EVG Etc.: the 9 Lives of a 7th Street townhouse; the 17 NYC arts institutions with free admission

Photo on 7th Street the other evening by Steven (and there wasn't a fire) 

• LES fashion designer's homicide linked to fatal drug-facilitated robberies (ABC News) 

• The history of 64 E. Seventh St. includes Lou Reed and Yoko Ono (The New York Times) 

• Christo and Amelia are in the brooding stage in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography) 

• "[A]n experiment in queering fine dining" at HAGS on First Avenue (The New Yorker... previously on EVG) 

• Checking out Wild Rabbit Coffee on Seventh Street (Time Out... previously on EVG) 

• Women rob East Village couple of $8k worth of property (amNY) 

• A mother-daughter conversation about their home in Stuy Town and putting down roots (dwell)

• Workers at the Trader Joe's at Essex Crossing file petition to unionize (NY1) 

• Next on Musical Mondays at Village East by Angelika — "Victor/Victoria" (Official site) 

• How to get an NYC street co-named (THE CITY) 

• A list of free museums for New Yorkers to visit (Hyperallergic)

Paying tribute to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911

Tomorrow marks the 112th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

As in past years, volunteers have been taking part in the chalking project (organized by Street Pictures), writing the names and ages of the victims in front of the buildings where they lived on the Lower East Side.

For example, Julia Oberstein lived at 53 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street. (Top photo.) She was 19 years old. 

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the largest industrial disaster in U.S. history ... causing the death of 146 garment workers (mostly young women) who either died from the fire or jumped to their deaths.

The Triangle Waist Company was located on the northwest corner of Greene Street and Washington Place just east of Washington Square Park, where the commemoration ceremonies take place today (3/24). Find more details at The Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition website.

A memorial, expected to be unveiled at the site of the fire, is in the works. Read more about it here.

[Updated] Suspect arrested after shooting at police on 4th Street between C and D

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated 3/25: ABC 7 has an update here on the suspect, 20-year-old Richard Mendez, who allegedly had threatened his brother with a gun.

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A 20-year-old man is in custody tonight after shooting at a police cruiser on Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D, according to published reports

Per CBS 2, "officers in a marked police car spotted the suspect waving a firearm." He then allegedly fired at the vehicle, striking it several times. The officers also reportedly returned fire. 

NBC 4's account of the story said the suspect "was ... menacing people with a gun" before the encounter with the NYPD near 330 E. Fourth St.

There were originally reports on the Citizen app that the officers sustained unspecified injuries. CBS 2 reported that "the officers were taken to a local hospital to be treated for ringing in their ears." 

Updated: 

According to the Post, the man was menacing his brother with a gun. It wasn't immediately clear if the suspect shot at the officers during the confrontation. 

Per the paper: "The suspect's brother was also arrested for an alleged robbery from Wednesday, according to sources."

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo — "make your best offer" — from 14th Street by Daniel Efram) ... 

• A new home and name for Café Cortadito (Monday)

• 3rd & B'zaar's new market will feature the work of women-owned businesses (Wednesday) 

• May the farce be with you: 'The Empire Strips Back' is next up at the Orpheum Theatre (Thursday) 

• A new era for the old Bad Pussies wall on 3rd Street and Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Fire jumping returns (Saturday) 

• Revisiting a transformative Sunday on Avenue A (Friday) 

• What's happening on this block of 5th Street? (Tuesday)

• CM Rivera addresses 'operations improvements' for Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday) 

• Openings: The York on Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Corner spaces for lease along Houston at Elizabeth and the Bowery (Tuesday)

• Report: The Astor Place cube will be ready for a spin once more this summer (Friday) 

• Corner development battle: 360 Bowery takes commanding lead over 1 St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• Ghost signage on 7th Street (Wednesday) 

• On the rental market: 118 St. Mark's Place (Wednesday) 

• March madness! Key Food continues to up its St. Patrick's Day game (Monday) 

• First sign of Raising Cane's on Astor Place (Thursday) 

• Gelato 1st and 10th (Monday) 

• Report: Angel's Share has a new home (and what of its old home?) (Monday) 

... and on First Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street, the short-lived Healthily Deli is now going as Top1 Convenience (thanks to Steven for the photo)...

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Fire, jump with me

Photos by Stacie Joy

Thursday evening saw the return of a fire-jumping event in an East Village community garden, the first since 2019. 

