Officer Brian J. Groves (Photo Courtesy of NYPD)

Officer Brian Groves was shot around 3:40 a.m. Thursday during a routine patrol on the Lower East Side (7th precinct). Groves swung open a stairwell door of the Essex St. building when he saw the suspect carrying a pistol, reports the New York Times. The suspect fled down the stairs, but turned back to fire on the officer. Groves returned fire before realizing he had been shot near the heart. Groves was saved by his bulletproof vest, and is expected to fully recover, reports the Times. 

(by Alissa Fleck)

At the time of the shooting, Officer Groves, 30, and his partner were performing a “vertical patrol,” or a sweep through a building starting at the top and ending at the bottom floor.

Police Commisioner Raymond W. Kelly said in a statement: “The vertical patrol that [Groves] and his partner engaged in is a common, proactive police practice to give some measure of safety to residents of public housing.” He provided the statistic: “approximately four percent of the city’s population resides in public housing, but it experiences about 20% of all violent crime.”

The shooting took place between the 18th and 19th floors after the officers began to pursue the man. Groves dropped near the 15th floor, and the gunman escaped. It’s unclear whether the gunman was shot. The building, part of the Seward Park House complex, was of particular interest because of reports involving narcotics.

According to the Seward Park House Cooperative website, the complex was operated for over thirty years as a limited-equity cooperative, allowing it to receive tax subsidies for keeping the price of apartments at below market rates. They now sell at market rate.

Police Officer Groves's Vest (Photo Courtesy of NYPD)

Thursday afternoon the surrounding area was cordoned off with police tape. Officers said it would be closed at least for the day.

One MTA worker at the Delancey/Essex St. subway stop said: “I feel safe, but the community is not safe. The Chase Manhattan Bank [at the corner of Delancey & Essex] has been robbed twice. It’s not safe for police officers, it’s not safe for anyone.”

Jeff Andrews, a resident of the area, said it was the first time he had seen anything like this in the neighborhood. “This is a big thing,” said Andrews, a three year resident of the neighborhood. “It looks like world war three over there.”

Andrews also said he thought police had been overreacting to such incidents ever since 9/11. “The guy didn’t even get shot,” said Andrews, “now they’re going through every single apartment with no warrant. They’ve been here since 2:30 [a.m.].” Andrews indicated the long line of police vans in front of the housing complex.

When asked if the incident made him feel any less safe, Andrews said: “I guess something’s gotta happen sooner or later.”

Another resident of the area, Mike Duvall, said he had been living nearby for 22 years. Duvall said the incident “doesn’t change anything” and he still “absolutely feel[s] safe.” Duvall said a recent incident involving teenage boys with guns nearby made him feel more unsafe.

A man standing outside a psychic/tarot card shop near the intersection of Delancey and Essex Sts. gave the name Steve and said he was married to the psychic who worked there. He said he has lived nearby for four years.

“I love it,” he said of the area. He said he feels no less safe after the shooting. Steve also said he has not heard about similar violence in the area. “This is the first time in four years it’s been so close,” he said.

A construction worker who had been working nearby for months also said he felt no less safe after the shooting.

Officer Groves is the ninth police officer shot on duty this year. As of Thursday afternoon, police were still looking for the suspect, described according to Kelly as “a black male in his 20s, about 5-foot-9, thin build, with his hair braided in corn rows, and wearing a black T-shirt with red basketball shorts with beige stripes.”

Photo by PaulSteinJC, courtesy of Flickr Commons

Olek strikes again! Polish-born crochet artist Agata Oleksiak added some color to Lower East Siders’ commute this morning by hanging two pairs of pink camouflage yarn-covered sneakers alongside the many old shoes dangling from wires above the intersection of Broome and Eldridge Streets.

Olek’s knitted street art is a downtown staple by now. In the past two years, the New York transplant has fully adorned shopping carts to cars with her elaborate crocheted designs. The public displays often promote her larger scale gallery projects – such as her an entire apartment covered in crochet patterns, furniture, appliances and all  – but they have also occasionally become large scale projects of their own: in January 2011 she covered Wall Street’s massive Charging Bull sculpture, and in October 2011 she crochet-bombed the Astor Place Cube.

Olek in her crocheted apartment. Photo by HAPPYFAMOUSARTISTS, courtesy of Flickr Commons.

Olek’s street pieces usually don’t stick around for long, so take the time to enjoy them when they pop up. And don’t worry that you’ve missed your chance, because today’s colorful hanging shoes hint that another spree of public works might be on the way this summer to generate hype for her upcoming exhibit at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C. Check out the chronological list below of where her work has appeared on the city’s streets and what it has covered in the past few years, and see if you can find out where and what she will strike next!

