Roey Ahram

Area bartenders discuss the closing of Mars Bar and the question of commercialization versus preservation.

Mark Trzupek, manager of Life Café, 343 East 10th Street

“I don’t have any respect for landlords who come in and try to make money off people who have been here for 30 years and who took a risk in coming down here in the first place. Evolution always comes but at what cost? It’s changing the look of the neighborhood.”

Pepe Zwaryczuk, bartender at McSorley’s Old Ale House, 15 East Seventh Street

“Isn’t it a natural progression of life? It’s like how when Henry Hudson went up the river, the Indians looked over and said ‘There goes the neighborhood!’”

Randy Weinberg, manager of The Boiler Room, 86 East Fourth Street

“I’m absolutely 100 percent for it” — closing. “It’s all criminal to me, that they make their money off all the people that other bars throw out. It’s a real seedy crowd with a lot of drunks, a lot of druggies, and a lot of pickpockets. It’s not that they’re our competition because they take everyone we throw out because they’re bad. It’s a bad scene. It’s a part of the old East Village but really it’s time for it to go.”
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Michelle Rick

Good morning, East Village.

In the wake of the news about the closure of Mars Bar, Jeremiah took to his blog to remember a neighboring landmark that’s due to be destroyed. The building at 7-9 Second Avenue (between Houston and First Streets) was a cultural center starting in the 1950’s and was once home to the German Anarchist movement. The construction of a 12-story apartment building will change the landscape of the area come August.

Further up Second Avenue, on the corner of 12th Street, the empty lot that used to be Ruby Lounge is due to become a residential property. An application has been filed with the Department of Buildings and the project is due to begin Friday.

Yesterday’s opening of the East River Ferry meant little to residents of our neighborhood as the route completely bypasses the East Village. The ferry picks up at a dock on 34th Street and proceeds to cross the river to Long Island City, then has a number of stops in Brooklyn before heading back to Manhattan and making a final stop at Wall Street.

Khristopher J. Brooks Protesters at the rally.

ALBANY — Hundreds of New York City residents, including 33 from the East Village, converged on the state Capitol Building Monday trying to urge state lawmakers to renew and tweak the laws that govern apartment rent prices.

Leaders of the Cooper Square Committee, Real Rent Reform and Good Old Lower East Side, organized the rally, which muscled its way into the building, past legislators, up steps and eventually to the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight! Housing is right!” the rally participants started on the fourth floor and then moved to whichever other corridor could accommodate them. They made noise, blew whistles, waved posters, banged on doors and clogged hallways.

“Right now, in Albany, our presence and our demands are being heard more than ever, more than I can ever remember,” said Wasim Lone, housing services director for Good Old Lower East Side.

At issue is how and at what rate landlords should be allowed to raise rent in future years. In its current form, the rent laws allow New York City landlords to dramatically increase the rent of a property immediately after a tenant has moved out. This practice, known as “vacancy decontrol” has resulted in roughly 300,000 empty rental units across New York City, said Marina Metalios, 48, a volunteer with Real Rent Reform.
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The old maxim goes that when hemlines fall, so does the economy. But what are we to make of widening trousers? Perhaps we could say that as the temperature rises, the leg gets less lean? The look on the street these days is not skinny jeans and jeggings but pants that billow and bend in the breeze, keeping us cool while looking hot.

The Local investigates ways wide-leg pants are being worn in the Village — from 70’s retro bell-bottoms to lightweight polyester boyfriend trousers and cargos.

NYU Journalism’s Rachel Ohm reports.

Philip Kalantzis Cope

This evening the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation gathers for its 31st annual meeting and presentation of awards to honor individuals, groups, businesses who have made significant contributions to the area. This year’s winners include Bob Holman, founder of the Bowery Poetry Club, and the Fourth Arts Block.

Founded in 1980, the society is dedicated to preserving the architectural heritage and cultural legacy of Greenwich Village, the East Village, NoHo, the Gansevoort Market, and South Village. Their myriad activities include historical and architectural research, lectures, tours and publications. Currently, the group is at the forefront of the effort to designate parts of the East Village as historic landmarks.

Bob Holman has been tirelessly involved in promoting poetry and the arts on the Lower East Side during the past four decades through a host of activities. Most recently, he emceed the reading of Allen Ginsberg’s epic “Howl” at Howlfest. He served as coordinator of the Poetry Project at St Mark’s. In 1987, he helped reopen the Nuyorican Poets Café where he served as slam master for newly introduced poetry slams.

