Monday, February 7, 2022
'Law & Order' creates a new tent city for Tompkins Square Park
Photos by Steven
As previously mentioned, crews for "Law & Order" will be filming along Avenue A and in and around Tompkins Square Park tomorrow.
Ahead of that, a handful of tents were erected along the Park's Seventh Street entrance between Avenue A and Avenue B ...
The long-running show seems to be keeping with the "ripped from the headlines" approach to the plot... late last summer, a dozen makeshift tent encampments arrived in this same general vicinity... a Department of Homeless Services-led entourage, featuring the Department of Sanitation, the Parks Enforcement Patrol and the NYPD, conducted a "clean-up" in and along Tompkins Square Park in early November.
Several unhoused people are still sleeping in tents in portions of the Park... not too far away from where the filming will take place... 
And this isn't the first time a film crew has recreated a tent city in Tompkins.
East Village artist Tom Manco opens a gallery-studio on Avenue B
Inside, you'll find custom artwork and hand-painted sneakers, among other items...
In December, he had a "Sneakers and Swag" art show in the space.
The hours are a little varied — especially this week, where a work commitment will keep him away... he expects to be in the gallery for several hours after 4 p.m. For the week of Feb. 14, he hopes to be there daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
You can follow him on Instagram for updates... as well as details on some upcoming Thursday-evening art openings.
Last year, Manco unveiled several upcycled cardboard creations in Tompkins Square Park.
Images via @mancostudio
Farewell to Dress Shoppe II
The storefront was cleared out last week... with the signage coming down on Friday. (H/T Lola Sáenz.)
Hopefully, Cooper Square will find something just as unique to fill the storefront ... (we're good on smoke/vape shops!) ...
As previously reported, the Indian clothing boutique closed on Jan. 30 ... wrapping up a challenging few years for owner Saroj Goya, who did her best to keep the shop going after her husband of 50 years, Purushottam Goyal, died in September 2019.
There were some well-reported financial challenges, and thanks to the efforts of Humans of New York and New York Nico, there was an outpouring of support to help Saroj make arrangements on the back rent and to take care of herself as she underwent treatment for breast cancer. (In the previous post, you can read more about the closing and the financial arrangements with the landlord, the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association II.)
The business dates to 1978, first starting on Broadway, per this 2016 feature in The New York Times.
Here are a few photos of the warm, colorful shop from a previous visit by EVG contributor Stacie Joy...
Eileen Fisher has apparently closed on 9th Street
Updated Feb. 17: The closure is now official.
According to an outgoing message on the shop's phone, this is a temporary closure for "building maintenance." (One local said it was related to a mold issue.) Rumors were circulating late last week that this shop has closed for good. This location is not listed on the Eileen Fisher website, and Google notes it as permanently closed.
This was Fisher's first location, opening in 1987 (per this New Yorker feature on her from 2013). Her brand grew to 50-plus shops around the country and sales in various department stores.
Manhattan Sideways wrote this about the Ninth Street outpost: "[I]t is not even owned by the larger corporation behind the other shops, but rather by Eileen Fisher herself. Sample garments are sold here – some that never made it into production. Many of the pieces found here are different from what is in the rest of the line each season."
Thanks to Steven for the photo
For rent signs for the empty storefronts on the SW corner of 14th and 3rd
You can't help but speculate about the future of this high-profile corner with single-story structures — seemingly ripe for development. (As mentioned before: Not sure what kind of air rights there might be with the newer 21-floor 110 Third Ave. on one side and NYU's 17-floor Palladium Hall on the other.)
Anyway, for now, there are low-key for-rent signs on both retail spaces...
And yes — BRING BACK DISCO DONUT.
A Dream Lounge for 13th Street
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Sunday's parting shot
'Law & Order' makes triumphant return to East Village streets
Expect to see part of the East Village in the upcoming season. The L&O crew will be setting up for a shoot on Tuesday along Avenue A and various side streets between 10th and Third, per the posted signage. (And vehicles need to be moved tomorrow by 3. Photo below by Steven.)
This 21st season will once again feature Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy ... new cast members include Odelya Halevi as ADA Samantha Maroun, Jeffrey Donovan as Det. Frank Cosgrove and Hugh Dancy as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price.
The Emmy-winning series originally ran for 20 seasons on NBC, from 1990 to 2010, with 456 episodes, spawning 36 four spinoffs and a movie. The franchise has been a regular presence on EV streets during its run.
And for some nostalgia, here's the intro to the "Law & Order" pilot episode from 1990...
Week in Grieview
• RIP Hanne 'H7L' Lauridsen (Friday)
• Thayer is opening a bookstore and cafe at 99 Avenue B (Monday)
• A new I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Wednesday)
• Notorious East Village landlord Raphael Toledano faces 5-year real-estate ban (Tuesday)
• Brindle Room is making an East Village return this spring in new 11th Street home (Wednesday)
• A reminder to keep Two Bridge's Diner in your dining plans (Tuesday)
• Reader report: USA Super Stores (U-S-A!) coming to the former Duane Reade on 3rd Avenue and 10th Street (Thursday)
• A look at the B Bar & Grill demolition on the Bowery (Thursday)
• Gallery Watch: 'Falling Through Flatland' by Chris Hood at Lyles & King (Tuesday)
• Astor Place Wegmans watch, automatic sliding doors edition (Tuesday)
• The Bronx Brewery East Village opens (Friday)
• As the bank branches turn on 2nd Avenue (Thursday)
• Local photographer opens door of former Tut at 189 E. 3rd St. (Wednesday)
• Now Yoga moving to online-only classes next month (Wednesday)
• Openings: A trio of quick-serve vegan options (Monday)
• Enchantments is ready to cast a spell in new home on Avenue B (Tuesday)
• Pizza Girls coming soon to Avenue B (Monday)
The city's mobile units offering COVID-19 vaccines today on Avenue A
No appointments necessary ... and no lines this morning...
