Kevin FarleyOpponents of tuition charges at Cooper Union are voicing disappointment at the school’s decision to begin asking tuition of graduate students. The move comes just days before a meeting in which students and faculty members will unveil their own strategies to bring solvency to the financially strapped school.
As The Times reported, Jamshed Bharucha, the school’s president, announced today that starting next year, graduate students will have to pay tuition fees currently covered by scholarships. Undergraduates enrolled for this fall and next year, he assured, will not be charged tuition, as some had feared would happen.
Alan Lundgard, the student council president who recently convinced media outlets that Cooper Union had sold its new academic building to NYU, welcomed the news that undergraduates were off the hook for the time being, but worried that they might be charged tuition in the future. “It’s a step in the right direction,” he told The Local, “but one step in the right direction and a step in the wrong direction don’t really get us anywhere.” Read more…
Paul Simon has called Philip Larkin one of his favorite poets; tonight at Cooper Union’s Great Hall, the musician will join an illustrious group honoring the “archetypical English poet of the second half of the 20th century” (per Sunday’s review of the newly published “The Complete Poems”). Joining Mr. Simon will be readers from both sides of the Atlantic, including Zadie Smith, Billy Collins, Adam Gopnik, Mary Karr, and Jonathan Galassi.
Larkin, who died in 1985, is often referred to as a poet’s poet, publishing a scant four volumes of poetry during his life. He was also a jazz aficionado, serving as music critic for The London Daily Telegraph. Tonight, The Queens College Jazz Band will perform some of Larkin’s favorite jazz compositions. More info here.
Jared MalsinAfter standing vacant for over a year, the First Street storefront that was once a raucous saloon frequented by Emma Goldman and other radicals has finally found a new tenant.
According to members of the coop that owns the building at 50 East First Street, the ground floor will soon be home to the offices of the photography magazine Fantom.
Coop member Christin Couture said of the new tenants, “They’re really nice people. They’re really sensitive aesthetically.” She added, “We’re happy to have something mild mannered and just low key.”
Not only is the building getting the sort of booze-free tenant the coop had hoped for: it’s also getting a historical marker. Read more…
Stephen Rex BrownThe neighborhood’s top shop for photocopies, the Source Unltd., is one of 11 business in the Lower East Side and East Village that scored grant money to make environmentally friendly upgrades.
Thanks to the money from the Lower East Side Ecology Center — $1,000 is the maximum grant available — the copy store bought a new awning that will decrease its air conditioner use. It went up last week.
“We’re on the sunny side of the street here, so it makes the air conditioner run a little less, especially with the summer coming up,” said Santo Mollica, who opened Source Unltd. in 1982. “From noon to four we get bombarded, you know.” Read more…
Photos: Lori Greenberg/Bergworks GBM (final photo courtesy Robert Sestok)
Yesterday’s rain washed out the dance performances and children’s events that were to kick off the inaugural season of programming at the former home of the BMW Guggenheim Museum. But that didn’t stop a few die-hard supporters of First Park from clustering around a newly installed sculpture by Robert Sestok.
The Detroit artist was in high spirits as he unveiled First Street Iron, a ten-foot-tall work of welded steel that he said was a “tribute to the city” he often visited. It will remain on display at the plaza between First and Houston Streets, near Second Avenue, until Oct. 22.
As The Local previously reported, Mr. Sestok first became aware of the restoration at 33 First Street well over two years ago because a close friend lived on the block. He was asked to create something for the park before the BMW Guggenheim opened in the once rat-infested lot. Read more…
Around the time he moved from SoHo to East 12th Street in 2004, Nikolas Kozloff – author of three non-fiction books about Latin America and numerous pieces about Occupy Wall Street for Al Jazeera and Huffington Post – was writing a novel loosely based on his brief tenure as an adjunct professor at CUNY. “Post-Academic Stress Disorder,” which Mr. Kozloff, 43, finally self-published last month, is the story of a young, socially vexed young man attempting to carve out a niche for himself in academia, latching onto subcultures in his new East Village neighborhood, and desperately seeking love and companionship – all while dodging a nefarious plot hatched by a fellow faculty member. The Local asked Mr. Kozloff, who now resides in Brooklyn, just how much of his novel’s wry observations about the anarchists, spiritualists, health nuts, pet lovers, and pie-throwers of the East Village were based on his six months there.
Q.
To what degree does your novel portray an exaggerated version of the East Village? The scene where the narrator, Andy, visits A&H Dairy (an exaggerated version of B&H) and is told that his grandfather had an affair with the neighborhood’s great anarchist, Emma Goldman, is pretty over the top. Read more…
Laura EdwinsWhen Seolbin Park took over the tiny storefront next to her equally tiny East Fourth Street advertising and design firm in 2008, she invested $3,000 in converting the former barber shop into a modest art gallery. She planned to support the non-profit art space with the money she made at her day job next-door. But last August, she said, her landlord put a “Store for Rent” sign up in the window of SB D Gallery, and refused to take it down even as the gallery presented its annual 9/11 show in September. That month, Ms. Park was asked to surrender her keys.
