Tim Milk

Enzo’s Pizza, famous to those who dwell near 50 Second Avenue, will be selling slices and soda up through this Thursday, May 12, Enzo’s last day of business.

Enzo’s pizza, made with fresh homemade marinara sauce and topped with real mozzarella — “not that white rubber crap,” as Enzo would put it — will be missed. His eggplant slice with farm-fresh ricotta was a masterpiece offered seasonally, and his delicious hot meatball and chicken Parmesan sandwiches were a mainstay to many in the area.

As ever, Enzo could be relied upon to serve up his specialties with opinions on everything from food to sports to politics. The more poetic aspect of the southern Italian dialect was also a feature whenever an attractive lady passed by his windows.

Stop by the place for one last slice and to say goodbye. There will never be another Enzo’s.

Adrian Fussell, Vivienne Gucwa, Michael Pearce, Tim Schreier, members of The Local East Village Flickr Group share their images of the Festival of Ideas for the New City.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

If you’d like a chance to see your best shots appear on The Local, join The Local East Village Flickr Group.

Courtesy of Girls Prep Kaitlin Seaver.

Girl Prep Middle School has new principal.

Kaitlin Seaver, a veteran educator who’s helped nearly two dozen city schools develop academic curricula, was introduced last week as the school’s new principal. Girls Prep Middle had been without a permanent principal since February when Kimberly Morcate was dismissed amid declining test scores at the school.

Ms. Seaver joins Girls Prep Middle after serving as the Department of Education’s Lead Senior Instructional Coach where she worked with 21 city middle schools to create Common Core State Standards, which she described as a “consistent, clear, understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them.”

Before joining the Department of Education, Ms. Seaver worked with Knowledge is Power Charter Schools as a sixth grade English teacher, a dean of students, and as a district middle school assistant principal.

She said that she believed a school mission is “to empower all students to become critical thinkers and strong leaders.”

“I am more than confident that we will fulfill this mission together,” said Ms. Seaver, who will begin work in July.

Ms. Seaver’s appointment comes after a two-year stretch in which the school has faced over-crowding issues, a move to a new location and a significant drop in its test scores.

Ian Rowe, one of the acting principal’s at the school, welcomed Ms. Seaver to the school.

“She will lead our Middle School to ensure our students are fully equipped to be accepted into- and thrive- in high-performing public and private high schools,” he said.

“It’s definitely a bitter sweet moment,” said Hilda Salazar, mother of a fifth grader. “We lost Ms. Morcate, but I’m excited to see what she” – Ms. Seaver – “will do.”

The Department of Buildings has issued a new permit that would allow the full demolition of 35 Cooper Square. The permit, which was issued May 6, clears the way for the destruction of the historic site; a second permit was also issued for fencing for the site, where scaffolding now obstructs the view of the three-story house. Despite preservationists’ attempts to keep the building standing, the developer has said he will not maintain it. —Suzanne Rozdeba

Handball washed up on the shores of New York about 150 years ago in the boats of Irish immigrants. It has since exploded in the city, as players of all backgrounds have adopted the sport as their own. When the weather breaks, tens of thousands flood the 2,500-plus handball courts in the city to take part in this fun, local game.

Players from all over the city convene in the East Village at the East First Street and First Avenue courts, citing the fierce competition, ethnic diversity, convenient location as reasons to travel to the courts. The courts are a preferred place to get in shape, improve your skills and even win a few bucks on the side.

NYU Journalism’s Greg Howard reports.

Rachel Citron

Good morning, East Village.

And welcome to what promises to be a beautiful week. Highs today will creep up to 70, and the sun should stay out till Friday.

On the heels of a cloudy weekend, that sounds pretty good. Hope you found your way outside in the last couple days to enjoy some of the street festivals and/or buy flowers for your mom.

