Speaking of rock and roll legends at local hangouts, City Room happened to strike up a conversation with Alice Cooper at the Broadway location of The Bean this morning. Later on Mr. Cooper made a stop at Trash and Vaudeville. Tonight the man behind “School’s Out” plays the Prudential Center in Newark.

Stephen Rex Brown Chico at work today.

The original Kiss mural at Avenue A and East First Street has been wiped out, and Antonio “Chico” Garcia is busy creating a temporary replacement that depicts the band comin’ home to New York City.

The new design is on a woodshed outside of the former Nice Guy Eddie’s, which is getting a gut renovation by the new owner, Darin Rubell, who also owns Ella and Gallery Bar. When finished in the next day or two, the mural will show the band arriving on a train to the city. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Workers on East Seventh Street today.

East Seventh Street just can’t catch a break. Last week it was sinkholes, and now the block between First and Second Avenues has been closed to traffic due to repairs of a collapsed sewer in the area. A worker on the scene earlier this afternoon confirmed that some electricity on the block was being disconnected so that the repairs could be made.

Courtesy DMT Lt. Dick Craig (Joshua Schwartz) and
Janet Lawton (Lindsey Carter) in “Bride of
the Monster”

This weekend, you’ll want to jump on your last chance to catch Frank Cwiklik’s madcap stage adaptations of the works of Ed Wood, widely hailed as the worst director of all-time.

Using minimal sets in the Red Room theater, Mr. Cwiklik ingeniously deploys music, dance, projections, video screens and many entrances and exits to elaborately block his very skillful actors through Wood’s unintentionally bad dialogue. They seamlessly carry the plots and garner many laughs along the way.

“Downtown Theater is all about motion in small spaces, with limitations and low budgets just like Ed Wood did,” said Mr. Cwiklik, a prolific writer, director, and producer who is drawn to Wood’s works along with those of Shakespeare. “They tackle every genre,” he said of the two auteurs. “They come from the heart and are concerned with entertaining their audiences first.“

Mr. Cwiklik previously wrote and directed a popular S&M version of “Macbeth” called “Bitch Macbeth.” Since 1999, his company, DMTheatrics, has staged more productions than most put out in decades. Which, of course, brings Wood to mind. Read more…

Melissa Cronin

On Wednesday, the last day of school, dozens of students hung up their Gone Fishin’ signs – literally. Along the East River esplanade, kids of various ages tried out their angling skills at a fishing clinic hosted by the Lower East Side Ecology Center.

“Our goal with fishing clinics is to get people down here to learn about the river,” said Daniel Tainow, the center’s educational director. “We want to teach people that there are things they can do to help protect the quality of the river.”

While kids threw back anything they hooked, a little further up the river, near the Williamsburg Bridge, it was a different story.

“I eat whatever I catch,” said Wilfredo Castro, one of several East Village residents who lounged by their fishing poles. He fishes on the river almost every day. “The ecosystem is healthy. That’s why the fish like it,” he said. Read more…

The Villager scored a tour of the five-story mansion that accommodates one lucky family at 47 East Third Street, and boy does it sound like a palace. Where once were 15 rent-regulated apartments, now sits a two-story “airy living room,” a wrestling room, a room for a live-in nanny, a room for the building’s security system, and “an upside-down river” of re-purposed wooden beams that serves as a ceiling sculpture. Even Mosaic Man plans to do one of his signature designs on the exterior of the building. The Economakis family waged a controversial battle to oust tenants in the building beginning in 2003. Eventually, nine holdout tenants took buyouts that averaged $70,000, according to the paper.

Cyn Darling Scenes like this at Sutra Lounge may soon be a thing of the past.

Community Board 3’s agenda for July just landed in The Local’s inbox, and the most striking item is a possible new operator in Sutra Lounge.

Reached by telephone, club owner and Community Board 3 member Ariel Palitz said that negotiations are ongoing with the company that may take over, Golden C Hospitality Inc, and that she’d added her business to the agenda so as not to miss a deadline for this month’s meeting.

“If they don’t accept the offer it’s probably going to be withdrawn,” said Ms. Palitz, who expected that negotiations with the company would be concluded by early next week. For now, she would not go into further details.

A few other highlights include an appearance by the new operators in the Lakeside Lounge space, as well as a request for approval of a full liquor license at the new location of Nevada Smiths. (The soccer bar has appeared on the agenda for several months, only to be withdrawn.)

Stephen Rex Brown Blueprints for the CBGB in Times Square.

Some punk rock purists might roll their eyes at Tuesday’s announcement that the CBGB Festival will hold a “multi-stage” concert in hyper-commercialized Times Square. But before you go cracking a Disney-meets-Dead-Boys joke, consider this: a few years before the legendary club on the Bowery closed, founder Hilly Kristal was on the verge of reopening it in Times Square.

The new location wouldn’t have been a mere recreation of the club that fostered the likes of The Talking Heads, Television, Blondie and many others, either. Mr. Kristal planned to drastically expand it. Blueprints drawn up of 1540 Broadway, which are pictured above, hint at the scale of his ambition.

