Jared MalsinOccupy Wall Street protesters denounce Bank of America.
Earlier today, local Democratic Party official Paul Newell and three other people closed accounts at Bank of America with plans to move their money to local banks as part of a protest organized by Occupy Wall Street activists.
Mr. Newell, the Democratic district leader for New York’s 64th Assembly District, Part C, which includes parts of the East Village, wore a blue athletic headband with a pin displaying a version of the Bank of America logo altered to read “FU.”
As Mr. Newell and his girlfriend Marissa Brostoff, a doctoral student in English at the CUNY Graduate Center and instructor at Brooklyn College, approached a Bank of America branch across from Zuccotti Park on Broadway, a security guard asked them if they were involved with Occupy Wall Street and locked the door, refusing them entry. Read more…
Above: Ray’s Candy Store, home of Obama fries, is now saluting Occupy Wall Street. Meanwhile over at Cooper Square, the Illuminator saluted the 99 percent again last night: see our photos here. And check it out: Ray now has a Wikipedia page, and according to The Villager, he has a new iPhone, too.
Earlier this week, when The Local spotted 7-Eleven signage going up over St. Marks Place, a representative told us the store would open at the end of this month. Now The Daily News trolls local residents for reactions and hears more or less the same thing we heard back in September: “We got rid of The Gap 15 years ago,” says one local. “We can get rid of 7-Eleven.”
The Post reports that Andrew Hanson, the “book worm” who was caught selling stolen library books to East Village Books, has been sentenced to 2.5 to 5 years in jail for felony burglary. Read more…
Signage for that Middle Eastern cafe from the owners of Tompkins Finest Deli has gone up at First Avenue and Second Street, as you can see above. And further up the avenue near St. Marks Place, the space that formerly held Cotan will be replaced by another sushi joint, according to an employee from neighboring JoeDough. The Local spotted plywood going up yesterday.
The Local reported last night that a scuffle on Bleecker and Lafayette Streets involving an alleged iPad thief ended with two police officers going to the hospital with cuts on their arms and legs.
If the Parks Department didn’t want to bait Tompkins Square Park last summer, here’s why: Three red-tailed hawks have been found dead in and around Central Park, and The Times reports that the culprit is rat poison. In happier hawk news, City Room is asking readers to name two baby hawks that just hatched in Washington Square Park. Read more…
A man accused of stealing an iPad tangled with police officers at Lafayette and Bleecker Streets earlier today, sending two of them to Bellevue Hospital with cuts to their arms and legs.
The police said that around 3 p.m. today, a 25-year-old woman left her iPad on the counter at 230 Mulberry Street, where it was swiped by a man who entered the store and then fled toward Houston Street. At the Bleecker Street subway station, a police sergeant and a transit officer spotted a man fitting the suspect’s description and carrying an iPad. When they approached him, he took off running, a police representative said. Read more…
After pouring into the lobby of the bank’s branch at 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, the protesters – many of whom were residents of low-income and public housing buildings in the East Village and Lower East Side – chanted “banks got bailed out, we got sold out,” and “Bank of America, bad for America” as security guards and police officers told them to disperse. Read more…
N.Y.U. announced today that, after negotiations with Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, it had agreed to reduce its ambitious expansion plans on two blocks south of Washington Square Park by nearly a fifth.
The revised plan includes significant changes for all four proposed buildings and the elimination of 377,000 square feet in the project, which originally called for 2,474,000 square feet of new space.
The new plan “strikes a balance between a great university’s need to grow and the importance of preserving Greenwich Village’s distinctive, historic character,” Mr. Stringer said in a press release. “There was nothing easy about this: Everyone had to give up something. No one got everything they wanted.”
The project, dubbed N.Y.U. 2031, will now go before the City Planning Commission and then the City Council. Community Board 2 voted unanimously to oppose the plan in February. Read more…
A manager at Boukiés, the Greek restaurant that will replace Heartbreak on the corner of Second Street and Second Avenue, tells The Local it will open next Monday. As you can see above, the new restaurant from the owner of Pylos hosted its first private event last night.
