Photos: The 32nd annual Drag March steps off from Tompkins Square Park

Photo by Stacie Joy

Pride Weekend got its traditional East Village start last evening as the Drag March returned to Tompkins Square Park for the 32nd time.

Hundreds gathered in the park before setting off from Avenue A and Ninth Street for the colorful procession to the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.

Participants also paid tribute to East Village-based artist and activist Agosto Machado, who died in March. A longtime figure in the downtown arts community, Machado participated in the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the Gay Liberation Movement. He often described himself as a "pre-Stonewall street queen" and remained an influential presence in the city's creative and activist circles for decades.

Here are a few scenes from the start of the march...

Saturday's opening shot

Photo by Robert Miner 

Pride Weekend skyline photo of 14th Street last evening...

A little hell-raising from the Dollheads

 

If you're planning on going to the free Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park tomorrow, consider arriving early for the first band (roughly 1:50 p.m.).

The Dollheads are a sibling trio from Las Vegas making a name for themselves on the punk scene. 

Check out the video here for "See you in Hell." 

'No Picnic' starting its 11th week at the Film Forum

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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

Kenka hosting its first punk show this weekend on St. Mark's Place

A longtime East Village late-night destination for adventurous Japanese cuisine is about to get a little louder. 

Kenka, 25 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, will host its first-ever punk show late tomorrow (Saturday) night, with five bands taking over the restaurant from midnight to 4 a.m. 

The lineup features Blu Anxxiety, Nisemono, Hated, Kleptocracy and Infernal Spawn. Tickets are $8 in advance here or $10 cash at the door, with all proceeds going directly to the bands. There will also be $3 Sapporos. 

The show is being organized by Kyota Umeki, whose father, Yuji Umeki, the longtime owner of Kenka and the punk-vintage shop Search & Destroy upstairs, died unexpectedly last year. 

Kyota, who grew up in the East Village, has said he hopes to use Kenka as a venue to support and reconnect with the neighborhood's punk community.

Leftöver Crack headlines the lastest Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park tomorrow

Leftöver Crack is returning to Tompkins Square Park tomorrow for a free, all-ages concert via Show Brain. 

It's a homecoming of sorts for the band, which first played in Tompkins in August 1999 as part of a Riot Reunion show. Over the years, the park also hosted performances by related projects, including Choking Victim reunions and Star Fucking Hipsters. 

Per an Instagram post: "We all live for music & the power of anarcho-punk activism & to play for free in the park that made us who we are is an honor that we shall never take for granted." 

The stacked lineup features (set times very approximate) 

• the Dollheads (1:50-2:20) 

• Pilfers (2:40-3:10) 

• Loosey (3:30-4) 

• Balaclava (4:20-5) 

• Leftöver Crack (5:20-6:10)

 

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It's June 26, and Halloween has arrived at the East Village Target

It's in the mid-80s outside, but Halloween apparently waits for no one. 

Edmund John Dunn spotted the first wave of spooky-season merchandise at the Target on 14th Street and Avenue A.

If you're keeping score at home: Halloween decorations are now on shelves while summer has barely settled in. Happy... almost Halloween?

Tompkins Square mini pool set to open Saturday (tomorrow!)

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The Tompkins Square Park mini pool (yes, Tompkins has a mini pool) will welcome its first swimmers of the season tomorrow, aka, Saturday, June 27. (All outdoor city pools open tomorrow.)  

We stopped by this week as Parks staff made the final preparations ahead of opening day. Workers were skimming and cleaning the pool, installing new signage and checking equipment. We also witnessed pH and chlorine testing, with everything appearing on track for an on-time opening.

At around 86 degrees and sunny, the pool looked especially inviting. 

Unfortunately, the mini pool is reserved for children and their accompanying adults, so we had to resist the urge to take a quick dip.

Outdoor pool hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with a cleaning break from 3 to 4 p.m. 

This may also be the last summer for the mini pool in its current form. In August 2024, Gov. Hochul announced nearly $150 million in capital grants through the New York Statewide Investment in More Swimming (NY SWIMS) initiative. 

As part of that program, Tompkins Square Park was awarded $6.1 million for a new in-ground pool that is expected to double the capacity of the current above-ground setup. 

So enjoy the trailer-style pool era while it lasts.

June 24

Not sure what's going on over at Broadway and West Third Street... EVG readers Dan and Kim shared these photos from last night showing not one, not two, not three, but four discarded Christmas trees lined up outside a building. 

