About Banshee, the Irish-leaning bar debuting on 1st Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After spending ten years living and working on the Lower East Side, Jen Murphy is opening her own bar.

Her Irish-leaning neighborhood spot at 143 First Ave. just south of Ninth Street is set for a soft opening on Friday. (The bar occupies part of the former Paquitos space.) 

Banshee is described as a neighborhood bar with an Irish touch, where the East Village's punk roots meet an Irish cottage vibe. (The name "Banshee" is drawn from gothic Irish folklore.) 

There's also a backyard with a small garden.

Banshee will celebrate the classic Irish pairing of Guinness and oysters, along with martinis and other cocktails. The menu will feature a small rotating selection of light plates, including a shrimp cocktail served with traditional Irish Marie Rose sauce and brown Irish soda bread. 

Murphy is originally from Ireland and has been part of the LES bar-and-restaurant community for the past decade. She's joined by a small team of familiar faces from around the neighborhood.

"My business partner Jason Corey and the late Molly Fitch [co-owner of the International] have each shown me how a bar can add to a neighborhood," Murphy said. "Banshee wouldn't have come to life without either of them. Jason is an exceptional mentor, and I hope to do them both proud." 

Corey added: "This is Jen's vision, Jen's concept and her work."

Hours: 

• Monday-Thursday: 4 p.m.-1 a.m. 

• Friday: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. 

• Saturday: noon-2 a.m. 

• Sunday: Noon-midnight 

Opening weekend hours will likely be 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. 

You can find Banshee updates on Instagram.

Signage alert: Afterword Bookshop on 6th Street

Photos by William Klayer 

Signage is up for Afterword Bookshop at 216 E. Sixth St., just east of Cooper Square.

Its Instagram account describes the incoming business as "a peerless bookshop serving New Yorkers of all ages." 

We'll share more details as they become available, and having more bookstores in the neighborhood is always a good thing.

Getting to know... Daniel D. Tompkins

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EastVillageCommunityCoalition (@evccnyc)

The conversation about the founder of Tompkins Square Bagels is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. Register here. 

The Tompkins Square Library branch is at 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Group show 'Persevere' featured now at Theater for the New City

A new group show, "Persevere," is now on display through Jan. 4 at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

The opening reception is tomorrow (Wednesday) night from 5:30-8.

The work is installed in the theater's lobby gallery. TNC is open every day, making it easy for neighbors to stop by and see the art. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Theater for the New City is a community space, and visitors are welcome any time the doors are open. The theater's regular performances take place Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m.

Pop-up food market at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery tomorrow amid SNAP uncertainty

With uncertainty over SNAP food benefits, St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery is hosting a pop-up market tomorrow (Wednesday) to provide assistance to local residents in need. 

According to the organizers, "We're responding to the food crisis spurred by the government shutdown by offering food and supplies to our neighbors." 

The market takes place in the Parish Hall starting at 11 a.m. The church is at Second Avenue and 10th Street. 

This event is in conjunction with the East Village Community Coalition, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, educator-activist Katrina T. Monzón, and Middle Church. 

You can volunteer to help here... or donate here.

Tuesday's opening shot

A morning look at this freshly milled section of 10th Street along Tompkins Square Park... crews last night milled the street from Second Avenue on east...

Monday's parting shots

Alongside and inside the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue today. (The second photo is through the fence — the cemetery was not open.)

No water on 7th Street (but plenty of DEP notices from the de Blasio era)

Residents and businesses along Seventh Street, between First Avenue and Second Avenue (and parts of Second Avenue), remain without water after a break in the early morning hours.

The rupture occurred on the east side of Second Avenue at Seventh Street around 2 a.m., one EVG reader said.

... and the alleged offending pipe..

Businesses on Seventh Street, such as Abraço, were forced to remain closed today...

The city set up a portable water station for residents on the SW corner of Seventh Street and First Avenue (photo by Derek Berg) ...

And the posted notices on buildings from the DEP ...

... still list Bill de Blasio as mayor...

Get Ready for a 'Furious' week on Avenue A

Expect to see crews for the Hulu series "Furious" this week along Avenue A from Third Street to Ninth Street ... plus some side streets. (H/T Salim!)

