Magic and loss on St. Mark’s Place: Invader’s classic Lou Reed mosaic stolen

Early Monday morning, several residents saw two men removing Invader's nearly 10-year-old Lou Reed mosaic from an upper floor at 110 St. Mark's Place, between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Just after 1 a.m., a resident noticed the men outside with a ladder and caution tape. 

Neighbors inside No. 110 said they were awakened by banging on the exterior wall — then saw one of the men climbing the ladder while the other acted as a spotter.

The residents contacted the 9th Precinct to report the theft. We're told that the landlord of the building hired the French artist for the work, and they may pursue charges. 

Neighbors did some sleuthing afterward and believe one of the suspects is the same man seen last in June 2024 removing another Invader piece above Ralph's Famous Italian Ices at Avenue A and Ninth Street. 

At that time, witnesses also reported two men prying Invader's mosaic tiles from walls around the city.

Invader himself addressed the thefts in an Instagram post last summer:

For the past few weeks, some guys in New York have been destroying my work by trying to rip it off the walls, probably to resell it. Shame on them! Street art belongs to the street, and in my case, once ripped from the walls, it is nothing more than broken, unsigned tiles that you could find in any tile store. They will never be authenticated. Buyers should think twice of what they buy, not only are they being duped but they are also depriving other people of enjoying free art on the street.

The French street artist mentioned that the mosaics probably have little resale value anyway — especially the later ones, which used thinner tiles designed to chip apart if tampered with. Said one EVG reader: "They were chipping away at it so I'm pretty sure it's destroyed."

An array of Invader's mosaics arrived in NYC and the East Village, some in collaboration with the LISA Project, in 2015. A few were immediately vandalized. 

Here's an EVG pic of the Lou Reed art from December 2021...

'Samo' story: Real-life Al Diaz left on cutting room floor of new Basquiat biopic

Photos and reporting by Daniel Efram 

Yesterday, filming began for the new Jean-Michel Basquiat biopic, with sightings in Tompkins Square Park of Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the title role alongside an actor playing Andy Warhol. 

Meanwhile, Brooklyn resident Al Diaz was back in his old East Village stomping grounds. This time, he was walking back from a visit to the set of "Samo Lives," written, directed, and produced by Julius Onah. 

As many in the neighborhood know, Diaz grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D and collaborated with Basquiat on a series of cryptic messages around the city signed "SAMO©." 

Given that history, it might seem natural for Diaz to have some consulting role on the project. 

As Diaz tells it, he only learned of the film when Onah, whose credits include "Captain America: Brave New World" and" Luce," posted on social media about the project. 

"He had more than a working title," Diaz recounts. "He was fixated with that ['Samo Lives'] title. So it was that, the use of "Samo" that alerted me, that made me reach out."

Both Diaz and Onah eventually met up twice. In the second meeting, Onah brought along the actor Danny Ramirez, who plays the Diaz character in this film. 

"I told him what my concerns were, which was really that the story [Diaz's] be told responsibly. And I'm here, I'm alive… you have to tell the story correctly.

"I never signed a release," he said.

Diaz continued: 

I don't like that [the use of Samo in this way] because if you're talking about "Samo Lives," you're talking about me as well. You're not going to isolate Jean-Michel. It's just disrespectful.

This is part of what I've been doing for the last 20 years, trying to clarify that story, and you're not going to go ahead and uck that up, and put me back where I started from.

Ramirez contacted Diaz a few months later and wanted to shadow Diaz for a day to get his vibe. But once payment was mentioned, nothing became of it.

In his conversations with Diaz, Onah spoke of his deep respect for the story. Still, it's hard to square that with using the "Samo" name while leaving Diaz out of the process in any formal way.

For now, Diaz, who was featured in Sara Driver's acclaimed 2017 documentary, "Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat," continues his push to make sure his history isn't erased.

For now, filming will carry on around NYC in the weeks ahead with "Samo," but not Diaz.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• About 'Samo Lives,' the Basquiat biopic now filming in the East Village 

• The EVG podcast: Al Diaz on BOMB1, SAMO© and Basquiat

About this week's free film sceening in Tompkins Square Park (plus an incentive if you have a passing resemblance to Emma Stone)

The Lower East Side Film Festival's summer series concludes tomorrow (Wednesday!) night with a screening of the quirky Oscar-winning "Birdman" in Tompkins Square Park.