He aimed to demolish a four-screen movie theater next-door to the now-closed Virgin Megastore and make it a club. Given that the theaters could seat 1,626 people total, it is clear that Mr. Kristal was fine with CBGB — which by then had developed into the merchandising bonanza it is today — moving on from the dirty bathrooms, dingy bar and sorry speakers of the original location. Read more…

Sarah Darville Sue Palchak-Essenpreis

When Council Member Rosie Mendez joined the residents of three buildings on Third Street last month to protest the non-renewal of their leases, Sue Palchak-Essenpreis vowed to stay put past the end of her lease on May 14. And she did just that: her one-bedroom apartment is still jam-packed with bookshelves, and plants are perched on almost every windowsill. But last night, she signed a new lease for an apartment in Washington Heights. On July 4, she’ll move out of her third-floor apartment at 50 East Third Street. But first, she has an appointment downtown.

On Friday, she and her husband Greg Essenpreis will appear in Housing Court in hopes that a judge will keep them from having to pay the legal fees of their landlord, Abe Haruvi. That would mark the end of the high-profile protest against the owner of 50, 54, and 58 East Third Street, who did not renew the leases of some 17 tenants whose contracts with his company, Abart Holdings, were running out this summer. After a few months of outcry, most of the buildings’ residents are now moving on.

Since Ms. Palchak-Essenpreis began organizing tenants, she said, there has been more fleeing than fighting. “There has been a different moving truck in front of the building almost every day for the last two weeks,” she admitted. “After I sent off the e-mail – ‘We’re going to court!’ – it was like a cartoon: everyone ran off.” Read more…

Miha Matei

For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Pink Olive.

Grace Kang spent her early career as a buyer for fashion retailers like Barneys, Bloomingdale’s, and Saks. “People thought I would open a fashion clothing store,” she said, “but I am into doing the unexpected.” Five years ago, she opened Pink Olive, a gift shop stocked with charming treasures at 439 East Ninth Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A. It did so well that she opened a second location in Park Slope. She told us how she’s managed to make it.

Why did you choose the East Village?

The East Village has always felt like home to me. It’s my favorite neighborhood because it is low-key and full of unexpected finds. That’s what Pink Olive is all about, too: character with hidden gems. The East Village has the kind of vibe I wanted for my store. Read more…

Earlier this month, The Local learned that the installation of an odor-eating ventilation unit at IHOP had been delayed, raising concerns among neighbors that the bacon smell emanating from the restaurant was there to stay. In the meantime Sandy Berger, whose apartment overlooks the roof of the International House of Putrid Odors, as she calls it, continues to maintain her diary of olfactory impressions.

Sandy Berger’s Bacon Dairy, Page Three

Sandy Berger Could it be? Are these workers preparing for installation of the ventilation unit.

Thursday, June 14

My wake-up call came at 7 a.m. this morning in the form of bacon grease from IHOP — not my alarm clock! And it was still going strong at 8:42 a.m. When I came back home at 1:30 p.m. I could smell that lunch was in full swing, but it was bearable.

Friday, June 15

At 8 a.m. there were no smells, but four hours later the bacon grease was definitely on the burner! It is now 3 p.m. and the smell still lingers.
Read more…

Felton Davis Joanne Kennedy gives a quick astronomy lesson.

If it were up to him, Felton Davis would install a 75-foot dome atop the communal shelter where he has lived for 25 years. But the Catholic Worker doesn’t have that kind of money, so he uses a simple telescope to show his fellow Maryhouse residents the wonders of the universe.

Mr. Davis hosts informal viewings on the rooftop of the Catholic-anarchist hospitality house, but on a half dozen occasions, he’s taken his planet parties to the street. Saturday night, he took his Orion telescope and wide-angle Q70 lens to the corner of East Third Street and Second Avenue to give over a hundred passersby an intimate view of Saturn. Positioned next to a bright star in the Virgo constellation, the planet is imminently visible during these summer months.

“This is something that intrudes on people’s consciousness in very strange ways. It’s out of this world,” Mr. Davis told The Local. “People were surprised they could see Saturn from the city streets.” Read more…

Map of the proposed district.

Preservationists came out in force today to support a proposed historic district that would encompass a large chunk of the East Village, and ran into familiar anger from religious groups.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission held the public hearing to collect feedback on a proposed 330-building district that would be centered around Second Avenue south of St. Marks Place and regulate the facades of cultural icons like the La MaMa theater, the former Fillmore East building, and the Anthology Film Archives, among other storied buildings.

At the meeting, which was standing-room only for the first hour and a half, members of the commission listened to about 80 speakers express more support than opposition, with many sporting blue and yellow stickers reading “Preserve the East Village, Landmark Now!”  Read more…

Followers of the Occupy East 4th Street blog may have noted Friday’s report of a woman injured at 86 East Fourth Street after a stairwell landing partially collapsed due to construction in the building. A spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings revealed today that the victim, who is in her 30s, had non-life-threatening injuries. The incident occurred between the third and fourth floors and inspectors hit the owners with a violation for failing to maintain the building. Further details were not available. A resident in the building said that earlier today a temporary stairwell landing built by the Fire Department was still in place. Gatsby Realty, which has been the subject of several tenant harassment complaints, did not respond to a request for comment. Last year EV Grieve reported that the new owners of the building were not renewing tenants’ leases.

