Daniel Maurer The bar at 170 Avenue A.

Once again, it’s neighbor versus nightlife: Bar on A is locked in a battle of wills with an upstairs tenant who has frequently complained to city authorities about what she says is “extreme noise.”

However, a person associated with the 17-year-old watering hole, which opened around the same time as the recently shuttered Lakeside Lounge, blames the neighbor for incessant complaints which he says have cost the establishment tens of thousands of dollars in revenue and even resulted in a police raid.

Mitch, an associate of Bar on A who did not want to be identified by his last name owing to the bar’s delicate situation, blamed the present conflict on “this nuisance neighbor who’s abusing the 311 system and recruiting people like a vigilante to hang us and hang everybody else in the neighborhood.” Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

And happy birthday to Keith Haring. As you may have noticed, Google has revamped its logo in honor of the artist.

According to The Villager, the Anshe Mezeritz synagogue on East Sixth Street is attempting to prove in court that a Brooklyn rabbi who was convicted of stealing a Torah was lying when he claimed to be an assistant rabbi at the East Village synagogue.

Bowery Boogie takes us on a spirited tour of St. Marks Place. Typical nugget: “Friends, there’s only one building in NYC that can boast Teddy Roosevelt as a speaker and the Grateful Dead as performers, and it is Arlington Hall.” Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown The Mars Bar site today

The Department of Buildings smacked a partial Stop Work Order on the former Mars Bar site today. A sign posted on the plywood construction fence at First Street and Second Avenue, where a 12-story condo is being erected, indicates that “all chopping and saw cutting on foundation walls” must cease.

It’s uncertain what provoked the order (we’ll let you know what we hear from the D.O.B.), but it isn’t the first hiccup at 25 East First Street. According to paperwork, a partial Stop Work Order was served last month after the Department of Buildings received a complaint that a crane appeared to be unsafe, and an inspector found that the project’s engineer of record hadn’t signed off on it. That issue has now been resolved.

In December, before the dive bar was toppled, another stop work order was issued after a worker was injured during a ceiling collapse.

Suzanne Rozdeba Joe Barbosa had been selling records outside of the store.

Earlier today, John Kioussis hauled a turntable and a few remaining crates of records out of an empty, darkened storefront at 33 St. Marks Place. Before locking up the narrow nook that has housed Rockit Scientist Records since 2003, he said he had closed in part because of squabbles with one of his landlords.

Mr. Kioussis let forth a litany of complaints about Amnon Kehati, a co-owner of the building (which is for sale) and of Mark Burger next-door: he had set up tables in front of his store without asking, made unreasonable complaints about garbage bags being left out, and accused the record store of attracting rats.

“The reason we have rats in the building, according to the landlord, is because I have records downstairs and rats are attracted to records,” Mr. Kioussis said as he cleared out his shop. “I wonder what scientist would tell you that Bob Dylan and Sex Pistols records attract rats as opposed to bags of tomatoes and onions all over the floor.” Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown The scene at 152 Second Avenue at around 1:30 p.m.

Workers building a three-floor extension to 152 Second Avenue put out a minor fire at around 1:30 p.m.

A pair of workers at the site said that the fire was little more than a spark from an open gas line.

“They had a fire extinguisher handy and it went out right away,” said Battalion Chief Jim Tracy.

Daniel Maurer

After months of struggling to hang on, Zee’s Pet Shop and Supply has closed. Workers who earlier today were breaking down the empty storefront on Avenue B, near 10th Street, said they didn’t know when exactly the business folded, and had no idea who would occupy the space next. It’s the latest closure off of the northeast corner of Tompkins Square Park, following Life Café and Lakeside Lounge.

Back in February, Timothy Sanders, the landlord at 155 Avenue B, told The Local that Zee was having trouble making the rent. He wasn’t available for comment today.

For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Essex Card Shop

Shira LevineM. Aslam (left) and Jayant Patel (right) outside of their store.

Twelve years ago, Jayant Patel came to the East Village for cheaper rent (yes, your read that correctly), after the monthly dues were hiked at his 12-year-old stationery store at 116th Street and Broadway. Back then, the rent in the city-owned building at 39 Avenue A was $3,500. It’s now $5,800, and the modest paper store has expanded to include items like printer cartridges, socks and baby clothes. Five years ago, Mr. Patel, who is Indian, partnered with M. Aslam, a Pakistani immigrant. Not only are the two of them making it at Essex Card Shop (and at their other store, Village Stationery on LaGuardia Place), but as Mr. Patel revealed to The Local, a movie is being made about his life story.

