Suzanne Rozdeba

In case you missed it last night, we broke news that developer Douglas C. Steiner bought the Mary Help of Christians property for $41 million, and is planning a residential project that would include some affordable housing units.

The Daily News reports that the police officers acquitted of raping an East Village woman and convicted of official misconduct will get to spend Thanksgiving at home. A judge ruled yesterday that Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata will not begin serving their sentences before Dec. 20.

The New York Times reviews “Wild Man in Rome,” Matthew Maguire’s new solo show at the Wild Project on East Third Street. It’s a “feverish account of a fantastic voyage — with the original hellhound on his trail — condensed into one night in which the Wild Man interacts with Amazonian hookers, pudgy-legged cherubim and a Gypsy fortune teller.”

The Times also reports on “Magic Fingers,” an experimental art space on East 10th Street that debuted last Saturday. In “Questionable Beliefs; Part 3,” an exhibition by the artist Danny McDonald, his alter-ego, Mindy Vale, “with a dead megaphone in hand…popped out of the front window lamenting the loss of electricity and the kinds of hardships many New Yorkers have suffered of late and then, sitting on step stool, proceeded to cut up $100 bill doormats and toss sections into the crowd as a symbolic Robin Hood gesture.”
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Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

Borough President Scott M. Stringer has decided to run for comptroller. [Politicker, NY Post, NY Daily News]

A new book, “Sasha and Emma: The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman” is in part a biography of the East Village’s own Emma Goldman. [NY Times]

Death & Co. and PDT are among the local gin joints that will participate in the New York Bartenders Ball, a Sandy fundraiser at the Bowery Hotel. [Bartenders Ball]
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Joann Jovinelly

Good morning, East Village.

Restaurants hit by Sandy continue to receive attention. A worker at Paprika lost a week’s wages — about $300 — while it was closed. [LA Times]

At St. Mark’s Church, “Danspace Project continues its 50th-anniversary tribute to Judson Dance Theater by bringing in curators who have recently performed in the work of Judson artists.” [NY Times]

“Cabaret Showdown” at Under St. Marks is a must-see “if you’re a singer who deserves some recognition, a musical connoisseur looking for a new haunt, or a a New Yorker who loves to laugh and cheer.” [Inside New York]
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Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The building at the former Mars Bar site will be called Jupiter 21: “The building will ultimately have 65 units: 13 affordable condos, 52 market-rate studio through two-bedroom rentals, and two commercial condos.” [Curbed]

Flooding at the Navy Yard has damaged equipment for the city’s bike-share program. It’s uncertain whether the launch date will be delayed. [NY Times]

The owner of Northern Spy Food Co. kept a diary following Sandy: “Every day we’re not open is an average of $5300 in lost revenue. Paying managers through the week costs around $6000. Incidentals and fixed costs are another $3200. Around $4000 of food is wasted or given away.” [Huffington Post]
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Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

Yes, that’s the Union Square Holiday Market you see above. It’ll reopen this Friday, complete with a “Little Brooklyn” section. [Gothamist]

At a meeting last night, an executive at the company that owns Knickerbocker Village told residents that power would be fully restored today and heat and hot water would be back by the end of the week. They will also get rent breaks. [The Lo-Down]

“A fashion publicist who butchered his ex-girlfriend in her Lower East Side apartment for trying to move on without him was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison this morning – and prosecutors are already pleading with the parole board to ‘never, never, never let him out.'” [NY Post]
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Daniel Maurer

Good morning, East Village.

No, that’s not another blackout shot. A dozen generators were placed around the Bowery and East Fourth Street last night — for road work.

“The New York City Housing Authority said it would issue rent credits for tenants on their January bill for those days spent without electricity, heat or hot water, but the public advocate, Bill de Blasio, urged the authority to stop collecting rent now.” [NY Times]

The MTA “said on Monday that it would not provide refunds to riders who purchased 30- or 7-day unlimited MetroCards before Hurricane Sandy.” [NY Times]

“Gov. Cuomo appealed to utility companies Monday to give rebates to storm-ravaged customers, warning that asking for a rate hike now would be adding ‘insult to injury.’ [NY Daily News]

Limited PATH train service has resumed at 9th Street. [NY Post]
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Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

The management of beleaguered Knickerbocker Village announced yesterday that it was attempting to connect electricity generators to the complex’s internal grid. Meanwhile power was restored to 250 apartments Saturday, aid has been stepped up and tenants are contemplating a rent strike. [The Lo-Down]

A 101-year-old woman died in the complex last Monday. She was one of about 700 seniors living there without heat since the hurricane. [NY Times]

Governor Cuomo is seeking $30 billion in federal storm relief aid, estimating that businesses lost $13 billion after being forced to close for days. [NY Times]

“Perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out that the storm struck the city’s trees like a chain saw on methamphetamines, toppling more than 8,000 street trees and destroying thousands more in parks and woodlands.” [NY Times]

Tree stumps and discarded branches are still evident in East River Park. [Blah Blog Blah]
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Polling station at 331 East 12th Street.

Good morning, East Village, and happy election day.

