Vacation 2017

If you wonder why I've posted so little recently, it's because I was away on vacation!

You may wonder: Why would someone who lives in the East Village take a vacation outside the East Village, when they already live where everyone in the world wants to go?

I'll tell you: I was on a mission. I went to West Virginia, in search of the cool old pickup truck of yore!

Sadly, I didn't find it. I found its cousin though:

Cool old pickup truck of yore's cousin.

Since I was already there, I took a tour of a coal mine:

Coal car.

Coal mining equipment.

And of course, I spread awareness of East Village coolness — I'm always working!

#eastvillage #coalmine #vacation #westvirginia

Cicadamania

This is the year of the 17-year cicadas!

Unfortunately, the East Village is not part of the area where they will be, as you can see from this map:

This map.

There is only one spot on eastern Long Island where they are. Otherwise, they're all in Ohio and West Virginia, except…

You had to know that East Village cicadas didn't read the memo!

I was walking across East 10th Street this past Tuesday, at the top of Tompkins Square Park, when I heard the din of cicadas:

Din of cicadas.

You can't see them, but they're there!

Cicadas: in Ohio, West Virginia, one spot on Long Island, and… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #cicadas #longisland #ohio #tompkinssquarepark #westvirginia

Caution Tape

Just as life itself in rural West Virginia, renovations to the former East 9th Street West Virginia building occur slowly.

Life is old there, older than the trees…

Still, restorations do occur, or preparations for restorations, in any case. Here is one of them:



Don't lean on that bannister — it's not safe!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #renovations #cautiontape

Former East 9th Street West Virginia Building Update

For new readers, there is a building on East 9th Street that was formerly called the East 9th Street West Virginia building. Back in March, the repairs became so extensive that it made no sense to call it that any more!

I passed by there this past Tuesday, to see what was going on:

Windows open, indicating construction work taking place inside.

East Villagers do love an open door!

Inside the once and famous East 9th Street West Virginia building.

Next time, inside!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #westvirginia #renovations

Cool Old Pickup Truck Gone From St. Mark's Place

The cool old pickup truck has been moved!

I was walking down St. Mark's Place yesterday evening after work, and I saw this:

Cool old pickup truck gone from St. Mark's Place.

The cool old pickup truck has been here since at least January 24. That's almost two months in the same spot with no tickets!

I walked over to see if it was on East 9th Street, but it wasn't there either.

Maybe its owner has moved on to greener pastures. I mean, now that the East 9th Street West Virginia building no longer looks like it's from West Virginia, the owner has pulled up his roots and moved on.

Towns that disappeared completely
Pull up the roots, pull up the roots
Miles and miles of endless highway
Pull up the roots, pull up the roots

Stay tuned!

#easgtvillage #9thstreet #cool #cars #pickup #trucks #stmarksplace #westvirginia

SUV Hinders Progress

The building on East 9th Street, formerly known as the East-9th-Street-West-Virginia building, that I told you lost its rickety, picket fence, is undergoing massive reconstruction, it would seem.

Demolition workers were busy hauling debris to a garbage truck yesterday, that was partially blocked by an SUV:

Loading debris by SUV.

I'll keep you posted, as this building joins the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #westvirginia #garbagetrucks #construction

Rickety Old Fence Gone From East 9th Street West Virginia Building

Stop the press!

I almost didn't walk down East 9th Street this morning. I wanted to see if the cool old pickup truck was back home yet, and I saw right away that it wasn't. But I didn't want to backtrack to First Avenue, so I continued down 9th Street, where I saw this:

The rickety old fence is gone!

The rickety old fence is gone!

For those new to the East Village today, this is what this building has looked like almost since the beginning of time:

West Virginia building with rickety old fence (taken back in November).

Who is responsible for this, I wondered? The answer was immediately obvious:

IA sign fastened to window bars.

It's IA, otherwise knows as Interior Alterations.

First, they removed the rickety old gate and fixed the broken concrete steps, now they removed the rickety old fence. I mean, there's really no reason to call it the East 9th Street West Virginia building any more!

I wonder what they have in mind to do with the space?!

My mission to restore the East Village to its once-pristine glory continues!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #disrepair #fences #renovations #westvirginia

Cool Old Pickup Truck Renovations

I was walking across East 9th Street the other day, when I noticed a remarkable change to the cool old pickup truck that resides there:

Spare tire mounted in bed.

The spare tire is now mounted in the bed of the truck!

Here's a close-up:

Close-up of spare tire.

Back in November, the spare tire was in the cab:

Spare tire in cab.

