Butter Lane owner: "We are not turning into a bar!"

Maria Baugh, one of the owners of Butter Lane Cupcakes, sent me an e-mail late yesterday afternoon about my post titled, "Is Butter Lane turning into a bar?"

Here's what she had to say:

Hi E.V. Grieve,

My name is Maria Baugh and I’m one of the owners of Butter Lane. I wanted to introduce myself and try to address your questions/concerns about Butter Lane’s application for a liquor license.

We’re applying for a liquor license because we would like to occasionally offer champagne mostly for events or special promotions. We are also exploring the idea of offering wine pairings with cupcakes. We are not turning into a bar!

Also, just so there’s no confusion, we’ve been open until 11 pm on weeknights and midnight on Friday and Saturday (10 pm on Sunday) since we opened in November. Our hours have not changed.

Our main objective is to offer great-tasting, high-quality cupcakes to residents of the East Village and beyond. We love the neighborhood and our many customers who are also our Butter Lane neighbors.

St. Brigid's and Matt Dillon, together again?

Late yesterday afternoon, I took a stroll by St. Brigid's on Avenue B at Eighth Street... Just to check in on her...see what was what with the scaffolding. Nothing going on with the church. Across the street, though, Matt Dillon was standing there, borderline incognito in aviator sunglasses. He was talking on a cell phone.

I wouldn't usually note a sighting like this... but, as you know, Dillon supports the church... Maybe he was there to see St. Brigid's? Couldn't tell you. I didn't linger. I ran home as fast as I could to write this post! (Kidding! I didn't run.)



Dillon attended some Save St. Brigid's rallies in the past. The Villager had a story on it back in June 2007:

"After the rally, Dillon lingered for nearly an hour as he waxed on about St. Brigid’s uniqueness and 'minimalist' beauty, at one point throwing his arm around a Channel 2 news cameraman to show him the best angle to capture the cathedral.

'There’s a kind of spiritual energy that’s attached with this church. Something that’s very soulful,' offered Dillon. 'It’s more than any church that I’ve been around. Every time I come here, I’m more impressed by just how beautiful it is,' explained the actor, who also filmed 'The Saint of Fort Washington' in a squat around the corner from St. Brigid’s.

'There’s nothing ostentatious about this church. But there’s something very elegant,' Dillon continued. 'It was designed by a famous architect. It reflects the poor immigrants who came here. They built it the best they could. It should be preserved to tell that history, just like Ellis Island.'"

[Photo by William Alatriste, New York City Council]

Your chance to nab a piece of junk from Le Souk

As Down by the Hipster noted May 22, Le Souk had its liquor license reinstated ... before that, though, there was talk the longtime bane of lower Avenue B (as Eater aptly described it) was relocating to Bleecker and LaGuardia...

Meanwhile, Le Souk must be doing a little late spring cleaning. Which may explain why someone at Le Souk left a bunch of crap on the sidewalk last night... I call dibs on the empty keg!

Steve Cuozzo digs DBGB, the Bowery

From his review in the Post today... which had more to do with the neighborhood than the restaurant:

Most people still perceive the boulevard in discrete sections: the gentrified blocks north of Houston Street; kitchen supply and electrical fixture-heaven below Houston; and Chinatown, south of Delancey.

But there's a cheerful, disheveled continuity here, an exotic ramble not yet homogenized by Duane Reades and bank branches.

Much of the Bowery still looks as it must have 100 years ago: a procession of low-rise, utilitarian structures, keepers of secrets known only to the weathered bricks and mortar. Thanks to the street's unusual width and mostly low-rise scale, it opens up like a time capsule, especially on sunny days.

[Image via Curbed]

Dumpster of the day

On Suffolk near Delancey. Hmmm, residual waste!



The dumpster was there alongside the space for lease signs at 128 Delancey that BoweryBoogie discussed yesterday....

