On a recent Sunday morning, a reporter for The Local was slouched over the sales counter of a Verizon store, buying a replacement for the Android that had been lifted from her purse the night before, at Hotel Chantelle. As it happened, two women walked in complaining loudly that their phones had been stolen from a restaurant two blocks away from the Lower East Side nightspot, on the same night.
The Grey Lady is a Nantucket-themed restaurant that escalates into a raucous party on Fridays and Saturdays. As at Hotel Chantelle, the music screams, the liquor flows and the crowd presses elbow to elbow. It’s the perfect setting for pickpockets, and they’re after one thing in particular: at downtown’s nightlife destinations, phone theft has become a fixture just like bespoke cocktails and blasé hipsters.
In the seventh precinct, which covers the Lower East Side, grand larceny is up 11 percent this year compared to last year, while overall crime is down 18 percent. In the ninth precinct, which covers the East Village, grand larceny is up 17 percent while overall crime is down 8.7 percent. The increase in larceny was due in large part to cellphone theft, a police source in the ninth precinct said.
On Feb. 9, Jessie Gonthier, 27, was at the Grey Lady for a friend’s birthday celebration. Early in the night, she unzipped her purse, which hung across her body, and realized that her iPhone was missing. Thinking that she must have dropped it, she tracked down the manager. “The manager said that no phones were turned in, but there was already another girl talking to him about her phone being missing,” Ms. Gonthier said.
By the end of the night, Ms. Gonthier had seen about five people claim their phones were stolen, she said. Read more…
A three-day yard sale kicked off at the Evelyn & Louis A. Green residence today.
The building’s elderly tenants are selling donated items from the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, with proceeds going toward their holiday party.
Pierre Pierrot, a French-born sweater maker, is one of the East Villagers contributing to the sale. It’s not the first time he has helped out the residents of 200 East Fifth Street: he brought water to them and helped them shower during Hurricane Sandy.
In the wake of a lawsuit and ahead of a community board meeting tonight, the operators of Bow have parted ways with a promoter who threw controversial parties in the basement space.
Travis Bass, the “impresario of the night” who helped launch the club, is no longer involved, a source told The Local.
Mr. Bass did not return a message requesting comment, but an EMM Group rep said they “will be focusing their attention downstairs on early dinner, jazz and the lounge aspect of the space with less to do with the late night.”
At a community board meeting last month, neighbors complained that EMM Group was operating Bow as a nightclub rather than the jazz lounge it had promised to open. One neighbor who complained about noise, Danielle Schwob, has filed a lawsuit against EMM Group and the State Liquor Authority, charging that the authority failed to consult the community board and failed to take the public interest into account when it granted a liquor license. Read more…
Steve Johnson, 45, who held more than a dozen patrons hostage at Bar Veloce in 2002 has been sentenced to 240 years in prison. [DNA Info]
“The debate over [John] Sexton’s [N.Y.U.] presidency will come to a head this week. The faculty of the university’s largest school, Arts and Science, has scheduled a five-day vote of no confidence. Given Dr. Sexton’s international stature, the vote may serve as the most important referendum yet on the direction of American higher education.” [NY Times]
A woman suspected of stealing another woman’s wallet and more than $2,000 from her bank account earlier this year is suspected of stealing another wallet at Key Food on Avenue A, say police. Police describe her as a white female between 25-30, 5’3″, 110-125 lbs. and dark hair. She is said to also wear “hipster” glasses. [Gothamist] Read more…
Igal Perry is a thin and restless man who seems to be in perpetual motion. Earlier today, he prepared 10 professional dancers for a sold-out show that will mark the 30th anniversary of his Peridance Capezio Center.
Tomorrow and Sunday, the former auction house on East 13th Street that’s home to the Peridance Contemporary Dance Company as well as Mr. Perry’s dance school will host new works by Dwight Rhoden, Sidra Bell, Enzo Celli and Mr. Perry’s own new piece, “Infinity.” Music by Beethoven and Ohad Naharin, who will revive his 1992 work “Mabul,” will be performed in a brick-lined studio turned black-box theater. Read more…
John Sexton went on “The Colbert Show” last night to plug his new book, “Baseball as a Road to God.” The appearance was all fun and games, with Colbert spoofing “The Bachelor” as he chose between the N.Y.U. president and another potential guest.
“Lost some respect for N.Y.U.,” wrote one Colbert Nation commenter.
“On the contrary, I have gained respect for N.Y.U.,” responded another.
Today, the university’s administration was all business, responding to a New York Times article detailing the “lavish” severance packages received by some faculty members upon leaving. While the statement declined to go into specifics regarding individual financial arrangements, it maintained that the compensation is necessary to attract and retain the faculty and administrators that keep N.Y.U. a competitive research institution. Read more…
For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them:Academy Records.
