Daniel Maurer FDR Drive near East 10th.

East Villagers woke up to waterlogged cars, downed trees, limited cell phone reception, and an acrid smell in the air – a lingering reminder of a circuit-breaker explosion at the Con Edison plant on 14th Street that preceded a blackout affecting nearly all of Manhattan south of 39th Street.

Next to the facility, on 13th Street east of Avenue C, a half dozen people attempted to dry out and jump-start cars that had been underwater hours before, as other vehicles sat in garages where water still stood above tire level. On Avenue C, a Stuy Town resident tended to a Volvo with a smashed window. The man, who did not want to be named, said he had tried to drive the car out of an underground garage after he looked out of his apartment window and saw river water beginning to gush up Avenue C.

Daniel Maurer

Within five to ten minutes, he said, the water was up to mid-thigh level. “I tried to get out of the garage and as soon as I hit the gate it was a wall of water,” he said. When he realized the water had reached his car window, he bailed out and waded through a chest-level “river,” dodging floating vehicles as he tried to get to shallower waters on 14th Street. “Cars were afloat. All I needed was one car to blow me into the wall. It was chaotic,” he said, adding that the scene became “9/11-like” when a circuit-breaker exploded at the Con Ed plant, just a block away, and plunged the neighborhood into darkness around 8:30 p.m. Read more…

Michael Natale/GammaBlog

Good morning, East Village.

As noted earlier this morning, fireworks followed what some described as an eerily quiet evening of anticipating Hurricane Sandy. The Times reports that the hurricane gained strength before dawn and is now producing sustained winds of 85 miles per hour. Con Edison, the paper reports, has cut off steam distribution to some buildings, since floodwater could cause pipes to burst, and will shut off two Lower Manhattan electricity networks if flooding occurs around the Battery.

As of last night more than 300 people had checked into a shelter at Seward Park High School, according to The Lo-Down.

Neighborhoodr posts a photo of an emptied bodega shelf and reminds you to tip your deliveryman.

Gallerist notes that Lower East Side galleries have canceled openings. Lower East Side Pickle Day was also rescheduled, according to Gothamist.

But enough about Sandy. Let’s talk about Betty: Racked reports that an arm of Las Vegas-based retailer Betty Paige Clothing is coming to 303 Bowery.
Read more…

Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

The Villager reports that a man arrested in December at a demonstration outside of the former CHARAS/El Bohio Cultural and Community Center was acquitted on charges of creating a major disturbance. The paper also has more on the benefit for the TZone at Lower Eastside Girls Club last week. (And congrats to Lincoln Anderson, who has been named The Villager’s editor-in-chief.)

On his blog, Handsome Dick Manitoba reacts to news that his band the Dictators not appear in the CBGBs movie: “We played the club, regularly for 30 years. We had an absolutely GREAT relationship with the owner, Hilly Kristal, who the movie is supposedly about. We played the last weekend, ever at CBGB, Fri. & Sat. nights, the IMPORTANT NIGHTS…and, my son Jake and Hilly met a bunch of times, capping off, what I would consider, a wonderful relationship in my life.”

The Allen Ginsberg Projects posts a photo of the poet in his 14th Street loft and notes that his former assistant, Bob Rosenthal, will be reading from his memoir, “Straight Around Allen”, at Sidewalk Cafe. Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The Lo-Down posts Community Board 3’s liquor license committee agenda for November.

NYU handed out info packets about its forthcoming expansion at a Community Board 2 meeting last night. Curbed has the latest details of the project.

The Epoch Times, and the Lo-Down are both excited for Lower East Side Pickle Day this weekend. Read more…

Arcane Bistro

The woman whose body was found in an empty lot on East Seventh Street this morning has been identified by neighbors as Christine Ebel, an owner of Arcane, a French-Caribbean bistro adjacent the lot.

Bill Rafty, the building superintendent at Eastville Gardens, also bordering the lot, said he recognized the woman whose lifeless body was discovered around 9 a.m. this morning. “I saw her face,” said Mr. Rafty. “I recognized her. I recognized her hair. She’s got dirty-blonde curly hair.”

Mr. Rafty, who would often see Ms. Ebel cleaning up outside of Arcane, said, “She was beautiful. She had many friends.” He believed she lived above the bistro.

Piti Dumitru, who works with Mr. Rafty, described her as a “very nice girl”: “I never saw her drink,” he said. “It’s terrible.” Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

Suzanne Rozdeba Looking down on the body (under white sheet).

A dead body was found in an empty lot at 227 East Seventh Street this morning.

Angel Carrillo, 43, a carpenter who lives near the lot between Avenues B and C, said that around 9 a.m., he heard a woman screaming hysterically. When he came to her aid, the woman pointed to a dead body lying face-down on the ground. Mr. Carrillo believed the deceased, who wore calf-length boots, was in her 30s. After telling Mr. Carrillo she didn’t know what happened, the person who made the initial discovery ran away.

The police confirmed the body belonged to a woman in her 30s and said there were no visible signs of trauma, but had no further information about the ongoing investigation.

The lot, where a building was demolished earlier this year, is due to receive a six-story condominium building.

