EV Grieve has details from Friday night's protest over the tenement-to-mansion conversion of 47 East 3rd Street. According to EV Grieve, the protest, organized by other East Village residents (and not remaining tenants at the building), seemed to be "fairly calm and orderly," with "protestors...fenced in by the police" (and the police seemed nice, too). There's also video here. Sidenote: Lately, the cousin of 47 East 3rd Street's owner has apparently been commenting on various......

Last month, a court ruled that a single family could convert an 11,000 square foot tenement into a single family mansion after years of legal wrangling. Some other East Village residents* are planning a planning a protest tonight--a flyer explains, "Landlord Economakis says: 'Let them Eat Cake.' L.E.S. says let him eat shit." However Alistair Economakis is unhappy with the comparison to Marie Antoinette, writing, "As the statement was invoked to justify the death and......

In 2004 – the year taxi fares increased 26%, President Bush got re-elected, and Janet Jackson’s nip slipped – the average price of gas in the city was $1.80 a gallon. It now costs around $4.45 a gallon, with no signs of diminishing, and there is increased clamor from cabbies for the city to institute a surcharge of $1 per ride. But Taxi and Limousine Commission chairman Matthew Daus yesterday declared that "under no circumstance" would the TLC implement a surcharge. ...

Last night’s Coney Island Public Scoping Meeting was the place to be, as activists like political performance artist Reverend Billy turned the meeting into a carnival, leaping up on a chair with repeated cries of “Coney-lujah!” Musician Amos Wengler stood up to croon his anthem “Save Coney Island,” and Savitri D., the Mermaid Parade queen who had been on a hunger strike since Saturday to spotlight the meeting, passionately derided the city’s latest proposal for......

A lively, discontented rabble marched through the East Village Friday night, protesting what they see as the neighborhood’s ongoing desiccation, caused by “real estate developers, landlords, yuppie wine bars and Republicans.” Organized by longtime gadfly John Penley, the group swelled to approximately 100 protesters, who jeered, sang, read poetry and generally condemned others for enjoying fine wine and luxury apartments. Vanishing New York has a thorough account of the proceedings, which started outside the newish......

When it comes to turbo-gentrification, longtime East Village activist John Penley has drawn a line in the sand at the Bowery Wine Co.; the newish wine bar co-owned by actor Bruce Willis. Penley, who joined Jerry "the Peddler" Wade in pushing the Parks Department to permit this August’s concert commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Tompkins Square Park riots, not only objects to the “yuppie” wine bar’s sterile aesthetics but also Willis’s GOP support. A......

Rallies aren’t just for grassroots activists – moneyed developers can hold them too, as Bruce Ratner proved yesterday by financing an afternoon rally in downtown Brooklyn to support his beleaguered Atlantic Yards project. Organizers of the so-called “Brooklyn Day” event handed out free hot dogs and T-shirts to passersby in an attempt to drum up enthusiasm for the $4.2 billion project, though there were no free turkeys to fully evoke the Tammany Hall spirit.......

Reverend Billy climbed to the roof of the Pavilion building in Union Square last night around 6:30 p.m. to hang a banner reading: Not For Sale. While he was up there, he gave the passersby a lesson on why the historic free speech structure cannot be turned into a private, upscale restaurant; reminding people that the first Labor Day in 1882 took place there, and that one "shouldn’t have to buy a $15 appetizer to......

Photograph of the Reverend Al Sharpton by Armchair Messiah on Flickr Two hundred sixteen people were arrested during pray-ins protesting the acquittals of three police detectives in the shooting of Sean Bell. The NY Times called the demonstrations "carefully orchestrated," as hundreds of (perhaps a thousand) people gathered at six different locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, blocking traffic and attracting arrest. The Reverend Al Sharpton, Bell's fiancee Nicole Paultre Bell, and Bell's two friends......

