A portion of East Third Street became a crime scene shortly after 11:30 p.m. last night, after an apparent assault occurred in one of the guest rooms operated by Interfaith Community Services.
The police are not yet able to confirm what happened, but Adi Purusha Das, a director of the organization that feeds the needy near Tompkins Square Park, said that he was told of the incident at 73 East Third Street, between First and Second Avenues, this morning. Read more…
Daniel Maurer76 Third Avenue (l) and 100 Third Avenue (r)
In case you’re a voyeur for this sort of thing: scaffolding and construction netting has gone up at 76 Third Avenue, the building next to the former home of Nevada Smiths that’s due to be replaced with a building designed by controversial architect Karl Fischer. A full demolition permit was issued on Feb. 24. Meanwhile, the building that will house the new Nevada Smiths, a block away at 100 Third Avenue, has been completely stripped of scaffolding. Might as well take a look, yes?
Update: According to Department of Buildings records, a permit to demolish the former Nevada Smiths building at 74 Third Avenue was issued today. Expect it to be shrouded soon as well.
A woman who claims she was subject to an “unlawful and violent arrest” on the sidewalk next to Tompkins Square Park is looking for witnesses to her detention, according to a flyer posted on the door of a building on East 10th Street.
The flyer seeks anyone who might have “witnessed the unlawful and violent arrest of a young Asian woman by two NYPD officers, across the street on the sidewalk next to Tompkins Square Park on late Tuesday night of Jan. 31/ Wednesday morning of Feb. 1 at approximately 1:30 am.”
The Local contacted the woman via a number attached to the flyer, but she declined to make her name or any other details public because of legal concerns related to the alleged incident.
The Police Department said no information about the matter was immediately available.
The folks behind “The Trouble With Bliss” – the movie adaptation of Douglas Light’s “East Fifth Bliss,” about a 35-year-old who still lives with his father in an East Village apartment – have posted a new video featuring clips from the movie and an interview with Michael C. Hall, who stars in the film along with Lucy Liu. Plus: If you download a flyer and get it validated by local businesses like Good Records (featured in the movie), you can enter a contest at select screenings. (Who says East Village film productions don’t give back to local businesses?)
As documented on its production blog, the film, premiering March 23 at Village East, was shot in front of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, STA Travel, Tompkins Square Park, Velvet Cigar Lounge (click here for a 2-for-1 cigar deal!), and various other locations in April and May of 2010. You can see the trailer here.
Jared MalsinMoRUS founders Laurie Mittelmann, left, and Bill
DiPaola, right.
After seven months of negotiations, the creators of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space have finally signed a lease and are busy fundraising, compiling photos and video, and renovating the storefront inside the legendary collective building C-Squat, where the East Village’s first squatting and homesteading museum will be housed.
The signing of the lease on Thursday with the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board marked the formal launch of the project, which is already staging what organizer Laurie Mittelmann calls “spontaneous tours” of squats, community gardens and other sites of street-level confrontation with police and developers over the control of urban space in the East Village since the 1970s.
On Tuesday, The Local visited the Museum’s dedicated video compiling facility (we were asked not to disclose its location), where two of the project’s 30 volunteers were hunched over computers logging video onto hard drives. (Time’s Up has donated over 400 hours of footage to the museum.) On one video, police were issuing a ticket to performance artist Reverend Billy during a 2006 demonstration.
During our visit, Ms. Mittelmann and co-director Bill DiPaola spoke about their vision and plans for the new museum. Read more…
DNA Info reports that Army investigators have recommended dropping involuntary manslaughter charges against four of the soldiers who are accused of driving Pvt. Danny Chen to suicide. If the recommendations stand, the soldiers will still be court-martialed on charges of criminally negligent homicide.
Neighborhoodr reprints a section of a new National Geographic city guide that gives a shoutout to “Mosaic Man” Jim Power. Read more…
“The Hells Angels don’t like publicity,” said Ron Kuby, the attorney for the bike club’s New York City chapter. So why have they advertised their annual St. Patrick’s Day bash by posting flyers on the windows of The Edge, a bar near their clubhouse on East Third Street? Before you go thinking this is an invite into the group’s notoriously private digs: The party won’t be held in the East Village. Or even in Manhattan. It’s due to be held in Queens.
(Oh, and the invitation isn’t entirely welcoming: a disclaimer at the bottom reads: “Unauthorized Use Of This Flyer Is Prohibited.”)
The five-hour gathering is set to take place this Sunday afternoon at a Portuguese recreational center on Liberty Avenue in Jamaica. The venue, which accommodates 350, was leased for $4,500.
