Do Not Feed the Penguins

East Villagers love a good practical joke — and when they can build onto an existing joke, it's all the funnier!

I saw this sign yesterday, when walking through Tompkins Square Park:

Do Not Feed the… Penguins?

As cold as it was this past Winter, it's easy to imagine penguins in the park!

If you're concerned that someone defaced a Parks Department sign, fear not — this is where the practical joke is doubled. The "Do Not Feed The Pigeons" sign is not an official Parks Department sign! It's another practical joke!

Sides are splitting… in the East Villagers Today!

#eastvillage #signs #tompkinssquarepark

Dogs in Chaps

East Villagers don't always wait for the Halloween Dog Parade to dress up their dogs. Any time is a good time!

I saw this dog with his walker on East 4th Street yesterday:

Dog in chaps.

Dog in chaps! What will they think of next… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet, #dogs

It's Springy!

It's Springy in the East Village!

These flower pictures are from El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

Purple flowers.

White flowers.

Daffodils.

East Villagers love Spring!

#eastvillage #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #4thstreet #spring

When Gas Stations are Deserted

There was a gas station on the corner of East Houston Street and Avenue C that was deserted some time ago:

Deserted gas station.

Well, it's not actually deserted, it's just not a gas station any more.

However, when they moved out their belongings, someone forgot to take these shrubs:

Abandoned shrubs.

One of them, as you can see, did not survive.

The unintended consequences of change… in the East Village Today.

(This is my first-ever post with no exclamation points!)

#eastvillage #houstonstreet #avenuec #gasstations

Tilling the Soil

I was walking around the East Village yesterday, when I saw this:

Tilled soil.

This picture is from Avenue B, but I saw this on other streets too.

The snow and ice from this past Winter packed the soil around the trees, making it difficult for much needed rain water to penetrate, so City workers were sent out to fix this.

Letting a thousand trees bloom… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenueb #trees

The Christmas Garden

There is a line in a song by Elvis Costello that goes: "[I]t is always Christmas in a cupboard at the top of the stairs."

On East 6th Street, it is always Christmas in a community garden called Creative Little Garden:

The Christmas garden.

Here are two close-ups:

Colored bulbs close-up.

Colored icicles close-up.

All they need now are presents under the trees!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #christmasdecorations #communitygardens #creativelittlegarden

Arty Party

This building on East 6th Street used to belong to millionaire artist Walter De Maria:

Millionaire artists's building.

When he died back in 2013, the building was sold to billionaire art collector Peter Brant. These days, art collectors don't just collect the works of artists, but their residences as well!

Recently, there's been a lot of activity setting up for a big party.
I'm not sure what the occasion is, but it must be important, since they erected barricades to prevent parking — for delivery trucks now, and limousines later!

No parking here.

East Village Today was the first to publish pictures of the inside of
this building, and now I am the first to publish photos again, ahead of the party:

Entrance, ahead of the party.

Dom Perignon — pretty swanky! It's sure to be full of A-List art glitterati!

More artsy, less fartsy… that's the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #walterdemaria #artists #peterbrant

Sneak Peek

I was walking up Avenue A the other day, when I saw this at the former Odessa Cafe site:

Former Odessa Cafe site.

It appears that work has commenced decorating the windows of whatever business is going to open here, and by the looks of it, it's going to be very hip!

Keeping it real… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #graffiti #avenuea #odessacafe

Lucky Peach

I was walking down First Avenue Thursday evening, when I saw this line outside Momofuku:

Line outside Momofuku.

Momofuku, which means Lucky Peach, is a popular East Village restaurant.

While many people with cellphone cameras were a block away, on Second Avenue, taking pictures of the collapsed buildings, to have posted online, these people were lining up for some great dinner special.

East Villagers love dinner specials — and are not disastermongers!

#eastvillage #momofuku #firstavenue

East Village Affirmations

Wherever you walk in the East Village, you are bound to see affirmations.

In case you don't know (and if you don't, where have you been?!), affirmations are those messages you tape onto your refrigerator, like "I am Somebody!" or "Everything is Awesome!"

These are some affirmations I saw yesterday:

East 9th Street affirmation.

Second Avenue affirmation.

And after all, art we all one… in the East Village Today?!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #secondavenue

Preserving the Past

East Villagers love to preserve the past, unaltered.

