The Lower East Side’s most deadly street tragically reaffirmed its reputation yesterday, as a cyclist was killed at Delancey and Chrystie Streets. The Lo-Down reports that the rider was turning at around 6 p.m. when he lost control of his bike and fell under a cement truck. Earlier this month, we noted that the Lower East Side has the most dangerous intersections for cyclists of any neighborhood in Manhattan, with most of them on Delancey Street.
The Observer discovers that model and MTV personality Alexa Chung has purchased a one-bedroom apartment on East Third Street.
According to The Villager, two brothers have made a documentary about the neighborhood hip-hop scene during the seventies and eighties. “No Place Like Home: The History of Hip Hop in the Lower East Side” will screen at Clayton Patterson’s gallery next Sunday. A coloring book of Lower East Side personalities is also in the works.
A handicapped resident of the Lillian Wald Houses says his apartment is in such a sorry state that it is literally killing him.
Robert Campbell is a burn victim who sleeps on a couch because his roughly 9-by-11-foot apartment doesn’t have room for an electric bed that would allow him to sleep on an incline, as ordered by doctors. He says odors from a dumpster beneath his 12th-floor studio hurt his lungs, which were severely damaged by an electrical fire in 1988. The blaze burned over 80 percent of his body and resulted in numerous surgeries and the amputation of fingers on his left hand. His doctors have implored the New York City Housing Authority to put him in a three-room apartment since 2003, because even the pilot light in Mr. Campbell’s oven hurts his skin.
“I just want to get in a proper apartment and have this nightmare be over with,” said Mr. Campbell, 58. “I’ve never lived like this before.” Read more…
Flaming Pablum shares a clip of Cro-Mags vocalist John “Bloodclot” Joseph leading his tour of the East Village. Mr. Joseph promises, “It’s the only place you can hear about murders, drugs, and vegan food all on the same tour.”
According to East Village Eats, Casimir’s new owner Mario Carta has started a brunch deal that gets you bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys for $19.95.
An episode of “Let Them Talk” just posted to YouTube features playwright Juan Valenzuela recalling the glory days of the Nuyorican poetry movement. Along with Pedro Pietri, Mr. Valenzuela led the Latin Insomniacs Motorcycle Club.
Tompkins Square Park Playground and Parents’ AssociationThe truck carrying 5,000 mint-scented trash bags arrived at Parks Department offices in Lower Manhattan this morning.
A truckload of mint-scented trash bags have been donated to the Parks Department in the latest volley in the ongoing war against the rats of Tompkins Square Parks.
A spokesman for the Tompkins Square Park Playground and Parents’ Association, which secured the 5,000 minty bags, said that Mint-X recently made the offer to donate all the bags after seeing all the publicity the rats were attracting.
“If the rats don’t touch it, the Mint-X guy is looking at a big purchase from the city,” said the spokesman. “I’m hopeful that they’ll work.” He added that the bags should be in trash cans at Tompkins Square Park today. Read more…
Stephen Rex BrownSigns outside of the shuttered Nublu.
Presenting DocuDrama, in which The Local has a look at documents that dramatize goings-on in the neighborhood. Today, a look at Nublu’s fight to reopen at its Avenue C location.
One of the East Village’s last bastions of avant garde music has been forced to leave its home on Avenue C after an anonymous tipster alerted State Liquor Authority investigators to its proximity to a Kingdom Hall belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now, Nublu is hosting shows in the basement of Lucky Cheng’s while the owner of the business, Ilhan Ersahin, struggles to find a loophole in liquor laws so that he can return to his original location.
“Really honestly and truthfully, I had no idea that the building across the street was a house of worship until six months ago when I received this letter,” Mr. Ersahin wrote in a letter to the liquor authority in May. (You can see the full letter as well as other documents below.) “I just don’t think it’s fair to blame me for all of this and after nine years in good, willing business.” Read more…
The lines are sure to get longer at Motorino now that its Williamsburg location has closed. Fret not: DNAinfo has more on earlier reports that NoLita pizzeria L’asso is opening an outpost at 107 First Avenue. Partner Greg Barris admits “there’s an endless amount of pizza in that neighborhood,” but wants in anyway: “The East Village is more classic New York City.”
