Jeff Bridges at Sophie's

One day last month, American Songwriter Magazine did a photo shoot at Sophie's with Jeff Bridges for an upcoming feature... a photographer for The New York Times was also there for a feature titled "Nine days on the road with Jeff Bridges."

Bridges was in character as Bad Blake from his Oscar-nominated turn in "Crazy Heart." Here are two of the photos that Peter van Agtmael took for the Sunday Times magazine at Sophie's...

Superdive is now cheaper

Back in November, Eater reported that Superdive was on the market for $350,000 key money (the price you pay just for the space)...plus $10k a month in rent... Our friends over at East Village Feed have now noted that the price has dropped to $225,000. (Tower Brokerage listing half way down the page...)



Meanwhile, Superdive was open this past weekend... and apparently all is well... (via Twitter):



Previously on EV Grieve:
Is the keg party over? Superdive closed last night

A bad sign at the Mystery Lot?

For nearly three years, our favorite empty lot probably anywhere (dubbed the Mystery Lot by Curbed) on 13th and 14th Street off Third Avenue included an ad for EmigrantDirect.com. (Awesome one-off buy!)



Now, in recent weeks, we just noticed that the ad has been removed...



Does this finally mean a dreaded "for sale" sign will appear?

Please no!

Previously.

Coming soon to Seventh Street: Molten cheese and beef fondue

Reliable sources told us last week that a French restaurant is opening here at 127 E. Seventh St. near Avenue A...



The Feed had all the details...

The Feed has learned that La Sirène’s chef-owner, Didier Pawlicki, is readying a new 38-seat spot in the East Village called Taureau (French for bull) that will specialize in pots of the molten cheese, along with meat dishes (including beef fondue). Pawlicki’s cassoulet — which we recently included as one of our top winter meals — and other La Sirene favorites will not be on the new location’s menu, but it will be BYO, just like its Soho sister.

So much else on this block... Butter Lane... Porchetta... Perhaps someone should open a colonic center.

Your chance to (immediately!) be part of the karaoke empire on St. Mark's Place

Hmm, $15,000 a month...?

Previously.

Former Gama space becoming a fusion restaurant and bar

Here's what's coming to the former home of Gama, the Korean bar and restaurant at 12 St. Mark's Place, which closed after a three-year run in December...




Previously.

Boutiques on Bowery looking more Boutiques on Bowery-like

Boutiques on Bowery at the retail space in 52E4, the 15 stories of condo on the Bowery near Fourth Street, finally looks to be happening. Originally scheduled to open Feb. 1 ... the etched-in-glass signage went up last week...



...giving hope that one day these mannequins will have clothes to wear...



Previously on EV Grieve:
What happened to Boutiques on Bowery?

ATM manufacturers now making things easier for ATM thieves

Somewhere downtown.

Farewell teary temporarily closed signage!: Professor Thom's back open today

The folks at Professor Thom's on Second Avenue near 14th Street sent us a note saying they're reopening today after that paperwork snafu.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Professor Thom's teary temporarily closed signage has a sponsor

Busy Bee Bike shop busted on East Sixth Street

We don't know all the details just yet, but Busy Bee Bikes on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A was shut down by the cops Friday...



EV Grieve reader Creature, who lives on the block, sent along the photo below...



As he noted: "The restraining order mentions criminal possession of stolen property. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that, but it's a shame nonetheless. They have quickly become a Sixth Street staple and added to the overall neighborhood feeling the East Village is known for."

Emey Hoffmann, who owned a number of bike shops through the years, including this one, died of a heart attack on Jan. 7, 2009. He was 63.

Here's a photo of the store on better days... from Ichance on Flickr (via BikeBlogNYC)

Horse sense

Every so often I'll treat myself to a Daily Racing Form at Aqueduct or Belmont... The newspaper, whose offices are downtown, has been around since 1894, and is one of the enduring image of racetracks for me... So I read with great interest a feature on Steven Crist, the paper's publisher and chairman, in Harvard Magazine. (He is a Harvard alum.)

