Barnes & Noble sets its opening date for Avenue A with author Douglas Stuart

Barnes & Noble has announced a Nov. 18 opening date for its new East Village location at 181 Avenue A between 11th and 12th Streets.

The debut includes a ribbon-cutting ceremony and signing with award-winning author Douglas Stuart, an East Village resident whose work includes "Shuggie Bain," "Young Mungo" and "John of John." 

The 11,300-square-foot bookstore will be the first retail tenant in the base of the Steiner East Village condoplex, where the storefront has remained vacant since residents began moving in eight years ago. 

A few other details: 

• This outpost is also hiring booksellers.

• This Barnes & Noble will not have a cafe. 

• The Avenue A location has its own Instagram account.

H/T EVG readers Josh and Gary!

The Ukrainian Museum temporarily closes for building upgrades on 6th Street

The Ukrainian Museum, 222 E. Sixth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, is now temporarily closed as of yesterday for a major upgrade to its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. 

The three-month project will improve climate control for the museum's collections, increase energy efficiency and provide a more comfortable environment for visitors and staff, officials said in an announcement.

The work comes as the museum celebrates its 50th anniversary. (Their gala was last night.) 

During the closure, the museum will continue offering online programming and in-person events through partnerships with neighborhood organizations. Its shop will also remain available online. 

The museum expects to reopen at the end of January with "Pedagogies of War," a multimedia and sound exhibition by contemporary Ukrainian artists and filmmakers Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk.

Image via The Ukrainian Museum

Signage alert: Macario on Avenue B

Signage is up at Macario at 167 Avenue B between 10th and 11th streets ...

As we first reported last month, Macario moved here from Park Slope, where they debuted in August 2025... specializing in lonches bañados, a Guadalajara staple dating back to the 1950s — essentially a sandwich topped with a warm, slightly spicy tomato-based sauce.

Owner Marshall Dean grew up in Guadalajara and lived there for more than 40 years before moving to the United States. He told BKMAG last year that opening Macario had been a longtime dream and a way to introduce one of his favorite foods to New Yorkers. 

The lonches come with pulled pork, pulled chicken or panela cheese and are served on birote, a Guadalajara-style sourdough roll custom-made for Macario. The menu also includes quesadillas and guacamole. 

No word on an exact opening date other than this fall...

A new restaurant called Tortoise is in the works for the former Foxface Natural space on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

After more than a year of uncertainty about the future of Foxface Natural, a new restaurant proposal has emerged for its longtime-dark space at 189 Avenue A between 11th and 12th Streets. 

According to paperwork filed with Community Board 3, an entity called Tortoise LLC is seeking a liquor license for a new establishment described as a "fine dining restaurant." 

And the proposed menu offers a few clues about what's coming. Tortoise would serve Japanese-American cuisine, with dishes including sashimi ($64), clam pie ($32), turtle soup ($28), egg custard with dungeness crab ($48), red grouper ($82), whole smoked pigeon ($95) and aged beef rib ($125). 

The application lists Nicholas Tamburo and Nikita Malhotra as the project's principals. In late 2024, Tamburo opened Smithereens, a seafood-focused restaurant on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, and previously served as chef de cuisine at Claud on 10th Street. Malhotra, a sommelier, has led the wine program at Smithereens.

The proposed restaurant would have 26 seats, including eight at a six-foot bar, and operate from 5:30 p.m. to midnight daily. 

The plans raise questions about the future of Foxface Natural, which opened at 189 Avenue A in April 2023 after its earlier incarnation as a sandwich shop inside Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place. (The proprietors now own that under-renovation building on St. Mark's Place.) 

Foxface Natural earned a following for its adventurous, frequently changing menu featuring unusual ingredients and preparations. The restaurant closed in late July 2025 for what was initially described as a summer break, followed by building renovations. Its owners later said they were working toward reopening, but the process dragged on without a confirmed return date.

Foxface Natural has not publicly announced a permanent closure, though the new application suggests that another restaurant is preparing to take over the address. 

