Father Seán is leaving the East Village

Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy

After three years in the East Village, Father Seán Connolly is moving to a new parish.

During his time here, he served both St. Brigid-St. Emeric on Avenue B at Eighth Street and Most Holy Redeemer-Nativity on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

"These parishes have become a true spiritual family, and I am proud of what we have accomplished together in both uniting and growing these two communities," he wrote in a recent church bulletin. "Yet, the needs of the Church extend beyond the limits of our neighborhood, and our archbishop, Cardinal Dolan, along with his priest personnel board, must look for new and creative ways to meet the needs of the faithful with fewer priests able to serve."

He said that he has been tasked with a new mission to be the pastor at the Parish of St. Margaret of Cortona – St. Gabriel in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. Wednesday is his last day here.

Msgr. Kevin Nelan, the pastor of Immaculate Conception on 14th Street at First Avenue, will become the administrator of St. Brigid-St. Emeric and Most Holy Redeemer-Nativity, "taking on the responsibility of providing priests to serve the sacramental needs of these two parish communities."

I appreciated Father Seán's kind, thoughtful presence in the neighborhood. He did what he could to help cut through the city's endless maddening bureaucracy at the former St. Brigid School on Avenue B and Seventh Street, which NYC has been leasing from the Archdiocese of New York for incoming asylum seekers. 

In a most memorable adventure last fall, Father Seán took me on a tour of Most Holy Redeemer's 232-foot tower, up a steep spiral staircase to see the restoration work of the clocks.

Father Seán will be missed here.

In his letter in the church bulletin, he said the feeling is mutual.

"I wish to thank all of you for your kindness to me ... I will miss you."

A timeline for the reopening of the Tompkins Square basketball courts

Photos by Stuart Leung 

Here's a little more information about the Tompkins Square Park basketball courts, which have been closed since June 5. 

According to workers, in addition to painting the mural titled "Gaze" by Na Chainkua Reindorf, they are replacing the rims on the full court closest to 10th Street and replacing both backboards and rims on the interior full court. 

They are targeting completion on Monday, June 24, ahead of the last day for NYC public school students on June 26.

Sunday's parting shot

Another Father's Day in the books... photo from Exit9 on Avenue A...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a late-afternoon photo from Tompkins Square Park)... 

• Community Board 3 adds a special meeting on congestion pricing to June's agenda (Tuesday) 

• Take a look at the all-new Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge (Wednesday) 

• Nearly 3 years later, city is finishing the Avenue C bike lanes (Tuesday) 

• The ongoing efforts to shutter unlicensed weed shops (Monday)

• A summer movie series is returning to Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) 

• A taco test run at Carnitas Ramirez, opening June 21 in the East Village (Wednesday) 

• Reports of a passenger struck by a downtown 6 at Astor Place (Tuesday) 

• A new era for teen spirit at the Tompkins Square Library branch (Tuesday)

• That's all, folks: Tacos El Porky closes on Avenue A after 3-plus months (Monday) 

• The Marshal takes legal possession of Ace's on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Check out the new single by Hello Mary (Friday) 

• What might be next for this 2nd Avenue storefront? (Monday) 

• The juvenile red-tailed hawks are already huge and getting into staring contests with squirrels in Tompkins Square Park (Friday) 

• Openings: Cafe 2BY2 on 10th Street (Monday) 

• Extra Place may not be such a quiet place too much longer (Thursday)

Sunday's opening shots

Photos by Derek Berg 

As we mentioned on Friday, the young red-tailed hawks will be quite active in Tompkins Square Park in the weeks ahead as they learn do all things red-tailed hawk...

As Goggla shared: "Look out for them and be sure to give them space, especially if they come to the ground. They are just going about their business, exploring their new world."

Reminders: the East Village Zine Fair is TODAY on St. Mark's Place

Flyer by Heather Benjamin 

ICYMI: More than 120 DIY artists and publishers are participating in the fourth annual East Village Zine Fair TODAY (Saturday).

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community co-present the event, celebrating "the neighborhood’s history of underground print culture past and present."

The one-day outdoor fair takes place along St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (The street is closed to through traffic.) 

In addition, there's the East Village Zine Fair community garden programming at La Plaza Cultural on the SW corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street, where there's a full day of workshops and performances.

There's also a curated selection of garden-related zines from 8-Ball's Zine Library...

A grand opening pop up at Cakes by Klein on St. Mark's Place

Photos by Steven

Cakes by Klein is hosting a grand opening pop up today (Saturday!) at 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., owner-baker Hanna Klein will be offering a variety of her concoctions (chocolate chip espresso cookie sammies, for instance) and coffee...

As previously noted, Klein quit her job as director of packaging design at e.l.f. Cosmetics in 2021 to launch her own custom cakes and cookies business (moving up from more of a side hustle). 

She relocated here from a previous space down on Cherry Street.

You can follow Cakes by Klein on Instagram. 

Circus Amok before the downpour

Photos by Stacie Joy

Circus Amok got about 15 minutes into their summer 2024 production of "THE DOUBLE, or, The Wisdom of the Owl" last evening in Tompkins Square Park before the rain and wind swept through the metropolitan area. 

As the saying goes, the downtown theater was fun while it lasted...

Saturday's opening shot

Thanks to EVG reader Rob D. for this photo of last last night's post-rainstorm sunset... click on the image for a bigger view.

Friday's parting shot

Two nights of The Raveonettes at the Bowery Ballroom. 

The Danish duo will release a new record of revamped covers ("Venus in Furs" and "Goo Goo Much" among them) next month.

