Monday, June 20, 2022

At the Zine Fair on St. Mark's Place

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Hundreds of zine enthusiasts turned out on Saturday for the second-annual Zine Fair on St Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community teamed up once again for the event that featured more than 70 independent publishers, zine makers and artists. (There were also several collaborative events at community gardens throughout the neighborhood.)
EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos of some of the buyers and sellers ...

Why is the SE corner of 2nd Avenue and 5th Street a dumping ground for artificial Christmas trees?

Photo by Derek Berg 

An important question! And one that we don't have the answer to at the moment. 

For starters, this pile, now slightly less organized, appears to be the same batch of artificial Christmas trees that Carol from East 5th Street spotted back on Friday. 

This is on the curb (bike lane) outside the new location of Nai Tapas Bar at 84 Second Ave. and Sushi by M at 500 E. Fifth St. 

Why did someone have 10 or so fake trees in their possession? Why not simply put them in storage until it's time to decorate for Christmas this coming July 4 weekend?

EVG Etc.: Ridership surge swamps Citi Bike; Velazquez endorses Rivera

Photo on 1st Avenue by Derek Berg

• The latest on the Open Restaurants Program, with comments from East Village restaurant owners (The City

• Labor shortage keeps Veselka from being open 24/7 (Insider

• At Zaragoza Deli & Grocery on Avenue A: "An East Village home for Mexican family recipes" (CBS New York

• Police look for hit-and-run scooter rider who struck 2 year old on Suffolk and East Houston (1010 WINS

• Ada Calhoun reflects on her East Village childhood (The Post ... previously on EVG

• Ridership surge swamps Citi Bike (Streetsblog

• Early voting underway (Gothamist

• Rep. Nydia Velazquez endorses Carlina Rivera in crowded NY-10 primary battle (Daily News via AOL

• Hanging with the red-tailed hawk fledglings in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography

• Lawsuit: Russian oligarch throws NYC developments into disarray, including 238-240 E. Third St. (The Post

• A profile of Mia Yoo, artistic director of La MaMa Experimental Theater Club (The New York Times

• Suspect in LES subway attack arrested in Baltimore on rape charge (The Post)

• Man starts fire inside Eldridge Street spa, injuring two people (CBS New York

• More about Loisida, the new LES-based clothing brand via Carson Lovett and cumgirl8's Veronika Vilim (Paper ... previously on EVG

• A Chinatown dining guide (Eater

• The Egg Rolls, Egg Creams & Empanadas Festival is coming back for its 21st edition (Thrillist)

Report: Concern over the potential sale of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

Last week the Post reported on the ongoing rumors about the sale of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at 218 Second Ave. and 13th Street. 

"Worried doctors and staff members" told the paper's Steve Cuozzo that the circa-1902 building "might be sold and demolished for a new building." 

The building, part of Mount Sinai Health System (and the location of a Marlon Brando scene from "The Godfather"), "is at the center of a three-way drama involving medical care, historic preservation and a potential real-estate windfall." 

Per the Post
In the interest of "streamlining" and reducing costs, Mount Sinai is gradually moving surgery, clinical, ambulatory and other departments to locations it has around Manhattan — a claim which Sinai did not dispute. Some doctors said the stealthy process will ruin the "synergy" of having all the functions in one spot and diminish patient care. 
And... 
They fear that Mount Sinai will eventually empty the old building and an adjacent one built in the 1960s at 310 E. 14th St. to clear the way for a lucrative sale to a developer. One doctor who didn't want to be named said, "Mount Sinai is going to close this building and make whatever they can on it." 
Earlier this spring, Village Preservation launched a campaign to request landmarking for the building. 

According to the Post, a new building could have up to 210,000 square feet of floor area. Real-estate sources told the paper that the land could fetch in the neighborhood of $70 million.

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Sunday's parting shot

Photo by Peter Brownscombe 

An outdoor procession via St. Stanislaus for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (aka Corpus Christi) today on Avenue A ...

50 years of 'Deep Throat'

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Slipper Room, the performance arts theater at 167 Orchard St., hosted a 50th-anniversary screening of "Deep Throat" — the first adult film to secure a mainstream theatrical release — on June 12. 

The premiere of the 4K digital version included a cocktail party, go-go dancers, film screenings, a Q&A session and a 1970s-themed burlesque show. (You can read about the film's complicated legacy here. Or here.)

Gerard Damiano Jr. (photo above) and Christar Damiano (middle below), the children of "Deep Throat"'s writer and director Gerard Sr., were at the premiere... as was EVG contributor Stacie Joy...
"The Deep Throat at 50" tour continues throughout 2022.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with watercolors in the rain Thursday morning)... 

