On Thanksgiving, remembering the turkey of El Jardín del Paraíso

There is a bit of a mystery surrounding the demise of the turkey who lived in El Jardín del Paraíso on East Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D ... as previously noted, flyers about the turkey's death (from "neglect") were placed by someone in adjacent residential buildings ...

EVG reader Emily Iason took these photos on Oct. 30 ... the day after Superstorm Sandy... looking well...

Meanwhile, other feathered residents are OK there... per these photos by Bobby Williams last week...

It has begun (aka breaking): Christmas tree stand going up outside Rite Aid

The annual passage (or something): Workers began assembling the Christmas holiday tree stand outside Rite Aid on First Avenue and East Fifth Street last, per EVG Twitter friend @JorgeO ... No word just yet on when the trees will arrive ... Meanwhile, inside Rite Aid, the 12-ounce canisters of Original Gourmet Butter Cookies are on sale (with wellness+ card) for $1.69 through Saturday.

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving, when all through Tompkins Square Park...

Not sure that's how it goes. Photos from late afternoon via Bobby Williams...

Stogo is closing on East 10th Street

Stogo, the Vegan ice cream shop on East 10th Street just west of Second Avenue, is closing on Sunday.

Sad News All: Sunday will be our last day open. :( Hope to see all of you until then!

— stogo ice cream (@stogonyc) November 20, 2012

The shop first announced the move yesterday via Twitter. DNAinfo's Serena Solomon following up today, reporting:

With the business battling high rent all year, eight days without income during the post-hurricane blackout and the winter a bad time for sales, Stogo's owners made the call to close.

"We were talking about closing, but [Hurricane Sandy] put a nail in the coffin," said the source, who works at the store on East 10th Street between Second and Third Avenue.

"We were going to try and fundraise to move, but then Sandy happened and I didn't want to ask people to help move our shop when people were homeless and had lost everything," the source added.

Stogo opened in December 2008 at the site of the beloved A. Fontana Shoe Repair, forced out after 45 years due to a big rent hike.

[Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]

Stogo's co-owner is Rob Sedgwick, the brother of actress Kyra.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East Fifth Street yesterday via Bobby Williams]

Plans revealed for the former Billy's Antiques space (BoweryBoogie)

NYPD officers convicted of official misconduct in the rape of an East Village woman will start serving their sentences next month (The Daily News)

35 years later: Tommy Ramone on Rocket To Russia (The Huffington Post)

More on the LES Pathmark closure (The Lo-Down)

A feature on LES cobblers (DNAinfo)

Eater is compiling a list of NYC food-related Sandy fundraisers for local and national charities (Eater)

A lonely South Street Seaport (The Gog Log)

Charles Dickens tours NYC in 1842 (Ephemeral New York)

Good news for a barber in Chelsea (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

And when we last saw East Village Fruit & Vegetable on Avenue B at East 14th Street, the winds from Sandy were ready to rip off the store's awning... DJ Xerox of copycat passes along a photo of the store's new look...

Rolf's annual Con Ed winter wonderland

Hey, it's that time of year when the holiday lights go up at Rolf's ... and we make some jokey Con Ed reference.

Anyway! Here are a few photos of the 2012 lights and Victorian-era tchochkes from last night at the German eatery on Third Avenue at 22nd Street...

And they have the doll with the Brian Jones haircut...

Previously on EV Grieve:
'Tis the season for keeping ConEd in business: The holiday lights are up at Rolf's

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: Cosmo Yannis
Occupation: Cartoon Artist
Location: 2nd Street, Between 1st and 2nd Ave
Time: 2:35 pm on Monday, November 19

I’m an artist. I’m a bona-fide starving artist. I do cartoons right now. It’s mostly underground, kind of counter-culture stuff. I’ve been at it for 20 years. I make contributions to different publication, like The Shadow, and sometimes the High Times, just for different causes and to free the weed. What’s crazy is that you can go into a bar and get drunk off your ass, but you can’t have a little puff. It’s changing. It’s the will of the people. The worst thing that weed will do for you is make you raid your refrigerator.

I don’t drink; I don’t smoke cigarettes. I just do weed now and then. I do most of my cooking at home; I’m basically an organic kid. I shop organic and I do green juicing every day. I go to the gym every day. I’m not totally a vegetarian. I’ll eat a chicken now and then; I’ll eat an egg now and then. But I don’t eat meat.

The only reason I moved down here was because it was so cheap. Back when I moved to Orchard Street it was like the twilight zone. All the stores were gated. Women were afraid to walk down Orchard Street, from Houston on down. I used to walk by bars and women would ask if I could escort them to Houston. It was that bad.

