Photo by Derek Berg
Chucky on A today...
Thursday, October 17, 2024
About the Earth School Fall Fair
Details via the EVG inbox:
The event is open to the entire community and will include games and crafts, a bounce house, tasty food, and a rummage sale. We can't wait to have a fun-filled day with our community.
This week in milling and paving
The DOT posted flyers earlier this week stating that crews would be milling Avenue A from Houston to 14th Street starting last night. (The DOT's website had a Thursday evening start date — see screengrab below.)
Milling Avenue A this week might have been the final nail in the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade coffin, tentatively set for Saturday afternoon on Avenue A between Seventh Street and 14th Street.
However, we're told that the city has postponed this work and even updated its weekly schedule to reflect that change.
Also, as several readers have noted, part of Avenue A was already milled back in MARCH.
Meanwhile, after finishing a whole block last Friday night, Second Avenue is scheduled to be paved during the evenings this week.
Also! Third Avenue is scheduled to be paved Friday night from 12th Street and Houston.
All of this is very subject to change.
Thanks to the EVG reader for the top pic.
Openings: Cuts & Slices on Houston
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Cuts & Slices, the popular Bed-Stuy pizzeria, debuts its Lower East Side outpost today at 321 E. Houston St. between Attorney and Ridge.
Owners Ashlee and Randy Mclaren (above) gave us a quick look inside the other day as they were prepping for the grand opening...
This will make the third location for the brand that first opened in Brooklyn in 2018.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Wednesday's parting shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
The line this evening for the grand reopening of TabeTomo at 131 Avenue A. (The line went up A and west on Ninth Street.)
The tsukemen specialty shop had been closed since an early morning fire upstairs on April 24.
And thanks to everyone who sent in line photos tonight...
Scratch that: The random songs of the 80s and 90s return to Key Food
Reporting by Stacie Joy
The static-y-sounding versions of the delightfully eclectic hits from the 1980s and 1990s are back at Key Food.
This past week, reader reports came in that the soundtrack of our shopping lives returned to the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street after a 13-day hiatus. (This marked the second time the music died here in three months.)
However, it sounded as if you were listening to, say, Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You" on a radio with abysmal reception.
According to store manager Richie Gaitan, while the music is back, it does not sound great as the store waits for a part to arrive for its PA system. In addition, the in-store intercom system is still not working, so you won't hear them calling for Ralph in produce or someone to "look at the broken recyclables machines" outside.
There is no estimate on the music repair date; it will be "when the part comes in...soon, I hope."
In the interim — classic Halloween decor is up for your enjoyment.
P.S.
During the research of this post, I heard in order:
• Level 42's "Lessons in Love"
• Men without Hats' "The Safety Dance"
• Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms"
Closings: Dora on Avenue B
Photo by Stacie Joy
After 15 months in business, Dora's Restaurant has closed at 40 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.
The restaurant serving Peruvian cuisine (operated by siblings Dora and Oskar Morales) was recently denied a full liquor license by Community Board 3.
According to the minutes of last month's CB3 meeting, there were 24 commercial 311 complaints for the restaurant, with seven requiring NYPD action. In addition, CB3 noted that they broke their signed stipulations and kept their windows open past 10 p.m. with DJs as entertainment. The minutes also show that there were allegations that they were serving liquor without a permit.
Residents also said that the previous tenant at the address, El Carnaval, was a problem neighbor. El Carnaval was accused of serving liquor without a license in the summer of 2021. There's a video from the meeting here. (El Carnaval was first up.)
We heard from multiple neighbors who complained about blaring music via DJs outside the quick-serve spot in the summer of 2020 — when restaurants expanded to sidewalk and curbside spaces.
Dora continued the tradition after taking over from El Carnaval, which shuttered in the summer of 2022.
Fonda, the previous tenant at 40 Avenue B, closed during the pandemic. For eight years, Fonda stopped the revolving door of restaurants to come and go here. (Octavia's Porch, anyone?)
Lollo Ristorante Pizzeria & Bar has not been open lately on Avenue B
Photo by Stacie Joy
Lollo Ristorante Pizzeria & Bar, located at 27 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street, has been dark lately.
Google lists them as temporarily closed, though OpenTable marks them as permanently closed. (Calls to Lollo go unanswered.)
After an extensive renovation, Lollo debuted this past November.
The space was previously home to the always-dependable Solo Pizza, which closed following a rent hike in September 2022 after 15 years in business.
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade will go on — or will it? Why no one seems to know.
2023 photo by Stacie Joy
Reporting by Stacie Joy
With the Parade scheduled in just a few days, no one seems to know what is happening.
