The Earth School’s Fall Fair is TOMORROW

The Earth School's (P.S. 364) Fall Fair is happening tomorrow (Saturday!) ... in the Big Yard at the school, Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C from noon to 5 p.m. 

What can you expect? Per the organizers: 

• A bouncy house 
• Music with a DJ 
• Arts & crafts, including slime-making, beading, costume-making and pumpkin decorating 
• Affordable food, homemade and from local restaurants 
• Games — mini-golf, bean bag toss, basketball and more 
• Face painting 
• Rummage sale (child & adult clothing) 
• And more family fun!

Food provided by Gruppo, Caffe Vita and Gemma... 

City to unveil Donald Suggs Jr. Way tomorrow on 6th Street

Starting tomorrow, Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B will have a new co-name — Donald Suggs Jr. Way.

Suggs, a longtime resident of this block, died in October 2012 of a heart attack. He was 51.

Here's more about him via the advisory for the street co-naming ceremony:

Donald lived his life as a tireless activist for justice, a courageous advocate for the lives of people in HIV-affected communities, a critical thinker, a consequential writer, an incisive editor for The Village Voice and an international media activist based in the East Village. 

He was wise, kind, generous, funny, brilliant, creative, honorable, and out of the closet — back when it was risky to be out. Donald was our good neighbor on East 6th Street.

You can read more about his life and work in this EVG post.

His friends and family will gather tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 15) on the SW corner of Sixth Street and Avenue B at 11 a.m. for the unveiling ceremony.

Celebrating 60 years of Alex Harsley's photography

Alex Harsley, the proprietor of the 4th Street Photo Gallery and a neighborhood resident since 1965, is the subject of an ongoing exhibition ... you can check out Harsley's photography Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 5 p.m. in Studio One, 59-61 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

His work will be here through Nov. 18.

And check out our two-part Q&A (here and here) with him from 2014, when James Maher took this photo...

Thursday's parting shots

Photos by Derek Berg 

This discarded toilet on Second Avenue certainly could use some #sprkl ... (courtesy of East Village-based musician-artist Paul Kostabi).

And then, an uncaring world intervenes  ...

About those fireworks last night on the East River

Photo via @Jazibaba 

We received a lot of queries last night about the fireworks display that went off last night after 9 on the East River below the Williamsburg Bridge. 

There wasn't any notification about them (as everyone pointed out, this account has one job) ...

Today is 10/12 and there are no official fireworks scheduled.

— NYC Fireworks (@nyc_fireworks) October 12, 2022

Which prompted plenty of tweets... and concern!

Ok are there fireworks or is NYC under attack?!

— Bright Light Bright Light (@brightlightx2) October 13, 2022

I hope those are fireworks…but why are there fireworks in NYC now?

— Trevor Abenavoli (@trevaben) October 13, 2022

Anyone in NYC know what the fireworks are about rn?

East Village feels like July 4th

— Sriram Ramakrishnan (@Sreezy3000) October 13, 2022

Just a massive fireworks show at 9pm on a Wednesday in October and no one knows why because nyc https://t.co/DjbmxceKzE

— Allison Klein (@televisionwhore) October 13, 2022

Myles Miller of NBC New York got the scoop today from the FDNY: The fireworks marked the end of filming the fifth and final season of "The The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

.@FDNY: “The purpose of the fireworks display was marking the end the filming season for the @MaiselTV” cc: @evgrieve @nyc_fireworks https://t.co/VDT8neLP6a

— myles miller (@MylesMill) October 13, 2022

All good now?

Ha! My husband and I arguing if it was a. Fireworks b. ConEd letting off steam or c. Armageddon

— don't make me come in there (@nervesarackin) October 13, 2022

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

Photo by Kevin Frech

Nomad, the low-key Mediterranean and North African restaurant at 78 Second Ave., has gone dark in recent days. Someone has removed the sign and paper covers the windows here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

The restaurant's website now notes that it has closed "until further notice." 

Owner Mehenni Zebentout shed some light on the situation in an Instagram post from Monday: 

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has raised a glass and joined me for a meal — either at Cucina Di Pesce, Belcourt or Nomad…or all three! You became part of my family, and you helped me realize my dream of bringing the food and culture of my country to live here in NYC. 

After 33 years in this industry, I am taking a much-needed break to visit my family, regroup and plan my next chapter. This is not goodbye; more like stay tuned for what's next. As David Bowie once said, "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring."

I look forward to sharing my next adventure(s) with you soon.

In June 2020, writer Richard Morgan had this to say about the place: "Nomad radiates a defiant truth: It is the coolest, tastiest, truest restaurant that New York's galloping gourmands have no interest in letting anyone know about (if they themselves even know about it at all)."

