Remembering Jill Sobule

Image via @jillsobule 

Jill Sobule, the singer-songwriter best known for her groundbreaking 1995 hit "I Kissed a Girl," which became the first openly queer-themed song to reach the Billboard Top 20, died Thursday morning in a house fire in Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul, Minn. She was 66.

According to published reports, Sobule was staying with friends while she rehearsed for an upcoming performance. 

In the East Village, Sobule was remembered for her storytelling and music. She was a 2023 Drama Desk Award nominee for her autobiographical musical "F*ck7thGrade," which played multiple return engagements at wild project on Third Street between 2022 and 2024.

The wild project shared the following on Instagram...

 

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RIP Clem Burke

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Clem Burke was 70.

Thank you all. Clem loved what he was doing. He lived his dream

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— Cʜʀɪs Sᴛᴇɪɴ (@chrisstein.bsky.social) April 7, 2025 at 10:18 AM

RIP Janne Schaefers

Information via the EVG inbox... 

It is with profound sadness that the East Fifth Street Block Association announces the death of Janne Schaefers. 

Janne was the central force of the East Fifth Street Block Association for many years. Her association with the BA began with the trees that now line East Fifth Street between First Avenue and The Bowery, for which she is solely responsible. She was also the driving force behind all substantive efforts by the block association. 

She spent countless hours at Community Board State Liquor Authority Committee meetings advocating for residents on and around East Fifth Street. She organized community protests that resulted in major agreements with large businesses, garnering substantial commitments to the quality of life for East Fifth Streeters and the elderly residents of The Greene Residence. She was also involved in the protest and eventual closing of Sin Sin, an intensely disruptive rogue bar (and location of a murder) located on the southwest corner of Fifth Street and Second Avenue.

Janne was a fighter. She worked hard for our block, the trees, and the quality of life she expected for herself and her neighbors. If you knew her, we sure hope you were on her right side. If you weren't, well, you weren't the only one! 

As Spring approaches and the budding canopy of trees blesses East Fifth Street for another year, take a moment to enjoy them and give thanks to the tough old gal who brought them to us.

Fundraiser underway for patron killed at Tom & Jerry's on March 1

Tom & Jerry's has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the family of Anton "Munch" Albert, a patron fatally shot in the early hours of March 1 at the longtime Elizabeth Street bar.

Here's more via the GoFundMe account: 

On the morning of March 1st, our friend Anton "Munch" Albert was killed in a shocking and callous act of violence. Contrary to some media reports, he was not an employee of ours, but he was a very much admired and loved member of our community. His gentle and warm nature made him many friends in Tom & Jerry's, and he will be greatly missed by our team and those who, like Munch did, call T&J's a home from home. 

He leaves behind a loving family, including his 9-year-old daughter, who will need all the support they can get during this untimely period of grief. The proceeds from this fundraiser will directly go to Munch's family to cover the costs of his funeral and to support his daughter. 

You can find the campaign at this link. 

Albert reportedly lived on Staten Island. He was 39.

Little information has been made public about the shooting, including a description or photo of the alleged shooter who, according to multiple published reports, fired several times into the bar, striking Albert. 

According to the Post: "Witnesses told cops there was no interaction between the two men before the shooting, but police were unsure if the victim was targeted, cops said."

RIP Hal Hirshorn

Photo for EVG from 2016 by James Maher

Several EVG readers shared the sad news that Hal Hirshorn, an artist well-known in the downtown community, passed away on Feb. 4. 

Little had been made public about his death until a feature at The New York Times yesterday. His sister, Harriet Hirshorn, told the paper that the cause of death was coronary artery disease. He was 60. 

Per the Times: 

While other artists of his generation rode the art-market boom of the last three decades, he remained aloof, rarely putting his work up for sale at galleries. His spare website features a few of his paintings and photographs, but no contact information or personal details. 

His work was absolutely analog. Mr. Hirshorn made his own paints using traditional ingredients, and he scoured the Chelsea flea market for antique camera parts, the older and more obscure the better. 

