Back in 2007 Virgin Atlantic and the teashop Tea & Sympathy lobbied unsuccessfully (and somewhat tongue-in-cheek) to have Greenwich Avenue in the West Village renamed "Little Britain." As we said, it was unsuccessful. But something funny happened in the five years since. The area, which already had a few Anglo-friendly spots, went and got more British. Maybe it's time to dust off the old moniker? more ›

And NYU inches a step closer in its plans for world domination more space in the city. While the school is pushing its new First Avenue health corridor and is reportedly the top contender for Cornell's sloppy seconds in the city's High Tech Campus sweepstakes it happily announced yesterday that the Department of City Planning has certified its push to rebuild its Washington Square South superblocks. But don't think they are trying to pull a fast one on you! more ›

Walking the streets New Year's Day, we saw the usual uptick of mysterious feces placement and garbage crammed into the baskets of parked bicycles, but one soul stumbled on something last Thursday that was much…bigger. more ›

Believe it or not, Phish drummer Jon Fishman wasn't the first musician to use the vacuum cleaner as an instrument. Back in the late 1960s Iggy Pop brought the household item on stage with The Stooges... but did you know he also got use out of the things on a more domestic level? This photo shows the punk legend vacuuming in his Greenwich Village apartment in 1984, and more than likely it wasn't just for a photo opp. more ›

Regular New York pizza eaters are familiar with a variety of Rays: Ray's Pizza, Famous Ray's Pizza, Famous Original Ray's Pizza, and even the occasional "World-Famous Original Ray's Pizza," too. So when the Famous Ray's on 6th Avenue and 11th Street in Greenwich Village closed in October, not all slice-hounds were terribly concerned. And why should they be? As it turns out, Famous Ray's is being reborn as Famous Original Ray's. Will anyone be able to tell the difference? more ›

A man who is suspected of robbing Greenwich Village restaurant Souen was apprehended by police after they recognized his face tattoo. Jorge Molina, 22, and another man are accused of breaking into the organic restaurant on November 14th and stealing approximately $670. Molina was caught after an officer saw him and remembered the bird tattoo on his face from a surveillance video of the burglary: "[Molina] was wearing similar clothes to what he had on in his wanted picture, and the tattoo on the face was obviously very distinguishable," said Sixth Precinct Lt. Keith Maresca. more ›

Welcome to our column Staff Picks, in which we ask the staffers at our favorite book, music, and movie stores around to town to share with us what they're reading, listening to, and watching this week. We figure they're good people to ask. Today we're checking in with the staff at Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers in Greenwich Village to find out which tomes tickle their fancy. more ›

It's curtains for Manhattan Theater Source, the 11-year-old non-profit Off-Broadway theater in Greenwich Village, who will be closing this January in the face of dwindling profits. First Caffe Vivaldi, now this! Pretty soon, you won't be able to go anywhere to to rack up those "before-they-were-famous" stories for the grandkids. more ›

Caffe Vivaldi on Jones Street is a throwback to a retro era in New York dining—the Italian-leaning restaurant serves live jazz with its ravioli, and has played host to a myriad of artistic Village boho types over the past 30 years. It looks like it has been and will be around forever, but it won't be, if new landlord Steve Croman gets what he wants—unless the restaurant fights its way back. more ›

Let's take a break from all the violent protest videos and catch our breathe with a McDonald's beatdown video. This entry in the fast food fight canon comes to us by way of DNAinfo, which reports that the altercation occurred at the McDonald's on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village, just after midnight on Thursday. Take it away, cell phone-holding customer who still doesn't grasp the merits of holding the phone horizontally: more ›

STD rates are on the rise in Greenwich Village, and it looks like lots of ladies are doing the nasty in some, ahem, nasty ways, according to new data from the Health Department [pdf]. more ›

The step-daughter of former Governor David Paterson was arrested for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend in a Manhattan apartment. The Post reports that Ashley Dennis, 23, "smash[ed] a bottle and a frying pan over her boyfriend’s head during an early morning brawl in Greenwich Village, authorities said... When cops arrived they found McGuinness, who was charged with choking Dennis, lying on the floor, semi-conscious and bleeding, officials said. " more ›

Police are hunting for a man who sexually assaulted a woman entering her Greenwich Village apartment building last week. The 23-year-old woman was grabbed from behind around 2 a.m. on September 8; the attacker beat and sexually assaulted the victim before fleeing. The suspect was caught on camera walking down the street in a gray suit and open-collared white shirt, and is described by police as a 35-year-old Hispanic man, standing around 5-foot-8 and weighing roughly 180 pounds. Below, you can check out a video of the suspect: more ›

