Tim Schreier Good morning, East Village.
As we remember Martin Luther King Jr., today, check out one of the many celebrations around the city honoring the civil rights activist. There are documentary screenings, concerts, and walking tours, reports The Daily News.
Today, EV Grieve also remembers Jodie Lane, a Columbia grad student who lived on East 11th Street and was electrocuted by a Con Edison junction box in 2004. Her father, who died last month, worked tirelessly to push the electric company to improve its procedures.
In development news, the Guggenheim Museum is planning a community center for a rat-infested lot on East First Street, reports DNAinfo .
If you’re curious about what our neighborhood looked like in 1770, the Brooklyn Historical Society this week will unveil a rare, restored map of Manhattan by Bernard Ratzer, the “Da Vinci of cartography,” according to The Times.
In the world of culinary controversies, a waiter at the soon-to-be-shuttered Mercadito Cantina has written an open letter to EV Grieve and Community Board 3. The waiter defends the restaurant, which is reportedly closing because of mounting debt after it was denied a liquor license, and says residents should be sensitive to the fact that 25 people will lose their jobs.
And don’t put away those snow boots just yet. According to NY1 there’s a chance of snow tonight that will turn into slush, just in time for your morning commute.
Vivienne Gucwa Good morning, East Village.
We know it’s cold out, but this weekend if you’re yearning for a peaceful stroll you should head to the East River Park promenade, nearly completed after five years of renovation. The Villager describes the progress so far.
DNAinfo also reminds us that today at 5 p.m. is the deadline to apply for membership to our local community board, communty board 3. If you’re looking to get more involved in local decision-making, you might be interested. And EV Grieve offers a humorous take on local celebrity Chloe Sevigny’s decision to join or not to join the board.
In housing news, The Village Voice tells us that yesterday Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg vowed to “close a slumlord loophole” and require landlords to pay for repairs that they’ve neglected to pay. The Voice reports that landlords owe the city a total of $19 million in emergency repairs made since 2007.
This morning we’d also like to bid a fond farewell to Ellen Stewart, iconic founder of the LaMaMa Theater on East Fourth Street. She died yesterday at age 91, and The Times and DNAinfo gives us a glimpse of her full life.
Tim Schreier Good morning, East Village.
We wake up to the sad news that Roy Chelsen, an East Village firefighter who rescued his colleagues from the north tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, has died from cancer. The Daily News and DNAinfo have his story.
In other neighborhood news, the folks at East Village Radio were recognized in a light video on Huffington Post on the musical passions of the station’s DJs.
Meanwhile, many East Village residents were out and about this weekend, some of them mulching their trees at Tompkins Square Park, as The Epoch Times reports. Trees across the city are being mulched, including the 74-foot one at Rockefeller Center, the remains of which will go to Habitat for Humanity to build part of a family’s home.
If you feel like treating yourself after all that mulching – or just because it’s Monday – you might want to check out The Village Voice’s list of the most pretentious restaurants; two of them are in the East Village.
Emily Lawrence Good morning, East Village.
We’re expecting up to five inches of snow today, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg insists the city is ready to handle the storm, reports The Times. He was heavily criticized after the big blizzard on Dec. 26 and 27, when trash piled high, emergency response was slow, and New Yorkers couldn’t get to work. Let’s hope we won’t have to navigate around big mounds of trash in our neighborhood again.
Meanwhile, pedestrians will enjoy more open space at the busy intersection of Astor Place and Cooper Triangle. DNA reports that at a meeting Thursday night, Community Boards 2 and 3 passed a big redesign plan, unveiled by the Department of Design and Construction.
In culinary news, if you’re planning for brunch this weekend, 7A, a favorite breakfast spot for East Villagers, will unfortunately be closed for renovations until Jan. 14, writes EV Grieve. (And on the subject of building projects, Grieve also has a very cool look at the construction of 2 Cooper Square.)
