Photo by Jose Garcia
Dirt Cobain and Outersource refreshed their U Get Me So High mural on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue today... the mural first arrived here in January 2018.
Sunday, June 8, 2025
A free music showcase at Baker Falls on Monday night
On the bill from 7-10 p.m.: local artists lovetempo, The Jack Moves and Rebounder. (Check out Rebounder's new video, filmed partly on Canal Street, here.)
DJ Alisa Ali, who curates "NY Slice" weekdays at noon on 90.7 FM, is the host.
The "NY Slice" showcase is free with an RSVP via Eventbrite.
Aside from seeing some local acts, it's a chance to check out Baker Falls, the venue that relocated to 192 Allen St. between Stanton and Rivington and opened earlier this year.
Week in Grieview
• City issues RFP for affordable housing development on 5th Street (Monday)
• The hidden charms of a soon-to-sell loft building and the former home of Sixth Street Specials (Thursday)
• Cleanup planned for E-bike hub on 11th Street following spike in complaints (Tuesday)
• The Astor Place Greenmarket will not be returning (Wednesday)
• EV Rite Aid remains open for now (Wednesday)
• A band to know: Bec Lauder & the Noise (Friday)
• Talking Heads celebrate 50 years with 'Killer' new video (Thursday)
• The history of 2 East Village backhouses (Tuesday)
• Off the wall: Longtime 'Alphabet City' mural erased (Wednesday)
• New broker for Avenue A storefront that has been vacant for nearly 11 years (Tuesday)
• Signage alert: Eim Khao Mun Kai on 2nd Avenue (Monday)
• Macy's Fireworks returning to the East Side, rightful home of all things spectacular (Thursday)
• The hollyhocks on the former St Emeric's property (Wednesday)
• Sweep the leg, Johnny! Take in a screening of 'The Karate Kid' at First Park (Sunday)
• 88 Coffee debuts at the Bowery Market (Monday)
• Openings: Lil Sweet Treat on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)
• Openings and closing on these 2 blocks of 1st Avenue (Monday)
And get the Week in Grieview emailed to you every Sunday by signing up (for free) here.
For some reason there is now a weekly EV Grieve newsletter
Back during Substack's heyday in 2020, we actually created an account… but we didn't do much more than that.
Anyway, you can now sign up for a free weekly EVG newsletter here. For now, it's just a rundown with all the links and headlines from the past week. (Basically, it's the same thing as the Week in Grieview feature, but emailed straight to you.)
We may eventually add a few (free) extras, and there are plenty of bells and whistles we could explore once we gain a better understanding of the platform.
On that note — yes, we know there were a few gaffes in the first edition. We're working on it. Speaking of gaffes, there are TWO EVG accounts. Use EV Grieve's Newsletter. (We will deactivate the other one after exporting the email subscriptions.)
Hopefully, it'll be a convenient way to keep up with EVG. Thanks, as always, for reading.
Today (Sunday!) in Tompkins Square Park: WastexFest 5
• Blackout Shoppers — 2-2:25
• Complete Fucker — 2:35-3
• Angry Corpses — 3:10-3:40
• YDI — 3:50-4:20
• Urban Waste — 4:30-5:10
• Fang — 5:20-6
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Join author Ada Calhoun for an East Village AMA this afternoon
Perhaps you can ask her about one of her books, including "St. Marks Is Dead" or her recently released (from February) first novel, "Crush."
Find the AMA link here.
Saturday's opening shot
As for the weather, overcast and muggy, with showers and scattered thunderstorms this morning into the afternoon.
As for the Belmont Stakes (at Saratoga again this year), the track is expected to be wet, perhaps even sloppy. Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Preakness Stakes victor Journalism meet again. Five weeks ago at Churchill Downs, Sovereignty edged out Journalism on a rain-soaked track in the Run for the Roses, as we cut-n-paste from elsewhere.
