Vivienne Gucwa

Good morning, East Village.

We know it’s cold out, but this weekend if you’re yearning for a peaceful stroll you should head to the East River Park promenade, nearly completed after five years of renovation. The Villager describes the progress so far.

DNAinfo also reminds us that today at 5 p.m. is the deadline to apply for membership to our local community board, communty board 3. If you’re looking to get more involved in local decision-making, you might be interested. And EV Grieve offers a humorous take on local celebrity Chloe Sevigny’s decision to join or not to join the board.

In housing news, The Village Voice tells us that yesterday Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg vowed to “close a slumlord loophole” and require landlords to pay for repairs that they’ve neglected to pay. The Voice reports that landlords owe the city a total of $19 million in emergency repairs made since 2007.

This morning we’d also like to bid a fond farewell to Ellen Stewart, iconic founder of the LaMaMa Theater on East Fourth Street. She died yesterday at age 91, and The Times and DNAinfo gives us a glimpse of her full life.