Ms. Park kept her small office at 125 East Fourth Street, and was surprised when the next-door space (same address) sat vacant for five months. Tomorrow, it will reopen as a new incarnation of Ultra Nail Beauty Salon, formerly at 123 Essex Street. The owner, Isabel Arauz, told The Local she had worked in nail salons on the Lower East Side for the past 15 years. Read more…
Khristopher J. BrooksThe owners of the perennially embattled St. Mark’s Bookshop posted another plea yesterday for its supporters to put their money where their mouth is and buy some books.
“We know you value St. Mark’s Bookshop. We’re counting on you to help keep us here,” the owners wrote. “We need an increase in business in order to rebuild our inventory to the level most people have come to expect.” Read more…
Shira Levine From left, Jason Brickman, his father, Paul Brickman, and in the backgroudn the store manager, Ruben.For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: H. Brickman & Sons.
Want to stay in business for seventy-nine years in the East Village? H. Brickman & Sons at 55 First Avenue owe their success to two valuable business decisions that Great Grandpa Hyman Brickman made in 1933 when he opened the first location of the hardware store. First, be your own landlord. Second, keep it in the family. Now, the store has employed four generations of Brickmans, and has two other locations at 125 West Third Street and 312 First Avenue near 18th Street. Making It spoke to Brickman’s third generation owner, Paul, about keeping things familial and when it’s time to pass the torch.
Q.
How was it decided that this would be a family business?
A.
My grandfather ran it for three decades and then he had my father take it over in the 1960s. Business was too good to let it go. When my father retired about 17 years ago it was my turn. My cousin’s husband and I took it over. Now I’m grooming my son and my cousin’s son who will be the fourth generation to take over. Read more…
Daniel MaurerLucille Carrasquero, a resident, speaks
as BP Stringer looks over
her shoulder.Earlier this morning, Borough President Scott M. Stringer gave away 16 energy-efficient refrigerators to low-income residents of Cooper Square – part of a “model block” initiative meant to promote environmental sustainability on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and Bowery.
The free fridges are the first in a series of appliance upgrades for participating residents of the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association, a low-income housing management company that oversees 23 buildings in the area. Other measures include improved weatherization and lighting as well as new boilers.
With a stroller at his side (it was “daddy Friday,” Mr. Stringer explained), the Borough President described the greening efforts as a community-led campaign. Read more…
Daniel MaurerThought the Hole’s indoor garden was wild? Fuse Gallery may just give it a run for its money when its latest exhibit, “XOS / SOX” opens May 2. Skullphone, the Los Angeles-based street artist last seen purdying up construction containers on East Fourth Street, is piling 1,000 “custom produced” socks in the gallery behind Lit lounge, for everyone to take. Street-art inspired footwear sure is a thing lately. Is this going to hurt business at Sock Man and Sox in the City? Dunno, but we’re definitely snagging a pair to toss in the drawer with those pink tiger-print aNYthing socks…
“XOS / SOX,” opening reception May 2, 7 p.m.; through May 30, Fuse Gallery, 93 Second Avenue, (212) 777-7988
Daniel MaurerSubways at 108 and 226 First Ave, Avenue B, and Houston Street. Not shown: another on Second Ave and still another on Bowery.
With 7-Elevens opening left and right and the community board strategizing ways to keep small businesses in the East Village, chain stores have been on our minds this week – as well as on the minds of readers. “7-Eleven in a historic neighborhood like the East Village is not O.K.,” wrote JP. Another commenter, Local of East Village, disagreed: “I think 7-Eleven is an example of one thing that is good about the 1 percent. We see here, a major corporation, giving a regular Joe the plumber the chance to turn his own profit.” And Johnny C was also pro-chain: “The local hardware stores charge 50 percent to 100 percent more than Home Depot and Lowe’s and the Bean charges $6 or $7 for a pastry. You really believe that benefits local residents?”
Here’s a question: If you lined up every chain store and bank in the neighborhood, how many blocks would they span? We’re working on the answer right now, but before we reveal it: What’s your guess?
Laura Edwins The director of First Steps, Luz Whetstone, teaches a youngster. The daycare has struggled to attract parents in the aftermath of another preschool’s abrupt closing in the same location.A new daycare on Clinton Street is struggling to attract parents who remain wary thanks to the previous occupant: the notorious Love A Lot preschool.
After eight months in operation, First Steps only has 12 preschool students, and director Luz Whetstone said parents and city officials are still asking questions about Love A Lot. “We still get the residuals of it, I guess,” Ms. Whetstone said. “The Labor Department came by and we had to show them our tax ID and show them that we have no affiliation with Love A Lot. We didn’t just change the name. We’re really a legit business.”
