Matt Logan, Michael Natale and Tim Schreier, community contributors to The Local East Village, share their images of Friday’s ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Michael Natale on using panoramic photography, or panos, to document an East Village in transition.

“I’ve taken it upon myself to document my neighborhood in the GammaBlog. Change around here sneaks up on you. Getting it on camera before it is gone is good, I think. The panorama format is ideal for this.”
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Gustavo Valdes is better than me at ping-pong.

Then again, I imagine so are most people. I’m what some might call athletically challenged. My high school gym teacher once asked me to sit out during a flag football game because she claimed I was a safety hazard to both my classmates and myself. When it comes to possessing hand-eye coordination, I appear to be significantly lacking.

Still, I found myself vaguely interested when I heard through the East Village blogosphere that a new ping-pong table had moved to Tompkins Square Park, a permanent fixture donated by local outdoor table manufacturer, Henge Tables.
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Matt Logan A view of the Brown Building, formerly the Asch Building, site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

One hundred years ago today, on a Saturday afternoon just before closing time, a waste basket caught fire on the eighth floor of the Asch Building, between Greene Street and Washington Plaza. The fire spread soundlessly. Beneath the methodical whir of sewing machines it swept across the floor and upwards and, ultimately, caught 500 packed-in workers in a panic. Those that fled to the ninth floor stairwell found the exits shut fast. Those that packed into the elevators found that only so many could fit. And those that the fire herded to windows found the ladders too short to reach the ground.

Fifty-four jumped.

Within half an hour, 146 workers perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Most of the victims were young, female immigrants, who had crossed over oceans in search of opportunity. What they found was a world that lacked adequate safety restrictions, wage requirements, and worker representation; all those things came after, when the public became galvanized by the blaze, setting the basis for legislative action and labor reform.

Roughly one out of three victims of the fire – 53 people – resided in the East Village. Every year descendants and union members alike gather at the former site of the Asch Building to recite their names along with the others as a gesture of respect and remembrance. This centennial anniversary will mark the first year that all the victim’s names are spoken. For decades, six victims of the fire were unknown until Michael Hirsch, an amateur historian, identified them earlier this year.

Now, their names will join the others after nearly a century of silence.

A Deadly Toll

This map, which lists the names and addresses of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire who resided in the East Village, offers a stark illustration of the devastating toll that the blaze took on the neighborhood.

View 1911 Triangle Factory Fire: East Village Victims in a larger map
Map compiled by Kenan Christiansen.

Read comprehensive coverage of the anniversary of the fire in The Times.

Gloria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, which claimed the lives of 146 victims. The Times offers comprehensive coverage of events commemorating the anniversary of the disaster.

In other neighborhood news, we hope you’re thirsty because according to DNAinfo, nine East Village eateries plan to go before Community Board 3 to apply for liquor licenses.  If we thought the Village was already alcohol drenched, perhaps we’ve haven’t seen anything yet.

Gothamist offers a glimpse at city history, noting that Thursday was the 111th anniversary of the construction of New York’s first subway tunnel. The day was once known as Tunnel Day. Such a celebration naturally brings to mind the Second Avenue Subway, which will finally bring the East Village into New York City’s world of underground transport.

Just-released census data indicates the city’s population has risen by 3 percent; for Lower Manhattan, the population has increased more than 97 percent.

The weekend’s weather? The forecast calls for it to be sunny and cold with highs in the 40’s.

Phoenix Eisenberg A pair of retrospectives at The New Museum – one from sculptor and video artist Lynda Benglis, the other by painter George Condo – create a dialogue about the schism between body and mind.

Currently at The New Museum on The Bowery, retrospectives from sculptor and video artist Lynda Benglis and painter George Condo explore what it is to be human.

Known for challenging conventional gender roles, many of Ms. Benglis’s sculptures explore sexuality and the complicated politics of the body. Yet, whereas Ms. Benglis focuses on the corporeal, Mr. Condo operates in the realm of the abstract, with portraits that delve into the inner psyches of his subjects. Housed a floor apart from each other, the the works of these two equally provocative artists create a dialogue where soul meets body.
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To simply call Obscura Antiques and Oddities another East Village antique store might not do justice to the offbeat and slightly macabre aesthetic that co-owners Evan Michelson and Mike Zohn have spent years cultivating in their small curiosity shop.

