Scenes from the 3rd annual Lower East Side Puerto Rican Parade & Festival

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Puerto Rican flags were flying — and so were plenty of Knicks colors — as the third annual Lower East Side Puerto Rican Parade & Festival stepped off yesterday afternoon.

This year's parade honored Kanielle Hernandez as Madrina and Frige as Padrino (below)...

The march made its way from Columbia and Rivington streets to Avenue D and 12th Street, where a community celebration showcased Puerto Rican culture, heritage and resilience through music, dancing and neighborhood camaraderie...

Even an approaching thunderstorm that cut the festivities short couldn't take much away from the day's celebratory mood.

Week in Grieview

We spy Clyde! The neighborhood pup was keeping a low profile while hanging out with his owner, Santo Mollica of The Source Unltd copy shop. Photo by Steven.

Meanwhile, posts from this past week included...

• Community input wanted for the $30.2 million renovation of the Tompkins Square Library (June 3) 

• For HAGS, bigger things are on the menu with new space on the Bowery (June 1) 

• Pride outside the 2nd Avenue F stop (June 5) 

• A look at 'Loisaida Thrives' on Avenue C and 6th Street (May 31) 

• Hoy! Filipino Street Food is heading to Clinton and Houston (June 2) 

• East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak on her band Lukka’s latest release (June 3)

• Book Club Bar reopens after a spring spruce-up (June 6) 

• After a lengthy pause, construction restarts at 1st Avenue and 2nd Street (June 1) 

• No more Karma for the East Village (June 2) 

• ‘No Picnic’ starting its 8th week at the Film Forum (June 5) 

• Viral vexors prompt no-filming policy at 1st Avenue smoke shop (June 2) 

• The 5th annual LUNGS Theater Festival takes place this weekend (June 4) 

• Retro signage alert: Good Time Country Buffet on 1st Avenue (June 3) 

• Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier leaves Avenue B after 25-plus years (June 4) 

• Tribeca Festival time at the Village East by Angelika (June 2)

• Openings and reopenings on 3rd Avenue: Han Dynasty and Olio e Più (June 1) 

• Closings: Marylou on St. Mark's Place (June 3) 

• The 'best burritos' in Los Angeles are coming to Lafayette Street this fall (June 3) 

• Cotti Coffee coming to 14th Street (June 4) 

• Openings: Cups of Pasta on 4th Street (June 1) 

• EVG highlights from May (May 31) 

• EVG road trip: Total Bummer at the Knockdown Center (June 1) 

... and Udder madness on Avenue B! New this past week outside the newish Andrew Steak Society at 51 Avenue B between Third and Fourth streets... something for influencers and vandals... (photos by Stacie Joy)

Sunday's opening shot

The fifth annual LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) Theater Festival continues today at the 6th Street and Avenue B Garden. 

The free performances run from 1-5 p.m. (Note: Today's program is the same as yesterday's.) In total, there are five original one-act plays. For a preview, visit the LUNGS website here.

Saturday's parting short

Right when the rain started falling this evening on St. Mark's Place...

Noted

EVG reader Cynthia Reynolds shares these photos from Fifth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery this morning, where someone took the time to warn the owners of two parked cars that a man was on the pavement directly in front of — or behind — their vehicles.

Fortunately, by the time Cynthia took these, the man had apparently moved along...

Important dates leading up to the June 23 New York Primary

Visit Vote NYC for more info.

Book Club Bar reopens after a spring spruce-up

Photos by Stacie Joy

Book Club Bar is back in action today following a brief closure. 

As previously reported, the bookstore-bar at 197 E. Third St., just west of Avenue B, closed on May 4 for repairs, maintenance and a general refresh of the space. 

We stopped by last evening for a quick look and caught up with co-owners Erin Neary and Nat Esten...

The temp closure also timed with the opening of a second Book Club Bar location in Bushwick, which debuted on Troutman Street on May 2. 

The EV outpost is open daily: Sunday-Wednesday 9 a.m. to midnight; Thursday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Caturday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Sky looks thrilled by his newfound fame at Love Story on Third Street near Avenue B...

Friday's parting shot

On the Open Street of St. Mark's Place this evening between Avenue A and First Avenue...

Snap, crackle and dream pop

We've been listening to Sungaze of late, a Cincinnati-based band that falls into the dream pop-shoegaze category. (The band says, "the Sungaze sound is cinematic, comforting, and warmly nostalgic.")

 The video here is for "Rice Crispies." 

For any last-minute folks, Sungaze is on a bill tonight at TVEye in Ridgewood.

'No Picnic' starting its 8th week at the Film Forum

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A post shared by Philip Hartman (@philhartman41)

The Film Forum is at 209 W. Houston St. between Sixth Avenue and Varick. Ticket info here.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Phil Hartman on 'No Picnic' and capturing a vanishing East Village in the 1980s

Pride outside the 2nd Avenue F stop

Here's a look at the Pride Month mural outside the Second Avenue F stop... art by Ricky Sencion. 