In 2002, he realized a vision in founding The Bowery Poetry Club, a venue where poets, musicians, playwrights  and artists are able to present their work seven days a week.

Tonight’s event, which is open to the public, begins at 6:30 p.m. and is being held at The Village Community School located at 272 West 10th Street. Come and join the festivities.

The man suspected in three bank robberies.

Earlier today, we told you that the police are searching for a man suspected in a string of bank robberies in the city since last month, one of which took place in the East Village. We now have more details and some images of the suspect.

In all three cases the suspect entered a Chase Bank and passed a note to the teller demanding money.

The first incident occurred on May 2 at 8:19 a.m. at a branch at 350 West 125th Street. The suspect successfully fled with an unknown amount of cash.

The second occurred in our neighborhood on June 2 at 9 a.m. at a Chase Bank at 835 Broadway near East 13th Street. Again, the robber escaped with an unknown amount of money.

The suspect struck again four days later at 2438 Broadway near West 90th Street. This time, he left the scene empty-handed.

The authorities described the suspect as being in his 40’s. In a surveillance image he is shown wearing thick-rimmed glasses and a black coat.

Ian Duncan Caracas Arepa Bar, 93½ East Seventh Street.

Caracas Arepa Bar, at 93½ East Seventh Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A, is just about the only restaurant in the East Village which is crowded at lunch — at least the only one worth eating at. This came as a huge surprise to the owner, Maribel Araujo, who told me the other day that she never thought the place would develop a lunch crowd. I said, “There’s no mystery — you’re the only place that’s that good and that cheap.”

Caracas is a tiny, clattering little restaurant which specializes in arepas, the soft corn-flour pocket bread eaten all over Venezuela. The arepa at Caracas has always struck me as the perfect combination of pliability — to hold the filling — and crispness. Maribel explained that while all arepas are cooked on a griddle, Caracas puts theirs in an oven for an additional 10 minutes, so that the dough on the underside fully cooks without losing its springiness, while the outside reaches the proper state of crunchiness. I have no source of comparison, but I once brought arepas from Caracas to Penelope Cruz, and she pronounced them completely authentic. To be strictly factual, I shared them with an extremely beautiful woman from Caracas who looks as much like Penepole Cruz as a mortal can. She was very impressed. And that was recommendation enough for me.
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Phillip Kalantzis Cope

Good morning, East Village.

The big headlines of the weekend were all about the stores and buildings that are coming and going in our neighborhood. Famed Second Avenue dive bar, Mars Bar, is being torn down in August to make way for a 12-story luxury apartment complex — a sign many see as the destruction of the East Village of Yester Year. Adding fuel to the gossip fire, Joe’s Locksmith, located next to Mars Bar, announced that they will be closing on June 30, leaving residents wondering what else will be leaving the corner of First Street and Second Avenue.

After wandering aimlessly with no where to call home, those in search of the late night pancake can soon take a seat at IHOP. An EV Grieve reader was the first to notice the new signage on 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues. While it is unknown as to when the restaurant will open, it is expected to be one of many to come to Manhattan, making the clear connection between New York’s international appeal and the international culinary experience that is the International House of Pancakes.

NYC Icy also found a semi-permanent home, for the summer at least, in front of Badburger on Avenue A near 11th Street. Badburger’s owner said that the iced delicacy will be found there until at least October and then he will incorporate it into the dessert menu afterwards.

The former funeral home on Second Avenue between Ninth and 10th Streets is in the market for a facelift, or complete gut job: an application has been placed to allow for substantial changes to the building, including a possible expansion adding three floors on top of the existing three-story building. While the building does not have landmark status, some hope that it will be granted before the permit application is actually granted. The building, originally constructed in 1937, once was home to Gramercy Park Memorial Chapel, which was where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were memorialized.

The police are looking for a man suspected of robbing three Chase bank locations since May, including one on Broadway near 13th Street. The man reportedly gets the cash by passing notes to tellers, but this plan only allowed him to end up with cash in two of the three instances.

Chelsia Rose Marcius Nick Corbin, 24, of Hoboken, during the race.

Grab, bite, chomp, chew, drink, swish, swallow, run.

