Pat Merino Another day of drinking at McSorley’s.One of the neighborhood’s most famous landmarks has joined the chorus for an historic district in the neighborhood.
In the past, the owner of McSorley’s Old Ale House was wary of any regulation of renovations to their building at 15 East Seventh Street. But now they would rather be included in the 330 buildings that comprise the proposed East Village-Lower East Side Historic District.
“We’ve surrendered to it, it’s time,” said Bill Wander, an unofficial historian of the bar who is close to its owner. “Now that the rest of the neighborhood is going to be protected, let’s not be left out.”
McSorley’s embraces its history as much as any business in the East Village. In February, for example, the McSorley’s Militia celebrated its 158th anniversary with a five-gun salute in Revolutionary War garb. Still, bar owner Matthew Maher had been skeptical of the designation for the typical reasons — the approval process involved in replacing things like windows and air conditioning units.
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Melvin Felix Left to right: Councilmember Letitia James, union member Carol Phillips, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito.A couple of hundred demonstrators today continued to protest outside of Con Ed headquarters at 4 Irving Place, where unconfirmed rumors of on-the-job heart attacks bounced between union representatives and City Council members.
Paul Albano, a business agent for the Utility Workers Union of America’s Local 1-2 division, which represents over 8,000 workers locked out by the utility company Sunday, continued to insist that the 5,000 managers who have replaced the unionized workers are too inexperienced to properly perform maintenance and repairs. “We had people that witnessed management taking cones — as simple as cones — off the back of the truck, and because they’re so hot, they burned their hands and they dropped them,” he said. “You’re supposed to be using gloves on it. They don’t even know the basics of setting up a manhole.”
Con Ed told Reuters that since the lockout, four replacement workers had received injuries, none of them life-threatening. But Mr. Albano had heard otherwise. “We’ve heard of about five to seven management personnel getting hurt, anywhere from car accidents to flashes in the face and explosions,” he said, “and we’ve even heard two managers had heart attacks.” Read more…
Daniel Maurer Dr. Brendan outside the new shop.Yesterday, longstanding rumors that Apple would announce its so-called iPhone 5 at a September 7 event proved to be false. But on St. Marks Place, a local hero among Apple aficionados was unveiling his very latest.
Last year, The Times introduced us to Brendan McElroy, who repaired iPhones out of his East Village walk-up under the name Dr. Brendan. Soon after that story came out, he secured a small storefront at 8 St. Marks Place; thirteen months later, he has grown his team to eight technicians. Last week, he smacked the Dr. Brendan logo on a Fiat 500 that is now being used for house calls. And this Tuesday, he added yet another feather in his cap, by taking over the cell phone store across the street, giving it 1960s-style signage, and renaming it Another Wireless Shop. Read more…
