51 Astor Place's glass act

Just noting some progress at 51 Astor Place, where panels of glass now adorn the north side along East Ninth Street... photos yesterday by EVG regular William Klayer.

At first glance this reminded me a little of the New York Hilton...

Previously on EV Grieve:
51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

East Village — the new Midtown?

Lenin showing support for Obama in 2012?

Photo of Red Square on East Houston via EVG regular peter radley.

This is what East 14th Street looked like on the evening of Oct. 29, 2012

[Photo by Jane Israelson Rubin via Facebook]

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place...

Resources to help NYC’s businesses recover from Hurricane Sandy

You can find all the details at Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's website here.

Line for the BP station down to two blocks

Shortest that I've seen it here on Second Avenue and East First Street since the power returned...

Businesses coming back to life on Avenue C

Here are a few photos that EVG reader Robert Walker shared from last Monday night after the Sandy storm surge raced down Avenue C (here at East Eighth Street) ...

[Via The Guardian UK]

Late this afternoon, I walked by and saw the businesses here at East Eighth Street back open...

Also on Avenue C, Alphabet City Beer Co. reopened today in a limited capacity... Co-owner Zachary Mack reports that they suffered major losses, including their taps and walk-in cooler... but they are opening cans and bottles... You can read more about how they were able to reopen here. Next door, the Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter was also hoping to be back open tonight ...

The 'despair' at Campos Plaza

WNYC has a report on the "despair" at Campos Plaza on Avenue C at East 12th Street...

Afternoon gas check

Waiting for a gas delivery at the Mobil station on East Houston and Avenue C...

...where cars are parked back to Avenue D and north several blocks up the Avenue. Mobil photos via EVG reader William Klayer...

And at the BP station on Second Avenue at East First Street, Shawn Chittle notes the line goes back to St. Mark's Place...

There's only 1 voting change in our area

Thats's for people who were to vote at the Bard HS Early College poll site. This will now be at PS 188/196 at 442 East Houston.

Find all the changes in the five boroughs via the Board of Elections here.

GOLES accepting donations on Avenue B

Via GOLES:

Anyone who would like to donate non-perishable food, water, blankets, flash lights or batteries, GOLES is accepting them at their office (169 Avenue B) today from Noon to 7 pm and the rest of this week until power is restored in buildings that still don't have power due to flood damaged basements. Volunteers are welcome, even if you can only spare an hour.

An anecdote from the blackout

A longtime East Village resident shared this anecdote from last week... about a trip to the West Village to check on an elderly housebound couple ...

We ran for, and caught an infrequent bus. Surprisingly, although packed, people cheerfully made room for us. At some point, a rumor circulated that it was the bus driver's birthday. The entire bus sang "happy birthday," followed by "hip, hip hooray." The bus driver got on the loud speaker and said his birthday wasn't until March. We all had a good laugh, and felt better for it.

The scene outside 100 Avenue A

Previously.

Free post-flood mold prevention training tonight

No gas at BP this morning

As of around 10 a.m., the BP station on Second Avenue at East First Street was out of gas... and waiting for a delivery...

The line of cars waiting for gas stretched back to East Sixth Street.

While the line has been fairly orderly, there were tense moments here Saturday afternoon.

Coffee by candlelight: Thanks to everyone who stayed open during the blackout

[At Ray's Candy Store this week. Photo by Dave on 7th]

Several readers wanted a chance to thank all the East Village businesses who were able to stay open and serve the neighborhood leading up to and after Hurricane Sandy. If there's a restaurant or business that you'd personally like to thank, then please leave a comment.

[Sheen Brothers on Avenue B and East 10th Street remained open. Photo by Gudrun Georges]

Of course, I know of many places that wanted to stay open, but either suffered damage or had some other issues preventing them from doing business.

Alphabet Plaza ready to rise on Avenue D

Despite the aftermath of the Sandy ... crews arrived last week to work on the formerly empty lot on East Houston and Avenue D...

In October, the city OK'd plans to erect a 12-story mixed-used apartment building for this space. According to the DOB, the building will be 108,953 total square feet, with 9,640 set aside for retail.

Per documents, Jerry Kahen of Alphabet Plaza LLC is listed as the managing partner. Avinash K. Malhotra Architects is the architect of record. The firm's projects include the W Downtown and 2 Gold Street.

This past January, The Real Deal reported that a Queens property owner plucked down $21 million for a 130,000-square-foot development site at Avenue D and East Second Street.

Kahen Properties bought six lots at 5-9 Avenue D and 306-310 East Second Street for a luxury apartment building featuring apartments in the $2,500 to $3,600 range.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will Avenue D finally turn into Avenue C?

