astor place cube

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Sasha Velour on 4/20, The Postmen Move to Bushwick, and More Performance Picks

THURSDAY

(image via Sasha Velour / Facebook)

Sasha Velour’s Nightgowns
Thursday, April 20 at National Sawdust, 8:30 pm doors, 10 pm show: $18 advance, $22 doors

If you live in Brooklyn and are watching this season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, there’s probably a pretty good chance you’re only a degree or two of separation from some of the queens competing. One of these hometown heroes is Sasha Velour, who has continued to host the unique drag variety show Nightgowns on a regular basis. The show is typically at Bizarre Bushwick, but is making the move to dear old Williamsburg and its funky, classy music hall National Sawdust.

Given that they’re moving to a bigger, swankier space, the lineup is pretty big too. You can see shows after fabulous show from Francesca, Hystée Lauder, Kandy Muse, Olive d’Nightlife, Pearl Harbor, Severely Mame, Scarlet Envy, Untitled Queen, and Vigor Mortis. And hey, it’s 4/20, so there’ll probably be some sort of relevant performance themes going on. More →

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This Tiny, Adorable Astor Place Cube Can Be Yours For a Mere $30,000

(Photo courtesy of Joseph K Levene Fine Art, Ltd.)

(Photo courtesy of Joseph K Levene Fine Art, Ltd.)

It cost a hefty $180,000 to restore the Astor Place cube, but you can have one of your own for just $30,000. Yes, it’s an original. But before you get too excited: it’s tiny. Up for grabs on eBay right now is a miniature version of Tony Rosenthal’s Alamo, created by the sculptor himself in 2007. It stands just 21” inches tall— but, hey, you can spin it. For that kind of money, one would hope so.

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It’s Leaf-Peepin’ Season in Cooper Square: New Plaza Gets Dozens of Trees

(Photo: Michael Garofalo)

(Photo: Michael Garofalo)

The long redesign of Cooper Square and Astor Place is finally nearing completion– knock on wood. This morning, landscapers worked to plant dozens of new trees around the square. We’re told that in total about 55 trees—oaks, sweetgums, and blackgumswill be planted over the next few days, bringing some much needed greenery to the area.

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Another Mosiac Man Lamppost Returns to Astor Place; Cube Still Nowhere to be Found

Jim Power with his mosaic lampposts (Photo: Michael Garofalo)

Jim Power with his mosaic lampposts (Photo: Michael Garofalo)

Jim Power, better known around the East Village as the “Mosaic Man,” was on hand for the reinstallation of another of his ceramic-encrusted lampposts along Astor Place this morning, the third of seven poles that will eventually return to the redesigned blocks around Cooper Square. Power, 69, observed from his mosaic-laden motorized scooter as staff from the Village Alliance positioned the lamppost near the Astor Place subway entrance, pausing to chat with neighborhood friends and curious passersby.

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The Astor Place Cube Returns Next Month

The Design Pavilion being set up. (Photo: Daniel Maurer)

The Design Pavilion being set up. (Photo: Daniel Maurer)

It was a year and a half ago that the Astor cube got boxed up and carted away, and the city hasn’t been the same since. I’m neither a psychologist nor a geologist, but I’m willing to bet that the removal of the Alamo took the very earth off of its axis, causing the mass imbalance of brain chemistry that led to the imminent nomination of Donald J. Trump.

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Work Begins at Astor Place and the Cube Will Soon Return From… Jersey!?

Former home of the cube. (Photos: Daniel Maurer)

Former home of the cube. (Photos: Daniel Maurer)

Hard to believe, but it’s now been over a year since our beloved Astor Place cube was boxed up and unceremoniously hoisted onto a flatbed and hauled off. We were briefly consoled by a human cube on Halloween, but mostly there’s been a hole in our heart — or, at Astor Place, anyway — where the cube used to be. This week, however, excavation of the future Astor Plaza finally commenced, and the city tells us the reconstruction should be completed by spring.

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Jeff Koons Balloon Bunny Bout to Make Fanciest Drug Store this Side of Heaven

Photo by Kavitha Surana

Photo by Kavitha Surana

As construction around Astor Place continues to make things noisy and horrible around Cooper Square — for real though, navigating those sidewalks is beginning to feel a little bit like a game of minefield —  there’s a little pocket of weird opening up this Sunday that hints toward a strange future for the area.

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Peter Cooper Is Back, But When Will the Astor Place Cube Return?

(Photo: Daniel Maurer)

(Photo: Daniel Maurer)

After months of hiding inside of a wooden box while his eponymous triangle was rebuilt, Peter Cooper has come out to smell the roses (or to smell a rat, depending who you ask). The Stanford White-designed statue, dedicated in 1897, was boxed up for its own protection last April but has now reemerged, even as the redesign of Peter Cooper Triangle continues around it. Meanwhile, over on Astor Place, construction of Alamo Plaza seems to have stalled, and it may be a while before we see the Astor Place cube again.

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East Village’s Newest Dorm Building Drops the Drapes

(Photos: Daniel Maurer)

(Photos: Daniel Maurer)

Between the Cube going bye-bye and the ongoing construction of a new pedestrian plaza, Cooper Square has been a mess lately. But at least there’s this: just shy of a year after the foundation was poured, the construction netting is now completely off of the controversial dorm building that replaced a historic row house at 35 Cooper Square.
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