ICTTS officials disqualify this tree from competition

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Rob D. for the above photo of this poor thing spotted during the weekend on Avenue A between First Street and Second Street.

However, since receiving this photo, officials at the International Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring (ICTTS) said that we cannot include this tree in this year's competition. An official said there is a little-known codicil in the ICTTS constitution that mandates trees must still have 75 percent of its branches intact to qualify.

13th Street, 9:47 a.m., March 6

Putting the Bowery to canvas

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams took these shots yesterday afternoon in front of 35 Cooper Square...

A British immigrant on the LES

EV Grieve reader Samo notes a 53 MG on Forsyth and Houston that drew admiring stares yesterday...

Some FYI per Jalopnik:

The '53 MG TD came with a 54.4 horsepower pushrod four-cylinder engine (yes, that extra 4/10th of a horse was so important that MG included it in the power rating) and was priced at $1,945. That was about $1,500 less than The General's new sports car, the '53 Corvette, but 200 bucks cheaper (and orders of magnitude better-looking) than the Triumph Mayflower. Budget-minded car shoppers who wanted to go a little less sporty could buy the bargain-basement '53 Ford coupe- which probably outperformed the prewar-technology MG TD in just about every category save parallel parking ability — for just $1,734.

About HiFi (and long live El DJ!)

So yesterday afternoon, several readers noted the presence of some big yellow NYPD notices outside HiFi on Avenue A ... While we usually do call/e-mail for details on something like this, we did not yesterday. We quickly posted the photos. And we assumed the worst — as we've seen in other situations involving bars and the NYPD.

So while the bar did receive a summons from the NYPD, it did not have any impact on their business hours. HiFi was open as usual yesterday afternoon. We apologized to the folks at HiFi last evening. And we're sorry for causing any unnecessary hysteria among fans of the bar.

Meanwhile, onward!

Long live El DJ 2.0!

Here's a nice piece on El DJ by Chantal Martineau at Fork in the Road.

Signs of spring on Avenue C

The Church of Earthalujah starting 3-month residency at Theatre 80

Starting tomorrow night, The Church of Earthalujah begins a three-month-or-so residency at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place...

I asked Rev. Billy what attendees can expect.

The Church of Earthalujah at Theatre 80 is not a political rally in a theatre, not a comedy in an improv club, and not a church service with great music — but if isn't all three, you get your money back.

Find out more about what Rev. Billy is up to right here. Find him on Twitter here.

The Church of Earthalujah
Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir
Theatre 80, every Sunday through June, 7:30 PM, 80 St Marks Place
$10, no one turned away

Here's your Veselka Bowery signage

Here we are at the coming-soon Bowery/First Street location of Veselka...

We last heard that the location will open in mid-March, per the Feast.

And here was a progress report from September.

March 5

On East Second Street. And for authenticity purposes. The Holiday Tree Street team placed a copy of today's Post of New York next to the little fellow.

Meanwhile, apparently some upstarts in Park Slope think they can horn in on this late tree tossing thing. EV Grieve reader Kate sent along this shot from March 1 on Eighth Avenue and 10th Street...

Go back to Brooklyn! Uh. Or something!

Eminence Front

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Duke for these photos of the EV Lambo v2.0 from last night on Avenue A... (credit for headline also goes to Duke...)

Today in celebrity endorsements of Clinton Street Baking Co.

[Via]

A mid-Friday-afternoon slice-of-Second-Avenue life

...via EV Grieve contributor Bobby Williams... who rounded the corner at Fourth Street to come across the aftermath of a cab-bicyclist mishap...

Despite the FDNY presence, everyone appeared to be OK...

Earlier

Repeat performance: 'Too Many Creeps'

I posted this Bush Tetras song about 18 months or so ago... One of my favorites — the song and the video, starring the Bowery circa early 1980s...

OK, then! HiFi is open

Well, that was fun. After learning that the NYPD put all those yellow stickers on HiFi earlier ... the bar is open ... a bartender says they did "get a ticket," but it's back to business as usual.

[From EV Grieve corespondent Shawn Chittle]

We removed the original headline ... the bar is open

Wow... here on 169 Avenue A...