Listing appears for Houston and Avenue D development

Report: 12th-story 'Alphabet Plaza' in the works for Second Street and Avenue D

Cleaning up the Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden

The garden here got whacked pretty good during Hurricane Irene... as noted earlier, the garden's willow tree didn't make it... Clean-up started last week...

[Carmine assessing the damage on Friday ... via peter radley]

EVG friend Elizabeth Frayer filed this report on the clean-up efforts:

Gardeners showed up with their tools and some even brought their children to help clean up. After several hours of work, the tree and other items that had been damaged from the storm were on their way to being cleaned up. The tree fell across many garden plots, however, and many were completely destroyed. It will take months, if not years, to restore this East Village oasis.

Read more here.

[Photo by Mat Gundell]

To follow the progress, there's now a Twitter account for the garden — @6BGarden

Noted

Spotted this past week outside 35 Cooper Square...

Previously.

The scene today on East 14th Street and Avenue C

Via faces...

East River Park after the storm

Photos from Friday via EVG regular peter radley...

Meanwhile, yesterday, volunteers arrived to help clean up the Park... via ‏@caitibeth

Hurricane Sandy Relief Volunteer Opportunities

EV resident Alyssa Galella has created a Google Map with local volunteer opportunities in the neighborhood... Find the link here.

[Updated] Fire at East Yoga on East 13th Street and Avenue B

EVG reader @grahamashcraft reports that the FDNY has responded to a report of a fire on the southeast corner of Avenue B at East 13th Street...

@evgrieve quite a bit of smoke coming out from lower floors

@evgrieve don't see any flames at the moment though

Updated 3:56

Here's a photo via ‏@DamianDaz showing the smoke coming from East Yoga...

Updated 4:09

East Yoga has been gutted. Ugh. Via @grahamashcraft

Updated 8:56 p.m.

Per the East Yoga website:

No one was in the studio and the surrounding businesses and people living in the building are all okay. So we are counting our blessings that the extent of the damage is limited to our physical space.

While the damage is extensive, we are hopeful that we will be up and running again in a few weeks time. We are so thankful for the outpouring of support that we have already received. It's been truly incredible how many hugs, phone calls, texts, offers we have had so far. This is when you really understand how powerful our community truly is.

Monday night

Around 10 p.m. on East Eighth Street looking east toward Avenue C.

Photo by Gudren Georges. Find more photos here.

The scene at BP yesterday afternoon

A reader shares these photos from yesterday afternoon at the BP station on Second Avenue at East First Street... there were blocks-long lines all day...

According to the reader:

Passing the gas station ... I heard a policeman screaming 'shut your door' to a woman driver one car away from tanking up. I guess she didn't cause the next thing I heard was her screaming. When I doubled back to see what the commotion was, she was on the ground getting cuffed! I was shocked to see such a display of force upon a mother in front of her two kids.

The reader didn't see everything that transpired here. So perhaps there was more to the NYPD's actions. Did anyone else witness this?

Riding the storm out

Local legend Adam Purple on First Avenue Friday. Photo by @rahav via Twitter.

Read more about Adam Purple at Vanishing New York.

Storm cat

The stray kitty of Tompkins Square Park... photographed yesterday by Bobby Williams.

This morning

I took a long walk this morning. It seemed like a holiday weekend Sunday morning. Not many people around. Some businesses not open.

Tompkins Square Park reopened yesterday. There was some damage, but not as extensive as after Hurricane Irene. The Tompkins Square Park Green Market is up and running on Avenue A.

From the outside, it almost looks like business as usual anywhere west of Avenue B. Of course, some restaurants lost all their produce during the blackout. For instance, there's a sign on Prune on East First Street saying as much. They hope to reopen tomorrow night.

The line for the BP station on Second Avenue at East First Street stretches north to St. Mark's Place. But it seems to be moving quickly. The NYPD is directing traffic there. A cab driver near the front of the line said that he had been waiting a little more than an hour. (It was not apparently as orderly yesterday, per some reader photos. Will post those later.)

Around 9:30, the NYPD stood watch as the gas arrived at the Mobil station on East Houston at Avenue C. (Photo above). The cars waiting extended east to Avenue D and north on D past East Third Street.

You can start smelling the moldy air around East Sixth Street between D and midway between B and C. This is where you see the most visible damage. Piles of wet, ruined furniture and clothes from flooded apartments and basement. Some of the hard-hit businesses include Zum Schneider, Associated, Arcane and The Yankee Deli, to name just a few.