The Tortoise application is on the SLA Licensing & Outdoor Dining Committee for November (next Monday). However, given its method of operation, the owners will not be appearing before the committee.

Fake it till you make it: Elizabeth Holmes lookalikes take Washington Square Park

EVG regular Peter Brownscombe came across the latest lookalike contest in Washington Square Park yesterday — this one devoted to Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder convicted of defrauding investors. 

Contestants turned out in black turtlenecks, unblinking stares and other Holmes-inspired attire and mannerisms, presumably hoping to convince the judges they were the real deal...

There was also a second category for people impersonating Nathan Fielder, co-director of "You Can See Everything." 

No word on who won, but we're sure an independent laboratory thoroughly vetted the results...

East Village Wellness Week starts tomorrow

The East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA) and the Cooper Square Committee are teaming up for East Village Wellness Week, running tomorrow (Nov. 9) through Nov. 15. 

The weeklong event highlights the neighborhood's wellness-related small businesses, with special discounts, classes, a raffle and other activities. 

A wrap-up party is set for Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Caravan of Dreams, 405 E. Sixth St. just east of First Avenue.

Find the participating businesses and event details here.

EV Grieve's East Village Week in Review

Posts this past week included (with a double-rainbow view Friday from the LES via EVG reader Sarah T.)...

• Exclusive: Bonnie Slotnick's Harry Styles pop-up arrest case nears possible dismissal (Nov. 5) … the Harry Styles pop-up shop wraps up its 2-month East Village run (Nov. 2) 

• Effort to bring lighting to East River Park running track gains support from elected officials (Nov. 2) 

• The Throne report: A look inside the neighborhood's new public toilets (Nov. 2) 

• The everyday artwork hiding in plain sight in Tompkins Square Park (Nov. 4) … Finding more tiny life-like treasures in Tompkins Square Park (Nov. 6) 

• The East Village's iconic Peace House is on the market for $6.95 million (Nov. 2) 

• Scenes from Halloween 2026 in the East Village (Nov. 1) 

• Hamilton Fish Park Library reopens after $19 million renovation (Nov. 6) 

• At the Halloween Hellride in Tompkins Square Park (RIP Halloween Hellride) (Nov. 3) 

• First President of Japan's wonderfully weird Halloween in Tompkins (Nov. 7) 

• Long-lost Georgia O'Keeffe painting found in an East Village closet could fetch $3 million (Nov. 7) 

• Signage alert: Bocabierta on 3rd Street (Nov. 5) … Blue People on 9th Street (Nov. 4) 

• La Linea has closed after 3-plus decades on 1st Avenue (Nov. 2) 

• Saturday night bingo, Linda Simpson-style (Nov. 5) 

• Academy Records to sell music critic Robert Christgau's extensive record collection (Nov. 4) 

• At the grand opening of Le Freak Boutique on 12th Street (Nov. 4) 

... and a Halloween weekend parting shot (see the back seat)... from last weekend via Stacie Joy...

RIP Richard Lloyd

Image via 

Richard Lloyd, the influential guitarist and co-founder of Television, one of the defining bands of New York's early punk scene, died yesterday at his home in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was 75. 

Lloyd had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer earlier this year. According to a family statement shared with Rolling Stone, his wife, Sheila, and their dog, Willie Mays, were by his side. 

Born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh in 1951, Lloyd moved to New York with his mother shortly afterward and grew up in Greenwich Village. He took up guitar at an early age, attended concerts at the Fillmore East as a teenager and studied at Stuyvesant High School before dropping out. 

After brief stays in Boston and Los Angeles, Lloyd returned to New York and became involved in the emerging downtown music scene. Through Terry Ork, he connected with Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell and Billy Ficca, who had been playing together as the Neon Boys. 

With Lloyd joining on guitar, the group became Television. The band became a fixture at CBGB on the Bowery, alongside Patti Smith, the Ramones and other artists who helped shape New York's punk scene. (Hell departed in 1975 and was replaced by Fred Smith, formerly of Blondie.) 