I told an East Village Today commenter that I would post pictures of the front and back of the cool, old 9th Street pickup truck when I could get decent shots. I had a couple of pictures, but they weren't straight-on enough, so I didn't post them. This is one of them:

Back view of cool, old pickup truck.

You'll notice that the lettering is red. In the new pictures, it's white:

Lettering is now white.

You can see it's smudged too, as if someone rubbed their hand on it. You can also see a handprint on the side of the bed. Here is a close-up:

Close-up of handprint.

Since I posted the back view, I might as well post the front view also:

Front view of cool, old pickup truck.

It's not the straight-on shot I wanted, but it's hard to get those with other cars parking in front and in back of this truck.

Renovations to the West Virginia building and pickup truck, all at the same time — things are looking up… in the East-9th-Street-West-Virginia East Village!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #westvirginia #renovations #cool #cars #pickuptruck

East 9th Street West Virginia Begins Repairs

It seems like just yesterday I was pointing out the positive effects this blog has had in the East Village, when shockingly, this happens:

Bottom step repaired, rickety old gate removed.

The East 9th Street West Virginia building has begun repairs on the stoop! They removed the rickety old gate, and fixed the bottom step.

This is truly remarkable — there is no question that East Village Today had something to do with this!

Here are previous stories about this building:

East 9th Street West Virginia

East 9th Street West Virginia Revisited

East Villagers love to be prodded into action!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #disrepair #westvirginia #renovations

Old Doors

Speaking of the West Virginia building…

Have you ever seen the door on this building?

Pane of glass missing.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

If you're going to replace the pane of glass with a piece of plywood, you could at least paint it!

There's a bucket of paint just down the block that they can use!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #paint #westvirginia 

Rickety Old Gate of Love

I was walking across East 9th Street yesterday. Each time I pass this fence/gate that I call "East 9th Street, West Virginia", I take a picture of it. There's always a new angle, the light is different, cars aren't blocking the view, something…

Why do I do this? I do it out of concern, I do it out of love. I'm like Linus with Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. So with that in mind, let's begin.

I didn't intend to examine this gate, I opened it to walk up the steps and get a picture of what's behind the picket fence, when it started.

The gate doesn't just look rickety, it is rickety! When I went to open it, both sides shook!

If you look at the first step, where the gate meets the railing — those supports do not go into the step! The connection between them is completely severed! The diagonal braces are the only place where the gate is embedded in the step!

The diagonal brace is the only support.

Likewise for the other side:

Likewise.

The only difference is that the supports are slightly less corroded at the bottom (even though the step is more damaged), so they don't move as far out of place, as on the other side, when you touch them.

Here is a close-up (top row = right side, bottom row = left side):

Close-up.

Here is a picture of the braces:

Right-side braces are all that holds this up.

Likewise with the left-side braces.

The base of the railing on the left side is even worse. Much of it is completely missing, and what remains is hanging on by just a thread (wire):

Hanging on by just a thread (wire).

It's no exaggeration to say that this gate is the very soul of the East Village Yesterday: old, decrepit, hanging on by a thread, but still hanging on. Do not go gentle into that good night!

This is where the comparison to Charlie Brown's Christmas tree ends, and Sydney Pollack's movie "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" begins. This gate cannot be revived — it will only get worse. One day soon, those braces will weaken (or the steps themselves), and the gate will crash onto the sidewalk.

What lesson can we learn from this? Everything falls apart? Yes. But also: metal and wood can be preserved with paint! Paint doesn't just make something look better, it forms a protective seal that keeps out the elements: rain; sun; noxious gasses; particulate matter; etc. This gate fell apart because of neglect.

If you want something to last, you have to take care of it… in the East Village!

Oh, and here's the picture I wanted, that started all of this:

Behind the picket fence.

It's not even that interesting!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #disrepair #paint #westvirginia

East 9th Street, West Virginia Revisited

Back in September, I posted pictures of a building, and the dilapidated picket fence in front of it, over on East 9th Street.

I've been by there many times since, but each time, as with that first time, I could never get a shot of the entire fence. This past Sunday, I passed by, and the old Model A had been taken off its blocks and moved behind the barn! Voila!

Rickety old fence.

My task is complete.

#eastvillage #9thstreet #disrepair #westvirginia

East 9th Street, West Virginia

Take me home, country roads…

to the place, I belong…

East 9th Street, urban momma…

take me home, country roads.

[UPDATED 7:05 pm]

Well, cut off my legs and call me Shorty! I just checked Google maps, to make sure this picket fence was really on East 9th Street, and not on 6th or something, and I discovered that right next door to this place is a film production company called Farm Boy Productions!

If that ain't country, you can kiss my ass!