Asked whether a reporter for The Local could attend the bash, a biker named Rick said, “Sure!” He smiled as he stood outside the clubhouse, wearing a sock hat against the chill and a prospect badge on his jacket, meaning he’s still seeking to qualify for full membership and voting privileges in the club. He said the Angels would be selling merchandise such as t-shirts during the event. Read more…
A new play at Theater for the New City about a bicycle shop encourages the audience to arrive by bike and then park their rides on the stage. “Bike Shop” is a one-woman musical about Bobby, a bike mechanic who tries to get back on her ride after a nasty cycling accident. According to the theater, Bobby “builds and fixes real bicycles onstage while backed up by a four-piece ‘Bicycle Band.'” If you do end up riding to the show, which premieres on Thursday, just be careful when you make turns out of the bike lane. You don’t want to end up getting a ticket like cyclist Evan Neumann, who was so outraged by the citation he received while riding in the Lower East Side that he is suing the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Katrina Bowden will no doubt be recognizable to her East Village neighbors as 30 Rock’s resident hottie Cerie, who has been known to school her boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) on the nuances of social networking. Though she is originally a Jersey Girl, Ms. Bowden, 23, says she was drawn to her home of the past two years “because I like the neighborhood and everything it has to offer: great restaurants, intimate wine bars and a fun downtown vibe.” It’s shaping up to be a thrilling year for the actress, who has three films coming out, including screamer “Piranha 3DD.” Even more exciting? She recently got engaged to her high school sweetheart, rocker Ben Jorgensen. Let’s hear where the happy couple likes to hang out.
Favorite people-watching
Pretty much anywhere! I guess a good place to do it though is at a corner coffee shop like Think Coffee or The Bean. Also, Tompkins Square Park is pretty incredible for people-watching (and cute-dog-watching!). They have a dog park within the park and I often stop to watch the dogs play. It’ll have to do until I finally get a dog of my own. Read more…
On Friday, Second Avenue lounge Lit celebrated its ten years as a gathering place and showcase for downtown’s musicians, artists, D.J.s, and plain ol’ cool kids. The Local managed to squeeze a video camera into the crowded house and spoke to owners Erik Foss and David Schwartz, along with Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (one of the night’s many star D.J.s) and Alli Pheteplace and Ryan Macdonald of the Bootblacks, who performed downstairs. Stay tuned this week as we look back on ten years of bands (everyone from Panthers to Japanther), art shows, and bathroom hijinks, and feel free to share your own Lit stories (if you can remember them?) in the comments.
Fox News reports that Hector Xavier Monsegur, the alleged mastermind of high profile hacks under the alias “Sabu,” was a resident of the Jacob Riis Houses. According to Fox, Mr. Monsegur, an unemployed 28-year-old father of two, was arrested by the FBI in June and became an informant who was instrumental in the capture of other fellow “hacktivists.” Sabu was front and center in numerous recent hacks, including the leaking of information belonging to the security company Stratfor, as well as attacks on PayPal and MasterCard.
Demonstrators aiming to make Congress and corporations more aware of unemployment on Super Tuesday lined up on Broadway between Union Square and Houston Street this morning, holding pink flyers that read “The Next Pink Slip Might Be Yours.” The 15-minute event, which aimed to form a line of thousands from Wall Street to Union Square, was organized by HERE and Working Theater along with several unions and non-profits, including East Village groups such as Fourth Arts Block, Theatre for the New City, and Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition.
The turnout seems to have been a bit lower than hoped for: Tim Schreier, who took the above photos shortly after 8:14 a.m. this morning, estimated there were about 100 people in the Union Square area. Photos from Wall Street can be found here, via The Line’s website.
Here’s The Local’s latest installment of “Police And Thieves,” your weekly roundup of crime. What follows are the latest reports from Feb. 20 to Feb. 27, sorted by the type of incident. Our map of all of crime since Jan. 15 is at bottom.
Robberies
As previously reported, a pair of thieves robbed a woman at gunpoint on Feb. 22.
Two witnesses collared a purse-snatcher after a chase into the subway on Feb. 24. The 25-year-old victim told the police she was at First Avenue and East 10th Street at around 12:15 a.m. when the suspect ran up from behind and tried to grab her purse. When the victim resisted the thief pushed her, ripped the purse from her hand and took off towards the First Avenue L train. As two witnesses gave chase the suspect tossed the purse. The pair then detained the suspect in the subway station until the police arrived. The police said that the suspect had seven prior arrests, including two robberies.
