On Tuesday, a police source said the dog’s prognosis was not good, but yesterday a spokesman for Animal Care and Control of New York City told The Local that the feisty mutt was still in stable condition at a shelter in Harlem. Today that spokesman said, “Star’s condition is still serious, but thankfully she is showing signs of slight improvement.”
It’s still unknown whether the dog, if it survives, will be returned to its owner, who was passed out on the sidewalk when the shooting occurred and was arrested for an open warrant related to an open container charge.
On The Local, commenters debated about who was to blame for the shooting.
“That’s a sad story. But I wouldn’t want to get bit by that dog,” wrote Delphine Blue, apparently sympathizing with the police officer who fired the shot. Read more…
A nugget from Scoopy’s notebook in The Villager just caught our eye: The Mosaic Man Jim Power has been kicked out of his basement studio underneath Barbiere. Mr. Power would often crash in the small space with his faithful canine companion, Jesse Jane, where he would craft mosaics for local businesses like Porchetta, Tompkins Square Bagels and The Bean. He preferred the space to his abode at The Lee, which houses formerly homeless and low-income residents. Mr. Power often aired his beef with the administrators of that facility, but according to Scoopy, that’s been smoothed over.
Melvin FelixNew signage at the site of 51 Astor Place.
A little over two weeks ago The Local gave an overhaul update on the many changes underway at Astor Place and Cooper Square. It’s already time to check in again.
Melvin FelixAnother record store has shuttered.
A spokesman for Edward J. Minskoff Equities, the developer of 51 Astor Place, said that an announcement regarding tenants in the 12-story office building will be made within the next 45 days. The spokesman also confirmed that “a significant portion” of companies considering moving into the building are in the technology industry, as has been previously reported. The black glass tower is expected to open in spring of next year, as new signage at the construction site indicates. Read more…
The East Village-Lower East Side historic district has yet to be approved, but moves to preserve the neighborhood’s religious institutions are already underway. The Sixth Street Community Synagogue won $25,000 from the New York Landmarks Conservancy that will go towards repairs of its roof and facade, The Jewish Week reports. Other local religious institutions have been the most vocal opponents of the proposed historic district.
Speaking of preservation, Off The Grid has a helpful primer for anyone interested in following the status of properties that must receive consideration by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The chef behind Empellon Cocina, Alex Stupak, dared to drink a juice-only diet from Liquiteria for several days for Grub Street. Mr. Stupak, who loves his caffeine and unbalanced diet, endured some gastrointestinal angst, but ended up enjoying the experience. “I woke up feeling extremely rested after only four hours of sleep. I mean, extremely rested. Like more rested than I’ve felt in a long time,” he wrote on the third day of his diet. Read more…
The Lo-Down reports that Ben Shaoul purchased three adjacent properties on Ludlow Street near Stanton Street. The site notes that the controversial developer and landlord tends to focus on the East Village — could this mean that he is expanding south of Houston?
Curbed scored renderings of 327 East Ninth Street, which will soon become a six-story, two-unit residential building. The space is currently a parking lot.
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York spots some angry graffiti at the site of a closed bodega at Mott and Houston Streets. “We want our bodega. No more yuppies in Nolita.” Read more…
Video of the aftermath of the shooting. Larissa Udovik, who was nearly bitten, can be seen berating the police.
For once, the police and crusties can agree on something. The pit bull shot yesterday on 14th Street in front of dozens of horrified onlookers had it coming.
Brandon Verna, a homeless man acquainted with the owner of the dog, identified by police as Lech Stankiewicz, said that the pit bull has a reputation for being overly protective of her master.
“Most of us figured out that when he’s passed out, whether he’s overdosing or not, leave him alone,” Mr. Verna said. “If he’s going to die, call an ambulance and have them deal with it because no one wants to get bitten.” Read more…
The Daily News reports that Star, the pit bull shot by a police officer on 14th Street yesterday survived, and is being cared for at a shelter in East Harlem.
