C.C. Glenn The various brands of Beaujolais Nouveau 2010, which made its debut Thursday night.

Wielding an 18-inch baguette in one hand and a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau in the other, Luis da Silva marched around Jules Bistro on St. Marks Place Thursday night wearing a kitschy black apron.

Le Beaujolais est arrive! the manager’s apron declared, the universal cry that the young, fruity, barely fermented (and to some, barely drinkable) wine has hit the shelves and bars.

Around the world, the third Thursday of November marks the official release of Beaujolais Nouveau, the wine crushed from 100 percent Gamay grapes from the Beaujolais region of France, in the southernmost part of Burgundy.

Most wine connoisseurs, vendors and drinkers agree that Beaujolais Nouveau isn’t actually that tasty. A marketing ploy, an advertising maneuver – call it what you will – it’s no secret that the Beaujolais Nouveau is marketed to be a grandiose event, albeit misguided.

French native Geoffroy de Guibert, who met a handful of other French friends for the celebration at Jules Bistro, says, “No, it’s not good. You know it’s not a good wine. You know it’s kind of a disgusting wine, but it happens once a year. It’s just for the event.

Because the wine is not aged, it is best served chilled (and is likely to taste worse as it warms to room-temperature). And while it may not stimulate your palate, the young wine can serve as an indicator of the vintage’s success. Each year the nouveau tastes different: last year it hinted at banana, this year the jury’s still out. “It’s about the weather, it’s about rain, it’s about sun,” says Chloé Descombes, another French native celebrating the event at Jules Bistro, agrees. This year? “I’d say it’s a good wine,” says Ms. Descombes.
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Jack-o-lanterns have come and gone, but pumpkins are still lighting up menus around the neighborhood. Some people look forward to pumpkin spice lattes, but I’m always excited to see what creative offerings local restaurants come up with each year. I set out on a mission to find the East Village’s best dishes — both savory and sweet — starring autumn’s iconic vegetable.

Carolyn Stanley Pumpkin pancakes at Cafe Orlin.

Cafe Orlin
41 St. Mark’s Place, 212-777-1447.
At Café Orlin, I was able to get my fix before noon with pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon-spiced yogurt. The pancakes are dense and not too heavy on the pumpkin or the sugar (though I was happy to make use of the side of syrup).
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John Galayda John DeRobertis.

In April 1904, Paolo DeRobertis opened a bakery on First Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets, which he named Caffe Pugliese, after his birthplace in the Apulia region of Italy. Today, John DeRobertis Jr., grandson of Paolo DeRobertis, commutes to New York City daily from Nutley, N.J. to work at the bakery (now renamed DeRobertis Caffe) to continue the long family tradition.

Mr. DeRobertis, who grew up on 11th Street, says he is filled with memories from his childhood every time he looks out the store window. “I take pleasure in serving our customers, who come from all parts of the world and seeing their pleasant faces,” Mr. DeRobertis says.

The bakery is open every day from 9:00 a.m. until midnight and ships orders across the country. “All of the baked goods are made on the premises,” boasts Mr. DeRobertis. He says that the best-selling items are the shop’s Pignoli cookies and cannoli. “We also have a huge selection of wedding cakes. If people see a wedding cake they like, they describe it or bring us a picture, and we recreate it,” he adds.—Deanna Yurchuk

Spencer Magloff Preservationists had sought landmark designations for these two buildings at 326 and 328 East Fourth Street.

On the same day that two preservation groups held a news conference urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reconsider refusing to designate a pair of 170-year old buildings at 326 and 328 East Fourth Street as historic landmarks, the Department of Buildings awarded permits for both buildings to developer Terrence Lowenberg.

“This is truly outrageous,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who learned from The Local that the permits had been issued.

“It’s tragic that the Landmarks Preservation Commission sat on their hands for more than three months and allowed this to happen,” said Mr. Berman, whose group led the landmark designation effort. “A wonderful piece of the city’s history will likely be destroyed due to the city’s inaction.”
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When New York University announced that it was abandoning a proposal to build a fourth structure on the Silver Towers site, it changed the direction of its expansion plan.

