Celebrity Bird House

I was walking across East 6th Street this past Saturday, when I saw this beautiful bird house hanging from a tree outside the very groovy Earth School:

Beautiful bird house.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Wait a minute — what's that?!

Taylor Swift.

East Villagers are honored — honored, I say! — to display this beautiful bird house, built by none other than the official musician of the East Village: Taylor Swift.

#eastvillage #6thstreet #birdhouses #earthschool #taylorswift #trees

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

Pippi Onestocking

I was walking down East 7th Street, back in late July, when I saw this woman in front of the very groovy Earth School, who looked all the world like Pippi Onestocking:

Pippi Onestocking.

I wondered to myself: is she half dressed, or half undressed?

#eastvillage #avenueb #7thstreet #stockings #earthschool

Children Crossing

East Villagers all love the very groovy Earth School (and associated Tompkins Square Middle School) on Avenue B — it's where East Village kids learn to be so cool!

Here is an example of why it's so beloved:

Children Crossing Ahead.

East Villagers love irony!

#eastvillage #avenueb #earthschool #signs #tompkinssquaremiddleschool

Mysterious Flashes at Groovy Earth School

I was walking across East 6th Street, oh, some time around December 6, when I saw the most mysterious flashes I've ever seen outside of the desert!

Luckily, I had my video camera with me! Here it is — tell me what you think:

Weird, no?!

Maybe it's time to call the Ghostbusters!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #earthschool #mysteries

Nouveau Crusty

I was walking past the very groovy (not to mention beloved!) Earth School on East 6th Street, oh, about twenty days ago or so, when I saw this:

Baby stroller full of stuff.

This moving mess wasn't chained to anything! In fact, it belonged to what looks all the world like a nouveau crusty:

Nouveau crusty.

If you've wondered, as I often have, how someone gets their start as a crusty, here is a glimpse at the beginning! She still has her violin with her!

I don't know how long it takes for the transformation to be complete, but at least now we know that they don't generate spontaneously… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenueb #6thstreet #crusties #earthschool

Fallen Cicada

I was walking across East 6th Street tonight, when I saw this:


I'm pretty sure it's a cicada. It looks like the new bug is emerging from a split at the head, much as Athena emerged from a split in Zeus's head!

In case you're wondering (as well you should be!), when I finished taping this, I picked up the bug and tried to put it onto a tree branch in the tree area of the very groovy Earth School, but it just fell back to the ground. At least it was off the sidewalk, and able to continue its metamorphosis!

Save the critters!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #cicadas #athena #zeus #earthschool

The Pole Climber

You never know what kind of crazy thing you'll see when you set out walking around the East Village!

This past weekend, I saw this, at the beloved, groovy Earth School, on Avenue B:


Good thing it wasn't greased!

#eastvillage #earthschool #avenueb

A Couple of Follow-Ups

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll be familiar with ongoing coverage of events like the Number 2 on the sidewalk outside the very groovy Earth School, or the Cool Old Pickup Truck.

Rather than update these two stories separately, I decided to update them together!

NUMBER 2 ON THE SIDEWALK

I told a commenter that I would investigate the area around the very groovy Earth School to see if there was also a Number 1 painted on the sidewalk somewhere. There isn't. What there is, however, is a Number 2 painted on the side of the school building:

Number 2… Number 2…

Whoa!

COOL OLD PICKUP TRUCK

I don't know if this qualifies as an update, but today, when I walked across East 9th Street, I saw this:

Orange cone in bed of truck.

The cool old pickup truck has an orange cone in the back! What next?!

You never know what to expect… in the East Village!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #cool #cars earthschool #pickup #trucks

Caution Update

A few days ago, I wrote about the excess of caution being taken around some paint on the East 6th Street sidewalk in front of the very groovy Earth School.

The very next day, I passed by again, so find this:

Green hexagram now sports white No. 2.

The orange cone is gone, the caution tape is broken but still attached to the fence, the masking tape is gone from the sidewalk, and a white no. 2 is in place!

Stay tuned for further updates!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #earthschool

Caution!

I was walking across East 6th Street yesterday, past the very groovy Earth School, when I happened upon this:

Orange cone and caution tape.

There must be some reason other than wet paint that they put the cone and caution tape there, since their paint dries almost immediately, but I can't for the life of me imagine what it is! It was probably put there by the people in the Christmas-lights-decorated Consolidated Edison truck.

Groovy East Villagers love caution!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #conedison #earthschool

First Day of School

This past Thursday was the first day of school for public schools in the East Village, and across the city. Jillery, a store at Avenue B and East 7th Street, had this outside, to entice the groovy parents and groovy kids on their way to the groovy Earth School:

I don't know if the candy was supposed to be free, or if you were meant to pay for it inside, and thus see all of the Back-To-School specials available for purchase.

I like when school is in session; the streets always seem empty during the Summer.

East 5th Street

This is East 5th Street, between Avenues A and B:

It has a lot of bars on it, and very little traffic. The reason it has so little traffic is that it doesn't go past either Avenue A or B.

On the Avenue A side is what's called a NORC, a naturally-occurring retirement community. The official name is Village View Apartments. They don't take applications for apartments; no one who's moved in has ever moved out.

On the Avenue B side is the Earth School. It's very groovy. The building also houses Tompkins Square Middle School, also very groovy. Because so many people want their kids to go there, and because the administrators don't know how to say No, class sizes are seriously high — over 40 kids per class in the middle school. The kids don't do well on state tests either, but then parents don't send their kids there to be educated, but to be groovy. You can see them walking around the neighborhood wearing black hoodies with TSMS printed in red on the front.