Electrifying

East Villagers were stunned — stunned, I say! — to wake up this morning and discover the scaffolding in front of the formerly-beloved dieci on East 10th Street had a possible electrical condition!

Behold:

Possible electrical condition.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

This is why a grounding wire is so important!

It's really quite shocking, to say the least.

#eastvillage #10thstreet #consolidatededison #dieci #scaffolding #groundingwire #yellowcones

Totem Pole

I was walking across East 10th Street, back in imid-December, when I saw what looks all the world like a totem pole:

Totem pole.

In any other neighborhood, it would look all the world like an air-quality monitoring station or something, but in the East Village, it becomes a work of art!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #totempoles #airqualitymonitoringstation

Mannequin

I was walking across East 10th Street, when something inside Tompkins Square Park took me by surprise!

This had all the appearances of a mysterious TV show:

Oh no!

Fortunately, it turned out to be just a mannequin:

Just a mannequin.

Tragedy averted!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #mannequins #tompkinssquarepark

Problem Trees

Trees in the East Village are problematic things: on the one hand, they have leaves; on the other hand, they drop these flowery things that make it look like Winter, and cause people to sneeze their heads off!

Behold, as seen on East 10th Street, two weeks ago:

It's beginning to look a lot like… ah choo!

If you ask me, they should all be replaced by artificial trees — this way, they could be any color or style, and they wouldn't shed!

These trees, on the other side of the border separating the East Village from lower-Midtown South, are a good example of good trees:

Good trees.

#eastvillage #10thstreet #midtownsouth #thebowery #trees

Second Avenue Street Fair

If you think East Villagers love gyros, you're right!

We love them so much that at a recent Second Avenue Street Fair, that's almost all there was to eat!

Gyros on 14th Street.

Gyros on 13th Street.

Gyros on 12th Street.

Look at the fifth movie in the list: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner To Eat Gyros!

There was even a bodega-looking gyro stand:

Bodega gyros on 11th Street.

And finally:

Gyros on 10th Street.

But… what if the gyro doesn't fill you?

That's why they have sweet roasted corn!

Sweet roasted corn on 13th Street.

Sweet roasted corn on 11th Street.

$3 at both locations? I wonder if there's a sweet roasted corn cartel?

Not everyone comes to the Second Avenue Street Fair for the food though. Many come for locally-produced goods:

Locally-woven baskets.

More locally-woven baskets.

Some basket stands even had locally-produced masks and talismans:

Locally-produced masks and talismans.

The mask and talisman vendor said "No pictures" to the guy in the blue shirt.

"Oh, OK" he said.

Clearly, he's not a photographer!

Not a photographer.

There was even a stand where you could buy locally-woven rugs!

Locally-woven rugs.

As always, there were novelty items:

Novelty items.

Who doesn't hate thick wallets? All that money…

For some reason, many gyro vendors couldn't make it this year, as can be seen by all the empty spaces:

Empty space on 12th Street.

Empty space between 11th and 12th Street. 

Empty space in front of St. Mark's Church on The Bowery.

Empty space near 10th Street.

For that matter, many East Villagers didn't make it either:

Few and far between.

It was such a nice day, they probably went to the beach!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #11thstreet #12thstreet #13thstreet #14thstreet #photographers #secondavenue #stmarkschurch #streetfairs

If You See Something, Take A Picture Of It

I was riding my Citibike down Second Avenue last night, when I saw this gold bag beside a LinkNYC station on East 10th Street:

Gold bag.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that there was an iPhone in the bag, plugged into the USB port on the LinkNYC:

Charging iPhone.

I looked all around for the owner, but she was nowhere to be found.

In the bad old days, some drug addict would have stolen not only the phone but the charger cord too!

#eastvillage #citibike #bikelanes #linknyc #iphones #10thstreet

Securing The Fence

I was rounding the northeast corner of Tompkins Square Park this past Friday, during the rainstorm I mentioned in an earlier post, when I saw this:

Lock securing fence.

It's a padlock!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It's comforting to know that the fence protecting Tompkins Square Park from theft is itself protected from theft!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #avenueb #fences #locks #rain #signs #tompkinssquarepark

Leaky Hose

I was walking down Avenue A this past Friday, during a rainstorm, when I came upon this hose that was being used to drain water away from the north side of East 10th Street into the sewer on the south side of East 10th Street:

Drain hose.

As you can see, the hose had a hole in it!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

You get a good sense of the futility of it all from this video:



#eastvillage #avenuea #10thstreet #hoses #puddles

Unqualified Success

Yesterday's cash mob at the Chase Bank on Second Avenue and East 10th Street can only be described as an unqualified success!

Here is a picture taken at 9:52am, of an East Villager who arrived early:

The early bird gets the 0% introductory APR credit card!

Because the ATM vestibule is accessible, people did not have to wait outside — many waited inside, for the doors to open at 10:00am:

Doors open.

Considering that East Villagers don't get out of bed until 2:00pm, for this many people to be here when the bank opens shows just how important keeping Chase in the East Village is!

Thank you to everyone who made this such an unqualified success! It's up to the good people at Chase Bank now, after witnessing this outpouring of support from the community, to open at least one more branch in the East Village.

Their former location on Avenue A and East 2nd Street is still available:

Still available.

#eastvillage #secondavenue #10thstreet #chasebank #cashmob

Small Load

You see a lot of whacky things when walking around the East Village.

