Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Cleanup planned for E-bike hub on 11th Street following spike in complaints

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Signage recently went along 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, announcing a scheduled cleanup of the heavily trafficked e-bike, moped and bicycle area. 

The effort — slated to begin today — is a joint initiative by the 9th Precinct and the Department of Sanitation, prompted by a surge in community complaints. 

The block is a popular spot for e-bike delivery workers to gather as they wait to fulfill deliveries, in part given the proximity of the Madina Masjid Islamic Council of America, one of the city's most prominent mosques, founded in 1976. 

The signs, posted in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Wolof, notify residents and delivery workers that any bikes not moved by the cleanup date (the deadline was yesterday) will be removed and impounded.
According to residents and local officials, complaints about congestion, noise, and sanitation issues tied to the unofficial parking and staging area have intensified in recent months. The issue has become a recurring topic at neighborhood council meetings at the 9th Precinct. 

Police say this is part of a broader effort to address quality-of-life issues while balancing the needs of workers and residents. 

While some in the community have voiced frustration, many delivery workers — aka deliveristas — say they've taken steps to keep the area clean. 

Several riders on the block pointed out trash bags and brooms they've been using to manage the space themselves.
They also spoke to me, stating they need security here because they say their methods of transportation for making a living are often stolen. Despite using GPS and tracking devices, they claim police are not willing to help them track down their bikes.
In past years, the Madina Masjid mosque has drawn criticism from local residents and business owners due to "cabbies filling metered spaces and parking in front of fire hydrants, in truck loading zones and in bus lanes" to attend prayer services, according to published reports

Parking for prayer services has been an issue since the religious institution opened, per DNAinfo in 2013. What was once a battle over car congestion has shifted gears — now, it's all about the bikes for some residents. 

Updated

Late yesterday afternoon, EVG reader Choresh Wald shared this photo, noting that the city added a sidewalk extension on the SE corner of First Avenue and 11th Street. The perpetual food truck here even relocated to the SW corner of First Avenue and 11th Street...
... but it had returned within an hour...
We haven't received any updates about an extension here... we'll see if we can get clarification on what's happening.

New broker for Avenue A storefront that has been vacant for nearly 11 years

New broker signage has arrived at 28 Avenue A, prime real estate between Second Street and Third Street.

Incredibly, this space has been empty since the two-level market Gracefully closed in November 2014

Gracefully arrived here in 1997. It was the tenant when the building — the one-time Burger-Klein furniture shop — underwent a gut renovation to look like Iron Man's helmet

The Gracefully signage remains...
According to the RealNY listing, there are 5,000 square feet on the main floor and another 3,500 in the basement. Rental price available upon request... "most uses considered" for the vented space. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

Monday, June 2, 2025

Monday's parting shots

Time again for the Tribeca Festival, which starts Wednesday (and runs through June 15). 

Once again, the Village East by Angelika, located on Second Avenue at 12th Street, will be a festival theater...
You can find the Festival guide here

Note that Village East by Angelika will resume regular movie screenings on June 17.

Thanks to the readers for the photos: 
Top: Louise and Danny 
2nd: Aron Ranen

June 2

Photo by Robert Miner 

Hope everyone is enjoying their June so far... as seen on 11th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue on this June 2...

About 'Kii – A Night to Unite,' an evening celebrating culture, resilience and community

The owners of Evil Katsu, the restaurant offering Japanese comfort food at 435 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, shared this information with us: 
Join us at The Monroe for "Kii – A Night to Unite," a special evening celebrating culture, resilience, and community. Evil Katsu is proud to partner with The Monroe and Emma's Torch to raise awareness for the ongoing Myanmar crisis and to connect the people and organizations working to make a difference. 
Our very own line cook, Kii, a refugee from Myanmar and a graduate of Emma's Torch, will curate an intimate three-course meal inspired by the rich flavors of her homeland. Kii's journey from seeking refuge to becoming a vital part of the Evil Katsu family is a testament to strength, hope, and the power of food to bring people together. 
The event takes place this Wednesday evening at 7 at The Monroe, 49 Monroe St., located across from Coleman Park in Two Bridges. 