Carrying everything from Victorian dolls to monkey skulls, the store has become a magnet for both serious collectors and curious passerby lured in by the stuffed animal heads leering from the shop’s front window on East 10th Street.

“There’s really nothing that comes in that’s too weird but there are things that are inexplicable,” Ms. Michelson said.

The store, which has been a part of the neighborhood for almost two decades, moved to its current location between First Avenue and Avenue A in 2001.

“The energy down here is amazing,” Ms. Michelson said. “It’s the heart and soul of this business to me. It wouldn’t be right if we moved it anywhere else.”

When they’re not collecting, Ms. Michelson and Mr. Zohn are busy taping the second season of “Oddities,” a TV show that premiered on the Discovery Channel last year (it will run on the Science Channel for its second season) featuring some of the duo’s stranger finds.

NYU Journalism’s Kathryn Kattalia reports.

C. Ceres Merry

Good morning, East Village.

Spring is missing in action again today, but there are clear skies in sight for the weekend.

Girls Prep, the all-girls charter school long in search of a home and enmeshed in disputes over school space, will be moving into permanent digs soon enough. According to DNAinfo, the city recently approved the school’s move into the vacant East Side Community High School on 12th Street, located between First Avenue and Avenue A.

Recent confusion over Central Park signage, and outrage on the part of Borough President Scott Stringer who recognized misleading East-West confusion, has led to further questions about the identity of Fifth Avenue. Does it belong to our east side?

If you’re curious about a couple of new murals popping up in the neighborhood in recent weeks, namely the ones on Eighth Street between Avenues B and C, and on East Third Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue, EV Grieve explains the development.

With the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire just a day away, David W. Dunlap at The Times City Room blog ponders why the disaster is engrained in our memories so vividly. He looks to news coverage at the time for answers here.

If you have any striking photos of last night’s thunderous hailstorm, or results of its fury, please share them with us by submitting them to the blog’s Flickr group.

They don’t sit in the dentist’s chair, but they do lie on the table.

The Local paid a recent visit to St. Marks Veterinary Hospital to watch animals undergo dental work, from x-rays and blood-work to cleanings and extractions.

Though some dental tools are similar to a human’s, animals are put under anesthesia to be treated, and are sometimes covered in blankets to prevent hypothermia as their heart rates change.

It’s a complex process, but an important step in preventing serious damage to the kidneys or heart. If a pet has bad breath, trouble eating, or excessive drooling, it may be time to book a dental.

M.J. Gonzalez

Leeloo Thatcher may work in the fashion industry most of the week, but on Tuesday evenings, she volunteers at the Sixth Street Community Center’s Organic Soul Café, lending a hand in the kitchen, and joining the café’s weekly dinners.

“I started out as a CSA member, then I came down to volunteer, and then they couldn’t get rid of me,” jokes Ms. Thatcher, who started frequenting the community center on Tuesday afternoons to pick up her weekly share of fresh produce from the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) stalls.

The CSA program at the community center on Sixth Street between Avenues B and C fosters a mutually-beneficial relationship between local farmers and neighborhood residents. Local farmers harvest fresh fruits and vegetables and deliver them to the center—sometimes on that very day.

“Our goal is to provide our members with fresh, primarily organic produce, while at the same time supporting the local economy,” says Howard Brandstein, Executive Director of the Sixth Street Community Center, who co-founded the program fifteen years ago with business manager and chef Annette Averette.

For Ms. Averette, her goal in participating in the CSA stems from a more personal aspect. A survivor of ovarian cancer, Ms. Averette now attributes her good health to the healing power of good food, prompting her decision to open the Organic Soul Café five years ago. Ms. Averette maintains a fresh, mainly organic, and vegan diet—a regimen that, combined with meditation, she says led to her well-being today. Read more…

Alexis Lamster

Good morning East Village,

The unpredictable March weather is at it again. Highs today will reach just 34 degrees, and reports expect a snowfall.

