L.E.S. Jewels R.I.P.

I was walking by Tompkins Square Park this past Saturday, when I saw this, at the entrance of Avenue A and East 9th Street:

L.E.S. Jewels R.I.P.

Lower East Side Jewels was notorious for drinking, taking drugs, and fighting. When he died, one person commented on another blog:

Surprised to hear about LES Jewels. Never said a word to him but liked how he never said a word to me either.

From there to here, from here to there, memorials are everywhere… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #avenuea #drugaddicts #lowereastsidejewels #memorials #tompkinssquarepark

Rockin' the Hallelujah

Oftentimes, when people think of the East Village, they think of religious piety — and they're not wrong to do so!

However, the East Village is no different from the world beyond Third Avenue in this respect: churches here have a hard time attracting young people!

That's why this church went about trying to attract young people using the language they understand: toe-tappin' music!


East Villagers love a good rockin' Hallelujah!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #avenuec #musicians #hallelujah

The Go Run

I was walking across East 10th Street this past Saturday, having just left the beloved 10th Street Block Fair, when I heard shouting from the end of the block.

When I looked, I saw a group of people running toward me, waving flags in front of them!

Having my video camera with me, I shot this footage. Let's take a look, shall we?



I asked one of the participants what this was, and he told me "Go Run… honoring the fallen of 9/11".

So there you have it! Honoring the fallen of 9/11 by carrying people down the street… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #gorun #911

The Helium Canister

There's a funny story behind this video!

I saw a red canister in the trash can at the corner of Avenue A and East 6th Street, and I wanted to take a picture of it. There were two people waiting to cross the street, who were blocking my view of it, so I waited.

The light changed and they moved, but when they did, the two you will see in the video stepped into the frame, so I continued waiting.

You will not believe what happened next:



He put his mouth on the nozzle! There were probably germs on it!

This is why canisters should be disposed of properly… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #avenuea #6thstreet #trashcans #helium

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

The Store That is No More

You might not know it to look at it, but this was a store, on Avenue A:

Store on Avenue A.

This was the beloved Eco General Store. I say "was" because they recently went out of business.

It doesn't look much like a store though, does it? That's probably what did them in: the "vegan shoes" column should have been removed — it would have looked like a regular store then:

A regular store.

East Villagers do love their shopping confusion!

#eastvillage #ecogeneralstore #avenuea

Pile of Dirt

East Villagers aren't fazed by anything. That's why this pile of dirt, on Avenue C just below East 6th Street, provoked no fanfare last week:

Pile of dirt.

Just another day in the East Village!

#eastvillage #avenuec #6thstreet #dirt

FDEV

After a busy day of putting out fires, the East Village Fire Department likes to slam down a few coffee drinks at the beloved The Bean, on First Avenue and East 9th Street:

Slammin' down some joe.

Good to the last drop… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #firedepartment #thebean #firstavenue

East Village Parking

East Villagers are such an insubordinate bunch!

I was walking down East 4th Street when I saw this:

Insubordinate parking job.

Parking any damn where I please… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #parking

East 10th Street Closed

This is sort of late, but that doesn't matter — this is not a news blog, but an East Village coolness blog!

I was walking down Second Avenue the other day, and saw this sign outside the beloved Chase, on East 10th Street:

E. 10th Street will be closed.

This is the street in question:

The street in question.

When I got to the end of the block, I saw the area of concern:

Area of concern.

Behind the fence was a large pit, with a ladder:

Large pit with ladder.

This is what a building looks like, beneath the sidewalk:

Building beneath sidewalk.

There were a lot of pipes. This is a picture taken through a pipe:

Picture taken through pipe.

Here's another, from the other end:

The other end.

Making a better East Village for everyone… Today!

#eastvillage #chase 10thstreet #secondavenue #constructionsites