Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Flyer campaign targets CB3 district manager 'for assault on our civil liberties'

You may have seen these flyers around the neighborhood the past day or two... @bacondevil spotted this one on Second Avenue at East Fifth Street...


There was also one spotted on East 14th Street at Second Avenue... Per the flyer, someone is accusing Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer as being an "assassin of New York's creativity" who is "wanted for assault on our civil liberties."

The Lo-Down, who first reported on the flyers yesterday, spoke with Stetzer. She said that she doesn't know why anyone why would have done this ... "but she believes they could be related to liquor license applications."

Speaking as a resident during a CB3/SLA meeting last summer, Stetzer did publicly oppose the restaurant-bar-music venue project in the works for 34 Avenue A. CB3 ultimately rejected all the proposals for the former Aces & Eights space, and it will soon be home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

Last December, Stetzer was one of the many city officials tweaked in the annual holiday invite from activist Allen Roskoff. According to Scoopy's Notebook, Stetzer was depicted "as a sexy pole dancer because ... she's a foe of bars and clubs."

(Some residents also criticized Stetzer in the fall of 2010 for her role to possibly limit the number of concerts in Tompkins Square Park. You can read that background here.)

As far as these types of flyers go, this one seems rather mild by comparison. Back in the spring, a few flyers appeared around the neighborhood about developer Ben Shaoul. As reported by The New York Times in July, they read, in part: "I pledge to rape the East Village of every last vestige of creativity," and concluded: "You gotta problem wit dat?"

The politics of stickers

Spotted on East Seventh Street at Cooper Square...


...and in Tompkins Square Park...

[Bobby Williams]

I previously posted both of these on the EV Grieve Facebook page, where you can find other non-blog photos and links and crap.

260 Bowery soon to be set free

Last Wednesday, we looked at the groan-worthy new rendering for the currently vacant Amato Opera building ...

There's also a newish rendering for 260 Bowery ... currently the Standard Sheetmetal Fabrication Corp., which we discussed back in May.

Before!


Now!


You have been liberated!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Noted


A reader notes that the Starbucks is now open on First Avenue at East 13th Street ... "and it was pretty full."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today in rumors of another Starbucks opening in the East Village

219 First Avenue ready for a chain store, probably

Starbucks confirmed for 219 First Ave., former home to Allen Ginsberg's favorite Chinese restaurant

What it costs to live in newly renovated apartments above a Starbucks in the East Village

Web of trouble? Here lies Spidey's rickshaw

Bobby Williams spotted Spidey's rickshaw here on East 10th Street near Stuyvesant Street... Perhaps operator Shaun Emerson is nearby? Or is there something far more sinister happening here...?


His rickshaw was stolen once before... BoweryBoogie caught up with Rickshaw Spidey recently on Ludlow Street ...

Anyway, we have a call out to Aunt May.

Graffiti looking to expand on East 10th Street

[Google]

Atelier Muse, a bridal boutique at 224 E. 10th St., closed earlier in the summer... and it looks as if the store's next-door neighborhood, Graffiti, the acclaimed small-plates place from chef Jehangir Mehta, has designs on expanding.

An unnamed applicant for 224 E. 10th St. is on this month's CB3/SLA docket. According to documents on file at CB3 (PDF), Mehta would expand from his current small space, adding four tables (20 seats total) and a stand-up bar with five seats.

Looks as if they'd expand their hours too, from 10:30 p.m. currently on Sunday-Thursday to midnight, and from 11:45 p.m. on Friday-Saturday to 2 a.m.

The SLA & DCA Licensing Committee meets on Monday at 6:30 p.m., at the JASA/Green Residence, 200 East 5th Street at Bowery.

Chris Frantz hosting 'Downtown Rockers' this afternoon on East Village Radio

From the EV Grieve inbox ...


Listen live to EVR.com today at 4 pm ET as Tom Tom Club's Chris Frantz hosts a very special show, honoring NYC's proverbial downtown music scene. ... A former guest of the EVR studio, Chris will host Downtown Rockers, a special show by the EP's name this afternoon at 4pm ET.

The 2-hour special will be highlighted with Frantz's inimitable knowledge of the neighborhood scene from "back in the day", as well as featuring music from the band's new release and commentary from friends of Frantz, including The Dead Boys' Cheetah Chrome, Blondie's Debbie Harry, Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers' Jerry Harrison and Television's Billy Ficca. Frantz's wife and Tom Tom Club bandmate Tina Weymouth will also be contributing to the special.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[On East Third Street]

Fifty-seven-year old Lord John's Bootery becomes a 16 Handles on Third Avenue (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Red Mango opens Friday in Stuy Town (pcvstBee)

Formerly historic 135 Bowery now for sale (BoweryBoogie)

Video interview with the Union Square bully (Gothamist)

Get ready for the Big Gay Ice Cream cookbook (Grub Street)

Protesting a proposed bus stop on Essex Street (The Lo-Down)

Ack: "Guy Fieri's 500 seat restaurant is opening on Thursday and there's nothing you can do about it" (Eater)

And Melanie at East Village Corner shares a photo... crews for "Blue Blood" are back on parts of Avenue A and elsewhere...


...and an EVG reader shared this photo of a van for Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten ... one of his reps was shopping at the St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery Greenmarket this morning... buying a lot of peaches while trying to prevent receiving a parking ticket from the NYPD...

Looking at the Immaculate Conception Church

The flea market at the Mary Help of Christians' lot ended its run Sunday on Avenue A at East 11th Street. The flea market will be moving over to the Immaculate Conception Church on East 14th Street and First Avenue in October, first noted by The Villager.

The church was renovated a few years back ...


We figure that vendors/shoppers will enter the church's courtyard via this entrance on East 14th Street...


Have you ever been back in here? It's a lovely spot... quite peaceful, really, considering what a horror show the intersection of East 14th Street and First Avenue can be.





We're assuming the vendors will be in this space...





Bonus photo of the exterior of everyone's favorite East Village helical-slide-showcasing duplex penthouse next door...


Anyway, it's a smaller space than Mary Help of Christians... not sure how it can handle the usual sprawl. They'll likely be fewer vendors. Not sure if it will – or can — have the same vibe... We'll see.



A few people shared thoughts on all this the other day on our post... Early sentiment seems to be: Better than nothing. What do you think about the new location for the flea market?

Moving day(s)

As you probably noticed, the entire neighborhood a lot of people moved these past few days... Maybe you did too? I know of three people who moved to Brooklyn.


The first tenants moved into 315 E. 10th St. on Friday ... also, someone apparently outgrew his or her "Star Wars" phase...

I saw a sanitation official writing a ticket for an apartment building on East 13th Street where someone left huge piles of crap out front... which is why some people chucked their stuff away from buildings...


... and people left two-part notes on this throwaway couch on Second Avenue and East Fifth Street ... via @Ewingweb ...



Here's what's left of 185-193 Avenue B

Nothing.



Don't expect to see any construction just yet here on Avenue B at East 12th Street for the 7-story apartment building — the city hasn't approved the plans.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Inside the Charles

Former landmark countercultural theater now for rent on Avenue B

7-story building in the works to replace former countercultural theater/church on Avenue B

Led Zeppole apparently becoming Chubby Mary's on East 14th Street


As you can see, Led Zeppole, the fried-dessert homage to Coney Island on East 14th Street, has apparently given way to something called Chubby Mary's ... also from the Artichoke Pizza team...