Stephen Rex BrownThe Flea Market Café, hours before it will reopen.
Workers at the Flea Market Café have swept up the ashes and are preparing to reopen at 5 p.m. — less than 24 hours after an alleged arson left the eatery a messy crime scene.
While cleaning counter tops earlier today, the manager of the restaurant, Haveen Bonnet, bemoaned the blaze that has been the talk of the neighborhood.
“Two napkins catch on fire and the fire department comes in and smashes everything,” Mr. Bonnet said as deliverymen hauled in fresh loads of food. Read more…
A fire scorched the interior of Flea Market Café today at around lunch time. A spokesman for the Fire Department said the blaze broke out at around 1:23 p.m. and that 60 firefighters arrived at the scene on Avenue A between St. Marks Place and Ninth Street. Within 20 minutes the fire was under control, and one firefighter was treated for minor injuries, according to the spokesman. Shortly thereafter, the dining room was a singed mess, and burnt tables and chairs were strewn about the sidewalk. An acrid odor still hung in the air.
An employee at Nino’s next door reported seeing a napkin holder on fire before the flames spread. The cause of the blaze is still being investigated, according to the spokesman.
According to I Love East Village, a local arts group is looking for volunteers to paint an entire block of roofs on East Fourth Street. The White Roof Project, working with Fourth Arts Block, says the project will demonstrate that white roofs lower the temperature in the area, which in turn reduces demands on the power grid.
Last week’s episode of “Louie” stopped into East Village Wines, and last night’s episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” had an East Village arc, too. Sort of.
Early in the episode, Larry visits Veniero’s, the 115-year-old pasticceria on East 11th Street, and takes a loaf of Italian bread to Suzie’s dinner party “around the corner.” (You’ll forgive the grainy and inverted screen grabs.)
Funny thing is, an establishing shot shows the dinner party isn’t around the corner at all. Doesn’t this avenue look suspiciously like Central Park West? Read more…
Back in April, Mara Levi touched off quite a bit of commenter chatter when she claimed that a lack of parking (caused by a newly installed bike lane) contributed to the closure of her East Sixth Street restaurant, Mara’s Homemade. In May, Ms. Levi opened a new location of the restaurant in Syosset, Long Island. So how’s life with a parking lot? Quite good, Ms. Levi said yesterday. In fact, she said she would probably not return to the East Village.
“You can’t do lunch, and it’s very expensive,” she explained. “I was paying Madison Avenue prices and not having the accessibility of that many people.” She said she had been offered a “much better location where I could do lunch” on the Upper East Side, at one third of the rent of her small East Village storefront. (Ms. Levi said she was not opposed to returning to the city: “If an opportunity comes along, we would consider it.”)
Meanwhile, the Nassau County resident is enjoying the perks of suburbia. Read more…
Have you seen the bus stop sign on St. Marks Place that seems to have been hacked down like an old oak tree? If not, Neighborhoodr has some fun photos. “No Standing” indeed.
In other news, the fire department had an early wake up call this morning. DNAinfo reports that a minor fire broke out at 5:43 a.m. at 40 Avenue D. It took firefighters 30 minutes to control the blaze on the eighth floor. No one was hurt and the cause of the fire is being investigated.
Finally, after the closing of Banjo Jim’s was delayed, the staff of the bluegrass, jazz, and Americana bar has now announced (per EV Grieve) that Monday is the final day of business. As you know, new owner Rob Ceraso is converting the space into an artisanal cocktail bar.
Jay SullivanA scene from “Yeast Nation,” part of the month-long Fringe Festival starting this evening.
You’ve already been told about “Jersey Shoresical: A Frickin’ Rock Opera” and “Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage,” but where the 15th Annual Fringe Festival is concerned, that’s just the start of the kookiness. A few weeks ago, we received a whopping 87 press releases for the festival, which throws its opening party tonight. We combed through them to find lines that alone are worth the price of admission.
Whale Song or: Learning to Live With Mobyphobia: “Only Maya Swan knows why Molly the whale is stranded in the Hudson River. Maya knows Molly has come to deliver a message from her dead father (whose body was found sprawled nude on the back of a killer whale at Sea World). But what is the message?”
