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Take a VR Tour of the Floating Pool Proposed For the East River, Narrated By Neil Patrick Harris

Remember the floating pool that garnered a boatful of attention when it was proposed by some friends way back in 2011? Since then it has become one of those things things, like the Lowline, draws inevitable responses of: “Oh yeaaah, whatever happened to that?” Turns out the folks at +Pool are still trying to make their dream of swimming in the East River a reality, and now they’ve got the support of not just Neil Patrick Harris but also Heineken, the same folks who got behind James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem’s quixotic quest to symphonize the subway turnstiles. Together, they’ve all released a new mini doc and VR promo, with Harris as narrator, that allows you to plunge into a virtual version of the plus-shaped pool.

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Bushwick Man Will Be Sentenced for W-Burg Murder; Eastern Bloc’s Last Bow

On Wednesday, Bushwick resident Bryan Aponte, 22, was convicted of multiple charges, including the 2015 murder of a sheet metal worker in 2015. Aponte will be sentenced later this month to as many as 57 years imprisonment. [DNA Info]

Alphabet City gay bar Eastern Bloc will conclude its 12-year run with a closing party Sunday night at 9 p.m. [EV Grieve]

Ludlow Street designer clothing and accessories shop ODD will soon relocate to Grand Street in Williamsburg. [Bowery Boogie] More →

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NYC Gets a New Rooftop Pool, at Long Island City’s Ravel Hotel

(Photo courtesy of Profundo Pool Club)

If you’re dying for a dip but don’t want to shell out $20,000 (yup–$20K) for a pool package at the Dream Downtown, you now have another option. The Ravel Hotel in Long Island City just opened Profundo Pool Club on its third-floor rooftop.

As you can see here, the pool offers of a good number of daybeds for lounging and canoodling, or just catching up on the New Yorker now that they’re throwing the word “cock” around.

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Spanish Lobster Joint Claws Its Way Out of the Grave

Don’t pour out that sangria just yet.

Last week, we brought word that Francisco’s Centro Vasco had suddenly closed after 38 years in Chelsea, bringing down the curtains on one of the city’s remaining old-school Spanish spots. A note on the door informed customers that the closure would be permanent, and owner Javier Quintans told DNAinfo that he planned to sell the restaurant space and the building. The obligatory Jeremiah’s Vanishing eulogy followed.

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Bloody Fight at a Bushwick Shelter; Drake Invests in MatchaBar

According to police, two men seeking shelter at Bushwick’s Eddie Harris Residential Facility were hospitalized Tuesday night after one bit off the other’s index finger, prompting a beating.
[Bushwick Daily]

A Bushwick woman who attempted to report a man she regularly sees masturbating in public said she was told by police that doing so would be “a waste of time.” [DNA Info]

Last night, a bar called Fine Time opened in the Central Avenue digs previously occupied by Central Station. [Bushwick Daily]

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Great Jones Cafe Reopens: ‘Reports of Our Demise Were Greatly Exaggerated’

We reported last week that beloved Cajun eatery and longtime Bowery hangout Great Jones Cafe was temporarily shutting down — and, according to cryptic information from an employee, would or would not return. Fearing that the Great Jones had become yet the latest victim of rising rents, New Yorkers swarmed onto social media to pay their respects and lament the loss of a neighborhood institution that has served as an indispensable cultural hub for local artists, musicians, and writers — some of whom, like Basquiat, have become quite famous.

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‘Cruff’ Your Face With These New Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches

(Photos: Daniel Maurer)

Ice cream sandwiches are officially a trend in the East Village. Just days after Gelarto’s opening, Stuffed Ice Cream is serving up what they call “cruffs”— a word combining ice “cream” and “stuffed.” The specialty here? Glazed donuts that are made in-house, stuffed with homemade ice cream, heated up before serving so that the donut is warm while the ice cream remains cold, and encrusted with the topping of your choice.

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Inside the East Village’s Plucky New Record Shop, Limited to One

Limited to One’s storefront at 221 E. 10th St.

Last month we wrote about Limited to One, the soon-to-be-unveiled 10th St. vinyl collectors’ haven that hopes to shake up the stereotype of the dusty East Village record shop. Created by the people behind the podcast and cult Instagram RecordNerdz, Limited to One says it plans to focus on contemporary limited-edition and rare vinyl runs — and in the process perhaps become “the Flight Club of record stores.”

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Jared Kushner Takes La Nonna to Court; Unwelcome Opposum Customer in EV Deli

Williamsburg Italian eatery La Nonna Ristorante & Bar and its Trump-adjacent landlord, Kushner Companies, recently filed lawsuits against each other. [NY Daily News]

The Prince Street complex housing the local Louis Vuitton storefront seeks a buyer via shares in a Luxembourg holding company. Projected price tag: up to $80 million. [Crain’s NY]

Yesterday the NYPD Emergency Services Unit escorted an opossum from First Avenue’s Classic Gourmet Deli. Earlier, the animal wandered into neighboring Cosmos Laundrarama. [NY Daily News] More →

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Yuan Invites ‘Sophisticated Chinese Food Lovers’ to Slurp a Storied Rice Noodle

Yuan, on 2nd Ave.

Yuan, a new East Village restaurant specializing in Guilin-style rice noodle dishes, aspires to serve the “sophisticated Chinese food lover,” according to lettering on its glass storefront.

Currently in “soft launch,” the restaurant will officially open next Wednesday or Thursday, hot on the heels of 99 Favor Taste’s expansion to St. Marks Place.

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