The one hundredth anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, a tragedy that killed nearly 150 garment workers, arrives this Friday, City Room reports. To commemorate the horrific event, which exposed the horrors labor conditions in the city at the time, many will gather at Cooper Union Hall. Find more information here.

Last night’s Community Board 3 meeting featured many voices speaking out against demolition of 35 Cooper Square. Most remembered an older East Village, in their minds memorialized in the structure. EV Grieve references the Bowery’s grittier past in a post this morning.

Finally, more from the world of street art as artist KATSU hits the Lower East Side, replacing legitimate phone booth ads with his own work. Bowery Boogie reproduces the evidence, courtesy photographer JDX whose work has also featured on The Local this week.

Phillip Kalantzis Cope Mars Bar and views of Ori Carino’s mural.

In the ephemeral world of public art on the Lower East Side, the longevity and unbombed state of the mural decorating the brick wall outside Mars Bar stand as a mark of respect for its creator, Ori Carino.

Hank Penza, Mars Bar’s owner, first gave Ori permission to utilize the wall in 2002. Ori’s distinctive style was already familiar in the neighborhood from the numerous murals he had designed and executed, along with art work he was hired to place on the sides of trucks, and his spray-painted t-shirts that were sold in local boutiques. At first, Ori returned annually to execute a new composition on the Mars Bar wall. The current mural has been standing since 2007. Plans to erect a 12-story apartment building on the site may threaten its continued existence.

Walking quickly along East First Street, it is difficult to fully appreciate the intense drama and rich allegorical meaning being depicted in his mural, as animal and human figures grapple with the human condition. Rather, it is necessary to slow down, pause, step back, focus on the detail, mastery, and complexity of the struggle occurring on this urban canvas to fully appreciate it.
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Courtesy of N.Y.U. An illustration of a revised development plan by N.Y.U., which includes the construction of a new 14-story building at Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place.

At a crowded public meeting in Grace Church’s Tuttle Hall Monday night, Greenwich Village greeted New York University’s revised core expansion plan with its own version of a Bronx cheer.

Since withdrawing the proposal to add a fourth tower to the landmarked Silver Towers site, the university has consistently said that it could create some 2 million square feet of new usage in the Washington Square district by developing sites it already owned. The audience seemed surprised, nevertheless, that the university had not looked elsewhere.

A slide presentation by university spokeswoman Alicia Hurley was greeted by hostile interruptions, catcalls and hisses as it became clear that the square footage lost through the cancellation of the so-called “Silver Sliver” had been redistributed to the Morton Williams supermarket site and the block-length “zipper building” on Mercer Street between Bleecker Street and West Houston.

The university has undertaken to donate the bottom seven floors of a new 14-story building at the Morton Williams location to the city for use as a public school. The rest of the building will house almost 200 university students. Existing plans for the “zipper building” have been bulked up to include the hotel development originally planned for the Silver Towers site.
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Vivienne Gucwa

Good morning, East Village.

Make sure to spend time in the great outdoors today as spring will be on hiatus tomorrow.

The heavily relied upon Chinatown bus circuit is subject to crack downs after two fatal crashes killed 17 people, according to DNAinfo. Senator Charles E. Schumer is spearheading the call to audit drivers’ licenses.

More details have emerged in the case of two East Village police officers who have been charged with sexually assaulting a 27-year-old East Village woman they escorted home. DNAinfo tallies the criminal counts against the officers at 26, up from the original 15.

In news affecting the entire city, landlords may see limits on rent hikes and deregulation for vacant apartments, according to The Wall Street Journal, with the current standards under review. Nearly 100,000 apartments lost their rent regulation from 1994 to 2009.

Next time you’re passing a phone booth — yes, they still exist — check out its advertisement panel. You might be surprised to find street artist Katsu’s name beneath the protective glass. No, companies haven’t teamed up with this alternative artisan. Rather, Katsu has been swapping his artwork for advertisements, Bowery Boogie reports.

This post has been changed to correct an error; an earlier version misstated the effects of rent regulation.