The Church Lady Meets The Devil

I was walking through Tompkins Square Park last week, when I noticed The Church Lady being approached by what appeared to be a regular East Village woman. The encounter began before I had my camera aimed, so I missed the first few seconds, but here is what followed:



What looked all the world like a regular East Village woman turned out to be… The Devil, in the heart of the East Village Today!

Scary stuff, eh?

#eastvillage #churchlady #devil #tompkinssquarepark

Harvest Arts Festival – 2

I received a request from an East Villager to post this information, about great stuff happening today!

Here is the second (of two):

Click to enlarge.

Music… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #orchardalley #communitygardens #harvestartsfestival #4thstreet

Harvest Arts Festival – 1

I received a request from an East Villager to post this information, about great stuff happening today!

Here is the first (of two):

Click to enlarge.

Dancing… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #orchardalley #communitygardens #harvestartsfestival #4thstreet

The Closed Door

Do you recognize this door, on Avenue C and East 4th Street?

Door.

Of course you don't! That's because this is the first time this door, to the beloved Avenue C Deli Corp., has ever been closed!

No one knows why it was closed, but it's my guess that the cord that was being used to keep it open broke, or came undone. Something!

You saw it here first, folks… on East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenuec #4thstreet #avenuecdelicorp #doors #closed

The Lost Hat

I was walking down Avenue C this past Sunday, when I saw this hat in the middle of the pedestrian crosswalk at East 5th Street:

In the middle of the pedestrian crosswalk.

A woman pushing a granny cart almost ran over it! If I had seen it soon enough, I'd have had my video camera running — alas, all I could do was take a still photo.

Another missed opportunity… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenuec #5thstreet #losthat

All Is Well

Outside the beloved Niagara bar on the corner of Avenue B and East 7th Street, Joe Strummer looks onto an East Villager, fashionably dressed in all-black.

Fashionably dressed.

Joe Strummer would approve… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenueb #niagara #7thstreet #joestrummermural #fashion #allblack

Crazy Sign

I was walking down Third Avenue a few weeks ago (I have so many pictures I haven't posted yet!), when I saw this crazy sign taped onto the window of the former location of the beloved St. Mark's Bookshop:

Crazy sign.

"Who's going to take the time to read this?" I thought to myself.

"No one!" I replied.

So for the sake of all of you who did not have time to read this, I did it for you. You didn't miss anything!

Except this:

Non-filled-in "e"s.

Poor letterforms… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #stmarksbookshop #thirdavenue #signs #letterforms

Robot Trash Can Open

Back in October of 2014, I wrote about new arrivals to Tompkins Square Park: the Robot Trash Cans!

East Villagers love technological innovations, and this was no exception!

I passed through the park recently, when I saw the door to one of them open:

Is that a beloved Mud Coffee cup?!

As you can see, the trash can is considerably smaller than the non-robotic variety.

This should go a long way to help to reduce the amount of trash produced… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #robottrashcans #mudcoffee #tompkinssquarepark #trashcans #opendoors

Interesting Scribbles

East Villagers love to scribble. Some of the most popular graffiti is scribbling — just indecipherable scribbles!

Most of the time, no one notices them, but every now and then, someone scribbles something in an interesting pattern!

This is an example I saw while walking down Avenue A:

An interesting pattern.

East Village Today does not recommend graffitiing, but if you're going to do it, do it on glass, so it cleans off easily — washable tempera paint is preferred!

Keeping it real… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #graffiti #avenuea

De Blasio Jimmy

East Villagers love to graffiti on things, especially things that move! Graffitiing on a building is fine, but people have walk past the building to see it. Graffitiing on a vehicle, on the other hand…

I saw this graffitied van on East 4th Street, not too long ago:

Graffitied van.

Spreading awareness of Mayor de Blasio… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #graffiti #deblasio #4thstreet

It's Spreading

Sometimes people say to me, they say: "Hey East Village Today, is hollow tree fungus really as prevalent as you say it is?"

And I reply to them: "It's worse than that!"

I took this picture back in mid-August, on East 7th Street:

Hollow tree fungus on East 7th Street.

It's spreading at an alarming rate — some day it may be too late to stop it… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #hollowtreefungus #trees

Empty Space on Avenue A

I was walking down Avenue A, oh, about a month ago, when I saw this, at the former location of the beloved Alphabets, between East 7th Street and St. Mark's Place:

Former location of the beloved Alphabets.

Here's another shot, without the riot gates:

Without the riot gates.

