Today in Tompkins Square Park .... by Bobby Williams...
Friday, September 30, 2011
How you can make a personal connection to the Mystery Lot
Ohh! This afternoon outside the Mystery Lot on East 14th Street... looks like some street art shenanigans!
And this sign explains what's going on here...
And this sign explains what's going on here...
[Updated] Radiohead [NOT] playing at Occupy Wall Street
From the EV Grieve inbox...
Radiohead will play a surprise show for #occupywallstreet today at four in the afternoon. Press conference at one in the afternoon.
[Updated] Radiohead management says the band isn't playing, per multiple media outlets. Per Gawker: "what might happen if Radiohead doesn't show up could be more interesting than if they did."
[Updated 3:12 from Occupy Wall Street's spokesperson] "The concert is unconfirmed. Sorry about this — I'm in the dark as much as you as to what's going on right now."
[Updated 3:44 from Occupy Wall Street's spokesperson] "I got hoaxed. Radiohead was never confirmed. Completely our fault. Apologies. The band were victims in this hoax as well."
Radiohead will play a surprise show for #occupywallstreet today at four in the afternoon. Press conference at one in the afternoon.
[Updated] Radiohead management says the band isn't playing, per multiple media outlets. Per Gawker: "what might happen if Radiohead doesn't show up could be more interesting than if they did."
[Updated 3:12 from Occupy Wall Street's spokesperson] "The concert is unconfirmed. Sorry about this — I'm in the dark as much as you as to what's going on right now."
[Updated 3:44 from Occupy Wall Street's spokesperson] "I got hoaxed. Radiohead was never confirmed. Completely our fault. Apologies. The band were victims in this hoax as well."
EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition
Michael Moore at the St. Mark's Bookshop (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
At Occupy Wall Street (Slum Goddess)
Check out Jefferson Siegel's incredible photos from the Occupy Wall Street arrest at Union Square (The Villager)
Issue one of the East Village Eye (Nonetheless)
The 1970s NYC street photography of Leland Bobbé (The New York Times)
Marty walks by the gut-wrenching, gut-renovated Waverly Restaurant ...
...on his way to the Washington Square Diner (Marty After Dark)
The next subway stations to receive cellphone service (Gothamist)
Facts about renter's insurance (Stuy Town Living)
The life of a rag picker on Mulberry Street (Ephemeral New York)
Know your rights: Help with understanding NYC rent laws
EV Grieve reader EVFlip wrote the following article... Per EVFlip: "Recently, due to a change in my building's ownership, I've become more active in housing issues. I always thought I was the only one who didn't know about NYC rent laws, but as I speak with more and more neighbors, I find that very few people know their rights."
As Mayor Bloomburg pursues rebranding New York City as a "luxury item," paving the way for aggressive landlords to clean house, New Yorkers need to educate themselves regarding their rights. Many of us have a vague idea of our housing rights and the laws concerning rent stabilized apartments.
If your building has six or more units and was built before 1973, then probably your apartment is, or once was stabilized. If your apartment is not currently rent stabilized, then you still need to know about rent stabilization! Roughly, an estimated 20,000 apartments are destabilized each year. Many are destabilized illegally. The tenant has four years to catch an overcharge before it becomes permanent. Illegal overcharges consistently lead to the illegal destabilization of rent stabilized apartments.
Too many of us depend on the perceived trustworthiness of real-estate agents, managing agents, and landlords. Their job is to turn a profit, not to advocate for you. Just because you are presented with a lease stating that your apartments rent is X, does not mean that X is the legal rent. There is no state or city agency that will catch this. It is your responsibility to find out.
So what can you do?
Get your rent history! It is a simple phone call, (718) 739-6400. You'll go through a short automated menu, and then you'll speak to an operator. Ask for your full rent history, back to 1984. The operator will ask for your name and address and that's it. In a few days, you'll receive your rent history in the mail.
