Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with an art-and-perp walk on 2nd Avenue via Derek Berg)

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• Residents question city's plan to shift shelter intake to the East Village (April 14) 

• SantaCon president arrested; prosecutors allege misuse of funds (April 15) 

• Phil Hartman on "No Picnic" and capturing a vanishing East Village in the 1980s (April 13) … A "No Picnic" pizza party at Two Boots (April 18) 

• Don't Disturb This Groove: We made a 13-hour Key Food playlist on Spotify (April 15) … Avenue A's Key Food 1980s playlist, explained (sort of) (April 16) 

• For-lease sign arrives at longtime home of Two Boots Pizza on Avenue A — surprising owner, staff (April 17) 

• Ugh, Uggs: Pop-up "newsstand" and a no-photos moment during a photoshoot on Avenue A (April 17) 

• Small-dog run in Tompkins Square Park briefly closed over tree safety concerns (April 15) 

• The end of "Liberty" on 9th and A? (April 17) 

• An a-peel-ing exhibit at Ninth Street Espresso (on 10th Street) (April 18)

• Openings: Whits brings the sliders to St. Mark's Place (April 16) 

• Singapore Social is opening in the former Foul Witch space on Avenue A (April 16) 

• Signed, sealed… not delivered? Warning posted on Avenue B mailbox (April 17) 

• Wall prep on 6th and C (April 12) 

• First sign of Pizza PST on St. Mark's Place (April 16) 

• Closures: Cosmic Cat Cafe on 2nd Street (April 14) 

• Openings: Sweeties Candy NYC on 1st Avenue (April 15) 

• Signage alert: Nuts Factory on 3rd Avenue (April 14) … Fifth Square on 5th Street (April 13) … House of Shawarma on 2nd Avenue (April 13) … Conall’s Public House on 1st Avenue (April 13) 

... ICYMI: The latest mural outside the Second Avenue F stop... art by Sonni... (photo by Stacie Joy)...

Report: SantaCon fraud charges met with a collective 'shocking, said no one'

From 2024: A neon "Fuck Off" Santa at Joyface on Avenue C 

Photo by Stacie Joy 

The indictment of SantaCon president Stefan Pildes on fraud charges this past week hasn't exactly sparked an outpouring of sympathy across New York, including EVG commenters. 

As The Guardian reports, the response from many New Yorkers — particularly in neighborhoods like the East Village that have long been dealing with the annual bar crawl — has been more eye-roll than outrage.

Prosecutors allege that Pildes, a New Jersey resident, diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars raised under the event's charitable banner for personal use. The organizer has pleaded not guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. 

Pildes is out on a $300,000 bond. Among the conditions of his release — "no involvement … in the promotion or organizing of the event called SantaCon."

Still, for critics of SantaCon, the charges seem to confirm long-held skepticism about an event often associated more with public disorder than philanthropy. 

Some bar owners, residents and elected officials told The Guardian the news landed less as a shock and more as validation of concerns they've voiced for years. 

Here's Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal: 

I'm not surprised about the charges, but I am surprised that it took so long for someone, for a prosecutor, to look under the hood of this organization.

I've been working to try to get SantaCon to follow a set of community guidelines since 2013, and when we first began that effort, they wouldn’t even disclose who was their president or CEO. They called him 'Santa’s Elf,' and he remained anonymous. 

That gives you some indication as to the level of opaqueness and, frankly, just disregard and contempt that the organizers have had for the community since this nonsense first kicked off.

The FBI also released a bulletin saying they are "seeking victim information in SantaCon investigation." 

Per the bulletin: 

The FBI's New York Division is seeking to identify potential victims of Stefan Pildes, who organized and operated the annual SantaCon event in New York City, from at least 2019 to present. Pildes was recently charged with wire fraud. The FBI believes Pildes primarily targeted SantaCon attendees who purchased tickets to the event, as well as bars that participated in the event, between the timeframe of October 2019 to present. 

Find more info here.

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

We ran into local residents Dave Sussman and Annamaria Pinna today on Ninth Street ... check out their band Vajra...

A 'No Picnic' pizza party at Two Boots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Two Boots on Avenue A hosted a "No Picnic" after-party last night following the film's opening screening at the Film Forum.

Phil Hartman's black-and-white 1986 feature — a time capsule of an in-progress gentrifying East Village — is now back in circulation in a new restoration. 

