Thursday, December 30, 2010

Posts that I never got around to posting in 2010: Cooper Square Hotel Guests



Written but never posted on July 18...

I walked by the Cooper Square Hotel the other morning ... and the two people in the attached photo walked out the front doors...

A bellhop type held the door open for them and bid the couple farewell...then he looked at his co-worker and they both started snickering... Maybe the laughter had nothing to do with the couple. Or, more likely, the Cooper Square Hotel continues to act like a high school bully....

Rejected posts from 2010: Food truck craze getting out of hand



Posts that I never got around to posting in 2010: What would happen if you wore the Ludlow Suit on Ludlow Street?


Trend pieces that we never covered this fall: Abandoned cupcakes



Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Earlier this evening on Stuyvesant Street and 10th Street

Imperial Tavern and Superdive pretty much having the same New Year's Eve party

The new Imperial Tavern on Ludlow Street...



Superdive...

Le Souk: New Year's Eve party still on



Previously.

Superdive on the January CB3/SLA docket


The Lo-Down notes that the CB3/SLA agenda is out now... (Set your calendar: Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m.)

A few highlights ... including confirmation that Superdive is coming back from the dead...

Renewal with Complaint History
• La Vie (La Cave LLC), 64 East 1th St

Applications within Resolution Areas
• Coyi Cafe (Constance L Enterprise Inc), 42 Ave B (wb)

• Cien Fuegos (Cien Fuegos LLC), 95 Ave A

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades
• Superdive (Rapture Cafe & Books LLC), 200 Ave A (alt/op/legalize work done, move bar)

New Liquor License Applications
• Ashton Thai Place Inc, 244 E 13th St (wb)

Today in post-blizzard walks

The M15 Select Bus Service has never been more convenient!



Now the fun begins! Identifying the various stains in the snow!



This NYU dorm on Third Avenue and NYU uses the A&L Cesspool Service.



An igloo of sorts in front of the Bowery Hotel...



The Street Life Ministries provides a most valuable service for this and other neighborhoods... Their musical selection today was questionable, though: "Let it Snow."

Mysteries! Who shovels the sidewalk in front of the Mystery Lot?



Also, the blanket of snow brings the graffiti to life...






Long live the Mystery Lot!

[Updated] Rumors: SLA rescinds Le Souk's New Year's Eve plans for Avenue B

A tipster notes that the State Liquor Authority (SLA) has pulled the special permit for Le Souk to hold a New Year's Eve bash at their former Avenue B home.

We're awaiting confirmation from the SLA on this.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Le Souk is 'exceptionally back to its former location'

UPDATED: The folks at Le Souk said via Twitter that the party is still on.

Exclusive: Q-and-A with the bike that became an iconic symbol of the 2010 Holiday Blizzard

This photo by Mario Tama for Getty Images became one of the iconic shots of the Blizzard of Dec. 26, 2010.... Around the globe the shot — now known as The Shot — became associated with the devastating wallop that Mother Nature cruelly delivered the East Coast after Dec. 25...



The bike currently resides on Avenue C at Eighth Street...



We caught up with the rather ornery bike for a wide-ranging interview on everything from new-found celebrity to Forever 21.

There are thousands of bikes buried in the East Village right now. How did the photographer pick you?

I don't know, but I'm thankful for the exposure.

What does your owner have to say about the photo?

I haven't talked with her about it yet. I think she's stuck upstate with her sister. To be honest, I haven't seen her much lately.

I notice that you don't have a seat. What happened?

It went missing right after Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup this past summer. Some drunk guy with a German flag yanked it off and threw it across the street. He laughed and yelled "Deutschland! Deutschland! Deutschland! Deutschland!" [Pauses] I was in a bit of shock. A few minutes later, an ambulance went by and ran it over. I saw the manager from the laundromat clean it off the street and throw it away. I haven't been taken for a ride — so to speak — since then.

Where did you grow up?

The West Village. I liked it there, but my owner got married, and she turned to yoga instead. I ended up on Craigslist. It didn't help that her new husband is a neurologist. He is really over-protective. He even makes her wear a helmet while taking a shower. [Laughs] I heard her talking about it on the phone on the way to Gourmet Garage one day.

I didn't know that people still went to Gourmet Garage.