The crime thriller stars Emmy Rossum as an FBI agent "who uses the secrets from a female serial killer's past to try to find her," per Deadline. 

"Furious" is loosely based on the 1987 movie "Black Widow" with Debra Winger and Theresa Russell (and not to be confused with the 2021 Marvel film).

Jazz landmark alert: The Charlie Parker Residence is for sale on Avenue B

The Charlie Parker Residence, a Gothic Revival-style townhouse at 151 Avenue B between Ninth Street and 10th Street, is now on the sales market. (Thanks to the EVG reader for the tip and photo!)

The landmarked building, built in 1849, was home to the jazz great and Chan Richardson and their three children from 1951 to 1954 — the height of his career. He died in March 1955 at age 34.

Here's more from the listing at Stile Real Estate: 

This five-apartment, 23-foot-wide building offers an impressive combination of historic charm and generous proportions. Featuring high ceilings, original wood floors, and beautifully preserved decorative fireplaces with both marble and wood mantels, each residence exudes classic character. Natural light pours in from the second floor all the way up to the penthouse, enhancing the sense of space throughout. And those apartments also enjoy stunning, unobstructed views overlooking Tompkins Square Park. 

There are 4 full-floor apartments: The garden floor, former home of Jazz great Charlie Parker, with a private landscaped garden, a grand parlor floor with original pocket doors and 3 decorative fireplaces, and the third and fourth floors, each with 2 bedrooms. The fourth floor has an open country kitchen and an exposed brick wall in the living room. The Penthouse apartment is set-back, with a huge private deck, skylights, and a loft space over the bedroom. Previously configured, the Garden and Parlor floor apartments can easily be combined to create an owner's duplex! And live in your dream owner's duplex while enjoying income! 

It also has the honor of 3 designations: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, The State Register of Historic Places, and The National Register of Historic Places. 

Asking price: $7.2 million. 

The building was last on the market in 2015 for $9.25 million. 

Jazz booker Judy Rhodes bought the property in 1979, reportedly for $90,000. You can read an interview with her from 2016 here. Discover more building history here. 

This portion of Avenue B along Tompkins Square Park was co-named Charlie Parker Place in 1992.

About the new development coming to 20 Great Jones St.

The NE corner of Lafayette and Great Jones — an Edison parking lot since the early 1970s — is the next local parcel primed for development. 

According to Crain's last week, Edward J. Minskoff Equities and Edison Properties are planning a "luxury rental project " that would span between roughly 260,000 and 300,000 square feet with 238 residential units and 10,000 square feet of retail space."

Minskoff, the developer behind 51 Astor Place/Death Star, closed on a 99-year ground lease for the property in June, per Crain's. 

To date, no work permits have been filed for the address, aka 20 Great Jones St. Crain's noted that the developers hope to break ground in 2027. 

CityRealty reported that SHoP Architects previously created a schematic design for developer MAG Partners that showed a residential building, which would have included 199 units (about 50 affordable). However, that project never moved forward. 

Here's a vision for the space.. via ShOP...

Whatever comes next will likely be just as luxurious.

Crain's also pointed out that this project is "an example of both the promise and pitfalls of New York's contentious affordable housing tax break 485-x." 

The developers had once considered putting an office building on the site, but the 2021 SoHo/NoHo rezoning — which opened the door to more residential projects — along with the 2024 485-x affordable-housing tax break reportedly made an apartment development far more appealing. 

This will be the second significant development on Great Jones in the coming years. 

As we previously posted, Lonicera Partners is assembling a potential development site on the NW corner of the Bowery and Great Jones. Lonicera reportedly signed a contract to purchase 348 Bowery, the former Bowery Market, and took a minority stake in 350 and 352 Bowery, the adjacent properties to the north.

B&H Barber Shop makes the cut on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy

B&H Barber Shop is now open in its new space at 60 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street...

The renovated storefront next to the corner liquor store in the Untitled building had been vacant since the lottery shop closed, before the pandemic.

B&H first opened around the corner on Fourth Street in 2017.

A cafe for 206 E. 6th St.

The Lazy Bulldog Cafe will be the next retail tenant for the eastern storefront at 206 E. Sixth St. near Cooper Square. 

We don't know anything about the business, other than that they signed a lease for the 500-square-foot space at the end of October, according to TradedNY. 

