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

The Bean

The East Village's favorite coffee chain is the beloved The Bean, so when they moved into the Third Avenue and Stuyvesant Street space vacated by the once-beloved St. Mark's Bookshop, a loud shriek of rejoicing went up!

Shriek!

The only thing better than a cup of coffee is a cup of coffee with a clever celebrity name, such as:

The Frozen Nona Lisa.

I think this is half Nona, half Mona Lisa — the Frozen part is because they add ice to it!

Bam.

Babe Ruth hit the ball so hard, it made a sound like an explosion. Now it's coffee!

nutElla Fitzgerald.

Who doesn't like their coffee black, strong, and with a scoop of chocolate/hazelnut spread?!

Mother TeReeseA.

You got your chocolate/peanut butter cup in my tea! You got your tea on my chocolate/peanut butter cup! Three great tastes that go great together — and a nun!

And to top it all off, they're mosaics!

The Mosaic Trail continues…

#eastvillage #stuyvesantstreet #thebean #thirdavenue #mosaics #mosaictrail

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

White Like Vanilla Gelato

Do you remember this building on the corner of Avenue A and East 9th Street, and our campaign to have the trim painted cerise?

Of course you do!

And do you remember this past April, when work began on a new store! Well…

This building came one step closer to completion last week, with the removal of the construction fence and the revelation of…  newly-painted street level walls:

White building.

There's now a gelato store called the beloved Gelarto. Here is a close-up of the front:

Close-up of front.

Cool lighting, and they kept the Invader mosaic!

Now all that's left is this ugly-ass mess, on the 9th Street side:

9th Street side.

It might be too late for a new campaign to have it painted cerise, but something has to happen here!

#eastvillage #gelarto #gelato #avenuea #9thstreet #renovations #paint #invader #mosaics

Something New — Coming Soon

It seems like only two years ago that the beloved Cafe Pick Me Up moved out of this space at the corner of Avenue A and East 9th Street.

Since that time, no other business establishment has occupied this space, until now!

Passing by two Sundays ago, I saw this construction plywood on the East 9th Street side:

East 9th Street side.

Oh no! They covered the ATM!

Here is the same location, from the Avenue A side:

Avenue A side.

Oh, look at that — it looks like someone stole pieces off the Invader mosaic!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

What people do with the pieces they steal off mosaics? Do they sell them on Ebay?

#eastvillage #9thstreet #avenuea #cafepickmeup #invader #mosaics #constructionfences

Another Success

Whenever East Village Today points out a mess that needs to be cleaned, or renovations needed to store fronts, they get fixed!

Back around, oh, October 30th or so, I wrote about an itinerant bookseller outside the formerly-beloved Chase Bank branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, who put his books on the sidewalk instead of on a table.

No doubt after having read my post, there is now a table at this location:

A table.

Wow — I forgot the Spiderman mosaic was there!

#eastvillage #booksellers #booktables #books #chasebank #constructionsite #mosaics #renovations #secondavenue #spiderman #stmarksplace

Invader Alert

Emerging from Tompkins Square Park on my Citibike this past Saturday, approaching the East 9th Street intersection, what should I see but the newest installment by the mosaic artist Invader!

The newest installment.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Another addition to the Mosaic Trail!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #artists #avenuea #invader #mosaictrail #mosaics

Mosaic Restoration

East Villagers love mosaics — they're easy to create, there's no wrong assemblage, and the materials can often be found in any refuse bin!

But what do you do when a mosaic begins to deteriorate, as is this mosaic on East 6th Street?

One option is to do nothing:

The "do nothing" option.

Another option is to replace them with tiles of a different color:

Tiles of a different color.

This way, you can compare them, to see which one you like better:

Comparison.

Which option do you prefer?

#eastvillage #mosaics #6thstreet #deterioration #renovations

Mosaicy Building

While the Mosaic Trail is where East Village mosaics can be found in trail-fashion, mosaics appear all through the East Village!

Mosaics are easy to create, with any variety of found items!

Here is one example I discovered recently, on East 10th Street:

Mosaicy wall.

Mosaicy stairs.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Even the sidewalk is mosaicy!

Mosaicy sidewalk.

From there to here
from here to there
mo…sa…ics
are everywhere

…in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #mosaictrail #mosaics #sidewalks #stairs

Everything Old is Lou Again

When I first saw this image of Lou Reed, above the awning of the beloved The Crooked Tree, on St. Mark's Place, I thought it was a mosaic.

Lou Reed mosaic?

On closer inspection, I see that it is a mosaic:

Lou Reed mosaic!

Why would someone put up a mosaic of Lou Reed showing what he looked like fifty years ago!, I wondered? Why not put up something showing what he looked like this century:

Lou Reed this century.

Much better!

#eastvillage #loureed #stmarksplace #thecrookedtree #mosaics

No Mosaic, Man

I was walking across St. Mark's Place recently, when I noticed the remains of a mosaic at the bottom of a lamp post on Avenue A:

Remains of a mosaic.

Normally, I would assume an art-loving East Villager made off with the mosaic, to decorate their apartment with! However, DNAInfo is reporting that the mosaics removed from Astor Place during the re-make/re-model are going to be re-placed.

Well, that's fine for Midtown South, but what about the East Village?

East Villagers cry foul!

