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

Interior storefront renovations are underway at 119 Second Ave. (aka 45 E. Seventh St.) ...

According to work permits on the front window, Bank of America will be the new (and first) tenant of this newish condominium complex ... (H/T Adam!)

This branch arrival comes at a time when banks are reportedly closing neighborhood locations. (Plus, there's a BoA branch three blocks south on Second Avenue and Fourth Street.)

The corner building was ready for occupancy in mid-2021... six years after the deadly gas explosion destroyed this corner in March 2015 and took the lives of Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locón. 

Figueroa, 23, who had recently graduated from SUNY Buffalo State, was at Sushi Park, 121 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place and the site of the fatal blast, dining with a co-worker. Locón, 27, worked at Sushi Park.

The explosion injured over 20 others and leveled 119, 121 and 123 Second Ave. 

The previous corner building housed vintage shop Love Saves the Day for 43 years... closing in January 2009 after their rent was tripled. (Their location remains open in New Hope, Pa.)

Previously

When Loves Save[d] the Day

Photo by Steven

On Second Avenue at Seventh Street, there's tile art showing a former tenant of the corner space ... the one-time home of the vintage shop Love Saves the Day ... made famous, in part, by its appearance in the 1985 film “Desperately Seeking Susan.”

The East Village Love Saves the Day closed on Jan. 18, 2009. Word was their rent tripled. 

Their location remains open in New Hope, Pa.

The deadly Second Avenue gas explosion in March 2015 destroyed three buildings here, including the space (119 Second Ave.) that housed the shop for 43 years.

We've seen other tile art for some longtime businesses that are no longer with us, such as outside the former Stage across Second Avenue.

The 1980s East Village as seen through the lens of photographer Peter Bennett

Last June, we reported on the passing of Arthur Enrique Guerra, the founder of Guerra Paint & Pigment on 13th Street. The post included a photo of Guerra's mural on St. Mark's Place of John Spacely, aka Gringo, from 1983. Peter Bennett took that iconic photo of the Gingo mural. 

Bennett, a native New Yorker who now resides in Los Angeles, recently shared more photos from the era. He grew up in Greenwich Village and lived in the East Village from 1979 to 1988. (You can read more about him here.) He gave us permission to post these EV street scenes from the 1980s. (Top photo is outside the former Love Saves the Day on the NW corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street.) 

Here are a few more shots from his archives (click on the image to go big)  ...  

St. Mark's Place...

Second Avenue at Seventh Street...

Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place (NW corner) ...

Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place (SW corner) ...

Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Fifth Street at Avenue D ...

Fifth Street near Avenue C...

There are some more photos here. 

If you liked these, perhaps we can have an encore one of these days. Thanks to Peter for sharing!

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo on Seventh Street by Derek Berg) ... 

• Where are they now? Catching up with Willie from Odessa (Wednesday) 

• You may now open a business in the former NYC HQ of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (Friday)

• A new 10-year lease for Astor Place Hairstylists (Thursday) 

• City Council hosting public hearing on permanent outdoor dining legislation today (Tuesday, 59 comments) 

• East Village artist Tom Manco opens a gallery-studio on Avenue B (Monday)

• Farewell to Dress Shoppe II (Monday) 

• Last looks at today's 'Law & Order' shoot (Wednesday) ... 'Law & Order' creates a new tent city for Tompkins Square Park (Monday) ... Real-life 'Law & Order' in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) 

• Le Phin debuts on 10th Street (Wednesday) 

• The remains of the Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge (Thursday) 

• A memory of Love Saves the Day (Friday) 

• For rent signs for the empty storefronts on the SW corner of 14th and 3rd (Monday) 

• Eileen Fisher has apparently closed on 9th Street (Monday) 

• A message for the camper on 10th Street (Friday) 

• A look at '340 E. 9th Street' on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Steak out: Man reportedly walks out of Trader Joe's with 10 packs of meat (Wednesday, 52 comments) 

The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer is hosting a free Valentine's Day concert... it starts at 7:30 p.m. at 173 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... read more about the concert here.

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A memory of Love Saves the Day

If you haven't seen this at the base of the new retail space on the NW corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street... the onetime home of the vintage shop Love Saves the Day.

Per the street art here...

