Your chance to see two films on the gentrification in East Harlem and on the Lower East Side

From the EV Grieve inbox...includes an offer for you

Tuesday, October 5, 6:30 PM

In Danger of Extinction: Gentrification in East Harlem and on the Lower East Side

Residents of these two diverse, vibrant neighborhoods have long dealt with the pressures of gentrification and have struggled for affordability. Their story is told in two recent documentaries. Join the filmmakers for a screening and discussion of "The Lower East Side: An Endangered Place" by Robert Weber and "Whose Barrio?" by Ed Morales and Laura Rivera, with opening remarks by The Honorable Melissa Mark-Viverito, New York City Council, District 8.

Co-sponsored by the office of the New York City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito and East Harlem Preservation. This program is presented as part of the ongoing series The Urban Forum: New York Neighborhoods, Preservation and Development

Reservations required: 917-492-3395 or programs@mcny.org

$6 Museum members; $8 seniors and students; $12 non-members

$6 when you mention E.V. Grieve

Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street

And a trailer for you.... (we had an item on the film in June 2009)



And the ticket price is double if you yell Woo!

Mayor's new East River Park flood plan faces City Council scrutiny

On Jan. 23, City Council is holding a hearing with de Blasio administration officials about the updated East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. (Find the agenda item at this link.)

As you know, the Mayor's office announced a new vision for the long-delayed revamp to stormproof East River Park back in the fall. The updated plan is radically different than what had been discussed, and its expected cost will increase from $760 million to $1.45 billion, while closing and gutting the current East River Park for up to three and a half years. (The city's new design renderings are at this link.)

City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, whose district is most impacted by the new plans, announced the joint hearing of the City Council’s Committees on Parks and Environmental Protection yesterday.

Here's part of her statement:

"This hearing will finally give the Council and our community the chance to hear directly from the Mayor’s team and relevant agency commissioners regarding the recent changes to this monumental coastal protection project. Even with multiple community briefings and meetings with elected officials, we still do not have important details about this project, and I expect the Mayor’s team to come well prepared and help us understand the need for these drastic changes.

This new plan represents a fundamental departure from anything the City has previously discussed and would reportedly bring the projected cost of the project to $1.45 billion. The Mayor’s Office has failed to provide detailed analyses for explaining why this $700 million increase is necessary.

In addition, this new plan would require the closure of East River Park, the only real green space for tens of thousands of NYCHA residents and community members on the Lower East Side, for three years. Officials have not explained in any way how they will provide alternate outdoor space for this community, which has one of the highest asthma rates in the city.

We want a resilient city, and we will use this hearing to ensure that this project and others like it throughout the city can actually accomplish our progressive environmental goals."

The previous stormproofing as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Plan would have required closing a lane of the FDR and working around Con Edison power lines. However, city officials have said that building out the flood protection and reconstructing the park would eliminate these FDR traffic issues as well as speed up the construction process by one hurricane season.

In addition, the most recent version of the plan would transform the East River Park into a "world-class park" with a variety of courts for tennis and basketball and (fields for soccer) — all protected from storms and sea-level rise.

Meanwhile, tomorrow night, CB3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee will hear updates on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. The committee meeting starts at 6:30. Location: BRC Senior Services Center, 30 Delancey St. between Chrystie and Forsyth.


[Proposed schedule via the city. Click to go big.]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: The reality of storm-proofing East River Park in 2020

Storm center: Questions linger over updated plans for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Philip Van Aver
Occupation: Artist
Location: 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden
Time: 3 pm on Saturday, May 2

I first came to this neighborhood in 1966. I’m originally from Bellingham, Washington. I had been living in West Hollywood and I had an opportunity to come to New York for the summer in 1966 and I ended up staying.

I started coming to this neighborhood regularly, I think it was about 1968, and there was a bar called the Old Reliable. It was located on 3rd Street between B and C and it had plays in the back. It wasn’t strictly speaking a gay bar but a lot of gay people went there. I started going there and I met a lot of great people. Eventually one of my friends decided that he wanted to go to San Francisco and so he said, ‘Would you like to take over my apartment and keep my belongings for me?’ So that’s how I moved to East 6th Street. I moved in there February of 1969 and I’ve been living there ever since.

I was 29 years old and I was kind of ready to settle down. At the time, I was working at an art gallery where the IBM building now is on 57th Street. I wanted to live in a neighborhood, which wasn’t going to, as they say now, gentrify any time soon.