The Native Bean (not to be confused with The Bean) is a popular coffee shop on Avenue A. They used to be at another location on Avenue A, but now they're here.

The previous establishment was Angelina Cafe, another popular cafe that closed and left behind their awning.

Keeping with the local preservationist philosophy, The Native Bean left the awning in place, and tacked their own sign onto it:

Native Bean sign on abandoned awning.

If The Native Bean moves again, and a new business opens here, they will put their sign over The Native Bean's, and everyone will remember that The Native Bean was once here, before Angelina Cafe. And before that… it was a swamp!

The clock stops here… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #thenativebean #signs #angelinacafe #avenuea #swamp

Getting the Right Shot

Photographers in the East Village go through a lot to get the right shot.

I was walking across East 4th Street this past Sunday, when I saw this:

Getting the right shot.

If you're wondering what he's taking a picture of, it was a group of his friends, sitting on a bench. If you're wondering why he's leaning back so far from the phone-camera and squinting, it's because he needs glasses!

Making memories… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #photographers

Filming on St. Mark's Place

I was walking across St. Mark's Place yesterday, when I saw these film makers, making a film:

Making a film.

I thought the actors were eating hotdogs, but it turns out they were hamburgers!

Someone should make a movie about all the movies being made… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #filmmakers #stmarksplace #hamburgers

The Post… is Gone

I was walking down East 9th Street this evening, on my way home from work, when I saw… this:

The post… is gone.

The post, outside the 9th Street Haberdashery, about which I posted many times, is gone!

I have to say, it looks much nicer. The bench actually looks inviting now!

I predicted back in February that 2015 would be "the year of The Great East Village Fix‑'Em‑Upper", and it's turning out that way in spades!

It's kind of scary, really. What will I have to write about, in the East Village Today?

#eastvillage #9thstreet #9thstreethaberdashery #disrepair

Selling Clothes

You might wonder what a sign such as this one on First Avenue and East 12th Street has to do with selling clothes:

Clothes store advertisement.

Well, the answer is this: SSUR is a clothes store on Elizabeth Street, between East Houston and Bleecker Streets — not in the East Village!

Why would a clothes store in a chichi part of town bring their gun imagery to the East Village, where as you can see from the picture, mothers pushing strollers are a familiar sight?

East Villagers say: "Keep your gun posturing in NoLita, where it belongs!" They also say: "The copyright symbol should be superscript!"

That's what they say… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #12thstreet #firstavenue #signs

Mispl-aced Hyphen

I was walking up First Avenue this past Friday, when I saw this sign at the corner of East 9th Street:

Misplaced hyphen.

This sign is outside a popular coffee shop called The Bean.

I wonder if the chalker was instructed to put the hyphen in the wrong place? Maybe that's how the copy sheet was prepared? In my experience, copy sheets should never be used for formatting.

Pushing the grammar envelope… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #thebean #signs #firstavenue #9thstreet

Stop Sign: The Musical

I was walking up First Avenue on Friday morning, when I saw this guy crossing the street, holding a Stop sign:

Holding a Stop sign.

Maybe it was a piece of street theater — the Theater for the New City is right there in the background.

Fortunately, there were no cars coming! You don't want audience participation in this piece!

#eastvillage #theaterforthenewcity #stopsign #firstavenue

One Step at a Time

Most times, the pictures I take have stories already attached to them. Other times, they have what I'll call "story receptors", where the story is as yet unknown.

This ramshackle bottom step on East 9th Street was one of those story-receptor pictures:

Ramshackle step.

I took this picture back in early March, but other than calling attention to its ramshackleness, I couldn't think of anything to say about it.

And then…

Ramshackle step, repaired.

…it was repaired! Not only that, but the staircase it's a part of was cleaned!

They should get some paint that matches the brown of the other steps, and paint it. Or maybe they can paint the entire set with another color — anything but that seafoam green that seems to be so popular on East 9th Street!

Fixing up the East Village… one step at a time!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #disrepair

Pardon My Star

I was walking up Avenue B the other day, passing the new French restaurant called Pardon My French, when I noticed something I hadn't noticed before:

Low-res star.

Unless I'm mistaken, the image that was used to make this star was pulled from off the web, and was a low-resolution .jpg. It might have been fine at half an inch, but at this size, it seriously degrades.

