Put Your City On: South Bronx Poorest District In Nation; Scandal Inside Park Slope Food Coop; More!

Constructed in the 1800s to protect against hostility towards Catholics, the brick wall surrounding St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mott Street received a thorough cleaning last week. 

• You've heard the latest on the most expensive zip codes in Manhattan, but what of the poorest? Over a quarter of a million people live below poverty thresholds in the South Bronx, the poorest district in the nation. [NY Daily News]
• Great video of a "seasoned crew" replacing pipe under East Houston [Gammablog] 
• NYC to change 250,000 street signs around borough at a cost of $110.00 each [DNAinfo] 
• LES: An Endangered Place – Screening, Discussion Next Week [The Lo-Down]
• Scandal inside the Park Slope Food Coop [Naparstek]

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Visiting St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School

This past June due to years of low enrollment, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School on Prince Street at the corner of Mott Street closed its doors. Opened in 1822, it was the oldest existing Catholic grammar school in New York.

In a sale open to the public, the diocese is currently selling off many remaining items in the building to clear it our for undefined use. NYC The Blog snuck into the back courtyard to snap a few photos (seen above). See the full photo album on Facebook.

Previously:
Video: San Genarro Food Vendor Smashes Chair Over Visitors Head 
Have Squatters Come To Nolita?  
Nolita's Cupcake Wars Take Shape: Brooklyn's Little Cupcake Bakeshop And Chelsea's Billy's Bakery Announce Fall Arrival
Little Italy's Lombardi's Pizza Receives Truckload Of Coal  

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Times Square Visitor Pleasantly Detained For Carrying Illegal Knife

A visiting friend of NYC The Blog is detained momentarily in Times Square by the NYPD last Saturday night after being observed carrying an illegal knife on his persons. While the officer explained the law regarding carrying knives in public in New York City, the perp expressed surprise that "this little thing" was illegal to carry in public. Living with wild animals in the hills of Massachusetts somewhere, he tried to explain: "Where I live, you wouldn't go outside without it!" The officer revealed he was not being arrested nor receiving a summons but did request and record his legal identification.

As seen in the photo below, it was a very pleasant interaction. Which was somewhat surprising. Is this the new kinder, gentler NYPD?

Maybe. But one could easily imagine this scenario playing out in other ways, depending on geography and race or class perceptions, for example. 

On a related note, their has been a significant increase in violent crime in New York City in the past year. As if to drive that point home, while reporting a shooting early Tuesday morning on Gold Street in Downtown Manhattan that left the victim dead, @NYScanner noted it was the 10th shooting that night. Shortly after, they reported another dead body in Washington Heights.

Previously: » Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Put Your City On: UES Fed Up; Deadly Crossing; Emergency Evacuations; New Homes For Ex-Cons; More!

Someone is holding it down for Los Angeles on Canal Street near the corner of Varick Street

• UES Fed Up With Vomit, Urine From Local Bar's Patrons [DNAinfo]
• "Whoever controls the Park controls the future." [EV Grieve] 
• Greenwich St Between W Houston St and Leroy St [NYC Grid]
• 69-Year-Old Man Killed Walking Across Cross-Bronx Exit [Streetsblog]
• Hot List: What To Do In New York, Sept. 28, 1860 [The Bowery Boys]
• New homes open for the formerly incarcerated [Amsterdam News]
• Tenants in 'Worst Landlords' Building Narrowly Avoid Emergency Evacuation [The Village Voice]

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No Bear Bile Sold Here

A traditional Chinese medicine store on East Broadway in the Lower East Side informs the public you won't find any bear bile there. Unfortunately, the sign implies you might find bear bile elsewhere. Used in traditional Chinese medicine for everything from pain relief, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, as an aphrodisiac and more, the demand for bear bile is bad news for bears. 

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Vote For Ellis Gallagher

Help New York City artist Ellis Gallagher A.K.A. (C) ELLIS G. win a fully funded art show by voting for his art here: http://bit.ly/VoteforEllis. You’ve probably seen Ellis’ chalk outlines all over New York City, or up and down the East Coast, including Main Street, Northampton MA (seen at left).

It's super simple to vote for Ellis. Just click the link, then hit the 5th star to the right, under the photo of the fire hydrant with the chalked shadow.

