Kevin Farley

Good morning, East Village.

If you were expecting to wake up to a belated white Christmas — well, at least be assured that the MTA was really ready for it this time.

On an acknowledged “quiet news day,” the word is out on Mighty Quinn’s, the new barbecue restaurant on Second Avenue — the word being “pretty good”.

And in the absence of anything new to report, let’s take you back thirty years to “rockers, rappers, breakers & scratchers”–and the Lower East Side Girls Choir–at East 10th Street’s Limbo Lounge.

With severe weather threatened for the city this afternoon, please let us know of any problems you experience around the neighborhood — or share your snow photos with us. You can post comments below, or share photos at the Local East Village Flickr group.

–Kim Davis

Scott LynchSecond Avenue

Good morning, East Village.

From where we’re sitting, it looks like a quiet Christmas break in the East Village. No turkey shoots on the Bowery — since 1897, in fact.

If you can even face looking at more food and drink, here’s a tenement-shaped ginger cake from the Tenement Museum. Also, it looks like The Third Man on Avenue C is open for cocktails at last, but judging by the work continuing in the space before the holiday, it might be worth calling ahead to check.

And hey, guess what? Here comes the winter weather.

Annie FairmanSteve Torres with family, after winning a bicycle in a “Gangnam Style” danceoff

Last Saturday got off to an early start at the Ninth Precinct.

At 2:30am, police were called to Beth Israel Hospital after an 18 year-old man entered the emergency room claiming to have been shot in the hand in Campos Plaza. When the building’s management, as well as Ninth Precinct officers posted to the NYCHA property that evening, disputed the account, the man admitted to having been shot accidentally in FDR Park when handed the gun by a friend. The young man, who lives on East 13th Street but is not a resident of Campos Plaza, was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon.

Annie FairmanJaylynn, 9 and Santa

In the meantime, organizers of the Ninth Precinct’s Annual Christmas Party Giveaway arrived as early as 4am to set up for the event. Local families began lining up in the early morning hours for the chance to receive a gift from none other than Santa Claus himself, on loan from Macy’s.

Three and a half year-old Alicia Pagan waited in line with her mother, Teresa Mojica, for nearly two and a half hours to see Santa, who gave her a doll. Members of the NYPD Explorers youth program served hot cocoa to families as they waited on a line wrapping around the playground across the street and extending down to the corner of East Fifth Street and Second Avenue. Read more…

While robberies remain lower than expected for this time of year, a pattern has emerged in the last 28-day period.

On November 20th, police say a Hispanic male in his late twenties dressed in a baseball cap and dark jacket approached a male victim from behind and put him in a choke hold on East 13th Street between First and Second Avenues. The victim’s wallet and cell phone were then stolen. At Tuesday’s Community Council Meeting, Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann said that the attack was caught on surveillance video taken outside of the Verizon building on East 13th Street. The suspect is believed to be roughly six feet tall and two hundred pounds.

Police believe the suspect is also linked to a robbery outside of 65 Second Avenue between Third and Fourth Streets on December 5th, as well as in two other robberies committed in Stuyvesant Town, that fall under the jurisdiction of the Thirteenth Precinct. All of the forced robberies took place after midnight. In the December 5th attack, the suspect approached another man and punched him in the face before robbing him.

Police arrested an initial suspect who was later released. – Annie Fairman

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

Make we merry, yes, but maybe not too merry. Look at the calories in this stuff.

But before the party starts, Lucky’s Famous Burgers is feeling out of place on East Houston–imagine–and is looking to “Houstanize” (sic) its design.

If there was ever a reason to scamper across neighborhood boundaries: heart-throb Zac Efron is filming in Little Italy today and tomorrow.

Still making plans for the holiday week? Consider “music from the Carpathians, a Baroque Nativity folk opera and carnivalesque Goat Songs by a punk group from Toronto” brought to La Mama by Yara Arts Group.

Finally, we turn to courtesies of the season. Happy fifth birthday today to EV Grieve, and to all our readers–those who celebrate these holidays and those who do not–may your days be merry and peaceful until The Day returns again.

