Sunday, August 30, 2026
Sunday's parting shots
Why we won’t have coverage of today’s Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
Photos by Stacie Joy
The annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival takes place this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park.
Although EVG applied for press credentials for backstage access, as we have in previous years, organizers declined our request, saying they had reached capacity.
Given the festival’s location on our home turf — and our past coverage of the event — the decision is disappointing and a little puzzling.
As a result, we will not have coverage from today’s festival — save for these set-up pics — and will reassess our coverage in future years.
EV Grieve's East Village Week in Review
• Closing credits for AMC Kips Bay 15 (Aug. 25)
• For Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen, a family story comes to the East Village (Aug. 26)
• Post postpones closure — "going to outlive all of you!!" (Aug. 24)
• Sidewalk sheds may be getting a little less permanent (Aug. 24)
• Indie rock trio pops up in Tompkins Square Park! (Aug. 29)
• Ravi Coltrane headlines the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park (Aug. 28)
• From parking to housing: NoHo lot clears major hurdle for 210 new apartments (Aug. 24)
• Remembering Tim Curry (Aug. 26)
• Special guest correspondent Ali Royals files this report on a Citi Bike pursuit and a fistfight in the middle of Avenue A (Aug. 28)
• Signs of the Bike Boulevard on Avenue B (Aug. 26)
• Ankara ends its run on Houston and Orchard (Aug. 27)
• East Village Queer Film Festival marks 10 years (Aug. 25)
• A summer afternoon on Avenues for Justice Way (Aug. 25)
• Mimi Cheng's wraps up 12 years in the East Village next month (Aug. 26)
• Brazilian restaurant iara bringing Amazon-inspired menu to Allen Street (Aug. 27)
• Why you'll be seeing a lot of Harry Styles fans in the East Village over the next few months (Aug. 26)
• We'll always have 14th Street (Aug. 26)
• Last call for Chopt on Astor Place (Aug. 24)
• TerraCut to open reformer Pilates studio on East Houston Street (Aug. 27)
And on Tuesday night, the Empire State Building was lit up in a bright pink sparkle at 9:25 p.m. to honor Dolly Parton... here's a view from Union Square courtesy of EVG reader Deborah Kadetsky...
Cold comfort at Le Petit Versailles
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
We stopped by Le Petit Versailles yesterday afternoon for "Melt Ice Melt," an all-day program at the community garden on Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.
The centerpiece was Robert Ladislas Derr's "All That Is Solid Melts Into Air" — an ice bench that visitors were invited to sit on as it slowly melted.
Participants were asked to describe the experience on camera and see how long they could remain seated. The record stood at just over three minutes when we were there.
We asked two participants how it felt. Both offered the same understandable assessment: "It's cold."
Derr joined the event by live video, and the afternoon included a Know Your Rights training focused on protections against ICE.
The program concluded with a screening of Katherine Liberovskaya's "Ice-Out SP," accompanied by David Watson on live electric guitar.
Tow story
Photo by Stacie Joy
Which naturally got us thinking about what we'd (hypothetically) put on our own tow truck. (We do not own a tow truck.)
We landed on 1957's "Sweet Smell of Success," with a pic of J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) and Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis)... with the quote, "I love this dirty town."
Feel free to share what you would want detailed on the back of your tow truck. (You don't need to own one either.)
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Saturday's parting shot
A special pop up in Tompkins Square Park yesterday
Photos by Stacie Joy
To celebrate the release of their 13th studio album, There Near (released yesterday), Dinosaur Jr. have been playing a series of smaller venues and pop-up shows around the city.
After a Thursday evening appearance at Lucinda's on Avenue A, the trio turned up in Tompkins Square Park yesterday afternoon for a free surprise show presented by Show Brain and Fender.
The concert was first announced on Instagram around 10 a.m.
Despite some later rumors that it wasn’t going to happen, J Mascis, Murph and Lou Barlow took their places (no stage!) and delivered a short, tight set.
The band will move on to larger venues for its 2027 tour.
And now, J Mascis and friends, as they were announced...
Another Katinka sidewalk sale today (Aug. 29!) on 9th Street
Image via @katinka_ny
Katinka is hosting another sidewalk sale TODAY (Saturday!) from 3-7 p.m. outside their former storefront 303 E. Ninth St., just east of Second Avenue.
Jane Williams and Billy Lyles opened the space in 1979, which specialized in handmade clothing and textiles imported from India, including shirts, vests, quilts, and rugs ... before retiring two summers ago...
An ice day to visit Le Petit Versailles today
Starting at noon, visitors are invited to sit on Robert Ladislas Derr's ice bench, "All That Is Solid Melts Into Air," as it slowly disappears during the August heat.
The installation will be recorded throughout the day, along with participants' responses to questions about notable changes in their lives.
From 5 to 7 p.m., the garden will host a Know Your Rights training focused on protections against ICE.
At 8 p.m., there will be a screening of Katherine Liberovskaya’s "Ice-Out SP," a 59-minute close-up of ice cubes slowly melting in a stainless-steel sink. The video features Phill Niblock’s drone composition "Stosspeng," with David Watson accompanying the screening on live electric guitar.
