No More Dumping

Speaking of signs outside the El Jardin del Paraiso community garden, since they took down the No Dumping sign, there's been no dumping!

Behold:

Nothing dumped.

East Villagers are so oppositional!

#eastvillage #eljardindelparaiso #4thstreet #signs #oppositionaldefiantdisorder #communitygardens

New Signs

There are a couple of new signs on the fence of the El Jardin Del Paraiso community garden, on East 4th Street:

New signs.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Our legacy of lead? WTF?

As if being built on a swamp wasn't bad enough!

#eastvillage #eljardindelparaiso #communitygardens #4thstreet #signs #lead

El Camino

Not all of the cool cars you see in the East Village are cars — likewise, not all are trucks.

Some are a combination of both!

Behold, an El Camino, seen two weeks ago alongside El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

Two weeks ago.

You might think that would be the last time I saw it.

Au contraire mon frère!

Here it was again, six days ago, parked on East 7th Street, alongside Tompkins Square Park:

Alongside Tompkins Square Park.

This is the car that Sterling Archer drives, after having lost his super spy car.

Now, do you know what really amazing? It was on this very day, in 1958, that Chevrolet first started selling the El Camino!

Happy Birthday, El Camino!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #7thstreet #coolcars #elcamino #eljardindelparaiso #tompkinssquarepark #happybirthday #anniversary

Untimely Sign Update

I was walking across East 9th Street yesterday afternoon, when I thought about the relieving triangle that I wrote about so long ago.

It was right about that time that I found myself in front of the very same building!

The very same building.

That's when I saw this sign:

In Memorium [sic].

I've written a lot about the community garden El Jardin del Paraiso, mostly about the dumping ground on the East 4th Street side — I can't say that I know any of the people associated with it, though.

At least this sign makes sense now!

Big Ol' Wood Pile

I was walking across East 4th Street, oh, about eleven days ago, when I saw this big ol' wood pile stacked outside El Jardin del Paraiso community garden:

Stacked outside.

My first thought was to jump on top of it, to see if I could kick up a rabbit, but then I remembered I didn't have a shotgun!

#eastvillage #eljardindelparaiso #4thstreet #pileofwood #communitygardens

Peer Into The Garden

Everyone loves the binoculars at tourist sites like the Grand Canyon, and at the top of the Empire State Building, that you put a quarter into and can peer far into the distance.

Here in the East Village, we have our own version of this, outside the community garden El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

Our own version.

It's DIY!

Here is what it looks like, in use:

A tree, larger than life.

You don't even have to pay!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #styrofoamcups #trees

Liming the Path

Farmers are known for putting lime on soil to decrease its acidity, providing calcium and magnesium for plants.

Gardeners at El Jardin del Paraiso on East 4th Street were recently seen to have been liming the path leading into the garden:

Liming the path.

It's hard to say why, unless they are trying to promote the growth of plants on the pathway in anticipation of closing this entrance permanently.

They also limed the soil in the tree bed outside the garden:

Outside the garden.

Calcium and magnesium are good for humans too. They work together to regulate blood pressure and maintain a steady heartbeat!

East Villagers don't have to eat lime though — calcium/magnesium supplements can be purchased in many beloved, local stores!

#eastvillage #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #4thstreet #treebeds #lime

Rhubarb

It's not always easy to grow your own fruits and vegetables in the community gardens of the East Village — some gardens don't allow it, and the ones that do have limited space, and a waiting list of people who want plots.

Why wait, when you can grow your food in a tree bed?!

Behold this rhubarb, outside the beloved El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street:

Rhubarb.

Just remember to not eat the leaves — they're poisonous, and probably pee'd on!

#eastvillage #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #rhubarb #treebeds

A Moveable Wreath

Regular readers of this blog will surely remember the picture of the abandoned Christmas wreath — even more will wonder what happened to it!

Back in March, I was walking across East 5th Street, when I saw it inside El Jardin del Paraiso:

Inside El Jardin del Paraiso.

That would surely be its final resting place, I thought — mulched and mixed with rotting kale to become compost — but was I wrong!

Behold, this past Saturday on the East 2nd Street graffiti wall:

Christmas wreath graffiti.

Either that or it's a different one.

Still, what are the odds of seeing two dying Christmas wreaths hanging in the same neighborhood? Pretty remote, I'd say!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #5thstreet #christmaswreaths #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #graffitiwall

Another Abandoned Cantaloupe

It seems like only eleven days ago that I saw the abandoned cantaloupe on the sidewalk outside the beloved El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street.

It was an event to remember, but also an event that I thought would never repeat itself.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself walking down East 4th Street again this past Saturday, and saw this:

Another abandoned cantaloupe.

