Warning: If you didn’t enjoy the “Bodies” exhibit and get queasy at Freemans, you probably won’t dig this slideshow either. Photos: Vivienne Gucwa.
It’s been a real challenge finding shrunken heads, human skulls and mounted piranhas in the neighborhood since Obscura Antiques and Oddities closed in January. But search no more: the store selling all things weird opened in its new location at 207 Avenue A, near East 13th Street, on Saturday.
The new digs are nearly double the size of the previous store, meaning that owners Mike Zohn and Evan Michelson have more room to show off their wacky nicknacks, and fans of their reality show “Oddities” have more room to walk around. Read more…
For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Kelly Glass Studio and Gallery.
Photos: Vivienne Gucwa
Patti Kelly took a stained-glass making class at All by Hand Studio in Bay Ridge in 1976 and “took to it like a duck to water,” she said. After years of study, she opened her own Kelly Glass Studio and Gallery in Dumbo in 1989, then moved to St. Marks Place in 1992 and eventually settled at 368 East Eighth Street. Her pieces have made their way into the homes of John Leguizamo and Mary Lou Quinlan, and can be seen around the neighborhood – everywhere from a door panel at 243 East Seventh Street to the façade of the Cooper Union clock. We asked her how she’s managed to make it in the East Village for two decades.
Q.
How long have you been in the East Village?
A.
I came to the East Village in 1992. First I was at 29 St. Marks Place and there for two years before I moved to a bigger space on Essex between Stanton and Rivington. It was an old Jewish theater. The rent got too high so then I moved to Avenue C between Seventh and Eighth where I was for about 12 years until the rent was too much. I’d started at $1,800 a month and when I left it was $4,500 a month. Five years ago I moved here to East Eighth between Avenues C and D. This space was already an artist’s studio. He was a sculptor who moved to Mexico. Before that it was a hardware store. Read more…
During his recent visits to the East Village area, President Obama apparently found time to endorse the Black Boss Coffee at Otafuku. The sign advertising the $2.50 canned drink also declares, “No Mercey For Michelle Backmann.”
An employee at the octopus-balls destination on Ninth Street between Second and Third Avenues said that the sign had been up for a couple of months, and that a customer made it as a joke. “It’s not our biggest seller — it’s pretty strong though,” he said.
But is it stronger than the Obama Coffee from Ray’s Candy Store?
Earlier this week, it was National Pancake Day at IHOP and today: 7-Eleven celebrates its grand opening on the Bowery with 25-cent specials, giveaways, and a balloon-making clown. One lucky raffle entrant won a basketball hoop; Diane Schwartz, posing here, took home a golf bag. The 48-year-old disabled resident of B.R.C.’s Palace Hotel just a block away on the Bowery took a different tone than David Cross and others who’ve griped about the 7-Eleven. “It’s good to have around because you can have your coffee and get a free refill,” said the regular customer. “All the other coffee places around here are kind of expensive.” She cited a store across the street that charges $1 for a cup. Read more…
The “Flea Market King” isn’t the only character at the Mary Help of Christians Church market every weekend: the parking-lot bazaar at Avenue A and East 11th Street has been around for more than two decades, and some of its vendors have been there just as long. Even in these winter months, they bundle up on Saturdays and Sundays hoping to make a bundle of cash. Today, The Local salutes just some of these weekend warriors. Read more…
A transit worker fell about 15 feet in a subway ventilation shaft beneath a grate on East 14th Street Friday morning, the Fire Department said. He was not seriously injured.
Stephen Rex Brown
The worker, in his 60s, was on the ladder built into the shaft beneath the grate in front of the IHOP restaurant at 237 E. 14th Street, near the Third Avenue stop on the L around 10:35 a.m., the authorities said. He was inspecting the grate when he fell from the ladder, said Charles Seaton, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The man, whose name was not immediately released, sustained minor neck and back injuries and was being treated at Bellevue Hospital Center.
Daniel MaurerWorkers did demo work at 74-84 Third Avenue earlier this week.
Karl Fischer is coming to Third Avenue.
The controversial architect, whose work is becoming an increasingly familiar sight in the neighborhood, is seeking to build a nine-story building at the corner of Third Avenue and 12th Street, documents filed with the Department of Buildings reveal.
A disapproved filing for the new building from January shows that the architect hopes to build an 82,000 square-foot building at 74-84 Third Avenue, which will be Mr. Fischer’s largest by far in the East Village. The building will have a 327-square-foot community facility, as well as 42 parking spaces that will be both indoors and outdoors. Read more…
Daniel MaurerConstruction work on the building today.
As recently as yesterday, Kathy Kirkpatrick was holding out hope that Life Cafe would be resurrected in spite of the “For Rent” sign in the window of her iconic restaurant and a simmering dispute between her two landlords (yes, she has two).
“I’m still waiting to see how it plays out,” Ms. Kirkpatrick said. “Things are getting resolved, things are developing — though meanwhile, I wait.”
But today the dispute boiled over and Bob Perl, one of her landlords, said Life Cafe was dead — he could no longer bear trying to negotiate with Abraham Noy, the other landlord.
