Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Scratch 'N Sniff

There aren't too many things in the East Village you would want to scratch and sniff, especially when they're stuck to the door of an abandoned store front, like this one on Avenue B:

Stuck to the door.

When it's bananas and hearts though, it's hard not to!

Scratch and sniff.

These scents were brought to you by Visitor Ralph — Call Ralph, for all your scratch-and-sniff needs!

#eastvillage #avenueb #bananas #hearts #scratchandsniff #visitorralph

Pointless Bird Spikes

Most people don't think of bird spikes as pointless — their pointiness is their very reason for existing!

These bird spikes, however, are completely pointless:

Pointless bird spikes.

In case you can't see what I'm talking about, here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Maybe they're not meant to keep birds away; maybe they're meant to keep people from discarding their cups in that particular spot!

#eastvillage #birdspikes #3rdstreet #abandonedcups #pointless

Pineapple on a Jeep

I was walking down Avenue C recently, when I saw the strangest thing: someone left half a container of pineapple chunks on the running board of a Jeep parked outside the beloved M & W Nail:

The strangest thing.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

#eastvillage #abandonedfood #avenuec #jeep #mwnail #pineapple

Cup O' Taco

What do East Villagers do when they want a chalupa but don't want the carbs?

As this picture shows, from near the beloved taco truck on East 2nd Street and Avenue A, they eat the insides and throw the shell on the sidewalk!

Chalupa shell on the sidewalk.

Maybe it's time to do as the ice cream trucks, and offer their tacos in a cup!

#eastvillage #tacotrucks #avenuea #2ndstreet #chalupas #abandonedfood

Walk / Don't Walk

Speaking of outdoor art galleries, here is an exhibit on the corner of First Avenue and East 7th Street:

Walk / Don't Walk.

I call it "Walk / Don't Walk".

It's like one of those dreams where you're waiting to cross the street, and you don't know when you should go because the signs are facing away from you, and to make matters worse, you're only wearing one shoe, and the other is dangling from the Walk / Don't Walk signs!

Dangling shoe.

East Villagers are nothing if not deep thinkers!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #abandonedshoes #artgalleries #firstavenue #walksigns

Monday, May 29, 2017

Outdoor Art Gallery

Walking through the East Village is like walking through an outdoor art gallery!

Take a look at this exhibit, at the corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place:

Sculpture on wall.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

What is it? Who knows?! It's art!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #stmarksplace #sculptures #art

Memorial Day Pickup Truck

Ever since the disappearance of the Cool Old Pickup Truck® of yore, East Villagers have longed for a replacement.

The wait is finally over!

Introducing: Cool Old Pickup Truck 2.0®, seen here outside the beloved Casa Adela, on Avenue C — complete with American flag for Memorial Day!

Cool Old Pickup Truck 2.0®

It looks like there was a bit of a mishap here:

Mishap.

Nothing a little bondo can't fix!

#eastvillage #avenuec #casaadela #coololdpickuptruck2.0

Shredded Signs

By the looks of it, someone doesn't like signs taped onto this lamppost on St. Mark's Place:

Shredded signs.

It's hard to tell where the lamppost ends and the van begins!

#eastvillage #signs #lampposts #graffitistickers #vans #graffiti #stmarksplace

The Curse of Tompkins Square Park

You might think that being directly across from Tompkins Square Park would make that section of Avenue A desirable to people wanting to open a business worthy of beloving.

Two recently-empty storefronts, side-by-side, tell a different story!

Not so long ago, this was the beloved 100 Avenue A Sales Gallery:

100 Avenue A Sales Gallery.

Directly next door is the formerly-beloved The Black Rose:

The Black Rose.

This is what it now looks like inside:

Inside.

Someone left the lights on!

At least the crusties will have plenty of empty sidewalk space to loiter on!

#eastvillage #100avenueasalesgallery #avenuea #theblackrose #tompkinssquarepark #curse

Another Memorial Day, Another Punk Rock Show

I was walking through Tompkins Square Park Saturday afternoon, when I saw what could only described as some kind of Memorial Day punk rock show or another.

These shows are how East Village punks honor the soldiers who died to keep these shows free!

As usual, I saw no signs announcing this show, and the crowd was pretty small:

Small crowd.

I think these guys are called The Omega Men — correct me if I'm wrong!

The Omega Men (maybe).

The guy on the left looks like a basketball player!

These guys are definitely called Sewage, I'm pretty sure of that.

Most likely Sewage.

The chances that these guys are Coach And Commando are pretty high:

p < .05 Coach and Commando.

Do you know what was really strange about this year's punk rock show? There were no uniformed police officers present — they've always been there in the past to join in the festivities!

This year, they were replaced by undercover cops, taking pictures no less!

Undercover.

These guys are either undercover cops or Australian tourists!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Hey look, it's beret guy!

East Village celebrity and concert organizer Chris Flash was at The Shadow's swag table with his girlfriend (they're inseparable!):

The Shadow swag table.

Here is a close-up of Shadow swag. Tips please!

Close-up.

The Undead's swag table, with John-Boy Walton photo-bombing:

Undead swag.

I left the park at Avenue A and St. Mark's Place, where almost immediately, I saw this sign, announcing the show:

Sign announcing show.

This is where I got the names of the bands — you didn't think I knew these things?!

Finally, no story about a punk rock show in the East Village would be complete without a video of dancing crusties:


#eastvillage #beretguy #chrisflash #coachandcommando #crusties #memorialdayweekend #photographers #punkrockshow #sewage #omegamen #photobomb #theshadow #tompkinssquarepark #undercovercops

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Another Falling-Down Building

Regular readers of East Village Today will no doubt remember the falling-down building on East 6th Street I wrote about back in December.

