T-Mobile: Network Faster Than New Parents Moving To Park Slope

Seen on Houston Street

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Kenny Scharf Restores Bowery Mural; Flirts With Bystanders

Kenny Scharf was in town this weekend for the opening of his new exhibit and returned to Houston Street yesterday evening to again restore his oft vandalized "wacky/day-glo/surreal" mural. 

Friend of NYC The Blog The Late Adopter was on the scene last night and sends along some photos and a brief report: "Kenny was interacting with the crowd," of about 20 to 30 people Casale explained, greeting one woman having her picture taken in front of the mural with a "hey beautiful."

Scharf might have to come back again. "If it gets hit once, it’s all downhill after that," he told The New York Post. "If there’s another blizzard, they’ll just do it again.” Though the security cameras now installed might deter the less determined. More photos below.

NYPD Admires Freshly Bombed Deitch Wall By Barry McGee And Co.

Even an NYPD officer can appreciate the stunning new work on the Deitch Wall at Houston Street by Twist and company. The officer driving by late last night stopped his paddy wagon well short of a red light to take a few moments to admire the newly bombed wall. It's quite possible he is pleased as everyone to see the uninspired and obnoxious work of Shepard Fairey finally banished from that corner.

Twist, aka Barry McGee, and friends worked into the wee hours of yesterday morning to complete the wall, being questioned by the police on at least two occasions during the process of creating the commissioned and permitted work. The Art Collectors documented all of it and more, from 12am to 6am, including a roll over car accident on the street that happened only yards away.

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Girl Farts On Boy At Yonah Schimmel Knishery

A customer at Yonah Schimmel Knishery on Houston Street helpfully illustrated how his girlfriend farted on him while in the knishery. (Click through for larger version).

Serving delicious varieties of knish since 1910, each table at Yonah Schimmel holds a note pad like the one above. They are for use by customers to draw in, leave notes or otherwise create something for posterity, to be enjoyed by others who visit the establishment.

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Marc Ecko And Shepard Fairey Together On Houston Street

Marc Ecko took to Houston Street last night (or rather, a digital projectionist did on behalf of an ad agency) to illuminate the street with a digital billboard. The digital display advertised Ecko's Cut & Sew line, "for those who want to start dressing a little more seriously but still maintain their youthful edge."

Related:
Microsoft Zune projected their own advertisement above the Shepard Fairey advertisement
Guerilla Remy Martin advertising above Keith Harring Mural on Houston and Bowery

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UPDATED: Pretzel Crisps Responds: Pretzel Crisps Pretzel Ads Encourage Anxiety About Body Weight And Image; One Resident Fights Back

UPDATE: WPIX and reporter Debra Alfarone hit the streets to report the story
UPDATE: Read Pretzel Crisps response below. 
UPDATE: Pretzel Crisps informs they will remove the offending ads

New ads appearing from Pretzel Crisps on street furniture throughout Manhattan declare: "You can never be too thin." As imagined, people have opinions about it. East Village blogger EV Grieve blunty noted the ads "still want us to feel badly about our bodies." Lemondrop.com pointedly asked: "Does this pretzel ad encourage anorexia?" And Jezebel, the widely read Gawker Media blog focusing on women's issues wryly declared the ads are "tastefully marketed to eating-disordered demographic."

NYC The Blog was on hand last night as a concerned citizen decided to embellish one of the ads on Houston Street, at a bus station shelter between Bowery and 2nd Avenue. A small act from a responsible citizen, the Lower East Side resident left text and images over the ad, clearly displaying that you can in fact, be too thin. Watch the video below:

Sleeping In On Houston At Broadway

 

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Seedr Tribute Piece Buffed From East Houston Street

During the at times annoying and comprehensive online coverage of Shepard Faiery's mural on the Deitch Wall, graffiti artist Seedr quietly put up a tribute piece a couple hundred yards away at the corner of Houston and Mott Streets in April. That piece was buffed last week.

See the before and after below.

Shepard Fairey Mural Vandalised Yet Again; Receives An Exceptional Amount Of Damage

Sometime early today, the Shepard Fairey mural on Houston Street was vandalized yet again when someone kicked 11 new holes into the wall's structure which holds the mural. [UPDATE: Later that day/night, four new holes were added, bringing the total to 15.] Behind which the Os Gêmeos still exists. You can see it's bright colors shining through the holes in Shepard's mural.

This is at least the fourth time the mural has been vandalised with puncture wounds. It was only late last week that it four other holes were patched up. Is this the work of a serial vandaliser with a steel toe shoe, returning time and again to express his displeasure? All this destruction and repair is growing tiresome for some.

