An offering to the Tree Gods

Spotted on East 12th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue today by Bride of 7th ... no word if the cookies are gluten free.

More from the Great GoogaMooga washout

Northern Spy co-owner Christophe Hille told us yesterday that he estimates that his restaurant on East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B lost in the ballpark of $10,000 for the washed-out Great GoogaMooga this past weekend.

Another East Village restaurant checks in with an estimate of losses...

thanks @googamoogafor lying to me about my booth location this year.and thanks for sayin it was a "rain or shine event. im minus 15k now

— Brindle Room (@BrindleRoom) May 19, 2013

[H/t Eater]

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village fall out from the cancelled Great GoogaMooga festival

Rally to save Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church from demolition

Reps for developer Douglas Steiner filed permits in late April to demolish the now-vacant parcel of Mary Help of Christians that includes the church, school and rectory, as we first reported.

Specs for the retail portion of the complex mention a "140 unit market luxury rental building" for the space. (The retail listing is no longer online, by the way.)

Meanwhile, various preservationists and community groups are coming together for a rally Wednesday evening...



From The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation:

Mary Help of Christians is a 100-year-old church at 436 East 12th Street with an incredible history connected to the East Village's immigrant roots and beautiful architecture. (Read more about the church's history and see photos here.) The church was also immortalized in Allen Ginsberg's poem "Fourth Floor, Dawn, Up All Night Writing Letters." In 2012, GVSHP and fellow community groups called for the church, and the adjacent rectory, built in the 1850s, and its nearly 90-year-old school on 11th Street, to be landmarked, but the City refused.

GVSHP notes that there is plenty of open space for the new building, and that the existing properties "would be great candidates for adaptive re-use."

[Via Off the Grid]

And there has been activity at the lot in recent days... a handful of workers and equipment have been on the scene ...



...for asbestos removal at the former school building on East 11th Street...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Opposition to The Living Room moving to East Second Street

[Photo by Edward Arrocha]

The Living Room is on tonight's CB3/SLA committee docket. The Ludlow Street venue — dubbed "NYC's Best Acoustic Listening Room" on their Facebook page — is looking to take over the space on East Second Street that currently houses Klean & Kleaner, the laundromat that has lost its lease and is expected to close very soon.

We've covered all this before. A quick recap:

This potential Living Room move was a topic of conversation during a community meeting back in March. Co-owner Jennifer Gilson attended that meeting, and made her case on why the Living Room would be a good neighbor, such as shows for kids, use of the space for neighborhood fund-raisers and no pub crawls.

However, from the meeting, East Second Street residents said that they are "vehemently opposed to the possibility of The Living Room" in that space for a variety of reasons, including:

• East 2nd Street is a residential side street whose residents include a large number of seniors and families with young children.
• As a residential street, we already endure excessive noise due to late night crowds from the many bars and restaurants already on our block and nearby.
• While we believe The Living Room is a wonderful part of the cultural fabric of New York City, its presence at 173 East 2nd Street will severely and negatively impact our quality of life.

Ahead of tonight's meeting, someone placed these flyers along East Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B encouraging people to come out against the Living Room's plans tonight ... a reader sent this one from inside his building on that block...



We've also heard from people who very much want to see The Living Room stay in these parts ... instead of being pushed to Brooklyn. The Living Room currently has a lease on Ludlow Street through August, as BoweryBoogie has noted.

Previously.

First sign of Howl!

Signs went up on Friday around Tompkins Square Park... noting that the annual Howl Festival will take place on May 31, June 1 and June 2... and there's an open call for Art Around the Park...



Also! The official poster...



Photos by Bobby Williams.

Bracing for 3 new floors at 31-33 Second Ave.

Just noting some recent activity at 31-33 Second Ave., where workers will add three floors to the existing building ... the most recent Work Permit shows plans for "shoring of front wall" here.



Approved plans on file with the city show that workers will remodel the existing commercial space on the ground floor ... remodel the existing apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors ... and add on top of the existing building. Each floor will contain two apartments. Magnum Real Estate's Ben Shaoul is listed as the building's owner.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ben Shaoul planning a 3-story addition at 31-33 Second Ave.

About the vacant storefront on the southeast corner of 7th and B

There have been a lot of rumors about the future of the storefront on the southeast corner of Avenue B and East Seventh Street, which last housed Amaran, the imported home goods store that closed in February. We heard the usual Starbucks-7-Eleven-chain store rumors, though nothing based on fact.

Last week, we reported that a yoga center was taking over the space. That report was not accurate.

Anna Pastoressa, president of the board of directors of the co-op at 184 E. Seventh St., shared information about the space.

"For many years, the philosophy of the co-op is not to allow chain stores, delis, restaurants or bars in any of its stores," she wrote in an email. "The building could make a lot more money by allowing food establishments or bars, but it would add noise, complaints and late-night hours. We have always given priority to local businesses and that's why we are offering the 1,700 square-foot store at a reasonable price."