Activists opposing New York University’s “2031 Plan” for expansion won’t have the “Silver Sliver” to kick around anymore.

That was the news yesterday afternoon as the university announced it would not be filing with the Landmarks Preservation Commission for approval to build the tower, which would have been the tallest building ever constructed on Bleecker Street. Although criticism of the tower had come from many quarters, the death blow seems to have been the hostility of internationally renowned architect I.M. Pei, responsible for the design of the three buildings already on the landmarked Silver Towers site. In news accounts, the proposed tower was disparagingly nicknamed the Silver Sliver.
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Michelle Rick

Good morning, East Village.

The Villager reports that the overhaul of St. Brigid’s Church at Eighth Street and Avenue B might cost significantly more than expected.

According to The Villager, the church’s $10 million restoration fund has already been exhausted and there is still extensive structural work to be done. While church officials have deflected The Villager’s report they have not offered a timetable for when the work at the church will be completed.

In other neighborhood news, Bowery Boogie looks at the Bowery’s role in shaping modern slang, including such phrases as “chum” and “kick the bucket,” which Boogie suggests were popularized by notorious 19th century “street thugs” whose slang “never quite faded from our collective lexicon.”

Ephemeral New York offers up an item about neighborhood style, circa 1984, as seen in the pages of an old copy of the East Village Eye.

And EV Grieve, who blogged the EV Lambo to fame, may have found a rival for the neighborhood’s automotive affections.

Boots were big news during the fall 2010 runway shows and they’re the footwear choice du jour in the East Village. Designers like Alexander Wang and Tommy Hilfiger put their own spin on the now-ubiquitous lace-up styles, while Rag & Bone sent studs and zippers down the catwalk.

With that in mind, The Local hit the streets to check out Villagers’ feet. From rugged combat booties and knee-high riding boots, to fringed platforms and slouchy Westerns, here are some of the most popular looks on fashion-forward locals.

NYU Journalism’s Sophie Hoeller and Sally Lauckner report.

New York University announced today that it would not be pursuing plans to build a 400-foot residential tower and hotel on Bleecker Street. The so-called “silver sliver” was an important element in the university’s “2031 plan” for expansion previously reported at The Local. Reportedly, architect I.M. Pei is expressing a preference to build on the Morton Williams supermarket site already owned by the university. — Kim Davis

Sophie Hoeller Cienfuegos, 443 East Sixth Street.

The Volstead Act prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol from 1919 to 1933, may be a thing of the past, but secret bars (many of which are in our own backyard) are here to stay. These tucked-away little corners offer visitors a haven away from a city and a neighborhood overrun with bars and people. The allure of a clandestine bar lies in the thrill of the chase, the effort of finding the place, landing a reservation and actually getting past secret (and sometimes not-so-secret) entrances. Once seated and sipping old-school drinks without fear of arrest, comes a feeling of being in the know, an insider, and being able to make other New Yorkers feel like tourists.

Here’s our guide to the East Village’s most happening “secret” bars of today. Of course, we can’t guarantee access.
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Colleen Leung The author during a workout.

The East Village is home to many expensive gyms, but some of the best places to work out are free – you just need to be creative! One of the few things I dislike about life in New York City is all the construction, but every cloud has a sliver lining. While it can be an eye sore, construction scaffolding is great for doing pull-ups.

Anyone who’s walked beneath scaffolding has no doubt been tempted to jump up, grab a bar and go for it. Those things are practically begging to be swung around on, hung from or climbed.

With that in mind, my brother Danny and I decided to get a scaffold workout in recently during the morning commute. While everyone around us scuttled off to school or the office, we did all kinds of pull-ups and other exercises without setting foot in a gym. In typical New York fashion, however, most people passing by didn’t even seem to notice. Watch the video below for more.

Al Kavadlo is a personal trainer, freelance writer and author of the book, “We’re Working Out! A Zen Approach to Everyday Fitness” (Muscle-up Publications, 2010). For more information visit www.AlKavadlo.com.

