A bit of preservation amid the East River Park demolition

Photo courtesy of Skyline Restoration via LESPI 

Here's a little positive news amid the gutting of East River Park. 

In its recent newsletter, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (LESPI) reported that the historic terra cotta ornament from the East River Park Track House is being salvaged. 

The Track House, built in 1939 near the Sixth Street overpass entrance, is part of the northern section of East River Park that closed to the public on Sept. 8 as work on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project continued. 

While the building itself will not be preserved — even after LESPI succeeded in having it designated as eligible for the State/National Register of Historic Places — the City agreed to retain its distinctive ornamentation, which was designed specifically for the park.

To make that possible, LESPI partnered with NYC Parks and Skyline Restoration. This company volunteered to remove, store, and eventually reinstall the terra cotta blocks in the new Track House, expected to open in early 2027.

LESPI says they'll provide updates as the work continues. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• East River Park north of Houston Street now closed until the end of 2026

Law enforcement targets Green Line on Avenue B; tickets issued, shop sealed

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Yesterday afternoon, the Sheriff's Department and NYPD carried out what an officer on the scene called a "smoke shop op" at Green Line at 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street. 

I watched as authorities hauled away eight trash bags of tagged and labeled material, plus one oversized milk crate. According to the Sheriff's office, the seizure included flower, prerolls, carts, edibles — along with cigarettes, flavored vapes and other tobacco products.

A stack of tickets was issued during the operation, but no arrests were made. 

The shop's two employees on duty at the time said they were relieved not to be charged, although both worried about their future work prospects here since the authorities had sealed the storefront.

This isn't Green Line's first run-in with enforcement. Back in April, the unlicensed shop was also targeted in a similar sweep.

PayOMatic checks out of Houston Street — and elsewhere

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The PayOMatic outpost at 303 E. Houston St., between Clinton and Attorney, recently shuttered, part of a company-wide closure for the brand. There were also LES outposts on Essex and Pitt. 

The New York Department of Financial Services has suspended the company's licenses, per a notice. 

The company, founded in 1958, was NYC's largest provider of check cashing and alternative financial services.

Per the door signage:

To our valued customers, 

We regret to inform you that, after more than 50 years of service to your communities, all Pay-O-Matic check cashing store locations are closed as of September 12, 2025. Additionally, the Pay-O-Matic Bill Payment Network and Pay-O-Matic bill payment services are no longer available either at our branch locations or participating agent locations in New York and New Jersey. 

Even if you had a bank for check cashing and money transfers, this PayOMatic had a Coinstar coin-counting machine — a nice convenience in the neighborhood. The only other one we can think of is inside the D'Agostino on First Avenue and 20th Street.

For 1 night, DIY art show took over a vacant 2nd Avenue space

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

A one-night, DIY group show that took place over the weekend inside a vacant space on Second Avenue. 

The flyer instructions for the show warned: "DON'T STAND OUTSIDE." Inside, a woman shouted "NO LIGHTS" at anyone who tried to use a phone flashlight. 

In the back, though, the makeshift gallery opened up to reveal the "Bring Your Own Art" exhibition featuring a handful of young artists. 

Here's a look...

Most Holy Redeemer parishioners bring their petition to St. Patrick’s Cathedral

This past Saturday morning, members of Save Most Holy Redeemer Historic Church gathered outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown, holding a petition prayer and asking Cardinal Dolan to reopen their shuttered East Village church.

Most Holy Redeemer — founded in 1844 by the Redemptorist Fathers and completed in 1852 — has been closed to the public on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B since Sept. 1. Parishioners have been directed to St. Brigid on Avenue B. However, the church may still be used for the occasional special ceremony. 

In a letter delivered last week to Archbishop Dolan, parishioners requested that the church be reopened and that Mass be celebrated there at least twice a month, citing their rights under canon law. 

Advocates worry the closure could signal another parish merger and, eventually, redevelopment of the site. 

Village Preservation, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative and the East Village Community Coalition have also urged the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the historic church, an architectural anchor of the neighborhood's 19th-century Kleindeutschland community.

Find the petition about landmarking here. 

A group of residents and parishioners is hosting a prayer vigil outside the church on Friday evenings at 7 — a gathering they plan to continue weekly at this time. You can follow the Facebook group Save Most Holy Redeemer Historical Church here.

Photos: Jennifer Kellow Fiorini (top); Gladys Cortez-Feliciano (second)

 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• At what may be the final Mass at Most Holy Redeemer

• At the prayer vigil for Most Holy Redeemer 

• Push continues to landmark East Village's historic Most Holy Redeemer 

• Most Holy Redeemer to halt regular masses this fall amid uncertainty about its future

• Grassroots effort to preserve Most Holy Redeemer grows with weekly vigils

After 26-plus years, Bluestockings says goodbye on the Lower East Side

Photos (from yesterday)

and reporting by Stacie Joy

Bluestockings Cooperative announced that it will close as a business at the end of 2025, ending a 26-year run as an independent feminist bookstore, café and radical community space. 

