Tuesday, October 18, 2022

The 'See You Next Tuesday' book from Sophie's will be here next Tuesday

East Village-based photographer Kyle de Vre is ready to release "See You Next Tuesday," a documentary portrait project turned photo book he shot during his Tuesday afternoon bartending shifts at Sophie's between 2017-2022. 

We wrote about the start of the project in August 2018 ... after de Vre started taking portraits of patrons seated in the comfortably worn bar at 507 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

There's a release party next Tuesday during his shift (3-9 p.m., though the festivities will likely start around 7) where you can purchase a copy of the coffee-table book ($65). You can also order a copy online here.
Previously on EV Grieve:

Photos here via Kyle de Vre

Another day, another cannabis operation arrives

Signage is now up for a Recreational Cannabis Dispensary on the SE corner of First Avenue and 11th Street. (Thanks to Lola Sáenz and Steven for sending photos yesterday.) 

While the shop isn't open just yet, it's the latest weed-friendly storefront to open in the East Village (and NYC) in recent months. (And we haven't mentioned the new one now on the NW corner of First Avenue and 10th Street.)

Of course, none of these operations are legal just yet. 

As Emily Stewart wrote in a piece for Vox last week titled "New York seems to have a weed store on every corner. None of them are legal.": 
New York City’s crisp autumn air has a distinct scent to it, and this year that scent is weed. Many of the city streets have a fresh look to them, too — marijuana and cannabis products are for sale, out in the open, everywhere. New York legalized recreational marijuana in the spring of 2021, but the state is still in the process of doling out licenses to legally sell it, which makes the situation ... confusing.
And... 
 "None of them are compliant, none of them are allowed," said Aaron Ghitelman, a spokesperson for New York state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), in an interview. "They're jumping the gun."
Meanwhile, as Gothamist reported, nearly 1,000 cannabis entrepreneurs are competing for New York's first 150 dispensary licenses ... "all of which will be reserved for people with past marijuana convictions or their family members."

As for this corner of 11th Street and First Avenue, the last retail tenant was Eleven Consignment Boutique, which closed amid a legal battle in November 2019.

Monday, October 17, 2022

Monday's parting shot

The pigeons of Avenue A earlier today...

Otto's Shrunken Head celebrates 20 years on 14th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

On Saturday, Otto's Shrunken Head celebrated 20 years in business here at 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the tiki-themed venue and met up with owners Nell Mellon, who was sporting a variety of Otto's anniversary shirts...
... and Steve Pang and Patricia Lou ...
... and a few of the guests enjoying some free food and swag...
You can follow the Otto's Instagram account (or visit the website) to keep tabs on the live events here, including an array of bands playing anything from lounge/exotica to rockabilly, punk and surf.

City offering this zoning 101 presentation

Tomorrow evening (Oct. 18), reps from the Department of City Planning are giving a presentation to Community Board 3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee on Zoning 101. 

Specifically: City Planning will be presenting a basic foundation in the zoning process: what is zoning, what tools and resources are available to understand land use and zoning, and how the process works. 

Interested residents can tune into the presentation via Zoom at this link... and by Phone: +1 646 518 9805, +1 929 205 6099. Meeting ID: 934 3993 2803 

The meeting begins at 6:30.

New ovens for Two Boots Pizza on Avenue A

After 26 years and an estimated 10 million slices, Two Boots Pizza is installing new ovens today at the shop on Avenue A and Third Street

With the oven work, the pizzeria is closed today... back open tomorrow at the usual time — noon. 

Image via @twobootspizza

Noted

The sign for Hairy Balls for sale ($12 a bunch) outside Key Food is apparently causing a few double takes here on Avenue A. (Thanks to Sarah Keyes for sharing the photo!

Apparently not the work of a prankster. 

Gomphocarpus physocarpus, commonly known as hairy balls, balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, bishop's balls, nailhead, or swan plant, is a species of dogbane. The plant is native to southeast Africa, but it has been widely naturalized. It is often used as an ornamental plant. 

And there really isn't enough room on that sign to spell out gomphocarpus physocarpus.

