A holiday variety show — and benefit — for Pangea

Tonight, the East Village-based TWEED TheaterWorks is hosting a remote holiday variety show, which will serve as a benefit for Pangea, the restaurant-performance venue at 178 Second Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street.

Here's more about what to expect ... info via the EVG inbox:

One of our producing partners the past six years has been TWEED TheaterWorks ... with TWEED's artistic director Kevin Malony who produced a remote holiday variety show called 'TAINT ... an alt-holiday show featuring performances by many of their favorite artists who have graced the intimate Pangea stage. 

The streaming premiere of 'TAINT will be tonight at 8 and will run for an hour. For those who can’t attend the premiere, a video on demand link will be sent on Dec. 29 and be available through Jan. 10.

 

You can find ticket info at this link. 

Pangea has had its share of challenges this fall — aside from the loss of revenue with the pandemic-related closure of its supper club. On the morning of Oct. 30, Pangea management walked into the restaurant to discover that Con Ed had shut off their gas in the middle of the night. (A nearby resident was said to smell gas on the block. Although Con Ed didn't detect a leak, they shut down the gas service anyway.)

So in the past two months, Pangea's ownership has been entangled in the time-consuming bureaucratic process that includes scheduling inspections by the DOB and Con Ed. This also led to a loss of business, including the seasonably warm Halloween weekend.

However, Pangea owners Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero took action, and bought electric cooking equipment and, with the help of a new chef, created a menu to fit their circumstances. In addition, they recently introduced a takeout dinner menu.

Here's more from a recent email to Pangea patrons from Shanaghan and Caballero:

Our biggest obstacle now is the weather turning colder and the new mandate closing indoor dining ... Since our heat is gas powered, we are concerned that electric space heaters may not be sufficient if we get a real dose of winter.

On a positive note, we have implemented a new takeout dinner service (for pick up only). In the past, takeout was not a viable option for Pangea. We have a two-person line in the kitchen. Pre-pandemic we were not able to offer takeout while hosting a busy 50-seat cabaret room and a 40-seat front dining room. Now it will be our only source of revenue. 

During December, takeout orders are discounted 20 percent. Pangea also has several tables for outdoor dining.

They're also continuing to crowdfund to ensure a post-pandemic future here on Second Avenue.

Pangea has a long history in the neighborhood. Read our interview with Pangea owners Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero here. 

2 familiar names now offering coffee on St. Mark's Place

Two St. Mark's Place businesses, better known for their other offerings, are now selling coffee.

The Holiday Cocktail Lounge at 75 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue now opens at 8 a.m. for coffee and croissants... aka, Holiday Coffee Lounge. 

Updated: Here's more info via a Holiday rep after the new offerings: 

Holiday's new coffee service ... includes outstanding coffee and espresso from local Superlost Coffee, plus, tea, juice and boosters, freshly made pastries, croissants, mini beignets, breakfast items, and sandwiches. The Wi-Fi-friendly space (70 indoor seats; 40 patio seats weather permitting) to enjoy delicious liquid in a cup throughout the day and into the evening, when its traditional cocktail service starts at 4 p.m. and is open until 2 a.m.

Meanwhile, on the next block to the west, the bookstore Village Works at 12 St. Mark's Place has opened a cafe with coffee and muffins...

 

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Posted hours have been 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.

No trees yet, but...

There are holiday wreaths on display outside the Whole Foods Market® Bowery on East Houston…

Speaking of holiday trees … soon, everyone's favorite inflatable Santa should (oh Lordy we hope!) return to its familiar holiday home on East 14th Street at First Avenue…

We're guessing that the tree stands will arrive on Wednesday… the actual trees on Friday and Jolly ol' Trailer Park Santa on Saturday…

Previously on EV Grieve:
In case you are looking to buy the ol' [insert your name here!] family holiday tree on Thanksgiving

The Holiday Cocktail Lounge lives

Not sure if these signs went up yesterday or today at the Holiday on St. Mark's Place...Good news, nonetheless. If it was open last night...anyone go in for drinks? And hooray finally for some good news.

[UPDATED: Jeremiah stops by for a drink....]

For further reading:

Holiday Cocktail Lounge (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Is the Holiday over? (NYPress)

Holiday greetings from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

An almost year-end message from the proud parents of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has been thoroughly enjoying her second holiday season in the neighborhood this year. Times are lean around these parts so less of Holiday Tree wonder but an intense focus on tennis balls and she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the snow.

