Sunday, December 28, 2014

Week in Grieview


[Photo from Christmas Day by Derek Berg]

A look at Matcha Cafe Wabi, now open on East Fourth Street (Friday)

Video: "11 Minutes of Hell" on the Lower East Side (Wednesday, 54 comments)

Demolishing the last two East Village gas stations (Monday)

DF Mavens arrives (Tuesday)

Checker's opens on First Avenue (Monday)

The number of chain stores increased this past year in NYC, though not in the East Village (Tuesday)

Back Forty abruptly closes (Tuesday)

Remembering Joe Strummer on the anniversary of his death (Monday)

A really good sunrise (Saturday)

Sleepy's coming to Third Avenue (Monday)

Another holiday season with Jonathan, the cheery Christmas-tree salesman of First Avenue (Tuesday)

The gut renovation of 137 Avenue C (Tuesday)

$13 billion hedge fund latest 51 Astor Place tenant (Tuesday)

Shakespeare & Company ultimately got kicked out for a Foot Locker (Wednesday)

McSorley's does not have the oldest liquor license in the East Village (Friday)

The Year Without a Trailer Park Santa Claus (Friday)

EVG turns 7 (Wednesday)

… and a dog in a bag at East Village Cheese…


[Photo by Derek Berg]

A 1980s 'Night Walk' in downtown NYC


[Screengrab from the "Night Watch" trailer]

The Times has a feature today on Ken Schles, who spent part of the 1980s living and taking photographs in the East Village.

He now has a follow-up to his 1988 book "Invisible City" titled "Night Walk."

Here's a description of the book:

Schles revisits his archive and fashions a narrative of lost youth: a delirious, peripatetic walk in the evening air of an irretrievable downtown New York as he saw and experienced it. Night Walk is a substantive, intimate chronicle of New York's last pre-Internet bohemian outpost, a stream of consciousness portrayal that peels back layers of petulance and squalor to find the frisson and striving of a life lived amongst the rubble.

Here's a trailer for the book...



Schles, who now lives in Fort Greene, "rejected the recent tendency to view the East Village of the 1980s as a golden age of louche glamour," according to the Times. "A lot of dysfunction has been romanticized," he said.

The book "is dedicated to the memory of those who died in the scourge of AIDS and violence that gripped the East Village during the 1980s."

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Today's hawk posing





Top two photos via Bobby Williams... and via EVG reader BaHa...



And now, the waxing crescent moon



Local astronomy buff Felton Davis had his gear set up earlier on Second Avenue and East Third Street ... here's a shot of the waxing crescent moon via Brian Van ...

X marks the spot above 1st Avenue



Or maybe a belated xmas message? Photo this afternoon via Grant Shaffer

Can't wait for this open house on St. Mark's Place!



Spotted the other day at 128 St. Mark's Place…

Things people were talking about on East 2nd Street this morning



A few people were wondering what happened to this car between Avenue A and First Avenue...

This morning's spectacular sunrise



The view from East Second Street… Photo by Caz Lulu via Facebook…

There's 1 more free concert this year in Tompkins Square Park



This afternoon...

Friday, December 26, 2014

Still crazy like a Fox...



Television is playing Sunday night at Irving Plaza... ahead of that, here's "Foxhole" from 1978...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition


[Photo earlier this week on East 2nd Street by Bill Buchen]

A crime of passion from the 19th century that played out on East 13th Street and Avenue A (Ephemeral New York)

More details about DF Mavens, opening today on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place (DNAinfo)

The Manhattan Borough President's Office now accepting applications for Community Board membership (DNAinfo)

Still time to see Art & Ephemera from 98 Bowery, 1969-89 (The Lodge Gallery)

Update on the new Dirt Candy on Allen Street (Eater)

The end of Cafe Edison (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Please do not push your sofa out a 6th-floor window (BoweryBoogie)

Animals, the Wayland's sandwich shop on Avenue C and East Ninth Street, has started local delivery — Monday-Friday from Noon-6 p.m.



and noted…

Pumpkins — not just for Halloween anymore



They also make for decorative additions to street lights, like seen here on Second Avenue and East Ninth Street … photo via John Coakley.

Matcha Cafe Wabi now open on East 4th Street





Matcha Cafe Wabi recently opened at 233 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B.