If you’re still thirsty for the banned Four Loko, you might think twice after we tell you it’s now being turned into (gulp) gasoline. The Village Voice reports that a company called MXI Environmental Services is converting the alcoholic and caffeinated drink into, yes, petrol. Still thirsty?
Phillip Kalantzis Cope Good morning, East Village.
While you were sleeping (unless the sirens awoke you) our neighborhood witnessed yet another fire, on East Seventh Street near First Avenue. Officials said that the blaze broke out around 11:40 Wednesday night at 127 East Seventh; the fire was declared under control in about 40 minutes. Two firefighters were hospitalized with minor injuries and investigators are still working to determine the cause. The blaze is the third in the neighborhood this week after a pair of fires Tuesday morning. DNAinfo has more information and there are photos at EV Grieve.
In school news, on this first week back for the semester, we’d like to point you to DNAinfo’s report on an East Village charter school suing the city to stay open.
Meanwhile, if you’re hungry for brunch, you might be tempted by The Wall Street Journal’s blurb on Jewish-fusion foods at Octavia’s Porch on Avenue B.
This post has been updated to correct an error; an earlier version misstated the location of the restaurant Octavia’s Porch.
Michelle RickGood morning, East Village.
After Tuesday morning’s fires, if you feel local blazes have run rampant of late, you’re not alone. This morning EV Grieve scrolls through shots of 13 neighborhood fires it’s covered since May.
On a more positive note, the Historic Districts Council has deemed the Bowery as one of its top six places to preserve, writes Bowery Boogie.
DNAinfo reports further on the Bowery Alliance’s continuing effort to limit building heights.
Now, if only we could get our trash problem resolved soon.
Emily LawrenceGood morning, East Village.
As the Great Dig Out continues, The Times considers a question on the minds of many New Yorkers: how did the city do with the snow-clearing effort? The answer, the article notes, depends on how one interprets the Sanitation Department’s arcane system for classifying snow removal.
EV Grieve landed an exclusive interview with the bicycle at Avenue C and Eighth Street that is the subject of one of the iconic images of the blizzard.
And Bowery Boogie takes a look at some of the more notable snowmen that have been built in the neighborhood.
Roey AhramGood morning, East Village.
There are mornings when New York is not a collection of neighborhoods, but one big city sharing the same experience. This is one of those mornings.
Read more…
Phillip Kalantzis CopeGood morning, East Village.
A fire in a five-story building on First Avenue near East Third Street briefly disturbed the pre-holiday peace Wednesday night, but was quickly extinguished. EV Grieve has photos. Battalion Chief Patrick Sheridan told The Local that the fire started inside a duplex apartment on the top floor of the building and that the cause was under investigation. There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians, Chief Sheridan said, adding that all residents of the building except those living in the apartment where the fire began were permitted to return to their homes Wednesday night.
In other neighborhood news, The Times reports on a judge’s ruling against the use of “stop-and-frisk” police tactics in public housing developments; the case at issue originated a bit south of the East Village in the Baruch Houses.
And New York magazine offers a look inside the East Village apartment of the singer John Legend.
Michelle RickGood morning, East Village.
Even with the start of winter today, one of the summer’s most significant stories – the debate over the safety of bike lanes in the neighborhood – remains very much in the news.
The Post reports this morning on a 16 percent increase in collisions between bicycles and other vehicles during the past year, which notes that our neighborhood and downtown Brooklyn have the most perilous intersections. The piece attributes the spike to “rogue cyclists who have turned city streets into demolition derbies.”
“This was a catastrophe in the making as soon as they put those bike lanes up around the city,” The Post quotes a police officer in the neighborhood as saying. “They are arrogant. They think they now own the road and think they can do no wrong. Some even yell at police cars saying they have the right of way.”
In other neighborhood news, DNAinfo has a post about a Christmas tree vendor outside St. Marks Church in the Bowery who has been hit with a $1,500 fine for building a makeshift shack where his employees can stay warm.
Gloria ChungGood morning, East Village.