Workers were spotted carrying scaffolding into Mary Help of Christians Church last Friday, prompting concern among some neighbors as to whether there were any developments about the church’s future.

Suzanne Rozdeba

Around 3 p.m. late last week, “There was a huge Penske moving van and several workers in front of the church. The church doors were open,” an eyewitness told The Local. “I was concerned because we don’t know what’s going to happen with the church.” The church property was purchased by developer Douglas Steiner, who’s bringing a residential development to the lot between East 11th and 12th Streets.

“I saw the workers bringing in scaffolding into the church, and I thought, ‘Uh oh,’” said the eyewitness. “I asked one of the guys to please be careful with the remaining relics. I thought they were moving the rest of the stuff out. But he said, ‘We’re not taking anything out. We’re just putting up scaffolding in the church. It’s in rough shape. We’re putting up support for the church. It’s an old building.’” It was unclear whether there was work being done to the church’s interior, or whether it had anything to do with work being done at P.S. 60 next door.

Last month, The Local reported that preservationists would like to meet with Mr. Steiner to discuss the church’s future, and the possibility of preserving the church. Several neighborhood preservation groups, along with a neighbor and a former parishioner, have asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider protecting the church. A source close to the project had said it was too early to know what the developer’s plans are for the site.

N.Y.U. president John Sexton responded in writing yesterday to last week’s decision by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to hold a vote of no-confidence in his leadership. Faculty members are said to be unhappy with the university’s plans to expand in Greenwich Village in the face of local opposition, and aspects of its international outreach.

Michelle Rick

In a memorandum addressed to the faculty and distributed by email, Dr Sexton acknowledged that he takes the “vote, and the need to address constructively the concerns of faculty, very seriously.” Dr Sexton continued: “I have had no ambition or mission other than advancing NYU’s well-being, sustaining the trajectory established by my predecessors, and leaving a better university for my successors. Yet, it has become clear that my efforts have not been experienced in this way by some members of the FAS faculty.” He concludes by wishing faculty members and their families a happy holiday.

The vote is scheduled to take place in March, 2013.

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

As David Schwimmer’s East Sixth Street mansion nears completion, residents displaced by Hurricane Sandy are getting a little more help this week. Listings geared to their needs are being posted in a special section at the no-fee rental site Urban Edge. Reports say landlords will strive to be flexible about length of lease and security deposits.

A less depressing way to get your life turned upside down will become available if plans for a flying trapeze center at Hamilton Fish Park come to fruition.

On the party side of the street, get your vintage frock out for a batch of 1950s cocktails and Christmas cartoons like “Suzy Snowflake” at the Merchant House Museum — and be sharp about it. Last Friday’s shindig sold out.

If you’re looking for sustenance, Mighty Quinn’s, which recently shed its plywood in the old Vandaag space, is strongly rumored to be unveiling its slow-smoked brisket today. But if you’re just looking to stay home and browse through pretty neighborhood pictures, consider Bowery Boogie’s selection of the year in Instagram.

Gloria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

In yet another reminder that the clean-up work after Sandy continues, the East Village is set to regain its R train connection with Brooklyn before the holidays. Spare a thought too for the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. After long struggles to renovate the fabric of its old building, its heating system was taken out by the hurricane. It plans to hold a fund raiser at Joe’s Pub on Thursday evening.

The SantaCon backlash just gets worse. Meanwhile, EV Grieve continues to compile a list of impending business closures, including the distinctive (and large) Bargain Express on the south side of East 14th Street, and Whole Earth Bakery on St Mark’s Place.

Finally, to prompt a holiday mood, here’s the Village Voice’s veteran food critic Robert Sietsema on the history of that strange, sweet, sticky stuff, eggnog.

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

It’s perhaps not the best of mornings, with thoughts of yesterday’s Sandy Hook memorial service fresh in our minds. Mayor Bloomberg spoke on national television yesterday about gun control. Also on the safety front, he was accused yesterday of developing a stealth plan to ban smoking in people’s homes, a claim the city staunchly denies.