Coming attractions: Beer and wine for the AMC Village 7 on 11th Street and 3rd Avenue

The AMC Village 7 on the corner of Third Avenue and 11th Street is joining the growing number of movie theaters that will serve alcohol.

Reps for parent company American Multi-Cinema Inc. received administrative approval from Community Board 3 this month for a beer-wine license at 66 Third Ave. (Here's the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website.)

Presumably, it will be a similar operation as the AMC on 19th and Broadway, the Regal Union Square or Regal Essex Crossing ... where there's a small bar to either sit before-after a film or to purchase a drink to bring into the auditorium.

Given the paperwork involved with the State Liquor Authority, it will likely be several more months before any bar is up and running at the theater. 

Last November, Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue and 12th Street received approval to sell beer-wine at a lobby cafe. That service hasn't arrived just yet. 

In January, the State Liquor Authority ruled that movie theaters could now apply for beer and wine licenses, with consumption allowed in seats — not just from a lobby bar-cafe... ending a years-long debate about alcohol in theaters.

Of course, theaters in NYC like Nitehawk and Alamo Drafthouse have already been doing this for years. Under the state's former guidelines, operators could only sell booze if they also had a commercial kitchen for preparing food and an individual table for customers at their seats. Others were able to serve alcohol at bars in their lobbies under a separate license but not in theaters themselves.
We've come a long way from 2012 when CB3 — responding to resident concerns — rejected an application from Landmark Theaters for a full liquor license at the Sunshine Cinema on Houston Street.

Ted Mundorff, president and CEO of Landmark Theaters, told IndieWire at the time: "That was pretty shortsighted of folks… It's not like theaters that have alcohol have people falling down [drunk]." 

The denial of alcohol sales from a lobby cafe (where they served slices from Two Boots) set in motion a series of events that saw the closure of the cinema in January 2018. Without the revenue boost, the theater chain decided against renegotiating the lease, and the building was sold and demolished to make way for a 9-story office complex.   

Another new broker for the long-vacant 20 St. Mark's Place

There's a new for-lease sign outside 20 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...
This is at least the fourth broker to try to lease the long-empty retail spaces.

The dearly beloved Grassroots Tavern was the last business here, closing after service on New Year’s Eve 2017... ending a 42-year run in the lower level. The upstairs tenant, the record store Sounds, shut down in October 2015.

According to the new ARA listing, two storefronts are available — separately or as a combo. 

Here's a look at the former Grassroots via the listing images ... (wonder if the place still smells like burnt popcorn?) ...
As you can see, those incredible old murals that workers uncovered during renovations have been removed/covered.

No mention of the asking rent for the storefronts. 

As noted, No. 20known as the Daniel LeRoy House, was built in 1832. It received landmark status in 1971 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Past lives of this subterranean space — info via Daytonian in Manhattan — include a theater-saloon called Paul Falk's Tivoli Garden in the 1870s... in the 1930s, the Hungarian Cafe and Restaurant resided here before becoming a temperance saloon called the Growler.

After the Grassroots closed, Bob Precious tried to open a bar-pub here, but those plans never materialized after 18 months. 

Applicants for Ichibantei had been on the CB3-SLA agenda multiple times, dating to November 2018, for a liquor license for a new restaurant for the address. They've moved on to other places.

ICYMI: The new athletic fields at Pier 42

On Oct. 8, the city quietly debuted the new sports area at Pier 42 — aka Pier 42 Upland Park and Pier — along the East River. 

Construction on the much-discussed $46-million project started in March 2021. Per the East River Alliance: "It’s the first step in the long-awaited transformation of a former banana warehouse/parking lot into waterfront recreation and green space for the LES community." 

As The Lo-Down previously reported, the local planning process began in 2012 after funding was allocated from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. 

Delays were reportedly due in part to the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, which has currently seen the closure and demolition of all East River Park amenities below Houston Street. 

Part two of the Pier 42 project, which will include a playground and comfort station, is expected next summer. (You can find more city background here.) 