Dan Nguyen

Good morning, East Village.

There’s more information this morning about the disappearance of the mural of President Obama over at Sixth Street and Avenue C. DNAinfo reports that the owners of the space, RCN, said that they removed the mural because they considered it a piece of “illegal graffiti.” A spokesman for RCN told DNA that they never endorsed the creation of the mural, which was done by Antonio Garcia, who paints under the name Chico. (The mural was also connected to recent news events: one of the assistant painters who helped Mr. Garcia create the mural is Jairo Pastoressa, who has been charged with murder in a fatal stabbing Oct. 25.)

EV Transitions offers some striking stills and newsreel footage documenting the 1956 fire at the old Wanamaker building at Eighth Street and Broadway. According to Transitions, 187 firefighters were injured in the blaze, which took 25 hours to control. The 50 million gallons of water that were used to put out the fire also flooded the Astor Place subway station causing enough damage to shut down the BMT and IRT subway lines for two days.

And, from a more recent page in history, The Villager reproduces an image of the old Tent City in Tompkins Square Park taken in the late ’80s or early ’90s.

Looking to go out to eat, but don’t want to leave the kids or the neighborhood behind? Community contributor Rachel Trobman takes a look at some local restaurants that make dining out with children a breeze.
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C.C. Glenn Butter Lane Cupcakes, a small boutique bake shop on Seventh Street, offers classes in cupcake making.

Who says cupcakes must induce a sugar rush?

Not Pam Nelson, the co-owner with Linda Lea and Maria Baugh of Butter Lane Cupcakes, a small boutique bake shop on Seventh Street.

In a quest for a less sugary miniature cake Ms. Nelson and her partners tested dozens of recipes before opening in 2008. She recalls tasting the batter of one recipe after using only half the sugar called for, and thinking even that was too sweet for her taste. Soon the trio nailed down their recipe, and they’re not keeping it a secret – even in the competitive cupcake business.

The expert cupcake blog, Cupcakes Take The Cake, lists more than 50 cupcake and cake stores in New York, and that’s not including several branches of sugary mainstays like Crumbs and Magnolia Bakery. Nonetheless, Butter Lane seems to have found its niche. “I felt the East Village would get us,” Ms. Nelson said one crisp afternoon as she walked around the corner to drop off a few of her treats to a neighbor.
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Liz Wagner Figurines in the window of Russian Souvenirs. Below: The shop’s storefront.

East Village boutiques are pretty quirky, but Russian Souvenirs, a small consignment store on 14th Street near Third Avenue has some of the most unusual finds in the neighborhood.

The dust-crusted window leads to a view of a chaotic array of Matryoshka dolls, which includes one that’s painted to look like Michael Jackson. There’s a line of Soviet military caps adorned with red stars hanging from stretched-out wire hangers, and a collection of wooden statutes whittled to look like bears posing in odd positions. A hodgepodge of war medals, army pins, dangly gold earrings, glasses without lenses, and swaths of fabric — 50 percent off, as advertised on a rumpled piece of paper taped to the front of the store, — complete the window display.

The spectacle has been known to entice passersby.

“I saw this sort of messy stuff in the window and it was interesting,” said Catherine Siemann, a Chelsea resident, who stopped to take a peek.

Inside, Russian Souvenirs is a hoarder’s paradise. It is packed floor-to-ceiling with stuff; more nesting dolls and military paraphernalia, Ukrainian eggs, paintings of Soviet landscapes, racks of dark-colored clothing. The only aisle is too narrow for two people to stand side by side, and the place smells like a grandfather’s coat closet that hasn’t been opened for quite some time.
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<Gloria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

We woke up to soothing pictures of the willow trees of Avenue C, brought to us by EV Grieve. The tranquility was quickly broken by news of protest on East Fourth Street around the corner, where a group of protestors raised objections to planned alterations to the 170 year old houses at 326 and 328. DNA Info has the story and reporters for The Local are preparing their own report on the larger issues surrounding the debate.

