Clint McMahon

Would-be messages from the East Village, in 140 characters or less.

Think Café

Think? He can’t even hear! So he’ll just stand & stare at
the barista there: Sleek update of the girl in Manet’s Un
Bar aux Folies Bergère

Literary Investigation

If T.S.E. were 23, would he be a downtown dandy,
mouth full of Jay-Z? LinkedIn loner on Facebook?
Poetry Society grandee? Let us go then,

& take a look. (Everything you wrote that was prophetic
& new, Major Tom, has long come true. So what would
you do now, for Act Two?)

Life

You can either embrace it or invent increasingly
complicated ways to replace it. Either way, it’ll catch
you in the end. Worse, before then

Truth Deferred

One mirror cruel, the other kind, I stick to the latter
when I unwind. If truth is called for, I take a look: The
first reads me like a book
Read more…

In fashion, utility often takes a backseat to stylish – but it doesn’t have to be so. As spring rolls on, stylish East Villagers are playing up what winter wear remains with zippers and buttons that are both functional and fun. Accents on coats, boots and bags have a purpose whether it be to stash keys or sunglasses or keep you warm, but they can also spice up an outfit. The Local hits the pavement to find out what accents serve the dual purpose of functionality and fashion forward.

NYU Journalism’s Rachel Ohm and Claire Glass report.

Tim Schreier

Good morning, East Village.

We hope you enjoyed the sunshine over the weekend as today’s forecast calls mostly for rain, although temperatures will be warming up to the 60’s.

NearSay has compiled a list of the best springtime bars in the East Village and Lower East Side and also reports on the closing of the East Village’s beloved Southern food mainstay, Mara’s Homemade.

The list however, might be useful, as The Post reported during the weekend that the East Village contains the city’s most alcohol-soaked zip code, topping the list of most liquor licenses with 474 and making it the “cocktail capital” of New York.

Two quick nostalgia notes: NearSay recalls the history of La Salle Academy on Second Avenue. Later this week a new documentary, “Blank City”, depicting life in the East Village in the 70’s and 80’s will debut at the IFC Film Center.

Finally, Land Use and Zoning Committee of Community Board 3 will meet tonight. On the agenda are affordable housing plans and NYU’s 2031 expansion plans.

Tim Schreier on photographing people as they interact with art.

“I am simply a ‘picture taker.’ I would not call myself a photographer because that indicates some form of formal training, study or professional capacity. I kind of think of myself as a painter with a severe attention deficit, meaning I love light and admire photographers who are able to take advantage of natural lighting in it’s purest form. One of my favorite things to do is to visit galleries or museums and watch people as they interact with art.”
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Rachel Ohm The building that houses East Side Community School on 11th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A will also become the new home of Girl’s Prep Middle School in the fall.

For the past year, Girl’s Prep, an all-girls charter school in the East Village has been in search of a new home for its growing middle school.

Last week, school officials received approval from the Department of Education to move into a space at the East Side Community School building on 11th Street and First Avenue. The middle school, which currently serves students in grades five and six only, will be able to re-locate in the fall and eventually expand to teach seventh and eighth graders.

“It’s such a relief to know we have a permanent, free public school space,” said Ian Rowe, the school’s interim principal. “Our parents have been through a roller coaster these last two years.”

Girl’s Prep is a kindergarten through sixth grade school that opened at 442 Houston Street in 2005 as an elementary school. Last year, when it expanded to grades five and six, the new middle school moved to a temporary location that it rented at 51 Astor Place. That building is set to be demolished later this year, after the charter’s lease expires June 30.
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Shawn Hoke

This blog began with an invitation. From our very first post, The Local has sought to bring our neighbors in the East Village into the process of producing news and telling their own stories about their community.

Recently, The Local quietly marked six months of publication and while the wonderful experiment that it represents will continue, my time running the site is coming to an end. In August, after what will have been 20 months of planning, developing and publishing The Local, I will step down to pursue other ventures and to devote more time to completing my doctoral dissertation.

Today, NYU is opening the search for the next editor of The Local. Whoever gets the job will be stepping into a position that is exciting, challenging and rewarding and one that is very much helping to drive the industry-wide conversation about digital storytelling, hyperlocal news and the future of pro-am journalism partnerships.
Read more…

C. Ceres Merry

Good morning, East Village.

It seems the rain is going to stop, the clouds are going to vanish, the sun will come out…well, not today. But this weekend is slated for decent weather, and Sunday might be rather pleasant.

In a few weeks, your Bowery will host a street fair-slash-art workshop, as the New Museum throws a four-day “Festival of Ideas for the New City.” The event, which will run May 4-8, will feature speeches and interactive art displays, as well as panels and classes given by local community groups.

In artsy news via BoweryBoogie, one neighborhood photographer has turned her shots of the Village into a quilt, with daylight pictures on one side, and night-time pics on the reverse.

And from the Captain Obvious Institute for Totally Necessary Studies, we receive word that the East Village has lots and lots of happy hours — more than any other Manhattan neighborhood, in fact. But it’s Friday, so you, dear readers, will probably need to do a little further research.

Phillip Kalantzis Cope

Would-be messages from the East Village, in 140 characters or less.