Television signed with Elektra Records in 1976 and released its debut album, Marquee Moon, in February 1977. Although it wasn't a major commercial success in the United States, the album became a landmark of the era, particularly for the intricate interplay between Lloyd's and Verlaine's guitars. The band found greater commercial success in the United Kingdom. 

After Television's initial breakup in 1978, Lloyd pursued a solo career, beginning with Alchemy, and continued recording and performing for decades. 

In later years, he moved to a farm in Chattanooga, where he converted a barn into a recording studio.

Lloyd's death follows that of his longtime Television bandmate Tom Verlaine, who died in January 2023 at age 73.

Smashing pumpkins for compost at La Plaza Cultural on Sunday

Have a leftover Halloween pumpkin? The LES Ecology Center will put it to good use at its annual Pumpkin Smash tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 8) at La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C and Ninth Street.

From noon to 3 p.m., participants can smash their pumpkins, gourds and jack-o'-lanterns with bats (our preference), mallets and other tools before the remains are turned into compost. 

The free, family-friendly event will also feature activities such as painting with food scraps, typewriter poetry and a community drumming circle. 

Registration is recommended, though walk-ins are welcome. The event is scheduled for light rain or shine, with a rain date of Nov. 15.

First President of Japan's wonderfully weird Halloween in Tompkins

Photos by Stacie Joy 

A little appreciation for first president of Japan, who brought their wonderfully chaotic mix of punk, garage rock, and absurdist humor back to Tompkins Square Park for a Show Brain show on Halloween. 

Led by the irrepressible Non Kuramoto, dressed as a sea nettle, the Brooklyn band tore through a set that included crowdsurfing, caterwauling and plenty of audience participation... and an operatic grand finale in front of the Hare Krishna tree. 

Kuramoto, who once trained as a clown, handed out handmade masks of her own face to the crowd... while the keyboardist came dressed as an AI bubble. 

It was gloriously ridiculous, unpredictable and exactly the kind of performance that makes these free afternoons in the park so much fun.

This is Show Brain's final free concert for the year in Tompkins... there's one more show tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon in Washington Square Park with Big Girl, Laveda, Dallas Wax and Grace Bergere.

Long-lost Georgia O'Keeffe painting found in an East Village closet could fetch $3 million

Image and information via Christie's Press Centre. 

An East Village apartment closet turned out to be hiding a valuable piece of art. 

According to Christie's Press Centre, a long-lost Georgia O'Keeffe painting, Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I, was recently discovered in the closet of a longtime neighborhood resident. 

The 1930 landscape had been a graduation gift to the woman in the 1960s. Her mother purchased it for $3,800 in 1963. 

The painting hung in her apartment until the mid-1980s, when she became concerned that a guest at a bridge game was taking too much interest in it. 

So she packed it away in its original wooden box, where it remained for roughly 40 years. Earlier this year, while her niece was helping her sort through belongings, the woman casually mentioned, "Oh, by the way, there's a Georgia O'Keeffe in the closet." 

The painting, previously known to art historians only through a 1931 photograph, is now expected to fetch around $3 million at Christie's Nov. 17 auction. 

Before then, the public can see it for free at Christie's, 20 Rockefeller Center, from Saturday through Nov. 17. 

The woman, whose family has requested anonymity, died shortly after the painting was rediscovered.

'No Picnic,' Phil Hartman's look at the 1980s East Village, is now streaming on Criterion

In case you missed it during its 12-week run at Film Forum, "No Picnic" is now streaming on the Criterion Channel. 

Written and directed by Phil Hartman, the 1986 black-and-white film follows Macabee Cohn (David Brisbin), a down-and-out jukebox operator searching for a mysterious woman through the tenements, dive bars and streets of downtown Manhattan. The cast includes Richard Hell, Steve Buscemi and Luis Guzmán, along with an assortment of downtown personalities. 

Cinematographer Peter Hutton won a Sundance award for his work on the film. 

The film, largely unseen for decades, resurfaced earlier this year with a new 4K restoration that screened at MoMA and Film Forum.

In an April interview with EVG, Hartman, also a co-founder of Two Boots Pizza, discussed his efforts to capture a neighborhood that was already disappearing in the mid-1980s. Rather than confining the production to a few locations, Hartman filmed more than 100 characters in more than 100 locations. 