I started doing freelance illustration around 1970. I’ve had jobs and employment and freelance work, but I have been active as an artist in New York for many years. I do small works on paper. I work in a consistent style that’s hard for me to describe but it’s something that has sustained me all these years.

And I’ve been lucky to have a rent-regulated apartment. Those of us who stayed in our apartments were fortunate to make that decision. It could have been the wrong decision. Many of my friends going back to the 1970s and those who are still alive were able to sustain themselves and either have a small business or to be the artist because they had this stable housing situation. Rent-regulation is generally bashed by people but it is a good program. It’s a kind of a partnership with the tenant, the landlord and the city. All three of these entities have to work together to sustain this program.

What happened to this neighborhood, very, very suddenly in the early 1970s, was that it started to deteriorate. Places like the Old Reliable closed. This happened almost like somebody had flipped off a switch. There was a suddenness about it, but I stayed on. There were a lot of people leaving New York then. Most of my college friends left in the 1970s and went back to California.

I became politically active in the 1970s. There was a sense in the 1970s that nobody was really paying much attention positively to this part of the Lower East Side. I tend to avoid the term East Village. I’m the last of the dinosaurs. In 1975, it was the Abraham Beame administration and the New York Public Library wanted to close 18 branch libraries throughout the system. One of the ones they wanted to close was on 2nd Avenue, the Ottendorfer Library.

That was the beginning of it for me, because I signed a sheet – ‘Would you be willing to volunteer?’ I think I worked with them for seven years and we formed something called the Interbranch Library Association. We had meetings downtown with Deputy Mayor Zuccotti. Our neighborhood was politically savvy. The people whom I met, they weren’t like established leftists or anything like that; they didn’t have party affiliations, but they knew how to get things done.

I also worked with other groups like the Third Avenue Tenants Association, which was opposed to the zoning on 3rd Avenue. I eventually became a member of the executive committee of an organization called the Lower East Side Joint Planning Council, which was an umbrella organization for 36 independent groups. I was involved in the Friends of Tompkins Square Park, which succeeded in defeating the plan to create a policeable park in that area. So in addition to my personal life and my professional life, I was very involved in these activities.

I have been very lucky to have lived on the Lower East Side — the friendships, the atmosphere. I had a chance to be politically active, which probably wouldn’t haven’t happened if I had lived somewhere else, considering my politics and my point of view. I always found myself in sympathy with somebody. This neighborhood, as far as I’m concerned, there has been quite a lot of continuity. Of course people die, people move away, but I still have friends that go back to the 1970s. This neighborhood has a history of progressive politics and what that means, changes.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

EVG Etc.: NYPD searching for suspects in series of violent muggings on LES

🚨WANTED🚨for a Robbery Pattern #Manhanttan within the months of August and September 💰Reward up to $2500👓Seen them? Know who they are?☎️Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!📞Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! #yourcityyourcall pic.twitter.com/IQRGxg3Bgr

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) September 17, 2019

• Cops looking for four suspects in connection with a string of violent robberies on the Lower East Side, with one occurring on Third Street and First Avenue (ABC-7)

• Mystery buyer purchases controversial Rivington House for $160 million (The Real Deal ... previously on EVG)

• Men wanted for theft at Still House, the jewelry store at 309 E. Ninth St. (Town & Village)

• CB3 committee OKs plans for a mixed-use development with inclusionary housing on the site of a fire-gutted Lower East Side synagogue (Curbed)

• The city plans to install a self-filtering pool in the East River on the Lower East Side (Patch)

• One more weekend to take in the 93rd Annual Feast of San Gennaro (The Lo-Down)

• The classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" in 35mm at the Village East on Sept. 23 (Official site)

Report: "the tide seems to be turning for young galleries of the East Village and Lower East Side"

Bloomberg News had this report the other day:

Wandering around Manhattan’s scruffy Lower East Side galleries, I kept hearing three words rarely uttered in the more polished Chelsea district these days: Everything is sold.

The global financial crisis punctured the art bubble last year, drying up cash and driving up caution. Now the tide seems to be turning for young galleries of the East Village and Lower East Side.

“It’s like the Dow,” said art dealer Simon Preston, who runs a gallery on Broome Street. “When it goes down, people are looking for new markets.”

The 'Parts Unknown' series finale, featuring the East Village and Lower East Side, airs tonight

[Photo of Kembra Pfahler and Anthony Bourdain via Instagram]

As you might know, CNN is airing the series finale of "Parts Unknown" tonight at 9.