The cafe's owners offered up a sneak preview for neighbors back in October. EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by for a look ... and taste. Here's her report:

The open house was for the neighborhood to introduce them to the matcha and sencha tea drinks, the red-bean paste and green tea pastries (gluten free!), matcha tea lattes, and the Japanese roasted coffee drinks.

I tried the classic pour-over coffees from 95 RPM Coffee Roasters (co-owned by Hiroki Kobayashi and Osamu Igano), which I drank as suggested — straight up without milk or sugar. I also tried the soybean black-sesame drink, which thankfully had no caffeine and was sweet and delicious — and unusual to my admittedly uneducated palate.

Kimie Kobaya (pictured below), the shop’s enthusiastic and friendly manager, brought around trays of samples to the guests and patiently translated between the English-speaking and Japanese-speaking visitors.



We learned about Wabi-Sabi, the aesthetic of imperfection, which was a difficult concept to translate from Japanese. (Kimie suggested the Wikipedia page definition.) We enjoyed a (truncated) tea ceremony, courtesy of Yuji (pictured below), who showed us the usu-cha-style bamboo whisks used to blend the bitter green tea powder into tea, and how the bowls are prewarmed, and about the bubbles that mimic a lake and shore in the tea bowl.



The owners of the new shop are Hideaki Minamida and Ken Mitsui, who you might recognize from Pirka Salon next door. (Both shops share the address 233 E. Fourth St.) The tiny to-go spot’s green-tea colored walls and minimalist décor mimic the healthy and happy feelings you experience when ingesting the drinks.

What East Village bar has the oldest liquor license?


[Photo by James and Karla Murray]

OK, the photo gives it away, of course.

Anyway, some interesting research via I Quant NY, who examined the data on New York State's open data website.

A few things from the post:

The oldest recorded NYC license in the dataset belongs to the Harmonie Club on E 60th St in the Upper East Side, though you have to be a member to enjoy a drink there. It dates to 1933. The oldest beer license is for Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island, which dates back to 1934. And the oldest liquor store license is from 1941, and it belongs to North End Wine and Liquor in the Bronx.

And in the East Village, the oldest license belongs to Vazac's/7B/Horseshoe Bar, which dates to 1948.

But what about, say, McSorley's?

Per I Quant NY:

Note that this does not mean these are in fact the oldest bars or restaurants, but rather the oldest with a single continuous liquor license and a proper start date on record.

McSorley's has changed hands a few times, he explains, the last being in 1977, when the state issued a new license.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

'Dear Lord' — A Christmas song from Suicide



The fine folks over at Dangerous Minds posted about a Christmas song by one of our favorite bands, the misanthropy* duo Suicide.

Here are details per Dangerous Minds:

In 1981, the great no-wave label ZE Records — home to the eardrum-hurty likes of Lydia Lunch and Arto Lindsay — decided that the label would release A Christmas Record, a compilation of original Christmas music by its deeply underground artists. It seems, and was, pretty ridiculous, but that album yielded an actual enduring holiday season classic in the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping.” Other artists who contributed were Material with Nona Hendryx, Cristina, and Was (Not Was). It was and remains deeply regrettable that Lydia Lunch contributed no Christmas song, but there was one by the equally malevolent Suicide, and another by that band’s singer Alan Vega.



Head over to Dangerous Minds for more, including the Vega track...

* misanthropy is Dangerous Mind's description. We like that.

The Year Without a Trailer Park Santa Claus

[Another holiday season]

Well, as you may have noticed, grubby ol' St. Nick never arrived this year at the tree stand on East 14th Street and First Avenue…

Instead, we were treated to some lame perky inflatables …



Waited until later to pass this along so as not to ruin the holiday.

Anyway, time to toss the tree and pick up your Easter Candy at Kmart…

Christmas Eve, Tompkins Square Park



Photos by EVG reader Mr. Baggs...



Christmas Eve, Astor Place



Jerry Delakas at Jerry's Newsstand, site of one of the more positive neighborhood stories this year.

Photo by Kelly King

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Holiday movies: 'Blast of Silence'

Reposting this repost this from Dec. 23, 2011…

I know that I've written about "Blast of Silence," Alan Baron's New York (slightly hokey) indie noir from 1961.

Will repeat some of it now... the movie is about a contract killer in New York for a job during the Dec. 25 holiday season ... well, the trailer will tell you what you need to know...