To be continued... Photos courtesy of Shawn Chittle.

All sorts of crazy, Bao-related food shit happening on St. Mark's Place

Lordy! Eater has the details on ... on.... this:

Michael 'Bao' Huynh has a new concept up his sleeve. He's partnering with Nicole Van Croft (left!) a Playboy Bunny ... on a burger, fried chicken, and waffles concept on St. Mark's Place. Croft, who Bao says makes "the best southern style fried chicken and waffles" will be the culinary force behind the place, which will be located at 125 St. Mark's Pl. The tentative name is Bao & Buny.

And there's more... which you can read at Eater.

Here's '30 Rock' filming at Lucky Cheng's this morning

As mentioned earlier.

[Thanks to EV Grieve reader Lori E. Seid for the shot!]

'Another' DeNiro movie filming on East 12th Street

In addition to "30 Rock" filming around here today ... @jschauma points out that "Another Night" — starring Robert DeNiro and Paul Dano — set up shop this morning on East 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (P.S. — you're too late to pose as a crew member for a free breakfast from craft services) ... This is the adaptation of Nick Flynn's memoir "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City."

BoweryBoogie has more on "Another Night" filming around the LES...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo of the Mosaic Man by Bobby Williams]

Woman in coma after parking-space attack on East 14th Street (The Post)

About cell-phone use at registers (The Grumbler)

Check out this interview featuring Eden and John's East River String Band and Robert Crumb (Down Home Radio)

A shackled LES Jewels takes a spill in an ambulance (Nadie Se Conoce)

#AskMike (as in Bloomberg) on Twitter (Runnin' Scared)

A meal at Hinsch's in Brooklyn (Eater)

Another season of "Oddities" at Obscura Antiques on East 10th Street (BoweryBoogie)

Activists get primed for projects at ‘Land Use 101’ (The Villager)

The famous Macy's "holdout" building (Ephemeral New York)

Beware the MTA police on the M15 SBS (NYC the Blog)

Cute kitties! (New York Shitty)

And EV Grieve reader Samo notes a woman with a bloodied nose awaiting medical attention on Houston near the Bowery...

When people stop being polite... and start getting drunk

Outside Destination on Avenue A and 13th Street.

We have a feeling that we'll hear more from Flint-native Shawn Chittle on this matter. (And Shawn took the pic.)

'30 Rock' setting up to shoot inside Lucky Cheng's

That's the word from a reader just now on First Avenue... Photos anyone?

Phil Hartman bringing a 'performance venue' back to former Mo Pitkin's space

This (kind of!) confirms the rumors that we had been hearing... and mentioned back on Feb. 23: Phil Hartman is going to make another go at 34 Avenue A, which was most recently Aces and Eights.

Hartman and his brother Jesse opened Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction — the two-level restaurant/bar/performance space — in 2005.

It closed two years later. As New York put it: "[Mo Pitkin's] was the promised land for the busty neo-burlesque stars, pseudo-sane performance artists, and guitar-playing trapeze acrobats rendered homeless by the closing of Fez (and Surf Reality and Collective Unconscious and every other small, anything-goes downtown venue)."

The landlord sold the building a year later, Aces and Eights arrived in March 2009 ... So enough history...

Phil Hartman's name is listed as the contact on the just-posted CB3 flyer outside 34 Avenue A...

We reached out to Hartman last night to learn more about his plans. We haven't heard back yet.

Deal apparently in place for former Croxley Ales beer garden

Back in November 2009, we noted that the former beer garden at Croxley Ales was on the market...



A quick recap:

East Village Development Site/Retail Space opportunity. The subject property is currently a vacant lot with 24 feet of frontage on Avenue B. My client is looking to sell the property which has approximately 7,680 buildable square feet, or sign a long term triple net lease for a retail tenant. The retail space can be built out to approximately 3,840 square feet of commercial space not including the basement.

And now an EV Grieve tipster notes that someone has removed the sign ... (not to mention the tree) ...

...and it appears some work has started on the space...

We contacted David W. Seid, president of DSR New York, who had the listing for the space — known as 26 Avenue B. Via an e-mail, he said: "I can't officially comment yet on what's going on Avenue B until it's finalized. If you would like to check back in with me at the end of March I should be able to give you more details."