OLEK’S CROCHET BOMBS

2010

• Intersection of Suffolk and Rivington Streets: bicycle, locked to a post –
  

  Photo by easy mo drew, courtesy of Flickr Commons

  Olek’s crochet street art debut! Later moved to the entrance of Essex Street Market, where the artist had an exhibit.

• Elizabeth Street: car and another bicycle, both parked outside the Christopher Henry Gallery.

• Intersection of Bowery and Delancey Street: children’s bicycle, chained to a street sign.

• Wall Street : Charging Bull Sculpture.

2011

• Stanton Street: bicycle, across from Olek’s exhibit at the NY Studio Gallery.

• 358 Broome Street: image on the side of the building of a girl holding balloons, a tribute to iconic street artist Bansky.

• Northwest corner of Chrystie and Delancey Streets: another girl with balloons image on the side of the building.

• Petrosino Square just off Lafayette Street: children’s tricycle locked to a post.

• Tompkins Square Park: sculpture of a life-sized “walk” crosswalk signal
  

  Olek likes to cover people, too. Photo by See-ming Li, courtesy of Flickr Commons.

  man, created by Scott Taylor.

• Astor Place: “The Alamo,” the Astor Place Cube.

• Rivington and Suffolk Streets: shopping cart, chained to scaffolding at the Clemente Soto Velez Center.

• 147 Orchard Street: another shopping cart, chained to the Volang boutique.

• East First Street and the Bowery: a third shopping cart, chained to a tree.

2012

• Jersey Street between Lafayette and Crosby Streets: four strollers locked to street signs with the combined message “Love and stop lights can be cruel.”

• Broome and Eldridge Streets: two pairs of shoes hanging from the wires over the intersection.

– Paul Bisceglio

133 Essex Street (btw Rivington & Stanton)

NYC, NY 10002

(212) 674-7100

Bathroom situation – Visceralist recently used the adjective “swanky” in a conversation with two art school seniors. They had no clue wtf I meant (and yeah, they actually spelled out “W-T-F”). Commenters, is Visceralist just getting old & flabby or was it just them being willfully ignorant? It was them, right? See, that’s what I thought. Anyway, the bathrooms at SoE are swanky as all get out.
Takes credit cards? – yes, and with no discernible minimum. The drinks here are fairly costly though, so perhaps it’s just never an issue cuz you hit it as soon as you even look at the drink menu (more on that later).
Crowded on weekends? – yes if consider the weekend to be Wed-Sun. If you’re getting dinner, then reservations is a must.
Seating – 10 or so stools at the bar, two long communal tables just opposite the bar, a restaurant-style setup w/ 10 or so tables in back. Fun fact! This spot used to be a shithole travesty called Mason-Dixon that featured a mechanical bull in the back. The “bullpen” area now features a sunken lounge with a DJ booth adjacent.
Neighborhood – the part of the LES that you take friends from out of town to in order to show off your big-city bonafides, you swanky scenester, you.
Pretentious/assholes – so SoE has chosen to employ this new faux-storefront gimmick that they most likely sharked from their across-the-street neighbor Beauty and Essex. Your out-of-town friends will likely find this to be pretty swanky, but I think we can all agree that, really, it’s kinda triflin’.
Cost of Stella – not available. Wtf?
What time people start showing up – 8-9ish. Though the bar area is substantial, SoE is primarily a restaurant, so people generally try to get here around date-o-clock.
Bartender efficiency – fantastic. Visceralist has nothing but kudos for the bartenders, host & wait-staff here. Friendly like a Care Bear, quick like premature ejaculation, and cool-as-fuck like The Weeknd.
Official Website – here. A little too busy for Visceralist’s liking (tiled background? really?), but fully functional.
Food? How late – full menu with a whole section devoted to different varieties of that mac and that cheese.
TVs? What’s on – if you’re enjoying the new HBO show “Veep” what you should do is this right here: buy, then watch “In the Loop” on DVD, then go on YouTube and search “The Thick of It” and watch all the episodes in order, then say it with me, “Peter Capaldi for president!”
Guy:girl ratio – who was it that said that you only really realize how awesome you are after a bad breakup? Whoever it was has got it goin’ on.
Toys – nathan, so if you need one, you’ll have to do that origami chicken thing with your napkin.
Age of clientele – mostly late 20s – late 30s. I.e. “Veep’s” demographic.
Space for dancing? – perhaps in the lounge area, but SoE is likely subject to those wonderful NYC Cabaret Laws, so don’t you dare.
Music medium, style & volume – selections from the last time Visceralist was here: Outkast’s “Hey Ya”, Tupac’s “California Love”, LL’s “Doin It.” They have a DJ here Thur-Sat who spins mostly classic hip-hop. This is a rare treat in the LES, which is likely most of the reason why this place is so popular.
Specials or most popular drink – there’s a section of their cocktail menu devoted to Tea Blends. These are watered down, which is truly tragic because this is otherwise an excellent spot. Come on now, SoE.

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