#eastvillage #astorplace #avenuea #midtownsouth #mosaictrail #mosaics #stmarksplace

Andy Warhol is Missing

Andy Warhol looks a scream
Hang him on my wall

This is crazy —

I was walking up The Bowery yesterday morning, and I took this picture of a mosaic of Andy Warhol on the side of the beloved The Standard hotel:

Andy Warhol mosaic.

…and I had this whole story written in my head about how to the right of the mosaic there were these tiles that are now missing, and how Andy Warhol was not from the East Village, and how he never lived here, and how East Villagers love people from outside the East Village, and how no one from the East Village ever becomes famous… all of it true!

But then, this morning I was waking up The Bowery again…

Well, take a look:

The mosaic is gone.

The mosaic is gone!

Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can take down murals of famous non-East-Village artists. There is a pestilence upon the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #andywarhol #mosaics #thebowery #thestandard

The Mosaic Trail Continues

It seems you can't turn around in the East Village these days without seeing new pieces of the Mosaic Trail!

Here are two new additions, outside the beloved Little Village Postal Service on First Avenue:

Mosaic Trail addition 1.

Mosaic Trail addition 2.

Piecing together the mosaic of the East Village, one broken ceramic-plate piece at a time!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #littlevillagepostalservice #mosaictrail #mosaics

Mosaic Trail Expands Eastward

I was walking across East 7th Street this past Friday morning, when I saw what could only be described as the newest addition to the Mosaic Trail:

Newest addition to the Mosaic Trail.

It's difficult to know at this time whether this is by Mosaic Man Jim Power, a recent work by the famous Invader, or a new mosaic artist, but one thing is certain: It's a welcome addition to the beloved Mosaic Trail!

East Villagers love mosaics!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #artists #invader #jimpower #mosaicman #mosaictrail #mosaics

Invader 2

As I wrote in Invader 1, Invader is a world-famous artist, who works exclusively in the medium of small ceramic tiles. Recently, he's been working in New York City, including (naturally!) in the East Village!

On Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place, at the beloved, local, recently-closed branch of Chase bank, Invader installed a mosaic of Spiderman, climbing the wall:

Spiderman climbing the wall.

It looks like a whole new mosaic trail is opening up… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #artists #chasebank #invader #mosaics #secondavenue #spiderman #stmarksplace

Invader 1

Invader is a world-famous artist, who works exclusively in the medium of small ceramic tiles. Recently, he's been working in New York City, including (naturally!) in the East Village!

East Villagers love street artists — even more, they love liberating the work of street artists!

At the corner of First Avenue and East 4th Street, above the beloved Guayoyo, is a mosaic of Woody Allen, half liberated:

Woody Allen, half liberated.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It's hard to know why the liberator stopped where he did, or why he didn't liberate the edge pieces at the top. It's also hard to know if he labelled the pieces, so he could reassemble the mosaic at home.

East Villagers are hopeful that Invader will return to fix the mosaic. This time, he should put up a sign that says:

Please Do Not Steal My Mosaic. Thank You!

You can't mince words with East Villagers Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #artists #firstavenue #guayoyo #invader #mosaics

Mosaic Trail Update

I was walking up Avenue A yesterday, when I noticed a recent addition to the mosaic on the lamppost on the park side of St. Mark's Place — East Village celebrities!

Many East Village celebrities are very obscure, so even I don't know all of them!

This first group has Ray Alvarez, famous for being the owner of the beloved Ray's Candy Store (top right, under the dog):

The only one I know here is Shawn Chittle, famous for being a commenter on a local blog (bottom right):

What's this?! Noooo!

Once again, I am honored — honored! — to be honored on the Mosaic Trail:

If you know who some of the other celebrities are, leave a comment!

#eastvillage #avenuea #mosaics #mosaictrail #rayalvarez #rayscandystore #shawnchittle #stmarksplace #tompkinssquarepark #lampposts

Immortalized on The Mosaic Trail

I was walking along St. Mark's Place this past Saturday, when I saw something that caused me to stop dead in my tracks:

Immortalized.

East Village Today is honored — honored! — to be honored on the Mosaic Trail! And what better location (at the corner of Second Avenue) than the one I've spent so much time trying to improve!

It's gratifying to know that… East Villagers love East Village Today!

#eastvillage #mosaictrail #mosaics #secondavenue #stmarksplace

Another Damaged Mosaic

Earlier in the week, I wrote about the destroyed mosaic that used to grace the sidewalk at the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

What I didn't mention at the time was that was not the only mosaic on St. Mark's Place that I saw damaged. There was also this one:

Another damaged mosaic.

This doesn't look like an accident, or even casual wear and tear — this looks deliberate. Deliberate mosaic bashing. The East Villagers are restless!

With Summer coming, things could be heating up… into a mosaic war!… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #mosaics #stmarksplace

Welcome Mosaic Gone

Back in November, I posted a picture of a "Welcome to the East Village" mosaic at the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

Passing by there yesterday, I discovered the mosaic is gone:

"Welcome" mosaic gone.

Only a few tiles remain of this once-proud gateway to the East Village. No one knows who did this, but the artist himself, known only as the Mosaic Man, has been known to remove his mosaics when the mood strikes him.

One thing about the disappearance of works of art from the East Village is that it opens up the space for even better works of art!

Every flat surface is a canvas… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #mosaicman #mosaics #art #avenuea #stmarksplace