Just this past week, I saw this semi truck outside the beloved Keepers Self Storage on East 10th Street, hauling… a single computer monitor!

A single computer monitor.

It beats bobtailing it!

#eastvillage #semitruck #10thstreet #keepersselfstorage #orangecones

Chase Cash Mob

When businesses in the East Village start to fail, residents come to their aid by fomenting a cash mob. What this means is that people go to that business on a designated day and spend money, cash, to help the owners.

The beloved Chase Bank is one such business that needs our help!

During the past year, two branches of Chase Bank closed, leaving only the one on Second Avenue and East 10th Street.

Fortunately, there were still Chase ATMs at the beloved Duane Reade drugstores on Avenue B and Avenue D.

Recently, this changed.

Behold, at the Avenue B Duane Reade:

Chase ATM replaced by Allpoint ATM.

…and at the Avenue D Duane Reade:

The same thing.

Why this matters is that the Allpoint ATMs charge a $3.00 fee for withdrawals!

$3.00 fee.

If this keeps up, the East Village will be inundated with payday loan, pawn shops, and other shady establishments!

This is why East Village Today is organizing a cash mob for Chase Bank!

Go to the Chase Bank on Second Avenue and East 10th Street this Saturday, February 25 — open a checking account, sign up for a credit card, get an auto loan…

Free coffee and Dum Dum Pops!

Help keep Chase Bank in the East Village!

#eastvillage #chasebank, #10thstreet #avenueb #avenued #atms #allpoint #cashmob #duanereade

Bike Hazards

Back in late-Spring/early-Summer, I was riding my Citibike down Second Avenue, on my way home from work. Like all Citibikers, I stopped when the light turned red, at the intersection of East 10th Street.

Suddenly, a bird sitting above me pooped!

Luckily, I am charmed, so it missed me. Still, I am wary now, each time I stopped at this light.

Recently, they removed the old payphone that stood at this corner, and replaced it with this hole, and some reinforcing rods, and orange barrels, and caution tape:

Hole, reinforcing rods, orange barrels, and caution tape.

A day or two later, they replaced the hole with this cement covering:

Cement covering.

It probably won't have any effect on birds pooping, though. You still have to be wary… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #orangebarrels #10thstreet #birdpoop

Cicadamania

This is the year of the 17-year cicadas!

Unfortunately, the East Village is not part of the area where they will be, as you can see from this map:

This map.

There is only one spot on eastern Long Island where they are. Otherwise, they're all in Ohio and West Virginia, except…

You had to know that East Village cicadas didn't read the memo!

I was walking across East 10th Street this past Tuesday, at the top of Tompkins Square Park, when I heard the din of cicadas:

Din of cicadas.

You can't see them, but they're there!

Cicadas: in Ohio, West Virginia, one spot on Long Island, and… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #cicadas #longisland #ohio #tompkinssquarepark #westvirginia

National French Fry Day

When it's National French Fry Day in America, it's National French Fry Day in the East Village!

Thanks to a tweet from DNAInfo:

Today is National French Fry Day. Here are some innovative options to try: https://t.co/vXn6matfpZ pic.twitter.com/qITMp0OHO2

— DNAinfo New York (@DNAinfoNY) July 13, 2016

…East Villagers now know where in the East Village to go for free french fries (1pm–2pm and 8pm–9pm): it's none other than the beloved Desi Galli, on Avenue B between East 10th and 11th Streets!

Of course, if you want to pay for them, you can go practically anywhere — there's no french fry shortage in the East Village!

Bon appétit as they say in French!

#eastvillage #10thstreet 11thstreet #avenueb #desigalli #dnainfo #nationalfrenchfryday #tweets

Mosaicy Building

While the Mosaic Trail is where East Village mosaics can be found in trail-fashion, mosaics appear all through the East Village!

Mosaics are easy to create, with any variety of found items!

Here is one example I discovered recently, on East 10th Street:

Mosaicy wall.

Mosaicy stairs.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Even the sidewalk is mosaicy!

Mosaicy sidewalk.

From there to here
from here to there
mo…sa…ics
are everywhere

…in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #mosaictrail #mosaics #sidewalks #stairs

10th Street Street Fair

Like so many East Villagers, I was away for at least part of the Memorial Day weekend. I missed the "Memorial Day Punk Show!!" in Tompkins Square Park. (Another East Villager told me he saw it from a distance and it looked "very generic" — I think he mispronounced "geriatric"!

I did go to the 10th Street Street Fair though:

Entering the fair from First Avenue.

The band wasn't playing when I passed through, just Led Zeppelin.

"All of my love…"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tricycle tractor appeared!

Tricycle tractor.

That's pretty much it! I walked to Second Avenue, where it ended, turned around and walked back, and then went home. At no point did I see a sausage and onions truck, or a zeppole truck.

A street fair isn't a street fair without traditional street fair fare!

The Day After

The day after the blustery day, everything is back to normal on East 10th Street. Everything is back in its place, except…

…the tree is gone:

The tree is gone.

…and the fender is damaged:

The fender is damaged.

…and the kickstand is bent, requiring assistance now from a rock:

The kickstand is bent.

You might think it's weird that the same cars are in the same place,
but — alternate-side parking is suspended on Wednesdays… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #alternatesideparking #cars #motorcycles #trees