Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included ... (with a photo celebrating Orthodox New Year on Seventh Street yesterday by Derek Berg) ... 

• RIP Alicia Torres (Thursday) 

• The remaining structure of the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church will be demolished (Friday) 

• After 29 years playing in the East Village, I finally decided to see 'Stomp' before it closed (Monday) ... Clearing out 'Stomp' (Tuesday) 

• Openings: From Lucie on 10th Street (Friday) 

• The landlord has taken legal possession of Commodities on 1st Avenue (Friday) 

• The area behind the fieldhouse in Tompkins Square Park is now open for 5 hours a day (Wednesday) 

• A look back at the devastating fire that destroyed Essex Card Shop 1 year ago today (Tuesday) 

• New season of 'Feud' brings a 1970s Times Square vibe to the East Village (Thursday) ... In the 'Feud' of the night (Sunday) 

• 5C Cultural Center reopens with coffee service from the Roost (Thursday) 

• A look inside the under-renovation Poetica Coffee on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• A gut renovation at 12th and C, and the loss of the Gil Scott-Heron tribute mural (Wednesday) 

• Coffee shop slated for this retail space in NYU's Third North dorm (Tuesday) 

• 75 1st Ave. — once again without a sidewalk bridge (Saturday) 

• 2023 preview: Panda Express (Monday) 

• Foul Witch is the new restaurant from the Roberta's team on Avenue A (Thursday) 

... and do you remember Goggla's photo from the other day showing the piano tucked among some discarded Christmas trees in Tompkins Square Park? (View at this link.) Here's how that story ended — in the back of a garbage truck ... photo by Derek Berg ... (and we don't know what condition the piano was in before it was tossed)...

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5C Cultural Center reopens with coffee service from the Roost

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Updated: The coffee service/cafe ended service in late March/early April.

There's a new familiar tenant on the SE corner of Avenue C and Fifth Street inside the 5C Cultural Center.

East Village resident Vito DiTomaso, who operates the Roost, the 9-year-old cafe and cocktail lounge at 222 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street, has just debuted a coffee service here to help the 501(c)(3) Cultural Center revamp its business.

DiTomaso has brought in new coffee equipment, painted and refreshed the space, and is creating a series of new menus. The plan is to serve coffee during the day, currently from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and soon offer beer, wine and cider in the evenings, along with community programming, live music and events that honor the Cultural Center. 

He is currently training staff and hoping to eventually branch out to food — with to-go plates for lunch and lasagnas, Italian dishes, and Spanish food favorites for dinner.

Meanwhile, longtime 5C Cultural Center proprietor Trudy Silver (above right) will continue with music and other live events on select dates, including an afternoon of programming for MLK Day on Monday. (See this link.)

The return (again) of indoor dining

Indoor dining resumed on Friday in NYC at 25-percent capacity. 

Gov. Cuomo originally ended indoor dining in the city in December after two-plus months ahead of an expected holiday-related spike in COVID-19 positivity rates. 

Now, with a decline in the positivity rate and with hospitalizations, Cuomo eased restrictions, including pushing back the curfew by one hour from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. 

A take on all this via Eater: 

Not surprisingly, differing opinions abound on how to handle the latest return to indoor dining. Some owners are grateful for any loosening of operating restrictions and look forward to offering a handful of seats for customers, others are opting to take a wait-and-see approach before reopening their own establishments, and still others are planning not to reopen until COVID-19 vaccinations have been more widely distributed.

This past holiday weekend, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by a handful of East Village establishments that were welcoming back diners inside ... starting with Il Posto Accanto on Second Street (above).

What follows are some snapshots of the first weekend of indoor dining in 2021 ...

... Book Club on Third Street...

... Subject on Suffolk Street near Houston...

... Remedy Diner on East Houston...

... Bin 141 on Avenue A at Third Street...

... Takahachi on Avenue A...

... Upstate Craft Beer & Oyster Bar on First Avenue ...

