When Hospital Productionsclosed its record store on East Third Street in December, the East Village’s avant-garde, noise, and experimental music scene continued to shrink (remember the days when Downtown Music Gallery was located on the Bowery? or when the Knitting Factory was on Houston Street?). As it turns out, Hospital’s founder, Dominick Fernow, is headed west, but he’s making a slight return this month, as curator of a two-week series of performances at The Stone on Avenue C.
Mr. Fernow, who will continue to run Hospital Records as a music label specializing in progressive noise, ambient, and metal music, told The Local that he closed his five-year-old record shop because he and Wesley Eisold, his bandmate in Cold Cave, were moving to Hollywood. Becka Diamond, an “it” girl who DJs at Cold Cave shows, also headed west. Despite regular gigs spinning outré music at venues like The Standard’s rooftop club, she left town – for no real reason, she said, save boredom with New York.
“It’s the same scene,” she said. “We just live out here now.”
Ruth SpencerSteve Cannon, founder of Gathering of the Tribes.
Tribes is fighting back.
The landlord attempting to evict Gathering of the Tribes has no right to do so, and actually owes the founder of the quirky arts group at least $8,400, a new lawsuit alleges.
In December, Lorraine Zhang, the landlord of 285 East Third Street, served Steve Cannon, the blind poet, playwright and founder of Tribes with a notice that he must leave the building by Jan. 31.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in State Supreme Court and reprinted below, says that the notice is “invalid” and that “Cannon is entitled to remain as an occupant of the second floor of the premises subject to the terms of the agreement” that the pair signed when Mr. Cannon sold the building to Ms. Zhang in 2004. Read more…
Remember the family of pumpkins that took up residence inside of a fenced-in lot behind P.S. 19 Asher Levy School – presumably in October? Last week, as you can see above, they were still camping out, and sinking into a sorry state that made one wonder if they were some sort of biology-class experiment.
After devoting so much attention to their plight, we were beginning to feel hopeless about the power of journalism vegetable voyeurism to affect genuine change – but also ghoulishly fascinated to see just how long they’d continue to decompose as the students of Asher Levy played kickball right next to them. And now, as you can see below: the pumpkins are gone – presumably the work of an intrepid hazmat team trained in squash removal. Orange’ya sad about this? We kind of are. Read more…
East Village Farm, the convenience store that’s leaving the corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street, has announced that it’s “going out business” on Feb. 5, with the flower man lingering until Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day. Now we know where we’ll be buying our roses.
From 1980 until 1996, John Leguizamo, the actor, comedian, writer and producer behind such hits as “Mambo Mouth” and “Ghetto Klown,” lived on East Seventh Street. He now resides in the central Village, but he still has roots in Alphabet City: his production offices are headquartered in his old brownstone there; and last month his wife Justine, who sits on the board of the Greenwich Village Society For Historic Preservation, spoke at a hearing that resulted in the landmarking of a block on East 10th Street.
Mr. Leguizamo told The Local that the East Village “will always hold a special place in my heart.” Of course, things have changed since the days when “you’d see Eric Bogosian at the bodega, Steve Buscemi buying a coffee, Iggy Pop at the health food store, Quentin Crisp tottering down the street,” as he wrote in his memoir. Over e-mail, he said, “The neighborhood used to be alive with all different kind of artists. Musicians, poets, painters, actors, singers, dancers. But the rich came in and all the squatters left and went to Brooklyn.”
So what’s there still to love about the “East Vill”? Mr. Leguizamo reflected on some of his past and present favorites. Read more…
Ray LemoineWork was being done inside of Life earlier today.
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Life Cafe.
Owner Kathy Kirkpatrick and landlord Bob Perl have been in talks with potential business partners who would pave the way for the shuttered cafe at East 10th Street and Avenue B to finally reopen, much to the relief of “Rentheads” everywhere.
“There are other parties who want to partner with Kathy and I am talking to them,” said Mr. Perl. “There is a possibility it could go on — whether it does I’m not sure.”
Ms. Kirkpatrick confirmed the discussions, but had little to add. “It has to do with the landlord agreeing to work together and cooperate,” she said. Read more…
After a failed demolition attempt by would-be developers, the historic building at 128 East 13th Street will hit the auction block thanks to an order from a State Supreme Court judge, The Real Deal reports. The building, which was home to one of the city’s leading sellers of horses and horse-drawn carriages and later served as sculptor Frank Stella’s studio, was the subject of much lobbying by preservationists once developers Isaac Mishan and Joseph Sabbah revealed plans to replace it with a seven-story building in 2006. The pair defaulted on $10.5 million in loans, resulting in last week’s court order.
Francisco DaumFlowers outside of CBGB in 2001, after Joey Ramone died of lymphatic cancer.