Of interest hereabouts... the main character, "Baby Boy" Frankie Bono, stays at the Valencia on St. Mark's Place... which is the St. Mark's Hotel today, of course...


[Via]

In the background, you can see the former Saint Marks Russian and Turkish Baths ... which became the New St. Marks Baths ... and, eventually, Mondo Kim's ... and now the NYC Tofu House

Some early xmas eve smoking manhole action on East 14th Street



Several readers told us about smoke billowing (or whatever) from a manhole on East 14th Street at Avenue B around 3 … and the FDNY was quickly called to the scene, EVG reader Greg Masters noted…

Cause for rethinking last-minute gift ideas as Key Master remains wrapped outside Gem Spa



On Monday, Derek Berg noted that the 15-month-old Key Master, a so-called "prize merchandising game" outside Gem Spa, was out of commission. Basically dead, wrapped in (Home Depot) plastic.

Two days later, not much has changed here on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place.



So anyone looking to compete for, and win, prizes such as Macy's Gift Cards, iPods (????) and iPod Minis (????) will have to look elsewhere.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Gem Spa stunner: Zoltar now has Key Master competition; doomsday predicted

No. 7


[Never coming soon, courtesy of EVPinhead]

This website turned 7 on Sunday. (What turned out to be a non-event prompted the whole thing 7 years ago!)

So a sincere thank you, as always, to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, grumble, laugh, share, offer tips, provide feedback ... everything.

And thank you for helping me continue to feel connected to a place that is always seemingly changing.

'11 Minutes of Hell' on the Lower East Side



Via the EVG inbox ...

The LES Dwellers, a grassroots community group of residents of the Lower East Side, released videos [yesterday] that illustrate how bad the Lower East Side's Hell Square continues as late night bars and clubs continue to foster a SantaCon-style environment of binge drinking, public urination and vomiting, brawls and arrests every weekend.

The rampant party and hoards of drunks in the area drains police resources, forcing them to focus their time and attention to thousands of people who descend on the Lower East Side every weekend to party without regard to the local residents and businesses.

What is depicted in the videos is not outside the norm but is the norm. The bars, lounges and "restaurants" in this area over serve alcohol creating a dangerous environment.

The LES Dwellers called on Community Board 3 to address the issue immediately by working with the NYPD, the State Liquor Authority and local bar and business owners to resolve the recurring problems in Hell Square, which is the area bordered by Houston and Delancey, and Allen and Essex streets on the Lower East Side.

"This weekend was an outrage — ranking as one of the worst on record: It was SantaCon without the costumes," the group said in a statement. "Assaults and crime are up in our neighborhood due solely to the proliferation of late night liquor licenses in the neighborhood. And what's worse, on a day when NYPD lost two officers, the last thing the city needs is for the police to spend time and resources policing a man-made mess of debauchery. Police resources are wasted every weekend to babysit a bunch of drunks," the group said.

One video, filmed for a continuous 11 minute period at 3:30 am EST on Sunday, Dec. 21 on Ludlow and Stanton Streets, features a group of drunks stumbling north on Ludlow street and approaching Piano's Bar to enter. They're told that the bar is closing and they can't enter, so they leave the bar yelling obscenities and stumbling into the wall when the cops show up. Disregarding the police presence, the group gets into a knock-down brawl in the intersection of Stanton and Ludlow and police arrest 2 of the fighters. The video's hashtag is #11minsofhell.

Dozens of police arrived at the scene where the video captures a woman who has fallen and hurt her leg on the street and is struggling to get back up, followed by music blaring out of the front door of the Dark Room bar. Then, as the police continue to deal with the fight, a man is seen within 15 feet of the police urinating in a boutique clothing store's doorway and virtually falling asleep standing up.

And now for your viewing pleasure...



And!

Shakespeare & Company ultimately got kicked out for a Foot Locker



A big rent hike helped force Shakespeare & Company's to close its longtime home at 716 Broadway between Washington Place and Waverly Place.

The landlord reportedly hiked the rent to $50,000 a month.

Anyway, as it was previously reported, a Foot Locker is taking the space... and Dave on 7th noted that the signage recently arrived.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

Shakespeare & Company space is for lease on Broadway

The Odessa in the early morning this holiday season



Looking fine before opening in the morning here at 119 Avenue A...

