Inside the Star Fucking Hipsters mosh pit

Bob Arihood braved the masses during the Star Fucking Hipsters set last Saturday in Tompkins Square Park....









Earlier, we posted some shots by Red Riotdog... see those here.

CB3 parks overrun by rats; lack toilets

We've been writing about the threat facing community gardens ... the agreement protecting various gardens from developers expires in September...

The matter will be discussed tonight during the full Community Board 3 meeting...

6:30 pm
IS 131 — 100 Hester St. (between Eldridge and Forsyth streets)

Information about the community gardens portion is in CB3 agenda statement ... meanwhile, few other things caught my eye while reading the agenda:

Parks/Recreation/Cultural Affairs/Landmarks

• Community Board 3, like most districts in the City, does not meet the City Planning Commission's guidelines for per capita open space. The open space/population ratio is approximately 0.7 acres per 1000 people. By comparison, the Governor's Open Space Report recommended 2.5 acres per 1000, and New York City averages 1.5 acres. The open space that we do have is not evenly distributed throughout the district. The area west of Avenue A and the Chinatown area lack adequate open space. Compounding this deficiency is the increased use of existing parks by individuals and groups for organized events from both inside and outside the community. Increasingly, groups from outside of our district are using Community Board 3 parks. While we do not seek to exclude outside groups from our parks, we do feel that priority should be given to local groups. ... The Community Board insists on policies that foster the most open use of facilities by residents of the community while respecting safety concerns. Any agreements between Parks and other entities should be brought to Community Board 3 prior to finalization.

• A few community gardens have been transferred to the Parks Department, but at the same time, the fate of many others is still uncertain. For sites not being transferred to the Parks Department, the City should consider transferring them to local community organizations that can maintain the locations as permanent open community space. Once open space is lost to development, it is very unlikely that it will ever be replaced.



• Community Board 3 parks have continued to be overrun with rats year after year. This is aggravated by some specific conditions such as the underground space beneath Peter Cooper Park and the dense grass coverage on the Essex strip at Seward Park. Although the grasses are beautiful visually, they must be replaced so that the park can be better baited and maintained. The Parks Department has only one full time exterminator, which does not allow for adequate baiting. Although many of the Parks staff has been trained to meet the need of more extermination, they do not have the years of experience and expertise that comes with experience. More full time experienced extermination and staff to maintain and clean the parks is necessary to protect the health and public safety of the community. Until it has enough staff to adequately deal with the problem, Parks should work with the Health Department for regular and frequent baiting.

• Parks also needs improved procedures for park event permits. Community groups complain that information and approvals are not communicated in a timely manner. The Community Board has suggested that small, non-recurring events, such as school end-of-year parties and similar events, be handled in an expedited manner. A birthday party for 3-year olds may not necessitate review by Parks.

• Toilets in Community Board 3 parks and playgrounds are badly needed. There are several locations of which the Parks Department is already aware, but some of the longest standing needs are the toilets in Luther Gulick Park, Corlears Hook Park, and Sol Lain Parks. The lack of functioning toilets in this park is exacerbated by its proximity to the East River Park amphitheatre. The numerous concerts in the amphitheatre and the continuing overflow of pedestrians through Corlears during concert season suggests that Parks make this a higher priority. Since 2008, Parks has not yet advised CB3 of any progress concerning toilets.

An eatery for nearly every corner on the Bowery

After seeing that 2 Cooper Square will likely one day be home to a restaurant in its retail space...



...it's time to look at the fledgling restaurant row here ... in which every corner has, or will have, a bar/restaurant...

Well, you could start at Houston with Pulino's on the corner...



...and, while DBGB, isn't technically on a corner, it is the next closest business to the corner...



...then you have Double Crown on the southwest corner of Bleecker...



with Think Coffee on the north side...



...there's the new Taavo Somer/William Tigertt diner on the northeast corner of Second Street...



...Sala next to the empty lot on Great Jones...