This year's edition, produced by More Gardens, took place at El Jardin del Paraiso on Fifth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Here's some background:

More Gardens' Chaharshanbeh Suri NYC is a festival rooted in community, sharing, equity, and reverence for the earth through ritual fire jumping, art, music, food, and culture that began in the lands of West and Central Asia.

This fire celebration nourishes our spirits, strengthens our connection to each other, and affirms our belonging by embracing our diverse nationalities, languages, faiths, class, genders, races, and sexual identities. We make gathering joyful through art, music, food, culture, and intergenerational sharing. We hold each other to tend the flames of love, justice, solidarity, and goodness across the planet and right here in the community green spaces of NYC.

The fire team included Joules Magus ... with representatives from the FDNY present for safety. 

An estimated 200 people took part in the jumping ceremony. EVG contributor Stacie Joy was on hand for part of the festivities ...

The owner of A&C Kitchen on Avenue C would like to reopen his business now

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

On Feb. 27, a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.

Initial reports put the blame on a "lit object" discarded from a window down to the courtyard in the rear of the building. 

 The fire destroyed a ground-floor apartment. As a precaution, the FDNY opened up some walls and the ceiling in the kitchen at the Wayland on the corner, causing them to be closed for a few days to repair the drywall. (They reopened on March 2.) 

Meanwhile, A&C Kitchen, the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant sustained some water damage — mostly in its basement. 

Now, more than 10 days after the fire, Mr. Li, who has owned A&C Kitchen for the past 30 years, is frustrated with the city's response and the bureaucratic process.

Mr. Li says the electricity and gas are still turned off to his business, even though they have restored both services to the residents and nearby commercial tenants. 

He pointed out that there is no fire damage to his restaurant and that any water damage in the basement has been cleaned up and the smoke scent mediated. Still, he has lost two weeks of business. 

He is actively looking for assistance from the community and hopes that local elected officials might help him cut through the red tape...

Mr. Li also noted that people who live in the building are still tossing lit cigarettes out the windows and fears they may have a similar issue again...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg) ... 

• D.A. announces indictment in assault outside Ray's Candy Store (Thursday) 

• Report of a fire at 136 Avenue C (Monday) ... After the fire at 136 Avenue C; A&C Kitchen damaged (Wednesday) 

• Anyway Cafe is closing; staff hopes to open new establishment (Monday) ... At the last night of Anyway Cafe (Wednesday)

• Seasoned Vegan coming to the East Village (Thursday) 

• On 1st Avenue, New Double Dragon is closing and maybe reopening (Tuesday) ... Serenity Spa remains open on corner rumored for new development (Wednesday) 

• A community art project honors the resilience of Ukrainians; it will be on display at Veselka (Thursday) 

• The return of B-Side (Friday) 

• Potty on! Restrooms randomly back open in Tompkins Square Park after a 4-month closure (Sunday) 

• Closing the book for now at Short Stories on the Bowery (Wednesday) 

• Night market concept looks to be the life of the Partea on 14th Street (Thursday) 

• Virginia's eyes a March debut in new 3rd Street home (Tuesday) 

• Hello Dolly: Incoming dessert shop on 1st Avenue has a memorable name (Tuesday) 

• A notice to remove the sidewalk dining room at the now-closed Bait & Hook (Monday) 

• A look at 'Vital Impetus' at Azure Arts (Friday) 

• From Brix to Brick on Clinton (Monday) 

• Smoke shop! (Monday) 

... and is Saquon Barkley of the NY Giants enjoying his off-season in the neighborhood? As seen in a dry cleaners on Avenue A... 

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After the fire at 136 Avenue C; A&C Kitchen damaged

Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy

The cleanup continues after a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C on Monday morning. 

According to sources at the scene, someone tossed a lit cigarette from a residence in the rear of the building between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. The cigarette landed in a pile of recyclables and ignited something combustible in the interior courtyard, causing an explosion that shattered several windows. The fire traveled up the A&C Kitchen shaft to the roof. 

The FDNY issued an "under control" roughly 38 minutes after the first report on Monday. 

Several ground-floor businesses were damaged, including flooding at the A&C Kitchen, the affordable and reliable quick-serve Chinese restaurant. They will be closed for the foreseeable future.

On the corner, the Wayland will reopen on Thursday, per an Instagram announcement ... there was a cleanup crew inside the cocktail lounge, which looked intact ...

Around the corner, Ninth Street Espresso was open...

On Avenue C, Lovewild Design, the sustainable gifts and stationery shop, was also spared from fire-related damage...

