RIP Phyllis Somerville

[Image via Legacy.com]

Phyllis Somerville, a longtime St. Mark's Place resident who enjoyed a lengthy career as an actor in film, TV and Broadway productions, died last Thursday. Paul Hilepo, her manager, told The Hollywood Reporter that she died of natural causes. She was 76.

"She was the consummate professional who lived her dream of being a working actress her entire life in NYC which spanned over 45 years," Hilepo said.

Somerville made her Broadway debut in 1975 in the musical "Over Here!" She most recently appeared in Aaron Sorkin's Broadway adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Her TV credits included "The Big C," "NYPD Blue" and "Daredevil" while her film highlights were "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Poms."

"She took pride in calling herself a New Yorker but she had salt-of-the-Earth Midwestern roots, which she was also proud of," Hilepo told the Associated Press.

Fellow St. Mark's Place resident David Godlis paid tribute to her on Instagram...

View this post on Instagram

So sad to hear that PHYLLIS SOMERVILLE, the great actress died unexpectedly this week. Here she is in 2013 up at LIncoln Center with the Korean Director Park Chan-wook. You’ve seen her as the midwestern old lady in everything. Phyllis was my neighbor on St Marks Place where her sparkling presence in blue jeans will be greatly missed. Used to see her in the mornings at Gem Spa or just hanging on the street. She recently did a long run in the original Broadway cast of To Kill a Mockingbird. Rest In Peace Phyllis. What a smile. What a laugh. You will be so missed. 📷@GODLIS @filmlinc

A post shared by Godlis (@godlis) on Jul 19, 2020 at 2:59pm PDT

Pastry alert: French bakery set to open next month at 229 1st Ave.

A new bakery, Petit Chou, is opening later this summer at 229 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. (Thanks to Shiv for the photo!)

The proprietor, a French-trained pastry chef, shared a quick overview of what to expect:

It’s going to be a French-inspired bakery with a specialty in choux pastry, which is the base for eclairs, cream puffs and profiteroles. We will also have lots of different desserts, croissants, danishes, macarons and coffee.

They'll also offer baking classes for residents to learn how to make macarons and choux pastry.

My goal is to bring a really high quality bakery to the neighborhood. We use quality ingredients and do everything the right way, using the latest techniques. I’m really looking forward to serving the community!

Petit Chou is hopeful for an early August debut. They have an Instagram account ready to go.

No. 229 was until June 2019 Just for Fen, which served Guizhou-style fen bowls for nearly two years.

Renovations at long last for the haunted beauty at 104 E. 10th St.

Nearly three years have passed since we heard about the plans to add a roof-top extension and gut renovate the long-empty townhouse at 104 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Second Avenue.

As you can see, plywood now surrounds the structure and renovations are underway...



According to the architect of record:

MKCA is orchestrating the reinvention and gut renovation of a historic townhouse in the storied St Mark's Historic District for a young family. Abandoned for a generation, the 2,400 brick rowhouse has been rescued from a state of near-structural collapse. The project includes a new sculptural stair, penthouse addition, and interiors that celebrate the historic building while updating it for contemporary family life.

As previously reported, the townhouse, built in 1879, was once the property of reclusive real-estate baron William Gottleib. It sold in 2013 for $3.5 million to an entity going by North Sydney LLC.

No. 104 is within the St. Mark's Historic District and needed the proper approvals before moving forward. (As I recall, there was some debate about the setback and other details. There are approved permits, as of July 15, on file now with the DOB.)

The building has been vacant for years. The last (and lone) tenant was playwright, poet and performance artist Edgar Oliver.

This article from 1998 in The New York Times suggests that the place could possibly be haunted. But as Oliver said at the time, "The house I do believe is haunted. Alas, it is only with memories."

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Plans to convert the haunted beauty 104 E. 10th St. into a single-family home with 2 extra floors

• The charmingly shabby interiors of 104 E. 10th St


[An interior photo from 2012]

Monday's parting shot

A view earlier today of La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C and Ninth Street via Vinny & O...

