Grace Maalouf Manchester United fans Leigh Mazzagetti and Marc McDermott watch a game at Nevada Smiths. The fallout from the departures of three longtime staffers caused several major soccer-team supporters’ clubs to leave the pub, which is something of an institution for local soccer fans.

Grace Maalouf FC Barcelona fans watch their team play at Village restaurant Mercat. The Barcelona fan club moved their headquarters to the Catalan dinner spot after several staffers left Nevada Smiths.

For a bar whose motto is “Where football is religion,” Nevada Smiths could be said to have suffered something of a Great Schism last year. As some sports fans (and East Village residents) may already be aware, two longtime staff members were fired in the spring and a third left in September.

In addition, Thomas McCarthy, a co-owner of the bar, sold his shares to his partner and uncle and left the business. Although none of the people who parted as a result of the disputes would offer details, the fallout was serious enough to cause several major soccer-team supporters’ clubs to leave Nevada’s.

Patrick McCarthy, now the sole proprietor of the bar, said the flight of some fans hurt but added that business now is good — and he’s looking to make changes at the Third Avenue mainstay.

A colorful renovation may be in store for the trademark black awning, more rugby will be included in the viewing schedules and new food and drink offerings are in the works. Mr. McCarthy said he plans to innovate by adding coffee and shepherd’s pie to the beer-heavy menu.

As for evergreen rumors about the bar changing locations, Mr. McCarthy said he knows “for a fact” that won’t happen.

“There will always be a Nevada Smiths as long as I’m in New York City,” he said, adding that he’s even hoping to open one on the West Side. After experiencing controversy over the recent firings (it was, he said, like being “kicked in the head”) Mr. McCarthy said he is finished with drama.

“I’ve moved on,” he said.
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Caryn Rose Patti Smith performed Wednesday night at a celebration commemorating the 40th anniversary of her first reading at The Poetry Project.

The headstones filling the old churchyard at St. Mark’s Church-in-the Bowery churchyard lay buried beneath a deep blanket of snow on Wednesday night. But a line of people on East 10th Street braved an icy chill while waiting to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Patti Smith’s first reading at The Poetry Project, a St. Mark’s institution, which took place at the church on Feb. 10, 1971.

From that distant beginning, Ms. Smith’s lengthy career has gone on to include world wide recognition as a visual artist, songwriter, photographer, musician and writer. In 2010 she won the National Book Award for her memoir, “Just Kids,” describing her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.

The Poetry Project, founded at St. Mark’s in 1966, has included weekly readings, open mike events, and workshops provide a forum where both celebrated and unknown writers can present their work. John Ashbery, Robert Lowell, Yoko Ono, Ted Berrigan, Alice Walker, Allen Ginsberg, and Robert Creeley are a few of those whose words have filled the vaulted chamber.

In 1971 Patti Smith viewed the full moon that illuminated the sky that night as a fortuitous sign. Gerard Malanga, an assistant to Andy Warhol at The Factory, and featured reader of the program, generously allowed Patti Smith to open for him.
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C. Ceres Merry

Good morning, East Village.

We’re working through this little cold front one day at a time, but take heart — the weekend should bring back (relatively) higher temperatures. Also on the radar: a detour for anyone taking the Brooklyn Bridge into the Lower East Side, and the arrival of some fashion week festivities.

Whether you’re driving, walking the runway or just walking down the street, however, don’t get distracted. Thanks to a wintery mix of bad conditions and work-scheduling issues, roads in the city have more potholes than the transportation department can keep up with.

And if you travel on foot, beware: Broadway may be the most dangerous New York street for pedestrians, but our neighborhood’s very own Bowery had the dubious honor of placing not too far behind. EV Grieve takes a look at an East Village map of the transportation department report.

Residents of one building on East 11th Street aren’t too happy about a rooftop radio antenna, DNAinfo says. They’ve been trying to convince its owner, an amateur radio operator, that it poses a danger — and is ugly enough to scare off house guests and buyers.

In other 11th Street news, Girls Prep is looking to relocate its middle school from Astor Place to East 11th, DNAinfo tells us. The charter school hopes to expand after moving into the building between First Avenue and Avenue A, which currently houses Ross Global Academy.

And finally, police have released a sketch of the man believed to have pushed a local woman onto the subway tracks in Chinatown last week.

Raquel Marvez Sandy Adames.

Raquel Marvez Mr. Adames displays a tattoo that he wears in honor of his late father.

Sandy Adames has been working the deli at the Associated Supermarket on East Eighth Street and Avenue C for seven years.

He knows many customers by name, and can handle the most complex deli orders with a meticulous attention to detail. But most people don’t know that Mr. Adames cannot read or write.

