Vanishing New York Backup

There are still characters on the streets of New York --but they are octogenarians. [ TONY ] From our friend Romy , get your copy of the first issue of Housedeer , featuring Liza Condon, daughter of jazz great Eddie Condon. [ HD ] Support things printed on paper--get to the NY Art Book Fair this weekend. [ PS1 ] Plywood on the Waverly Diner --the future looks bad and "Yuppies Go Home." [ MAD ] So about that TV commercial where Commerce One Bank plays on all of our worst nightmares by turning the landmark St. Mark's Church into a Commerce One Bank... [ EVG ] New York has only 5 statues of women . Where are they? [ ENY ] A new wrapper on the old Village Paper -- Jay Shells' mural had a good run: Goodbye to the Fribbles and Fishamajigs of Friendly's. [ Gothamist ] Drinking at the divey Rockaway Beach Inn . [ Eater ] From the Fillmore to the (S)Limelight. [ Stupefaction ] New Yorkers need to "help the banks," says Bloomie , not occupy Wall Street. [ RS ]...

Last night, St. Mark's Bookshop was packed with people. All ages and colors, they were there to hear Michael Moore and to save the bookstore from shuttering. Moore came in with body guards, charged up from a day spent downtown at Occupy Wall Street. He took the microphone to thrilled and grateful applause. "We're appealing to Cooper Union," he began. "There's no appealing to them," shouted one woman. "They're fucking up the neighborhood!" After some laughter, Moore continued, "We must appeal to their conscience and to the integrity of their history. They exist only because the people of New York have supported Cooper Union...and without the people there would be no Cooper Union . So we are asking for a very simple quid pro quo ." "I've seen enough of New York destroyed," he said, explaining that all St. Mark's Books is asking for is a "decent reduction" in the rent. " It's not askin...

The Cooper Square Committee sent out an update on St. Mark's Books with this important note: " We believe that Cooper Union is stonewalling this issue , hoping our community will forget about the bookstore. We need you to send this petition out to all of your friends and family today. Help us reach 50,000 signatures by the middle of October." Check out Karen Lillis' " Bagging the Beats at Midnight ," a bookstore memoir by a former employee of St Mark’s Bookshop. See the Safran Foer 9/11 trailer. [ Gothamist ] Happy 85th Birthday to a long-time Ruby's bartender--last call will be Oct. 29. [ ATZ ] The Mosaic Man makes a new bagel sign. [ EVG ] A day at the races--remembering Steeplechase Park . [ ShaunC ] Greenpoint's WASCO landmark to be an "eating and drinking establishment," but the "WASCO-mobile will live on. [ NYS ] Occupy Wall Streeters in suits and ties. [ NYM ] On the High Line: ...

The ongoing onslaught against the city's newsstands continues and the past month has been especially bloody. First the little shack on 14th St. and 6th Ave. got CEMUSA'd. Before It was green, it was ramshackle, it had its own ragtag style. Now it's another dumb shiny box. The whole city is full of these anonymous, interchangeable nothings. After Then we heard about the removal of the newsstand on 6th Avenue and West 4th , a deliriously overstuffed little beauty I hoped, hopelessly, might be spared. 2008 Finally, the stand at 8th Avenue and 14th has fallen. It had been shuttered for a couple of weeks, awaiting its death. I always liked this one, too. It had a striped awning in chocolate and cream that flopped out and glowed in the morning sun. The newsstand was a warm, toasty shape on that corner, like a big loaf of bread. Like something almost alive. click here to see it in better days Now it's gone. Vanished. Just an empty spot on the sidewalk roped by caution tape a...

