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)

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• 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

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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.

Wednesday's parting shot

"A get well soon Jello" message is up at Superiority Burger on Avenue A. 

Jello Biafra, the original singer of Dead Kennedys, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on Saturday and remains hospitalized in stable condition. 

SB owner Brooks Headley — a former drummer in hardcore bands Born Against and Universal Order of Armageddon — is known for curating marathon playlists for the dining room, reportedly building a roughly 14-hour soundtrack for each night's service that can baffle Shazam.

Noho Food Market relocating as another Bowery corner awaits development

The future of the NW corner of the Bowery and Great Jones continues to take shape. 

The Noho Food Market has closed ahead of a move to the storefront to the north...

As previously reported, Lonicera Partners has assembled a development site here. Lonicera signed a contract to purchase 348 Bowery, the former Bowery Market and mechanic's garage, and took a minority stake in 350 and 352 Bowery, the two adjacent properties to the north. 

There are now new permits on file for a 25-story residential building, including inclusive housing, at the corner at 56 Great Jones St. 

Here's a view of the proposed development looking to the north ...

And how it would look from across the street... as you can see, the current buildings at 348, 350, and 352 Bowery would be demolished (there aren't any demolition permits on file with the Department of Buildings).

There are two versions of the new building — one with a cantilevered extension to the north and the other without it. 

As Village Preservation explained, 56 Great Jones St. is outside the bounds of any landmarked district. However, the cantilevering portion over part of an adjacent building within the NoHo Historic District Extension at 354 Bowery requires landmark approval. 

The non-cantilver version would feature 94 total residential units, including 27 MIH apartments. The cantiliver edition would have three more MIH units, for a total of 30.

Last month, Community Board 2 denied the application as an "unwelcome intrusion into a landmark district from a building in a 'carve out' portion of the district that has admittedly made no effort to be harmonious with the district."

In January, five of six commissioners of the Landmark Preservation Commission voted in favor of the cantilevering version. However, as Village Preservation explained, a minimum of six commissioners is required for a majority vote. This item will return to a future LPC docket.

The Bowery Market closed on the corner last October. The boutique CÔTE À COAST at No. 350 shut down in January ahead of a relocation. 

The all-new 56 Great Jones St. will join the 22-story office building on the SW corner of Bowery and Fourth Street on the block. No. 360 will house one tenant: the NYC-based Chobani, LLC, a food and beverage company initially known for its Greek yogurt.

[UPDATED] La La Laundry team opening new venture on 3rd Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

On Monday, we noted that neighbors reported some activity inside the long-vacant storefront at 97 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Turns out it's a familiar name behind the new venture. Pranai Rai, co-owner of La La Laundry (below) — the plant shop/laundromat combo at 180 Avenue B and 11th Street — is expanding his business with a new concept here, with his business partners Lucy and Aaron.

The space will be called La La Laundry x Atelier and is expected to offer drop-off dry cleaning, tailoring services, and a bespoke atelier, along with plants and Aromic, the shop's soap line. 

A soft opening could happen as soon as this week today!

The last tenant here, the Monk Thrift Shop, never reopened after the pandemic PAUSE of March 2020. 

Updated 5 p.m. 

Oh! The new space is now in soft-open mode as of today!

And on-hand were the owners — Pranai, Aaron and Lucy. ...

Signage alert: Apna Pind on 4th Street

Here's a follow-up to this post... signage is up now for Apna Pind at 128 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

This, after photos of the menu showing "authentic Indian dishes" appeared on the storefront the other week. 

The logo matches that of the Apna Pind out on Rockaway Boulevard in Jamaica. They have an extensive menu of Indian staples, which you can view here. 

We're assuming this will be more of a pickup-and-delivery space, since the previous business, Village Cafe & Grill, only had a narrow window counter with three stools. 

Posted hours Apna Pind: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

A signage snag for Small Village Deli on Avenue B

Top 2 photos by Stacie Joy

Work continues inside the Small Village Deli on the NW corner of Avenue B and Fifth Street. 

Meanwhile, outside, there's apparently a small problem with the exterior signage here. A DOB summons posted to the door on Monday states: "Observed illuminated sign approx 80 sq feet above premises, no permit on file, creating a safety hazard."

All illuminated exterior signs require permits, with yearly renewals, per the DOB. 

Not sure if there's any connection, but we did hear from a reader complaining that the sign seemed too bright...

Perhaps a dimmer switch is in order.