“When I was 11, three years after my parents and two sisters moved from The Dominican Republic, I had a car accident,” said Mr. Adames, as he recalled being struck by a taxi cab while crossing the street.

Mr. Adames, who’s 29, sustained an apparent brain injury and has had problems reading and writing ever since. Frustrated by the difficulties of learning, Mr. Adames dropped out of school and began working to make ends meet for his family.

A supervisor at the supermarket, Candido Morel, said Mr. Adames’s sunny disposition has endeared him to deli customers.

“Clients love Sandy because he is always happy,” Mr. Morel said.

And a co-worker, Randol Vasquez said: “He is dedicated and finds a way to stand out.”

But Mr. Adames dreams of one day being able to read and write. His ambition, he said, is to work on computers.

“I would love to provide better for my wife, daughter and the baby that is on its way,” he said.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR. Click on each photo for detailed information about the image.

Raquel Marvez is a field director and senior producer at The Generations Project. This post was the winning entry in a photography contest during the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Region 2 conference, which was recently held at NYU Journalism.

MJ Gonzalez Magaly Feliciano and her son, Angel, practice the computer skills he learns at the League Treatment Center.

The holidays took on a bittersweet feeling at the Feliciano household this year, when Magali Feliciano, a single mother of two, received a letter stating that her son’s daycare was closing down.

“We had to get prepared again, it was going to be another battle,” said Ms. Feliciano, whose 4-year-old son, Angel, a special-needs child, attends Duffield Children’s Center, one of the fifteen daycare centers in New York set to shut down as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to close the city’s budget gap.

The day care centers, which provide services to low-income families, including many on welfare, are subsidized by the government and housed in leased properties, where rents have significantly risen in recent years. Officials with the Administration for Children’s Services said that the pricey programs can no longer be funded. The shuttering would save the city nearly $9 million.

Duffield, located on 101 Fleet Place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, was originally scheduled to close last spring, but after protests, marches, rallies, and support from government officials, the day care stayed open. But the reprieve was temporary.

On a recent evening in her Lower East Side apartment Ms. Feliciano had just gotten home, after spending her only day off running around the city, “I was picking the baby up from daycare, and spent the afternoon looking for things for my older son’s birthday.”

Ms. Feliciano is used to long days. She is up at six in the morning, gets Angel ready for school, and takes him outside where a bus picks him up at 6:45. Then, she heads to work in midtown. Read more…

MJ Gonzalez Members of Jump on 3 mid-show on Friday Feb. 4 at Under St. Mark’s. (From left) Matt Dennie, Scot Holmes, Matt Starr, Maelle Doliveux, J.D. Amato, Phil Jackson.

What happens when you put a South African Wine importer, an advertising agent, an illustration student, a couple aspiring writers, and a government employee in a room, and yell the word “zipper” at them?

I don’t know. And they don’t know. We’ll have to all find out together. “That’s the beauty of improv,” says Matt Starr, 23, one of the seven members of the comedy improv group, Jump On Three. “Not only is the audience trying to figure everything out, but the improvisers are right there with you. You’re seeing everything unfold right before your eyes.”

Jump on 3 was created in March 2010, when a group of improvisers met at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade in Chelsea. After searching the city for a performance spot, they finally found what struck them as an ideal space at Under St. Mark’s, an underground theater at 94 St. Marks Place.

“At the time, there was kind of an indie team explosion,” says Jump on Three member Phil Jackson, 27. After seeing another independent group, Rogue Elephant, perform at Under St. Mark’s in October 2009. When he found out that Rogue Elephant would no longer be playing at that venue, Mr. Jackson jumped at the chance to snag the space. “It was the perfect storm of circumstances and opportunity,” he said.

Now, Mr. Jackson and his fellow improv members perform regularly at Under St. Mark’s, hosting a show on the first Friday of every month, performing with other groups that ask to play at the venue. “We used to have to beg other groups to perform with us when we were first starting out,” Jump on 3 member Scott Holmes said. “But now they’re begging us.” Read more…

Adrian Fussell

Good morning, East Village.

Hope you’re bundled up and ready for the wind, which is dropping the “feels-like” temps into single digits today.

In neighborhood notes, EV Grieve takes a look at some construction and renovation work that’s bringing changes to the Village, as well as a mysterious hole that may or may not be a harbinger of the zombie apocalypse.

Meanwhile, Lüc Carl, manager of the Lower East Side bar St. Jerome, wants to help you make good on your New Year’s resolutions, unless your resolutions are about drinking less. DNAinfo tells us that Mr. Carl, who also happens to be Lady Gaga’s boyfriend, is releasing a diet book called “The Drunk Diet,” to help you lose weight while partying like a rock star. But it won’t come out until next year, so your 2011 health efforts may have to be sans keg.