Update 2:50 p.m. The crime scene unit has now arrived. Investigators have been seen entering 111 Avenue C, where a police officer is posted, as well as a garden next to 115 Avenue C that borders the lot.

Pablo, a resident of 229 East Seventh Street who did not give his last name, said that shortly before 9 a.m., he saw the woman from the third floor of his building, and that she was face-up (not face-down, as indicated by Mr. Carrillo), with mud obscuring her visage. She wore a v-neck sweater and black jeans, he said.

The super of Eastville Gardens at 225 East Seventh Street, who was shown the body by investigators, said the woman was wearing a single sandal and not boots as indicated by Mr. Carrillo.

Update | 7:30 p.m. Woman Found Dead On Seventh Said to Be Owner of Arcane Bistro

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The Post notes there will be a gun buyback from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Rutgers Houses community center on Madison Street.

Off the Grid points to a database of Landmarks Preservation Commission designation reports that “allows the public to search all designation reports by a number of keywords, allowing anyone to access these little treasure troves of information.”

Eater reveals the West Village location of the next Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. Read more…

A Staten Island man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping and robbing a 28-year-old woman as she walked to her home on Orchard Street in 1998.

On Oct. 9, Lerio Guerrero, 33, pleaded guilty to rape, sodomy, burglary, robbery, and attempted robbery, all in the first degree, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Mr. Vance credits the “All Crimes DNA” law and DNA databank expansion for helping to solve the crime. “Without the state’s DNA databank, this defendant might never have been apprehended,” he said in a press release. “But because New Yorkers live in a state that recognizes the power of DNA to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent, this crime victim is able to finally see justice be served nearly 14 years later.” Read more…

Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

The police officer who was arrested for stealing weapons out of station-house lockers and selling them for drugs has pled guilty, according to The Times. Nicholas Mina is expected to be sentenced to 15 and a half years of prison on Nov. 7. Runnin’ Scared, The Post, and CBS News also covered it.

Also in the Ninth, The Daily News reports that the officers who were acquitted of raping an East Village woman are contesting charges of official misconduct: “If it’s not related to your official duties, it’s not misconduct,” their lawyer argues. “Going to check up on a woman that is drunk is not part of their job, but it shouldn’t constitute a crime.” The Post also has coverage.

The Post discovers the identity of the woman who jumped to her death from a University Place building yesterday.
Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

Shots rang out at Campos Plaza this afternoon, according to residents who continued to voice concerns about security in the wake of a shooting earlier this month.

The president of the Campos Plaza Tenant Association – who, like others who spoke to The Local, insisted on anonymity due to concerns about personal safety – said she was at home when, shortly after 3:30 p.m., she heard three shots ring out. “A lot of people were out here,” she said. “People were at the bus stop across the street, running for cover.”

From her window, she saw over a dozen young men, aged about 15 to 25, running toward Avenue C. Read more…

Alexa Mae Asperin University Place and 13th Street.

A 57-year-old woman died after plummeting from a building on the corner of University Place and 13th Street, the police said.

The fire department received reports of a jumper in cardiac arrest around 11:50 a.m.

Isaac Samuels Bruton, 45, was working nearby on a film shoot when he heard that a woman jumped out of a window. “A couple of my co-workers were going to lunch and said they saw her coming down,” he said.

Shearn Franklin, 20, an employee of Vive la Crêpe, located diagonally across the street, said he was facing a customer when he heard a “loud pop” from the shop’s open windows. “I thought it was someone dropping a box,” he said. He walked outside the store with his manager and saw a person lying lifeless on the pavement. Read more…

Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

An 18-year-old burglar who allegedly swiped a laptop from Tompkins Square Bagels has been arrested and linked to 10 other crimes in the neighborhood, per the Post.

The Post notes that employees of clubs like Solas and Bowery Electric have helped catch patrons who “dipped” into purses to steal cash and personal items.

On the heels of L’Apicio (Eater runs an opening slideshow of that one), another high-profile restaurateur is coming to the neighborhood: Diner’s Journal reports that the team behind Blue Ribbon will open a fried chicken restaurant at 28 East First Street, at Second Avenue. Read more…

CREDIT Joann Jovinelly

Good morning, East Village.

The Daily News reports that authorities still haven’t tracked down the alleged killer of soccer coach Michael Jones, who is said to have fled to Mexico. The police say that they received “excellent cooperation from the Mexican authorities” and the investigation is ongoing, but Mexican authorities tell the News they’re not on the case.

DNA Info reports that two men were arrested for “dipping” at Bowery Electric, a trend that is on the rise and involves “delving into bags and coats to lift valuables such as iPhones, wallets and cash.”

Grub Street reports that one of the city’s most respected chefs, experimentalist Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, will open a 50-seat pub serving “modern casual food and well-crafted cocktails” in the former Plum pizzeria space at 157 Second Avenue. Read more…

Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

Rock band The Virgins isn’t too popular with its neighbors, according to The Post and DNA Info: the band practices daily in an apartment on Second Avenue, between Seventh and Eighth Streets. “‘I think they’re full of themselves. They leave the window open,’ one neighbor griped to cops last night at a community meeting. ‘It’s like clockwork, every day between 4 and 7.'”