It's probably one of those things few people will notice, or if they do, they'll think was intentional — part of the décor.

Now that I think about it, if people notice anything, it'll be that the name of the restaurant looks like: Pardon My <scribbly line>! Now that I think about it even more, I wonder if the scribbly line of the name and the scribbly edge of the star are meant to correspond?

Cutting-edge design… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #pardonmyfrench #avenueb #stars 

Beyond the Frontier

Every now and then, I like to stand on the edge of the East Village and look out at the horizon — in this case, Third Avenue:

Here be monsters.

Since the beginning of time, people have stood on the frontier and pondered what lay beyond. We're lucky today, in that we know the answer: Midtown South. (Shiver.)

Retreat!… back into the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #midtownsouth #thirdavenue

The First Snowfall of Spring

East Villagers were certainly surprised today, the first day of Spring, to find snow falling:

Snow on East 1st Street.

A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight.
Walking in a Spring wonderland!

East Villagers love snow!

#eastvillage #1ststreet #snow #spring

Ahead of the Curve

I was at the corner of Avenue C and East 5th Street yesterday, when I saw this:

Biker-jacket guy.

I predict that the leather motorcycle jacket and Dr. Martens boots will become a very popular style of dressing in the East Village! (And maybe orange shoe laces.)

East Villagers… ahead of the curve again!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #avenuec #boots #drmartens #motorcyclejackets

Shooting Forever

After all the excitement of the recent Krysten Ritter sighting, East Villagers are maintaining a watchful eye for other celebrities filming on East 9th and 10th Streets. The new project name is Forever:

Forever.

The "A.K.A Jessica Jones" project name was Violet; it's possible that it's the same show but that they changed the name to throw off her fans — they don't want a bunch of old guys shouting "Krysten, marry me!" while they're shooting!

The streets are already blocked to parking:

Stuyvesant Street No-Parking cones.

If you can make it tomorrow at 1:00pm, I'm sure it'll be fun as all get out! I can't — I have to go to work.

#eastvillage #9thstreet #forever #krystenritter #stuyvesantstreet

Movie Shoot at Nino's

Now that the temperature has risen a bit, and the snow has melted, it's not just street artists that are awakening from their hibernation, but film makers too!

I was walking down Avenue A this evening when I saw all of this lighting equipment outside Nino's, a popular pizza restaurant at the corner of St. Mark's Place:

Lighting equipment outside Nino's.

This film project must have a large budget, to be able to pay Nino's for the use of the restaurant during the dinner hour!

I looked inside to see if I recognized anyone famous:

Famous actress inside Nino's?

Is she famous? Do you recognize her? Do you recognize anyone? Let me know in the Comments Section!

Everywhere you go in the East Village, you're bound to brush up against someone almost famous!

(A funny story about Nino's: A few years ago, their pizza was very expensive. People used to complain about the price. Finally, Nino put up a sign that said "Do Not Complain About the Price of Pizza!" After that, people complained about the sign, then about the price! Finally, Nino lowered the price. True story!)

#eastvillage #ninospizza #avenuea #stmarksplace #filmmakers

Artists Emerge From Hibernation

This was a long, cold Winter in the East Village, and a lot of street artists were inside, staying warm. Now that the temperatures are rising again, they're emerging from their caves, and getting back to work!

I was walking across East 2nd Street yesterday morning, past where street work is being done at Avenue B, when I saw this:

Street art on concrete slab.

Apparently, the workers liked the painting so much that they put up their equivalent of the red velvet rope: the yellow caution tape!

"Stand back from the painting, please"… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #avenueb #artists #art

Citibike Gearing Up

The Citibike crews were out in force last night, now that the weather is warmer and East Villagers are back on their bikes!

I saw this at Avenue B and East 6th Street:

Citibike van.

I might add that I was riding a Citibike home when I stopped to take this picture.

There's no biking like Citibiking… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #bicycles citibike #avenueb #6thstreet

Tompkins Square Park Coming Undone

Now that the snow is receding, the damage brought about by the snow and ice is becoming apparent! I saw this the other day, while walking through Tompkins Square Park:

Hexagonal paving stones missing.

Two of the hexagonal paving stones near the big ol' elm tree on the south side are displaced! One is beside the hole it left, attached to a slab of ice, but the other is nowhere to be found!

