Care to dance?

Here are a few photos from yesterday's rather soggy Dance Parade and DanceFest... where a little rain didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the participants... organizers said that some 10,000 dancers from 150-plus organizations took part in the 12th annual event ...


[Top 2 photos by Steven]

This year's theme, "The Cabaret of Life," celebrated the repeal last fall of NYC's Cabaret Law that dated to 1926.

EVG contributor Derek Berg shared these photos from along St. Mark's Place and in Tompkins Square Park for the DanceFest...

Week in Grieview

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

RIP Glenn Branca (Monday) ... Beverly Bronson (Thursday) ... and Mikey Evans (Friday)

Target sets July 21 opening date on 14th Street and Avenue A (Thursday)

Report: Steve Croman's post-jail plans include welcome-home party in the Greek Islands (Monday)

LPC OKs 3-story addition to 827-831 Broadway (Wednesday)

CSA sign-up time at the 14th Street Y (Thursday)

A home for sale in this pastel-colored townhouse on 7th Street (Tuesday)

The latest on the city's rat-curbing initiatives (Monday)

Boutique health studio shaping up on 6th Street (Friday)

Hunan Slurp Shop now in soft-open mode (Thursday)

Tree down on 9th Street (Tuesday)

Dan and John's new dining room expected to open this week (Wednesday)

Wendigo Productions closing its retail-consignment shop on Avenue A (Tuesday)

BarBacon signage arrives on 4th Avenue (Monday)

Yuan Noodle may be yielding to a Mexican restaurant on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

New owner: 'My goal is to keep Eisenberg’s the way that it has been' (Tuesday)

Double Chicken Please vying for former Shoolbred's space on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

So long East Village Cheese (Thursday)

Santatorum has not been open lately on Avenue C (Monday)

... and this Twiggy in a telephone box arrived this past week on Second Street at First Avenue — wheatpaste courtesy of @d7606art ...



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Noted

Spotted at Queen Vic on Second Avenue at Fourth Street... for those of you making plans for the coming week.

LES History Month exhibit offers a snapshot of 'Photographing Downtown 1977-1987'

As part of Lower East Side History Month, the Living Gallery Outpost at 246 E. Fourth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C is hosting a series of events and a pop-up exhibition that delves into the downtown scene of 1977-1987.

Here are details via the EVG inbox...

"ENTHRALL & SQUALOR: Photographing Downtown 1977-1987" brings together the photographic work of four New York originals who captured the essence of a time indelibly etched in the City’s consciousness.

• Alexis Adler will show photos of a young Jean-Michel Basquiat and the East Village apartment they squatted together in 1979 after he dropped out of high school while transitioning from graffiti artist to icon.

• Arlene Gottfried (1951-2017) "...chronicled life the way she saw it, thriving on the energy ofthe streets, roaming and recording everything she felt through a deeply empathetic and loving lens." — Paul Moakley, TIME magazine.

• Meryl Meisler will exhibit classic images of CBGB and Infinity Disco from her books "A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick" and "Purgatory & Paradise: SASSY ‘70s Suburbia & The City."

• Ken Schles will deconstruct and install 168 prints from his downtown books, "Invisible City" and "Night Walk," creating an immersive chronicle of his life downtown ...

The opening reception is tonight from 6-8.

And here are more details on a few event associated with the exhibit, including...

• Special event: Night Walk Tour
Join us Monday from 7 to 9 for a special Night Walk. Alexis Adler, Meryl Meisler and Ken Schles will take you on tour of downtown sites documented in their books. The tour will culminate with refreshments at The Storefront Project, 70 Orchard St. where Meisler’s Lower East Side photos of the 1970s and 1980s are on exhibit. Tickets are available through Eventbright for $10.

• Wednesday, May 23: Artist talks and book signings. Hear the artists in their own words. Karen Gottfried will tell Arlene's story. 7-9 p.m. Gallery opens at 6 p.m.

