Dana Beal, longtime marijuana activist, serving months-long prison sentence in Idaho

Photo via @danabealofficial 

Dana Beal, a longtime marijuana activist with strong ties to the East Village, is currently serving a four-month prison sentence in Idaho. 

Beal, 79, is being held at the Idaho State Correctional Institution in Boise, according to public records. 

Per a report by Idaho TV station KTVB, Beal entered a guilty plea in Gooding County in December to two amended charges related to marijuana trafficking stemming from a January 2024 traffic stop. 

Published reports say the plea resulted in fines totaling thousands of dollars. He could have faced up to five years in the state penitentiary for each charge. 

An Idaho judge sentenced Beal to six months in prison, plus nine and a half years of parole in NYC, on Feb. 24. Given time already served in January and February 2024, Beal has four months and six days left on his sentence and is expected to return to NYC in July. The Idaho Department of Correction lists him as eligible for parole on June 30. 

On Jan. 25, 2024, authorities stated that Idaho State Police stopped the vehicle Beal was in and later found 56 pounds of raw marijuana, along with other substances, in the SUV. 

Beal has been a leading cannabis advocate for decades and is recognized for organizing the Global Marijuana March and pushing for drug policy reform as "the Father of Modern Marijuana Legalization" and "Pioneer Activist for Ibogaine." 

He has long been associated with cannabis activism in New York and has been a familiar presence at rallies and marches around the East Village for decades. He organized "Smoke-Ins" in Tompkins Square Park, starting in June 1967. (This article has more about Beal and his work with the Yippies.)

2015 photo from Union Square by Stacie Joy 

During court proceedings this past December, Beal said he had been attempting to transport cannabis as medicine intended for people suffering from traumatic brain injuries. He also said he had recently returned from Ukraine, where he was assisting troops with pain relief. 

The case highlights the continuing patchwork of marijuana laws across the United States. While cannabis is legal or decriminalized in some states, Idaho maintains strict prohibitions.

Former Sixth Street Specials building wrapped for gut renovation

Photos by Stacie Joy

The 4-story building at 703 E. Sixth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D is now wrapped and ready for a gut renovation. (H/T EVG reader Harmony!)

According to permits on file with the Department of Buildings, the project calls for a "new building with existing elements to remain."

We'll see how much actually remains. 

Permits on file with the Department of Buildings show the new residential building will feature eight units.

Many readers will remember this address as the longtime home of Sixth Street Specials. Owner Hugh Mackie opened the motorcycle repair shop here in 1986, before semi-retiring last year. He and his family — who also lived in the building — have since relocated to Queens.

Meanwhile, longtime shop manager Joshua Mackenzie took over the business and moved it to New Rochelle. The new shop, at 11 Lincoln Ave. — the former home of Urchin Custom Cycles — debuted early last June.

The building had been on the market for $4 million. Public records show an LLC affiliated with Loom Capital Group closed on the property last summer for $3.55 million.

Mackie — along with family and friends who were often around the shop — helped make the block a little livelier over the years. They're missed.

According to Village Preservation, tax records show that a house was built at this location around 1855, replacing the stables that had formerly occupied the lot. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• After nearly 40 years, Sixth Street Specials prepares for its final ride in the East Village 

• Packing up Sixth Street Specials 

• The hidden charms of a soon-to-sell loft building and the former home of Sixth Street Specials

The Patricia Field ARTFashion Gallery has quietly closed on the Lower East Side

An EVG tipster shared the above photo showing the papered-over windows at the Patricia Field ARTFashion Gallery on East Broadway, along with a "closed" sign in the window. 

There's no mention of a closure on the Patricia Field Instagram account or website, though Google now lists the shop as permanently closed. 

A well-placed source confirmed that the boutique has shut down — a move that "came as a surprise to everyone." The online store will remain operational. 

The legendary costume designer, who turned 85 last month, graduated from NYU in 1963. She opened her first shop, Pants Pub, on Washington Place in Greenwich Village, in 1966 at age 24. 

Field later operated longtime retail spaces on East Eighth Street and the Bowery. Her film and TV credits include Sex and the City" and "The Devil Wears Prada."

Her East Broadway outpost opened in the fall of 2024. 

Here's a video from Nelson Sullivan, from the mid-1980s, showing the Field shop on Eighth Street...

 

Opening day scenes at Metro Acres Market on 1st Avenue and 5th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Scenes from Saturday's opening day at Metro Acres Market, the new grocery on the southwest corner of First Avenue and Fifth Street in the former Rite Aid space. 

The ribbon-cutting featured co-owners Ennis and Rowhie Said’s mother, who had the honor—and looked very proud doing so.

Outside, there was a small block-party vibe with a DJ, face painting and balloon animals for kids, plus free hot dogs and raffles for TVs, air fryers, microwaves and other prizes. The event drew a sizable crowd.

Management met many neighbors, including officers from the 9th Precinct up the block on Fifth Street, who asked organizers to shut down the outdoor music and sidewalk festivities, and the celebration moved indoors. 