His landscapes drew on a color palette of dirty greens and autumnal browns. They were Turner-esque in their near abstraction, with swirls of misty clouds obscuring craggy cliffs and stormy seas. 

His photographs likewise seemed to exist out of time. He made them by applying a solution of salt and silver to drawing paper, layering it with a negative and exposing it to light to capture an image — a technique developed in England in the mid-19th century that eventually fell out of favor because it required very long exposures that made it hard to keep an image in focus. 

He arrived here in the late 1980s. During an interview with EVG's James Maher in August 2016, Hirshorn lamented the changing neighborhood. 

Basically within a five-minute walk [today] most of the East Village that I’ve known over the course of 25, almost 30 years is gone, just gone, not like in bits and pieces, shifting here and there — just one fell swoop. Just to see everything radically redeveloped is what’s so stunning, because it used to happen in bits and pieces as the real estate went up. Now they’re doing blocks instead of buildings. 

An EVG reader emailed us to say, "He was a wonderfully sweet, quirky man and a brilliant painter and photographer. I'm glad to have called him a friend."

 

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RIP David Johansen

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RIP Walter Robinson

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Walter Robinson, the painter, writer, and editor and a decades-long presence on the New York art scene with deep ties to the East Village arts community, died yesterday. 

According to published reports, Robinson, whose roles included serving as art editor of the East Village Eye in the early 1980s, died of cancer. He was 74.

Tributes include:

• Artnet

• The Art Newspaper

• Whitehot Magazine

Bella’s passing marks another sad chapter in East Village fire tragedy

Bobby and Bella 

Bella, the miniature pinscher of late East Village resident Robert "Bobby" Bartolomey, has passed away following complications from the apartment fire that claimed her owner's life last Sunday. 

Bella succumbed Friday evening to an infection and neurological damage caused by smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a post from Dean Mann, the East Village resident who took Bella in after the FDNY found her in the apartment at 65 Second Ave. 

Here's more from Mann from the GoFundMe set up to help care for Bella: 

While this is certainly not the outcome we had all hoped for and supported, it is a grim reality of the circumstances that Bella experienced. It was a miracle that Bella survived the fire, as she was in the apartment while the fire burned for more than 30 minutes. The support from the community, first responders and the many veterinary medical professionals who treated her gave Bella a fighting chance; however, after almost 5 days of fighting for her life, Friday evening she joined her owner in heaven. Their legacy in the neighborhood will forever be remembered. 

My sister was kind enough to set up this GoFundMe and at the time we felt like Bella would be released from the hospital within a day or two; however, she remained in critical care and the decision to give her a fighting chance was made entirely possible by the support of the community and everyone who donated to help Bella. Your generosity allowed Bella the ability to receive the amazing care up until the very end. 

While this story is extremely sad, it also is very heartwarming to me as so many of the local people from the neighborhood reached out, contributed and stepped up to keep this person's legacy and the dog alive. ... I was so moved by the support and had no idea so many people knew Bobby (a retired veteran and certainly a staple of the neighborhood who was never seen without Bella). 

This is truly a remarkable NYC and East Village story, I cannot express enough my gratitude for the people I have met through this experience. I had visited Bella in the hospital everyday this week and though I am terribly saddened at this outcome, I am at peace knowing that she is no longer suffering. 

The FDNY found Bartolomey, 75, in his apartment last Sunday morning after the fire broke out. The FDNY has not yet released a cause for the blaze.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Neighbor steps up to care for dog injured in 2nd Avenue fire that claimed owner's life

A moment with Marianne Faithfull on St. Mark's Place in 1992

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Marianne Faithfull with her longtime accompanist Barry Reynolds at Sin-é, the legendary music cafe at 122 St Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue in June 1992. Photo by Allen Ginsberg. 

Faithfull died yesterday. She was 78.

RIP Steven Englander

Updated: 12/19: ABC No Rio announced this memorial fundraiser in Englander's memory.

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Sad news to share from ABC No Rio, the collectively run arts organization on the Lower East Side. (Info and photo via Facebook): 

It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of our visionary director, Steven Englander. 