Well, that building doesn't hold a candle to this leaner, on East 2nd Street:

Leaner.

Here is a picture taken from the front of the building;

Front of building.

Disregard the false perspective — the key thing is that it's only in danger of falling one way!

#eastvillage #slantybuildings #2ndstreet

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

The Return Of The 4th Street M-14D Bus Stop

East Villagers who live seriously east are rejoicing at the recent return of the 4th Street bus stop on the M-14D line. This stop was removed while construction of the beloved Educational Alliance's new Center for Recovery and Wellness building was underway.

Here is a picture of one of the city's new electric busses stopped at the newly-reopened spot:

Stopped at newly-reopened stop.

And here it is, the sign making it all official:

It's official.

No longer will M-14D riders be forced to get off at East 6th Street stop and walk down!

East Villagers hope the increased activity the return of this stop brings will help drive away the drug dealers who infest this location!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #avenued #busstops #citybus #drugdealers #m14d #signs

Buskers Abound

Sunday was certainly the day for busking!

I saw this guitar fellow at the First Street Green Cultural Park, on Houston Street:

Guitar fellow.

He was behind a fence (similar to the one in the picture, on the left), so people passing by couldn't give him any money.

Maintaining the cred — a true East Village artiste!

#eastvillage #buskers #musicians #firststreetgreenculturalpark #houstonstreet

Monday, May 22, 2017

Bench Up, Bench Down

I was walking across East 3rd Street — lo, these seventeen days ago — when I saw this metal bench, chained to these air-conditioner-accommodating anti-theft bars:

Bench, chained.

That's one way to stop people from walking away with your bench!

However, the very next day, the bench was upended!

Behold:

Bench, upended.

It's hard to know if it was a frustrated thief, or a satisfied vandal, behind this chicanery!

#eastvillage #3rdstreet #antitheftbars #benches #vandalism

I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass

A long, long time ago, before most of you were even born, there was a singer named Nick Lowe, and he sang a song that East Villagers at that time snapped their finger and sang along to, called "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass"!

This was back in the bad old days, when East Villagers did love the sound of breaking glass!

Fast forward to the present…

I was walking down St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon, when I saw this group of buskers outside the formerly-beloved Friterie Belgian Fries — they call themselves Breaking Glass:

Breaking Glass.

They drew quite a crowd — it extended all the way into the street:

Into the street.

You can listen to their music here: Click To Experience

The East Village still draws people from all over the world who want to be famous musicians — put that in your vapo-pipe and smoke it, Williamsburg!

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #buskers #musicians #friteriebelgianfries #breakingglass

Gutted Clock

There's an old saying: "One East Villager's trash is another East Villager's treasure".

However, when the trash is put out by the junk store on East 7th Street, this saying no longer applies!

Behold:

Put out by the junk store.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

I recognized the clock shape from across the street and had to investigate!

Here is a close-up of the back side:

Close-up of back side.

Who guts a clock?!

Maybe the junk store is a clock chop-shop!

#eastvillage #junkstore #junk #7thstreet #clocks

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Without Cars

What if there were no people and no cars in the East Village — what would that look like?

I think it would look a lot like East 7th Street did last Sunday afternoon:

The beloved Rose and Basil, without cars in front of it.

The blue place, the beloved junk store, and the beloved Comparti,
without cars in front of them.

The beloved Trash & Vaudeville, without cars in front of it.

If you're wondering why there were no cars, it was because of signs like this:

No Parking Sunday.

It would be great if each block had its own No Parking Sunday, so I could take pictures of the buildings I can't otherwise!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #roseandbasil #trashvaudeville #junkstore #blueplace

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Flair

If there's a store in the East Village that screams out "Flair!", it's the beloved Neon by Cheng, on East 7th Street:

Flair!

They even have the name of the store (Neon) spelled out in inert gas (neon) lights on the ceiling!

Here is a close-up of the flairy mannequins:

Close-up.

There must be… 57 pieces of flair!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #flair #mannequins #neonbycheng

Having Fun

Sometimes people ask me, they say: "Hey East Village Today, you write all the time about what a cool, fun place the East Village is, why do we never see any pictures of people having fun?"

So for all of you, here is a picture of a group of people having fun, on Second Avenue:

Having fun.

The woman wearing mostly-black (dwarfed by the guy in the white shirt), is taking a picture of her friends while I take a picture of them!

I wonder if someone took a picture of me while I did this?

#eastvillage #secondavenue #linknyc #photographers

Bottomless

I've heard of topless brunch, but bottomless?

That's what the sign says, at the beloved Cafe Mocha, on Second Avenue and East 7th Street:

Bottomless.

I wonder how this place smells at the end of a shift?

#eastvillage #7thstreet #bottomless #cafemocha #secondavenue #signs

Going Off The Rails

What's the first thing you see when you look at this picture of a building on East 6th Street?

Tiny little sign.

The tiny little sign, right? There might as well be a large neon arrow pointing at it, flashing "Read Me!"

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Where are the rails? How can you not attach your bicycle to the rails when there are no rails?!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #signs

Strings of Street Lights

Well, they're not street lights, but they're lightbulbs!

I was walking up Avenue A a couple of weeks ago, when I saw these cords wrapped around this tree:

Cords wrapped around tree.

The church lady was carrying on inside Tompkins Square Park about the devil or something; I thought these might be hers, for no reason other than I saw them and heard her at the same time!

Here is a close-up of the lightbulbs:

Close-up.

They extend in both directions:

Both directions.

They must be a wonder to behold at night!

#eastvillage #avenuea #lightbulbs