Nomad first opened in 2006. 

Picture this: an art gallery for 5th and B

Top 2 photos by Stacie Joy

Renovations continue inside and out on the NW corner of Fifth Street and Avenue B... where an art gallery called Gratin is in the works for the space... 

We don't know anything else at the moment about what to expect here from the new gallery... which marks the second art space to open along this corridor after Half Gallery debuted in 2020 on the NW corner of Fourth Street and Avenue B.

The arrival will likely make at least one upstairs resident happy... back when the storefront was on the market in the spring... 

... there was a sign in the window reading: "No Cafe. No Food."

Oda House, which served the rare-for-Manhattan Georgian cuisine and other Mediterranean staples, closed here in August 2020 after seven-plus years in service. Caffe Buon Gusto was here for a bit after the corner market Zips.  

Openings: Le Burger on 5th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

Le Burger has debuted at 540 E. Fifth St., just a little west of Avenue B. (First noted here.)

As the name implies, the restaurant serves a variety of burgers (see the menu below) ... and they offer wine and draft beers.

According to the questionnaire from July's CB3-SLA meeting, ownership previously ran the now-closed UES spots 1742 Wine Bar and Giorgio's Brick Over & Wine Bar.

For now, the space is open from 5 p.m. to midnight. No sign of a website yet, though Le Burger is on Instagram.

Black Iron Burger was in this space for nearly six years before closing in 2019. 

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

As seen on Avenue A today... a cab with a checkered past...

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

Photos by Stacie Joy

The mobile lights are ON this evening on Seventh Street and Avenue A at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park.

The solar-powered lights via the Parks Department arrived last Friday morning ... a day after a delivery man was slashed in the face during an attack around 3:30 p.m. 

This is the first time that we've seen the lights illuminated...
 

This corner of the Park around the chess tables has drawn complaints from residents who've reported fights, drug use and the sale of stolen property... the Parks Enforcement Patrol and NYPD have placed barricades around the chess tables multiple times in recent years. 

City removes charred and tagged Acura from Houston Street

This morning, the city removed the remains of the charred and tagged Acura from Houston Street at Allen... EVG regular Salim caught the transport in action as the car (and one in a similar state) headed north on First Avenue just past 14th Street.

The driver of the Acura crashed it into a pole early Sunday (4:50 a.m.) at Houston and Allen. After the collision, the car caught fire. We're told no one was injured.

[UPDATED] Remembering Manny the Peddler

Photo from 2020 by Brian Boulos 

UPDATED: Despite what the signs say, the service for Manny is on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. at Most Holy Redeemer.

Manny the Peddler, a decades-long presence along Avenue A, recently passed away. 

Manny, aka Emmanuel Howard and a father of four, sold second-hand items here for more than 40 years. Although the city often came by and dumped all his sale items, Manny remained resilient and continued to run his sidewalk shop. 

We don't have any further information about his passing. He was believed to be in his early 80s. There is a small memorial (since removed) where he was often seen arranging his items for sale on various tables between Second Street and Third Street ... (thanks to Carl Bentsen for these photos) ...

There is a requiem mass for Manny on Saturday afternoon at 2 at the Parish of the Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Here's more about Manny via a profile at The Local East Village from 2011:

He worked as a print shop delivery boy, metalworker, lathe operator, carpenter, and handyman, and around 1979 he began vending in front of the Con Edison substation on Sixth Street and Avenue A. It became a bonanza. 

"People used to come down from upstate and buy out the whole table for six, seven hundred dollars," he says, and then give him their business cards so he could call when he had good stock. Mr. Howard says he once made $4,500 in a week; he had never had that kind of money before. 

With a pocketful of connections, he could sell whatever people brought to him, and the temptation got too much. In 1997 he says he spent nine months of a six-year term on Riker's Island for possession of stolen goods. He suffered a heart attack while in jail and served the rest of the time on probation. 

"I messed up big time on that," he laments, and has since returned to selling donated items from neighborhood residents, many of whom he's done odd jobs for over the years. 

"Manny is organic to the neighborhood," says a café owner on Avenue A ... explaining that his spot is like a public space, connecting people from different backgrounds. "I see people gathered around the tables, all different layers of society. I think it is very healthy to have that."

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

The east storefront at 626 E. 14th St. is available for the first time since 1959.

A for-rent sign recently arrived on the front window between Avenue B and Avenue C at the now-closed Sun's Laundry.

Robert Lee opened the dry-cleaning business with his father in 1959.

Mr. Lee was 84 in August 2020 when he and his family decided to close up shop, one of the city's last Chinese hand laundries.

Both Gothamist and NBC News had features on Mr. Lee following his retirement. 

