At the last day of REI's flagship NYC store

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Yesterday's final day at REI's NYC flagship brought plenty of discounted camping gear — and plenty of emotions. 

By day's end, the outdoor retailer had closed its only NYC location after 15 years in the Puck Building at Lafayette and Houston. 

The pending closure was announced last October. REI has said the decision was part of a broader strategy to adapt to changing business conditions while focusing on long-term growth.

When we stopped by yesterday, much of the 35,000-square-foot store had already been roped off, with empty shelves throughout as shoppers picked over the remaining merchandise.

Several employees, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity outside the store, said they believe the closure is retaliation for workers' efforts to unionize. 

They noted that the SoHo location is one of REI's unionized stores and said the company's Boston store — another unionized location — is also slated to close. 

REI has publicly cited business reasons for the closures and has not said they are related to union activity.

"Any claim that this store is closing because of unionization is simply not true," a spokesperson told WWD. "As we shared with our employees and members last fall, the decision was based on broader business considerations and our need to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs."

Employees also told us they have not been offered transfers to other REI stores and instead must re-apply for any open positions elsewhere within the company. 

Inside, there were some bittersweet moments as longtime customers stopped to thank staffers for their years of service.

More than one conversation ended with hugs — and a few tears. 

With the NYC store now closed, the nearest REI locations for city residents are in Carle Place on Long Island and East Hanover, N.J.

For many outdoor enthusiasts — and local residents who remember when the space housed Eastern Mountain Sports — it's the end of an era.

How an East Village resident turns sour cherries into sweet summer jam

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy 

Every summer, there's a brief window — just a few weeks — to make sour-cherry jam. 

Because sour cherries are so delicate and their season is so fleeting, many home cooks wait all year for the opportunity. For longtime East Village resident Gab Schueler, it's become an annual ritual. 

I first tasted her homemade jam during the pandemic, when she included a jar with one of the llama-print COVID masks she was making for essential workers. 

Curious about the labor-intensive process, I recently visited her kitchen to see how it's done.

Can you share what led you to start making sour-cherry jam?

The day before the COVID lockdown, Dan Sweeney at 11th Street Bar had just received a delivery of beautiful citrus that he wasn't going to be able to use, so he gave it away to everyone who'd stopped in for one last drink. 

I was inspired to make marmalade (I think I'd had some recently), and it turned out OK. I didn't get botulism. Around the same time, I was reading chef and author David Lebovitz's blog regularly and came across his recipe for sour-cherry jam. I love cherries and decided to try it when cherry season came around. It also turned out OK! Actually, it was really delicious, not too difficult to make and didn't require any special equipment.

What recipe do you follow, and do you adjust it or tinker with it in any way? 

This is the recipe I follow (link). 

The main way I've changed it is to omit the almond extract, kirsch or amaretto because the sour-cherry flavor is really good on its own, without any distractions. I also reduce the sugar slightly.

What is the process like, from acquiring the sour cherries to the finished jam? 

It's like being on a mission because the sour-cherry season is really short — around three weeks from the end of June into early July. This year I was a little late, so the fruit was a little past its best, but still good. Because sour cherries are so soft and highly perishable, they can't sit for very long. 

I buy them at the Union Square Greenmarket when I know I'll have time to make the jam within two or three days.

Pitting the cherries is the only part of the process that's unique to the fruit. In Germany, everyone seems to have a cherry-pitting tool because cherries are so plentiful and celebrated when the season comes around. 

I didn't have a specialized tool, so I looked online and found multiple people using an unbent paperclip. It works surprisingly well. Standing at the sink and pitting the cherries one at a time becomes almost meditative once you get the hang of it. 

The cooking part mostly consists of standing around, stirring, and anticipating the delicious result — nothing too tricky there.

What do you do with your jam? 

I usually give jars away to family and friends, spreading the appreciation for sour-cherry jam. I eat it on yogurt or ice cream — or straight from the spoon. 

You mentioned making other fruit jams. Can you elaborate? 

Once I realized that jam could be made without an elaborate canning process — which sounds so daunting and error-prone — I became much more relaxed about simmering fruit with sugar and a bit of lemon juice, then keeping it in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks until it's used up.

I've made citrus marmalade (the best was with blood oranges), as well as strawberry, raspberry and peach jams. The homemade version tastes much more like the fruit than industrially produced jams.

What would you say to aspiring home cooks about jam-making? 

If you're also concerned about accidentally breeding botulism, give this method a try! It doesn't require any special equipment. You can reuse jars from store-bought items. You don't have to make enough to survive the winter. Try it with a few peaches or a pint of berries, and you'll probably end up with a jar or two.