To date, she reports that the co-op has received numerous inquiries and many applications, including one from a yoga business.

"The board is presently reviewing these applications, which are still coming in, but a decision will be made soon."

And that's the way it was

Tompkins Square Park this afternoon. Photos by Bobby Williams.

East Village fall out from the cancelled Great GoogaMooga festival

This happened today out in Brooklyn.

NYC Parks Dept, Prospect Park Alliance & #Googamooga have canceled today's event in the interest of safety & prevention of damage to park
— Great GoogaMooga (@GoogaMooga) May 19, 2013

Several East Village restaurants were part of the food lineup... a little fall out so far...

In life, there are fiascos, and then there is @googamooga. #cursed
— Northern Spy Food Co (@northernspyfood) May 19, 2013

We checked in with Northern Spy co-owner Christophe Hille about GoogaMooga. He figures the restaurant on East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B lost in the ballpark of $10,000 for the event. They prepped 3,200 sandwiches to sell at their stand. Given yesterday's crap weather and today's cancellation, they sold less than 800. (Based on last year's demand, GoogaMooga officials suggested prepping 4,000.)

If Park officials allow trucks onto the soggy fields today, then City Harvest may take some of the unused food. Hille also plans on providing some of the leftovers to Trinity Church's Services and Food for the Homeless (SAFH) at East 9th Street and Avenue B. (He is a SAFH board member.)

"All vendors are in the same boat, so I'm not feeling any worse about [this] than everyone is," he said via Twitter.

After Sandy, Hille and his staff cooked up all their remaining food and gave it away to neighbors on East 12th Street.

Meanwhile, Luke's Lobster on East 7th Street is offering this deal...

$2 OFF lobster rolls TODAY in all NYC stores! @googamooga canceled today so we have a ton of extra beautiful lobster. Go! #BESTRAINYDAYEVER
— Luke's Lobster (@LukesLobster) May 19, 2013

Week in Grieview

[East 3rd Street yesterday morning]

Developer drama at the Children's Magical Garden (Wednesday)

Final countdown for 9th Street Bakery (Thursday)

Mee Noodle Shop returning to First Avenue (Tuesday)

At the 'Save Our Community Center March and Rally' (Wednesday)

Befouling a Citi Bikes docking station (Friday)

Details on new Mexican eatery opening on East 13th Street (Monday)

Tinto Fino is closing on First Avenue (Tuesday)

Former center for the Hare Krishnas for rent (Monday)

Maiden Lane opens full time (Friday)

Full reveal at the Death Star (Thursday)

Village Voice management doing its best to make sure no one ever reads the publication again (Friday)

The East Village Eye archive now online (Tuesday)

High-speed chase on East 14th Street (Monday)

Surma - The Ukrainian Shop on East 7th Street, since 1918 (Wednesday)

Demolition at 35 Cooper Square started 2 years ago (Monday)

Happy birthday Joey Ramone

He would be 62 today. And the 13th annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash is tonight at the Bowery Electric.

[Photo via CBGB on Facebook]

New trees for Tompkins Square Park

Just noticed these this morning on the eastern part of the Park near Avenue B... good to see, considering we've lost quite a few trees in the past few years... Unless, this is some sort of tree crawl.

Noted

You probably saw this one coming over at the Colonel's place on East 14th Street and Second Avenue... probably would have been more wacky had the person put the R over the S instead of the !

In case of emergency on Avenue A...

Oh shit!



At East Ninth Street this morning...

The very end of the Dance Parade

Late night/early morning on Avenue A and East 10th Street... Photo by Shawn Chittle.

Dance party

Dance Parade... DanceFest, etc. today....





















Photos by Bobby Williams.

Shall we dance?

EVG contributor peter radley took these photos in Tompkins Square Park today ... at the end of the Dance Parade and beginning of the DanceFest...

Here comes the Dance Parade

Coming through now on St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue... where they will end up in Tompkins Square Park for the DanceFest.



Photos by Stephen Popkin.

We'll post more photos this evening...

Intermix arrives on the Bowery

Steve's on the Bowery closed back in September... the deli lost their lease... Previously, BoweryBoogie had the scoop that the Intermix brand was taking over the Steve's space. The company describes itself as a "fashion boutique for trendsetters, A-Listers and glam fashionistas."

Well, Intermix has arrived... it opens today, per Racked.



And up on the right-hand sign there's a message that this is a "temporary storefront sign."

A little now and then:



Previously on EV Grieve:
Steve's on the Bowery has closed, more 'glam fashionistas' on the way

Steve's on the Bowery is for lease

Noted

On the Bowery... for all you haters who say that 7-Eleven serves fattening foods and stuff.