Revisiting the Electric Circus, thanks to 'Mad Men'

I don't watch the TV program "Mad Men." However, I read that the show's characters have been visiting the 1967-68 East Village in various plotlines. (The Times wrote about this a few weeks ago.)

The latest episode apparently included a trip to the Electric Circus on St. Mark's Place... @ShaneEvanDavis reminded me of this EVG post on the Electric Circus from April 15, 2011 titled If the Electric Circus were to open today ... cut-and-paste here again below... Repost! Repost!

------

At first, this was meant as nothing more than an appreciation of some photos (via Getty Images) of the Electric Circus from 1968 ... with the original photo captions on the first three...

"Patrons at Electric Circus, 23 St. Marks Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City. stops for check. Girls not wearing bras are admitted free on Sundays."

"UNITED STATES - JUNE 27: Transparent plastic bra strap, virtually invisible around back, gives a topless look to formal mini at the Electric Circus at 23 St. Marks Place, New York City. (Photo by William Quinn/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)"

"Fashionable crowd mill about outside the Electric Circus 23 St. Marks Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City."

Then I started thinking about the reaction if this very same venue would open here today... A hot club promoter (in this case, Jerry Brandt) ... celebrities... crowds from everywhere showing up on St. Mark's Place... how would the community respond? No bra night?! Sounds like some stunt Superdive would have pulled. And look at that mob on the sidewalk! Call 311! (And what would those local bloggers write!) Has the influx of bars and jackasses and woo-wooing in recent years made us intolerant of any nightlife? Or maybe just some nightlife? Or a certain type of nightlife? (I can keep going with the vague rhetorical questions!) Regardless, I would have liked to seen this concept go before today's CB3/SLA committee...

Anyway, here are several more photos from the Getty archives... the Electric Circus closed in 1971... the address now houses a Supercuts and Chipotle ... as well as $17,000 apartments...

By the way, this wasn't meant as a history of the space... plenty has been written about it, including, but not limited to:

Jack Newfield Catches the Electric Circus Opening on St. Marks (The Village Voice)

FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER: The Electric Circus (The Bowery Boys)

Streetscapes / 19-25 St. Marks Place; The Eclectic Life of a Row of East Village Houses (The Times)

Live on St. Mark's Place for only $17,000 per month! (EV Grieve)

Cooper Union students protest school's decision to start charging tuition

Earlier today, Cooper Union officials announced that, for the first time, the school would start charging tuition, effective the fall of 2014.

As a result, several hundred students and faculty members staged a walk-out this afternoon.

Per The Nation:

Using similar theatrical tools that activists have employed in previous demonstrations, Cooper art and architecture students ran around the building hugging the walls in a human chain while chanting “Free as air and water...Save Cooper Union.”

The students also held an “Irish wake,” setting a hat ablaze on the pavement and singing satirically in front of the same building students occupied some months ago. While some students seem disillusioned by the school’s decision, many more are angered that the Board of Trustees met secretly in the morning while students were in class to avoid any disruption of their meeting.

Large numbers of the NYPD were also on-hand...





Photos by Bobby Williams.

Citi Bikes docking station arrives at Astor Place

On the west side of the Death Star... photo from Twitter via @buttermilk1

Cooper Union will start charging undergraduate tuition in the fall of 2014

Facing a strained economic future, Cooper Union officials announced today that it will charge undergraduates to attend classes starting in the fall of 2014.

Here are details via a statement that the school just released:

The following statement from the Board of Trustees of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art was presented by Chairman of the Board Mark Epstein to the student body, faculty and staff of the institution at a meeting today in the Cooper Union Great Hall.

“After eighteen months of intense analysis and vigorous debate about the future of Cooper Union, the time has come for us to set our institution on a path that will enable it to survive and thrive well into the future. Consequently, the Board of Trustees voted last week to reduce the full-tuition scholarship to 50% for all undergraduates admitted to The Cooper Union beginning with the class entering in the fall of 2014.

“Under the new policy, The Cooper Union will continue to adhere to the vision of Peter Cooper, who founded the institution specifically to provide a quality education to those who might otherwise not be able to afford it. Consequently, we will provide additional scholarship funding for those with need, including full-tuition scholarships to all Pell Grant-eligible students. We intend to keep admissions need-blind. Current undergraduates, as well as those undergraduates entering in the fall of 2013 will continue to receive the full-tuition scholarship for the duration of their undergraduate education.