...and Gemma on the east side of the Bowery...



...it's just a matter of time before the former Salvation Army East Village Residence becomes a restaurant... (it almost became a sushi joint last summer...)



...And!... it's just a matter of time before Downtown Auto and Tire becomes a restaurant ... (it almost became a Segafredo Zanetti Espresso Café a few weeks back...)



...and, of course, Bbar and Grill here on Fourth Street across the way from 2 Cooper Square....



...and on the southeast corner of Fourth Street, there's Phebe's...



So! That's nine corner spots... with three on the way... one dozen spots for roughly four blocks...not to mention everything in between...such as the V Bar's new theater/restaurant combo action at the former Amato Opera...

The 'immense' work continues at St. Brigid's

A few weeks ago, I noted the ongoing work at St. Brigid's on Avenue B and Eighth Street... from my untrained eye, it appeard that the entire northside wall had been removed... I checked in with Edwin Torres, chairman of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's, for an update...



"The work going on is immense. The floor in the basement has not been poured yet ... but yes, the north wall was dismantled."



And as for a finish date: Work is currently scheduled to wrap up next summer.

Previously.

U-turn like this, and you'll likely be hit

Given some of the taxi tomfoolery I see (quick stops, illegal turns, etc., etc.), I'm surprised that I haven't encountered more scenes like this on Avenue A last night between Ninth and 10th streets...




Bob Arihood, on the beat one last time, captured the T-boned cab making an illegal u-turn... and getting popped by the other cab...

Looking at the Village Green condo pool table

Just off the lobby by the new gym Wellness Center here on 11th Street...




Figured an eco-indulgent building would have a pool table with ... green billiard cloth or Mali pool table felt.

Meanwhile, the lobby and pool table make an appearance in a new listing for a home here via Corcoran...

ConEd back on 11th Street; ditto for 10th Street

We recently noted that ConEd had wrapped up its work on First Avenue and 11th Street... and just like that, the steampipe is back ...




ConEd has also been working day and night on 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue....apparently there are (or were) a few buildings and other other assorted apartments without power...




Thanks to EV Grieve reader Blue Glass for these two photos...

Lethal weapons

Heh. Avenue A near 14th Street... (And a new "Expendables" poster has already replaced this one...)

Concerning a witness' tale

The following post was reported on and written by Bob Arihood. He also contributed the photos.



Sunday night we found a witness that was present when Markey was picked up by an ambulance . We will call this witness , known to this writer as G . G also made the call to 911 to get medical care for Markey and another passed out Russian individual known as Igor . G felt that Igor was in worse condition than Markey , thus when Markey was actually taken away it was mistakenly assumed that he was Russian. Because of this there was some considerable confusion that made it much more difficult to correctly identify Markey . Markey was taken in at Beth Israel hospital as a "John Doe" . What follows is G's recounting of Markey's last afternoon on 7th street and his removal to Beth Israel Hospital by ambulance .



G , a friend and drinking buddy of Markey, was walking west on 7th street near 226 east 7th street with another drinking buddy when he noticed Markey . G and his associate had been to the "Cobra" store . This store, just a short distance away at the corner of 7th street and avenue C, has the best prices on the cheapest of malt liquors — King Cobra Malt Liquor . Cobra is the favorite of many, including Markey . Many of Markey's friends walk this stretch of 7th street to and from this store all day long .



It was the hottest day of the year , the temperature was well beyond 100 degrees . G noticed that Markey , surrounded by numerous empty Cobra cans , was motionless and that a white froth was seeping past his parted lips. On this hot afternoon Markey was supine and motionless where the man , probably Igor , is seen in the picture below , not where Markey's little memorial is seen today . G nudged his leg and Markey mumbled a bit . Having no cell phone, G asked a man from the church across the street to call for an ambulance because he feared that both Igor and Markey were in trouble , drunken sick in the heat on this hottest of days . Assuming that the ambulance would arrive G went on his way .



