Tompkins Square Park

BOHEMIAN SPIRITS

The HOWL! Fest returns

HAPPY FEET

Celebrate dance outdoors

Cute Animals in Santa Suits

It's Christmas morning and the presents are stacked under the tree. How do you think they got there? Santa brought them, of course, but do you think, with the billions of people all over the world, he could do it by himself? Of course not! Here are some of the cute animals that helped him. And here ... More >>

Beck's Sheet-Music Gambit And Six Other Alternatives To Just Putting Out A Boring Old Record

This week neo-pop superstar Beck announced the release of Song Reader, a new "album" in the form of sheet music. The finished product offers nothing to listen to; just 20 sheets of notation collected in a "lavishly produced hardcover carrying case," according to the publishing outfit McSweeney's, wh ... More >>

I'm Talking Madonna And Bette This Saturday! Join In!

The panel is called "Love Thy Diva: Madonna & Bette Midler," and it's described thusly: "Madonna impersonator Vivian Belle, Bette Midler impersonator The Divine Grace (above), and Clay Cane, radio host of Clay Cane Live on WWRL 1600AM and entertainment editor at BET.com, critique, analyze and cele ... More >>

New York Holds Demonstration In Solidarity With Montreal's Student Strike

Yesterday marked the hundredth day of Quebec student's strike, the fourth day since the Quebec government passed an oppressive law intended to break the strike, and, as hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets in defiance of the law, possibly the single largest act of civil disobedience in ... More >>

Black Bloc And Bottles Led NYPD To Close Tompkins Square Last Night

The heat must be getting to a few peoples' heads. At around 9pm last night, a loose pack of around 50 to 60 protestors took to the streets, looting and vandalizing storefronts and property in the East Village. Their targets: the windows of the Starbucks on Astor and the newly opened 7/11 on St. ... More >>

Raw Foodists Rejoice! CigkofteM Opens and It May Be the City's Strangest Dining Spot

The red blob in the center is the sole product of a new Turkish eatery. "Do you have a takeout menu?" I asked as, abandoning my bike on the curb, I stepped into the newly refurbished storefront on East 9th, a stone's throw from Tompkins Park. "No. We only have one thing," was her reply.

Tompkins Square Park Rats Play Near Children (VIDEO)

Yesterday, Runnin' Scared wrote about an audit that details not so child-safe conditions at some City playgrounds -- including rats. This vid, sent to Runnin' Scared by a staffer at the Comptroller's Office (which conducted the audit), demonstrates what appears to be an infestation at Tompkins Sq ... More >>

John Liu: Rats, Broken Equipment, Still a Problem at Some NYC Playgrounds

Looks like some City playgrounds aren't all that child-safe. An audit released by City Comptroller John Liu's office claims that the Parks Department was slow to fix dangerous conditions in some playgrounds -- and might have missed regular inspections. Liu, who's still dealing with the fallout f ... More >>

Army Officers Killed Over Quran Burnings In Afghanistan; Occupy Town Square Set For Tompkins Square Park Today; Subway System Sees Injury, Death

Two U.S. Army officers were killed at their desks in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior Saturday by a junior intelligence officer. "We believe it was 100% linked to the Quran burning because of the religious background of this junior officer. He spent two months in a Pakistani madrassa," an Afghan ... More >>

December's Openings and Closings

The shark-infested waters of New York City's restaurant industry are not for the faint of heart. In case you're into keeping tabs, here is a list of those who took the leap and opened new establishments and those who were forced to bow out this month.

October's 45 Openings and 25 Closings: A (More or Less) Comprehensive List

​The shark-infested waters of New York City's restaurant industry are not for the faint of heart. In case you're into keeping tabs, here is a list of those who took the leap and opened new establishments and those who were forced to bow out this month.

'Occupy Fountains' Ride Planned for Today in Midtown

"Occupying" is clearly not confined to Wall Street, having occurred over the weekend in Washington Square Park and, we hear, being planned for Tompkins Square Park this coming Saturday and Sunday. All the while, Occupy Wall Street Protesters are remaining at base camp in Zuccotti Park, where Mayor ... More >>

Olek, NYC Crocheter, Made Us a Present!

