Here's how you can contribute to the East Village Community Cookbook

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

During the pandemic, three East Village residents became friends while spending time with their pups at the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run. 

The men (from left above), Will Kroeze, pastor at Trinity Lower East Side, Dan Hyatt, a middle school teacher, and Will Horowitz, a chef and author who co-founded Ducks Eatery and Harry & Ida's Meat and Supply Co., bonded over a mutual interest in the intersection of food, spirituality, and community. 

They have put the conversations into action, creating an old-school cookbook that will benefit Trinity Lower East Side Services and Food for the Homeless (SAFH) and community fridge on Ninth Street and Avenue B.

This past week they started casting a wide net requesting recipes and are interested in everything from favorite family dishes that your grandparents created to unique ways to prepare favorite meals.

To date, they've already secured commitments from C&B Café, Katz's, Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Russ & Daughters, SMØR, Superiority Burger, Veselka and Zaragoza's ... as well as Hearth Chef Marco Canora, Susan Sarandon, and the owner of SOS Chefs on Avenue B. 

"Nothing can build a community like food. Whether it’s showing love by preparing our favorite recipes, sharing a meal with friends and strangers alike, or serving our neighbors in need, food has an unparalleled ability to bring people together,"  Pastor Will said. "Our hope is that our cookbook will weave together the many food stories of our neighborhood in a way that’s never been done before to create a symbol of what makes the Lower East Side such a very special place: our rich diversity."

The self-published book will be available in time for the end-of-year holiday season...

They're accepting submissions until Sept. 15 via email. You can also follow @eastvillage_cookbook on Instagram.

Energy bikes at ABC No Rio today

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Time's Up! will continue to provide free bike-powered assistance on Friday, Day 4 of power outage, from noon - 6pm on the Lower East Side

WHAT: Time's Up! will be setting up their energy bikes to continue offering downtown residents, left without power now for 4 days, a place to charge their cell phones and laptops. Food will also be offered by ABC No Rio Community Center.

WHEN: Friday, November 2, 2012, from noon - 6:00pm.

WHERE: In front of ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street, between Clinton & Suffolk in the Lower East side.

NEW YORK, NY (November 2, 2012) -- On Friday, November 2nd, Time's Up! will be setting up their energy bikes to continue offering downtown residents a free place to charge their cell phones and laptops, in front of ABC No Rio Community Center from noon - 6pm. Volunteers pedal the Time's Up! Energy Bikes to produce electricity that directly powers the charging stations. The energy bikes have been assisting New Yorkers without power since the first full day of the blackout.

The Time's Up! Energy Bike, that was previously used to power Zuccotti Park for Occupy Wall Street, was on display at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) in the East Village.

"The tidal surge flooded the basement of the MoRUS museum, but we were able to use the energy bike that was on display to power the water pump and drain out the basement," said Keegan Stephan, one of the designers of the Time's Up! Energy Bike.

"Time's Up! wanted to do our part to help our neighbors in need with the resources we have available, bicycles and eager cyclists ready to pedal all day to juice up cell phones so people without power can stay connected. Two energy bikes were set up outside on Avenue C for East Village residents affected by the storm. Today, Nov 2nd, we will head over to pedal on the Lower East Side," said Time's Up! volunteer Barbara Ross.

From C-Squat this week...

Deleted Craigslist ad of the day: "This location is similar to east village, lots of artists and musicians and city people that are willing to spend!"

Spotted on Craigslist. Unfortunately, the ad has been removed...But not before ....

lucrative resteraunt on orchard st lower east side w/ achol license!! (Lower East Side) $7000

this restaurant is about 2100sq ft and has everything that you need to start making money on this busy high foot traffic location of lower east side!! 5 mins walk to the F, J, M, Z trains on Essex station 1 stop into williamsburg brooklyn. back yard seatings are available!! fryer, hood, prep are (in basement), built in fridge and ice machines ready and usable!!. there is definitely money to be made in this restaurant and absolutely great location!! This location is similar to east village, lots of artists and musicians and city people that are willing to spend! Wine and Beer License 100% transferable to new owner!!!! please note that no alcohol licenses are given out in this area anymore, so just the alcohol license alone is worth a lot of money!! and it is included in key money $15,000. You have to see it to believe it!! Lease is negotiable, asking rent is 7000/month. Everything is negotiable!