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The Village Voice Gangs Up On City Hall

Near Pier 11 in Downtown Manhattan, someone has gathered all the Village Voice newspaper boxes from the area and corralled them together street side. Not entirely sure what is going on here, but that sole City Hall box does not look the least bit intimidated. Anyone have a suggested explanation for this?

Related:
Wall Street Journal Steps Off The New York Times
Newspapers Are So Hot Right Now

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Put Your City On: Cheap Opera Tickets; MTA Services Columbia; East Village Is Rich; More!

Hells Kitchen, seen from 56th Street and 10th Avenure

• MTA Gives Columbia University Special Shuttle to Football Field Amid Construction [DNAinfo]
• The East Village is one of the 25 most expensive places to live in the United States [NY Daily News]
• Win tickets to The New Yorker Festival [Time Out New York]
• How to get cheap tickets to the MET and NYC Opera [Newyorkology]

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Noisy Source Of Noise Keeps Upper East Sider Awake

According to at least one Upper East Side resident, "an incinerator or some other form of cooling system or machinery" is noisily operating from 10pm until the next morning somewhere in the vicinity of the 90s near Lexington Avenue.  The machine, it is alleged, starts and stops over and over again, every four minutes. (Click photo for larger view).

The resident has posted simple signs around the neighborhood asking others if they can identify the source, and encouraging people to call 311 if they are also kept awake by the noise. This seems like a democratic way of dealing with the situation. Though concerns about noise pollution in a metropolis might be easy to snicker at, the detrimental health effects that result are well documented. As a result, you can probably safely assume noise pollution plays a part in the amplified, aggressive or unpredictable behavior of many individuals.

Taking Your Work Home With You To Times Square

Many residents of New York City will attest to taking their work home with them. But how many of them have outfitted their cars as a home office—complete with desk—parking on 7th Avenue in Times Square on a busy Saturday night, "working late at the office?" The guy in the photo at top has, and he means business. Fax machine? Check. Desk lamp? Check. Stapler? Check. Two mobile phones? Check. Miscellaneous items, such as lighters and pens? Check! Trash, flowers, files, and paperwork in hand? Check! Now if only he could find a good time machine repairman who can fix his time machine that has him stuck in the 80s.

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Put Your City On: Real Hipsters, Gentrification In East Harlem; History In The Sidewalks; More!

• Behold the hipster, the stylishly disaffected breed of twentysomethings whose fog of twee whimsy envelopes Williamsburg and the East Village. [Psychology Today]
  
• Most of the evictions that City Marshal Oren Varnai conducts aren't dangerous; they're simply "uncomfortable." [City Limits] 
• Protesters Fight Gentrification of El Barrio [DNAinfo]
• Historical footnotes in the sidewalks of Tribeca [Tribeca Citizen]
• Videos from the streets of Dumbo Arts Festival 2010 [Gammablog]

» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

East River Promenade Gets Stairs To Nowhere

Work continues on the East River promenade down by the Seaport, as a set of stairs leading to nowhere are revealed near Pier 11. To be fair, just like an unfinished painting, this will all start to make sense as more work is completed; these stairs are likely “get-downs," or access point to get close to the river. Work on the East River Park,  in the area north of the Manhattan Bridge, has been moving along as well. The Tribeca Trib reported the area might be open to the public by January 2011.

Previously:
The Color Purple Comes To FRD Drive: Repainting Extends Northward
Brooklyn Residents Enjoy A Rare Public Access Beach On The East River
La Plaza Cultural To Parents: Please Curb Your Children 
Downtown Manhattan's Collect Pond Park Overrun With Rats (VIDEO) 

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Spotting An Undercover NYPD Taxi Cruiser

Seen in the video here, a pair of undercover officers with the NYPD stop a vehicle in the West Village earlier this month, letting the driver on his way shortly afterward.

As unnerving as it is to see blue lights flashing in your rear view, seeing the blue lights emanate from a yellow cab operating undercover as an NYPD cruiser seems less so.Some might even find it exciting to be pulled over by a cop car disguised as a taxi.  And obviously, if you see a taxi with lights flashing and a siren sound—two burly white men in the front seats—you can safely assume it is an undercover police car. But what other ways can you tell?