The gathering at Two Boots brought the film's past and present a little closer together, with friends, collaborators and neighborhood regulars filling the longtime pizzeria. 

Hartman went on to co-found Two Boots not long after completing the film — tying the project and the space together in a way that still resonates nearly 40 years later.

There were one-night-only slices created in honor of "No Picnic," including Stripe, Annie and Dead Pimp (played in a cameo by Steve Buscemi)...

Also getting an honorary slice for the night was longtime East Village resident Greg Masters, here with Odetta Hartman...

In "No Picnic," Masters plays "The Walker," who you will see crossing the screen several times. (As for the Walker slice — sopresatta and sweet Italian sausage on a white pie.) 

Masters had another important role in the film: The protagonist Mac's apartment was filmed in his longtime EV home, which he told us doesn't look that much different 40 years later.

Throughout the night, many members of the cast and crew stopped by, including Luis Guzman and Anne D'Agnillo. 

Here's Hartman with the musicians, Daso and Carlos Acevedo...

Also on-hand: Joseph "Count Slima" Williams, an East Village poet, artist and longtime Two Boots staffer. (He also helped build the original Two Boots outpost on Avenue A.) 

Slima's work is featured in "No Picnic" ... you can also spot his art at Sophie's on Fifth Street.

"No Picnic" continues at the Film Forum on West Houston Street. Film info here. 

And the trailer to refresh your memory...

   

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Phil Hartman on 'No Picnic' and capturing a vanishing East Village in the 1980s

An a-peel-ing exhibit at Ninth Street Espresso (on 10th Street)

The 10th Street outpost of Ninth Street is now featuring a series of potato paintings by East Village-based artist and illustrator Peter Arkle. 

As you may have guessed, Arkle is a potato fan. 

Per a show description: 

Sometimes, when shopping for them, he’s struck by the character or charm of a particular potato and decides to make it a model for a painting. Over the years, this has happened many times; he has painted over 60 potato portraits.

The work will remain up through May 8 here at 341 E. 10th St. at Avenue B...

Meanwhile, we'll lobby for a sequel featuring other potato varieties, including fries, chips, pancakes and hash browns...

Saturday's opening shot

Another fine spring morning view from Tompkins Square Park... where it actually feels like spring and not, say, late July. 

Get your Vitamin D production assist while you can... as the April showers arrive tomorrow, along with temps in the 50s.

Friday's parting shot

Thanks to EVG reader MJB for this photo today in Tompkins Square Park...

New from Lukka: 'Tombol'

 

Local psych-pop trio Lukka, led by East Village-based singer-songwriter Franzi Szymkowiak, has a new single out... check out the video above for "Tombol," featuring her bandmates Ashley Gonzalez on bass and Simon Fishburn on drums. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Heady psychedelia: A conversation with East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak of Lukka

Ugh, Uggs: Pop-up ‘newsstand’ and a no-photos moment during a photoshoot on Avenue A

Top photo by Stacie Joy 

A production crew set up a prop newsstand this afternoon on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A — one of the busier corridors in the East Village, at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park. 

The setup drew plenty of attention from passersby, given the steady foot traffic through the intersection.

Per a crew member: "It's a prop — the newsstand isn't real [Editor's note: Duh] and will be taken down the minute this shoot ends … soon. It's a commercial shoot for Uggs. You know, Uggs? You can see the models wearing them." 

Less clear: the reaction to people doing what people do on a crowded corner on a nice spring day — stopping to look and take photos. 

When we snapped a few pictures, someone from the production scolded: "Miss! You can't take pictures! Put down your camera! You are not allowed to photograph this." Another crew member offered to "call the cops to take her camera." 

For a temporary set planted in plain view at a high-traffic intersection, the no-photos stance seemed… ambitious.

[UPDATED] For-lease sign arrives at longtime home of Two Boots Pizza on Avenue A — surprising owner, staff

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

For-lease signs went up today outside Two Boots Pizza on Avenue A and Third Street — catching owner Phil Hartman and staff by surprise.

Hartman said they did not see the sign being installed. 

The timing is less than ideal: Hartman is hosting a private after-party at the pizzeria tonight tied to long-awaited screenings of his 1986 film "No Picnic" opening at the Film Forum.

As previously reported, the longtime home of Two Boots — at 42 Avenue A — was recently listed for rent for the first time in decades amid ongoing lease negotiations. 

