Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Open house! MTA officials will explain what's happening during the L-train non-shutdown



Tomorrow night marks the first of four MTA open houses organized to provide subway riders with details on the upcoming L-train repairs.

Per the MTA L-train website:

Starting in March, customers can meet with MTA team members at any of four open houses, or on subway platforms and in train cars. There, customers can get information on:

• Updates on the proposed construction approach and progress on other elements staying the same, such as the new elevators at Bedford Avenue, First Avenue and 14 Street/Sixth Avenue (L platform) Stations
• The new proposed service plan
• One-on-one trip planning help with MTA team members
• Other service elements to help navigate the changes, such as how to know which train to board. Additionally, NYC DOT will be present at the open houses to review planned street treatments.

And the four open houses are scheduled in Brooklyn and Manhattan:

• March 7 — Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 328 W. 14 St. between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue
• March 13 — Williamsburg Northside School, 299 N. Seventh St. at Meeker Avenue
• March 19 — Grand Street Campus High School, 850 Grand St. between Bushwick Avenue and Waterbury
• April 8 — 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14 St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue

The open houses are scheduled between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

While Gov. Cuomo helped avoid a full shutdown, the repairs to the Sandy-damaged L tubes between Manhattan and Brooklyn will still be a major disruption.

During the rehab starting in late April, the MTA will reduce L-train service to 20-minute waits on weeknights and weekends — from Bedford Avenue through Manhattan — with reductions in service beginning as early as 8 p.m. on weeknights.

And there's still no word if the First Avenue and Third Avenue stops will be "exit-only" stations.

The MTA posted the latest L-train rehab proposal at this link (PDF!).

Where Citi Bike has expanded on East Village streets


[Photo from last month by Riian Kant-McCormick]

Back in January, Citi Bike announced that they are boosting service in the busiest parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn by adding 1,250 new bikes and 2,500 docks.

And as you may have noticed, more docks have arrived at several East Village sites, including Sixth Street at Avenue B (above) with 27 more bikes ... Second Avenue at Avenue C (plus 25)...



... and Second Street at Avenue B (plus 25) ...



These were the three docking stations set to receive the biggest boost in bikes. (This previous post has more details.)

And look for new docking stations coming soon to First Avenue at Fifth Street and Avenue C and 12th Street...


Meanwhile, last Thursday, Citi Bike announced a major expansion of its fleet of pedal-assist e-bikes, with 4,000 hitting docking stations in the months ahead. However, there will be an additional fee, $2 per trip, to use one — even if you already have a Citi Bike membership.

People have criticized the $2 charge. Here's a quickie recap via a Streetsblog post from Monday:

The $2 fee — waived for Citi Bike members until April 27 — has come under fire from many quarters since it was announced this week, with some foes likening it to a fare hike on what should be a form of public transportation, yet is ostensibly a public-private partnership even though the city allocates no public money. Others reminded that Citi Bike has a monopoly on service, with dockless rivals Jump and Lime only allowed to operate in small pilot zones in the Bronx and Staten Island.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at where Citi Bike is expanding in the East Village

A Basquiat-at-the-Brant Foundation reader



The Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit officially debuts today to the ticket-holding public over at the Brant Foundation, 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Here's a recap of recent articles on the space and show...

Architectural Digest:

The Foundation’s new building, a former power substation on East 6th Street that was once the studio of contemporary artist Walter De Maria and was recently renovated by architects Gluckman Tang, is, indeed, the proper setting. “A lot of research was done to create the moment you experience when you enter the show’s second floor,” Foundation director Allison Brant adds.

This research paid off handsomely — the show, and the space, offer a breathtaking view into the artist’s world, underscoring a resonance between the artworks and their location that brings a new layer of meaning to our understanding of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

artnet News:

[I]t’s hard to ignore this luxurious setting’s disconnect from its immediate surrounding neighborhood — viewable through the floor-to-ceiling windows that punctuate the galleries — and the subject matter of Basquiat’s art itself, which frequently delved into issues of racism, poverty, inequity, and social injustice.

But none of that incongruity has dampened the enthusiasm around the show—and perhaps its free admission helps counter the reality that culture is increasingly governed by the über-wealthy. Basquiat, meanwhile, is about as popular as it gets when it comes to contemporary art audiences. Roughly 60 percent of the works in this 70-piece show are fresh off the blockbuster Basquiat survey that just wrapped up at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, which [Dieter] Buchhart also co-curated, and some have never been seen in New York before.