Find tickets about the menu and tickets here.

City issues RFP for affordable housing development on 5th Street

On Thursday, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to redevelop the parking lot at 324 E. Fifth St. into "100% affordable housing."
The 9th Precinct uses the 11,540-square-foot site between First Avenue and Second Avenue for parking and various towed vehicles. 

Affordable housing on this parking lot was one of the points of agreement in the City Council's December 2021 vote to approve the controversial SoHo/NoHo rezoning. 

According to HPD officials, nearly 400 residents completed the site questionnaire or attended the public workshop in February to share their visions and ideas for the lot. 

Per officials: "The feedback that HPD received has shaped the RFP that HPD is releasing ... will shape the eventual housing when it is built." 
HPD heard the community's ask for deeply affordable housing and a community center, childcare, or senior center on the ground floor. There was also a strong preference that the future building incorporate green space. 
The HPD also released the 324 East Fifth Street Community Visioning Report (PDF here) if you want more background on the input to date. 

You can find the RFP, which is due on Aug. 22, at this link

This will be a years-long project. Many phases remain before construction even starts...
Back to the HPD: 
After a proposal is selected, HPD and the development team will continue to provide regular updates to local stakeholders as the selected plan makes its way through the city's public approvals process. Once the plan receives final approval through the New York City Council, it will move forward to financing and construction.
Above credit: NYC Housing

Previously on EV Grieve

Signage alert: Eim Khao Mun Kai on 2nd Avenue

Photo by Steven 

Signage went up Saturday for Eim Khao Mun Kai, a celebrated Thai-style chicken-and-rice specialist in Elmhurst, at 129 Second Ave. 

Here's an Eater take on the 11-year-old restaurant: 
Hainan, the island of China's southernmost province, is famous for its chickens, which are poached in a gingery broth and served with soy sauce. This cafe specializes in the Thai take on the birds. The leftover broth is used to cook the rice that's served with the sliced chicken ... along with some cucumber slices for contrast. A fortifying meal costs around $10.
No word on an EV opening date. 

This is the second outpost for the restaurant, with more in the works. You can follow them on Instagram here

Misoya closed here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place in April.

88 Coffee debuts at the Bowery Market

88 Coffee is the latest tenant to open at the Bowery Market... debuting in soft-open mode last week at the yellow and blue stand inspired by the Vietnamese city of Há»™i An. 

This is the first outpost for the business selling Vietnamese Coffee and bánh mì.
The brand has been a regular on Fridays at Smorgasburg Williamsburg and has done pop-ups in other locations. 

Open here on the Bowery from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can follow them on Instagram here. (Photo below from @88coffeecompany.)
The Alchemist's Kitchen is another new tenant here on the Bowery and Great Jones ... joining Kettl Tea and Twig'm, purveyors of Korean street food.

Openings and closing on these 2 blocks of 1st Avenue

Acro Coffee recently debuted at 213 First Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

We don't know too much about them yet (their Instagram account has this slogan: "Rooted in hospitality, designed for discovery.") 

Meanwhile, next door, Sweet Cake is officially closed. A small for-rent sign is now on the storefront that has been dark for months...
This was the second outpost for the Flushing-based bakery and cafe, which serves coffee, matcha drinks, and Asian-style desserts.

The EV shop debuted last June. We last saw anyone in here in the fall, around the time an Instagram post called for investors. 

And up the block, grand-opening signage hangs at Fat Boys Burgers, 231 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street.
This is the second location for the burger joint, first launched by two brothers and a cousin on Ninth Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. (All three were born and raised in that neighborhood, helping out at the family-owned A&A Deli, now Healthy Market.) 

Fat Boys offers a variety of burgers (including a meatless version), fries, chopped chicken fries and shakes. Find a menu here.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Sunday's parting shot

Here's a look at the new Pride Month mural outside the Second Avenue F stop. Once again, the Dusty Rebel curated the work, a collaboration between Jason Haaf and Scooter LaForge.

On Tuesday, a District 2 City Council Candidates Forum on housing


Three local organizations, Cooper Square Committee, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), and This Land is Ours CLT, are co-sponsoring a District 2 City Council Candidates Forum. 

