Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Tuesday's parting shots
Green Line busted again on Avenue B — third time since April
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
This afternoon, around 2, officers from the NYPD and the Sheriff's Office — including members of the Criminal Investigation Division — arrived to "inspect" Green Line at 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.
This unlicensed smoke shop has been the subject of repeated enforcement visits — this was the third since April. (Here and here.) And Green Line always reopens.
According to the posted notices, officials seized cannabis flower, pre-rolls, vapes, flavored vapes, carts, THC edibles, untaxed/unlicensed cigarettes, and "other tobacco products."
The summons cites the sale of unlicensed and untested/not-lawfully labeled cannabis, along with the shop's proximity to a school, house of worship or youth facility.
One ticket was issued to a worker — an unusual step, as summonses typically go to the business owner — for the criminal sale of untaxed cigarettes.
"The cop was real mad and said I lied to him, and so he gave me a ticket," the worker told me. "I told him I don't have the [business] keys, and he made me empty my pockets and took the keys from me. He wrote me a ticket and I'mma fight it in court."
The same worker said he was present during at least one of the previous busts. When asked whether he'd be back if they reopened tomorrow, he said: "They may reopen, but I won't be there tomorrow. This same thing happened at the last few shops I worked at. It's not fair, I need to support and feed my family."
As for whether this closure will stick, one officer on the scene said, "We don't know, sometimes they open right back up again." Another added: "We'll be back if they do."
Noontime cloud check
EVG reader Cynthia Reynolds also shared these mackerel sky pics from Second Avenue and Seventh Street...
At the grand opening of Banshee
Photos and text by Stacie Joy
Banshee, the new Irish-leaning neighborhood bar at 143 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, opened this past Friday, drawing a nice-sized crowd for its first night.
This is the first establishment for Jen Murphy, who has lived and worked on the Lower East Side for the past 10 years.
Here's a look at the space, which draws its name from gothic Irish folklore. (Murphy is originally from Ireland.)
Murphy credits her business partner, Jason Corey (below), and the late Molly Fitch, co-owner of the International, with teaching her what it takes to run a neighborhood bar.
Read our previous post for more background.
Banshee is NOT open tonight (Tuesday) after the opening weekend. Back tomorrow!
Hours:
• Monday-Thursday: 4 p.m.-1 a.m.
• Friday: 4 p.m.-2 a.m.
• Saturday: noon-2 a.m.
• Sunday: Noon-midnight
You can find Banshee updates on Instagram.
The openings, reopenings and temp closures on one stretch of 1st Avenue
Photos by Steven
With Banshee now open at 143 First Ave., let's reset the storefront scene on the west side of the avenue between St. Mark's Place and 10th Street.
In just the past few months, this short stretch has seen a flurry of new openings, closings and reopening-soon signs.
Here's a quick rundown.
Rowdy Rooster has been "temporarily closed" all this fall at 149 First Ave. There is no word on a reopening date for the quick-serve restaurant from the Unapologetic Foods team, which opened in February 2022.
Next door, Gooey on the Inside Cookies debuted in early October. Background here.
To the south, Kikoo Sushi, located between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, reopened after a months-long renovation...
And next door, Surprise Scoop, billed as "the world's first flavor roulette ice cream shop," has been closed since the DOH paid a visit on Sept. 13...
The posted notices and the DOH website mention operating without a permit, as well as other sanitary violations.
While the shop's Instagram account notes a temporary closure, the interior doesn't look so promising...
The shop's Instagram account mentions "TEMP CLOSED due to permit issues."
Retail condo at former Streit’s site hits the auction block
The glassy 45-unit condoplex — which replaced the longtime Streit's Matzo Factory on the NE corner of Suffolk Street — includes four retail spaces. One unit is leased to a cannabis dispensary (GoPuff) through March 2033. Two units will be delivered vacant, and the fourth is located in the cellar, currently zoned for storage.
The current high bid is $1.275 million. The auction ends tomorrow at noon.
We can't recall many — if any — retail condo auctions around here in recent years. Then again, we also can't remember many retail tenants cycling through the building since it welcomed residents in 2019.
Perhaps this kind of sale will become more common. And we can't help but think of the 11,000-square-foot retail space that has sat empty in the base of Steiner East Village on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street for the past seven years...