"This used to be Love Saves the Day. I used to come in as a kid and get sparklers and sneak peaks at the vintage Playboys." 

The East Village Love Saves the Day closed on Jan. 18, 2009. Word was their rent tripled. 

Their location remains open in New Hope, Pa.

The deadly Second Avenue gas explosion in March 2015 destroyed three buildings here, including the space (119 Second Ave.) that housed the shop for 43 years.

Week in Grieview

[Photo Wednesday in East River Park by Gregg Greenwood]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Petition asks Madison Realty Capital to waive legal fees for evicted East Village family (Wednesday)

Reader reports: An early-morning police search on 5th Street and 6th Street (Wednesday)

The conversation continues on the now-approved tech hub for 14th Street (Thursday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Performance Space New York unveils fall season (Wednesday)

Spend the day looking at more photos from East Village artist Carole Teller (Friday)

Sen. Hoylman speaks out against use of Monsanto's weed killer Roundup in New York (Wednesday)

Report: Canadian investor buys 62-64 3rd Ave. (Tuesday)

More bubble tea for the Bubble Tea District (aka St. Mark's Place) (Tuesday)

A new mural to mark the 30th anniversary of Basquiat's death (Sunday)

Dia bringing Roman-style pizza and coastal Italian seafood to 2nd Avenue (Thursday)


[The Hobo Line on 10th Street near 3rd Avenue]

Eat's Khao Man Gai opens on 6th Street (Thursday)

The space for rent in the former Warhol-owned building where Basquiat last lived on Great Jones (Monday)

Chinese restaurant coming to this 3rd Avenue storefront (Tuesday)

Brown out again at the Verizon building (Monday)

Did you hear the one about the comedy club opening tonight on 4th Street? (Tuesday)

Good burger: Lunch break with Iggy Pop and the Death Valley Girls (Wednesday)

Bingbox Snow Cream is moving away from 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

Full reveal at 127 Avenue D (Thursday)

Some back rent due at ZaabVer Thai on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

Back to the blackout of 2003 (Tuesday)

You may now buy your Halloween costume this August (Monday)

... and there's a free screening tomorrow at 1 p.m. of "Desperately Seeking Susan" at the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street... On Thursday, the day that Aretha Franklin died, our friend Alex pointed out this scene from the film ... featuring Madonna (who happened to turn 60 on Thursday) at Love Saves the Day (one of the buildings destroyed in the deadly March 2015 gas explosion on Second Avenue) ... and a soundtrack courtesy of Aretha ...



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Week in Grieview

[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

The Sock Man is returning to St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

Gregg Singer secures $44 million loan to continue plan to convert former PS 64 into a dorm (Monday)

Report: East Village man admits to three sexual assaults in 2014 (Wednesday)

At ABC No Rio's last HardCore/Punk Matinee on Rivington Street (for now) (Tuesday)

Reverend Jen departs her LES home, and Troll Museum (Tuesday)

A visit to former East Village mainstay Love Saves the Day in New Hope, Pa. (Thursday)

Brooklyn's Dun-Well Doughnuts opening an outpost on St. Marks's Place (Wednesday)

Out and About with Colette Pwakah (Wednesday)

Another freeze on 1-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments; 2% for 2-year leases (Tuesday)

Other Music storefront is for rent (Monday)

The Kati Roll Company vying for the Stage space on Second Avenue (Friday)

Thursday Kitchen will serve Korean tapas on East Ninth Street (Tuesday)

235 Second Ave. being pitched for bar-restaurant usage (Wednesday)

B4 has closed on East Fourth Street (Thursday)

Final 4Knots Festival lineup unveiled (Monday)

Checking out the penthouse at THREE99 — "unlike any apartment ever in the East Village" (Friday)

Sweetgreen opening on Astor Place (Thursday)

The black crowned night heron continues to come out at... night in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday)

Two more sidewalk cafe choices for Second Avenue (Tuesday)

Films in Tompkins return this summer with "Do the Right Thing," "True Romance" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (Friday)

A reminder about breath-holding contests (Wednesday)

Osaka Grub bringing Japanese fast food to the Essex Street Market (Tuesday)

Full reveal at Icon Realty's 327 E. Ninth St. (Tuesday)

Inch by inch, 190 Bowery is losing its graffiti (Thursday)

A visit to former East Village mainstay Love Saves the Day in New Hope, Pa.

