Photos by Stacie Joy
Halloween scenes from yesterday... afternoon into evening...
Sunday, November 1, 2026
EV Grieve's East Village Week in Review
• On 11th Street, residents and businesses say e-bike congestion needs a lasting solution (Oct. 30) … No bikes seized, but questions remain over 11th Street enforcement (Oct. 28)
• Tompkins Square Park recreation redesign heads back to committee after contentious CB3 meeting (Oct. 29)
• Report: Developer in contract to buy former St. Brigid School for $35 million (Oct. 28)
• Bigger plans for 3rd Avenue: 2 buildings, 17 stories and 184 apartments (Oct. 26)
• Village View parking lot sale moves forward as shareholders raise financial questions (Oct. 27)
• Barnes & Noble's build-out continues on Avenue A (Oct. 26)
• Scenes from "Punk in the Park" with Non Resident (Oct. 29)
• A very East Village Saturday, in photos (Oct. 27)
• Hot dog! Crif Dogs is back open on St. Mark’s Place (Oct. 29)
• At Drāvida, chef Aarthi Sampath explores the Indian diaspora — and finds a home in the East Village (Oct. 28)
• Topping out at 9th Street and 4th Avenue (Oct. 26)
• Signage alert: Matane on 1st Avenue (Oct. 29)
• A visitor one October evening (Oct. 26)
• It's close to midnight somewhere: A ‘Thriller’ rehearsal in Tompkins Square Park (Oct. 27)
• 345 Cantina closes on 6th Street; landlord takes possession of space (Oct. 29)… Hunan Slurp Shop closes on 1st Avenue (Oct. 29)
• Incoming: (More) bubble tea and froyo for this block of St. Mark's Place (Oct. 28)
And a store window view from Broadway and 11th Street by Derek Berg...
Another chance to see 'Tabby the Great and the Highly Unfortunate Closing of Two Boots Avenue A'
"Tabby the Great and the Highly Unfortunate Closing of Two Boots Avenue A," directed by Tabitha Haugen and Billy Waldman, starts at 7:30 p.m. at the bookstore at 197 Third St., between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Haugen, who worked at Two Boots for two years, said on Instagram that the documentary started as a joke after word came that the pizzeria would be closing.
"The film was Billy's idea," she wrote. "Billy came in and jokingly said we should make a movie about the closing ... I took it as a joke for 3 seconds, then realized ... that could actually be really fun and challenging!"
They shot the film over three weeks, collecting interviews and B-roll, with Two Boots customers contributing music and posters.
The filmmakers screened the doc on the handball courts this past summer.
Two Boots closed its Avenue A and Third Street location on May 29 after nearly 40 years in business. Owner Phil Hartman has said he plans to reopen Two Boots elsewhere in the East Village.
Saturday, October 31, 2026
6 posts from October
• On 11th Street, residents and businesses say e-bike congestion needs a lasting solution (Oct. 30)
• New signs of activity at the former P.S. 64, but questions remain (Oct. 20)
• Barking news: Scenes from the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade (Oct. 17)
• DOT marks completion of Avenue B redesign (Oct. 15)
• Up high with artist Owen Dippie and his 6-story Basquiat mural on the Bowery (Oct. 6)
• Signs of opposition to the Meltzer Tower replacement plan (Oct. 6)
A Trick-or-Streets FYI
On Avenue B between Third and Seventh Streets, festivities run from 2:30 to 6 p.m., featuring a photo booth by Kuki Go, musical performances by Guachinangos and Batingua Drum & Dance, games and more.
Meanwhile, Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B hosts its fifth annual Trick or Streets celebration from 3 to 6 p.m., with car-free trick-or-treating, harvest and Halloween-themed activities for all ages and abilities.
Both events are part of the city's Open Streets program.
More details are available at nyc.gov/trickorstreets.
A Halloween night with Edgar Allan Poe at the New York City Marble Cemetery
Part of the People's Poetry Gathering, "A Night of Nightmares, Ghost Tales and Poems!" takes place TONIGHT from 10:30 to midnight.
The evening features Toni Blackman as "The Raven," poet Bob Holman reading "Brain Fever," which organizers describe as a newly discovered Poe poem, and Haitian poet Denizé Lauture offering a Creole-inflected interpretation of "Annabel Lee."
Organizers invite attendees to "huddle with us as we raise Poe and his kindred spirits from their mysterious resting places."
The New York City Marble Cemetery is at 60 E. Second St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Not to be confused with the New York Marble Cemetery a few blocks away.)
More details and ticket information can be found here.
Friday, October 30, 2026
A Visit from St. Frightolas
Photo by Stacie Joy
Poem by EVG, with obvious inspiration
from Clement Clarke Moore
’Twas the night before Halloween, when all through the store
Not a creature was stirring — except for the giant body bag hanging from the ceiling.
P.S.
We now have our fifth sighting... at this rate, we've got a trends cover story on our hands!
At a crossroads
Radio Free Alice headlines the free Show Brain Halloween show tomorrow afternoon in Tompkins Square Park. What's In Between, the Australian band's debut album, came out today.
The above video is for "The Intersection," which gives you a good idea of their '80s-inspired jangle-pop sensibilities.
Show Brain has 1 last treat for the season with a Halloween show in Tompkins Square Park
• Nabihah Iqbal (she's playing a sold-out show later tomorrow night at Night Club 101 on A)
2-6 p.m. ... with an after-party at Niagara on Seventh and A...
