Good morning, East Village.
We start this morning with the neighborhood distilled into neat statistical form. Nabewise, a data Web site, posted a chart of the East Village’s best and worst attributes to Neighborhoodr. It scored highly in the singles and nightlife categories and poorly in the quiet and parking categories. Seems about right to us, but what do you reckon?
Over on NearSay, Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation posts an update on the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel building on Second Avenue. Once home to a funeral parlor, the site has been vacant for some years now. A Department of Buildings permit will give developers scope to add three extra storys to the building. The spot is between East Eighth and East Ninth Streets, so it falls outside the proposed historic preservation district.
Nearby, EV Grieve notes that the brownstone undergoing renovation on East 12th Street between Second and Third Avenues will become a Jewish cultural and education center, known simply as The Brownstone. According to its Web site, the center will partner with universities to offer 10-day and weekend programs.
On her Tumblr, writer Holly Hughes posted an intimate portrait of the WOW Café Theatre on East Fourth Street. She described the mini-memoir as “drafty, and partial” notes towards an introduction for a forthcoming WOW anthology, but it’s well worth a read in its current form.
Lastly, Fox reports that Ron Paul, the perennial presidential candidate, is gaining traction among East Village bartenders. The libertarian is proposing to make tips tax free, a policy sure to go down as smoothly as a cold beer on a hot day.