The Wall Street Journal got in touch with Eli Halali, the owner of Two Bros. Pizza, to explain why he has shaken the very foundation of the pizza industry by selling a slice for $1.50. “We’re feeling the customers out, seeing what they think of this particular slice,” he said. “This may or may not be an item that we may add to the menu if people want a bigger slice.”
A second soldier facing charges related to the death of Private Danny Chen pleaded guilty in Fort Bragg, N.C. to charges of hazing and maltreatment. He has been kicked out of the Army and will serve six months behind bars, The Daily News reports. Read more…
New York Police DepartmentSurveillance video of the suspect.
New York Police DepartmentThe suspect.
A man followed a woman into 116 Avenue C on August 11 and punched her in the face several times before snatching her purse, the police said.
The man, thought to be in his late 20s, made his move at 11:45 p.m. in the building near East Eighth Street. As the 28-year-old victim began to go up the stairs the suspect threw her to the ground, punched her and ran out of the building.
A witness showed us a video he took of the shooting’s aftermath.
Melvin FelixOfficers loaded a dog kennel into the trunk of a
police car as friends of the
owner of the dead pitbull looked on.
A police officer shot a pitbull that was apparently trying to defend its passed-out owner on 14th Street at around 4:15 p.m., horrifying passersby who watched the wounded mutt suffer a slow death.
A man who identified himself as Steve-o, who was lingering at the scene near Second Avenue said he was a friend of the passed-out man, known as Pollock. The dog, according to Steve-o, was named Star.
Another witness, Roland Bueler, said the dog was protecting his master as a police officer tried unsuccessfully to rouse him while an ambulance awaited. “People who live in the neighborhood say he’s along here all the time,” Mr. Bueler said of Pollock. “He had a dog that was, I think, a pitbull mix. And the dog was defending the guy so no one could approach him.” Read more…
The weekends are always pandemonium in the East Village, but it’s rarely the older hippies causing a scene.
And yet on the corner of First Avenue and Second Street last Friday around 8:20 p.m., a gray-haired man wearing a tucked-in tie-dye shirt – and, oddly enough, a Yankees cap – was vehemently stomping the back wheel of someone’s bicycle.
“Hey, don’t do that!” a bystander cried out limply. But the bike basher was already heading across First Avenue for a bite to eat.
Minutes later, he was back to where the bike was chained up, kicking it a couple more times for good measure before storming off with his takeout bag.
Before we could confront the man, he ducked into an apartment building on Second Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. That’s when we popped off the photo you see here.
Meanwhile, back at the scene of the trouncing, a woman accompanied by a pair of dogs was taking photos of her own. Lo and behold: it was Grace Weaver, the “Singing Vegan Lady” who was profiled by DNA Info just last week. Maybe she was documenting the effects of meat rage? Actually, no: it turned out the bicycle was hers, and the man who had assaulted it was her roommate. Read more…
The Times bring word that Piotr Pasciak, 24, has been arrested for the burglary of 516 East 11th Street, which was captured in surprisingly crisp surveillance video. According to the paper, Mr. Pasciak had completed a bid behind bars last year for charges related to three home invasions in Ostego County.
The Post reports that a bus driver and a matron, Barry Kurt and Akilah Toppin, have been arraigned on charges of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a developmentally disabled East Village resident who was left in a van on a sweltering day last summer.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Nielsen is preparing to ditch its digs at 770 Broadway and head Downtown. Meanwhile, a real estate agent for the nearby and under-construction 51 Astor Place has a quick update on the search for tenants. “We have strong activity on the building from a wide and diverse array of tenants, particularly those from the technology and digital media industries,” the agent told the paper. “It provides for a large block of space in a marketplace that’s lacking blocks over 100,000 square feet.” Read more…
The police are now offering $32,000 for information that leads them to the man who shot a police officer in the Seward Park Houses on July 5. In the incident, Officer Brian Groves was patrolling the public houses when he came upon the suspect between the 18th and 19th floors. A brief chase ensued, and the suspect shot the officer, who narrowly escaped death thanks to his Kevlar vest.