On the eve of a critical hearing regarding the proposed East Village-Lower East Side Historic District, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Andrew Berman, shared information on 12 of the more compelling buildings within the footprint. Here’s a look at the first six.

G.V.S.H.P. 101 Avenue A

101 Avenue A, now the The Pyramid Club. Built in 1876 by architect William Jose.

Although little is known about William Jose, a German-born tenement-house architect, his buildings are often some of the most unusual and intricate in their neighborhoods. His Neo-Grec design for 101 Avenue A is no different, with an unusually ornate cornice, florid fire escapes, and deeply incised window hoods.

The building housed several tenement apartments on its upper floors, while its ground floor long served as a hall where locals would gather to eat, celebrate, mourn, or discuss labor issues and neighborhood gossip. Kern’s Hall was the first to open in 1876 and was followed by Shultz’s Hall, Fritz’s Hall, and most famously, Leppig’s Hall.

John Leppig and later his son, also named John Leppig, both served as the unofficial “Mayor of Avenue A.” Leppig’s closed in the 1930s, and by the 1960s the space was home to a series of performance spaces and cultural centers, which reflected the East Village’s evolution from an ethnic enclave to a worldwide center of cultural ferment. It was also at this time that underground music icon and Warhol superstar Nico lived upstairs at 101 Avenue A, while she was performing with the Velvet Underground.

In 1979 the present occupant, the Pyramid Club, opened in the space. The Pyramid Club had a profound impact on the downtown art, music, and performance art scene. The Wigstock Festival is said to have begun there, as well as politically-conscious drag performance in the early 1980s. In later years it became a showcase for up-and-coming artists, including Madonna, RuPaul, Nirvana, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Read more…

Susan Keyloun Sandy Michelle (in turquoise) and the Ladies of Mug Lounge.

“Trying to eliminate the old colorful ways of the East Village is like trying to put a marshmallow in a piggy bank,” said the transsexual with the inch-long nails. “It ain’t gonna happen, and why would you wanna?”

As the “Queen of the East Village,” Sandy Michelle should know. She’s hosted parties at Karma and Sin Sin, and now she presides over a weekly “trannie living room” at Mug Lounge on 13th Street. This evening, she’ll be among those participating in the annual Drag March from Tompkins Square Park.

Ms. Michelle’s dance parties are a carnal carnival where wallflowers need not apply. Aside from the occasional appearance from legendary drag performers like Ireland’s Marianne Madox and South Beach’s Ebony Excel, the dancers are all transsexuals and Sandy is their Mama Morton. Originally from Pittsburgh and once a show director at the notorious Club Edelweiss, she’s been promoting her dance parties at Mug for a year now, mostly through social media. (See here for the weekly lineup of “fabulous, sexy sassy gals,” including a recent Kim Kardashian lookalike, and see this video teaser unless, of course, you’re at your work desk.) Read more…

Oscar Fuller, the man who punched a woman over an East 14th Street parking spot in 2011, was sentenced to one year in jail today, according to The Daily News. The sentence is the maximum allowed for the misdemeanor assault that left the victim, Lana Rosas, with serious head trauma. The judge in the case was unsatisfied with the sentence, according to the paper. “If anyone heard this outside the court, just on common sense, would say that this sentence is not adequate,” Judge Bonnie Wittner said.

Daniel Maurer The current location of Lucky Cheng’s on First Avenue.

With the annual Drag March set to kick off in Tompkins Square Park at 7 p.m. tonight and the final performance of “Cowboy Mouth” tonight as well, we thought we’d check in with Hayne Suthon, the owner of Lucky Cheng’s, which will soon move to Times Square.

Ms. Suthon hopes to haul her her drag operation to 240 West 52nd Street around Labor Day weekend, and is in negotiations with two “upscale” operators in the same vein as Beauty & Essex.

“All the concepts are nice restaurants. Not clubby kind of stuff,” Ms. Suthon said.

“Sutra has been shopping around for something more high end,” she added, referencing Ariel Palitz’s nightclub on the same blocks as Cheng’s, which is also on the market. “It’s time to be a bit more grown-up around the neighborhood.” Read more…

N.Y.P.D. Carl Knox

Carl Knox, the 47-year-old who allegedly stabbed a man to death on East Fifth Street last week, turned himself in to police and is in custody, Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann announced at last night’s meeting of the Ninth Precinct Community Council.

Mr. Knox, who turned himself in on Sunday at the 44th Precinct near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, faces a charge of murder in the second degree. Inspector Cappelmann shared a few additional details about the dispute that led to the death of 31-year-old Corey Capers. Mr. Knox, who was staying at 737 East Fifth Street in the Lower East Side II houses, got in a dispute with the goddaughter of his girlfriend over the fact that she was watching television. The argument escalated to the point that Mr. Knox began abusing his girlfriend, and the goddaughter alerted a group outside of the building. The group then chased Mr. Knox to scaffolding in the front of 709 East Fifth Street, where he allegedly stabbed Mr. Capers.
Read more…