The CBGB brand — and the merchandising empire that comes with it — changed hands three months ago, a representative of the new owners told The Local.
“We bought the entire estate, the physical assets of the former club. They dissembled it as a theatrical unit so in theory they could put it back together — say, 80 percent they salvaged,” said the spokesman for the new owners, who wished to remain anonymous in anticipation of an announcement in the coming weeks regarding the return of the legendary club. “There are all kinds of tapes, photos, and the global trademarks and licensing.”
The spokesman added that his group bought the CBGB estate from Lisa Kristal, the daughter of the founder of the club, Hilly Kristal. A man who answered the phone at Ms. Kristal’s number had no comment regarding the transaction.
“In negotiating the sale, Lisa Kristal was motivated much more by preserving the legacy of CBGB than she was by money,” said the spokesman in an e-mail. “We had to court her for seven months, proving to her that we would be the best guardians of the name. She wanted to know our plans. I would stay up until two in the morning, night after night listening to her wonderful stories and telling her about the ways in which we were going to keep CBGB alive through loud music and by supporting new bands.” Read more…
Gloria ChungThe Nuyorican Poets Cafe at 236 East Third Street.
Several visits from city inspectors have led to the temporary closing of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Daniel Gallant, the executive director, told The Local.
The cafe tweeted the news earlier today, and Mr. Gallant clarified — a little — over the phone.
“The building is quite old. Some of the space we’re hoping to renovate,” he said. “We’ve had a few different city inspectors come in since the end of the year — we just figured it’s probably the best thing to do repairs.”
Mr. Gallant did not wish to go into further details before again meeting with city inspectors.
The Nuyorican building does not show any recent violations or complaints on the Department of Buildings website. Mr. Gallant said he should know when the cafe will reopen by Wednesday.
Getting a table or a bar stool at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge Saturday night was nearly impossible. The 47-year-old dive was wall-to-wall with regulars, there to pay respects on its final night.
“I came here before I was legal,” said Angela Martenez, who frequented the Holiday in the 1990s. “The drinks were strong and cheap. And the little twinkly Christmas lights were friendly, and that’s what I needed in my life at the time.”
From all corners of the city, former East Villagers returned to the Holiday for one last beer. Read more…
In a show of solidarity for Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in Oakland, a group marched from Washington Square Park, as far north as 29th Street, and then back south to Tompkins Square Park – with a symbolic stop at the former Charas/El Bohio community center. Witnesses reported smashed bottles and arrests in the East Village last night.
Shortly before 10 p.m., protesters who had gathered at Washington Square Park three hours earlier made their way to the former P.S. 64 building on East Ninth Street, which was at the center of demonstrations last month. As The Local has reported, some residents want the developer who owns the vacant building to use it as a community center again.
After hearing a few words about the building’s history, the group – escorted by a column of police officers in the street – walked down Avenue C, then Eighth Street, and then Avenue B before stopping at East Seventh Street, at the entrance of Tompkins Square Park. Read more…
Charlie Frick was a rock n’ roll writer and photographer for The East Village Other. He was a network television cameraman and in more recent years has become an independent media consultant. An original light box is among the artifacts he rescued from EVO’s last office in the Law Commune at 640 Broadway. Writing in 1979 for an Alternative Media Syndicate publication (hence at least one instance of “alternative” language), he described the “controlled artistic anarchy” of psychedelic design.
For more on “Blowing Minds: The East Village Other, the Rise of Underground Comix and the Alternative Press, 1965-72,” read about the exhibition here, and read more from EVO’s editors, writers, artists, and associates here.
As documented in a DNA Info video, Steve Kraus has been publishing the New York Good News since the 1960s. Now 82, he has lived just above Café Mogador on St. Marks Place for the past 37 years. He also volunteers for the Jewish Foundation of the Righteous. The following piece appeared in a 1979 booklet produced by the Alternative Press Syndicate, titled “Alternative Media: How the Muckrakers Saved America,” published by Bell and Howell. It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.
For more on “Blowing Minds: The East Village Other, the Rise of Underground Comix and the Alternative Press, 1965-72,” read about the exhibition here, and read more from EVO’s editors, writers, artists, and associates here.
Last weekend, in one of our posts celebrating The East Village Other, Ed Sanders wrote that poet Ted Berrigan may have named the alternative newspaper after the Rimbaud line “I is an Other.” Mr. Sanders acknowledged, “Another account has Ishmael Reed coining the name.” In the comments, EVO editor Peter Leggieri wrote that Allen Katzman (who founded the paper along with Dan Rattiner and Walter Bowart) “always gave the impression that he had suggested the name ‘Other.'” After citing the reasons, Mr. Leggieri wrote, “However, if the question of origin came to a vote, I’d probably pull the lever for Ishmael Reed.” Here, now, is Mr. Reed himself, on his role in shaping The East Village Other.