Feel free to guess the location.

Meanwhile! Holiday lights on Orchard Street...from last November.

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez apparently leaving Avenue B

[Google]

EVG reader c ryan passes along this photo ... on the door of Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez's longtime office on the southeast corner of Avenue B and 11th Street...

We haven't heard just yet if she'll maintain an office on the Lower East Side... Her newly drawn Seventh Congressional District includes the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth, Ridgewood and Woodside, the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Greenpoint, Red Hook, East New York, Brooklyn Heights, Sunset Park and Williamsburg and part of the Lower East Side and East Village.

Per the comments, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney now represents this area in the reconfigured 12th Congressional District...

Anyway, as for the space ... the Lower East Side People's Mutual Housing Association owns the building. And rumor is GOLES will expand into this space?

Residents at 37 Avenue B are still looking for their 'fair share' of the rent from Credit Union

On Tuesday, two banners arrived on the upper floors of 37 Avenue B at East Third Street... the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union (LESPFCU) is the retail tenant ...

The hand-painted sign on B reads "Save Our Home/Salva nuestros hogar" ...



... while the banner on East Third Street reads "LESPFCU do the right thing, save our home" ...


[Reader-submitted photo]

This is a continuation of an effort that the residents of the 37 Avenue B HDFC started last June.

HDFC board members released a statement reiterating their version of the situation.

The residents of 37 Avenue B HDFC are calling on the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union to pay their fair share or move out. Their building is broke because the Lower East Side Peoples Federal Credit Union, which occupies the 5,000 square foot commercial space rewrote their own lease in 1996 to skip paying future mortgage payments, and real estate tax increases.

They saved $350,000 due under the original lease and the HDFC building is FLAT BROKE

We have to borrow money to pay the real estate taxes or lose the building. The building needs at least $400,000 in necessary capital improvements but there is no money even for basic repairs.

According to the board members, the Credit Union has refused to accept responsibility for the situation. The Credit Union pays $3,478 a month for 5,000 square feet. The HDFC says the market rate is $15,000 per month.

Credit Union officials have yet to comment on the situation at 37 Avenue B.

H/T Stacie Joy!

Previously on EV Grieve:
At 37 Avenue B, residents want their Credit Union retail tenant to pay more rent

Reports: 20-year-old East Village man dies in stabbing on the Lower East Side

Two men stabbed, one fatally, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side https://t.co/HnEwCOIeoW

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) January 19, 2025

Two young men were stabbed on a Lower East Side street last night, leaving one dead, according to police sources and media accounts. 

A 20-year-old man was reportedly stabbed on Norfolk Street between Delancey and Broome around 8:30 p.m. Another man, 19, was found with multiple stab wounds two blocks away on Delancey and Clinton.

 

EMTs took both men to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.

The 20-year-old, who the Daily News and police sources identified as Amir Smith, died from his wounds. He lived in the East Village, police said. 

The other victim is in stable condition.

Two men "were handcuffed at the scene and taken into police custody for questioning," per amNY and the Post. 

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online. All calls are strictly confidential.

RIP Jimmy Webb

[Photo for EVG by Walter Wlodarczyk]

Word is circulating that Jimmy Webb, a familiar figure in the East Village during his long tenure as the manager and buyer at Trash & Vaudeville, has died of cancer. He was in his early 60s, friends say. (An official statement about his death has not yet been issued.)

Webb, once referred to as "punk rock's unofficial shopkeeper," counted everyone from Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry to Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns N' Roses as friends. Most recently, he owned and operated the rock 'n' roll boutique I Need More on Orchard Street.

Here's more on Webb's past via a New York Times feature from 2013:

“I’m from a hillbilly town upstate where they hunt deer,” he said. “We walked to the creek with Boone’s Farm a friend’s older sister bought us and listened to ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ on a transistor radio.”