The New York Times:

Gluckman Tang has preserved the “bones” of the building — sturdy beige brick walls and sleek industrial staircases — and opened up rear-facing walls with windows that provide light and spectacular views of the neighborhood. The building includes four floors of exhibition space and a rooftop garden with a reflecting pool visible as a glittering skylight on the fourth floor. Nestled among old tenement buildings, the location feels very similar to Lafayette Anticipations in Paris, a new multistory foundation related to the nearby department store. Both institutions serve as emblems of the gentrification of former working- class neighborhoods, but also the proliferation of a new kind of museum.

Private collections have long histories — for instance, the Frick and the Morgan in New York — but also, at present, carry a double-edged meaning and purpose: They are private exhibition venues but also tax havens for the very rich. Mr. Brant was on the forefront of this phenomenon — both the private institution showcasing contemporary art and trouble with the IRS — when his foundation opened a decade ago across the street from his estate in Greenwich.

One of the arguments in support of the East Village space is that it offers free admission to see works that are rarely on view — although you have to make reservations, which are quickly becoming scarce. And the “free” admission to most of these private museums is the ultimate hidden-fee-economy tactic: We are all paying, in a variety of ways, to live in a system that supports colossal disparities of wealth. Museum admission might be free, but health care isn’t.

The Wall Street Journal:

Brant could have launched with a legacy show of his own trophy holdings, but he says the space’s proximity to Basquiat’s former stomping grounds compelled him to devote the opener to the neo-expressionist painter. Basquiat’s frenetic, poetic paintings of 1980s New York are getting more attention lately from both museums and the marketplace, with pieces selling at auction for as much as $110.5 million. That record-holder, an untitled skull painting from 1982 that’s owned by Japanese e-retailer Yusaku Maezawa, is in Brant’s show.

Other heavyweights include 1987’s Unbreakable, which has never been exhibited in New York, and 1983’s Hollywood Africans, which was lent by the Whitney Museum of American Art.

WNYC:

The Brant space in the East Village is not a commercial gallery but part of a private foundation, which may entitle it to tax benefits. Yet, to judge from the current exhibition, the new space lacks the public amenities we expect of not-for-profit institutions.

There is no catalogue for the current show, no brochure, and next to no information about individual artworks. Admission is free, but visitors are required to reserve tickets in advance; so far, according to its website, there is already a waiting list. How is Brant’s new space different than a commercial gallery? I don’t see any real difference, except that it comes enshrouded in vanity and self-promotion.

The exhibit runs through May 15. Waitlist tickets are available via this link.

Images via the Gluckman Tang Instagram account.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

On 6th Street, the Brant Foundation's inaugural exhibit will feature the work of Basquiat

The EVG podcast: Al Diaz on BOMB1, SAMO© and Basquiat

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Noted



Just noting this...



AND this...

EVG Etc.: Fighting displacement in SoHo and NoHo; looking at the New Colossus Festival


[Sunday night on Astor Place via Krikor Daglian]

Community groups form "Save SoHo-NoHo Coalition" (Press release ... loft artists fear displacement with rezoning (Gothamist ... previous Gothamist coverage here)

NYC Feminist Film Week at the Anthology Film Archives begins tonight (Official site)

Here's info about the inaugural New Colossus Festival, the music festival and industry conference, taking place Thursday through Sunday at Pianos, Arlene’s Grocery, The Delancey, Berlin, Coney Island Baby and Bowery Electric (Brooklyn Vegan ... previously on EVG)

Cold cases: Revisiting the unsolved murder of 2nd Ave Deli founder Abe Lebewohl on March 4, 1996 (Daily News)

The Lower East Side Preservation Initiative hosting the opening reception tonight for the contemporary photo exhibit titled "Chinatown: Lens on the Lower East Side" (Official site)

A look at the 30-story complex, with an affordable housing component, at 60 Norfolk St., site of the former Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogue (The Lo-Down ... CityRealty)

MTA is now rebuilding stairway at the Union Square L train platform (Town & Village)

Friends coming together to support Christopher Reed, a server at Bar Goto on Eldridge Street who was diagnosed last year with the neurodegenerative disease ALS (Grub Street)

The films of Harmony Korine at the Metrograph later this month (Official site)

NYU journalists buy $50 worth of food at Ray's Candy Store for this feature — and loved it all (Washington Square News)

Raccoon busted on Fifth Street (Instagram)

About the last Tad's Steaks in NYC! (Ephemeral New York)



Beauty Cutie, a nail salon and spa, is now open at 520 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (I recall they were previously further west on 14th?) No. 520 is the surviving building sandwiched between EVGB...



