WTF Is This Update

It happened so quickly, if you'd have blinked, you'd have missed it!

I'm referring, of course, to the new LinkNYC kiosk on First Avenue and East 4th Street, beside the WTF Pac-Man mailbox.

Through it all, its expression never changed.

Two weeks ago, it was "Oh my God, what is this mess?!

This morning? Behold:

Oh my God, that thing is so cool!

Watch out, East Village — here comes the 21st century!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #graffiti #greenmailboxes #linknyc #pacman

Humen Bote

This morning, as I walked past the East 4th Street Lego Man again, something jumped out at me.

No, not a mugger! It was the very groovy skeleton graffiti sticker!

See it?

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

My first thought was to write "Groovy Skeleton and IsThatPhoebe, sitting in a tree…", but then I found out something amazing: The groovy skeleton is done by an eight-year-old boy!

It's true! His father wheat-pastes them up around the city!

Thanks to JodoNYC, official graffitier of East Village Today,  for that information.

#eastvillage #4thstreet #ethanarmen #graffitistickers #humenbote #instagram #isthatphoebe #jodonyc #legoman

Moveable Mailbox

Have you ever wondered what to do with the mailbox when you're tearing up the sidewalk it's cemented into?

In the East Village, you put it smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk, like this one on East 4th Street:

Smack dab.

I have a feeling this won't be the last story on this moveable mailbox!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #avenueb #greenmailboxes

So Long, Einstein

If this continues, I'm going to have to start a new blog just to cover the daily going-ons of the bicycle repair shop formerly known as the beloved East Village Bikes!

I was walking down Avenue C yesterday evening, when I noticed that the Einstein banners that covered the windows had been replaced with pictures torn out of Maxim!

Behold:

Torn out of Maxim.

It looks like a real repair shop now, without the calendars!

#eastvillage #avenuec #eastvillagebikes #einstein #girlypictures #maxim

Go Packers!

You might not think it to look at them, but crusties are Green Bay Packers fans!

Behold, taken thirteen days ago in the Cooper Union alcove on The Bowery:

Cooper Union alcove.

This is how you know crusties are not from here: East Villagers don't know the first thing about football!

#eastvillage #cooperunion #thebowery #crusties #greenbaypackers

WTF Is This Update

Being an underserved neighborhood, the East Village doesn't qualify for the more-expensive sidewalk sealant cover that other neighborhoods get.

Behold:

Cheap sidewalk sealant cover.

Still, it's pretty impressive that it took less than twenty-four hours to repair the mess on First Avenue that I wrote about in WTF Is This.

That must be come kind of record!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #orangecones #toiletpaper

Next To Starbucks

With all the hubbub going on next door, and the soon-to-be-beloved Starbucks, it's easy to forget that some other new, soon-to-be-beloved store is opening up on St. Mark's Place!

On the day I passed by (two weeks ago), they had just received their new cellar stairs and base:

Cellar stairs and base.

The door was open:

Open door.

…so I took a look inside:

Inside.

It looks like they still have a long way to go!

It's hard to say what it will be, but being next to Starbucks, it's bound to be popular!

#eastvillage #st.marksplace #starbucks #cellarstairs #orangecones #opendoors

Progress At Starbucks

There has been a lot of progress at the soon-to-be-beloved Starbucks, on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place!

Here is the green mermaid-head sign, taken one week ago:

Mermaid-head sign.

At the time I took this picture, the name had yet to be painted onto… the place where they paint the name.

Three days later, it was there!

Walk, to Starbucks.

It's stippley!

There was a small tear in the plastic covering the door, so I took a picture inside — it's mostly reflection, but you can see inside a little bit:

A little bit.

The minutes are ticking down to the grand opening — if I pass by that day, I'll be sure to check out if anything is free!

#eastvillage #avenuea #starbucks #stmarksplace #stipple #signs

Picke Bicycle

I was walking down Second Avenue two weeks ago, when I saw this pink bicycle with two pickup trucks behind it:

Pink bicycle.

The bicycle is an advertisement for the new dating app Picke. I know it's new, because the first review on the App Store is dated August 11!