It must be time for coffee.

The Quarterly Art Soiree began quietly on Sunday afternoon with sing-a-longs, button making and painting lessons. There were young performers, aspiring filmmakers, free popcorn and even a balloon artist all in the cellar space at Webster Hall on East 11th Street.

“They’re loving it, they’re loving it,” Pauline Vitale said of her two grandsons. “My little Cyrus has a speech delay so he’s really into the music. So he’s enjoying it. They’re having him play the squeezebox.”
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Robyn Baitcher Pizzas on display on the counter at Ray’s on St. Marks Place near Third Avenue. In July, city officials released a new cleanliness rating system for restaurants. Some of the revised grades for local pizzerias were released this month.

The East Village is home to myriad iconic late-night eateries, from 5 a.m. nachos on Avenue A to curry-sauced Belgian fries on Second Avenue. But for all our dining options, many of us share a common snacking obsession: The hot, cheesy pizza slice.

In July, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released a new cleanliness rating system for restaurants in New York City. Residents around the East Village have no doubt seen the department’s laminated cards – displaying letter grades of “A,” “B” or “C” – propped up in restaurant windows around the neighborhood.

Pizza shops in the area have had a tough time scoring well under the new system, in part because storing pizza slices on open display before reheating them can be a Department of Health violation.
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Liz Wagner Audience members at last night’s meeting of the State Liquor Authority committee of Community Board 3 listen as the panel refused to support a pair of license requests.

A Community Board panel Monday night refused to lend its support to plans to reopen two bars on Avenue A, despite pre-emptive efforts by business owners to smooth things over with East Village residents fed up with noisy nightlife in their neighborhood.

The State Liquor Authority Committee, which helps regulates liquor licenses in the East Village for Community Board 3, declined to lend its support to an application for the new space at 34 Avenue A, formally Aces & Eights, saying the area already has enough bars.

The committee also deflected a request from the owner of the former Superdive space at 200 Avenue A, explaining that the board had initially approved a license at that location for a bookstore or cafe. The State Liquor Authority subsequently permitted a change to let tenants apply for a liquor license, but the committee wants to stick with the board’s original decision.
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Jenn Pelly A newspaper distribution box designed by Adam Cole, the graffiti artist known as Cost. The piece is the first major public work in more than a decade by Mr. Cole, who has been largely inactive since a 1995 arrest for vandalism. Below: The reverse of the box.

A newspaper distribution box in the East Village now showcases the first major public work of art in more than a decade by one of New York City’s most infamous graffiti artists, Adam Cole, a.k.a. Cost. The work is a distribution box for Showpaper, the free New York newssheet that lists all-ages concerts throughout the tri-state area.

As one half of the graffiti duo Cost and Revs, the artist achieved mythic status in New York in the early ’90s graffiti world, for revolutionizing the wheatpasting medium and helping catapult it to a worldwide street art phenomenon.

The Cost-designed newsbox stands on Second Avenue at Houston Street, one of 12 Showpaper boxes redesigned last week by 25 notable graffiti and street artists at the Brooklyn art space Market Hotel. For Showpaper’s guerilla initiative, the newsboxes function as works of public art, with Manhattan and Brooklyn streets as their pop-up gallery. A map of locations is available here.

Mr. Cole, 41, has remained quiet since 1995, when he was arrested for vandalism. Then, The Times labeled him “New York’s most prolific graffiti-ist,” citing his arrest as, for some, “the end of an era.” Mr. Cole, of Rego Park, was 26. One irritated Times reader, however, wrote a letter to the editor saying: “The graffiti writer using the tag ‘Cost’ is probably the worst graffiti vandal in the history of New York.”

In their early ’90s unauthorized public art, Cost and Revs made use of the backs of “Walk/Don’t Walk” signs at nearly every intersection of Manhattan, with confusing slogans that perpetually included either the name “Cost” or “Revs.” (A 1993 Times piece on those curious, incognito Manhattan signs is available here.)
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