Joseph Borduin, the parade producer, seems as confused as we are. He mentions a frustrating and ongoing lack of cooperation from the City and a long wait with bureaucratic stumbling blocks to get the event up and running on (gulp) Saturday — this Saturday.
As of press time, the event has been pared down to a parade processional only — no contests, no judges, emcees, stage or prizes — and the location has been moved to Avenue A between 14th Street and Seventh Street, with barricades preventing (or attempting to prevent) people from entering Tompkins Square Park. There will also be a registration process, with a cap of 800 people. The event hours are
still 1 to 3 p.m., and the parade is sponsored by The Veterinary Emergency Group.
Right now, there are more questions than answers. Borduin said he and his team of organizers are "still waiting for the city to schedule a walkthrough with city agencies to approve the parade route before they can release anything official."
So, even this information may be subject to change. As soon as we have more information, we'll share it with you.
Today: A rally to landmark the historic New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
The future of the building and the hospital on the NE corner of Second Avenue and 13th Street has been in doubt since they were acquired by Mount Sinai Health System. (In 2013, following the merger of Continuum Health Partners, Inc. with The Mount Sinai Medical Center, the hospital was officially renamed the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.)
As organizers previously noted:
In late 2022, Mount Sinai Beth-Israel, the parent corporation of the 200-year-old New York Eye and Ear Infirmary that serves people with hearing and vision disabilities, applied before the Public Health and Health Planning Council to merge operating certificates with the Infirmary — a tactic that would enable MSBI to more easily move services out of the site and around the city, paving the way for a sale of the historic Infirmary.
The Infirmary owns two buildings here — 14th Street and Second Avenue and 13th Street and Second Avenue — and the vacant lot on 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
Real-estate insiders have said the parcel could fetch upwards of $70 million for some new development.
Those gathered today will call for preserving the hospital, said to be the oldest specialized hospital in the Western Hemisphere, and its historic building, the ribbon cutting for which was performed by Hellen Keller.
Another piece of trivia: The building on Second Avenue and 13th Street served as a setting in "The Godfather," in which Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) moves his father's hospital bed, saving him from a possible assassination attempt...
Can you spot the new building going up on 14th Street and Avenue C?
Here is a closer view...
Also, no word yet on the affordable housing units said to be available here.
The HEYTEA brand is opening an outpost on 2nd Avenue
Photo by Steven
HEYTEA is opening its latest NYC branch at 128 Second Ave. Signage arrived a few days ago on the storefront just south of St. Mark's Place.
The brand started in China in 2012, and now there are 4,000-plus locations worldwide selling a variety of milk and fruit teas... including a handful in NYC.
The previous tenant, Roasted NYC, was open for about a year... morphing from the weed-related NYC Kind Cafe ... which took over for the short-lived Paint Puff "N" Peace in 2022.
Monday, October 14, 2024
After 5-month closure due to fire, a renovated TabeTomo reopens on Wednesday
Photos by Stacie Joy
TabeTomo, the tsukemen specialty shop, will reopen on Wednesday at 131 Avenue A, ending a 5-plus-month odyssey.
The restaurant has been closed since an early morning fire upstairs on April 24. According to ABC 7, five residents sustained minor injuries while fleeing the six-floor building on the NW corner of St. Mark's Place. Firefighters blamed a recovered lithium-ion battery from a residential unit.
Owner Tomo Kubo (below) gave us a tour of the renovated space this past Thursday as his team prepped for the return ... TabeTomo needed a complete gut renovation, with workers stripping the walls down to the studs. (See this post from May 17.)
Opening-day specials include $5 bowls of Ramen.
Live from 1st Avenue: East Village Radio continues to bolster its programming
The tiny storefront studio on First Avenue adjacent to Lil' Frankie's between First Street and Second Street has been in beta mode for several months, as the EVR team — owner Frank Prisinzano, co-founder Jorge Parreira, and veteran program/music director Brian Turner (ex-WFMU) — worked out some kinks with streams and playlists. A piece in the Times on Sept. 29 officially lifted the veil on the station's return.
As for new shows, we'll start with this collaboration with Bandcamp:
When we launched Bandcamp Daily back in 2016, we set for ourselves a simple and direct mission statement: Bandcamp Daily exists to shine a light on artists all over the world who are using Bandcamp to connect with fans.And almost 10 years later, we’re still excited about finding new ways to introduce people to great new artists... we're thrilled to announce that Bandcamp is expanding again, with a brand new weekly show on New York City's legendary East Village Radio.... Bandcamp is honored to be joining the station's rich legacy. You can tune in every Monday night starting Monday, Oct. 14, from 6-8 p.m. to hear music featured in Bandcamp Daily stories, as well as editors' picks, interviews with artists and Bandcamp Daily writers, and much more.