As we learned from Grieve , Michael Moore will be signing books at St. Mark's tomorrow. On his Facebook page, Moore calls it "a signing to benefit St. Mark's Bookshop ." Mr. Moore is on the case! Help Brian Rose kickstart the publication of his book of amazing Lower East Side photos . [ Kickstarter ] Inside the lovely, shabby elevator of the Lyceum Theater archives. [ LC ] A most excellent example of an urban etiquette sign in the EV. [ EVG ] 10/3: Check out the films at "Lower East Side: On the Screen: Evolving Urban Identity." [ AOF ] Crazy lawn ornaments on Staten Island. [ SNY ]

Since the coming of the undulating One Jackson Square condo and the condo-sponsored mega clean-up of Jackson Square Park, I've been waiting for the Lukoil gas station at 8th Avenue and Horatio to vanish. Now it has. Tipster Randi let us know it just shuttered without warning. The gas pumps have been uprooted and carted away. The bags of potato chips and quarts of motor oil have disappeared from the Mini-Mart. A weird sign advertising (sold out) "Explosions in the Sky" remains stuck to the wall. Once a busy stop for cabbies, there was but a single lone taxi parked there when I visited. I asked the Russian driver, who was eating his lunch in the abandoned station, if he knew what happened. He shrugged and said, " Something bad probably. They took gas pump! It all disappeared overnight ." Like the former Gaseteria of Soho , will this prime spot be the future home of luxury lofts? Residents above, you may be saying goodbye to your park vista . Esquared alerts u...

The latest Facebook announcement from Ruby's of Coney : " After 77 years of serving the Community, Ruby's is being Evicted ........ Come share with us, and join us on our last day which will be Sat October 29." 5 questions for St. Mark's Bookshop . [ OTG ] Cooper Union "asked [St. Mark's] bookstore to move into the empty retail space on the ground floor level of the dormitory building as a way to placate outraged community members ." [ Villager ] In the current issue of Bookforum ( print only ), Choire Sicha reviews James Wolcott's new memoir , which reconstructs " the vaguely dangerous '70s heyday of the East Village ." Bruce McCall's cover for this week's New Yorker is a dream come true-- special sidewalk lanes for corralling tourists : LES is a wasteland of stalled developments . [ EVG ] Susan Sarandon at Occupy Wall Street. [ Gothamist ] Occupy Wall Street collides with Luxury Night Out . [ RS ] A slideshow of portra...

As we celebrate St. Mark's Books and strive to save it from vanishing, let's not forget, in addition to the books, the value of its vestibule. It's a " curated " collection of flyers, carefully selected for a particular audience, for people that are vanishing, too. Where else would we discover simultaneously a seminar on Lacan and a concert by the Isle of Klezbos ? It's "Psychoanalysis and Sexuation" one day, a klezmer brunch the next. (There's also a flyer for the talk " Psychoanalysis and Our Time " where you can find out "How might analysis act as a refuge against consumerism for both the individual and culture?") There are no ads here for Two Broke Girls (on every to-go coffee cup, brought to you by the producers of Sex & the City ). Instead you'll find notices for a tribute to squat pioneer Michael Shenker , a Banned Book Party at Housing Works, a Public Books roundtable with author Amy Waldman, t...

9/27 at 7 pm: Join Eileen Myles at St. Mark's Bookshop to celebrate the release of Zipper Mouth by Laurie Weeks--it's "life on the edge in New York City." [ SMB ] Check out Ben Katchor's "Up from the Stacks," a musical about the NYPL and Times Square c. 1970. [ BK ] After 60 years, DeBragga to leave the Meatpacking District. [ Eater ] The bachelorettes take Avenue A. [ EVG ] Corporate fashion, hipster, bicycle trend mashup thing. [ Racked ] What's up in the Chelsea galleries ? [ TGL ] More from the pepper spraying of protesters. [ NMNL ] Saying goodbye to the Starlite Lounge in a documentary about the oldest gay, black-owned business. [ TSP ] Reader Phil Vasquez offers his Woody Allen-style nostalgic film , Song of Relations , for your viewing pleasure. Blogologues : onstage monologues of blog posts at Under St. Mark's. Enjoy the Obscene Diary of Sam Steward at the Museum of Sex (NSFW). [ KLO ]

