Or Else

East Villagers, especially East 4th Street East Villagers, are accustomed to losing their lampposts.

A couple of weeks ago, this one disappeared from in front of the beloved Roberto Clemente School:

Disappeared.

East 4th Streeters say "Bring it back, or… ELSE!"

In no time (this past Tuesday), the Department of Lampposts sent a truck to replace it — or so it seemed:

Fixing the lamppost.

They even put an orange cone on top of the stump, so no one would sit there!

When I passed by again, the next day, this is what I found:

New cement.

All of that fanfare, just to put new cement around the stump. They didn't even put it back in the right position!

It may be dark all the way down East 4th Street, at night, but they have some darn fine sidewalks!

#eastvillage #lampposts #cement #sidewalks #orangecones #4thstreet #departmentoftransportation #graffiti #else 

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

Mashup

I was crossing Avenue B at East 6th Street this afternoon, when I saw this bit of lamppost artistry:

Lamppost artistry.

It's half Boris Badenov, half rat, and half Misfit!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Talk about a mashup!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #art #avenueb #borisbadenov #lampposts #themisfits #rats

Making the East Village (More) Beautiful

I was walking across East 4th Street recently, when I saw these workers painting a lamppost at First Avenue:

Painting a lamp post.

It was a gray day, so the gray lamppost blended into the background — but on a sunny day… whoa Nelly, will that ever stand out!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #firstavenue #lampposts #paint #painters

Little Pink Heads

You can find art in the strangest of places in the East Village.

Take these little pink heads, for example, attached to the base of a lamppost on First Avenue:

Little pink heads.

They look almost like the ceramic head outside the ceramic studio on St. Mark's Place, but then all little ceramic heads look the same!

#eastvillage #ceramics #firstavenue #lampposts

Starbucks Immortalized

It sure didn't take the local Starbucks long to join the ranks of the beloved!

I was approaching St. Mark's Place last Friday afternoon, when something caught my eye:

My eye was caught.

The new Starbucks has been immortalized in the beloved Mosaic Trail:

Immortalized.

That might have been the fastest addition ever!

#eastvillage #starbucks #stmarksplace #avenuea #lampposts #mosaictrail

The Downward Trajectory Of IsThatPhoebe

I first discovered IsThatPhoebe on August 14, before I even knew the name!

I learned the name after my Lego Man post, in which her character could be seen.

At that time, IsThatPhoebe was sweet! Like this:

Sweet.

The first change came suddenly, without warning:

Misfits IsThatPhoebe.

The Misfits are a band from the bad old days, that sing about devils and evil!

The very next day, I saw this (Warning! NSFW!):

NSFW.

Life in the East Village can be hard. People should leave a comment for IsThatPhoebe in the Comments section, and cheer her up!

#eastvillage #graffitistickers #isthatphoebe #commentssection #lampposts

Messy Outline

What is up with this candy corn graffiti on East 6th Street?

Messy outline.

Did the brush explode?

#eastvillage #6thstreet #candycorn #lampposts

Stained Glass Pigeons

I was walking across East 7th Street back in early August, when I saw what I was sure was a new addition to the beloved mosaic trail, on a lamppost base.

Oh yes, and a stained glass pigeon with no tail:

Eye mosaic and stained glass pigeon.

Cool art being everywhere, as it is, I thought no more about it, until eleven days ago, when I saw another stained glass pigeon, this time on Avenue B, this time with a missing head!

Missing head.

At this pace, it shouldn't be long before I find a whole pigeon!

#eastvillage #art #lampposts #mosaictrail #mosaics #stainedglass

Missing Lamppost

There's a light on this lamppost
that won't light on one side.
So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear.
I'll fix it up there, then I'll bring it back here.

A week since it happened, no one yet knows who removed the lamppost from in front of Orchard Alley community garden on East 4th Street, or why!

The culprit was wearing brown pants and a yellow shirt, as seen on this image taken from the East Village Today roving drone camera:

The culprit.

A stump now is all that remains:

All that remains.

It's been pretty dark there ever since:

Pretty dark.

Maybe the City will replace it with one of those blue lights!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #lampposts #bluelights #darkness

Shredded Signs

By the looks of it, someone doesn't like signs taped onto this lamppost on St. Mark's Place:

Shredded signs.