I had a couple of Japanese friends who came visiting once and when they found out they were on the Lower East Side, one of them put their hand on their heart, because the Japanese embassy told them not to go down here. They told them to stay away. It was just scary here because you’d walk down the street and everything was closed. You’d wonder, ‘what the hell am I doing here.’ When I first moved in there was a drug dealer on every corner and they would be saying things like, ‘Christmas Trees, Santa Claus.’ Reindeer, that was the codeword for Heroin. At night I’d hear a few gunshots and wonder what the hell I was doing here. But it was cheap.

Now, forget about it – across the street from my building you’ve got a 23-story building going up. They stopped it right now, there seems to be a big dispute. We’ve got all these bars opening up and all these loudmouth people in the middle of the night. And the cigarette smokers right outside my window. Bloomberg put them out on the street, right outside of my bedroom window. When I hit the lotto, man, I’m gonna hire about 400 cigarette smokers and have a big party in front of his house.

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

A woody start for The Third Man on Avenue C

The plywood came down around the former Lava Gina space the other day on Avenue C between East Seventh Street and East Eighth Street... Dave on 7th passed along this photo from yesterday...

Coming soon: A new cocktail lounge from the Edi & the Wolf people down the next block... The lounge will be called The Third Man, named after the 1949 film-noir classic starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton.

Per Eater: "The Third Man's food program will focus on Austrian-style small plates ... it'll be a fairly small, 15 seat affair. The décor is inspired by Vienna's Loos Bar, complete with 'floating' steel bar hanging from the ceiling."

Management is really earning its money now

A front door somewhere along East 11th Street.

At the New Amsterdam Lantern Walk

In Tompkins Square Park this early evening...

The Lantern Walk is a tradition of German origin that marks the midpoint between the fall equinox and winter solstice and offers a celebration of the light that glows ever brighter within us, even as the days of the year grow dark and cold.

Photos by Bobby Williams. Find more info about the Walk here.

[Updated] Report: Skateboarder dies after collision with truck at Union Square

A 24-year-old skateboarder died today after he swerved into the path of a truck at Union Square, according to a report via the Daily News.

Per the report, he was riding with traffic along Broadway when "he suddenly turned in front of the moving delivery truck" at East 17th Street.

BoweryBoogie has more details here, including a rather graphic photo.

Updated 3:26 p.m.

Gothamist has more details here.

51 Astor Place getting the window treatment

A lot of glass action here at 51 Astor Place...

[Bobby Williams]

[BW]

[BW]

... and a photo from this morning to see the progress via EVG regular peter radley...

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

A new bike for Jacqueline

On Nov. 10, we posted an item from East Village resident Michele McVicar, who was trying to help a homeless woman who lost her bicycle during Hurricane Sandy. Michele provides an update here.

This is Jacqueline, a lovely 76 year-old French woman who lives down at the East River where I go walking every day. She lost her bike in the recent hurricane. She relied heavily on the bike to get around. She is disabled and walks with some difficulty assisted by her cane. She never ever asks for anything. I have tried to give her money in the past but she won't take it. She saves up her apples to give to my dog when I pass by. She told me she has been homeless since 2001 and has (unsuccessfully) applied for housing 4 separate times. (She has a strong and, unfortunately, rather stubborn mind.)

When I saw her after the hurricane I was relieved to see she had made it! She camps in a small tent right by one of those posts you see under the highway at Avenue C and 20th Street. She told me she was forcefully evacuated and I guess glad, as she had planned to stay here during the storm. It ended up flooding here. She would have died. Her bike and belongings were swept away.

I offered to get her a replacement and she was thrilled. Immediately I started looking ... but couldn't find what I was looking for. I hunted high and low to get a cheap or free one. My friend Jeff owns Continuum Cycles, and he offered to help me. He checked his stock and basement to see if he had something that would work. She needed a really small bike as she is only 5-2.

Jeff and I finally found one at Recycle-A-Bicycle who, upon hearing Jackie's plight, sold us a vintage Ross 17-inch bike for very cheap ($50). However, it needed lots of work. New cables, seat, tires, gear work, brake pads, basket and rear carrier, bell and bike locks. Jeff offered to do the work for cost while I set to find donations from all my friends and neighbors to help pay for it all. Most didn't even know Jackie but were really happy to be part of the project. Another neighbor offered to get us the bike seat. I probably could have paid for this all by myself but I wanted to share the blessing of giving to someone and to introduce more people to Jackie's existence.

On November 17 the bike was ready. It was dark already but I found Jackie along the river. She was so happy to get her new bike. I gave her a card with signatures and messages from all the people who helped pay for the bike. She reminded me of my grandmother, who whenever I gave her something, she would immediately want to do something for you.

