Next year the city has big plans to re-imagine Astor Place and Cooper Square. The plans are pretty far-ranging, with streets getting closed off and additional greenery planted, but there is one thing the new Cooper Square won't have if Community Board 3 has their way: Food vendors. Last night the board's Parks Committee voted on a resolution against any efforts by the city to install food vendors in the triangle between Third and Fourth Avenues. more ›

Does the iconic black cube in Astor Place (called the Alamo) have a doppelganger hanging out in Westchester County? The Scout was recently driving around the suburbs when he spotted a black cube—similar to Manhattan's own in size and design—through the trees. He reports back that it is indeed a Rosenthal cube (designed by artist Tony Rosenthal)—and according to the artist's website, pretty much everyone has one of these things! They're all over the country, even in Ohio (maybe that's why New York artists are drawn to Cleveland). Perhaps it's time we put another original spin on our cube, maybe turn it back into a giant Rubik's Cube. more ›

The Anthology Film Archive has some silent film footage (16mm, black & white) of Astor Place; while no date is posted, some are guessing it's from the early 1960s. What do you think? more ›

First that Pizzeria Uno gets bounced out of the neighborhood, and now the Ben & Jerry's on Third Avenue by Astor Place has shuffled off this mortal coil. Is no corporate chain safe from the Great Recession, which is supposed to be over anyway? Vanishing New York spotted this sign in the window of the establishment and writes, "I have mild, mixed feelings. I am not 100% anti-chainstore, and this one was so depressing and weird, so vintage 1980s, it had a certain odd appeal. I guess we'll soon be welcoming yet another bubble-tea lounge to this strip." more ›

One longtime Starbucks in Astor Place (well, one of them—the one with a garden on the corner of Third and Astor) is closing tomorrow night. While the eulogies are pouring in from in the comments sections (Eater is even assembling an “insta oral history” of the location in order to virtually bronze all the macchiato memories), no one seems to be sure what will happen to the building tomorrow after the last pitcher of milk is steamed. Some say the Starbucks, which has at least three other perfectly viable locations within a short walking distance, is simply "being moved, and the building re-purposed.” Others are declaring a belated victory for Reverend Billy. Others still are saying that, as promised, Stumptown Coffee’s Duane Sorenson “has come to save you (and the rest of New York) from inferior house brew,” and may be thinking of setting up shop in the location. Okay, so that’s just wishful thinking. For many, the Astor Place Starbucks (on the corner of Third Avenue, not the other one) was the scene for many double tall rites of passage-y precious moments, and will always be remembered for its always shorter bathroom line. more ›

Residents of a co-op near Astor Place are fuming over a Buildings Department crackdown on a billboard that brings in $5,000 a month for upkeep on their building. Since 2007, DOB inspectors have issued more than 70 violations, totaling $955,000, against the co-op board, OTR Media and two sign hanging companies for billboards advertising King of the Hill, the Turner Cartoon Network, and now Boost Mobile. The offenses include not having a permit, hanging an ad exceeding 500 square feet and placing the sign more than 40 feet above the curb. Patrick Curley, a member of the co-op board who has lived there since 1978, says a vintage sign from the '30s advertising men's suits used to be painted there, so he thinks the billboard permit should be grandfathered in. But department spokesman Tony Sclafani tells the Daily News it doesn't really work that way: "We will not tolerate any individuals or companies who disregard the law to make a profit." more ›

More details have emerged about yesterday morning's shooting outside the Cozy Soup 'n' Burger restaurant on Broadway at Astor Place in Greenwich Village. According to the Daily News, a fight started inside the restaurant, which was "packed with customers" around 4 a.m. more ›

Around 5:30 a.m. this morning, a man was shot outside of the Cozy Soup 'n' Burger, the 24 hour joint on Broadway at Astor Place. According to 1010 WINS, the man was critically injured, after being shot in the back and neck; he was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Last summer, a shooting occurred outside the restaurant when two groups got into an argument (by the time the cops arrived, no one was there but there were gun shell casings...and a woman did eventually show up to a hospital saying her boyfriend was shot in the ankle). more ›

It's been a week and a half since the bike rack prototypes have been unveiled and already one of the models is broken! Reader Mick sent in a photograph (above, on the right) of the "cable rack" style prototype looking pretty unsecured. more ›

The New York Historical Society has brought a couple of paintings out to the streets. The mini installation of sorts is comprised of their portraits (replicas, of course) of Abraham Lincoln and Peter Cooper; both are currently on display at the Astor Place Triangle. more ›

According to The Villager, all artist Arnie Charnick wants to do is transform that cube in Astor Place – a kinetic sculpture called “The Alamo” – into a giant craps table. Charnick’s vision would temporarily turn the big cube into a die with white Velcro dots, drop in a second giant die next to it, paint the Astor place island like a craps table, add some manhole-sized chips (one of which would actually be a manhole!) and string a 17-foot-high banner between two lampposts, depicting a casino-like scene. Clever, right? Not to the agent who represents Tony Rosenthal, the artist who made “The Alamo”:

Can you go into the Museum of Modern Art and draw on a Picasso painting? I don’t think so. What is the point of allowing someone else to capitalize on Mr. Rosenthal’s important and famous Work of Art by letting someone else modify or change or revise this Sculpture? Why not be an Artist, and create your own Art? If you want to be famous, rape Britney Spears and you’ll get in the newspaper.