... Panna II on First Avenue (which is also open in the former Milon space) ...

... Royal Bangladesh on First Avenue...

... Nón Lá Vietnamese Kitchen on Fourth Street...

... Popeyes on First Avenue ...

... Divya’s Kitchen on First Avenue ...

... Bibi Wine Bar on Fourth Street...

... 5C Cultural Center & Cafe on Avenue C at Fifth Street ...

... San Loco on Avenue C...

... and Lavagna on Fifth Street near Avenue B...

The 5C Café and Cultural Center hosts the 2018 Dissident Arts Festival tomorrow night

The East Village portion of the 2018 Dissident Arts Festival takes place tomorrow evening at 7 at the 5C Café and Cultural Center.

Here's more from the event website:

On Sept. 15 the action moves to the 5C Café and Cultural Center, long-standing home of avant jazz and bold performance, where funds will be raised for the Alliance of Families for Justice and the NYC Jericho Movement. Both organizations advocate for the unjustly incarcerated and call for urgent prison reform.

The evening opens with a solo performance by renowned drummer William Hooker, and includes 5C’s own pianist/composer Trudy Silver, Ras Moshe’s Music Now! and the Flames of Discontent duo of Festival director John Pietaro and Laurie Towers. The closing act is international songwriter Martina Fiserova.

The 5C Café and Cultural Center is on Avenue C at Fifth Street. Find more 5C Café info here.

5C Cultural Center and Cafe closed for 'spring cleaning;' more landlord woes?

The 5C Cultural Center and Cafe on Avenue C and East Fifth Street has been closed the past six weeks or so... There weren't any signs up with an explanation for the closure and brown paper over the windows... a few weeks ago, 5C founder Trudy Silver told us they were closed for spring cleaning...

There's a sign up now ...

Meanwhile, 5C has been involved in an ongoing eviction battle with the landlord... Time Out covered the eviction battle here ... Co-owner Bruce Morris wrote about their ongoing landlord troubles in The Shadow here.

Here's an update on the 5C website:

From Bruce, Trudy, Silvia, Elaine, and Ian
Board of Directors – 5C Cultural Center and Managers of 5C Cafe

We apologize for not getting back to you sooner.
Here’s an update on 5C's sixteen-year legal battle:
On November 17, 2011, following four days of testimony a jury recognized that we have been wronged and awarded us $707,000.

Of course, what we really wanted was to get back our sixteen years in the form of an extended lease.

Then on March 8, 2012 Judge Eileen Rakower ordered a new trial saying that the jury’s verdict "is contrary to the weight of the evidence." In other words, the jury that included a brain surgeon did not know what they were doing!

Yet we are positive and have reached out to the landlord for a new lease as settlement to avoid a re-trial.

On the brighter side:
We are spring cleaning and sprucing up 5C
Better lighting, wifi, more seating…
Re-open soon with same loving service and more inspiring performances!

A tribute for Michael Shenker tonight

Michael Shenker, a longtime squatter and community activist, passed away on Oct. 2, 2010.

Tonight from 7 to 11, his friends will be celebrating his life at 5C ... the flyer below has the details...

The one rental on the market in the Copper Building

There may be just one unit left for sale in the Copper Building on Avenue B at 13th Street ... but there is also one studio for rent — unit 5C.

According to Prudential Douglas Elliman:

6 Month Minimum. $400 BELOW MARKET VALUE! NO CONDO FEES! BRAND NEW - NEVER LIVED IN! VIRTUAL DOORMAN! The Newest & Most LUXURIOUS Condo in the E. Village. No Expense Spared - This Amazing Studio features Juliet BALCONY, Floor-to-Ceiling Windows, Walk-in Closet, Central AC, En Suite WASHER/ DRYER. Kitchen features Hi-end Appliances including Dishwasher and Microwave, and Granite Counter's. The Giant Bathroom is Stone Tiled with Zuma Soaking Tub, and Kohler and Grohe finishes. FREE AMENITIES: Full-time Virtual DOORMAN, Sun deck, Private Storage, Fitness Center, BIKE STORAGE, and a private Zen garden. Located in Prime East Village steps from the L Train, Cafés, Yoga Studio, Tompkins Square Park, Union Square, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and so much more!! Sorry, No Pets.