• Thursday, May 24: Share your downtown stories (and closing party), 6-9 p.m.

Let's try that plant and bake sale at the 6 & B Garden again

The rain washed out the annual plan and bake sale at the 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden‎ last Sunday ... so garden members are trying again today from noon to 5 p.m.

Via the EVG inbox...

This is a fundraiser and proceeds from any sale goes to fund the 6&B Events Program that brings you FREE Events — Music, workshops, poetry, screenings and much more throughout the summer months! Help support us — buy a plant, a yummy home-made baked good, a T-shirt and more!

The community garden is on the southwest corner of Avenue B and Sixth Street.

Dance up a storm today in Tompkins Square Park

[DanceFest photo from 2017 by Stacie Joy]

The Dance Parade heads into Tompkins Square Park today, where the annual DanceFest is happening — even in the rain — from 3 to 7.

During that time, you'll find...

Five stages and site specific work throughout the park offer something for everybody including performances by culturally diverse participants from the parade and an opportunity to learn dance from the city's best dance teachers!

Here are highlights from last year ... primarily featuring the Pirate Ship ...



Find more details here.

About the 6BC Botanical Garden orientation day

[Image via Facebook]

In case you had an interest in becoming a member of the 6BC Botanical Garden ... their (possibly) last orientation and workday is now Sunday at 11:30 a.m. (It was originally scheduled today; moved due to the rain.) A garden member shared this...



Find more details here. The garden is on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Last night's parting shot

A kiss before the L on First Avenue and 14th Street ... photo by Dan Efram

'Eye' opener

Here's Philadelphia's Empath with "The Eye," a track from their recently released cassette "Liberating Guilt and Fear."

Empath opened for Iceage Wedesday night at Bowery Ballroom and will be at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 9 as part of the Northside Festival.

Mikey Likes It back in scooping action this evening

After a three-plus-week closure, Mikey Likes It is back in action ... 199 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street...

Return of the Mack... Daddy

A post shared by Mikey Likes It Ice Cream (@mikeylikesiticecream) on May 19, 2018 at 10:38am PDT

Updated 5/19

They are open this Saturday afternoon... and there's a crowd... photo by Lola Sáenz...



Updated 5/21

Find more on the situation here.

Dance • Dance • Dance

Dance • Dance • Dance

Drums are drumming

Speakers speaking

Rhythms to the crowd

Costumes costuming

Prism colors

Moving right around

Bodies gyrating

Arms a-waving

Feet a rhythmic blur

This the most fun

That is happening

People will concur

Once a year

Just not enough

Then again not everyday

We need to

Catch our breath

To dance in other ways

When we are lonely

Perhaps sad and blue

Dancing is the thing to do

Find a corner

Put on some sounds

Then dance around and around

Now feeling better

Because we know a way

Of being happy everyday

Who says

We need to wait to dance

Till the next dance day

Dance • Dance • Dance.

•

peter radley

The 42nd annual Saint George Ukrainian Festival is this weekend

The festival officially begins this evening at 6:30 on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

You can find the full schedule of events here.

High times tomorrow with John Holmstrom's 'Stoned Aged' at Metropolis

East Village resident John Holmstrom, the co-founder, editor and illustrator of Punk Magazine, will be at vintage-clothing outpost Metropolis tomorrow signing copies of his new publication (zine!), Stoned Age.

Stoned Age "intends to bring back the fun of 20th century marijuana culture, when it was the choice of hipsters, beatniks, jazz musicians, hippies, and other misfits," per tomorrow's invite.

Holmstrom, who illustrated the covers of the Ramones albums "Rocket to Russia" and "Road to Ruin," will be in the store from 1-3 p.m., though there are activities happening all day at Metropolis, including DJ Drew Redmond "spinning old-school punk."

Metropolis is at 43 Third Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk Magazine

John Holmstrom on the CBGB movie and the East Village of 2013

RIP Mikey Evans

Mikey Evans, who spent his whole life as a resident of 190-192 E. Second St., died on Wednesday night.