This looks like the perfect place for an Eastern European restaurant that only serves food at the counter! Or a shoe repair shop! Or even a CD store! They would barely have to renovate!

Turning back the clocks… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenuea #riotgates #7thstreet #stmarksplace

Pigeon Prints

East Villagers love to mark up freshly-poured concrete! Whether it's their name or hand-print, they like to leave their mark

Now, even the pigeons are getting into the act! I recently saw this on Second Avenue:

Pigeon prints.

There's always something to write home about… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #sidewalks #pigeons

Doomed

In my effort to help remove everything unsafe from the East Village (except for those things that make it so cool!) I have followed the growth of the hollow tree fungus on this tree on Avenue C:

Taken September 3.

People have diligently curbed their dogs, but it doesn't seem to have stemmed the growth of this, dare I say, hideous fungus from outer space!

Just this past weekend, it sprouted a feather!

Sprouted a feather.

This tree is doomed — DOOMED!… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #hollowtreefungus #avenuec #trees

Decrepitude Returns

Regular readers of this blog may remember a post I wrote back in December of 2014, about the beloved Lumé, on Avenue C, and how not even decrepitude and discounts for locals could save it from closing.

This is the picture I posted, from that time:

Picture from that time.

I passed by there again this past Saturday, and saw this:

Newly decrepit stairs.

Even though the bar has been closed for a year, someone saw fit to replace the stairs, which time and the elements saw fit to degrade again!

Everything tends toward entropy… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenuec #lumé #dilapidation #entropy

9th Street Block Party 2015

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was writing about the beloved East 9th Street Block Party, and yet it was a year ago! (Whoa! Deja vu!)

This past Saturday, the 9th Street Block Party was in full swing again:

East 9th Street, looking eastward.

Do you remember Old Flat Top? From the early days of East Village Today?

Old Flat Top.

Looks like somebody didn't get the memo!

No Parking Saturday.

Meg was hawking her wares again:

MegWare.

The beloved Superiority Burger was dishing up their famous Frito Pie (Fritos in the bag, some kind of chili stuff, and some kind of cheesy stuff. Trans-fats are vegan!):

Frito Pie. Yum!

The beloved The Upper Rust displayed their tassels on a tassel tree:

Tassel tree.

And East Villagers eagerly checked East Village Today for the latest updates:

"Nothing about the block party yet. I'll keep refreshing my browser!"

Finally, the beloved 9th Street Block Party Band played while people… recorded their surroundings!



A good time was had by all… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage 9thstreet #blockfair #theupperrust #superiorityburger #oldflattop #megware #9thstreetblockparty

Nouveau Crusty

I was walking past the very groovy (not to mention beloved!) Earth School on East 6th Street, oh, about twenty days ago or so, when I saw this:

Baby stroller full of stuff.

This moving mess wasn't chained to anything! In fact, it belonged to what looks all the world like a nouveau crusty:

Nouveau crusty.

If you've wondered, as I often have, how someone gets their start as a crusty, here is a glimpse at the beginning! She still has her violin with her!

I don't know how long it takes for the transformation to be complete, but at least now we know that they don't generate spontaneously… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenueb #6thstreet #crusties #earthschool

Shopping Carts, By George!

If you've walked around the East Village lately, as I have, you will probably have noticed an increase in the number of shopping carts chained up to things!

Here are some from just the past few weeks:

On East 4th Street between Avenues C and D.

Outside the former, beloved Bikes By George,
on East 4th Street between Avenues A and B.

On East 6th Street between Avenues C and D.

On East 9th Street between Avenues B and C.

The signs of homelessness are on the rise… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #avenuea #avenueb #avenuec #avenued #bikesbygeorge #homelessness #shoppingcarts

Pinwheels and Yarn

East Village artists work in all sorts of media, from paint, to metal, to body fluids, to yarn!

This is woven into the fence at the La Plaza Cultural garden, on Avenue C and East 9th Street:

Pinwheels and Yarn
Pinwheels and Yarn
Everyone wishes for Pinwheels and Yarn
How do you measure its worth?
Just by the pleasure it gives here… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #pinwheels #yarn #9thstreet #laplazacultural #avenuec #artists

L.E.S. Jewels R.I.P.

I was walking by Tompkins Square Park this past Saturday, when I saw this, at the entrance of Avenue A and East 9th Street:

L.E.S. Jewels R.I.P.

Lower East Side Jewels was notorious for drinking, taking drugs, and fighting. When he died, one person commented on another blog:

Surprised to hear about LES Jewels. Never said a word to him but liked how he never said a word to me either.