Yesterday morning around 5:30 a.m., someone called 911 about a shooting outside 24-hour diner Cozy Soup 'N' Burger on Broadway, near Astor Place, in Manhattan. Apparently an argument broke out between two groups of people, but by the time the police arrived, the Daily News reports "the crowd dispersed and there was no evidence that anyone had been hit." However, a woman went to Kings County Hospital, claiming she was "standing outside the diner with her boyfriend and was clipped by a bullet." (The Post says she took a cab there.) Between 5 and 10 shell casings were found and surveillance footage is being reviewed by the police. more ›

A rendering for a building that will replace a Cooper Union engineering building has emerged (above). Designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the 440,000-square-foot mixed-use building will replace the brown tribute to banality that currently hunkers across from the historic 1859 Cooper Union Foundation building. The 51 Astor Place building is to be demolished; the fate of the connected Starbucks (between Third and Fouth Avenues) is uncertain. more ›

THEATER: Under the Radar, arguably New York’s most exciting theater festival, begins today at The Public Theater and a few other odd locations like the Whitehall Ferry terminal. (There are also a few shows at the Classic Theatre of Harlem, P.S. 122 and The Kitchen.) One of the most buzzed about site-specific shows is Etiquette by the London company Rotozaza. It was a surprise hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival; here the experience takes place at the East Village Ukrainian restaurant Veselka and involves only two actors: you and a friend (or stranger). It’s described as “a private theatrical experience for two people in a public space; the participants take a seat across from each other at a small table (the stage), put on headphones and follow a recorded script, complete with stage directions taking them through a half-hour play, in which they are both performers and audience.” And after the show, you can get pirogies with the cast! – John Del Signore more ›

As chains take over every nook and cranny of this city, some people in the East Village are forming a united front against them. The Villager reports on the corporate takeover, the resistance and the new spin on this story as old as time. more ›

EVENT: Berlin takes over New York this month with the Berlin in Lights Festival. Through the 18th you can soak up the German city through film, music, art, architecture and more. This evening you can check out a couple of Berlin-esque events. First up is the "Urban Design and Memorials" dialogue. A panel discussion which will touch on the "challenges of integrating memorials into the urban fabric, and how Berlin and New York address issues... more ›

READING: We originally thought this was going down yesterday, but you still have a chance to see it! Not in a million years would we have thought we'd be listing a reading by former Guns n' Roses guitarist, Slash. But it turns out old rockers love to dish on their sordid lives, and this mysterious musician is no different. Tonight he'll read from his book, called Slash, which apparently "redefines sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll." more ›

Reader ianqui took this photograph of a cardboard box getting into the Halloween spirit early - by trying to be the Astor Place cube! Granted, it's not painted black, but white is so much more fetching to passers-by who want to scrawl various messages. We like to think of this box as Alamo-ette. more ›

Ah, City Councilman Peter "I hate graffiti" Vallone weighs in on the chalk "graffiti" made by 6-year-old Natalie Shea on her home's front stoop. Back in 2005, Vallone introduced the law that requires property owners to clean up graffiti, so when a neighbor called 311 to complain about Natalie's drawings (again, mind you, on her own stoop, not a neighbor's stoop), her parents got a warning letter from the Department of Sanitation. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg is back from London, just in time to deliver an address at Cooper Union while the world's media is milling about NYC for the U.N.'s General Assembly. Bloomberg will be appearing as part of a panel near Astor Place to discuss national policy matters. According to The New York Sun, an online site is attracting a growing number of supporters to draft Mayor Bloomberg as a third party candidate in the 2008 Presidential election. Bloomberg resigned from the Republican Party in June, ending a five-year affiliation that allowed him to win consecutive elections for mayoral office without slogging through a Democratic primary race. more ›

Brooke Astor passed away today. A gentleman should never ask a lady her age, but once Brooke Astor passed the century mark, she probably didn't care who knew how old she was. Brooke Astor was the wife of Vincent Astor, the only son of John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the sinking of the Titanic. The Astor family's roots stretch back almost as far as the history of New York City itself. The subway station at Astor Place in Manhattan is decorated with beavers, the animal whose pelt was the foundation of the family fortune before John Jacob Astor began buying large swathes of New York real estate. more ›

MUSIC: Didn't get enough partying done yesterday? Come out and see Shearwater (which includes Will Sheff of Okkervil River) play a free show. Hard tickets will be distributed two per person, outside the venue on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 5:00pm on the day of the show. more ›

It's the longest day of the year, so you should be able to fit Shepard Fairey's exhibit and at least one of the following events in. more ›

READING: FreeNYC points us to a reading at B&N featuring Gong Show guru and possible CIA assassin, Chuck Barris: more ›

The bookstore chain Barnes & Noble confirmed that the Astor Place location will be closed due to high rents. A spokesperson told the Post, "We'd like to stay there, but we really can't afford it." more ›