• East Village Loves NYC issues a fundraising appeal to help continue feeding New Yorkers in need (Monday

• Proposed plans now call for a 24-story residential building on 14th Street and Avenue C (Tuesday

• Essex Card Shop getting closer to reopening on Avenue A (Tuesday

• Remembering Maximiliano Contreras at the Parkside Lounge (Friday) ... Remembering Jose Fernandez (Monday

• 'Alien' nation: East Village duo the Acute release debut full-length record (Wednesday

• Office building for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place moving forward after developer secures $70-million loan (Monday

• City once again closes the area around the chess tables in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday

• At the book party for Ada Calhoun's 'Also a Poet' (Friday)

• 'Summer in the City' with East Village writer Jennie Willink (Saturday

• Suki Japanese Kitchen expands in East Village relocation (Thursday

• Checking in on the Bowery Mural Wall 'on pause' (Thursday

• Proletariat opens in new 7th Street home (Friday

• The all-new 360 Bowery is in the piledriving and jackhammering phase (Monday

• Coming soon: Ando Patisserie on 10th Street; Unique Omakase on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• Desert Rose Café has apparently closed on 9th Street (Wednesday) ... Report: Raclette has closed on 12th Street (Monday

• Openings: Fries Factory on 14th Street (Wednesday)

• Team behind Ichibantei eyeing 100 3rd Ave. (Monday

• Sales underway at the 'bespoke' La Botanica on 6th Street (Thursday

And several readers noted a passed-out Santa yesterday morning outside the KFC on Second Avenue and 14th Street... he was apparently OK and sleeping off something...
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Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

A Juneteenth Celebration with live music on Astor Place this afternoon

Joe's Pub at the Public is hosting a Juneteenth Celebration this afternoon on Astor Place. 

Here's the free outdoor concert lineup: 
Top photo via the Juneteenth LP website

Sunday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Yesterday, Shahrzad Ghadjar celebrated the first anniversary of her shop, Spooksvilla + Friends, at 309 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Check our Q&A with her from April at this link.) 

Her father was on hand for the occasion. 

And a Happy Father's Day to all fathers, dads, father figures, etc. 

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Saturday's parting shot

Sunset shot courtesy of @cecilscheib...

'Summer in the City' with East Village writer Jennie Willink

Photos by Stacie Joy

Longtime East Village resident Jennie Willink, pictured above with her "muse and canine inspiration," Cosmo, is now a first-time middle grade novelist. 

Her book, "The Peonies: Summer in the City" (with Alix Sloane) was released earlier this month by DiAngelo Publications.

"The book all takes place in and around the East Village and celebrates our neighborhood, friendship and community with honesty, humor and lots of dogs," she told us.
And the plot:
The novel follows the story of Poppy and Esme (aka The Peonies) two 11-year-old best friends who live in the same apartment building in New York City’s East Village where they share a lively, non-traditional "friend-family" and are practically inseparable. But on the last day of fifth grade, the girls’ parents drop a bomb: Esme and her family are moving to California. 
After the shock wears off, the tweens set out to earn enough money to purchase two very special, very expensive, matching friendship necklaces. They start a dog walking business, Peony's Prancing Pups, and the adventure begins.
And, importantly, she noted that a neighborhood blog, "East Village Update," plays a major role in the success of the young protagonists. 

Today (Saturday) from 6-8 p.m. marks the official launch at Boris & Horton, the dog cafe on Avenue A at 12th Street. On July 12, she's also doing an event at P&T Knitwear on Orchard Street.

A Summer Kick-Off Block Party on 4th Street today

Cooper Square MHA II is hosting a summer kick-off block party today from noon to 6 p.m. on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery. 

Via the EVG inbox... 
Join us for a fun-filled day with Cooper Square MHA II as we host our first summer block party! Food, raffles, resident flea market, magic show, face painting, a bouncy house and performances by DJ Tony Bonilla, Sonido Costeño (live salsa), Rod Rogers Dance, 4th St. freestyle battle and more!

It's Record Store Day, June edition (and record store appreciation day always)

Today (Saturday, June 18!) is part 2 of Record Store Day 2022... the pandemic and vinyl supply-chain issues caused some titles to be pushed back from their original release date. 

So here we are. There are new titles out today. Not sure how each of our local shops might be celebrating the day. Limited to One at 221 E. 10th St. will have some crate-digging opps with a handful of rare and out-of-print vinyl as well as some ticket giveaways "and who knows what else." (!!!) The shop opens at 11 a.m.

Here's a list of EV record stores...
439 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue 

415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

32 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery 

221 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue 

220 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue 

218 E. Fifth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square

Friday, June 17, 2022

June 17

OK! So they are artificial... why discard them now when you need to put them up again in early August? 

Second Avenue at Fifth Street today by Carol from East 5th Street...

Broadcast news

 

Broadcast, the English pop-psych band, recently released The Maida Vale Sessions, a rarities collection "charting the band from their first year together to near-international recognition as their sound continued mutating." 

Sadly, lead singer Trish Keenan died from pneumonia in 2011 at age 42. 

The video here is for one of my favorite songs, "Come On Let's Go" from 2000.

At the book party for Ada Calhoun's 'Also a Poet'

Photos by Stacie Joy 
Above: Ada Calhoun with her father Peter Schjeldahl

On Tuesday night, East Village native Ada Calhoun celebrated the release of her latest memoir, "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me." 