I don't have a lot of background information at the moment. Evans had been in declining health in recent months.

Julio Pena and Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta, the husband-wife owners of Il Posto Accanto at 190 Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B since 1995, shared the news in a series of Instagram posts yesterday:

With heavy hearts we are wishing our good friend & brother Michael Evans a loving farewell. The Lifeguard of 2nd Street will now be our Guardian Angel ... Those of us that had the pleasure of watching Mikey from sunup to sundown will forever remember his beautiful energy as he entertained and elevated our small community.

Those of us at Il Posto Accanto and Il Bagatto don't know a 2nd Street without Mikey because Mikey was here first.

He was one of a kind, and lived and died on his own terms. We would like to celebrate his life with everybody.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Get well soon, Mikey

Happening tomorrow (Saturday): The Dance Parade and DanceFest

You may have seen the police barricades in place along St. Mark's Place and parts of Tompkins Square Park... all ahead of the 12th annual Dance Parade and DanceFest.

The Parade kicks off at 1 p.m. at 21st and Broadway, and heads down to Eighth Street/St. Mark's Place ... and eventually into Tompkins Square Park for the DanceFest...



Organizers say that 10,000 (or so) dancers from 150-plus organizations will be taking part in the parade. This year's theme: "The Cabaret of Life," which celebrates the repeal of NYC's 1926 Cabaret Law last fall.

Here's the official website with more info.

And in case you were wondering if the whole thing will be called off because of the rainy forecast... No!

Rain or Shine we are dancing on Saturday, May 19th!

— Dance Parade NYC (@DanceParadeNYC) May 17, 2018

Boutique health studio shaping up on 6th Street

Fit Ritual is a new boutique health studio opening tomorrow evening at 543 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy got a look inside the other day as workers were continuing to build-out the space...



Their Instagram account notes that Fit Ritual will offer fitness trainings, diet and nutrition, and massages. (The Fit Ritual website isn't active just yet.)

The studio's grand opening is tomorrow evening from 5-7 p.m.



The owners have been East Village residents since 1988, and previously operated Team Wellness & Massage Center in North Bergen, N.J.

This storefront was last home Love Shines, the boutique that closed in March 2017 after 20 years. Love Shines still operates as an online-only business.

New for lease sign at the old 7-Eleven space on St. Mark's Place

Just noting that a new for lease sign arrived this week at 37 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... this prime, 2,000-square-foot space has been vacant since the 7-Eleven closed here in late November 2013.

The listing at Winick notes that the rent is available upon request, and that the possession is "immediate."

Winick originally had the listing, before another broker took over at the start of 2017. Anyway, maybe this will be the year for a new tenant here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A few more details about renting the former 7-Eleven space on St. Mark's Place

After nearly 4 years empty, 37 St. Mark's Place may be getting new retail tenants

Thursday's parting shot

Psychic reactions on Ninth Street by Dan Efram.

So long East Village Cheese

Workers removed the East Village Cheese sign today here on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... Derek Berg shared these photos...





A clothing boutique will be taking over the space, per a source on the block.

The cheesemonger closed in early December after two-plus years at this address. More background on the Cheese drama here.

Noted

In case you saw some cyclists riding rather erratically on 10th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A this past week... there was a reason...

stay in your lane 🚴‍♂️🌖🌓🌔🐍

A post shared by Peter Sutherland (@petersutherland) on May 14, 2018 at 4:09pm PDT

Anyway! The DOT said that they were aware of the wonky bike path outline ... and, as NBC 4 reports, the DOT fixed painted over the errant line yesterday.

Updated 1 p.m.

EVG reader Daniel sends some photos of 10th Street now... he notes the wavy line has been removed, but not re-repainted ...







Daniel also shares how to make a 311 request to take care of street-line issues, including disappearing bike lanes. You may submit a form with the city here.