If you like the result, experiment with different fruits. I really hope people will give it a try while summer fruit is in season.

Reader reports: Stickett Inn closes ahead of a move to a new space

The storefront at 157 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street — home to Stickett Inn since 2021 — has been cleared out. 

According to a reader, the cider bar closed on July 14 and plans to reopen around Sept. 1 in a new space on 10th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, closer to Avenue A on the north side of the block. (Both retail spaces at 279 E. 10th St. appear to be under renovation.)

There has been no official announcement about the move. Stickett Inn's Instagram account is currently set to private, and Google and Yelp still list the First Avenue location as open. 

Stickett Inn, an extension of the Barryville, N.Y.-based boutique inn and cidery founded by husbands Johnny Pizzolato and Roswell Hamrick, opened its East Village outpost in June 2021. 

The compact bar served Stickett Inn Cider, cocktails and New York-made spirits, including products from LGBTQ+ producers. 

We'll update this post when more information about the new location becomes available.

Openings: Two Cookies on 1st Avenue

Two Cookies recently opened its East Village outpost at 149 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

The bakery focuses on two cookie varieties: a signature chocolate chip cookie — available warm or chilled — and a classic sugar cookie. 

According to the company, the cookies are made with European butter, Belgian chocolate and free-range eggs. 

This marks the bakery's third NYC location, joining its original shop from 2023 in the Financial District and a walk-up window in SoHo. 

The business takes over the space from a previous cookie shop — Gooey on the Inside, which closed in the late spring after nine months. Owner Kafi Dublin said the space "just wasn't working."

A penny for your thoughts?

Photo by Stacie Joy 

With the federal government no longer producing new pennies — the U.S. Mint struck its final batch in November — retailers continue to adjust.

Shop Fair on Avenue C at Fourth Street has had posted notices explaining that cash totals will be rounded to the nearest nickel: 1 or 2 cents and 6 or 7 cents round down; 3 or 4 cents and 8 or 9 cents round up. (The penny may be gone, but the math remains.) Debit and credit card transactions are not affected.

Meanwhile, the Common Cents Act, which passed the House of Representatives this week, would establish nationwide rules for rounding cash purchases to the nearest nickel as the U.S. gradually phases out the penny. 

The proposed law is reportedly intended to give retailers a consistent standard for handling cash transactions, while electronic payments would continue to be charged to the exact cent.

So don't be surprised if more penny-related signs start popping up at neighborhood businesses.

Plywood arrives at long-vacant lot on 1st Avenue as work beings on new 7-floor building

Plywood arrived yesterday at the long-vacant lot at 89 First Ave., between Fifth and Sixth Streets, as construction is presumably set to begin at the site. 

Current approved permits call for a seven-story, six-unit (condos!?) mixed-use building with ground-floor retail.

The plywood rendering lists a spring 2028 completion date. 

The vacant parcel changed hands last summer in a $4 million sale. City records list the new owner as 891 Development LLC, whose address matches that of NADKOS, a general contracting firm with a portfolio concentrated in south Brooklyn. 

The site has seen little visible progress in recent years despite development efforts. 

In late 2022, the city granted partial approval for plans to build a six-story building with eight apartments and ground-floor retail, a proposal that had been winding its way through the DOB since May 2020. Those plans never moved forward. 

An earlier proposal for a similar six-story, eight-unit building surfaced in 2017 but also failed to materialize. 

As one of the last undeveloped lots in the East Village, the site has remained a curiosity (and trash heap) for years...

For more background, read the EVG post below... 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• It took a court order to clean out the long-neglected 89 First Ave. lot (September 2021)

On the rental market: 235 E. 4th St.

Photo by Stacie Joy

A for-rent sign now hangs in the window at 235 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B. 

As we first reported, Stoned Gourmet Cannabis Pizza closed here at the end of June. Owner Chris Barrett told us the closure came after a combination of building issues and an impasse with the landlord. 

He opened the restaurant in the fall of 2020, serving cannabis-infused pizzas, snacks and drinks in a space with blacked-out windows, a dining room and a private smoking lounge. 

The address has been several concepts during the EVG years (b 2007)... let's see what we had: 

• E.U., the first "gastropub" in the East Village, had the space starting in 2006. 

• Tonda 

• Piccola Positano 

• b4 

• Nobody Is Perfect 

• Stoned Gourmet Cannabis Pizza

Maybe the next tenant will stick around long enough to make this list harder to update.

