Doorway to Hell?

I was walking across East 6th Street a couple of weeks ago, when I saw what, at first glance, appeared to be an abandoned fire door:

Abandoned fire door.

What if this is a doorway to Hell, I wondered?

Then I remembered: The East Village is built on a swamp — it's more likely a doorway to… the swamp!

#eastvillage #doors #6thstreet #swamp #hell #fireexit

East Village Walking Tour

If you want to know how cool the East Village is, apart from reading this blog there's no better way than by joining an organized walking tour!

When I saw this on Twitter yesterday morning, I knew what I had to do:

Walk & see the Village like never before this morning with our FREE Walking Tour! 11:30am. Meet 131 East 10th. More:https://t.co/CeUVlx8yr3 pic.twitter.com/UoKjVrlAtX

— Astor Place NYC (@AstorPlaceNYC) July 22, 2017

I know Astor Place is outside the East Village-proper, but hey, maybe they're like anthropologists — they might see coolness in things we take for granted!

I arrived at the designated meeting place, St. Mark's Church, at the designated time: 11:30. This was the crowd:

The crowd.

The tour guide was feisty, what we East Villagers call "a real character"!

There were two things she said she wanted us to know: New York was a Dutch colony, not English; and, the ice age brought a lot of stone to what is now Manhattan. She left out the East Village being built on a swamp, but… it's not a geography tour!

From St. Mark's Church, we made our way down Second Avenue, turned right onto St. Mark's Place, and across Third Avenue to Astor Place. I couldn't hear most of what she said — I was in the back of the crowd. Also, I was futzing with my phone a lot of the time!

I left the group as they made their way out of Astor Place, toward Greenwich Village. I have no desire to write about Greenwich Village — I'm not an anthropologist, after all!

#eastvillage #astorplace #secondavenue #stmarksplace #swamp #thirdavenue #tweets #twitter #walkingtours

Blocked Sewer

This sewer grate on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place demonstrates why the East Village is prone to localized flooding:

Blocked sewer grate.

That plus it's built on a swamp!

#eastvillage #13thstreet #avenuea #fluorescentlights #murals

Sinking into the Swamp

Speaking of decrepit tree guards, this one, on East 7th Street, isn't bad at all:

Sinking into the swamp.

In fact, its intact-ness allows us to see how the East Village is sinking into the swamp it's built on!

Better prep your Go Bag!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #swamp #treeguards #gobag

Filming and Filming

Hot on the heels of filming Jonathan on East 3rd Street, more filmmakers are filming more films in the East Village!

Except this is not a movie, it's a TV show — and it's not called Jonathan, it's called The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel sign.

This next picture will come as a surprise to East Villagers, because it's a bar scene being filmed not at the beloved Vazac's!

The bar beneath the black tarp is the beloved Josie's Bar, on East 6th Street, famous for having a statue of a bear in front of it, that you can't see because of the black tarp!

Tarp-hidden bear statue.

But fear not, Vazac's has not been ignored! It's just been rebranded as Milston's Tavern:

Milston's Tavern.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

And for added effect, they built a subway entrance right outside!

Subway entrance.

In real life, there couldn't be a subway station there — the East Village was built on a swamp!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #avenueb #filmmakers #josiesbar #subway #themarvelousmrsmaisel #vazacs #swamp

Taking Pictures of Localized Flooding

The phenomenon of localized flooding is one East Villagers are all too familiar with — uneven pavement, poor drainage, and the fact that the East Village was built on a swamp all contribute to this problem!

I was walking down Third Avenue recently, when I happened upon another instance of this flooding. I was going to wait for this fellow to move out of the picture, but then I saw that he was taking a picture of it as well!

Taking a picture.

The only thing better than a picture of localized flooding is a picture of someone taking a picture of localized flooding… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #localizedflooding #thirdavenue #photographers #swamp

Praying for Pizza

I was walking down Avenue C recently, when I passed by the Eastside Tabernacle Prayer Station, outside the formerly-beloved Lebrini's Pizza, at the corner of East 3rd Street:

Eastside Tabernacle Prayer Station.

If you would like to join them in their prayer for pizza, click here!

It's only natural that there should be pizza at this location — before Lebrini's it was Moon Pie, and before that, it was a swamp!

#eastvillage #3rdstreet #avenuec #lebrinispizza #moonpie #eastsidetabernacle #swamp

Underserved

I was walking down Second Avenue this past Sunday, when I stopped a moment to remember the formerly-beloved Chase Bank branch, at St. Mark's Place:

Formerly-beloved Chase Bank branch.

This building has been a bank for as long as any East Villager can remember. Before there was a bank here, it was just swampland!

You can see by the crack in the façade (that's French for "facade") that the ground is still soft:

Crack in the façade.

After people stopped entering this site, rodents started to take over:

Rodent take-over.

This closed branch reminded me of another formerly-beloved Chase Bank branch, on Avenue A and East 2nd Street:

Another formerly-beloved Chase Bank branch.

This is a map of Chase Bank branches and ATMs in the East Village:

Chase Bank branches and ATMs.

Only D is a branch — C and E are ATMs at local Duane Reades, and A and B are outside the boundaries of the East Village!

It's time to start keeping our money in our mattresses!

=-=-=-=-=

Updated February 20, 2017

#eastvillage #avenuea #chasebank #duanereade #secondavenue #underserved #swamp

Preserving the Past

East Villagers love to preserve the past, unaltered.

The Native Bean (not to be confused with The Bean) is a popular coffee shop on Avenue A. They used to be at another location on Avenue A, but now they're here.

The previous establishment was Angelina Cafe, another popular cafe that closed and left behind their awning.

Keeping with the local preservationist philosophy, The Native Bean left the awning in place, and tacked their own sign onto it:

Native Bean sign on abandoned awning.

If The Native Bean moves again, and a new business opens here, they will put their sign over The Native Bean's, and everyone will remember that The Native Bean was once here, before Angelina Cafe. And before that… it was a swamp!

The clock stops here… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #thenativebean #signs #angelinacafe #avenuea #swamp

Gin Palace Collapsing

Back in August, I wrote about a place on Avenue A and East 6th Street called Gin Palace. Today, I walked past only to find that the building's walls are being shored up with braces:

I don't know if the braces are preventative, since work is being done on the sidewalk there on East 6th Street, or if the walls are buckling as a result of the sidewalk work.

The East Village is built on a swamp, after all!

#eastvillage #ginpalace #avenuea #6thstreet #sidewalks #construction #swamp

Icy Morning

It was an icy morning in the East Village today, as can be seen by this frozen puddle at the corner of Second Avenue and East <I forget> Street:

Ice puddle.

These flaws occur because the East Village was built on a swamp, and is constantly sinking.

A couple of blocks away, a street crew was busy fixing another such occurrence:

It takes eternal vigilance to keep the East Village cool — maybe it should be called East Vigilance!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #streetmaintenance #swamp