East Village businesses reopen their doors for curbside pickup

[Gizmo, 1st Avenue]

As part of NYC's entry into Phase 1 last Monday, retail outlets are OK'd for limited operations — mainly curbside pickup of purchases.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy walked around the neighborhood and shared a sampling of the East Village businesses open (with social distancing and other safety protocols in place)...


[Casey Rubber Stamps, 11th Street]


[Azaleas, 2nd Avenue]


[Meg, 9th Street]


[Love Thy Beast, 5th Street]


[Exit9, Avenue A]


[Lancelotti, Avenue A]


[Jane's Exchange, 3rd Street]


[SneakEZ, 9th Street]


[White Trash, 5th Street]


[an.mé, 9th Street]


[Alphabets, Avenue A]

More prep work for incoming St. Mark's Place office building

With Phase 1 underway and non-essential construction sites firing up again, there's activity to note on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

You may have noticed that workers have now blocked the sidewalk with a second level of plywood in front of where the 10-floor boutique office building will rise ...







However, as you can see through the blogger portal on the plywood, there's nothing going on inside the lot (yet).



And it has remained this way during the COVID-19 crisis.


[A rendering of 3 St. Mark's Place]

Where we left off on March 5: Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera had joined the chorus of opposition to the air-rights transfer for the new building. Rivera, who holds the key vote when the proposal comes before City Council, had previously expressed concerns about the project, but hadn't gone as far as officially opposing it.

During the City Planning Commission hearing on March 4, Rivera submitted joint testimony with Assemblymember Deborah Glick and State Sen. Brad Hoylman.

The City Planning Commission will cast their vote at a later date as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. They are expected to approve the plan to transfer air rights from the landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place to the new development across the street at 3 St. Mark's Place. In issues such as this, City Council usually follows the lead of the local Councilmember.

With the air-rights transfer, developer Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) would be allowed to build 8,386 square feet larger than the current zoning allows.

Regardless of an extra 8,000 square feet, the construction will eventually continue. As Gothamist reported in early March, the project's architect, Morris Adjmi, emphasized a building of a similar height size could be built as-of-right.

REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties here for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The corner lot is owned by the Gabay family.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• New building plans revealed for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• Concern over potential air-rights transfer for new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue

Tech hub nears halfway mark

Here's another in our periodic looks at the high-profile Zero Irving (aka tech hub) on 14th Street at Irving Place.

Construction here was deemed essential, and work restarting on the site in early May.

According to the 14th @ Irving Construction e-newsletter out this past Friday, work is up to the 10th level of what will be a 21-floor building.

And if you want some super specifics:

The project’s superstructure contractor will complete wall systems cycle for forms on Level 9 (supporting level 10), strip forms on deck below, install rebar in wall forms and close walls starting from East to West. It is anticipated that the East walls will be poured on Wednesday 6/17 and West on Thursday 6/18.

And!

The project’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection contractors continue work on site to install sleeves and layout embeds and all other materials being placed into the deck. Stairs and fire standpipes will continue to jump with the building progress, staying (2) floors behind working deck. Plumbing Rough-in work is ongoing on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Fuel oil and storm risers will be installed up through 8th floor. Water risers and duct risers are expected to be up to the 5th floor by 6/26.

The building, developed jointly by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and RAL Development Services, will feature 14 floors of market-rate office space as well as "a technology training center and incubator, co-working spaces, state-of-the-art event space, and street level food hall on the seven floors beneath," per the Zero Irving announcement issued last October.



The new building sits on the former site of a P.C. Richard & Son.

Previously on EV Grieve:
P.C. Richard is gone on 14th Street; preservationists want answers about tech-hub commitments

That new store in town

[Top two photos by Derek Berg]

And that new smoke shop that opened in early April at 18 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue has signage in place now...



Say hi to Home Town Village Convenience Store...



... and just a few doors away from another town — Funky Town...

Week in Grieview

[13th Street]

Posts from this past week included...

• RIP David Gonzales (Thursday)

• 2 new East Village murals honor George Floyd (Monday)

• Checking in on Mikey Likes It (Friday)

• An East Village community raffle for Black Lives Matter (Wednesday)

• Scenes from peaceful protests in Union Square (Sunday)

• Perspectives on feeding the homeless in the neighborhood (Monday)

• An appreciation: East Village Books (Tuesday)

• The 1st Avenue fruit vendor returns (Monday)

• Reopenings: Il Posto Accanto (Tuesday)

• Ben's Deli returns, and there's a new pop-up taco shop inside (Thursday)

• The L-train stop on 1st Avenue officially has all 4 entrances open (Thursday)

• Khyber Pass closes on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

• Exquisite Cleaners is closing (Tuesday)

• Twilight's last gleaming: One last electric version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' on 7th Street (Wednesday)

• Violet won't be reopening on 5th Street (Wednesday)

• Your Desire in Food now open on 4th and B (Wednesday)

• Wilson and Gator are missing from La Plaza Cultural (Friday)

• St. Mark's Place seems a little more St. Mark's Place-like with the return of the sidewalk vendors (Wednesday)

• This week's NY See panel (Thursday)

• Villa Cemita is closing on Avenue A (Friday)

• Happy returns: Trash cans are back on East Village sidewalks (Thursday)

• Forsythia temporarily sets up on 7th Street (Tuesday)

...and some more baby hawk watching in Tompkins Square Park... this photo comes from peter radley after the juvenile chased off a nosy squirrel...

