After learning that the BP gas station on Houston Street had the potential to turn into a pricey condo development, we had what we believed would be our last gas fight, and mourned the loss of another neighborhood petrol purveyor. Turns out we should raise a glass of super unleaded to the Landmark's Preservation Commission: the gas station is part of a historic district! more ›

What is it with posh Bowery newcomers co-opting the neighborhood's seedy past? Especially those on or near the corner of the Bowery and First? First we had Daniel Boulud's "cleverly" named DBGB Kitchen and Bar. Then John Varvatos went and took over the old CBGB's space and now the expensive clothing store on the corner, Blue & Cream, is going to be hosting an in-store photo exhibit dedicated to the gone-but-not-forgotten nearby dive Mars Bar. Because if there is one thing we can all agree on about the old girl's clientele, it was how much they just loved the kind of people who buy and sell $220 black t-shirts! more ›

The career criminal who was arrested for allegedly raping and beating a woman at the Bowery J train station was drunk, according to his ex-girlfriend, who told the Post, “He wasn’t himself. He didn’t realize what he was doing." more ›

An MTA track worker scared off a man who was raping a 36-year-old woman on the tracks at the Bowery J subway station at Delancey Street on Wednesday. Police say the suspect targeted the woman who got off a train around 1 a.m.: The [victim] was on an escalator when 29-year-old Michael Torres grabbed her around the neck, covered her mouth and told her not to scream. He then dragged her to the end of the platform, threw her on the tracks and sexually assaulted her." more ›

There may be no light in her latest single, but it sounds like there was a lot of it in The Bowery Hotel room that Florence + The Machine's Florence Welch recently stayed in. The British singer just admitted to starting a fire in the swank pad after a night partying with Kanye! more ›

Two weekends ago we went for brunch at the Veselka outpost on First Street, Veselka Bowery, and were struck by how dead the place seemed compared to its northern sibling (seriously, it was a ghost town). Apparently we weren't the only ones concerned. As EVGrieve notes, this weekend the venerable East Village institution started offering free pedicab rides from the mothership all the way down Second Avenue to the newcomer. more ›

Everyone's favorite Disneyland-on-acid-esque congee emporium, Congee Village (the one on Bowery, not Allen Street), has been shuttered by the Health Department after racking up 55 violation points on a recent visit, reports The Lo-Down. more ›

Good news for budget-conscious diners who don't care about crushing whatever soul was left in the East Village: the brand-new 7-Eleven on The Bowery is offering $1 pizza slices! EV Grieve posted a shot of the ad today, nothing that 7-Eleven is bravely entering the East Village $1 pizza war (more on that here), with little more than a double-chambered Slurpee machine as its strongest ally. more ›

The epic saga of East Village dive Mars Bar finally appears to have come to an end, after a visit from the Department of Health and an overriding sense of ambivalence from the owner. more ›

There is "bad" topless, like certain congressmen who feel the need to sext pics of their gym face to blackjack dealers and porn stars. And then there is elusive, magical, perfectly legal toplessness: this week, a woman, since nicknamed "Topless Bowery Woman," took a causal stroll in lower Manhattan sans shirt in the sweltering heat—here's a NSFW pic of her. And while most seemed amused by her exercising her right to do so, Bowery Boogie reports that the woman was stopped and issued a fine by cops...which is illegal. more ›

With the city's roll-down gates just acting as metal canvas for those with spray cans, they're being phased out... but not without a final farewell. The New Museum has teamed up with artists, as well as the Art Production Fund, to adorn some downtown gates with graffiti before they're taken away. This is all part of the Festival of Ideas, and this specific project is called “After Hours: Murals on the Bowery." more ›

The Bowery in its latest, absurdly hip, incarnation is no stranger to ugly architecture. Just look at the Cooper Square Hotel, the Sculpture for Living (technically not on the Bowery), or the finger coming out of the middle of Fourth Street. And yet each time a new piece of hideous design is introduced we're dismayed once again. Which is to say, remember how the old Salvation Army on Third Street is going to become a boutique hotel? Well, Curbed got its paws on the rendering you see above. more ›

It's been about three years since the colorful Hell, Yes! sign first appeared on the side of the New Museum. Since then, it's been overlooking the East Village like a less judgmental version of Dr. Eckleburg's eyes, urging the neighborhood to party on, or something. Well, hope you didn't get attached, because Ugo Rondinone’s sign may come down as early as November, according to reports. In its place will be a million dollar, 30-foot steel and lacquer Rose sculpture by Isa Genzken. [via Animal] more ›

The Grimaldi family was in house at a Community Board 2 meeting on Thursday night, laying down plans for a possible Manhattan gamechanger. The family and partner Matt Grogan pitched plans to open a 62-seat pizza joint at 352 Bowery (current home of NOHO Lighting & Electrical Supply). However, they might need to tweak a few things before we can enjoy the cheesy goodness on the island. more ›

An underground arts and events space at 169 Bowery called Collective Hardware has been shut down after the landlord of the building said the group owes $1MM in back rent. Their five-floor funhouse includes (or had hoped to house) artist studios, a cafe and bar, a wellness center, a lounge, a greenhouse, a production studio, and was expected to one day have a rooftop garden. Sure sounds like an expensive endeavor! And one that founder Rony Rivellini hoped would one day be able to "monetize the artists, so they can sustain themselves." more ›

"Pulino’s is not really a pizzeria, nor a bar," declares Sam Sifton in his one star review of Keith McNally's latest venture. "The chef is Nate Appleman, a young transplant from San Francisco. His cooking is simple and brash, as American as it is inflected with Italian flavors, rustic in the sense that it comes out of smoky, wood-assisted ovens, and urban for the very same reason... You can sit at the bar there, drink Campari and read the newspaper, as you can at any of Mr. McNally’s establishments, feeling grand under a ceiling that soars above a checkerboard floor, surrounded by distressed mirrors, chicken-wire glass, towering walls covered with liquor bottles... Restaurant dressed as theater dressed as nostalgia, is how the novelist Richard Price put it, in Lush Life. That’s Pulino’s exactly." more ›

Between 2004 and 2008, there were more than 150 accidents resulting in injuries on one stretch of Bowery between East Broadway and Canal Street, and one pedestrian was killed. As part of a Chinatown Traffic Calming Plan, the DOT is currently building three big medians to give pedestrians refuge in the middle of the busy boulevard; the work is expected to be completed before summer. more ›

Keith McNally, the unassuming media darling behind such influential restaurants as Odeon, Balthazar, and the impenetrable new Minetta Tavern, this week opened his latest venture, Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria. Located at the corner of Bowery and Houston, the spacious, sun-drenched restaurant is helmed by Chef Nate Appleman, one of the few American pizzaiolos certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association. For those mortals who can't get into Minetta, or would prefer not to spend a bundle at Balthazar or Pastis, Pulino's looks to be a slightly more approachable addition to the ever-charming McNally portfolio. Don't be discouraged by the crime scene theme—"Don’t Cross the Line" is emblazoned on servers' T-shirts, and some tables are made from wooden police barricades—reservations are accepted here. more ›

Fashion Week is upon us, which obviously means Axl Rose is in town. What? It's true, last night we were invited to one of these fancy parties which was taking place at the John Varvatos store on Bowery, but the invite didn't really mention free drinks or anything that was going to make us trudge through the slushy streets... so we didn't go. And then this morning we received an email stating there was "an exclusive surprise performance by rock legend Axl Rose, and Guns N’ Roses" at the party! Yeah, that burned a little. Sure, it was a new backing band, but Axl was there... and so was Kevin Bacon—because that is what happens during Fashion Week! more ›