A memorial for Fahim Saleh on East Houston Street

[Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy]

A makeshift memorial with multiple bouquets of flowers grows outside 265 E. Houston St., where the stabbed and dismembered body of Fahim Saleh, 33, was found last Tuesday in his seventh-floor residence here at Suffolk Street...





On Friday, Saleh's former assistant, Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, was arrested and charged with the murder. As The New York Times reported: "Some investigators theorized that the suspect had tried to make the killing look like a professional assassination to divert attention from himself."

Yesterday, Legal Aid Society attorneys with the Homicide Defense Task Force who are representing Haspil said he has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Per CNN:

"We are in the very earliest stages of ferreting out the truth. The life of this case promises to be long and complex. As the attorneys for Mr. Haspil, we urge the public to keep an open mind."

An aunt told the Daily News this past weekend that Haspil "was a quiet young man, at times annoying, but incapable of the cold-blooded murder."

Haspil allegedly killed his boss after getting caught embezzling more than $90,000 from him. Saleh had said he would not call the police if Haspil paid the money back in installments, according to published reports.

During the arraignment, Manhattan assistant district attorney Linda Ford said that they have overwhelming video evidence against Haspil, including surveillance video showing him at a Home Depot purchasing the saw and cleaning supplies.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 17.

Among other endeavors, Saleh was the CEO of Gokada, a motorbike ride-hail company in Nigeria. He was born in Saudi Arabia to Bangladeshi parents and was raised in upstate New York.

His family issued this statement last week:

"The headlines talk about a crime we still cannot fathom. Fahim is more than what you are reading. He is so much more. His brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind."

Mother of Pearl and Honey Bee's close to make way for a larger Amor y Amargo on Avenue A

Changes are afoot at 95 Avenue A, East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi's complex of eating and dining establishments in the corner space on Sixth Street.

No. 95 housed three businesses: Honey Bee's, Amor y Amargo and Mother of Pearl. However, according to materials on file with Community Board 3, the spaces will be converted to accommodate a larger Amor y Amargo.

DeRossi is on CB3's SLA virtual docket tonight for the following changes at No. 95:

• Honey Bee's, Amor y Amargo and Mother of Pearl Room (Cien Fuegos LLC), 95 Ave A (op/alt/change method of operation: change current concepts of Honeybee's, a vegan Texas barbeque whiskey bar, and Mother of Pearl, a vegan tiki bar, to Amor y Amargo, a bitters bar).

A rep for Derossi Global confirmed the restructuring, and confirmed that Mother of Pearl and Honey Bee's have closed.



The expanded Amor y Amargo operation will now also include a full food menu.

Amor y Amargo debuted in 2011 with just a handful of seats, and quickly became celebrated as the country's first bitters-based bar.

Mother of Pearl opened here in July 2015, replacing another DeRossi venture, Gin Palace. Honey Bee's opened in May 2019 in the space that was Cienfuegos for 10 years.

DeRossi is known for switching up concepts in his restaurants either after a successful run or more quickly if the space doesn't pan out. In this case, the DeRossi rep said that the restructuring was "in response to COVID-19 and the new world we’re entering."

And 95 Avenue A is not the only DeRossi restaurant on tonight's CB3 agenda: He's changing the menu at Night Music:

• Night Music (Derossi Asia LLC), 111 E 7th St (b/alt/change method of operation: from a vegan Indian restaurant to a vegan Mexican restaurant)

Night Music, on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, opened last September.

At the beginning of the pandemic in NYC, Mother of Pearl distributed free school lunches during the week. DeRossi also distributed free vegan meals from Avant Garden on Seventh Street.

Hit Japanese coffee cafe Hi-Collar moves to a larger space on 9th Street

Hi-Collar, the Japanese cafe offering coffee and sandwiches by day and beer and sake in the evening, debuted in its new, larger home at 231 E. Ninth St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue this past Friday.