Friday, June 6, 2025
A band to know: Bec Lauder & the Noise
Last week, Bec Lauder & The Noise, a band said to be born in the East Village, released "Give It." The song — a rhythmic, retro-tinged pop track with a subtle funk groove — is the first single from their debut album, The Vessel, out Aug. 22.
As you'll see, the video was filmed on Astor Place, as well as along Third and Fourth avenues, and features dancers for the Brooklyn Nets.
On May 11, during the first 2025 Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park, we had a chance to see the band, featuring Bec Lauder (vocals/guitar/bass), Maggie Bishop (drums/vocals), and Soph Shreds (guitar/bass).
Tompkins Square Park hawklet watch continues
Mark Hado shared these photos this week, with the top taken via an iPhone through 16 power binoculars.
As hawk documentarian Goggla noted in her last post, the offspring "suddenly go from little fuzz balls to serious-looking raptors."
See below!
Meanwhile, the fledge watch continues. As always, check out Goggla's site for updates.
Friday's opening shot
We happened to walk by this morning and saw it ourselves... pretty damn green still — like, Jan. 2 green.
Just a little longer in the bag and it'll be fully toasted...
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Thursday's parting shot
Photo by Roger Bultot
The damaged Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtémoc has been docked at Pier 36 since its fatal collision with the Brooklyn Bridge on May 17.
Early tomorrow morning, the New York City Emergency Management Department will coordinate a multi-agency operation to tow the ship from Pier 36 to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs.
Per the media advisory:
This will be a tightly coordinated marine movement involving the United States Coast Guard, NYPD Harbor, NYC Mayor's Office of International Affairs, NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Ferry, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Government of Mexico, and private ferry and salvage partners.
The East River will be closed between the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan Bridge from 6:45-8 a.m. Ferry service will be disrupted during this time, officials said.
Two Mexican Navy cadets, América Sánchez, 20, and Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, 23, died, and 19 others were injured when the Cuauhtémoc struck the Brooklyn Bridge; 277 people were aboard at the time.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Talking Heads celebrate 50 years with 'Killer' new video
Last night, the band provided fans with a sneak peek of the clip from 195 Chrystie St. on the Lower East Side, a loft building that David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison lived in during the mid-1970s.
The new video, directed by filmmaker (and Cooper Union grad) Mike Mills, stars Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan.
Per Variety:
The video covers 13 days in the very repetitive life of a woman waking up and going to an unspecified job, where she experiences a range of emotions from indifference to sorrow to rage to, finally, a kind of peace — all of these moods going more or less unregistered by the other humans she interacts with.
On June 5, 1975, Talking Heads made their debut, opening for the Ramones at CBGB. We heard it was a pretty good show.
"Psycho Killer" appeared on the band's first record, Talking Heads: 77.
Today in photos of the sky
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory until 11 tonight as ground-level ozone may approach or exceed unhealthy standards for a second straight day.
The haze is also attributed to smoke from the Canadian wildfires, according to published reports.
The hidden charms of a soon-to-sell loft building and the former home of Sixth Street Specials
Photos and reoorting by Stacie Joy
Top photo from March
Last week, Sixth Street Specials moved out of its home of 39 years at 703 E. Sixth St.
The move to New Rochelle marks a new era for the business — as well as the four-story building between Avenue C and Avenue D.
The building had been on the sales market, and as of May 14 (see below), it is now under contract with a yet-to-be-named buyer. The ask had been more than $4 million.
Hugh Mackie, the owner of the motorcycle repair shop who also lived above with his family, decided to retire. He and his family relocated. (Mackie said previously that the current "landlord's been 100% cool with me.")
I was given access to the now-empty building — every floor except the third, where the door remained stubbornly locked despite my best efforts with the key.
Each floor features a loft, and they are massive.
What I saw was enough to stir both curiosity and a bit of envy.
According to Village Preservation, tax records show that a house was built at this location around 1855, replacing the shop and stables that had formerly occupied the lot.
