OK, here's 84 Third Ave. without the scaffolding and stuff

Hey! It's our now weekly look at 84 Third Ave., the Karl Fischer-designed 9-story retail-residential complex at East 12th Street… now without any construction netting, scaffolding, etc.

Check it out. It doesn't cost anything to just look…





Photos by peter radley

When it snows

Well, we mostly survived the Great Snowstorm of Dec. 8.™

And no snowfall, however light, could go without someone scrawling the outline of a penis on a car. Dave on 7th and others noted an array of crude snowffiti along East Seventh Street and Avenue B and Avenue C...

Well, if this kind of thing will continue to happen (oh, and it will) … then we might as well make it look pretty...



Thanks to Luke on 7th for the above image.

And now, the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree

After this afternoon's tree lighting ceremony…

Photo by peter radley

Week in Grieview

[Dr. Jones I presume? Yesterday on 2nd Avenue]

John's of 12th Street has a new owner (Thursday)

Visit the East Village of 1967 (Tuesday)

7-Eleven closes on St. Mark's Place (Sunday … Wednesday)

SantaCon will start on Dec. 14 in TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK (Thursday)

Out and About with Rew Starr (Wednesday)

Comet watching in the East Village (Monday)

AC plummets from the Christodora House (Friday)

Vicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches has closed (Wednesday)

10-story building in the works for this East Houston corner (Monday)

East Village gift ideas (Friday)

A decrease in the number of chain stores in zip 10009 (Wednesday)

Red Hook Lobster Pound coming to the East Village (Tuesday)

Saved by the Book underway at St. Mark's Bookshop (Tuesday)

Cafe Rakka closes; Rakka Cafe reopens (Monday)

Mudspot Café now open in First Park (Thursday)

A St. Mark's Place scene: A Mercedes, some pot and the Bieber on the stereo (Tuesday)

A new restaurant taking over the Toucan and the Lion space on East Sixth Street (Friday)

Just another Saturday night and ...

East Fifth Street Stretch Hummer Sweet Action.

Reminders: The 22nd annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square Park is today

From 4-5 … details are on the flyer below...


[Bobby Williams]

Previously

Peter Stuyvesant Post Office now also open to ruin your Sundays this month

The Sunday hours continue this month at the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office on East 14th Street. (And apparently not everyone could agree on the hours, as you can see that 2 p.m. got changed to 1 p.m.)



Regardless! We all know how much fun it is going here. (A reminder here and here.)

And people, as people do, have taken to Yelp to offer their opinions on this branch … the overall average rating: 1 star!



Here's one recent 1-star review:

This place is hell on earth. I'm writing this review whilst standing in line- it's now been over an hour waiting to pick up an express international courier package I never received a notice for (with everyone else that's been screwed over by usps in this area)

I feel like it's a Survivor TV show challenge- survival of the postal service fittest. I'm watching people concede the line after waiting TOO long, hungry babies crying, there are the elderly sitting on the floor due to body aches, there are loud fits and nervous breakdowns from customers at the service box when rude staff aren't helpful after they've been waiting a half life for a stamp.

2 hours later, I need to pee. And I'm still waiting.

In any event, this is likely the last holiday season here … as this branch is supposedly closing in the spring. The USPS will lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

Concern mounts for snowman on Second Avenue

Passersby are troubled by the snowman continuously nodding off on the job here on Second Avenue near East Houston…





How do you explain this to the children?

Tonight's sunset

Photo by Jason Hammonds

Today's (hungry) hawks

Above, on East 11th Street off First Avenue via Greg Matherly of Reciprocal Skateboards…

And in Tompkins Square Park via Goggla… (find more hawk highlights from today here)



… and Bobby Williams…

A SantaCon warm-up?

In Tompkins Square Park this afternoon… The fellows told EVG contributor Derek Berg that they had nothing to do with SantaCon, which is next Santarday … Gotta be careful to be a Santa around here apparently...

A SantaCon warm-up?

Strummer's Greetings

Looking festive here on East 7th and Avenue A…

'Pop-up art show' tonight at the former PS 64

We continue to wait to learn about the dorm fate of the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street.

Meanwhile, Joselyn McDonald, a first-year MFA Design and Technology graduate student at Parsons the New School for Design, is hosting a video projection installation outside the building tonight at 6.

"I don't have a political agenda in doing this, rather, I wanted to do a video art installation for the community, and the fate/history of CHARAS was suggested to me time and time again by the members of many community organizations," said McDonald, an East Village resident. "It's really just a celebration of the rich history of the community. I think PS 64 is a strong focal point for letting that narrative unravel."

She plans to project "historic and contemporary images and video of PS 64 on the façade of the front of this esteemed school and community center. PS 64's role in the community, represents to [me] the way physical places can become essentially another integral member of the community."

And there will be snacks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
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

Efforts continue to fight the dorm planned for the former PS 64 on East 9th Street

Testimony Of Councilmember Rosie Mendez regarding the former PS 64

[Updated] At the 'Save Our Community Center MARCH AND RALLY'

Landmarks Preservation Commission asks to see modified plans for former PS 64

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approves application for modifications at PS 64

Hold it now

On East Fourth Street yesterday afternoon… photos by EVG contributor Derek Berg… and we have no idea what the shoot was for...

Cab, East 14th Street, rain

Jesus Saves

The Jesus And Mary Chain with "Never Understand" from 1985.

This air conditioner fell from the Christodora House today

Dang. EVG regular Jose Garcia was on the scene on East Ninth Street just east of Avenue B around noon. "It came perilously close to hitting a pedestrian. Totally freaked everyone out."

According to Jose, it appears that the AC unit came from near the top of the building — roughly three floors down from the roof.

Previously

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[East 9th Street at Second Avenue]

Sara D. Roosevelt Park is planning a "touch-and-scent" garden for the visually impaired (DNAinfo)

Q-and-A with St. Mark's Bookshop co-owner Terry McCoy (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Fighting back against the chain invasion (Off the Grid)

The future of one of the Bowery's oldest existing buildings (BoweryBoogie)

A lot of Lou Reed bootlegs (Dangerous Minds)

Trouble for Rev. Billy after his toad bank protest (The Villager)

Cashing in on a Grand Street building (The Lo-Down)

Reader mailbag: Do you have any suggestions for East Village-related holiday gifts?

Pretty straightforward question.

But there are many variables or something. Like! Who the gift is for. Do they live here now? Did they used to live here and are a little nostalgic? Blah blah. (In the reader's case, the gift is for his girlfriend who he shares an apartment with…)

I suggested buying a print from the Museum of the City of New York's archives. As an example. Here is the view to the northwest from the roof of the Christodora House on Avenue B and East Ninth Street circa Feb. 5, 1929.

[From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York]

There are also a few cool things for sale (T-shirts, books, zines, etc.) at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) at 155 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

The reader was interested in hearing suggestions from other readers… which might be a really bad idea. Kidding! So does anyone have a suggestion that isn't related to Hoboken hoofs/hooves or isn't blatant Yelp-like shilling for a particular store? (It's OK to name a store, as long as you don't seem spammy or public relationsy about it.)

And sadly, because someone will ask, all the items from the 2010 EV Grieve Last-Minute Gift Guide are thankfully sold out…



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We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)