Here's more about Bon Yagi's spot — part of the T.I.C. Restaurant group — via an Eater profile a few years back:

[E]spresso drinks are not pulled here. Instead the bar is dressed like a chemistry lab, with rows of coffee siphons, AeroPresses, and Hario V60 ceramic coffee drippers at the ready to make liquid magic.

Hi-Collar is, by Japanese standards, what's called a kissaten, a traditional Japanese coffee and tea house that also sells Japanese-American breakfast, sweets, and light lunch fare, usually including some sandwiches and even a pasta dish or two.

The move here takes over the East Village outpost of T.I.C.'s Sakagura.

The previous location of Hi-Collar on 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue closed two weeks ago ahead of the move... they opened here in the summer of 2013.

Last day for I Need More

[Leticia and Eddy]

In case you missed our post from Saturday... today is the last day for I Need More, the late Jimmy Webb's rock 'n' roll boutique on Orchard Street...



We stopped by over the weekend, and it was surprisingly upbeat... there were still several items for sale — including the original I Need More t-shirts (though just xs remain as of today) ... EVG contributor Stacie Joy spotted Raven a.k.a. Seaton Hancock from Murphy's Law at the shop...



The store is expected to be open today from noon to 6 p.m. or so, but you may want to call ahead before trekking down to 75A Orchard St. between Broome and Grand. While you're on Orchard Street, check out the rock-vintage goods across the street at The Cast.

Webb, who opened I Need More in October 2017, died on April 14 of cancer. He was 62.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• The final days at I Need More, the late Jimmy Webb's rock 'n' roll boutique on the LES

About the for-rent sign at Tac N Roll on 4th Street

Tac N Roll's time has come to an end here — for now anyway — at 124 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

A for rent sign arrived outside the quick-serve cafe late last week.

Earlier this month, owner Eric Wong said that he was awaiting an insurance company assessment to see if he'd be able to cover damages from a looting the shop suffered late on May 31.

"Unfortunately, we have yet to receive compensation from the insurance company for our riot claim, and rather we keep depleting our funds to an empty space we asked the landlord to attempt to rent it or we can retake the space when the claim comes through," Wong said yesterday.

So a return is possible.

Most recently, Tac N Roll was sharing the space with the pop up Black 6 Coffee Trading Co. The veteran-owned company, which was created to fund the nonprofit organization the Black 6 Project, was serving coffee and a variety of breakfast parathas.

And Tac N Roll will continue with the pop ups, taking part in one this coming weekend at 50 Avenue A, the former Villa Cemita space. Wong, a Marine veteran, is teaming up with the incoming Milk Money Kitchens, whose founder and CEO, Nancy Preston, is an Army veteran who served as a Brigade Engineer building bases in Iraq.

View this post on Instagram

Come join us July 25th & 26th from 10am-2pm for a Pop Up alongside @black6coffee and @andersons_icecream hosted by @milkmoneykitchens 📍50 Ave A, New York, NY 10009 . . . . . . #tacnrollnyc #black6coffee #andersons_icecream #milkmoneykitchens #foodporn #foodbeast #nycwff #nycfoodie #eeeeeats #foodandwine #eater #thrillist #zagat #newforkcity #foursquare #timeoutnewyork #foodnetwork #amnyeats #evgrieve #paratha #coffee #icecream #saverestaurants #toosmalltofail #supportlocal #smallbusiness #covid19 #nycsbs #smallbizsos

A post shared by Tac N Roll (@tacnrollnyc) on Jul 17, 2020 at 11:44am PDT

Wong opened Tac N Roll in December 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• The Black 6 Coffee Trading Co. takes up temporary residency on 4th Street

A locksmith for this retail space on 10th Street

From the EVG tipline... a report that a locksmith opened last week at 241 E. 10th St. just west of First Avenue.

The small space was until December 2019 home to United Copy & Print.

