Courtesy Jim Power Good morning, East Village.
Jim Power sends over the above photo of his tilework at the Economakis home on East Third Street. According to the Mosaic Man’s Website, “The owners of the building, Alistair and Catherine Economakis, commissioned Jim to build the decorative mosaics after they saw his work at The Bean next door. Alistair actually assisted with the design and Jim used some of the leftover marble tile that remained following the Economakis’s gut renovation of the building.”
The Times reports that eleven groups are suing the city over N.Y.U.’s expansion plans, having filed a lawsuit that “accuses government decision makers, including both the City Planning Commission and the City Council, of illegally turning over public land to facilitate the university’s plans. It also claims that the approval process lacked transparency and denied the public a chance for meaningful input.”
The Observer profiles Robert “Toshi” Chan, who went from operating controversial rentals on Airbnb.com to going legit on First Avenue: “The East Village Hotel is a self-service, apartment-style vacation rental at 147 First Avenue, on the corner of East Ninth Street. There are no concierges; guests check in via iPad. Rooms are small—280 square feet each—but there is a kitchen, and more importantly, they go for only $289 a night.”
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York photographs some obscene footwear outside of the former Billy’s Antiques.
Village Voice food critic Robert Sietsema, in a conversation with EV Grieve, reveals his favorite neighborhood newcomers (Masak and Sao Mai are among them) and also deflates beloved old-timers such as Life Cafe (“that kind of awful hippie cooking is now thankfully nearly gone from the nabe”) and Veselka (“vastly overrated — and comparatively expensive, too”).
Grub Street brings word of a deal at Jimmy’s No. 43. From Oct. 5 to 7, it will “pour from authentic German cask ales, which are unfiltered, unpasteurized, and poured from casks that forgo any extra carbon-dioxide pressure. The East Village bar will also offer a special deal on a traditional German dinner: $20 will get you three wurst (sausages), German sides and two beers.”
As of this week, you can now transfer between an uptown 6 train and a B, D, F, or M train at the Bleecker Street stop. Off the Grid uses the occasion to appreciate the station’s historic charm, quoting from the State and National Register report: “In the Bleecker Street Station the high quality of the surviving materials and the architectural detail are magnificent. Faience plaques, roman brick wainscoting, ceramic cornices, and all eight of the original faience named tablets are still visible throughout the station.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that 7-Eleven now has 100 stores across five boroughs, making it the 15th largest chain in the city (up from 26). The chain says it has reached out to local bodega owners but the owner of an Eighth Avenue deli says his sales have been cut in half since a 7-Eleven opened near him.
One bodega that isn’t worried: Matt Levine’s Cocktail Bodega. The Daily News profiles the alcoholic smoothie joint.