Openings: Íxta on the Bowery

Íxta debuted last week at 299 Bowery between Houston and First Street. (First mentioned here in August 2021.)

This is a second coming for Íxta, which had a two-year run on East 29th Street from 2005 to 2007. Restaurateur Mike Himani, whose credits include a Chickpea in Penn Station and Nisi Mediterranean in Times Square, told Eater that he lost the location due to the terms of the sublease.

Here's more from Eater:

For Ixta's reprisal, Himani [brought] on executive chef Francisco Blanco from Mexico City. Blanco, who cooked at Le Cirque and Eataly’s Manzo, will fine-tune a menu of southern Mexican and Oaxacan dishes at Ixta, while mixologist Jenny Castillo will create tequila- and mezcal-based cocktails.

The restaurant is open daily from 5-11 p.m. You can find the menu here. And some Instagram pics here.

Daniel Boulud closed DBGB at this address in August 2017 after an eight-year run. 

Where to find some unique masks for Halloween

Tomorrow (Wednesday!), 3rd & B'zaar unveils a unique collection of Halloween masks — with a local flavor — via artist Leopold Masterson. 

The hand-drawn/painted (watercolor, pencil and ink) creations are all signed by the artist ... and feature an array of pop-cultural icons, in-the-news-cycle names and some local residents (behold the Stacie Joy Mask!). 

The masks may be worn out and about (there's a space for eyes) or kept in the bag with jokey titles as a collectible. 

The seasonal marketplace — titled Fall Into the City — is open from 1-7 p.m. at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Expect another batch of new masks before Halloween.

The remains of a charred Acura on Houston

10/12 update: The city has removed the car!

--

Here are the remains of an Acura that crashed into a pole early Sunday (4:50 a.m.) at Houston and Allen. After the collision, the car caught fire. We're told no one was injured. (Thanks to everyone pointing out that this is/was an Acura.)

The car is now parked on the north side of Houston just below Houston (facing the wrong direction) ... where the shell has attracted some tagging attention...

Two people have been killed by motorists along this corridor in the early morning hours this year... Raife Milligan, 21, and Andy Gil, 21.

A sidewalk returns to full view and use along St. Mark's Place

Yesterday we reported that workers were finally removing the sidewalk bridge outside 19-23 St. Mark's Place. 

EVG reader KT Hendrickson shared these night/day photos showing the triumphant return of an unencumbered sidewalk between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...

The bridge had been up for some six years. As we understand it, work on the 8-story building was wrapped up last summer ... and apparently, a COVID-era backlog with the city caused delays in the signing off on the work.

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

Yesterday, workers placed an updated rendering on the plywood at the NE corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue. (Thanks @unitof for capturing the moment!)

After a 10-month hiatus, foundation work restarted in the late summer ... when the developer, Real Estate Equities Corp. (REEC), received a $70-million loan for the project. 

REEC plans on 53,000 square feet of office space and some 7,700 square feet for retail. The new rendering shows that version ... though the final look isn't too different from what was revealed several years ago...

As previously reported, a 10-story office building had been in the works here. In October 2020, the City Council's Zoning Subcommittee voted down REEC's application to transfer air rights from the landmarked 4 St. Marks Place to the new building across the street.

With the air-rights transfer, REEC would have been allowed to build 8,386 square feet larger than the current zoning allows.

The building, officially 1 St. Mark's Place, is slated for a July 2024 completion. 

Our previous post has more details about what has transpired here to date. 

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

After nearly a year in business, Dumpling Lab has closed at 214 E. Ninth St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to Steven for the photos.)

The space had been dark recently, and Google listed them as "permanently closed."

Dumpling Lab management confirmed the departure in a text, stating: "we will be looking for another location to reopen in the near future."

The restaurant, which drew inspiration from chef Xiaomei Ma's native Tsingtao, China, was from the same team behind Hunan Slurp on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

And lousy timing on the closure, as Dumpling Lab just made the 2022 Michelin Guide's list of 18 new Bib Gourmands.

Empanada Mama debuts on 14th Street and 1st Avenue

The quick-serve Empanada Mama location opened for business this past Friday on the NW corner of First Avenue and 14th Street. (We've been tracking the progress here since May.) 

Here's a look inside (before it opened for the day) ... there are two self-ordering kiosks...

There is also a cashier taking orders, so that option of paying by cash is available. 

During this initial soft-opening phase, the outpost is open from noon to 10 p.m. daily. Eventually, they will keep hours of 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. 

This is the fourth NYC space for Empanada Mama, which Socrates Nanas launched in 2005.

Papaya Dog closed here last fall, ending a 16-year-run of slinging cheap eats from this corner.