Secret Message

East Villagers are way into mysticism — from gypsy fortune tellers to anarchist conspiracy theories to numerology, mysticism abounds!

Here is a numerological message I saw while walking down East 7th Street last week:

123 23 72 723:2.

123 23 is the postal code for Farsta, Sweden.

723-2 (with a hyphen, not a colon) is the set number for a Lego Diesel Locomotive with DB Sticker.

I'm sure it's a message of some sort or another!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #mysticism #numerology #farsta #sweden #legos

Pile Of Wood Day

Yesterday must have been Pile Of Wood Day!

First, I saw this pile outside El Jardin Del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

This pile.

It seems like only three months ago that El Jardin Del Paraiso stacked their branches on the sidewalk!

Soon after that, I saw this pile, on St. Mark's Place (of all places!):

Of all places.

This is the downside of trees!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #pileofwood #stmarksplace

Leave LegoMan Alone!

I post about this small piece of wall on East 4th Street so often, I'm thinking of starting a new blog devoted to it!

I think I'll call it: thissmallpieceofwall.com

Everyone knows the LegoMan / IsThatPhoebe / Humen Bote / Eiffel Tower Postcard / graffiti wall, right?

Take a look are what happened to Lego Man:

J.R. "Bob" Dobbs face sticker.

There's a J.R. "Bob" Dobbs face on him! Who even knew sub-geniuses were still a thing?!

Five short days later, the sticker was gone:

Sticker is gone.

But the cat was out of the bag, so to speak — LegoMan can no longer remain unsullied:

Sullied.

It's like My Favorite Martian meets Bender!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #graffiti #humenbote #isthatphoebe #jrbobdobbs #legoman #myfavoritemartian #bender

Baby In Car

I was walking across East 7th Street recently a couple of weeks ago, when I saw this sticker in the back window of this car:

Sticker in back window.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

What?! They left a baby in the car?!

They didn't even crack the windows!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #cars #signs #babyincar

Cute Aliens Mural

The outside wall of the beloved Foot Gear Plus on St. Mark's Place and First Avenue changes murals faster than they change inventory!

I saw this mural a mere seventeen days ago:

Cute aliens.

Did I say "a mere seventeen days ago"? In mural-years, that's a lifetime — it's probably already changed!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #footgearplus #murals #stmarksplace

Little Pink Heads

You can find art in the strangest of places in the East Village.

Take these little pink heads, for example, attached to the base of a lamppost on First Avenue:

Little pink heads.

They look almost like the ceramic head outside the ceramic studio on St. Mark's Place, but then all little ceramic heads look the same!

#eastvillage #ceramics #firstavenue #lampposts

Atop Cellar Doors

If you thought sitting atop cellar doors was privilege reserved only for restaurant patrons, think again!

Now you can sit, or even lie, on this abandoned couch on East 2nd Street, atop the cellar doors there:

Atop cellar doors.

There's an old saying that there are two things you should always do when you have a chance: pee, and sit down.

In the East Village, you can always sit.

Come to think of it, you can always pee too!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #abandonedcouches #cellardoors #pee #sit

Nice Chair

Sometimes, when you're walking around the East Village, you get tired and want to sit down.

Luckily, a chair is never far away, such as this one, on East 6th Street:

Not far away.

It even comes with its own bird seed, in case you forget yours at home!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #abandonedchairs #birdseed

Against The Hawks

I think the hawks should be removed from Tompkins Square Park.

To begin with, the presence of the hawks has contributed significantly to the explosion in the rat population in the park, and surrounding areas. When the hawks moved in, the Parks Department stopped putting out poison to kill the rats.

Also, since the hawks arrived, East Villagers have had to suffer this sort of carnage (seen in Tompkins Square Park):

Carnage.

City parks are not meant to harbor wildlife; there's something sinister about nature invading a city.

The Parks Department should trap the hawks and move them to the Adirondacks, where they belong.

#eastvillage #carnage #hawks #pigeons #ratpoison #rats #tompkinssquarepark

Abandoned Tire

It's not every day you see an abandoned car tire, like this one on East 6th Street:

On East 6th Street.

I thought it might have been discarded because it was flat, but then I remembered: East Villagers don't know how to change a tire!

By now, this tire has been snatched up and put into some kind of multimedia sculpture.