Killing John Grisham: “Follows aspiring author Josh’s quest to escape his minimum wage life, derailed by self-doubt, girl problems and loyal friends with violent tendencies. Did we mention the world famous author who steals Josh’s book? That too.” Read more…
The weekend is almost here, so why not start partying a little early? Cure Thrift Shop is celebrating its 3rd birthday today with a party at 111 East 12 Street. Proceeds from the $5 admission fee go toward diabetes research and get you access to snacks, drinks, and a raffle, as well as live music from Roosevelt Dime.
In entertainment news, DNAinfo reports that the production staff of the USA Network show “White Collar” disguised Cooper Union’s Foundation Hall as a hotel for a recent scene shoot.
Speaking of cable television, the Post gets inside the East Village walk-up that Constance Zimmer of “Entourage” shares with her husband, commercial director Russ Lamoureux. Fun fact: She went to school with Benicio del Toro. Read more…
Almost a year after 45 Bleecker Street ceased to operate as a theater due to a dispute between the landlord and the production company that leased the space, the New York International Fringe Festival is reviving it as a temporary headquarters. Starting this Friday, the venue will host productions such as “Jersey Shoresical: A Frickin’ Rock Opera” and “Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage.” However, it’s uncertain how long the space’s life as a theater will last.
The landlord Fred Rogers, a retired New York City electrical engineer who now lives in Las Vegas, is aggressively trying to find a new tenant. He said that of the potential renters, “a couple” were interested in turning the space into a restaurant, another couple hoped to turn it into a bar, and just one was interested in keeping the building as a theater.
Mr. Rogers said he doesn’t care what type of business eventually occupies the space: “I’m an owner, period, and I’m looking for steady tenants.” Read more…
Today on The Local, we’re hosting a dialogue about the neighborhood’s proposed historic districts. First, Britton Baine and Richard Moses, who serve on the steering committee of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, spoke out in favor of them. Now architect Ido Nissani argues that one of the districts would burden and disrespect the synagogue he attends. Add your own thoughts via the comments.
As an active member of the Meseritz Synagogue on East Sixth Street and a graduate of Cooper Union, the East Village has come to be part of my heart.
For those who ask: “What guarantees do we have that the historic synagogue will still stand many years from now if it is not landmarked?” I respond: “What guarantees do we have to see these very buildings standing if they are landmarked?” Read more…
Today on The Local, we’re hosting a dialogue about the neighborhood’s proposed historic districts. First, below, Britton Baine and Richard Moses, who serve on the steering committee of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, speak out in favor of them. Later, architect Ido Nissani argues that one of the districts would burden and disrespect the synagogue he attends. Add your own thoughts via the comments.
This has been an exciting time for the East Village and its historic architecture. In June, the city Landmarks Preservation Commission calendared for public hearing two new historic districts: the proposed East Village-Lower East Side and East 10th Street districts. In July, after three contentious public hearings, Community Board 3 voted with a strong majority to support landmarking these districts.
The question now is, when will the LPC schedule the hearing date for their designation? For preservationists, sooner is much better than later, because until the LPC votes to landmark the districts, the buildings will not be completely safe from defacement or demolition.
Two questions preservationists have been hearing are, why landmark, and how will landmarking benefit the East Village? There are many reasons. Read more…
A second NYPD officer was sentenced to two months in jail today for his improper interactions with an intoxicated East Village woman while on duty, City Room reports. The sentence for Franklin Mata, 29, comes two days after his partner, Kenneth Moreno, was sentenced to one year for the same incident. City Room quotes the judge as telling Mr. Mata that he “drew the short straw” when he was assigned Mr. Moreno as a partner.
The Associated Press tells us that Gavin DeGraw, who was attacked by at least two men in the East Village on Monday night, has been released after a night’s stay at Bellevue Hospital. A police source tells the Post that the singer was too drunk to remember the attack clearly, but his brother Joseph insists he was drinking nothing but cranberry juice.
If that incident isn’t keeping you away from the nightlife, the folks at DNA Info remind us that the first-ever AlphaBet City Dolly Film Festival starts tomorrow. Thirty independent films will be screened at bars and restaurants between Avenues A and C, from First Street to 14th Street.
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 »
Stephen Rex Brown Only on St. Marks Place.