The episode, which arrives five months (and three days) after host Anthony Bourdain's death, is set in the East Village and Lower East Side ... and features Harley Flanagan, Lydia Lunch, Richard Hell, Fab Five Freddy, Amos Poe, Jim Jarmusch, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and John Lurie, among many others.

Along the way, Bourdain, a former LES resident, visits old haunts including Ray’s Candy Store, Veselka, John’s of 12th Street, Max Fish (where they're screening the episode tonight) and Emilio’s Ballato.

Here's a mini trailer...

Some of the biggest names in music, film & art came out of one New York neighborhood. Tony returns to the Lower East Side on the final episode of #PartsUnknown, Sunday at 9p ET on @CNN pic.twitter.com/Ea7FHaOU62

— CNN Original Series (@CNNOriginals) November 8, 2018

And for more on what to expect, here's a preview via Eater:

In the episode, a recurring question Bourdain has for his interview subjects regards the romanticization of a time and a place that, in many ways, was dangerous and bad. Was it all really better then than it is now, with clean streets, Target stores, Whole Foods supermarkets, and fancy restaurants filling the blocks? For Flanagan, it was a “horror story,” but he misses it. Lydia Lunch, who fronted bands and starred in independent films, doesn’t look back with nostalgia and instead lives in the present: “I still have shit to do,” she tells Bourdain over a white-tablecloth meal.

And via Rosie Spinks at Quartzy:

Of course, like the prior episodes in this final season — which, with the exception of the season premiere in Kenya, are devoid of Bourdain’s narration, which he he had not finished at the time of his death — the episode feels haunted by its star’s absence. The voice that told you what was what, who was who, and why you should care is replaced by frenetically-styled transitions, and on-screen text introducing the next interviewee or luminary. The absence of Bourdain’s voice as an anchor feels like a loss throughout, and the disorientation it brings feels like delayed reaction to his death — a reminder that the world we live in is one that Bourdain chose to leave.

In a review of the episode, Verne Gay at the Chicago Tribune sums it up this way: "In one final whoosh, Bourdain is framed in an episode of pure, unadulterated post-punk joy."

Michael Steed, the director, told Eater: "People are going to feel a lot from this particular episode. I just hope people feel something."

-----

CNN has released several interviews with people featured in the episode, including Lunch (access here) and Lurie (access here).

And if you feel like a post-show egg cream and conversation ... then you can head over to Ray's Candy Store...

View this post on Instagram

Join us at @RaysCandyStore Sunday night @ 10PM following the airing of the final episode of @AnthonyBourdain’s @PartsUnknownCNN for a celebration of travel, food, and friendship. The show airs at 9PM on CNN. Swing by after. Nothing fancy. Ray will be cooking up the classics. Come say hello, enjoy some of Ray's simple pleasures, and raise an egg cream. Click the link in our bio to visit our Facebook Page and view the event details. 📸: Photo via @LauraLeeFlanagan #️⃣ #rayscandystore #eastvillage #alphabetcity #avenuea #nyc #realnyc #smallbiz #ourmanray #everythingmadewithlove #anthonybourdain #partsunknown #eggcream

A post shared by Ray's Candy Store (@rayscandystore) on Nov 9, 2018 at 12:31pm PST

A fundraising raffle to help Lower East Side families this Thanksgiving

The second-annual Thanksgiving Fundraiser Raffle is underway... a partnership among Loisaida Inc., the East Village Merchants Association (EVIMA) and Cooper Square Committee. 

Organizers say their goal is to raise $4,000 for Thanksgiving food for Lower East Side-based families.

Via the EVG inbox: 

The funds raised from this online event will go directly toward purchasing Thanksgiving food for the Loisaida Inc. Center's annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, which will take place this year on Nov. 21. During last year's fundraiser, we raised $1,541. We were able to provide 500 turkeys to members in need in our community. 

This year, with food costs rising, we want to give even more and have a goal of $4,000! Nov. 1 through Nov. 15, raffle tickets starting from $1-$20 will be on sale. You can purchase tickets to win any of the 40-plus prizes, which total nearly $5,000 in value! Raffle prizes include items and gift cards from local small businesses in the Lower East Side/East Village. 

You can buy raffle tickets or make a donation here. You can also find a list of the raffle prizes at this link.