We return today after a weekend build-up to holiday cheer. EV Grieve has a report on the tree-lighting in Tompkins Square Park and the “Unsilent Night” celebration. Like many of our readers, some of us will be making a list, checking it twice, then schlepping around the stores this week, so brace yourselves for a slightly less busy The Local than usual.
Nostalgia still abounds, though, as Bowery Boogie offers a look at some footage from a 1928 silent film shot in Washington Square Park and other parts of the neighborhood that shows how driving in New York was a perilous activity even back in the day.
And Ephemeral New York takes in some of the architectural details at 704 Broadway.
Michelle RickGood morning, East Village.
Always in the mood for radical political debate, East Village anarchists are divided on the Wikileaks affair, according to The Villager, some supporting Julian Assange’s exposure of government secrets while others wonder if Wikileaks isn’t a phony cover for a government assault on Internet freedom.
If the paranoia is too much, let I Love Charts take you back to a simpler time, when all you had to worry about it in the neighborhood were the Bowery Boys, with their contract killing, gambling and “stockpiling of weapons.” Famous for their dandy dress sense, we’re guessing the Bowery Boys would be shopping at EV Grieve if they were around today.
Michelle RickGood morning, East Village.
At a moment when many people who live in our community are intensely focused on changes brought about by development and the loss of local institutions, The Times offers a fascinating look at new Census data showing how the demographics of neighborhoods in the New York region have shifted over the past decade.
The Lower East Side is cited in the piece as one of the locations in the region where the non-Hispanic white population has surged. The data comes from a five-year survey of neighborhoods across the country; the full Census report is expected to be released early next year.
The story also describes how segregation in city neighborhoods persists. “Most whites in the metropolitan area and most blacks in the city still live where a majority of their neighbors are of the same race,” the article notes. An interactive map also let’s you take a look at the data at the census tract level.
In other neighborhood news, EV Grieve, who last week was outraged by the apparent demise of a local willow tree near Eighth Street and Avenue C, re-visits the block this week and finds that the damage to the tree might not be as bad as originally feared.
Gloria ChungGood morning, East Village.
We awoke this morning with a dusting of snow coating much of the neighborhood. It seems to have done little, however, to soothe the spirits of many in the neighborhood who fear the passing of some local iconic institutions.
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York offers long take on the temporary closure of Mars Bar and some then-and-now photos that show how much the neighborhood has changed during the past seven years.
“When people talk about how the city is ‘always changing,’ I tell them this story,” the post reads. “The story of a historic, culturally relevant neighborhood sold down the river, demolished to the roots, and rebuilt into an unrecognizable playground for people passing through with money to burn. All in less than a single decade.” There’s more on Mars Bar at The Wall Street Journal and EV Grieve.
In other neighborhood news, Grieve also has a look at how a local artist traced the oddly-shaped buildings at the intersection of Bowery and Houston to property lines of 19th century farmers.
And The Athenaeum has a photo of Allen Ginsberg taken on the roof of his East Village apartment by William Burroughs in the fall of 1953.
Bruce MonroeGood morning, East Village.
We begin the week still trying to process many of the sights, sounds and, yes, smells of Santacon. During the weekend, hundreds of revelers dressed as St. Nick descended on East Village bars in an event that seemed to underscore neighborhood tensions around such issues as noise and alcohol. And, as if on cue, The Post offered two pieces over the past few days examining some of those very issues.
One article, headlined “Lower East Side Is Losing It” mourns the loss of Mars Bar, Max Fish and Pink Pony. “There are no neighborhoods in Manhattan anymore,” The Post quotes the author Richard Price saying. “South of Harlem, it feels like a bunch of districts where rich people can crash.”
The second piece took a wildly divergent view citing the recent Capital piece on Superdive to describe how “bohemian snobs” are driving “frat boys” out of the neighborhood. “The story of the East Village might be how little things have changed,” the author writes. “It’s still a cramped little hipster Vatican suspicious of outsiders.” Two pieces very much worth reading.
