Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (and the Christmas trees arrived yesterday at Key Food on Avenue A)... 

• A new community fridge for the East Village (Thursday) 

• Workers reach the top of 644 E. 14th St.; future of building next door still in limbo 1 year later (Tuesday) 

• Witnesses: Argument erupts in gunfire on Avenue B and 4th Street (Sunday)

• 1 more week for the pandemic-era curbside dining structures (Friday) 

• $400,000 revamp planned for the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run (Wednesday) 

• This holiday season, C&B Café serves up its first-ever pies (Monday)

• Construction watch: 204 Avenue A (Thursday) 

• Mini Gourmet Deli is a new walk-up coffee and juice stand on 14th Street (Wednesday) 

• The retail space housing NYC's first dog cafe, Boris & Horton, is for rent on Avenue A (Monday) 

• A look at the recently revamped Brindle Room on 11th Street (Friday) 

• Bruce Springsteen covers East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin's song "She Don't Love Me Now" (Friday) 

• Rachel Sennott is the latest star to receive the look-alike contest treatment — and today at 3 in Tompkins Square Park (Sunday) 

• Openings: Vintage Store on Houston (Tuesday) Hearty & Healthy on 1st Avenue (Thursday) 

• CC Cyclery closes 13th Street shop to go mobile (Tuesday) 

• Movie picks: The story of Ernest Cole, a photographer almost lost to history (Friday) 

• The day before it was to rain all day (Wednesday) 

• Tompkins Square Park today between the rain showers (Thursday)

• Coming attractions: House of Pasta on 12th Street (Monday) 

• A clean start for this 5th Street storefront with the arrival of Wash & Fold (Wednesday) 

• Signage alert: Bar Snack on 2nd Avenue (Monday) ... Rice Thief on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Openings: Kernel on 4th Street (and long live Other Music!) (Tuesday) 

• A look at the Schmuck sign on 1st Avenue (Thursday)

On the NW corner of 9th and A, Ralph's is closed for the season (photo by Steven)...

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And EVG is now on Bluesky if you want to join us there...

[Updated] Witnesses: Argument erupts in gunfire on Avenue B and 4th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Residents who live around Avenue B and Fourth Street were startled early this morning by the sound of a heated argument that escalated into gunfire. 

Witnesses reported hearing an initial volley of three shots around 3 a.m., followed by three more moments later. Witnesses said at least one person was struck. 

One shot shattered the Half Gallery's front door on the NW corner of Fourth and B. Another shell casing was discovered near a dumpster at 240 E. Fourth St./50 Avenue B.

Witnesses described seeing a man crouched behind a dumpster during the incident while another individual was spotted fleeing the scene. 

Two neighbors managed to capture blurry cell phone images of at least one of the individuals involved, which have been turned over to the NYPD.

This is a developing story. We will update you when more information becomes available. 

Updated 3 p.m. 

A witness told us that one man was struck in the leg during the shooting. It is unknown whether he was the intended victim or a passerby. 

Witnesses and other sources on the block said the argument stemmed from a party held on recent Saturday nights inside the former Lamia's Fish Market at 47 Avenue B. A witness who spoke with police said the event, allegedly hosted by Populares Cantina Mexicana, was shut down by the NYPD at 2 a.m. 

There is a bullet hole inside the Half Gallery (between these two paintings)...

... and another in the door at 240 E. Fourth St./50 Avenue B.

Rachel Sennott is the latest star to receive the look-alike contest treatment (and today at 3 in Tompkins Square Park

A Rachel Sennott look-alike contest is scheduled today at 3 in Tompkins Square Park at the Hare Krishna Tree.

So you know where to go if you have a resemblance to the actress-comedian ("Shiva Baby," "Bottoms," and "Saturday Night"). And $50 to the winner!

The flyer looks the same as we've seen for other public events staged via YouTube personality Anthony Po...

Last month, as you likely heard, there was a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest in Washington Square Park... in which the actor crashed the event. 

There have been others for everyone, from Paul Mescal to Zayn Malik.

The Wall Street Journal stated the other day: "We may be living in a golden age of celebrity look-alike contests." 