Per organizers: Find out where the candidates stand on housing issues, including rent-stabilized housing, NYCHA housing, and homelessness. Candidates will also discuss the need for more funding to preserve and develop deeply affordable housing as well as housing counseling and legal services to protect tenants' rights.

The forum is from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on 10th Street at Second Avenue. Please RSVP here.

The NYC primary voting day is June 24 ... with early voting beginning on June 14

Questions? Visit the NYC Board of Elections website.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo from Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg)...

• Checking out the newly reopened area of East River Park (Thursday)

• Rossy's Bakery & Café to close after 15 years on 3rd Street (Tuesday

• Neighborhood invited to help shape the future of ABC Playground (Tuesday

• Packing up Sixth Street Specials (Wednesday

• ICYMI: In Tompkins Square Park, Amelia and her new mate welcome first brood together (Monday

• Here's Johnny on the Bowery (Friday

• Where you can get a copy of the Ray's Candy Store photo book (Sunday

• Flock this way: Flamingos Vintage Pound debuts on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

• Key Food new self-checkouts month in review (plus a first look at the new dessert signage) (Friday

• Wash Rite Laundromat has closed on 4th Street (Tuesday

• Upperz Cafe and Bar announces closing date on 14th Street (Wednesday

• Plywood up at Theatre 80 (Wednesday

• 'Parent Trap' parody 'Ginger Twinsies' up next at the Orpheum Theatre (Saturday

... and from our walk-through of the newly opened area of East River Park on Monday: A message near the Delancey Street pedestrian bridge reading "Next stop, Art Basel."

Sweep the leg, Johnny! Take in a screening of 'The Karate Kid' at First Park

The city's Movies Under the Stars series begins this week in city parks.

Around here, the only film on the summer slate is the original  "Karate Kid" (1984) — the one that proved leaving New Jersey for L.A. might not be such a great idea after all.

The classic that spawned sequels, remakes and a TV series plays at First Park, First Street at Houston, on Thursday, June 12. Movies begin at dusk or 8:30 p.m., whichever comes first. 

And there will NOT be a special section for anyone rooting for the Cobra Kai dojo. 
The Movies Under the Stars series is presented by the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and NYC Parks. Find the complete list of the mostly family-friendly summer films here.

Saturday, May 31, 2025

6 posts from May

A mini month in review (with a graduation scene on 7th Street by Derek Berg)... 

• Rossy's Bakery & Café to close after 15 years on 3rd Street (May 27

• Park access shifts again: What's open and closed in East River Park starting Memorial Day as construction moves to the north (May 22

• Me-Wow! FDNY rescues Nico the Cat from East Village tree (May 20

• First look at the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop (May 14)

• Rite Aid is closing its remaining New York stores, including on 1st Avenue in the East Village (May 7

• More details emerge on Corner Bistro's proposed East Village location (May 5)

'Parent Trap' parody 'Ginger Twinsies' up next at the Orpheum Theatre

Photos by Steven 

Signage is up at the classic Orpheum Theatre at 126 Second Ave. for its next Off-Broadway production — "Ginger Twinsies." 

The plot! 
In the summer of 1998, a pair of long-lost, red-headed twin girls unexpectedly meet at a sleep-away camp and hatch a plan to reunite their estranged parents. Sound familiar? Shut up, no it doesn't! 

Welcome to "Ginger Twinsies" — a loving, outlandish, and wildly inappropriate send-up of the Lindsay Lohan/Nancy Meyers classic that made us all believe that Oreos go great with peanut butter, wedding gowns deserve top hats, and being young and beautiful is not a crime. 

So, pack your bags! Kevin Zak (no credits) invites you to enjoy this 80-minute parody of "The Parent Trap" stacked with nostalgia, camp (literally, they go camping), and some unexpected twists. 
The show opens here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place on July 10, with an Oct. 26 end date. 

Find ticket info here.
In March, "The Jonathan Larson Project" ended its previously scheduled run two-plus months early after sluggish ticket sales.

A stoop sale Sunday at Serenity House

Residents who live in Serenity House, the former-squat-turned-low-income co-op, are holding a stoop sale tomorrow (Sunday) at 733 E. Ninth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D. 

