The Post reports that a fire broke out last night on the second floor of an apartment building at 21 East Second Street, near Second Avenue, and spread across four stories: “The three-alarm inferno ran mostly through one shaft in the building and was difficult to put out because several of the apartments were heavily cluttered, the FDNY said.” According to the AP, the fire, which started around 11:30 a.m., wasn’t under control until 1:30 a.m. and two firefighters and three civilians were treated for minor injuries. NBC New York reports that about 30 adults and four children have been displaced and the cause of the blaze is under investigation.
DNA Info reports that a car crash on Third Avenue and 14th Street left two people hurt early this morning.
Chanting against Mayor Bloomberg and Monsanto, protesters marched from the Bank of America on Second Avenue to the bed-in at Washington Square Park. “I want to go on the offensive against the ‘get a job’ people,” said Roman Shusterman, an unemployed 30-year-old from Brighton Beach who was holding a sign with an unprintable message about jobs.
“The whole world should demand better food,” he added in regards to Monsanto. “But we’re in a position to challenge our government, so why not?”
Jamie McCormick and Elizabeth Quijada have found the perfect brew of work, love and family at their East Seventh Street espresso shop, Abraço. After befriending each other six years ago in their mutual home state of California, they quickly fell into an organic relationship fostered by their shared appreciation of music, the East Village and all things coffee. Watch The Local’s video to find out why, even after the birth of their daughter Lily a year ago, they haven’t yet decided to tie the knot.
Gentlemen, you have no excuse. Valentine’s Day happens every year, and every year you buy her a dozen red roses. Yawn. Step it up with gifts from local shops that strike the perfect note: romantic but not too sappy.
In 2007, Daniel Altman began dating his boss, jewelry designer and East Village resident Chris Habana. He worked as Chris’s assistant (and eventually moved in with him) during the two years they were a couple. Watch The Local’s video to hear how the old adage about mixing business with pleasure eventually proved true, and why Dan, 27, decided to keep working with Chris, 37, after their romantic relationship faded.
Photos of Fragrance Shop New York by Vivienne Gucwa
As shown in the slideshow above, Lalita Kumut’s Fragrance Shop New York has reopened on East Fourth Street, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Meanwhile, a high-profile restaurant located next to the shop’s former home on East Seventh Street plans to take over the newly vacant space.
Porsena, the Italian spot that chef Sara Jenkins of Porchetta opened in 2010, wants to expand next-door. But at a meeting of Community Board 3’s S.L.A. Licensing committee last night, residents fearful of the din caused by an exhaust fan spoke out against the move. Read more…
A dozen Occupy Wall Street demonstrators staged a “bed-in,” inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 anti-war protests of the same name, at Washington Square Park this morning. The group brandished flowers and took turns lounging on a mattress while inviting passersby to join them in bed. (Just in case anyone is feeling really lonely this Valentine’s Day.)
“Imagine every mattress in New York City – or maybe, who knows, the planet, since the Internet allows us to have this dialogue – every mattress, indoors or outdoors, becoming a stage for free speech and public expression and even human expression,” said Alexandre Carvalho, 28, an activist with a group called Revolutionary Games.
Mr. Carvalho added, “Because it’s boring to be political all the time. Maybe you can just be in bed with your friends and just talking about what it means to be living a happy life.”
One of the East Village’s most complained-about clubs and the scene of a post-Thanksgiving stabbing is up for a liquor license renewal; but even with a new partner promising to make changes, neighbors aren’t hearing it.
About a month ago, Joseph Shienouda, 32, bought a 50 percent stake in La Vie, a club on First Street that racked up the 12th highest number of noise complaints within the boundaries of Community Board 3. Some believe the new part-owner has continued to operate the venue – listed as a bar and restaurant on its most recent liquor license questionnaire – as an unlicensed cabaret, with live D.J.s and late-night dance parties.
At last night’s meeting of C.B. 3’s S.L.A. Licensing committee, Jason Weisfuse, who lives next-door to the club at 62 East First Street, said decibel levels had not decreased since Mr. Shienouda came on board. “I hear their music practically every single night – earth-shaking bass music weeknights until 4 a.m.” he said. “We’ve communicated with them countless times. After a year and a half, we’ve stopped reaching out to them.”