Lou Reed’s 1972 ode to hustlers, transsexuals and transsexual hustlers would alter Mr. Webb’s life. “A friend asked, ‘Do you know what it means?’ ” he recalled. “I did without knowing it. I knew I was a boy that had to leave to go somewhere.”

At 16, he ran away to New York with a pillowcase full of clothes. It was 1975. “Coming into Trash and Vaudeville my first time, I knew I’d found a home and I wasn’t crazy,” he said.

At first, Mr. Webb worked as a bar-back in a gay establishment on the Upper West Side at the height of the neighborhood’s Needle Park infamy, attended hair school (he flunked grandiosely) and was a regular at CBGB. He fell into heroin addiction for 20 years and lived in Tompkins Square Park, eventually returning upstate.

“It got worse before it got better,” he said. “They thought I was going to die. After rebuilding my body and spirit, I wanted to go back to the city I loved.”

He started working at his dream destination, Trash & Vaudeville, in 1999, and remained there until the shop relocated from St. Mark's Place to Seventh Street in 2016.


[Photo from 2013 by James Maher]

There are many tributes to Webb on Instagram. A sampling:

View this post on Instagram

Bye Jimmy. Rest In Peace. Play some Iggy & Debbie LOUD tonight for Jimmy. This shot from February 2020, The Last Party at @ixneedxmore. Hold that Smile in your heart. 📷 GODLIS.

A post shared by Godlis (@godlis) on Apr 14, 2020 at 4:11pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

R.I.P. Jimmy Webb, one of the kindest, coolest, most creative & positive people I’ve ever known. Man, you will be so deeply missed. Love you so much...🏴‍☠️🌹🖤

A post shared by Jim Jarmusch (@jim.jarmusch) on Apr 14, 2020 at 2:52pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Rest in rock peace Jimmy. From the last day of Trash and Vaudeville on Saint Marks place 2016 and at I Need More last February with Danny and Iggy 💔

A post shared by 🅒🅗🅡🅘🅢 🅢🅣🅔🅘🅝 (@christein) on Apr 14, 2020 at 2:54pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

🌹🌹🌹Jimmy Webb. Everyone loved him. I value the time I had with him.

A post shared by Cynthia Sley (@sleycynthia) on Apr 14, 2020 at 3:07pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Roberta Bayley (@bayley1950) on Apr 14, 2020 at 2:19pm PDT

Webb eventually opened I Need More in October 2017.

In an interview with EVG prior to the launch, he talked about why he decided to open his shop on the Lower East Side.

I didn’t pick the Lower East Side, or any special place for I Need More. I was very open to where the rock 'n' roll angels were leading me when I finally decided to open a store ... Loving all of New York City I was very open to anywhere in Manhattan. My heart and spirit is in ALL of New York City.

Of course the Lower East Side is a HUGE part of my life since I ran away and arrived in the city in 1975. So I wasn’t the least bit surprised when that second batch of angels ended up leading me right to 75 Orchard Street — 75A in fact! How cool is that? I take that leap of faith and run away to New York City in 1975 as a 16-year-old boy. Decades later another leap of faith leaving everything I know and ending up at 75A Orchard Street.

In late February, the shop hosted a “Footprints in February” celebration, in which Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop put their handprints, footprints and autographs in concrete on the floor of I Need More.

His exuberant, all-cap writing style on Instagram posts captured his love of rock 'n' roll and the people who are part of it ...

View this post on Instagram

THE BEGINNING OF A PERFECTLY GORGEOUS NIGHT ! WHEN THE DOOR OPENED AND IGGY AND DEBBIE CAME IN ... TO A ROOM FULL OF LOVE & SHARED THIER LOVE WITH EACH OTHER & ALL OF US !!! .. OF COURSE CHRIS & NINA WERE THERE TOO !!! THE 7th PHOTO SHOWS YOU HOW TRULY HAPPY I AM !!! ... FEEL THE LOVE !!! TOMORROW’S POST IS GONNA BE PHOTO’S OF THE GUEST’S (Well Some Of Them) I CALL “AND THEN THE SAINT’S CAME MARCHING IN” !!! #FootprintsInFebruary #Begins #HistoryInTheMaking #IggyPop #DebbieHarry #ChrisStein #Nina !!! ... YES ! “WE ALL HAD A REAL COOL TIME” ... #IxNeedxMore #WeLiveRockNRoll ALL 7 PHOTO’S BY: CARL TIMPONE/BFA #thankyoucarl

