Wholesome Foods now open on Seventh Street and Avenue C

Thanks to our friend East Village Eats for passing along the word...

Previously on EV Grieve:
On Avenue C, market known for Cobra Malt Liquor giving way to Wholesome Foods

East Village Pharmacy closer to opening

As we noted in January, East Village Pharmacy is moving from Fifth Street and Avenue A to Third Street and Avenue A... the new canopy is up... (DNAinfo first reported last September that a pharmacy was set to take this space...)

[Updated] Sidewalk Cafe closed for renovations on Avenue A

Don't know more than this at the moment... The DOB gave them a C in September... with 43 violation points, but nothing that likely led to its closure... In the comments, an employee of another Sidewalk-owned eatery says Sidewalk will reopen in three weeks; that the renovations don't have anything to do with the DOH.

Noted

Today in people dressed as trees in Tompkins Square Park

Oh, I dunno... I'd rather not know what was really happening here... via EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams

Melanie has a great shot of the tree dancing over at East Village Corner.

[Updated] Transformer fire at the ConEd Plant

Several readers have said they see black smoke from somewhere in the East Village ... another reader says there is a huge FDNY presence at the ConEd plant on East 14th Street.

Anyone?

EV Grieve reader Crazy Eddie just sent us some photos...

[Updated]

DNAinfo is on the scene. Per their report:

A transformer fire broke out at a Con Edison substation in the East Village Wednesday afternoon, FDNY and utility officials said.

The fire broke out at the power station on East 14th Street and Avenue D at roughly 2:19 p.m., the FDNY said.

No injuries were immediately reported, fire officials said.

Con Ed workers were also responding to the blaze, a spokesman said.

While no power outages had been reported, some customers may have noticed their lights flicker, reflecting a dip in voltage, according to a Con Ed spokesman.

Anyone's power out?

More wildlife spotted in the East Village

Earlier today on Fourth Avenue near 13th Street. Courtesy of @hula_doll

How you can support the Essex Street Market

During the SPURA debates, BoweryBoogie reports that someone floated the idea of moving the Essex Street Market. As he notes, LES resident Cynthia Lamb is leading the crusade against such plans. Sign the petition to keep the market where it is ... find the petition here.

[Image via]

Humans of New York

Brandon Stanton is on a mission: He wants to find every interesting person in the city, and take their photograph.

And he's on his way. He currently has nearly 1,400 portraits on his website — Humans of New York.

Here's his mission statement:

Humans of New York is a multi-year project to construct a photographic census of the city of New York. The team consists of one man, who walks the streets several hours a day, looking for interesting people, and taking their photograph. Currently, the project is in the gathering phase. The goal is 10,000. Photos are uploaded as they are collected, and arranged by date. When a substantial body of portraits has been gathered, they will be grouped by neighborhood and displayed geographically. Upon completion, an interactive map will show every neighborhood in New York through the faces of its inhabitants.

So far, he has taken plenty of photos in the East Village, including:

The site also includes accompanying stories. Yesterday, he had photos of a traveler on St. Mark's Place named Rancid and her dog Riot. You can find her story here.

I asked Brandon about taking photos in the East Village compared to other parts of the city.

"Anywhere in the East Village is an easy day. The general rule is: 'Anyone who is out to be seen, is willing to be photographed.' Beautiful girls, fashionistas, artists — they love to be seen," he says. "The farther you get from the artistic and high-fashion crowd, the more resistance you run into. In the East Village, I probably get about 90 percent of the portraits I ask for. Somewhere like Bedford-Stuyvesant, that number drops below 50 percent.

"I do tend to value the portraits from rougher neighborhoods more, because they are harder to obtain, and rarer. But whenever I get rundown, its back to the East Village for a breather."

Find more at Humans of New York here.

[All photos by Brandon Stanton. Reprinted with permission]

65 Avenue D on the market — with or without ground-floor church

Massey Knakal has a new listing for 65 Avenue D. According to the listing:

A 19' wide, 4 story, mixed-use building. The building is approximately 3,136 square feet and has approximately 7,364 BSF of air rights remaining. Currently the ground floor and lower level are used as church facility space; the 3rd and 4th floors are floor through apartments which are renovated. The fourth floor is currently rented for $2,626/month until June 2012, but the entire building could potentially be delivered vacant.

Of course! The price: $2.1 million.