Graceland has closed

Graceland, the deli that has been at the corner of Avenue A and Second Street since 1991, closed for good tonight ... (thanks to BaHa for letting me know the official date...) The doors were locked some time around 6:30 tonight, a neighbor said... several people walked by and were surprised to see the familiar 24-hour bodega grocery closed...







Several readers said that the rent was being increased to $20,000 a month by the landlord... Another grocer is expected to take over the space... some of the crew here will go to work next door at Gracefully...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland is closing in the next 10 days

Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Graceland addresses its customers

Live Chat Roulette in Tompkins Square Park

Two NYU students are currently in Tompkins Square Park looking for volunteers to play Live Chat Roulette.... It's for a class on human interactions or something, though I wasn't really paying attention when the students were talking to me...




And I hope that everyone who participates keeps it in their pants...unlike what happens on the Web some times (you pervs).

Updated: Shepard Fairey creating new mural for the Cooper Square Hotel

Following up on yesterday's post about the whitewashing of the mural on the Cooper Square Hotel... Just like that, a new mural is in progress...




We asked a Cooper employee for confirmation of the artist, but he said he didn't know... Uh-huh. Anyway, Shepard Fairey is creating this mural too.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Goodbye Homer Simpson: The Cooper Square Hotel has a white wall again

Why you shouldn't read pages 20-21 in the Post today

David's Bagels space becoming a Mexican restaurant

After 21 years in the business, David's Bagels closed on First Avenue near 14th Street in August 2008. The landlord asked for a big rent hike...



...and was rewarded with an empty storefront for about 20 months...Now, though, as EV Grieve reader Kim passed along, workers are gutting the old space...




A nearby shopkeeper says the space will become a Mexican restaurant. "Tacos, burritos -- that kind of shit."



For further reading:
David's Bagels (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

A sad day for bagels (Blah Blog Blah ... and Jill gets credit for that top photo)

Ten months later, David’s space still empty (East Village Idiot)

Goodbye Homer Simpson: The Cooper Square Hotel has a white wall again

As Curbed first pointed out yesterday... the ode to Homer on the side of the Cooper Square Hotel was being painted over by, uh, painters... And so I went by yesterday to see what was what and all at our favorite local eyesore (uh, the hotel, not the art)...



And Blake Lively?! (No.)




And those poor bushes were smashed/displaced again on Fifth Street...



And today...



At least the Coop put on the bush condoms for safe gardening...



Anyway, I'll always remember the first site of Homer...

Even the Pee Phone is more expensive now

Previously!


Now!



This is what happens when you become World Famous! Avenue A and Seventh Street, of course.

Meanwhile, for more fun under the sidewalk shelter here, I refer you to Bob Arihood and Melanie.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New prices for the world famous Pee Phone wiped away

Fourth Street, 9:12 a.m., April 24

Second Avenue, 7:39 p.m., April 23

Free popcorn at 10th Street...

Rocks off

From "The House of the Rising Punk."

Who's having the best week ever?

From the comments:

Between the Superdive death and the scathing piece on Ben Shaoul in The Real Deal, UPPER Avenue A residents are having the BEST WEEK EVER!!

Does this mean the Cooper Square Hotel no longer wants to fit in with the neighborhood?

Curbed has the news that the mural on the side of the Cooper Square Hotel is being painted over right now... And they produced the above evidence...

As you may recall, the Hotel hired four graffiti artists — Joyce Pensato, Nick 1, Vizie and Shinique Smith — to create the mural.

As you also may recall:

Klus Ortleib, the hotel's managing partner, wants the place to fit in with the edgy local art scene. "When I came up with the idea, people said I was crazy," he said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Cooper Square Hotel's attempt to fit in with the neighborhood ready to be unveiled

New Avenue B bar won't be fratty or barfy, owner claims

Well! The other day we were understandbly horrified curious when we heard, via our friends at Grub Street, that a Speakeasy/Mardi Gras style bar is coming to 25 Avenue B. Hmmmm.....

Regardless! Grub Street's Daniel Maurer followed up with the new owner and learned that maybe we all shouldn't have the fear...:

We called the joint’s operator Kyle Radzyminski (also a partner in Thunder Jackson’s) and asked him whether East Village residents should invest in mops.

"We aren’t looking at ruining the neighborhood," Radzyminski told us. That's one thing people get frightened of. A couple of our guys have families and multiple kids. It's more of a place where you can watch sports, not a frat house." Radzyminski assured us that he’s looking to open "a place for almost anyone and everyone."

Goggla left this comment the other day: "Avenue B, the new Bourbon Street...hang on to your bead curtains." Heh. But can you imagine this place and Croxley's operating at the same time....?

[Photo via]

The "bad old days" are here again story of the day!

From the Post!

Gangs of wilding teens terrorized straphangers this week in a violent spate of daytime robberies and assaults on Manhattan subways -- another indicator the city could be sinking back to the bad old days that once gripped the Big Apple with fear.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Trend alert! The bad old days are here again!

Are the "bad old days" here again...again?