Saturday, February 29, 2020

6 posts from February



A mini month in review...

• Special news report from 1967: "Hippies change scene in East Village" (Feb. 26)

• NYPD's body-cam footage shows the deadly police shooting on Avenue A and 7th Street from Jan. 9 (Feb. 21)

• A Visit to Odessa Restaurant (Feb. 20)

• For now, both entrances to the 1st Avenue L-train station are located at Avenue A (Feb. 15)

• FDNY battling 3-alarm fire on the southeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 7th Street (Feb. 10)

• Ray returns! (Feb. 8)

Ranger Rob comes to the rescue after Christo gets stuck between buildings on 7th Street


[Photo by Drew Heffron]

Last night, residents on Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C noticed that a hawk was trapped in the airshaft between buildings on the block.


[Photo by Drew Heffron]

After a few emails that included Goggla, it was determined that this was Christo, the male resident red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park. Christo was likely chasing a pigeon when he found himself unable to get back out. (His wingspan made it impossible to navigate the tight quarters.)


[Photo via @younglr]

After a few rescue attempts, one of the building's vigilant residents was able to track down Ranger Rob (aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor). Turns out that Ranger Rob, who is also a musician, was performing at Caravan of Dreams on Sixth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Ranger Rob arrived and had to figure out the best way to get to Christo (he also shared the photos below) ...



"It was a bit scary climbing into that space between the buildings," he told me. "Luckily someone let me in the basement and I climbed through a window."



And soon, Ranger Rob emerged with Christo...











"Christo was fierce, strong and had no signs of injury or sickness," said Ranger Rob, who brought Christo back to Tompkins Square Park. (Before releasing Christo, he spoke by phone with Bobby Horvath of the Long Island-based WINORR, the Wildlife In Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation, who helped him determine if the hawk was OK.)

Meanwhile, this morning, Steven saw Christo and Amelia — they are both doing well as mating season continues... these three photos are by Steven...






At the opening night group show at JUICE gallery on St. Mark's Place



Thursday night marked the first group show at JUICE, a new gallery space at 8 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

JUICE, described as a "non-profit gallery dedicated to long-term community building in the instant age," was started by brothers Brendan McElroy and Daniel McElroy ...


[Brendan McElroy]


[Daniel McElroy and Brendan]

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there for part of the opening, and shares these photos from the space ...









The group show features pieces by Lucien Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Harif Guzman, Jim (The Mosaic Man) Power, Maggie Lee, Perry Khalil and Eric Smith.


[Maggie Lee]









JUICE is open today from noon to 5 p.m.

Friday, February 28, 2020

The 'Price' is right



The Brooklyn-based band Store Front has a new EP out now... the video above is for the debut single, "Rip the Price Off."

Here's the completed mural of Kobe and Gianna Bryant on the Lower East Side



After a week, Mark Paul Deren, aka Madsteez, has finished his tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant outside the complex that houses Sun Yat Sen Middle School and Emma Lazarus High School on Hester and Eldridge...



East Village Walls curates this space, and the students here reportedly voted on who they wanted a mural of outside their school.

The mural is based of a photo by Atiba Jefferson.


Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed alongside seven other people on Jan. 26 when the helicopter they were in crashed in California.

Today in ads for Zipcar on Astor Place



A reader shared the above photo from Astor Place this morning... showing a car under what's meant to be a mound of snow (remember when it used to snow here in the winter?)

Here's a closer look at what turns out to be an ad for Zipcar... here are photos via EVG Zipcar Ad Correspondent Steven ... showing some details on the snowbank...









Noticeably missing — a design by one of the many Penistrators ...

Zadie's Oyster Room has closed



Zadie's Oyster Room closed last evening after nearly four years in service.

The wine bar-restaurant at 413 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue drew inspiration from NYC's oyster houses from the late 19th century.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by Zadie's last night. Chef-owner Marco Canora, who also runs the nearby Hearth (opened 2003) and Brodo, said that he had no choice but to close the doors ... and expressed regret that a place like Zadie's couldn't draw bigger crowds on a consistent basis with its reasonably priced menu and neighborhood-y crowd. (We heard rumors earlier in the month that Zadie's was closing after the departure of Chef Mike Campanile.)


[Canora]

Zadie's opened in June 2016. He was previously involved with the wine bars Terroir and Fifty Paces at the address.

Now, though Canora says that he doesn't haven't any plans to open a new venture here, and is giving up the space.

Stacie reports that the crowd last evening was festive, with Zadie fans celebrating the space rather than mourning its departure...











Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to Zadie's Oyster Room on 12th Street

Stargirl 2020



You've likely seen these flexing, amorphous figures around on various buildings, construction sites, sidewalk cellar doors and at least two USPS trucks in recent weeks.

Here's just a sampling from the past week-plus...





People recall first seeing these in early to mid January...









The figures are growing in popularity, at least among a few Instagram users who have referred to the character as Super Girl (or Supergirl) and Power Puff Girl. We don't know who the identity of the artist, but the person calls these figures Stargirl.



The spray-painted drawings are pretty consistent — a smile, flexing arms and a star on the belly. Sometimes she is alone. Other times in packs. She has been spotted on the Lower East Side. We've had a sighting via a reader on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. We haven't spotted many, if any, east of Avenue B...



Once she did the splits...



Several times the name Gwen appeared nearby...



























The photos of these on Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place are from late January. They've been painted over.





But there will be many more, no doubt.