This morning

Tompkins Square Park…

Reminders: The M8 weekend service resumes TODAY

[EVG file photo from May 2009]

It's true! The M8 will now run from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Starting today. Right now!

The weekend service was discontinued in June 2010 to help ease the MTA's $400 million financial shortfall. This route and others came back via NYC Transit's "2013-14 Service Enhancements Program."

Here is the M8 route...



Previously on EV Grieve:
M8 weekend service resumes next Sunday (13 comments)

Memorial for Spike in Tompkins Square Park

Lisa Julian (aka Spike or Lucretia) died after an SUV struck her on Third Avenue on March 27 …

Today, her friends created a memorial for her where she was likely best known — Tompkins Square Park…



Photos by Bobby Williams

Previously

2 vendors added to the Tompkins Square Greenmarket starting tomorrow

[File photo of Bread Alone taken at Union Square]

Via the EVG inbox...

Two farms added to the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket lineup for this Sunday, April 6 — one returning, one new!

• B&Y Farms of Tioga County, N.Y. returns to the market with their Animal Welfare Approved pork, lamb, poultry and eggs, in addition to their yarn, fleeces and pickles.

• Bread Alone of Ulster County, N.Y. also joins the market, bringing their mostly certified organic breads and pastries.

The Bowery Workout

An EVG reader shared this photo and report from today on the Bowery between East Third Street and East Fourth Street…

"A group of people dressed in camouflage fatigues (mostly men) walking in a group led by a huge American flag ... then they all dropped to the ground and started lifting their backpacks and doing sit-ups(?) as someone counted 50 reps…"

Zoltar can see clearly now, the tags are gone

Last Saturday!



This Saturday!



It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

H/T Johnny Nash

That late 1970s show

[St.Mark's Place 1979]

Alex at Flaming Pablum uncovered a cache of photos from Patrick Cummins, a Canadian archivist. Of particular interest is his set of 250-plus photos on Flickr dubbed "NYC 78-83."

Let's quote Alex's post on the photos:

Everyone talks about how “gritty” New York City used to be, and it’s almost become this quaint little descriptor that people blithely toss around, but Cummins’ photographs hit you like a sooty, graffiti-slathered stone. His remarkably composed black and white shots of various city spaces can be chilling and stark, revealing a great city in decline. Suddenly, your eye fixes on some random architectural flourish or landmark, and you recognize the location. More than a few of these pictures had me positively gasping.

Here's a sampling of the photos from around these parts (his photos span from Harlem to Coney Island) …


[Looking east on Union Square from 1979]


[Bleecker at the Bowery, undated]


[Crosby and Bleecker 1978]

Jeremiah posted a selection of Cummins' photos on Thursday at Vanishing New York.

Find this set and a lot more at Cummins' Flickr account.

'Shoot' to thrill

Please welcome The Spits with "Don't Shoot" from 2003.

The Spits re-released their rarities compilation, "Kill the Cool," a few weeks ago.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[A sign of spring in Tompkins Square Park...]

Author Cari Luna on the squatters of the East Village (Jacobin via The Lo-Down)

A look at the possible development for the former Billy’s Antiques space on East Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Yet another push for Beastie Boys Square on the LES (DNAinfo)

A look inside the former Domino Sugar Factory (Curbed)

What tickets for the rides at Coney Island looked like 100 years ago (Amusing the Zillion)

Details about a memorial to honor Rene Ricard (Hotel Chelsea Blog)

Rough Trade NYC is hosting an interactive LCD Soundsystem gallery (East Village Radio)

$6 million in upgrades at the "dirty and dangerous" Aqueduct Racetrack (The Wall Street Journal)

And the Times has a feature on Jim Jarmusch:

Though he misses the wildness of those days (in the SoHo of the late ’70s, “I looked out my window at about 3:30 a.m., and I saw a man walking a llama down Prince Street”), “I’m not nostalgic,” he said. “Because New York’s only about change and conning everybody out of whatever they have. That’s just what New York is.”

---

... and via the EVG inbox... the Ruff Club at 34 Avenue A is hosting fundraiser this Sunday to benefit Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue ...

So what's the deal with 'Master Softee?'

Our friend Christine Champagne spotted this yesterday on East 14th Street and First Avenue. So when did Mister Softee become Master Softee?



Or is this just a rogue operation?

--

Rejected headlines: Master and Serve It

Watch this 10-minute documentary on the amazing street photographer Flo Fox

A friend introduced us to the work of acclaimed photographer Flo Fox several years ago. Her life and work make for a remarkable story... and Brooklyn-based filmmaker Riley Hooper has captured Fox in a 10-minute short titled "Flo: Portrait of a Street Photographer."

Here's the film's description:

This 10-minute documentary explores the life and work of photographer Flo Fox, who, despite blindness, multiple sclerosis, and lung cancer, continues to shoot the streets of New York City. No longer able to hold a camera, she instructs her aides to take photos for her. She’s an incredible woman with a feisty spirit, sharp wit, and dirty sense of humor.

We asked Hooper a few questions about the project.

How did you first learn about Flo?