In a statement, the worker-owners and staff said daily operations are no longer sustainable, citing health, financial and structural challenges. (Updated: Publishers Weekly has more details about the "clash" between the worker-stewards and the store's two owners.)

The store at 116 Suffolk St., between Rivington and Delancey, has closed its doors for business. Bluestockings will fulfill book orders and membership perks online through the end of the year and plans to use remaining funds to pay debts, vendors, and staff handling the transition.

Founded in 1999, Bluestockings has long served as a hub for marginalized communities on the Lower East Side. Bluestockings opened on Suffolk in 2021 after nearly 22 years on Allen Street.

Here's the full statement via the Bluestocking's website: 

The current, former worker-owners, and staff part of the sunsetting crew are gutted to be delivering this news. After 26+ years of serving marginalized communities as an independent feminist bookstore, event hub, and all-around radical community space, the daily operations are unfortunately no longer sustainable on multiple fronts. 

Your support and contributions have sustained the spirit of this radical bookstore for years. We cannot thank you enough for everything you've done for us, and this beautiful, messy, space! 

This closure was our absolute last resort. On top of our crew's ongoing struggle against the organized abandonment of New York City and constant crises, the remaining worker-owner and staff are at the limits of what they can manage in terms of health, disability, and finances. It would be unfair to the Bluestockings' community at large to keep the storefront open, as needed as radical spaces are, and be unprepared and unresourced for future crises, and abruptly shutter. It's time to sunset, transition on our terms, and envision new chapters. 

Here's what to expect: our doors are closed for business as of today, we plan to fulfill any book orders through the end of 2025, and we will also aim to send out any outstanding membership perks within this time. If you're a member, we will officially turn off memberships on December 15th, and absolutely understand if you'd like to cancel earlier. We will, unfortunately, not be able to host any programming or events that may have been scheduled after today, and we're deeply sorry for these abrupt cancellations. 

All remaining funds from the WithFriends membership platform, the GoFundMe, Venmo and elsewhere will be going directly towards settling the shop's considerable outstanding debts, paying out our many vendors, and wherever possible, compensating the crew handling our sunsetting process. 

For more responses to questions we anticipate y'all may have, see this link.

This decision comes after the shared failures of multiple cohorts to come to a consensus around the guiding principles and practices Bluestockings should embody to move forward as a worker-owned cooperative that serves as a radical bookstore, café, and community event space. We've made a lot of mistakes, but the lack of political and business-operations alignment on upholding the responsibilities of our space has directly led to many of the setbacks we've faced the last two years. Of course, $12,000 a month in rent, thousands in utilities, and racist, classist violence from "neighbors" certainly didn't make our work any easier. [Ed Note: This Curbed piece has more on the challenges with the landlord and neighbors.]

We hope to share more in the near future on what's next. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who's shared space with us. To everyone who came to Bluestockings and found a book that helped define their radical ethos, who came to an event to support collective liberation, who found love and community over what our world could be…the care we're taking to sunset this space, as best we know how, is because of your support over these 26+ years.

Monday's parting shot

Photo by Jose Garcia 

A moment today at the Tompkins Square Park pigeon dog run...

Remembering Yuji Umeki, owner of Search & Destroy and Kenka on St. Mark's Place

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

We were sorry to learn of the passing of Yuji Umeki, who for years anchored 25 St. Mark's Place with Search & Destroy and Kenka. He died unexpectedly earlier this month. 

There is a notice about his death on the front door of Kenka, the popular Izakaya-style restaurant on the lower level here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...

Kenka, which has served unconventional fare such as bull penis for 20+ years, was closed this past week, with signs stating it will reopen today.

Upstairs at Search & Destroy, the punk-vintage emporium that opened in 1992...

... staff didn't offer any details about the owner's passing. When asked if the store would remain open, an employee said, "We have to keep going." 

Instagram tributes describe him as "vibrant" and "a true punk rocker." He will be missed.

 

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Concern for the squirrels stranded in the East River Park construction zone

Reader-submitted photos 

The northern section of East River Park is now completely closed for gutting (as of Sept. 8), and nearly all of the trees have been cut down. Only a few remain, and they are expected to be removed within a few days.

A resident says that about 30 squirrels are gathered near those last trees, surrounded by dust and bare ground off the Sixth Street overpass. (The entrances at 10th Street and Houston are also closed.) 

With the grass dug up and the trees mostly gone, the animals are cut off from food and shelter, per the resident. The FDR's concrete dividers make it nearly impossible for them to cross safely into other areas.