An excerpt:

Gambling on Wall Street, or at games of pure chance like roulette, holds no interest for Crist. People sometimes remark that the one thing he hasn’t done in the sport is own a racehorse, but “I own the horse I’m betting on for one minute and 12 seconds, and that’s good enough for me,” he says. “There is a strong feeling of success for your ego when you make a winning bet. When their horse crosses the finish line in front, horseplayers never say, ‘What a good horse!’ They go, ‘That was me—me, me, me!’ That’s part of the pleasure of horse racing, and why it’s so much more fun to pick your own horses than to bet somebody else’s picks. With a Wall Street stock, I can’t imagine the same feeling of satisfaction.”

And Crist blogs here.

Noted

The Daily News asked Bryan Greenberg, cast member of HBO's "How to Make It in America," for "pointers on making it in New York City." Tip No. 5: Find a roommate:

After NYU, I had loans to pay off and rent to pay. It was all about raising funds, getting a roommate, and then getting your girlfriend to move in. It was three people in a small, converted two-bedroom in the East Village, but that's what we could afford.

In case you're home and hungry for Ray's tonight...

The delivery service is working...718-473-9636




Previously on EV Grieve:
Ray's new Saturday evening delivery service starts tomorrow

Dead drunk in the middle of Lafayette Street (and where's his accordion?)

mbrosen shares this story over at Neighborhoodr... Just after midnight in Astor Place, a guy two steps ahead of him passes out in the middle of Lafayette Street, in oncoming traffic. Dead drunk, apparently. So mb gets him out of the street... and we'll let him pick up the story:

We called 911 and summoned an ambulance. While waiting, we and several others that had gathered tried to piece together what happened.

“Do you know where you are?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you then?”
“Brooklyn.”

Then...

He asked several times for his bag…

What was in it, you ask?

His accordion.

“Oh, so you just came from a gig?”
“No, my parents’ place.”

[Photo via]

The Bowery/Third Avenue, 9:16 a.m., 9:23 a.m., Feb. 20

Sorry, wrong number

The Graffiti Friend of EV Grieve (GFOEVG) inexplicably passed along photos from Lady GaGa's new video. And I inexplicably posted one.

Well New York City really has it all (Oh yeah, oh yeah)

In the Sunday Times, Ben Ratliff reviews a book of great interest to me -- "All Hopped Up and Ready to Go," by UK music writer Tony Fletcher. As Ratliff notes, the book "aims to be something that the field of New York City pop-music studies really needs: a casebook of meaningful contact among its populations. The books intention ... is to show how New York’s cultural mix — primarily the black, Latino and Jewish parts of it — enabled its greatest music across a particularly fertile 50-year period, from 1927 to 1977."

An excerpt from the review:

Fletcher finds his groove in the '60s and '70s, with rock and disco, when the narrative bubbles along on outrageous anecdotes, aesthetic movements get charted with full prehistories, and minor players make basic and fascinating assertions. One comes to understand something about the way gay dancers at the Limelight gravitated toward melody over rhythm; and the lucky proximity, during New York’s bombed-out mid-'70s, of CBGB to dope dealers and Gem Spa. (You could show your face at the club, go fix up with heroin and egg cream, and return in time for the headlining band.)

Superdive is open tonight

Previously.

Who's upstairs?

Trouble in pizzadise! Someone dares say that Motorino isn't the GREATEST PIZZA KNOWN TO MANKIND!!!

Well, the nerve! So our new friends over at Launch Stalker decided to check out the much-hyped Motorino after reading the rave reviews in The New York Times. The paper's reviewer stated: "It serves the city’s best pizza." There are locations in Williamsburg and on 12th Street near First Avenue hereabouts.'

An excerpt from Stephen Kosloff's take at Launch Stalker:

The verdict: Motorino is good pizza, but it’s not the best pizza in the city.

Last night I ordered the broccoli and sausage pizza, and it was really salty. I know pizza is inherently salty, but this was an exceptionally salty pizza.

Then there is the crust, which had the exact texture and taste of Indian naan. It tasted fine, but for me the ideal crust is crispy.

Then there is the definition of “pizza,” which for me, because I come from a long line of trash-haulers and fish-mongers, means “slice.”

Sorry to all my haute pizza peeps, but if I’m at a table using a fork and knife, I’d rather be eating steak au poivre. Especially if my entree is over $12.

Gasp! Somewhere, Rachael Ray just spit out her Dunkin' Donut.

Anyway, I've never been to Motorino ... should I bother?