“Our priorities have been and will continue to be quality and access, so that we will remain a true meritocracy of outstanding students from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Read the full statement here.

Read more on this story at The New York Times here.

Previously.

Citi Bikes docking stations arrive at NYU

Via EVG reader Jeffrey Borenstein...

Petition campaign asks: 'Return PS 64 to the Community'

From the EV Grieve inbox... via the East Village Community Coalition...

COMMUNITY USE - NOT DORMITORY

Respect our community. Respect this community treasure: Old P.S. 64 located at 605 East 9th Street.

Old P.S. 64, a designated New York City landmark, has a long and valued history serving our community. This building could easily serve our community again. Dormitory use of this building does not serve our community. Cooper Union should not house students in old P.S. 64.

We ask that old P.S. 64 be returned to use for our community.

Find the petition here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Deed for 'community facility use only' at the former P.S. 64 now on the market

Report: Former PS 64 one step closer to becoming a 500-bed dorm for multiple NYC colleges

Through art, East Side High students and faculty show the importance of community

From the EV Grieve inbox...

After being displaced from their building for 4 months, the students, staff and parents of East Side Community High School have come together in a show of strength to create and exhibit almost 1,000 pieces of art celebrating the importance of community.

East Side Community High School was evacuated in September after structural damage was found in the building. The 4 month-long evacuation created chaos and frustration, with hundreds of students and staff split up and relocated to other school sites in the city.

Upon returning to the school building in February, art teachers Leigh Klonsky and Desiree Borrero facilitated a massive school-wide art project around the themes of "home" and "community." Over the course of three weeks, students, parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, administration, and non-teaching staff participated in a series of art making workshops. Through writing and discussion, participants reflected on their individual experiences and relationship to the community. Their reflections inspired the creation of small mixed media artworks, using watercolor, colored pencil, marker and collage.

The artwork will be on display from April 24 – May 10 in the school's art gallery, the Loisaida Art Gallery, on East 11th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. The opening reception is on Wednesday April 24 from 3:30 - 6:30 and is open to the public.

A selection from the exhibition will also be available online here.

-----

As a follow-up, we asked Leigh Klonsky a few questions about the exhibit.

What were you and Desiree hoping to accomplish with this project?

We had two major goals. One was to create an opportunity for everyone who was impacted by the evacuation to be able to reflect on their experience through visual art. Different classes and advisories did activities that helped us all reflect and share our experiences, but expressing yourself through visual art allows for other things to come up, things that might be hard to articulate in words. We wanted to provide an opportunity for people to visualize their experiences.

Another goal was to affirm the importance of every member of our community. By participating in one of the workshops, contributing a piece of art, or coming to the reception, you are affirming your place within our community. Although we are a small school, staff, students and families don't always interact or meet. It was a really special moment, for example, when our school psychologist, a parent and our custodian made art next to each other, after sharing their thoughts about community.

"Home" and "community" mean different things to different people. Did you see any common themes emerge from the artwork?

The workshops were structured to ask 6 questions:

• How does our East Side community represent home to you?
• What did you learn from being away from East Side?
• What does home, our community, the neighborhood, the Lower East Side look like to you?
• What did you miss about our East Side community when we were relocated?
• Is there a specific person or place in our East Side community that makes it home for you?
• What is your ideal vision of a school community?

Common responses discussed the loss of space, middle school students and high school students missing seeing each other, the cultural differences at the relocation sites (metal detectors, different commute, different neighborhood, lack of windows), but the most common response was how East Siders were able to create community wherever they were.

From the students you've talked with, what are some of the things that they took away from the experience of being displaced from their home school?

"Not taking things for granted" was a repeated phrase.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Schools making it work while repairs continue at 420 E. 12th St.

Wall progress at East Side Community School

The Jefferson reveals what '21st Century living in the heart of Olde New York' costs

And yesterday, The Jefferson — the luxury condos that rose up from the former Mystery Lot on East 13th Street — unveiled its pricing and floor plans, as BuzzBuzz Home first noted. (We spotted the listings at Curbed.)

The Jefferson's marketing campaign asks, "Can you afford not to buy?" Unfortunately, the units turn out to be more than $300. The listings include a 536-square-foot studio for $850,000 up to a two-bedroom penthouse with a rooftop terrace for $2.49 million. In between, one-bedrooms range from $1.11 and $1.54 million.

