Blue highway

 

In memory of filmmaker-musician-artist David Lynch, who died yesterday at age 78. 

The video here is for "I'm Waiting Here," the lead single from Lynch's third studio album The Big Dream (2013) ... with lyrics and vocals by Lykke Li. 

 I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.

A look at 'The Entertainer'

Photo by Stacie Joy

Aaron Michael Skolnick's "The Entertainer" opened last week at the March gallery on Avenue A. 

Several readers have given the exhibit by Aaron Michael Skolnick a shout-out. 

Created between 2023 and 2025, this body of work is composed of paintings, garments, photography, and an installation featuring cardboard cutouts, jockstraps, and the idyllic bleachers and sports field of Hollywood's American high school. 

It's up through Feb. 22. 

The March gallery is at 62-64 Avenue A, between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Paws-itive news: Boris & Horton is returning under new ownership

Photo from February 2024 by Stacie Joy 

A round of app-paws? Boris & Horton has a new owner. 

The city's dog cafe — closed since late November — announced yesterday that a new owner is taking over the business on the NW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street. 

Per the reopening notice: "Same great space and brand" with "a community-focused vibe." 

The new owner is named as Carol ... with her dog Baja listed as the new CEO.

A reopening date is to come...

 

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Early last November, ownership (daughter-father Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman) posted notices that they would close at the end of that month. This development happened even after a successful crowdfunding campaign and a newly enacted subscription plan earlier last year. 

Mikhly and Holzman left the door open for new ownership upon closing. This EVG post explains more about what transpired here. 

Boris & Horton opened in February 2018... and expanded its footprint on the corner later in 2018.

Full reveal at 280 E. Houston St.

Photo yesterday by Stacie Joy 

Here, then, is 280 E. Houston St., the 12-story mixed-use building on the north side between Avenue A and Avenue B — now with the remaining scaffolding and construction netting removed. 

And a view via a live construction camera...

And we returned to the construction camera archives for this foundation shot from June 2023...

According to the website of developer SMA Equities, the "building promises to redefine city living in one of Manhattan's most dynamic neighborhoods." 

No. 280 encompasses 224,809 square feet of space — for residential, commercial and community use. The residential portion will total 211,028 square feet for 157 apartments, with an average size of 1,300 square feet. The retail section — the listing is here — will feature 12,000 square feet. 

Last July, Gothamist reported that the construction company, which has ties to Mayor Adams, illegally started work on the building before obtaining the essential permits. 

The parcel previously housed a single-level strip of storefronts that several years ago either relocated closer to the residential building at No. 250 E. Houston St. (Kapri Cleaners and the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center) or closed (Dunkin'/Baskin-Robbins, Subway, Mattress Firm and China Town). 

The elongated trapezoidal lot housed a gas station until about 1987. This EVG post includes a photo of it. 

Prep work (plywood, pedestrian barriers, etc.) started in February 2023. 

According to the plywood rendering, the (updated) completion date is February 2025.

Return of the permanent signage for Ben's Deli (& Grill) on Avenue B

Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy 

The new permanent signage for Ben's Deli has arrived. 

The Avenue B stalwart underwent a gut renovation and reopened here between Second Street and Third Street late last year. 

However, the previous new sign didn't pass muster with the city, and they levied a $6,000 fine and ordered the offending sign to come down. 

Anyway, the sign is now in place ... (like the previous new sign, the business is going by Ben's Deli & Grill).

It makes sense, as the revamped deli counter area features the return of legendary grillman Oscar (pictured in the top photo!). Oscar left Ben's several years ago and is back making excellent egg-and-cheese sandwiches. 

Ben Gibran sold the decades-spanning business to his cousin Sammy in early 2023.

Thursday's parting shot

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That time when David Lynch filmed a rather terrifying trash PSA for New York City

Revisiting this 1991 NYC PSA directed by David Lynch after learning about the death of the filmmaker-artist-musician today at age 78. 

The YouTube description describes this spot as "perhaps the scariest commercial ever made."

Well said here...

David Lynch gave us the language we needed to better articulate the indescribable strangeness of our shared reality. “Lynchian” is so overused because it’s a viscerally understandable word without any known synonyms. I can’t imagine a more beautiful artistic legacy than that.

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) January 16, 2025

Bad news travels fast! Catch the U.S. premiere of the Fuzztones doc at the Bowery Electric

Attention, fans of the Fuzztones. The new documentary (trailer here) about the band makes its U.S. premiere at the Bowery Electric on Feb. 2. 

Details via the EVG inbox: 

"The Fuzztones vs. The World," directed by Danny Garcia, chronicles the highs and lows of an extraordinary band, The Fuzztones, whose career spans over 40 years of Garage Rock. Formed in New York City in the early 80s, their redefining brand of psychedelic punk spawned an exciting new scene and its unstoppable and charismatic leader, Rudi Protrudi still carries on his unique vision passionately across the world today. 