Bucky Turco of ANIMAL explained after last week's case of vandalism: "At this point, unless someone lights it on fire, I really don’t care what happens to Shepard Fairey’s mural..."

That hasn't happened yet, but it seems like the mural is in danger of being overwhelmed, and it's beginning to look like Shepard, in spite of his earlier claims to repair any damage the mural might incur,  is moving on.

See large photos of the damaged mural on NYC The Blog's facebook photo album page here.

Community To Shepard Fairey Muraltisement: You Don't Have To Go Home, But You Can't Stay Here

The muraltisement by acclaimed sticker artist Shepard Fairey at the Deitch Wall on Houston Street continues to suffer defacement. The wall was just patched up yesterday morning after being the recipient of multiple large holes. And last night, an exasperated community member left a message: Bring Back The Haring. Haring's mural of course, now only lives in your digital memories.

And Shep's piece, well, you almost feel bad for it. Though once under guard by professional security, as soon as the guard left, the damage began. After being fully bombed, used as a canvas by Paul Richard, cleaned, hit again, and the victim of other acts of vandalism, the wall seems to be falling into disrepair.

What does Shepard think about the haters? Watch the video below to hear what he says...

Kids Bikes For Sale Outside Whole Foods On Houston Street

The two kids bikes seen above were locked to racks outside Whole Foods on Houston Street over the weekend, for sale at $40.00 and $30.00 respectively. For those unaware, children's bikes are a great mode of transportation to quickly and agilely get around your neighborhood. They have the added bonus of being small and lightweight, easy to carry in and out of any residence.

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Cafe Colonial Closes Its Door, Leaves Thank You Note On Its Wall

A pregnant Luciane Gilan opened Cafe Colonial on the corner Elizabeth and Houston (map) in 1994. In 2010, due to a large increase in rent, Cafe Colonial did not renew its lease. Yesterday it served its last meal and the proprietor left a message on the exterior wall for employees, customers, and New York City residents alike.

EV Grieve was first to report on the imminent closing back in March, which Grub Street then followed up by speaking with Gilan. Yesterday, Bowery Boogie went by to bid adieu.

It's interesting that the laments over the loss of Cafe Colonial are closely tied to an implication that Keith McNally's newly opened Pulino's has helped drive out Colonial by drastically increasing the potential market rate rent for Colonial's space.

Cafe Colonial represents the beginning of a rapid gentrification and demographic change in the neighborhood that helped to lay the foundation for Pulino's, Nolita, and New Bowery. As Cafe Colonial is a bit bitter towards Pulino's, my friend who has lived on Elizabeth Street for 20 years is bitter towards the Cafe for the same reasons.

New York City, it's like a continual cycle of bitterness and resentment. And that's fine.

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 Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Shepard Fairey Advertisement On Houston Continues To Be Defaced

After recently being fully bombed by numerous graffiti artists, the Shepard Fairey muraltisement was buffed, then immediately hit again! It has not been cleaned since. As seen above, it continues to fall prey to the work of others.

It's been all downhill for Shepard's muraltisement since it reached its apex as a companion piece to a Microsoft Zune digital projection, culminating in a commanding, yet fleeting, brand on brand take over of Houston and Bowery. 

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Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog

Shepard Fairey Advertisement Gets Fully Bombed

Sometime in the early morning hours of Saturday May 15th, (the wall was tag free as of 12:30am) the Shepard Fairey advertisement on the Deitch Wall at Houston St, erected to drum up business for Fairey's line of posters and t-shirts at his pop-up store around the corner, was fully bombed.

Thus ends an almost 30 day wait for what many were anticipating with cautious optimism. As Tina Teens opined via Twitter: "I could care less about liking or hating Shepard Fairey, but I was waiting for somebody to do that! Killed it!!"

Check it out up close and personal below. Click through the photo for larger version or see them on NYC The Blog's Facebook page...

Paul Richard Installs Work Over Shepard Fairey Advertisement On Deitch Wall

A PaulRichardArt YouTube page with a single video appeared over the weekend featuring artist Paul Richard brazenly installing one of his signs with a powerdrill, in daylight hours, right in the middle of the billboard created by Shepard Fairey on Houston Street's Deitch Wall.

Below, watch video of Richards installing his work, a polite sign declaring the wall off-limits to graffiti. Unfortunately, Richard need not have put a sign up for that.

NYC The Blog Presents A Sneak Preview Of "Dirty Old Town"

"I can't even get laid with a fist full of bananas in a monkey whore house."

Dirty Old Town is a stunning film shot on the Bowery starring William Leroy, Nicholas De Cegli, Scott Dillin, Ashely Graham and Janell Shirtcliff.