As much as the snow it seems she has intently focused on tennis balls. She is less into the Tompkins Square Park dog run these days (though she remains a frequent visitor there to do her business) but has developed a taste for the East River Park. She was recently busted there for being “off leash” but she remains a devoted fan. Mostly because she has developed an important collection of stray tennis balls she collects there voraciously.

She (and we) send all of her neighbors the warmest of holiday wishes. Xo

On the next episode: Kita is curious why only Grain-Free Chicken Meal Formula Dry Dog Food is available at this New Year's Eve buffet.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Meet Kita

The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

The further (often truly) amazing adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Happy holidays from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has her first ever annual checkup

'Holiday subversion' tonight at The Stand on 7th and C

Via the EVG inbox...

Local artists Our Lady of Perpetual PMS (aka Daniella), Jessica Delfino & Elisa Velasquez present a Saturday Night Art Show of holiday subversion, with musical street performances.

• Alternative art, ornaments, & gifts for sale:
paintings, punk holiday ornaments, upcycled jewelry, & hand-painted playable ukuleles, & more

• Live music

• 9 pm: Gay Apparel: A highly decorated group of hilarious, holiday-skewering carolers reinventing your favorite (or most irritating) seasonal songs.

• Creative community party/street art/local color

• Snacks while supplies last

The gallery is small & intimate and the spirit of the event will spill out onto the sidewalk, creating a festive street scape for friends, fellow artists, & passersby.

Come by and celebrate the holidays with CRAFTERMATH. Founded in 2008, we are a group of subversive women artists who like to party with (g)litter and glue guns. We use recyclable & reusable materials whenever possible. We love to share resources & foster creative local community.

Read our post on the Stand from May right here.

A warm holiday greeting from EV Grieve

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a joyful holiday season to all!



Damn, anyway. I meant to do a better job of tracking the first signs of the December holidays. I forgot! This was at a Duane Reade yesterday. I'm sure stores have had holiday doodads up for much longer. Anyway, for me, it doesn't seem like the holidays until the trees go up at PC Richard & Son on 14th Street. Should be any day now!

Anyway, c'mon, let's get into the holiday spirit! Everyone! Even you traders!

A new (old) awning arrives at the Holiday

This morning, workers installed a new awning outside the former Holiday Cocktail Lounge at 75 St. Mark's Place.

And it's an exact replica of the previous awning...



Back in July, some dude on a skateboard came by and slashed the name off of it.

The new awning is the next step for the new venture here. As previously reported, Barbara Sibley, the owner of La Palapa next door, will help run a tavern-restaurant in this space.

First, though — the building had to undergo a top-to-bottom renovation. And it has taken awhile. Sibley has firsthand experience — she lives in the building. She talked to us about it back in January.

The building was in terrible condition ... It’s been such an exercise in zen and archaeology. As much as we’ve been trying to maintain it, you couldn’t keep everything. We were lucky on their closing night that we didn’t all fall through. Every time we look behind a wall it’s been a major repair. It’s been an endless process.

The Holiday 2.0 closed Jan. 28, 2012.

No word yet on an opening date... but the new place will go by the name the Holiday.

Let the holiday weekends begin

Our blogging friend Bryan Waterman passed along the details on dba's annual holiday fare on Saturdays this month (3-8 p.m.) featuring the work of some local artists...



Anyway, there's a lot of holiday things going on...and The Villager rounds up a lot of the activities right here. And La Superette will be down on Front Street in the South Street Seaport today and tomorrow.

And a little later this week, I'll have more information on the "Skits N Tits! One Year Anniversary Holiday Party" at the Bowery Poetry Club Wednesday night...the evening will mark the debut of CRAFTERMATH, formed by a group of women active in multi-disciplinary arts who love odd, original art, and cheap, anti-corporate gift-shopping in the spirit of comrades like Reverend Billy and La Superette.

Season's Supermarket Greetings

Photos by Stacie Joy 

While out and about this holiday season, EVG contributor Stacie Joy starting keeping tabs on the neighborhood's grocery stores (such as Associated on Avenue C above) to see how the markets were decorating for the season. 

Many places were on the bah-humbug-y side, perhaps with just a few cashier-area holiday tinsel-y ornaments. 

These were the groceries putting in the holiday décor effort, starting with Pioneer/Met Fresh on Avenue D between Eighth Street and Ninth Street ...

... Union Market on Houston and Avenue A...

... H-Mart on Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street ...

...New Yorkers Food Market on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and Sixth Street...