The cast of the 2014 film, which won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, features Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton and Zach Galifianakis. 

Speaking of Stone, there's a look-alike contest to start the evening in the middle of the park... not to mention some live jazz before the film begins at sundown.

Flyer pic by Steven

Monday's parting shot

Today's sunrise from Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...

A look at the newly opened East River Park from the Corlears Hook pedestrian bridge

On Sept. 5, the city officially reopened the Corlears Hook Pedestrian Bridge, restoring access to the waterfront and the rebuilt East River Park here from the Lower East Side.

We first stopped by on Sept. 6, though thunderstorms cut that visit short.

So we returned this past Saturday for a more thorough look at the new landscape. 

Here's a rendering of the newly opened areas, including the parts of East River Park accessible starting this past Memorial Day via the Delancey Street pedestrian bridge ...

With these sections reopened, it feels more like a park, as you can travel by foot or bike from just north of the Williamsburgh down to Pier 36 without feeling boxed in by the surrounding construction. 

Along with the new Colears Hook pedestrian bridge comes several new Phase 1 amenities for East River Park: the flagpole area at Corlears Hook Park, six additional tennis courts, an amphitheater (of sorts), an esplanade with seating areas, and direct access to Pier 42 and the Corlears Hook ferry. There's also open space with some postcard-worthy views. 

Here's a look...

The plantings are well-maintained, and the grass is carefully manicured. Still, for now, the area still feels pretty sterile — a reminder of the hundreds of mature trees that were removed when the city raised the park eight to 10 feet as part of the billion-dollar East Side Coastal Resiliency project. 

Shade, at least, will be scarce for the foreseeable future. People huddled in small patches of it provided by the new trees.

A major feature of this section is the new amphitheater, which is still a work in progress and will get its canopy later. 

This area doesn't give off amphitheater vibes at the moment. (This link has the vision for the space.)

At least the views survived...

For East Village residents interested in the park, this is where you'll need to go through the end of 2026. As previously reported last Monday, the three East Village access points to the park, at Houston, Sixth, and 10th streets, are sealed off. 

The "phased work operations" in East River Park began in November 2021 within Project Area 1, situated between Montgomery Street and 15th Street. Workers have been covering the park with fill and cutting down hundreds of trees as part of the ESCR project. They are raising the land 8 to 10 feet above sea level to safeguard the area from future storm surges.

About 'Samo Lives,' the Basquiat biopic now filming in the East Village

Filming notices for today are up around parts of the neighborhood for "Samo Lives," with crews expected in and around Tompkins Square Park and Avenue D. 

This is the first day of filming for the production, a biopic that "will celebrate the life, career and impact of the groundbreaking New York-born, Haitian-Puerto Rican American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose seminal paintings and street art defined the Neo-expressionism arts movement of the 1980s."

"Cyrano" star Kelvin Harrison Jr. has the lead in the film written, directed and produced by Julius Onah. Harrison worked with Onah in the underrated 2019 social thriller "Luce." Onah also directed this year's "Captain America: Brave New World." 

Expect this to be the first of many shoots around here, as Basquiat lived in the East Village for several years. Basquiat died in 1988 while living and working at 57 Great Jones, just west of the Bowery. He was 27.

Al Diaz, who grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D, started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.

In 1981, Basquiat teamed up with writer Glenn O'Brien and photographer Edo Bertoglio to shoot a scrappy film about bohemian life in Lower Manhattan. The project, with Basquiat playing himself, languished unfinished for years, until it finally surfaced in 2000 as "Downtown 81."

Closings: Vivi Bubble Tea on 3rd Avenue

Photos by Patterson Beckwith 

The Vivi Bubble Tea outpost on the NW corner of Third Avenue at Ninth Street has closed. 

The signage for patrons notes that the 10-year lease was up...

As of early last week, workers were already taking apart the interior...

This storefront was previously Organic Avenue.

Meanwhile, there are still multiple bubble tea options nearby. 

Scenes from the 2025 Anarchist Bookfair at La Plaza Cultural

Photos by Stacie Joy

Yesterday marked the 19th annual Anarchist Bookfair at La Plaza Cultural, the community space on the SW corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street. 

A lot of people turned out to browse the tables full of zines, books, literature, art and merch.

Here are some scenes from the day… (with photo consent from everyone pictured).

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