Thursday, November 2, 2017

Updated: Joe Ricketts just shut down Gothamist and DNAinfo

Woah.

This message now greets visitors to both DNAinfo and Gothamist...



Here's that message from publisher Joe Ricketts:

Dear DNAinfo and Gothamist Readers:
Today, I've made the difficult decision to discontinue publishing DNAinfo and Gothamist. Reaching this decision wasn't easy, and it wasn't one I made lightly.

I started DNAinfo in 2009 at a time when few people were investing in media companies. But I believed an opportunity existed to build a successful company that would report unbiased neighborhood news and information. These were stories that weren't getting told, and because I believe people care deeply about the things that happen where they live and work, I thought we could build a large and loyal audience that advertisers would want to reach.

A lot of what I believed would happen did, but not all of it. Today, DNAinfo and Gothamist deliver news and information each day to over half a million people's email inboxes; we have over 2 million fans across our social channels; and each month, we have over 15 million visits to our sites by over 9 million people. But more important than large numbers of visits and fans, we've reported tens of thousands of stories that have informed, impacted, and inspired millions of people. And in the process, I believe we've left the world a better place.

But DNAinfo is, at the end of the day, a business, and businesses need to be economically successful if they are to endure. And while we made important progress toward building DNAinfo into a successful business, in the end, that progress hasn't been sufficient to support the tremendous effort and expense needed to produce the type of journalism on which the company was founded. I want to thank our readers for their support and loyalty through the years. And I want to thank our employees for their tireless effort and dedication.

I'm hopeful that in time, someone will crack the code on a business that can support exceptional neighborhood storytelling for I believe telling those stories remains essential.

Sincerely,

Joe Ricketts
Chief Executive Officer

Ricketts bought Gothamist back in March.

The Times reported that the reporters and editors in the combined newsrooms "celebrated victory in their vote to join a union" just last week.

In total, the closure impacts 115 employees, including reporters, editors, sales staff, among others, in New York as well as in other cities with DNA/-ist outposts. According to the Times: "They are getting three months of paid 'administrative leave' at full salary, plus four weeks of severance."

And reactions...












Updated 8 p.m.:
The following is a statement from the Writers Guild of America, East:

"We are deeply concerned by Joe Ricketts’ decision to shut down DNAinfo New York and Gothamist, along with all their respective local outlets. The New York offices of DNAinfo and Gothamist recently voted to unionize and it is no secret that threats were made to these workers during the organizing drive. The Guild will be looking at all of our potential areas of recourse and we will aggressively pursue our new members rights. We will meet with management in the near future to address all of these issues. We are currently working with the staff at DNAinfo and Gothamist to support them in this difficult time.”
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Today in sidewalk hazards on St. Mark's Place



There's a report of a major tahini spill outside Holyland Market on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue, via @ArthurBovino.

So bring your crudités for a healthy dip alternative.
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Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village or Lower East Side.



By James Maher

Name: Siobhan Meow
Occupation: Anything I could get
Location: Avenue C and Second Street
Date: Friday, Oct 20

In Part 1 last week, Siobhan, a Brooklyn native, discussed how she and several others opened a squat on Avenue C that they called opened a squat called Umbrella House.

We started out with three people, which became six, and then grew quickly once we hooked into the squatter circuit. We had people from all over the world coming and working. At one point it was like the United Nations.

And we were always kind of strict about it — paying dues, whatever you could afford to kick in for materials and stuff, also work days were very important, and then we were pretty tough on no serious drug addictions or anything like that, because that’s a good way to have the building burn down. Now we have two storefronts that pay the going rate and that help us.

I ended up going to Europe for a summer. I was able to because we were so hooked up into the international squat community. I could stay at squats everywhere, and that was really interesting. In Berlin, they actually offered me a space at Köpenicker Squat, which is right over the East German wall. I was there when they had just made the holes in the walls, and we were actually crawling across. It was amazing. I really mourned that culture that survived because I knew what was coming behind it, the American shit capitalism, which ruined it. It was a little time machine back to the 1960s in Eastern Europe. I then ended up on Lake Balaton in Hungary, and that was just beautiful.