But the new partner, who said he had previously managed a club in New Jersey for five years, claimed that he had started making changes. Read more…
The owner of La Palapa is joining the founder of Pirate’s Booty in taking over the Holiday Cocktail Lounge space, and the duo will open a restaurant there.
At a meeting of Community Board 3’s S.L.A. licensing committee last night, Robert Ehrlich, who purchased the building at 75 St. Marks Place from former owner Roman Lutak, and Barbara Sibley, who will manage the spot, confirmed that their restaurant will not keep the Holiday’s name, dealing a final death-blow to the beloved bar.
Committee members lamented the loss. “It’s too bad it won’t be called Holiday Cocktail Lounge,” said Ariel Palitz. “It’s the end of an era.”
Ms. Sibley has been in the neighborhood for some time. She ran Telephone Bar on Second Avenue, which closed in 2010 after 22 years of business, and is currently the chef and owner of La Palapa, the Mexican restaurant that stands next door to the former Holiday at 77 St. Marks Place. Read more…
Before we get to the news, do watch the above YouTube video, posted on Sunday, of a 3 a.m. singalong at Nino’s Pizza on St. Marks Place and Avenue A.
And now: The Lo-Down reported this morning that emergency crews were on the scene of a water main break that flooded the intersection of Bowery and Delancey Street.
DNA Info reports that Chelsea Elliot, of Brooklyn, and Jeanne Mansfield, of Massachusetts, have filed a lawsuit against Anthony Bologna, the police officer who pepper-sprayed demonstrators at a Sept. 24 Occupy Wall Street march near Union Square. Read more…
In the East Village, Prune is usually the Valentine’s Day go-to. Each year, chef Gabrielle Hamilton – who wrote the book about the ways of the heart – conjures up prix-fixe menus inspired by past loves (you can see last year’s here; this year’s three menus will range from $55 to $125). If the two remaining reservations (at time of writing) have been snatched up by the time you read this, you may want to consider these other distinctly East Village ideas. The first one happens tonight, because really – who cares about celebrating on the day-of, anyway?
Instead of a movie…
Hit U.C.B.East for “David Lynch’s Blue Velvetine’s Day” tonight at 10 p.m. If it’s half as bizarre as Mr. Lynch’s film, “Blue Velvet,” it will definitely make for interesting post-date conversation. Tickets are $5.
Instead of a museum date…
Head to the Dorian Grey Art Gallery for “The Dandy’s New York.” The photography and mixed-media tribute to offbeat trendsetter Patrick McDonald will be open through March 4, and admission is free.
Instead of a spa day…
Go to the Russian and Turkish Baths. The recently refurbished baths have offered spa-like services since 1892. Tuesdays are coed, so don’t forget your shorts. The entrance fee is $35. Read more…
So you’ve decided to spoil your guy with a Valentine’s Day gift. But what do you get the man who has everything he needs (four shirts, two pairs of jeans, one pair of khakis and a toothbrush)? The Local’s Boutique Freak scoured the neighborhood’s shops to find out.
Diner’s Journal takes a look at the menu for the East Village outpost of the popular Mexican restaurant Fonda, and reveals that it will open next week. Roberto Santibañez, who opened the Park Slope location three years ago, said that the new Fonda at 40 Avenue B will feature more bar food, brunch plates and mezcals: “In Brooklyn, this is a neighborhood place, a hangout, and I hope it will be the same in Manhattan.”
Lauren Carol SmithThe Holiday Cocktail Lounge’s shutter, days after
the bar closed.
The Holiday Cocktail Lounge had been a part of his life for 58 years — and after his father’s death, it was time to let go. Finally.
Speaking for the first time since selling the revered dive on St. Marks Place — and the five-story building that housed it — Roman Lutak expressed relief that he was, in a way, emerging from his father’s shadow and getting out of the bar business that had been in his family for four generations.
“My parents, they did this. I didn’t do it, I just happened to be along for the ride,” Mr. Lutak said over coffee on 14th Street.
