Scenes from peaceful protests in Union Square

Thousands (and thousands) of people took part in peaceful demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality across the city this weekend as the anger over the death of George Floyd continues to show little sign of abating.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy has been at Union Square, and shared these photos from the weekend...

































The Instagram account @justiceforgeorgenyc has centralized information and daily updates on protests in NYC.

Week in Grieview

[6th Street at Avenue A]

Posts from this past week included...

• Scenes from the start of Monday night's peaceful protest on Avenue D (Tuesday)

• "You are here profiting off of our fucking pain" (Wednesday)

• Lower East Side against police brutality (Wednesday) More photos of the peaceful protests (Friday)

• Remembering victims of police violence (Friday) And on LinkNYC kiosks (Wednesday)

• Metrograph and Club Cumming are open to protestors this weekend (Saturday) Performance Space New York is now a rest stop for protestors (Friday) On 4th Street, the New York Theatre Workshop opens its door to protestors (Thursday)

• Police shoot knife-wielding man in deli at 10th Street and 3rd Avenue (Thursday)

• Are you interested in volunteering to help East Village businesses? (Friday)

• Reader report: A curfew arrest on 11th Street (Friday)

• Restaurant windows smashed along Avenue A, St. Mark's Place (Monday)

• Here's the moment of the break-in early this morning at Alphabet City Beer Co. (Monday)

• The break-in at Khiladi on Avenue B (Monday)

• Noting another break-in, this time at Rue-B (Monday)

• Protests turn chaotic last night south of Union Square with reports of trash fires on 3rd Avenue (Monday)

• The aftermath of looting on the Bowery last night (Monday)

• More post-protest looting and unrest south of Union Square; Astor Place hit (Tuesday)

• Starbucks on Astor Place hit again; arrests reported nearby (Tuesday)

• 2 break-ins on Avenue A: Village Square Pizza, Tompkins Finest Deli & Grill (Tuesday)

• Anwar Grocery burglarized (Saturday)

• This weeks NY See panel (Thursday)

• 2 break-in attempts in 1 night at East Village Finest Deli (Saturday)

• A reminder about maintaining social distance and wearing a mask on 9th Street (Sunday)

• Something new for the walls at Ray's Candy Store (Friday)

... and Codex Books on Bleecker at the Bowery recently reopened... one or two people in the shop at a time...





...open a few hours a day Thursday through Sunday...



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

Waiting in the wings

All three of Amelia and Christo's chicks fledged this past week in Tompkins Square Park ... Steven shared these photos of the chicks as they continue to build strength and learn how to use those wings ...













As Goggla reports, "the whole hawk family has been doing great and is staying together in the park." Check out her site for more photos.

And from yesterday, Christo...



... and Amelia at play...

We'll always have the Mars Bar

The Brant Foundation, which has a state-of-the-art security system over on Sixth Street, put up some low-tech plywood this past week... as other properties did around the neighborhood ...



And the first message to arrive on the plywood (on the Seventh Street side between Avenue A and First Avenue): "I miss Mars Bar" with a frowny face...



Mars Bar closed on July 18, 2011, according to the tally marks on our wall.

East Village storefronts show their support

[Sweet Generation Bakery, 1st Avenue]

A sampling...


[Union Market, A and Houston]


[Saifee Hardware, 1st Avenue]


[Ladybird, 7th Street]


[Night Music, 7th Street]


[Club Cumming, 6th Street]


[East Side Ink, Avenue B]


[C&B Cafe, 7th Street]


[St. Dymphna's, Avenue A]


[The New Stand, the Bowery]


[Three Kings Tattoo, 10th Street]


[Trash & Vaudeville, 7th Street]

Green days: A neighbor helps a neighbor on 2nd Avenue

In other storefront news... Le Fournil was among the local businesses to suffer damage last Saturday night... someone smashed in the bakery's front window here at 115 Second Ave. at Seventh Street.

For now, cardboard and plywood cover the former window space. To help make the exterior look a little more inviting, Sunny Hwang, the owner of Sunny's Florist a block away on Sixth Street, donated some plants and flowers for Le Fournil's sidewalk, EVG contributor Derek Berg reports.