Speaking of the Lower East Side: A random photo from the EV Grieve archives

On Delancey. I think this sums up the current state of affairs quite nicely.

Noted

On the plywood at the former Love Saves the Day spot, Second Avenue and Seventh Street.

Spina opens

As I mentioned Monday, Spina, an Italian place on Avenue B and 11th Street, opened yesterday... This addition bring the empty Avenue B storefronts total down to, uh, 18. I think it's time for a recount. Lots of comings and goings in recent months...

Report: Bogus help wanted ads fill Hoboken with New Yorkers looking for election work

Since I posted this... I found the photo that I took of one of the ads... This ad is on St. Mark's Place and Avenue A... For some reason, people in the neighborhood looking for work were victims of bullshit political escapades in Hoboken...

A flyer touting $200 pay for election work in Hoboken between 3:30 and 8 p.m. caused prospective hired hands from Manhattan to flood the mile-square city of Hoboken Tuesday. A runoff election is being held for mayor today between councilpeople Peter Cammarano and Dawn Zimmer. The flyer, which did not contain any “paid for” language as required by law, was found hanging on the Lower East Side of Manhattan by several men and women who came to Hoboken today looking for work. (The Hudson Reporter)

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Slum Goddess has photos from Ray's benefit at C-squat... so does The Biggest Pants....

Hep A scare at Momofuku Ssam Bar and Momofuku Milk Bar (Eater)

Mr. Moss takes in the new High Line (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

And check out Ken Mac's Walking the High Line site.

The EV during WWII (Hunter-Gatherer)

How to get yourself on a Times Square billboard (BoingBoing)

A stretch Hummer on Seventh Street for the wedding party (Esquared)

LES getting a quickie wedding chapel (Daily Intelligencer)

Loud, shitty music brings out the notes from the neighbors (Curbed)

Read about Karate Boogaloo's ephemera (Ephemera)

Sonic Youth's 16th studio album is out today... and this is allegedly the band's first network TV appearance:

Weather on the run

"Is Butter Lane turning into a bar?"

Upon hearing the news that Butter Lane Cupcakes is going for a beer and wine license... and that the store is now open to midnight...



...and there has been the recent appearance of a rather harmless looking bench, chair, table and umbrella...



... compelled a Seventh Street resident who lives nearby to ask a simple question via e-mail, "Is Butter Lane turning into a bar?"

When there's no more room in the trash for your trash

Another nice weekend, another sighting of overflowing FroYo cup-topped trash in front of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.



Jeremiah has written about this...



...and I don't have anything to add to the discussion...



...but I was curious what people do when they need to discard their trash and there aren't any available trash cans...

"Step Up 3D" is pretty much going to be filming all over the place

Yes! "Step Up 3D" is back in the neighborhood filming Friday. And the crew will need the north side of Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue B... BOTH sides of Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's...BOTH sides of Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A...the south side of St. Mark's between First Avenue and Avenue A... and the south side of 10th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

Other than that....

Previously "Step Up 3D" coverage on EV Grieve.

Craigslist ad of the day

Developing website needs models (Lower East Side)

We are looking for promotional models for a developing nightlife networking website. 18+ only. Send two FULL body shots for consideration. Pay is commission based, opportunity to earn 150 - 200 per hour.

------------------------------------------------

Well, I could use the work. Here goes nothing!

The Holiday continues with the cheesy promotions

What, no Jagerettes?



I'll say this again:

1) I understand the fact that the beloved Holiday Cocktail Lounge on St. Mark's Place needs to make money to stay open...so why not attract the dreaded free vodka crowd.

2) Stefan never would have gone for this.

Every picture tells a story: Rod Stuart strikes again

Spotted near St. Brigid's on Avenue B. Haven't seen Rod's work in awhile.

The weekend in review

The Post continued its sensitive coverage of David Carradine's death.

The psychics took to the streets!



Street fair!

We read about the passing of the "Mayor of the LES"

Benefit for Ray's at C-Squat. (Perhaps there will be more on this from The Biggest Pants or Slum Goddess.)