... Whole Foods Market® Bowery ...

... and the clear winner in the grocery holiday games — Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street,

Key was also the only shop with any Hanukkah signage and opting for the traditional Chanukah spelling...

Please note that Key closes at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve (tomorrow) and will be closed all day on Christmas. So plan ahead. (Sidenote: We finally found where they stock the mustard now — aisle 1, which doesn't make sense, after the Great Key Reorganization. Stayed tuned for the next investigative series on mustard presentation.)

The Beats will live again at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge (for one day, anyway)

So you know that the Holiday Cocktail Lounge closed on St. Mark's Place back on Jan. 29. Robert Ehrlich, the founder of Pirate Brands, and Barbara Sibley, the owner of La Palapa next door, will open a tavern-restaurant that serves staples such as fish-n-chips.

Allen Ginsberg, among many other literary luminaries, frequented the Holiday back in the day ... so it may not be so strange then that crews will film scenes for "Kill Your Darlings" at the Holiday on Monday.

IMDB simply puts the plot this way: "A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs." The crew has been shooting scenes around the city, including at Columbia, the last several weeks. (The Times has a lot of the backstory about the murder here; that the version of the story for this film can be found in "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks," the 1945 novel by Kerouac and Burroughs.)

Sibley told us that crew members will arrive today to transform the interior to look like the 1940s, which, given the bar's timeless look, likely won't take too much.

In the drama, Daniel Radcliffe plays a collegiate-age Ginsberg just as he's meeting Kerouac (Jack Huston) and Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan). Elizabeth Olsen is Kerouac's first wife, Edie Parker, and Ben Foster portrays William Burroughs. Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Cross and Kyra Sedgwick round out the cast.

[Lucien and Allen in the movies. Via]

As for the rest of the renovations, Sibley says they are coming along slowly. There's major work ahead, including with the sewer line.

Coffee at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Back in November, The Holiday Cocktail Lounge announced that it was opening at 8 a.m. for coffee and breakfast items in a new venture titled Holiday Coffee Lounge. 

We're always looking for a stress-free coffee option. As you undoubtedly noticed, the rise of hybrid and remote work has turned coffee shops into impromptu offices during the week. People camped out for hours, laptops open, and long coffee cups empty. Our favorite: the people taking part in Zoom/Teams meetings in a crowded space. (This is above my pay grade, so let's put a pin in this until we can get our ducks in a row and get buy-in from upstairs!)

Balancing a café's role as a workplace and a welcoming space for all has become a pressing challenge. (Maybe have no laptop hours?) 

Given that some of our favorite places can be overrun during the week, we decided to check out the morning service here at 75 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

During two recent visits, there were plenty of open tables...

The daytime service features espresso from local Superlost Coffee, tea and juice, pastries, croissants, mini beignets, breakfast items, and sandwiches. There's also free Wi-Fi. 

We also tried the grilled cheese for lunch (solid!).

The Holiday serves coffee from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the liquor service starts. 

For now, the place remains a safe haven for those seeking a quiet retreat during the day... (and sorry if we blew up your spot with this post!).

Tompkins Square Park holiday tree lighting rescheduled for Sunday

Stupid rainstorm last Sunday led to the the postponement of the 18th annual holiday tree lighting...

Anyway, per the news release...

Tompkins Square Park Neighborhood Coalition
East Village Parks Conservancy & Third Street Music School Settlement present the 18th annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square

The 18th annual Holiday Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square, rescheduled due to rain, now takes place Sunday, December 20 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park, near the southeast corner of the central lawn.

Over 30 caring people volunteer their efforts to make each year’s Tree Lighting our biggest and happiest celebration yet. The musicians of the Mandel & Lydon Trio, sponsored by Third Street Music School Settlement, join carolers from Theater for the New City, donating their time and talent to help lead everyone in songs of the season.

The carolers are outfitted in Victorian costumes provided by the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Public Theater. Notable East Village eateries, Veselka Restaurant and Life Cafe, provide hot chocolate, cider and other refreshments, free for all who attend.

A joyful crowd of neighborhood residents joins us as our audience, growing in size each year. The Tree Lighting has become a bright East Village tradition, touching more and more people every season.

The Tompkins Square Park Holiday tree is now lit (so to speak)

As we reported back on Friday, this year's annual Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony — featuring a choir and music — in Tompkins Square Park has been cancelled over COVID-19 concerns. 

However, the Parks Department still planned on putting the lights on the tree for the season (and I thought they were on year-round) ... 