That was Miriam Weiskind’s strategy today at the second annual New York City Pizza Run in Tompkins Square Park.

“I took really quick bites and washed it down with a little water,” she said, raising an imaginary slice to her mouth, showing just how she did it. “People who shoved the entire thing in just choke.”

Nearly 100 runners registered for the 2.25-mile run that required three pit stops for one slice of Margherita pizza, said race founder Jason Feirman, 26, of the East Village.

Ms. Weiskind, 31, of Park Slope, came in first for the women, clocking in at 18 minutes and 6 seconds. Peter O’Rourke took men’s title with a time of 15 minutes and 24 seconds.

While a dim weather forecast kept some participants from showing, those who live for saucy pieces of dough had no problem wolfing down 40 pizza pies from Pizza by Certe in Midtown.

To prepare for inhaling mouthfuls of basil leaves and mozzarella, triathlete Jonathan Blyer, 29, of Park Slope, spent three weeks chewing saltine crackers without water. He said what ruined him last year was a dry pallet.

“My main problem was getting my salivary glands going,” he said.

Most runners gave the choice of pizza a standing ovation — except perhaps Erin McInrue, 27, of the West Village.

“It was good but a bit crusty,” Ms. McInrue said. “That’s no good when I’m trying to eat for speed.”

Rachel Citron on life and benches in the city.

“The great equalizer – benches afford both natives and visitors free space to mingle while simultaneously allowing each of us to sit down, lie down, or simply have a moment to ourselves. The NYC Bench has continued to thrive in spite of a world consumed by Twitter updates and blog postings that could have rendered the bench obsolete, even quaint. That being said, today’s New Yorker is just as likely to be found reading a book as she is to reading text on her Blackberry.”
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Laura E. Lee Demonstrators marched through Tompkins Square Park this afternoon to protest the mayor’s proposal to dismiss 4,000 public school teachers.

Around 45 parents, teachers and children gathered in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon to protest Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to fire more than 4,000 teachers, saying the measure would have catastrophic consequences for the city’s public school students.

The protesters, many from nearby schools like the Earth School and the Children’s Workshop School, convened in the park shortly after class was dismissed at 3 p.m., chanting “No budget cuts, no layoffs” and carrying signs mocking Mr. Bloomberg. Some young students had even made their own signs in support of teachers. As the protest came to a close, parents and teachers pulled out their cellphones and flooded 311 with calls, telling operators that they were opposed to any teachers losing their jobs. Others filed their protest with 311 via text message.

“We know there’s money in the budget, it’s a question of priorities,” said Lisa Donlan, 51, who brought a megaphone to the park. “Everyone can come up with savings if we just reprioritize the education budget.”

Teachers opposed to Mr. Bloomberg’s plan were also among the crowd.

“I’m one of the teachers who will not be working next year if Bloomberg’s budget goes through,” said Stephanie Schwartz, a 27-year-old teacher at the Neighborhood School. “It’s stressful, I love my children as if they were my own. And after work I have to go and fight and make sure students will have enough teachers next year.”

Scenes from the Protest

Kaitlyn Bolton, of NYU Journalism’s Hyperlocal Summer Newsroom Academy, shares video of the demonstration.

Khristopher J. Brooks The committee is an organizer of the trip.

Leaders of the Cooper Square Committee and the Good Old Lower East Side are organizing a free bus trip to Albany Monday so East Villagers can speak out in favor of changes to New York City rent laws.

“We’re planning to have a rally inside the Capitol,” said Georgina Christ, housing chairperson for Cooper Square Committee. “We’re just gonna make noise and try to talk to the elected officials.”

At issue is how and at what rate landlords will be allowed to raise rent in future years. Rent prices are a particularly hot-button issue for locals since the East Village is the home of some of the city’s most expensive rental properties.

As the law stands, Ms. Christ said, landlords are allowed to dramatically raise the rent of a property after a tenant has moved out, a practice known as “vacancy decontrol” that prevents future tenants from paying the same price for rent. Wasim Lone, the housing services director for Good Old Lower East Side, said vacancy decontrol is responsible for tens of thousands of vacant units around the East Village and the Lower East Side.
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Laura E. Lee Extra Place.

Construction is scheduled to begin Monday on a new plan to turn the historic Extra Place alley into a pedestrian walkway for retail patios and a new local arts venue.