Mel Bailey
The Village has lost a parade of record shops recently: Rockit Scientist,Norman’s Sound & Vision, Gimme Gimme, Tropicalia in Furs, and Big City have all shuttered in the past year, and the future of Bleecker Bob’s hangs in the balance. Today DNA Info reports the Greenwich Village mainstay may end up sharing space with a fro-yo store. But none of that gives Mike Davis, owner of Academy Records at 415 East 12th Street, the blues. He points out that record stores are still opening, though mainly in Brooklyn. “There are so many articles about the struggle of record stores,” he told The Local. “Honestly, I think it’s exaggerated. Records are still a thing; business is good.” In fact, Mr. Davis said that selling vinyl is the easy part. “My main worry is getting good record collections,” he said.
We needled him for information about how, exactly, he has managed to stay open since 2001 without gathering dust.
Q.
What’s your biggest challenge as a record store owner?
A.
The main challenge is to constantly revise your approach and business model. A lot of stores I’ve seen just stock the same records at the same prices year after year and don’t realize that their customer base is changing and evolving. The truths of the business change over time and you have to change with them. Read more…
Mary ReinholzKate Millett accepted a Pioneer
Award in June.
Feminst icon Kate Millett, a long time Bowery resident and author of “Sexual Politics,” a seminal book on oppressive gender roles in literature, received word yesterday afternoon that she and eight other American women, including House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and the late Republican First Lady Betty Ford, have been named as inductees into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca, N.Y., site of the first women’s rights convention in 1848.
“It’s a great honor — overwhelming and very humbling,” Ms. Millett, 78, told The Local in a phone conversation from her loft on East Fourth Street, about an hour after she received an e-mail announcing her as one of nine inductees.
The National Women’s Hall of Fame is a non-profit membership organization that has been recognizing the achievements of prominent women in the United States every other year since 1969. The group’s announcement of its 2013 inductees was timed to coincide with the advent of Women’s History Month in March.
Ms. Millett, described variously in a prepared statement as a feminist activist, visual artist, filmmaker, teacher and advocate for human rights, will be officially inducted during a formal ceremony in Seneca Falls on Oct. 12, joining 247 other American women who have been honored by the group over the years for “enduring contributions to the nation” in the arts, science, business, sports, government and philanthropy. Past inductees include early women’s rights advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton, tennis legend Billy Jo King, astronaut Sally Ride, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, and comedienne Lucille Ball.
“It’s a spectrum from radicalism to establishment and we’re all honored and I think it’s wonderful,” said Ms. Millett. Read more…
Congregation Adas Le Israel Anshei Meseritz is concerned that plans to convert much of the synagogue to apartments will ruin the building’s facade. The architect assures congregants the proposed penthouse will not be visible from the street. [DNA Info]
The Angel Orensanz Foundation is showing an exhibition by its namesake artist as part of Armory Show and the Art Show. “Transparent Matter” runs today through Saturday. [The Lo-Down]
Success Academy presented a proposal for two new charter schools in the Lower East Side last night. [The Lo-Down] Read more…
Cooper Union announced today that the admissions process for the incoming 2013 class would remain the same, with all undergraduate students granted full scholarships. The announcement came a day after students accused the school’s board of trustees of moving a crucial meeting about the school’s tuition policy to a “secret” off-campus location. Art, architecture and engineering students gathered on the stairs of the school’s New Academic Building for a silent demonstration of solidarity yesterday.
Last month the board voted to defer the admission of undergraduate early-decision applicants to the school of art, following the art faculty’s resistance to submit a proposal addressing the school’s financial woes.
The art faculty has since put forth a plan that includes recommendations for a pre-college program, undergraduate summer courses and Master’s level programs. While today’s announcement from the board indicates that the prospect of an incoming art school class is secure, students are still concerned about the process for making future financial decisions, and hope to achieve a change in the school’s governing structure.
“Our goal has never been disruption; it’s to be included, it’s to be present,” said Victoria Sobel, a senior in the school of art. The students are happy with the board’s decision, she said, but they also consider it a short-term solution that doesn’t address the deeper problems of student representation in decision making. Read more…
Here’s a touch of brightness on a dreary day. It appears to be a work in progress made of foam, cardboard and electric orange paint. Either that or this guy hatched it.
So, horse meat sure has been in the news lately. Today, Grub Street posted a list of places where you can go tie on the proverbial feedbag, if curiosity has gotten the better of you.
None of them are anywhere near the East Village, but the neighborhood has at least one fan of cavallo, as it’s called in Italy: Frank Prisinzano, the man behind Frank, Lil’ Frankies, Supper, Sauce, and East Village Radio.
During a recent episode of his excellent Web show, Sauce’d, he visited the famous Bottega del Vino in Verona. If you want to get right to the action, skip to 3:25 where he pairs a “screamin'” wine with raw horse meat. “Do you have the coglioni to eat this?” he asks as he plops some onto his plate. “I did this on Twitter and I think I lost 50 followers as soon as I put it up.” Read more…
The New York City Housing Authority unveiled details of its controversial plan to lease part of Campos Plaza to a private developer at a meeting with tenants Tuesday.
Under the proposed plan, 26,000 square feet of land, currently being used for two parking lots and a basketball court, would be leased for 99 years.
