Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong continue sorting through their archives of punk-era concert footage as it’s digitized for the Downtown Collection at N.Y.U.’s Fales Library.

Emily Armstrong Danceteria Video Lounge

When BAD Burger announced last month that it was ditching its plan to stay open 24/7, it seemed like one more market indicator of the neighborhood’s shifting demographic from boho stronghold to, well, we’re not sure what it is anymore, other than upscale. It got us thinking about how much things have changed from those wild years in the late ’70s and early ’80s when rents were low, charm was currency and after hours clubs were everywhere. The fact that these establishments were blatantly illegal barely furrowed a brow back then. They were just part of the city’s recession economy.

For a lot of people, those early Reagan Years were also the Up All Night Years. Typically, an after-hours spot opened around 3 a.m. and gave up the ghost around noon. Somehow, they were always packed and never too hard to find. Given the variety and sheer number of options available, folks tended to flit from place to place, but clubs did have individual identities. AM/PM in Tribeca attracted a mix of Wall Street types, downtown rockers and artists, while Crisco Disco and the Anvil were for the gay boys on the West Side. The Jefferson was shabby chic, a derelict vaudeville theater and a bit of a death trap; there was only a narrow staircase to the second floor where the festivities sometimes spilled out onto a rickety marquee overlooking East 14th Street. It did have romance: a friend of ours met his first wife there. Read more…

Ria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

The Villager reports that a man arrested in December at a demonstration outside of the former CHARAS/El Bohio Cultural and Community Center was acquitted on charges of creating a major disturbance. The paper also has more on the benefit for the TZone at Lower Eastside Girls Club last week. (And congrats to Lincoln Anderson, who has been named The Villager’s editor-in-chief.)

On his blog, Handsome Dick Manitoba reacts to news that his band the Dictators not appear in the CBGBs movie: “We played the club, regularly for 30 years. We had an absolutely GREAT relationship with the owner, Hilly Kristal, who the movie is supposedly about. We played the last weekend, ever at CBGB, Fri. & Sat. nights, the IMPORTANT NIGHTS…and, my son Jake and Hilly met a bunch of times, capping off, what I would consider, a wonderful relationship in my life.”

The Allen Ginsberg Projects posts a photo of the poet in his 14th Street loft and notes that his former assistant, Bob Rosenthal, will be reading from his memoir, “Straight Around Allen”, at Sidewalk Cafe. Read more…

Annie Fairman Officers applaud colleagues.

It was a welcome break in a week of bad press for the Ninth Precinct: guests filed into Cooper Union’s Great Hall on Tuesday night to honor officers who excelled in the face of danger.

“Each day our officers continue to renew my faith in the New York City Police Department,” said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann at the Ninth Precinct Community Council’s annual awards ceremony. “I am honored and humbled to serve with them.”

Among those commended were officers Michael Radosta and Andrew Beirne, who were completing a midnight shift on Christmas Eve when they spotted a suspicious man emerging from a basement hatch door on East 12th Street. The officers, backed up by their colleagues Jose Ramos and William McNeece, pursued the suspect on foot and arrested him; he later confessed to a series of burglaries.

“The keen observations and quick actions of all of these officers led to a felony arrest that closed a serious pattern of burglaries in the area,” said the evening’s emcee, Christine Widgren. Read more…

Nicole Guzzardi

It may be a couple of weeks before the cause of Christine Ebel’s death is known. A spokesperson at the city medical examiner’s office said further testing and investigation was necessary after an initial autopsy this morning.

In the meantime, a memorial has been set up in front of Arcane, the bistro Ms. Ebel owned with her brother, and neighbors continue to express shock and sadness over yesterday morning’s discovery of her lifeless body in a lot behind the restaurant. Read more…

Joann Pan Sign on the gate of East Village Thai.

David Piccirillo and William Ott have not had a working stove or oven since they moved into their apartment a month ago. Because of small leaks in the pipes, the cooking gas in their building at 32 East Seventh Street was shut off Sept. 27, three days before the two moved in.

Mr. Piccirillo, 24, can’t cook his morning eggs anymore, and estimates that his food costs have doubled.

“You have to get up and go out any time you want something warm to eat,” added Mr. Ott, 23, who just relocated from Long Island.

Other tenants have been given hot plates, but Mr. Piccirillo and Mr. Ott were still waiting on theirs earlier today. Mr. Piccirillo said he would like money to be deducted from their rent, though he is not optimistic.

For one of the tenants, hot pots aren’t much help: East Village Thai, which occupies one of the building’s storefronts, has been closed since the gas was shut off. The restaurant’s owner, Paul Euiu, said that when the problem started, his landlord, Jakobson Properties, told him to hold off on October rent until things were resolved. But Mr. Euiu was greeted with the usual rent bill when he stopped by his restaurant this afternoon. Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

A pair of school safety officers were injured today after trying to break up a fight at the High School for Health Professions and Human Services.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the two officers tried to diffuse an altercation between two female students. One of the officers sprained an ankle and the other went to the hospital with a shoulder injury and chest pain.