This couple got married on Seventh Street.



We learned that big law firms are becoming extinct.

We learned that fewer people are complaining about noise in NYC, except for the people who are complaining more about parties and music.

This Mercedes got towed from Fourth Street... thankfully, the car alarm is working.

The final countdown

As of yesterday, there were eight days left for the Virgin Megastore on Union Square. All CDs and DVDs are now 50 percent off their hiked up prices...



If you look hard enough, then you may find something that you may want... Otherwise, it's grotesque consumerism at its worst...



What remains is the Virgin Overstock Megastore. Things that were shipped in from Virgin Warehouses around the world just for the closing sale. What else could explain, say..... Dozens and dozens of "Hellboy II" action figures. Dozens and dozens of copies of the attempt to make Rick Springfield a movie star in "Hard to Hold." Dozens and dozens of copies of U2's "No Line on the Horizon" limited box set including CD, hardcover book, poster, featurette on the Edge buying a ski cap, a behind-the-scenes look at Larry Mullen Jr.'s First Communion and Bono's photo album of bikini-clad groupies. It's times like these when you realize there have been like 37 versions of "Blade Runner" released. You remember how little respect giant entertainment groups have for consumers.

And so many things whose existence was so unnecessary.




Oh, and the complete series (six seasons!) of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" is 50 percent off its $232 sticker price.

No anarchy?

For months now, the anarchy graffiti was on the wall of the real estate office on 11th Street and Second Avenue.



And now...



Interpret this any way that you wish.

Another Italian restaurant for Avenue B

I've been keeping an eye on 175 Avenue B at the corner of 11th Street. I've forgotten how many restaurants have been in here. (Uovo? Panificio?)



In any event, Spina opens at this spot tomorrow. It will be a nice Italian place with a sommelier. Paintings by Wayne Moseley will be on display there this month.

I think we will now officially have enough Italian restaurants in the neighborhood.

Fierce Pussy on Extra Place

There's new a Fierce Pussy work along the west wall on Extra Place.

Summer rental

On 10th Street across from Tompkins Square Park. I'm curious what the neighbors think.

Noted

Mayor Bloomberg's youngest daughter, Georgina, provides show-riding outfits to needy people through her program, The Rider's Closet. 'People say I should be changing the world instead of doing this,' Georgina said. 'But I get letters from people all the time saying I've changed their lives by providing them riding clothes they couldn't afford.'" (New York Post)

Former Waldorf Hysteria space getting the plywood

The long-vacated Waldorf Hysteria space at 165 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street is being renovated...



No word just yet on what this will become... Given recent trends, I'll go with a dry cleaners. There isn't one within 10 feet of this place.

Noted

"Famed for its concentration of heavily subsidized 20-something residents — also nicknamed trust-funders or trustafarians — Williamsburg is showing signs of trouble. Parents whose money helped fuel one of the city’s most radical gentrifications in recent years have stopped buying their children new luxury condos, subsidizing rents and providing cash to spend at Bedford Avenue’s boutiques and coffee houses." (The New York Times)

The motorcycle diaries

There was a rather mysterious beeping noise on Fifth Street near Avenue A. Neighbors first started hearing it Thursday night. The source was traced to a covered motorcycle parked by the Con Ed Avenue A substation. As of yesterday, the motorcycle's alarm continued to make the beeps at intervals of 10 seconds or so.

Fewer noise complaints to 311 -- except for that increase in complaints about loud music and parties

As the Post notes today: "Noise complaints phoned into the city's 311 hot line between January and March plummeted 16.5 percent compared to the first quarter last year -- from 9,292 to 7,755 -- and city officials cited fewer construction projects and slowing commerce for the newfound tranquility."

However!

"Economic misery might be prompting New Yorkers to seek company at raucous parties. Complaints of loud music and parties surged 18 percent in the first three months of this year."