It's late June, which makes the timing even more curious. Delayed holiday cleanup? A very early start on decorating for Christmas 2026? A gathering of the ghosts of Christmas past? 

If anyone knows the story behind this quartet of evergreens, let us know..

The Cooper Square Committee's annual street fair returns Saturday

The no-parking signs are up along Third Avenue, which can only mean one thing: street fair season continues. 

 The Cooper Square Committee is sponsoring Saturday's street festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. along Third Avenue between Sixth Street and 13th Street. 

Cooper Square Committee staff and volunteers will have an information table where visitors can learn about tenant rights, community land trusts and the organization's other programs. 

The festival will also feature more than 200 vendors offering everything from artisan crafts to street food...

 

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B&H Dairy is on its annual summer break

Photos by Steven

If you've been meaning to stop by B&H Dairy for a tuna melt, plate of blintzes or a bowl of borscht, you'll have to wait until August. 

The classic luncheonette at 127 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place is now on its annual summer vacation. 

B&H closed this week and will remain shuttered through Aug. 3. The restaurant reopens Aug. 4 at 7 a.m.

The break is a longstanding summer tradition for the family-run business, which has been serving East Villagers and visitors for decades.

Tom Verlaine's record collection is going on sale

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Fans of the late Tom Verlaine — and record collectors with deep crates and perhaps deeper pockets — will soon have a chance to own a piece of the influential musician's personal vinyl collection. 

Starting tomorrow (Friday), a selection of records from Verlaine's archive will be available for purchase via Discogs, with additional in-person sales planned next month at Academy Records in Brooklyn. (There's also an Academy Records outpost on 12th Street.) 

The collection reportedly includes roughly 4,000 LPs and singles spanning jazz, garage rock, psychedelia, experimental music, avant-garde recordings and other genres. The first batch goes on sale online on June 26. Additional titles will be available at Academy Records' Brooklyn location on July 10-11, before more records are added to Discogs later in the month. Records purchased through Discogs will come with certificates of authenticity.

Verlaine, a longtime East Villager who died in 2023 at age 73, emerged in the early 1970s as a central figure in the downtown music scene centered around CBGB. His band Television released Marquee Moon in 1977, an album that remains one of the most influential records of the punk and post-punk era. 

Interest in Verlaine's work remains strong. In January, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts announced that it had acquired his archive, a collection spanning roughly six decades that includes lyric drafts, correspondence, photographs, recordings and other materials documenting his career. 

Now, fans have another chance to connect with Verlaine's artistic life — this time through the records that helped shape his musical vision.

March gallery is on the move out of the East Village

Photo by Stacie Joy

After more than five years at 62-64 Avenue A, March gallery is headed south. 

The gallery has shown its last exhibition here, and will open in a new space this fall at 209 Canal St. (#3). 

Per an Instagram post: "March is pleased, elated, thrilled, content, and generally enthused about moving to 209 CANAL STREET this September. Our new space is located on one of the most iconic streets in Manhattan, a stone's throw from both Tribeca and SOHO. See you then. See you there."

Phillip March Jones debuted March here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street in May 2021... before expanding into an adjacent storefront the following winter. 

New owners bought the block-long building in the fall of 2022, leading to an exodus of tenants. 

Staff here told us that the lease was up, and "all the galleries are moving," noting "there's more traffic in Tribeca."

March is the latest gallery to either close or move away from the East Village in recent years, a list that includes:

• Karma closed three galleries here and now operates from a 10,000-square-foot space on West 26th Street. 

• Ruby/Dakota closed earlier this year after 18 months on Second Street. 

• In 2022, Ki Smith Gallery relocated from Fourth Street to Forsyth on the LES 

• Gratin left 76 Avenue B in late 2024 for space on both Grand Street and White Street. 

• O'Flaherty's left Avenue A and Third Street in the summer of 2024 after a memorable 18-month run.

87 1st Ave. is for sale

There's a new listing for the sale of the 16-unit 87 First Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

The listing notes that the property "offers an exceptional investment opportunity in one of New York City’s most vibrant and sought-after neighborhoods" and "enjoys convenient access to premier dining, shopping, entertainment, and cultural destinations." 

Asking price: $7.499 million. 

There's no mention of the retail space, home for years to the Blue Door Video... where it's more difficult to window shop with the constant tagging here...

EVG's Stacie Joy documented the main floor of the business in this 2022 post. 

It's difficult to imagine someone purchasing the building as an investment and keeping the Blue Door as a tenant. We'll see! 

