EV Grieve

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Joey McGibbon
Occupation: Doorman, Retired
Location: 6th Street between Avenue A and B
Time: 1:52 on Sunday, Aug. 27

"I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. I was a doorman on the Upper East Side. The difference between the Upper East Side and here was like night and day. I worked for gazillionaires. What they paid for shoes and clothes, I could pay my rent for 3 months.

It was a different neighborhood 30 years ago. It was dangerous but I never felt really threatened. You just had to know your way about, where you were going, and what you were doing. Half this neighborhood was burnt out; every block had burnt out buildings. It was really empty. If you weren’t from around here people knew it because it was so depopulated.

I moved down here by accident. I was in love with this girl and we were in the throws of breaking up. I grew up in Queens. I had no intentions of moving down here, especially back then when this neighborhood was the way it was. But she moved here and I followed her. I thought maybe we’d get back together but it never happened and I ended up staying.

It was quite an accident and it changed my life. I met some wonderful people: artists, writers, and creative people. It’s always been a young neighborhood, but it wasn’t college students, it was young people on the fringe. It was quite some fun. You had the Robots; you had EPCs; you had the Limbo Lounge; Pizza a Go-Go; the Pyramid Club was in full swing. I got exposed to a lot of things I wouldn’t have been exposed to in Queens. There were some heartbreaking things too; I lost a lot of people to drugs and to the AIDS crisis.

They filmed 'The Godfather Part 2' on this block. All these buildings here still had the old fashioned storefronts. They were sealed up, but they all had the old-fashioned storefronts, so they fixed them up and created a barbershop and a candy store and put canopies on them. It’s the scene where that guy in the white suit [Don Fanucci] is going down the street, where he gets blown away by Robert DeNiro in the hallway. That’s where a lot of these trees came from, because the block association said, 'if you’re going to disrupt our lives we want some compensation', so they agreed to give them money for these trees."

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

64 Second Ave. on the block for $7.3 million

The building between East Third Street and East Fourth Street arrived on the market yesterday. Nothing immediately alarming in the Streeteasy listing, such as air rights or single-family mansion:

64 Second Avenue represents an excellent opportunity to purchase a unique mixed-use asset on the Avenue in an up and coming East Village neighborhood. This building has significant potential as a cash flow investment, Live plus income opportunity, or a retail user opportunity. The 5 story property contains one ground floor retail unit along with 3 apartments above, including an Owner’s Duplex with a rooftop garden.

... This must be the owner's duplex...Or at least the rooftop gadren portion.

This is what the Village Voice offices looked like on Aug. 25, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

For further reading:
The Voice is leaving Cooper Square (DNAinfo)

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

[Updated] Report: Medical Examiner rules Carlisle Brigham's death an accident

Yesterday morning, the body of 29-year-old Carlisle Brigham was discovered on the first floor landing at 191 Orchard St. Early reports indicated that foul play may have been involved.

However, DNAinfo reports that an autopsy today found that Brigham suffered "blunt impact injuries of the head and neck," per the Medical Examiner's Office.

According to the Post, this happened "possibly after tripping on her high heels following a night of drinking with college pals."

Updated 8-29:

As you can see, the Post reported today that Bingham's father "was scheduled to take his daughter to a rehab facility for alcohol and possible drug addiction, the sources said."

The Daily News reported today that Bingham had been living on Avenue B since the separation from her husband. Unnamed sources told the News that Bingham returned home late Sunday after she had attended a friend's wedding in Virginia ...and that Bingham "had partied so hard she had to be carried into the building" on Orchard Street where she spent the night Sunday.

However:

[A] longtime friend and neighbor of Brigham’s, who did not want to be named, did not believe she was drunk and said she only spent the night away from her sublet because she forgot her keys at the Virginia wedding. “She wasn’t a drinker,” said the friend. “She was building a career after a bad marriage. ... She was happy.”

Updated 8-29:
The New York Times has more on her life and death here. The paper notes that she was supposed to meet her father for lunch on Monday.

Per the article:

As he drove into the city from La Guardia Airport they talked by phone, first at 9:25 and then at 9:30, he said. Shortly afterward, her body was found by a 19-year-old neighbor, at the foot of the stairway. She was dressed entirely in white, with the contents of a large, clothing-stuffed weekend bag around her, according to interviews he gave NBC News and other outlets. Her father arrived just after the ambulance left the building.

“It’s just devastating, it’s so unspeakably difficult,” he said. “I’ve received 100 e-mails, and almost to a person everyone says I don’t know what to say. And I don’t either, in a way. It’s just devastating to lose such a beautiful creature.”

Trends: East Village is the leader in carts attached to things

Spotted along Second Avenue this afternoon...

Woot. That makes three. Officially a trend. Get me the Style section!

Flashback...

Thursday.

Friday.

All photos by Bobby Williams.

Earlier today in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by @KiraSaltzman]

About the 'Robokid V. East Village' video

You may have seen this video yesterday of 7-year-old East Village resident Jakob Kraus making the rounds (viral, woot!) ... I first spotted it on AnimalNY.

Today, the Daily News talks to boy's father ...

"He's a completely self-taught kid who loves to dance," said Matthew Kraus, who pointed out that he and his wife never pushed their son to dance. The idea behind the videos — there are five — is all Jakob's, according to the News.

The further (often truly) amazing adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Back in March, we introduced you to Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street, whose owners recently brought her home from a shelter.

We haven't heard from Kita since May. How has Kita's summer been?

Kita's owner provided an update.

She's spent most of her summer in Tompkins Square Park chasing pigeons, avoiding aggressive terrier mix types (she's learned the hard way) and generally becoming part of the local cafe society. The photos here are of her favorite local haunts. (She'd rather not say precisely which establishments she frequents as she doesn't want the health department cracking down on her favorite places simply for having the temerity to serve a dog.)

She can report that she's not terribly fond of Mexican food (too spicy!) and loves, loves, loves, sautéed mushrooms. She's also exploring a run for a Community Board seat but isn't really prepared to talk about that just yet.

On the next episode: While searching for apartments, Kita learns that "two bedrooms" often just means two rooms.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Reader requests: Looking for an East Village caterer

An EVG reader asked if we had any recommendations for an East Village-based caterer to provide appetizers-hors d'oeuvres for an event... Well, we have no idea. Any readers with a recommendation?

The event is for 50-75 people later this fall... "Normal finger food. Party food kind of stuff," said the reader. So, nothing artisanal-farm-to-tablish featuring bone marrow stuffed with crushed, dehydrated black beans drizzled with sweet and tangy passionfruit sauce.

Uh, anyway. Any catering help?

Darin Rubell, co-owner of downtown Manhattan watering holes GalleryBar and Ella, and partners Mark Trzupek (former manager of Life Café 983) and chef David Rotter (Norwood), have taken over the cafe from Kathy Kirkpatrick.

Although Rubell and company plan on changing the name to just 983 (a play on the café’s address which is 983 Flushing Avenue) refreshing the food and bar menus and some cosmetic changes, they plan to retain the overall character of the space which is affectionately known as “Bushwick’s Living Room.”

The closing of Life Café 983 is the end of an era, as the influential Life brand will no longer have a presence in New York City. The original East Village location at East 10th Street and Avenue B, where playwright Jonathan Larson wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning “Rent,” closed in 2011. Rubell, who hoped to also take over the East Village space and is opening new restaurant with Rotter this fall, sees the Bushwick location as an opportunity to continue to serve the needs of this exciting neighborhood.