Tree Riders NYC

Once again, the winner of the Best Christmas Trees At The Best Prices Award goes to the beloved Tree Riders NYC, on Second Avenue, in front of Saint Mark's Church:

The beloved Tree Riders NYC.

Despite ridiculously-high prices everywhere else in the East Village, I bought a 3-foot-plus tree here for the low, low price of $40!

I recommend Tree Riders NYC for all your Christmas tree needs.

That is all.

Baby Christmas Trees

Whereas today is the sixth day of Christmas, the day of six geese a-laying, it is unlikely you will be able to purchase one of these baby Christmas trees, previously sold outside the beloved Village Farm Grocery, on Second Avenue:

Baby Christmas trees.

These are the sort of trees you buy, don't decorate, then throw away the day after Christmas, along with the stand, as can be seen in this picture, taken the day after Christmas, on the corner of Avenue B and East 7th Street:

Throw-away baby Christmas tree.

I'm not sure if the chair is from the same apartment or not. Probably, since anyone who throws away a perfectly good Christmas tree stand would probably throw away a perfectly good chair just because a wheel fell off!

Syringe Alert

Life has become treacherous for East Villagers in the past couple of years. It's bad enough that we have to watch out for maskless junkies, we also have to watch out for their carelessly discarded syringes!

This one was discarded in Tompkins Square Park, in November:

Discarded syringe.

This one was jettisoned on Second Avenue, in early December:

Jettisoned syringe.

These were abandoned beside the beloved Abe Lebewohl Park, outside the beloved St. Mark's Church, also on Second Avenue, also in December:

Abandoned syringes.

Luckily, East Villagers all wear combat boots, and look down at their feet when they walk! 

Wire Hangers

There was a time when a site such as this would have indicated that a back-alley abortionist was put out of business:

Out of business.

Of course, that was before my time!

These days, so many discarded dry-cleaner hangers, outside of no dry cleaning establishment, could only mean one thing: some couple broke up.

Yup, one of the two would not throw away the hangers — probably wouldn't throw away anything — and now they separated, and the one who is keeping the apartment got rid of the hangers.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Wait a minute… is that a fetus?

Shmadvertising

Construction fences in the East Village are always changing — advertising one day, shmadvertising the next.

On this fence, on St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue, on this day, it was shmadvertising:

Shmadvertising.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It's interesting and all, but what is it selling?

#eastvillage #constructionfences #stmarksplace #secondavenue #posters

Life Imitates Plastic

Remember the orange ball that looked like an orange?

Here, on Second Avenue, is the real thing:

The real thing.

The East Village — where life imitates… plastic.

#eastvillage #secondavenue #oranges #plastic

Newly-Painted Bus Lane

Paint, Glorious Paint!

Here is the Second Avenue bus lane, newly painted this past Monday.

Newly painted.

Where would the East Village be without paint? I ask you!

#eastvillage #buslanes #secondavenue #paint #orangecones

Selfie Portrait

East Villagers artists would be lost without their smart phones. (Literally!)

This artists painted a selfie of herself on the sidewalk, at the corner of Second Avenue and East 7th Street:

Selfie Portrait.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Oops — NSFW!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #artists #nsfw #secondavenue #selfieportrait #sidewalks

St. Mark's Place Closed

If you were thinking of driving eastward on St. Mark's Place today, you might want to rethink your plans.

Behold:

Street Closed sign.

It should say: Place Closed!

Here is a picture of the street repair workers working to repair the street:

Repairing the street.

I'm not sure what was wrong, but I'm glad they're fixing it!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #stmarksplace #streetrepairs

John Giorno

Remember when I told you about the posters on Second Avenue below St. Mark's Place that indicated they were above St. Mark's Place? Well…

If I had looked at the bottom left of the poster, it would have all made sense!

John Giorno.

John Giorno is a poet, founder of Giorno Poetry Systems!

The line "You're walking down 2nd Avenue coming to St. Mark's Place" is from his poem "Eating The Sky". You can listen to it at UbuWeb.

"Eating The Sky" reminded me a lot of "Big Ego", a poem of his that he wrote about seven years later, that you can also listen to on UbuWeb.

If you're going to listen to these, I recommend listening to "Big Ego" first, so if you don't like it, at least you'll have heard the better of the two! "Big Ego" draws a lot from "Eating The Sky", so you'll sort of hear "Eating The Sky" anyway.

I'm glad that's cleared up!