Price: $2,050.

Some place that the Wall Street Journal should discover

And I wish that today's Wall Street Journal piece on the new hotbed of action on East Third Street and Avenue C included a mention of the 5C Cultural Center and Cafe ... they do some great programs here... and they really need support... Here's their upcoming schedule. Maybe the Journal could also dig into the nasty landlord dispute here.

5C Cultural Center and Cafe needs support

The owners of 5C Cultural Center & Cafe at Avenue C and Fifth Street are back in court Wednesday to battle being evicted by their landlord... they can use some support...Willie Mack will be playing some Harlem-based jazz there tonight at 8. $5 cover.

5C Cultural Center & Cafe continues eviction battle

The owners of 5C Cultural Center & Cafe, which opened in 1995 at Avenue C and Fifth Street, continue to battle being evicted by their landlord... As Time Out put it earlier this month: "Sadly, it’s an all-too-familiar story: Another cherished downtown cultural hub is in danger of disappearing."

Here's more from the piece and co-owner Bruce Morris: “'The basic claim is that we violated the terms of the lease,'” explains Morris, noting that he feels 'the landlord’s thought is, How can we harass them enough to get them out?' Based on the landlord’s claims — that they changed the facade, altered a window and didn’t soundproof the space, all of which Morris denies."

You can read the rest of the TONY article here. And Morris wrote about their ongoing landlord troubles in The Shadow here.

Meanwhile, there's a fundraiser tomorrow night at 6 featuring Shoshke-Rayzl on guitar and co-owner Trudy Silver on piano...it's also the birthday of one of their founding directors, Silvia Ravelo.

Via e-mail, Silver told me: "We're back in court on November 10th, ... last court date many students, parents, seniors, musicians and educators showed up in support."

Remembering Michael Shenker

As you may know, Michael Shenker, a longtime squatter and community activist, passed away last Saturday morning. Colin Moynihan wrote a feature on Shenker's life and death earlier this week for the Times:

Mr. Shenker was perhaps best known in the neighborhood as a tactician who thought up ways to protect appropriated buildings and community gardens that were subject to eviction or bulldozing. Some of the projects he started ended up with narratives as dramatic any of the operas he loved.

Meanwhile, there are several gatherings scheduled to celebrate his life.

Friday
Musical program in honor of Michael
7 p.m.; music starts around 8 p.m.
At 5C Cafe, Fifth Street at Avenue C
Burt Ekoff, Michael's piano teacher, and friends will be performing.

Sunday, October 10
Time's Up Garden Party
3:30 p.m. at El Jardin Del Paraiso
Located on Fourth-Fifth Streets between Avenues C and D
Michael was a co-founder of the More Gardens Coalition and a force behind saving NYC gardens. Reverend Billy and the choir will be at this event.

Saturday, October 16
March Around the Neighborhood
Meet in the middle of Tompkins Square Park at 5 p.m.
Friends will march around the neighborhood and arrive at his funeral.

Funeral for Michael at Mary House (Catholic Worker)
7 p.m. at 55 E. Third St.

Sunday, October 24
Celebration of Michael with Eric Drooker and Eden and John's East River Strong Band.
6-10 p.m. Location TBA



Previously on EV Grieve:
Michael Shenker, 1955-2010

Bars/restaurants news and notes and what not

The 5C Cultural Center & Cafe on Avenue C and Fifth Street is getting a paint job...



Coming soon to First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street...



And 40C on Avenue C near Third Street is transforming into Batista, a 1950s-style Havana club...




The Redhead on 13th Street near First Avenue apparently doesn't serve food on Sundays...