This is the ninth Pride mural here curated by photographer-filmmaker Daniel "Dusty" Albanese. (Dusty has more about the work on Instagram.)

And read about Sencion's pink sheep art at the Los Angeles Times.

The Lower East Side Puerto Rican Parade is back for a third year tomorrow

The third annual Lower East Side Puerto Rican Parade & Festival takes place tomorrow (Saturday) from 4 to 8:30 p.m. 

The parade begins at Columbia and Rivington Streets and proceeds north to 12th Street and Avenue D, followed by a community celebration highlighting Puerto Rican culture, heritage, and resilience.

Organizers say the event aims to honor the contributions of Puerto Ricans on the Lower East Side while bringing together neighbors through music, dance and community spirit.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

The Summer of Ludd is coming to Tompkins Square Park this June 28...

The 5th annual LUNGS Theater Festival takes place this weekend

The fifth annual LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) Theater Festival is this weekend at the 6th Street and Avenue B Garden. 

The free performances start at 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. (Note: The program is the same each day.) In total, there are five original one-act plays. For a detailed preview, visit the LUNGS website here.

Joseph Papp began the outdoor theater tradition on the Lower East Side in 1956 when he introduced "Shakespeare in the Park" in the East River Park Amphitheater. In 2022, LUNGS continued this part of his legacy with the free Summer Theater Festival.

Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier leaves Avenue B after 25-plus years

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

One of the neighborhood's longtime professional offices has left the neighborhood.

After more than 25 years at 13 Avenue B between Houston and Second Street, Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier Law Offices has relocated to 305 E. 24th St. near Second Avenue.

The practice was one of those quietly reliable neighborhood fixtures, helping residents with notary services, wills and other legal paperwork for decades. 

Partner Neva Hoffmaier didn't elaborate on the reasons for the relocation, though she emphasized that the practice remains open and that all client files have been transferred to the new office.

As for what's next for the Avenue B storefront, Hoffmaier wasn't sure. 

"Probably a gut reno," she said.

Cotti Coffee coming to 14th Street

Photo via EVG reader Brian Carroll 

Renovations continue at 223 E. 14th St., where there will soon be another coffee option on the block between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Signage arrived earlier this spring for Cotti Coffee. This will be the latest NYC location for the China-based multinational company, which has more than 14,000 stores in 28 countries. 

The founders previously helmed Luckin Coffee, another China-based chain pursuing U.S. expansion, before becoming embroiled in a high-profile accounting scandal. 

No. 223 has been vacant for a few years since the demise of Smokers Zone 1.

On 11th Street, a dry cleaners replaces a dry cleaners

Pinnacle Cleaners closed in March after 15-plus years at 299 E. 11th St., just east of Second Avenue. 

We figured the place might be fitted for some kind of shop selling things by the bowl or cup.

But, as Choresh Wald points out, the space is now Prime Time Cleaners.

Sometimes a former dry cleaners becomes a wine bar. Sometimes it just becomes another dry cleaners...

Wednesday's Let's Go Knicks parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Knicks fan and Mary O's owner Mary O'Halloran makes some last-minute touches to Mary O's Game 1 signage outside 32 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street...

Expect to see more Knicks items here in the coming days as the NBA Finals unfold. Also, Spurs fans are welcome, she said.

East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak on her band Lukka's latest release

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy

East Village-based singer-songwriter Franzi Szymkowiak and her band Lukka (Ashley Gonzalez on bass and Simon Fishburn on drums) return on Friday with Wendekind, an album exploring transformation, identity and the search for meaning between the personal and the cosmic. 

Ahead of the release, we asked Franzi a few questions about the new record and the influence of the East Village on her work. 

Tell us about Wendekind. What's the story behind the album and its title?

The new album is mainly about personal change, transformation, and searching for meaning somewhere between someone's inner world and the cosmos. 

The title references the generation (my generation) born around the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany — children growing up during a moment of change. I thought it would be fitting. 

How does the neighborhood influence your music and creative process? 

Living in the East Village has always served as a creative input for me. There’s a creative energy here with so many bands playing shows at places like Berlin Under A or Night Club 101. Those kinds of things naturally pull you forward to do the same thing. I recently saw a ShowBrain show here at Tompkins Square Park with The Lemon Twigs headlining — truly inspiring. 

The East Village can feel super chaotic, crazy, and so colorful at the same time. It sometimes feels like anything goes and anything can happen, so I feel that's the same with my music: No boundaries, anything goes, whatever channels through me. 

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Lukka is headlining tonight at the Spare Room in gutter bk in Williamsburg. Details here. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Heady psychedelia: A conversation with East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak of Lukka