Scott Lynch Good morning, East Village.
A mural on East Second Street has infuriated a neighborhood activist, reports The Lo-Down. “Not only is it racist but it is also sexist and it is upsetting,” says Ayo Harrington. The artist sent a letter to Lo-Down, defending the work: “My name is Adam (Sirois) and I am the designer and commissioner of the apparently infamous Second St. Mural. The mural is part of a marriage proposal to my girlfriend and love of my life, Marisha. Fortunately, Marisha does not have the same myopic and antiquated notions as the community activist referenced in your article, and I am now fortunate to call her my fiancé.”
Rent is rising as apartments become scarce, according to The New York Post: “Manhattan rents soared 8.6 percent last year, while vacancy rates plummeted.” A sidebar photographed by EV Grieve indicates that an average East Village apartment now rents for $3,027. At least you can land your décor for less – according to The Times, you can decorate your pad with dollar-store deals.
Meanwhile Jimmy McMillan of The Rent Is Too Damn High fame makes The Voice’s list of “100 Most Powerless New Yorkers,” as do the employees of the St. Mark’s Bookshop.
The building that held the former Nevada Smith’s bar, 74 Third Avenue, has been approved for demolition by the DOB, reports EV Grieve. The Local reported in November that the bar’s owner hopes to reopen in February at 100 Third Avenue.
On the heels of the birth of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby, the Daily News writes about the history of Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side, where Blue Ivy was born on Saturday (at the low cost of $1.3 million). “The irony is that Lenox Hill started off as a hospital for New York’s poor. What would become Lenox Hill started in 1857 as the German Dispensary, first on Canal St. and then uptown, to treat poor German immigrants who were then settling in the East Village.”
The Times raves about an “exemplary version” of the Korean dish, bo ssam. The one served at David Chang’s Momofuku Ssam Bar serves 6 to 10 people “and regularly blows minds.” The cost? A cool $200.
