One consequence of all the photo shoots in Tompkins Square Park

Everyone starts posing.

Photos by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Last hope for Astor Place newsstand? (The Villager)

Historic Pen and Brush Club becoming a single-family mansion with pool on East 10th Street (New York Post, 2nd item)

New York magazine on punk in 1979 (Flaming Pablum)

Sending good wishes to Steve Ben-Israel (BoweryBoogie)

Someone put bubbles in the fountain at Union Square (Gothamist)

Chelsea Gallery Diner has closed, one more loss for the non-trendy crowd (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Olek beach yarn-bombing in the UK (BBC)

DayLife on Orchard Street Sunday (The Lo-Down)

"Artisanal, Reluctant Branding Pioneer, Dies at Age 474" (The Atlantic Wire)

The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble

[EVG, July 2011]

Troubling news from over at 9 Bleecker Street, longtime headquarters of the counterculture group and home of the Yippie Museum Cafe. There's a campaign under way to help revitalize the space. (Last summer, the Yippie Museum Cafe closed to make some renovations and add new menu items.)

[Click to enlarge]

According to a letter on the Yippie's online donation page:

As a Sea of Starbucks engulfs the East Village, one of the Last Castles of Free Thought and Artistic Freedom is under siege. The Yippie Museum Café is a movement encapsulated into a Coffee House Performance space, founded by artist/activists, maintained by artist/activists, and is still run by artist/activists. It is a rare state of affairs these days.

"The Yippie has every intention of remaining an East Village bastion of vibrant and varied live music, free speech, challenging art, the demand for social justice, and a place to get some affordable caffeine. But like many non-corporate businesses, the Yippie is suffering financially. It needs a new HVAC system, new equipment for its backline, and some essential physical upgrades. Help the Yippie, protect one of the last great East Village Castles."

As of last night, they had collected just $230, well short of its planned $10,000 goal. Megan Hayes, the Yippie's events coordinator, told me that "every penny is going to improving and revitalizing the space." (According to an article from 2006 in the Sun, the Yippies partnered with a group called the National AIDS Brigade to purchase their longtime headquarters for $1.2 million in 2004.)

There's also fundraiser on Sunday from 4:30-10 p.m. hosted by John Murdock and Joey Gay of WBAI's Occupational Hazards. There will be other various speakers and musicians during the late afternoon and early evening as well.

Is there any danger of The Yippie Museum Cafe closing?

"If we can't pay off our bills, sadly yes," Hayes said.

Witness to a new development: Avenue C's Kingdom Hall back on the market

The 3,050-square-foot, two-story Kingdom Hall owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses is on the market, Crain's reported yesterday. The site at 67 Avenue C near Fifth Street is zoned for a residential property of up to 10,000 square feet. Crain's notes that there is no asking price on the space.

Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, who's marketing the property, said: "I am sure this property will be highly sought after by smaller residential developers."

Perhaps. But the current space is 3,050 square feet. And it's zoned for up to 10,000 square feet. You can do the math.

[Via Curbed August 2009]

There isn't the first name this property has been listed. I wrote about a potential sale back in August 2009 during a guest stint at Curbed.

Per that post:

For sale signs went up [last] week at the Lower Manhattan Congregation Jehovah's Witness at 67 Avenue C near East 5th Street. According to the Massey Knakal listing for the property, the space "is ideal for a user, investor or developer and will be delivered vacant." Indeed; asking $2.2 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New world order for Avenue C?

The CBGB movie will mostly be filmed in Savannah, Ga.

Seems as if there's more CBGB movie news coming out every day... Two weeks ago, the filmmakers announced that Alan Rickman will portray CBGB founder Hilly Kristal in the biopic about the club's origins.

Yesterday, BoweryBoogie had more casting news, including Joel David Moore as Joey Ramone...

[Via The Strut]

Now I'm wondering where husband-and-wife filmmakers Jody Savin and Randall Miller might shoot some of the scenes about the early days of CBGB on the Bowery...

Certainly the magic of movie-making can transform any block or soundstage into another world... Anyway, we have part of our answer here. According to post on the WTOC-Savannah website Tuesday, crews will be filming in that Georgia city starting June 25.

Per the article:

The inside of the bar is set to be built in Savannah's Meddin Studios, where all the filming will take place. Nadine Jolson, spokeswoman for the film, said director Randall Miller was drawn to Savannah and to Meddin after producing the film Savannah in the Hostess City last year. Georgia's generous film tax credits were another draw, Jolson said.

As for exteriors, in an interview published yesterday in the Savannah Morning News, Miller said "we'll do some shooting on the streets of downtown Savannah — and finally a few days in New York. We're using both Georgia and New York for New York."

According to the Times Miller hopes to debut the film at Sundance in January with a release later in 2013.

Next thing you know, there's a pork bun in the oven

Boooo!

And a Missed Connection, which you never know are for real...

You had me at "Can I get just one pork bun?" - m4w - 30 (East Village)
Date: 2012-05-30, 5:10PM EDT

My first Ippudo, you were so generous with the cucumber.

Let's try Alta next?

How was your Manhattanhenge?

The view west across 14th Street...

Top three photos by EV Grieve reader 8E, who noted "It was a partial viewing tonight. Clouds blocked the last five minutes."

Via John... at 14th Street and Avenue B...

And waiting at the ConEd plant by Faces ...

Late afternoon view above East Sixth Street and Avenue A

Cardinals vs. Blue Jays in Tompkins Square Park

You know, Interleague play... eh... birdwatching today...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

When discarded footie pajamas channel Keith Haring

From this afternoon at Ninth Street and Avenue C... the photo and headline come courtesy Andrew Adam Newman on Avenue C.

More details about Ninth Street Espresso's plan to sell beer

Yesterday, we pointed out a few of the more interesting items on the June CB3/SLA docket. Among them: A beer and wine license for Ninth Street Espresso, which plans to expand into part of the former Life Cafe space on East 10th Street and Avenue B.

DNAinfo talked with owner Ken Nye about his plans. A few items from Serena Solomon's article:

• They're asking for an 11 p.m. closing time.
• They'd offer a maximum of three beers on tap.
• Nye is planning to open by the end of the summer, "doubling the existing space with an enclosed backyard."

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Sixth Street and Avenue C]

RIP Atlas Barber School (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Teen shot in back with BB gun near Campos Plaza on East 12th Street (New York Post)

A 25-story building in the works for vacant Chrystie Street lot (BoweryBoogie)

NYC schools ignoring gay bullying (The Village Voice)

Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo talks downtown NYC (Lower Manhattan Diary)

Delays for Delancey Street safety upgrades (The Lo-Down)

A look at Calliope now open on Second Avenue at East Fourth Street (Grub Street)

About the larger Rai Rai Ken on East 10th Street (Fork in the Road)

The spirit of Coney Island (The Gog Log)

...and Goggla passed along these photos of something called Porchetta.Hog on East Fifth Street just east of Second Avenue...

...neither of us had noticed it before... and the menu says they opened on May 8.

Chowhound readers noted its arrival as early as May 14... and according to Chowhound commenters, the place is not affiliated with Porchetta over on Seventh Street... Anyone try this place yet?