Shoe Mannequin

Whenever you need new clothes, it always helps to look at the mannequin in the store, to see how the clothes will look.

I never thought the same would be true for shoes, but apparently it is!

Behold, outside Tompkins Square Park, at the corner of Avenue A and East 7th Street:

"Check out my groovy boots!"

I can't say I'm a big fan of brown shoes, though.

#eastvillage #mannequins #tompkinssquarepark #avenuea #7thstreet

The Red Donut

It seems no one wanted the red donut:

Unwanted.

Such a shame.

#eastvillage #dunkindonuts #abandonedfood

Dual Openings

It seems like only three days ago I was writing that all the hubbub surrounding the new Starbucks was taking attention away from whatever was opening two doors down from it.

I can now tell you that the new place is the beloved Hà Nôi House!

Beloved Hà Nôi House

It's a Vietnamese restaurant — they even have a No Smoking sign in Vietnamese:

No Smoking sign.

Starbucks in the morning, Hà Nôi House in the evening — you almost don't have to leave home!

(Ooh, I just thought: I hope they deliver!)

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #hanoihouse #signs #nosmoking

Sand Delivery

Any East Village parent who takes their kid(s) to the Avenue A playground in Tompkins Square Park can tell you how popular the sandbox is.

It's downright… popular!

No doubt, this sand that was delivered is a needed addition:

Needed addition.

Unfortunately, it still has to be moved to the sandbox, which you can't see in this picture, but on the other side of the person in the pinkish shirt below is a grassy area, and on the other side of the grassy area is the playground:

Other side…

If it rains, that sand is doomed!

#eastvillage #avenuea #playground #tompkinssquarepark #sandbox #sand

Teeny-Tiny Digger

Sometimes, in the East Village, there are digging jobs that are so small, a regular-sized back hoe would be too much. For those jobs, a teeny-tiny digger is what's needed!

Like this one, that I saw on St. Mark's Place:

Just what's needed.

It looks the size of a teaspoon!

This is part of the motor:

Teeny-tiny motor.

It would have been cool to see who was driving it — maybe some 12-year-old boy!

#eastvillage #backhoe #digger #stmarksplace #orangecones

Attention Writers and Performers

Have you ever wanted to be a writer, and maybe write a blog that, oh, I don't know, promotes awareness of East Village coolness, for example?

Now is your chance to do just that, and have it judged by your peers!

"That's not writing, it's just typing!"

The Tompkins Square branch of the New York Public Library is organizing a Writer/Performance Lab, that will meet Thursdays, September 21 and October 19, from 6–7 pm.

You can find more information here.

Thanks to Armand A. Ruhlman, the "Metaphysical Vampire of the Lower East Side", for this information!

#eastvillage #tompkinssquarebranch #newyorkpubliclibrary #nypl

Ugly Door

It's hard to beat Avenue B for ugly doors*, but this one, on upper Avenue A, is certainly a contender:

Contender.

There was a time when people sought out these places to live in — the uglier, the better!

Then they grew up.

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* I think I'm going to do a study of The (Ugly) Doors of Avenue B!

#eastvillage #avenuea #uglydoor

Crazy Machine Thing

You never know what you're going to find when you go walking around the East Village!

Like this thing, that I saw on East 4th Street and Avenue A:

What is this thing?!

Whatever it is, it was so cool, I had to take a picture from the other side, too:

The other side.

Maybe it's some kind of sidewalk scraper, from the old days — the 80s?

#eastvillage #4thstreet #avenuea #sidewalkscraper

Dust

I was walking across East 4th Street recently, when I saw this sign, pasted onto this wall:

So true.

…and as if to prove this assertion correct, on the very next block, I saw this blowy thing:

Blowy thing.

I think it's a blowy thing. If not, it's a sucky thing.

Either way, it gives you power over dust!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #dust #signs

Welcome, Starbucks!

Today, September 1, is the official opening day of the beloved Starbucks, on the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place!

Here is a picture from this morning:

Starbucks.

It really blends into the surrounding environment!

#eastvillage #starbucks #stmarksplace #avenuea