Other newly launched programs include The East Village Radio Jazz Show, where host (and East Village resident) Jason Wald features jazz from the neighborhood — classic, contemporary, local and beyond. Last week, multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee was the guest. The show airs Fridays from 2 to 4 p.m.
East Village Radio had several iterations, the first ending in May 2014 after an 11-year run. At the time, Prisinzano, the restaurateur who owns Frank, Supper and Lil' Frankie's, said licensing fees and Internet costs were too onerous, especially with a surging listener base.
EVR returned for another year-plus-long go-around, this time on a new platform, in June 2015.
EVR will use a different business model this time and rely on sponsors. As Prisinzano told the Post in March, operational costs for broadcasting music have decreased in the streaming age.
During its heyday, EVR counted more than 1 million listeners worldwide a month (this after starting as a short-lived 10-watt FM radio station in April 2003). However, under the Congressional Digital Music Copyright Act of 1998, Internet broadcasters had to pay a digital performance royalty for every listener.
The street-level studio was a popular draw, bringing in guests ranging from Richard Hell to Duran Duran.
You can find the EVR schedule and archives and listen live at this link.
Image via Bandcamp; studio photo by Stacie Joy
Signage alert: L&L Hawaiian Barbeque and Tōka Chef Kitchen on Allen Street
Photos: top by EVG, 2nd by Stacie Joy
Signage went up last week for two new dining options on Allen Street just south of Houston.
Tōka Chef Kitchen is coming soon to 205 Allen St., a long-vacant space whose last full-time tenant was Domino's.
We don't know anything about Tōka Chef Kitchen at the moment.
Meanwhile, Meat + Bread closed next door on Sept. 24 ... after a January 2021 debut.
L&L Hawaiian Barbeque, specializing in plate lunches, is the new tenant...
The business started 50-plus years ago in Hawaii. It expanded stateside in 1999 and continues to franchise.
This is the first latest Manhattan outpost (see the comments about a previous Fulton Street location), and one is coming to Bushwick, too.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Week in Grieview
Posts this past week included (with an evening view from 2nd Avenue)...
• Baseball bats, fisticuffs and broken windows: A bonkers fight escalates as man drives car onto the sidewalk on 3rd Avenue (Thursday)
• East Village building with Ramones history is back on the sales market (Wednesday)
• Prop or not? Looking at Avenue A during the 'Caught Stealing' shoot (Tuesday) ... Paul's Bar no more for the movies, Double Down Saloon returns to service (Monday)
• Café Social 68 revamps its space and is ready to debut as Viva! Cafe (Wednesday)
• Kushner unloads more East Village apartment buildings (Thursday)
• Taking in the Northern Lights from Avenue B (Thursday)
• At long last, you can see the NW corner of Avenue B and Houston (Friday)
• This storefront remains vacant 15 months after Ink on A closed (Thursday)
• At the reopening of the Sakanaya at Wegmans (Friday)
• What's next for the former smoke shop next to Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A? (Wednesday)
• Feeling fenced in at the 9th and B entrance to Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)
• Dreams of a smooth, freshly paved 2nd Avenue will have to wait several days (Saturday) ... Here's when 2nd Avenue is expected to be repaved this week (Tuesday)
• Sorry, that's not actually a fishmonger going into the corner space at 5th and B (Thursday)
• 2 normal and useful businesses opening side by side on 14th Street (Monday)
• The members-only Flyfish Club debuts at the former site of the Sunshine Cinema (Monday)
... and in Tompkins Square Park this past week, workers removed a long-dead (pear?) tree from near the entrance at Avenue A and St. Mark's Place... (thanks to Steven for both photos)...
About Susan Schiffman’s portraits of rent-stabilized East Village homes
The piece focuses on her work photographing rent-stabilized apartments in the neighborhood.
Since 2016, Ms. Schiffman has been photographing dozens of her neighboring East Village apartments. Her photos depict the clutter that collects when one lives in the same home for decades, the intimacies of people's domestic lives and the homemade quality of spaces that have never been renovated.The scenes are timeless in that there are few, if any, elements that give away exactly when they were photographed — many of them look like they were captured decades ago, stuck in a past version of New York. The images are meant to be portraits of the tenants, without actually showing any people in them.With the city's housing crisis as a backdrop and with the rent-stabilization system’s promise of affordability feeling threatened, Ms. Schiffman's photos evoke a soothing, homey sentiment. The apartments she documents are unfussy and far from luxurious, but are full of character and are strongly loved homes in their own sense.
You can find her images on Instagram.
And through the years, EVG has been pleased to publish her work and interviews. You can access the archives here.
Susan is also part of a group show at Galerie Shibumi, 13 Market St., near East Broadway, through Oct. 20.
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