Happy Wednesday.

Allison Hertzberg Vera Balyura at the ivories.

There’s no stopping Vera Balyura, the East Village designer and all around driving force behind the indie jewelry line VeraMeat. Vera graduated from high school at fourteen, becoming a model shortly thereafter, and then let the cosmos (and some stylist friends) steer her into becoming a jewelry designer.

The next time you’re looking for a gift, you might take a look at the VeraMeat collection, which its creator says has something for everyone: Want a Hatchet Loving Centaur Pirate pendant? Got it. Need a delicate bracelet with spinal detail? Done. But, if you’re not quite ready to dive into the whimsy, there are tons of other options. My favorite is part of the new collection, is this nautical two finger ring, which was made with recycled metals.

I visited Vera’s East Village studio on a brisk Saturday to discuss the future, inspiration, and how her brain works.

How do you come up with designs? For example, the dinosaur eating fried chicken ring, how does something like that pop into your head?

I just have that kind of brain. It’s something I would want for myself so I make it for others hoping they’ll appreciate it. The name VeraMeat, for example, came to me while walking under a bridge in Brooklyn. It made me laugh so I stuck with it.

Describe the VeraMeat style and consumer?

I’m happy to say that my customer can’t be so easily defined. We’ve had an old man buy VeraMeat, looking to add a good luck charm to his porch, super fashionable women looking to wear jewelry that says something about who they are, and men who aren’t afraid to stand out of the crowd. The diversity makes me thrilled.

How does the East Village inspire you?

I’m a big fan of graffiti and there’s a ton of it in the East Village. I love that NY allows the streets to be embellished by its people. Ten years ago, at 15 years old I moved to the East Village and really felt at home. I’ve never stopped feeling that way. There is so much magic here, it’s just consistent inspiration on every street corner and in every face you see.

What are your favorite spots in the East Village?

Well, I love Vera’s, the bar that is right next to my studio. It has amazing Italian food ,though not as good as my Italian boyfriend Paolo can make, hah. For a bit of dancing, St. Dymphna’s is fun, plus there’s a great chocolate shop right across the street. For boots, I like Cloak & Dagger, and they also happen to sell VeraMeat!

What does the future hold for VeraMeat?

We are looking to open a flagship store this year in Manhattan. We’re also reworking our website and facebook page, and as always, coming up with amazing new designs inspired by my bat dog Fred.

Allison Hertzberg is owner and head designer at Accessories by ASH.

Vivienne Gucwa

On a recent Saturday night, I put my ugliest sweater on over my most sequined top and went out to a new bar in Alphabet City.

This bar was so hip it did not even have a name on its door or façade. Inside there were chandeliers. The wallpaper choice was a velvet fleur-de-lis pattern. There was a large portrait of a pink cocktail that was lit from behind. The bouncers were thin, glamorous, and female. I pointed to the cocktail portrait and asked for one, on ice.

While I waited to give my credit card to one of the two young, pouty Frenchmen behind the bar I admired the postage stamp picture of myself on the corners of the plastic square I was about to hand over. I’ve had the same credit card picture since I was 15 years old. In this portrait, I had just gotten my braces off and my smile seems wide enough to stretch across all eight digits of my account number. It’s quite adorable, and I get a lot of compliments on it, but the bartenders, who looked scarcely older than I was in the photograph appeared to take little notice.

Oh, well, I thought.  It was probably too dark for them to realize what they were missing. I took my drink and descended a wooden set of steps in search of the dance floor.
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Ian Duncan

Covered in graffiti and often looking distinctly unloved, sidewalk ATMs are a common sight in the East Village. In fact, the neighborhood has more of the machines than anywhere else in Manhattan. Ready access to cash fuels the neighborhood’s bar scene and the machines generate a steady stream of easy revenue for the property owners who host them.

But in December, the City Council made clear its view that the machines are a blight and voted to ban them from city streets. After some dithering, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the bill on Jan. 4. The law will come into effect in May.

The decision has elicited mixed responses.

Jessica Dickstein, 29, a brand manager at a toy company, said she has no particular allegience to sidewalk ATMs but will use one if she feels it is the most convenient option. Sometimes, she added, she prefers the sidewalk machines because they often have lower fees than those in banks. Asked if she thinks using a sidewalk machine is less safe than using one in a bodega or bank lobby, Ms. Dickstein said, “If you’re going to be getting cash at 3 a.m. that’s not a great idea.” Read more…

Tim Schreier

Good morning, East Village.