As many of you knew, Steven was diagnosed with a rare form of lung disease over a decade ago. Despite a successful lung transplant 6 years ago, Steven passed away on Thursday, Dec. 12, comfortable, pain-free, and surrounded by the two things he lived for — his family and the ABC No Rio community. 

Those who knew Steven were touched by his commitment to the New York City DIY arts community. He helped mold ABC No Rio into a sanctuary for New York activists, artists, and musicians through the simple act of believing that what you had to say was relevant, powerful, and, if given a platform, transformative. Steven dedicated his life to inclusive, community-run art spaces that give voice to oppositional culture, and we will be forever grateful for his work. 

Not only did Steven's philosophy shape what ABC No Rio became, but he also shaped what it will become. A true visionary for what was possible, Steven began planning and fighting for the creation of a brand-new arts center over 20 years ago. And as a testament to his 'by hook or by crook' mentality and his belief in collective power, it's happening. His dream's realization is underway, with ongoing construction work following July's groundbreaking ceremony. 

When the new ABC No Rio building opens its doors, Steven's philosophy will once again have a home to flourish and inspire the next generation of DIY art culture. 

He was 63.

ABC No Rio's new building is under construction at the site of its previous home on Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton on the Lower East Side. There's an expected 2027 reopening date.

Among the tributes...

 

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Englander's passing comes two months after the death of another longtime resident who was intrumental in creating spaces for artists and performers — Cowboy Ray Kelly, sculptor, leader of the Rivington School, and co-founder of the performance space NoSeNo. He died Oct. 12 at age 79.

RIP Gary Indiana

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Gary Indiana, the novelist, playwright and critic, has died at age 74 after a reported long battle with cancer. 

Some headlines on his life and work: 

• Writer Gary Indiana, Dark Prince of the 1980s East Village Art Scene, Is Dead at 74 (artnet) 

• Remembering Gary Indiana (1950–2024) (The Paris Review) 

• Gary Indiana's The Village Voice Art Columns (ArtReview)

Celebrating the life of Reagan Youth's Paul 'Cripple' Bakija at Niagara

Reagan Youth founding member and guitarist Paul Bakija (aka Paul Cripple) died last month after a long battle with cancer.

A celebration of his life and music will be held on Sunday (4-8 p.m.) at Niagara, 112 Avenue A at Seventh Street. 

Read more about the influential early 80s punk-hardcore band here.

RIP Hettie Jones

Hettie Jones, an acclaimed poet, publisher, teacher, activist, and decades-long East Village resident, died on Aug. 13. She was 90.

A native New Yorker who grew up in Queens, Jones wrote 23 books, including three volumes of poetry and a memoir of the Beat Generation, as well as books for children and young adults, including "The Trees Stand Shining" and "Big Star Fallin’ Mama: Five Women in Black Music."

She was connected with the Beat poets, actively involved in social justice, and taught poetry and writing at New York University, The New School, Parsons School of Design, and other institutions.

PEN America, where Jones was a longtime member, shared details about her life: 

In the 1950s, she married the poet LeRoi Jones, who later changed his name to become the Black power nationalist Amiri Baraka. Hettie Jones spoke and wrote about the bigotry and antisemitism she faced at that time, both as a Jewish woman and a white woman married to a Black man. 

In 1957, the couple founded a literary magazine, Yugen, and the Totem Press, which published works by legendary Beat writers, including Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Williams S. Burroughs.

Later divorced, they had two daughters: Kellie Jones, a professor of art, archaeology and African American studies at Columbia University, and Lisa Jones Brown, a writer on staff at The Village Voice for 15 years. 

The family had lived at 27 Cooper Square since the early 1960s and the heyday of the Beats. 

Village Preservation has more about her fight to save her longtime home between Fifth Street and Sixth Street, where she lived for nearly six decades:

In 2007, when a hotel developer announced plans to build the 22-story Cooper Square Hotel, it looked like the 1844 Greek Revival house at 27 Cooper Square would be demolished. The four-story building that currently stands on this lot is of unknown origins. However, clues from a tax assessment records and historic maps indicate it might have been constructed between 1843 and 1845, as two narrow houses with ground-floor shops.