Inside, there were free samples of cheeses, meats, coffee and hot sauces ... and plenty of shopping...

The market also features a salad bar and a solid prepared-foods section.

In case you were making a suds run, no beer just yet...

Early price check: Some items seemed better deals than others, though several sale items were priced quite competitively. 

In talking with the owners over the past few weeks on our Metro Acres updates, they want to be good neighborhoods, and so far, they've delivered on that.

All told, a solid addition to the neighborhood. 

Daily hours: 7 a.m. to midnight. Find the store website here. 

Pre-St. Patrick’s Day scenes at Mary’s O’s on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On this pre-St. Patrick's Day weekend (perhaps you noticed all the green plastic hats), we stopped by Mary's O's, 32 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. 

Mary O’Halloran and company kept the Guinness flowing...

We walked by McSorley's too — and yes, there was a line.

Sunday's parting text message

H/T Melissa on Third...

Proposal for development next to Merchant’s House goes before the LPC Tuesday

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A post shared by Merchant's House Museum (@merchantshouse)

As reported last month, there are new plans for a 9-story mixed-use building at 27 E. Fourth St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

For the past 15-plus years, Kalodop II Park Corp. has been trying to put in a new development at the current site of a one-level garage that stores food carts.

The developers need approval of a zoning text amendment and special permits to facilitate the building. Last month, Community Board 2's Landmarks Committee disapproved the plan. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the plans go before the Landmark's Preservation Committee. The hearing is at 253 Broadway, 2nd Floor. (Attendees should arrive by 1:15 p.m. Testify info here.) You can also watch via Zoom at 2 p.m. You can also send an email to the LPC. 

Preservationists, not to mention the leadership of Merchant's House, the circa-1832 building, were concerned that the construction could permanently damage the structure, one of only six residences in NYC that is both an exterior and an interior landmark. 

As Museum officials have noted about the latest proposal: "New research has revealed that the 1832 Merchant's House is an intact site of the Underground Railroad. If the LPC approves the development, this piece of history will be gone forever. We can't let our history be destroyed!"

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a shot along 2nd Avenue by Heather Dubin)

Never miss an EVG post with the weekly EVG newsletter. Free right here. 

• DOT launches planning process for redesign of 14th Street corridor (March 10) 

• Someone swiped the Basquiat plaque on Great Jones Street (March 12) 

• Noho Food Market relocating as another Bowery corner awaits development (March 11) 

• Ruby/Dakota gallery signs off on 2nd Street (March 12) 

• Anti-tagging defense goes up at future Sephora on St. Mark’s Place (March 13) 

• Social reaction to a line at Panna II (March 8)

Emmy Squared returns to service after months-long renovation (March 12) 

• Grand opening for Metro Acres Market on 1st Avenue and 5th Street (March 14)

• La La Laundry team opens new venture on 3rd Street (March 11) 

• LPC hearing on controversial development proposed for NoHo Historic District Extension (March 10) 

• Bellevue Shelter closing; intake shifting to East 3rd Street and the Bowery (March 9) 

• A new plan for the former Housewatch space on Avenue B (March 9) 

• On the April CB3-SLA docket: Caledonia East Village and Buena Vista Restaurant & Bar (March 9)

• Signage alert: Apna Pind on 4th Street (March 11) 

• A signage snag for Small Village Deli on Avenue B (March 11) 

• Crews prepping Avenue A for pavement milling above 4th Street (March 13) 

• The first Genre is Death video IS SO GOOD (March 13)

... and a moment at Pardon My French on Avenue B the other evening (photo by Stacie Joy)

Senior artists featured at JASA art show on 5th Street

An art show featuring work by older New Yorkers is returning to the East Village this week. 

JASA (Jewish Association Serving the Aging) is hosting its latest senior art show on Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. at the Evelyn & Louis Green Residence at Cooper Square, 200 E. Fifth St. 

The exhibition will feature artwork created by participants in JASA programs from across the city. Some of the artists are longtime professionals, while others picked up painting, crocheting and other crafts for the first time through JASA classes. 

Admission is free, and proceeds from artwork sales help support JASA services for older adults in New York City. 

JASA serves more than 40,000 older New Yorkers annually, providing a range of social services and community programs. 

You can find more details about the event here.

Saturday's parting shot

An EVG reader shared this pic of these discarded Christmas trees inside StuyTown ... near the Avenue B and 14th Street entrance.

Say farewell to Gruppo on Avenue B before the relocation

As we first reported last month, Gruppo is heading to a new home after 26 years on Avenue B. 

Owner Antonio Gomez told us that the thin-crust pizza specialists are relocating and merging with their sister restaurant, Spunto, in a new space at 261 Bowery between Houston and Stanton. 

Starting tomorrow (Sunday!), Gruppo is hosting "A Proper Goodbye" with happy hour specials all day and night ... "until we turn the lights off in our current location." 