The incident occurred sometime before 1 p.m. today. The high school, located next to Stuyvesant Town at 345 East 15th Street, prepares students for future careers in health care.

Noah Fecks Pork buns at Jum Mum.

Here’s one more reason to sign up for The Local’s newsletter: You could win free tickets to the East Village Eats Tasting Tour.

This weekend will be a gut-busting one for the food obsessed: Saturday is Lower East Side Pickle Day; meanwhile above Houston, Fourth Arts Block is hosting its annual eating extravaganza. From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., ticket holders can roam the neighborhood (with a compostable spork, naturally) sampling bites from restaurants like buzzy newcomer L’Apicio (where F.A.B. just installed a colorful mural), Veselka Bowery, Jum Mum, Bikinis, and more. After the food crawl, the revelry continues as a trio of bars will offer discounted drinks.

So how do you score a ticket? Well, you can either buy one for $60 here, where you can see a full list of participating restaurants and dishes, or you can take two seconds to sign up for our newsletter. We’re giving away two tickets to a random person (and friend) who subscribes between now and tomorrow at 4 p.m. The icing on the proverbial cake: you’ll get free East Village news delivered to your inbox daily. Just sign up here.

Nicole Guzzardi

Well, looky here: the Starbucks on Second Avenue and Ninth Street got its outdoor seating back.

The Department of Consumer Affairs shuttered the location for a few days in May due to what Starbucks described as an “administrative oversight” in renewing a sidewalk cafe license. The location had to go all summer without outdoor seats.

Meanwhile, according to Community Board 3’s November agenda, the Starbucks at 49 1/2 First Avenue is seeking “new revocable consent to install, maintain and use four benches on the sidewalks of the southwest corner of First Avenue and East Third Street.” There are currently three outdoor benches at the corner.

View from the 13th floor.

Earlier this week, a 57-year-old woman jumped to her death on University Place. Even when such suicides don’t make the news (and they usually don’t) they leave an indelible impression on those who encounter them. Such was the case in April when a woman, also 57, ended her life at the Salvation Army’s Markle Evangeline Residence for Women. Today, her would-be neighbor tells the story. 

July 1, 2012
When I first stepped into the Markle Evangeline Residence, I felt it: a peculiar darkness. Yet this was the same bright cheerful woman’s dormitory on 13th Street I had been coming to for years, each semester I came from Paris to teach at NYU.

Was it the downturned lips of the receptionist? Was it the fact that the new manager of the place, which was run by the Salvation Army, had just sent me a curt e-mail, in response to my request, if possible, for a firm mattress: “You may need to look into another place to stay while you’re here in New York.” Signed Major William T. Bender, and cc-ed to his staff.

I took the elevator up to a room that was inauspiciously on the 13th floor: 1309, in fact, an odd number I did not like. I was afraid of what I would find. I turned the knob – and there, a grim disappointment.

The room faced south, the way I had asked, and the window showed a skyline of the city. But it was dark. How could it be dark? It was shining with light, the walls painted yellow.

The room needed something, but what? I asked for an air conditioner to be placed in the bathroom window, so as to not block my view, but the Major instructed the custodian to put it in the bedroom instead. You may need to go elsewhere… 

Let it go, I told myself. After all, there was nothing wrong with this room. I moved the bed around by the window and with a screwdriver I opened the flaps of the air conditioner, to let in a slice of view. I put a poster up, of the Eiffel Tower. I moved the bed around once more. I pushed back the desk.

I stared out the open bathroom window. There was a patio below, nine stories down.

I wondered where the body would land if one threw oneself out. Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The Lo-Down posts Community Board 3’s liquor license committee agenda for November.

NYU handed out info packets about its forthcoming expansion at a Community Board 2 meeting last night. Curbed has the latest details of the project.

The Epoch Times, and the Lo-Down are both excited for Lower East Side Pickle Day this weekend. Read more…

Arcane Bistro

The woman whose body was found in an empty lot on East Seventh Street this morning has been identified by neighbors as Christine Ebel, an owner of Arcane, a French-Caribbean bistro adjacent the lot.

Bill Rafty, the building superintendent at Eastville Gardens, also bordering the lot, said he recognized the woman whose lifeless body was discovered around 9 a.m. this morning. “I saw her face,” said Mr. Rafty. “I recognized her. I recognized her hair. She’s got dirty-blonde curly hair.”

Mr. Rafty, who would often see Ms. Ebel cleaning up outside of Arcane, said, “She was beautiful. She had many friends.” He believed she lived above the bistro.

Piti Dumitru, who works with Mr. Rafty, described her as a “very nice girl”: “I never saw her drink,” he said. “It’s terrible.” Read more…

A film festival at Theatre 80 next week aims to highlight imaginative films by undiscovered and emerging filmmakers, and one of the featured shorts stars local topless activist Moira Johnston.

From Nov. 2 to 4, Take Two will feature 56 independent films – a diverse range of shorts, full-length features, and documentaries – from 14 countries. “Killing the Dog” is about a streetwise werewolf from Brooklyn; “Bi the Way” follows five people ushering in a sexual revolution; “Better This World” explores the current nature of political activism.