The Lazy Bulldog (not to be confused with the Lazy Llama on First Street) will have another new neighbor in the previously noted Jungle Cafe, a health-focused cafe that serves various açaí bowls, juices and smoothies. 

H/T Stacie Joy

The Union Square Holiday Market opens (gulp) this week

Kiosk construction continues on the southern portion of Union Square... as the Union Square Holiday Market debuts on Thursday for the 2025 season. (Thanks to EVG reader Brian for the photo.)

This year's edition includes 185 vendors. 

Hours: 

• Monday - Friday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. 

• Saturday: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. 

• Sunday: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Sunday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As seen on Avenue A today... Starting on Oct. 29 in Juneau, Alaska, he has driven 5,676 miles, with the last stop coming next in Holmdel, N.J.

Sunday's other parting shot

The thoroughly entertaining "Predator: Badlands" gobbled up the global box office this weekend with an $80 million debut ... so it felt only right to check in on our neighborhood's own Yautja from the film series.

Out front of Tokio7, the longtime consignment shop at 83 E. Seventh St., between First Avenue and Second Avenue, still features the 8-foot Predator standing guard, just as it has since March 2011 — made entirely from scrap metal and motorcycle parts.

In the immortal words of Dutch: "We move. Five-meter spread. No sound."

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo outside New York Theatre Workshop by Derek Berg) 

Never miss an EVG post with the weekly EVG newsletter. Free right here. 

• Guilty plea announced in 2023 assault spree that included attack outside Ray’s Candy Store (Monday, Nov. 3) 

• Cauz for Pawz has opened in its new home on Avenue B (Wednesday, Nov. 5)

• Planned Parenthood closes its Manhattan Health Center on Bleecker Street (Wednesday, Nov. 5) 

• ABC No Rio’s new building reaches the top on the Lower East Side (Monday, Nov. 3) 

• Another collision on Avenue A: Car slams into 2A (Wednesday, Nov. 5) 

• Election Day 2025 (Wednesday, Nov. 5) 

• Scenes from the final Show Brain concert of 2025 in Tompkins Square Park (Sunday, Nov. 2) 

• After years of dormancy, activity stirs again at 89 1st Ave. (Wednesday, Nov. 5) 

• A look at "Loose Change" at C-Squat (Saturday, Nov. 8)

• Another unlicensed smoke shop shuttered after multiagency raid on Avenue B (Friday, Nov. 7) 

• A bold Merlot theft on Halloween night with notes of mischief (Monday, Nov. 3) 

• Friday night’s full moon over 2nd Avenue, plus talk of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (Saturday, Nov. 8)

• Ramen by Ra returning with a reservation-only space on 1st Street (Wednesday, Nov. 5) 

• Pecking order on St. Mark’s Place (Tuesday, Nov. 4)

• 2 films to see with East Village connections — "Bunny" and "Peter Hujar's Day" (Friday, Nov. 7) 

... and even if you don't see "Peter Hujar's Day," we highly recommend the book the film was based on...

Smash it up: A post-Halloween tradition in La Plaza Cultural

Photos by Stacie Joy

The annual Pumpkin Smash is back at La Plaza Cultural today. 

Hosted by the LES Ecology Center, the event invites neighbors to bring their old pumpkins and gourds to the community garden on Ninth Street and Avenue C, where they'll be smashed (enthusiastically) and turned into compost for local parks and green spaces. 

Along the way, there will be activities, including Earth Loom weaving, painting with food scraps, a little live music from Kicki & The Fellas ... plus refreshments. 

Hours: Noon to 3 p.m.

Today in discarded rat heads

An EVG reader shared these photos from along Third Street... perhaps the former Rat Czar's headgear?

A look at 'Loose Change' at C-Squat

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Last night marked the opening of "Loose Change," a new exhibit at C-Squat showcasing the work of several young artists who grew up in the neighborhood. 

Per the invite: "This show is for the kids who make flyers for punk shows. For the kids who stay up until dawn writing graffiti. For the kids who make zines ... for people who don't make substantial profit from their work." 

Here's a look at some of the artists and attendees...

The show is open today from 1-6:30 p.m. and tomorrow from 1-5 p.m. 

You can view "Loose Change" from noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until Nov. 23. Enter through the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) at 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.