I, Phone,

…have taken over, man! You can’t do without me,
forget about it, dude, you’re screwed, don’t you
understand anything? I own you

Personal

Neither a fighter nor a lover, me. Presenting: 180 lbs. of
Humanity. Single, sober, solvent, rents a flat. Touch-
starved. That’s that

Banker’s Advice

Although he could not understand the financial
information Mr. Li was giving him, he suspected Mr. Li
did not fully understand it either

Cosmopolitan (J.P. Morgan Chase)

When he informed him he was moving to France for six
months, Mr. Li looked genuinely puzzled. “France?
Why would you want to go there?”

Finding it difficult to frame a simple answer to such a
complex question, he was polite. “Oh, you know, I just
feel like going somewhere”

The Old Lovers

A decade unmet, fearful of Time’s traces,
they settled on a dinner date
in which they would dine in different places

A Chinese Hair From A Chinese Head

… coiled among murky translucent shells ripped from
shrimp bought on Canal piled like dozens of used
condoms in a bowl on the kitchen table

Embarrassment

The first warm days of Spring can be a scary thing.
Overnight, so calmly – as if they had never been – coats
and hats are shed

and each body’s truth revealed. Eyes grow busier,
bolder. They meet at crossroads. They mate. Cheeks
susceptible turn pink, then red

Madison Avenue

Uptown, you breathe the clean clear air of money. Saw
James Merrill there once, on the street. Imagine what he
could have done with a tweet

Weeping Tom

He can only hear through the air shaft, not see: The song
of life as sung by students from F.I.T. Loud, obnoxious,
excited, cheerful… young

Absence

After she died, he sensed (just once) her watching him
from the sky above 3^rd Avenue. For days she stayed
with him, like the sun’s warmth.

But now three years have passed since her burial
overseas, in an old French city, and the sky above the
East Village, his home, is empty

Tim Milk Talks are set for next month between developers and preservationists on the future of 35 Cooper Square.

Preservationists are holding out hope that there is still a future for 35 Cooper Square, now that the site’s developer, Arun Bhatia, has agreed to meet with neighborhood groups next month.

The meeting, arranged through Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, is set for April 12, Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told The Local this morning. The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Historic Districts Council, East Village Community Coalition, and Lower East Side Preservation Initiative are among groups invited to the meeting, which will not be open to the public. The meeting’s tentative location is the Neighborhood Preservation Center on East 11th Street.

“It’s something we’ve been seeking for weeks or months,” said Mr. Berman. “It’s been in the works for a long time. We won’t know until we have the meeting exactly what will come out of it, but obviously we’re happy that it’s happening.”

Asked what persuaded Mr. Bhatia to arrange the meeting, Mr. Berman said, “My sense is that it was always a possibility, and now it is confirmed. We’re looking forward to it.”

Mr. Berman and other preservationists hope they can convince the developer to keep 35 Cooper standing. “Certainly the goal going into the meeting is to explore the possibilities for preserving the building, or preserving it as much as possible,” Mr. Berman said. “We go into this knowing that that is not the developer’s plan. We want to engage in what we hope will be a productive conversation, and we’ll see what comes of it. At this point, it seems as if the building’s only hope is the developer.”

Jane Crotty, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bhatia told The Local, “We agreed to meet since the elected officials asked for the meeting. We will hear what the community has to say.”

Matt Logan At ceremonies Friday commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

A sampling of reader reactions to posts that have appeared on The Local during the past week.

Regarding the blog’s post about the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, including a map of where the East Village victims of the blaze resided, Suzanne Rozdeba wrote:

“It gave me shivers looking at this map and seeing how close to to me these victims had all once lived. When I clicked on some of the addresses, I was astounded at how many of them were so incredibly young, single immigrants seeking a better life here, living in the neighborhood I call home.”

jim tutwiler said:

“great article and map. Now we should remember what unions and worker safety legislation means to all of us.”

About our post on the potential closure of senior centers because of budget cuts, Bill Stepp wrote:

“They should all be closed. There’s nothing in the Constitution that allows the government to steal money to feed seniors, or anyone else.
The NYC government should be cut by at least 90%.”

Read more…

Gloria Chung

Good morning, East Village.

And welcome to the final week of what might be the maddest of Marches.

Your bracket is shot to shreds, your governor and Legislature agreed on a budget early, your parks are becoming recreation battle-zones.

And in a turn of events for 35 Cooper Square, are the developers now willing to talk preservation? It’s possible, says Bowery Boogie, which brings news that City Council members might meet with the building’s owners to consider its future.

On a related note, tonight a Community Board 2 meeting will discuss the latest push by neighborhood groups to get a National Register of Historic Places designation for the Bowery. The public meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the Church of Our Lady Pompei.

If you didn’t get a chance to check out the great community-contributed photos of Friday’s Triangle Shirtwaist Fire anniversary commemorations, never fear — the Internet is forever. Browse them (and other East Village snapshots) on The Local’s Flickr group, and don’t forget to hitch your techno wagon to our Twitter star.

Finally, speaking of March: out like a lamb? Weather soothsayers say unlikely. Cold, clear skies for now, but enjoy them while they last.

Happy Monday.

Matt Logan, Michael Natale and Tim Schreier, community contributors to The Local East Village, share their images of Friday’s ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Michael Natale on using panoramic photography, or panos, to document an East Village in transition.

“I’ve taken it upon myself to document my neighborhood in the GammaBlog. Change around here sneaks up on you. Getting it on camera before it is gone is good, I think. The panorama format is ideal for this.”
Read more…