And it's better than the usual beard oil, perfume ("$30 and up") and Jimi Hendrix tapestry banners (though all that is available).
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Streeeeeeet fair!
At the opening night of 'Arturo Vega: the merch master'
By Stacie Joy
A crowd gathered last evening at Howl! Happening for the opening of "Arturo Vega: the merch master," a new exhibit exploring the work and legacy of the Ramones' longtime visual architect.
Many familiar faces were taking in the show, including Dany Johnson and Scooter LaForge...
The show focuses on Vega's role in shaping the band's identity — from the now-iconic logo to a wide range of merchandise drawn from his personal archive.
Vega, who died in 2013, lived nearby on Second Street for years.
The exhibit runs through May 24 at Howl! Happening, 6 E. First St. Hours: Wednesday-Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Here's a look...
And no, these items are not for sale... but you can buy two Vega T-shirts.
Today (April 11) at 5 p.m., Sandra Schulman gives a talk about Vega and the "logo heard around the world."
Saturday's opening shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
In yet another sign of spring (here, here and here), the Knicks-adorned King Geronimo and Queen Loca were back last night at their usual spot along Avenue A after a winter break. (We last saw them on New Year's Eve.)
You can usually find the unofficial nightlife ambassadors putting on a flag-waving dance showcase here on Friday and Saturday evenings.
And Let's Go Knicks!
Friday, April 10, 2026
Friday's parting shot
Photo by Derek Berg
Worst-ever "Marty Supreme" reenactment... as seen late this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park...
'Red' alert
We have another new video from EVG faves Genre is Death ... a track from their forthcoming full-length debut on In the Red Records, set for May 1.
Check out "In the Red" above.
The noise-no wave duo of Taylor and Ty will have an album release show on May 3 at Madame X on West Houston Street.
Progress report
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Thursday's parting shot
The 'merch' world of Arturo Vega and the Ramones
Per the show description: "This is Ramones-centric, showcasing the incredible range of items designed by, or licensed by Arturo and exclusively from Arturo's collections and archive." 
To attend the Friday evening opening, you need to RSVP (due to demand) here.
On Saturday at 5 p.m., Sandra Schulman gives a talk about Vega and the "logo heard around the world."
Vega died in 2013 at age 65. He lived for years around the corner on Second Street.
The exhibit is up through May 24 at Howl! Happening, 6 E. First St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Images via Howl! Happening
Veselka will once again be open around the clock on Friday and Saturdays
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
It's official — Veselka is returning to an overnight schedule on weekends at Second Avenue and Ninth Street.
Starting April 17, the East Village mainstay will be open around the clock again, starting with just Fridays and Saturdays for now.
Before the pandemic, Veselka served customers 24/7 for nearly 30 years. When indoor dining resumed, the restaurant scaled back hours, with Birchard previously citing staffing challenges for all the shifts.
Owner Jason Birchard (above) shared the news with us yesterday.
Now, overnight service is making a comeback — at least at the Second Avenue location (not Brooklyn) — as staffing continues to come together.
So what is the power order during those late-night hours?
"Fried pierogies, borscht, potato pancakes — good starters," Birchard said.
Birchard will be on hand for the reopening night, along with VP of Operations Vitalii Desiatnychenko, a featured staff member whose journey we followed in the "Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World" documentary.
Now, late-night pierogies and early-morning borscht are back on the schedule, at least for part of the week.
A look at Cô Lạc, now open at 234 E. Fourth St.
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Cô Lạc recently debuted at 234 E. Fourth St., between Avenue A and Avenue B, following a "super soft opening."
Owner-chef Helen Nguyen (also of Saigon Social) has rebranded the restaurant, opting not to continue under the former tenant's name, Van Đa.
Instead, she chose Cô Lạc in honor of her mother.
In Vietnamese, "Cô" means auntie, and Lac is her mother's name — a familiar figure to many of Nguyen's friends growing up.
Nguyen said she initially planned to build on what her friend Yen created with Van Đa, but ultimately wanted something more personal.
The new menu reflects that shift, drawing on family recipes and dishes tied to her childhood.
Cô Lạc is open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.
Earlier this year, we stopped by as Nguyen was hosting a friends-and-family dinner... we got a look at the back and front of the house...
Signs of the times (and more signs) at 9 Bleecker
The new landlord has taken notice, posting warnings against posting — along with a few other messages, including: "I have an owner who loves me very much!" and "I'm a HISTORICAL building, NOT your CANVAS!"
As usual, the notices haven't slowed the layering of wheatpaste. (Do people really stop and read these before slapping up ads for Hello whipped toothpaste?)
An undisclosed buyer purchased the historic building just west of the Bowery last summer for $5.7 million. So far, there are no permits on file with the Department of Buildings for any renovations.
The address has a long history — most notably as the 41-year home of the Yippies, founded by Abbie Hoffman and Paul Krassner. The space closed in 2014 after a lengthy legal battle.
A lot has passed through those doors — and across those walls.