Here's more:
The 1858 tax record describes the structure as four stories tall. The 1856 map labels this building as 'Piano Action Factory.' Although no permits were found prior to 1965, the current front facade likely dates to 1920-30s. In 1965 the building was altered by having its dumbwaiters, doors and bulkhead removed.
Vintage touches abound here. A double Fox Police Lock is still intact — a relic of security craftsmanship that's both rare and beautiful. Con Edison panels from another era line the wall alongside weathered AFA automatic fire alarms that haven't beeped in years.
We also spotted a lone piano in one of the spaces... 
At the top of the building, a half-door leads to the roof — watch your head! Even your intrepid, height-challenged reporter had to duck. 
But the climb (and duck) is worth it: a sprawling rooftop mural stretches across the surface, a splash of color crowning the building like a secret. (The KTM crew created the mural.)
You can't help but sigh at the potential. The place is under contract now, but for a few moments, it was ours to imagine.
Macy’s Fireworks returning to the East Side, home of all things spectacular
Image via Macy's
ICYMI: After a year abroad, the Macy's July 4th fireworks are returning to the East River.
According to a city press release, the 49th edition of the fireworks will launch from the Brooklyn Bridge and four surrounding barges in the East River at the South Street Seaport.
And if you want to get close to the live-viewing action:
Additional details on public viewing locations, live broadcast details, and a city-sponsored lottery for free public viewing tickets will be announced in the coming weeks.
With the East 10th Street pedestrian bridge closed and Greenway access limited up to Stuyvesant Cove, we're curious how congested the remaining open sections of East River Park might get during the fireworks.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Off the wall: Longtime 'Alphabet City' mural erased
A reader reports that on Monday, an anti-graffiti crew power-washed the artwork from the one-story RCN Cable building — a windowless structure as mysterious as it is nondescript.
The creative mural of the alphabet letters was created by Brooklyn-based artists The Yok and Sheryo, who were then working for the Jersey City-based arts group Green Villain.
It arrived in late 2014 (and with some controversy).
Someone tagged the mural in August 2022 (it took eight years)... and it got worse from then on.
Here in better days, via Carpe City...
The hollyhocks on the former St Emeric property
Said the reader of these hollyhocks: "In case anyone needs a spot of beauty."
Meanwhile, it has been a year since Spatial Equity and Community Access, a nonprofit developer, reportedly signed a deal with the Archdiocese of New York to pay between $58 million and $68 million to build a 570-unit multifamily property featuring all affordable housing at 181 Avenue D.
We haven't heard anything else about this. DOB permits from March show a pending demoliton for "a two-story commercial building." (Not sure what this refers to on the lot — the school?)
And does anyone know if someone is maintaining those greenhouses on the property?
Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] The East Village Rite Aid does NOT close today on 1st Avenue
Updated 6/5: Despite the layoff notices to the State of New York effective yesterday and an array of media reports listing June 4 as a closing date, the East Village Rite Aid remains open on First Avenue. An employee had no idea when they might close and hadn't been updated on its status. She said she'd be there until they told her the store was closed for good.
------
According to WARN notices filed with the New York State Department of Labor, 15 employees are losing their jobs at the East Village location effective today. (All state layoff notices for the remaining Rite Aids are dated June 4.)
"Your prescriptions will be transferred to a chain pharmacy nearby, probably either CVS or Duane Reade, whichever company buys the prescriptions from us," a store employee told us last month.
Crain's, who first noted the June 4 closing date, reported that the leases for the 33 metropolitan Rite Aids are heading to auction via a New Jersey bankruptcy court. Interested bidders may register with A&G Real Estate Partners. (Updated: Spectrum News also reported the June 4 closure
The EV Rite Aid was reportedly leasing the space for upwards of $50,000 per month.
Strauss News did some digging on the single-level building's ownership here on the SW corner of First Avenue at Fifth Street:
The 1920s-era East Village building has been owned by the New Tandem Equities since 2007, city property records reveal, when it was sold to them for $4.2 million by an LLC under developer Anthony Marano's control. Marano, in turn, had bought the building from grocery store mogul (Gristedes and D’Agostino's) and radio station owner (WABC 770 AM) John Catsimatidis in 2005.
