Egg Mess

Who could have left this mess on the sidewalk, I wondered, as I walked across East 7th Street this past Saturday morning:

Mess on sidewalk.

It could have been anyone!

Literally anyone.

Check this out: from the angle I took this picture, it looks like the yellow sign, outside the beloved Butter Lane Cupcakes, is connected to that pole.

It isn't though — it's a street sign.

#eastvillage #7thstreet #butterlanecupcakes #eggs #litter #signs #trash

Two Boots

When East Villagers think about two boots, they usually think about the beloved Two Boots Pizza, on Avenue A and East 3rd Street.

That's not what this story is about. This is a story about two minivans… that were booted!

This one was on East 4th Street, ten days ago:

Ten days ago.

This one was on Avenue A, six days ago:

Six days ago.

If you don't want this to happen to you, pay your fines!

#eastvillage #minivans #boots #4thstreet #avenuea

Sad Old Man Table

Anyone who has walked up Avenue A has certainly seen the collection of sad old men standing around the beloved book table on the corner of St. Mark's Place:

Sad old men.

Unfortunately for her, they're not there to buy books, they're there to talk to the woman who sells the books — she's cute as a bug!

Sad old men get their books from the library!

#eastvillage #booktables #avenuea, #stmarksplace

Missing Lamppost

There's a light on this lamppost
that won't light on one side.
So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear.
I'll fix it up there, then I'll bring it back here.

A week since it happened, no one yet knows who removed the lamppost from in front of Orchard Alley community garden on East 4th Street, or why!

The culprit was wearing brown pants and a yellow shirt, as seen on this image taken from the East Village Today roving drone camera:

The culprit.

A stump now is all that remains:

All that remains.

It's been pretty dark there ever since:

Pretty dark.

Maybe the City will replace it with one of those blue lights!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #lampposts #bluelights #darkness

Peer Into The Garden

Everyone loves the binoculars at tourist sites like the Grand Canyon, and at the top of the Empire State Building, that you put a quarter into and can peer far into the distance.

Here in the East Village, we have our own version of this, outside the community garden El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

Our own version.

It's DIY!

Here is what it looks like, in use:

A tree, larger than life.

You don't even have to pay!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #styrofoamcups #trees

More Fluorescent Dumping

Less than a month since the fluorescent-light dumping on Avenue C and East 5th Street, which I now attribute to East Village Bikes, since they're no longer open, comes this:

This.

It's hard to guess where this might have come from… until you turn around!

Behold, the beloved Manhattan Laundry Center, on the corner of Avenue C and East 8th Street, with a fluorescent lightbulb missing:

Fluorescent lightbulb missing.

At least they don't just throw it into the street, like in the bad old days!

#eastvillage #avenuec #fluorescentlights #trashcans

East Village Bikes Closed

This has to be one for the record books!

The beloved East Village Bikes, on Avenue C, opened in early May. Here it is late June, and they're closed!

Behold:

Even the name is covered.

Even the name is covered!

You can tell this is the real thing, because the bikes, that were on the sidewalk since the day they opened, are now gone:

Gone.

This leave us asking a lot of questions, like:

What will become of the WFMU-bicycle-basket bicycle?!

#eastvillage #avenuec #bicycles #eastvillagebikes #sidewalks

WFMU Bicycle Basket Update

How often does it happen that a bicycle basket makes an appearance in a blog more than once?

Not very often, I'd wager, unless it's the WFMU bicycle basket of yore!

Take a look at this, seen outside the beloved East Village Bikes, on Avenue C:

WFMU bicycle basket.

There was a repair ticket on the seat — I wonder what's wrong with the bike?

Too much static?!

#eastvillage #wfmu #bicyclebaskets #eastvillagebikes #avenuec #bicycles

5c Cultural Center Closed?

It may look like the beloved 5C Cultural Center, on East 5th Street and Avenue C, is closed, but they're not — they're renovating!

Behold, as seen yesterday:

Closed for renovations.

Here is a picture of the inside:

Inside.

These chairs and tables look so much nicer than the ones they're replacing — I'm probably going to hang out here every day now.

I hope they have free WiFi!

#eastvillage #5cculturalcenter #avenuec #5thstreet #renovations

Metsbike

Regular riders of Citibikes know that from time to time new bikes make their way into our lives.

The most recent one I've seen is this, on Avenue D, featuring the Mets:

The Mets.

What's with all these hippies in sports these days? It's even worse in football — every team has a hippie on it now!

Hippie.

East Villagers like punks, not hippies!

#eastvillage #citibike #hippies #punks

New Citibike Station?

I was walking across East 6th Street this past Tuesday, when I saw what looks all the world like a new Citibike station going in, near the corner of Avenue A:

New Citibike station?

Sadly, that's not the case — it's just regular street repairs.