The former Lions & Tigers & Squares space is for rent on 2nd Avenue

As noted last week, the East Village outpost of Lions & Tigers & Squares had apparently closed. Workers were spotted cleaning out the pizzeria, including scraping the restaurant's name off the front windows here on Second Avenue at 10th Street.

The signage, which some commenters thought looked fitting for a car wash, was removed... and a for-rent sign arrived late last week...



Also arriving on the front door: Legal documents from the landlord, stating that rent from April through July — at $16k per month — is past due...



The Detroit-style pizzeria from the Artichoke team debuted in this high-profile corner space back in October.

The first Lions & Tigers & Squares remains open on 23rd Street in Chelsea.

Week in Grieview

[Tompkins Square Park this morning]

Posts this last week included...

• Body of dismembered, decapitated man found inside residence on Houston and Suffolk (Tuesday) Reports: Police arrest former personal assistant in murder of tech CEO (Friday)

• The final days at I Need More, the late Jimmy Webb's rock 'n' roll boutique on the LES (Saturday)

• Bali Kitchen closes on Aug. 1: "COVID-19 was too much for us" (Thursday)

• Gemini Rosemont buys third parcel on 2nd Avenue for future development (Friday)

• Odessa's longtime manager says the diner is closing for good; co-owner later says they're just closing for renovations (Monday)

• The Russian & Turkish Baths have NOT permanently closed on 10th Street (Monday)

• New community coalition helping keep Avenue B safe for cyclists and pedestrians (Monday)

• These East Village streets are now part of the expanded Open Restaurants initiative (Saturday)

• Veeray Da Dhaba bringing the "authentic roadside cuisine of Punjab" to 1st Avenue (Tuesday)

• This week's NY See panel (Thursday)

• Checking in on Pause Cafe (Thursday)

• Flashback Friday: Take a virtual tour of the Brant Foundation's Basquiat exhibit from 2019 (Friday)

• Report of a fire at 67 Avenue D (Wednesday)

• Retail space at 4 St. Mark's Place, onetime home of Trash & Vaudeville, is for rent again (Wednesday)

• Stranded Records is back open (Friday)

• INA NYC closes 13th Street outpost (Wednesday)

• On 2nd thought, C&B finishes its curbside seating with the help of the DOT (Tuesday)

• Mystery dig behind the St. Brigid School (Wednesday)

• Shell shock! Lost turtles return to La Plaza Cultural (Wednesday)

• Calling out a plant thief on 7th Street (Thursday)

• Oscar watch on 2nd Street (Monday)

• The new-look 151 Avenue A (Thursday)

• Formerly interesting new business closes on 1st Avenue and 14th Street (Monday)

• The Standard East Village sets reopening date (Monday)

... and as seen on Avenue B at East Houston...


[Photo by Vinny & O]

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Follow EVG on Instragram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

The fast and the squirrious: Juvenile hawk gives chase in Tompkins Square Park

Amelia and Christo's 2020 offspring are all grown up now, and doing red-tailed-hawk things, like chasing squirrels in Tompkins Square Park.

Derek Berg got these shots the other day as one of the juveniles put the heat on a squirrel... who managed to get away...







As always, Goggla has been busy documenting the activities of the whole fam. Check out her site for updates here.

Area under heat advisory today and tomorrow

NYC is under a heat advisory starting today at noon, lasting through tomorrow at 8 p.m. Cooling centers are open across the city. To find the nearest location call 311 or visit the City’s Cooling Center Finder. This city map provides details on public spray showers as well as tree shade.

Meanwhile, @Newyorkist shared this photo from this morning on Second Avenue and 14th Street. And yes — a few people have pointed out that the man is being inconsiderate for not wearing a mask.

