Garden prep photo last week by Stacie Joy
The 6th & B Garden on the SW corner of Sixth Street and Avenue B is holding its first open hours of the season — today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) from 1-6 p.m.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
EVG Etc.: New mixed-income housing for the LES; an expanded car-free Earth Day
Photo by Stacie Joy
Resources for immigrants at the Tompkins Square Library branch (and at other NYPL branches)
Local stories of interest from other sources this past week include...
• In the works for Essex and Delancey: mixed-income housing on the former site of the Essex Market plus an ADA-compliant subway stop (amNY ... press release)
• $2 billion in federal funding for NYC schools at risk amid Trump administration's DEI threats (Chalkbeat)
• Today's "Hands Off!" anti-Trump protest — also happening nationwide — starts at 1 p.m. in Bryant Park (The Times ... Axios)
• Now-independent Mayor Adams bashes Democrats at mayoral forum (The City)
• Meanwhile, law enforcement investigations of some of the mayor's closest aides continue (The City)
• A list of all the candidates for NYC mayor (City & State)
• Mayor Adams lets Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy talk shit about NYC subways during "a media and press clown show" at the Broadway-Lafayette Street station (Streetsblog)
• Impact of tourists avoiding the U.S. being felt in NYC (Gothamist)
• About the "largest-ever" car-free Earth Day in NYC (amNY ... DOT press release)
• Two new NYC bars will feature women's sports, including Wilka's on the Bowery (Eater... previously on EVG)
• A rundown of the food at the recently opened Bananas on First Avenue between 10th and 11th (The Infatuation ... previously on EVG)
• At Performance Space New York's 2025 Gala on First Avenue and Ninth Street (Document Journal)
• RIP, legend: The most-skated part of Hamilton Fish Park has been demolished (Quartersnacks)
• Check out the early films of John Sayles (Metrograph)
... we don't know where they are moving, but Karma Books on Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is having a moving sale all month...
Saturday's opening shot
Friday, April 4, 2025
'Rent' control
The London-based Snapped Ankles recently released its fourth record, the appropriately titled Hard Times Furious Dancing.
The video here is for "Pay the Rent."
St. Mark’s Place branching out with 3 new trees
Photos by Jacob Ford
Workers today are planting three new trees on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue, adjacent to the new 9-story office building...
Several trees were cut down here during construction (we covered this here).
Workers also removed a tree from outside 5 St. Mark's Place. No sign of a replacement here just yet...
The East Village is now home to Manhattan's first 2D restaurant
The omakase spot also marks the neighborhood's (and Manhattan's!) first two-dimensional restaurant, courtesy of the owners of the now-closed Boka (RIP late 2024) at 9 St. Mark's Place and Noflex at 286 Fifth Ave.
The interior design combines white walls and backgrounds with black-rimmed detailing.
Two-dimensional restaurants have been a thing dating back to Seoul's Greem Cafe in 2017. Kravings Kafe was the first 2D cafe in Brooklyn (and the five boroughs).
And to no surprise, Shirokuro is going big on Instagram...
The entire space will transport you into the pages of a storybook with the illusion of a two-dimensional world, from the tables to walls and beyond. The 2D effect comes to life with hand-painted details, causing even the very real flower pots to appear flat. The trip downstairs to the bathroom remains a two-dimensional experience too.
And maybe you meet the hunky motorcycle sidecar racer of your dreams here!
Shirokuro is open daily from noon to 4 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.
The space was previously the very three-dimensional Mighty Quinn's BBQ.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Night and day
Letter perfect
Photos by Stacie Joy
We spotted Kash updating the film titles at Village East by Angelika yesterday on Second Avenue at 12th Street ... the theater's south-facing signage features their special and classic screenings...
It's one of NYC's last analog marquees.
Openings: Pavlo Mochi on Avenue B
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Pavlo Mochi debuted at 199 Avenue B between 12th Street and 13th Street this week.
I met owner Pavlo Servetnyk ...
The colorful cafe specializes in fresh mochi, distinct from the traditional Japanese frozen variety. This version has a soft, mousse-like center with a cream and cream cheese blend.
So far, the top-sellers have been the pistachio-raspberry and mango-passion fruit/vanilla combos.
Coffee drinks and soft-serve ice cream are also on the menu.
Open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can follow the shop on Instagram here.
Signage alert: Maza on 7th Street
Photo by Stacie Joy
At 102 E. Seventh St., a coming-soon sign is up for Maza Artisanal Mexican Food on the south side of the block between Avenue A and First Avenue.
We don't know anything about who's behind the business.
Maza replaces Vintage Cafe, which later morphed into a ghost kitchen of some sort.
Openings: Kawa Omakase, 12 Matcha, Shaji BBQ, El Camino
Kawa features a 14-course menu for $88 in the smallish space with 13 counter seats and several tables "for a more private setting."
The lines have arrived while this two-story matcha cafe is still in soft-open mode.
Per Grub Street:
In addition to in-store tastings, an iced matcha latte will likely be the main attraction at 12. The tea is whisked under a spotlight and poured over milk — Battenkill for dairy, Califia Barista Blend for oat — for a drink that is grassy, creamy, and spring-pea-like in its savoriness.
Current hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Website here. Insta here.
