Spotted on 12th Street and Avenue A... (thanks to EVG regular Trixie for the photo)...
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Urban Etiquette Sign of the day
Spotted on 12th Street and Avenue A... (thanks to EVG regular Trixie for the photo)...
Saturday, December 1, 2018
A moment with former First Lady Michelle Obama on 7th Street
[Video screengrab]
Earlier today, former White House chef Sam Kass was thought to be the main event in a talk on healthy eating over at the Lower Eastside Girls Club on Avenue D and Seventh Street.
Then!
[A]s Kass detailed the former first family's nightly dinners, Michelle Obama entered, and the girls screamed, cheered and embraced in excitement.
Obama and Kass then served food to each individual girl before the group sat down for lunch and conversation.
That passage was from ABC 7. (This Vanity Fair piece has more details on the event.)
Yesterday, the Crown Publishing Group announced that Obama's memoir, "Becoming," has sold more than 2 million copies after 15 days, reportedly making it the year's best-selling book.
Also yesterday, Obama signed copies of the book at the Barnes & Noble on Union Square.
Meanwhile, around the Girls Club, word spread about the special guest (Obama, not Kass) ... and a crowd gathered outside. East Village resident Angeline Rodriguez shared this video clip...
"It was a really nice community moment, with everyone meeting or recognizing neighbors and talking about how much they admired Mrs. Obama's work," Rodriguez told me.
Grant Shaffer's NY See
Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood ... and NYC.
Another Year Without a Trailer Park Santa Claus on 14th Street, though there is a bear
EVG regular Pinch shares this top photo from the Christmas tree vendors on the northwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue.
In what may be a first for this spot, there's an inflatable bear on the scene this year. (We need to check the EVG microfiche to be sure.)
And unlike previous years, the tree vendor does not have the Cousin Eddie-style camper parked on 14th Street (because of the new SBS lane?).
Also, the Santa inflatable is new and clean, unlike the grubby ol' St. Nick — Trailer Park Santa Claus to some — that had been greeting the corner in recent years...
[On loan from the EVG Permanent Collection]
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Year Without a Trailer Park Santa Claus
Grubby ol' St. Nick inflatable makes triumphant return to 14th Street after 2 (long) years
Another year without grubby ol' St. Nick on East 14th Street; what to tell the children?
New, improved inflatable Santa arrives on East 14th Street tree lot
Friday, November 30, 2018
6 posts from November
[Crate digging outside A1 Record Shop on 6th Street]
A mini month in review...
Take a Stand at this holiday market on 7th and C (Nov. 23)
Snowvember pain: Multiple reports of trees down (Nov. 15)
The boutique office building replacing the Sunshine Cinema will be 'unbounded by walls' with an outdoor space called Houston Alley (Nov. 15)
Vacant lot at 14 2nd Ave. sells for $7 million; will yield to 10-floor condoplex (Nov. 8)
The Mars Bar lives! (in a penthouse suite in Times Square) (Nov. 7)
A visit to Yoli Restaurant on 3rd Street (Nov. 2)
Sniff 'n' the Beers
Amyl and the Sniffers released a new video this week... a live version of "I'm Not a Loser," which showcases lead singer Amy Taylor's energetic stage presence... look for the Australian band's full-length debut in the New Year on Flightless/ATO/Rough Trade Records.
EVG Etc.: Catching up with Christo and Amelia; saving the Strand from landmarking
[The red-tailed hawks on the Christodora via Goggla]
Thanksgiving with Christo and Amelia (Laura Goggin Photography)
The Strand doesn't want its building landmarked (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
A feature on John Casey, owner of Casey Rubber Stamps on 11th Street (CBS 2 via YouTube)
These East Village spots are fueling "New York's Taiwanese New Wave" (The New Yorker)
The fight to make cash-free cafΓ©s illegal in NYC (Grub Street)
Citi Bike tripling the size of its fleet in the coming years (Streetsblog)
The mayor scraps plan for mega-jail down on Centre Street (Curbed)
The Lower East Side of Lillian Walk (6sqft)
EVG contributor Daniel Efram is raising funds for a one-off Curiosities book prototype (Kickstarter)
If you enjoy action-packed 1980s B-movies set in a dystopian future, then consider "2019: After the Fall of New York" (Dangerous Minds)
Meanwhile, on Twitter...