“I can’t get it done,” Mr. Perl said. “I’m done with Noy – these guys are just impossible.” Read more…
The pink signs you see above, as well as others posted on East Seventh Street between First and Second Avenues, reveal that the Coen Brothers will once again be filming “Inside Llewyn Davis” in the neighborhood, on March 5, 6, and 7, from about 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Parking will be held on Second Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets and on the same avenue between St. Marks Place and Ninth Street, as well as on Sixth Street and Seventh Streets between First Avenue and Second Avenues. (Tow trucks arrive on March 4 at 10 p.m.) Who knows whether all those vintage cars will return, but it looks like one pick-up truck is already in the spirit.
If you can’t wait till next week to start stalking the Coens again, they happen to be shooting in Greenwich Village today and tomorrow. NYU Local spotted them filming outside of the Silver School of Social Work earlier. One tweeter asked, “What will happen if the Chic-Fil-A [protesters] crash the Coen Brothers’ set?”, referring to protests against student debt and a controversial Chic-Fil-A location planned for earlier today.
Laura EdwinsAt Henry Street Settlement on Saturday.
District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. spent last Saturday night watching a basketball game, but not because he had scored Knicks tickets, or because his kids were playing – he was in the East Village, and none of the 12- to 19-year-olds on the court were his own.
“It’s a crime-fighting strategy,” he explained at the Boys and Girls Republic Gym at Henry Street Settlement. “I’d rather be in the back row of the gym watching a basketball game than in the back row of a courtroom watching a kid in trouble.”
John Sexton, the president of N.Y.U., addressed questions about the school’s considerable expansion plan at a Town Hall meeting earlier tonight. At the open forum for students, Dr. Sexton addressed a recent outpouring of community opposition, as demonstrated by a unanimous vote by Community Board 2 on Thursday disapproving of the proposed expansion near Washington Square Park.
“The community board vote did not surprise me,” he said, standing before a room filled with undergraduate and graduate students at the university’s Kimball Hall. “It would have been surprising if there had been a single dissent.”
He added, “You learn that there are a small minority of people that you can’t reach. They’ve gotta be what they are and they’re not going to be persuaded right or wrong.”
A recent Ph.D. graduate in comparative literature, Patrick Gallagher, pressed the president on being insensitive. “It sounds like what you’re saying is the community is always wrong. Has there ever been a time when you’ve come around to their point of view?”
“First of all, respectfully, I don’t think I said the community is always wrong,” Mr. Sexton responded. “The dialogue with the community has been fulsome for three years and 40 [community] meetings, and we’ve made changes in the plan based on things that were said.” Read more…
It’s been a while since we last heard from the would-be proprietors of the Superdive space at 200 Avenue A. Now, the just-released Community Board 3 agenda reveals that they will once again seek a full liquor license. Previously, one of the curators of the space told The Local that she hoped to turn it into an art gallery with a full bar that would host special events and workshops. When that idea was pitched last summer it was met with formal letters of opposition from Councilwoman Rosie Mendez and Community Board 3.
A few other items of note from the agenda: Angelica Kitchen will seek a recommendation for a proper beer and wine license after being told to stop its B.Y.O.B. service in December. A couple of meat lover’s spots, Wechsler’s and Prime & Beyond, are aiming to extend into their backyards. A couple of newcomers are vying for new licenses on Avenue C: Bikinis at number 56 and a mystery restaurant at 116 (once Lava Gina and more recently Vibrations Lounge). And Keybar, which met opposition when it went for booze at 14 Avenue B and was last seen planning a Hungarian joint in the Angels and Kings space, now has designs on 134 Orchard Street.
More than a month after EV Grieve spotted a job filing with the Department of Buildings indicating that 239 East 14th Street will be remodeled to accommodate a 7-Eleven, a “Store for Rent” sign is still posted at the former home of Exquisite DVD & Video. Today, The Local put in a call to Larry Guttman, a principal of the company that owns the building. He said, “Nothing’s set yet. All I can tell you is that we’ve been negotiating with several different companies and a couple of different companies are interested in the space and there’s due diligence going on.”
“It’s not easy to make a deal,” he said, adding that brokers and their clients have shown a good deal of interest in the space next to the new IHOP. “We’ve been approached by several bars, restaurants, 7-Eleven, McDonald’s, a hamburger place. Talk is cheap.”
Mr. Guttman said he hopes to have a deal wrapped up in the next few weeks. We’ll update you as soon as information becomes available.
We’ll save you from having to download a QR reader: The “best kept secret” alluded to in this flyer posted near Astor Place is in fact a gym with several locations throughout the city. Note to whoever posted this: once you’ve built a waterfall and a two-story rock wall, you’re not exactly a secret.
But it got us thinking: what is the East Village’s best-kept secret, anyway? It sure as heck isn’t Angel’s Share or Decibel anymore. Is it that you can get a free mini arepa with your drink during happy hour at Guayoyo? (Or is it the very name of that restaurant – we can never remember it.) Is it University of the Streets? Katinka? The fact that overnight parking is actually kind of a breeze on certain blocks? Is it the after-hours parties we hear are still alive and well in the neighborhood? (More on that later.) Is it the trick for skipping the line at Ippudo, which last weekend was 80-people long shortly before opening? Is it the identity of the owner of the private bike rack? Or is it the bar where you can get $2 beers, the occasional buyback, and a seat on a Friday night? (No way are we giving that one up.)
