RIP Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor who created the Astor Place cube

Charlie Finch has the feature at Artnet:

Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor of the revolving black cube on Astor Place, died over the weekend at age 94. For myself and thousands of other East Villagers, this was the work of art that touched (and was touched by) us most. The memories of Village life revolve with it.

I first felt Alamo (the name of the cube) soon after it was installed in 1967. Coming home from concerts at the Fillmore East, guys would spin it to impress their girls then hop the subway for points north and south.

Here's the cube circa 1970 (Via)



After it was tagged in April 2006 (Via)

Prepping for Julia

Crews are out preparing for the massive "Eat, Pray, Love" shoot tomorrow -- most notably on Fifth Street near Second Avenue. (A few signs said that filming would also occur today...I didn't see any filming.) The ensemble cast features Julia Roberts.





Well, let's hope this film is good for the sake of Miss Roberts. To be honest, her career has been in a tailspin since 1988's "Satisfaction."



(You'll notice the movie also features Britta Phillips and Deborah Harry.)

Meeting set to discuss bars and noise on Avenue A

Specifically on Avenue A between 12th Street and 14th Street, where two new bars have opened this summer to enthusiastic crowds.

According to the information that I received:

The meeting will be Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 6:30 p.m.

It will be at the Dias Y Flores Garden at 520-522 E. 13th St. (between A and B).

District 2 City Council member Rosie Mendez will run the meeting along with Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3. They will address the overabundance of bars and the noise they cause, what can be done by residents and what is being done and will be done by Mendez's office and CB3.

The Dias Y Flores Garden.



Related:
Noise complaints? What you can do about via CB3 (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Aces & Eights now serving food

During the May 11 CB3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting, Aces & Eights, the frathole on Avenue A in the former Mo Pitkin's space, heard it from residents and CB3 members. As Eater reported:

A number of EVill oldtimers stood up to complain about noise, while the CB members questioned the lack of food in the restaurant, the 13 TVs (they were allowed to have only two), and the advertisements for drinking games. In his defense the owner said food was on the way — though we think it's safe to assume he means wings, nachos, and bar snacks — and that beer pong should not be equated with binge drinking, "It's one pitcher divided into 16 cups!" The peanut gallery had a good laugh, and the committee decided to write a letter to the SLA.

Anyway, that food has arrived. Per the menu now on the front window:

Don't be alarmed

When you walk by First Avenue Pierogi & Deli near St. Mark's today, the gate will be down. And there won't be a note outside offering any explanation.



However, it's OK. The shop will be closed for a holiday and will reopen after Labor Day...They had a sign up inside the store for the past few weeks.

Weekend recap: Chain stores, Superdives, drunken hooligans and Julia Roberts

Seventh Street to get a chain-store smoothie shop.

Julia Roberts and "Eat, Pray, Love" filming all over the EV today and tomorrow.

The Post writes about Superdive, which was closed for private parties again.

"Drunken hooligans" the norm now in the EV.

I can't believe someone would sell this!

And, at the time I walked by this sidewalk sale on Eighth Street near Avenue C, no one had bought it yet... Where's your taste, people?

Yes

Arizona-based smoothie outlet coming to Seventh Street

Xoom Juice. At the site of the former Tiny Living shop, which closed in April, on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. Xoom has three locations in Tuscon, Ariz. So what are we in for? According to their Web site:

what's the xoom difference? good question
well, for starters, it's what we leave out of our drinks: no sherbet, no sorbet, no ice cream, no added sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, or anything to artificially flavor our smoothies.

so what's left? how about just pure fruit, 100% fruit juice, organic soymilk or milk, and a bit of yogurt (frozen or fresh or non-dairy), and a *xoomer* nutrient boost. that's it. end of story.

we do this for two reasons:
1) it is really healthy
2) it tastes fabulous

we figure why mess with mother nature?
we just blend it together

The Tuscon Weekly has named Xoom the "best smoothie" the last four years... though, having never been to Tuscon, we're not sure what their competition is like...

"Eat, Pray, Love" -- starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem -- will pretty much be filming everywhere in the East Village on Monday and Tuesday

The adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's best-seller "Eat, Pray, Love" commences filming this week...kicking off a globe-spanning story in the East Village. And, based on the cast, and the number of filming fliers that I spotted, this promises to be an enormous production. I saw EPL signs on Second Avenue, First Avenue, Avenue A, Third Street to Ninth Street. And Brad Pitt is co-producing the film.

P.S.
In case you didn't want to remember....Gilbert's 1997 GQ article, "The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon," a memoir of hercareer as a bartender at you-know-where, was the basis for the "Coyote Ugly" cinema klassik

At Superdive: "You hear the concept and it sounds like it could be too much of a frat party or too whatever, but it hasn't been"

The Post explores the world of Superdive and dive bars today. Fasten your seat belts! We're going in!