The space was a Dunkin' Donuts, which moved a few storefronts away in 2014...


[EVG photo from 2014]

Reincarnations: St. Dymphna's set to return late spring-early summer on Avenue A



The operators behind St. Dymphna's announced on Instagram that they have signed the lease at 117 Avenue A, and plan for an opening late this spring or early summer.

As first reported here in December, applicants for St. Dymphna's were on the CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license for the space on A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. (CB3 OK'd the license.)

Now the Irish-style pub, which closed on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue on Oct. 20 after 24 years in service, will have an encore presentation. The new team includes previous owner Eric Baker, Brendan McElroy, proprietor of Dr. Brendan Mac Repair on St. Mark's Place, and a "St. Dymphna's family member."

I asked Baker if they plan to replicate the St. Mark's Place space here.

"I would not say we are trying to replicate the original space into the new one at all. Our goal is to honor the original while letting the new space dictate to us what it should be," Baker said in an email. "Our goal is to recreate the community and cultural atmosphere, which is much more to important to us than architecture. We will be honoring the old space but this is much more of a reincarnation than replication."

No. 117 has remained empty since the bar the Black Rose closed in April 2017 after nearly two years in operation. No. 117 was the longtime home, until August 2013, of the Odessa Cafe & Bar.

Previously on EV Grieve:
St. Dymphna's eyeing a return engagement, this time at 117 Avenue A

The current state of 84 2nd Ave.



Here's how 84 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street is looking these days. (Photo from Saturday!) Someone recently broke out the fire extinguisher for the latest tag here.

What follows is a recap of the permitting required to renovate the building.

This past July, the newish owners of the currently-empty building, reportedly Highpoint Property Group, a real-estate development company, appeared before CB3's Landmarks Committee for a proposal on a Certificate of Appropriateness for the address. (Landlords of buildings located within a designated New York City historic district must receive a permit from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for major work.)

According to the alteration permits filed with the city last June, the additions would take the building from its current 5,829 square feet to 8,439 total square feet with a rear-yard addition. The modified No. 84 would feature new retail space as well as four residences.

As for that July 2018 meeting, CB3 conditionally approved the front façade plan only if the trapezoidal storefront window can be retained. CB3 opposed the rear-yard addition. According to the minutes from that meeting, neighbors submitted a petition against the proposal containing 160 signatures.

In late October, the LPC voted to approve the proposal to modify and replace the storefront and construct additions out back and on the roof. Per the LPC: "[I]n voting to approve this proposal, the Commission stipulated that the applicant work with the Commission's staff to reduce the visibility of the rooftop work from public thoroughfares. No work may begin until a Certificate of Appropriateness has been issued. Upon receipt, review and approval of two signed and sealed sets of the final Department of Buildings filing drawings for the approved work, a Certificate of Appropriateness will be issued."

The LPC is currently reviewing the Certificate of Appropriateness (as of Dec. 5, 2018). The work permits are still pending with the DOB.

This property has changed hands twice in recent years. Highpoint bought the building for $7.8 million in the spring of 2018. According to public records, the building sold in May 2016 for $5.1 million. Betty Sopolsky via an LLC was the seller, with the buyer listed as West 26th Street LLC.

As we've noted several times through the years, the address has a dark past, which includes the still-unsolved murder of Helen Sopolsky, proprietor of the family's tailor shop who was found bludgeoned to death in 1974, per an article at the time.

The storefront has remained empty since her death.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Plywood and a petition at 84 2nd Ave.

Workers clearing out the mysterious 84 2nd Ave. storefront

Renovations proposed for mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

Mysterious 84 2nd Ave. sells again, this time for $7.8 million

There are new plans to expand the mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

The current state of 20 St. Mark's Place


[Photos Sunday by Steven]

The building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue was tagged multiple times Saturday night/Sunday morning...



A quickie recap on what's going on here: Approved permits are now on file for repair work in the retail space at 20 St. Mark's Place, the longtime home of the Grassroots Tavern until New Year's Eve 2017.