I came back and things were starting to really settle in, but like I said it was 17 years before we got heat, we got the boiler in and everything, and didn’t have to rely on stolen electricity anymore. But the neighborhood was beautiful. God I miss it. No cabs would come down here, no tourists, no drunks, only junkies.

The community was really tight. Everybody knew each other, there were lots of really good shops. There were tons of artists here, people of all stripes. Everybody was making art, and there were clubs where you could go to see really good bands. It was more peaceful back them. It was quiet. I can barely walk down the sidewalks anymore, it’s so crowded. They keep building shit buildings here and packing more people in and they do nothing about the infrastructure.

I miss the freedom. I could climb the tower of the Williamsburg Bridge. A friend was making a movie and we threw an effigy of me off the tower, to film someone jumping off the tower, and I walked down the stairs and off the bridge. Even though traffic was stopped nothing happened to me.

I did anything I could get. Since we were working on the house, I was able to get jobs in New Jersey at the scenic design places, which would be preparing the sets, loading them in, loading them out. I was doing fashion shows, movie sets— all kinds of stuff.

Also, I’m very into other species rights as well. I care for a little feral cat who lives in a garden, and I work with city critters helping place cats. I’ve been doing so for awhile. And I have 18 cats. Feeding the cats isn’t a problem, feeding myself is another story.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
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Report: 'Creepy ex' had stalked his one-time girlfriend before killing her on Cooper Square

According to published reports, a jealous one-time boyfriend shot and killed Elizabeth Lee yesterday morning as she docked her Citi Bike near Cooper Union. Lee, a mother of two, was 56.

The man, identified as Vincent Verdi, 62, then shot himself in the face. He is listed in critical condition at Bellevue. (Police originally stated that he had died, as DNAinfo noted.)

Lee worked at the Grace School high school campus at 46 Cooper Square. She often rode a Citi Bike to work on Cooper Square from her Upper East Side apartment.

School officials expressed their grief and offered a few details in a series of tweets yesterday...





As the Daily News reported about Verdi:

He stalked her for months after she dumped him following a failed Match.com romance — leading her to lock in an order of protection that wasn’t enough to keep her alive.

Creepy ex Vincent Verdi was spotted by neighbors peering into Elizabeth Lee-Herman’s Upper East Side building and loitering nearby in an apparent effort to catch her alone.

He was facing stalking charges filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office after he was arrested Oct. 5 for threatening her.

After she broke up with him on July 7, he peppered her with emails and calls to the school where she works, court records show. He sent her chocolate and flowers. He showed up at her dentist appointment on Aug. 10.

Judge Angela Badamo issued the order barring Verdi from contacting Lee-Herman and demanded he turn over all firearms.

He spent seven days in jail and was released Oct. 12, records show.

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Ho Foods coming to 7th Street



Ho Foods, a Taiwan beef noodle soup pop up, is opening a full-time restaurant at 110 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Applicant Richard Ho is on CB3's November SLA commitee agenda for a beer-wine license. This item will not be heard before the committee on Nov. 15, per paperwork on file at the CB3 website.

Ho started his career at Blue Ribbon, where he advanced from waiter to GM of the Columbus Circle location during eight years there. He moved on to pursue his passion for cooking with Ho Foods (per this article).

Ho Foods has taken part in one-night-only events such as the first Dragon Boat Festival back in May with Nom Wah Nolita, among other restaurants.

The smallish Seventh Street space was home to Porchetta until last November.

Meanwhile, you can see some of the Ho Foods menu items via their Instagram account...

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Landmark Bicycles looks closed on Avenue A



Multiple EVG readers have noted that the Landmark Bicycles shop has apparently closed on the corner of Avenue A and Third Street... the storefront is now empty and the gates remain down... all this follows the arrival of clearance signs several weeks ago. There isn't any mention of a closure on Landmark's website or Facebook page.

Landmark first opened in 2008 around the corner on Third Street (where St. Mark's Bookshop later moved) selling vintage bicycles and parts... before relocating to the corner space in late 2012 where the scope of their merchandise expanded to include new bike models and accessories. Landmark opened a location in Williamsburg in the spring of 2012.

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Wednesday, November 1, 2017

An early start on the holidays on St. Mark's Place



These went up yesterday (Halloween!) on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...