Meanwhile, there aren't any filings just yet with the DOB. (On Tuesday, one resident called the DOB to complain about "illegal demolition." The city didn't spot any at the time of its inspection.)

Until we know more, we might as well wildly speculate! Anyone?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Croxley Ales beer garden ready for development

Things that I didn't notice before: The beer garden at Croxley Ales has closed

The Boozerists

"Boozerists" (n) 1. A weekend non-resident visitor to the East Village or Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan who booze, e.g. drink heavily, binge drink; 2. Persons who yell "woo hoo!" during early hours of the morning; 3. Any person seeking an all you-can-drink brunch.

Definition courtesy of Shawn Chittle.

Predator spotted on Seventh Street

EV Grieve Technologically Advanced Form of Extraterrestrial Life Correspondent Bobby Williams spotted this outside Tokio 7 on Seventh Street... from the greatest film ever made, of course — "Predator."

And in the immortal words of Dutch: "We move. Five meter spread. No sound."

A mural grows on East Third Street

EV Grieve reader Aaron passes along these photos, noting the progress yesterday on the wall adjacent to the Project Renewal facility on Third Street east of the Bowery...

We stopped by ourselves to take a look ... a Project Renewal employee was unsure what the final mural will be ... and wouldn't let us onto the property to ask the man painting the mural...

Reader reports: Big fire at 202 Mott St.

[Photos via @jbeltowska]

@jbeltowska reports that the fire is on the on 3rd or 4th floor of an apartment building on this intersection in Nolita. "Burning debris has been falling out the windows."

[Photos by @elucidateamy]

BoweryBoogie is on the scene at 202 Mott St. As he noted, the fire started in a building across the street from Lombardi's.

[Updated]

Just before 10, we heard the FDNY had the fire under control... and no injuries have been reported. DNAinfo reports that a 75-year-old woman suffered first-degree burns on her head.

$71 million later, the Cooper Square Hotel has a new owner

The Real Deal reported today that the Cooper Square Hotel handed the keys over to Westport Capital Partners as part of a $71 million debt restructuring deal. As the story notes, the original hotel owners quickly ran into financial trouble after opening in 2008.

Meanwhile! Managing partner Klaus Ortlieb said that "March room rates are averaging around $300 per night with 85 percent occupancy, with rates expected to rise into the mid-$300 range over the summer and $400s in the fall."

Sex, drag and rock-n-roll: The New York Dolls on the 1970s...

Vanity Fair has an interview with David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, the sole surviving members of the New York Dolls, who have a new record coming out... Here's an excerpt from the Q-and-A:

Let’s talk about New York during the 70s. Stories from that era tend to be romantically gritty and over the top. It’s always something like, “So I was living in an apartment over a peep booth theater run by a midget, and one day these mobsters showed up with a meat truck filled with uncut cocaine...”

SS: That’s usually it. There’s a lot of nostalgic exaggeration about that time. But it was also much more dangerous than people remember. Back then, we got our asses kicked constantly. We had our first loft in SoHo, and some of our first musical experiences were there. But you took your life in your hand just walking through the neighborhood after 5 o’clock. If you were in Greenwich Village and you crossed Houston into SoHo, kids would come right up to you and beat the hell out of you, just because you had long hair or you were walking with a black guy or something. People say to me all the time, “Wasn’t it great back then?” No, it was not!

Alex has more over at Flaming Pablum about who the Dolls will tour with this summer (Mötley Crüe and Poison!) ...

And, why not...

Death & Co. will be closed for one more night

That's the word from owner David Kaplan to us via e-mail: "Looks like [the State Liquor Authority is] taking their time — it will be one more day. Closed tonight and they say we'll be open tomorrow." Death & Co. on East Sixth Street is just awaiting their liquor license renewal...

Previously.

Golden globe

At this time of the late afternoon, it appears newly crowned Best Actress Natalie Portman has a golden dome on the Bowery...

Tag sale at Rite Aid?

First Avenue and Fifth Street via EV Grieve contributor Bobby Williams.

You'll feel like a total frickin' rock star from Mars

Heh.

Via @elvainadine