Isamu KawaiIshmael Reed, 1967
My receiving a job as the editor of a newspaper in Newark, N.J., led to the origin of The East Village Other. I worked a number of temporary jobs from the time I arrived in New York in the fall of 1962 until I left for California in the summer of 1967. One of those jobs was that of a pollster for The Daily News. So when I went to the Department of Labor to get a temporary job, after the poll was completed, I was informed of an opening for a reporter for a new newspaper in Newark.
I had written for a newspaper in Buffalo called The Empire Star, edited by the great A.J. Smitherman, who was the target of mob violence during one of the worst riots in American history, the Tulsa riots of 1921, which left 300 blacks dead.
Smitherman believed in armed self-defense against lynching. After an interview with the investors, it was decided that I would be the editor of a newspaper that I named Advance. Although I had watched the production of a newspaper using the old linotype method while working for the newspaper in Buffalo, I hadn’t a clue about offset printing.
Walter Bowart was a bartender at Stanley’s, which was our hangout. It was owned by Stanley Tolkin who was a patron of the arts and our benefactor. Read more…
The news that both Bleecker Bob’s Records and the Holiday Cocktail Lounge would close amounted to a brutal double-whammy for many locals living around the Village. But there’s a silver lining: Jennifer Kitzer, a longtime partner of Bleecker Bob’s, told The Local that if worst comes to worst, the store will move to the East Village or Lower East Side.
For now, though, she and the staff are focused on remaining in their current location. “We’re not closing permanently — we’re not running out of there anytime soon,” said Ms. Kitzer, who later added, “I’m not looking to shut the name down, shut the store down. There’s going to be a fight in us.” Read more…
Stephen Rex BrownLouis Fugazy kept the drinks coming last night at Holiday Cocktail Lounge.
Word had gotten around by the time the regulars started arriving: after 47 years, the Holiday Cocktail Lounge will close on Saturday. Not surprisingly, the shots just kept coming.
“Everybody that ever stepped foot in this bar is going to come through in the next three days,” said bartender Louis Fugazy. Over the years, those characters have included W. H. Auden, Leon Trotsky, and Allen Ginsberg, when they lived on the block. And urban legend has it that Madonna named “Holiday” after the bar (this much is certain: punk-pop band the Bouncing Souls immortalized the dive in a song that shares its name).
Over drinks, many of the regulars sitting around the semicircular bar bemoanded the state of the neighborhood, which recently has endured the loss of Mars Bar, another beloved dive. “Gentrification is moving out all the old standbys,” said Jeff Tendler, who was working the door. “The neighborhood is becoming full of chains, and the little guy is getting pushed out.” Read more…
First John Legend put his pad up for sale and now The Observer reports that Scottish singer-songwriter K.T. Tunstall has sold her duplex at 525 East 11th Street for $1.5 million, about $75,000 less than what she bought it for in 2008. The 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with 540-square-foot terrace went to one Farsad Golnaz.
The above teaser for “The Angelheads” was just posted to YouTube, and a bit of internet sleuthing reveals there will be a fundraiser for the “romantic serio-comic independent feature film” at Phoenix Bar tonight at 7 p.m. True to the titular Ginsberg line about angelheaded hipsters, the film’s four protagonists seem to be burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night – mostly in cramped East Village apartments, though occasionally they get some air on a sun-splashed tenement rooftop or in Tompkins Square Park.
Per the film’s Twitter stream, shooting locations also included the Ninth Ward and East Side Ink, and the poster (tagline: “Love. Art. Ink.”) was shot at the Astor Place cube. We’ll have more about this local production as it nears its summer release date; in the meantime, enjoy the first look.
Stephen Rex BrownA member of the Just For Kicks adult softball league (left) testifies at today’s hearing.
The proposed changes to the system governing ball fields in city parks drew around 140 people today, many of whom expressed concern that a new priority for youth leagues would end up pushing adult games out.
If the reforms by the Parks Department are approved, youth leagues will be given priority when considering new ball-field permit applications.
“It’s silly to think this can’t lead to adult leagues being pushed out entirely,” said David Nierenberg, who plays in the Mundys Softball League in Brooklyn. “I don’t think that’s fair.” Read more…
The plot thickens: Another intriguing sign has gone up in the window of the law office of Zenon B. Masnyj, on East Seventh Street between Second and Third Avenues. The Local is still trying to get to the bottom of these leading questions; in the meantime, click on our photo to read the latest.
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. Read more »
Ray Lemoine The Stone