Anyway, go look at the units... come back and comment... Or just comment.

And the view from East 13th Street...



...and the roof...



Previously on EV Grieve:
City approves new building for Mystery Lot

The last days of the Mystery Lot

Before it was the Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot developers using famous dead comedians to sell condos at The Jefferson

Reader mailbag: Can you help ID that high-pitched screeching noise?

From the EV Grieve Reader Mailbag®:

Wondering if you can help identify the source of a high-pitched screeching noise coming from somewhere between East 10th and East 9th Street (back of the buildings) and First Avenue and Avenue A (seems closer to A).

A fan? An exhaust of some kind? Suri Cruise's tea kettle (is she even in the EV anymore)? [Editor's note: No]

It sounds like 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'

It's on for like 1 or 2 days a week for many hours at a time.

I'm trying to pinpoint the source to report the issue to 311, contact the source (or consider an unconventional approach if that becomes necessary).

Anyone? Anyone with a serious response/solution?

The enthusiasm for gluten-free bakeries in the neighborhood may be waning somewhat

Spotted at the Tuck Shop yesterday on St. Mark's Place. Headline and photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.

Johnny Thunders died on this date in 1991

John Anthony Genzale, Jr
Born July 15, 1952 Queens, New York City
Died April 23, 1991 (age 38) New Orleans, Louisiana

Doll... Heartbreaker.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On the phone with Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls

A few nibbles for Something Sweet

Just checking in with the owners of Something Sweet, who are looking for help to revive the longtime bakery on First Avenue and East 11th Street. After our last post, the owners said that they did receive some interest, including pro-bono help from an attorney.

Per Something Sweet: "Out of all the responses there are a few possibilities."

Sidenote: The owners even reached out to David Schwimmer's agent. They figured he would be living here soon... why not at least ask? Oh, and how did that go with the agent?

"[They] denied at first even representing him, then said that they can get in touch with him by fax. But they were not interested in what I had to say."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Something Sweet still looking for help to revive its beloved business

Welcome back my friend to the show that never ends...

In case that you did already know... Back. In. Action. Thanks to juan TRED for the shot...

Still the one

Today on Avenue A at East Seventh Street... still my favorite East Village intersection... photo by Bobby Williams.

[Updated] Citi Bike docking station arrives on Lafayette Street

Right alongside the Puck Building... per EVG reader Clint Smeltzer.

And look for them to arrive closer to the East Village (here) very soon...

Updated 2:10 p.m.

Docking station... now docked! Two more photos from Clint...





And: "[A]s I was walking away another truck load of them drove by and continued up Lafayette."

Updated: Fire reported at 224 Avenue B

MAN ALL HANDS 224 AVE B, MIXED OCCUPANCY FIRE IN BASEMENT AND WALLS,
— FDNY (@FDNY) April 22, 2013

Firefighters are at the scene at 224 Avenue B...



Per EVG reader Derrick Loris, who took these photos: "Light smoke, sound of saws.... got under control pretty quick. Never saw a flame."

Standing by for more information.

Updated 11 a.m.



Per Derrick, who is at the scene:

"Amor Bakery is the victim of the fire at 224 Avenue B. No extension into the floors above or Mona's is the word at the moment..."

Updated 11:40 a.m.

And from ace photographer East Village Hawkeye...





Per East Village Hawkeye: "A tenant's husband was allowed to remain in building with his cats, so that may confirm the danger was minimal."

Updated 12:31 p.m.

A resident at 224 Avenue B shares a few photos from inside the building...













Per the resident: "Roof above the bakery was torn off. (Photo above) You can see the debris discarded in one of the pics. FDNY did not require us to evacuate and were in my unit several times during the course of the fire to check for smoke ..."

The resident noted that the apartment shown in the photos had been vacant...

All the King's neon

Shawn Chittle notices some new neon at Papaya King, coming very soon to 3 St. Mark's Place.

Call for an East Village 'slow zone'

[Click image to enlarge]

Catching up with an op-ed that appears in this week's issue of The Villager. Here, CB3 member Chad Marlow, and the group that he founded in 2011, the Tompkins Square Park & Playground Parents’ Association (TSP3A), are kicking off a major neighborhood safety initiative.

It involves applying to the Department of Transportation to have them create what the group is calling the "Tompkins Square/Alphabet City Slow Zone" (TSACSZ).

