Mystery Solved

Last week, I took a picture of a Mazda RX-7 with a chain attached to the front of it but to nothing else. It was a mystery, to be sure!

Well, the other day, the mystery was solved! The chain attaches to a motorcycle:

Chain attached to motorcycle.

So the car is there to lock the motorcycle to — a movable… thing you lock other things to.

East Villagers love solved mysteries!

#eastvillage #cool #cars #motorcycles #chains #3rdstreet

The Freewheelin' East Villagers

Even though Juno was the worst blizzard ever, it was still a snow day, and East Villagers had a great time being off work and walking around through the empty streets.

This couple stopped to take a picture in the intersection of St. Mark's Place and Avenue A:

Freewheelin' East Villagers.

East Villagers love snow days!

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #avenuea #blizzard

Cool Car in the Snow

I was walking across East 7th Street Monday night, waiting for the blizzard to arrive, when I saw this very cool car, covered in snow:

Cool car covered in snow.

Here's a front view:

Front view.

There was no chain attached to the front of this car, oddly enough!

That reminds me: I have to update a post. Be right back!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #cool #cars #blizzard

The Umbrellas of East Village

People think of the East Village as a place where everyone dresses in all‑black all the time, and it's true!

But East Villagers are renegades too — as soon as they establish a trend, they go against it!

This East Villager wore khaki pants and carried a cyan umbrella through Tompkins Square Park during the blizzard:

Cyan umbrella.

You never know what to expect… in the East Village!

#eastvillage #tompkinssquarepark #blizzard

Stalactites Form at Horus

I was walking across East 6th Street today, and I discovered one of the effects of the blizzard, at Horus Cafe, on the corner of Avenue B:

Stalactites.

Stalactites are usually formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water. It waits to be seen just how much calcium salt is present in these!

#eastvillage #horuscafe #avenueb #6thstreet #stalactites

Cool Old Pickup Truck Covered in Snow

Everybody's favorite cool, old, pickup truck was covered in snow during the recent blizzard that wasn't, as you can see from this picture:

Cool old pickup truck covered in snow.

You might notice that not only is it covered in snow, but it's not parked on East 9th Street, where it usually is. The owner must not have been able to move it on time last week, and had to park over here, after driving around for who knows how long?!

I took a picture of it this past Saturday also, in the same place:

Cool old pickup truck covered in "wintry mix".

With alternate-side parking rules suspended, I guess this truck will be here until next Tuesday, when it will have to move again, and probably wind up back on East 9th Street, where it belongs!

#eastvillage #blizzard #cool #cars #pickup #trucks #stmarksplace

Tompkins Square Park Closed — And Open!

I was out walking around today during the blizzard that wasn't, and I made my way through the snow and wind to Tompkins Square Park, only to find it closed!

Avenue B and East 7th Street entrance, closed.

Park activities must have been one of those things banned during the blizzard.

I walked along East 7th Street, only to find the mid-block entrance closed too!

East 7th Street entrance, closed.

Where were the anarchists from the night before, I wondered? Wasn't keeping the park open one of their pet projects?

The Avenue A and East 7th Street entrance was also closed, but the St. Mark's Place entrance was open!

St. Mark's Place entrance, open.

Whose snowy park?! Our snowy park!

#eastvillage #avenuea #avenueb #stmarksplace #7thstreet #tompkinssquarepark #anarchists

Photographers of the East Village

The East Village is teeming with photographers! They walk around taking photos, and then show them in art galleries!

This woman is a serious photographer — you can tell because she has two cameras!

Two cameras… count them one, two cameras!

I caught her crossing East 9th Street on Second Avenue. It was one of those moments when I had to raise the camera as quickly as possible to get the shot, which is something I don't usually do, because I don't like to be conspicuous, especially when taking a picture of a person, and as you can see, she didn't even notice!

But my luck didn't end there! Oh no, after a few steps she stopped and I got to catch her at work!

Photographer at work.

Yes, it was a good day all around… in the East Village!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #9thstreet #photographers #artists

Activity at Manitoba's

As you know from my previous post, Manitoba's on Avenue B is closed. Today, however, while out taking pictures of the blizzard, I noticed signs of activity there.

When I passed by at 2:05pm, I noticed that the gate was up in front of the door:

Gate is up.

 Twenty-five minutes later, it was back down:

Gate is down.

