Starbucks Immortalized

It sure didn't take the local Starbucks long to join the ranks of the beloved!

I was approaching St. Mark's Place last Friday afternoon, when something caught my eye:

My eye was caught.

The new Starbucks has been immortalized in the beloved Mosaic Trail:

Immortalized.

That might have been the fastest addition ever!

#eastvillage #starbucks #stmarksplace #avenuea #lampposts #mosaictrail

The Downward Trajectory Of IsThatPhoebe

I first discovered IsThatPhoebe on August 14, before I even knew the name!

I learned the name after my Lego Man post, in which her character could be seen.

At that time, IsThatPhoebe was sweet! Like this:

Sweet.

The first change came suddenly, without warning:

Misfits IsThatPhoebe.

The Misfits are a band from the bad old days, that sing about devils and evil!

The very next day, I saw this (Warning! NSFW!):

NSFW.

Life in the East Village can be hard. People should leave a comment for IsThatPhoebe in the Comments section, and cheer her up!

#eastvillage #graffitistickers #isthatphoebe #commentssection #lampposts

Clean and Empty

I was walking across East 4th Street about five days ago, when I saw that the curtains and other window-blockages of the formerly-beloved Nie's Service Center were down, and the inside was cleaned out:

Cleaned out.

This place is small! Where did they do their prostituting?!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #niesservicecenter #inside #prostitution

No More Weeping

About ten days ago, the weeping willow tree inside the community garden La Plaza Cultural, that was scheduled to be cut down, was cut down.

Here is a sign announcing the down cutting:

She is sick.

RIP? Thank you?

Weird!

Here is what La Plaza looks like now, from Avenue C and East 9th Street:

Whoa — the sky!

Here is the new view of the building across East 9th Street, from inside the garden:

Across East 9th Street.

The lumberjacks did such a good job of carting everything away, you'd never know there was a tree there to begin with!

With the tree down, these signs were now visible:

Take a peace.

Wood chips and even branches were available to take home! Can you imagine having a tree branch in your apartment?!

They should have had a bonfire instead — that would have been great! People could have cooked vegan hotdogs, vegan marshmallows, made vegan s'mores…

Here is another sign that is now visible:

Now visible.

I wonder if the cat died from tree poison, or if someone abandoned their already-dead cat there, and with the tree now gone, it was discovered?

Sure, blame the tree!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #abandoneddeadcats #avenuec #communitygardens #laplazacultural #signs #trees #weepingwillows

Starbutts

Starbucks:

Starbutts:

That is all.

#eastvillage #starbucks #starbutts

It's A 6th Street Thing

I was walking across East 6th Street recently, when I saw this car parked beside a pile of what looked like abandoned barbecue:

Looks like barbecue.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this came from the beloved Mighty Quinn's, located right next to the pile, on Second Avenue:

The beloved Mighty Quinn's.

Maybe they were taking their cue from the Sixth Street Community Center's Free Rotten Tomatoes — they're both on East 6th Street, after all!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #abandonedfood #barbecue #mightyquinns #secondavenue #sixthstreetcommunitycenter

Lego Starbucks

I was walking past the new, beloved Starbucks on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place about nine days ago, when I saw this Lego Starbucks sticker attached to a lamppost:

Lego Starbucks sticker.

I wonder if the same person did this who's been doing the Lego Man stickers?!

From Here To Curb Valve

I was walking across East 4th Street last week, when I saw this curb valve sign:

Curb valve sign.

Something didn't seem right about it, so I took a closer look:

A closer look.

I looked in the oposite direction for the curb valve:

Curb valve.

There's no way that's twelve feet — that sign in wrong!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #signs #curbvalves

9th Street Block Party 2017

It hardly seems like a year has passed since the last 9th Street Block Party, and yet, here we are again!

Let's get to it then, eh?

This woman was selling hats, and baked goods that might have been Starbucks remainders:

Suspicious baked goods.

Antiques are always popular at the 9th Street Block Party:

Antiques.

These things are called "CDs". This is how your parents listened to music! They put them into a "CD player" and… music played! It's more technical than that, but it's not important.

These are still in their original cellophane packaging, so they're collector's items!

Collector's items.

These things are even older — this is how your grandparents listened to music! They're called "records". They would put them onto a "phonograph", cranked a handle on the side, the record would spin, they'd put a needle onto it and… music played!

Again, it's more technical than that…

Records.

Why would anyone want to sell this t-shirt?!

T-shirt for sale.

Once again, the bird man was hawking his photos:

Hawking photos.

You know, if his name was Stephen, the caption would read: Stephen Hawking photos. That would be confusing!

Signs tell people which clothes are which:

Signs.

I think I saw someone moving items from one side to the other!

You might not know it, but those glittery gold things are lamps.

All that glitters is not a lamp.

So many shoes!

"Which shoes do I choose?"

Gluten-free-free tote bag for sale:

Gluten love.

It's hard to tell where the flowers end and the people begin, at the beloved BeetleBug:

Flowery maiden.

As always, there was a band:

"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?"