Happy holidays from the brown wall at Verizon!



Holiday greetings from one of our favorite brown walls .... outside the Verizon building on East 13th Street at Second Avenue...

Thanks to EVG regular LIBERATION for the photo...

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Report: Avenue B's Back 40 closes after 7 years

Back 40, one of the first farm-to-table restaurants here, closed for good after service on Sunday.

Chef-owner Peter Hoffman told Eater, who first reported on this closure, that "a difficult landscape and lease uncertainty" led to the decision to shutter the 7-year-old restaurant at 190 Avenue B near East 12th Street.

Another holiday season with Jonathan, the cheery Christmas-tree salesman of 1st Avenue


[Ben and Jonathan]

Article and photos by Steffi Veizen, who takes a look at one of the Christmas tree vendors in the East Village this season.

Jonathan gives street vendors a good name here outside the Rite Aid on First Avenue at East Fifth Street.

Working the Christmas tree circuit on and off for the past six years, Jonathan is friendly and constantly smiling, although some of his customers don't seem to appreciate the Canadian native's cheery nature.



He sleeps in his rental truck and alternates shifts with Ben, his business partner. Jonathan's plywood shed is decorated with cardboard stars, topped with pine branches, carpeted and wallpapered with trippy iridescent (wrapping?) paper. A small heater helps keep the space toasty.



On a recent visit, Jonathan handled an indecisive, pain-in-the-ass customer with patience and grace, repeating the prices to her and catering to her hyperactive daughter. He cut about an inch off the bottom of the tree, telling the girl why and showing her how to count the rings on the cross section.

"Your tree is about 17 years old," he tells her with a smile. He makes most people around him look pretty Grinchy.



"Not everyone is difficult, although some people are," Jonathan said. "Some people try to bargain with me, and insult me when I don't comply."

Jonathan works for the generic-sounding company Evergreen and earns his money entirely on commission, so he's not in the position to give any discounts.

"I used to get angry, but not anymore," he said.

Any interesting customer stories to share?

"I had to leave my trees once and a man took a stand, gave the money to the shoe repair store, and left his phone number in case he owed me more … He came back and paid me the rest of what he owed me."

The job ends for Jonathan and Ben tomorrow. From there he said the trees will be collected and sold to the Russian Orthodox community, who celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7. Any leftover trees will be sent to the Department of Sanitation's treecycling extravaganza Mulchfest.

The number of chain stores increased this past year in NYC, though not in the East Village

[The same image we use every year]

Via the EVG inbox yesterday...

The Center for an Urban Future published the seventh edition of its annual “State of the Chains” study ranking the national retailers with the most store locations in New York City.

The study shows that there was a 3.3 percent increase in the number of chain stores in the five boroughs over the past year, a much larger spike than the 0.5 percent gain in chain stores between 2012 and 2013 and the largest annual increase since the 4.1 percent increase from 2009 to 2010. Queens had the largest year-over-year increase in chains stores among all boroughs, and Dunkin Donuts remained the largest retailer in the city, with 536 stores.

For the seventh consecutive year, Dunkin Donuts tops our list as the largest national retailer in New York City, with a total of 536 stores. Over the past year, Dunkin Donuts had a net increase of 21 stores in the city, a 4 percent gain. Subway is still the second largest national retailer in the city; gaining one additional store over last year’s total to make 468 locations across the five boroughs. Rounding out the top ten national retailers in New York are: Duane Reade/Walgreens (with 318 stores), metroPCS (298), Starbucks (282), McDonalds (245), Baskin Robbins (211), Rite Aid (201), T-Mobile (185) and GNC (156). In all, there are now 16 retailers with more than 100 stores across the city.

According to the research, the 10003 zip code, which includes Union Square and parts of Fifth Avenue, has 164 chain retailers — one of the highest numbers in Manhattan. (That is actually down from 179 in 2012.)

The 10009 zip code has 25 chain stores, down one from 2013.

Find the PDF of the report here.

1st DF Mavens dairy-free dessert shop opens Friday



Just 14 months after announcing their coming-soon status, the DF Mavens shop opens Friday on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place...



Their dairy-free desserts have been available in various retail outlets ... though this is their first dedicated NYC storefront.

We also spotting Krazy Kale chips while window shopping...