meet a few of the 50:

Alex Casticas, 23

junior studying business administration at Fordham

Career Ambition: Working in biotechnology

Home: Switzerland

Sex Appeal: "My accent is what makes me stand out here," says Casticas, who admits he can play it up to seduce the ladies when he parties in SoHo or the Meatpacking District. He stays fit by doing martial arts, water-skiing and wakeboarding.

Ashton Fontana, 20 (pictured)

sophomore communications major at Fordham University

Home: Napa, California

Career Ambition: Fashion writer/magazine editor

Sex Appeal: "My Cali personality with my New York attitude. I know how to have a great time and look even greater doing it," says the beach beauty, who stays in shape by taking hip hop and lyrical dance classes.

Noted

"Although they’re good-looking young stars, they pass unremarked in the East Village. 'We go to Trader Joe’s in our pajamas,' Ms. Powers said." (The New York Times)

Coming soon

The latest from Jim Jarmusch. Opens Friday at the Angelika.

Ending the day on a high note

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Inside an EV-bound party bus (Slum Goddess)

Starbucks on Astor Place is closing (Eater)

Varvatos to do a "Battle of the Bands" (Esquared)

An emotional rescue? (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

The Avenue A groper gets some help (Neither More Nor Less)

A makeover for Allen Street/Pike Street malls (The Villager)

Not quit under the boardless boardwalk at Coney Island (Kinetic Carnival)

Russ and Daughters has a blog? (Russ and Daughters)

LES/EV streetscenes (Upset)

One way to mark a pothole (BoweryBoogie)

FYI -- The Party Starts Now

A special thanks to the Intern of EV Grieve for finding this gem.

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.”

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!