I met Flo in 2011 as she was preparing a solo photo show at Gallery 307 in New York City (now the Carter Burden Gallery), where my friend was working. The gallery represents artists over the age of 60. I was immediately drawn to her photography. Her witty captions especially grabbed my attention. I think she and I have a similar sense of humor

What are your thoughts about Flo after having the chance to spend so much time with her?

There's obviously a lot of wisdom and inspiration to be gleaned from this story. On a personal level, it's sobering to think that Flo bought her first camera when she was about the same age as I am — and that four years later she would be diagnosed with MS. Yet it's inspiring to see that her positive outlook and intense passion for her work has allowed her to persevere. It's a motivating reminder to never take anything for granted in my life, or make excuses in pursuing my filmmaking. Those are, of course, cliched maxims. Yet they're ones I now resonate with on a deeper level, and I have Flo to thank for that.

Do you think they'll be more to Flo's legacy than just her incredible body of work?

Oh, certainly! I hope that people remember Flo not only for her photography but also for her incredible drive and positivity. She's a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Hooper recently released the film.

You may watch it right here.

New York Sports Club says hello on Avenue A

As we first reported last April 29, New York Sports Club is opening a gym above Gracefully at 28 Avenue A.

And yesterday, a banner advertising the new gym went up on the scaffolding, as the above photo by EVG reader Jon shows. There is also a website now for this location with more details:

Avenue A & 3rd Street club opens fall 2014
We are pleased to announce the opening of our new Avenue A & 3rd Street club this fall. This 20,000-square-foot fitness gem will feature four floors loaded with brand new state-of-the art equipment and staffed with a team of the finest fitness professionals ready to help you get in the best shape of your life. Features will include a UXF® Training Zone, a cycling studio, a group exercise studio, and all of the first-class amenities that have made us a fitness leader for 39 years strong:

• State-of-the-art cardio equipment with personal interactive TVs
• Spacious free weight area featuring tons of equipment
• Energizing group exercise classes such as Spinning®, Pilates and more
• UXF Circuit Training
8 Certified personal trainers
• Towel service

We're still hopeful that the the familiar Burger-Klein façade remains on the renovated building. The furniture seller occupied the building as early as 1939. Read more about the history of the Burger-Klein building at Off the Grid.

This will be the second major gym to open in the East Village this year. There's also the Crunch coming the to Bowery. Or you can just do the Citi Bike stationary workout for free!

Previously on EV Grieve:
RUMOR: New York Health & Racquet Club taking over the space above Gracefully on Avenue A (24 comments)

New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

Sidewalk bridge and scaffolding arrive ahead of planned New York Sports Club on Avenue A

If you don't like data, then move back to ... Washington, D.C.?

Oh, maybe you already saw this at Curbed on Wednesday... when they reported on the data that White Pages-style search engine Spokeo came up with regarding who is moving to NYC.

Here is Spokeo on what numbers they crunched:

Below is the Spokeo Mobile Migration Map, a visual representation of the most common out-of-state mobile numbers found in your selected city. All numbers are standardized to account for population. By identifying the origin of a mobile number and matching it to address records, Spokeo has pinpointed migration and settlement trends throughout the United States. The different colors represent the home states of transplants. Below the map, you’ll find a list of the top 20 U.S. cities from which new residents in [NYC] have relocated.

And here is that map... with New Jersey and Connecticut leading the way...


[Click image to enlarge]

... and for the cities... Washington, D.C.! San Francisco!


[Click image to enlarge]

Reaction on the survey from Virginia K. Smith at Brooklyn Magazine:

I’ve been saying for a long time that all the “GO BACK TO OHIO!!!” venom aimed at faceless gentrifiers is a crock. The real enemies are the hedge fund types or parent-bankrolled transplants from nearby wealthy suburbs, the kind of people who think condos are a perfectly nice place to live...

Report: Not everyone is happy about the pending arrival of Nublu's 2-story new home

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Construction continues at 151 Avenue C, the two-story building that Nublu will relocate to this fall …

And as The Villager reports this week, the 12-year-old music club's move up Avenue C is leaving some residents of neighbor C-Squat unhappy.

C-Squat resident Brett Pants told the weekly paper that he "sees a 'megabar, two stories high,' full of drunks, 'who at closing time will pour onto our streets to fight and piss and make a mess.' Fights outside the 99-cent pizza joint below his window are common."

Said Nublu owner Illhan Ersahin:

The nightlife operator said concern about noise at the soon-to-open location is news to him, and he looked quite perplexed that a quality-of-life complaint might be emanating from C-Squat.

His bar will not be on the lookout for loud students and, in a nod to the pre-gentrifying pioneers, Ersahin eruditely observed that the East Village “has a tradition of cultivating culture…from Jack Kerouac to Talking Heads.” His club, he insisted, is just following that tradition.

[Photo by Brett Pants]

Meanwhile, not from the article … the arrival of Nublu means, unfortunately, that Speakeasy upstairs will be closing in the coming weeks. (We heard early May.) RIP to one of the last great neighborhood bars.

Previously on EV Grieve:
151 Avenue C: "This prime East Village location stands out as a rare opportunity for users, investors and developers"

Nublu moving up Avenue C; restaurant in the works for new space