Rudi is a survivor of the Rock & Roll lifestyle. He is still performing, having been at it since the 1960s. The fact that The Fuzztones are still active today shows that he continues to be unstoppable, a true "Lifer" of Rock & Roll. The documentary shows their history through interviews with current and former bandmates. It includes lots of archival footage and new Fuzztones performances from their 2024 European tour. 

Tickets for the screening and premiere party are available at this link. The Bowery Electric is located at 327 Bowery, between Second Street and Third Street.

 

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Your mid-morning early morning moon shot

Thanks to EVG reader Terry Howell for sharing this photo from earlier this morning...

This is the date for the next informational session about the former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The next community informational session about the former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center will be held on Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Grand Street Settlement, 80 Pitt St., between Stanton and Rivington on the Lower East Side. 

"We're hoping to see a diverse group of community members join us," said Q Impact Solutions founder Quamid Francis, who led the first discussion on Oct. 25. "We anticipate that a plurality of the same information will be covered, as there are no new significant updates to share at this time. Still, we thought of having another session to accommodate community members who missed the last session during the day." (See our recap post here.) 

Speakers include representatives from Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Denham Wolf Real Estate, who will speak on behalf of the property's buyer. 

You can find the link to sign up here. (The event link lists a start time of 6:30; the flyer 6.)

Per the invite: 

Whether you're a longtime supporter or new to the cause and neighborhood, this informational session will provide valuable updates. Don't miss the opportunity to connect with your fellow community members and engage in meaningful and collaborative discussions! 

Francis reached out to EVG regarding the upcoming session. I also asked for access to the long-empty site on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C to take photos of what the property looks like now. 

"I checked with the construction management team, and they unfortunately said they can't grant this request because the Department of Building vacate order extends to the courtyard, primarily due to safety concerns regarding the façade," Francis said. "There are loose brick materials that could drop at any time on the courtyard, so it's still not safe. That said, if you have a ladder you can prop up outside the fence, you are more than welcome to take photos that way. In fact, I'm willing to even meet you there. Let me know what you think." 

What did I think? I'm intrepid enough, but I needed to score a ladder. I asked Pastor Will Kroeze and Executive Director Alex Lawrence from Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish across the street to loan me one for this mission — and they came through. 

They were also kind enough to grant me access to the church's rooftop for additional images.

The takeaways from the October informational session: The rehabilitation of the former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center could take four to six years and cost over $100 million. 

And a five-paragraph recap of what has transpired over the past 20-plus years: According to public records, 605 East 9th Community Holdings LLC bought the property from longtime owner Gregg Singer for $57,267,453 in a transaction filed on Jan. 9, 2024. 

The LLC reportedly (per The Real Deal) has ties to Aaron Sosnick, a billionaire hedge fund manager who lives next door in the Christodora House. Denham Wolf Real Estate Services stated that the LLC is "a philanthropic entity with the purpose of returning the property to community use." Through the years, Singer, who bought the building from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.1 million, wanted to turn the one-time P.S. 64 into a dorm, though those plans never materialized, and the building has sat in disrepair. 

The 135,000-square-foot building is zoned for "community facility use." (Any conversion to residential housing would require a zoning variance.) The DOB's Stop Work Order, which dates to August 2015, and is still in effect. The DOB later lifted the Full Vacate Order (from February 2019) to allow inspections by city-licensed engineers. 

As previously noted, some residents want to see the space used again as a community center, as it was when it was Charas/El Bohio Community Center. Singer evicted the group on Dec. 27, 2001. 

After the last meeting in October, many people said they had not received any notice about the public session. We found out about it at the last minute.

Activity at the former Raul Candy Store on Avenue B

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Renovations recently started inside the former Raul's Candy Store at 205 Avenue B. 

The space has been given the white-box treatment ... and we have not heard anything about a new tenant or even seen any real estate listings for the address...

This is the first activity we recall seeing inside the storefront between 12th Street and 13th Street since owner Raul Santiago, 75, and his wife Petra Olivieri, 70, retired in February 2019 after 43 years in business.

The store had been a de-facto community space for generations.

We still see Raul around — his hard-to-miss skull-laden van is still parked on the block, and he and his friends will gather there in an assortment of chairs during warmer weather months.

Yankee doodle Deli demoliton

Several EVG readers have shared photos and tips in recent days/weeks that Yankee Deli and Yankee Pizza are currently closed on Avenue C and 11th Street, with the deli now undergoing a gut renovation. (Thanks to Jose Garcia for the top picture.) 

We've heard everything that the businesses are closed for good ... to they are just closed for renovations. 

FWIW, there are closed for renovations signs posted on the gates of both storefronts...

We'll know soon enough if this is an actual closed for renovations or more of a peelin' potatoes variety situation.

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Today on Avenue B... fave UPS duo Cisco and Campbell...

