Phillip Kalantzis-Cope

Good morning, East Village.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is the latest pol to voice his support for the St. Mark’s Bookshop, according to NY1. Meanwhile Runnin’ Scared wonders how many of the 27,000+ people who’ve signed the petition have actually dropped into the store to buy a book recently.

Borough President Stringer was also cheering on the new Lillian Wald Playground on East Houston Street between Avenue D and Lillian Wald Drive at a ribbon-cutting yesterday. The Lo-Down has a photo. According to a press release sent to The Local and others, renovations came as a result of $893,000 in capital funding allocated by Council Member Rosie Mendez and $361,000 allocated by Mayor Bloomberg.

Have there been playground improvements in Tompkins Square Park as well? One parent tells NY1 she has seen fewer rats. Others “say the rat problem is not entirely gone and there are still frequent rat sightings.”

EV Grieve seems to confirm Hotel Chatter’s initial reports that Andre Balazs of The Standard and Mercer Hotel is taking over the Cooper Square Hotel. Documents related to a request for a liquor license transfer list the heartthrob hotelier as the owner.

According to a Law 360 story picked up by Brooklyn Vegan, the owners of Mercury Lounge have hit Live Nation Entertainment Inc. with a lawsuit, claiming that the concert promoter poached their booker Jay Belin.