For some history of 150 Rivington St.: Streit's Matzo Factory was here from 1925 to 2015. The family-owned business sold its original factory to Cogswell Realty in January 2015 for a reported $30.5 million.
Streit's, which left the LES in 2015, now operates out of more modern facilities in Rockland County.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Monday, November 17, 2025
Monday's parting shot
Raymonde read a chapter from his memoir, "In One Ear: Cocteau Twins, Ivor and Me," and spoke with the series creator, Ann Stephenson.
The next free reading is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m., featuring "Paul Thek and Peter Hujar: Stay away from nothing," with guests Cynthia Carr, Nan Goldin, and Stephen Koch.
The Parkside is at 317 E. Houston St. at Attorney.
Opening the Edge: A new green space for residents along Avenue D
Photos by Stacie Joy
A new community space is now open outside the Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D at Third Street ... the result of a long, resident-led effort to bring life to a patch of lawn that had sat fenced off and unused for years.
Last week, neighbors, NYCHA residents and the Design Trust for Public Space gathered for a ribbon-cutting for Opening the Edge, a project first proposed more than a decade ago by artist Jane Greengold.
She said she was inspired to pursue this project after seeing fences around the green spaces at NYCHA housing, and then residents bringing their own chairs to sit on the sidewalks outside these areas.
Since 2014, residents and local partners have held community meetings, workshops and walk-throughs to imagine what this space could be and how it should function.
The finished design, created in collaboration with Davies Toews Architecture, The PARC Foundation and NYCHA, includes new benches, tables, lighting, and a small raised platform for performances.
Paths now run through the site, and the biggest change of all: the fence is gone.
Ground-floor retail now leasing at The Houston (on Houston)
The 12-story mixed-use building (aka The Houston) between Avenue A and Avenue B has nearly 160 units — 49 of them "affordable," as noted during the housing-lottery phase.
And now the retail portion has officially hit the market (PDF here). The listing notes 5,693 square feet of ground-floor space, divisible, with "all uses considered," and rent is available upon request.
As we've noted, this lot was previously a one-level strip of storefronts and a gas station decades before that.
Anyway, bring back the Blockbuster!
Signage alert: Slik, a Copenhagen-inspired candy and soft-serve shop on 12th Street
Photo by Stacie Joy
You may have noticed the Slik signage up at 437 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.
The owners of Smør, who have businesses on either side of this storefront, are behind the new venture — a Copenhagen-inspired candy and soft-serve shop.
The space briefly hosted a Planet Nusa pop-up leading up to the NYC Marathon earlier this fall.
Before that, it was an outpost of the Eye Level learning center.
There’s a placeholder Instagram account for Slik here.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Week in Grieview
Never miss an EVG post with the weekly EVG newsletter. Free right here.
• Jazz landmark alert: The Charlie Parker Residence is for sale on Avenue B (Monday, Nov. 10)
• Glitter, Grover and good stories: Drag Artists for Expression NYC returns to the Tompkins Square Library (Thursday, Nov. 13)
• About Banshee, the Irish-leaning bar debuting on 1st Avenue (Wednesday, Nov. 12)
• If it's the middle of November, then it must be time for Christmas trees at Whole Foods Market® Bowery (Friday, Nov. 14)
... and William Klayer shared this photo from last night around 10:30 on Ninth Street at Second Avenue. The Citizen app reports that this was a hit-and-run collision that injured three people. A cyclist is also believed to have "crashed into a vehicle." No further information is available at this time.
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Saturday's parting shots
The Tacos Nachos truck on 7th and B
Photos by Stacie Joy
The Tacos Nachos truck recently arrived on the NW corner of Seventh Street and Avenue B.
There is an extensive menu featuring tacos, burritos, tortas, nachos, quesadillas, and more.
We haven't tried it, but the cart has strong word-of-mouth, as we've heard several people mention now how good it is. (And there is a solid 4-star review on Yelp via power user Ruwan.)
It's a one-person operation, and she can crank out the orders...
The hours are flexible, but the cart is available most afternoons into the evening (except Mondays).
Let us know in the comments if you've tried it.
Saturday's opening shot
Friday, November 14, 2025
Friday's parting shot
Photo by Steven
The mini trees have arrived at Lime Tree Market on the SE corner of First Avenue and Ninth Street... not quite the mid-November spectacle of Whole Foods Market® Bowery....
Gut check
They are Gutting a Body of Water (TAGABOW) dropped their fourth album, Lotto, a few weeks ago — a more guitar-forward turn for the Philly noise collective.