CSA sign-up time at the 14th Street Y

Via the EVG inbox...

Now's the time to get your 2018 share! Don't wait, sign up now! New for the 2018 season: Shares will now be delivered on a bi-weekly basis from early June through the end of October, for a total of 11 distributions.

Also new for 2018, shares will include seasonally available fruit, such as, strawberries, blueberries, peaches and apples! Farm share members will pick up a pre-boxed share filled with certified organic produce and fruit (organic when available) every other Tuesday in the lobby of the 14th St Y from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Each box will contain 8-12 different items, including vegetables, herbs and fruit! The cost of the share for 2018 is $415.

Sign up online at our website. (The website also includes contact information for Ben and Liz at Mountain View Farm and Alice, the distribution coordinator at the 14th Street Y.)

The farm was voted Best Local CSA for 2018 in the Valley Advocate Reader's Poll! This makes 10 years in a row that the farm has been voted Best Local Farm or Best Local CSA!

We look forward to another season with everyone! Thank you for choosing Mountain View Farm and supporting local agriculture...

RIP Beverly Bronson

[Image courtesy of House with Heart]

Beverly Bronson, a longtime East Village resident who owned the antiques shop A Repeat Performance, died on Sunday of cancer. She was 70.

The news came via House with Heart, the charity that Bronson founded in 2001 to aid impoverished children and women in Nepal.

Here's part of the message from House with Heart:

It is with heavy hearts we share the sad news that our beloved founder, Beverly Bronson, has died from cancer. She passed peacefully today on Mother's Day in Naples, Florida, at the home of her daughter, surrounded by her loving family and friends.

Beverly lived an extraordinary life. From her early life in England to the decades she spent living in New York’s East Village to her work in Nepal, Beverly opened her heart to those in need. She walked and acted in kindness, compassion, selflessness, and most definitely, with determination.

Her bright spirit lives on in the lives of all she touched, including those of us who worked with her closely as directors of the House with Heart board. That spirit will guide us as we continue her work on behalf of the children and women in Nepal.

We send our deepest condolences to Beverly’s daughter, Kyla; her son-in-law, Matt; her grandchildren, Kyle, Hannah, and Ava; her partner, Mike Ogletree; and, of course, to the children and staff of House with Heart.

Bronson, a London native, moved to New York City in the early 1970s and worked in publishing and in the theater before opening A Repeat Performance in 1980. After five years on St. Mark's Place, the shop, offering a range of unique antiques and unusual items, moved to its present location at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

She first came to Nepal in 1999 to volunteer as a social worker. In 2001, she found two young boys whose mother had abandoned them. The boys became the first two members of House with Heart.

In recent years Bronson had spent a good deal of her time in Nepal. Here's A Repeat Performance co-owner Sharon Jane Smith talking about Bronson in an Out and About in the East Village feature from 2015:

Beverly has branched out into a home in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she is on her way to now to do renovations and hunker down for the monsoon season. It’s the place that had the earthquake. The house is still standing and the kids are camped out in the yard, waiting for the house to be retrofitted. She’s there to offer support and she doesn’t even like to camp, but she’s camping out in the monsoon. God bless her.

A memorial service will be held in the coming months to celebrate Bronson's life, according to House with Heart board members.

Target sets July 21 opening date on 14th Street and Avenue A

Target has gotten specific with its "July 2018" opening date. The small-format store on 14th Street and Avenue A will debut on July 21, the company announced yesterday. (H/T Curbed!)

As reported last summer, this Target will take up two levels, selling men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, food (with grab-and-go sandwiches, salads, beverages), health and beauty items, and electronics.

The Target is the retail centerpiece (for now!) at EVGB ("East Village's Greatest Building!!!"), the nickname that Extell Development bestowed upon this retail-residential complex

Officials also said that the EV Target will employ 110 people.

Meanwhile, Target also announced that they're opening a similar small-format store — not too far away — on Second Avenue and 29th Street in Kips Bay Court next year...