Here is a picture of the back tire:

Back tire.

I'm not sure how well this app will do here — East Villagers are not picky!

#eastvillage #appstore #bicycles #picke #pickuptrucks #secondavenue

Groovy New Art

In my recent post Watch Out, Lego Man!, in the second picture, you probably noticed a small figure of a woman just to Lego Man's left.

When I posted that on Instagram, it was called out by febreaks as being the work of IsThatPhoebe, and/or phoebenewyork.

Here is a larger figure that I saw on East 12th Street:

Larger figure.

Are those balding turtles?

#eastvillage #12thstreet #art #febreaks #isthatphoebe #phoebenewyork

Unhappy Ending Update

Seventeen days ago, I told you about the beloved Nie's Service Center, on East 4th Street, being closed for prostitution.

I passed by there this morning, and saw that the Marshal's notices were gone and the riot gate was up:

Back to normal?

Here is what it looks like inside now:

Through the door.

Through right side of window.

Through left side of window.

It's possible, even likely, that someone was inside there, remembering the good old days!

#eastvillage #bestchinesefootbackrub #4thstreet #niesservicecenter #riotgates #marshalslegalpossession

WTF Is This

It looks like the Pac-Man graffito on First Avenue is shocked, shocked I say!, to see the orange barrels toppled over, as they are:

Shocked.

Life imitates art!

#eastvillage #pacman #graffiti #orangebarrels

Anarchist Movers

The East Village has always been home to anarchists. So it makes sense that when it comes time for them to move, they would call a moving company named after a famous anarchist:

Famous anarchist moving company.

Here is a peek inside one of the trucks:

Who owns an I beam?

I'm not sure I would want anarchists moving my furniture. They wouldn't show up on time, if at all, and they would probably sabotage the truck, and "liberate" my guitar!

#eastvillage #saccosspecializedmoving #4thstreet #anarchists

East Village Bikes Again

There's just no telling any more what's going on at the perhaps formerly-beloved, perhaps beloved, East Village Bikes on Avenue C!

Are they open? Are they closed? Are they… unclosed?

One thing for certain is that there was a lot of activity in August!

This is from August 10th — lots of bicycles outside!

"Don't steal my soul!"

By August 14th, the bicycles were gone and these window guards had taken their place:

Window guards.

By the 24th, the bicycles were back outside again!

Back outside again.

Maybe it's a squatter operation? How East Villagey!

#eastvillage #avenuec #eastvillagebikes #squatters #windowguards

News Boxes

East Villagers are accustomed to the free-newspaper boxes that line the avenues — it's where most get their news!

You don't have to look inside for news, though. Sometimes, the news is on the box itself, such as this one, on Second Avenue:

News box.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It sounds like something you'd see in The Shadow!

#eastvillage #newspaperboxes #theshadow #secondavenue 

Pull Up A Seat

Wherever you go in the East Village, you will almost always find a place to sit down!

Behold, as seen on Second Avenue at East 12th Street:

Seating for one.

The view is nothing to write home about, but you can throw away any litter you have easily enough!

#eastvillage #12thstreet #abandonedchairs #secondavenue #trashcans

Dump

If you've lived in the East Village for any length of time, you will surely know that The Shadow is "New York's ONLY underground newspaper"!

They don't have a regular publishing schedule, but you always know when a new edition is available because you'll see one of their stickers on a scaffolding pole or something, like these that I saw recently, outside the beloved Alphabet City Deli & Grill on Avenue C:

The Shadow stickers.

Those two were pretty unscathed, which is not the case of this one, a few short steps away:

Scathed.

Since The Shadow is underground, it's not easy to find a copy. Fortunately, I know a guy, who knows a guy… so I can get one without much difficulty.

Would you expect anything less?!

#eastvillage #avenuec #stickers #theshadow #alphabetcitydeligrill #scaffolding

Big Lee And Sasha's

Something is afoot at the formerly-beloved Spanky & Darla's!

I was walking down First Avenue, oh, about seventeen days ago, when I saw this solitary square of white almost perfectly centered on a black riot gate:

Almost perfectly centered.

What could it be, I wondered?

I took a look.