Esther Zuckerman​Earlier today we mentioned that Olek had gotten in touch to tell us she'd left a little something for us. Well, we found it, chained up outside of VV HQ! Like the cart she crocheted on Wall Street, it also advises not stealing from the public. Don't worry, Olek, the Village Vo ... More >>

Tompkins Square Park Chess Table Arrest Was for Another Crime Entirely

Wikipedia​Yesterday, Gothamist brought us the story posted on the blog Neither More Nor Less of Lisa, a woman who claimed she was arrested for sitting at a Tompkins Square Park chess table without playing chess, allegedly in violation of a sign that states, "These tables are for chess and chec ... More >>

NYC Is Getting Free Wi-Fi in Parks

Wikipedia​New York is becoming just like a college campus -- Wi-Fi will soon be available all over the place! The city announced today that 26 locations in 20 parks are getting free AT&T Wi-Fi over the summer. You can boot up in three spots already: the Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the nort ... More >>

Heartbreak in the East Village Imports Some Alsatian Gustation Elation

Ingrid Roettele returns with a new restaurant

The Blizzard of 2010: We'll Be Telling the Grandkids About This One!

Tompkins Square Park, through the snow.​Is there a name for this thing yet? Snowmaggedon? Thundersnow? Blizza-palooza? That day people were trapped outside of New York City, while those (okay, one or two) inside it actually skied to work? And the rest of us hunkered down and tried not to have ... More >>

Posts of the Week

Finally, Friday afternoon. Early evening, in fact. So without further ado, here's a look back at the week that was. Kittichai's Ty Bellingham talked Thai food, feeding kids, and his curry paste guy. A Fat Pants Friday blow-out at Cannelle Patisserie. Our 10 Best Halloween Trick-or-Treat Candies. ... More >>

GM Salmon Almost Here; Park Slope Is Not Getting a Chipotle

​The U.S. is now closer to approving the first genetically modified animal for consumption: salmon that grows twice as fast as conventionally farmed fish. [Wall Street Journal] The first New York City Pizza Run took place at Tompkins Square Park this past Sunday where contestants did four lap ... More >>

Report: Weirdos Still Alive and Well in New York

​It's common these days to whine about how inauthentic New York has become, how sanitized. Yuppies! Nobody can afford to live in Manhattan! Park Slope is overrun with germy kids! Cigarettes cost like a thousand bucks PER CIG! But as evidenced by these pics of a punk show/Mad Hatter tea party f ... More >>

Avenue A's Cafe Pick Me Up Gets a Renovation, New Menu, and -- Gasp!-- Waiter Service

Heather BaysaCafe Pick Me Up gets a sprucing up.​Last week, Café Pick Me Up--the Tompkins Square mainstay for a decent $1.52 cup of coffee--completed renovations on the dining room next to its main cafe and instituted waiter service and a new dinner menu. The café, on the corner of 9th Stre ... More >>

Tanlines Offer a Guided Tour of the East Village

It's actually not Tanlines but a fan who made the above video for "Reinfo," a warbling little confection that can be found on the duo's True Panther debut, Settings. The clip is addressed to a girl named Anna; "First, turn up the bass on the subwoofer next to your desk," goes the chalk-written pit ... More >>

New Greenmarket May Be Going in at Pier 40

​Long ago, Pier 40 berthed cruise ships. The April issue of the monthly newspaper WestView reports that a new farmers' market may be in the works for Pier 40, the hulking complex that sits at the western end of Houston Street.

Fug You -- Hanging with Ed Sanders

​Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives. January 27, 1966, Vol. XI, No. 15 Rolling Stoned with Joyous 'Pornographer' By Stephanie Harrington Ed Sanders: "Fuck You" editor - publisher - printer - conceiver. Fugs founder. Pharoah fancier fantastic. Classicist, cigar store cle ... More >>

JAMES BLACKSHAW

The Guitar

And the Beat Goes On

The Howl Festival is back

An Interview With Virgin Donald Cumming

Fresh Direct

Seasonal fare abounds at farmers' markets around the city

Culture Clash

'86–'95: From Evangelicals to Trannies, the First Gulf War to Tupac Shakur

Music

Blocking the Raze

New foes for CHARAS developer

Dog Runs

Unleash the Hounds

NY Mirror

Dancing (Naked) in the Dark

The Epistle to Jonathan

NY Mirror

The Real Curriculum

Heroin (and Heartache)

A Young Couple Struggles With Love, Addiction, and Loyalty in Tompkins Square

Transcending Eviction

East Village Landlord Wants the Hare Krishnas Out

Against The Wall

Anti-Corporate Protesters Reassert Their Vocal Presence

NY Mirror

The Herbalist

Arrested for Giving Marijuana to the Sick, Kenneth Toglia Still Sows Seeds of Hope

When Worlds Collide

Letters

Smack Attack

Heroin Deaths Rattle The East Village