A post shared by I NEED MORE (@ixneedxmore) on Feb 25, 2020 at 12:45pm PST

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jimmy Webb will make dreams come true with new rock 'n' roll boutique I Need More

Temporary Restraining Order remains in effect at East River Park; first look at new green space

A few updates on what has (and has not) been happening at East River Park with the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR)...

• A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), dating to Nov. 4, remains in effect at Project Area 1 in East River Park ... the TRO brought the construction/demolition to a halt. Work started on Nov. 1 below Houston Street at the Brian Watkins Tennis Center. (Read more about East River Action's TRO here.) 

• A nonprofit sued the city for allegedly not including enough minority- and women-owned businesses in the construction contract for the ESCR. Media coverage includes NY1 ... the Post ... and The Village Sun. 

 • A third lawsuit (dating to the spring) was brought against the city by The Tully Group, a large contractor that issued one of the two bids for the ESCR. 

IPC Resiliency Partners, a newly formed joint venture, was the winning bidder.

Per NY1:

In a hearing [Nov. 12] before a panel of appellate judges, Jeffrey Cohen, a lawyer for Tully, argued that IPC effectively fudged its bid in order to meet a city requirement that the contractor have grossed at least $1 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year. 

"What we are concerned about almost as importantly as the flooding, almost as important as the ravages of climate change, is the integrity of the bids," Cohen told the judges.

More background here. 

• The DA on Friday declined to prosecute East Village residents Alice O'Malley and Allie Ryan, who were arrested on Nov. 1 for blocking the construction entrance to the tennis courts when preliminary construction got underway.

Per East River Park Action in an email: "They were in and out of court in 10 minutes when their desk appearance tickets were dropped."

• And here's a look at the former Compost Yard ... the city started removing this in mid-October when we took this photo (first reported here) ... 

Despite the TRO, work was allowed to continue here ... as the staging ground of the Lower East Side Ecology Center's composting operation was converted into green space to make up for some of the lost park access during construction/demolition over the next four years... here's a look at the area on Saturday...

And for some background... East River Park Action and other advocates say there are alternatives to preserve the park and provide flood protection, such as the one mapped out in the years after Sandy. In late 2018, the city surprised community stakeholders by announcing a complete overhaul of a plan discussed over four years of local meetings.

Opponents of this version of the reconstruction project stress that there's a better path forward to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise — one that doesn't cause 1,000 mature trees to be chopped down.

A look at the 'Heroines of the Lower East Side'

Been meaning to check out the completed work on Centre-fuge Cycle 13, the rotating outdoor gallery/construction trailer here along East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

All the art this time is by Lexi Bella … for a collection titled "Heroines of the Lower East Side" … as part of the first Lower East Side History Month.

Aside from the more recognizable portraits of Debbie Harry and Rosario Dawson … Bella honors the Russ Daughters (of Russ & Daughters fame) …



LaMama founder Ellen Stewart …



Educator Catherine Ferguson, who founded the first Sunday school in New York City …



Hell-cat Maggie, "who fought alongside the Dead Rabbits and other Five Pointers against rival nativist gangs from the Bowery" …



… Lexi also paid tribute to her daughter Roxy, as BoweryBoogie pointed out…



Find more info about Centre-fuge here.

Mr. Peanut and his Nutmobile to christen new peanut-shaped city park today

From the EV Grieve inbox...

*** UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL OCTOBER 3rd ***

MEDIA ALERT

Mr. Peanut to Open Planters Grove Urban Park in New York City!

WHAT: First look at a vibrant, unique urban park – the Planters Grove - as it opens to the public on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on the grounds of the New York City Housing Authority’s Lillian Wald Houses community.