I don't know what was going on, but ingress and egress were definitely involved!

#eastvillage #avenueb #manitobas

Before the Blizzard

As you must know by now, the blizzard that was predicted was quite a disappointment! But before we knew that, East Villagers were filled with anticipation!

I was out just before midnight last night, taking pictures. Here are some of them:

Throwing a football, Tompkins Square Park.

Taking a selfie, Tompkins Square Park.

Riding a bike, Avenue B.

A rat path from trash bags to beneath a car. I saw the rat. Gross!

Mr. Plow! Avenue A.

Shortly before Mr. Plow drove by, a group of young people were walking down the middle of the avenue, shouting "Anarchy!" I heard there's a video of them being destructive. It was just like the old days, except anarchists didn't go out in the snow back then!

Delivering the pizza, East 7th Street.

Inside Tompkins Square Park.

Avenue B.

I hope you enjoyed this little excursion into the East Village before the blizzard. Stay tuned for more!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #avenuea, #avenueb, #blizzard, #snowplows, #tompkinssquarepark #anarchists

Citibike System Shut Down for Hurricane

East Villagers were surprised to learn that Citibikes would not be available during the hurricane… I mean blizzard! Did any of you call Juno a hurricane? I kept calling it that all day!

This was the first time the system was shut down for a blizzard. Here is a picture of a closed Citibike station, on East 6th street and Avenue B:

Closed Citibike station on East 6th Street.

With the subways and busses also shutting down, it would have been very helpful to have the Citibikes available to get around.

East Villagers are anxious for Citibikes to be available again after the hurricane is over!

#eastvillage #avenueb #6thstreet #blizzard #citibike

For Want of a Nail

There is a bar on Avenue B just below East 7th Street called Manitoba's. Its name comes from the Province of Manitoba, in Canada. It's very popular with Canadians.

At least, it was. Sources tell me that it is now closed. Forever. The story is that someone sued them for not being in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The amount they won was very little, but Manitoba's had to pay the lawyer's fee also, which was considerable.

This was Manitoba's on Saturday:

Manitoba's on Saturday.

This was Manitoba's on Sunday:

Manitoba's on Sunday.

Here is the sign indicating that they should be open (it was already 1:30pm):

Happy Hour sign.

This was Manitoba's tonight:

Manitoba's Monday night.

For want of a ramp, the bar was lost…

#eastvillage #avenueb #manitobas #signs

A Respite from the Blizzard

I know the blizzard hasn't really even begun yet, but some of you might need some respite already.

I took this picture yesterday, in front of Mud Coffee on East 9th Street:

The buds are budding.

By now, they're covered in snow, but this is what they looked like yesterday!

#eastvillage #mudcoffee #9thstreet #blizzard

Remove the Brown Spot

I had this idea back in October, and I had it again today, while passing through Tompkins Square Park: I'm going to send a request to the Parks Department to remove the stones from where the gimpy elm used to be, to make a circular area around the existing tree, instead of the ovular area that exists around the remaining tree and a brown spot on the ground.

Here are pictures of the area in question:

The brown spot is the area where the gimpy elm used to be.

Here it is from another angle:

Another angle.

January 26

I sent a suggestion to the Parks Department to do this, with a modified version of the picture above:

Ring around the elm tree.

I'll let you know what they say!

#eastvillage #gimpy #elm #tompkinssquarepark #311 #parksdepartment

East Village Books Book Donations

I passed by East Village Books on St. Mark's Place today, when I saw something curious. They have a book donations box outside, for people who want to donate books to them but don't want to enter the store:

Book donations box.

Here's a close-up:

Close-up.

As if to taunt their donors, they put the book donations box right next to the sign that says "We Buy Books"! These people really don't want to enter that store! And yet they want to give them their books.

Curious.

#eastvillage #eastvillagebooks #stmarksplace

Storm Drains Cleared in Preparation for Blizzard

I was walking down Avenue C today, when I saw this group of Sanitation Department workers shovelling snow away from the storm drains at the corner of East 5th Street:

Clearing the storm drains.

With all of the snow that's expected to fall, the storm drains need to be cleared of existing snow, to make room for the new snow!

This post was brought to you by the NYC Department of Sanitation, making the East Village better for everyone!