Parks Department workers have probably already repaired this, but East Villagers should be careful walking around in the coming days — there's no telling where the next hole will open up!

Living on the edge… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #tompkinssquarepark #snow #parksdepartment #workers

Cool Old Pickup Truck Gone From St. Mark's Place

The cool old pickup truck has been moved!

I was walking down St. Mark's Place yesterday evening after work, and I saw this:

Cool old pickup truck gone from St. Mark's Place.

The cool old pickup truck has been here since at least January 24. That's almost two months in the same spot with no tickets!

I walked over to see if it was on East 9th Street, but it wasn't there either.

Maybe its owner has moved on to greener pastures. I mean, now that the East 9th Street West Virginia building no longer looks like it's from West Virginia, the owner has pulled up his roots and moved on.

Towns that disappeared completely
Pull up the roots, pull up the roots
Miles and miles of endless highway
Pull up the roots, pull up the roots

Stay tuned!

#easgtvillage #9thstreet #cool #cars #pickup #trucks #stmarksplace #westvirginia

Duane Reade Comes to Avenue D

This past Sunday, I was coming back into the East Village, after spending the day in the country.

Getting off the FDR at Exit 5, I was driving across Houston Street, when I saw it: the new Duane Reade on the corner of Avenue D:

Duane Reade on Avenue D.

When I got home, I took my camera and went back to get pictures. The store had quite a few people in it — one woman was sitting eating ice cream! It was like a Norman Rockwell painting!

Something I noticed about this building that I hadn't noticed before is how beautiful it is reflecting the evening sunlight:

Reflecting the evening sunlight.

Duane Reades all have Chase ATMs in them too. Finally, I don't have to walk all the way over to Avenue B when I need cash!

#eastvillage #avenued #houstonstreet #duanereade #atms

Sag Fail

I was on my way to the F train at the Second Avenue station, when I saw these pants on the stairs:

Pants on the stairs.

How does someone lose their pants, I wondered? Then it came to me: sag fail!

So, let this be a lesson: pull up your pants, East Villagers!

#eastvillage #subway #pants #ftrain #secondavenue

Danger Sign

I passed by Ray's Candy Shop on Avenue A last week, and saw this Danger sign in front:

Danger sign in front of Ray's.

I thought for sure that work had commenced to clean Ray's awning! But no, it was something else, or else nothing.

Signs sometimes just get up and move themselves… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #rayscandystore #signs #avenuea

Peas, Corn, Strawberries, and Snakes

I was walking down East 4th Street this evening, when I saw these paintings hanging from the fence at El Jardin del Paraiso:

Peas.

The wind was blowing pretty strong, so it wasn't easy to get pictures of them still. But I managed:

Corn.

I guess there aren't any clever homonyms for corn!

Strawberries.

The woman with the circular saw was sawing wood that was then being stacked with pine branches in censers behind her. I guess I should have taken a picture of them! I asked if they were going to light them on fire, and was told "Yes, they're going to jump over them."

I saw one of the people I recognized from the tree funeral this past Summer, so what I think is that this is some kind of anti-St. Patrick's Day celebration designed to bring the snakes back to Ireland — or at least to the East Village!

East Villagers love snakes!

#eastvillage #stpatricksday #snakes #pagans #eljardindelparaiso #artists #communitygardens

I Vote For Cerise

Back in early February, I wrote that the building on the corner of East 9th Street and Avenue A was being primed for painting.

Tonight, I passed by again, to see that painting has begun:

Painting has begun.

Now that I know the building is white, I think the window frames should be cerise. Not the fire escapes though — they should be black.

It's sure to be the nicest building on Avenue A — the East Village just gets better all the time!

#eastvillage #9thstree, #avenuea #paint

Artists Working

I was walking across St. Mark's Place last week, when I saw these artists, working on painting the side of a building:

Artists painting shoes.

Tonight, I passed by again, and they were finished:

Shop here.

They're like Andy Warhol's shoes… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #stmarksplac, #footgearplus #villagekidsfootwear #andywarhol #artists #murals

Another Victory

Back in December, I wrote that there is a building on East 13th Street that I could never get a picture of without a car parked in front of it.

Well, I finally did it:

Abandoned building, car-in-front-ofless.

There's new graffiti too, on the door. It looks like this cold Winter didn't keep everyone inside!

#eastvillage #abandonedbuildings #squalor #13thstreet