#eastvillage #6thstreet #abandonedtires #firehydrants

This Space Reserved

There are many novel ways to reserve a parking space on the street in the East Village.

This is one of them:

Space reserved.

#eastvillage #avenuea #4thstreet #rubble

Art Imitates Anti-Pigeon Contraption

I was walking across East 7th Street last night, when I saw this sign:

Sign.

I looked around me for the fence being described, and I found it:

Fence.

It's a good thing that sign was there, or I would never have known that was art, and not just some kind of contraption put up to keep pigeons out!

We need more signs like this, to point out all the other works of art that oftentimes get missed, due to their looking like heaps of scrap metal and such.

(I just want to say how cool it is that my favorite computer program designed its logo to honor this artist!)

Ai.

#eastvillage #7thstreet #adobeillustrator #aiweiwei #fences #publicartfund #signs

More Tree Guards

East 4th Street has some of the most curious tree guards in all of the East Village!

Here is one:

Tree guard.

Was the tree guard made too small, or was the cut in the sidewalk made too large? And why are there only three sides to it?

Here is another, that looks like a cemetery fence:

Cemetery fence.

It even has a gate!

Gate.

Now that The City is finished refurbishing our curbs, I think their next project should be to remove all tree guards in the East Village, and replace them with new, identical ones!

That would be so cool.

#eastvillage #4thstreet #treeguards

T ell M aM a

Ever since the formerly-beloved Nie's Service Center was closed for prostitution, East Villagers have been searching for a new place to get their, uh, Chinese health and stuff.

The beloved Tell MaMa Chinese Health Salon, on East 6th Street, looks like it might fit the bill!

Tell MaMa.

If it's safe to tell mama, it's gotta be legit!

One thing's for sure: their windows are completely blocked!

Blocked windows.

There's almost more of these places than there are gypsy fortune tellers, these days!

(I am horrified by this kerning — horrified, I say!)

#eastvillage #6thstreet #tellmamachinesehealthsalon #badkerning

Farewell, View

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking across East 7th Street, when I saw this truck in the empty lot at the corner of Second Avenue, with much scaffolding aside the building there:

Much scaffolding.

Maybe they're going to fix the building façade?

Last night, I passed by again, and saw that progress had been made:

A shroud.

The pirate, who lives on the second floor, is losing his view!

Soon enough, a new building will be constructed here, and we will all lose our view, of the pirate flag!

Aarrgghhh!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #7thstreet #pirateflags #scaffolding #shroud

Second Avenue Bike Lane

Back in late September, I was walking down Second Avenue, when I saw that the bike lane had been resurfaced:

Resurfaced bike lane.

Being avid bicyclists, East Villagers are always happy with bike-lane improvements!

Alas, it was not meant to last long.

Behold, as seen eight days ago:

Open trash can door blocking bike lane.

An open trash can door, with trash can protruding, was obstructing the bike lane!

Bicyclists had to think quickly to avoid hitting it:

Thinking quickly.

Maybe it was left open deliberately, to prevent bicyclists from riding through the puddle!

#eastvillage #bikelanes #secondavenue #puddles #trashcans #cautiontape #orangebarrels #bicyclists

Invincible

I was walking across East 4th Street this morning, when I saw this group of boxes on the sidewalk:

Group of boxes.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

In preparation for this post, I researched Invicta — it turns out that it's a brand of invincible watches.

Who would leave so many watches unattended?!

All of this took place in front of the soon-to-be beloved B&H Barber Shop:

B&H Barber Shop.

From bagels to photography equipment to haircuts, B&H has it all!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #bhbarbershop #invicta

Vegan Club

Rule #1 of Vegan Club: Don't talk about Vegan Club!

I guess that doesn't include posters, specifically these, seen on East 6th Street, eleven days ago:

Vegan Club posters.

Seriously though, half of veganism is talking about it!

#eastvillage #posters #6thstreet #veganism #veganclub

El Camino

Not all of the cool cars you see in the East Village are cars — likewise, not all are trucks.

Some are a combination of both!

Behold, an El Camino, seen two weeks ago alongside El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

Two weeks ago.

You might think that would be the last time I saw it.

Au contraire mon frère!

Here it was again, six days ago, parked on East 7th Street, alongside Tompkins Square Park:

Alongside Tompkins Square Park.