As we've been reporting, Bob Precious is planning on opening a bar in this semi-subterranean space with a working title of Subterranean. (Precious operates the mini chain of Irish-style pubs called the Ginger Man, including the one on 36th Street. CB3 OK'd his new liquor license in December 2017.)

Precious said last August that the former Grassroots space was in bad shape — including structural damage. The approvals for the renovations in the landmarked building had been slow going, for whatever reasons. (In November, Previous was hoping for a spring opening.)

20 St. Mark's Place, known as the Daniel LeRoy House, was built in 1832. It received landmark status in 1971, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Since the Grassroots closed, people keep tagging the former bar's entrance.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New owner lined up for the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place

20 St. Mark's Place, home of the Grassroots Tavern, has been sold

Your chance to live in this historic home above the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place

Last call at the Grassroots Tavern

This is what's happening with the former Grassroots Tavern space on St. Mark's Place

The former Grassroots Tavern ready for a renovation

Monday, March 4, 2019

Monday's parting mystery postcard post



Our friends at the Tompkins Square Library on 10th Street posted these photos on Instagram today, noting: "To the mystery person who sent us a postcard with no message, from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, (in North Dakota!) we adore you."



Meanwhile, check out all the free events — classes, screenings, workshops, discussion groups — happening at the branch this month via this link.

Hawk break



Steven spotted the resident red-tailed hawks Amelia (left) and Christo hanging out earlier today In Tompkins Square Park.

Later, on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, he saw this visiting juvenile hawk ...

Grant Shaffer's NY See



Here's the latest installment of NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood — and NYC. (And readers keep writing in noting Grant's work that's featured on the #ArtOnLink campaign via LinkNYC.)

Basics Plus is closing on 3rd Avenue


[Photo by Steven]

Housewares shop Basics Plus is closing at 91 Third Ave. and 12th Street. A store employee told EVG correspondent Steven that March April 29 is the last day.

The going-out-of-business signs in the front windows direct future Basics Plus shoppers to the location on University at 13th Street. (Also, everything in the store is 20 percent off, per the signage.)

Not sure at the moment why his outpost, which opened here in August 2014, is shutting down. It seems like a good location given the proximity to several dorms (NYU, New School and Cooper Union) as well as multiple apartment buildings. Rising rents? Amazon? Too many Basics Plus outposts?

In any event, I reached out the the Basics Plus HQ to learn more about this closure.

Basics Plus, with multiple NYC locations, took over the space last held by Surprise! Surprise!, which shuttered after 25 years in business in April 2014.

H/T EVG readers Isobel and Doug!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Surprise! Surprise! will close at the end of April (42 comments)

Reader report: Basics Plus moving into the former Surprise! Surprise! space

Basics Plus confirmed for former Surprise! Surprise! space on 3rd Avenue

Gabriel Stulman vying for former Great Jones Cafe space



Restaurateur Gabriel Stulman is now eyeing the currently empty Great Jones Cafe space for an undisclosed new venture.

An EVG tipster pointed out this item on the Community Board 2's March 13 meeting agenda:

Apps. to the SLA for New License for Full Liquor On-Premise (OP): Corp. to be formed by Gabriel Stulman, d/b/a TBD, 54 Great Jones St. 10012 (OP – Restaurant with sidewalk cafe)

Last fall, a group of applicants — Anthony C. Marano (who owns the building at 54 Great Jones St.), Scott Marano, Jonathan Kavourakis and Avi Burn — were OK'd for a new liquor license on their second try for the restaurant between the Bowery and Lafayette.

During the September 2018 CB2 meeting, Kavourakis, a former chef at The Stanton Social and Vandal, described the menu for the new venture as "modern American." Burn, an owner of Pinks on 10th Street and Pinks Cantina in the Bowery Market, expounded on that later last fall in an email: "The idea was really to keep as much of the spirit of place as possible. We will clean up, make some cosmetic changes, re-do the food and drink menu while keeping some classics and aim to offer a great update to a classic neighborhood restaurant."

No word yet what Stulman has planned for the space. (He's been part of the fauxstalgia wave.)

Stulman, under his Happy Cooking Hospitality, operates a handful of West Village establishments, including Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey's Grocery, Fedora, Fairfax and Bar Sardine.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. The liquor-license approval last fall wasn't without debate, mostly over hours of operation and the current kitchen's venting system. (This past September, both the applicants and CB2 agreed to a layover on the application for exploration of the above topics.) The previous applicants had agreed to move the kitchen vent from the front facade. Nearby residents had complained about the noise and smell from the vent in recent years.