Hartman has said he's "cautiously optimistic" about staying in the space, though the listing — and now the arrival of signage — adds a new layer of urgency to the situation. 

Two Boots has been on Avenue A since the 1980s. Hartman previously told us he'd find a home elsewhere in the East Village if necessary. He has no plans to leave the neighborhood he loves. 

Whatever comes next, tonight belongs to Hartman.

Updated 4:18 p.m. 

A tipster told us the sign has been removed... and we confirmed.

While Hartman said he had a cordial relationship with the landlord, he was upset when he learned the for-lease banner had been put up without his knowledge. 

"I will get them to take it down," he told us.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Two Boots' longtime Avenue A home listed for the first time in 30 years as lease talks continue 

• Checking in with Phil Hartman on Two Boots' future on Avenue A — and the East Village

Signed, sealed… not delivered? Warning posted on Avenue B mailbox

Photos by Stacie Joy 

There's a notice taped to a USPS mailbox on Avenue B at Eighth Street. 

The sign reads in part: 

WARNING DO NOT MAIL YOUR TAXES HERE!!!!! Last night at 2:30 in the morning I saw a man fishing out mail from the mail box ... 

The person who posted the warning says they plan to report the incident to USPS. (In case you do, too: 212-673-3771.)

Someone also glued the box shut for good measure... ditto for another mailbox on Avenue B and Third Street.

And now an EVG PSA: Use common sense when mailing anything important — and consider bringing sensitive mail directly to a post office... especially your "10 records or tapes for $1" postcard to Columbia House.

The end of 'Liberty' on 9th and A?

Workers are painting the building on the SW corner of Ninth Street and Avenue A. 

Will they paint around the "Liberty" mural by the UK street artist STIK? (Suuure!)

The mural arrived in September 2013... a gift from the long-closed Dorian Grey Gallery on Ninth Street... the work was to honor the history of Tompkins Square Park. 

Also, what does the paint job mean for Chico's "Tombstone" mural outside Doc Holliday's? It is pretty nicked up... 

Updated: 

The crew packed it up by 4:30 with the north-facing wall left to do... or not to do?

Friday's opening shot

The spectacular spring now of Tompkins... before the 50s (temps, not era) arrive next week...

Thursday's opening and parting shots

Morning view along Seventh Street at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park... and early this evening on Houston and First Avenue...

Avenue A's Key Food 1980s playlist, explained (sort of)

Interview by Stacie Joy

EVG photo on loan from Fotomuseum Winterthur 

Following our post yesterday about the 1980s-heavy playlist at Key Food on Avenue A (and the introduction on the EVG Key Food Playlist on Spotify), an anonymous (and highly placed) Key source agreed to talk, with one caveat:

"This is some proprietary information that is highly sensitive and could be commercially very damaging should it be disclosed…"

With that, right to the Q&A. 

Who is the Key '80s music lover who selects the deep-cut hits? 

It's genuinely a mystery. There are a few options with this service, but we decided not to mess with a good thing. 

Are you paying for a service for these amazing music selections? You mentioned they used to be on CDs, but now it's a system, correct? 

It's a satellite radio service — there's a satellite on our roof. We used to get a new CD sent to the store once a month.

The Paso Muzak Series 3000 Integrated Professional Amplifier T3130BGM 

Do you ever veto a song choice? 

We do not and cannot interfere with the song selection process — it is sacred. 

Aside from the December holiday season, are there ever non-1980s (or early) hits at The Key? 

Why mess with a good thing? 

Do you/does the '80s music lover have a selection of favorite Key hits? 

Here is a non-exhaustive list: 

• "Waiting for a Star to Fall" — Boy Meets Girl 

• "Call Me" — Blondie 

• "Hold On Loosely" — 38 Special 

• "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" — Cutting Crew

• "Surrender" — Cheap Trick 

• "Rock the Casbah" — The Clash 

• And any Dire Straits song 

When did the 1980s playlist start in Key history? Was it the actual 1980s, and nothing ever changed? 

We took over the store in 1993, and that's when it became a Key Food, so it had to be after that. 

Do you get feedback from customers and/or staffers about the music selection?

Aside from EV Grieve, not frequently. [Editor's note: AHHAHAHAHA.] 

Do you ever turn a song up really loud and dance down the produce aisle singing along? 