Speaking of restaurants, The Times bestows three stars on seasonal Japanese hideaway Kyo Ya, putting it in the company of less than a few dozen others around town. Other East Village establishments to boast the honor are Il Buco, Momofuku Ssam, and Momofuku Ko. Critic Pete Wells writes, “If you have heard of Kyo Ya, chances are you have been told that the kaiseki menu is the thing to get. It is a rare treat, no question, but so are many of the dishes that can be ordered à la carte with a smaller investment of time and money.”
Ryan Devereux, a journalist at The Guardian, tweeted about another demonstration for Trayvon Martin. This one went from Union Square to the Riis Houses and back last night. By his estimate, the crowd was “a few hundred” strong. Read more…
The Times reports that N.Y.U. has agreed to scale back its proposed expansion on two blocks south of Washington Square Park by roughly 16 percent after negotiations with the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer. The original plan called for 2,275,000 square feet of construction; the revised one reduces that number by 370,000 square feet. According to The Times, a 14-story building planned for the southern block will now be seven stories. The two buildings on the northern block will be “slimmed and shortened,” and the Zipper building will be further set back from Mercer Street. The plan must still be approved by the City Planning Commission and the City Council.
“The west side has the High Line, Hudson River Park, Chelsea Piers,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer at the first community-wide planning meeting for the East River Blueway. “Now it’s time for the East Side to have an iconic outdoor space.”
In its planning stages since September 2011, the Blueway aims to make the East River more accessible, with beautified walkways, from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 38th Street. Yesterday’s meeting brought together residents, politicians, and members of Community Board 6 as well as the project’s design team to share ideas regarding water access, biking routes, and improved water quality for swimming, kayaking and fishing.
Crossing the FDR is currently a major obstacle to accessing the river. According to Adam Lubinsky, Managing Principal of WXY Architecture + Urban Design, the East Side has only half the number of street crossings – including underpasses, overpasses and street level pathways – as the West Side. “How can we engage with a river that we’ve been separated from for so long?” asked Mr. Lubinsky. Read more…
Some 200 protesters gathered in Union Square yesterday evening to demand justice for Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot dead by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida in February.
City Council Member Letitia James, of Brooklyn, was among those who participated in the rally. Referring to the hooded sweatshirt worn by the 17-year-old the day he died, she told The Local, “Today, all of us are Trayvon Martin, and today this powerful article of clothing is going to be transformed into an instrument for change, and for justice for this young man.”
As you can see above, 7-Eleven decals have been plastered on the window of the former JAS Mart on St. Marks Place.
In The Post, real estate developer Stephen B. Meister uses the BP station on Houston Street, which may soon be included in a historic district, as evidence that “most properties in historic districts have no architectural value.” He goes on: “Designating so many neighborhoods as historic districts has played a big role in driving up rents and constraining the housing supply.”
The Real Deal links to a subscription-only Crain’s item reporting that as retail rezoning gains traction on the Upper West Side, community boards in the East Village and Upper East Side are considering restricting storefronts against nightlife use as well. Read more…
Stephen Rex BrownFirefighters on East Ninth Street.
Stephen Rex Brown425 East Ninth Street.
A pair of fires on the decks of two buildings on East Ninth Street were put out by firefighters today at around 1:15 p.m.
Deputy Chief James Daly said the initial fire at 425 East Ninth Street started in a planter, leading him to suspect that a discarded cigarette was the culprit. Embers from the fire blew over to a deck a 417 East Ninth Street, starting another small blaze. Within 15 minutes both fires were under control, the deputy chief said.
The Times pens a piece about Giuseppi Logan’s comeback in which the jazzman reveals the reason he disappeared for decades. “My wife had me put in a mental institution,” he tells John Leland. “She said I was an addict.” On her East Village blog, Suzannah B. Troy addresses a commenter who said the profile should’ve delved deeper into Mr. Logan’s troubled past: “I believe he had more than 10 kids and one child had died. His 1st wife did not want him to play and compose music but have a mainstream job. His 2nd wife believed in his music but she left him when he went to jail.” Ms. Troy also posts footage of Giuseppi’s reunion with his son Jaee as well as other clips.
Now that Mr. Logan’s Kickstarter campaign is funded (and then some!), Jeremiah’s Vanishing points to another one: Karen Gehres has been filming at Astor Place Hairstylists for a year and wants to turn the footage into a documentary. “With so many NYC Institutions dropping like flies, due to skyrocketing rent, one barber shop remains,” goes the Kickstarter pitch. “Since 1939, Astor Barber has been cutting hair with pizzaz and is still one of NYC’s most loved institutions. Get your hair cut from cradle to grave…literally!”