The parking lot is one of 13 parcels of land across eight citywide sites where private developers would be invited to build housing consisting of 80 percent market-rate units and 20 percent permanent low-income housing. Under the plan for Campos, East Village residents would get first crack at what could be 16 to 21 new affordable-housing units, and the revenue generated by the lease agreement would be used to subsidize long-called-for improvements to the aging highrises on East 13th Street, between Avenues B and C.
Tuesday, Margarita Lopez, a member of the authority’s board, fiercely defended the proposal to about 100 tenants, stressing that the agency was in dire need of revenue. “If you have a proposal for where to get the money, let me go get it with you,” she said, addressing the proposal’s critics. “If you don’t, then shut up.” Read more…
While U.S. senators debated the use of drones last night, members of the 11th Street A-B-C Block Association called for more oversight on that truly pernicious foe: 7-Elevens.
The group wants to make it harder for large franchises and chain stores to open shop in the East Village without prior community approval. Last night, it asked for the endorsement of Community Board 3’s Economic Development committee and was rebuffed — for now.
The request came as concern about the impending arrival of a 7-Eleven on the corner of East 11th Street and Avenue A (the chain’s fifth location in the neighborhood) hit an all-time high.
“Our concern is actually not just what’s happening on Avenue A,” said community activist and blogger Rob Hollander, who spoke for the block association and its offshoot, No 7-Eleven. “Our concern is five years from now, ten years from now, when there are nothing but corporate stores.” Read more…
Residents of affordable housing complex Knickerbocker Village are “still struggling to bounce back” from the effects of Hurricane Sandy and FEMA has “rejected claims from several residents” for reimbursement of hotel expenses. [The Lo-Down]
Village East Cinema on 12th Street and Second Avenue is named “Best Gem Hidden in a Multiplex” and one of the 12 best movie theaters in New York City. Landmark Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side is also pretty cool. [Gothamist]
The East Village has two of the least brunch-y-est brunch spots in New York City. Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria at 53 Great Jones Street and Le Philosophe at 55 Bond Street were just included on a list of 16 of “the least douche-y spots in the city” for brunch. [Grub Street] Read more…
Just a couple of days after opening her gluten-free bakery, Jennifer Esposito is locking horns with one of her new neighbors and accusing The Bean of intending “to harm people and make their insides twist and turn” by serving up half-baked information about its gluten-free products.
On her blog earlier today, the actress-turned-baker, who suffers from celiac disease, told the story of Rick, a friend with a gluten allergy who “walked into a Coffee House called THE BEAN (yes damn right I’m calling you out)” and asked for information about the shop’s gluten-free muffins. The following exchange occurred, according to Ms. Esposito. Read more…
The wind may have knocked out a door at The Bean, but Japadog’s inflatable beer mug is still holding on. Wait a minute: inflatable beer mug? That’s right! The Japanese hot-dog spot, which just added outdoor seats and celebrated its first anniversary (yep, there’s a lot going on at 30 St. Marks Place) just started serving beer. Pitchers are $13.27 and cups are $3.67. We’re talking Sapporo and Asahi here.
Melvin FelixFor Rent signs dotted the block last
summer.
On a scrappy stretch of East 14th Street that’s more than half a block long, all but one building has been sold to a mysterious developer. Now the holdout, 520 East 14th Street, may change hands as well.
Back in November, almost all of the buildings west of ABC Animal Hospital, between Avenues A and B, were leased for a 99-year period to a company going by the name of East Village 14 LLC.
The $35 million deal included five plots to the west of 520 East 14th Street and three plots to the east, according to documents.
Now David Jacobson, an owner of 520 East 14th Street, tells The Local that his building is on the market, too. “For the right price it is for sale,” he said. “All my buildings are for sale.”
The six-story tenement is home to a Dunkin’ Donuts, a tailor and a t-shirt shop, plus 40 residential units.
According to Anna Krakowski, an operations manager at East Village Property Management, it’s one of seven addresses that are on the market for a total of $100 million. Read more…
Owner Brad Schmitt shows The Local his tuxedo stripe shorts.
A new store selling military-inspired clothing has marched onto East Ninth Street.
Cadet carries a line of menswear that’s hand-crafted by the owners along with four sewers in a Bushwick, Brooklyn factory. The brand launched with a Williamsburg store in April of last year and expanded into Manhattan last weekend.
“Our collection or sort of aesthetic is based on a post-war military academy styling,” said Brad Schmitt, 39. “It’s a modern twist on military academy, but we try to feed some basics, so slim cuts mixed with some fashion-forward elements.”
Mr. Schmitt runs the company with his life partner Raul Arevalo, a graduate of F.I.T. who has been in the fashion industry for over 17 years. The duo scouted Nolita a bit but eventually settled in the East Village, where they’re in familiar company: Meg, another locally-made clothing boutique, shares an entrance with Cadet’s Williamsburg store and has another location across from the East Ninth Street store. “We’re friends,” said Mr. Schmitt of proprietor Meg Kinney. “We talk all the time. She lives in Williamsburg, we live in Williamsburg, and she actually vetted this street for us.” Read more…
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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Roey Ahram Webster Hall