#eastvillage #orangecones #orangebarrels #6thstreet #citibike #streetrepairs #avenuea

Tiny Little Wooden Diorama

East Villagers are so accustomed to the Graffiti Wall on First Avenue being covered with graffiti and graffiti stickers and sometimes posters that many probably did not notice this tiny little wooden diorama:

Tiny little wooden diorama.

Here it is in context:

In context.

See? It's tiny!

#eastvillage #dioramas #firstavenue #graffitiwall

Graffiti Motorcycle

I was walking across East 3rd street this morning, when I saw these orange doodles sprayed on this motorcycle cover:

Orange doodle-graffiti.

The doodles look like voodoo symbols: eyes and stick figures and squiggles and such. The bottom says: "GO BACK &". I wonder what the other side says? "TRY AGAIN"?

 I wonder if the owner did this, or some vandal?

#eastvillage #motorcycles #graffiti #motorcyclecovers #3rdstreet #voodoo

Two Murals In One

Just the other day, I wrote about the change to the artwork adorning the construction fence on Second Avenue, including the highlight of the piece: glam shoe.

Who knew this was the start of a movement?!

Behold, on Avenue C and East 12th Street:

Glam shoe mural.

Whoa! I just noticed something: There's words behind those shoes on the left!

Backstabbers Incorporated.

They smile in your face
All the time they want to take your place
The backstabbers
(Incorporated)

It's two, two, two murals in one!

#eastvillage #12thstreet #avenuec #constructionfences #murals

Areas of Interest

People ask me sometimes, they say: Hey East Village Today, I know all of the East Village is cool, but are there any particular areas that are even cooler than that?

Why yes there is, I say. Just take a look at Google Maps!

Google Map of East Village.

The areas marked in orange are "areas of interest", and looking at them I can tell there are no surprises here!

The good people at Google Maps explain it all here — of particular note is this:

We determine “areas of interest” with an algorithmic process that allows us to highlight the areas with the highest concentration of restaurants, bars and shops. In high-density areas like NYC, we use a human touch to make sure we’re showing the most active areas. [emphasis mine!]

A human touch, like East Village Today!

#eastvillage #googlemaps #areasofinterest

New Pothole Update

Even though I reported the birth of this pothole, on East 4th Street, to the good people at 311, nothing has happened yet.

Nothing in the way of repairing it, that is. It certainly has grown in these six days!

Growing pothole.

It looks like it's becoming a black hole — already the gravity seems stronger near it!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #blackholes #gravity #potholes

Sitting on the Sidewalk

One of the strangest outdoor seats is at the beloved Via Della Pace, on East 7th Street:

Strangest outdoor seating.

There are railings surrounding everything in front of this restaurant except the table, the edge of which sits flush with the sidewalk.

Also, there's no room to move once you're sitting!

This is made all the stranger by the fact that Via Della Pace is also the site of the coolest outdoor seating in the East Village!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #viadellapace #outdoorseating

Something Is Different

Something changed here, at the building housing the beloved Dr. Brendan Mac Repair on St. Mark's Place. Something is different.

Something is different.

I don't know what it is, but it's definitely something!

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #drbrendanmacrepair

Sidewalk Appropriation

The beloved Recycle-A-Bicycle, on Avenue C above East 5th Street, never used sidewalk space to store their wares.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the beloved East Village Bikes, as seen (again) this past Saturday afternoon:

The same cannot be said.

East Village businesses love sidewalk appropriation!

#eastvillage #avenuec #eastvillagebikes #recycleabicycle #sidewalks

Improper Disposal

No doubt one of the beloved businesses near Avenue C and East 5th Street is responsible for this improper disposal of fluorescent lights, seen this past Saturday:

Improper disposal.

"Dispose of Properly" say the instructions on the box, not "Dispose of Clandestinely in the Nearest Receptacle!

#eastvillage #avenuec #5thstreet #trash #trashcans #fluorescentlights

Sun-Drenched Art Exhibit

While the punk rock show Puke Island Part 7 was occurring in Tompkins Square Park yesterday, at the edge of the circular, center area, these paintings were also being exhibited:

Paintings on exhibit.

Unfortunately, it was just as hot here (more-so in the sun!), as at the punk rock show, so very few people were in attendance here too.

It's too bad the punks didn't come check it out — there was one painting they might have appreciated:

Duran Duran painting.

The Duran Duran painting!

Duran Duran was a very popular punk band in the East Village back in the 1980s!

#eastvillage #paintings #artexhibition #duranduran #tompkinssquarepark

Too-Big Bicycle

Have you ever had a bicycle that was so big, you couldn't park it on the sidewalk completely?

This bike, on East 9th Street, has that problem!

Too big.

I hope that livery cab doesn't back up too far, or "too big" won't be the only problem this bicycle has!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #bicycles

Chanel Poster

Unless I'm mistaken, the last time we looked in on this former location of the East Village Pharmacy, on Avenue A and East 5th Street, was March, 2016.

I'm happy to report that things have improved — look, a Chanel poster!

Chanel poster.

Here it is in context:

In context.

