A look at 2nd and B in 1986

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We came across this Instagram post (via Monty Cantsin — EVG flashback)...  showing Jack Vengrow's sculpture at the Gas Station on the NW corner of Avenue B and Second Street from 1986. 

The venue, home to the gallery 2B, was here from 1986 and was demolished in 1995 to make way for the residential building The Villager and a Duane Reade. 

On Dec. 21, musicians taking part in Ghost Band Plays Ghost Venues (see EVG link below) marched in the aisles of the Duane Reade to pay respects to the Gas Station.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• A ghostly parade for long-lost local music venues

On Avenue B, a there-goes-the-neighborhood building sells for $43 million

Photo by Stacie Joy 

The Villager, the 6-story apartment building that anchors the NW corner of Avenue B and Second Street, has a new owner. 

According to TradedNY, Skyline Developers sold the 61-unit complex at 194 E. Second St. to Benchmark Real Estate Group for $43 million. 

The building's completion in 1997 was seen by some as an (another) end-of-an-era/there-goes-the-neighborhood moment. (In reporting on the sale this week, Crain's called this a "Neighborhood-defining East Village rental.") 

Previously, this corner was home to a gas station... shooting gallery ... and then, for a 10-year run, The Gas Station, aka Art Gallery Space 2B (or Space 2B Art Yard), a freewheeling arts and events space.

Per the Times:

For 10 years, the Gas Station, with its towering sculpture built from discards ranging from a 1970 Plymouth Valiant to department store mannequins to television sets, has been a symbol of the Lower East Side's Bohemian ways and artistic resolve.

Alex at Flaming Pablum has written about the Gas Station and this part of its history:

The Gas Station is probably most notorious for being the site of the final, calamitous performance by G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies. After the show in question ended in a riot (not an atypical situation for the Geeg), Allin tromped off into the East Village afternoon with some new friends, only to overdose on smack later that evening, undermining his oft-stated intention to kill himself onstage.

The Gas Station was cleared out in 1996.

An aerial view of 2B by LeoLondon from 1993.

A GG Allin family affair on Showtime, and a trip back to 2B

In a respite this December from holiday fare, Showtime is airing four music documentaries this month... including "GG Allin: All in the Family," which premiered last Thursday. (Meant to mention it last week.) It's airing again tonight at 11:30. It's also available on-demand via Showtime if it's of interest. (Not really everyone's thing.)

As this film notes (and what has been well-documented), the last show for GG Allin & the Murder Junkies took place on June 23, 1993 at 2B (aka The Gas Station) on Avenue B at Second Street. (Now an apartment building with the Duane Reade.)

Here's a video made by Corey Shaff that has been in circulation about the gallery space...



... and an aerial view of 2B by LeoLondon from 1993...