The festival’s organizer, Salon Ciel, an exhibitor of photographers and visual artists, staged its first film festival last year at Gallery Bar. Only five films were shown but the number of submissions and enthusiasm from the audience convinced Salon Ciel’s producer, Asher Bar Lev, of the need for a bigger event. Read more…

Adam Lehrer Bob Gruen (in blue) gets his photo taken.

Young hipsters and middle-aged punks collided at R Bar last night to celebrate the 67th birthday of rock ‘n’ roll photographer Bob Gruen.

Sporting a black blazer and blue scarf, the birthday boy greeted friends like punk journalist Legs McNeil and singer Jenni Muldaur, as well as younger admirers of his photography.

Mr. Gruen was one of the first – along with Godlis and our own Emily Armstrong and Pat Ivers – to heavily document the bands that played CBGBs and similar clubs in the 1970s. In the process, he snapped iconic photos of John Lennon, the Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, and others.

He said his mother, a photographer, introduced him to the craft by taking him to the dark room at the age of three. When he was a teenager, and rock ‘n’ roll came into its own, early classics by Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry made a lasting impression. At 18, he bought his first camera and became the family photographer. Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

Suzanne Rozdeba Looking down on the body (under white sheet).

A dead body was found in an empty lot at 227 East Seventh Street this morning.

Angel Carrillo, 43, a carpenter who lives near the lot between Avenues B and C, said that around 9 a.m., he heard a woman screaming hysterically. When he came to her aid, the woman pointed to a dead body lying face-down on the ground. Mr. Carrillo believed the deceased, who wore calf-length boots, was in her 30s. After telling Mr. Carrillo she didn’t know what happened, the person who made the initial discovery ran away.

The police confirmed the body belonged to a woman in her 30s and said there were no visible signs of trauma, but had no further information about the ongoing investigation.

The lot, where a building was demolished earlier this year, is due to receive a six-story condominium building.

Update 2:50 p.m. The crime scene unit has now arrived. Investigators have been seen entering 111 Avenue C, where a police officer is posted, as well as a garden next to 115 Avenue C that borders the lot.

Pablo, a resident of 229 East Seventh Street who did not give his last name, said that shortly before 9 a.m., he saw the woman from the third floor of his building, and that she was face-up (not face-down, as indicated by Mr. Carrillo), with mud obscuring her visage. She wore a v-neck sweater and black jeans, he said.

The super of Eastville Gardens at 225 East Seventh Street, who was shown the body by investigators, said the woman was wearing a single sandal and not boots as indicated by Mr. Carrillo.

Update | 7:30 p.m. Woman Found Dead On Seventh Said to Be Owner of Arcane Bistro

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The Post notes there will be a gun buyback from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Rutgers Houses community center on Madison Street.

Off the Grid points to a database of Landmarks Preservation Commission designation reports that “allows the public to search all designation reports by a number of keywords, allowing anyone to access these little treasure troves of information.”

Eater reveals the West Village location of the next Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. Read more…

Sasha von Oldershausen Plywood around The Standard, now black.

After being defaced last week, the new plywood around The Standard East Village has been painted black. Maybe it’s getting a Shepard Fairey mural?

Alexa Mae Asperin

If a 7-Eleven is indeed coming to Avenue A, it isn’t the only poorly kept secret in Alphabet City: Earlier this month, The Local pointed to city records indicating that mobile sweets vendor Wafels & Dinges may be opening its first brick-and-mortar location at 15 Avenue B.

When we Tweeted about it, the Belgian-wafflemaker, which had declined to comment, coyly responded: “The mystery is killing us!”

The company still hasn’t made it official, but last week it posted a photo to its Facebook page showing construction in a dimly lit mystery space, with the caption: “Right now, it’s a mess. But it’s going to be awesome. We hope.”

The scene inside of 15 Avenue B today sure looked similar to the “mess” in the photo. We’ll let you know when it’s official.

A Staten Island man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping and robbing a 28-year-old woman as she walked to her home on Orchard Street in 1998.

On Oct. 9, Lerio Guerrero, 33, pleaded guilty to rape, sodomy, burglary, robbery, and attempted robbery, all in the first degree, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Mr. Vance credits the “All Crimes DNA” law and DNA databank expansion for helping to solve the crime. “Without the state’s DNA databank, this defendant might never have been apprehended,” he said in a press release. “But because New Yorkers live in a state that recognizes the power of DNA to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent, this crime victim is able to finally see justice be served nearly 14 years later.” Read more…

Daniel Maurer

A pit-bull we profiled earlier this year has gone missing.

Last week, a commenter informed us that Sugar, a 12-year-old black-and-white pit-bull, was stolen from her sleeping owner, Kevin Kleber. “Please keep a look out for this girl,” wrote the commenter. “She is missed greatly.”

Mr. Kleber, a.k.a. Toasty, is a 27-year-old member of the East Village’s community of “travelers.” Since he rescued Sugar over seven months ago, the two have been inseparable. They recently traveled to Maine together before returning to Mr. Kleber’s native New York.

“She’s such a sweetheart,” he said. “She makes me happy.” Read more…