It turned out to be a request for a liquor license, by the soon-to-be beloved Big Lee and Sasha's Inc.:

Big Lee & Sasha's Inc.

Big Lee and Sasha's? That sounds strangely similar to Spanky & Darla's!

Taped to their open door was a shower curtain:

Shower curtain.

Naturally, I took a peek inside:

A peek inside.

I hope they get their liquor license. Now that the beloved First Avenue Wines is about to become formerly-beloved, that section of the block will be critically devoid of alcohol!

#eastvillage #eastvillagewines #firstavenue #liquorlicense #riotgates #signs #spankyanddarlas

Non-Employee ID

Sometimes, when you're a non-employee, you lose your identification card — it just happens!

East Villagers, however, are helpful people. When they see a lost identification card on the sidewalk, they pick it up and put it somewhere where the person who lost it can find it.

Here is an example I saw on St. Mark's Place, on August 10:

Lost identification card.

Here is a close-up:

Add caption

East Villagers have very strong opinions about things, including the best place to put a lost identification card!

Walking down St. Mark's Place five days later, I saw it had been moved to a bicycle handle:

A bicycle handle.

You might be wondering why I or some other do-gooder didn't just return the identification card to the work site it belongs to — it's because that information wasn't on the card!

#eastvillage #bicyclehandles #firehydrants #identificationcard #stmarksplace

Unseemly Things

I was walking in the East Village somewhere where the pavings stones are like the ones below, when I saw this very colorful, dead bug:

Dead bug.

I'm pretty sure it's a Japanese Beetle.

Why don't you ever see these things flying?!

#eastvillage #unseemly #japanesebeetles #bugs #pavingstones

Sidewalk Guards

After suffering through so many years of defacing, it's nice to see East Villagers taking the necessary steps to preserve the integrity of our sidewalks!

Behold, on Avenue A, leading to the soon-to-be-beloved Starbucks:

Well-guarded sidewalk.

Not only is it protected by orange cones and caution tape, but a sentry is standing guard also!

Behold:

Sentry, standing guard.

An unblemished sidewalk, is a joy forever!

#eastvillage #avenuea #cautiontape #orangecones #sentry #sidewalks #starbucks

Vacation 2017

If you wonder why I've posted so little recently, it's because I was away on vacation!

You may wonder: Why would someone who lives in the East Village take a vacation outside the East Village, when they already live where everyone in the world wants to go?

I'll tell you: I was on a mission. I went to West Virginia, in search of the cool old pickup truck of yore!

Sadly, I didn't find it. I found its cousin though:

Cool old pickup truck of yore's cousin.

Since I was already there, I took a tour of a coal mine:

Coal car.

Coal mining equipment.

And of course, I spread awareness of East Village coolness — I'm always working!

#eastvillage #coalmine #vacation #westvirginia

Stained Glass Pigeons

I was walking across East 7th Street back in early August, when I saw what I was sure was a new addition to the beloved mosaic trail, on a lamppost base.

Oh yes, and a stained glass pigeon with no tail:

Eye mosaic and stained glass pigeon.

Cool art being everywhere, as it is, I thought no more about it, until eleven days ago, when I saw another stained glass pigeon, this time on Avenue B, this time with a missing head!

Missing head.

At this pace, it shouldn't be long before I find a whole pigeon!

#eastvillage #art #lampposts #mosaictrail #mosaics #stainedglass

Curbs Galore

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a new corner curb installed at Avenue D and East 4th Street.

Since that time, new intersection curbs have gone in all over the East Village!

Take a look:

Avenue C and East 6th Street, NE corner.

Avenue C and East 5th Street, NE corner.

Avenue C and East 5th Street, SE corner.

Avenue C and East 4th Street, NE corner.

Avenue C and East 4th Street, SE corner.

Where do they keep all the straight and rounded curbs before they install them, you ask?

On East 7th Street!

Straight and rounded curbs.

These and many other intersections are receiving new corner curbs — I guess there's nothing wrong with the curbs between corners!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #5thstreet #6thstreet #7thstreet #avenuec #constructionsites #curbs #orangebarrels #sidewalks