It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (finally) in Tompkins Square Park

After a few attempts... the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree is now LIT! ALL OF IT. Not just the top part.

Still, we had a nice time at the tree (half) lighting this past Sunday. xo

Photo by Steven

The Community Holiday Feast in Tompkins Square Park is now taking place on Sunday

Here's an update to our previous post on the Community Holiday Feast in Tompkins Square Park. Given the threat of rain tomorrow, the Feast will take place on Sunday, Dec. 19.

As a reminder of what this is about: A group of East Village residents, including author Jeremiah Moss and EVG contributor Stacie Joy, is hosting a Community Holiday Feast in Tompkins Square Park. 

From 2-4 p.m., volunteers will be serving free hot meals provided by East Village businesses and residents. 

The following businesses have volunteered food and other products for the event: the Bean, C&B Cafe, East Village Vintage Collective, Food for Life, Mary O's, Rossy's Bakery & Café, San Loco, S'MAC and Subject NYC. The local volunteer group East Village Loves NYC will also donate. 

Organizers could still use some volunteers to help out during the event. Interested residents can use this email to contact the group.

The holiday tree in Tompkins Square Park is now completely dark

Workers were seen yesterday in Tompkins Square Park working on the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree. (Top photo by Steven!) 

As noted on Sunday, the Parks Department allegedly forgot to wire the tree before the tree lighting ceremony... and so organizers had to scramble to hire an electrician at the last minute. That work helped light two-thirds of the tree.

Now, the tree is completely dark... Merry Christmas from NYC!

At the annual Tompkins Square Park tree lighting

The annual (no. 30!) holiday tree lighting took place late yesterday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park. 

Albert Fabozzi, the founder of the lighting ceremony, was on hand for the ceremonies...

Entertainment included the Carolers of Olde New York from Theater for the New City and music from the Mandel & Lydon Trio ... (with refreshments via Veselka and C&B)...

There was a nice turnout. EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos of some of the attendees...

And as noted last night, the Parks Department apparently forgot to wire the tree... and so organizers had to scramble to hire an electrician at the last minute. In the rush, the bottom portion of the tree was not lit, so to speak... but a good time was had by all [of the people we talked with]...

Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

The Tompkins Square Park holiday tree lighting took place late this afternoon... and, as we're told, the Parks Department forgot to wire the tree... and so organizers had to scramble to hire an electrician at the last minute. 

Unfortunately, the tree was already lit up at the start of the ceremonies at 4 ... and they missed the bottom portion of the tree. Perfect! 

Regardless, there was a nice-sized crowd there and we all enjoyed being together after a year off from the ceremony... look for more crowd shots tomorrow...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on Astor Place by Derek Berg) ... 

• Details on the Community Holiday Feast in Tompkins Square Park this Dec. 18 (Wednesday) 

• Rent hike threatens Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela (Monday) 

• Report: City continues cutting down trees in East River Park despite Temporary Restraining Order (Friday ... Saturday ... Sunday) ... East River Park closing below Stanton Street as resiliency work moves forward (Monday) 

• Preparing the former B Bar & Grill for demolition on the Bowery (Monday) 

• Here are the proposed locations for new Citi Bike docking stations in the East Village (Thursday) 

• A visit to the new East Side Ink on the Lower East Side (Thursday) 

• Caffè Bene has closed on Avenue A (Monday) 

• The pandemic in the East Village as seen through the eyes of Billy the Artist (Tuesday) 

• Original Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches closes in 2nd Avenue A location this year (Tuesday)

• Long & Short Barber Co. cuts out of 250 E. Houston St. (Wednesday) 

• Sinkhole claims tree on 6th Street (Tuesday) 

• CR7 Gourmet Deli opens on 1st Avenue (Monday)

... and we fielded a few queries this past week about the Nodega/No Shop signage that arrived at 40 Avenue C between Third Street and Fourth Street (the former Bedlam space) ... not sure what this is at the moment (thanks to Dave for this photo... and also Stacie Joy and David for the emails)...

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Saturday's parting shot

A familiar holiday scene on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Wednesday's parting shots

The holiday MUD Coffee wreath at Mudspot on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue ...

Photos by Steven...

[UPDATED] Details on the Community Holiday Feast in Tompkins Square Park this Dec. 18

Updated: With the threat of rain on Dec. 18, the Feast will now take place on Dec. 19. Same time and place.

On Dec. 18, a group of East Village residents, including author Jeremiah Moss and EVG contributor Stacie Joy, is hosting a Community Holiday Feast in Tompkins Square Park. 

From 2-4 p.m., volunteers will be serving free hot meals provided by East Village businesses and residents. 

Organizers are currently looking for volunteers and welcome additional food and other donations. Interested residents and merchants can use this email to contact the group.

The following businesses have volunteered food and other products for the event: the Bean, C&B Cafe, East Village Vintage Collective, Food for Life, Mary O's, Rossy's Bakery & Café, San Loco, S'MAC and Subject NYC. The local volunteer group East Village Loves NYC will also donate. 