As Hartman told us, "We were truly blessed to capture a time and place that deserve to be celebrated, not forgotten." 

According to Filmmaker Magazine, "No Picnic" made $123,000 during its 12-week screening, making it one of the Film Forum's top repertory runs of the decade, beating out Federico Fellini's "8½" ($120,000), Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" ($103,000), and nearly equaling Satyajit Ray's "Days and Nights in the Forest" ($127,000). 

You can read our full interview with Hartman here.

Saturday's opening shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

After a day of on-and-off drizzle, the skies started clearing late yesterday afternoon, revealing a large double rainbow over NYC. 

These views come from Seventh Street and Avenue B, where the colorful display offered a welcome end to an otherwise gray Friday... though we do enjoy otherwise gray Fridays...

To 'Die' for

 

Brooklyn-based band Nine Perfect Lives, featuring Helena Straight and Stella Wave from the on-hiatus Hello Mary, have released their debut single, "Die," along with a new video. 

The release follows the band's signing with London-based label AD 93. (Pitchfork's 2025 label of the year.) 

We caught the band, also featuring Cooper Ladomade of Rocket and musician/audio technician Jeanne Hill, at Irving Plaza in May, just four shows into their existence. Stacie Joy photographed a set filled with swirling guitars, distortion and sharp pop melodies.

Finding more tiny life-like treasures in Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The search for Tompkins Square Park's mysterious bronze litter continues. 

Since our first report (here) on the tiny sculptures scattered throughout the park, we've been keeping an eye out for more. 

And we've found about a dozen additional pieces, including a pair of workout gloves, tree bark, a remarkably perfect leaf, peanuts, a bag of chips, a Capri Sun-type juice packet (or possibly a nutcracker?), assorted bottle caps and what appears to be a pile of dog poop.

We're also learning a little more about how the pieces got there, though the identity of the artist — or artists — remains a mystery. 

While photographing the gloves near the calisthenics bars, we spoke with a regular who recalled arriving one day to find the gloves freshly attached to the ground with epoxy. They were still soft and pliable, he said, and could have been moved easily. Over time, they hardened. He estimated that they had appeared a few weeks earlier. 

Meanwhile, one reader shared an intriguing account: 

"My friend saw three (masked) men who seemed to be in their 30s attaching one of the sculptures to the ground the other day. He approached them out of curiosity but they must have thought he was a cop and they all scattered in three different directions! So I think more than one person is behind the art…" 

An anonymous commenter on our original post offered another possible lead, mentioning two artists, a garage in Bushwick and installations dating back roughly two years. 

The commenter also alluded to a possible falling-out between the artists. 

We haven't been able to verify any of those details, but we're certainly curious. 

And we have questions. Lots of questions. Are the pieces cast in bronze? How are they made and attached? Why these particular objects? Are the installations carried out under cover of darkness? Do the artists ever hang around to watch people discover their work?

And what's the story behind that apparent dog poop sculpture? Is that a boot print? A Timberland, perhaps?

We'd also love to hear what the artist or artists think about litter, public spaces and the idea of leaving small, unexpected works of art for people to discover. 

If you're behind these tiny treasures — or know who is — we'd love to hear from you. 

In the meantime, we'll keep looking. There may well be a Part 3.

H/T to eagle-eyed Hot Chocolate Jen. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• The everyday artwork hiding in plain sight in Tompkins Square Park

Hamilton Fish Park Library reopens today after $19 million renovation

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Hamilton Fish Park Library reopens today (Nov. 6) following a $19 million renovation that kept the branch closed for nearly three years. 

The New York Public Library branch, at 415 E. Houston St. near Pitt Street, closed on Dec. 30, 2023, for the extensive overhaul. 

Improvements include a new ADA-accessible entrance, replacement windows and roof, updated lighting and furnishings, and a new heating and cooling system. Inside, patrons will find new book collections for adults, teens and children, dedicated spaces for younger readers, an expanded community room and improved bathroom access.