Photos and text by Shawn Chittle

Tucked neatly away along the Delaware River not far from where Washington made his famous crossing lies a lovely little town called New Hope, Pa. I took a two-hour car ride (it goes by fast) here and found an old friend: Love Saves The Day, the former vintage store on Second Avenue and Seventh Street made famous, in part, by its appearance in the 1985 film “Desperately Seeking Susan.”

I introduced myself to the the manager, Stasia Kauriga. “We love our East Village fans,” she told me.


[From left: Stasia Kauriga, manager; Adam, music associate; Jill Edge, asst. manager]

She told me about the day when her phone wouldn’t stop ringing with people worried about the store after the deadly Second Avenue explosion in March 2015, which destroyed three buildings including the original Love Saves the Day location at No. 119.

“I had to tell them we actually weren’t at that location anymore.” she said.

The East Village Love Saves the Day closed on Jan. 18, 2009, after 43 years in business. Word was their rent tripled.

However, Love Saves the Day already had a presence in New Hope. "We just moved the Second Avenue inventory here when we couldn’t maintain that location,” Kauriga said.

That news was a surprise to me. I had always thought that the store closing in 2009 was for a move to New Hope. But the New Hope storefront has been around a long time, and it looks at home on the town's Main Street.

As I look around the store, it looks all so familiar, but so much larger.





Then I spot something familiar in the corner: the original Love Saves the Day awning from Second Avenue. It’s peeking out from behind a corner, looking worn and forgotten, but a welcome sight nonetheless.



All my "Star Wars" toys from the 1970s are here, along with Beatles records and collectables, everything KISS, Pee Wee Herman, lunch boxes, and kitsch galore. Frankly, the prices are affordable and I left with a few treasures.



The sense of humor and adventure, all the charm and pure East Village that was the store on Second Avenue is here in abundance, and I do mean abundant. The store has both an upstairs and downstairs.





Love Saves The Day is located at 1 S Main St, New Hope, Pa., and is open Mon-Fri: 11 am - 6 pm, Sat 11 am - 7 pm and Sun 11 am - 6 pm.

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[119 2nd Ave. from early 2009]

[Updated] Love saved the day

The other day I noticed that someone added a heart and sign on the corner of Second Avenue and East 7th Street, where the three buildings came down following the March 26 gas explosion.

I thought it might be in memory of the two victims, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Ismael Locón Yac.

But it's actually for the former business at 119 Second Ave. — Love Saves the Day...



...someone misses the store...



Updated 2/15

EVG reader Daniel shared these photos he took earlier in the month ... when Nicholas Figueroa's father Nixon and brother Neal placed Valentine's Day messages on the fence...

2nd Avenue update (April 17)

[Photo this week by Derek Berg]

The love story behind B&H Dairy (Off the Grid)

Destroyed deli cancels online fundraiser. "I feel guilty getting someone else's money," said Roop Bring, who opened Sam's Deli at 123 Second Ave. in 1997. (DNAinfo)

Alleged gas siphoning only further fuels turmoil at another EV building (The Villager)

Recap of Saturday's Small Business Crawl on Second Avenue (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Via Della Pace owners worry that without help, blast site will be a "Ghost Corner" (Bedford + Bowery)

Firefighter honored for heroics in East Village blast (Daily News)

Four East Village cats remain missing (The Villager)

The return of Standings (Vice Sports)

The "Love Saves the East Village" is an all-day benefit concert tomorrow at La Palapa on St. Mark's Place (EVG, Facebook)

"Eastville Loves the East Village: A Benefit for the Victims of the East Village Fire" on May 19 (Facebook)

... and Enz's, the longtime rockabilly boutique in one of the retail spaces at 125 Second Ave., has a new pop-up shop ... opening today at 90 Stanton St. between Ludlow and Allen...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Diane McLean
Occupation: Child Psychiatrist at Lincoln Medical Center
Location: East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue
Time: 10 am on Friday, April 10

I’m from New York, born on the Upper West Side. My father was from Baton Rouge, La., and my mother grew up on a farm in Canada and became a nurse. They met in Montreal and had never lived in New York, but they came, got married and loved the city. My brother and I were born here, grew up here. After college my father became ill and my mother ended up leaving the city.