Seems lines at poll sites (you can locate yours here) are rivaling gas lines: a tipster at the polling station at 331 East 12th Street said she waited 55 minutes to vote due to a “chaotic” system with “poorly though-out lines.” On Twitter, Steve Unwin writes, “The people running NYC’s 36th district polls in the east village are confused and poorly organized. People are leaving out of anger.” Becky Carella reported a 70 minute wait.

The MTA tweets dramatic photos of water being pumped out of the L train tunnel. [Flickr]

The transportation authority said it would run additional B62 buses as an alternative to the L and G trains. [MTA/Twitter]

As expected, lines were long during this morning’s commute. [NY Post]

“The Northeast is now bracing for a potentially dangerous northeaster expected to bring rain, punishing winds and high tides that could add to the misery of residents still reeling from Hurricane Sandy and set back the restoration of power.” [NY Times]

Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town has announced that power has been restored to all of its buildings except 6 and 8 Peter Cooper Road and 440 East 23rd Street, which are expected to receive electricity by this evening. [PCVST]

According to a letter to customers left in the East Village, Con Ed is still working to restore steam service by Nov. 11. [The Lo-Down]

The PATH train resumed limited service this morning. [PATH]

Some East Villagers aren’t seeking help despite being without heat in the cold temperatures. [WNYC]

Sutra is having a donation drive for the families of the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Supplies will be accepted from 1 p.m. to 4 a.m. at 16 First Avenue. [Sutra]

Nightlife spots like Eastern Bloc have reopened, but customers aren’t exactly beating down the door. [NY Times]

“As hurricane-driven waters surged into New York University research buildings in Kips Bay, on the East Side of Manhattan, investigators in New York and around the world jumped on the phone to offer assistance — executing a reverse Noah’s ark operation, to rescue lab animals and other assets from a flooding vessel.’ [NY Times]

The city has approved $85.4 million in emergency contracts to repair damage from Sandy. [NY Times]

Frozen food products were still in short supply yesterday. “Jeff Lawrence, 28, checked three stores for a gallon of milk on his walk from the Lower East Side to his apartment in the East Village, before locating one at Houston Village Farm at First Avenue and East 4th Street.” [DNA Info]

Big Gay Ice Cream reopened and gave away half of its sales to the damaged Ali Forney Center in Chelsea. [Gothamist]

The Beagle is donating $1 from every cocktail sold this week. [The Beagle/Twitter]

Finally, here’s a slideshow telling the stories of East Villagers and Lower East Siders like Pastor Rick Del Rio of Abounding Grace Ministries, Chris Scansaroli of Billy Hurricanes, and others who weathered the storm. [Weather Channel]

Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

As we reported, there were still many East Villagers and Stuyvesant Town residents without power and heat last night. If you’re one of them, let us know in the comments or via Twitter, where we continue to share breaking news.

This morning, there were 5,000 Manhattanites and a total of 130,000 New York City residents without power. [NY Post]

The F train is running again. [MTA/Twitter]

The L train still isn’t running into Manhattan, so Williamsburg residents faced a long commute. [NY Times]

Students were bundling up as they returned to Lower East Side schools without heat. [NY Times]

Bard High School Early College on East Houston Street and Millennium High School on East 15th Street are among those that have been relocated today. [NYC]

Residents of Campos Plaza are without hot water or heat. “I no got [sic] water. No steam. I’m a sick person. I got problems,” says one resident. “My daughter she is not healthy. My husband is sick, too. This is terrible.” [WNYC]

The polling site at Bard H.S.E.C.- 97, at 525 East Houston Street, has been moved to PS 188 or 196, 442 East Houston Street. [NY Post]

Restaurateurs struggled to reopen after the storm. The manager of Village Pourhouse said he drove all over town looking for ingredients. [DNA Info]

NYU kept many buildings up and running during the blackout by going into “island mode” and relying on its cogeneration network. [NY Times]

Nick Gazen on DJing at Lit on Wednesday: “It was truly a Halloween like no other. Everyone who was there would keep repeating the same comments: That it was like Escape From New York or a zombie apocalypse. It was beautiful and frightening.” [Vice]

At Zum Schneider, an East Village resident says, “”There is nothing like being able to go back to the same restaurant that I have been going to. I still have no power, warm water or heat at home.” [NY Daily News]

East River Park took a beating, photos show. [GammaBlog]

“The Public Theater announced that it would delay its first preview of ‘The Twenty-Seventh Man,’ by Nathan Englander, to Thursday at the Martinson Theater,” and other off-Broadway theaters offered discounts. [NYT]

The Public also gave away free tickets. [Public]

Yesterday, the line for gas was 35 minutes long, and stretched up to East Fifth Street, at the BP station on Second Avenue and East First Street. [The Local/Twitter]

The farmers of the Stuy Town and Tompkins Square greenmarkets banded together. [East Village Eats]

East Villagers talk about the first thing they did when power came back. [NY Mag]

Bicycle-powered electricity was in full effect not just at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, which is calling for volunteers, but also at ABC No Rio. [Capital NY]

Public and Saxon + Parole donated all of their profits to a DUMBO restaurant that got slammed by Sandy. [Eater]

La MaMa reopened with three new productions. [Broadway World]

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.
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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…

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…

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.
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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…

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.”
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