EV Grieve

Monday, May 27, 2013

Cars and suspended cans this Memorial Day

On Avenue A...

...and along East River Park...

Photos by Bobby Williams...

Citi Bikes now making tired jokes about Williamsburg

The bike share is under way, of course ... and we're spotting more and more of them on the streets (people seem to be enjoying the experience, though we're terrible mind readers) ... Meanwhile, Ray LeMoine points out this Citi Copy® on East Second Street and Avenue B that we never noticed before ...

Updated: A free taste of tacos this afternoon at El Diablito Taqueria

[Via @shawnshahan]

El Diablito Taqueria opened a few weeks on 60 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

If you have been curious to try the place... they tell us they will be handing out samples of their tacos as well as free agua fresca out front today from ~~4-5:30 p.m.~~ 3-4:30 p.m.

Previously on EV Grieve:
El Diablito Taqueria is now open on East 3rd Street

And we're off: 1st Citi Bikes spotted in the wild; world doesn't end

Have now spotted 4 people riding Citi Bikes in the last 10 minutes. Plus 1 van. twitter.com/evgrieve/statu…
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) May 27, 2013

Anyone with a Citi Bike membership want to share an assessment of your experience with the bikes today? (Anonymous or not.) Via the EV Grieve email ... or in the comments...

Meanwhile, the Post reports today that a Citi Bikes docking station was positioned "a mere 150 feet" from Frank's Bike Shop on Grand Street.

And the shop’s 68-year-old owner, affectionately known as “Dr. Frank,” is worried about his future.

"My biggest question is how did they come about to choose the areas where they put these bikes. Did they study the areas? Did they look at the businesses around them?" asked a flabbergasted Frank Arroyo.

He says his bike rentals comprise one-third of his income.

And did you see Marcellus Hall's New Yorker cover this week? (Read about it here.)

[Via Gothamist]

At the Loisaida Festival

Here are photos from yesterday's 26th annual Loisaida Festival on Avenue C...

[Top 3 photos by Bobby Williams]

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And a few Avenue C street scenes via EVG contributor James Maher...

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And here's a video featuring an after-party on the Avenue...

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Cab backs into dba today

[Via an EVG reader]

As we understand it today around 5 ... a cab driver somehow backed into dba on First Avenue...

[Via an EVG reader]

...as our friends from dba tell it, the cab driver was taken off in an ambulance with unknown injuries, but amazingly nobody else was injured... all the more amazing when you look at the photos from inside via EVG reader Shawn...

Spider-Man on Avenue C (aka, BOUNCY CASTLE)

Bouncy castle! (And not quite sure why Batman and Superman get such low billing here...) Oh! All this during the Loisaida Festival today on Avenue C today... we'll post more photos tomorrow... this shot is via ~~Peter Parker~~ Bobby Williams.

Week in Grieview

[Photo by Stephen Popkin]

Q-and-A with Lydia Lunch (Tuesday)

Arrest in assault of gay man on Avenue D (Tuesday)

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site (Thursday)

How Edward Arrocha became “Eak the Geek” (Wednesday)

Looking at Ben Shaoul's Bloom 62, which is taking over the former Cabrini Center (Saturday)

Early 1990s photos from the East Village (Friday)

Long-dormant ast 13th Street lot back in action; 6-floor building on the way (Thursday)

David's Show Repair leaving the East Village for the cheaper rents of ... Midtown (Tuesday)

TREEMAN (Monday)

Hearing about the illegal addition at 515 E. Fifth St. (Tuesday)

CB3 says no to The Living Room to Second Street (Wednesday)

Fall out from the cancelled Great GoogaMooga Festival (Sunday)

More about the CBGB Music and Film Festival (Wednesday)

Max Fish closing in late July (Thursday)

... and workers have replaced this on Avenue A and East Ninth Street...

Week in Grieview — Citi Bikes edition

[Friday via EVG reader John]

Early verdict on Citi Bikes — kids love 'em (Friday, 26 comments)

And now, more complaints about Citi Bikes docking stations (Friday, 20 comments)

Trading places: Citi Bikes docking station making the move on East 11th Street (Thursday, 51 comments)

Report: 9th Precinct traffic safety sergeant worries about an increase in accidents with Citi Bikes (Thursday, 17 comments)

Countdown to Citi Bikes bike share in the East Village (Wednesday, 18 comments)

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... and a few people have said that the docking stations are positioned in a potentially dangerous manner; that people will have to pull the bikes from the docks out into the street ... Here's a shot from yesterday on St. Mark's Place ...

[Stephen Popkin]

...looks like enough room, yes?

Second Avenue, before the 'giant fraternity party'

Christopher Gray at The New York Times has a piece on the history of Second Avenue in today's paper ...

Second Avenue opened after the adoption of the grid plan in 1811, and wealthy families put up comfortable brick Greek Revival houses, like the Isaac Hopper house at 110 Second Avenue (above), nearly intact from the 1830s.

[Early 2012]

And you may not notice the beauty of No. 149 ... with the distraction of the kegs and stench of chicken wings from the 13th Step...

[Yesterday]

But, at one time...

Another town house from the 1840s is 149 Second Avenue; it still has its stoop and is comparatively little altered, although there’s a big skylight on the roof that must give some apartment plenty of sun. The 1870 census records the occupants as Edward Jaffray, a socially prominent dry goods importer, his family of five and nine servants.

And what about today's Second Avenue?

There is still some of the old egg-cream-ethnic left on Second Avenue, but now the chief cultural group is 20-something singles, who spill onto the sidewalks like a giant fraternity party, more ebullient than disorderly, even with plenty of beer.

Read the whole article here.

Reminders: The Loisaida Festival is today

The 26th annual on Avenue C, from East Sixth Street to East 12th Street ... The official Festival site is here.

And this morning, everyone is setting up for the day... from the shetland ponies ...