Sidewalk Damage

Even when trees die and are carted away, the damage they leave behind remains.

Behold, outside La Plaza Cultural community garden, on East 9th Street and Avenue C:

Sidewalk damage.

I am the Larox. I speak for the sidewalks!

#eastvillage #trees #laplazacultural #9thstreet #avenuec #sidewalks #communitygardens

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 

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

It's Too Hard

East Villagers do not like to shovel the sidewalk — it's hard work!

One East Villager gave it a shot, here on the corner of East 5th Street and Avenue C, but didn't get very far:

"I'm tired".

For those who don't know, the cleared space in the street is due to there having been a car parked there.

#eastvillage #snow #sidewalks #5thstreet #avenuec

Warning Sign Unheeded

The Lower East Side People's Mutual Housing Association, Inc. building on Avenue C has a warning sign so small no one can see it!

Warning sign.

I don't think this is true. The part about the tree railings, trees, and sidewalks being private property, that is.

It doesn't look like I'm the only one who disbelieves them!

Disbelievers.

In fact, so many people park their bicycles here, space is at a premium:

Space at a premium.

Warning sign, warning sign
I see it but I pay it no mind…

#eastvillage #avenuec #bicycles #lespmha #sidewalks #signs #treeguards #trees

Why Oh Why Oh…

East Village artists are fond of creating artworks that are hidden in place sight, like this miniature tribute to the state of Ohio, that I saw the other day:

Ohio.

East Villagers never forget their midwestern roots!

#eastvillage #ohio #midwesternroots #sidewalks

Stuck Outside

The beloved 2 Bros. Pizza, on St. Mark's Place, recently repaired the sidewalk outside their entrance.

They were still open, but how were people going to enter?

These two gents pondered that very question:

Pondering.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

All they could do was stare inside.

#eastvillage #2brospizza, #sidewalks, #stmarksplace, #wetcement

Sidewalk Guards

After suffering through so many years of defacing, it's nice to see East Villagers taking the necessary steps to preserve the integrity of our sidewalks!

Behold, on Avenue A, leading to the soon-to-be-beloved Starbucks:

Well-guarded sidewalk.

Not only is it protected by orange cones and caution tape, but a sentry is standing guard also!

Behold:

Sentry, standing guard.

An unblemished sidewalk, is a joy forever!

#eastvillage #avenuea #cautiontape #orangecones #sentry #sidewalks #starbucks

Curbs Galore

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a new corner curb installed at Avenue D and East 4th Street.

Since that time, new intersection curbs have gone in all over the East Village!

Take a look:

Avenue C and East 6th Street, NE corner.

Avenue C and East 5th Street, NE corner.

Avenue C and East 5th Street, SE corner.

Avenue C and East 4th Street, NE corner.

Avenue C and East 4th Street, SE corner.

Where do they keep all the straight and rounded curbs before they install them, you ask?

On East 7th Street!

Straight and rounded curbs.

These and many other intersections are receiving new corner curbs — I guess there's nothing wrong with the curbs between corners!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #5thstreet #6thstreet #7thstreet #avenuec #constructionsites #curbs #orangebarrels #sidewalks

New Sidewalks

Everywhere you look these days, you see new sidewalks being… laid?
…installed?

Something!

Here is an example of a new sidewalk on East 9th Street, back on August 1st:

New sidewalk.

Here is another, in front of the formerly-beloved Ton-Up Cafe and formerly-beloved Belgian Room, on St. Mark's Place, yesterday evening:

Another new sidewalk.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

What's with all these new sidewalks — are we expecting company?!

#eastvillage #belgianroom #cement #orangecones #sidewalks #tonupcafe

Sidewalk Closed

East Villagers are familiar with sidewalk traffic being hampered by abandoned furniture, but it's not very common to see the sidewalk closed due to it!

That seemed to have been the case here on East 4th Street at Avenue D, oh, about eleven days ago:

Sidewalk closed.

It turns out that the sidewalk was closed because of construction!

Construction.

A short two days later, here is the result:

The result.

Here is a close-up of the new wheelchair ramp:

Wheelchair ramp.

Don't want to get too fancy — it wouldn't be the East Village if it were too fancy!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #abandonedfurniture #avenued #closed #orangebarrels #sidewalks #wheelchairramps

Late Afternoon Sidewalk Garlic

I cannot think of a single possible explanation for how half a head of garlic ended up on the sidewalk this past Friday, on East 4th Street:

Sidewalk garlic.

It casts a long shadow, on this late afternoon in Summer.

#eastvillage #garlic #sidewalks #4thstreet

Roots Rock Sidewalk

Apart from the run-down look brought about by century-old tenement buildings, East Villagers must also contend with damage to sidewalks caused by tree roots.

One such example can be seen here, on Avenue A:

Tree-root damage.

This is a unique example: Instead of breaking up the sidewalk into pieces, these roots lift it in its entirety!

#eastvillage #avenuea #roots #sidewalks #trees

East Village Bikes Closed

This has to be one for the record books!

The beloved East Village Bikes, on Avenue C, opened in early May. Here it is late June, and they're closed!

Behold:

Even the name is covered.

Even the name is covered!

You can tell this is the real thing, because the bikes, that were on the sidewalk since the day they opened, are now gone:

Gone.

This leave us asking a lot of questions, like:

What will become of the WFMU-bicycle-basket bicycle?!

#eastvillage #avenuec #bicycles #eastvillagebikes #sidewalks

Sidewalk Appropriation

The beloved Recycle-A-Bicycle, on Avenue C above East 5th Street, never used sidewalk space to store their wares.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the beloved East Village Bikes, as seen (again) this past Saturday afternoon:

The same cannot be said.

East Village businesses love sidewalk appropriation!

#eastvillage #avenuec #eastvillagebikes #recycleabicycle #sidewalks

Rainbows On The Sidewalk

One of the unintended benefits of riding Citibikes can be seen when checking out a bike in the early morning hours.

Behold:

Rainbows on the sidewalk.

Rainbows on the sidewalk!

I'll bet these rainbows can be seen on the street when a Citibikee pedals by — it's not safe to look while riding though!

#eastvillage #citibike #rainbows #sidewalks

Car With Wonky License Plate Parked On Sidewalk

The first thing I noticed about this car, parked on the sidewalk on East 7th Street, was the wonky, out-of-place license plate:

Wonky and out-of-place.

Here is a side shot:

Side shot.

I guess the idea is to preserve the integrity of the BMW front-end, but when someone backs into it while parking, and bends the license plate into the metal, it will probably be worse!

These gizmos were not meant for people who park on the sidewalk!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #bmw #cars #licenseplate #sidewalks #wonky

Bee Here Now

I was walking down East 4th Street about nineteen days ago, when I saw one of my favorite insects on the sidewalk:

Bumble bee.

A bumble bee!

I'm not sure why he was crawling on the sidewalk at what is still the beginning of bee season.

#eastvillage #4thstreet #bumblebees #sidewalks

This Makes No Sense

Regular readers of East Village Today will surely remember the post about the beloved Original Barber Shop, and their sidewalk spray-paint mess.

As messy as it was, at least it made sense; you could see where the spatter came from. This mess here, on the sidewalk outside the beloved Kazuza Hookah Lounge, makes no sense at all!

No sense at all.

It's not even the right color!

#eastvillage #kazuzahookahlounge #avenuea #sidewalks

Lost Button

I was walking across East 2nd Street recently, when I saw this:

This.

What's that, you say? The sidewalk?

No — this:

A button.

I can tell you right now, no one from the East Village is going to anything in Brooklyn — it might as well be on the moon!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #blythecon #brooklyn #buttons #sidewalk