The St. Mark's Books rent decision won't come today. The owners tell me that Cooper is giving the request "serious consideration," have referred the matter to Finance, "and we should expect to hear back from them by the end of October." That means there's still time to buy lots of books and boost the shop's sales and spirits. If you need more encouragement, here's what happens to you when you stop reading books : Sex and drugs in the Washington Square Park bathrooms. [ DNA ] Listening to a lady trombonist and remembering Liza Condon. [ WIC ] " My East Village apartment still fits, but the neighborhood doesn't." [ BU ] A rousing recap of this summer in the East Village . [ EVG ] Sunday 9/25: Join David Freeland and Poor Baby Bree for a free historical musical tour of the LES. [ PBB ] Goodbye (more, again) to the ghostly signage of Chef Restaurant Supplies . [ BB ] Bloomberg News chimes in on the St. Mark's Books story. [...

Little Wisco has raised a flag in Little Italy . Reader Adam Lass sends in this shot from the San Gennaro Feast: The Times explains it : "at the Little Wisco counter, representing the restaurants Joseph Leonard, Fedora and Jeffrey’s Grocery , goofy improvisations include featherweight falafels with molten Cheddar hearts ($8) and sriracha-doused chicken meatballs on a potato pancake with the perfect ratio of spring and sponge ($10). 'This is the kind of stuff we make for ourselves at the end of the night,' explained the scruffy young man taking orders."

State Senator Daniel Squadron urges Cooper Union to lower St. Mark's Books' rent. [ Scribd ] Sad news of the death of Ballpark Lanes , endangered by the new Yankee Stadium culture. [ EVG ] East Village IHOP thinks it needs a bouncer because the neighborhood is glutted with rowdy drunks. [ Gothamist ] Check out Richard Kern's newly preserved 1983 film Goodbye 42nd Street at Anthology, Sept 23 - 24. [ AFA ] Remembering the neon of the Railway Bar . [ NYN ] Shots from the Occupation of Wall Street . [ NMNL ] Houston, we have a swizzle stick . [ MAD ]

The last bohemian has been booted from the most elegant block of E. 10th Street. A TOWNHOUSE FOR SALE sign has gone up on 104 E. 10th and the listing states: " Now delivered vacant , this four story 18.5-foot wide frontage home can be rebuilt into a jewel that matches its setting." "Vacant" means that there's no Edgar Oliver inside anymore and that's a pity. I guess the realtors didn't think 104 was a jewel with Mr. Oliver residing there, though many would disagree. A beloved playwright, poet, and performance artist, Oliver has been called "the kind of legend that inspires people to move to New York" by the Village Voice . He lived in the house, formerly a rooming house, for many years. He wrote and performed about his life there in the acclaimed theatrical memoir "East 10th Street: Self Portrait With Empty House," which the Times called "sweet and sinister." (And there's an extensive interview with him in Goodie f...

One Track Mind , a film by Jeremy Workman, chronicles an obsessive love affair--that between one man and the New York City subway system--and the efforts to preserve every nook and cranny in a massive collection of detailed drawings and notes. Phil Copp might remind you of Joe Gould, the Greenwich Villager made famous by Joseph Mitchell for his non-existent, 9-million-worded "Oral History of Civilization." But Copp has succeeded where Gould failed--his opus exists, on real paper, as the multi-volume, never-ending "Silver Connections." It's a story of old New York, a place filled with eccentrics and obsessives, where a strange and wondrous love for the city can take root and bloom in the shadows of the underground. I talked to Jeremy and Phil and asked them some questions. Jeremy Workman Q: Who is Phil Copp and what's his subway project all about? JW: Phil is a subway historian extraordinaire. He is a regular guy from New York and New Jersey who works at a pr...