Vivienne Gucwa Good morning, East Village.
With many in the neighborhood still reeling from the expected temporary closure of Mars Bar, EV Grieve notes the loss of a natural neighborhood landmark, a willow tree on Eighth Street near Avenue C.
On the subject of Mars Bar, DNAinfo has a post with more details about how the bar could close as early as the spring and might remain shut for as long as three years. That timeline, DNA notes, “could make it difficult for the diminutive dive to see new life.”
Instead of pondering the future of Mars Bar, Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York re-visits the past through a series of vivid photographs documenting early 20th century life at the intersection of Second Avenue and First Street where the bar stands now. There are some other interesting takes on Mars Bar at The Gog Log and Blackbook.
In other neighborhood news, The Times reports on Thursday’s City Council meeting where one of our community’s most contentious issues – bike lanes – took centerstage. A highlight: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz borrowing a page from “The Sound of Music” to sing his self-penned “These are a few of my favorite lanes.”
Michelle RickGood morning, East Village.
On Wednesday, we wrote about how many in the neighborhood were lamenting how the iconic Mars Bar might close for two years because of a plan to renovate its space and other properties along Second Avenue.
The housing committee of Community Board 3 Wednesday night pushed the process one step further by endorsing the development plan. Bowery Boogie has more details.
Earlier this week came news that a New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit after she said she was attacked by the pet cat at McSorley’s Old Ale House. EV Grieve has landed an interview with the cat in question, Minnie, who now has her own Facebook page and a growing legion of friends.
Phillip Kalantzis CopeGood morning, East Village.
Much of the discussion in the blogosphere centers around the possibility that the iconic Mars Bar would temporarily close if developers are able to move forward with a plan to renovate a row of properties along Second Avenue.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” read the headline on EV Grieve’s post. Grieve also takes a retrospective look at the bar’s place in neighborhood lore, and offers an amusing list of similar bars to visit if the closure occurs. There’s more at Curbed and Bowery Boogie.
And in other neighborhood news, congratulations are in order for EV Grieve, which Tuesday night won Best Neighborhood Blog at the Village Voice Web Awards. We at The Local tip our hats to Grieve and to Bowery Boogie, another locally produced blog that was also a finalist for the award. Bravo to both blogs.
Shawn Hoke Good morning, East Village.
We begin this morning with a look at a detailed report in The Times on the Ross Global Academy Charter School on East 12th Street, which received one of the worst grades in a recent report card on schools and is among three city schools slated for closure. DNAinfo and The Wall Street Journal have details, too.
In other neighborhood news, EV Grieve re-visits a Times article on Seventh Street and ponders a hypothetical, the-end-is-nigh scenario: What if a Shake Shack opened in Tompkins Square Park?
EV Transitions offers up a history lesson on the neighborhood’s place as a focal point for shipbuilding in the 19th century, including how the industry shaped such community institutions as St. Brigid’s, which was named for the patron saint of boatmen.
And the Village Voice has a humorous account of a brief evacuation at NYU Journalism Monday that was caused by heavy smoke after a mechanical failure. The evacuation occurred in the middle of a panel on influential media figures. The Voice’s headline: “This Discussion Panel Is On Fire.”
Timothy KrauseGood morning, East Village.
We return from the weekend with a report on what may be the latest scourge to afflict the neighborhood: an attack by cat.
The Post reported during the weekend on a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey woman against McSorley’s Old Ale House after she said she was attacked by Minnie, the tavern’s pet cat. EV Grieve posted a video of Minnie during what were apparently more benign and cuddly times.
Grieve also has a post about a newspaper distribution box designed by the street artist Cost, which was sold on eBay for $4,200.
And our belated, yet nonetheless enthusiastic congratulations go out to Grieve and Bowery Boogie, two locally produced sites which were each named finalists in the Village Voice Web Awards for best neighborhood blog. We try to send traffic to both blogs as much as we can and it’s nice to see their good work being acknowledged elsewhere.