Zero hour

 

New music (and video!) this week from local trio Hello Mary ... "0%" has a punky fury reminiscent of another trio — Babes in Toyland. 

The clips come from the band's recent road dates, where they played with Blondshell, Rocket, the Silversun Pickups, and some festivals.

Hello Mary will be on tour for the summer, with a trip to the UK in late August.

Circus Amok in Tompkins Square Park this Friday evening

Circus Amok's summer tour brings its performers to Tompkins Square Park this evening for its production of "THE DOUBLE, or, The Wisdom of the Owl." 

Hopefully, the weather holds off so the show can go on... set to start at 6 p.m. in the center of the park.

St. Mark's Place fashion watch

The well-worn sleeveless hoodie with latex-coated string knit gloves as shoulder pads. 

Thanks to Jacob Ford for the photo between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The juvenile red-tailed hawks are already huge and getting into staring contests with squirrels in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven 

We're now entering prime juvenile red-tailed hawk season in Tompkins Square Park. 

Amelia and Christo's three 2024 offspring are in the student-driver phase of their lives as they learn to fly, navigate trees, hunt for food, and appreciate the live hardcore and death metal bands on the occasional weekends. 

Here, one of the fledglings takes in a neighbor's "freeze/observe/assess" routine...

Goggla has a new post today (link here) with photos and observations on the young hawks.

Friday's opening shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

A moment on the Bowery yesterday... if this was, say, 2009, we might even do a caption content (where the winner receives nothing!).

Training day

A scene today at Engine Company 28, Ladder 11 on Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... thanks to Patty Rat for the photo...

The 2024 East Village Zine Fair is Saturday on St. Mark's Place

Flyer by Heather Benjamin 

More than 120 DIY artists and publishers are participating in the fourth annual East Village Zine Fair on Saturday. 

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community co-present the event, which celebrates "the neighborhood’s history of underground print culture past and present."

The one-day outdoor fair takes place along St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (The street is closed to through traffic.) 

The weather for Saturday looks great. Last year's Zine Fair was rained out and rescheduled to indoors at Performance Space 122, 150 First Ave. and Ninth Street. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• At the Zine Fair on St. Mark's Place

A summer movie series is returning to Tompkins Square Park

A summer film series is set for Tompkins Square Park for the first time in eight years. 

Yesterday, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein announced that he has teamed up with the Loisaida Center, the Lower East Side Film Festival, Rooftop Films and Two Boots Pizza "to bring the joy of watching summer flicks under the stars back to our neighborhood." 

Here's more about the four-film series that will take place on the multi-purpose courts/TF at Avenue A and 10th Street: 

More than simply showing movies, this crew of community leaders organized for free pizza while supplies last, along with pre-show entertainment. Each event starts at 8 p.m., and films commence at sunset. 

On June 26, "Encanto" (rated PG) will be shown along with a pre-show clown workshop by Matthew Silver and MC Bryan Fernandez. Short films "Love Letters to the Subway" (2023) and "Drumtalk" (2022) will precede the main feature. 

The family-friendly fun continues on July 28 with a screening of "Little Fugitive" (rated G). The Coney Island Circus Sideshow will provide the audience with a pre-show performance. The shorts for the night will be "Practice Space" (2024) and the Grand St. Settlement Film. 

On Aug. 29, enjoy live music and an appearance by Natasha Lyonne as we watch her in "Slums of Beverly Hills" (rated R). Director Tamara Jenkins will curate the short films. 

For the grand finale on Sept. 25, moviegoers will enjoy "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (rated R). Nuyorican Poets Cafe will present poetry, and Eden Martinez and the Loisaida Center will curate shorts. 

"Movies in the Park is about more than just movies, it's a chance to showcase local talent through our short film features and to bring people together for a positive community experience," Epstein said in a statement. "I am proud to bring this tradition back to our neighborhood."

In recent years, Tompkins Square Park has occasionally hosted family-friendly films in the Under the Stars series via NYC Parks and Films on the Green by Villa Albertine, the French Embassy, and the FACE Foundation (though not this summer). 

The last summer-long series came in 2016 via Howl! Arts and several local restaurants. Unfortunately, many of the Thursday evening screenings were rained out and rescheduled or canceled.

Two Boots was a previous sponsor for several years.

Extra Place may not be such a quiet place too much longer

Over the years, Momofuku Ko has been the only restaurant to have any success in Extra Place, the pedestrian walkway off First Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue. 

Momofuku Ko closed last November, though the company kept the space as a ghost kitchen (and one of two ghost kitchens back here). The other tenant is the Japanese housewares boutique Nalata Nalata in the corner space at First Street. 

So, ICYMI: Last week, the Times reported that Paul Carmichael, Momofuku's Australia-based chef, will open a new restaurant in the former Ko space focusing on Caribbean cuisine

Ko, which started on First Avenue in 2008, relocated to Extra Place in November 2014 (it increased its EP footprint in 2017).

Over the years, Extra Place, the former alley behind CBGB, has seen a handful of restaurants and businesses come and go, such as Red Hook Lobster Pound, Heidi and the cleverly named Extra Place. (Some music history: Danny Fields photographed the Ramones for their third album, Rocket to Russia, along here in 1977.) 

In January 2007, reps for Avalon Bowery Place unveiled plans to make Extra Place a unique destination, "a slice of the Left Bank, a pedestrian mall lined with interesting boutiques and cafes."

Lately, it has been a pretty quiet place, with just a few local residents using the walkway to exercise their dogs in the evenings.

Dinner with Christo

Photos by Steven 

Christo, one of the resident red-tailed hawks in Tompkins Square Park, poses pauses with dinner this evening shortly after 7...