The competitions tend to be hastily organized, pay out almost nothing to the winner and probably will no longer be a thing in a month. But the boisterous gatherings are big parties that double as a way to find a date who looks like your celebrity crush. And unlike going to see an Elvis impersonator, there's always a chance the real guy shows up. 

 

The best look-alike subjects, organizers and attendees said, are internet darlings with somewhat achievable physical appearances and the influence to pull a large crowd. Being an A-lister is not a must. Thanks to social media, even niche or relatively new stars can command a fervent following. 

 Then there was the one for Jack Donoghue organized by our old friend Gutes that never happened. To the Journal: "This was mostly just a ploy for me to find a boyfriend, but then I got too busy to pull it off lol."

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

From Ratfest 2024 in Tompkins Square Park today...

EVG Etc.: Reaching a compromise on 'City of Yes;' looking at Paul Morrissey's archives

Opening for the day at Globe Slicers on the Bowery 

• Four people injured in a mini-van collision on Third Avenue at Sixth Street; driver arrested (ABC 7 ... 1010 WINS ... CBS 2) 

• The Mayor's "City of Yes" — with a few concessions — gets approvals from key City Council committees. News and reactions to the plan that will accelerate housing construction: (The City ... Streetsblog ... Gothamist ... City & State ... The New York Times ... The Post) 

"The approved plan included almost no changes to address objections raised about its impact in neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo" (Village Preservation) 

• City Hall plans to transfer all shelter operations, including those for asylum seekers, back to the Department of Homeless Services by June 2026 (The City) 

• Daniel Penny will not testify in subway chokehold trial as defense rests (Gothamist) 

• Police just released info about a 60-year-old man hit with a pipe for not giving stranger money on First Avenue and 13th Street last month (1010 WINS)

• Another new bakery, this one on Cooper Square at the former Dunkin' (Eater) 

• At 95, Shaindel Schreiber still dispenses babka and advice at Moishe's Bakery on Grand Street (The Forward) 

• A look at the archives of Paul Morrissey, a longtime East Village resident, a fixture of the NYC underground cinema scene, and a collaborator of Andy Warhol. He died last month at age 86. (Air Mail — you need to provide an email address to access the article)

• "3 Weeks of Christmas" films at the Village East by Angelika (Official site) 

• Two chances to see David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" on the big screen (Metrograph) 

• An archival interview from 1989, in the East Village, with My Bloody Valentine after the release of their mesmerizing debut full-length record, Isn't Anything (Hot Press) 

... and always a lot of interesting programming from the storefront studio on First Avenue on East Village Radio... for example...

 

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Saturday's opening shot

Morning views from First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... sun's out!

Good knight

Photo by Derek Berg 

Along Avenue B at Tompkins Square Park...

When Love comes to town

 

In late August, news arrived that Bruce Springsteen had covered East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin's song "She Don't Love Me Now." 

Now there's a video for the track (H/T Bayou!), filmed at Heaven Can Wait on Avenue A, which also cameos. 

The song is featured on Silver Patron Saints, the triple-vinyl album on Glassnote Records benefiting Malin's Sweet Relief artist fund.

In May 2023, Malin suffered a rare spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Malin, a partner in several local establishments, including Niagara, 96 Tears and the Bowery Electric, plans to return to the stage for the first time since early 2023 on Dec. 1-2 at the Beacon Theater, billed as "the largest hometown show of his career." 

He will perform a set with his band. Then special guests, among others, Jim Jarmusch, the Hold Steady, Fred Armisen, Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones, Jakob Dylan, Butch Walker, J Mascis, Adam Duritz and David Immergluck of Counting Crows, will join him on stage. The Times just published a feature on Malin here.

Movie picks: The story of Ernest Cole, a photographer almost lost to history

Frequent EVG contributor Daniel Efram caught a screening of "Ernest Cole: Lost and Found" earlier this week at the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue and Second Street. 

And there was a surprise Q&A with the director, Raoul Peck ... Peabody Award Winner (HBO's "Exterminate All the Brutes") and Oscar-nominated (James Baldwin, "I Am Not Your Negro").

The documentary tells the story of Ernest Cole, "one of the most important chroniclers of apartheid-era South Africa," per the Associated Press. He died "mostly forgotten and penniless" at age 49 in 1990. 