As we reported earlier, a rat-infested lot in the East Village is set to host a traveling art project from the Guggenheim. Now the museum has revealed its plans to build a hovering “toolbox” platform for art exhibits while a “community gathering space” below, according to DNAinfo.

Meanwhile, animal rescue workers are concerned after a new addition to the family of Violet the hawk, who has been nesting on an NYU building. Because of a metal band on the bird’s leg, the wildlife workers may try to capture the hawk through the window of NYU’s president’s office.

And if you’re out and about this afternoon and want to rest your legs, stay away from this stretch of Bond Street, where what EV Grieve has dubbed “fanny fenders” just went up to keep “sitting on a window ledge” off your to-do list. Happy Monday, Villagers.

Members of The Local East Village Flickr Group discuss shooting photographs from a higher vantage point.

Adrian Fussell

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Last weekend, the Felix Millan Little League Blood Hounds scrimmaged their rival, the Yankees, on Diamond 5 at East River Park to gear up for the league’s 35th opening day on Saturday.

The team’s coaches, many of whom participated in the league as youngsters, said that the league provides a crucial refuge from the potential perils on the streets of the East Village and Lower East Side.

The Local caught up with Manny Rodriguez, president of Felix Millan Little League since its inaugural campaign in 1977, and a few coaches, players, and alums to find out what the league means to the community.

NYU Journalism’s Mark Riffee reports.

Michelle Rick

Good morning, East Village.

Welcome to the weekend, that is, unless you started things early with Cinco de Mayo celebrations last night. East Village bars, restaurants, and even delis got into the festivities.

Keep out those calendars out for some more memorable dates; Sunday is Mother’s Day, and for all you naughty children who forgot to make plans, DNAinfo put together a nice list of “outside the box” ideas, like East Village and NoHo History and Dessert Tour at Twilight.

For Yiddishe Mamas, perhaps a walking tour chronicling the “beloved balabustas” of the Lower East Side and sharing rugelach with the Eldridge Museum? While you jot down your plans, make note of the the annual Ukrainian festival coming up next weekend and spanning Seventh Street between Second and Third Avenue.

And in other neighborhood news, it seems the much loved ping pong table in Tompkins Square Park has been “defaced, kind of,” according to EVGrieve, despite its graffiti-resilient design of polished steel.

It’s been bad luck lately for the neighborhood’s outdoor sports fixtures: Grieve also reports that the basketball hoop on Extra Place has been removed; the why remains to be seen.

Today’s sunny high of 69 will make a quick dip for rain tomorrow, then back to the high 60’s and sunny skies on Sunday.

Phillip Kalantzis Cope

A sampling of reader reactions to recent posts that have appeared on The Local.

Two recent posts regarding development in the neighborhood — Suzanne Rozdeba’s article about the developer of 35 Cooper Square’s refusal to maintain the historic site and Mark Riffee’s interview with Anne Guiney, the director of the Institute for Urban Design — resonated with readers who are concerned about the changing face of the neighborhood.

Sam offered a defense of the developer of 35 Cooper, writing:

“This is absurd.

I’m all for the preservation of historical buildings to retain the charm, character and elegance of previous generations.

But this man owns this property and at the end of the day, he should be allowed to do what he wants with it.

If people cared so much about 35 Cooper, they should have done something about it before it became an eyesore and, more importantly – public hazard.”

Read more…

Hadas Goshen Buenos Aires, 513 East Sixth Street.

As a person of encroaching middle age, I have a largely declinist worldview. Certain things, however, give me hope for the next generation, including the large numbers of thoughtful young persons who have rejected their parents’ counsel in order to engage in pleasingly unhealthful activities, including smoking, drinking to excess, and the eating of large quantities of red meat. Thus, despite public service ads advising Americans to eat more “plant matter,” the 16-ounce steak is making a comeback in the youth setting of the East Village.