Sunda CroonquistA photo taken by Ms. Croonquist before her arrest.
She was only trying to take pictures of the rowdy crowds that congregate every weekend mere steps from her apartment. Then, she ended up in handcuffs.
A 51-year-old standup comedian was arrested on Friday night after trying to take pictures of a woman on a stretcher outside of nightlife hotspot Solas.
Sunda Croonquist, who lives a few doors away from the club, had just returned with her husband and two kids from a party in New Jersey when they came upon a crowd spilling into the street around 1:40 a.m. Gawkers were eyeing an intoxicated woman on a stretcher.
Outraged by the behavior of the crowd of revelers, Ms. Croonquist began to take pictures. “The crowd was laughing at my 9-year-old daughter who was having trouble walking through a crowd of over 80 people congregating on the sidewalk,” wrote Ms. Croonquist’s husband, Mark H. Zafrin in an e-mail. “My wife was mostly in Los Angeles this year and was shocked by the weekend mayhem. It became acutely personal when my daughters (a) had to see a young girl laying in her own vomit on the street (b) had to navigate through a huge crowd on their own sidewalk.”
Police didn’t take kindly to Ms. Croonquist standing in the street and snapping photos. A police spokesman said that she was told to return to the sidewalk, refused, and was then escorted to the sidewalk. She then returned to the street and ended up in a confrontation with Sergeant Timothy Brown. She faced off chest-to-chest with the sergeant, who told her to step back — an order she ignored, the spokesman said. Ms. Croonquist was then put under arrest, and according to a criminal complaint, flailed her arms and kicked her legs while being handcuffed. She faces charges of obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest and harassment.
But Ms. Croonquist’s husband has a different version of events. Read more…
Add Kickstarter to the long list of businesses in the neighborhood that have packed up and moved to Brooklyn. The New York Post reports that the fundraising site is spending $7.5 million to buy and renovate a landmarked former pencil factory in Brooklyn. That means Kickstarter will soon bid farewell to its current location at 155 Rivington Street. A few other local businesses that decided to open outposts in Willyburg: Mama’s (it was short-lived), Cafe Mogador, Norman’s Sound & Vision and Vanessa’s Dumpling House.
DNAInfo takes a look at Ruff Club, the new dog social club coming to 34 Avenue A. The space will have free wi-fi, and its owners hope that it will turn into a gathering place for dog-lovers, as well as their dogs. “We really want people to come in and meet other people,” said Simon Frost, one of the owners. “The only other place is the dog park, which isn’t that friendly when it is 10 degrees out.”
Bowery Boogie notes that cars traveling southbound on Essex Street can no longer make a left turn onto Delancey Street. The traffic pattern tweak is part of a wave of safety improvements that were expedited following the death of 12-year-old Dashane Santana, who was crossing Delancey Street earlier this year. Read more…
New York Police DepartmentSurveillance footage of the suspect.
An East Villager’s surveillance camera caught a gloved burglar snooping around inside his apartment on August 6.
The police said that the burglar entered the abode at 516 East 11th Street at 3:35 p.m. and stole “some personal items.”
A police spokesman did not have further information on what type of video camera captured the suspect, or what valuables he swiped. But the camera sure did get a good look at him.
SpacesTVA tour of a “micro studio” in the neighborhood, via Gothamist.
The Daily News brings word that operators associated with upscale nightclubs in SoHo, West Chelsea and the Meatpacking District are eyeing the area around East Houston Street. The soon to be vacant spaces at Sutra and Lucky Cheng’s are the most desired locations of the bunch. The prospective tenants have roots in the “Pink Elephant, Greenhouse, Hudson Terrace, Acme, 1Oak and Electric Room,” according to the paper. And a real estate agent reiterates what The Local has reported for months: that the the up-scaling of the Bowery has opened the flood gates to higher-end clubs further east.
