Target

A lot of awesome things happened in the East Village these past couple of months — there's nothing new about that!

One of the most exciting is that the local Target finally opened at the corner of Avenue A and East 14th Street!

Here is a picture of the inside, looking through the window on East 14th Street:

Through the window.

This Target is so special, there are ads for it even outside the East Village, like this one on the north side of East 14th Street at First Avenue:

Target ad outside the East Village.

To celebrate their opening, they paid homage to East Village history by re-creating the outside of the beloved dive bar CBGB:

TRGT – (screen shot from another web site).

Unfortunately, this angered many older East Villagers, who were quick to point out that Asian women and Black men did not go to CBGB, at least not in its heyday, when they went.

Most East Villagers were not affect by this historical revisionism, and love the great prices to be found at Target!

#eastvillage #target #avenuea #14thstreet #cbgb

No Wheel For You, East Villager

As I mentioned in If It's Memorial Day, This Must Be A Punk Rock Concert, I went to the beloved Metro Bikes, on East 14th Street yesterday. I needed to buy a new front wheel for my bicycle.

Metro Bikes no longer exists!

Behold:

E14 MedicalArts.

I mean, East Villagers need medical arts as much as the next villager, but where am I going to get a new front wheel for my bicycle now? There's a Metro Bikes in Chelsea, but… I don't want to go to Chelsea!

#eastvillage #metrobikes #14thstreet #e14medicalarts

Lawn Fireman

It's not a gnome!

It's not a jockey!

At the East 14th Street fire department, it's a lawn fireman!

Lawn fireman.

I use the term "lawn" loosely!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #firedepartment #lawnfireman

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

Dumpy Buildings

At the northern frontier of the East Village are some of the last remaining dumpy buildings in the neighborhood.

Behold, at East 14th Street and Avenue A:

Dumpy buildings.

Directly across Avenue A from these, is this new row of clean and shiny buildings:

Clean and shiny.

It's not because the buildings are short either, that they're dumpy. These buildings, on East 14th Street and Avenue B, are short, but they're not dumpy:

Not dumpy.

I don't know; maybe it's the trees?

#eastvillage #14thstreet #avenuea #avenueb #dumpybuildings

The Local McDonald's

England is about as far away as you can get from the East Village, but that is where you will have to look to fully understand why East Villagers love their local McDonald's!

There are three McDonald'ses in the East Village: the beloved East 14th Street McDonald's:

East 14th Street McDonald's.

…the beloved First Avenue McDonald's:

First Avenue McDonald's.

…and the beloved Third Avenue McDonald's:

Third Avenue McDonald's.

One thing you can always count on is that McDonald's will have a Sanitation Inspection Grade of "A":

"A".

McDonald's — it's the glue that holds the East Village together!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #firstavenue #mcdonalds #sanitationinspectiongrade #thirdavenue

Day Trips Near the East Village

I am starting new feature today, called: Day Trips Near the East Village!

If you've ever been of the mind to take trips outside of the East Village, I have the perfect suggestion for you: Dairy Queen, on West 14th Street! (I had this idea yesterday, when I saw this abandoned DQ cup):

Abandoned Dairy Queen cup.

It's easy to get to by city bus from the East Village — just take a look at this map:

Bus map to Dairy Queen.

The circles are transfer points, if you take the M15 bus.

Get the Peanut Buster Parfait — it's an East Village favorite!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #dairyqueen #daytrips #peanutbusterparfait #citybus

Next Stop: East Village

I was riding my Citibike down Second Avenue yesterday evening, on my way home from work, when I and so many other Citibikers (and even non-Citibikers!) found ourselves stopped at a traffic light on East 14th Street:

Stopped at a traffic light.

I had to take out my camera and get a picture: so many people, all going to the East Village! It makes you realize just how lucky we are, who live here.

I feel a tear welling up in my eye…

#eastvillage #citibike #bicycles #secondavenue #14thstreet

Caution

Be careful if you're walking across East 14th Street:

Orange cone.

Then again, it's a good idea to be care anywhere… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #orangecones

Above 14th Street

When I first moved to New York, it was a fashionable thing to say "I never go above 14th Street". I'm sure they didn't either, the
people who said this.

The end of the East Village.

Today, I don't think people say that; people move across borders more easily now.

But if you want to be fashionably hip, you can still say it — no one will check up on you!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #thirdavenue

The Great Divide

I didn't make it outside today. Today was my day for staying in, cooking, sleeping, reading… So I only have pictures from previous days.

This is Third Avenue, looking south, from East 14th Street. This is the dividing line between the East Village and what exists outside the East Village (to the west).

East meets not-East.

Can't you just see how much cooler the left side looks than the right side?!

#eastvillage #thirdavenue #14thstreet

A UM N AMASTE

A um N amaste is a book and crystal gallery opening soon on East 14th Street, here in sunny, downtown East Village.

A UM  N AMASTE

If you want a place to bring balance to your life, look for balance in their sign. You don't want to see gaps between letters, or letters crashing into each other.

Om mmmm…

#eastvillage #14thstreet #aumnamaste #signs #kerning

Bubble Tea

Have you ever had bubble tea? I did once — it's kind of weird. There's floaty stuff in it. Floaty stuff that doesn't even float! It's got to be an acquired taste, that's for sure.

On East 14th Street, there's a shop that sells just this:

Floaty-stuff tea.

They do have a very cool sign though, I'll say that for them!

Maybe I'll stop in and try it again. I try to keep an open mind about things.

I just can't stop thinking that there's something in the mix that shouldn't be there!

#eastvillage #vivibubbletea #14thstreet #signs #bubbletea

No Bats in This Belfry!

I was walking across East 14th Street the other day, when I passed by this place, just before Third Avenue:

The Belfry.

It's called The Belfry. It's a bar, believe it or not. It doesn't really look like one (to me), but it is!

They have a very clean and well-decorated front.

It just goes to show you that you don't have to look trashy, even on 14th Street!

#eastvillage #belfry #14thstreet #bars 

Gateway to the East Village

While this is technically outside of the East Village, it qualifies for an East Village Today mention:

Welcome to the East Village.

This statue stands at the gateway to the East Village, on Broadway at East 14th Street. Broadway is the main artery into the East Village from the west side. The west side of the East Village, that is!

The name of this statue is "Think Big".

Think big. That should be the East Village motto!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #art #broadway #statues #thinkbig