These seems about three weeks earlier than usual...
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The horse head moved again, of course, of course

For those of you keeping track ... the concrete horse head bust has been on the move these past few days... from Avenue A and Seventh Street to Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue to Tompkins Square Park.

And now... it's on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue outside the Shape of Lies...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

One EVG commenter noted that the horse head's first appearance was actually here outside the art-jewelry shop.

Where will it end up next?
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Updating: Reports of a shooting on Astor Place


Unconfirmed reports that this happened at the CVS.

The Daily News has a brief report here.

Updating...



8:35 a.m.



8:40 a.m.



9:05 a.m.

Per the Daily Mail: "A woman has been shot in the stomach while parking her CitiBike in Manhattan before the gunman is believed to have then shot himself."

Also:

The woman ... was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The gunman was also rushed to hospital and his condition is also believed to be serious.

10:30 a.m.

DNAinfo reports that the police haven't provided further information about the circumstances or motive for the shooting just yet.

DNAinfo also reconstructs what happened via witness accounts:

"He didn't say a word. He shot her in the chest both times. It was point-blank range. Her feet went in the air and she hit the floor," [nearby office worker Jerry] Simo said.

The shooter, then kicked the woman's feet to make sure she was shot, witnesses said.

"Then he put the gun under his chin and finished himself," Simo added.

Cooper Union has issued a series of tweets...





10:45 a.m.

ABC 7 reports that the woman and the man were rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. (The NYPD now says the man is still alive.)

The station reports that the 62-year-old man and the 56-year-old woman were a couple.

11:30 a.m.



11/2

The post continues here with details on the murder victim, Elizabeth Lee.

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1st Avenue fruit vendors pack up for the season


[EVG file photo]

Last night was the last call this season for the fruit-vegetable vendors here on First Avenue and Sixth Street outside Village View ... EVG reader Rainer Turim shared these photos from last night (there was word of a small going-away party) ...





The vendors returned for the season here back in April...
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RIP Richard Hambleton



Richard Hambleton, a street artist who came to prominence in the 1980s East Village, died on Sunday. He was 65. (A cause of death was not mentioned in published reports.)

Here's more from artnet News:

The enigmatic artist burst on the scene alongside a group of confidants and collaborators that included Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf. Hambleton soon became known for his signature “shadowman” motif, a splotched, black, leering figure that appeared on the walls of buildings in downtown Manhattan.

Just as Hambleton’s career took off he started using drugs, including heroin and crack. He relied on the drugs, particularly the heroin, to reach a mental state that he felt helped him depict the sublime. A long battle with addiction would plague him throughout his life.

Hambleton, who most recently was living in an East Village studio, had enjoyed a revival this year. "Shadowman," Oren Jacoby's documentary about his life and work, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival back in the spring.



Hambleton's work is also part of "Club 57: Film, Performance and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983," an exhibit that opened yesterday at MoMa.

"Right up to his death he was painting," Kristine Woodward of Woodward Gallery told artnet News. "We'd never known anybody who lived to paint the way Richard did, he was just such a dedicated artist, it's all he cared about, he was not a careerist, he just wanted to paint."

There were many tributes to Hambleton on Twitter...








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Happy No. 50 to the cube of Astor Place


[Photo from November 2016 by Peter Brownscombe]

The Alamo officially turns 50 today on Astor Place.

Some cube history via the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP):

On November 1, 1967, an 8′ x 8′ x 8′ 1,800-pound giant black cube was installed in Astor Place as one of 25 temporary public artworks by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. However, it was so popular that local residents petitioned the City to keep it, and except for its absences for restorations over the past few years, it has stood there ever since.

Bernard “Tony” Rosenthal’s sculpture was originally named “Sculpture and the Environment,” but was eventually renamed The Alamo by his wife, Cynthia Rosenthal, because its size and mass reminded her of the famous Alamo Mission in San Antonio.

GVSHP and the Village Alliance are hosting a birthday party today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can do things like make your own cube from origami, eat birthday cake and take part in 50 continuous minutes of spinning the cube in an attempt to break the record and raise money for the GO Project. Find more details here.

Signing off with one little piece of recent cube history — that time in October 2011 when Agata Olek yarn bombed the thing...


[Photo by EVG reader Anne]
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