Syringe Alert

Life has become treacherous for East Villagers in the past couple of years. It's bad enough that we have to watch out for maskless junkies, we also have to watch out for their carelessly discarded syringes!

This one was discarded in Tompkins Square Park, in November:

Discarded syringe.

This one was jettisoned on Second Avenue, in early December:

Jettisoned syringe.

These were abandoned beside the beloved Abe Lebewohl Park, outside the beloved St. Mark's Church, also on Second Avenue, also in December:

Abandoned syringes.

Luckily, East Villagers all wear combat boots, and look down at their feet when they walk! 

The Down-lier

Just when you think you've seen it all!

I was walking to work last week, when I saw a man walk from the corner of First Avenue and East 9th Street into the middle of the intersection and lie down!

Lying down in the middle of the intersection.

He saw me watching him. I gestured with both hands for him to get up. He reached out his hand, as if he wanted me to help him.

There was no way I was going to walk out into traffic to pick up some guy who just walked out there and laid down. It's like a wild animal with rabies, it's better to stay clear.

A couple of people who didn't see him walk out there passed by and escorted him back to the sidewalk. They probably have Covid-19 now!

Chess Tables Off-Limits

No one knows when this happened, but the chess tables in Tompkins Square Park, by the Avenue A and East 7th Street entrance, are off-limits: 

Off limits.

It probably has to do with Covid-19. Too many drug addicts and alcoholics were not wearing their masks! They're a libertarian bunch, after all.

Covid-19 Testing Tent

When you leave any other park in New York City, it is recommended that you wash your hands. When you leave Tompkins Square Park, it is recommended that you get tested for Covid-19!

As you can see from the picture, no one is waiting to be tested at this testing tent on East 7th Street:

No one waiting. 

I would not trust a Covid-19 testing tent outside of Tompkins Square Park!

Emerging

I was walking through Tompkins Square Park today, when I saw a bicycle left unattended outside the men's room.

As I was taking a picture of it, a man began to emerge:

A man emerging.

It turns out he was not the owner of the bicycle.

What does the men's room in Tompkins Square Park look like, you ask?

Prepare yourself.

Inside the Tompkins Square Park men's room.

It's not for the faint of heart!

Two Cups on a Fence

I was walking up Avenue A this afternoon, when I saw these two cups on the fence that surrounds Tompkins Square Park: 

Two cups on the fence.

Seeing trash discarded so carefully is not surprising; East Villagers are adept at stacking trash.

What is surprising is that the wind, or some passing miscreant, didn't knock them down!

It makes me think these had just been placed there, only moments before.

Wire Hangers

There was a time when a site such as this would have indicated that a back-alley abortionist was put out of business:

Out of business.

Of course, that was before my time!

These days, so many discarded dry-cleaner hangers, outside of no dry cleaning establishment, could only mean one thing: some couple broke up.

Yup, one of the two would not throw away the hangers — probably wouldn't throw away anything — and now they separated, and the one who is keeping the apartment got rid of the hangers.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

Wait a minute… is that a fetus?

Rocks on the Stump

I was walking through Tompkins Square Park yesterday, when I saw something strange. Someone had placed rocks on the stump that is all that remains of the tree that blew down back in July!

Behold:

Rocks on the stump.

As if that wasn't strange enough, today they were gone!

Rocks gone.

Who does this kind of thing?

Wasted Booze

I was walking up Avenue A this afternoon, when I saw this unfinished bottle of booze on the fence:

On the fence. 

Who doesn't finish this quantity of booze?! It's not even a shot!

East Village Today Reboot

The East Village Today blog began in 2014 as an effort to promote awareness of East Village coolness today, as opposed to the bad old days of the 80s and 90s. It was highly successful, but that was seven years ago! So much has changed in that time. 

Probably the most important change is that some fucking Ukrainian stole my domain name! OK, I wasn't keeping up with my email, so I missed the repeated warnings from Go Daddy that my domain name was about to expire, but that doesn't mean it's OK to take it.

Look at this:

The Ukraine.

This is where my domain name resides now! It's so far away, the East Village isn't even on the map!