This is the car that Sterling Archer drives, after having lost his super spy car.

Now, do you know what really amazing? It was on this very day, in 1958, that Chevrolet first started selling the El Camino!

Happy Birthday, El Camino!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #7thstreet #coolcars #elcamino #eljardindelparaiso #tompkinssquarepark #happybirthday #anniversary

Dummytree

There's a new name in graffiti stickers in the East Village, and that name is Dummy Tree!

I was walking across East 6th Street back in late September, when I saw this sticker on the back of a construction sign:

Stockholm Symdrome.

Of all the syndromes, Stockholm is my favorite!

A little further down the block, I saw another green sticker fixed to this ATM hood:

Another green sticker.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Lick that toad?! Gross!

East Village Today strongly advises our readers not to lick any toads!

#eastvillage #dummytree #graffitistickers #atms #stockholmsyndrome

Expanding

Back in June, the LinkNYC kiosk on Second Avenue between East 7th Street and St. Marks Place was cramped!

Today, the space has expanded!

Behold:

Expanded living area.

In a squat, you would have to knock down a wall to expand your living area!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #linknyc #secondavenue #crusties #stmarksplace #abandonedcouches

NSFK

I was walking across East 9th Street nine days ago (what a coincidence!) when I saw this banner on the fence of La Plaza Cultural, announcing what looks like the least kid-friendly Kids Halloween Party in the history of halloween parties:

Banner on fence.

Here is a close-up of the person being strangled:

Close-up.

I passed by there again last night, and saw that they've made progress on decorations:

Decorations.

More decorations.

It's fitting that the graveyard is where the weeping willow tree stood until recently — see how much more room there is now?!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #avenuec #laplazacultural #communitygardens #kidshalloweenparty #nsfk #weepingwillows

Duelling Graffitiers

Lo, these seventeen days ago, I was walking across East 6th Street, approaching the local Dunkin' Donuts, on First Avenue, when I saw this bit of graffito:

Bit of graffito.

Well, duh — East Villagers don't need to be told how to spell NYC!

Because my blogging duties take me all over the East Village, I was not able to return to this site until nine days later, when this is the mess I beheld:

What a mess!

Here is what I think happened: One person, with a can of white spray paint, crossed out "NYC not NYU", then wrote "NYU is NYC", "Columbia is NYC", and "CUNY is NYC". Then, another person, with his own can of white spray paint, crossed out all of those and wrote "SMU is NYC". Then, as an afterthought, wrote "Sorry".

Why do I think that, you ask? Because the writing of the NYU, Columbia, and CUNY messages is the same; the SMU is different, it's doubled-up, and the "i" in "is" is lower-case.

East Village Today: a forensic blog if ever there was one!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #columbia #cuny #dunkindonuts #firstavenue #graffiti #nyc #nyu #smu

Rats > Frats

It's rare that graffitiers spray-paint public service announcements, but it's not unheard of!

Here is one example, seen on the side of a solar-powered trash can on the corner of Avenue A and East 7th Street:

Spray-painted PSA.

Rats are indeed a greater problem than frats — I don't think there even are frats in the East Village.

Unless F-Rats are a thing!

#eastvillage #avenuea 7thstreet rats #trashcans #graffiti #publicserviceannouncement #frats

After The Miracle

I was walking across East 4th Street — oh, about 17 days ago — when I saw this overturned wheelchair:

Overturned wheelchair.

No doubt, earlier, this was the scene of a miracle, where some wheelchair-bound individual stood up and walked, and didn't bother to return his wheelchair for someone else to use, or get his deposit back!

Either that, or someone popped a wheelie and rolled off the back, and kept on rolling, which is pretty miraculous itself, if you ask me!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #wheelchairs #miracles

Yeeehaw

I was walking across East 5th Street a couple of weeks ago, when I saw this Open Studio information painted on a window:

Open Studio information.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

The event itself has already passed; what's important is that "Yeeehaw" was written in big letters on a window.

Yeeehaw!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #signs #yeeehaw #windows

Chi Chi

St. Mark's Place is the chichiest street in the whole East Village.

Here is one of the chis:

Chi Ken.

…and here is another:

Chi Snack Shop.

Pokemons and astroturf cellar-door covers — trés chichi!

#eastvillage #chiken #chisnackshop #stmarksplace #chichi #astroturf #cellardoors