Off the Grid posts the Landmarks Perservation Commission’s designation report about the East Village/Lower East Side Historic district, along with some pointers about what to look for in the 300-plus-page document.

Grub Street hears that EMM Group’s project at 199 Bowery will be called The General. According to a statement, “The massive 300-seat project from partners Eugene Remm, Mark Birnbaum, and Michael Hirtenstein will have a casual café and more upscale dining room, with a red-and-gold color scheme and decor inspired by ‘urban excavation.'” Read more…

N.Y.P.D. The suspect in a Sept. 20 punch-and-
grab.

Last Tuesday’s gunpoint robbery wasn’t just an isolated occurrence. The early-morning incident in which three men in bandanas held up a woman at gunpoint was part of an emerging pattern, said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann at a meeting of the Ninth Precinct Community Council last night.

The robbery on East 12th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A, followed a similar incident two days earlier, on Sunday, Oct. 7. The earlier victim, also robbed at gunpoint by three men, didn’t report it until Tuesday morning, according to the precinct’s commanding officer.

Deputy Inspector Cappelmann assured meeting attendees that police are investigating and a dedicated patrol force would be in the area on Friday and Saturday. Read more…

Annie Fairman Aida Salgado (front, center) lit candles with friends and family in rememberance of her late son.

At a memorial service Sunday, Aida Salgado recalled the early morning, on Oct. 16, that her son was shot in the courtyard of the Campos Plaza housing development, and the year that has followed. “My world came crashing down, and I was engulfed in a wrenching pain that only can be felt by another parent who has lost a child,” she told friends and family members gathered at Firemen’s Memorial Garden on Eighth Street.

Stephanie Federico, who wore a t-shirt depicting Donovan “Keith” Salgado, said she had expected the 17-year-old’s tragic death to put a damper on youth violence in the neighborhood. “People felt as though maybe it was gonna be over after he passed,” she told the gathering of about a couple dozen people. “But a lot of things didn’t end. It actually made things a lot worse.”

Another attendee left little doubt about the matter: Maizie Arroyo, a longtime resident of the East Village who recently moved to the Bronx, said that on the subway ride to the memorial, a group of young men tried to “jump” one of her teenage companions because he was wearing a laminated photo of Mr. Salgado around his neck. Read more…

Nicole Guzzardi Halloween at The Bean’s First Avenue location.

Good morning, East Village.

It finally happened: The Lo-Down reports that the City Council voted in favor of a Seward Park Urban Renewal plan that will add 1,000 apartments and a good deal of commercial space to nine plots totaling 1.65 million square feet near the Williasmburg Bridge. The request for proposals will go out in January.

The police tell The Times that the suspect in the fatal stabbing of Michael Jones has fled to Mexico, leaving behind an apology note. Commissioner Ray Kelly “suggested that Mr. Orea’s destination may have been a village where he had family ties. Members of the Police Department would be sent there, he said, adding that the police were in contact with local officials, the State Department and Interpol, the international police network.”

The Daily News and The Post report that a bellhop at the Bowery Hotel was busted on the job after allegedly selling pot to undercover officers. He was charged with criminal possession of marijuana. In happier news, Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser of “Mad Men” recently “went public” at the hotel, according to The Post.  Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

Mark Federman, the principal of East Side Community High School, shared some good news via Twitter yesterday: “We get to go in our building tomorrow evening to get instructional materials. Yay!!” DNA Info has more on the development. The matter was a subject of much discussion at a parent association meeting earlier this week.

Over at The Awl, Choire Sicha has his own special take on the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Contrary to the local nostalgia bloggers, he thinks the neighborhood started going downhill almost 100 years ago, “when the City drained a swamp and imposed Tompkins Square Park on the people so as to create an public promenade to enforce socially acceptable behavior, except during the Mexican-American War (spoiler: we lost), when the park was a military staging ground, and then after, when the park became a meeting place for angry young unwashed people to march on Wall Street (the mid-1850s), until it became a Civil War encampment, and then until it again became a gathering place for dirty people to march on Wall Street.”

Grub Street reports that Smorgasburg, the weekly foodie free-for-all produced by the Brooklyn Flea, is teaming up with Whole Foods Bowery: “Prepared food vendors, such as Cemita’s and Hugh Magnum’s Mighty Quinn’s, will set up shop inside the grocery store for monthlong pop-ups. Early next year, the grocery store chain and small-batch food market will expand their collaboration by opening the Smorgasburg-branded ‘Snack Bar,’ a retail outlet for goods like Grady’s Cold Brew growlers, Dough’s doughnuts, and Mile End’s bagels.”
Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

The Valley National Bank on Fourth Avenue was held up around 12:30 p.m. today.

A man thought to be around 50 years of age, wearing a jean jacket and with grey-blonde hair, walked into the bank at 111 Fourth Avenue, near 12th Street, and left with an unknown amount of money, according to one of the responding officers, Alan Tagliamonti. “The suspect fled immediately,” he said. Investigators were still trying to determine the amount stolen when The Local arrived on the scene around 1:30 p.m.