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...

Store for rent in the Copper Building

2 Cooper Square isn't the only new East Village condo that will feature retail space... "store for rent" signs have now gone at the Copper Building on Avenue B at 13th Street...




No info just yet on pricing and what not for the space... the original listing didn't mention anything about retail space...

EV Eatery Etc.: Dutch gin on Second Avenue; iPad at Butter Lane

Here at the former Bounce Deuce space on Second Avenue and Sixth Street...someone sunk a fortune into renovating the space... Per Diner's Journal in the Times:

With interest in the ancient Dutch style of gin known as genever growing in cocktail circles, it was only a matter of time before a genever bar opened in New York. Vandaag, near the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street in the East Village, will be the first when it has its soft opening on Tuesday.

As I noted in the spring, a pizza joint was taking over the former Cafe Brama space... Eater has the story of Plum here.



Cafe Hanover in the old Mondo Kim's space is still closed...



Life Cafe reopened this past Thursday after a temporary closure for renovations....



A reader passed along a photo of the iPad in Butter Lane where you can look at cupcakes and stuff. Do with this information as you please.

The grass is always greener on Second Avenue

NYC the Blog reported Friday that a pot plant was found growing here in the wild... Sure, you can click on the NYC the Blog link to find out for yourself where this might be, but I will not be the one to tell you it's on Second Avenue near First Street. No, that wouldn't be the right thing to do. As for looking for it myself, I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Anyway! As NYC the Blog wrote: Is this a public art project meant as wry commentary on how New York City is going to pot?

Gate down at Superdive this weekend

In the 13 months that Superdive has been open here on Avenue A, this is the first time that I've ever seen the gate down. I dialed up their phone number too, maybe order a keg or something. And I got a message saying that this "was not a working number" and to check the number again... I did, via their website...

So what's this mean? Nothing, really... probably just decided to close for the slow summer weekend... and they have a new phone number that they haven't made public yet...

Also on Avenue A: Forbidden City remains closed

Thanks to the reader for this shot... Forbidden City has been closed of late... given the number of complaints levied against the bar/restaurant/club, the CB3/SLA denied their liquor license renewal last month...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Forbidden City's renewal denied

Rock

Oh, just noticed that an exterior sign for Billy Hurricane's on Avenue B is up...Far as I know the bar isn't open just yet...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Whatever happened to simple bar names...concepts?

[Updated] Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

We received the sad news this weekend that Markey Hayden Bena has died.


[Markey, (center) here with Slum Goddess and Johnny "Crutch"]

There are many rumors circulating about what may have happened to Markey. Some basic facts: He was found unconscious several days ago on Seventh Street. He never regained consciousness and died later at a hospital. In an e-mail to Bob Arihood, Markey's aunt said that there was only one mark on his head, which resulted from a fall onto the sidewalk grating. According to his aunt, the NYPD investigated the incident and concluded that he simply fell and hit his head. (Markey was prone to falling down, particularly when he had a few too many drinks.)

As for rumors, followers of Bob's Neither More Nor Less will recall several violent incidents in the past in which Markey had been attacked and beaten by a group of young males. (The first post on this topic was dated May 15, 2009.) In Bob's estimation, Markey had been attacked and beaten five times in the past year. Yesterday, on the hottest day of the year, there was talk in Tompkins Square Park that Markey had been pummeled by baseball-bat-wielding thugs and other scenarios that we'll refrain from circulating.

Regardless, while it's possible that something more happened here, the facts presented to Markey's family show that he died as a result from a fall. So until some further evidence is produced...

Markey was a friend to many people... and the neighborhood has lost another fixture.

Friday night, some of Markey's friends scrapped together enough money to drink to him with 17 King Cobras and a PBR. Friends have erected a memorial for Markey at 224E. Seventh St. near Avenue C.



Updated: A reader said detectives were in Tompkins Square Park this morning asking questions about Markey...

Melanie has a nice photo of Markey in the Park from this past March...

There is family memorial planned for:
Saturday, Sept. 11 at 5 p.m.
Andrett Funeral home, 353 2nd Avenue (at 20th Street)

Thanks to Bob Arihood for the two photos and assistance in gathering the facts for this post.

