Church volunteer Mike Rodriguez, the cook at Forbidden City, said he heard the shot that killed his friend.
"Sometimes we played cards, or we drank, just to relax," said Mike Rodriguez. "Just a split second, that's it. Life is too short."
Those who came to the funeral at Immaculate Conception Church on 14th Street, where Pagan was baptized as an infant, remembered the late bouncer as a warm-hearted man.
"I come from Florida to pay my respects for my brother, a great guy," said friend German Fernandez.
"He's such a nice guy. We always had a good laugh to come in with," said bar customer Michael Cruz. "I remember him fixing the ceiling once, just completely taking it apart more than he needed to do. It was the funniest thing to watch him do. He had some much energy coming in and out of that place."
"Taz was always the protector. I used to work at the bar next door to where he used to work and he was always there if we needed him," said bartender Laurie Beck. "We used to hang out for years, I knew him since I was about 17 years old. It's been about 10 years and there was always so much love. Like a big brother to me, you know? Anytime anybody ever needed him, Taz was there. He's such a wonderful guy and he's so missed. Avenue A will never be the same. You walk down the block and expect to see him."
Perhaps the biggest endorsement of how loved Pagan was came from the victim's own parish priest.
"He always maintained optimism in his life," said the Reverend Joy Mampilly. "Also, he tried to instill a warm feeling into the lives of people who came around him. You don't have to be a friend to know him well."
East Village bars Drop Off Service, Planet Rose, Forbidden City, Common Ground, Habibi Lounge, and Superdive will donate 50% of their register on Monday, Aug. 31 (all day and night) to set up a college fund for the children of murdered bouncer Eric “Taz” Pagan.
What's this city coming to when even dive bars have to start serving signature cocktails?
"Well, we don't have to," says Mike Stuto, owner of Hi-Fi. "It's just about giving people what they want."
“We’re going to ask Michael Rosen to adopt us — me, Jim Power and Biker Billy,” L.E.S. Slacktivist leader John Penley explained. Penley said he hasn’t actually read Rosen’s new book, “What Else but Home: Seven Boys and an American Journey Between the Projects and the Penthouse,” in which Rosen recounts the story of how he and his wife opened their home to a group of local youths. “I heard reports. People said it’s not bad,” Penley said of the book. “We’d like to move into the penthouse, too — if he wants three new sons... . We’re not all that young!” Penley added that the camp-out concept is being well received: “A lot of people expressed gratitude that somebody’s doing something that’s a little radical this summer,” he said.
Though I never once dined at the famous “Chocolate by the Bald Man” corporation, this place gave me indigestion, headaches even. While nearby mom-and-pop establishments struggled to stay afloat, Max Brenner was constantly packed, mostly with tourists. These people would come all the way to the East Village — just to eat at a chain restaurant. I didn’t get it.
And with childhood diabetes on the rise, as well as obesity, I thought “society” was supposed to be eating more sensibly. But not at this joint. Struggling with menus the size of a hefty coffee-table book, its carefree patrons were devotees of a restaurant defined by indulgence, i.e., dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner and drinks. In this land of “sugar on fat, on top of sugar on fat” (read “The End of Overeating” by David Al Kessler), this was an altogether obscene environment.
The restaurant’s outdoor tables, usually loaded with out-of-towners, took up an unusually large portion of sidewalk, and this annoying protrusion provoked many a resident on his or her way to and from the Astor Place or Eighth St. subways. On Friday and Saturday nights, human gridlock was the norm.
Consequently, I guess, a crazy person from a nearby apartment building started to get sick and tired of the music from the place’s outdoor speakers. He hated getting woken up every morning and night by the loud, clanking metal chains and padlocks that were used to prevent the theft of their ugly tables and chairs. Employees from the restaurant who took their breaks at the entrance of his building — smoking and laughing it up till all hours, and accidentally buzzing his apartment by leaning on the intercom buttons — drove him nuts.
The always cash-strapped Transit Authority missed an opportunity to make some money off the incident -- their efficient employees wiped the graffiti off the wall. It's been estimated the brick it was on could have been sold for an estimated $10,000.
Man In Van from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.
Two thirds of a 15,000-square-foot East Village playground that was home to a popular flea market is under contract in a quiet, all-cash sale for $10.4 million to the Archdiocese of New York, court documents said.
The playground, divided into three ownership lots, is adjacent to the shuttered Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church on the east side of Avenue A between 11th and 12th streets. The Archdiocese owns the church located on a 13,000 square foot lot, city records show.
The two parcels, under contract since July, total 7,500 square feet and are owned by a Roman Catholic order called the Salesian Society, based in New Rochelle, NY. The third part of the playground, totaling 7,500 square feet, is owned by the Archdiocese, records show.
The Archdiocese did not respond to requests for comment, but real estate professionals speculated the church parcel and playground would be sold and developed into residential housing.
A lawyer representing an ex-con charged with murdering an East Village bouncer claimed Tuesday an off-duty cop witnessed the shooting and told police the alleged killer was innocent.
"An off-duty cop was present," said Paul Brenner, a lawyer for Louis Rodriguez, 29. "He said Mr. Rodriguez was definitely not involved."
Brenner's comments came after Rodriguez was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on murder charges in the slaying of Eric (Taz) Pagan outside Forbidden City on Avenue A early Sunday.
"My client wasn't there," Brenner said, adding that he asked prosecutors about the cop -- whose name he did not know -- but got "no response."
Yes, it's right next to the NYU dorms, so there's bound to be trashiness and other obnox-auchery going on.
Sure, the food and cheap beer will attract ditzy, but hot, girls and ditzy, fratty guys, all of whom at one point of the evening will be spilling drinks on you, stepping on you, or crotch spooning you or all of the above.
Whatever. (I, of all people, can appreciate any or all of these things.)
But really. Really? This place attracts the douchiest crowd ever.
That's the bottom line. It's not really about the place, or the set up, or anything like that. It's merely the fact that for some reason, 90% of the people who spend a majority of their night here, end up being really irritating, obnoxious, trashy drunks.
And honey, it's okay to be drunk and messy and sometimes funny - even when you're not trying to be --
But for goodness sake, this isn't Hoboken. Now stop crying about how your boyfriend doesn't love you and get away from this congregation of douchebags.
Strange but pretty girl walks up to me...moves her scarf, insists i look at her chest and asks if I like Kansas...
she is making her breasts jump up and down and I realize she is wearing a Jay Hawks shirt. I hardly notice cause all I see are breasts...I don't lie...I say, I didnt even know who the jay hawks were until just now but from what i see i'd gladly learn more about them...she starts talking...i hear womp womp womp, womp womp womp, womp womp womp womp...not in that order. I come out of my fog and realize, she is still talking...and i remember some of the womps as south dakota then kansas then dc then New York. Then she excuses herself to go talk to her friend...yay.
Friendly staff, lots of tv's showcasing a variety of sports, three large rooms, great owners, great beer selection, food is simple but executed well. This is a sports bar and it accomplishes its goal.
Atmosphere is a bit on the popped collar side but it's a sports bar, so the whole goal is to attract sports fans, and if you don't like watching sports, then don't go to a sports bar, which you will notice because of the trail of polo shirts that lead you through the door :)