Runnin’ Scared reports that local artist Legacy Russell is photographing East Village and Lower East Side residents in locations that are meaningful to them, and then hanging the poster-size prints in locations of their choosing. Read more…
City Room reports that the police have arrested two men who plastered subway seats with stickers reading “Priority seating for the 1 percent.” Jeffrey Brewer and Aaron Minter, who took NY1 stickering on Wednesday, were apprehended the next day near Union Square and charged with criminal mischief, making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments. Meanwhile, The Local spotted this bit of graffiti on Avenue A between Sixth and Seventh Streets – presumably a reference to Occupy Wall Street’s planned May Day demonstrations. A bit much?
Three men robbed a jewelry store on the Bowery yesterday but only made it to Bond Street before being arrested. The heist went down at 11:30 a.m. at Raineri Jewelers near Hester Street when the three thieves — one of them armed — barged in and looted several displays, a police spokeswoman said. They fled in a waiting Jaguar but abandoned the ride at Bond Street and Broadway. They were found hiding in Great Jones Alley near Lafayette Street. The police arrested two 23-year-old men from Queens and a 26-year-old from Brooklyn. A fourth suspect is still at large. The Daily News has a photo of one of the suspects.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters that get the boot on a near-nightly basis from Union Square unveiled a new tactic early this morning: sleep-ins on the sidewalk. City Room reports that the Occupiers cited a ruling by a federal judge in 2000 that allowed people to stage sleep-ins on sidewalks as a form of organized protest. The group of more than two dozen laid out sleeping bags, blankets and cardboard in front of a Citibank and Bank of America in 40-degree weather.
City Room reports that unionized workers at the Strand have rejected a proposed new contract because it would’ve cut vacation days, frozen pay for a year, increased the cost of health care, and cut benefits for newer employees. The bookstore’s management says the move is to compensate for sales that have fallen roughly 5 percent over all since 2008.
Though citywide rents remained relatively high throughout the winter, an MNS report picked up by Curbed brings good news about the East Village rental market: “The biggest decreases in rents from February to March took place in the East Village, where non-doorman studios are now 6.5 percent less.”
Gothamists sees bitter irony in the fact that upscale boutique Blue and Cream is paying tribute to grungy Mars Bar via a new photo exhibit: “Because if there is one thing we can all agree on about the old girl’s clientele, it was how much they just loved the kind of people who buy and sell $220 black t-shirts!” Read more…
After becoming persona non grata in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood, the BMW Guggenheim Lab is setting up in Prenzlauer Berg. “The decision to relocate the Lab was not an easy one,” Richard Armstrong says in a statement quoted by Gallertist NY, “but we are very pleased to have so quickly confirmed such a suitable alternative and to continue the urgent and important discussions we have begun about cities, and specifically about Berlin.”
NPR runs a photo of the old Bowery along with a story about “Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York,” a new book by Richard Zacks about the police commissioner’s attempt to clean up what was a “wide-open” town in the late 19th century.
Locals grumpy about smartphone zombies have something new to grumble about. Today Google unveiled its futuristic Google Goggles, which stream information on the lenses of a pair of high-tech glasses. A video highlighting the mind-boggling — and mildly creepy, perhaps? — features of the gadget visits familiar sights like the Mud truck and the new Cooper Union building. Would you be seen in public wearing these things?
Lauren Carol SmithThe site’s founders, Seth Cohen and David Sauvage.
Frustrated with the media’s portrayal of the Occupy Wall Street movement, two veterans of the film industry aim to bypass it entirely with a website that aspires to be a portal to all things O.W.S.
Founded by David Sauvage, who last year co-produced a promotional spot for the movement, and Seth Cohen, Occupy.com celebrated its launch last night at the hot and crowded Arrow Bar on Avenue A. With substantial financial backing from west coast lawyer and producer Larry Taubman and a staff of around 10 people, the polished site is trying to reach an audience beyond the protesters familiar with Zuccotti Park and Union Square. Read more…
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Jared Malsin Occupy Wall Street protesters denounce Bank of America.