This guy isn’t much of a pal. A 19-year-old told the police she was chatting with her “friend” in the 10th floor stairwell of the Jacob Riis Houses at around 1 a.m. when he grabbed her bag that she had set down on the floor. The victim gave chase, and on the seventh floor the suspect dropped what appeared to be the receiver of a 9-millimeter Smith and Wesson.
A man’s wallet was stolen from Phoenix on Feb. 18. The 22-year-old victim told the police he set his coat down on the floor of the bar on East 13th Street at around 1 a.m. By 9:30 a.m. the next day the thief had made a whopping $8,000 in charges on his account.
A team of burglars ripped off the INA consignment shop on Feb. 20. An employee told the police four women and one guy walked into the store on Bleecker Street at around 3:10 p.m. and then fanned out. The employee noticed some purses missing and said, “Where are the Louis Vuitton bags?” That’s when the quintet took off running. Read more…
In the wake of Retna’s new mural, Complex looks back at some previous installations at Bowery and Houston, including murals by Kenny Scharf and of course the original Keith Haring.
According to SchoolBook, Bill de Blasio and other city officials joined parents in protesting proposed budget cuts to after-school programs.
EV Grieve gets wind of an audio tour, narrated by Jim Jarmusch and featuring music by John Zorn as well as commentary by the likes of Richard Hell and Ed Sanders, about East Village poets and poetry. Read more…
Yesterday we showed you Marquis Lewis, a.k.a. Retna, painting the latest mural at Houston Street and Bowery. Now: the finished work, which has already drawn its share of admirers. That’s Scott Lynch, a contributor to The Local, in the final shot. When you’re done with the slideshow above, you can see his photos of the mural in our Flickr pool.
As anticipated, the Coen Brothers are back in the neighborhood and have been filming “Inside Llewyn Davis” inside of the Isaac T. Hopper Home at 110 Second Avenue all day. Since 1874, the Greek Revival row house, a landmark dating all the way back to 1838, has been home to the Women’s Prison Association, an advocacy and assistance organization for women with criminal records.
Alex Villano, the W.P.A.’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, said the group connected with the Coens after a location scout slipped a flyer under the door of the building between Sixth and Seventh Streets. She gave The Local a hint about what’s being filmed on the third floor, though she couldn’t say which stars were involved because she hadn’t seen any of them: “One of the reasons they really liked the space,” she said, “is that it’s a scene that has a fire escape involved where someone’s coming in and out of a window.” (Spoiler alert!) Read more…
Today the district attorney dismissed the disorderly conduct charge against Jared Malsin, a reporter for The Local and a student at N.Y.U.’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute who was arrested while filming the clearing of Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park in November. “The D.A. said that they learned he was working press,” said Gideon Orion Oliver, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild who represented Mr. Malsin. “In light of that they couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had a criminal intent.”
Patricia James, the Two Bridges resident who is locked in a $14,000 showdown with the New York City Housing Authority, says the Authority has withdrawn an offer that would’ve let her stay in her home of more than 30 years.
Last week, in an e-mail sent before her Tuesday hearing in housing court, Ms. James said the notice had been given to her attorney, Kofi Scott: “The Housing Authority’s lawyer advised [Mr. Scott] that her supervisor was not pleased that she had been contacted by [The Local] and the deal may be off the table!” Mr. Scott said that N.Y.C.H.A. had left a message on his answering machine, terminating a verbal agreement to let Ms. James stay in her apartment if she handed over a check for over $14,000 in back rent and if she agreed to two years of probation. Read more…
Speaking of iconic antiques-and-oddities purveyors, Billy Leroy has set a date for the goodbye party that will precede the teardown of his tent, which, a couple months after closing, is still standing next to the new mural at Houston Street and Bowery. While in Los Angeles shooting the sixth episode of his forthcoming Travel Channel show “Baggage Battles,” he told The Local, “The party is Friday, March 9 and we bury the tent the next day.” Check out the new teaser for “Baggage Battles” above: as previously reported, it premieres April 11.
Maybe you saw the messages beamed, Bat-Signal-like, on the wall of Cooper Union’s new academic building on Saturday? Actually, it was just one of two spectacles related to Occupy Wall Street in the East Village that night.
“It is the beginning of the beginning. Another world is possible,” read the messages. The final one beamed on the steel facade of 41 Cooper Square was the original Occupy slogan: “99%.”
This was the maiden voyage of The Illuminator, a white cargo van modified by a group of Brooklyn-based guerilla artists. A 12,000-lumen projector emerged from its roof while clanging post-rock blared from a set of mounted loudspeakers. Also attached to the van was a rack of books available for public perusal, a mobile version of Occupy Wall Street’s “People’s Library.” Read more…
The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards.
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Daniel MaurerThe crime scene last night.