The festivities occurred in the garden at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue. Calhoun grew up two-plus blocks from here on St. Mark's Place with her father, New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl, and mother, actress Brooke Alderson (seen below with longtime neighbor Phillip Giambri).
The book's premise sounds pretty straightforward: In the basement of her parent's apartment building on St. Mark's Place, Calhoun came across some old cassette tapes of interviews her father had conducted for his never-completed biography of poet Frank O'Hara.

So Calhoun, whose credits include "St. Marks Is Dead," decided to finish the book her father started 40 years earlier.

The result, as Alexandra Jacobs put it in a review at the Times this week:
"Also a Poet" began as Calhoun's attempt to finish what her dazzling, absent-minded father couldn't: "to do something noble and to win." But it turned into something much less dutiful, and more interesting, a story about both the impossibility of reconstructing another person's life and the importance of trying — and an investigation of the strained, complicated relationship between a creative father and daughter.
You can read more about the project in this feature in the Times.

Back at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, there was a short program, MC'd by Calhoun's husband, Neal Medlyn (aka Champagne Jerry).
Singer-songwriter Lindsay Ellyn, who became friends with Calhoun after discovering "St. Marks Is Dead," played a song on her acoustic guitar. Schjeldahl read the last poem that he wrote. Actress Lili Taylor recited Frank O'Hara's "To the Harbormaster." 

Calhoun then read an excerpt from the book, about the time her father, on his wife's encouragement, decided to buy something for his daughter. He returned from the Strand with two books, one by W. H. Auden and the other a copy of "Lunch Poems" by Frank O'Hara. She was 9 at the time.

Here's a look at some attendees who came out for the "Also a Poet" celebration... 
... and Calhoun with her son Oliver and her father...
On July 17, Calhoun will be appearing at the Jefferson Market Library on Sixth Avenue (the library reopens on July 14 after a $10-million renovation). Find details here.

Remembering Maximiliano Contreras at the Parkside Lounge

Photo by Stacie Joy 

There's a memorial at the Parkside Lounge in honor of Maximiliano Contreras, a bartender here who died in a fall at the Delancey-Essex station early Sunday morning. Contreras was 24. 

Parkside ownership said they are gutted by the loss. In an Instagram post, they described Contreras this way: "He was such a bright light, kind person and utterly unique." 

At the bar on Wednesday, staff and patrons shared remembrances, including how funny Contreras was with snappy lines, how he handled patrons at the bar (a friend to everyone) and how universally adored he was. 

Contreras, who lived in Ridgewood, was born in Mexico, where his family remains. His friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help his family pay for funeral expenses. 

According to published reports, Contreras died after hitting his head in a fall onto the J train tracks at 1:45 a.m. Sunday. Police believe he may have been drunk and lost his balance. 

"There are very few people I look forward to knowing the rest of my life, and he was one of them," his longtime friend Angus Baigrie told the Daily News. "He was incredibly funny. Just a gorgeous human being who had this hilariously acidic tongue that was rarely unkind."

Proletariat opens today in new 7th Street home

Proletariat opens today in its new home at 21 E. Seventh St.

As we first reported in April, the craft beer bar was relocating here between Second Avenue and Cooper Square from 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The larger Proletariat space will feature "a huge staple of rarely-seen beers in cans, large format bottles, and via a rotating tap selection from some of the most boutique breweries and brewers around the world." 

There will also be a menu of plant-based English pub fare via Chef Ben Dawson. 

You can follow @proletariatny on Instagram for updates. Opening hours: 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

No. 21 was previously Porsena.

Image via Proletariat

A solar pavilion fundraiser at La Plaza Cultural on Sunday

La Plaza Cultural is hosting a fundraiser on Sunday for its proposed solar pavilion here in the community garden on the SW corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C. 

The festivities include a performance by Claudi and Marc from Pinc Louds... there's also a variety of food, drinks, etc., from 3-9 p.m. There's a $10 donation for entry. 

As for what the fundraiser is about: 
We are raising money to install solar panels to power the garden and take us off-grid. The pavilion will also serve as a four-season classroom offering workshops for the community.

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Checking in on the Bowery Mural Wall 'on pause'

Here's a look at the Bowery Mural Wall at Houston this evening.

As previously noted, people have been tagging the motorcycle mural by David Flores, the last commissioned art for the space. At one point it was completely covered.

This prompted Jessica Goldman Srebnick, co-chair of Goldman Properties and curator of this wall, to issue a statement on Instagram in late May:
The creative process is an utter joy to watch. Filling a fire extinguisher with paint and spraying to destroy a work of art is not talent. It is sad and not only ruins the opportunity for countless artists, it ruins the opportunity for a neighborhood to live with glorious world-class art. The Houston Bowery wall could be just another advertising wall, but we’d prefer it to be a powerful beacon of the best of a movement.

For now, we don’t wish to wipe away what’s been done, we are simply taking a break...

Also on the wall now: A wheatpaste of Goldman Srebnick holding a fire extinguisher, courtesy of @DeGruppo...