••• “Rammellzee, an early graffiti writer, hip-hop pioneer and performance artist whose style influenced the Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill, died on Sunday in Far Rockaway, Queens, where he grew up. He was 49 and lived in Battery Park City in Manhattan. […] For more than 20 years Rammellzee lived in a studio loft in Tribeca that he called the Battle Station, where the walls and ceiling were virtually encrusted with his sculpture and other artwork, including toylike wheeled versions of letters that appeared to be armored and able to fly into combat.” (The New York Times)

••• “The Iron Mule Short Comedy Film Festival, a monthly screening at 92YTribeca […] challenges the notion that audiences prefer comedy in feature-length format or as short tales delivered by lone performers under the glare of nightclub lights.” (The New York Times)

••• “The ribbon cutting of the new West Thames Park Thursday afternoon included an unexpected guest: the tire swing that was removed in May after two children were injured while riding it. The State Department of Transportation, which built the park, re-installed the tire swing on Thursday exactly as it was before, but with a sign warning that it is only for children 48 inches and under, and that children should sit while riding it.” (DNAinfo)

••• “Residents of the Liberty Court apartments in Battery Park City are developing tears in their corneas, thanks to the children’s playground at West Thames Park. Sand is apparently blowing into their balconies and apartments.” (Downtown Express)

••• “The 217-room W New York Downtown Hotel […] is scheduled to open on July 26. About 64 furnished condos in the building were to be leased in late June to an unidentified company for two years, which will then re-lease them to corporate entities for short-term use, W executives told The Real Deal.” (via Curbed)

••• “The urbanistas at the Department of Transportation have reworked the [ridiculous, ill-advised bus] bulbs, removing the fences and replacing them with a series of low-slung benches. The addition of the minimalist street furniture is proving popular with those waiting for a bus. But it seems those who like the benches most are the vendors who set up shop on the sidewalks along the west side of Broadway.” (Curbed)

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