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 ›

Yesterday afternoon, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping went to the Astor Place Cube to protest Starbucks' refusal to let Ethiopia to trademark coffees. The Ethiopian government tried to trademark coffee names, like Sidamo, Harar, and Yirgacheffe, which could bring nearly $100 million to farmers, but the US Patent and Trademark Office denied Ethiopia's trademark applications. Reverend Billy was arrested and taken to the 9th Precinct; we're guessing the Starbucks across from the Cube wasn't too happy about it. more ›

- And will you be at the Astor Place Cube at 6:16PM for the Bubble Battle? more ›

Our long civic nightmare is over! Late yesterday afternoon, the Astor Place Cube was cleaned with high power hoses. Apparently chalk graffiti washes off! Still, while the damage has been undone, the psychic scars remain. Where will these chalk bandits strike next? Are any of our post-modern monuments safe? more ›

After a brief false alarm earlier in the week, a tipster let's us know on Gothamist Contriubute that the Astor Place Cube, aka the Alamo, has returned. While it's still sheathed in a gold cover, we imagine it's actually underneath unless they're just playing one big trick on everyone. The was removed way back in March for some repairs, but now that it's finally back, those crazy hipsters can do their dances to celebrate the return. more ›

The New York Times has potty on the mind with two (!!) articles about the big deal to bring 20 public toilets to New York City (besides thousands of bus shelters and hundreds of newsstands, but those are so last year). The first article is New Yorkers' positive reaction to bringing more pots to sit on, since there are only two in the city. The second is about the public restrooms Spanish outdoor firm Cemusa has designed overseas, revealing that Cemusa has only put up about half of 20 planned toilets in Rio de Janiero, even though they've been working with the government for three years. But those toilets were "designed to meld with the neighborhoods"... hey, is that why the Parks Department removed the Astor Place Cube? To replace it with a blue, shimmery public toilet? more ›

When the Astor Cube disappeared, a great disturbance was created in the hipster force- as if a million art students were all crying out at once. Thankfully, this rift has been repaired. Mohit writes in: more ›

The City Parks Department contacted Gothamist to set the facts straight about the disappearance of the Astor Place Cube, the rotating sculpture beloved to New Yorkers. Director of Public Information Warner Johnston told us that the cube was removed last night for repairs: One of the four large bolts that attaches the cube to the base was missing! When people would try to rotate the cube, the cube would tilt, so the Parks Department decided that the 2500 pound cube needed to be repaired for everyone's safety. Good call! The Parks Department is working with the artist, Tony Rosenthal, as well as conservationists who worked on the cube in the 80s, to fix the cube. The Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe issued this statement:

The City has not forgotten The Alamo. With the assistance of the Mayor's Office and the Art Commission, we are working to give it emergency stabilization with funding provided by DOT, the custodian of the artwork. It will be returned to Astor Place better than ever.

The Astor Place Cube, a staple of people's pedestrian life in the East Village/Astor Place/NoHoish Broadway area, is suddenly gone. The Village Voice speaks to various New Yorkers, who lament and theorize about the cube's disappearance, but there are few hard facts. The possibility the cube, also known as "the Alamo," was taken to be repaired is the most likely, given that the cube which people were able to rotate seemed stuck recently. Do any of our readers work in (or know people who work in) the Parks Department or other appropriate public arts organizations and may have clues to the case of the missing cube? If not, we might need to channel the spirit of Encyclopedia Brown! Update: Mystery solved! more ›