Openings: Rollcraft on 10th Street

A handroll bar called Rollcraft recently debuted at 77 E. 10th St. between Third and Fourth Avenues.

The 20-seat, counter-only restaurant specializes in made-to-order handrolls. The menu includes bluefin tuna akami zuke, hiramasa yellowtail with sesame salt and a cherry tomato handroll with katsuobushi. The beverage menu features draft Suntory The Premium Malt's beer, sake and a selection of wines by the glass.

The chef and ownership team previously worked at several Michelin-starred New York restaurants, including Mari, Cote, Kochi and Jungsik. 

Rollcraft is walk-in only — no reservations — and has a no-tipping policy. 

Hours: 

• Tuesday-Friday: 5-9 p.m.

• Saturday: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. 

• Closed Sunday and Monday.

Tuesday's parting shot

Hour No. 12

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is now playing on three screens at Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street.

One of those screenings is in the theater's 440-seat Jaffe Theater, where the film is being presented in 70mm.

The 100-year-old Jaffe Theater — originally built as the Yiddish Art Theatre — is one of the city's few venues equipped to screen 70mm films.

Also, info perhaps for next week: Angelika members get 50%-off tickets on Tuesday. Free to join.

And the theater's Instagram account shared the film's end journey to the East Village...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Village East by Angelika (@villageeastbyangelika)

After 31 years, White Trash is closing on 5th Street

Photos courtesy of Stuart Zamsky & @WhiteTrashNYC 

White Trash, the vintage furniture and home furnishings shop at 304 E. Fifth St. just east of Second Avenue, is closing next month after 31 years in business. 

Owner Stuart Zamsky said the shop's last day is expected to be around Aug. 10. To help clear inventory, White Trash is holding its first-ever 25%-off storewide sale. 

A bittersweet decision 

"It's definitely a bittersweet moment," Zamsky told us. 

Several factors led to the decision.

"Yes, the rent is going up, but not so much that it would be impossible — enough so that it makes work that much harder," he said. "I'm 65 and wasn't sure that I wanted to be grinding even more to make the business profitable." 

He also cited the building itself, noting that the shop gets extremely cold in the winter and needs significant renovation. 

"When I added up those factors, it seemed that this would be a good time to retire," he said. 

Zamsky and his wife, Kim Wurster, who co-founded White Trash in 1995 (below), hope to travel more. While they expect to remain involved in the resale business in some capacity, they're not yet sure what that will look like.

A furniture store — and more

White Trash began with two actors who loved vintage furniture and hoped to leave behind survival jobs.

"We never thought it would become a multi-decade endeavor that would provide enough stability to raise a family," Zamsky said. 

Their two sons grew up in the shop, spending afternoons there after school before eventually becoming part-time employees. 

"The people we've met whose places we've helped furnish have been one of our great joys," he said. "We're still friends with our very first workers — now adults with their own children."

A neighborhood gathering place 

Over the years, White Trash became more than a place to buy mid-century furniture. 

"It became a 'third space' for us and our neighbors," Zamsky said. 

After becoming active in the Fifth Street Block Association, he said the shop evolved into an informal meeting place where neighbors discussed local issues, organized around neighborhood concerns and simply caught up with one another. 

"It was about as small-town as one could get." 

But the sense of community extended beyond Fifth Street.

"Whether it was famous actors, writers, comedians, musicians or folks just looking for some good shopping, our greatest pleasure was extending some hospitality, sharing our knowledge of stuff and where to get it, where to have it refinished or reupholstered."

A lasting memory 

Among Zamsky's favorite memories is creating the shop's distinctive Airstream trailer sign with his late father, a former mechanical engineer. 

"He helped me source the metal, construct it and hang it," Zamsky recalled. "He was fearless.

"I can still see him up there on the ladder at the top of the second-floor windows hanging the supports."

White Trash is open Monday-Saturday from 2-8 p.m.

Volunteers honor founders of Backpacks for the Street on the Lower East Side

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Volunteers with Backpacks for the Street gathered on the Lower East Side on Sunday to honor the nonprofit's two founders, Jayson Conner and Jeffrey Newman, who died within days of each other earlier this summer, according to The New York Times. 

Conner, 48, died June 28 of a heart attack at the couple's Manhattan home. Newman, 58, died on July 2. A cause of death was not revealed. 

The couple launched Backpacks for the Street in 2018, filling backpacks with essentials such as socks, toiletries, notebooks and wet wipes for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. 

What began with a handful of backpacks grew into an operation with nearly 40 volunteers that has distributed more than 180,000 backpacks across Manhattan. 