... EVG contributor Stacie Joy spotted owner Sierra Zamarripa, her daughter Cecilia and mother Thea Boyer on duty...

As for apartments, a unit on the first floor near the blaze was scorched. Aside from some broken windows, we didn't hear of any other damage to residences. A tenant on the third floor said his unit was fine.

Report of a fire at 136 Avenue C

Updated 9:57 a.m.: The FDNY issued an "under control" roughly 38 minutes after the first report.

Updated 3/1: A look at the storefronts here.

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The FDNY is currently on the scene of a two-alarm fire at 136 Avenue C, a 6-story building on the NE corner at Ninth Street...

Manhattan 2-Alarm Box 0450, 136 AVE C, MULTIPLE DWELLING A

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) February 27, 2023

A reader on the scene shared these photos from the east side of Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street ... we'll keep updating when more information is available...

@rodrodrod shared this aerial view...

On 2nd Avenue, historic Isaac T. Hopper House hits the market for the first time in 149 years

A historic East Village building is for sale for the first time since (checking notes) 1874.

There's a new listing for 110 Second Ave., aka the landmarked and currently vacant Isaac T. Hopper House between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

Per the listing via Denham Wolf Real Estate Services: The property is vacant and provides a unique redevelopment opportunity. Asking price: $7.1 million. The building also has "+-4,628 ZFA potential excess development rights." (Any alterations to the landmarked building must go through the Landmarks Preservation Commission and other city agencies.)

The Women's Prison Association has owned it since 1874.

Here's some history of the address of No. 110, built circa 1837-1838, via Village Preservation:

This three-and-a-half-story Greek Revival structure is a rare surviving house from the period when this section of Second Avenue was one of the most elite addresses in Manhattan. Additionally, it is also a rare surviving nineteenth-century institutional presence in this ever-changing neighborhood.

The house at 110 Second Avenue was constructed as one of four houses built for brothers Ralph, Staats, and Benjamin Mead and designed in the Greek Revival style. Although the only one remaining of the original four houses, 110 Second Ave. retains much of its original details characteristic of a Greek Revival row house. The façade is clad in machine-pressed red brick laid in stretcher bond, tall parlor-level windows with a cast iron balcony, a denticulated cornice, and a brownstone portico with ionic columns supporting an entablature.

In 1839 David H. Robertson, a shipbroker and tradesman, bought the house for his widowed mother, Margaret. Three years later, however, he declared bankruptcy. The house was foreclosed, and in 1844 it was auctioned and transferred to Ralph Mead. Mead was the proprietor of Ralph Mead and Co., a wholesale grocery business. He and his second wife, Ann Eliza Van Wyck, lived at 110 Second Avenue (then No. 108) from 1845-1857. After that, they leased the house but retained ownership until 1870. It was sold in 1872 to George H. and Cornelia Ellery, who then sold it in 1874 to the Women's Prison Association ...

In 1992, the Hopper House was renovated and re-opened as a residential alternative to imprisonment for women. The residents and staff were displaced when the six-alarm fire destroyed Middle Collegiate Church next door in December 2020.

In January, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to allow the demolition of the remains of the fire-damaged structure to allow Middle Collegiate to rebuild on the site.

Previously on EVG:

• At the first WPA Arts exhibition

Week In Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo of street performer Matthew Silver on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg) ... 

• A timeline of events after the assault outside Ray's Candy Store (Tuesday) ... Cake and soup at Ray's Candy Store (Thursday)

• An appeal to help a longtime East Village resident (Wednesday) 

• City's fight against unlicensed cannabis shops now targets landlords; 4 East Village shops busted (Thursday)  

• Work on the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park expected to start in September (Wednesday)

• Reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house expected to start next month (Tuesday)

• La Mama officially unveils its refurbished new home (Thursday) 

• The former Commodities space is now for rent on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• Sunny's Florist returns after winter break (Tuesday) 

• 6 Avenue B, long-abandoned, has a new owner (Friday) 

• About the 3rd & B'zaar Valentine's Market this weekend (Friday) 

• Owner of the fire-damaged Gjelina seeking jobs for its staff (Monday) 

• A leaning bench for Avenue C (Wednesday) 

• A Korean-style pizzeria for 1st Avenue (Thursday)

• Offside Tavern shapes up on Avenue A and 6th Street (Friday)

• Retail options on the Bowery (Monday) 

... and making room for Valentine's Day (or the Super Bowl?) yesterday on Third Avenue and 12th Street... photo by Jefferson Siegel...