We knew the Waverly Inn was accepting reservations on OpenTable, but have they stooped so low as to offer those "Mystery Interactive Theater" dinners that your uncle Lonnie always INSISTS on paying for? At around 5 a.m. Friday morning, two men broke into the restaurant and punched a 28-year-old employee in the face before stealing bottles of "tequila, whiskey and gin, valued at $900," the Post reports. The victim was treated at Bellevue Hospital and is "OK." When asked for comment, Waverly Inn owner and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter probably looked like a surprised/pleased elephant, as usual. more ›

We knew the Coen brothers were working on a new project based on the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, and now more details have surfaced about the story they'll tell (which is very loosely based on Dave Van Ronk). This week it was revealed the movie will be titled Inside Llewyn Davis (Davis being the Van Ronk character), and Variety reports that the storyline will follow Davis "as he navigates the folk scene in 1960s New York City." Scott Rudin will produce, with Robert Graf as executive producer—the same combo used for both True Grit and No Country for Old Men. more ›

Ramon Barroso, a 45-year-old ex-con with four burglary convictions, got lucky when he was arraigned in Judge Carol Feinman's courtroom recently. Barroso was busted for breaking into a church in the Bronx after detectives traced his DNA to a sample from a safe. The Post reports that Barroso told cops he is an "expert safe cracker" and, as such, he would have worn gloves had he committed the crime. And Feinman agreed, declining to set bail at the $50,000 prosecutors requested. more ›

The Washington Square Diner, which stayed open last night to serve the weary, was reportedly rewarded for its steadfastness when an MTA supervisor placed an order for 360 sandwiches at around 2 a.m. "I was shocked," employee Alfredo Hernandez told DNAinfo, "I thought it was a joke. I was thinking he was playing with me." more ›

In 1960 Stewart Wilensky spent the summer in New York City filming a documentary about it, which ended up being narrated by "legendary radio humorist and raconteur" Jean Shepherd. As the camera rolls showing scenes from Greenwich Village, Shepherd says things like: "With the passage of time, more and more of the old Village landmarks are being chipped away and replaced, but the ones that remain—the old studios, the converted stables, the carriage houses, and the last of the city's gaslights—are visible reminders of an earlier chapter in the history of New York." Sigh. more ›

We all laughed when that CBS 2 reporter suggested that terrorists could utilize bike lanes to wreak havoc on innocent bystanders, but today we stand humbled and afraid: two "bicycle bandits" have struck in Greenwich Village. Police say that a pair of thieves on "silver bicycles" approached a 21-year-old man at East 10th Street and University Place around 12:40 a.m. Monday morning, told him they had a gun, and robbed him of his money and other items, DNAinfo reports. We kindly ask DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan for several thousands of gallons of paint thinner, so that we may erase those ghastly bike lanes ourselves on bended knee. more ›

A man was killed by an oncoming southbound A train earlier today at the West 4th Street stop in Greenwich Village. The unidentified man was in his 50's and became pinned underneath the train around 3:22 p.m., according to the Post. He was pronounced dead at the scene after the train was evacuated in the station. It's still unclear whether the man fell or jumped onto the tracks. more ›

Brooklyn duo The Forms, who graced us with their tour diary back in 2007, released Derealization in February. A "remix" EP of sorts, the group tweaked their existing bouncy, occasionally dark pop songs with the help of guest artists Matt Berninger of The National, Nat Baldwin of Dirty Projectors, and Daniel Hart of St. Vincent among others. Now, they've released a video for the album's first track, "Fire To The Ground," which showcases Berninger's vocals over dizzying choreography and striking visual effects. Shot at Minetta Lane in Greenwich Village with the help of choreographer Lily Baldwin, who has worked with David Bryrne, the video is a lush look at a moving tune. more ›

A man who lept onto the subway tracks to retrieve his cellphone was struck and killed yesterday by a southbound A train at the 14th Street station at 8th Avenue. 60-year-old Vit Lukacik of Queens was hit around 3:20 p.m. and police sources told DNAinfo that that he "didn't realize how close the train was." Lukacik was pronounced dead at the scene, and service was restored a little more than an hour later. The Post denotes the 14th Street A,C,E station as being in Greenwich Village, while DNAinfo states that it's in Chelsea. more ›

Joel and Ethan Coen, beloved auteurs of such fine films as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country For Old Men, to name a few, are in a New York state of mind for their next film, which focuses on '60s-era Greenwich Village and its burgeoning folk music scene. more ›

If you had a dream last night that ee cummings went around replacing all the street signs in your neighborhood, you may want to stop taking your medication: it's happening. An EV Grieve reader pointed out the first "signs" of the lowercase-ization of the city's 250,000 street signs as part of a $27.5 million federal program that is supposed to make the signs easier to read. As our scientific poll showed, most people think this idea is a waste of money, and the reader who sent the photo in feels that we'll all die a little inside when the changes are made: "They may not look like much, but I was still shocked by their ability to make a quiet corner of Greenwich Village look like…well, every other town in the US." more ›