EV Grieve

Monday, March 1, 2021

It's March!

Which means this stuff has been up at the Kmart on Astor Place since Halloween! (JK! Have no idea when this arrived...)

Thanks to Edmund John Dunn for the pics.

787 Coffee opens an outpost on 14th Street

787 Coffee has opened another location in the East Village — 319 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... in the space previously leased by Champion Coffee, who never reopened here after the PAUSE went into effect last March. (And the Champion signage remains up for the moment.)

Friday was there first day in business here. (Thanks to Pinch for the tip and photos!)

This is the third East Village outpost for 787, which grows and roasts their coffee in Puerto Rico... overall, 787 has eight NYC stores and one in Puerto Rico...

787 Coffee debuted in October 2018 at 131 E. Seventh St. near Avenue A... and at 101 Second Ave. at Sixth Street in July 2019.

Mike's Cleaners is closing on Avenue A

Mike's Cleaners is closing up shop on Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. (Thank you to Stacie Joy for the photos.)

The note on the gate blames the closure on the "current situation."

Across the country dry cleaners have been hard hit during the pandemic... as more people are working from home and not wearing business attire, and fewer people are going to events where they need to dress up. So no need to take things in to a dry cleaners.

According to the National Cleaners Association, one in six dry cleaners have closed or gone bankrupt in the United States during the pandemic.

The numbers seem higher here. By my count, 10 dry cleaners have closed in the East Village since the start of the pandemic... Dion Cleaners on 14th Street, Amy's aka C & C on Seventh Street, LT Baron's on 11th Street, Sun's Laundry on 14th Street, Best Ave. B Dry Cleaners on Avenue B, AAA Cleaners on Avenue A, Exquisite Cleaners on First Avenue, Sunrise Cleaners on Third Street and Danny Cleaner's on 10th Street (they merged with Lois Cleaners on the southeast corner of 10th Street and Third Avenue).

Back on Thursday, local community groups gathered outside outside Michelle Dry Cleaners & Laundry on Avenue C to call on state legislators to support commercial rent relief for small businesses.

A new pizzeria for the former Muzzarella Pizza space on Avenue A

A new pizzeria is coming soon to 221 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street. Signage arrived on Friday for Burrata Pizza

With Burrata's arrival, this officially marks the end of Muzzarella Pizza, which quietly closed early last summer.

Muzzarella, which opened here in 1991, had many fans who appreciated their low-key, unpretentious vibe and solid slices and menu offerings like the meatball hero.

New signage for the incoming Greenwich Marketplace on 4th Avenue

We have a changing of the awning here on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 12th Street ... the top pic shows the new look... and this photo via EVG reader Doug offers the now-replaced late-December version...

Liking the new version much better. You?

The market has been in the works for several months now... when they do open, they'll be serving up a variety of house-made sandwiches and juices ... as well as some grocery fare that you'd expect to find at a corner market.

Openings: Mi Salsa Kitchen on Allen and Houston; Davidovich Bagels on Avenue A

Mi Salsa Kitchen opened back on Friday here on the southwest corner of Allen and Houston.

As previously reported, the restaurant serves Cuban cuisine via chef Mikel Presa ... and offers a modestly priced menu... with meat and chicken dishes, served with two sides and a salad, starting at $11.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Find them on Instagram here ... or at the other of a phone: (646) 649-4929.

Also... ICYMI from Friday ... Davidovich Bagels is now in soft-open mode at 36 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street...

Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Website here. Phone here: (646) 559-2553.

Sunday, February 28, 2021

When Charles the dog blasted Daft Punk on 2nd Avenue in a video directed by Spike Jonze

Earlier this week, the French electronic duo Daft Punk announced that they were calling it quits after 28 years of creating music together.

EVG reader David reminds us of the 1996 video for the band's "Da Funk" release ... Spike Jonze directed the 5-minute clip, titled "Big City Nights," which follows Charles, an anthropomorphic dog with a boombox (with a broken volume knob) playing Daft Punk's "Da Funk" as he hobbles along Second Avenue.

The video concludes outside the now-closed Nightengale Lounge on Second Avenue at 13th Street. You might spot a few more familiar locales along the way...

6 Posts from February

A mini month in review... with an armless mannequin on St. Mark's Place...

• City releases COVID-19 vaccine data by ZIP code; where do local neighborhoods rank? (Feb. 17)

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get a firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza (Feb. 9)

• City's first plant-based community fridge is up and running outside Overthrow on Bleecker Street (Feb. 8)

• Ray's 88th birthday at Ray's Candy Store goes global with virtual greetings (Feb. 6)

• About that rolled-up carpet in the crosswalk (Feb. 5)

• The Marshal seizes the Lower East Side Coffee Shop on 14th Street (Feb. 5)

Week in Grieview

Posts from the past week included ... (with a photo on Seventh Street by Derek Berg) ...

• Community groups and small businesses rally for commercial rent relief (Friday)

• East Village Neighbors offering help scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments (Tuesday)

• A grocery store is coming to the former Associated space on 14th Street (Wednesday)

• FlyeLyfe on the move to 1st Avenue (Monday)

• Sen. Hoylman honors local businesses for service during the pandemic, including Mikey Likes It (Wednesday)

• The March Hare debuts a Charity Chest on 9th Street for families in need (Tuesday)

• Barnyard Cheese Shop is closed until further notice on Avenue B (Monday)

• Davidovich Bakery softly rolls out the bagels on Avenue A (Friday)

• Hub Thai relocating to a larger space on Avenue A (Monday)

• This week's NY See finds a mask-wearing quandry in the middle of the woods (Thursday)

• Gallery Watch goes to Canada on Lispenard Street (Wedensday)

• Meyhane has closed on 2nd Avenue (Wedensday)

• Report: Someone stole the entire $300,000 inventory from Taste Wine Co. on 3rd Avenue (Thursday)

• NYC movie theaters to reopen at 25% capacity on March 5 (Tuesday)

• Invasion planned for Planet Taco (Wednesday)

• A touch of spring on 10th Street thanks to "Pose" (Tuesday)

• Ralph's returns after a winter break (Thursday)

• About Keith Forever (Sunday)

• Cycle of change on Astor Place with a new tenant for the Flywheel Sports studio (Thursday)

• A sweet-and-sour new business for 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

• Four Four South Village bringing Taiwanese beef noodles (and curbside dining) to 7th Street (Monday)

... and @stoopingeastvillage is a new neighborhood Instagram account with this goal: "Sharing/re-sharing sidewalk finds you can actually run to!" And my photo contribution ...

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Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

Mil Mundos Books will continue on at Essex Market

Photos by Stacie Joy

Back in October, the Bushwick-based Mil Mundos Books opened a stall on Fridays and weekends inside Essex Market... it was to be up through just the end of 2020.

So we were pleasantly surprised to see the bookshop still up and running back on Friday...

The folks at Mil Mundos confirmed that they will be here "until further notice."

The bilingual bookstore, which "curates to celebrate Black, Latinx and Indigenous heritage," is open Friday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Their stall is on the northwest entrance ... on Delancey at Essex. Follow them on Instagram here.

Citi Bike's EV expansion

New Citi Bike docking stations arrived the week of Feb. 15 on First Street just west of First Avenue (above) ... and on Fifth Street at Cooper Square ...