The film is garnering positive reviews (93% aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes). Dan called it an "intriguing portrait."

Starting today, you can catch its theatrical release at the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue near Third Street.

Today in desk-side visits

EVG reader Jacki Carroll shared this photo with us from this morning — an unscheduled office visit!

We asked our friend and local hawk/wildlife photographer Goggla for insights into who this might be...

Looks like an adult, but I'm not sure who it is. Definitely not Christo (not his coloring), but it could be one of the Washington Square hawks who have become mysterious. They did not nest in WSP last year, but no one knows if they nested somewhere else or not. Union Square was always part of their territory and they'd often perch on the Con Ed building lantern on 14th Street. That pair is different now than the ones Roger Paw blogged about, so their habits are not really known. 

Check out Goggla's photo site for more on our resident red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, and others.

1 more week for the pandemic-era curbside dining structures

Photos by Stacie Joy

You have one week to dine in one of the neighborhood's remaining pandemic-era dining structures. 

By the end of the day on Nov. 29, bars and restaurants must remove street dining structures to align with the city's permanent Dining Out NYC program. 

As previously noted, the significant change with the new guidelines is that enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. 

Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November. (Sidewalk cafes are permitted year-round.) 

Ahead of next Friday, curbside dining structures continue to come down around the neighborhood (and other parts of NYC). For instance, on Wednesday, workers demolished the large streetery outside Eastpoint on Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street.

With the takedown deadline looming, a cottage industry has popped up...

Here's some background via a Nov. 4 article at Streetsblog about the timing of removing the structures: 

Businesses enrolled in the program had to either conform their set-ups to city's new designs to get the extension to Nov. 29 or take down their old-set-ups on Nov. 1. Many opted to simply give up their street seating sooner rather than set up new streeteries for just a few weeks. 

The city required restaurants to either apply for the permanent program or take down their sheds by early August, which caused the first wave of restaurant demolitions. Those that did sign up for the new program had to bring their roadway set-ups in line with the new design guidelines by Nov. 1; all street seats must come down by Nov. 30, even if they've been updated. 

DOT officials have said there were around 3,0000 roadway and sidewalk café applications as of late September. That's in contrast to the 13,000 participating in the temporary program in 2020.

A look at the recently revamped Brindle Room on 11th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After a months-long closure over the summer and into the fall, The Brindle Room recently reopened at 647 E. 11th St. near Avenue C. 

Owner Jeremy Spector, along with new partner Shervin Nassi, redesigned ("reimagined" was the word) the space and expanded the menu — food and drinks. 

The Brindle Room, known for its burgers, now also serves steak frites, spaghetti and meatballs, and chicken wings, among other items. Here's a look ...

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 5-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 4 p.m. to midnight; Sunday 4-10 p.m.

The Brindle Room opened on 11th Street in the summer of 2022... Spector and Co. spent 11 years at 277 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. The restaurant was doing takeout during the early days of the pandemic but stayed shut after the spring of 2020. 

Spector later vowed to find a new home for The Brindle Room.

Scone hours

Since we had the scoop about Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop opening, people have asked about the hours at the storefront at 93 1/2 E. Seventh St. just east of First Avenue. 

For now, Mary O'Halloran has posted hours of 7 a.m. to whenever they sell out Friday through Sunday. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• At the sneak preview of Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop on 7th Street 

• On Sunday, a sneak preview of Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop ahead of its Nov. 16 grand opening

• Mary O is bringing her scones to 7th Street

Tompkins Square Park today between the rain showers

Early this afternoon, during a break from the showers. 

Per the National Weather Service: "Much-needed rain has arrived. An area of low pressure will remain near the region through Friday night, resulting in periods of rain. Some of the higher elevations west of NY, could see some of the rain mix with or change over to snow [ed note: !!!!]."

A new community fridge for the East Village

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

A new community fridge is now in service outside the Sixth Street Community Center between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

One Love Community Fridge, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the sponsor here.

With this arrival, Pastor Will Kroeze of Trinity Lower East Side let us know that the longstanding community fridge outside Trinity on Ninth Street and Avenue B, which had been broken, was dismantled and carted off yesterday. 

As we reported in August, the Trinity LES community fridge needed a new home.