I wanted to come back after college and build a home here because the city was my home. I had $300 in my pocket. I lived in the living room of my college roommate's apartment with her friends. I got a job. I was able to sublet and share an apartment. That was in January 1979 and by August two friends and I found an apartment. It didn’t have any ceilings. It didn’t have a bathroom. It didn’t have a fridge. It didn’t have a stove — anything. It only had two outlets in the whole apartment. But it had light, windows and high ceilings.

We wrote a contract with the landlord and we committed to building a home. It was my first adult, actually my only adult home. This has been it. We renovated it and created the apartment. The landlord then sold the building to the Hrynenkos. We ended up being in landlord tenant court for nine months because they decided not to put in a stove, fridge, bathroom or wire it for lights. So eventually they had to do that.

I took over the lease in the early 1980s. Love Saves the Day was in the retail space of my building [at 119 Second Avenue at East Seventh Street]. The people who owned it were friends. Tom Birchard and Sally Haddock, who owned Veselka, lived in my building.

When we were working on that apartment, I locked myself out and my two roommates were working late. I couldn’t get in, so I went to Veselka, but I had no money because I was a graduate student. I could only buy coffee and I sat at a table and the hours started to go by. The waitress came by and said, ‘Oh aren’t you going to get anything else’ and she kept coming back and finally I said, ‘You know, I don’t really have money and I’m just waiting for my friends.’ And then she came over and brought a huge plate of food, enough to feed three people and she said, ‘Eat, eat, you have to eat. You’re young, you need strength, you need meat on your bones.’ She fed me. And that for me was our neighborhood. People helped each other out in the East Village.

---

Affordability and light and air brought me to the neighborhood. Light and air were a priority for me, so it didn’t matter that the apartment had nothing. There was nothing I could afford anywhere else, and also, everything was open at night. I started a masters in public health at Columbia a month after we started that apartment. I was given the gift of my parents believing in education. I was fortunate to go to an amazing university, Harvard, and then to Columbia, and I always felt I could put that back into use. You use your skills to give people the best and I could do that.

I’ve always done public service. As a New Yorker, I felt I could put my education to use. I was first an epidemiologist. I have a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Columbia and a Masters of Public Health. Epidemiology is a science to understand the causes of disease in people. Why do people get sick and what can we do to prevent it. I committed to trying to understand this.

In 1990, two surgeons at Harlem hospital published a paper saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute, people in our community of central Harlem are dying at earlier ages than men and women in Bangladesh, which has fewer resources. Why in the greatest city on Earth, are people dying from preventable illness before they’re 65 in central Harlem? So the CDC funded a network of research centers to understand that. In 1991, I became the first director of research of epidemiology at that center, based in Harlem Hospital, connected to Columbia. We were committed to doing participatory research, involving the community, in figuring out what was happening in the community. People were really dying of preventable illnesses.

At that time, I met doctors at Harlem Hospital who were amazing. They could have worked anywhere and they were committed to doing just that. Not just the research, but providing the best care to people in the community. I got inspired to go back to school and become a doctor. I went back to school at night. I took physics, biology, organic chemistry at night as a second job in addition to this. And I applied to medical school. I was incredibly fortunate that Cornell accepted me. I was their oldest student at 42. It’s a progressive medical school. It’s one of the most diverse in the country across social class, background and education.

Right now, I am incredibly fortunate to be a child psychiatrist, working in the Child Outpatient Clinic of Lincoln Hospital. We serve the South Bronx community, one of the most underserved in the country. We serve children and families. I have great colleagues and we’re a wonderful clinic. We do everything we can.

---

I’m a single mother with an 8 year old and two 5 year olds. I’m an alternative family. I’m an older mother, and I’m a single mother by choice. This is a diverse neighborhood, and that’s what I want my kids to know — that you can have every kind of family. Every kind of person lives in our neighborhood. That’s what I want them to in a sense take in by breathing by walking around. Our neighborhood is a little microcosm of New York.