From there to here, from here to there, memorials are everywhere… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #avenuea #drugaddicts #lowereastsidejewels #memorials #tompkinssquarepark

Rockin' the Hallelujah

Oftentimes, when people think of the East Village, they think of religious piety — and they're not wrong to do so!

However, the East Village is no different from the world beyond Third Avenue in this respect: churches here have a hard time attracting young people!

That's why this church went about trying to attract young people using the language they understand: toe-tappin' music!


East Villagers love a good rockin' Hallelujah!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #avenuec #musicians #hallelujah

The Go Run

I was walking across East 10th Street this past Saturday, having just left the beloved 10th Street Block Fair, when I heard shouting from the end of the block.

When I looked, I saw a group of people running toward me, waving flags in front of them!

Having my video camera with me, I shot this footage. Let's take a look, shall we?



I asked one of the participants what this was, and he told me "Go Run… honoring the fallen of 9/11".

So there you have it! Honoring the fallen of 9/11 by carrying people down the street… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #gorun #911

The Helium Canister

There's a funny story behind this video!

I saw a red canister in the trash can at the corner of Avenue A and East 6th Street, and I wanted to take a picture of it. There were two people waiting to cross the street, who were blocking my view of it, so I waited.

The light changed and they moved, but when they did, the two you will see in the video stepped into the frame, so I continued waiting.

You will not believe what happened next:



He put his mouth on the nozzle! There were probably germs on it!

This is why canisters should be disposed of properly… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenuea #6thstreet #trashcans #helium

East 10th Street Block Fair

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was writing about the beloved East 10th Street Block Fair, and yet it was a year ago!

This past Saturday, the East 10th Street Block Fair was in full swing again:

East 10th Street, in full swing (looking eastward).

There are always lots of black clothes, for the fashionable East Villager:

"What's this white jacket – is Bryan Ferry here?"

East Villagers do love a bargain:

Free Store.

The local jazz band, "taking five":

Taking five.

This t-shirt looks like the Pink Floyd's The Wall hammer insignia, but sideways! It was probably a printing error — maybe he picked it up at the Free Store!

Sideways hammers insignia.

There was a big, empty space where Stuyvesant Street intersected East 10th Street that would have been perfect for a mime:

Big empty, mimeless space.

Someone seems to have taken a hack saw to this guitar:

Guitar hack job.

Pantone swatch books are always a popular gift for the East Village artist:

"How much do you want for this? … One of the 235 chips is missing."

And the East 10th Street Block Fair comes to an end:

At Second Avenue, looking westward.

Goodbye again, until next year!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #streetfairs #thirdavenue #secondavenue

The Store That is No More

You might not know it to look at it, but this was a store, on Avenue A:

Store on Avenue A.

This was the beloved Eco General Store. I say "was" because they recently went out of business.

It doesn't look much like a store though, does it? That's probably what did them in: the "vegan shoes" column should have been removed — it would have looked like a regular store then:

A regular store.

East Villagers do love their shopping confusion!

#eastvillage #ecogeneralstore #avenuea

Pile of Dirt

East Villagers aren't fazed by anything. That's why this pile of dirt, on Avenue C just below East 6th Street, provoked no fanfare last week:

Pile of dirt.

Just another day in the East Village!

#eastvillage #avenuec #6thstreet #dirt

FDEV

After a busy day of putting out fires, the East Village Fire Department likes to slam down a few coffee drinks at the beloved The Bean, on First Avenue and East 9th Street:

Slammin' down some joe.

Good to the last drop… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #firedepartment #thebean #firstavenue

East Village Parking

East Villagers are such an insubordinate bunch!

I was walking down East 4th Street when I saw this:

Insubordinate parking job.

Parking any damn where I please… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #parking

East 10th Street Closed

This is sort of late, but that doesn't matter — this is not a news blog, but an East Village coolness blog!

I was walking down Second Avenue the other day, and saw this sign outside the beloved Chase, on East 10th Street:

E. 10th Street will be closed.

This is the street in question:

The street in question.

When I got to the end of the block, I saw the area of concern:

Area of concern.

Behind the fence was a large pit, with a ladder:

Large pit with ladder.

This is what a building looks like, beneath the sidewalk:

Building beneath sidewalk.

There were a lot of pipes. This is a picture taken through a pipe:

Picture taken through pipe.

Here's another, from the other end:

The other end.

Making a better East Village for everyone… Today!

#eastvillage #chase 10thstreet #secondavenue #constructionsites