Tompkins Square Park this morning...
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Dec. 22
Today marked the 16th anniversary of Joe Strummer's death ... no flowers or candles as of 10 p.m. at the mural outside Niagara, on Seventh Street and Avenue A, like in previous years (here ... and here, as an example). However, #JoeStrummer was trending on Twitter for awhile as many users paid tribute to the leader singer of the Clash.
... and a threesome of the Clash ...
Scrooged: Tompkins Square Park holiday tree remains dark
The lights on the holiday tree in Tompkins Square Park have been off the last few nights.
Other lights are on, so they must have paid the electric bill.
A mosaic destroyed on 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
A reader shares these photos from the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place... where one of Jim Power's mosaics was destroyed.
Per the reader: "The way the bits are laying on the ground it looks like it was intentional — or maybe a truck backed into it or something. Who knows. Anyway, it’s really upsetting."
Christmas miracle on the Bowery
On Wednesday morning, an EVG reader shared these two photos... showing workers outlining lane lines, crosswalks and other traffic markings on the Bowery at Houston...
The reader [sarcastically] thought that the contractors were marking the location for more roadwork.
Checking back in on the intersection... can it be that the never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project has maybe actually ended???
As noted off and on through the years
The work was initially scheduled to wrap up in 2013 (!!!), but was delayed again and again as the city reportedly ran into problems with existing underground wiring and pipes and unhinged bureaucracy.
The interactive map accessible via the DDC's website now shows a completion date of 12-25-2018!
Free tree times
If you were waiting to the last minute to pick up a Christmas tree ... then you're in luck. There are many trees for the taking curbside... as more people seem to be tossing their trees early this season before heading out for the holidays elsewhere...
Friday, December 21, 2018
A fine swine
Some hazy shoegaze from Ireland in the form of Just Mustard. The video is for a song called "Pigs" from the band's debut album (made Graham Duff's best-of 2018 list) out earlier this year.
JR's neglected 'Gun Chronicles' on the Bowery Mural Wall
JR's powerful "Gun Chronicles" mural at the Bowery Mural Wall is looking neglected, as these photos by Lola Sāenz show...
The panels are peeling ... and it has been tagged multiple times of late (not including the addition of the 11 and Xll)...
JR's mural features images of 245 Americans who represent various viewpoints on the gun debate. The artist collaborated with Time magazine back in late October for this interactive special report on gun violence in America.
EVG Etc.: Tossing a SantaCon coma suit; playing at the 11th Street Bar
[Photo on 7th Street by Derek Berg]
Mayor's office releases report on legalized pot in NYC (Curbed)
Questions over the future of Mitchell–Lama residential buildings in NYC (City Realty)
Lost Clause! "A SantaCon reveler who landed in a coma after falling down a flight of stairs at a Manhattan bar only has himself to blame for the drunken tumble, a judge ruled." (New York Post)
The city's worst landlord? The NYCHA, says Letitia James's office (amNewYork)
Michael Che, Michelle Wolf and other entertainers coming together on Jan. 11 at the Irving Plaza to raise money for NYCHA (Daily News)
Why musicians love playing at the 11th Street bar (The Villager ... previously)
A Tompkins Square Park landmarks quiz (Off the Grid)
Pier 35 is (partially) open! (The Lo-Down)
Small fire at the Con Ed substation on Avenue C (Town & Village)
Space Invader's tiled mosaic of the Ramones is being chipped away in Soho (Flaming Pablum)
Two chances to see "A Clockwork Orange" in 35mm on Christmas Day (Quad Cinema)
Brooklyn’s 315 Gallery relocating to the LES — Henry Street to be exact (ARTnews)
EVG turns 11 today (First post)
And a fond farewell to Slum Goddess, who's retiring her blog after nine fun, action-packed years! (Final post here) Thanks for chronicling those good times at the Mars Bar... and the the World Famous Pee Phone™...
Nicoletta Pizzeria closes 2nd Avenue dining room, plans move to a new delivery-only location
Nicoletta, the Altamarea Group's homage to Chef Michael White's favorite childhood dish (hint: pizza), has closed its dining room on Second Avenue at 10th Street.
Signage points to a new spot somewhere else in the East Village, where they'll continue on, though only via delivery... and no word just yet where the new Nicoletta will live...
For now, though, Nicoletta fans can still order their pizzas for delivery.
The new EV space will also feature new menu items, per their Instagram, and an expanded delivery zone. (Do you remember when they first started, and their delivery zone was: First Avenue to Third Avenue, and Ninth Street to 11th Street?)
Nicoletta opened to SO Much Hoopla in June 2012, including 90-minute waits for tables.
I don't recall anyone saying that the pizza was all that good. Pete Wells was Real Meh on it in an August 2012 review at the Times in which he bestowed the pizzeria 0 stars.
Per Pete:
Nicoletta’s pizzas are not quite deep dish, but they are heading in that direction. The crust is as strong as epoxy, and Mr. White piles it up with an abundance of toppings that would buckle an ordinary pie. In thickness and heft, a Nicoletta pizza resembles the September issue of Vogue.
There was another reason my table never finished an entire pizza: we lost interest. The style of pizza Mr. White is pursuing emphasizes gut-stretching abundance over flavor. The pies are overburdened conglomerations of cheese, flour and fistfuls of other stuff; in the end, the elements cancel one another out.
And the salads?
The salad recipes might have been nabbed from that corner trattoria you stopped going to a few years ago. There is the Nicoletta, with lettuce, red endive and a sliver of focaccia smeared with goat cheese. Or the insalata mare with clams, mussels, squid and octopus, all as tender as an extension cord, all bathed in a dressing that had no effect on any of it.
A look at the EVG archives and our 4568799000223323 posts about the place shows that some readers were tuned off by Nicoletta's T.G.I. Fridaysish interior and corporate vibe and the clipboard-toting host staff standing guard by the door while keeping tabs on those early line waiters.
By August 2013, Eater put Nicoletta on its Deathwatch.
Anyway, Nicoletta has been able to move past all this, enough to relocate to a smaller spot for delivery at least amid more and more competition. How many high-profile pizzerias have opened since Nicoletta arrived? In the last 12 months alone we've had Joe & Pat's, Emmy Squared, Sauce and Sorbillo Pizzeria, to name a few.
Thanks to Steven for the photos!
New signage arrives for Paquito's on 1st Avenue
[Photo by William Klayer]
The new signage for Paquito's arrived late yesterday afternoon... replacing the quick-serve Mexican restaurant's original circa-1992 awning here on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street...
As previously noted, the family-owned Paquito's closed on Dec. 11 for a renovation.
[Photo by Steven]
The owners expect to be open next week, likely even sooner than the original projected date of Dec. 28. They'll post the reopening news on their Instagram.
Glad to see that the to-go space is working. Paquito's closed its bar-restaurant next door at the end of last year due to a reported rent increase.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)