#eastvillage #avenuec #5thstreet

Employees at Work

I was walking across St. Mark's Place yesterday, when I saw lights on where I don't recall seeing them on before, beneath the unadorned awning at Macaron Parlour:

Lights on in the Macaron Parlour kitchen.

Seeing this for the first time, I wondered what their sign said:

Employees at work!

This sign is confused. Who writes "Employees at Work"? It starts out sounding like it's written by the owner, or manager, but then continues "Please allow us to work…" as if written by the people who work there. It's like signs you might see in the monkey house at the zoo that say "Please do not feed us human food. It makes us sick".

I continued walking around the East Village, but on my way back home I decided to pass by again and take a picture of the employees at work. Unfortunately, the lights were off and the place was deserted. So I'll have to make do with what I have:

An employee in his natural environment.

I wouldn't want to have my picture taken while working, but I wouldn't want to be patronized either… in the East Village!

#eastvillage #macaronparlour #signs #stmarksplace

Do Not Sit on the Steps

I was walking down St. Mark's Place today, when I had the memory of being here just before Christmas, taking a picture of the Search & Destroy Santa.

Today, I was just taking a picture of the steps:

Search & Destroy steps.

They look very inviting, like they'd be very comfortable to sit on.

Attention!

So, no sitting on these steps, you purveyors of punk rock memorabilia!

Oh yes, one more thing:

Caution: No Picture.

Well now you tell me!

#eastvillage #search&destroy #stmarksplace #steps

Former Alphabets Under Destruction

As I mentioned back in December, there has been a lot of activity at the former Alphabets on Avenue A, and as I mentioned earlier today, there is construction work taking place at the former Odessa Cafe, just beside said former Alphabets.

However, not everything in this picture is rosy. Alphabets seems to be undergoing destruction. This is a picture through the gates, of a hole in the wall:

Hole in the wall.

Through the same gates, here is a picture of a big ol' mess:

Big ol' mess on the floor.

What's going on in there? Did a bunch of junkie squatters move in? Junkie squatters in the East Village? That's so 30 years ago!

This is the East Village… Today!

#eastvillage #avenuea #junkies #squatters #alphabets

A Great Sadness

It has been brought to my attention that the Pinkberry on St. Mark's Place has closed!

Pinkberry closed.

This brings great sadness to the hearts of all East Villagers, who have come to love their local Pinkberry.

We will all miss this Pinkberry greatly. Fortunately, 16 Handles on Second Avenue is still open. I have to say, as much as I liked this Pinkberry, 16 Handles is my favorite!

It's so good!

#eastvillage #pinkberry #16handles #stmarksplace

Inside the Door to Nowhere

I haven't posted too many "open doors" lately. They still intrigue me, but when you put them into a blog, they begin to all look the same.

Anyway, next to Horus Cafe, on East 6th Street and Avenue B, I saw this open door, which seems to go nowhere:

Door to nowhere.

And in fact, it does!

A stack of doors, inside the door to nowhere.

This room can only be entered through the door shown at top — there is no other means of entry! What is the point of this?!

Just another one of the mysteries of the East Village!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #horuscafe #avenueb #mysteries #opendoors #inside

New Scaffolding on Avenue A

It seems every time I turn around, something new is happening on Avenue A between East 7th Street and St. Mark's Place! Today there is new scaffolding!

OK, maybe this didn't happen today, but I saw it today:

Scaffolding up on Avenue A.

I don't know if this is the reason the scaffolding went up, but beneath it there is work being done on what was once the Odessa Cafe:

Former Odessa Cafe.

This is great news for Ray's Candy Shop — no longer will they be situated near empty and decrepit-looking storefronts!

The days are drawing near when they're going to have to wash that awning though!

#eastvillage #avenuea #rayscandystore #scaffolding #7thstreet #stmarksplace

Another Cool Car, and Then Some

Most of the cool cars in the East Village that I take pictures of are old. Very old. Older than me!

Today, I was walking across East 3rd Street this morning when I saw this baby:

Mazda RX-7.

Front view:

Front view.

Whoa! What is that?! Another chain attached to the car?

Here is a close-up:

Close-up of chain attached to front of Mazda RX-7.

But what is it attached to? It's just lying there!

It's the beginning of a mystery developing… in the East Village!

#eastvillage #3rdstreet #chains #cool#cars #mazdarx7