Gruppo is at 99 Avenue B, between Sixth and Seventh Streets. Visit their website for hours. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• End of an Avenue B era for Gruppo as it will relocate to the Bowery in March

Grand opening TODAY for Metro Acres Market on 1st Avenue and 5th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Metro Acres Market is hosting a grand-opening party today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the SW corner of First Avenue at Fifth Street. (You may have noticed the flags.) 

There will be giveaways too, like flat-screen TVs, microwaves and air fryers, per ownership ... whom we caught up with the other day...

According to management, the new grocery will feature a deli counter, salad bar and a chef-driven hot buffet with a rotating selection of prepared foods. The store will also include a "Fresh to Go" section with handmade and grab-and-go items, as well as a full-service meat department.

 

Metro Acres says the prepared foods and other offerings will be made fresh daily on the premises. 

Here's a look inside, as of yesterday afternoon... (with a promising vegetarian section)...

The Rite Aid at this corner closed last August.

Crews prepping Avenue A for pavement milling above 4th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Crews are out tonight prepping Avenue A above Fourth Street for pavement milling ... bringing some extra Friday night noise to the corridor...

Friday's parting Instagram post

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GREATBOXERS (@greatboxers)

The plaque was stolen several days ago. Details here.

The rules of attraction

 

Genre is Death, one of our favorite local or anywhere bands, has just released its first single from their forthcoming full-length debut on In the Red Records, set for May 1.

The video is for the title track, "Attractive People." 

Take it away, Taylor and Ty...

Anti-tagging defense goes up at future Sephora on St. Mark’s Place

Management at the new office building at 1 St. Mark’s Place and Third Avenue have devised a way to keep people from tagging the incoming Sephora signage.

On Wednesday, workers arrived and started erecting barricades around the future Sephora.

Thanks to EVG reader Jacob Ford for the photos of the end results... barricades now protecting fresh Sephora signage...

The Sephora signage arrived on Feb. 13. It was quickly tagged. We even got a Gap reference to a late- 1980s St. Mark's Place mall pioneer.

The Paris-based beauty retailer signed a lease last fall for 7,800 square feet of space at this gateway to the East Village.

Someone swiped the Basquiat plaque on Great Jones Street

Top photo from the EVG archives 

The 10-year-old commemorative plaque honoring Jean-Michel Basquiat outside his former home on Great Jones Street has disappeared — apparently stolen from the building's facade. 

The photo below is from Saturday morning...

The plaque was first noticed missing on Tuesday... (the newly-installed plastic drawing plaque by @modomatter was always snatched). 

The Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation (now Village Preservation), in partnership with Two Boots Pizza, placed the marker here in July 2016. Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, confirmed the loss at the two-level building between the Bowery and Lafayette. Public records list Mond Design Associates as the owners. (Angelina Jolie's Atelier Jolie is the retail tenant.) 

"We have been in touch with the owner about it. It does appear it was stolen — another in an ongoing rash of stolen bronze plaques in our neighborhood," said Berman. 

The plaque has attracted attention in the past, such as in 2023 and 2024, when someone rolled over the whole building with pink paint. 

Berman said they are considering replacement options and new materials that are less attractive to thieves. 

"We've begun using terra cotta plaques — which look as nice if not better than the bronze ones — which have little or no appeal to thieves due to the lack of any resale value. So far, they have all remained untouched. We are discussing replacement possibilities with the owner," Berman said. "These are not cheap. We are raising funds to be able to replace these and other stolen plaques in the neighborhood, as well as to do all our other work." 

The building's façade has served as an impromptu memorial to Basquiat over the years. The artist lived and worked there from 1983 until his death in 1988 at age 27.

Read more about the building's history at Village Preservation.

Ruby/Dakota gallery signs off on 2nd Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Top photo of Hannah Studnik from July 2024

The art gallery Ruby/Dakota, which debuted in late July 2024 at 155 E. Second St., just east of Avenue A, has closed as of March 1. 

In a note shared with EVG, founder Hannah Studnick thanked the neighborhood for its support during the gallery's provocative run. 

"Thank you to the East Village for making me a gallerist, and for welcoming us with open arms," she said. "I look forward to the day when we have a new white cube to hang our culture in, and I hope that that space is in EV. 'Til next time. Don't be sad. We're still cooking. New York isn't dead yet." 

Studnick said she's currently working on a pop-up exhibition at Kembra Pfahler's East Village apartment, with hopes of keeping the next show in the neighborhood. The apartment is painted entirely red — floor to ceiling — inspiring the idea for a blue-themed exhibition if the plans come together. 

So while the gallery space on Second Street has gone dark, Ruby/Dakota may still surface nearby for future shows.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Ruby/Dakota opens on 2nd Street: Gallery is a tribute to family legacy and personal healing

Emmy Squared returns to service after months-long renovation

Emmy Squared was back in action earlier this week on the NW corner of First Avenue and Fifth Street.

The pizzeria specializing in Detroit-style square pies closed in early January for "a little construction glow-up." 

Work included installing a new ceiling and removing an old oven. Regulars will also notice the addition of an Ian Sullivan mural inside the front door. 

You can find this location's hours and menus here.