Like A Rorschach Test

What do you see, when you look at this picture?

What do you see?

Some East Villagers see a graffiti mess covering the front of what was once the local McDonald's, on Third Avenue.

Others see signs advertising a Latino Punk Fest, at a place called The (beloved) Glove:

Latino Punk Fest.

Look — it's a benefit show!

A benefit show.

Where is The Glove, you ask?

Ask a punk email!

#eastvillage #theglove #mcdonalds #latinopunkfest #thirdavenue #graffiti #signs #rorschachtest

Gas-Powered WiFi

Many East Villagers are of the mind that the beloved LinkNYC kiosks spring up magically.

Au contraire, Pierre!

Here is a Consolidated Edison worker working on a LinkNYC installation, on the East Village side of Third Avenue, back in December:

Back in December.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

At least we know there's no chance of this thing exploding!

#eastvillage #conedison #linknyc #thirdavenue #worker

Bomb Cyclone – The Beginning

East Villagers woke up this morning to find that all the predictions of snow came true. They're calling this the Bomb Cyclone, and from these pictures, you can see why!

Here you can see a couple of discarded Christmas trees, blown violently down East 4th Street:

Blown violently.

The wind was so strong, it blew this table from its original location into Tompkins Square Park, at Avenue B and East 7th Street:

Blown table.

Because so many East Villagers come from the Midwest, where bomb cyclones don't even raise an eyebrow, they are undaunted! Here is a typical East Villager, sitting in the park, talking on his cell phone:

"Hey, guess what? It's snowing."

Finally, here is a video of another intrepid East Villager, riding his Citibike to work.


Neither rain nor snow now Bomb Cyclone… etc.!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #bicyclists #bombcyclone #citibike #discardedchristmastrees #snow #thirdavenue #tompkinssquarepark #winter

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

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

Terrible News

The East Village recently lost one of its favorite restaurants: the beloved McDonald's on Third Avenue:

Third Avenue McDonald's.

This was what I wrote about it, back in September, 2016.

This McDonald's, located on the western frontier, just above St. Mark's Place, once greeted thousands of happy visitors every week, as they entered the East Village. Now there are only two left.

First they came for Chase, and I did not speak out– because I did not bank at Chase. Then they came for McDonald's…

#eastvillage #mcdonalds #thirdavenue

St. Mark's Place Name Change

I was walking across St. Mark's Place this past Saturday, when I noticed something very peculiar.

Namely, what was once the main entrance into the East Village, St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue, is now the main entrance from the East Village into Astor Place!

Behold:

You are now entering Astor Place.

I, for one, welcome our new Midtown South overlords!

#eastvillage #astorplace #midtownsouth #stmarksplace #signs #thirdavenue

Petrus Stuyvesant's Pear Tree

As you probably already know, East Villagers love trees — they're crazy about them! This is nothing new.

I was walking down Third Avenue recently, when I saw this plaque on the wall outside the beloved Kiehl's, dedicated to a tree:

Plaque.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

But what's that?!

Poorly placed quotation mark.

What a poorly-placed quotation mark!

There needs to be a Typesetting Society, that fixes other Society's bad plaques!

#eastvillage #kiehls #plaques #signs #thehollandsociety #thirdavenue #kerning

Saving Money at McDonald's

This past Saturday, I made a trip to the local McDonald's, on Third Avenue.

As you can see, the inside was very clean:

Very clean.

After breakfast, I had time to read the placemat:

The Hunger Games: The Exhibition.

Save $5 per ticket? What a bargain!

I noticed there was printing on the back of my receipt, so I turned it over:

Madame Tussauds Ghostbusters Experience.

Save another $5?

I can save more than I spent on breakfast — it's like free food!

#eastvillage #thirdavenue #mcdonalds 

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

The Local McDonald's

England is about as far away as you can get from the East Village, but that is where you will have to look to fully understand why East Villagers love their local McDonald's!

There are three McDonald'ses in the East Village: the beloved East 14th Street McDonald's:

East 14th Street McDonald's.

…the beloved First Avenue McDonald's:

First Avenue McDonald's.

…and the beloved Third Avenue McDonald's:

Third Avenue McDonald's.

One thing you can always count on is that McDonald's will have a Sanitation Inspection Grade of "A":

"A".

McDonald's — it's the glue that holds the East Village together!

#eastvillage #14thstreet #firstavenue #mcdonalds #sanitationinspectiongrade #thirdavenue

Making the East Village Safer

Back in July, 2015, I wrote about efforts underway then to make the busiest entry-point into the East Village safer.

Today, I am happy to report that there has been great progress since that time!

Behold:

Great progress.