EVG Etc. Defunding the NYPD; feeding the hungry on the LES

[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

• Police reform advocates want Mayor de Blasio to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget. Per local City Council member Carlina Rivera: "It’s absolutely shameful, that in the wake of all of these protests, our mayor still clings to the notion that the NYPD’s massive budget doesn’t play a huge role in the inequities and racism that we see in this city." (NY1)

• What could NYC do with its $6 billion police budget? (Curbed)

• Details on the 10th day of protests in the city (Gothamist)

• More arrests, more calls to end the curfew (B&B)

• Supporting black-owned restaurants in NYC (Eater)

• Efforts to provide meals to the growing numbers of homeless and in-need residents on the Lower East Side (The Nation)

• Online Pride Month activities (Stonewall50)

• 1 Union Square South fetches $200 million (The Real Deal)

• The plan for expanded outdoor dining in NYC (Grub Street)

• Diversions: Punk covers of AC/DC songs (Dangerous Minds)

Anwar Grocery burglarized

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Anwar Hossain, who owns Anwar's Grocery at 106 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, arrived to work yesterday morning to find his front door knocked in and $1,200 missing from the cash register.



Anwar said that there isn't any video record of the burglary. He plans to ask the building's landlord for help getting additional plywood to prevent or deter another break-in.



While Anwar was sad about the burglary, he remains optimistic about the future and said he doesn't have plans to close the store. The grocery's hours will remain flexible for now.

Metrograph and Club Cumming are open to protestors this weekend

The independent cinema down at 7 Ludlow St. is opening its lobby this weekend (2-6 p.m.) for people taking part in peaceful protests... offering up water and other supplies as well as use of the theater's restrooms.

Metrograph is the latest arts-theater space to take part in the growing Open Your Lobby campaign... other neighborhood participants include the Public Theater ... the New York Theatre Workshop ... and Performance Space New York.

For updated lists on NYC protests, you can visit @justiceforgeorgenyc. And you can make a sign today (starting at noon, and they have supplies) at Amy Van Doran's Modern Love Club, 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Updated:

Club Cumming on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is also open to protestors...

View this post on Instagram

We are here if you need us 1pm-5pm Water, Snacks, PPE, First Aid, Restroom #openyourlobby #blacklivesmatter

A post shared by Club Cumming (@clubcumming) on Jun 6, 2020 at 8:15am PDT

Reopenings: The Coffee Project, the EVO juice bar, the Hard Swallow, Big Bar, Otto's Shrunken Head and more

The Coffee Project started takeout service this past week here on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. For now, their hours are 8 a.m. to noon.

In other reopenings... the juice bar at East Village Organic is up and running again. The market at 124 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place also extended their hours to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• The Hard Swallow, 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, is offering take-home drinks and hot dogs from noon to 7 p.m. daily.


[Photo by Steven]

• Big Bar, 75 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will be open for takeout drinks from noon to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow.

• Otto's Shrunken Head, 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, will be offering "Tiki ToGo" from 2-6 p.m. today and tomorrow.

• Papilles, 125 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is offering a three-course meal for takeout or delivery. Details here.

• Kindred, 342 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has unveiled Kindred Spirits & Provisions, offering a variety of to-go items. Open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details here.

2 break-in attempts in 1 night at East Village Finest Deli

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Two attempted break-ins occurred this past Tuesday night at East Village Finest Deli on the southwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street.

The first attempt occurred when a man took a hammer to the door at 12:23 a.m. Several hours later, a man with a skateboard, possibly seeing that there was already a smashed door, tried to finish the job and get in at 4:38 a.m.

Manager Anwar Shahbain told me that Mohammad, a neighbor in the building across the street, screamed through the window at the perpetrators, potentially scaring them off while another neighbor called the police. (The store also has an alarm.)



Anwar expressed gratitude to his neighbors as well as to Sgt. Omar Elsayed at the 9th Precinct, who responded to the burglary attempts and called the family multiple times to alert them to the attempted break-ins.



Anwar arrived at 5:09 a.m. and spotted Mohammad, who was still standing in the window across the street, arms crossed, keeping an eye on the business.

East Village Finest Deli will keep their COVID-19-adjusted hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but have boarded up the store with plywood for now.

And in the photo below (from the left) Ahmed Almulaiki, Mohammed Alaskari, Anwar Shahbain and Yusif Zindari ...

Friday's parting shot

EVG reader Juli S. spotted this discarded flat-screen TV today on 10th Street near First Avenue ... the sign notes, "As broken as our justice system" ...