The Occupation of Wall Street continues. [ CR ] So just how well did St. Mark's Books do on the Buy A Book Weekend ? Your purchases bumped sales by a whopping 35%. Nicely done bibliophiles of New York! [ RS ] Gothamist followed up, too, and reports that St. Mark's "had a very good weekend —it was extremely busy." [ Gothamist ] Remember when St. Mark's Books = “Susan Sontag and Annie Leibovitz used to come in here every Sunday night and close the place down... Allen Ginsberg met Philip Glass in the store... William Burroughs used to come in every Saturday morning wearing a suit and carrying a cane and hat." [ NYT ] The real original Ray's to shutter. [ NYT ] Broke-Ass Girls: some new ideas for New York-based TV shows. [ Restless ] In 2008, I did a post on vanishing parking meters . Now we hear the last working parking meter is being ripped from the ground for good. [ Gothamist ] Will Life Cafe be split in two? [ EVG ] Look out-- Crown Heights get...

Reader George writes in: "I was buying some books at St. Marks and overheard the guys behind the counter talking about what a good sales weekend it was. They had sold out of some paperbacks and had to order more. They said it was the best weekend they've had since Christmas! " Congratulations and thanks to everyone who heeded the call and took the time this weekend to buy books at the St. Mark's Bookshop. Of course, one weekend is not enough. To keep this great bookshop alive, we need to keep going back. And remember: Real books are better for your brain than electronic readers, and reading fiction makes you more empathic . READ BOOKS: Save our city from the yunnie zombies! P.S. The petition keeps chugging along, coming up to 30,000 signatures--and it's fun to play "Find the Authors":

Almost 28,000 people have signed the petition to save St. Mark's Bookstore. Cooper Union is still deliberating on whether to lower the shop's rent or let the market forces crush this landmark. Many commenters have said (some rather snarkily), "If everyone who signed the petition bought just one book, they could save the shop." Feeling guilty about spending more time reading blogs than books? Good! Jen Doll at Runnin Scared agrees. She notes that if all the petition signers "bought a book...in September, the shop would make approximately $405,000. More than enough for to pay the month's rent... But that doesn't happen, not even in the heady days when everyone loved paper." But it CAN happen. Let's all buy one book from St. Mark's this weekend. Consider it a campaign of unbridled optimism. (And please pass this post on to all your Facebook friends, blog readers, tweeters, etc . The Internet is killing bookstores, might as well use it t...

The Times profiles the last holdouts of their neighborhoods , featuring the fabulous Ivy Brown . [ NYT ] photo: Todd Heisler Congratulations to Joe My God and Sheepshead Bites for winning CBSNY's Most Valuable Blogger . Thanks again to everyone who voted! B ooks are not pickles ! [ WNYC ] Jay Shells , the etiquette sign guy, plays nice on Fox News then flips the script. [ ANY ] The bones of dead bikes . [ Restless ] “ We live in an age of glass ,” said Ms. Laurel, an architect. “It can be a perfect mirror in certain lights, and the larger the glass, the more dangerous it is.” [ NYT ] Our Lady of Sorrows processing through Carroll Gardens. [ OMFS ] The exceptionalism that once made NYC : "Many people – whether they live in the heartland or on Fifth Avenue – like to think of New York City as so wild and extreme in its cultural fusion that it’s an anomaly in the United States, almost a foreign entity." [ P&W ] How to make an egg cream just like Mr. Hoop...

This week, Villagers memorialized the 9/11 memorial wall at St. Vincent's Hospital. A memorial for a memorial. This wall was once covered with 9/11 Missing posters. "The Wall of Remembrance" was preserved here for years, secured under plexiglass, and eventually taken down. A permanent memorial was planned, but there was not enough money for it. Wrote Clyde Haberman at the Times : "The 9/11 fliers are now preserved in plastic and arranged alphabetically, from Terence E. Adderley Jr. to Ken Zelman, in four loose-leaf binders... The binders are in storage, emerging rarely save for one day a year. 'We have a memorial Mass every Sept. 11 in the chapel, and we bring the books there,' Sister Kevin said. 'We let people look through them, and then we take them back' — out of sight but never out of mind." Of course, St. Vincent's is now a haunted house, Sister Kevin doesn't work there anymore, and who knows where the loose-leaf binders have ...

