Steve's Apartment

I was walking across East 7th Street the other day (I think it was East 7th Street), when I saw this sign:

Steve's apartment.

Some East Villagers remember the time when the buildings didn't even have numbers on them — you had to put your name on a sign if you wanted people to know where you lived!

Next time you're passing down East 7th Street (if that's where it is), be sure to say "Hi" to Steve!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #signs

Fishy

I was walking up Avenue A near East 6th Street the other day, when I saw a very white sign, affixed to a lamp post:

Affixed to a light pole.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

I know how heart-breaking it is to lose a goldfish — I hope Fishy is found soon!

#eastvillage #signs fishy #lampposts #avenuea #6thstreet

Elroy Was Here

I was walking past the Avenue A and East 7th Street entrance to Tompkins sQuare Park the other day, when I saw this:

Elroy graffiti.

East Villagers love Elroy so much, you'd think he was from Ohio!

#eastvillage #elroy #tompkinssquarepark #avenuea #7thstreet #graffiti

Samuel Sullivan Cox – The Letter Carrier's Friend

Of all the places people come to the East Village from, Ohio is probably the best known and best loved. I could easily devote an entire blog to notable East Village Ohioans! (Maybe Ohioans are why the East Village is so cool?!)

One such Ohioan is Samuel Sullivan Cox, born in Zanesville (population: 25,435 — Saaa-lute!)

Cox was known as "the letter carrier's friend", because of his support for paid benefits and a 40-hour work week for U.S. Post Office employees. In gratitude, postal workers raised $10,000 in 1891 to erect a statue to Cox in Tompkins Square Park!

This is that statue:

Statue.

Here is the plaque, on the plinth:

Plaque, on the plinth.

Samuel Sullivan Cox… Saaa-lute!

#eastvillage #samuelsullivancox #statues #tompkinssquarepark #ohio #ohioans #lettercarriers

Inside the Chamber of CDs

I was walking down Second Avenue the other day, when I passed by the beloved Rainbow Music, famous for its stacks of CDs on the sidewalk.

For some reason, the door was closed, so I took a look inside:

 A look inside.

This is another one of those stores I've never been inside. Even back when I bought CDs, I went to the places on St. Mark's Place. I prefer my wares organized horizontally, rather than vertically!

Rumor has it, this store will be closing soon. I'm going to wait until the Going Out of Business sign goes up, and see if they have any good bargains!

#eastvillage #rainbowmusic #secondavenue

Rats

When people think of rats, they either think of cute little white creatures that live in laboratories and work to make all our lives better, or they think of evil, venomous things that dash about wildly, making everyone scream and run for safety!

In the East Village, rats are of the second variety.

I saw this the other day, when walking through Tompkins Square Park:

Food dragged to rat hole.

You can't really see what the rat was eating in that picture, so I took another:

What the rat was eating.

My psychic-detective abilities tell me that an evil, venomous rat dashed wildly up to someone who was sitting on a park bench, eating their order of Vegetarian Delight. The person screamed and ran for safety, leaving the food behind, whereupon the rat dragged the abandoned tray to its hole, left it at the entrance (since it wouldn't fit inside), and sat behind it, safely gorging itself!

The ill-gotten gains of rats… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #psychicdetective #rats #tompkinssquarepark #abandonedfood

Another Freaky Tree

Whenever anyone thinks of the East Village, right after God and the flag, they think of freaky trees!

This one is growing sideways on St. Mark's Place:

Growing sideways.

The branches do what they can to correct things, growing perpendicular to the trunk, but with little success:

Little success.

It reminds me of a poem I learned as a child:

I think that I shall never see
a poem as freaky as an East Village tree!

#eastvillage #leanytrees #stmarksplace #trees

Welcome Back NYU Students

East Villagers are proud to welcome back returning (and first-time) New York University students!

Here is one of them, relaxing in the back of a truck, on East 10th Street and Second Avenue:

NYU student, relaxing in truck.

He looks like he's already studying! Maybe one day he'll be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a child psychologist! The possibilities approach endlessness!

And when he leaves, he'll take a little bit of the East Village with him, spreading coolness wherever he goes!

East Villagers love NYU students!

#eastvillage #10thstreet #newyorkuniversity #nyu #secondavenue #students

Warning Sign

East Village bicyclists travelling up First Avenue some days ago were pleasantly surprised to see this sign:

Bikers slow down.

Great care is taken to protect the bicyclist… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #bikelanes #construction #signs #firstavenue

Newspaper Boxes

If you walk around the East Village, you will notice rows of free-newspaper boxes at the corners of Avenue blocks, like these on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place:

A row of newspaper boxes.

The first thing you may notice is that red and yellow are popular colors for free-newspaper boxes!

The second thing you may notice is that the empty boxes are never filled, and the filled boxes never emptied, with one exception:

The one exception.

Epoch Times is very popular in the East Village, since it scorns both government and science, and provides mystical explanations for changes in the world!

Conspiracies and magic still survive… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #secondavenue #stmarksplace #newspaperboxes #epochtimes #conspiracies #magic #mysticism