"The Sixth Street Community Center expressed interest and had the most suitable location," Pastor Will told us. "We believe strongly in the kind of mutual aid exemplified by the community fridge model and know how much our neighbors continue to depend on it at all hours of every day, so we continue to support the fridge in its new location and are grateful for those who will now care for this invaluable community resource." 

If you'd like to help support the fridge, you can do so here.

This year, the neighborhood lost the use of the 12th Street and First Avenue East Village Neighbors Community Fridge. The plant-based community fridge outside Overthrow on Bleecker Street near the Bowery had been out of service since last December. Meanwhile, Overthrow is now permanently closed.

Construction watch: 204 Avenue A

Workers removed the plywood from outside 204 Avenue last week, providing a clear view of the new 7-floor building slowly progressing on the site of a former 4-story structure between 12th Street and 13th Street.

As previously reported, this city-owned property, along with the one at 535 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, is designated for affordable housing.

The project is an income-restricted cooperative with units available to households earning no more than 80% AMI. No. 204 features 10 units (8-1BRs & 2-2BRs). There are 11 one-bedroom rental units at the 6-story No. 535.

No. 204 and 535, part of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development's Tenant Interim Lease Program, have been vacant since 2008. "Due to deteriorating structural conditions," tenants from both buildings were relocated then.

Some more background: Both sites were city-owned since the mid-1970s and entered the Tenant Interim Lease program in 2001. 

The former tenants of each building will be able to purchase the co-op units in the newly constructed building at No. 204, which will include ground-floor retail. (The lottery for No. 535 ended in August 2022; we have not heard anything about 204.)

Shakespeare Gordon Vlado Architects is the architect of record for the project, which has taken several years to complete. 

Openings: Hearty & Healthy on 1st Avenue

Photos: Michael Tulipan/MST Creative 

Hearty & Healthy debuted at 103 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street earlier this month.

Andee Rosario (pictured below), a hospitality vet whose family operates Los Munchies in upper Manhattan, The Bronx, and Queens, started the business as a ghost kitchen in the East Village during the pandemic. 

Given the brand's delivery success, she and her team decided to open a restaurant. 

Per a rep: "Sourcing organic and locally whenever possible, Hearty & Healthy has everybody covered with a menu full of options for vegetarians, pescatarians, vegans, and gluten-free diners ... the restaurant is great for groups and aims to be a destination where guests with different dietary preferences can all enjoy a meal together."

Hours: Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to midnight; Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They are open for lunch and brunch on weekends. While there is a full bar menu, they also offer alcohol-free cocktails. 

You can find the website and menu here. And if you're on Instagram.

This space was home to Sidney's Five for three years until February.

A look at the Schmuck sign on 1st Avenue

The cube-shaped-lettered Schmuck sign arrived in early November on the NW corner of First Avenue and Sixth Street...

The under-construction cocktail lounge comes via Moe Aljaff and Juliette Laroui, alum of Two Schmucks in Barcelona. (Previously) 

Punch recently talked with the pair and called this "New York's Most Anticipated Bar." 

In recent weeks, we've heard from a few readers who said the signage reminds them of the classic Burger-Klein sign that was a familiar presence at 28 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street for decades. (Building history here.) 

We lost the Burger-Klein sign in 2014 when the gym took over the upper floors.

Here it is in all its 2013 glory...
 

Wednesday's parting shot

Saifee for the holidays on the SE corner of First Avenue and Seventh Street...

The day before it was to rain all day

There is/was a strange energy in NYC today — a buzziness before tomorrow’s all-day rain. It feels a bit like the anticipation before a snow day — like work and school will be canceled. 

And we need the rain. Per Bloomberg: 

The dry fall of 2024 was unprecedented, with only 1.59 inches of rain recorded in Central Park in September and October. October was the driest calendar month on record in Central Park, with only 0.01 inches of rain. 

And for tonight into tomorrow evening...

We are expecting a widespread significant rainfall, mainly Wed night into Thu night. Not a drought buster, but it will help, especially with ongoing fire weather issues. Our rainfall forecast is around 1" to 1.5" #NYwx #NJwx #CTwx #drought #droughtrelief pic.twitter.com/fGoatntqon

— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) November 19, 2024