There is still much work to be done though:

Much work to be done.

So the next time you find yourself at Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place, tell the Department of Transportation workers there: "Good job! Thank you for keeping us safe… in the East Village Today!"

#eastvillage #constructionworkers #departmentoftransportation #stmarksplace #thirdavenue #trafficislands

The Human Silhouette

I was walking down the western frontier of the East Village about ten days ago, when I saw… a human silhouette:

A human silhouette.

Like a grin without a cat, the human silhouette is a shadow without light, or even an interposing body!

You never know what to expect at the edges… of the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #silhouette #thirdavenue

Crazy Sign

I was walking down Third Avenue a few weeks ago (I have so many pictures I haven't posted yet!), when I saw this crazy sign taped onto the window of the former location of the beloved St. Mark's Bookshop:

Crazy sign.

"Who's going to take the time to read this?" I thought to myself.

"No one!" I replied.

So for the sake of all of you who did not have time to read this, I did it for you. You didn't miss anything!

Except this:

Non-filled-in "e"s.

Poor letterforms… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #stmarksbookshop #thirdavenue #signs #letterforms

East 10th Street Block Fair

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was writing about the beloved East 10th Street Block Fair, and yet it was a year ago!

This past Saturday, the East 10th Street Block Fair was in full swing again:

East 10th Street, in full swing (looking eastward).

There are always lots of black clothes, for the fashionable East Villager:

"What's this white jacket – is Bryan Ferry here?"

East Villagers do love a bargain:

Free Store.

The local jazz band, "taking five":

Taking five.

This t-shirt looks like the Pink Floyd's The Wall hammer insignia, but sideways! It was probably a printing error — maybe he picked it up at the Free Store!

Sideways hammers insignia.

There was a big, empty space where Stuyvesant Street intersected East 10th Street that would have been perfect for a mime:

Big empty, mimeless space.

Someone seems to have taken a hack saw to this guitar:

Guitar hack job.

Pantone swatch books are always a popular gift for the East Village artist:

"How much do you want for this? … One of the 235 chips is missing."

And the East 10th Street Block Fair comes to an end:

At Second Avenue, looking westward.

Goodbye again, until next year!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #streetfairs #thirdavenue #secondavenue

Curb Your Curb

Everywhere you go in the East Village these days it seems, there's construction work!

I saw this yesterday evening, on Third Avenue and East 9th Street:

Curbature.

The East Village is going to be quite a place when they're finally finished with it!

#eastvillage #thirdavenue #9thstreet #constructionsites

Trash (and Vaudeville)

I was walking down Third Avenue last night, when I saw a young woman deposit Trash in the trash can. A shopping bag from the beloved Trash and Vaudeville, to be more precise!

Trash (and Vaudeville) in the trash.

For those who don't know, the beloved Trash and Vaudeville is the coolest store on the coolest block in all the East Village — everyone who lives here buys their clothes from this store!

Unrelated to this, sources tell me that the beloved Trash and Vaudeville is moving… to East 7th Street! St. Mark's Place coolness is bursting at the seams — the coolest street is about to become the coolest two streets!

It's almost too much to comprehend… in the East Village Today!

(By the way, do you notice the similarity between the beloved Trash and Vaudeville's color, and East Village Today's? Birds of a feather…)

#eastvillage #stmarksplace #thirdavenue #trash #trashvaudeville

Third Avenue

Third Avenue is the red-haired stepchild of the East Village.

It can't be helped — it's the westernmost avenue, and butts up against areas with names like NoHo, and Midtown South:

Third Avenue.

Where coolness goes to die… on the border of the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #thirdavenue

New Traffic Islands

I'm really behind on posting photos; videos take so much extra time!

Approximately ten days ago, I was over on the western boundary of the East Village: Third Avenue. Specifically: the area bordering Astor Place, in Midtown South. There I saw the beginning of pedestrian traffic islands being created!

See for yourself:

The beginning of pedestrian traffic islands being created, looking south.

The beginning of pedestrian traffic islands being created, looking north.

It's pretty clear that the City foresees an increase in automobile traffic on this avenue.

Keeping shoppers safe at the busiest point of entry… in East Village Today!

#eastvillage #thirdavenue #trafficislands

Uptown Comes Downtown

I was walking across East 7th Street this past Sunday, when I saw a shoe store selling… Chanel suede Frankenstein boots?!

Chanel suede Frankenstein boots.

That's something you don't see every day!

Then, this morning, on my way to work, I passed by this poster, on Third Avenue:

Chanel poster on Third Avenue.

From boots to lipstick, Chanel is taking the East Village by storm!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #chanel #thirdavenue