Photograph of protesters on Varick Street by stconrad on Flickr Hundreds of people gathered at six different locations in the city to protest the acquittal of three police detectives in the Sean Bell shooting. They blocked traffic at the Queensboro Bridge, Triborough Bridge, Manhttan Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Queens Midtown Tunnel and Brooklyn Bridge, and arrests were made at the Queens Midtown Tunnel and Brooklyn Bridge. The arrests seem to be because the protesters have......

Rendering courtesy of Municipal Art Society; original aerial photo by Jonathan Barkey. As a counterpoint to the new renderings of Frank Gehry's redesign for the Atlantic Yards flagship tower, here's a different perspective on the project's future look. The Municipal Art Society [MAS] has assembled a compelling slideshow that serves as a sort of dystopian crystal ball, depicting what could come come if Bruce Ratner moves forward with his development on 22-acres of land in......

Developer Bruce Ratner and architect Frank Gehry have announced that ‘Miss Brooklyn,’ the 620-foot residential and commercial tower planned for the 22-acre Atlantic Yards project, has been scrapped. In its place they’re proposing a building called ‘B1’: a 511 foot tall structure that will now house commercial tenants only. If they can be found – Forest City Ratner has yet to secure an anchor tenant for what will now be 650,000 of commercial space. B1’s......

Last week, the Post reported that an anti-war protester was arrested outside the 92nd Street Y, after allegedly assaulting a wheelchair-bound teenager. However, according to the NYPD, the protester, Gary "German" Talis was actually arrested for allegedly assaulting another individual--not the wheelchair-bound teen. Police from the 19th Precinct were called to the Y because two individuals were being disruptive during a talk with First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna. One of the Y's......

Erstwhile principal and school founder Debbie Almontaser made the front page of The New York Times today. The article is about how a woman who attempted to found a school based on cultural and religious understanding was forced from her position as the principal thanks to the resistance of spirited opponents. Almontaser founded the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which she envisioned as a dual language --English and Arabic--school that emphasized the cultural accomplishments of Middle......

Who knew that Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush's children's book tour would prompt violence? The Post reports a wheelchair-bound girl was assaulted by a Bush protester after the Bushes' 92nd Street Y appearance on Tuesday. Apparently German Tallis, 22, was protesting about Iraq and Iran, and John Lovetro said to him, "What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books...Get out of here! You're being a moron!" But instead of......

Olympics planners and San Francisco authorities made many attempts (making up the route as it went along) to prevent demonstrators from disrupting the Olympic torch's only North American appearance on Wednesday, they couldn't stop a torch bearer from the Bronx from expressing her pro-Tibet sympathies. Majora Carter, a 41-year-old environmental activist from the South Bronx, had tucked a small Tibetan flag up her sleeve, with the torch in the other. The NY Times described her......

Photo by Robert Kreizel After the John Varvatos boutique officially opened its doors last weekend in the old CBGB space, activist Rebecca Moore held court on the sidewalk. This past Tuesday she sat outside the retail shop in protest with a sign that read: "One small loss of a music space, one large step for pants," and was joined by a few other supporters. Moore says her statement isn't about just one music space......

As anticipated, last night's gala event at the Brooklyn Museum honoring real estate developer Bruce Ratner attracted protesters opposed to the $4 billion Atlantic Yards stadium and residential development proposed for a 22-acre site just a stone's throw from the museum. Atlantic Yards Report was at the scene and writes: "The protest organized by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn last night outside the museum was notably angry, with some 80 people gathering at one point, many......

Brooklyn community groups opposed to the Atlantic Yards project are outraged developer Bruce Ratner will be honored tonight at a gala at the Brooklyn Museum. Ratner's Forest City Foundation gave $100,000 to the museum in ’05 and again in ’06; now the museum's is giving him their highest honor, the Augustus Graham Medal. Brooklyn resident Michael White is organizing a protest, and tells the Daily News, "A museum should be a good neighbor to its......