Again, the auction is for the leases, not the properties. The EV lease is reportedly set to expire in 2032.
The shelves at the First Avenue Rite Aid have been mostly barren for over a year, although this store managed to survive the previous company turmoil.
EVG readers praised the efficient pharmacy staff at the EV Rite Aid. Per one commenter last month: "Their pharmacists were always extremely helpful, and the customer service was excellent!"
The Astor Place Greenmarket will not be returning
Photo from 2020 by Steven
The Tuesday Astor Place Greenmarket won't be coming back for a fifth season.
This market is now marked "permanently closed" on the GrowNYC website. (H/T Steven.)
A GrowNYC spokesperson confirmed the closure, citing reduced foot traffic since the pandemic.
The market, situated on the south plaza adjacent to the cube, debuted in August 2020. Since then, it has run from June through November on Tuesdays, typically hosting four to five vendors each week.
As the GrowNYC rep pointed out, the East Village community can still support local farmers year-round, five days a week at the Tompkins Square Greenmarket on Sundays and the Union Square Greenmarket on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Openings: Lil Sweet Treat on 2nd Avenue
Photos by William Klayer
The Lil Sweet Treat outpost is now open — as of May 31 — at 150 Second Ave. between Ninth Street. (We had the scoop on this arrival here.)
The shop features a variety of pick-and-mix candy sourced from around the world ($21.50 per pound), including Dizzy Bubblegum Skull Bubs from Sweden.
The brand opened its first shop last fall in the West Village... and is also expanding with a new storefront in Boston and one in Philadelphia next week.
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
From around the blogosphere: The history of 2 East Village backhouses
Check out more about these buildings hidden from the sidewalk between 12th Street and 13th Street (Avenue A and First Avenue) at this link.
Cleanup planned for E-bike hub on 11th Street following spike in complaints
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Signage recently went along 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, announcing a scheduled cleanup of the heavily trafficked e-bike, moped and bicycle area.
The effort — slated to begin today — is a joint initiative by the 9th Precinct and the Department of Sanitation, prompted by a surge in community complaints.
The block is a popular spot for e-bike delivery workers to gather as they wait to fulfill deliveries, in part given the proximity of the under-renovation Madina Masjid Islamic Council of America, one of the city's most prominent mosques, founded in 1976.
The signs, posted in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Wolof, notify residents and delivery workers that any bikes not moved by the cleanup date (the deadline was yesterday) will be removed and impounded.
According to residents and local officials, complaints about congestion, noise, and sanitation issues tied to the unofficial parking and staging area have intensified in recent months. The issue has become a recurring topic at neighborhood council meetings at the 9th Precinct.
Police say this is part of a broader effort to address quality-of-life issues while balancing the needs of workers and residents.
While some in the community have voiced frustration, many delivery workers — aka deliveristas — say they've taken steps to keep the area clean.
Several riders on the block pointed out trash bags and brooms they've been using to manage the space themselves.
They also spoke to me, stating they need security here because they say their methods of transportation for making a living are often stolen. Despite using GPS and tracking devices, they claim police are not willing to help them track down their bikes.
In past years, the Madina Masjid mosque has drawn criticism from local residents and business owners due to "cabbies filling metered spaces and parking in front of fire hydrants, in truck loading zones and in bus lanes" to attend prayer services, according to published reports.
Parking for prayer services has been an issue since the religious institution opened, per DNAinfo in 2013. What was once a battle over car congestion has shifted gears — now, it's all about the bikes for some residents.
Updated
Late yesterday afternoon, EVG reader Choresh Wald shared this photo, noting that the city added a sidewalk extension on the SE corner of First Avenue and 11th Street. The perpetual food truck here even relocated to the SW corner of First Avenue and 11th Street...
... but it had returned within an hour...
We haven't received any updates about an extension here... we'll see if we can get clarification on what's happening.
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