Some management companies specialize is prepping buildings for sale. One way to do this is preferred rents. A stabilized apartment for $1600/month may be offered to let at $1,200/month. A great deal right? Aren't they nice! Except that this preferred rent may be recinded and then a tenant is left with not only the rent increase designated by the rent Guidelines Board (RGB), but the $400 difference.
When a tenant in a rent stabilized unit moves out, the landlord is entitled to a 20% vacancy increase. It behooves any managing agent to have a high turnover on stabilized apartments. In one paricular building on East 4th street, HALF the apartment were stealthily destabilized. Tenants were told it was a "stabilized building" and they never questioned the agents. When the building was sold to a real estate equity firm, unsuspecting tenants found themselves with doubled rents.
Get a copy of Tenants Rights' Guide. It can be downloaded or you can get a printed version at the Cooper Square Committee. To download a copy go here.
Where can you find help?
If there is any question you might have about your lease, repairs, confrontations with your landlord/managing agent, or any housing issues there is help.
Cooper Square Committee (You can pick up a Tenants' Rights Guide here)
61 East 4th Street
(212) 228-8210
Metropolitan Council on Housing
339 Lafayette Street, #301
212-979-0611 (hotline Mon-Wed-Fri 1:30 to 5 p.m.)
212-979-6238
University Settlement (Project Home)
184 Eldridge Street (at Rivington Street)
(212) 674-9120
Also, Henry Street Settlement, GOLES and Tenants and Neighbors too!
So, whether you are in a stabilized unit or not; get your rent history, be aware, and don't assume that your best interest is being looked after...it is not.
As Mayor Bloomburg pursues rebranding New York City as a "luxury item," paving the way for aggressive landlords to clean house, New Yorkers need to educate themselves regarding their rights. Many of us have a vague idea of our housing rights and the laws concerning rent stabilized apartments.
If your building has six or more units and was built before 1973, then probably your apartment is, or once was stabilized. If your apartment is not currently rent stabilized, then you still need to know about rent stabilization! Roughly, an estimated 20,000 apartments are destabilized each year. Many are destabilized illegally. The tenant has four years to catch an overcharge before it becomes permanent. Illegal overcharges consistently lead to the illegal destabilization of rent stabilized apartments.
Too many of us depend on the perceived trustworthiness of real-estate agents, managing agents, and landlords. Their job is to turn a profit, not to advocate for you. Just because you are presented with a lease stating that your apartments rent is X, does not mean that X is the legal rent. There is no state or city agency that will catch this. It is your responsibility to find out.
So what can you do?
Get your rent history! It is a simple phone call, (718) 739-6400. You'll go through a short automated menu, and then you'll speak to an operator. Ask for your full rent history, back to 1984. The operator will ask for your name and address and that's it. In a few days, you'll receive your rent history in the mail.
Some management companies specialize is prepping buildings for sale. One way to do this is preferred rents. A stabilized apartment for $1600/month may be offered to let at $1,200/month. A great deal right? Aren't they nice! Except that this preferred rent may be recinded and then a tenant is left with not only the rent increase designated by the rent Guidelines Board (RGB), but the $400 difference.
When a tenant in a rent stabilized unit moves out, the landlord is entitled to a 20% vacancy increase. It behooves any managing agent to have a high turnover on stabilized apartments. In one paricular building on East 4th street, HALF the apartment were stealthily destabilized. Tenants were told it was a "stabilized building" and they never questioned the agents. When the building was sold to a real estate equity firm, unsuspecting tenants found themselves with doubled rents.
Get a copy of Tenants Rights' Guide. It can be downloaded or you can get a printed version at the Cooper Square Committee. To download a copy go here.
Where can you find help?
If there is any question you might have about your lease, repairs, confrontations with your landlord/managing agent, or any housing issues there is help.
Cooper Square Committee (You can pick up a Tenants' Rights Guide here)
61 East 4th Street
(212) 228-8210
Metropolitan Council on Housing
339 Lafayette Street, #301
212-979-0611 (hotline Mon-Wed-Fri 1:30 to 5 p.m.)