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Owner of the fire-damaged Gjelina seeking jobs for its staff

As we first reported last week, a fire has temporarily shuttered Gjelina, a popular L.A. import that just opened at the start of 2023 at 45 Bond St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the vegetable-centric restaurant will be able to open anytime soon.

On Friday, Gjelina Group CEO Shelley Kleyn Armistead posted an appeal on Instagram to help find positions for her staff. 

Her letter reads in part:

To have persisted for 6 and a half years to open Gjelina NY on Bond Street, and to have experienced a fire 1 day short of our one month anniversary — the only feelings right now are heartbreak. For every human who put so much into creating this restaurant. And it was them that created it — make no mistake.This team are like no other that I have had the privilege to work with. Every single one of them made Gjelina what she was. Every single one of them deserve the most outstanding work opportunity. 

We have no timeline for rebuilding and reopening. Thus I am asking, please, if you have any positions — please email me and I will pass it onto them ...

Shelley@gjelinagroup.com

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gjelina (@gjelinarestaurant)

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery from 2nd Avenue) ...

 • First on EVG: Early morning assault outside Ray's Candy Store leaves Ray with a black eye and facial wounds (Thursday) ... An update on Ray (Friday) ... Suspect who allegedly assaulted Ray has been arrested (Saturday) 

• Report: The former Charas/P.S. 64 is headed to auction this March (Tuesday) 

• Fire shutters the recently opened Gjelina on Bond Street (Tuesday) 

• Det. Jamie Hernandez honored after 34 years with the 9th Precinct (Thursday) 

• A youthful exchange of ideas with Dr. Cornel West at Performance Space New York (Monday) 

• Signage alert: O'Flaherty's on Avenue A (Monday) 

• Why this East Village writer is on an apology tour (Friday) 

• Packing up Café Cortadito (Wednesday) 

• 280 E. Houston St. prepped for new building construction (Wednesday) 

• Openings: Bobby’s Night Out on Avenue C (Wednesday) ... Gen Korean BBQ House on 14th Street (Monday) 

• Essex Squeeze has closed its 5th Street outpost (Monday) 

• Signage alert: Saint Pizza on Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• The return of 99-cent pizza?! (Monday) 

• What's going on with Pop's Eat-Rite on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• City removes curbside dining structure from outside AO Bowl on St. Mark's Place (Friday)

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6 posts from January

A mini month in review... 

• Soul mates: Meet the members of East Village-based band Sauce City (Jan. 21) 

• Report: The Regal Union Square multiplex to close after bankruptcy filing (Jan. 19) 

•  The remaining structure of the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church will be demolished (Jan. 13) 

• After 29 years playing in the East Village, I finally decided to see "Stomp" before it closed (Jan. 9) 

• The future of the unlicensed weed vendors (Jan. 3) 

• A happy birthday mural for Ray on Avenue A (Jan. 2)

Fire shutters the recently opened Gjelina on Bond Street

A fire yesterday just before noon has temporarily shuttered Gjelina, a popular L.A. import that just opened at the start of 2023 at 45 Bond St. 

The FDNY responded to a report of a fire here between the Bowery and Lafayette around 11:30 a.m.

According to the @FDNYalerts account, the fire was in the ductwork between the first and second floor... with firefighters on the scene for several hours before announcing the "under control" ...

Manhattan All Hands Box 0365, 45 BOND ST, COMMERCIAL

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) January 30, 2023

Manhattan All Hands Box 0365, 45 BOND ST, COMMERCIAL, DUCTWORK 1/2 FLR, Under Control

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) January 30, 2023

The Citizen app reported that two firefighters sustained minor injuries during the blaze. No other injuries were reported.

Earlier today, a fire broke out at the recently opened Gjelina. We’re thankful nobody was hurt and want to extend a big thank you to NoHo’s own @FDNY station on Great Jones Street, Engine 33 and Ladder 9 for responding so quickly. #NoHo #NoHoNYC #ExploreNoHo pic.twitter.com/15piR42qsA

— NoHo (@NoHo_NY) January 30, 2023

Gjelina, a vegetable-centric restaurant that opened in Venice, Calif., in 2008, debuted here at the start of the year with a breakfast-lunch service. Grub Street noted that Gjelina was "already Manhattan's hottest lunch." 

The restaurant's Instagram account noted — via its Stories — that it was closed for now...

A look inside the restaurant last evening didn't reveal much, if any, damage — at least from the front.

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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