Yesterday in Tompkins Square Park

Thanks to Red Riotdog for letting me post some photos from yesterday's free show in Tompkins Square Park sponsored by The Shadow...

Chelsea is lost

Tonight on 12th Street and Avenue C

It was a dark and stormy night...

I stood on Avenue B at Sixth Street last evening trying to get photos of the brilliant displays of lightning to the north... wasn't successful...





GammaBlog shot this video of the storm looking from Houston looking north...



Meanwhile, love was in the air!

Per Craigslist:

We watched the lightning storm - m4w (East Village)

Alright, I feel absolutely ridiculous posting on here, but if we met watching a lightning storm last night, and you're actually on this site, I figure it'd be worth a shot....

Meanwhile meanwhile...

Today in Tompkins Square Park.....

The SHADOW Presents: The Headless Horsemen, David Peel + The Lower East Side, Sexual Suicide, BANJI and *Star Fucking Hipsters* [Surprise speakers and more bands to be announced]

Verizon is going to blow the budget on brown paint

On Thursday, we noted a Verizon working painting over a few tags on the 13th Street side of the Verison Building at Second Avenue...


[Photo courtesy of evilnyc]

...and just like that, the wall is full again...





Previously on EV Grieve:
First tag reappears on the Verizon building

Brownout: Verizon building graffiti painted over

Ms. Squeegee tags Shepard Fairey

The latest addition to the Shepard Fairey mural on Houston and The Bowery...





Oops. Apologies to Jen Doll... missed that she had noted this yesterday on Runnin' Scared.

Save our community gardens from bulldozers and condos

Also, please note there has been a change in location for the Aug. 10 citywide meeting on the topic:

Attend the public hearing on the proposed rules on Aug. 10 at Chelsea Recreation Center at 430 W. 25th St. at 11 a.m., and speak in favor of protection for community gardens. If you would like to testify, then please notify Associate Counsel, Laura LaVelle, via telephone at 212-360-1335 or e-mail at laura.lavelle@parks.nyc.gov by Aug. 9.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Protect our community gardens

May the Rapid Deployment Force be with you

Rapid Deployment Force circa 1983... one of the bands on the bill for tomorrow's free show in Tompkins Square Park...

The SHADOW Presents: The Headless Horsemen, David Peel + The Lower East Side, Sexual Suicide, BANJI and *Star Fucking Hipsters* [Surprise speakers and more bands to be announced]

Memorable reader comment of the week

There has been a lot of great discussion here this week... from Tompkins Square Bagels coming to Avenue A.... to looking for Sammy... to First Avenue bike lanes... to Crustypunks...

Thank you for the comments, and being part of all this...

Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from a comment that is, well, one that I'll likely never forget...

"My neighbor once threw away her dead cat in a Duane Reade shopping bag." (From World's largest Duane Reade now open on Union Square)

Movie about bicycle messenger currently blocking bike lane

The "Premium Rush" shoot is getting under way on Avenue A this afternoon... thanks to EV Grieve reader Liam for these photos...




Doesn't the crew know what we've been discussing here?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rush Hours

[Updated] Celebrating the 'GoodFellas' anniversary

Wow..."GoodFellas" is 20 years old this year... And there's a special VIP screening of it tomorrow night at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place... and Henry Hill will be there...

Update: Looks as if there is a special discount on the screening ... info here.

Rush hours

Today, "Premium Rush" follows in the fine tradition of "The Smurfs Movie" and "Step Up 3-D" — movies that filmed scenes on Seventh Street and Avenue A of late...



Looks to be a big production....



And the plot:

An action story set in New York City, where a bike messenger picks up a package at Columbia University and subsequently catches the attention of a dirty cop.

Bike messenger?! Why aren't they filming on those new bike lanes on First Avenue and Second Avenue?!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the lead... in the movie directed by the guy who wrote the screenplays for the "Jurassic Park" blockbusters.

Kind of makes me want to watch "Quciksilver" again.