Out in the Streets

In case you haven't seen this mural outside the Second Avenue F stop. For Pride Month, the wall features the work of Brooklyn-based photographer-documentarian the Dusty Rebel... who incorporated his photos here "to celebrate the queer community and our long history of using the street for performance and protest."

As he wrote on Instagram:

As went through my archive, I got excited to create something that celebrates historic moments I felt honored to capture: The Drag March, kiss-ins, Gays Against Guns, Queer Liberation March, The Dyke March. As I pasted these photos of queer icons, mentors, activists, and friends, I felt you all with me out in the streets.

Say their names

These posters are up around the neighborhood now... illustrations of black men and women who died at the hands of police across the country in recent years...



... some of the posters include more information about the victims...



... and some have QR codes to petitions to either bring charges to those involved or reopen the cases...




Top two photos by Steven

Winging it with the young hawks in Tompkins Square Park

Amelia and Christo's red-tailed hawk fledglings remain quite active (and playful!) in Tompkins Square Park.

Steven took the photos last evening, as all three were spotted together on the lawn near the Park office...





... trying to figure out how everything works...













... and eventually two of them found a good fence to take in the Park activity...



Head over to Goggla's site here for more photos and narratives of the hawklets.

Meanwhile, we are now officially out of the Sensitivity in Advertising phase

Now is the time for your friendship to end

From 1984 and still quite relevant today: The Special AKA (aka The Specials) with "Racist Friend."

EVG Etc.: Violent-arrest victim sues city; Union Square Hospitality overhauls diversity program

[Photo on the Bowery and 1st Street by Derek Berg]

• "New York leaders faced an unanticipated crisis as the new coronavirus overwhelmed the nation’s largest city. Their response was marred by missed warning signs and policies that many health-care workers say put residents at greater risk and led to unnecessary deaths." (The Wall Street Journal, subscription may be required)

• One of the residents involved in the violent police arrest on Avenue D is suing the city (Daily News)

• The city will paint “Black Lives Matter” in bold lettering on a street in every borough (Curbed)

• Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality is overhauling its diversity program following staff complaints (Eater)

• An explainer on the city's coronavirus eviction moratorium (Curbed)

• Voters' guide for the 2020 Primary (City Limits)

• City playgrounds still on lockdown (The City)

• The East Village is home to several boutique pilates studios that offer 1-1 sessions. With that in mind, there's a petition in circulation to allow these studios to reopen in Phase 2 instead of Phase 3. Find the petition here.

• There's also a petition to reopen NYC dog runs in Phase 2. Find the petition here.

• City's indie movie houses prepping to reopen later next month (Gothamist)

• And indie bookstores are trying with curbside service (B&B)

• Honoring New York City Pharmacy on First Avenue, whose founder, Ali Yasin, passed away in early May (Off the Grid)

• NYC offers COVID-19 sex advice (Boing Boing)

• More about Terra Thai, which recently opened on Sixth Street (Eater ... previously on EVG)

• A pee-pun-filled expose on the alleged uptick in public urination in the city, including the East Village (The Post)

... and a cottage industry arises in the plywood era of recent weeks...

Checking in on Mikey Likes It

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Mikey Likes It recently reopened at 199 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street after the COVID-19 PAUSE.

I stopped by to talk with owner Mikey Cole about his 6-year-old ice cream shop and love for the community.





"The time we're in is heavy," Mikey tells me, "and racial matters are on our minds. This isn't a one-day change. In racial situations, food is color-blind. If ice cream can be the medium to let tensions down, let it be. Let it be a slice of heaven in chaos."

Between serving customers, he talks about his experiences growing up in Stuy Town.

"The East Village is a mecca, a melting pot of different cultures, different ethnic groups," he says. "My parents are from Sierra Leone in Africa and my momma cooked dinners different from my neighbors. I learned about their cultures from visiting their homes after school, for example, tasting my friend’s parents Indian-food Thanksgiving dinner. And they learned about mine."

In pursuit of food experiences, Mikey went vegan for one month prior to creating his vegan ice cream so he could learn more about the process and experience a plant-based lifestyle for himself. This led to the Eat To Heal flavor, a vegan blueberry-hibiscus treat with pineapple and cayenne pepper swirl.

Mikey is also partnering with Kolkata Chai Company on Third Street for a vanilla chai with caramel swirl ice cream served, similar to an affogato, where the scoop floats in the hot spiced chai. Mikey Likes It has worked with other local shops, including Whitmans on Ninth Street for a bacon-vanilla-caramel bacon burger.

Mikey’s current favorite flavor is Southern Hospitality (a butter pecan with praline and pieces of pecan pie), which he says is like his store’s policy of offering wholesome family love.



The shop is currently offering deliveries, and pick-up pints and merch with online ordering only, plus a free scoop with every order. Mikey tells me that he shows his customers appreciation with the free treat, so people can eat their scoop on the way home and the ice cream makes it back to their freezers.



You can keep up with Mikey’s changing flavors and hours of operation on Instagram.