Meanwhile, individual donors include Chris Flash, Scooter La Forge, Marjorie Ingall and Jonathan Steuer. 

In case of rain or, lordy, snow, the event will occur on Dec. 19.

SantaCon announces 2021 route; East Village in the crosshairs once again

After a year off with the pandemic in 2020, SantaCon returns for in-person binging and bar crawling at the expense of the rest of the city this Saturday. (First reported here.) 

Yesterday, SantaCon organizers unveiled the 2021 route, which starts at 10 a.m. at 40th and Broadway. Per the SantaCon website: "We will be dancing in the streets and will unleash a holiday celebration NYC has never imagined possible!" 

A $13 donation gets your Santa Badge and access to participating bars, mainly in Midtown West and East. Six of the bars are in the East Village: The Grayson, 16 First Ave., Amsterdam Billiards & Bar, 110 E. 11th St., Doc Holliday's, 141 Avenue A, Horseshoe Bar/7B, 108 Avenue B, the Phoenix, 447 E. 13th St., and Solas, 232 E. Ninth St. 

However, as we've seen in previous Cons, bars not on the official list are often all too happy to participate, including the 13th Step.  (The SantaCon website states that participants must have proof of COVID vaccination.)

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2021 bar list, someone launched a Cancel SantaCon petition...

Per the petition: 

SantaCon is the worst day of the year in New York City. Each year thousands of belligerent drunk people in Santa costumes flood New York City streets, leaving behind a trail of fistfights, vomit, urine and garbage. John Oliver did a segment on the event which highlighted the faux-charitable nature of the pub crawl. He stated that each SantaCon participant only raises $1.66 for charity, which is hardly enough to excuse the violent and inappropriate behavior. The evidence is crystal clear: Santacon does more bad than good. 

This year New York City residents have had enough! We are calling for Mayor Bill de Blasio to show leadership and order the cancelation of Santacon. We believe that this is an issue that unites New Yorkers of all races, religions, and political beliefs. 

Please sign this petition so we can end SantaCon in New York City once and for all. 

You can find the petition here. 

And the petition garnered some support via Twitter...

Dare I say that I’m aligned? https://t.co/u7cybp4GDL pic.twitter.com/x9Twdjp67x

— Gossip Girl (@gossipgirl) December 5, 2021

Oh, and here's the John Oliver segment from December 2019 mentioned in the petition ...

 

Monday's parting shot

This holiday mural — an interpretation of Will Ferrell in "Elf" — went up over the weekend outside the Second Avenue F stop... work by @paolo_tolentino and @turtlecaps.

Flashback to last year's mural here.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a tree trick on Astor Place via Derek Berg) ...

• Report: Advocates lose appeal to halt East River Park demolition; temporary restraining order lifted (Wednesday) 

• PlantShed bringing flowers, plants and coffee to 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• Barnyard Cheese Shop making a return as Barnyard Express with weekend-only service (Friday) 

• Meet The Acute (Thursday) 

• Happy birthday to the Tompkins Square Library branch! (Thursday) 

• Clare checks out "Night Moves" by Jacqueline Cedar at Shelter Gallery (Wednesday)

• A new NY See! (Thursday) 

• Local students distribute pre-Thanksgiving meals in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday) 

• Cutlets Sandwich Co. debuts on 3rd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Ahimsa Garden has left the East Village (Monday) 

• Retail space comes into view at the former Hells Angels HQ (Thursday) 

• 2 restaurants opened and closed in 6 weeks at this space on 10th Street (Thursday) 

• Santa returns to Rite Aid this holiday season with his head intact (Wednesday) 

• Mug & Cup in soft-open mode on Avenue C (Tuesday) 

• Flamingos Vintage Pound checks out (Monday) 

• Openings: 75 Degrees Cafe & Bakery (Tuesday) 

• Here's your Smoke City Exotics signage on Avenue B (Friday)

• Happy holidays from Wegmans (Monday) 

• Bar None seized for nonpayment of taxes (Monday) 

• The VNYL has not been open in a long time (Tuesday)

• 1st Street Prune watch (Monday) 

... speaking on Prune, someone left this mod piece outside the restaurant over the weekend...

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EVG recent retail recap

A recap of some recent retail-related news... 

• The holiday market is open at 3rd & B'Zaar (Link) 

• Karen McDermott, who runs the March Hare with her husband Jason McGroarty, was diagnosed with colon cancer this fall. The toy store on Ninth Street also marked its first anniversary on Nov. 23. (Link) 

• A new storefront for P.J. O'Rourke II on Avenue B (Link) 

• Jo Laurie Loves debuts on Ninth Street (Link) 

• Leekan Designs winding down its operations on the Lower East Side (Link)

.

.. and there's an East Village Flea on First Avenue and First Street today (Dec. 4) from noon to 5 p.m. You can find vendor info @NexusFlea ...

Santa returns to Rite Aid this holiday season with head intact

After a year without a Santa Claus head at the Rite Aid on First Avenue and Fifth Street, jolly ol' St. Nick has all his body parts (as far as we can tell) this holiday season. 