The TSACSZ, in short, is an effort to improve pedestrian safety for children and all others who live/work/play in the proposed 0.38 square-mile zone by reducing motor vehicle speeds. As Marlow writes, the slow zone program "takes a well-defined, relatively compact area, and reduces its speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour, with further reductions to 15 miles per hour near schools."

The above map previews the proposal, using crash data demonstrating how dangerous the area is. Per the op-ed:

According to Transportation Alternatives, from 2005 to 2009 (the five most recent years for which State Department of Motor Vehicles data is available), there were 143 pedestrian injuries and 70 cyclist injuries in the proposed TSACSZ. There were also two pedestrian fatalities. That means the proposed TSACSZ averages 42.6 injuries and 0.4 deaths annually. By way of comparison, only one existing slow zone — Elmhurst, with an average of 44.6 annual injuries — is even in the same ballpark as the proposed TSACSZ.

The group believes that the proposed TSACSZ will benefit the neighborhood's residents, visitors and businesses by creating a safer, cleaner neighborhood with less traffic noise, among other things.

Aside from other NYC neighborhoods, Marlow points to the successful implementation of such zones in several international cities, including Berlin, Zurich, Dublin, London and Helsinki.

Finally, Marlow reveals a personal reason behind this proposal. In 1995, a drunken driver struck Marlow's father, an accident that left him with quadriplegia and a severe brain injury. His father died 13 years after the accident.

Read the entire op-ed here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A proposal to help curb the East Village crusty population

Parents group upset about number of rats in Tompkins Square Park

Meanwhile in London, the Barclays Cycle Hire

Well, with all that talk about Citi Bikes coming here soon, probably ... here's a dispatch from EVG London Correspondent Dave on 7th from a few weeks ago...



"A well-worn program here in London. Must say they are everywhere, and fairly innocuous. It's been quite cold, so I don't think many people have been riding much. I've been told they are quite popular for commuters to the point that there are sometimes arguments over trying to grab the last spot in a corral. But, there always seems to be another corral nearby."





The Barclays Cycle Hire launched in July 2010.

A sign at Croxley's mentions the 'incompetent contractors next door'

[Last Thursday at 26 Avenue B via EVG reader Eric]

As we previously reported, there's a full Stop Work Order on 26 Avenue B, the construction site adjacent to No. 28, the building that had to be evacuated late last Monday afternoon..

Construction recently commenced in the empty lot on a new 6-story apartment building. DNAinfo reported that a resident at 28 Avenue B started to notice cracks in her ceiling after construction began.

The DOB noted the following about No. 28:

FDNY REQUESTS A STRUCTURAL STABILITY INSPECTION DUE TO VERTICAL CTACK AT REAR OF BUILDING FROM THE 1ST TO TOP FLOOR AND

Category Code: 30 BUILDING SHAKING/VIBRATING/STRUCT STABILITY AFFECTED

Aside from displacing residents, the evacuation shut down the tenant on the ground floor — Croxley Ales. And this sign arrived to greet would-be patrons this past weekend...



Also, the DOB is allowing partial work to continue at the construction site...to "perform stabilization" to 28 Avenue B, according to city records.

[H/t EVG reader Chad]

New Nino's will be the old Nino's

[Bobby Williams, from Thursday]

You may have noticed some renovations going on at the former Nino's space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place... A tipster shared this:

A friend said they saw work going on in Nino’s space and asked what was happening? An older guy said he was Nino’s brother and they were re-opening. He said they sold it to this other guy and he screwed the place up so they are coming back and put it back the way it was. If it is true it is pretty cool.

Indeed, it is true... Via Eater, we learned that Nino Nino Camaj is returning to reopen the pizzeria that he previously sold, as first reported by the Local.

Do you think this means the return of the fountain drinks and year-round holiday decorations?


As for the last version of the non-Nino's Nino's, well, let's just try to forget about that stripped-down, charmless place.

Previously.

Bank branch becomes bank branch at former site of the Fillmore East

And over on Second Avenue near East Sixth, EVG contributor peter radley notes that the Emigrant Savings Bank will become an Apple Bank starting today...

And the address had a long history as various theaters and clubs... most notably the Fillmore East...



... and here's a photo of Timothy Leary circa 1966 from its days as an off-Broadway venue:


The Emigrant Savings Bank started going up in this space in 1997...

Previously.

Jeremiah wrote about the Fillmore East here ...