The resident took a closer look at the squirrels, attempting to relocate them to greener areas... a more challenging task than anticipated.

Fearing the animals might not survive, the reader submitted a 311 service request to the Parks Department asking for the squirrels to be relocated. 

The agency quickly closed the request, saying the condition was "within acceptable parameters for park/city use." The response noted that Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) will accept injured or sick small animals if brought directly to their East 110th Street drop-off site. Otherwise, residents may seek help from a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator. 

The resident filed another 311 complaint, noting "Animal-Abuse — Other." This ticket was also quickly closed with the following reply: "The Police Department responded to the complaint and, with the information available, observed no evidence of the violation at that time."

The resident said of the squirrels, "Here they will soon be dead."

The "phased work operations" for the billion-dollar East Side Coastal Resiliency project in East River Park started in November 2021 within Project Area 1, located between Montgomery Street and 15th Street.

Workers have been covering the park with fill and cutting down hundreds of trees as part of the ESCR project. They are raising the land 8 to 10 feet above sea level to protect the area from future storm surges.

Signage alert: Shifka on the Bowery

The storefront at 324 Bowery, near Bleecker (next door to Think Coffee), has its windows papered with Shifka signage.

 "The One Stop Pita Shop" is from the team operating Sami & Susu, the Mediterranean-inspired wine bar on Orchard between Houston and Stanton. There, owners Amir Nathan and Jordan Anderson started offering various pitas, which became popular enough to open a spin-off space. 

Grub Street had this to say in its Fall Restaurant Preview...

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No. 324 was most recently an unlicensed smoke shop.

A new barber shop for Avenue A

Photo by Stacie Joy 

 

Coming soon signage for a barber shop along 58-72 Avenue A arrived this past Friday afternoon. 

There are currently five vacant spaces in this block-long residential building (aka Untitled) between Fourth Street. 

The storefront next to the corner liquor store has been vacant since the lottery shop closed before the pandemic. During renovations here in February 2023, workers uncovered ghost signage for a long-ago shop that sold carriages, strollers and toys. 

The barber shop joins Mast Books, March Gallery and the liquor store as the retail tenants of No. 58-72. 

A private-equity firm purchased the building from the longtime owners in an off-market deal in the fall of 2022.

Summer's parting shots

Last day of summer... and some scenes from Tompkins Square Park this past week...

A new in-ground pool is in the works for Tompkins, but no one knows when. Was this the last summer for the mini pool?

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg).

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• 'Samo' story: Real-life Al Diaz shut out of new Basquiat biopic (Tuesday, Sept.16) … About 'Samo Lives,' the Basquiat biopic now filming in the East Village (Monday, Sept. 15) 

• Magic and loss on St. Mark's Place: Invader's classic Lou Reed mosaic stolen (Tuesday, Sept. 16) … The Lou Reed Mosaic Bandit of St. Mark's returns (Friday, Sept. 19) 

• A look at the newly opened East River Park from the Corlears Hook pedestrian bridge (Monday, Sept. 15)

• Community gardens take center stage during 14th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival (Friday, Sept. 19) 

• Bunny's Dub Club brought old-school vibes to the East Village (Thursday, Sept. 18) 

• These are the set times for the CBGB Festival on Sept. 27 (Wednesday, Sept. 17) 

• Gloves on: Pitch in during Community Stewardship days underway at East River Park (Wednesday, Sept. 17) 

• Bands we like: Puzzled Panther — plus Crazy & the Brains and Nabihah Iqbal (Sunday, Sept. 14) 

• Once a garage, now a rising condoplex on 9th Street (Wednesday, Sept 17) 

• Key Food painting gets scooped up — by a member of the Key Food family (Friday, Sept. 19)

• The Marshal takes legal possession of Casa Bond on the Bowery (Thursday, Sept. 18) 

• Openings: H Art on 3rd Avenue (Thursday, Sept. 18) 

• Signage alert: M&M Bagels on 1st Avenue (Wednesday, Sept. 17) 

• Closings: Vivi Bubble Tea on 3rd Avenue (Monday, Sept. 15)

... and a lot of readers mentioned that The Best Damn Breakfast Burrito is expected to open this coming week at 345 E. 12th St. just west of First Avenue. (Follow the brand's Insta for updates.) We had the signage alert back in March.

Did you catch the fireworks last night?

The bursts started around 8:45 p.m., setting off plenty of questions (and alarms) as the sounds pierced the night air.

Turns out, according to Google Gemini, the display came from 74Wythe, the hospitality venue across the river in Williamsburg.

Still, jangly nerves being what they are these days, one EVG reader said the whole thing "sounded really creepy."

Thanks to the EVG reader for the pic.