There is a lot of quirkiness in here, with thoughtful quotations you’ve pasted here on the counter. What is your philosophy on life?

Mr. Patel: My philosophy is “truth, love, and honesty.” It’s universal. Trust is something everyone follows. If you are truthful then people will trust you. I see myself as Muslim, Hindu, Christian, all in one. If you’re nice to people, people are friendly. People in New York are good. New York is a tough town, but it’s full of good people if you stop and experience it. Life is hard and not always comfortable. Struggle makes you strong and I don’t mind it. Read more…

Daniel Maurer An abandoned bike in the East Village.

The East Village and Lower East Side aren’t just a hotbed of bicycle accidents: they’re also where most of the city’s abandoned bikes are, if a new map is any indicator.

A project launched by WNYC’s Transportation Nation on Tuesday asks users to submit geo-located photos of unclaimed bicycles. The site aims to come up with a citywide tally of clunkers that have been chained to sign posts for months (or even years) at a time.

So far, 250 photos have been sent in across the five boroughs: the Lower East Side comes in first with 17 jalopies spotted, and the East Village follows close behind with 16. Read more…

Bahram Foroughi

Good morning, East Village.

According to DNA Info, the northbound lanes of the FDR were closed from 11th Street to 14th Street following a car accident this morning. The site has no information about the crash itself.

Following a mistrial, The Post reports that a second jury has started hearing testimony in the case of a man accused of punching a woman into a coma on East 14th Street.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Neighborhood School’s library has been saved thanks in part to a $10,000 donation from the Standard East Village. “We should be raising money for extras—like the trampoline,” says Marjorie Ingall, a parent. “Not the library and the arts program. But this is the new reality. We have to get better at fundraising.” Read more…

Tim Schreier Protester arrested at Sara D. Roosevelt Park

When we filed our final report on May Day activities in the wee hours of this morning, the police would say only that more than 30 were arrested during yesterday’s demonstrations. The final tally is now in: City Room reports that 34 people were taken into custody and another 52 issued desk appearance tickets.

The photo above is one of Tim Schreier’s newly posted shots from the Wildcat March at Sara D. Roosevelt Park. And arrest videos have also emerged on YouTube. A video posted by Kg4 shows a protester kicking out a police car window from inside of a cruiser. Read more…

Last Thursday, Brad Burgess was able to stop city marshals from evicting The Living Theatre after gathering $10,400 for back rent. But in 12 days the theater, known for its avant garde productions admired by the likes of Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, faces yet another deadline. If The Living Theatre cannot raise $24,000 by May 14 it will have to move out. Its founder, Judith Malina, will likely face eviction from her apartment above the theater shortly thereafter.

To meet the goal, the theater has set up a call for donations that went live yesterday through a local crowd-funding site, Lucky Ant. The $24,000 would go towards arrears, as well as the money to pay a consultant who would formulate a plan to put the theater back in the black.

“We are down to the wire,” said Mr. Burgess, the 27-year-old actor who is caring for Ms. Malina and helping run the theater. Read more…

Laura Edwins

Shortly after reopening the People’s Pops stand yesterday evening, Nathalie Jordi made it official: “It’s the start of Popsicle season,” she said.

The stand at East Seventh Street near First Avenue is one of eight locations (the Chelsea Market and Park Slope outposts also reopened yesterday, and a pop-up booth is coming to Madison Square Park on Saturday), but it’s a prized one.

“This is where the business got started, so we’re psyched to be back,” said Ms. Jordi of her first brick-and-mortar spot. Read more…

Courtesy of Kinofest NYC A still from “The Other Cheslea.”

Maryna Vroda, whose film “Cross Country” won the Palme d’Or for best short film at the Cannes Film Festival last year, will make her stateside debut at the Ukrainian Museum this Thursday. She’s one of four Ukrainian filmmakers – plus one from Berlin and another from Brooklyn – who will kick off this year’s Ukrainian and Post-Soviet Film Fest, dubbed Kinofest NYC.