Given Hettie's petite size, it would be easy to call her successful effort to save the structure a David-and-Goliath triumph, but that would diminish her accomplishment. Remarkably, her gentle but persuasive stress on the building's age and artistic heritage convinced the hotel's owners. They opted to spare the building and simply utilize the structure's lower two floors for corporate headquarters. Hettie also convinced the hotel to reinstall the vintage stained glass window above the entrance door, which had been removed long before.

You can read more about her extraordinary life at The Associated Press and The New York Times.

Remembering Harold Meltzer

Photos and text by Stacie Joy 

I'm not much for imparting personal information here on EV Grieve, but occasionally, something happens that I'm comfortable with — or feel compelled to try — sharing.  

A local family, the Meltzers, have been quietly supporting the community for years through words and deeds, and I am grateful to have them as friends. Hilary, whom I met through yoga, a lawyer working for the City of New York, her husband Harold, a world-renowned composer, and their two children, Julia and Elijah. All are community-oriented, quietly donating to help our newest neighbors, those in need, and those who are hungry or in need of comfort. 

For the past six years, Harold has been fighting a progressive disease that has resulted in a series of strokes and the increasing loss of mobility, all the while keeping up his good humor (or bad dad jokes, as Elijah and Julia might say). 

Sadly, this week, the disease got the better of him. Hilary messaged me over the weekend that sepsis had set in, and the doctors didn't think he'd survive the night — and they were right.

He died on Monday morning, Aug. 12. He was 58.

I'm grateful to have known him, to have heard his truly awful jokes, to enjoy his complicated music, and to have discussed literature and travel with him. Before my first trip to Rome, he carefully prepared a list of must-see places for me and had plenty of time to discuss gelato and the best basilicas with me. 

At the packed funeral (a testament to how loved he was), Hilary spoke movingly about the difference between suffering and misery, between victim and victimhood. I often wonder if I'd have the grace he had as the disease robbed him of his ability to walk and use his extremities, if I would have the good humor to smile and roll out in an electric wheelchair for a midday cappuccino.

I know there are more formal obituaries for him, like at The New York Times. However, I'd like to say that I'm grateful to have met Harold and will miss him now that he's gone.

East Village McDonald's pays tribute to 2 victims from suspected DUI collision in Corlears Hook Park during July 4 celebration

Residents who live around Corlears Hook Park on the Lower East Side are reeling from the tragedy that unfolded on the evening of July 4 when an alleged drunken driver plowed into a group celebrating the holiday, killing three people and injuring at least eight others. 

There's a makeshift memorial with balloons, candles and flowers at the McDonald's on 14th Street at First Avenue for two of the victims, Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son, Herman Pinkney, 38.

"Lucille had worked for many years at the McDonald's on 14th Street and First Avenue and was the sweetest person," said Tom Hickey, who shared the photos here. "[She was] always greeting patrons with a smile and remembering their orders and things like that. Lovely, lovely woman." 

Authorities identified the other victim as Ana Morel, 43, of East Harlem. 

Police said that a Ford F-150 came traveling "at a high rate of speed" shortly before 9 p.m., went through an intersection and past a stop sign, then drove onto the sidewalk and into Corlears Hook Park. 

The driver, Daniel Hyden, 44, a substance abuse counselor in New Jersey, was arrested on charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, eight counts of assault for recklessly causing serious injury with a weapon, driving while intoxicated, and aggravated unlicensed driving, police said.

This afternoon, local elected officials helped organize a prayer vigil at Corlears Hook Park. Rev. Dr. Marc Rivera will lead the service, which starts at 4 p.m.

CBS 2 ... PIX 11 ... and the Post are among the outlets with comments from the victims' loved ones, including 29-year-old Diamond Pinkney who lived a block away in the Vladeck Houses with his mom and brother.