Here’s The Local’s latest installment of “Police And Thieves,” your weekly roundup of crime. What follows are the latest reports from Feb. 12 to Feb. 19, sorted by the type of incident. Our map of all of crime since Jan. 15 is at bottom.
Assault
A early-morning brawl on East Fourth Street resulted in a man being clobbered with an aluminum baseball bat on Feb. 18. The 22-year-old victim told the police he got in an argument with the suspect on East Fourth Street between First and Second Avenues at around 5 a.m., after which the suspect punched him in the face and clocked him with the bat, causing swelling to his face and a cut.
Robberies
A 21-year-old told the police he was on Third Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets at around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 17 when he was blindsided and knocked out. When he came to, his wallet and watch were missing.
A man was clobbered with a rock in the hallway of the Jacob Riis Houses on Feb. 19. The 39-year-old victim said he was in a building on Avenue D near East Seventh Street at around 1:15 a.m. when two men struck him and stole his cellphone and wallet. The victim would not cooperate further with the police.
A thief confronted a man in a playground of the Jacob Riis Houses on Feb. 18 and stole a whopping $2,300 from him. The 30-year-old told the police he was crossing through the playground on FDR Drive near East 14th Street at around 4:45 a.m. when the suspect punched him in the face and demanded money. The victim said he handed over $40, but the suspect demanded more. The victim then fled into the lobby of a nearby building, where the two wrestled. The suspect — who is said to have brandished a glass bottle — eventually gained the upper hand and stole the wad of cash from the victim’s pocket. Read more…
Natalie RinnMr. Berman, right, at a protest on Thursday.
One of the most vocal opponents of New York University’s proposed expansion near Washington Square Park wants Borough President Scott M. Stringer to hold a public hearing before making an advisory decision about the controversial plan next month.
Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, drafted a letter to Mr. Stringer last Friday as the Borough President began his month-long review of the university’s proposal. The note, which came on the heels of Community Board 2’s unanimous advisory decision last Thursday against the expansion plan, was also signed by 15 community members, including block association leaders, preservationists, and Mark Crispin Miller of N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan. Read more…
Patricia James has been a resident of the Two Bridges public housing complex for more than half of her 67 years. About two years ago, mice began entering her apartment through holes underneath the radiators. The rodents, she said, were eating her food, nesting in her clothes and disrupting her family life. “At night my grandchildren can’t stay over,” she told The Local. “They get in the bed.” She said the New York City Housing Authority failed to fix the problem, so she stopped paying her $517-per-month rent.
In March of 2011, the Housing Authority deemed Ms. James chronically delinquent and began eviction proceedings. Between her back rent and other fees, she now owes more than $14,000.
After a month of negotiations between her lawyer and the city, the two parties have come to an agreement in principle, and Ms. James has readied a cashier’s check for $15,000. But she hasn’t yet turned it over. The Housing Authority, she said, has pledged to allow her to remain in her apartment so long as she pays the back rent, but it has refused to put it in writing — an odd tactic that her lawyer says he has never confronted in 35 years of practice. Read more…
A volley of kicks and punches were unleashed as fights broke out on the Bowery on Friday night, but it wasn’t what you think: More than 500 people had descended on the lavish Beaux Arts building that once housed the Bowery Savings Bank to watch “Combat at the Capitale.” Presented by Lou Neglia, a three-time champion of the World Kickboxing Association, the night showcased some of the top kickboxers from gyms in New York City and beyond.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the first of the evening’s 16 scheduled bouts began. Wearing headgear, gloves and shin guards, Rich Schaefer and Nazin Sadykov battled each other for three two-minute rounds, their fists hissing through the air and legs thumping against each other. Fans sipping beer and pricy mixed drinks from hilariously tiny plastic cups shouted for the occasional “uppercut!” and “leg sweep!” in thick New York accents. Mr. Schaefer prevailed over Mr. Sadykov in a close decision, having gained the edge on two out of the three judges’ scorecards.
Almost every bout of the evening was a close one. That was no accident. When gyms contact Mr. Neglia with the fighters they want to put up for a match, he weighs them closely. “I take pride that I make the fights even,” he said during a phone interview on Saturday. He added, “No one wants to watch an uneven fight.” Read more…
A space that briefly housed a poker club – until it closed in August after a gunpoint robbery – is now home to a deli. As you can see from the exterior shot in the slideshow above, the Fresno Gourmet Deli at 27 Avenue C is much less shy about advertising itself than the poker club was.
Working the counter last night, Bee Alsadi said the deli opened a little over a week ago, and is operated by his family, which owns seven other locations in Harlem, the Bronx, and soon in Hell’s Kitchen. He claimed most of the stock was organic, pointing to shelves full of packaged nuts, and said prices would be cheap, with specials such as a free soda with a $3 cold-cut sandwich and free coffee with a $2.50 egg-and-cheese. Free delivery is available at (212) 353-1110. Read more…
The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards. Read more »
