New Year’s Eve at Two Boots

The East Village was empty on New Year's Eve day this year, as so many of its residents had already flown, or taken a train, or driven home for the holidays.

I, however, am home, at the beloved Two Boots Pizza, on Avenue A and East 3rd Street! 

Sicilian slice!

Two Boots Pizza was also empty, so like a true East Village rebel, I took off my mask! 

This is not a trash can

I was at the intersection of Avenue A and East 9th Street recently, when I saw this discarded onion atop a sewer grate that has been designated not a trash can:

Not a trash can.

Somebody needs to tell the owner of this onion to remove it from this sewer grate!

Chess Tables Off-Limits

No one knows when this happened, but the chess tables in Tompkins Square Park, by the Avenue A and East 7th Street entrance, are off-limits: 

Off limits.

It probably has to do with Covid-19. Too many drug addicts and alcoholics were not wearing their masks! They're a libertarian bunch, after all.

Wasted Booze

I was walking up Avenue A this afternoon, when I saw this unfinished bottle of booze on the fence:

On the fence. 

Who doesn't finish this quantity of booze?! It's not even a shot!

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

Whorephobia

I was walking up Avenue A this morning, when I saw this sign pasted onto a ParkNYC meter:

Respect All Sex Workers.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Whorephobia? Who's afraid of whores? I didn't know there were whores in the East Village!

Here's an even closer close-up:

Closer close-up.

East Villagers are not afraid of anything, let alone whores!

Maybe this sign was meant for a different East Village!

#eastvillage #avenuea #parknyc #signs #whorephobia

Mürmur

I was walking down Avenue A a couple of weeks ago, when I saw this assemblage of paper and tape at the corner of St. Mark's Place:

Paper and tape.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

This has been going on for as long as East Village Today, and yet we've never crossed paths before this!

Maybe I'll get myself interviewed!

#eastvillage #avenuea #mürmur #signs #stmarksplace

Mr. Bones

I was walking across East 7th Street the other week or so, when I saw these paintings lining the fence at the corner of Avenue A, outside Tompkins Square Park:

Lining the fence.

The one that caught my eye is the one fourth from the left. It says

"Mr. Bones. I whent bakc to Ohio".

East Villagers never forget their midwestern roots!

#eastvillage #paintings #avenuea #7thstreet #ohioans #mrbones

Have Door, Will Travel

I was walking down Avenue A last week, when I saw someone in front of me turn onto East 3rd Street, carrying a door:

Carrying a door.

He stopped in front of the entrance to the First Houses courtyard:

First Houses courtyard.

There's no knob on this door — I hope he doesn't get trapped inside, if it closes!

#eastvillage #firsthouses #3rdstreet #avenuea #doors

Mango vs. The Misfits

Speaking of The Misfits, according to a poster I saw on the side of the building on East 5th Street and Avenue A, they're playing on May 19 in Newark.

The one in New Jersey.

The Misfits poster.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It wasn't up for very long though.

A week later, I walked by again and saw this:

Mango.

East Villagers care more about clothes than they do devil-worshipping bands from the 80s that they would have to go all the way to New Jersey to see!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #avenuea #mango #newjersey #posters #themisfits

Local Starbucks Is Safe

There's a joke in the East Village that if you turn the country on its side, everything loose will roll to California.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

This morning, East Villagers learned that in California, local Starbuckses have to label their coffee as cancer-causing.

First off, how do you label coffee? Wouldn't it make more sense to label the cup?

But what if you get hot chocolate, or tea? The cup would be misleading. They'll have to have two types of cups from now on!

Luckily, the local Starbucks, on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place, won't have to do this.

Local Starbucks on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

East Villagers can continue to enjoy their coffee without scary death faces on their cups!

#eastvillage #avenuea #california #cancercausing #stmarksplace #starbucks

Famous Among East Villagers

Sometimes people ask me, they say: "Hey East Village Today, do East Villagers drink those crafty beers I hear so much about"?

No way, José, I say — those beers are full of calories and will make you fat!

Just this morning, I passed by the beloved Niagara, on Avenue A, as they were taking in a shipment of Bud Light:

Bud Light.

It's famous among East Villagers!

#eastvillage #niagara #avenuea #budlight

Zombieland Empty

The section of Tompkins Square Park near the Avenue A and East 7th Street entrance, that locals refer to as "zombieland", usually inhabited by drug addicts and alcoholics, was remarkably empty yesterday after Winter Storm Toby.

Behold:

Zombieland empty.

It was not empty of snowmen, however!

But first…

I was walking down East 7th Street when I saw this snowman head, without a body!

Head without a body.

It didn't take long to solve the mystery. When I walked into Tompkins Square Park I saw this snowman body without a head in, of all places, zombieland:

Body without a head.

Just kidding — the head was on the ground:

Head on the ground.

Probably some anarchist did it!

On another table was this legless snowman:

Legless snowman.

What a sad collection of snowmen!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #anarchists #avenuea #snowman #tompkinssquarepark #zombieland

Eric Clapton

I was walking up Avenue A when I saw these Eric Clapton posters:

Eric Clapton Chase.

Did you ever notice how every picture of Eric Clapton holding a guitar looks the same?

On the other hand, only in the East Village would you see him beside an anarchist A!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #anarchista #avenuea #ericclapton #posters

Ruminating Refrigerator

Is your refrigerator ruminating?

You better go catch it!

Ruminating on Avenue A.

There's an old East Village expression: You can't take it with you.

That's because it doesn't belong to you — it's the landlord's!

#eastvillage #avenuea #refrigerators #rumination

Controversy

You would not expect a post from East Village Today to generate controversy, yet controversy has indeed been generated!

It started when I tweeted the link to my article Abandoned Tires — Update.

Abandoned Tires – Update https://t.co/nj6oRlc0OX #EastVillage #AbandonedTires #tires #mopeds #4thStreet #controversy pic.twitter.com/Y6P8dPf42T

— East Village Today (@zybkgex) March 3, 2018

Look what I saw this morning, on Avenue A and East 5th Street (this will only make sense if you read the tweets):

Motorcycle parking place.

It's a motorcycle parking place!

Oh, and a Pabst Blue Ribbon delivery truck.

Heineken? Pabst Blue Ribbon!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #abandonedtires #avenuea #heineken #pabstblueribbon #selfpromotion #twitter

Art Imitates East Village Today

People sometimes ask me, they say: Hey East Village Today, is your photo blog really influential?

To which I can only reply with a resounding: Yes!

Here is an example of recent posters, on Avenue A, using photography that mimics my phone camera:

Blurry photos.

In case you're thinking that the posters are actually in focus, take a look at the graffiti and the Krypton poster.

#eastvillage #posters #avenuea #selfpromotion #blurry #photography #krypton #graffiti

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

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

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