• Shaji BBQ, 11 E. Seventh St. just east of Cooper Square
This one came in via the EVG tipline... and we don't know much about it, including if it's related to the Shaji BBQ in Flushing. (The light said OPEN, but the place was empty, with staff included, the other night.)
Recent concepts here include Four Four South Village and Le Sia.
The space was home to Surma Books & Music for 98 years until June 2016.
• El Camino, 135 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street
The bar via Will Wyatt (Mister Paradise) and Edie Ugot from Electric Burrito is up and running here next door to their recently opened HighLife.
There's a small cocktail and wine list, as well as snacks. And Guinness on draft.
It opens at 4 p.m. during the week and 2 p.m. on weekends, with a midnight close. No reservations. Instagram here.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Wednesday's parting shot
Whole Foods Market signage going up now in Stuy Town
Photo by Diane Randall
On Monday, we mentioned that the Whole Foods Market is shaping up at 409 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.
This afternoon, workers are hanging the signage. The Whole thing (sorry) is not up yet.
The smaller-format store will offer more grab-pay-and-go items and the usual WF merch.
Updated:
Asphalt jungle: New pathways for the Tompkins Square Park field house
Photos by Steven
While the reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house is complete (100% complete, per the Parks website)... there is still work to be done around the structure.
This morning, workers arrived to replace the pavement surrounding the field house, a project that one of the crew members said would take two weeks to complete. (And a task made more manageable without the construction trailer in the way.)
Also... at some point, the city should consider repaving all the pathways in the Park...
Man sentenced for 2 March 2024 shootings in Tompkins Square Park
Photo from March 16, 2024, by Stacie Joy
A man who terrorized parkgoers during two daylight shootings in Tompkins Square Park over five days in March 2024 has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The sentence for Waldemar Alverio handed down yesterday in New York Supreme Criminal Court includes five years of post-release supervision, according to Manhattan D.A. Bragg's office. Alverio faced multiple charges, including three counts of An Attempt to Commit the Crime of Murder in the Second Degree and two counts of Assault in the First Degree.
On March 16, 2024, at 12:45 p.m., two men allegedly chased, punched and kicked Alverio. As they ran off, Alverio unzipped his bag and pulled out a gun, firing at them five times, per court documents.
Alverio struck one of the two men in the buttocks, fracturing his pelvis and lodging a bullet in his hip. Alverio also shot a bystander, a 53-year-old tourist, fracturing her right hip, which had to be surgically replaced. The D.A.'s office last year said that she would need "months of physical therapy as she learns how to walk again."
Five days later, on March 21, Alverio returned to Tompkins Square Park just after noon, approached a group in the park, and shot at them five times.
While Alverio did not strike anyone on that day, one bullet smashed through a window and into a bedroom in an apartment building across Seventh Street, and another bullet smashed through a window and lodged in a stairwell in a second building on Seventh Street.
Officers from the 7th Precinct recognized Alverio from a wanted flyer and arrested him on Delancey Street on March 26, 2024.
"Waldemar Alverio is facing accountability for a pair of shootings in Tompkins Square Park that injured two and threatened the safety of many other bystanders. Parks must be safe havens for Manhattanites to gather and spend time with their friends and family, and nobody should have to worry they will be struck by a bullet in the middle of the day," Bragg said in a statement. "Combatting gun violence remains my top priority, and we will continue to prosecute those who use illegal firearms, while also making investments in our communities to address the root causes of shootings."
On 3rd Avenue, the East Village’s slimmest storefront is up for rent
The listing at Meridian Capital Group says this about the 300-square-foot space:
... perfect for any to-go/takeout conceptsGreat frontage opportunityHigh ceilingsSteps from Union Square with 24/7 foot traffic
Asking rent: $3,995.
A cafe called Stella Breeze was here for several months, closing up earlier this year.
As far as we can recall (and a look at Google Street View confirms), this was previously an entrance to the residential building.
Where can you buy magazines now in the East Village?
2023 photo at Ink on A by Stacie Joy
From the EVG inbox...
I went mad today looking for an old-school East Village magazine shop or newsstand. Not even a fancy one. Anything. Where can one buy even a simple magazine in the East Village area? I miss Ink.
We miss Ink, too. The shop at 66 Avenue A, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, boasted one of the largest magazine selections in the area. Owner Ben "Benny" Dahud had been in a legal tussle with the building's (Untitled!) new landlord and decided to retire.
The storefront has remained vacant since closing in July 2023.
There aren't really any EV options. Nearby, there's Bouwerie Iconic Magazines on the Bowery at Rivington (the other Iconic shops have bigger selections) ... Barnes & Noble on Union Square ... Dashwood Books on Bond has some great art and photography titles. (We're unsure about the magazine-zine selection these days at Bluestockings Cooperative on Suffolk.)
A little further away, there's Casa Magazines in the West Village, Iconic Magazines down on Mulberry Street and one on Lafayette, and Soho News International on Prince Street in Soho.
There are others... perhaps you have a favorite.
As for the former Ink space, there has been gut-renovation activity lately. The workers on the scene didn't know anything about a new tenant, though.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Wisteria watch underway for spring 2025
We have our first bloom on the block! Despite the cold! Much relief, as that vine has looked a little rough all winter. It’s the little purple fluff on the black window trim...
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