@evgrieve why would someone throw this perfectly good boob out?? pic.twitter.com/MQql4uwupG
— EdenBrower (@edenbrower) November 29, 2018
... and an EVG regular shared info on this festive event tomorrow evening at 7:30 not too far away — 155 East 22nd St., between 3rd Avenue and Lexington...
A visit to the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street
As we mentioned on Tuesday, the Tompkins Square Library branch is hosting its second annual East Village Arts Festival starting tomorrow and running through Dec. 15.
In total, the library, located at 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, is hosting 36 public programs for all ages, including performances, lectures, workshops, author readings, and films, as well as tables from local organizations, and art installations by 15 local artists and groups. There are also several walking tours.
This link has all the different programs each day through Dec. 15. This link has more info about the Gallery Walk.
Ahead of the start of the festivities tomorrow, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the library on Tuesday morning as the staff was setting up for the day as well as continuing planning for the East Village Arts Festival....
[Branch manager Corinne Neary]
Here's the staff on duty (from the left) Olga Estevez, Gerritt Reeves, Neary, Nefertiti Guzman, Romulo Paez and Roxmin Lopez...
Stacie also took the time to walk around parts of the four-level library — which has been serving the neighborhood from this location since 1904 — before it officially opened for the day...
Tenant activists praise lead reform, urge for more protections from city against predatory landlords
On Tuesday, members of the Lead Dust Free New York City coalition marched through parts of the Lower East Side and East Village, stopping at three buildings — 113 Stanton St., 57 Second Ave. and 233 E. Fifth St. — "where shoddy renovations have released lead dust into the air."
The group, including organizers from the Cooper Square Committee and Icon Tenants United, Tenants Taking Control and the Alliance of Croman Tenants, also praised elected officials for introducing laws aimed at protecting them and urged them to continue pushing for more lead reform.
Here's more background via a news release from the Cooper Square Committee...
Known collectively as the Stand for Tenant Safety (or STS) Laws, they included a new, Real Time Enforcement statute, as well as a tenant bill of rights that must be posted in buildings where construction takes place. They also created a new position within the Department of Buildings, called the Office of the Tenant Advocate.
This year, the City Council is looking at 25 more new bills to further protect tenants from lead exposure. The thrust of some of these bills is to break down the silos that current separately the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Marchers demanded that these laws also be enacted to further prevent the erosion of affordable housing in New York City.
As in other cities around the United States ... New York is being inundated by a hyper-gentrification tsunami that has been permanently pushing middle- and lower-income tenants out of their homes. Some landlords, hungry for quick returns, continue to pursue the practice of predatory equity, which worsens the city’s affordable housing crisis. These same landlords typically ignore safe work practices while renovating their buildings.
All photos courtesy of Tenants Taking Control
Previously on EV Grieve:
Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust
Ongoing concerns about demolition work and elevated lead levels in Toledano-owned buildings
Get the lead out: Tenants call for protections from lead dust during renovations
Today is the last day for Milk & Hops Astor Place
[Image via]
After three-plus years at 779 Broadway near Ninth Street, the Milk & Hops outpost is closing after service today.
In a Facebook post, the owners of the beer-cheese shop chalked up the closure to "irreconcilable differences with property management."
And for this last day: "all draft beers will be Buy One, Get One Free until the kegs kick. Additionally, all cans and bottles will be 30% off."
Milk & Hops Chelsea and Milk & Hops Ramen Bar on the Upper East Side will continue in business.
H/T EVG reader Eric!
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Thursday's parting Instagram post
Avenue B Cleaners between Fourth Street and Fifth Street abruptly closed in September after reportedly suffering a bout of Cromanitis.
The space is for rent... and sitting empty and looking creepy with the ceiling fan still in motion while waiting for a gastropub tenant to open and close in less than a year.
Anyway! From our friend Adrian Wilson... (press play)
The space is for rent... and sitting empty and looking creepy with the ceiling fan still in motion while waiting for a gastropub tenant to open and close in less than a year.
Anyway! From our friend Adrian Wilson... (press play)
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