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Wednesday's parting shot
3 music-related books this spring for East Village readers
A shelf view at Book Club Bar on Third Street
Let's take a look...
• "Almost Grown"
East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin's memoir details how this "hyperactive kid from Queens made his dreams come true."
Malin, a partner in several East Village establishments, including Niagara, 96 Tears and the Bowery Palace, launched his music career at 12, fronting the hardcore band Heart Attack.
He was later the lead vocalist of D Generation during the 1990s.
Malin has become a prolific artist with nine studio albums and collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Billie Joe Armstrong.
In May 2023, Malin suffered a rare spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Book details here.
• "No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene"
Per the description:
• "Found Time"
Adele Bertei didn’t just witness the No Wave explosion — she ignited it. As acetone organist for the Contortions and Brian Eno’s assistant, she was at the epicenter when punk collided with post-punk, when Lydia Lunch screamed her first songs, when Kathy Acker was penning her transgressive novels, when Kathryn Bigelow was making her first films. No New York reveals the untold story of the boundary-pushing women who made No Wave possible...Book info here.
Caroline Goldstein's "second-chance romance" questions whether a whirlwind, week-long love story can still stir something three decades later. (We're also told that "it's also secretly a history of the East Village 1993-2023.")
Per the description:
In 1993, Lili and Reid locked eyes after a Jeff Buckley show at Sin-é in New York's East Village. Their connection is immediate and intense—kicking off a steamy summer romance that cracks something open for both of them — but then Reid heads off to pursue his career. And it's the '90s, so stalking isn't the same...Thirty years later, they’re both navigating midlife as single parents of teen girls when they cross paths once more. (Literally, the teens get in a fight in the bathroom line at a concert.) Can they find their way to each other through the complexities of adulthood better than they could during the relative simplicity of their youth?
Book info here.
Vogue published an excerpt at this link.
The fruit vendor of 1st Avenue (and 6th Street) is back
Photo by Stacie Joy
Another sign of spring: the fruit-and-vegetable stand with proprietor Masud returned yesterday on the SE corner of First Avenue and Sixth Street... after a late-December departure.
Here's to your 3-for-$5 pints of blueberries
Noona's Ice Cream & Bakeshop has closed on 5th Street
Bae shared this message on the brand's website, highlighting the challenges of a small food operation in NYC:
After 9 years of Noona's and a year and a half of operating our East Village ice cream-bakeshop, I've decided to close the storefront. Our first run at it was a hard and amazing experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. As y'all know, NYC food establishment turnover is a thing and although we're all paying a leg and an arm and then some for food on top of everything else, food business owners based in NYC operate on some of the slimmest margins.With that said, I'll be rebooting Noona's (just without a NYC-based brick & mortar). I can't give more details than that at the moment, but Noona's will see y'all soon again.
The shop opened in December 2024 and featured scoops of ice cream, mini sundaes, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes, regular cakes (baked on-site), and other baked goods.
Locals enjoyed the desserts... though this block between First Avenue and Second doesn't have robust foot traffic.
Signage alert: Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen NYC on 2nd Avenue
Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen NYC continues to take shape on the SW corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street.
This is a sibling to Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen in Dallas, which has earned two Michelin Bib Gourmands for serving Vietnamese food rooted in Hanoi. (You can check out the Dallas menu here.)
You can follow Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen NYC on Instagram for updates on openings.
This two-level corner space with the flowering vines was most recently home to Viva Cucina and, before that, Nai Tapas Bar.
Thank you to EVG readers Danielle, Garth and Steven for sending along tips about this!
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
It’s wisteria time on Stuyvesant Street
After a long, seemingly endless winter, we have our first blooms on the Stuyvesant Street wisteria this morning. We hope its sister plant on 10th St blooms later this week!
The purple paradise of flowering beauty® resides outside 35 Stuyvesant St. at 10th Street... and it inspires both Instagram users and jigsaw-puzzle makers.
The five-story townhouse at No. 35 is also on the sales market. Lee B. Anderson, called the godfather of the Gothic revival in America, was the long-time owner. He died in 2010, and his caretaker had been living there.
One of the Bowery’s most unique storefronts moves to a less-unique space
In true Globe Slicers style, there's a painted handwritten message on the sign noting a move down the Bowery to No. 184 — alongside some more standard signage.
The business dates to 1947, though it's not clear how long it had been at No. 266.
The building also carried some music history. Known as "The Blondie Loft," it's where the band worked on its first record in the mid-1970s. In a 2022 EVG Instagram comment, Chris Stein recalled the retail space as "a very ancient liquor store" around 1975-76 — and said the building was "totally haunted."
Back in 2022, EVG's Stacie Joy documented the delightfully cluttered shop.
Flashback!
Slowly but surely, many of these old storefronts are being replaced, and we can see, say, a hot sculpt workout place here offering infrared technology.
Another one of those storefronts that felt like it had always been there ... soon to be something else.
Previously on EVG:
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)