Great Jones Cafe never reopened after Jim Moffett, the longtime owner, died last July at age 59. The Cafe first arrived in 1983.

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Jim Moffett, owner of the Great Jones Cafe

New owners vying for the Great Jones Cafe space

[Updated] The future of the former Great Jones Cafe

CB2 SLA committee OKs license for new ownership of Great Jones Cafe

Introducing Village Preservation



On Friday, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, founded in 1980 and headquartered in the East Village, introduced a new look.

Moving forward, they'll be known as Village Preservation.

Here's more via their Board President Art Levin:

To continue effectively serving our growing scope and mission, and to continue attracting new supporters to help protect the architectural and cultural character of our unique neighborhoods, we are empowering two vital words in our current name to carry our work forward.

Village Preservation is inclusive, forward-looking, and — importantly — much easier to pronounce and remember. This moniker has been designed as part of a new look which embraces our traditional name while at the same time allowing us to more effectively activate our mission.

Please join the Board and staff of GVSHP in embracing this dynamic evolution, built on the shoulders of what we have already established, with eyes looking toward preserving the wonders of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, for all its inhabitants and visitors for years to come.

In case you haven't spent every waking hour on the site seen this yet ... earlier this year, Village Preservation (GVSHP at the time!) debuted a new online tool that allows you to explore the history of every building in the neighborhood. Find East Village Building Blocks at this link.

C&B Cafe debuts outpost on St. Mark's Place


[Photo by Steven]

C & B Cafe opened this past Thursday in its new quick-serve spot at 39 St. Mark's Place just east of Second Avenue.

They're open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for coffee, breakfast and other cafe fare (as well as some vinyl-records listening) — similar to their Seventh Street location.

The spot is adjacent to the opening SOON (today?) cafe-bar Paper Daisy. C&B chef-owner Ali Sahin is also the executive chef for Paper Daisy. (Still waiting for more info about Paper Daisy.)



And not to worry, C&B fans: The 4-year-old C&B Cafe continues on at the original location at 178 E. Seventh St. near Avenue B.

As for this St. Mark's Place space, Cafe Orlin closed here in October 2017 after 36 years of service.

Previously on EV Grieve:
1st sign of activity at the former Cafe Orlin space on St. Mark's Place

No trespassing (or hunting or fishing) at the former Cafe Orlin

Cafe Orlin will close after 36 years in business (34 comments)

C&B Cafe now part of new venture taking over the former Cafe Orlin space on St. Mark's Place

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Celebrating 25 years of Stomp


[EVG photo from yesterday]

In case you missed Stomp Day NYC this past Wednesday ... Stomp is throwing "a very special celebratory performance" tonight in honor of its 500th 25th anniversary at the Orpheum on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... the event will be on Facebook Live at 6:50 this evening...

Week in Grieview


[On the gate at the now-closed Raul Candy Store on Avenue B]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

City OKs new building permits for mayor's tech hub on 14th Street (Wednesday)

Q&A: How Cheska Mauban came to open her namesake pizzeria in the Bowery Market (Thursday)

A last visit to Raul Candy Store (Friday)

City issues full vacate order on former P.S. 64 (Friday)

Last call at Sidewalk and St. Mark's Comics, now closed after a combined 70 years in business (Monday)

Love and resistance: Stonewall 50 programs at the Tompkins Square Library (Thursday)

145 2nd Ave., currently a Starbucks, is for lease (Thursday)

100 Gates project coming for East Village gates (Monday)

First signs of Bin 141, a new cafe on Avenue A and 3rd Street (Wednesday)

Last week for Puppy Love & Kitty Kat on 9th Street (Tuesday)

New playground equipment alert in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

Ravagh Persian Grill is back in action on 1st Avenue (Monday)

This week's NY See (Monday)

FDNY responds to report of 'unstable wall' at 301 E. 10th St. (Tuesday)

Scenes from a 3rd Street construction zone (Wednesday)

[Updated] More mystery over those mysterious concrete barriers on 10th Street; our Stonehenge? (Tuesday)

Construction watch: 3 E. 3rd St. (Tuesday)

Renovations and a 3-day rent demand at Bait & Hook (Wednesday)

BeetleBug sits empty now on 9th Street (Monday)

Report: Discussions on a mixed-income community for former St. Emeric property (Monday)

... and a random photo of Tuesday's sunrise from down at the Brooklyn Bridge...



