Vanishing New York Backup

Save Pino's Prime Meats from eviction. [ Petition ] Ask the DOT to give Frank's Bike Shop some space from the Citibank bikes. [ Petition ] Save the Children's Magical Garden . [ Petition ] 7-Eleven is not New York--go away: The great Odessa on Avenue A may be closing soon. I can't look. [ EVG ] Go see the 1980s/90s NYC show at the Whitney .  In Williamsburg, you can learn to make your own boots . [ NYS ] Malcolm Gladwell blasts the NYPL: "Luxury condos would look wonderful there." [ HP ] Nude art drawing protest against the Citibank bikes. [ Gothamist ] On the Central Park 5 . [ LOM ] June 18: Robert Herman talks about his great street photographs shot in the city from the 1970s to today. [ APANY ] " If These Knishes Could Talk ," the documentary that chronicles the New York accent, will have its Manhattan premiere at Quad Cinema on Friday, June 21st at 7:30 pm. 19th century cemetery discovered under endangered East Vi...

Reader Matthew Buckingham writes in with a ghost sign from long ago. The hand-painted "Utah House" recently appeared in Chelsea, on the facade of 300 Eighth Avenue during renovations to Kyung's Market ( put out of business after 7-Eleven moved in next door ). Matthew writes, "Utah House was a hotel where many trade unions and associations held their meetings. That stretch of Eighth Avenue was also the scene of the July 12, 1871 Orange Riot. Police and the National Guard killed more than 60 people and wounded over 150 at an Orangemen parade celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when Protestants regained control of Ireland." Matthew also attached the following illustration and mention of the hotel from the book The Orange Riots by Michael Allen Gordon: "Just after leaving his paper collar business in Twenty-sixth Street, James A. Clark was wounded in his right thigh and arm. Irish-born Thomas Dugdale and Patrick Slattery,...

After just losing Joe's Dairy , we began to worry about Pino's Prime Meats across Sullivan street. Now we have good reason for that worry. Reports came in from readers saying that Pino's is in jeopardy. [Click here to SIGN THE PETITION to save Pino's] photo: Tim Schreier I talked to Sal Cinquemani, son of Pino, who told me they received "a letter from out of the blue," telling them that their lease, which goes to 2017, will end abruptly this month, and they need to be out . The letter claims that Pino's has "created and sustained an active nuisance in front of the building," causing tenants to make complaints. Sal is unaware of any complaints. The letter goes on to say that the shop is blocking the sidewalk with crates and boxes, and is "not respecting the rights of the residents and...co-tenants in the commercial space." The co-tenants here are the neighboring restaurant Pepe Rosso To Go and the West Lake Laundromat. "...

New York State Senator Brad Hoylman sent in a photo of a ghost sign recently revealed after a demolition on 11th Avenue and 21st Street: Frank Jump at the Fading Ad Blog spotted it, too. He did some research and connected the sign to the Berger Manufacturing Company, specializing in "artistic designs in metal ceilings." So what building was demolished to reveal the sign? It was 547 West 21st Street--former home of the Eagle's Nest , the gay leather bar that opened just after Stonewall and closed in 2000. Prior, the Eagle's Nest had been a longshoreman's bar called the Eagle Open Kitchen from 1931-1970. In 2010, the long abandoned bar became a temporary art gallery. Its beautifully decorative pressed-tin ceilings were on full display there, and at the high-end furniture shop it later became . Who knows, maybe the artistic metal ceilings were made by the Berger Manufacturing Company. The building was also home to several artist studios. The sit...

Yesterday, the Edward Hopper Drawing show opened at the Whitney Museum and I had a piece published on it at the New Yorker magazine's "Culture Desk" blog . In the piece, I interview the curator of the show, Carter Foster. A few years ago, I conducted a search for the original source of Hopper's Nighthawks diner. My interest in finding Hopper's inspiration gave me the chance to visit Foster at his office, where he had collected bits of Hopper ephemera--Xeroxes of the artist's sketches, photographs of Greenwich Village streets, antique maps, and newspaper clippings. It was exciting to see it all in one place, bits of evidence compiled to show how Hopper came to paint what he painted--from the vanished block of "Early Sunday Morning" to the military uniform of a movie theater usherette that appears in "New York Movie," as well as parts of "Nighthawks." I never found the diner, and eventually concluded that it did ...

God's Love We Deliver is bringing a 14-story luxury condo to Soho , and it will be named after fashion mogul Michael Kors. The people are not happy. [ Gawker ] On the New Bowery: Coney Island Applebee's donates money and the use of their "private terrace" to the Mermaid Parade--how kind of them to "support" the culture they're helping to kill. [ BW ] There's going to be a documentary about Streit's Matzo factory --and you can help. [ KS ] Max Fish will be gone from the LES by July's end. [ TLD ] On the demise of Joe's Dairy : “What we see happening in the neighborhood is hypergentrification."  [ Villager ] Meet Eak the Geek. [ EVG ] Say hello to Pretty, the Coney Island cat . [ ATZ ] The illegal, unethical, immoral eviction of Willets Point continues. [ CBS ] This weekend, tour Newtown Creek and have lunch at the Goodfellas diner. [ OS ] Praising dairy restaurants at the B&H . [ Tablet ] Karen Lillis on...

Recently, a reader discovered a calendar of vintage East Village photos by local photographer Ann Sanfedele. Viewable on the photographer's website , the images are wonderful, everyday glimpses of the neighborhood when it was still quiet and Old World, punk rock and ragged. In a 1970s shot of 7th Street between 1st and 2nd, a Kosher poultry market and an egg store ("open Thursday only"!) stand where an artisanal coffee shop and clothing boutiques are today. (See an egg shop film here .) At 8th and 1st, Jo & Ray Pizza soon became Stromboli, as it still is today, and C&F Fabrics (with its Viletones graffiti) is now a shoe store. Theatre 80 looks exactly the same. On East 14th, the Jefferson Theatre crumbles next to Smoke & More, where a roll-down gate bears the message, "You have messed up your life with crack. Why ours?" A cat looks out a window from behind leopard-print curtains above Manic Panic, Tish and Snooky's original sho...