[After the deadly explosion and fire of March 26], my challenge that keeps me from not sleeping is that my family has to find a home. We don’t have a home. Cooper Square Committee is inviting me for an interview, which I am so grateful for. They are the only ones to do that. They might possibly have a studio. I would be grateful for a roof over our head but four people in 375 square feet is very tough. People are looking but there’s nothing out there. So that’s our challenge — to somehow, somewhere find affordable housing where we can commute to the Children’s Workshop School.

I’m absolutely trying to take a positive attitude. I believe in the future and I’m a positive person. But that does not mean that we’re OK. People gave me everything I’m wearing besides my shoes and my jacket — the shirt, the pants, the socks. But I feel good about that. I’m walking around and I can say, ‘Oh yeah, Lori and Rachel gave me that,’ and my kids can get up in the morning and say, ‘I’m putting on Ella’s clothes, I’m putting on Zachary’s clothes.’ We’re wearing people’s care and that’s practically helpful, but now we have to get to the next step. I’m really overwhelmed on how we’re going to get there, and that’s what I don’t know.

I’m hoping we can find that and I’m hoping all of my neighbors can, especially my other neighbors who were rent-stabilized and rent-controlled. Every person was displaced. Every person lost their homes and every person lost everything. But we lost the ability to pay for housing. We lost the ability to create new housing. That is so far not what the city can offer. They can offer us shelter but they’re not offering anything else. And probably they have goodwill and maybe they can’t. You want to think the best.

We’re going back, definitely, for real. I know that corner from every possible angle, in every weather, in every season. I know everything about it. I can walk through every inch of that apartment in my memory; I can walk through every life stage of that apartment. I made it a home for my kids. It was my only home.

--

You may find more information on Diane's GoFundMe page here.

--

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

[Updated] The remains

Late-night photos of 119-123 Second Ave. via @edenbrower …



119 Second Ave. at the corner of East Seventh Street (one-time home to Love Saves the Day) is gone … as is 121 Second Ave., where the blast occurred yesterday afternoon (Sushi Park is the retail tenant), and 123 Second Ave., where Pommes Frittes and Sam's Deli were the retail businesses. We do not know the status of Enz's, the shop at 125 Second Ave., though we did hear via Facebook that owner Mariann Marlowe got away safely. The folks at B&H Dairy at 127 Second Ave. reported on Facebook that they are OK and will be open for business soon…

The latest published reports say that 19 people were injured, four critically. Two men are still missing. Will continue to update today throughout the day.


[Via Google Streetview]

The Village Chinese Therapy Center and King's Copies were also destroyed on East Seventh Street...


[Via Google Streetview]

Next-door neighbors Jimmy's No. 43 and Standings are day to day...

We'll remain closed today. We're day to day and will update as we have news to share. Thanks for love + support.

— Jimmy's No. 43 (@JimmysNo43) March 27, 2015

Iconic East Village storefronts up on the roof

James and Karla Murray are recreating life-sized versions of three iconic East Village storefronts tonight atop the Housing Works Rooftop, 743-749 E. Ninth St. at Avenue D.

It's for the East Village Community Coalition 10-year-anniversary celebration this evening. (You can buy tickets at the door. It starts at 6:30.)

Their storefront photos represented tonight are CBGB, Love Saves the Day (Both RIP, of course) and Stage.



Their books include "Store Front — The Disappearing Face of New York."

Former Love Saves the Day space on the market

East Noodle & Izakaya closed here at 119 Second Ave. at East Seventh Street last August … after sitting empty these past nine months, two small for rent signs have arrived on the front window … we didn't spot the listing online anywhere … we're curious about the asking rents here.



This was, we think, the second ramen place to try this high-profile space since Love Saves the Day closed on Jan. 18, 2009, after 42 years in business. Word was their rent tripled.


Jeremiah Moss had a post on this corner just last week. Check that out here.

P.S.
Since the phone number on the for rent sign got cut off … it's 347-608-4058 in case you are interested…

East Noodle & Izakaya has apparently closed on Second Avenue

Well, yeah... it hasn't looked open lately... The phone is temporarily disconnected... and there are piles of trash bags inside the restaurant, as you might be able to see from this photo...



If memory serves (usually not), this was the second ramen place to try the location of the former Love Saves the Day... a renovation that brought out some anti-ramen graffiti and tiresome daily blog updates by one local blogger.

Love Saves the Day closed on Jan. 18, 2009, after 42 years in business.


Previously.