Meanwhile, I'll pass along any relevant information via the EVG Twitter account or Facebook page. My Internet access is still out. Not a big deal. I could easily go somewhere with WiFi, but I need to be at home to manage a few storm-related items. I'll likely post again later today.

Anyway, it's a really beautiful fall day out.

The latest updates will be on the EVG Twitter account

With lost produce & revenue, #EastVillage businesses need our support. Eat & shop local.

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) November 3, 2012

Follow along here.

MoRUS needs help drying out on its basement on Avenue C

From the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, 155 Avenue C:

The museum is racing against time to dry out its basement. Please, please, please share extra fans, dehumidifiers and heaters with us and spread the word that we need help. The space will be open all day today following the Alphabet City parade, which meets at 12:30 p.m. at East Houston Street and Avenue C.

Assessing the damage to businesses along Avenue C; Associated may be closed for 1 month

[Dave on 7th]

New York Natives takes a look at some of the storm-damaged businesses along hard-hit Avenue C. Things are particularly bad at the Associated at East Eighth Street. Per NYN:

[A]t The Associated Supermarket, flooding effected an entire basement and half the general floor with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food completely spoiled. A supervisor estimated they would be closed for at least a month as he threw out sealed but still contaminated boxes of lettuce.

Help clean up local parks

Many city parks are reopening this morning... The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation sent out the following:

New Opportunities to Volunteer
Many of New York City’s parks and playgrounds were impacted by Hurricane Sandy. If you would like to volunteer with NYC Parks to aid in clean-up and recovery, please review the list of parks and playgrounds below that are in need of assistance and go here to sign up.

Manhattan
East River Park
Saturday and Sunday
10am – 1pm
meet-up: East River Track Building located at E. 6th St.

Sara D. Roosevelt Park
Saturday and Sunday
10am – 1pm
meet-up: Hester Street and Sara D. Roosevelt Park

Here is a list (PDF) of the parks that remain closed.

Lower East Side volunteer needs

Via Hope for New York ...

• Help unload truck and distribute goods to those in need on Lower East Side Saturday 11/3 and Sunday 11/4. Meet @ 10th St & Ave D anytime after 8:30AM. Just show up!

Donation Needs

The Father's Heart
Need: Donations of 1) Bottled Water and 2) Fresh fruit & veggies all day Saturday 11/3. Bring donations directly to The Father's Heart at 545 East 11th St anytime between 8:30-2:30PM.

Bowery Mission
Need: The Mission is in great need of gasoline to power their generators, blankets, and sweatshirts. Please drop off any of these items at 227 Bowery, New York, NY, 10002 OR the administrative headquarters on Madison and 31st. Find more Bowery needs here.

There are plenty more ways to help citywide. Go here for more details.

Thanks to C-Squat

[Dave on 7th]

There are a lot of people to thank for their efforts following Hurricane Sandy... Many residents who I've talked with were particularly grateful of C-Squat residents.

You may have seen the free food and BBQ going all week outside the building at 155 Avenue C. Per Dave on 7th: "C-Squat feed more people [in the East Village] than the city did." The first sign of any kind of coordinated relief via the National Guard arrived Thursday evening to East 10th Street and Avenue D.

In addition, 155 Avenue C is home to MoRUS, where Time's Up! charged cell phones and other items with the stationary bike-powered generator.

To boost spirits: A post-Sandy parade for Avenue C

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Alphabet City got really hammered by the hurricane. To boost spirits: a parade. Let's play a parade on Saturday at, say, 12:30 up Avenue C from Houston to C-Squat/MoRUS at East 10th Street.

We need musicians to RSVP — please let us know your instrument or section. Also circus friends, stiltwalkers, jugglers, and others, please come add festiveness and spectacle!

Please bring fruit and other supplies to give out, too. Zines, comics, and activity books make great throws for homes without power! Here's what to do with your dusty library...

[Image by Nicolina Art]

And now, the line for gas

Even before the power returned late this afternoon, cars convened at the Mobil station on Avenue C at East Houston.

EVG reader Krikor Daglian took the following photos.

Per Krikor:

Cars started lining up at the newly-powered Mobil on Avenue C and 2nd, despite the fact that the owners weren't there and the place was closed. Police came by and told everyone to leave. Just walked by again and it looks like the owners have arrived but the police are still blocking it off. Not sure what will happen next. People are pretty antsy to get gas. The traffic is horrendous.

Meanwhile, this gas station is set to close next month and become a new development of some sort.

Chapter 1

The opening scenes from Woody Allen's "Manhattan" circa 1979...