Katz's Delicatessen is 125 years old--and still going strong and now there will be a party, thanks to 5th-generation owner Jake Dell . And you could win $3,750 for eating a lot of pastrami really fast. Here's the scoop on all the upcoming festivities from Katz's. Friday, May 31st James Beard Award winner Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese Food, Bill Telepan of Telepan, Joey Campanaro of The Little Owl, Market Table, and Quality Clam, along with Pastry chef Sarabeth Levine will be the chefs interpreting Katz’s Delicatessen staples for a Shabbat dinner with all proceeds benefiting Henry Street Settlement! For Tickets, click here . Saturday, June 1st 125th Anniversary Community Celebration continues, stop by and see live music from our stage inside Katz's, with festivities that will run all day. Sunday, June 2nd We will be participating in the DayLife Festival on Orchard Street between East Houston and Stanton Street for another fun filled day of events. Come watch...

VANISHING Time to pick up your shoes. After decades on 7th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenues, David's Shoe Store and Repair is closing . The owner says the rent has gone up too high, and he is forced to move out of the neighborhood. He'll be in business in the East Village until next week, and expects his last day to be Friday, May 31. In 2008, we heard rumors that the old cobbler would be closing due to doubled rent. But then David's grandson, also named David, renovated the place and reopened in 2009. He continued his grandfather's tradition, and kept the window just the same, with its hand-painted red sign and its Cat's Paw ad that probably dates back to World War II, if not earlier. The space has held a cobbler's shop for a long time. Certainly half a century. Before David's, it was A. Brym Shoe Repairing--also Ukrainian and the likely source of the Cat's Paw girl. There she is, with her kittens, in the old photos. photo: Edmund V. Gill...

On the occasion of their big move from one corner of Orchard and Delancey to the other, Moscot invited me to spend some time touring the shop and talking with the owner... In the optical store that his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father ran throughout the 20th century, fourth-generation owner Dr. Harvey Moscot recalls being put to work at six years old. His job was to install screws into eyeglass frames. He quotes his father, saying, “I’m a graduate of DelChard University,” DelChard referring to the corner of Delancey and Orchard Streets. After standing on the northeast corner of those streets for the past 77 years, its giant Eckleburgian spectacles keeping watch over the Lower East Side, the great Sol Moscot is moving. It won’t be the first time. Birthed from a moveable pushcart, they went brick and mortar on Rivington Street in 1915, later moved to 119 Orchard, then to their current spot in 1936. After this next move, they’ll still be on the corner of Orchard and ...

At midnight last night in Greenwich Village a candlelight vigil was held for Mark Carson , the gay man who was shot in the head and killed this weekend by a man shouting homophobic slurs. Photographer Stacy Walsh Rosenstock shares photos of the vigil: View all of Stacy's photos here . There will be a march and rally tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. beginning at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W 13th Street, and proceeding to West 8th Street and 6th Avenue.

Gallerist brings the news that " New York University’s Fales Library has completed digitizing the journals of artist David Wojnarowicz and has released them all online." Wojnarowicz did a lot in his short life. The library gives this description: "David Wojnarowicz was a painter, writer, photographer, filmmaker, performer, and activist. He made super-8 films, created the photographic series 'Arthur Rimbaud in New York,' performed in the band Three Teens Kill 4 - No Motive, and exhibited his work in well known East Village galleries. In 1985, he was included in the Whitney Biennial, the so-called 'Graffiti Show.' He died of AIDS on July 22, 1992. The David Wojnarowicz Papers includes journals, correspondence, manuscripts, photography, film, video and audio works, source and production materials, objects, and ephemera." The journals span 1971 - 1991 and many are set in New York --in the Village and on the Lower East Side. The artist writes about...

It's always exciting to stumble upon someone's collection of scanned photos on Flickr featuring scenes from the lost city. Michael Jacobi (Gentle Giant) has two collections called "New York 1971"--one bunch of color photos and another bunch of black and whites . The color photos were taken by his father, Hans Jacobi, and Michael did the black and whites as a kid. In just 65 photos, we go from Times Square down to the Village, Chinatown, and out to Coney Island. The streets have a bit of grit, but it's only 1971. They're not yet grim. (I was excited to find the elusive Elpine drink stand in two shots.) There are scenes of Hare Krishnas banging their drums. And those South American street musicians who've apparently been around forever. And women with magnificent afros shopping for art on the sidewalk at what looks like 11th and University. You'll also find shots looking through shop windows, into collections of souvenirs and junk you d...

Katz's deli is crowded in the middle of a weekday afternoon, packed with tourists. All the tables are taken. Seats are being saved. I drift into the back with my hot dog and chocolate egg cream, and find an empty table. An older lady approaches, bearing a tray of fries, pastrami sandwich, and a Doc Brown's cream soda. I motion for her to sit. Her name is Norma, she lives in Chinatown, and she's been coming to Katz's since she was a girl in the 1940s. "There were four of us kids," she says, "and my father would cut this pastrami sandwich into four pieces, one piece for each of us. That was plenty." Katz's pastrami sandwich is big. Norma only intends to eat half of it, saving the other half to eat in the morning with fried eggs. "Please," she says, "help me with these French fries." So I do. A young man asks if he can join us. He's wearing a Katz's t-shirt and carrying a brisket sandwich on a plate. He's frie...