EVG Etc.: Inside the COVID Rent Relief Program; Update on the tech CEO murder

[Photo on 7th Street by Derek Berg]

• An explainer on New York state’s COVID Rent Relief Program (Curbed)

• Aunt says accused killer Tyrese Devon Haspil "was a quiet young man, at times annoying, but incapable of the cold-blooded murder of victim Fahim Saleh" (Daily News ... previously on EVG)

• Why gets to drink outdoors in NYC? "Nobody is drinking pouches of colorful cocktails underneath the floodlights on Avenue D." (Grub Street)

• Without jobs in bars and restaurants, what will happen to the city's creative class? (The Associated Press)

• Inside Abolition Park (The Indypendent)

• A unique season package at the New York Theatre Workshop on Fourth Street — a subscription to the artists, rather than to a roster of plays (The Washington Post)

• The online screenings and events at the Anthology Film Archives (Official site)

• Empire State Building observatory reopens Monday (USA Today)

• ICYMI: A Sonic Youth album guide (Brooklyn Vegan)

• Diversions: When the Ramones appeared on the Sha Na Na television variety show in 1979 (Boing Boing)

The final days at I Need More, the late Jimmy Webb's rock 'n' roll boutique on the LES

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

I Need More, the rock 'n' roll boutique that Jimmy Webb owned and operated on Orchard Street, closes Monday after three-plus years. The store announced their closure in an Instagram post last month.

Webb, who opened I Need More in October 2017, died on April 14 of cancer. He was 62.

I stopped by to speak with Eddy, the manager, about Jimmy, the store's last days and the future.



"We want people to come by, reminisce and talk about Jimmy: laugh, cry, dance ... to be happy," he said. "Even though Jimmy's gone and the store will soon be gone, he will live on in the spirit. The rock 'n' roll spirit. Jimmy lived his life to the fullest, living out his dream. He was a fighter and would say that he had a great life. Whenever I am lost I ask myself, WWJD? What would Jimmy do? He would say, 'Keep your pants tight. If the clothes aren't tight, it's not rock-n-roll!'"










[A look in the now-closed basement]

One much-requested item that sold out immediately online is the original I Need More T-shirt design. Eddy's says it will be back in stock and available only for in-person purchase and pick up at the store, starting today (Saturday!) at around 1 p.m. Sizes available include unisex or men's cut from sizes xs to xxl and women's cut from xs to large.





All other merchandise is discounted steeply right now and Eddy hopes to sell much of it prior to Monday’s closing.

Curious about what will happen to the cement footprints, handprints and autographs? Eddy says there are currently no plans in place to sell them or remove them, that the store needs to "pack up and leave ASAP, that the autographs will stay and the next tenants will be very lucky."

He says if anyone in interested in purchasing these items, or the Slash drawing on the bar, they should contact him and he'll put them in touch with Jimmy's estate. (Slash, the guitarist for Guns N' Roses, was a longtime friend and supporter.)







In early 2020, the shop hosted a "Footprints in February" celebration, in which Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop put their handprints, footprints and autographs in concrete on the floor of I Need More...











While I was there drummer and tattoo artist Bob Nelson of Five Points Tattoo dropped by to talk about Jimmy and pick up some remaining bullet belts.



Store hours are extended, currently through Monday's closing date, noon until 6 p.m., possibly 7 p.m. if there's a need. I Need More is at 75A Orchard St. between Broome and Grand.

A pop-up breakfast service on Avenue A

[Image via @MilkMoneyKitchens]

Milk Money Kitchens is hosting a pop-up breakfast service at 50 Avenue A (the former Villa Cemita space) between Third Street and Fourth Street today from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (They did this last Saturday as well.)

Today's menu: gluten free lemon-ricotta pancakes with blackberry compote and maple syrup with crispy bacon sprinkles (optional!) ... and chia seed pudding with blackberries and natural dates. And there's coffee by The Bungalow.

Milk Money Kitchens, which provides commercial kitchen rentals and consulting services for food businesses, is opening soon right next door on Avenue A. Nancy Preston, the company's founder and CEO, is a 10-year Army veteran, and served as a Brigade Engineer building bases in Iraq.