Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included ... (with a photo outside Cabin on 9th by Chris Rowland)... 

• An overhead view of Tompkins Square Park when the lights are off (Wednesday) 

• RIP Maryanne Byington (Tuesday) 

• The milling of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park is underway (Tuesday) 

• This nearly block-long parcel on 2nd Avenue is now for sale (Monday) 

• A last look inside Wegmans before its grand opening on Astor Place (Monday) 

• The DOT wants your feedback on the future of East River Park waterfront access (Friday) 

• Capturing Monday's rainbow action (Monday)

• On Union Square, Target debuts ahead of its announced opening day (Thursday) 

• Speaking out against the ongoing sweeps on 9th Street and 1st Avenue (Friday)

• On the CB3-SLA docket: A new home for Han Dynasty on 3rd Avenue; a Sunflower for 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• The Dash Snow tribute has been painted over on the Lower East Side (Thursday) 

• How to tote around the Essex Card Shop with you (Saturday) 

• What's happening at the former Trader Joe's Wine Shop on 14th Street? (Thursday)

• About the Earth School's Fall Fair on Nov. 4 (Thursday)

• Storefront signage alert: Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart on 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

-----

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

The DOT wants your feedback on the future of East River Park waterfront access

The following invite is via the Department of Transportation about a public meeting this coming Monday evening...

We are writing to invite you to join us at East Village/Lower East Side Waterfront Access Study's upcoming Community Workshop #3. The study is evaluating opportunities for improvements in the FDR Drive corridor from Montgomery to 14th Street considering mobility, circulation, safety, accessibility, open space, environment, resilience, and stormwater management. 

The workshop will be held at the Lower Eastside Girls Club, Baker Hall, 402 E. Eighth St. near Avenue D, on Monday, Oct. 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

At the meeting, you'll have the opportunity to share your feedback on improvement concepts for Montgomery St., Jackson St., Delancey St., Houston St., and E. Sixth St. along the FDR Drive corridor.

You can register for the workshop here. 

East River Park is currently being gutted as part of the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project, estimated to be completed by the end of 2026.

The Dash Snow tribute has been painted over on the Lower East Side

Top photo by Gabriel Sommer 

After 14-plus years on a north-facing wall of 205 Allen St. at Houston, someone has painted over the tribute to artist Dash Snow. 

The portrait arrived about a month after Snow was found dead in July 2009 at the Lafayette House on Fourth Street. He was 27. 

Graffiti writer SEEDR was credited with the work, one of many that popped up around downtown at the time. 

As far as we know, this was the last of the portraits still in existence...

Above photo from August 2009 by Salim

Dedicating Frances Goldin Way

This past Thursday, the community came together to dedicate the stretch of Fourth Street between Cooper Square and Second Avenue as Frances Goldin Way...

Here's more about Goldin from the Cooper Square Committee: 

Frances Goldin was one of the Lower East Side's most noteworthy and accomplished activists, civic leaders, and advocates for affordable housing. She was a leader in the establishment of the Cooper Square Committee, its affiliates, and the Metropolitan Council on Housing while fighting tirelessly for more than 50 years for the racially just integration of the Seward Park Urban Renewal area. She was dedicated to gay rights and was once honored on the lead float in the annual Gay Pride Parade in NYC. She was also a distinguished literary agent and founded her own firm representing many Pulitzer Prize-winning authors.

The East Village resident died in 2020 at age 95. 

And here's the moment of the unveiling...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cooper Square Committee (@coopersquare)

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo from the Loisaida Fall Festival on 3rd Street yesterday by Stacie Joy)...

• Tenants crowdfund to aid East Village super critically injured in high-speed car collision (Tuesday) 

• Why the benches were removed from across the street from the 9th Precinct (Monday) 

• The reconstruction of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park begins on Oct. 16 (Saturday) 

• So the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade will take place this year after all (Wednesday) 

• Thinking about Dennis Edge (Thursday) 

• Tenants and businesses are now without gas at 199 E. 3rd St. (Monday) 

• Here are J. Kathleen White's 2023 dioramas at the 9th Street Community Garden & Park (Friday) 

• Here's the next business for the former Grassroots Tavern space on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• The Hard Swallow is now closed (Thursday) 

• Posse officially in Effect now with the Beastie Boys on 14th Street and Avenue A (Thursday) 

• Behold this amazing miniature of Mars Bar (Tuesday) 

• Spellbound! It's the return of Hitchcocktober (Tuesday) 

• A Bank of America is checking into the corner of 2nd Avenue and 7th Street (Wednesday) 

• Retail spaces at the historic 4 St. Mark's Place are now for rent (Monday)

• In case you felt like seeing this exhibit featuring a classic Lower East Side bagel shop (Tuesday)

• Look at 6 Avenue B now! (Wednesday) 

• The Avenue Cafe bringing pastries and coffee to St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• Must be the season of the pop-up Halloween shop on Avenue A (Friday)

• 231 1st Ave. up to its 4th business in the past year (Wednesday) 

• 2 bad signs at Luzzo's on Avenue B (Thursday) 

• House of Munchies debuts on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

...and thank you to everyone for keeping tabs on the tire clamp story... the contraption is now outside the construction office in Tompkins... (photo by Steven)

-----

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

Bless your pets at Trinity Lower East Side tomorrow!