New East Houston condos 'effortlessly embody the sophistication of Lower East Side living'

Some seven months after the "condos coming soon" banner was unveiled at 265 E. Houston St., developer Central Construction Management has put a few of the condoplex units on the market. (H/T Curbed and BuzzBuzzHome!)



There are three two-bedroom, two-bathroom units available, ranging from $2.45 million to $2.55 million. (There are seven units total in this 10-floor building.)

Here's the pitch, via Streeteasy:

Ideally located in Lower East Side Manhattan, this spectacular collection of apartments are finished to the highest standard with exquisite Italian Carrara marble and white oak flooring throughout. Private keyed elevators lead directly into each residence, where refined design, spacious floor plans, and a modern neutral color palette perfectly meld minimalist style with contemporary luxury.

With oversized windows, sleek living areas, private outdoor spaces, and expansive common roof top terraces boasting dramatic views of the city, these stylish homes effortlessly embody the sophistication of Lower East Side living.

A tranquil escape from the city, the elegant master bathrooms offer a peaceful space to luxuriate. Smooth Carrara marble walls and floors are complemented by pure white Robern cabinetry, bespoke recessed medicine cabinets, and jet black rainshowers with attached shower heads. The ergonomic double-sinks and marble-enclosed Kohler tubs are fitted with black faucets crafted by local manufacturers Watermark Designs. Secondary baths are finished with glossy white Nemo tile and Restoration Hardware cabinetry.

The corner was home to the Iglesia Pentecostal Arca de Salvacion (below). In 2008, developer 265 East Houston LLC purchased the plot for $500,000, public records show.


[Via]

Work at 265 E. Houston St. (aka 179 Suffolk St.) dates to early 2010. As you may recall, construction in the pit conveniently destabilized the building next door at No. 255, which caused Action for Progress to vacate.

Speaking of next door... Not much construction action here just yet...



Developer Samy Mahfar, the property's owner, has approved plans for a 10-story residential complex that will look like...



But for now...

A call for a SantaCon Free Zone on the LES

Now that SantaCon is apparently a free agent, one block association is doing its best to ensure that the annual pub crawl/sign of the apocalypse won't be welcome on the Lower East Side.

According to an article by Lisha Arino at DNAinfo, the L.E.S. Dwellers wrote letters asking bar owners in Hell Square to decline from participating in SantaCon. (The group also sent out the SantaCon Free Zone flyers.)

The group is worried that since Bushwick is out of the picture, the SantaConners will be calling on the East Village/LES this Dec. 13.

But! Per the article:

SantaCon organizers responded Monday afternoon that the event would not be held in Community Board 3 area, which includes the East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown, according to board chairwoman Gigi Li and Assemblyman Sheldon Silver.

"I am glad that the organizers of Santacon have listened to the legitimate concerns of our local residents and have agreed not to hold their event on the Lower East Side," Silver said in a statement. "I expect them to honor that commitment."

The fall of Lenin: Iconic statue removed from Red Square on East Houston Street

Back in August, the Post reported that Red Square, the 13-floor building, was in contract to be sold to Dermot Co. for roughly $100 million.

There's nothing yet in public records to reflect the sale of the building on East Houston Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Meanwhile, a tipster told us that the 18-foot statue of Vladimir Lenin, which has stood atop the building since 1994 (Red Square was built five years earlier), was coming down last night... EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by for the Lenin removal, which took more then two-plus hours...



















And a view from the roof ...


[Photo via @ElizabethQBrown]

One now-former Red Square resident said that the building's management isn't renewing leases past April. Another tipster claimed that Michael Rosen, the building's original developer, had purchased the statue, which was being transported to Queens.

The building was completed in 1989. And the statue?

Per Ephemeral New York:

“The 18-foot Lenin statue was originally a state-commissioned work by Yuri Gerasimov, but the Soviet Union’s implosion prevented the statue from going on public display. It was found by an associate of [a building co-owner] in the backyard of a dacha outside Moscow.”

[Photo by Lower East Side Lenin Fan]


[Photo by Lower East Side Lenin Fan]

In 1997, Michael Shaoul, a co-owner of the building, told the Times that the statue of Lenin, with his right arm raised victoriously, "faces Wall Street, capitalism's emblem, and the Lower East Side, 'the home of the socialist movement.'"

Updated 9/21

Looks as if Lenin will live on nearby ... on Norfolk Street, per BoweryBoogie.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Red Square has been sold

Report: Red Square has been sold for $100 million

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

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