Noted

Photo by Steven 

As seen on Ninth Street... a discarded vacuum with a message:

I suck

(It works)

Free

At the 1st annual Fuck Fest

Photos by Stacie Joy

Last Wednesday night, we headed out to TY Eye in Ridgewood (Queens!) for a show featuring several of our favorite local bands.

Organizers billed the evening as the first annual Fuck Fest, ostensibly an LP release show for TDA's latest, and titled Fuck.

We've seen TDA (aka, Tits Dick Ass), led by Julia Pierce (below), play multiple times in Tompkins Square Park and local venues like Berlin and Baker Falls.

The East Village duo The Acute opened the show. Look for their new record coming soon. (Revisit our Q&A with Viveca Butler and Stephen Cacouris in the EVG archives here.)

Next up: Genre Is Death, who hurtled through another frenzied set of pulsing post-punk grooves. (Read our Q&A with Ty Varesi and Tayler Lee in the EVG archives here.)

Unfortunately, another fave, Adult Human Females, was a late scratch. (Listen to their Live at Tompkins Square Park release here.)

We saw for the first time (and enjoyed) Namesake...

And then came the headliners, TDA, shown here with its current lineup...

The band brought its usual whirlwind energy to the set, with a moshpit quickly forming.

Sometime after midnight, the sweaty crowd didn't seem to mind the 4-degree windchill outside the venue.

Man pleads guilty to Tompkins Square Park shootings, D.A. Bragg announces

Photo from March 21, 2024, by Stacie Joy 

Manhattan D.A. Bragg yesterday announced a guilty plea from the suspect arrested for two shootings in Tompkins Square Park in March 2024. 

According to the D.A.'s office, 38-year-old Waldemar Alverio pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to three counts of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree. He is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 3 "to a promised term of 13 years in state prison," per the D.A.'s office.

On March 16, 2024, at 12:45 p.m., two men allegedly chased, punched and kicked Alverio. As they ran off, Alverio unzipped his bag and pulled out a gun, firing at them five times, per court documents. Alverio struck one of the two men in the buttocks, fracturing his pelvis and lodging a bullet in his hip. Alverio also shot a bystander, a 53-year-old tourist, fracturing her right hip, which had to be surgically replaced. Per the D.A.'s office, "she will require months of physical therapy as she learns how to walk again." 

Five days later, on March 21, Alverio returned to Tompkins Square Park just after noon, approached a group in the park, and shot at them five times. While Alverio did not strike anyone on that day, one bullet smashed through a window into a bedroom in an apartment building across Seventh Street, and another bullet smashed through a window and lodged in a stairwell in a second building on Seventh Street.

Officers from the 7th Precinct recognized Alverio from a wanted flyer and arrested him on Delancey Street on March 26. 

"These senseless and reckless shootings left two victims significantly injured and put the safety of many New Yorkers at risk," Bragg said in a statement. "Combatting gun violence is crucial to achieving lasting public safety, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to remove illegal firearms off our city's streets and drive down shootings."

Signage alert: A diner for 2nd Avenue?

Signage has arrived outside 80 Second Ave. for — !!! — Conway Diner. (H/T Danielle!) 

Could this be an actual old-fashioned diner opening? (Especially in this era of disappearing diners?) 

At the moment, we don't know who's behind the venture. 

So, some GUESSWORK: This is from the same owners of the previous business, the short-lived Sunday Dreamin' here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

After just five months in business, the diner-ish restaurant closed in October for renovations. Google lists Sunday Dreamin' as "temporarily closed," and the Sunday Dreamin' Instagram account is going by Monday Dreamin.' Its profile photo shows eggs, waffles and sausage arranged as a smiley face. 

Anyway, we shall see...

Signage alert: Sunday Morning on Avenue B

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Here's your Sunday Morning signage at 29 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. 

As we first mentioned last week, chef-restaurateur Armando Litiatco is behind this cafe, which will specialize in old-school, American-style cinnamon rolls and coffee. 

Updated: No word on an opening date just yet.

Tuesday's parting shot

EVG reader William R. shared this photo of Second Avenue at 12th Street, noting "A favorite corner." 

+1

About 'Luna 10 Years' and a unique lineup of planets

A dispatch from Felton Davis of the Second Avenue Star Watchers... 

About 50 people gathered on East Fourth Street on Sunday night for "Luna 10 Years," a fascinating display of new zines by Lele Saveri. It's a joint event by Dashwood Projects, 63 E. Fourth Street, and the Second Avenue Star Watchers.

There wasn't room for the whole crowd in the tiny storefront, so the overflow attendees were invited to gaze at the almost full Moon high overhead, coming in and out of the clouds.

There will be a unique lineup of planets across the evening sky all week, but you have to do a walk-around to see most of them. Starting on Second Avenue at sunset, Venus is visible in the south. On Third Street, Jupiter is visible in the constellation Taurus ... and Fourth Street, where the Moon appears next to the former bank.

"Luna Year 10" will be at Dashwood Projects through Feb. 15.