Today, the new owner of the building, Robert Ehrlich, is scheduled to go before Community Board 3 and likely reveal his plans for the bar on the ground floor. Whatever they may be, he has some big shoes to fill. Stefan Lutak, who bought the bar in 1964, was as closely associated with the Holiday Cocktail Lounge as Lucyna Mickievicius is associated with her bar, Lucy’s. It was hard to imagine one existing without the other. Read more…
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.The Gathering of the Tribes building at 285-287
East Third Street.
The blind poet behind Gathering of the Tribes is on the hunt for a wealthy benefactor who will buy his building on East Third Street near Avenue C — a move that would, in theory, stop his pending eviction.
In an e-mail forwarded to The Local, Steve Cannon urged his supporters to spread the word that his landlord, Lorraine Zhang, wishes to sell the building.
“Ultimately, what we were told was Lorraine wants to get rid of the building,” wrote Mr. Cannon. “Is there a possibility of any interest in investing/buying the building and making it all Gathering of the Tribes and getting someone to run it?” Read more…
As Valentine’s Day approaches, The Local is celebrating East Village couples. We’ve heard the stories of Doug and Bryan, and James and Veronica. Today: meet Jimmy and Lexi.
Christopher Beckwith, a musician who goes by the name Young Jimmy, met Lexi Bella, a friend of a friend, on Facebook two years ago. Ms. Bella, who was then 28, dated mainly older men, but Jimmy, who was 22, broke the trend.
Her conservative parents weren’t happy about the interracial relationship, but when Lexi became unexpectedly pregnant with Jimmy’s child, they decided to move into a one-bed apartment in the East Village together.
When Lexi was seven months pregnant, her father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It turned out to be benign, but it gave her reason to reconnect with her parents during Thanksgiving last year. It was the first time they realized they would be grandparents soon.
“Life is funny,” Lexi said. “The tumor started to make my father appreciate what he should appreciate, which is love and family.”
Lexi and Jimmy’s relationship has sometimes been a rocky one. Watch The Local’s video to hear more about the challenges they’ve faced. “The bottom line,” says Lexi, “is that at the end of the day, we reassess every day how we are and who we are and we realize we love each other.”
In case you missed The Local’s earlier coverage, there was a minor fire on St. Marks Place this morning, and a head-on collision on FDR Drive early Sunday morning. Two were killed and two injured in the car wreck, which occurred near Houston Street.
The Post reports that a husband and wife who met at a Grateful Dead concert are opening the Chabad Serving NYU synagogue above the building at 353 Bowery where the 7-Eleven is located. “CBGB was the hub of punk-rock culture, driven by passion, excitement and energy — an energy that’s an expression of spiritual thirst,” says Lubavitch Rabbi Dov Yonah Korn. “Two blocks north, we’re harnessing that energy in a Jewish way.”
The Daily News tells the story of the newest Knicks star, Jeremy Lin, who rose to stardom while sleeping on a couch in what the paper says is his brother’s East Village apartment. The Post has a photo of the couch, and places the apartment in the Lower East Side. E-mail us if you have any Linformation about the sofa’s exact location. Read more…
Photos by Baruch Herzfeld: Cars involved in a collision on FDR Drive were towed to Delancey Street between Ridge and Pitt Streets.
A driver heading the wrong way on FDR Drive led to a three-car pileup that left two dead and two others injured early Sunday morning.
The police said that a 26-year-old man was driving a Nissan Maxima at 2:52 a.m. against southbound traffic when he collided with a Dodge Caravan. A Mazda then collided with the wreck near Houston Street, injuring the 22-year-old driver, as well as her 31-year-old passenger.
The 52-year-old driver of the Caravan and the driver of the Maxima were both pronounced dead at the scene. The passengers of the Mazda were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, the police said. The police have not yet released the names of the victims.
A fire broke out this morning on the first floor of a building at 17 St. Marks Place, between Second and Third Avenues. A Fire Department spokesman said the blaze – which was not thought to be major – was reported at 6:45 a.m. and was under control by 7:11 a.m.; one person was taken to New York Hospital with a minor hand injury. The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
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.
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