With its clean taps, friendly service and young, attractive patrons, Superdive is in many ways the anti-dive. Where's the bearded tranny? The surly, toothless barmaid? The non-functioning alcoholic cashing his SSI check for another round? Sure, it's teeming with college students looking to get wasted, but where's the dank?

Unlike New York's classic old-man bars, Superdive is neither moody in decor (it has large front windows and light pinewood accents) nor spirit (its patrons are prone to high-fives and huzzahs). "People are coming to celebrate," says manager Keith Okada. "Not to get dark and down in a hole."

And!

[M]aybe Superdive's no-frills, keg-centric vibe is just what the Type A alcoholics of tomorrow are looking for. "In a world where everything is so designed and chichi, we just wanted a nice place where people can sit, relax and not feel pressured to spend mega amounts of money," says Okada.

And you have to agree, it sure beats $20 mixed drinks.

And!

And if the list of more than 700 beers -- from a $180 sixtel (one-sixth of a keg) of UFO Hefeweizen to a $360 half-keg of Coors Light -- proves too overwhelming, "keg master" Matt Breinich will help you navigate the list.

Breinich's duties don't end there: "I haven't seen any beer pong disputes, but if there was one I would certainly be there to help resolve it."

In addition to Ping-Pong balls, the bar also keeps cards, dice and poker chips on hand for impromptu drinking games. (Keg stands, however, are officially frowned upon.) Meanwhile, the piano underneath the perpetually lit "Applause" sign in back of the bar may be the site of future "Hair Metal Karaoke" nights. And instigating the party some weekends is mini-metal head Nick Reddy, who's been known to jump on the bar and dole out Jager shots to ecstatic college kids.

With its emphasis on drunken comradery, the frat bar has a direct lineage to the dive bar -- even if it does stem from a love for competitive drinking and Dave Matthews. If dive-bar habitues are self-loathing outsiders, then their frat-bar brethren are the cool kids at the party, explaining why Superdive initially comes off as exuding typical jock one-upmanship.

"You hear the concept and it sounds like it could be too much of a frat party or too whatever, but it hasn't been. The people who come in are excited about the concept, they want to come back," says Breinich.

And!

It may not smell like stale beer -- yet -- but Superdive does smell like a winner: It's currently booked almost a month out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights -- so if your name isn't on the guest list, good luck getting past the front door. "We're working on those hiccups," says Okada. But try telling that to the dejected- looking guys outside.

Hiccups?

Hiccups

"All the junkies and prostitutes are gone, and replaced by drunken hooligans"

The Post has a piece today titled The East "Pillage" (And the paper even acknowledges the original source -- Scoopy!)

Someone orchestrated a break-in at famed composer Philip Glass' home in the East Village, but got away only with a cellphone.

Magdalena Adorno, 41, faces charges of burglary and possession of stolen property in the July 17 incident at the property on East Third Street, cops said yesterday.

She was arrested within hours of the burglary, which has neighbors talking about how the area near the Bowery has lately become more crime-ridden.

Police didn't say what was taken, but a story in The Villager said the thief got away only with a cellphone.

Area residents and business people say the neighborhood has become a drunken party zone for noisy teens and 20-some- things who litter the streets with trash.

"All the junkies and prostitutes are gone, and replaced by drunken hooligans," said Claude Campbell, who for 20 years has owned the East Village Music Store.

"At least you could tell the junkies to go away," Campbell said.

Photos by Brian Finke via New York

Touring the LES again: "Its unloveliness remains resolute"

Helayne Seidman For The Washington Post

JoAnn Greco, a native New Yorker who frequented the LES as a child, moved to Philadelphia in 1991. She hasn't been back to the LES since then. Greco, a travel writer, did this piece -- Posh Meets Past on New York City's Lower East Side -- for The Washington Post.

A few of her observations.

As I exited the tour, I noticed that the street signs were marked "New York City Orchard Street Bargain District," even though $2 million apartments and $400 hotel rooms have invaded the area.

And!

I peeked into the much-talked-about Hotel on Rivington, all mock mod with its white and red tubular entryway and Space Age touches. Its restaurant, however, celebrates the surroundings with a courtyard situated between picturesquely dilapidated tenements.

And!

It was all very encouraging: newcomers embracing the past and oldsters stepping up to the future. The shop talk may have changed -- some 40 galleries can be found here -- and the eateries may have gotten fancier. Too many tenements have been defaced and even erased. But this place continues to feel different: Its unloveliness remains resolute, the Williamsburg Bridge still swoops off Delancey Street, and the jabber of multiple languages is ever-present. Endangered, maybe. But gone? Never.

Wonder what her opinion would have been after a visit on a Friday night.