By 2019, Target will reportedly have eight outposts in Manhattan.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Target is hiring on 14th Street and Avenue A

Time to rent at EVGB, where studios ('lofts') start at $3,695

Target offers details about its flexible-format store opening summer 2018 on 14th and A

Breaking (pretty much!): Target is coming to 14th Street and Avenue A (55 comments)

More on Target, and a look at its incoming home on 14th Street and Avenue A

Extell's new development at 524 E. 14th St. launches lottery for 50 affordable units

New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

Hunan Slurp Shop now in soft-open mode

Signage at Hunan Slurp Shop, 112 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, points to a month-long soft-opening phase that started yesterday. (Per Eater, reservations are required for this first week.)

The chef, Chao Wang, reportedly spent the past 25 years as an oil painter.

Here's a little preview via Eater:

Now, he’s opening a restaurant inspired by his hometown of Hengyang in the Hunan province of China.

Wang’s Hunan version of mifen (rice noodles) will not be as “aggressive” in its spicy-sour flavoring compared to Yunnan soup noodles, according to a statement, instead looking to the ingredients such as fish for umami or subtler flavors. Mifen variations on the menu include a bowl with bone marrow and a Tonkotsu-style broth and another stew with pig’s feet. Cold and hot small plates are also on the menu, like braised chicken feet tossed in spicy oil and stir-fried smoked pork and bean curd.

The restaurant's media outreach included Urban Daddy, who called the Slurp Shop "a modern space for modern Chinese made by a highly talented, highly homesick chef-slash-artist."

You can find the menu and photos of the food here.



The storefront was previously a Ricky's, which closed in April 2016.

Previously

Wednesday's parting shot

A freebie from outside LaMama... in recents days the theater-arts organization has been putting out items (old props, etc.) for people to take here on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Photo today by Derek Berg.

Lush life

Goggla shares these photos from Tompkins Square Park today... where the rain has left the Park looking greener than ever...

EVG Etc.: SoHo House expansion on the LES; New Essex Street Market update

[NYU graduation day, as seen on St. Mark's Derek Berg]

Details on the East Village Independent Merchants Association's Spring Mixer tomorrow night in celebration of Lower East Side History Month (Official site) Find more LES History Month events here.

Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, on protecting the neighborhood from Tech Hub overdevelopment (GlobeSt)

Errol Louis on "Shelly Silver’s other offenses" (Daily News)

SoHo House looks to be expanding on Ludlow Street (BoweryBoogie)

Update on the New Essex Street Market (The Lo-Down)

David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" in 35mm (Metrograph)

How Basquiat "became the vandal who defied the odds" (New York Post)

NYC's best doughnuts (Grub Street)

... and EVG reader Andy on 7th shared this photo... the aftermath of a tree that was recently removed on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...


[Tree Stump Comment Section]

The 9th Precinct's Sector B NCOs wants to hear from you

Sean Walsh, a neighborhood coordination officer (NCO) for the 9th Precinct, shared the above flyer with me... with details on the quarterly meeting for residents living in Sector B — which covers 14th Street to Seventh Street from First Avenue to Avenue C.

Here's what Officer Walsh had to say:

"We are trying to encourage as many people to attend as possible. We want to hear the concerns of the neighborhood to help give us an idea of what to focus on to make this neighborhood safer, and to alleviate some of the issues that people are experiencing. No problem is too small and not to be discouraged from attending. These meetings take place quarterly and are always within the area each NCO covers. This program can only be as effective as the neighborhood wants it to be."

The meeting is tomorrow (Thursday!) at 6:30 p.m. in the Campos Plaza Community Room, 635 E. 12th St. at Avenue C.

The 9th Precinct and NYPD launched the NCO program last fall. The 9th Precinct is split up into four sectors, with two officers assigned to each of these areas. Find the sectors along with details on upcoming meetings here. Find a list of the 9th Precinct's NCOs here.