EVG correspondent Stacie Joy noted Santa's masked presence in the greeting cards section...

Viewer discretion is now advised 

Last year, as EVG reader Daniel shared, Santa was on duty right near the depleted shelf of Entenmann's ... without a head. 

It was not immediately known what happened to it. (Stolen? Swallowed? Kicked?)

Happy holidays from Wegmans

On Astor Place, Wegmans is wishing you happy holidays... pretty nice considering they're not expected to open here for another two years... 

As previously reported, Wegmans signed a 30-year lease in July for what will be the grocer's first Manhattan outpost. It is scheduled to open in the second half of 2023.

Kmart closed in this space after 25 years on July 11. Wegmans had agreed to buy out Kmart's lease to make this deal possible.

Anyone miss Kmart this holiday season? 

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included... (with a svelte Smokey on TV during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) ... 

• Temporary Restraining Order remains in effect at East River Park; first look at new green space (Monday) 

• There are 8 million stories in the naked city... and this is one of them on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• The peaceful setting of Sharon Jane Smith’s 1st Avenue garden (Tuesday) 

• Best wishes to the owners of the March Hare on the shop's 1-year anniversary (Friday)

• Celebrating the life of David Joffe (Sunday) 

• Tree Riders returning for 11th season outside St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery (Wednesday) 

• Ringing in the holiday season at 3rd & B'Zaar (Friday) 

• Leekan Designs winding down its operations on the Lower East Side (Monday) 

• Jo Laurie Loves debuts on 9th Street (Friday) 

• "Gimme Five Minutes" with East Village photographer Daniel Root (Friday) 

• So much for Spiegel's return: CR7 Gourmet Deli slated for 1st Avenue and 2nd Street (Monday)

• La Colombe Coffee Roasters debuts today at the Whole Foods Bowery (Monday) 

• Memories of the former location of Via Della Pace (Tuesday) 

• Cinnamon Girl debuts on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

• Dan & John's returns on Dec. 1 (Tuesday) 

• Serving up "Licorice Pizza" this Thanksgiving (Thursday) 

• Tatsu Ramen has not been open lately (Tuesday) 

• Dig back in service on 4th Avenue (Tuesday) 

• PLNT Burger announces itself on 4th Avenue (Monday) 

... and hope that you enjoyed time with the family this holiday weekend...

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A holiday market for P.J. O'Rourke II on Avenue B

East Village-based artist and entrepreneur P.J. O'Rourke has a new pop-up market space at 199 Avenue B between 12th Street and 13th Street ... where he is selling his brand of hats, prints, T-shirts, hoodies (the New York Fuckery ones are in) and other original designs (the brand goes by P.J. O'Rourke II)... 

The storefront debuted on Friday for the holiday season. You can check his Instagram for hours.  (He also has online sales.) 

In 2012, O'Rourke started selling his merch on the L train via a mobile art cart. He was on a month-to-month lease on 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue for nearly 15 months before moving to a pop-up space on Broadway back in the summer ... but not before some drama with an investor. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• A visit to FlyeLyfe on 11th Street 

Best wishes to the owners of the March Hare on the shop's 1-year anniversary

The March Hare turned 1 on Ninth Street on Tuesday.

It's an anniversary to celebrate — especially with the difficulties of opening during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the owners of the whimsical toy store here between First Avenue and Second Avenue are facing another major challenge: Karen McDermott, who runs the shop with her husband Jason McGroarty, was diagnosed with colon cancer last month.

McDermott, 31, who previously worked at Dinosaur Hill on the block, had surgery in late October. According to an Instagram post from the March Hare on Oct. 25:

Surgery went well and Karen is getting a little better every day. Once she is fully healed we will start chemotherapy and hopefully kick cancer out of sight!

You can help support the March Hare by keeping the store in mind with any holiday needs. The shop's hours are posted as 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 321 E. Ninth St. You might want to call ahead: (646) 422-7747.

There's also a crowdfunding campaign to help the couple pay for medical and living expenses. You can find that link here. 

As McDermott wrote in a GoFundMe update:

The outpouring of love I have received through this has been beyond overwhelming, I am so thankful and happy to have known such kindness in my life.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Toy story: The March Hare debuts today on 9th Street

Image via Instagram

Ringing in the holiday season at 3rd & B'Zaar

A seasonal holiday market returns today to 3rd & B'Zaar.

The mixed-vendor market and event space at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B will once again host a variety of local designers, artists, merchants and vintage sellers through Dec. 24.

The 3rd & B'Zaar social platforms — Instagram and Facebook — have been featuring the vendors each day. The space is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday with some later-evening events in the works.

3rd & B'Zaar debuted late last year with a month-long Holiday Market followed by Sex, Love & Vintage in February ... Spring Into Pride in May and June ... and Summer in the City in the, uh, summer...  with several art shows in between. 

Pictured above from left are 3rd curators Frank New, Delphine Le Goff, Delia Anne Parker, Maegan Hayward and Sara Ann Rutherford. Photo by Stacie Joy.