It's hard to tell where the lamppost ends and the van begins!

#eastvillage #signs #lampposts #graffitistickers #vans #graffiti #stmarksplace

Lamppost Repair

Some East Villagers make repairs using masking tape.

Other East Villagers make repairs using duct tape.

While walking up Avenue B this past Saturday, I saw where one especially innovative East Villager repaired this broken lamppost, outside the beloved Cornerstone Cafe, at East 2nd Street, using rope!

Rope.

Either that or someone created a giant scratching post… for a giant cat!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #avenueb #cornerstonecafe #lampposts #rope #scratchingpost

Hangy Thing

I was walking down Second Avenue this past Monday evening, when what should I see on the lamppost at the corner of East 7th Street but some kind of hangy thing:

Hangy thing.

You don't see too many of these around these days!

Guerrilla mobiles, challenging the status quo… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #7thstreet #lampposts #mobiles

Soul Stealing

Ask any superstitious East Villager and they'll tell you: Taking someone's picture steals their soul!

This is why these warnings have begun to appear in the neighborhood:

Eric LaCour Steals Souls.

As you can see here, he's had some success!

#eastvillage #ericlacour #stickers #lampposts #souls #photographers

Santos Variety Shop

Like many East Villagers, you have probably seen this sign taped to lampposts around the East Village recently, announcing the closing of the beloved Santos Variety Shop, on Avenue C:

Santos Variety Shop sign.

And like many East Villagers, you probably thought: What the heck is the beloved Santos Variety Shop? — I've never even heard of it!

The beloved Santos Variety Shop is a shop, that sells… a variety of things!

A variety of things.

They won't be here much longer, so if you've been looking to purchase a variety of stuff, now is the time to do it!

#eastvillage #santosvarietyshop #signs #avenuec #lampposts

Graffiti Kids Graffiti

By this time, East Villagers who don't look only at their shoes when they walk have seen the Graffiti Kids Summer Program 2016 signs taped up onto lampposts and such:

Graffiti Kids sign.

Interestingly enough, on the other side of this lamppost, in the very same color as the sign itself, was a sample of the graffiti'ing to be done:

Sample.

Well, what do you expect from K–5?!

#eastvillage #signs #lampposts #graffiti #graffitichurch

Fun Dead

This past weekend, there was a Punk Show!! in Tompkins Square Park.

Unlike in the past, this year, many more signs went up, much earlier, and beyond the boundary of the park itself!

One such sign was securely taped to a lamp post at the corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Behold:

Securely taped.

As I approached this sign, from a distance it appeared to say "FUNDEAD".

What a great name for a band!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #lampposts #signs #stmarksplace #theundead

It's Jodo, Not Dodo

UPDATED 5/5

* * *

After further investigation, I have concluded that the graffiti heretofore known as the DODO bee, is in fact the JODO bee!

Behold definitive proof, spotted on an East 4th Street lamppost:

Definitive proof.

I don't think it's a stretch to suppose that the graffitier herself saw the earlier post in East Village Today, and took a step towards better legibility!

Promoting bee awareness, and good penmanship… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #graffiti #jodobee #lampposts

Freshly-Painted Lamppost

As regular readers of this blog know, there's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to sprucen up the East Village!

I was walking down First Avenue yesterday, when I saw this freshly-painted lamppost, at the corner of East 10th Street:

Freshly-painted lamppost.

It would be my guess that the proprietors of the beloved First Avenue Finest Gourmet Deli did this — if the City had done it, it would have gone all the way to the top!

There must have been something pretty offensive graffitied on it, for them to take it upon themselves to paint over it. They even peeled off all the tape!

East Villagers do love to paint!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #firstavenue #firstavenuefinestgourmetdeli #lampposts

Smiley Faces

Back in the middle of December, I posted pictures of an old meme, updated for the 21st century!

Today, when I was walking up Avenue B, I saw not only more of these memes graffitied onto lampposts and newspaper boxes, but the modification as well:

Icon and modification.

Here's a close-up:

Close-up.

Here's to a smiley 2016… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenueb #elespecialito #graffiti #lampposts #memes #missingfoundation #smileyfaces #thepartysover