Campos Community Garden hosts its 15th annual Día de los Muertos celebration on Sunday
The free community event includes arts and crafts, Mexican hot chocolate and sweet bread, with a ceremonial dance by Cetiliztl Nauhcampa at 4 p.m.
As in previous years, the garden's gazebo will house an ofrenda (altar), where neighbors are invited to leave photos, flowers, food and other mementos honoring loved ones, including people, pets, and places. Children can also make items to add to the altar.
The ofrenda will be assembled today (Friday) from noon to 4 p.m. and will be open for viewing tomorrow (Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The annual celebration is made possible through the support of garden members, local businesses and neighbors.
Volunteers are welcome throughout the weekend. Contact camposcommunitygarden@gmail.com for details.
On 11th Street, residents and businesses say e-bike congestion needs a lasting solution
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Residents and business owners gathered yesterday at the corner of 11th Street and First Avenue to urge the city to address ongoing e-bike congestion, blocked sidewalks, and sanitation concerns along the block.
The press conference, themed "A Safer Corner for Everyone," was organized by the newly formed East Village Beautification Project, whose members say more than two years of complaints have failed to produce a lasting solution.
Christine Renzi, a property owner on the block who founded the group about a month ago, said it already has more than 60 members.
"For more than two and a half years, we have been raising concerns about conditions on this block," Renzi said. "Residents and businesses have spoken up repeatedly, but we still do not have a real solution."
She described sidewalks crowded with e-bikes, food waste, rats and difficulty accessing residential buildings and storefronts.
She also questioned why so many delivery workers and their bikes have been concentrated on a single residential block.
"Delivery workers deserve respect and appropriate places to gather," she said. "But this residential block is not an appropriate place for over 400 e-bikes and workers to gather unlawfully at all hours."
Organizers cited the figure of 400 bikes, but it has not been independently verified.
Renzi also criticized the lack of resident and business participation in discussions about the block's future, saying those most directly affected have not been invited to meetings with elected officials and delivery-worker representatives.
"We need a win-win solution," she said. "We want to come up with an equitable solution for everybody."
Several speakers described how conditions have affected their daily lives and businesses.
Mike Paredes, the former owner of REVMPD, a consignment shop at 178 First Ave., a storefront south of the corner, said the congestion contributed to his decision to close the business in March.
Paredes, who now works as an MTA bus driver, said his store relied heavily on foot traffic and window displays to attract customers. As bikes and groups of people increasingly occupied the space outside, he said, that visibility suffered.
"Owning the store was my dream," he said. "I'm here for the other businesses that are here, and I hope that they won't have to share the same story."
Robert Zerilli, co-owner of East Village Institution Veniero's Pasticceria and Caffè at 342 E. 11th St. on the next block, said the problems extend beyond any one storefront.
"Small businesses depend on people walking through the neighborhood, looking through the windows, meeting a friend, coming for coffee, or something to eat," he said.
Zerilli said he knew of at least six businesses that had closed near the corner in the past two years, though he emphasized that he was not attributing those closures solely to e-bike congestion.
"This isn't about demonizing anyone. It's about balance," he said. "People need to work. Residents need to get around. Storefront businesses need to remain accessible."
For Izabela Padula, who has lived on the block for nearly four years, navigating the sidewalk with her baby and stroller has become a daily challenge.
"When I leave home with my baby, I should be able to push a stroller down the sidewalk," she said, calling on the city to maintain clear pedestrian access.
Longtime residents Beth Graves and Michael Anton also spoke about deteriorating sanitation conditions.
Graves, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1974, said she sometimes struggles to get through the block while walking her dog to Tompkins Square Park.
She also expressed concerns about discarded food and an increase in rats.
Anton, a resident since 1981, directed some of his criticism toward the delivery-app companies themselves.
He compared the difficult working conditions faced by delivery workers to those experienced by his immigrant grandparents in sweatshops.
"DoorDash, Seamless, Uber Eats. You have made so much money," he said. "Do something for the people who have made that possible."
Anton suggested the companies help provide off-street parking and gathering spaces for delivery workers rather than leaving the burden on residential blocks.
Meanwhile, the block saw a cleanup effort yesterday afternoon.
According to NYPD sources familiar with the operation, police worked with delivery workers to identify abandoned and derelict bikes.
The Department of Sanitation discarded and removed a dozen bikes. Police took two additional bikes obstructing the sidewalk to the 9th Precinct and vouchered them. Police said the bikes were turned over voluntarily. [Photo below by Jim Naureckas]
The cleanup followed continued NYPD attention to the block, though residents at the press conference questioned whether the improvements would last.
"The NYPD was here yesterday and today, and we appreciate that," Renzi said. "But two days of attention are not a substitute for daily enforcement."
Organizers are calling for coordinated action by the NYPD, Department of Sanitation, other city agencies and elected officials to keep sidewalks and building entrances accessible, address sanitation and develop a longer-term plan for delivery-bike parking.
Their message was that the city needs to find a solution that accommodates delivery workers without leaving residents and small businesses to contend with the same conditions day after day.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Scenes from 'Punk in the Park' with Non Residents
Photos by Stacie Joy
On Sunday, NYC thrash metal band Non Residents, formed in 2019 by brothers Amarú and Roberto Fenoutt, headlined the Punk in the Park show in Tompkins...
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