Dirt Field, Revisited

You may remember this Tompkins Square Park dirt-field from such posts as (No) Children Play Here:

Still no children playing here.

The DIY sign that hung on this fence is now gone.

At the top of the picture, you can see a dog-owner and her dog.

Here is a closer view:

Closer view.

The only thing missing, that would make this less of a children's play area, is rubble!

#eastvillage #diy #dogs #signs #tompkinssquarepark

(No) Children Play Here

Tompkins Square Park is a popular place for people to put up their DIY signs, from Do Not Feed The Pigeons to Children Play Here:

DIY sign.

What children play here? There's a playground right behind me!

#eastvillage #signs #tompkinssquarepark #diy

Inadequate Signs

Because the East Village is so unique, it's impossible to purchase signs to tell people specifically what you want to tell them, like a No Trespassing sign that includes No Hunting / Fishing!

Here is another example of just such a sign, seen on St. Mark's Place this past Tuesday:

Just such a sign.

Not only is there no grass, but there's no yard!

No yard.

That's why DIY is so big here!

#eastvillage #diy #keepoffgrass #signs #stmarksplace

DIY Grannies

When walking around the East Village, you may notice cars with "boots" on their tires. Some are put there by the police, to prevent the driver from escaping with the vehicle before it's impounded. (It's best to keep your distance from those!)

However, many boots are for civilian use, and are used to prevent thieves from stealing the vehicle!

East Villagers are a do-it-yourself lot, though. For them, a granny-cart does just fine — like this one on East 4th Street:

Anti-theft granny-cart.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Sometimes, just the appearance of an anti-theft granny-cart is enough to deter would-be thieves: the handle of the SUV pulls out — the chain isn't attached to anything!

DIY grannies are leading the way… to a safer and theft-free East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #antitheftdevices #grannycarts #diy

Apartment for Rent

In a recent post titled Right Side or Left? I described two storefronts for rent on East 10th Street, one right next to the other.

In the picture, you might have noticed an Apartment For Rent sign. Here is a close-up of that sign:

Apartment For Rent.

I wonder if it's one of the two apartments visible in the picture? In the apartment on the right, the hole left by a broken window was covered with pieces of plywood; in the apartment on the left, the holes were covered with some other material!

The rugged Do-It-Yourself ethos still lives on… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #diy #signs

DIY License Plates

East Villagers are a resourceful lot. If you tell them they could buy something that would make a job easier or quicker, they'll say "No thank you — I'd rather do it myself!"

The "do it yourself" ethos extends even to car license plates, as you can see from this picture I took this past Sunday, on East 7th Street:

DIY license plate.

It's hard to know if they did it themselves with regard to the license plate number, or if they relied on the DMV for that.

Getting by with less… in the East Village!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #diy