Pastor Will let us know that the annual Blessing of the Animals takes place tomorrow (Sunday!) at Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish on Avenue B at Ninth Street. 

Per the EVG inbox: 

Inspired by Saint Francis and his love for all God's creatures, on Sunday, Oct. 8, we invite all pets and their parents to join us for our beloved annual Blessing of the Animals!"

There are two opportunities for pets to receive a blessing:  

• At 11 a.m. our regular worship service indoors will become alive with activity as pets join in the prayer and praise! Please be sure all pets joining our service are well-behaved and potty trained. 

• At 1 p.m. a brief blessing will be given outdoors in our garden, perfect for any pets and parents who prefer a blessing on the go! 

Check out last year's coverage here.

Posse officially in Effect now with the Beastie Boys on 14th Street and Avenue A

Photos by Daniel Efram

Work is wrapping up at the new mural on 14th Street at Avenue A featuring the Beastie Boys (Posse in Effect).

As previously noted, Shepard Fairey (below), in collaboration with the Lisa Project NYC, created this stories-high work from a photo by East Village-based photographer Glen E. Friedman.

The mural is part of the ongoing celebration of 50 years of hip-hop.

This afternoon, there was a dedication ceremony featuring First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and local City Councilmember Keith Powers ... and Lisa Project co-founders Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa (you can watch the broadcast here) ...

Last month, the city officially co-named the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Beastie Boys Square on the Lower East Side.

Loisaida Fall Festival brings pumpkin-picking fun to East Village residents

Reporting and story by Stacie Joy

East Village residents are invited to the Loisaida Fall Festival on Saturday outside Mariana Bracetti Plaza at 251 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Kanielle Hernandez, the CEO/president of The Loisaida Foundry Inc., a lifelong resident here, talked about the inspiration behind the event.

"This is my third year serving the community through my foundation, and this year, I wanted to recreate a city version of a pumpkin-picking harvest festival," she said. "As a kid, I only saw this on TV and in movies, and I always wanted to experience it."

She continued: "When I became a mom, I was finally able to experience it and some wonderful small-town suburban life activities with my son. I'm blessed to have a vehicle, which allows me to do so, but it's not the case for most families in the community."

The Fall Festival will feature a pumpkin patch where each child will receive a ticket to pick out their own pumpkin for free and get a cup of apple cider. Via an art table from sponsor Loisaida Inc., the kids can carve and decorate their pumpkins.

The afternoon will also feature a reveal of the NYCHA beautification garden project in front of 251 E. Third St. For Hernandez, this is a significant development. She has been an outspoken advocate about the quality-of-life issues at the public housing complex (see links below).

"This is important to me because I was born and raised in this community. I'm a third-generation resident of the Lower East Side and a lifelong NYCHA tenant. I truly love my community, but when I started advocating for it, I was motivated by anger at the conditions we as a community faced with quality of life and public safety," she said. "I started off upset, but as I dived deeper into my mission to change things, I realized the issues surrounding us were deeper than I ever understood."

Saturday's Fall Festival is from 2-6 p.m. And despite some rain in the forecast, Hernandez said they will move forward with the event (city permits do not allow for rain dates).

"Bring your umbrellas and get your kids a free pumpkin, and support our awesome vendors who have worked hard to prepare for this event," she said.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

In case you felt like seeing this exhibit featuring a classic Lower East Side bagel shop

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Starting today, you can check out the latest immersive art show from U.K.-based artist Lucy Sparrow — a bagel shop where everything is hand-sewn out of felt. 

CLLCTV NYC on Third Street at Avenue B is home this month to Feltz Bagels, described as "an artistic homage to the city's legendary culinary delicacy and the neighborhood bagel joints of the Lower East Side." 

Here's a look at the exhibit, which debuted in August at TW Fine Art in Montauk. (You can read more about Sparrow in this WWD piece.)

Visitors can purchase the felt creations, including hand-sewn bagels in all varieties...

CLLCTV is at 209 E. Third St., just east of Avenue B. The space is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Oct. 31. 

P.S. 

Be sure to check out the backroom... decked out as a corner deli-smoke shop-liquor store...

... even with some felt contraband...

6 posts from September

A mini month in review... (and awaiting the unveiling of Beastie Boys Square on 9/9 via Stacie Joy) 

• Here's the first look at the new building slated for 50-64 Third Ave. (Sept. 15) 

• The former P.S. 64/Charas is now headed to a bankruptcy sale (Sept. 13) 

• At Fucking Awesome with Chloë Sevigny (Sept. 13) 

• Welcoming Beastie Boys Square to the Lower East Side (Sept. 11) 

• A memorial for Dennis Edge in Tompkins Square Park (Sept. 7) 

• Neighbors come together to create a streetscape on 9th Street (Sept. 3)

Cheers to The Whiskey Ward

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Regulars and employees, past and present, gathered last Wednesday night for a farewell to the Whiskey Ward. 