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Sunday's slow melt



Here are two early morning scenes from Tompkins Square Park via Vinny & O...



And snow is on the way...



The additional snow might be good news to the developers behind this new venture — currently at a standstill — in Tompkins Square Park...

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Saturday's parting shot



12th Street at Second Avenue...

Last weekend for Leekan Designs


A heads up from an EVG reader that Leekan Designs closes tomorrow after 35-plus years in business... the shop, which specializes in antique and contemporary beads and jewelry and other accessories from China, Indonesia, India and Morocco, is at 4 Rivington St. just east of the Bowery.


Owner Annie Lee recently told BoweryBoogie: "Time to close this chapter without sadness."

The business started in a SoHo loft, before relocating to the LES in 1999.

March 2!



Tompkins Square Park this morning...

Friday, March 1, 2019

Friday's parting shot


[Photo today by Derek Berg]

A scene from the first Kerwin Frost Film Festival today... over at 82 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery... and the lineup... all free, though you'll need to wait in line...

Step by step



The Devil You Know, the latest release by the Coathangers, is out next Friday on Suicide Squeeze. The video here, which debuted on Wednesday, is for "Step Back."

EVG Etc.: Looking for a purse-snatching suspect; remembering the anti-folk scene at the Sidewalk


[From 7th and A this a.m.]

In case you were wondering what all those helicopters were for last night: Manhunt continues for suspects who struck officer during chase on the FDR (CBS 2)

Police looking for a suspect who snatched two purses last Saturday night, first on Sixth Street then on 11th Street (ABC 7)

The Evelyn & Louis A. Green Residence, which provides senior housing at 200 E. Fifth St. and the Bowery, has obtained a $50 million refinancing (Commercial Observer)

Man posing as NYCHA employee robs resident in wheelchair on the LES (The Lo-Down)

An oral history of the anti-folk scene at the now-closed Sidewalk (Gothamist ... previously on EVG)

Mace, the cocktail bar on Ninth Street at Avenue C, closes after service tomorrow evening... ahead of a move to larger digs at 505 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B — the former Double Wide space. The Mace team will use the Ninth Street space then for some new bar concept (Eater ... previously on EVG)

We're behind on a Citi Bike update: Meanwhile: Citi Bike electric fleet will grow to 4,000 — with $2 fee (Streetsblog)

An interview with new Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (Gothamist)

The base MetroCard fare will remain at $2.75, but monthly and weekly rates are increasing (amNY)

Tix for all the shows at Webster Hall go on sale to the public today (Official site ... previously on EVG)

Happy 11th Blog Anniversary to our friend Cathryn at the Washington Square Blog! (Official site)

Winnie's is back with a new outpost on East Broadway (Eater)

The Friends of the Elizabeth Street Garden vow to sue to stop an affordable housing development from replacing the garden (Curbed)

EVG favorite "Cold War," a Best Foreign Language Film nominee, is still playing at City Cinemas on Second Avenue and 12th Street (Official site)

And turning to sports... now that Bryce Harper is a Phillie... the Blind Barber, the barber shop-cocktail lounge that first opened on 10th Street near Avenue B in 2010, is expanding to Philadelphia. Harper, who signed 13-year, $330 million deal to join Phillies yesterday, became a Blind Barber partner last year. (Philly.com)

... and several readers asked if THIS was still a thing... YES, YES IT IS...

Welcome to March!



Photo in Tompkins Square Park this March 1 via Vinny & O...

A last visit to Raul Candy Store



Photos by Stacie Joy

Friends and family gathered yesterday at Raul Candy Store, which wrapped up 43 years in business as I first reported.

Raul opened in 1976. The shop has been at No. 205 between 12th Street and 13th Street since 1981.

Owner Raul Santiago, 75, and his wife Petra Olivieri, 70, decided to retire.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by in the afternoon, where she notes there was a sad yet festive mood inside the shop. Raul and Petra's children came down from Massachusetts to help close up the shop. They gave away the last bags of free candy to a group of kids while Stacie was there taking pictures.





Several news outlets stopped by, including NY1 Noticias ...



...and some more scenes from the shop's last day...























Friends and neighbors had offered to raise money to cover rent for a year, but Raul and Petra declined, as they said "it's time to go."