Starbucks encroaches deeper into the East Village. [ EVG ] On saving St. Mark's Books: "I'm not convinced this neighborhood deserves to have a great bookstore... this place is a youth destination for children of means , not an intellectual or countercultural destination anymore." [ SLES ] St. Mark's Books in the Daily News . [ NYDN ] On Cooper Union's new Astor Place vision : "when completed, the new building will change Astor Place forever --and far more drastically than Gwathmey Siegel's tower... [it] will dwarf all the others and hardly harmonize the jumbled buildings around it." [ TRD ] Taking up arms on E. 10th St: Artists and hipsters forced out of Williamsburg. [ Gothamist ] The Beaux Arts Ball parties at the Brooklyn Army Terminal . But what is "loading dock chic" dress? [ NYO ] Enjoy Frank's Barber Shop of Staten Island. [ LC ] Hope? Fewer people going for MBAs . [ NYM ] Carrie Bradshaw will never die. [ NYO ]

The New Yorker's Book Bench asks if St. Mark's Bookshop is worth fighting for . [ NYer ] Alex says: Go shop at St. Mark's Books . [ FP ] This Sunday: It's the Brooklyn Book Fest ! [ BBF ] What's still wonderful about the dumbed-down East Village? [ EVG ] Christopher Gray visits the lost Rhinelander Row --with a nod to the remains of Rhinelander Gardens. [ NYT ] What is the Best of NYC ? [ RS ] Reading E.B. White's Here Is New York . [ P&W ] LES Onscreen Film Series starts tonight. [ TLD ] Stuyvesant Street becomes Paris in the 20s . [ OTG ]

As we heard in July, the Waverly restaurant is being gutted for a renovation , its first in 30 years. Recently, a peek through the open door revealed the carnage: Before the gutting, New York magazine called the old aesthetic: " working-class steakhouse with dark-wood paneling, snug, vinyl-padded booths " where "you just might reinterpret those black-and-white actors’ eight-by-tens lining the perimeter as a forgotten pantheon: patron saints of cheap food, fast service, and fading traditions." Fading is right. When the Waverly replaced their neon sign in 2008, we lost "STEAKS CHOPS SEAFOOD." (See also Lost City's " Fall of the Chop .") That was the beginning. Here's what the diner will look like after the renovation, sort of Southwestern, the moody dark-wood paneling replaced by something optimistic and sandy beige: Jorge Fontan It's too bright for my taste, too bland. And I have to wonder: What will happen to all those forgotten a...

Save St. Mark's Books : Let Cooper Union know they can't take away another vital piece of the EV. So far, Cooper has not been "particularly sympathetic." [ RS ] What do shuttered bookstores become in NYC? Genital waxing salons and real estate offices. Atlantic Books' memory befouled. [ BSr ] After 30 years, Life Cafe has closed . Indefinitely. [ EVG ] Good to know 21's classic and kinky murals are A-OK. [ LC ] Target has created a giant blogger doll . And it's very creepy. And it lives in the Meatpacking District. [ Racked ] Check out this collection of here-today, gone-tomorrow storefronts of the LES . [ GC ]

September 12. It doesn't have the ring of September 11, and yet the date remains in our memories as the day we crept outside into a new and unknown world . all photos scanned from my film, Sept. 2001 The night before, we stood on our rooftops, where we had stood frozen most of the day, and watched the sunset turn the smoke cloud an apocalyptic orange. The buildings had just been there. We had watched them burn. We felt the rumbling impact of their impossible collapse. It seemed "unreal," as everyone would say, like a movie. We went to bed worried. We had our canned goods, our bottled water, our cash, just in case. But we hardly slept. The East Village night was silent, with traffic blocked off and all non-residents banned from entering. We lay awake, waiting for the percussion of another explosion. In the morning we wandered out into the smoky world. Our neighbors covered their faces with breathing masks. The air shimmered with dust. American flags, over...