WHO: Mr. Peanut and his new biodiesel Nutmobile
Margarita Lopez, Commissioner of New York City Housing Authority
Scott Marcus, Senior Brand Manager for Planters
Sally Prouty, CEO/President of The Corps Network
Lisbeth Shepherd, CEO of New York’s Green City Force
Ken Smith, Landscape Architect

WHEN: Monday, October 3

9:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Short remarks: 10:00AM
Community planting to immediately follow

WHERE: Lillian Wald Houses, Avenue D between East 4th and 5th Streets (near Houston St.)

WHY: Planters, America’s leading snack nut brand, and the iconic Mr. Peanut will commemorate the opening of a new green urban park – a Planters Grove – at the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) Lillian Wald Houses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Residents of NYCHA will be joined by local officials, NYCHA representatives, community volunteers and youth service corps members for a day of planting and celebration.

With the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainable living, Kraft Foods’ Planters brand has partnered with The Corps Network – the nation’s Service and Conservation Corps – to transform underutilized land into unique, peanut-shaped parks across America. The building of Planters Groves and their ongoing programming encourages outdoor activity and community interaction, as well as provides the health, environmental, social and economic benefits that engaging green spaces provide a neighborhood and its residents.

In New York City, the Planters Grove is being built with the help of youth service corps members (also NYCHA residents) from Green City Force, an organization recently recognized by President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative for its outstanding contribution to enriching young lives. Designed by New York City landscape architect Ken Smith, the New York City Planters Grove is inspired with Lower East Side influences, as well as locally-sourced reclaimed materials and native plants and flowers.

An oral history of the Lower East Side

Filmmaker/video editor Paul Dougherty shoots John J. McCroary's recollections of growing up on the Lower East Side while looking at the book "Life on the Lower East Side: Photographs by Rebecca Lepkoff, 1937-1950." Dougherty, a native New Yorker and East Village resident, tells us more about McCroary on his YouTube post.



I have posted other video works from Paul here.

Quote of the day: "Beer pong is not the Lower East Side"

From a DNAinfo article by Patrick Hedlund on the proliferation of bars in areas other than Avenue A:

Just south of Avenue A, Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side counts 19 bars/restaurants on the three-block stretch between Houston and Delancey streets.

While many of these places have arrived without incident, a decidedly déclassé bar featuring drinking games doesn’t necessarily fit with everyone’s idea of a neighborhood pub.

“A frat bar is not representative of this once-bohemian neighborhood,” said Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer, a longtime East Villager who counts the proliferation of bars as one of the board’s most pressing issues.

“Beer pong is not the Lower East Side.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
Of the 147 storefronts on Avenue A, 70 of them are bars, restaurants or vacant

Photo by EV Grieve

Get your Load on again today

From the EVG inbox...

Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) hosts its eighth Load OUT! — a twice yearly "riot" of repurposing and recycling activities today. FABnyc will gather gently used materials from arts organizations and other donors throughout the East Village/Lower East Side for this one-of-a-kind extravaganza, taking place at 11 E. 3rd St. (between Second Avenue and the Bowery) from 12-3 PM.

Load OUT! is specially designed to showcase creative thinking about sustainability and the arts. Artists and art students are welcome to take home any costumes, props, and furniture they need for their artistic endeavors, free of charge. Community members and non-artists can also attend Load OUT! for a small entrance fee of $5, and take away any amount of materials free of charge. Everything remaining will be repurposed or recycled responsibly by GrowNYC, Wearable Collections, Lower East Side Ecology Center, and United War Veterans Recycling. Any unrecyclable items will be properly disposed of by the NYC Department of Sanitation.

Load OUT! also features clothing, textile, and e-waste community collections - open and free for everyone from 12-3PM. Lower East Side Ecology Center will collect e-waste, and GrowNYC will collect clothing and textiles. A list of accepted donations is available here.

Helping publish 'Time and Space on the Lower East Side'

Lower East Side-based photographer Brian Rose is wrapping up his Kickstarter campaign to raise money to publish "Time and Space on the Lower East Side."