Granted, this corner is still a mess, but at least now East Villagers can maintain awareness of Chanel makeup (and by extension perfume, clothes, the English Chanel…).

#eastvillage #chanel #5thstreet #avenuea #eastvillagepharmacy

A Dieu Vous Comant, Macaron Parlour

In recent years, East Villagers have looked forward to the first day of Spring the way no villagers have before them, thanks to Macaron Day!

Sadly, this too has passed.

I was walking across St. Mark's Place this past Saturday, when I saw that the beloved Macaron Parlour was closed:

Closed.

No more free macarons once a year, no more taking pictures of macaron chefs at work, no more auto-corrected macaroni…

Who will give us free cookies now?

#eastvillage #macaronparlour #stmarksplace

Terrible News

The East Village recently lost one of its favorite restaurants: the beloved McDonald's on Third Avenue:

Third Avenue McDonald's.

This was what I wrote about it, back in September, 2016.

This McDonald's, located on the western frontier, just above St. Mark's Place, once greeted thousands of happy visitors every week, as they entered the East Village. Now there are only two left.

First they came for Chase, and I did not speak out– because I did not bank at Chase. Then they came for McDonald's…

#eastvillage #mcdonalds #thirdavenue

Freedom And Intelligence

Speaking of Puke Island Part 7, true to form, there was no advertising, apart from this announcement on Facebook:

Facebook announcement.

I was curious about their claim:

Not affiliated with ABC No Rio, Make Music New York, or anyone else. Brought to you by the need to keep freedom and intelligence in punk music.

Make Music New York performances are on June 21, so not being affiliated with them is understood, since this show was on June 11.

ABC No Rio, on the other hand, sponsored a hardcore/punk matinee at their previous location, on the Lower East Side. Do they promote captivity and stupidity in their shows, I wondered?

I saw this on ABC No Rio's web page:

We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive scene where all can feel welcome and comfortable, regardless of race, gender or sexual identity. We do not book racist, sexist or homophobic bands. [emphasis theirs]

Maybe that's it?

#eastvillage #pukeisland #abcnorio #makemusicnewyork #freedom #intelligence

Puke Island Part 7

You might think that punk rock is the only type of music that ever gets performed in Tompkins Square Park, and with one notable exception, you would be right!

Yesterday's punk rock show was called Puke Island Part 7. Catchy name, eh?

It was scheduled to start at 2:00pm, but yesterday was hot…

Hot.

…so I waited until later in the afternoon to show up.

Apparently, it was too hot for most other people too. This was the crowd when I arrived:

The crowd.

It was even too hot for crusties!

Only one crusty.

Maybe all the punks hitched a ride to Rockaway Beach?!

It's never too hot for the promoter though, East Village celebrity Chris Iconicide, seen here in the mosh pit, while the band Alien Species played:

Chris Iconicide and Alien Species.

Hot weather is perfect for the Coco Cherry Mango Rainbow Icy man though:

Coco Cherry Mango Rainbow Icy man.

As always, these shows are an opportunity for local underground newspapers to hawk their tchotchkes:

Underground newspaper tchotchke table.

I was melting by this point, so I bought some ice cream and went home!

#eastvillage #alienspecies #chrisiconicide #crusties #musicians #pukeisland #punkrockshow #tchotchkes #tompkinssquarepark

New Klieg Lights

Last Thursday, as I rode my Citibike around the East Village, I saw this semi truck loaded up with klieg lights, parked outside the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D:

Klieg lights.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

They don't look like the standard NYPD klieg lights.

Something's afoot!

#eastvillage #avenued #jacobriishouses #kleiglights #semitrucks

Chillin' In The Bike Lane

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking up Second Avenue, when I saw this woman chillin' with her feet in the bike lane:

Feet in the bike lane.

I guess when you find a backrest as comfortable as a ParkNYC Muni Meter, where your feet wind up is not important!

#eastvillage #bikelanes #munimeter #parknyc #secondavenue

Inside Nino's Pizza

Back at the end of May, I took a look inside the formerly-beloved Nino's Pizza, on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place:

Inside Nino's Pizza.

Nino's was famous for their sign that said: "Do Not Complain About The Price"!

Their pizza was very expensive.

#eastvillage #ninospizza #avenuea #stmarksplace

Litter In Pickup Truck

One of the hazards of parking a pickup truck in the East Village is that, as with bicycle baskets, East Villagers will fill it up in no time with litter!

This pickup truck on East 7th Street bears witness to this fact:

Witness.

It's hard to tell if the spare time and orange cone and refrigerator shelves were discarded here or were part of the load the driver was hauling!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #litter #orangecones #pickuptrucks #sparetires #refrigeratorshelves

More Arty Stuff

This construction fence on Second Avenue just above St. Mark's Place is in a constant state of flux!

This mural started out looking like this, but now it looks like this:

Like this.

The glam shoe is the same, and the building permits, but that's it!

#eastvillage #constructionfences #murals #secondavenue