Why Oh Why Oh…

East Village artists are fond of creating artworks that are hidden in place sight, like this miniature tribute to the state of Ohio, that I saw the other day:

Ohio.

East Villagers never forget their midwestern roots!

#eastvillage #ohio #midwesternroots #sidewalks

Chucked Corral

I was walking along East 6th Street a couple of weeks ago, when I saw this bicycle, still chained to this bicycle corral, in the dirt past this fence:

Still chained.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

What can be known is that those locks held up admirably! When the thief could not remove the bicycle from the corral, he just tore the corral out of the sidewalk. Walking away from the scene of the crime, discovering how difficult it is to carry a bicycle corral with a bicycle still chained to it, he chucked it over the fence.

Whoever owns this bicycle needs to replace the right pedal — it's might rusty!

#eastvillage #bicycles #bikecorrals #6thstreet #fences #dirt

Dumpster Liners

In an effort to keep dumpsters clean and free of unsightly scratches, some dumpster owners have taken to putting liners inside their dumpsters.

Behold, on St. Mark's Place, a mere two weeks ago:

Clean and tidy.

I can just imagine some East Villager coming out with a hose and filling that dumpster with water and making a makeshift swimming pool — it would like an art project!

#eastvillage #artproject #dumpsters #dumpsterliners #stmarksplace

Gelato for Supper

You might think this picture was taken late at night, knowing how much East Villagers love their late-night gelato, but it wasn't — it was taken just before 6:00pm a few weeks ago, when it was still dark at that hour.

This is the beloved Gelarto, on Avenue A and East 9th Street, where you get not only gelato, but art!

Art too.

It's very popular with East Villagers, as you can see from this queue extending around the corner:

Around the corner.

I bet it was free gelato night. Why else would East Villagers be eating gelato at supper time?

#eastvillage #avenuea #9thstreet #gelarto #queue

So Serene

I took this picture of the inside of some formerly-beloved place on East 7th Street back in January, and I didn't take a picture of the front of the building to remind me what it was!

No idea.

It's nice though, right? Sometimes I think the best part of the East Village is the inside of vacant storefronts — they're so serene!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #inside

The Forgotten Basketball

Someone left the basketball out in the rain:

Out in the rain.

It's a good thing basketballs aren't made out of cake!

Kids at the very groovy Earth School, where this playground is, don't play sports anyway.

#eastvillage #4thstreet #basketballs #earthschool

Wretched Spaghetti

Sometimes, you see some of the most wretched things when walking around the East Village.

Behold, on East 4th Street:

Wretched spaghetti.

Who even eats spaghetti outside?!

#eastvillage #spaghetti #4thstreet

Makeshift Memorial

I was walking through Tompkins Square Park recently, when I saw this makeshift hanging on a fence behind some benches:

Behind some benches.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It looks some kind of Italian renaissance painter, or something!

#eastvillage #benches #fences #flowers #memorials #tompkinssquarepark #italianrenaissance

Dirt Bikes

If there's one thing East Villagers love, it's loading their dirt bike into their pickup truck and heading out for some extreme dirt bike racing!

Here you can see one such example, on East 5th Street:

Loaded up.

Here is a close-up of the dirt bike:

Close-up.

In case you were thinking this was a fluke, that this was the only East Villager into dirt biking, here is another picture taken the very same day, on East 8th Street:

The very same day.

Here, likewise, is a close-up of the dirt bike:

Close-up.

There's nothing like a day at the dirt bike track to shake off those avant garde blues!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #8thstreet #dirtbikes #pickuptrucks

Probably Gone By Now

At the time I took this picture, back in early February, this addition to the graffiti wall on First Avenue was new.

By this time, it's probably already gone.

New, then.

Here today, gone tomorrow!

Maybe.

Probably.

#eastvillage #firstavenue #graffiti #graffitistickers #graffitiwall

One Brick

Sometimes graffitiers spray paint entire sides of buildings, or walls, and sometimes they spray paint only one single brick.

Strange, no? And yet, here it is, on the corner of East 4th Street and The Bowery:

One brick.

It's not the white one, if that's what you're thinking. It's the one up and to the left of the white one.

This one:

This one.

Either the graffitier painted just this one brick, or the graffiti remover cleaned the entire wall except  this one brick!

Either is just as likely!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #thebowery #brickwalls #graffiti #bricks #spraypaint

Discarded Books

What do East Villagers do with books they don't want?

Balance them over the opening of a trash can, of course!

Over the opening.

That's quite an assortment!

Some of the books slid off, it looks like:

Off of the lid and into the can.

There was a time when books no one read would gather dust on the shelves of used bookstores. These days, East Villagers collect the books they don't read on Kindles!

#eastvillage #abandonedbooks #trashcans #books

Bicycle For Sale

I was walking across East 4th Street somewhat recently, when I saw what looked like a freestanding bicycle against this small piece of wall:

Freestanding bicycle?

I quickly learned that this bicycle was for sale:

For sale.

$50?! That's ridiculous! I have a similar bicycle that I want to sell, but I was going to charge $150. Of course, mine already has air…

Walking that way again the next morning, I saw the bicycle had been moved and chained to this fence:

Chained to this fence.

You know what they say about bicycles: location, location, location!

#eastvillage #forsale #signs #bicycles #4thstreet

Conflicting Messages

I was walking across East 7th Street recently, when I saw this car-mat-bedecked wooden board over some wet cement:

Board over cement.

So what do we do, not step? Or watch our step?

Which is it?!

#eastvillage #wetcement #7thstreet #signs

Wacky Trash Can

Some trash cans in the East Village look worse on the outside than they do on the inside.