The renovation also includes new computers, stronger Wi-Fi, facade improvements and landscaping outside the building.

This past June, the NYPL announced plans for a $30.2 million comprehensive renovation of the 122-year-old Carnegie branch on 10th Street. 

The project is currently in the design phase, with construction projected to be completed by Dec. 22, 2028.

Exclusive: Bonnie Slotnick's Harry Styles pop-up arrest case nears possible dismissal

Interview and photos by Stacie Joy 

East Village cookbook seller Bonnie Slotnick returned to court yesterday morning in connection with her September arrest outside her shop with a security guard from the Harry Styles-themed Together Together pop-up on Second Street. 

And while the case isn't officially over, she left feeling optimistic. 

Slotnick, 72, was arrested on Sept. 18 following a confrontation with a member of the pop-up's line-management team outside her longtime business. 

The dispute involved a bicycle-lock key that Slotnick acknowledged holding near the woman's face and neck. Among the four charges were one count of second-degree menacing and criminal possession of a weapon (a bike lock key). She spent roughly 12 hours in custody, first at the 9th Precinct and then at Manhattan Central Booking, with a stop at Bellevue Hospital after her blood pressure spiked. 

The incident followed weeks of complaints about the crowds and lines outside the merchandise shop at 22 E. Second St., between Second Avenue and the Bowery. (Background here.) 

Speaking exclusively with us after the court appearance, Slotnick said the complainant had not submitted a supporting deposition, leaving the case without the documentation needed to move forward.

"It was pretty much a non-event," she said. 

According to Slotnick, there's a 90-day window from the incident to file the necessary paperwork. If that deadline passes without the deposition, she said, the case could be dismissed. 

Slotnick said she doesn't know why the complainant has not submitted the paperwork. For now, she's hopeful the case will soon be behind her.

Her attorney explained the situation during a brief conversation outside the courtroom yesterday morning. They then appeared before the judge, who set the next court date for Jan. 11. Slotnick said her attorney may be able to handle that appearance without her, depending on the status of the case.

As for how she feels about the possible resolution?

"The resolution that sits on the edge of the cliff and is hanging. It's a hanging chad," she joked, referencing the disputed ballots from the 2000 presidential election. 

For now, she's happy to have some peace and quiet back on the block following Monday's departure of the Together Together Store, which drew large crowds of Harry Styles fans during its two-month run at 22 E. Second St. while the singer hosted a 30-night residency at the Garden.

"I'm glad to just have the block back," she said.

Slotnick also shared that Will Morgan of Glass Studios, which hosted the pop-up, stopped by her shop about three weeks ago to apologize. 

"He said he never imagined that ... it would be anything like that, and he would never do anything like that again," she recalled. She said Morgan told her he would rather make less money than host another event that disrupted the neighborhood.

Slotnick also confirmed that she was reimbursed for the damage to her bicycle tire. (Someone slashed her tire.) 

One unexpected bright spot in the ordeal was the support she received from friends and neighbors who submitted character references on her behalf. 

"Some of them cc'd me when they sent them in. It was like being at my own funeral," she said. "I hope these people are around to give my eulogy because they talked about things about my life that I haven't thought of for years ... nice things that I've done." 

She doesn't know whether the judge has read the letters, but she appreciated the outpouring of support.

And the bicycle key involved in the September arrest? 

"The key's always here because I'm always riding my bike," she said.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• East Village business owners discuss life alongside the Harry Styles pop-up on 2nd Street 

• The Harry Styles pop-up shop wraps up its 2-month East Village run

Signage alert: Bocabierta on 3rd Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

The sign is up for Bocabierta, the incoming independent Spanish-language bookstore coming to 138 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The shop will specialize in Spanish-language books and English translations, with a selection of new, used and rare titles, including works from independent publishers.

The shop is from the team behind Codex Books, the curated used bookstore over on Bleecker at the Bowery. 

No word yet on an opening date. 

Here's a look inside...

You can find more about Bocabierta on its website... or Instagram.

High Vibe closed in this storefront in 2023 after nearly 30 years in business.