Allow me, then, to introduce Buenos Aires, a restaurant at 513 East Sixth Street which features the high-cholesterol cuisine of the South American pampas. I would be predisposed towards any restaurant with that name, since in Buenos Aires I learned to eat cuts of meat, and even inner organs, that I had never tried before; at a little stand in San Telmo — the city’s East Village, more or less — I ate rich, greasy slabs of flank steak taken straight from the grill and slapped between thick slices of white bread. ‘Twas very Heaven.

Buenos Aires-the-restaurant is a no-funny-business steak place. The décor features a few standard photos of tango dancers, and two large-screen TVs which are turned to soccer games night and day, thus bathing the place in the electric green glow of distant soccer fields. You can, if you wish, order spaghetti, lobster, chicken or various kinds of milanese—breaded beef cutlet. But why bother? Stick to the house specialty.
Read more…

Phillip Kalantzis Cope

Good morning, East Village.

As we offer you our daily greeting, we pause to ask how you’d greet a neighborhood Wal-Mart?

At Wednesday’s Community Board 3 meeting, Wal-Mart representatives expressed a wish to open up shop on the Lower East Side as part of an effort to stake its presence across Manhattan. DNAinfo reports that a coalition of groups opposed to the retailer called Walmart Free NYC asked the Economic Development Committee to vote against any future developments that could adversely affect small businesses.

But in a recent poll of New York City voters by Quinnipac University, 68 percent of respondents said that they’d shop at Wal-Mart. Would you? Let us know in the comments section below.

A vision of our community’s future is being offered through the weekend with the first Festival of Ideas for the New City, a collaborative project featuring downtown organizations with conferences and events, and a “Streetfest” along the Bowery.

The festival, which began Wednesday and carries on through Sunday, highlights the history of the Bowery with local voices, including Rob Hollander of the Lower East Side History Project, who’ll be giving a walking tour entitled “The Bowery: How It Got There and Where It’s Going,” beginning on Astor Place.

If you plan on going, you may want to bring along an umbrella: Today’s mix of clouds and sun will most likely give way to rain by Saturday.

Since the early 19th century, locals and visitors alike have gazed at the striking Gothic architecture of Grace Church, located on Broadway and 10th Street. However, if visitors were to venture through the church’s doors, they are also likely to encounter a rich crescendo of organ music.

Grace Church’s artist-in-residence and concert organist, Stephen Tharp, helps to maintain Grace’s musical legacy alongside its master of choristers, Patrick Allen.

Today, Grace Church is undergoing a massive restoration process. In addition to stained glass windows and ornate woodwork, Grace will fit the colossal building with a world-class organ by 2012. Besides Mr. Tharp’s career accomplishments as an organist (touring around the world, composing his own music, and performing for the pope), he is eager to fortify Grace’s musical legacy on its brand new organ.

The Local speaks with Mr. Tharp about his current position as artist-in-residence at a church that is evolving both architecturally and musically.

NYU Journalism’s Stephanie Buck and Kristin Buettner report.

Gloria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

For some who attended last night’s meeting at Cooper Union, it may not be such a good morning. Protestors booed and jeered as the New York City Rent Guidelines Board took a preliminary vote to increase rent stabilized apartments between three to 5.75 percent for one year apartment leases, and up to nine percent for two year leases, with an additional one percent for oil-heated buildings, DNAinfo reports.

The board approved the increase with a 5-4 vote, citing the need to keep up with the growing operating costs for building owners. What’s next? Two more public hearings on June 16 and 20, before a final vote on June 27. Will you be in attendance? Let us know.

But hey, at least British royalty can still afford the neighborhood. On Saturday, the East Village tipped its hat to the famous newlyweds, with a fresh mural of Prince William and Kate Middleton holding court on the corner of East Houston and Avenue B. According to BoweryBoogie, Lower East Side artist Chico offered up his congratulatory message (only up for about three weeks) after being commissioned by Branson B. Champagne, a Harlem based liquor company.

And the rain, rain won’t go away–at least not for another day. Expect wet weather with a high of 55.