The above video is for "rl stine," a track about a friend navigating a rough stretch.
TAGABOW plays the Bowery Ballroom on Dec. 11. (Live, the band performs facing each other in a tight circle — always something to see.)
Openings: B-Side on Avenue C
Photo by Stacie Joy
The longtime neighborhood bar reopened last Friday at 131 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street, bringing its familiar dive-y vibe (plus a touch of 1980s decor), a pool table, and happy hour deals to its new home.
Community art shows are on the way too — starting tonight...
If it's the middle of November, then it must be time for Christmas trees at Whole Foods Market® Bowery
Friday's opening shot
And if you don't like foliage, then move back to...
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Thursday's parting Instagram post
Looking at St. Mark's Place while crossing from the NW corner of Third Avenue... the original location of Trash & Vaudville is visble in the background...
Glitter, Grover and good stories: Drag Artists for Expression NYC returns to the Tompkins Square Library
Photos and interview by Stacie Joy
How often does this storytelling event happen? When is the next one?
We have story hours frequently all around the city in schools, libraries and community spaces.
The last one at Tompkins Square Library was back in December. They're not recurring here on a consistent basis, but the librarians expressed interest in having us back soon, so keep an eye out for that. You can join the library's email list for events specific to Tompkins Square Library, and Drag Artists for Expression (DAE) NYC's email list [admin@daenyc.org] for more story hours around the city.
Are you always the storytelling artist?
At the Tompkins Square Library, I am usually booked as the storyteller, as they know I am a local and that this is the branch I frequented as a kid. I also started my drag career right across the street in Tompkins Square Park with Lil Park Drag Show, so storytelling here is always very special to me.
We have a great team of drag artist storytellers who also get booked for events at other locations. At other DAE NYC events, I sometimes tell stories, teach drag or fiber arts workshops, facilitate others' story hours, build curriculum, or design coloring pages.
How do the kids usually respond to the reading?
I tell stories for all different age groups, but the little ones are always my favorite to read to. They're so enthusiastic about the books and in awe of the glittery human in front of them. I get to be silly and show them the magic of drag.
Many of the students I read to have never been around drag before, so I get to introduce them to this whole new way of expressing themselves, while also sharing the love of reading and teaching important lessons that the books address.
Drag is such a powerful tool for teaching that there are many different ways to be human, and that all of them are worthy of celebration and love. I love the work that I do, and events like this always remind me of that.
What books did you read this time? Are there any favorite books that you return to time and again?
Today I read "I Am! A Book of Reminders" by Juana Medina, "Rooster Wore Skinny Jeans" by Dr. Jessica Miller, "The Monster at the End of This Book" by Jon Stone, and "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," the picture book adaptation of a Maya Angelou poem with illustrations by Jean-Michel Basquiat.
This book felt very right for today's story hour, Basquiat being a local artist, and the book relating to today's theme, which was bravery, [perfect for] Halloween. I always intentionally choose the books, my drag looks, and the songs we sing to be part of a cohesive theme.
My favorite book to read is always "The Monster at the End of This Book." It was one of my favorites as a kid, and I've found that a lot of today's kids still are familiar with it, which makes me happy. When I read it, I love to play up the suspense and get really theatrical with it, and encourage lots of audience participation. The kids get really into it!
Do you have a favorite moment from the event? Is there anything that surprised you?
My favorite moment from today was when the kids helped me turn the page during "The Monster at the End of This Book," after Grover built a brick wall to keep us from reaching the end of the book.
I told them the page was too heavy for me to lift alone because of all the bricks, so we needed to use teamwork to turn it. Everyone grabbed the page and helped flip it, and of course, the page ripped, which I should've expected. It was OK, though; it wasn't a library book, and the taped-up page will certainly tell a story the next time I read it.
The librarians are always super welcoming and recognize how special and personal it is for me to be storytelling at that branch. The Tompkins Square Library readings always end up being my favorites.
Have there been any issues with the storytelling?
Our public events used to get protested by various hate groups. Thankfully, these protests have died down quite a bit recently, and we haven't had any issues in the past year or so. As drag is increasingly under attack in this country, it's important that we continue to educate and celebrate queer self-expression wherever we can.
Find out more about Drag Artists for Expression NYC here. You can keep up with their events on Instagram.
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