The festival is sponsored by neighborhood institutions such as the Self Reliance Federal Credit Union and Veselka, which will cater a reception following Thursday’s screening. Andrew Kotliar, its director, said he created it three years ago with the goal of “celebrating creativity, not an ethnicity,” though he also hoped to bring together some divided groups. Read more…

Photos: Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

Yesterday we spent 19 hours live-blogging May Day activities throughout the city: you can find our initial report here and our follow-up here. There was even a David Byrne cameo. Now a video of one of the arrests has popped up on YouTube (hat tip to Google Alerts). And above, here are Scott Lynch’s photos of Tom Morello’s “guitarmy” in Bryant Park and the festivities at Union Square.

Elsewhere: More Than Usual spots a swastika on the construction plywood at 51 Astor Place.

Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York discovers that sculptor Randy Hage has created a miniature version of Mars Bar. Read more…

Photos: Tim Schreier

A May Day march from Union Square to Wall Street, which some estimated to be over 30,000 people strong, ended with hundreds of participants gathering at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza near Battery Park, and then at Zuccotti Park after they were pushed out of the plaza by police.

The permitted march, which began after Tom Morello and members of his “guitarmy” performed at Union Square, stretched many blocks down Broadway and was both leisurely and boisterous. There was, however, the occasional scuffle: as The Local previously reported, bystanders booed and chanted “Shame!” as a photographer was arrested for climbing atop a food cart to take bird’s-eye photos. The police estimated that there were “above 30” arrests throughout the day, but were not able to give an exact number as of 2 a.m. Read more…

A surreal scene played out at the May Day march making its way down Broadway in SoHo. A photographer, Jessica Chornesky, who had climbed atop a food cart to get an overhead shot of the crowd as it passed Spring Street perturbed police officers, who demanded she get down. Ms. Chornesky complied, and passing protestors erupted in boos as the police tied her wrists with plastic bands at around 7 p.m.

The police then escorted her towards Mercer Street, where they awaited the arrival of a police van to haul her away. As Ms. Chornesky complained that the bands had cut off circulation to her hands, a sharply dressed David Byrne (giving Reverend Billy a run for his money) passed by on a bicycle, apparently unaware of the goings-on.

Ms. Chornesky was unable to say if she was working for any news organization before being taken away in the paddy wagon.

Update: Massive May Day March Ends Where Occupy Wall Street Began

Photos of the march across the Williamsburg Bridge, Sara D. Roosevelt Park, and the Wildcat March by Jared Malsin.

As documented on The Local’s liveblog, demonstrations and arrests took place across the city today as anarchists, union members, Occupy Wall Street supporters, employees of The Strand, residents of public housing in Alphabet City, and even banjo players used May Day as an occasion to protest the status quo.

The proceedings were for the most part orderly, but scuffles broke out when approximately 200 demonstrators, many dressed in black and some covering their faces, assembled in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, at Second Avenue and Houston Street, at 1 p.m. for a pre-planned, unpermitted “Wildcat March.” Read more…

City Room hit Lakeside Lounge last night for the beloved bar’s swan song. Or swan songs, rather: Patti Smith’s guitarist Lenny Kaye sang Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” and there were also covers of “Now I Wanna Be Your Dog” (performed by Charlene McPherson), “I Don’t Wanna Hang Up My Rock ’n’ Roll Shoes” (with Jimbo Mathus, formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers), and the Stones song, “Sway” (rendered by Chip Robinson). “This bar is for musicians and the people who like to hang around them,” said Mr. Kaye. “We’re going to miss this joint.”

Photos: John Penley. Speaking in first photo: Tuli Kupferberg of The Fugs.

Earlier this morning, we reprinted Ellen Moynihan’s account of the 1990 May Day riots in Tompkins Square Park. Now, let’s look back at John Penley’s photographs of the day, from a collection of his work at N.Y.U.’s Tamiment Library.

Speaking to The Local from his current home in Asheville, N.C., the activist and photographer said he sensed trouble was brewing that night, twenty-two years ago. “I was ready for this one,” he said. “The ’88 riot I wasn’t ready for, but this one I had a lot of film, I had batteries, and I expected stuff to jump off.” He added, “There’s nothing like riots, man, especially as a photojournalist – as long as you don’t get beat up or your cam doesn’t get broken or something bad doesn’t happen to you, you can’t miss with the photos.” Read more…