Golden Section Publishing, a small company run by photographer Bill Diodato, is publishing the book, which has more than 100 photos split between 1980 and 2010. (Such as the two 1980 shots above, and the before and after below.) Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega wrote the book's introduction. (Rose and Vega have a long history together involving music and photography.)

The book should be available in the first part of 2012. You can find out more about about the Kickstarter campaign here. We first wrote about the project in July 2010. You can find that post here.

An East Fifth Street before and after from the book...

Taqueria St. Mark's set to open Thursday

The former Taqueria Lower East Side is ready to start life anew as Taqueria St. Mark's at 79 St. Mark's Place just west of First Avenue.

Taqueria Lower East Side had to find a new home after developer Ben Shaoul bought up the corner of Orchard and East Houston for a new luxury development. BoweryBoogie reported that the 4-year-old Taqueria closed at 198 Orchard St. after business on Sunday.

Here's more on them via Fork in the Road: "Taqueria, an offshoot of a Jersey City restaurant, amassed a stable of neighborhood regulars during its run here, thanks to its cheap fare, solid margaritas, and excellent tacos. For our money, it makes some of the best carnitas in town."

Fork in the Road said that you can expect "the same line-up of tacos, tortas, and platters plus margaritas and Mexican beer" on St. Mark's Place.

With this opening, will the neighborhood finally have enough taco/taqueria options?

After the Typhoon Lounge closed at 79 St. Mark's Place in May 2012, the space has been home to the quick succession of Saints Tavern and Kamikaze & Co.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Taqueria Lower East Side relocating to St. Mark's Place

EVG Etc.: Lower East Side Film Festival underway; new Essex Street Market concerns

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

City Council Member Carlina Rivera reportedly doesn't want 24/7 bus lanes on 14th Street during the L train shutdown (Streetsblog)

The Lower East Side Film Festival continues through Wednesday (Official site)

Details on Sunday’s Puerto Rican Day Parade (Curbed)

Report outlines concerns that longtime residents have about the new Essex Street Market (The Lo-Down)

The first comprehensive NYC retrospective of the work of filmmaker Betzy Bromberg (Anthology Film Archives)

Patti Astor revives Fun Gallery in Hermosa Beach, Calif. (The Beach Reporter)

Service on the new Lower East Side ferry route, including at Stuyvesant Cove, is on schedule to begin at the end of the summer (Town & Village)

When kids listen to Swans (uh, the band) (Dangerous Minds)

More IHOP-IHOb theories (The Post ... previously)

A quest to correct a mistake about the London Calling album cover, shot at the Palladium on East 14th Street (Flaming Pablum)

Caffe Vivaldi is closing after 32 years in the West Village (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Meryl Meisler's Lower East Side of the 1970s and 1980s

[On the Bowery in 1977]

NYC-based photographer Meryl Meisler's work will be on display starting tomorrow in an exhibit coinciding with Lower East Side History Month.

"LES YES!" showcases some of Meisler's photography taken on the Lower East Side during the 1970s and 1980s.

The opening reception is tomorrow night from 6-9 at the Storefront Project, 70 Orchard St. between Broome and Grand. The exhibit is up through June 3. Find more details here.

Meisler was born in the South Bronx and raised in North Massapequa, Long Island. After college in Wisconsin, she returned to NYC in 1975. Here's part of a recent feature on Meisler in the Times:

"I felt like I belonged," she said. "I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, even though I had a teaching degree. Maybe because the city itself was out of joint. I had just come out as a lesbian, but I felt like I belonged here. I felt safe.”

She eventually spent 31 years as a NYC public school art teacher.

Here's a sampling of the LES photos that will be on display...




[On East Houston]


[At the Henry Street Settlement]


[At Famous Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse]

In a recent interview with Bedford + Bowery, she said that she still sees some of the old LES here despite all the changes. "It’s busy and alive and yet, there are still people on the street that are true New Yorkers. New York is always changing, but I still see the essence of it there."

All photos by Meryl Meisler ... and courtesy of The Storefront Project & Stephen Kasher Gallery. Reprinted with permission.