As for SantaCon, we might have picked up the pieces, but we’re still tweeting about it.

And out with the old, in with the new: with bistro Lina Frey already a distant memory, the Lobster Joint finally opened on East Houston.

Assault charges have been dropped against Harley Flanagan, the ex-member of the Cro-Mags who was accused of attacking current members of the band before a July 6 performance at Webster Hall. DNA Info reports that prosecutors dismissed the case during a hearing this morning.

Good morning, East Village.

Strega, the band that’s partly based in the neighborhood, has released the above video for its Christmas ditty, “When The Stars Are Shining Bright (At Christmas Time).”

280 apartments managed by the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association are going coop. “Tenants are buying shares in the M.H.A. for the jaw-dropping amount of just $250 each,” says Val Orselli, the M.H.A.’s executive director. “We’ve averaged about 60 closings per day so far.” [East Villager]

A 36-year-old man was shot in the back on the Lower East Side yesterday afternoon. [NBC NY, Daily News, DNA Info, The Lo-Down]
Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

“Police have arrested a man in connection with a series of elevator robberies over the last week and a half,” including a gunpoint robbery in the East Village. [NBC NY]

More changes on the Bowery: ““Bitsy Bardot is opening a restaurant at 341 Broome, right on Bowery,” says the chairman of the retail group at Douglas Elliman. “SRO restaurant at 245 Bowery may open soon.” [Commercial Observer]

“Professors at New York University’s largest school are planning to meet Thursday to contemplate a bold undertaking: holding a no-confidence vote about the university’s president, John Sexton.” [NY Times]
Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

Good morning, East Village.

Check out the above flyer for the Church of the Village’s seventh annual Christmas pageant. “Tap Dancing Sheep!”

The unidentified man who was found dead on the tracks of an L train station is thought to have been homeless. [NY Post]

Residents of a coop on East 14th Street are banding together to rebuild their building after the storm. [WNYC]
Read more…

Dana Varinsky

Good morning, East Village.

More on the settlement between Bikram and Yoga to the People: the St. Marks studio “is working on a new sequence that will also be offered in a super-heated room and incorporate some poses from the sequence popularized by Bikram’s founder, Bikram Choudhury, but will also include other poses.” [City Room]

“A body was found on the tracks at the First Avenue subway station early Monday, officials said.” The man or cause of death has not been identified. [DNA Info]

A restaurant supply store that has been on the Bowery for 40 years has left for Brooklyn because the Bowery “was changing into high-end apartments, restaurants, bars and galleries,” according to a broker on the transaction. [Commercial Observer]
Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

“Greg Gumucio, founder of the popular, budget-priced Yoga to the People chain, agreed to end his studio’s $8 “hot yoga” classes in a settlement of a $1 million lawsuit by his ex-mentor, Bikram Choudhury.” [NY Post]

“An examination by The New York Times has found that while the [New York City Housing Authority] moved aggressively before the storm to encourage residents to leave, particularly those who were disabled and the needy, both it and the city government at large were woefully unprepared to help its residents deal with Hurricane Sandy’s lingering aftermath.” [NY Times]

“Dozens of students, alumni, and supporters of design school Cooper Union’s free degree programs marched from Washington Square Park to the college’s Astor Place campus to protest the school’s plans to adopt a tuition-based model.” [DNA Info]
Read more…

Daniel Maurer Thankfully these weren’t stolen.

The East Village saw a spike in auto thefts last month, according to a police source.

The first theft, of a 1994 Honda Civic, was reported on Nov. 4, with another following on Nov. 16 and a third reported on Nov. 24. The three Hondas (two Civics manufactured in the 1990s and one Accord manufactured in the 2000s) were stolen from East Third and East Fourth Streets, in the area between First Avenue and Avenue B. The theft of models manufactured in this period was most likely for car parts, our source said.

While not a significant percentage of overall crime, the automobile larceny pattern “sticks out,” according to the source, because it is rarely observed. The police estimate that 70 percent of grand larceny auto cases are motorcycle-related. Three motorcycles were also stolen during the 28-day period.