30 minutes later G again passed by Markey who, when he again nudged him, was utterly unresponsive . No call had been made . G found a phone and made a call to 911 himself and the ambulance arrived in 4 or 5 minutes . The medical technicians worked on Markey at the scene for a long time and then took him to Beth Israel . G insisted that they take his possessions . The ambulance crew refused to take Markey's possessions with him to the hospital . Markey's possessions amounted to a backpack with his few personal effects including, most importantly, his writings . These possessions were fortunately all gathered together and taken by a friend who happened by chance to walk by .

Nothing that G witnessed at the scene indicated to him that Markey had been beaten or in anyway abused by anyone . G's conclusion is consistent with that of Markey's family , NYPD and the attending doctors at Beth Israel . Markey died of a head injury received when he fell and struck his head earlier that hottest of days this July of 2010 .

Markey's family also passed along the link to an online guest book for friends to sign.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

Reminders tonight: Community Garden Planning Meeting

Time: 7 PM
Location: ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St., between Clinton and Suffolk Streets, First Floor
Summary: The community gardens are up for review again and we need to come up with some strategies to save them.



From the meeting notice:

Throughout Times Up's! long history, we have always been educating the city about the benefits of community gardens. Our volunteers and supporters have continuously been involved with protecting, saving, maintaining and creating new ones.

Years ago, Time's Up! and the More Gardens coalition were working together diligently to protect gardens. In an important campaign at the Esperanza Community Garden on 7th Street, we were involved in a two month, 24 hour encampment, complete with lock downs, a working press team, and a legal team.

When the city decided to destroy the Esperanza Community Garden with backing from Donald Capoccia, a serial garden killer, on February 15th, 2000, Time's Up! and More Gardens had helped assemble over 100 people inside the garden. Dozens were locked to cement blocks and decorative towers.

In addition to the lock downs, garden activists sought the help of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to save the garden. As the garden was being threatened, the activists working with Spitzer rushed this case to Justice Richard D. Huttner of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. As Huttner was ruling, the city went ahead anyway and demolished Esperanza Gardens.

With news of the destruction reaching court, Huttner awarded temporary restraining orders and his ruling blocked the city from moving against 174 lots until the court was to meet again in a month. Although we lost the Esperanza Garden, the campaign was successful as we heightened the awareness and importance to save all of the gardens that were on the citys auctioning block. The number of lots that received restraining orders was increased to up to 200 more with the 2002 Spitzer Agreement.

Unfortunately, this temporary restraining order is up for review this year. Lets work together with the community and protect these gardens for good!

And here is a news release on the matter.

2 Cooper will have retail and restaurants, probably

But of course! According to the RKF site, up to 22,764 square feet of retail/restaurant space is available. And the new tenants can take possession of the space in September, the site notes.



And if you're a floor-plan junkie, then you're in luck! There are plenty of floor plans!






The west side of the Bowery falls under CB2's jurisdiction... so they'll be the ones wrestling with another liquor license along this stretch.

Will Stable Court become a reality?

If you look at the retail plans on the RKF site for 2 Cooper Square, then you'll notice the inclusion of Stable Court...



According to the indispensable Forgotten NY,

Stable Court is one of those "only-on-maps" streets. Many maps show Stable Court on the west side of Cooper Square just north of East 4th Street.

No court is immediately apparent. But...

...a driveway alongside the brick building that harbors the Village Voice offices goes west, then north, just like the maps say Stable Court does. So, maybe Stable Court isn't just fiction after all.

Just south of Stable Court, or where it's supposed to be, stands the Old Merchant's House Museum, in which a colonial-era town house owned and occupied by the Tredwell family for centuries is maintained in the style of the 19th Century.

So will there actually be a court/street/alley here?

As you can see, there is a gap between 2 Cooper and the Kaplan Building...




And Stable Court flows into the empty lot between 2 Cooper and the Merchant House...




I'm very curious to see what becomes of this lot... and of Stable Court...