212-979-6238
University Settlement (Project Home)
184 Eldridge Street (at Rivington Street)
(212) 674-9120
Also, Henry Street Settlement, GOLES and Tenants and Neighbors too!
So, whether you are in a stabilized unit or not; get your rent history, be aware, and don't assume that your best interest is being looked after...it is not.
Finally, your chance to own the 3-level penthouse at the Brownstone East Village
The building at 224 E. 14th St. near Third Avenue remains a rather interesting work of
Workers began renovating the space about five years ago... and developers added some of the more curious amenities to blow up the neighborhood, such as a retractable glass wall that we've never actually seen retract. (Think of those views of IHOP!)
You can see a before-and-after up above courtesy of New York magazine, who got inside the place a few years back.
Otherwise, this place has seemingly been as transparent as the Kremlin.
Until now! The listing for the building's penthouse (which, we think, belonged to the developer, Carol Swedlow) just hit the market. It doesn't disappoint. According to Corcoran:
A Penthouse triplex condominium in the East Village: This two-bedroom, two full and two half baths loft residence is accessed directly via keyed elevator and sits on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors including a private outdoor terrace & full roof deck. On the sixth floor, with 12' ceiling heights the living room is sun drenched facing south and the kitchen is suffused with northern light through a glass fold-away automatic garage door that spans the entire length of the building, and opens to a setback dining terrace. On the top floor, a rooftop cabana opens to a 608 SF private roof deck with N,S,E,W views. The fifth floor is split between 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths. An unbelievable layout.
And here it is...
And here's a chance for you see it live: there's an Open House Sunday from 1-2:30 p.m. And please bring your $1.995 million.
New commercial turns historic St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery into a bank branch
Thanks to an EV Grieve reader for pointing out this new Capital One commercial featuring Jerry Stiller ... which eventually desecrates one of the the East Village's finest treasures...
Watch the whole thing for yourself here.
Don't get any ideas, Capital One!
Watch the whole thing for yourself here.
Don't get any ideas, Capital One!
Oh, great: East Village well-represented in 'best dive bars in NYC' listicle
Complex magazine has issued a listicle titled The 50 Best Dive Bars in NYC.
As we've discussed here before, "dive bar" is a tired, meaningless term that should be retired. But! For the sake of a pointless Friday conversation... here are the nearby bars that made the top-50 list.
[Eater]
2 — The Holiday
5 — Blarney Cove
7 — Blue & Gold
11 — Coal Yard (called "an East Village legend" — already!)
13 — Lakeside Lounge
14 — Lucy's
17 – 11th Street bar
18 — Vazac's
27 — Doc Holliday's
35 — Cherry Tavern
40 — Milano's
44 — Continental
45 — Crocodile Lounge
46 — Heathers
47 — Double Down Saloon
49 — B-Side
50 — International
As we've discussed here before, "dive bar" is a tired, meaningless term that should be retired. But! For the sake of a pointless Friday conversation... here are the nearby bars that made the top-50 list.
2 — The Holiday
5 — Blarney Cove
7 — Blue & Gold
11 — Coal Yard (called "an East Village legend" — already!)
13 — Lakeside Lounge
14 — Lucy's
17 – 11th Street bar
18 — Vazac's
27 — Doc Holliday's
35 — Cherry Tavern
40 — Milano's
44 — Continental
45 — Crocodile Lounge
46 — Heathers
47 — Double Down Saloon
49 — B-Side
50 — International
A real, live page-turner at East Village books
Donald Davis, owner of East Village Books on St. Mark's Place, had been fooled by the guy before. So they set a trap for him the next time he walked in.
Anyway, long story, the guy returns... and, after a confrontation, a tussle ensues, the Post reports. But! Davis was a wrestler in high school. He pinned him until the cops arrived.
“There’s no other situation where I would do this. I was so angry that he was stealing from the library,” Davis said. “The library is just a very important piece of our community.”
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Moments before the storm this afternoon
Whoa. Photo looking south over the East Village via EV Grieve reader Tom.
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