The art space is a collaboration between developer Avalon Bay and Fourth Arts Block, a non-profit coalition of arts organizations.

“We’re really excited” said the arts block’s director Tamara Greenfield. “We think it is a fantastic opportunity.”

The vacant alley, tucked off First Street between Bowery and Second Avenue, has special historical significance. In the 1970’s, the backdoor for the legendary music club CBGB opened to the alley and bands like The Ramones were photographed in the space.

“It managed to make garbage look beautiful, in its context,” said Rob Hollander of the Lower East Side History Project.
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Meghan Keneally The food pantry has reopened.

St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery started its annual food pantry last week, providing much needed food options for homeless and hungry in the East Village.

While there are two existing soup kitchens that provide hot meal options throughout the week, St. Mark’s is the only food pantry that is open mid week, allowing visitors to bring home fresh produce and non perishables so their supplies last till the weekend.

“There just aren’t enough services in this area, and people slip through the cracks,” said the Rev. Winnie Varghese of St. Mark’s.

After a previous relationship with Trader Joe’s ended in late 2009 due to rising costs on the supermarket’s side, Ms. Varghese partnered up with GreenMarket last year and they agreed to donate any remaining produce from the farmer’s market that they hold in the church square on Tuesdays. The food pantry at St. Mark’s will run every Wednesday at 6 p.m. and they hope to continue it through the winter if funding allows.
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Ian Duncan Ada Xie, 9, holds a petition calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg not to cut library funding.

With residents mounting a citywide campaign to stave off budget cuts and The Observer coining the term “bibliopocaplyse” to describe the future of New York’s libraries, the Tompkins Square branch has deployed its secret weapon: cuteness.

Yesterday afternoon, 9-year-old Ada Xie was stopping library users just inside the entrance and confidently presenting them with a petition. “The library could close because there’s not enough money,” she told The Local.

Ada added that it was her second day on the job and that she had collected “quite a few” signatures.

According to a New York Public Library campaign Web site, 533 Tompkins users have written to elected officials protesting the cuts. Across the city, more than 90,000 letters have been written.

Daniel Maurer.

The Local is pleased to announce that Daniel Maurer, co-founder of the New York magazine restaurant blog Grub Street, has been named the blog’s next editor, effective in August.

“Daniel emerged from a field of well over a hundred highly qualified candidates,” said Brooke Kroeger, the Institute director. “He impressed us with his ideas, his digital sophistication, his passion for this neighborhood, so often featured on Grub Street, and his proven know-how in mining information at the local community level.”

Mr. Maurer was an online producer and editor of nightlife listings at New York magazine before co-founding Grub Street, one of New York’s pioneering restaurant blogs, in 2006. While writing more than 7,500 posts over five years, Mr. Maurer grew the blog’s traffic steadily and helped expand it to five other cities. Grub Street New York was nominated for three James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards — it won in 2008 (for Multimedia Writing on Food) and then again in 2011 (for Group Blog) when Mr. Maurer was chief editor. It has also been nominated for a National Magazine Award and won a MIN Best of the Web award in 2007.
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Michelle Rick

Good morning, East Village.

DNA Info previews this Sunday’s Middle Feast, a hummus making competition that will official crown the city’s best. Turns out, making hummus is a good two-day process: one contestant soaks Bulgarian-grown chickpeas for a day before cooking them for six hours. As we reported earlier this week, popular East Village spot Chickpea will be closed until July, eliminating one potential competitor for the prize.

The Times profiled Nublu, the eclectic Avenue C venue, calling it a club where anything goes (at least musically). It is also, it seems, a popular place for musicians such as Norah Jones and Moby to enjoy a quiet evening. Run by Ilhan Ersahin, the space is also home to a record label of the same name that produces records by artists who have developed their style at the club.

BBC radio host Richard Bacon was at 7A yesterday to interview David Simon, the creator of HBO series “The Wire.” Mr. Simon said nothing significant has changed in Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods since he made the show. “The drug war is still the drug war,” he said.

And, in case you haven’t seen it yet, watch TV producer Casey Neistat receive a ticket for not cycling in a bike lane on Second Avenue. He then proceeded to demonstrate the futility of sticking to the designated lanes by crashing into anything in his way. The video had around 200,000 views early yesterday and is now pushing a million, thanks to coverage from New York magazine, The Huffington Post and TV networks.