Mark Connell, last seen in The Local coping with his landlord, has plans for an upscale establishment in the former NoLita House. Bowery Boogie, reporting now on a Community Board 2 meeting last month, says that Mr. Connell was stymied by the board due to concern that the revelers in his bar, Botanica, would mix with customers in the new establishment.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the thriving tattoo scene in Williambsurg, “the neighborhood that lured tattoo shops from Manhattan’s higher-rent ink havens like the Lower East Side and East Village” a decade ago. Not all of them have beenlured away, though. Read more…
A cyclist was hit by a cab after running a red light at East Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m., witnesses said.
The cyclist was traveling west-bound on East Ninth Street, went through a red light and then managed to avoid one cab before being nailed by a second, Katarina Kojic said. “Luckily, I don’t think he hit his head,” she said.
The victim was treated by Fire Department medics and put in an ambulance.
“He came across. There was too much traffic, I didn’t see him,” said the cabbie, Hardyale Singh. “I hit the bike, not him. It wasn’t my fault.”
This is the second accident at that intersection that The Local has recently stumbled upon. In June a pregnant cyclist was hit by a cabbie at the very same spot. Read more…
The Times‘ Pete Wells paid a few visits to chef Michael White’s new pizza spot, Nicoletta, and came away unimpressed, to say the least. The critic gave the restaurant zero stars. “Warmed up a day or two later, a Nicoletta crust is just as stiff and bland as when it was fresh from the oven,” he writes. As for the toppings: “The pies are overburdened conglomerations of cheese, flour and fistfuls of other stuff; in the end, the elements cancel one another out.” Jay Cheshes of a Timeout filed a similarly negative review, though he at least doled out a couple of stars.
Off The Grid explains the historical link between the tenements at 517-519 East 11th Street and the Eldridge Street Synagogue. The buildings were built by the same architects only one year apart, and share numerous aesthetic flourishes.
This is no way to start off a relationship with Community Board 3. Two weeks before it is scheduled to appear before the board, the bar in the former Lakeside Lounge space will open Thursday night for a three-day bash, according to Bowery Boogie. Most importantly: open bar from 9 to 10 p.m.
The Village Voice provides a helpful reminder that Trojan condoms will be giving out 10,000 free vibrators today and tomorrow in the Meatpacking District and on Third Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets. Read more…
Last week, Community Board 3 approved 19 pages worth of funding requests that it hopes will eventually win the support of the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg.
The document is an important one. “The district needs statement kicks off the city’s budget process,” board member David Crane told The Local.
Outlining priorities in the areas of education, nightlife enforcement, housing, and public health, the sprawling call to action now goes to the Office of City Planning, which distributes relevant sections to the appropriate agencies. From there, dialogue and negotiations between the board and the city begin, culminating in a more boiled-down statement of budget requests submitted to the city in October.
City Council Speaker Rosie Mendez said district needs statements, and community boards in general, play a “significant role” in the formation of each year’s budget. “Past district needs statements have been the basis for a number expense and capital grants as well as collaborative programs,” she said.
The statement doesn’t change much from year to year, but this year the board added language to the Housing and Land Use section that trumpets a need to “slow the growth of gentrification and to ensure that long-term residents can remain in decent affordable housing.” Read more…
A man sexually assaulted a woman on a rooftop near Clinton Street in the Lower East Side on August 3, the police said. The pair entered the building together at 2:50 a.m. and then the suspect, who is said to be 5-foot-5 and in his early 20s, assaulted the victim and fled. Just yesterday, the Manhattan District Attorney announced the conviction of a 39-year-old man who was linked to a sexual assault in the East Village in 2008 thanks to a state DNA database.
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 »
Melvin Felix The scene on Monday.