Anyway, yesterday, workers started installing the lights and adding the electrical wiring ... Steven shared these top two photos...

... and Goggla passed this along later in the day...

And by last night, the lights were shining brightly...

We were originally told the lights would go on Thursday... but we'll take them a little early. Maybe they can stay on through the spring. (C'mon — we've done March before.)

As Stacie Joy reported on Friday...

Albert Fabozzi first planted the much-loved Christmas tree in Tompkins Square Park in 1992 to honor and memorialize his partner, Glenn Barnett, as well as others who died of AIDS. The tree was 8 feet tall when he planted it. Today, the tree is well over 50 feet.

This year would have marked the 29th annual tree lighting celebration. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

The annual Holiday Tree Lighting in Tompkins Square Park is canceled due to COVID-19

This holiday season, C&B Café serves up its first-ever pies

Photos and story by Stacie Joy 

When I heard that neighborhood fave baker Ali Sahin of C&B Café was testing holiday pie recipes, I immediately ran over to the space on Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B to get a sneak peek. I love pie! 

Ali is working with baker Daniel Villalobos (below left), who created the pumpkin pie that is now available for purchase.

These whole 9-inch pies are for sale up until the weekend before Thanksgiving. (This coming weekend!)

Ali says they "generously feed eight people." The pies are $30 each, available with torched meringue or not — your call.

The best way to order is through Instagram DM, but you can also do so in person at the shop or by emailing Ali@candbnyc.com.

So... why pies, and why now? 

"We needed a little change, I felt a bit stagnant," Ali said of his C&B offerings. "I wanted a change in our pace." 

I noted that the crust appeared puffier than you'd see on a traditional pie. Daniel explained it was "not a laminated dough like puff pastry, but a flakier crust, made with all (high butterfat) butter, no lard."

He added that the pumpkin filling "had a bit of mascarpone cheese, plus spices like ginger."
 

The taste-testing went well...

After Thanksgiving, you can expect to see more pie options. Ali and Daniel are looking at an apple pie with oat crumble topping, a pecan pie, and a chocolate French silk pie with heavy cream. 

Also available soon (after the holiday rush): mini-pies with new flavor profiles, and pies by the slice.

Thanksgiving leftovers

Were you away for the holiday? If so, then welcome back. Anyway, we posted a bunch of stuff the last few days... In case you missed it the first time around...:

• Your CB3/SLA booze and bar agenda for December.

• Thanksgiving at the Blarney Cove

• More about Puddin' on St. Mark's Place

• Looking at the Robin Raj holiday window display

• People lined up really early for Black Friday at the Union Square Best Buy

• Lingerie-clad model in a lamp post photo shoot

• You may now buy Christmas holiday trees

• Chico creates a new ad mural on Houston and Avenue B

East Village Loves NYC prepares 1st holiday feast; tops more than 70,000 meals made for hungry New Yorkers in 2020

This past Sunday, East Village Loves NYC — the local volunteer group that formed in the spring to feed people in need during the pandemic — prepared its first holiday meal. 

At the Sixth Street Community Center between Avenue B and Avenue C, the East Village residents cooked and delivered 3,000 high-quality Mexican Halal meals to 17 organizations around the city.

The group is currently working with the crowdfunding platform ioby (an acronym for In Our Backyard) to raise money to feed low-income Black communities in Harlem and Queens that have been hit hard by the pandemic. (This project is eligible for up to $8,000 in match funding through ioby's NYC COVID-19 Just Recovery Match Fund. Find the crowdfunding page here.)

On Sunday, EVG contributor Stacie Joy documented the group's holiday food preparation ... as East Village Loves NYC has assembled more than 70,000 meals on the year...

This team of East Village volunteers formed in April (as Stacie documented in the links below). Early on, Ali Sahin, the owner of C&B Cafe on Seventh Street near Avenue B, donated his space on Mondays for the group to cook its meals ... while there, they were able to prepare up to 800 meals and 100 family-size pantry packs.

By June, they had outgrown the space, and started assembling deliveries at the Sixth Street Community Center. By the end of the summer, East Village Loves Queens expanded its operations and announced its new name — East Village Loves NYC. 

Find out more about the group and how to donate at this link. Follow them on Instagram here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• These East Village residents are helping feed families in Queens during the COVID-19 crisis

• East Village volunteers expand their outreach to feed more neighbors in need

• East Village Loves Queens expands: Meet East Village Loves NYC