The whitewashing of the East Village continues

[June]

As noted last month, Tu Casa Recording Studio is leaving its longtime home at 95 Avenue B between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.

Early last evening, EVG reader Ann noted that workers were starting the paint over Tu Casa's mural...



Tu Casa has been around since 1972. A very lengthy list of musicians have played here through the years... including Butch Morris, Black Flag, the Bush Tetras, Dee Dee Ramone, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... (Find more names here.)

We don't know if Mario is moving Tu Casa to a new space in Brooklyn ... or closing altogether. We called Tu Case, though the number has been temporarily disconnected.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tu Casa Recording Studio is leaving Avenue B

Stanley Kubrick's Shoe Shine Boy

[Avenue C circa 1947]

On the occasion of his birthday yesterday, we posted a photo that filmmaker Stanley Kubrick took on the subway from 1946 for LOOK Magazine...

EVG Facebook friend Sharon shared the above photo...In 1947, Kubrick followed a 12-year-old kid named Mickey around for a LOOK pictorial on shoe shine boys... any guesses on what the cross street is for the above photo at Avenue C? (I don't know, so...)

The Museum of the City of New York has more photos and information about the series here.

Hockey clinic for kids Sundays in Tompkins Square Park

[NOT the old-time hockey taught in Tompkins Square Park]

EVG reader and East Village resident Brian Kubovcik shared this info ... he's a volunteer coach with NYC Street Hockey ... and they work with the Parks Deptartment and the New York Rangers to provide free Street Hockey Clinics to boys and girls ages 5-15.

"It's meant to get kids outside and active. We teach the basics of hockey on sneakers (not skates) and all equipment is provided. No prior hockey experience necessary. We're putting on the clinics in Tompkins Square Park (basketball court area at the corner of 10th Street and Avenue A) Sundays from 10 am - 12:30 until Aug. 25."

From the official website, where you can find registration info.

As a result of the continued success of the NYC Parks/NY Rangers Street Hockey Program, now in its third year, Parks will be offering free youth street hockey clinics for boys and girls aged 5-15 during the summer. The weekly scheduled clinics focus on introducing youth to the sport of hockey and teaching them the importance of an active, healthy lifestyle and eating a balanced diet. Sports instruction will focus on individual skills, team participation, and fundamentals of the game such as passing, shooting and stickhandling. All equipment is provided and no prior experience is necessary to participate.

Today at the Tompkins Square Park charging station

Photo by Bobby Williams

Garden party

Siouxsie and the Banshees with "Hong Kong Garden" from 1981

Happy birthday Stanley Kubrick

The great Stanley Kubrick was born on this date in 1928 in the Bronx.

Before his filmmaking career, he worked as a commercial photographer... he shot the NYC subways for LOOK Magazine in 1946...


[Museum of the City of New York]

You can find this photo and several others at the Museum of the City of New York blog.

Meanwhile, as for his films... In 1955, he borrowed $40,000 from an uncle and directed, wrote, edited and photographed "Killer's Kiss" — one of my favorites... (the images in the trailer show up at the 28-second mark...)



[H/T Dangerous Minds]

Tim Hortons 'temporarily closed for utility line maintenance'

That Tim Hortons-Cold Stone Creamery combo opened late last year on East Houston near Ludlow... As the photo via @fnytv shows, they are temporarily closed... perhaps a victim of the never-ending Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction...

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street discovers the summer vacation

Time to check in with a few friends who had the chance to travel this summer.

Recently Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street vacationed on Nantucket. We are unsure whether she’d ever been to the ocean before and given the calamity of her last water visit at Bantam Lake last summer we were concerned about how she’d react.



Turns out while she loves water she isn’t crazy about waves. But chasing her ball into the surf kept her busy and happy for hours and hours.



She also quickly acclimated to the natives and quite naturally substituted chasing seagulls and rabbits for her usual pigeon and squirrel obsessions in Tompkins Square Park.

More than anything we think she enjoyed being sans-leash with unfettered access to the great outdoors without the four flights of stairs she has to navigate at home.

On the next episode: Despite the strong performances by Al Pacino and John Cazale, Kita finds the lack of actual canines in "Dog Day Afternoon" rather disappointing.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

The further (often truly) amazing adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Happy holidays from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has her first ever annual checkup

At the Sagamore Cafeteria, 'always filled with bums snoozing over a cold cup of coffee'

Recently spotted this on the Old New York page on Facebook...

Description:
"Cafeteria near Cooper Union on Bowery. 1942. Photo by Marjory Collins. Photo from the Library of Congress."

As people in the Facebook comments pointed out, this was the Sagamore Cafeteria, St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue. Jack Kerouac called it "the respectable bums' cafeteria."

In his memoir, the poet Ted Berrigan recalled:

"The Sagamore was a big place always filled with bums snoozing over a cold cup of coffee. When you entered the place, you went through a turnstile and took a ticket, whih had various monetary values printed along its edges. Then, as you went down the cafeteria line, each counter man punch your new total cost.

Nobody bothered anybody, so it was a good place to sit if you wanted to talk for hours, which we usually did. Good, that is, if you could ignore so much human misery around you."

And today, of course, it looks like this...

The Taking of Astor Place...

Ah, EVG reader J.J. sent along a clip from one of our favorite NYC movies — "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" from 1974. (Anyone ever watch the 2009 remake? If not, then please don't.)

Anyway, the 90-second clip highlights a key scene that takes place on Lafayette Street up to Astor Place... As J.J. notes: "Luckily the Mud Truck wasn't there that day."

And we always liked the original movie poster...

Jupiter 21's mail campaign

A reader shared this Jupiter 21 marketing brochure that he randomly received in the mail yesterday... (did you receive one?)

It touts the amenities at the new luxury high rise on Second Avenue and East First Street, which, according to this brochure, is located in Noho...



Funny that this address wasn't considered Noho before this...

A new suitor for 269 E. Houston St.

There's a potential bar/restaurant in the works for 269 E. Houston St., the building at Suffolk with nine different for rent/sale signs.

This applicant is on the August CB3/SLA committee docket:

• Lower East Side NY Bistro Corp, 269 E Houston St (op)

Dunno anything about it just yet... though the word "bistro" makes it seem as if it will be a more upscale tenant than in past years.

As for recent history here... The Local 269 never reopened last fall after a flood apparently KO'd much of the live music venue's equipment. The space was previously home to Meow Mix and Vasmay Lounge. The Local opened in February 2009.

Applicants who were previously involved with the Apocalypse Lounge (2004-2007) on East Third Street apparently had designs on a new bar here. However, the applicants apparently never appeared before the CB3/SLA committee back in March, according to the CB3 meeting record.

We'll have more on the August CB3/SLA meeting later... the meeting is set for Aug. 19 at 6:30 pm.