Tell me about it. She liked their instant meals. Not to mention their scallion egg salad.

So what do you think of this neighborhood?

Specifically Avenue C and Eighth Street? Or the East Village in general?

Avenue C and Eighth Street.

I think it represents the best of the neighborhood's rich history and diversity. You have all sorts of people living here — families who have been here for generations, newcomers, singles, newlyweds. And everyone seems to get along.

What's the worse part of living here?

Probably the weekend drink-and-drown brunch crowd at the Sunburnt Cow. These people from God-knows-where show up and get really smashed. They stagger away. When I had a seat, someone was always pausing here, putting cell phones or purses or iced skim lattes on me. And they all dress alike. You can only pull off Forever 21 for so long.

The Times declared Avenue C the next big thing back in 2005. From your vantage, what do you think?

There is a bit of carpetbaggery going on with some of the new upscale bars and restaurants, but I still haven't seen an influx in, say, Trek Speed Concept time trial bikes chained up along here.

I find it hard to believe anyone would chain up a bike like that outside.

You'd be amazed at what I've seen chained up.

What do you think of the city's new bike lanes?

Obviously I'm supportive of anything pro-bicycle. My owner likes them. I do take issue with the segregation. You have your bus lane, your bike lane. When will Bloomberg start calling the sidewalks the People Lane? Do you really want to walk on something so seemingly condescending? So it's no wonder that so many cyclists prefer to use the other parts of the streets.

What is your impression of NYC motorists?

That's an awfully broad question. In general, I dislike cars, especially rentals — the weekend warriors who get the Zip Car like once or twice a year. They're not [used to driving] on a regular basis, and they do stupid stuff, such as turn left from the far right-hand lane.

Favorite movie about cycling?

[Sighs] "Breaking Away." It's an unerringly accurate coming-of-age story about four discontented blue-collar young men spending their last summer of freedom in Bloomington, Indiana. They are unemployed and patronized by snobbish students....

I've seen it.

[Rudely] Please let me finish. "Breaking Away" is funny, deeply moving, painfully honest: at the end you feel good in a rather special way. Plus, I've always had a Dennis Quaid thing. He can sit on me any day.

Weird how the film's star, Dennis Christopher, just sort of disappeared.

True. I'm told that he gets steady work on TV, though. I don't see much TV. Which is likely a good thing considering there are so few good parts for bikes these days. I did see some of "American Chopper." Not bad.

Best thing about your new-found celebrity?

Some tourists looking for McSorley's have done some FlipCam stuff with me...

McSorley's? A little off the beaten path?

[Chuckles] Yeah, they said this guy in front of Ray's said that the bar is on Seventh Street and Avenue D. Anyway, the boys at the deli at Associated have brought me some egg-and-cheese sandwiches and rotisserie chickens. That's sweet, though I'd prefer some air and oil. And a seat.

Today in now and thens: Southeast Corner of Fourth Street and the Bowery

1932...


1970s...



Now...



For more about this corner, go right here.

Top photo by Charles Von Buren via The Museum of the City of New York

Middle photo via the Phebe's website.

This snow was meant for packin'

Some photos from late afternoon yesterday in Tompkins Square Park courtesy of Bobby Williams...




Totale Pizza looking closed on St. Mark's Place

Totale Pizza opened on St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue back in May... The place has been looking a little closed of late...



Maybe just some slow-week renovations? Anyway, I rarely see anyone inside here, though I heard the pizza is quite tasty .... The owners are also behind the cheapo 2 Bros up the street...

D-Lish Pita expected to open soon



That's the word anyway here on Avenue A near Sixth Street... workers said the place should be ready for d-lish food in "the next few days." Here at the former home of Habib's Place...and France's Beauty Salon.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Snow dogs




East Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Welcome back to New York!

We've heard many hellish travel stories this week... our friend Marty Wombacher passed along these shots from LaGuardia tonight... he made it back to the New York, though he was waiting it out at a bar for the two-hour cab line to subside...



Scharf Attack: Deitch Wall tagged




Billy Leroy, proprietor of Billy's Antique's, passes along these photos ... noting that the Kenny Scharf mural on Houston and The Bowery has been hit...

Updated: Sorry... missed that Animal NY already had this... See their photos here.

Mounds of trouble

These photos are courtesy of @MichaelTSanchez.