Whether you spent yesterday hacking at the ice wall around your frozen car or stalking Gossip Girl’s Village visit (we won’t tell), today is a brand-new day. You may have needed to face its earlier hours with an umbrella, but for now, grab your hat and gloves. Temperatures are set to drop steadily, hitting 18 degrees by the time midnight rolls around.

Maybe someone should head over to East Houston and tell the model in this new American Apparel billboard to don some warm leggings? I hear electric blue is the new day-glo pink. In other additions to Village advertising, EV Grieve takes a look at various neighborhood graffiti and brings word that comic bookstore Forbidden Planet might be looking for some breathing room.

Yesterday we gave you a look at rider contention over the new M15 select bus service, and now City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin tells DNAinfo she’s given the service a B minus for its efforts. She says she supports the goals, “but it’s not quite living up to its potential.” C minus for accessibility, A for effort? Let us know how you feel about the new system.

Speaking of report cards, New York students might be graduating from high school, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready for college or a career — a new set of statistics says only 23 percent are meeting that standard. This news comes on the heels of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s voiced disappointment in state budget cuts for our little town, which he says will be devastating for teachers and other public employees (mayors excepted).

And finally, a super-short film to watch over your coffee break: Manhattan re-imagined as your favorite arcade game.

Laura Kuhn Some riders who use the M15 bus line wonder if more stops in the East Village should be added to the route. Currently, the bus makes two stops either way in the East Village, one at Houston Street and the other at 14th Street.

One recent evening, Tanya Garrett stood at the corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue counting with frustration the number of M15 select service buses that blew past her as she waited for a local.

“I probably missed the last local bus and now I’m going to wait here forever,” Ms. Garrett said Wednesday as she watched another select bus approach, its blue lights flashing.

“They have a million of those select buses going by,” Ms. Garrett said. “It’s uncalled for.”

Since its launch in October, the M15 select bus service – which runs express routes along First and Second Avenues – has promised riders faster commutes by featuring fewer stops, designated bus-only lanes and a pay-before-boarding system that requires users to purchase tickets prior to getting on at street machines.

But for some customers like Ms. Garrett, who lives four blocks away from the nearest select bus stop, the new service has only made the ride home more difficult.

“The select doesn’t stop at my stop,” she said. “I’m stuck with the local. They need to have more locals running. They don’t need all those select buses. They come back to back and you have to stand here and wait for a local forever.”
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Tim Schreier

Good morning, East Village.

And happy new year! Here’s hoping you found a good way during this busy weekend to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, mark World Nutella Day and spend a few hours with friends in front of a television cheering for a team you don’t hate. (The Local is referring to the Knicks victory, of course.)

If you didn’t make it outside to enjoy yesterday’s sunny temperature break, try to catch some elusive rays during your morning commute – the clouds will be back by afternoon, and the cold’s not far behind. If you walk to work slowly enough, maybe you can formulate your official position on the merits of the Black-Eyed Peas halftime show. Your co-workers will want to know.

Just don’t let your inner music critic distract you from looking both ways. Figures show traffic deaths in the city are up from last year, though over all numbers for the last two years put New York ahead of its American peers, and are the best the city has seen since your other car was a horse. Drivers with more modern transportation options may need to pry their ride from the snow and turn it around or face a fine, as alternate side parking rules are back to normal today.

Over at Bowery Boogie, Villagers get another look at progress and projections for the Allen Street Hotel. Meanwhile, Neighborhoodr reports the closing of Avenue A’sApizzA. Is fellow pie joint Tonda going the same route? Finally, congratulations and a warm neighborhood welcome to Jamshed Barucha, new president of Cooper Union.

A look back at the images produced by the members of The Local East Village Flickr Group during the snowiest January in New York City history.

Vivienne Gucwa

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C.C. Glenn Still reeling from the Jets’ playoff loss, the author considers some Super Bowl viewing options.

As the 2011 NFL season comes to a close with a Super Bowl clash between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, there’s a detached air in New York City. There are no more random battle cries of J-E-T-S. Rex Ryan’s personal league-wide vendetta is a thing of the past. Green jerseys lay balled up in the back of closets or the bottom of dumpsters, stained with beers and tears. There’s a game left, but for us –– that is, Jets fans in the East Village and other parts of New York City –– the season’s over. We’re tired. We’re confused.

For the first time since August, we have nowhere to turn. Since the football season began in August, many of us have gravitated toward the Jets, with their scrappy play. For New York City transplants, the gradual adoption of the Jets meant defecting not only from the Giants (the other “New York” team that plays in New Jersey) but also hopping fickly from less fortunate childhood teams in other states and cities.