Each week, volunteers assembled more than 100 backpacks before distribution ... in which Conner and Newman emphasized treating every person with dignity and compassion. 

"It was fascinating to see how well they managed to communicate with people on the streets," volunteer Kristina Kashtanova told the Times. "They taught me how to be a better human and how to talk to people who were so different from me."

Volunteers are discussing how to continue the program, though no decisions have been made.

Noted

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Someone (or something) took out a panel at the southbound M9 bus stop on Avenue C between Second Street and Third Street. That's no small feat.

And we suddenly feel like mentioning that "Shattered Glass" is a really good journalism-related movie.

Barryville General expanding next door on Avenue A with a cafe

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Barryville General, which opened last December on Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, is expanding into the storefront next door at 70 Avenue A. 

Co-owner Sean Naughton, an East Village resident for 32 years, said food and coffee have long been part of the Barryville General concept, though the Avenue A shop was its first location without either.

"We have always aspired to do it in the East Village," he said. 

The expansion will operate under the same name and connect to the existing shop through a pass-through, while also maintaining its own entrance.

The café will serve espresso from a local Cuban coffee company, along with baked goods and a simple grab-and-go menu featuring a few Cuban-inspired items. Plans also call for nondairy soft serve from Lavender and Truffles. 

Naughton said they spoke with neighboring Lucky Coffee, which opened this spring, before finalizing the menu and, out of respect, will not offer matcha. Instead, the new space will focus on espresso, café fare and soft serve. 

Barryville General is aiming for an August opening. The café is expected to open in the morning for coffee and pastries and remain open into the evening for soft serve. A to-go window is also under consideration.

The shop carries a curated selection of home goods, apparel (officially unisex, though it is predominantly menswear), and pantry items. 

Founded by a husband-and-wife team, Eric Komovoff and Sharone Komovoff, the East Village marked the store's second location, which opened upstate in Barryville and later relocated to Southampton.

Freedom Village gets a colorful new mural from Scooter LaForge

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

A colorful new mural is nearing completion on the side of Freedom Village, Barrier Free Living's new supportive housing building at 270 E. Second St. between Avenue C and Avenue D. 

East Village artist Scooter LaForge said the project took about a year and a half of discussions before moving forward. 

Titled "Freedom, Community and Being Reborn," the mural draws on themes of emerging from darkness into light, second chances and optimism.

LaForge said the prominent use of purple reflects Barrier Free Living's signature color.

Once finished, the mural will receive the artist's signature and a UV-protective sealant. 

Freedom Village, a 13-story building that opened earlier this year, provides supportive housing and services for survivors of domestic violence, people with disabilities and others in need of stable housing.

Ladybird announces year-end closing on 7th Street

Ladybird, the vegetarian restaurant at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, will close at the end of the year. 

The announcement came late last week via Instagram, when ownership said they have decided not to renew the lease after nearly a decade in the neighborhood. 

"When we opened Ladybird, we set out to create something playful, welcoming, and a little unexpected," the post reads. "What followed was more than we ever imagined." 

Ladybird opened in 2017 as part of the Overthrow Hospitality family, serving plant-based small plates and cocktails. 

Overthrow said the decision comes as Overthrow shifts its focus to expanding Soda Club (on Sixth and A), beginning with a Denver location this fall. 

Meanwhile, you have five-plus months to enjoy Ladybird.

"We hope you'll continue making memories with us around these tables, just as you've done for the past decade," per the closing post. 

Openings: Dim Sum Bloom on 1st Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Dim Sum Bloom has opened at 228 First Ave., between 13th and 14th Streets. 

The fast-casual restaurant specializes in dumplings, noodles, fried rice and other Chinese comfort-food favorites. This is the brand's latest outpost, following its 2023 debut on the Upper West Side and expansions to Queens and other locations. 

One of Dim Sum Bloom's calling cards is its high-tech kitchen. The restaurant bills itself as home to "NYC's only robotic kitchen," with a fully automated robot handling the stir-fry station ... while cooks prepare the dumplings and other appetizers by hand. (Staff declined requests for any robot pics.)

The new East Village location also features two spacious dining rooms for those eating in. (FYI: No alcohol. Drinks include soda and various fruit and milk teas. 

Find the menu here. 

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with a noon start on Sunday.

The previous tenant here was Taverna East Village, which went dark in December 2024.

Sunday's parting World Cup shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Around the neighborhood today, where plenty of bars, restaurants and other gathering spots were tuned to the World Cup final, won by Spain, 1-0, over Argentina...