A good time was had by all!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #9thstreetblockparty #beetlebug #cds #enchantments #flowers #lamps #musicians #records #tshirts

Gelarto Mural Update

Do you remember the messed-up mural on the wall outside the beloved Gelarto, on Avenue A and East 9th Street?

Of course you do.

Efforts were finally taken to fix it!

Behold, ten days ago:

Fixing the mural.

When I passed by again this past Saturday, I saw that it was finished:

Finished.

I guess it's an improvement — it's not worse than it was!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #artists #avenuea #gelarto #murals #painters

No Parking Update

Things are going to get pretty noisy for the itinerant bookseller on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue!

It looks like those garbage cans and 2x4s that stopped people from parking their cars beside his book tables were holding the place for a dumpster!

Dumpster delivery.

It probably won't be safe to leave his wares beside the dumpster — freegans will think it's being thrown away!

Speaking of thrown away, someone abandoned this television set just behind where I was standing when I took the picture above:

Abandoned television set.

What's on the telly?

Looks like graffiti!

#eastvillage #booksellers #dumpsters #secondavenue #stmarksplace #abandonedtelevisions #graffiti

Wobbly Table For One

I will never stop being amazed that people sit at outdoor tables on top of cellar doors!

Here is the most recent example I saw last Sunday, at the beloved Bakeri, on East 6th Street:

"Finally, I'm in East Village Today, and it's on top of cellar doors!"

Yeah, it's just a bad idea.

#eastvillage #6thstreet #bakeri #outdoorseating #cellardoors

Rotten Tomatoes

I was walking across East 6th Street this past Tuesday when I saw a box of FREE rotten tomatoes, outside the beloved Sixth Street Community Center:

Free rotten tomatoes.

As I took this picture, a young boy on his way to school said 'Look, rotten tomatoes". His father said "They're for people to take if they want." The boy said "Who wants rotten tomatoes?" The father said "They can cut the rotten part off".

The only use I could think of for them was throwing them at bad vaudeville performers, but vaudeville doesn't exist any more!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #rottentomatoes #sixthstreetcommunitycenter

The Bean

The East Village's favorite coffee chain is the beloved The Bean, so when they moved into the Third Avenue and Stuyvesant Street space vacated by the once-beloved St. Mark's Bookshop, a loud shriek of rejoicing went up!

Shriek!

The only thing better than a cup of coffee is a cup of coffee with a clever celebrity name, such as:

The Frozen Nona Lisa.

I think this is half Nona, half Mona Lisa — the Frozen part is because they add ice to it!

Bam.

Babe Ruth hit the ball so hard, it made a sound like an explosion. Now it's coffee!

nutElla Fitzgerald.

Who doesn't like their coffee black, strong, and with a scoop of chocolate/hazelnut spread?!

Mother TeReeseA.

You got your chocolate/peanut butter cup in my tea! You got your tea on my chocolate/peanut butter cup! Three great tastes that go great together — and a nun!

And to top it all off, they're mosaics!

The Mosaic Trail continues…

#eastvillage #stuyvesantstreet #thebean #thirdavenue #mosaics #mosaictrail

Scarred For Life

As everyone knows, St. Mark's Place is the mecca for body mutilation in the East Village.

There, the focus is on the simple disfigurations like tattoos and piercings; the further East you go, the more self-destructive it becomes.

By the time you get to the beloved East Side Ink, on Avenue B near East 6th Street, things get downright scary!

Behold:

Downright scary.

Yes, not only can you draw cartoons on your skin, you can literally become Scarface!

Laser? That's for disintegrating yourself when you sober up and discover what you did!

#eastvillage #avenueb #eastvillageink #laser #microblading #reflectywindows #tattoos

And The Answer Is…

Sometimes, you're confronted with a question, and the answer is so obvious, you almost scream it out!

Such was the case at this pull station I saw this past Sunday, on Avenue B and East 6th Street:

Obvious answer.

East Village Today, of course!

Thank you. Thank you. You're too kind.

#eastvillage #6thstreet #avenueb #pullstation #selfpromotion

Sit And Charge

There are two things you should always do when you have the chance: pee; and sit down — you never know the next time you'll be able to again!

In 21st-century East Village, "charge your cell phone" has been been added to that list!

Here, at the LinkNYC kiosk on Second Avenue and East 4th Street, you can accomplish two of these at a time:

Two at a time.

All this corner needs now is an outhouse!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #4thstreet #linknyc #abandonedchairs

If You See Something…

…take a picture of it!

I looked all around for the crusty who owns this bag I saw abandoned on East 6th Street last week, but he was nowhere to be found:

Nowhere to be found.

Who carries around dead flowers?

Dead flowers.

Maybe he was searching for the love of his life, to give them to, but got a dog instead!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #abandonedbags #deadflowers

Graffiti Stickers

Graffiti stickers are the new graffiti, that's for sure — everywhere you look in the East Village, you see them!

Here are a bunch of them, on the side of a mailbox on Avenue C:

Side of a mailbox.

I'm partial to lampshade-head guy!

Here is the mailbox in context:

In context.

If you have to a printer, especially one who does die-cutting, stickers are definitely the way to go!

#eastvillage #mailboxes #graffitistickers #lampshadeheadguy #twazzo #avenuec