Throughout the team’s improbable playoff run, it felt like every New Yorker was a New York fan, every bar was a Jets bar.
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Lots of East Villagers might be bummed by the absence of the Jets in Sunday’s game. But we shouldn’t lose our sportsmanship or our spirit. There are still plenty of opportunities to enjoy the most important NFL game of the year. But selecting a supreme post to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Green Bay Packers is no easy feat with all of the East Village options.

Not everyone is into amped up Super Bowl crowds, rasslin’ for prime TV viewing real estate. So, do you prefer seats or standing room only? Food or just drinks? Essential questions we at The Local hope to answer in this grouping of neighborhood hot spots.

Claire Glass Professor Thom’s, 219 Second Avenue.

Professor Thom’s
219 2nd Avenue, 212-260-9480
professorthoms.com

For the true sports bar seeker try Professor Thom’s on 2nd Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets. Here, you’ll find ample space for sitting and standing all in eyeshot of their 17 TVs virtually wallpapering the entire place. To boot, Thom’s will be showing the game on a more than 60-inch projection screen in the back of the bar. This is no place for the faint of heart.

Thom’s is a New England Patriots bar, known for attracting truly impassioned fans. The bar tender said Sunday will most likely draw a mixed crowd of fans, but will likely be just as action packed. They offer a full bar menu, but the nachos are your best bet here for game time snacking.
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Chelsia Rose Marcius Shoppers at Fine Fare Super Market, on the corner of Fourth Street and Avenue C in the East Village, stock up before inclement weather. Snowstorms have delayed deliveries, meaning bursts of long lines in an overall slow business season.

When you visit a local supermarket right before a blizzard, it can sometimes feel as if Armageddon is just ahead, not a snowstorm. Some shoppers roam the aisle in an apparent frenzy, seemingly ready to grab everything they can get their hands on as checkout lines snake through aisles. Patience can be thin and the urge to stockpile food can trump the inclination toward civility.

And that frantic edge can remain even after a heavy snowfall as shoppers rush to replenish depleted pantries with the threat of additional snow looming. At least that was how it seemed at the Fine Fare Supermarket on Avenue C and East Fourth Street on Wednesday.

Customers may not have had an easy time crossing slushy streets, tip-toeing on icy sidewalks and climbing over marble-colored snow mounds to get to the market. When they did make it inside, though, they appeared ready to make up for lost time, quickly buying out the stock of staples.

“We had no bread, no milk, no eggs, no nothing,” said one cashier, Yesenia Urgiles.
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Phillip Kalantzis Cope

Good morning, East Village.

Mars Bar will host a farewell party on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with live performances by Daddy Long Legs and Nouvellas. Is this the end for the famous dive bar? EV Grieve ponders some recent rumors, including one that says the bar closed for good last Sunday. Curbed has heard it will remain open until the spring before giving way to a 12-story, 60-unit apartment building.

Bowery Beef, a roast beef sandwich shop modeled after a legendary Boston joint called Harrison’s, is set to open in the Bowery Poetry Club by the end of next week, according to the Village Voice’s Fork in the Road blog. Bagels and lox will be served starting at 7 a.m. and $5 roast beef sandwiches from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EV Grieve asked Ray LeMoine, one of the owners of Bowery Beef, a few questions about the East Village’s new addition.

Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York catches up with Jane Young, a local artist and community activist who was instrumental in the efforts to save 35 Cooper Square. Get her take on how the demolition of the building would affect the East Village’s identity.

City Room reports that, according to the latest poll, 44 percent of New Yorkers believe Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is doing an excellent or good job. Though nowhere near the 68 percent approval he reached in October 2008 at the height of his popularity, the newest number is seven points up from early last month for the mayor, who, incidentally, is a fan of The New Yorker’s depiction of him as a modern-day Narcissus.

Mark Riffee City Council voted Wednesday to extend the smoking ban to parks and beaches. Jon Goldstein, an East Village tattoo artist, thinks the law was passed in order to make money from fines.

No smoking allowed in New York City’s 1,700 parks or along the city’s 14 miles of beaches, said the City Council on Wednesday. The measure passed by 36-to-12 after a bitter debate over government authority versus individual liberties.

So what do you think, East Village?

“I think it’s ludicrous,” said Jon Goldstein, a 39-year-old tattoo artist. “It’s just a way for them to make money. They can’t tax any more stuff so they just start adding fines. You know what’s going to happen?” he asked, lighting up in Tomkins Square Park while he still can. “The police are going to be so overwhelmed with ticketing people who are smoking and not really paying attention to what they should be paying attention to.”
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