Thanks to Steven for the photos.
Sunday's opening Instagram post
A scene from early 1994 on Houston Street looking west toward Avenue B ... post/photo by Gregoire Alessandrini. (We've featured his images in the past, like here.)
Saturday, February 5, 2022
44 Union Square to be filled with pet sounds
Per published reports (Commercial Observer and The Real Deal), Petco has signed a lease for a 3-story space, taking 30,000 of the 73,000-square-foot landmarked building. The animal and pet supply chain will be relocating from 860 Broadway on the other side of Union Square.
The previous retail tenants, a magazine shop and Frank's Wines & Liquors, closed in 2016...
The 17th Street side housed two cultural institutions, the New York Film Academy and the Union Square Theater.
As Jeremiah Moss wrote in 2016 about the building's upcoming renovation: "What sort of businesses do you think will replace these small businesses and cultural institutions? Well, almost every single thing around Union Square Park is a national shopping mall chain. ... Those that aren't, like Blue Water Grill, tend to be upscale."
Now we know.
And address history, per Wikipedia: "The neo-Georgian structure was erected in 1928–1929 and designed by architects Thompson, Holmes & Converse and Charles B. Meyers for the Tammany Society political organization."
2016 pic by J. Moss
ICYMI: That oddly configured Walgreens is closing on Union Square
As posted on Jan. 24, the Walgreens on the SE corner of 14th Street and Fourth Avenue is closing on Feb. 17, per the window signage.
Walgreens customers can then go to other Walgreens, Duane Reades or Duane Reade by Walgreens locations, including the outpost at 1 Union Square. (For the sake of journalisming, we walked from the soon-to-close Walgreens to the Duane Reade — 50 steps!)
This corner Walgreens was renovated and expanded into the space above the quick-serve restaurants on Fourth Avenue back in 2010...
What could possibly fit in this space now (?).
Saturday's opening shot
The sun makes a return today... the exclusive EVG forecast (via AccuWeather) calls for sunny to partly cloudy skies and much colder; breezy this afternoon with highs around 28°. Tonight's low is 17°, with the EVGRealFeel® of 12°
Friday, February 4, 2022
Teenage fanclub
Catching up to this Pom Pom Squad release from late December 2021... in which the NYC band shared this cover and frame-by-frame video reproduction of Nada Surf's "Popular" from 1996.
Also, Bandcamp Fridays are back ... in which the music platform waives its revenue share for the day.
East Village weekend ski report
Thanks to Goggla for the pic!
RIP Hanne 'H7L' Lauridsen.
Photos by Stacie Joy from 2014
Longtime East Village-based multimedia artist Hanne Lauridsen died Sunday at age 84.
A friend said that the Danish-born Lauridsen, also known as Hanne H7L, "peacefully passed away in her home on East 11th Street, cared for by loving neighbors and surrounded by her art." (A cause of death was not revealed.)
Even if you didn't know Lauridsen, you likely saw one of her art cars parked on the street...
... or cross-country skiing in one of her leopard outfits whenever there was a snow cover on the streets. (She was immortalized in The New York Times one snowy day outside Tompkins Square Park here.)
This bio outlines her expansive career that saw her exhibit in galleries in the United States and Europe.
We'll update this post if there's information about a celebration of her life.
The Bronx Brewery East Village debuts tomorrow (Saturday!)
Top photo by Jason Greenspan
The Bronx Brewery East Village opens tomorrow at 64 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street. (First announced in March 2020.)
A rep for this outpost of the Bronx Brewery, which opened in 2011, shared this info about the multi-level EV location:
Aside from the 14 beers on tap, the Bronx Brewery East Village will also feature the first U.S. location for the Swedish brand Bastard Burgers. (The food will be available for delivery a few weeks after the launch.) You can find the BB menu here.
[T]he space’s focal point is the pilot brewery system, a fully-functional brewery in the center of the seating area that will be used to expand their popular Y-Series ... limited-release, often experimental beers brewed in collaboration with creatives ranging from activists and musicians to artists and entrepreneurs.
The series will continue to provide a platform to celebrate and spotlight the community, contribute to charitable organizations and support the diversity of the city. Past Y-Series collaborations have benefited organizations like SapnaNYC (serving low-income immigrant South Asian women), the Humane Society, community gardens and Callen-Lorde (providing healthcare services for the LGBTQ community). The Y-Series beer roster for the new location is currently being developed and will prioritize local East Village/LES talent, including local artist ClockWork Cros and Mikey Likes It.And!
The space features corrugated steel accents and exposed i-beams, a nod to the industrial setting of the original Bronx location ... A concrete-topped bar with perforated metal sheeting anchors the front taproom area, with neon lights in the design of the NYC subway map overhead.
The back seating area is on a catwalk overlooking the pilot brewery system; guests can watch beer being brewed in real time as they eat and drink, taking in the sounds and smells of the brewhouse and cellar hop additions.
The Brewery's hours of operation: 5-11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays with a midnight close on Fridays; noon to midnight on Saturdays and noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays. Find more info on this location at this link.
No. 64's retail space has been vacant since NYC Velo moved next door to No. 66 in the spring of 2016.
Second interior pic by Charlie Bennet
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