During a conference call with investors yesterday, Forest City Enterprises CEO Charles Ratner acknowledged that a window of opportunity had all but closed for the ambitious, 22-acre housing, retail and stadium project proposed for Brooklyn. But he also insisted that the delay – brought on by recession and dogged opposition from community groups – was just temporary: The economy sometimes alters the timeline, but we have demonstrated our ability to see these projects through to......

Dozens of protesters stood inside and out of a Community Board 3 meeting yesterday, claiming that a proposed rezoning plan was racist and could result in the displacement of minority community members. At issue is a rezoning plan that places height restrictions on new buildings going up on the Lower East Side and the East Village. Community board officials claim that the restrictions are necessary for the area to retain its innate character. Critics claim......

The NY Auto Show got a jump-start to their week long residency at the Javits Center, with a little help from Reverend Billy and his troupe the Stop Driving Gospel. We're told there was "a little drama involving 'Lady Liberty' ready to finally marry The Automobile after a torrid, 100 year romance. But she leaves Mr. Auto at the altar for her true love, Alternative Transportation, and they elope in a pedicab!" As most good......

Top photograph of Tibetan protesters outside the United Nations building by Mary Altaffer/AP; lower photograph of the riots in Lhasa, Tibet from the AP Roughly 100 protesters, most of them Tibetans, demonstrated outside the United Nations today against the Chinese government, which has been trying to put down protests and rioting in Lhasa. Three demonstrators were arrested for trying, unsuccessfully, to enter the U.N. and six were arrested for disorderly conduct. This demonstration coincided with......

City Council member and probable 2009 mayoral candidate, Tony Avella, is the latest politician to ask for America's withdrawl from the Beijing Olympics if China will not grant Tibet independence. Under China's rule for over 50 years, Tibet has made no headway, even with the support of human rights groups, activists...and Richard Gere. When we interviewed Robert Thurman, co-founder of the Tibet House, earlier this year he touched on the Olympics, saying:The thinking is that......

“Anonymous”, the loose-knit anti-Scientology collective, staged a demonstration yesterday outside New York’s Church of Scientology Headquarters near Times Square; it was part of an international day of protest against the church. Anonymous has been expanding rapidly since their Message to Scientology video was posted on YouTube in January; it's been watched over 2 million times in the past three weeks. Among other things, the video accuses Scientology of censorship for threatening to sue websites who......

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League – a group that exists to promote Bill Donohue, er, prevent “virulent anti-Catholicism” – is leading a protest against Jerry Springer: The Opera, which will be performed at Carnegie Hall on January 29th and 30th and stars Harvey Keitel as Springer. The show chronicles Jerry Springer’s adventures in hell, where he's forced to host an outrageous talk show whose guests include Adam and Eve, Mary, Jesus, and, as......

The Parks Dept. decided to throw in the towel on litigation that's been going on for three years and conceded to reevaluate its requirement that no more than 50,000 people could gather on Central Park's Great Lawn at one time. Aside from six allotted exceptions (per year) that include four reserved for performances by the Metropolitan Opera and the NY Philharmonic, the city's rationale for crowd-size restrictions was that very large crowds could damage the......

Isiah Thomas thinks he deserves more time. Not that much more, just two weeks, but time to show he can turn this club around. Of course, he has had four years already, but at this point who is counting? Maybe Isiah noticed that the next two weeks contain six games, but only two of those teams currently have winning records. The two-week timeframe came up as Thomas was asked what he would do to a......

What is Rudy Giuliani getting for the new year? It looks like he's in for some campaign tactics from families representing firefighters that died on 9/11 that The Post is calling "Swift Boat" like. James Riches, a deputy fire chief who's son James Jr., a firefighter who died at Ground Zero, is organizing the campaign against the former mayor. Riches told The Post that things should be "up and running" for January 1st and......

In some good news, the bigwigs at Viacom have heard the angry cries of their permanent freelancing employees, and today announced they were ready to concede. Just over one week ago the company Scrooged over a large portion of their workforce when they announced permalancers insurance benefits and their 401K plans would soon be a ghost of Christmas Past. Demanding equal treatment with full time employees (which the permalancers basically are), the group took......