Only when no one is watching. The volume is connected to the intercom, so it would blast the intercom announcements if we did. 

-----

So the source of the playlist remains unclear ... but the 1980s hits continue, uninterrupted.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Don't Disturb This Groove: We made a 13-hour Key Food playlist on Spotify

Singapore Social is opening in the former Foul Witch space on Avenue A

Photo yesterday by Stacie Joy

Singapore Social, a Southeast Asian restaurant from the Singapore-based team behind Roberta's Pizza expansion in Asia and Europe, is coming to 15 Avenue A between Houston and Second Street. 

Signage arrived this week. 

Per the job-opening post, the concept will focus on dishes rooted in Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian cooking, including Hainanese chicken rice, nasi lemak, and laksa. 

The food will be "served in a vibrant, social, neighborhood-driven space built for New York's young, curious, and culture-forward crowd," per the listing. 

The space was previously home to Roberta's spin-off Foul Witch, which closed after service on Nov. 30 after nearly three years. 

Roberta's co-founders, Brandon Hoy and chef Carlo Mirarchi, opened Foul Witch here in January 2023.

Openings: Whits brings the sliders to St. Mark's Place

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Whits had its grand opening last week at 34 St. Mark's Place between Second and Third Avenues. 

The quick-serve venture is the work of Larry Kramer (above), who also operates Whitmans on Ninth Street (plus Hudson Yards) and Cello's Pizzeria next door here on SMP.

On the menu: sliders, hot dogs, fries and onion rings — hitting most of the core food groups. (Even more once the beer license comes through. Also, no vegan-veggie options yet, but those are in the works.)

When we stopped by, two couples dining here were quite enthusiastic about their meals...

Hours: Closed Monday; 4–11 p.m. Tuesday–Wednesday; noon–midnight Thursday; noon–2 a.m. Friday–Saturday; noon–11 p.m. Sunday.

First sign of Pizza PST on St. Mark's Place

There's a new-look storefront at 123 St. Mark's Place. 

In recent days, workers have added a black-and-white awning... along with a Pizza PST sign. 

As previously reported, the Moody Tongue space here between Avenue A and First Avenue will soon be serving Pizza Studio Tamaki's pies, an acclaimed Tokyo-based pizzeria led by Tsubasa Tamaki. 

The owners of Moody Tongue Pizza, Jeremy Cohn and Jared Rouben, are still the tenants and operating partners of this Pizza Studio Tamaki location. 

In February, the team hosted a pop-up, which marked Pizza Studio Tamaki's first appearance in the United States. Tamaki dough is fermented for roughly 30 hours, made with a proprietary blend of Japanese and American flours, then baked at high temperatures in a custom oven. (Pete Wells had a long read on Tamaki at the Times here.) 

Moody Tongue opened here in late 2024, billed as serving NYC's first Tokyo-Neapolitan pizzeria. 

You can follow the Pizza PST Instagram account for opening updates.

H/T Steven!

Wednesday's parting shot

Harold from Stuyvesant Street shared this view of the wisteria today outside 35 Stuyvesant St. at 10th Street...

[Updated] SantaCon president arrested; prosecutors allege misuse of funds

Photo from 20924 by Stacie Joy 

See update below.

First posted on 4/15

------

Is this the "con" in SantaCon? 

The president of SantaCon was arrested today on federal charges accusing him of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for charity to personal expenses, according to CNBC. 

Prosecutors allege that Stefan Pildes used funds from the ticketed holiday bar crawl, which claims to raise money for charity, for a range of purchases, including home renovations, luxury vacations, and a Manhattan apartment. 

According to the indictment, only a small portion of the roughly $2.7 million raised through SantaCon was donated to charity.

A Gothamist analysis from 2023 found that "the organization raised $1.4 million through SantaCon programming from late 2014 through the end of 2022, and that less than a fifth of that money has gone to registered nonprofits." 

Updated 4/17 

The FBI released a bulletin saying they are "seeking victim information in SantaCon investigation." 

Per the bulletin: 

The FBI's New York Division is seeking to identify potential victims of Stefan Pildes, who organized and operated the annual SantaCon event in New York City, from at least 2019 to present. Pildes was recently charged with wire fraud. The FBI believes Pildes primarily targeted SantaCon attendees who purchased tickets to the event, as well as bars that participated in the event, between the timeframe of October 2019 to present. 

Find more info here.