Also, as previously noted, a new development is in the works (still) in the empty lot next door to No. 87.

Carnitas Ramirez marks 2 years in the East Village

Photo by Stacie Joy

Carnitas Ramirez recently celebrated its second anniversary at 210 E. Third St., just east of Avenue B ... a noteworthy milestone in a neighborhood where we often end up reporting on restaurants that don't make it nearly that long. 

The taqueria's success has not gone unnoticed beyond the East Village (and their original outpost in Greenpoint). 

chefs Giovanni Cervantes and (far left in the top pic) and Yvon de Tassigny (2nd from right) were finalists for Best Chef: New York State at the 2026 James Beard Awards. The recognition was notable in another respect: Carnitas Ramirez became the first taqueria since 2022 to have a finalist in the category. 

In a neighborhood where restaurant turnover can feel relentless, two years — and a James Beard finalist nod — is a run worth noting.

Has the smoke-shop hydra finally met its match at 166 Avenue B?

Photos by Stacie Joy

An eviction notice has been affixed to the gate at 166 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street, the latest development at a storefront that has housed a succession of (brightly lit) unlicensed smoke shops in recent years.

As we've documented, various iterations of smoke shops have cycled through the address, with enforcement actions and closures often followed by another operator appearing shortly thereafter.

So while the eviction notice suggests the current chapter has come to an end, experience has taught us not to declare victory too soon.

Still, it may be the strongest sign yet that the smoke-shop hydra at 166 Avenue B has finally run out of heads.

Tuesday's parting shot

EVG reader Eva Jakubowski shared this sunset shot from 10th Street near First Avenue as, she wrote, the last voters cast their ballots at the Theater for the New City on Primary Day in NYC.

Today is Primary Election Day

Election Day is today (Tuesday, June 23) here in NYC.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Find your poll site here.) 

East Village residents will be voting on the following (links include info on the candidates):

• Representative in Congress 10 

• State Comptroller 

• State Senator 27 

Find more election info at NYC Votes here. 

Meanwhile, 172,743 check-ins were recorded during the early voting period between June 13 and June 21...

📢2026 Primary Election-
Early Voting Complete!
Manhattan: 67,369
Bronx: 14,739
Brooklyn: 54,277
Queens: 33,143
Staten Island: 3,215
Total # of Early Voting Check-Ins: 172,743*
*Unofficial & Cumulative as of close of polls

— NYC Board of Elections (@BOENYC) June 21, 2026

16 Handles has a new 2nd Avenue home

It appears that 16 Handles has found a new home on Second Avenue. 

According to Crain's New York Business, Neil Hershman, CEO of the frozen-yogurt chain, has purchased the four-story building at 105 Second Ave. at Sixth Street for $4.5 million. (It's certainly one way to avoid another lease-renewal impasse.) 

 

Crain's reports that the property is expected to become the new home of the relocated EV 16 Handles shop. 

The move comes after the January closure of the longtime 16 Handles outpost at 153 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

In January, signage for customers said the business would reopen elsewhere on Second Avenue after operators were unable to reach a lease-renewal agreement with the new landlord. The shop at 153 Second Ave. was the first-ever 16 Handles location when it opened in 2008. Since then, the chain has expanded to more than 40 locations around the country. 

The storefront at 105 Second Ave. has sat vacant in recent years following a succession of bank branches.

For those keeping score at home, the building also has a notable past, having housed part of the former Fillmore East rock club (1968-1971) and, later, The Saint before becoming home to a series of banks.

Signage arrives for 'Slam Frank' at the Orpheum Theatre

Signage is up at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place for the upcoming Off-Broadway run of "Slam Frank."

Written by Andrew Fox and Joel Sinensky and directed by Sam LaFrage, the musical begins previews on Sept. 17 ahead of an Oct. 4 opening. 

According to press materials, "Slam Frank" reimagines the story of Anne Frank through an "intersectional, multiethnic, genderqueer, Afro-Latin hip-hop lens." As The Hollywood Reporter noted in its coverage of the production's move to the Orpheum, the musical was inspired by a viral 2022 Twitter thread that asked whether Anne Frank ever acknowledged her "white privilege."

The show imagines a progressive community theater company transforming Frank's story into a hyper-woke parable. Fox has said the production's politics are intentionally elusive, though The Hollywood Reporter said that one of its primary targets is the excesses of identity politics.

The musical previously played at the Asylum NYC, where some critics called it among the boldest theatrical experiences of 2025. 

Tickets and additional information are available via the production's website.