It's almost scary!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #cantaloupes #abandonedfood #eljardindelparaiso

Abandoned Cantaloupe

I was walking past the East 4th Street entrance to the beloved El Jardin del Paraiso this past Friday morning, when I spotted a cantaloupe on the sidewalk:

Cantaloupe on the sidewalk.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

You may notice that the color of the cantaloupe is similar to the color of the building on East 5th Street, in the background. And while the cantaloupe is probably not famous, the building is!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #abandonedfood #cantaloupe #communitygarden #eljardindelparaiso

Another Abandoned Shopping Cart

It seems like only eleven months ago (almost to the day!) that I wrote about the abandoned shopping cart on East 4th Street, outside of El Jardin del Paraiso.

Here we are again, all these months later, and another shopping cart has been abandoned in the same location, wheelless at that!

Wheelless shopping cart.

Here is another view, that highlights the accumulated litter:

Accumulated litter.

There's no telling how this got all the way over here from the West Village, the site of the nearest (no doubt beloved!) Citarella location.

Citarella must be a child-friendly store — with no place for children to sit in the shopping cart, they must be permitted to wander the aisles!

No place for children to sit.

Now that it's in the East Village though, this sign takes on a whole different meaning!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #eljardindelparaiso #shoppingcarts #westvillage #citarella #litter

The Sunflower Update

Regular readers of East Village Today will surely remember the story of the sunflower that grew outside of El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street!

Three days after that story, vandals struck:

Vandalized.

But soon, another sunflower grew, this time inside the garden! It extended itself through the fence and up, until it reached the stalk of the flowerless plant, proving once and for all that sunflowers are sentient beings!

Sentient sunflower.

Here is a close-up, with red outlines:

Close-up with red outlines.

But it was a marriage made in Hell — yesterday, vandals struck again, this time decisively:

Decisive vandalism.

The end.

#eastvillage #4thstreet #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #sunflowers #vandalism

The Moving Chair

I was walking across East 4th Street this past Friday, when I saw this abandoned chair in front of the El Jardin del Paraiso:

Abandoned chair.

Fast forward one day, and it's half way down the block, united with another abandoned chair!

The chair couple.

If they keep up this pace, they'll probably be on Avenue D by tonight!

#eastvillage #eljardindelparaiso #4thstreet #abandoned #chairs

The Sunflower

The community garden El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street, is known for many things, but sunflowers is not one of them!

Sunflower at El Jardin del Paraiso.

The seed for this one probably dropped out of a package of sunflower seeds purchased at a beloved bodega, and grew where it fell!

Hopefully, it won't overtake the ecosystem, like the toads in Australia!

#eastvillage #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #sunflowerseeds #sunflowers

The Rooster

UPDATED JUNE 11 (Shorter video! New music!)

I was passing by El Jardin del Paraiso this morning, on the East 4th Street side, when what do you suppose I saw?

A rooster.

A rooster!

Not just any rooster, a huge rooster — this rooster easily stood 16" from toe to cockscomb!



It takes more than provincialism to make a village, it takes farm animals too!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #communitygardens #eljardindelparaiso #provincial #rooster

Teeny Tiny Dumpster

I was walking across East 4th Street recently, seeing if there was any activity in the dumping ground that has formed outside the beloved El Jardin del Paraiso, when I saw… a teeny tiny dumpster!

Teeny tiny dumpster.

It's so cute! It's like a tiny little baby dumpster, for tiny little baby garbage!

Maybe if someone hangs a No Dumping sign on the side of it, people will start putting their trash there, instead of on the sidewalk!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #eljardindelparaiso #dumpsters #litter #garbage

Christmas Tree Carting

Not everyone in the East Village lugs their Christmas Tree over to Tompkins Square Park for mulching.

Here is one enterprising idea, from the East 4th Street side of El Jardin del Paraiso:

Enterprising idea.

You may remember, from such posts as Shopping Carts, By George and No Dumping, what a popular location this stretch of sidewalk is for dumping!

This cart sure is a long way from Home… Depot!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #christmastrees #dumping #eljardindelparaiso #shoppingcarts

No Dumping

East Villagers love their community gardens — no one would ever think of dumping in one!

So it seems unnecessary to post a No Dumping sign on the fence of El Jardin del Paraiso, on East 4th Street, yet here it is:

No Dumping sign.

Besides, why would someone haul their refuse further than they need to? Curbside is much closer:

Curbside dumping.

Some freegan will scoop up these valuables in no time, garbage bags and all.

Waste not, want not… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #communitygardens #dumping #eljardindelparaiso #litter #signs

The Wall

I was walking across East 4th Street last night, when I saw this wall going up inside the beloved El Jardin del Paraiso:

A wall going up.

Here is a view from the back:

View from the back.

The people who own the building need to do repair work on it. This wall will prevent people in the garden from wandering too closely to the construction site and injuring themselves, and it gives East Village artists a new canvas to paint!

I'm sure they'll paint something interesting — this wall is sure to be up for years!

#eastvillage #eljardindelparaiso #4thstreet #constructionsites