Case in point:

Ugly trash can.

The strange thing about this trash can is its position, in the middle of the block, next to nothing, and yet not so far from a regular trash can:

Regular trash can.

That's wacky!

#eastvillage #avenuea #trashcans

Welcome Ben & Jerry's

Back in the good old days, around 2015, the East Village had its own Pinkberry's. Then it closed.

Luckily, we now have our own Ben & Jerry's — and in the same location!

In the same location.

There can never be too many ice cream shops in the East Village!

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #benandjerrys #icecream

An Egg

I was walking past the beloved Avenue A farmers market, on Avenue A, when I saw this egg sitting on this mosaicy lamppost:

Egg on mosaicy lamppost.

You can see the empty egg cartons behind it, but no other eggs.

Later, I passed by the farmers market again, on my way home and… the egg was still there!

Still there.

The egg cartons were gone though. Strange.

#eastvillage #farmersmarket #avenuea #7thstreet #eggs #mosaics #lampposts

No Hunting Or Fishing

You might not think of the East Village as a popular hunting or fishing destination, but for those in the know, it is!

It's located within the confines of the formerly-beloved Cafe Orlin, on St. Mark's Place:

Within these confines.

What proof do I have, you ask?

Behold:

Violators prosecuted.

No selling drugs, either.

Drug sales prohibited.

Thank you!

#eastvillage #nohuntingorfishing #notrespassing #signs #stmarksplace #cafeorlin

Pirate Love

East Villagers who think of pirates usually think of the Jolly Roger hanging in the window of the building overlooking the vacant lots on Second Avenue and East 7th Street.

However, pirate love is not exclusive to that location. Not long ago, as I passed by the beloved Grape And Grain, on East 6th Street…

On East 6th Street.

… I saw this chalkboard sign, announcing this event:

Pirate event.

Yar!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #grapeandgrain #pirates #signs

Politeness

How do the proprietors of the beloved Solid Gold, on East 5th Street, stop East Villagers from stealing the things they leave out over night?

Things left out over night.

They put a out a sign telling people not to.

Duh!

Duh.

Naturally, it helps to be polite.

The impact of this sign went beyond the table — it extended to the adjacent trash can, where someone put out their mushrooms for freegans to take:

Free mushrooms.

In fact, it extended next door, to where someone put out an onion for those same freegans:

Free onion.

The power of politeness!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #abandonedfood #mushrooms #onions #signs #solidgold

Imminent Collapse

These cellar doors, on East 6th Street, are collapsing into the swamp the East Village is built on:

Into the swamp.

It's a good thing that orange barrel is tied to the riot gates with that caution tape, otherwise it might fall into the cellar when those doors finally give way!

#eastvillage #orangebarrels #cautiontape #6thstreet #cellardoors

Paper Plate Art

If you're wondering what the Joe Strummer mural has to do with Valentine's Day, you're not alone!

It may be that the future is unwritten, but this paper plate art project involved a lot of writing:

Paper plate art project.

Luckily, it rained, so most of the paper plates stuck to the sidewalk. Some of them blew away though — you can see some of them on the left, past the stairs.

Here are some close-ups of the paper plates that remained:

East Villager artists are such a romantic bunch!

#eastvillage #joestrummermural #paperplateart #artists #7thstreet #paperplates

Crime Scene

Last night, walking home from work, I decided to stop in at the beloved Cupcake Market on East 7th Street, and buy my loved ones a Donald Trump face cookie!

As I approached, however, I saw a police activity outside this mannequinny place:

Police activity.

The yellow tape read: Crime Scene.

Tonight I passed by there again, to discover that it was the beloved Neon by Cheng!

Still closed.

They're still closed — I hope no one was hurt!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #policeactivity #crimescene #police #mannequins #neonbychan

Valentine's Day Face Cookies

Who doesn't love a good face cookie for Valentine's Day?

I was walking by the beloved Cupcake Market yesterday, on East 7th Street, when I saw these Valentine's Day face cookies in their window:

Left to right, top: Justin Bieber; Kim Kardashian; empty space;
Bottom: Smirky Guy; Donald Trump; Hillary Clinton.

It may be that these were not for Valentine's Day, but who wouldn't want a Donald Trump (or other celebrity) face cookie on Valentine's Day?!

#eastvillage #cupcakemarket #7thstreet #facecookies #justinbieber #kimkardashian #donaldtrump #hillaryclinton

Free Burger – Maybe

If you're in the mood for a free burger, you're in luck!

The beloved Bare Burger, on the corner of Second Avenue and East 5th Street, has just the thing for you!

Free burger.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

The sign doesn't tell you that Bare Burger won't deliver past Avenue C, so forget about it if you live there.

I guess they figure no one there would order with an app!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #bareburger #freefood #secondavenue #signs

Why Businesses Fail

When you walk around the East Village, you're bound to notice that some business you love… is closed! Shuttered! Gone forever.

Many times, these failures are preventable. For example, with the beloved Agios Greek Rotisserie, on St. Mark's Place — who can even see their name behind the No Parking sign?!

Sign is blocked.

It couldn't have helped that they were beside the beloved Aria Body Piercing either. Imagine coming out, after having just finished dinner, to see someone screaming as a spike is driven through their nose!

Another example is the beloved East Village Meat Market, on Second Avenue.

On Super Bowl Sunday, a day when an astonishing 1.35 billion chicken wings were eaten, they were closed.

No wings for you, East Village!

Think about the community!

#eastvillage #agiosgreekrotisserie #closed #eastvillagemeatmarket #secondavenue #signs #stmarksplace