#eastvillage #bigego #eatingthesky #giornopoetrysystems #johngiorno #posters #secondavenue #stmarksplace

Free Burger – Maybe

If you're in the mood for a free burger, you're in luck!

The beloved Bare Burger, on the corner of Second Avenue and East 5th Street, has just the thing for you!

Free burger.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

The sign doesn't tell you that Bare Burger won't deliver past Avenue C, so forget about it if you live there.

I guess they figure no one there would order with an app!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #bareburger #freefood #secondavenue #signs

Why Businesses Fail

When you walk around the East Village, you're bound to notice that some business you love… is closed! Shuttered! Gone forever.

Many times, these failures are preventable. For example, with the beloved Agios Greek Rotisserie, on St. Mark's Place — who can even see their name behind the No Parking sign?!

Sign is blocked.

It couldn't have helped that they were beside the beloved Aria Body Piercing either. Imagine coming out, after having just finished dinner, to see someone screaming as a spike is driven through their nose!

Another example is the beloved East Village Meat Market, on Second Avenue.

On Super Bowl Sunday, a day when an astonishing 1.35 billion chicken wings were eaten, they were closed.

No wings for you, East Village!

Think about the community!

#eastvillage #agiosgreekrotisserie #closed #eastvillagemeatmarket #secondavenue #signs #stmarksplace

You're Walking Down 2nd Avenue

I was walking up Second Avenue this morning, coming to St. Mark's Place, when I passed this very large array of posters, telling me that I was walking down Second Avenue, coming to St. Mark's Place:

Very large array.

New York Magazine should know better!

East Villagers won't be confused (unless they're high on drugs), but what about the tourists? They'll be mighty confused, indeed!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #stmarksplace #posters #newyorkmagazine

Looks Like The Bad Old Days

In a lot of ways, the East Village still looks like it did back in the bad old days.

Take this scene, for instance, on East 7th Street and Second Avenue:

Big mess.

What a mess! A vacant lot, a full dumpster, trash beside the dumpster, trash beside the vacant lot, a dirty car…

The only thing missing is a freegan rummaging through it all!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #cars #dumpsters #secondavenue #trash #vacantlots

Under Cover Of Darkness

I was walking down Second Avenue a couple of weeks ago, when I saw these people installing the signage outside the newly-beloved Vape N Smoke, under cover of darkness:

Under cover of darkness.

This is why it seems new stores just appear out of nowhere — they do!

#eastvillage #secondavenue  #signs #vapensmoke

Rockin' Roll

Of course, the Roll I am referring to is the Kati Roll, which can only be had at the beloved The Kati Roll Company*, on Second Avenue:

Grade A establishment.

Even though I've written about this restaurant before, I've never been inside, until last week.

I am here to tell you: Kati Rolls rock!

I'm not sure what the asterisk after their name refers to though — is there a footnote sign somewhere?

#eastvillage #asterisks #secondavenue #signs #katirollcompany

Great Backdrop

After the formerly-beloved Maryann's Mexican Restaurant, on Second Avenue and East 5th Street, closed, another restaurant opened, the beloved Dahlia's.

In time, they closed too, paving the way for the beloved 100% Healthy Blend Juice and Salad Bar… which also closed.

Recently, I passed by this accursed location — this is what it looks like now:

Accursed.

With its scenes of blurry people, it makes a great backdrop for the beloved Southern Cross Coffee sign!

#eastvillage #forrent #southerncrosscoffee #signs #secondavenue #5thstreet

Christmas Tree Shaving

There's a new fad in the East Village: Christmas Tree Shaving!

Here is the first example I saw, on East 5th street:

First example.

You can see the trunks of both trees were shaved. It's closer to a Festivus Pole than a Christmas Tree!

Festivus Pole.

Here is the second example, outside the beloved The Kati Roll Company on Second Avenue:

Second example.

What do they do with the branches?!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #discardedchristmastrees #secondavenue #katirollcompany

Broken Egg

I was walking down Second Avenue, back in late November, when I saw this broken egg near the intersection of East 6th Street:

Near the intersection.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

You see a lot of these the day after Halloween; you don't usually see them three days after Thanksgiving!

#eastvillage #eggs #secondavenue #6thstreet

More Pumpkins

Speaking of pumpkins, here is a picture of some pumpkins above the beloved Hot Pot Centeral on Second Avenue, back in late October:

Some pumpkins.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Most people didn't see them, since there were so high up.

East Village Today saw them though!

#eastvillage#hotpotcentral  #pumpkins #secondavenue