On Sunday, I went back to see how she was liking the bike and to give her some winter clothes.

She confided that the day I gave her the bike was a special day for her. November 17 was her father's birthday and he had given Jackie her very first bike.

After reading this, the guilty party said, 'Woo is me'

A reader sent along this Urban Etiquette Sign from an Avenue C building...

[Click image to enlarge]

It reads in part...

Dear new residents of [redacted] Avenue C:

This neighborhood has existed and co-existed since long before you moved in.

It is a diverse neighborhood of people who are not tolerant of entitled, suburban, college frat behavior, and your disrespect and ignorance of your neighbors and the area you have chosen to live is obnoxious and disturbing — and it will not be tolerated.

THIS IS NOT YOUR FRAT HOUSE, A DORM, OR YOUR PARENTS BACKYARD IN CONNECTICUT. SHOW SOME RESPECT.

An occasional, respectful party is acceptable — storing kegs in the back and having obnoxious post-grads running rampant around the building with frat-letter flags on their head is not.

A 'Super' East 11th Street

In our post yesterday about the new apartment building on East 11th Street ... Dave on 7th noted that the building adjacent to the lot, 533 E. 11th St., served as the exterior for "The Super," a rather painful comedy (co-written by Nora Ephron too) from 1991 starring Joe Pesci.

And the plot: "Karma comes into play when a wealthy wisecracking landlord is ordered by a court to live in the filthy building that he runs."

The movie provides a nice time capsule for the neighborhood circa 1990-1991, as you can see in this clip that Dave on 7th sent along...



And a few photos...

[From 1979 via Michael Sean Edwards]

[From 2011 via Google]

1 idea for a last-minute Thanksgiving meal

The Odessa on Avenue A...

I'm not aware of a better deal around... considering the amount of food that you get... I've eaten here several times on Thanksgiving in recent years... And they haven't changed the price (or sign) for several years. Sorry, no Crushed Almond-Sweet Potato Puree & Huckleberry with Shaved Nutmeg here...

Oh, and has anyone ever taken part in the Thanksgiving feast at Ukrainian East Village on Second Avenue? This looks tempting as well...

Enjoy this Avenue B apartment, just some 20 blocks from Peels

Was trolling some East Village apartment listings... found a new one for a nice apartment at 204 Avenue B between East 12th Street and East 13th Street... (2 bedrooms; $3,000 per month, etc.)

For some reason, the main photo accompanying the listing is of ... Peels, located nowhere near here on the Bowery at East Second Street...

And that Peels shot just looks so... staged. Some sort of fantasy urban retreat where everyone eats quinoa and recycles. Why not show the exteriors of the actual block? The apartment here in question is above B-Side...

Bicycle booked on the Bowery

Well, it does look handcuffed to the MTA pole...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Avenue A and East 12th Street via Bobby Williams]

Sidewalk fire on Broadway and East 11th Street last evening — in video! (BoweryBoogie)

City suspends residential evictions this week (New York State ... via Matt_LES)

First look at the opportunity to develop SPURA (The Lo-Down)

Sex Diary of a 26-year-old East Village resident: Bed surfing post Sandy (New York, Daily Intel)

An assessment of the new Bill's (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Bloomberg is kind of a dick (Runnin' Scared)

This morning at Astor Place

...where a creative makeshift shelter has emerged... photo by Shawn Chittle.

East 11th Street lot prepped for the Mary Spink Apartments

In recent days, workers have been prepping the empty lot at 535-537 E. 11th St. near Avenue B... the space will one day be home to eight stories — 46 units — of affordable housing for formerly homeless and mentally disabled East Villager residents, as Curbed first noted.

EVG regular Ron Z. passed along these photos, noting that an electric meter was added a few days ago ... as well as the plywood.

Also, the building has a name: The Mary Spink Apartments.

Spink, a respected community activist, CB3 member and executive director of Lower East Side People’s Mutual Housing Association, died in January. She was 64.

Here's the rendering of the building...

Our post on this in early October generated 48 comments, many of them negative. Read that post here.

154 Second Ave. is missing

[Image from summer 2011 via Off the Grid]

A quick look at the progress at 154 Second Ave., where workers have been gut renovating the former funeral chapel to make way for several new floors for "luxury rental apartments." And retail space.

Gutting is likely a better description. We noticed that the original building is pretty much ... gone.

Can't quite tell in these photos... but the front of the building is down to the original doorways...

And one day...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'

Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants

The walls come tumbling down at 154 Second Avenue