Vanishing New York Backup

Good news, despite the the dire warnings -- the unsinkable Fedora has been spotted behind her bar, smile on her face. But, really, you should still go soon. [ 365 ] Looks like the little elves are back to repair (or at least hide) the extensive damage to Fairey's wall , this after one little hole turned into near total destruction: luluinnyc's flickr Welcome to the Stanton Tailor shop. [ CR ] Visit Forbidden Planet --in 1986. [ FP ] Screaming cell-heads! Fistfights! The EV Noise Wars continue... [ EVG ] 7/15: See Forgotten NY's photos of lost lampposts at the City Reliquary . And check out his slideshow with illustrations by Matteo Pericoli. [ NYT ] A review of James Franco's art show : "is he an actor or an artist? a serious polymath or a dabbling buffoon? a straight trickster or a gay performer?" [ HP ] Something called "Meatopia" is handing out free BBQ'd meat on Governor's Island. Correction : Free to get in, but no free meats for y...

VANISHED This week we heard the sad news that Carmine's at the Seaport closed after 107 years . It never ceases to amaze me how places so old can just shutter like that, after everything they withstood to survive. photos: my flickr As Lost City said, it " was one of the few remnants left of the old, rough, Fulton Fish Market seaport , the streets that Joseph Mitchell walked in his day." I took these photos a few years ago, the one time I stumbled in, and found the place to be a treasure. I wish I could've gone back for a last meal. There may be hope. Grieve tells us that a "reliable source told me that the owner is planning on reopening a little further down on Front Street in a few months ."

After the major blaze at Houston and Avenue A ., firefighters are glad to make it out. Water, oxygen, and brotherhood. More photos on my flickr More local coverage: EV Grieve Bowery Boogie Lo-Down

See what the East Village streets were like in 1993. [ EVG ] Billy's Antiques adds a farm stand. [ BB ] Shepard Fairey releases spray-can man collectible toys. [ LM ] What's great about America? Ray's Candy . [ EVG ] American Dream is "elusive" ...for adult children who live at home yet turn down $40,000 jobs. “My parents are subtly pointing out that beyond room and board, they are also paying other expenses for me, like my cellphone charges.” [ NYT ] Zelig Blumenthal 's move to Brooklyn as his LES landlord gets too tight. [ TLD ] BP lives like a troll in Queens. [ Restless ] So, the controversial TGI Friday's in Union Square --it's already doing a brisk business, packed upstairs and down with New Yorkers who inexplicably say to themselves and their friends: Hey, I worked hard today, I deserve some Sesame Jack Chicken Strips washed down with a coupla Pink Punk Cosmos, and there's no better place in the whole darn city than Friday's!

When Randy Hage added his photos to the Vanishing New York flickr pool , I thought I was looking at regular storefronts in the city. Then I read the captions. The images are, in fact, photos of 1/12th scale models of New York storefronts , all of them built with incredible detail and care by Mr. Hage. They got me thinking--about the false-fronted Potemkin village the city is becoming, and about how, someday, the New York we know will live only in memory and photographs--and in these miniatures by Randy Hage. Maybe when we are very old, he will let us play dolls in his ever-expanding mini city. Until then, I emailed the artist to ask him some questions about his remarkable work, and he was kind enough to answer. photo: Randy Hage, flickr Can you tell us about this project and why you’ve decided to recreate New York City’s storefronts? This project is an extension of my occupation as a scale model maker for the television and film industry. I had always planned to create some models of ...

See The Outer Boroughs on Film at Anthology. [ VV ] Can you really fry an egg on the sidewalk in this heat? [ CR ] More hot days in the city's history. [BBs ] Crusties spotted in Greenpoint. [ NYS ] The " infinitesimal mouths " of the city continue nibbling on Fairey's Houston mural . [ EVG ] Leshko's before it turned into that rowdy joint on 7th and A: photo: Michael Sean Edwards , VNY flickr pool Murkety " Pure Dark ," really a Mars, Inc. candy store in fancy disguise, shutters on Bleecker. [ NYCB ] Eavesdropping in the city's ladies rooms. [ NYO ] Always nice to spot mysterious winged wheels . [ GVDP ] Brion Gysin retrospective opens at New Museum. [ TLD ] Trying to make sense of the Lush Life Show : "LUSH LIFE will be the present for what will become a living ghost to the future form into which the LES will inevitably morph." [ P&W ]

The rumor has been going around for the past few months that the Fedora Bar and Restaurant is not long for this world. I went in for a drink the other night, hoping it would not be my last at that worn wooden bar. In the mysteriously aquatic rosy light, over the strains of Elmer Bernstein music from the radio, I overheard the following melancholy conversation taking place between a couple of Fedora's old-time regulars. Man 1: I'll see you here again, I guess, until this place is gone. Man 2: That might be very soon. Man 1: I've been hearing that for three months now. Is it really serious this time? Man 2: It's very serious this time, I'm afraid. Fedora can't keep doing it. You think we could do it at that age? Man 1: It's so hard to lose the things you love. Man 2: And we're all heading in the same direction. Man 1: We sure are. Man 2: Oh, I've seen better days, I'm afraid. Much, much better days. I also heard some more sensitive information t...