The low-key neighborhood bar at 121 Essex between Rivington and Delancey has been on the Lower East Side for nearly 24 years. 

I arrived as co-owner Sandee Wright was prepping to open on this special night...

... along with bartenders Chloe Troy...

... and Chelsea Pinchera ...

Wright said the closure had nothing to do with a landlord or rent increase. "We're going out under our own terms."

Why are they closing? "It's time," said Wright, a longtime Lower East Side resident who relocated a few years ago. 

"Things changed a lot after COVID, and people had less disposable income...and whiskies were hard to come by, especially ones like Pappy Van Winkle. It's impossible to get the good stuff — the bottles no one else has."

"I'm going to miss this place terribly," she said. "Every brick of it."

"I love everything about this place and the people," Wright said. "They are my family."

~~~Postscript~~~ 

As we understand it, a friend of Wright's plans to apply for a new liquor license and take over the space — operating under a new name — in the months ahead.

An upgrade and refresh for East Village community fridges

Top photo by Stacie Joy 

This past week, a new refrigerator arrived at the Loisaida CommUnity Fridge and Pantry at Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish on Avenue B and Ninth Street. 

After someone forcibly removed the door, the fridge had been out of commission for several weeks. 

This new fridge was installed by Pedro from La Plaza Cultural. He had to "raise the roof" a few inches on the enclosure to make room for the taller unit donated by Thadeaus Umpster from the New York City Community Fridge Network and IOH NYC (In Our Hearts NYC). 

Meanwhile, last weekend, EVG regular Lola Sáenz painted the new East Village Neighbors Community Fridge & Pantry outside S'MAC on First Avenue at 12th Street...

Find a map of all NYC community fridges right here.

Today in grand opening alerts: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen on 14th Street

Photo by Edmund John Dunn 

The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is now open at 442 E. 14th St. near Avenue A.

This location of the fast-food chain combined two storefronts — the Lower East Side Coffee Shop, which closed here after 13 years in February 2021 ... and New Herbal World, which left in September 2019. 

We first heard about this pending arrival in August 2022.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo by Derek Berg from outside an NYFW show — Wiederhoeft — at LaMama on Fourth Street) ... 

• The former P.S. 64/Charas is now headed to a bankruptcy sale (Wednesday)

• Here's the first look at the new building slated for 50-64 Third Ave. (Friday) 

• The owner of Max restaurant is returning to Avenue B with a new pizzeria (Thursday)

• Report: Early morning stabbing on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

• Welcoming Beastie Boys Square to the Lower East Side (Monday) 

• At Fucking Awesome with Chloë Sevigny (Wednesday) 

• Kyp Malone's 'Dream Articulations' at Snow Gallery (Saturday)

• Openings: Cantina Cubana on Avenue B (Friday) ... Motel No Tell on Avenue A (Thursday) ... EVC Caffé on 5th Street (Wednesday) 

• Friday night with Crackhead Barney and Friends at Grace Exhibition Space on Avenue C (Thursday)

• Dim Sum Go Go's East Village outpost set for a soft opening (Thursday) 

• Report of a fire at 91 E. 3rd St. (Wednesday)

• Doja Cat's "Scarlet" alter ego spotted in Tompkins (Tuesday)

• Double rainbows on 9/11 (Monday) 

• Signage time for Seasoned Vegan (Monday) 

• The case of the missing East Village Mini Market signage (Thursday) 

• A look inside the incoming Popeyes on 14th Street (Monday) 

• Mr. Kim arrives on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• About Schmuck on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• 5 weeks (or so) until the Wegmans at Astor Place opens (Tuesday) 

... speaking of Wegmans, reps were handing out freebies in Tompkins Square Park yesterday ahead of the grand opening on Oct. 18 (photo by Stacie Joy)...

-----

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

Kyp Malone's 'Dream Articulations' at Snow Gallery

Photos and text by Daniel Efram 

"Dream Articulations," multimedia artist Kyp Malone's first solo show, opened Thursday evening at Snow Gallery, 129 Eldridge St. between Delancey and Broome on the Lower East Side. 

Though Malone is known by many for his musical contributions to Rain Machine and previously, in large measure to TV on the Radio, he has been painting seriously since a young age.

"Dream Articulations" is a colorful and absurdist take on "a detailed imaginary world thought to originate in childhood." Malone grew up being deeply informed by the Jehovah's Witness; however, as he grew older, his track led away from the church's teachings, leading him to describe his art as "redecorating the architecture from cult indoctrinations." 

This impressive showing includes 13 watercolor pieces on paper. One of the highlights of the show is this highly detailed hand-painted jacket...

The show is up through Oct. 15. The gallery is open Thursday to Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.