The tenants are raising funds to repair their building’s façade, and this stoop sale is their first effort.

Sale hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday, May 30, 2025

'Girl' trouble

 

The local band Homade just released a new music video ... swinging hard with the sludgy pummel of "New Girl" above.

Follow @homade.nyc for updates about live shows, etc. 

Dead ends

On Tuesday, the city closed the 10th Street pedestrian bridge as the demolition and rebuilding of East Village expanded to the north. The city also shut down the access to Stuyvesant Cove. 

Or so they thought. 

Edmund John Dunn noted that day, in the top pic, that runners and cyclists heading south past Stuyvesant Cove easily navigated the half-hearted no-thru traffic attempt and were still accessing the Con Ed lemon squeezer section. 

In an update today... the city has beefed up its defenses at 13th Street.

Anyone still accessing this pinch point will likely need to turn around or else add a climb to their exercise routine...

Key Food new self-checkouts month in review (plus first look at the new dessert signage)

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

On May 15, Key Food officially unveiled its new self-checkout stations — seven brand-new Toshiba SCO Traveler machines have been in service these past two-plus weeks. 

Here's a recap of what has happened here this month. As we've noted, the grocery at Avenue A and Fourth Street retired a row of its self-checkout terminals. In its place: a staffed register, which will make four for Key.  

And I happened to be there when the new machines got the hook-up...
Because dreams do really come true, I had the great honor of being the first customer to scan an item (a banana, no less — and yes, there was drama).
 
According to a high-level, highly anonymous Key source, the new machines are "smaller, faster, and more efficient" and come equipped with cameras that recognize produce by sight. The future has arrived — and it knows your tomatoes.

Two of the seven scanners accept cash and offer cash back, and all are topped with light-up signs that indicate availability or flash for assistance. And yes, that familiar, no-nonsense voice still demands that you "place the last scanned item on the scale." Some things never change. 

There is a new option to select the number of paper bags you need, although you will still need to obtain the bags from a staff member.

Around the same time, the store's floor got a much-needed patch-up, smoothing the path for carts and casual striders alike.
Meanwhile, a new price-check scanner was installed near the Pringles (still on sale), ready to resolve all your label-induced uncertainties.
Speaking of labels — fresh signage is underway. The iconic "CAKES FOR ALL OCCASIONS" sign is being retired in favor of the more inclusive and dessert-forward "Desserts For Every Occasion," a nod to the rise of puddings and parfaits in the section. (Yes, "occassions" was misspelled on the prototype. Yes, they're fixing it.)
We also got a sneak peek at some of the rejected signage options — including one dismissed as "too bubblegum" — and learned that a classic serif font ultimately won the vote. No Comic Sans here. 

The sushi case is also due for a typographic refresh, and store manager Richie was spotted mid-P-Touch session, labeling the new self-checkout lanes with the concentration of a seasoned typesetter.
Meanwhile, the new cash drawers were filled with ones, fives, and an aesthetically pleasing coin assortment.
If you're wondering what beats carried us through this transformation: Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love," followed by Europe's "The Final Countdown," capped off with the Eurythmics' "Would I Lie to You?" A fitting trio for a store that's balancing nostalgia with a leap into the checkout future.

Here's Johnny on the Bowery

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Earlier this month, we previewed Johnny, a new lounge that wants to bring a little glamour and grit to the local nightlife scene.

Johnny, a concept from East Village hospitality veterans Laura Stemmer and Johnny T. (pictured below), is located at 327 Bowery in the former ground-floor space of the Bowery Electric. (Live music still continues downstairs at the Bowery Electric via a separate entrance.)
The space is intimate and thoughtfully designed, with red velvet booths, a VIP nook and a back lounge. It's a comfortable space and a nice companion to Johnny T's other local spots, including Lovers of Today on Seventh Street, 96 Tears on Avenue A, and Berlin on Avenue A and Second Street.
The preview evening included a set from Johnny regular DJ Elliott Brakebill...
There’s also a food program led by Chef Carlos Sandoval, though we had to leave before the service started.
For now, there is a guest list for entry. You can follow Johnny on Instagram here.