Leroy you might recall is better known as Billy, from Billy's Antiques & Props, one of the very few remaining businesses on Houston retaining vestiges of the Bowery of yesteryear. The store is facing it's own pressures to conform to new norms, or GTFO.

The film's website observes:

Facing extinction, [Leroy's] ramshackle tent of antiquities lures a troop of misfits, freaks and renegades who form a tableaux vivant full of carnival pageantry, white lies and victimless crime in a fleeting glimpse of Downtown New York.

Plans are in place to premiere the film in mid-June. Watch a sneak peek below...

New Graffiti On Houston Street And It Is Not's Shepard Fairey

Spied this morning on the NE corner of Mott and Houston was the relatively large and (new?) work signed by BTM, seen above. Far left says "Wild Bill."

UPDATE 06.14.10: Luna Park fills in the blanks on the artist: Seedr. 

The paint still appeared to be wet at 8.30am and is only two blocks west of the Deitch Wall on Houston that was recently papered over by noted sticker artist and t-shirt designer Shepard Fairey. A crossing guard on the corner couldn't provide and clues as to when the work appeared, as it was her first morning manning this corner making sure pedestrians were safe from the speeding traffic on Houston!

UPDATE 04.23.10: A friend informs me they noticed this piece last week.

More photos of the newest art to grace Houston Street, below...

Deitch Wall On Houston And Bowery Prepped For Lazy And Uninspired Art Of Shepard Fairey

Workers were seen prepping the Deitch Wall on the corner of Houston and Bowery on Sunday afternoon, getting it ready for the uninspired and lazy artwork of Shepard Fairey, who will be using the wall as his canvas in promotion of his show at Deitch Gallery in May. Fairey might be best known for creating work that is often shown to be copies of other artists' images.

The smooth white wall seen above is newly constructed, and surrounds and preserves the original stone Deitch Wall behind it. That wall recently displayed the brightly colored and elaborate mural of Brazilian twins Os Gêmeos, work which still exists hidden behind, accessible by a door.

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New MTA Bus: DesignLine EcoSaver IV (2009)

DesignLine EcoSaver IV (2009) Idling on Houston

Last year, DesignLine USA announced "a test and evaluation contract" with the MTA for the ECO Saver IV, a hybrid electric 42-foot bus that is far quieter than others in the fleet and has lower emissions than other buses.

This contract will allow the initial delivery of 30 new DesignLine EcoSaver IV Hybrid Electric heavy duty transit buses to the agency with an option of an additional 60 buses. NYCT is expecting to deploy these new buses on multiple routes.

The unique propriety hybrid propulsion system used in DesignLine’s EcoSaver IV bus
sets itself above all of the current competition in the worldwide heavy duty vehicle marketplace. This system is quieter than other hybrid propulsion systems in operation and lowers harmful emissions.

When the bus photographed at top was idling on Houston St, the noise was so minimal as to be pleasant. Watch and listen to it roll by in the video posted by Caitsith810.

Billy's Antiques And Props. And Subway Signs

Yesterday's post about the surplus merchandise available from the MTA, including subway signs you can get both at the MTA, and at Billy's Antiques and Props, elicited comment from Billy himself when he noted that he sells his signs like real estate, with the better locations selling for more money. His comment left NYC The Blog yearning for more information and we dug deeper via email, asking Billy where he gets his subway signs -which always seem to be from desirable locations such as the L train from Manhattan to Brooklyn- or the ABCD sign from Yankees stadium for instance. Does he buy them? Have a secret source within the MTA who offers him first dibs? Find them? All of the above?

Billy confided that he would only tell me his secret in person, and only if I was sworn to secrecy, as of course I would be, as he noted that his "source is a trade secret. If I made it public then every shop would have them I am the only shop to my knowledge that sell the signs legally and have had been selling them for 10 years."

What's more, Billy offered an important consideration when buying a sign, noting that the MTA no longer makes enamel signs, such as the ones he carries, instead today using stickers affixed to metal.

Aside from the great value they have simply as comforting objects for any resident of NYC, who surely would all like to hang a sign from their own stop on their living room wall, Billy speculated that the "craze" for subway signs started with an appearance in a movie, of course, when "Woody Allen did a whole Bedroom scene with Diane Keaton in the mid 80's," and an "8 ft Canal Street [sign] with English Chinese writing on it," was a part of the apartments decoration. According to Billy, today those same signs for $3,500.

"The MTA has had a shop for quite a few years now but like any bureaucracy they never really have the good signs and if they do, they are snapped up by collectors. I've seen some great signs that I sold sell for lots of money on eBay."

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