The new space includes soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts and picnic tables... here's a look...
While the area was pleasant enough on a crisp fall afternoon with Bridges and Brooklyn views, some residents may wonder what the tree-less, shade-less area will be like on a hot summer day (no sign of drink fountains yet either — BYOW). Some comments on an East River Park Action Instagram post compared the space to a prison yard.

For now, the new complex is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can access the amenities at Montgomery Street/South Street at the entrance to Pier 36 (former home of the Immersive Van Gogh!) ... and follow the walkway toward the north, which doesn't seem promising at first...
... and where it is from the East Village (via Google!)...

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with an autumnal Key Food scene via Stacie Joy) ...

• Remembering Manny the Peddler (Wednesday

• About those fireworks last night on the East River (Thursday)

• A new mural honoring Mahsa Amini (Saturday

• Scenes from National Pierogi Day at East Village Meat Market (Monday)

• Lighting up the 7th and A entrance to Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday

• Empanada Mama debuts on 14th Street and 1st Avenue (Tuesday

• Nomad is closed for now on 2nd Avenue while owner takes a 'much-needed break' (Thursday)

• Dumpling Lab, recipient of a new Bib Gourmand, has closed on 9th Street (Tuesday

• Picture this: an art gallery for 5th and B (Thursday

• Public art returns to the former CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center (Sunday

• Celebrating 60 years of Alex Harsley's photography (Friday

• A 14th Street storefront is available to rent for the first time in 63 years (Wednesday

• A sidewalk returns to full view and use along St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

• A familiar new rendering for 3 St. Mark's Place (Tuesday

• The remains of a charred Acura on Houston (Tuesday) ... City removes charred and tagged Acura from Houston Street (Wednesday

• Will we be posting a lot of snow photos this winter? (Tuesday) 

• Openings: Íxta on the Bowery (Wednesday) ... Le Burger on 5th Street (Thursday)

• Glosslab nails down new 4th Avenue storefront (Tuesday

... and in recent weeks, workers have removed the sidewalk bridges from Village View — between Second Street and Fourth Street ... the labyrinth remains up on the north side of Fourth to Sixth Street and along the Fifth Street walkway...
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Scenes from an Avenue B vintage market

Photos by Stacie Joy 

There was a lot happening around the neighborhood yesterday... including a Halloween-flavored vintage-art market on Avenue B on the sidewalks between 10th Street and 11th Street... where EVG contributor Stacie Joy came across some friends and neighbors...

Sunday's opening shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

As you may have seen (and heard!) yesterday, members of HONK NY!, the activist and community-based street bands, were out and about yesterday in the East Village.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy caught them in Tompkins Square Park...
You can catch them in other neighborhoods in the days ahead.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Saturday's parting shot

A tail of two cities today near Union Square ... photo by Derek Berg...

Otto's Shrunken Head celebrates 20 years today

Congrats to Otto's Shrunken Head on the 20th anniversary... and they'll be celebrating today at the bar/venue, 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Info below (and the above illustration is by Kevin Kobasic)...

Woman, Life, Freedom

New (completed this past Monday) in First Street Green Art Park... a tribute mural of Mahsa Amini by Lexi Bella

The 22-year-old Amini died last month after she was taken into custody by Iran's morality police for reportedly not wearing her hijab properly. 

You can read more about the mural here

Iranian security forces killed at least 23 children in the ensuing protests this past month, Amnesty International reports.

Saturday's opening crane shot

Some reader reports of some early-morning crane action on Astor Place... on Eighth Street adjacent to 770 Broadway... perhaps something related to the new Wegmans... or, given the proximity to Facebook's office at No. 770, maybe they are installing the metaverse.

Friday, October 14, 2022

Friday's parting shot

Signs of fall in Tompkins Square Park...

Twist and 'Shout'

 

A new (old) video popped up on the Siouxsie and the Banshees YouTube account the other day ... here's "Playground Twist" from 1979.

Last weekend for the annual Harvest Arts Festival

We're into the final weekend for the 11th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival...  where you can find activities at dozens of East Village/LES community gardens, each featuring various performances, concerts, workshops and other related events. 

Check the LUNGS website here for the day-by-day, garden-by-garden schedule.