Saturday's opening shot
It will be a lovely day to do anything outdoors today — sunny and less humid with temps in the low 80s.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Passion in motion
Earlier today, the booyah! kids released a video with their latest cover ... a jaunty take on Drake's "Passionfruit."
It's a fun video with impressive dance moves by vocalist (and EV native) Emma Lee.
You have a chance to catch the booyah! kids when they headline Night Club 101 on Avenue A on Sept. 26.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Ravi Coltrane headlines the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park
This year's program is headlined by saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, the son of jazz legends John and Alice Coltrane — and an accomplished bandleader and collaborator in his own right.
The afternoon also includes performances by the Billy Hart Quartet, Kassa Overall and Vanisha Gould.
The music is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Find more details here.
The festival, which started in Tompkins Square Park in 1993, holds a significant place in the jazz community. It takes place near or on Parker's birthday on Aug. 29. Additional dates were added in Harlem in 2000, further expanding its reach.
Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived at 151 Avenue B from 1950 to 1954. That residential building between Ninth Street and 10th Street is landmarked — and for sale.
A Citi Bike pursuit and a fistfight in the middle of Avenue A
The confrontation appeared to be the culmination of a pursuit that may have continued for several blocks.
EVG reader Ali Royals, who witnessed the incident, said the man in shorts caught up with the man in jeans and intentionally crashed his Citi Bike into the other man's Citi Bike.
According to Royals, the man in jeans — whom she described as "the vigilante" — then accused the other man of pushing kids in Tompkins Square Park before throwing several punches.
The man in shorts lost both of his shoes during the altercation. (They were still in the intersection several hours later.)
It was not immediately known whether either man required medical attention.A Citi Bike pursuit ended in a noonday fistfight Wednesday in the middle of Avenue A at 13th Street, where one man accused the other — who got the worst of the ensuing fight — of pushing kids in Tompkins Square Park. Clip by Ali Royals. #EastVillage pic.twitter.com/QdvZsbRIbR
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) August 28, 2026
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Thursday's parting shots
Keith Haring remains in motion at 60 White
Image via 60 White
A Keith Haring exhibition that opened this spring at 60 White in Tribeca remains on view through the summer... in case you're taking a downtown road trip.
"Keith Haring: A World in Motion," curated by Carlo McCormick in collaboration with Lio Malca, spans multiple floors of the multidisciplinary art space at 60 White St. between Broadway and Church.
The exhibition brings together works Haring created in New York and abroad during the 1980s, including pieces connected to Tokyo, Paris, Milan and San Francisco.
Among the installations is a recreation of DV8, the San Francisco nightclub where Haring created a five-panel mural in 1986. The exhibition also explores his work in the NYC subway system and the downtown art, music and nightlife scenes that shaped his practice.
Haring lived and worked in the East Village and opened the Pop Shop on Lafayette Street in 1986.
The exhibition is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Ankara ends its run on Houston and Orchard
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Ankara Turkish Restaurant has closed on the southwest corner of Houston and Orchard. (H/T EVG reader T.R.!)
A "closed for construction" sign is on the front door. However, an employee confirmed that the closure is permanent and that the business has been sold.
The former owners said they believe a new shawarma spot will take over the space, though it will not be Turkish or operated by the same family.
The Houston Street space is now mostly empty...
A neighboring business told EVG that Ankara had been struggling and had negotiated a rent reduction, though apparently it wasn't enough to keep the restaurant going.
Ankara opened here in March 2023, marking the return of Ramazan Turgut to the Lower East Side, the owner of longtime neighborhood favorite Bereket Turkish Kebab House.
Bereket had been directly across Houston Street for 19 years before closing in June 2014 to make way for Ben Shaoul's gold-dusted residential development.
When Ankara debuted at 183 E. Houston St., Turgut told EVG that the menu remained essentially the same as Bereket's — including the much-loved vegetarian red lentil soup. He also said that, although he was using the Ankara name, he wanted people to know that "it's still Bereket."
So, for fans of that red lentil soup, this one is a blow.
Brazilian restaurant iara bringing Amazon-inspired menu to Allen Street
The 50-seat restaurant will be Mendes' first as an owner; he most recently served as chef de cuisine at Theodora in Brooklyn.
Named for the water goddess of Amazonian legend, iara will feature an open kitchen and a menu built around Brazilian and Amazonian ingredients, including cassava, jambu, tucupi and açaÃ.
The menu includes pão de queijo, hamachi crudo with pineapple leche de tigre and jambu, moqueca with red snapper, and picanha with cassava fries.
Mendes, who was born in Brazil and raised in the United States, returned to Brazil in 2021 and spent a month in the Amazon learning about the region's ingredients and cooking.
"My vision for iara is to raise awareness and educate diners about the ingredients that have shaped Brazil and the Amazon region over the years," Mendes told EVG in an email.
No opening date has been announced yet.
TerraCut to open reformer pilates studio on East Houston Street
TerraCut is from James Crawford, a founding coach at [solidcore] and one of the fitness chain's longest-tenured instructors.
The studio will have 18 reformers and offer two 50-minute classes: TerraSculpt and TerraSweat. Both are open to all experience levels.
Preview classes start Sept. 8, with an official opening set for Sept. 11.
This is the first retail tenant for the new 12-story mixed-use building (aka The Houston).
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Wednesday's parting shot
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