But parents still remember the mess that led to the Clinton Street location of Love A Lot closing in July due to financial struggles and a variety of Department of Health violations including the lack of an educational director, the inability to provide documentation of staff medical records, and failure to screen staff. Read more…
Daniel MaurerDavid Ravvin, a 29-year-old graduate of N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business, is opening a sushi joint where Cotan once rolled rice at 135 First Avenue, near St. Marks Place. As you can see from the plywood art created Tuesday by street artist Para, he’s hoping his concept will be a bit more iconic than his predecessor’s was.
The name of the 14-seat restaurant, Iconic Hand Rolls, is a play on the word “cone” – a reference to the funnel-like rolls that Japanese cooking authority Hiroko Shimbo created for the 8- to 12-item menu. Read more…
Daniel Maurer Campos Plaza.Narcotics officers arrested nine people inside an apartment in Campos Plaza that contained a loaded 9-millimeter, cocaine, marijuana, shotgun shells and scales.
A police spokesman said that the investigators served the warrant at an apartment at 641 East 13th Street around 5 p.m. on Sunday following a longterm investigation. Three men caught there face charges of criminal possession of a weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and criminally using drug paraphernalia. They are Andrew Hudson, 20, Jose Perez, 21, and Demetrius Blas, 17. The trio all have criminal records, according to a criminal complaint. The others busted in the apartment were released. Read more…
Natalie RinnCould new zoning help bring mom-and-pop businesses to the East Village and Lower East Side, and keep them there? Community Board 3’s Economic Development Subcommittee met last night to continue a discussion about retail diversity.
Mary DeStefano, the Urban Planning Fellow from Hunter College who has been working with the board, again raised the possibility of Special Purpose Districts, 20 of which have been created in Manhattan by the City Planning Commission in order to meet the specific needs of their neighborhoods. In Community Board 3, such a district would likely put a cap on chain stores and curb operating hours. Ms. DeStefano clarified that S.P.D.’s are “not banning anything, just seeking a way to preserve it, and it’s just giving the community some level of control.” Read more…
Jared Malsin Author Wayne Price, left, makes a comment.Three days after alleged anarchist protesters ran amok in the East Village, an anarchist meeting on Sixth Street was disrupted by a verbal altercation between an organizer of the event and a man he later accused of being a police spy.
Nine people were in attendance at Tuesday’s Anarchist Forum at the Sixth Street Community Center. The meeting featured coffee in paper cups, vegan cucumber sandwiches, and a polite discussion of how health care services might be organized in a future anarchist society.
The forum is a social event that has taken place once a month since November, according to organizers Evan Courtney, 36, who works in an import-export business, and Walter Williams, 60, a retired software developer residing in Washington Heights.
The tension occurred during its second hour when Mr. Courtney confronted an attendee named Leo, who had arrived over an hour late. Read more…
Stephen Rex Brown The film crew outside of the Holiday Cocktail Lounge.“Kill Your Darlings,” starring Daniel Radcliffe along with Jennifer Jason Leigh, former local David Cross, and Michael C. Hall (also no stranger to the neighborhood) is filming at the vacant Holiday Cocktail Lounge right now.
A couple of weeks ago, The Times looked back at the incident on which the film is based: 68 years ago, Beat muse Lucien Carr, then 19 years old, stabbed an older suitor with his Boy Scout knife and dumped his body in the Hudson River. Mr. Carr (played by Dane DeHaan in the film) confessed to his friends William S. Burroughs (played by Ben Foster) and Jack Kerouac (played by Jack Huston) before eventually turning himself in and being convicted of manslaughter. Mr. Radcliffe plays Allen Ginsberg, who was well familiar with the Holiday while it was open.
Daniel MaurerJust minutes ago, The Local got an early look inside the 7-Eleven that’s caused such a fuss on St. Marks Place, but any hope of bringing powdered mini donuts back to everyone at the office went poof when an employee told us the store wouldn’t open for another hour. Still, clerks were nice about letting lurkers take it all in, and one reporter jotted down notes by the chili-cheese dispenser. So here’s your first look inside: thank heaven for 7-Eleven?
Update | 12 a.m. Norman Jemal, the store’s owner, tells us it opened about twenty minutes ago. “Everyone’s been really supportive,” he said. “We’ve been giving away free Slurpees and free coffee.”
Stephen Rex Brown Capt. John CappelmannLast night’s meeting of the Ninth Precinct Community Council featured several interesting details regarding recent crime in the neighborhood. Here’s a roundup, and check back later for more detailed posts about other recent arrests.
Capt. John Cappelmann, the new commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, reported that four new officers started patrolling the neighborhood on Monday, as he promised in January. Four to six more officers should start in the next couple of weeks, some of whom will focus on quality of life issues. “It’s a tremendous boost for us in personnel numbers,” Capt. Cappelmann said. Read more…
