Thursday, June 30, 2016

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.

-----


[119 2nd Ave. from early 2009]

B4 has closed on East 4th Street



After nearly a three-year run at 235 E Fourth St. near Avenue B, B4 has closed... there is an eviction note via the Marshal posted on the front door...



B4 served "New American comfort food" ... It was a nice-looking restaurant, though it was never able to attract much of a crowd (it was often uncomfortably empty when we passed by in recent months) ... and B4 could seemingly never attract any of that brunch crew who flocks to Third and B every weekend.

B4 was the first restaurant from chef Shawn Jones, who runs a catering and events firm.

No. 235 has been a challenging spot in recent years for restaurants — Piccola Positano, Tonda and E.U. have all come and gone.

Sweetgreen opening on Astor Place


[Photo by Steven]

Work continues at 10 Astor Place between Broadway and Lafayette... where the signage arrived this week for another NYC location of Sweetgreen, the healthy quick-serve restaurant that offers various custom salads and grain bowls, etc.

No word yet on an opening date for this Sweetgreen. The company has plans to expand in NYC with at least four new locations citywide.

Inch by inch, 190 Bowery is losing its graffiti


[Photo from Sunday]

A few weeks back, we read a piece by Bucky Turco in Mass Appeal reporting that the landmarked 190 Bowery would be relieved of its graffiti — with one exception — here at Spring Street.

The first few photos in this post are from Sunday, showing the circa-1898 Germania Bank Building with its art intact...







On Tuesday, workers covered a small section of the south-facing wall ... as the buffing process began...



... and more arrived yesterday...



However, one tag will remain on the building: The "NEKST" on the front. Here's Mass Appeal with more:

Sean “NEKST” Griffin, a world renowned and respected writer, passed away unexpectedly in 2012. The prolific artist painted his name in cities all across the United States and is believed to have tagged the high profile Bowery spot sometime in 2007.

Aby Rosen's RFR Realty owns the building, and his crews are renovating the space for new tenants, including a creative fashion entity called Great Bowery.

Rosen bought the landmarked building from photographer Jay Maisel for a reported $55 million in 2014.

Rosen had said that the new tenant would have the final say on if the graffiti remained or got buffed out.
Mass Appeal reached out to creative house Great Bowery, the building’s main tenant to get their take on Rosen’s decision to buff the piece. “We would have much preferred the graffiti stay,” writes COO Melissa Kelly, “however we are really grateful that the landlord agreed to save the culturally significant NEKST piece.”

Previously

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Report: East Village man admits to 3 sexual assaults in 2014

In October 2014, police arrested Juan Scott for the attempted rape of a 20-year-old woman in an elevator at 600 E. 14th St. in Stuy Town. Scott was later linked to two other attacks, one on East 11th Street and one on East 13th Street.

He pleaded not guilt in November 2014, according to published reports.

CBS 2 now reports that Scott, 28, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court today to burglary as a sexually motivated felony, as well as two counts of sexual abuse.

Scott is set for sentencing on Sept. 6.

The Villager had previously reported that Scott is a cousin of Rosario Dawson. Her mother and father and other relatives lived at the now under-renovation 544 E. 13th St., where police arrested Scott.

Dips: You may now (officially) swim in city pools today


[EVG file photo, Tompkins Square Pool]

You make now go for a swim or maybe just jump in Hamilton Fish Pool on Pitt and East Houston ... the Dry Dock Pool on Avenue D and East 10th Street ... and the Tompkins Square Pool (mini pool for kids!) ...

As for lap action at Hamilton Fish, here are some details via the Lo-Down:

Lap swims are from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for early birds and 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for night owls in July and at dusk from August through Labor Day. A free t-shirt is up for grabs for participants who swim 25 miles or more over the summer and prizes are awarded to the top three male and female distance swimmers from each pool program.

No other word about laps at the neighborhood pools here ... and here or here.

Most pools are open from 11 a.m. through 7 p.m., with a break for pool cleaning between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Swimsuits are also required (not my rules).

A reminder about breath-holding contests



EVG contributor Steven spotted this new sign outside the pool in Tompkins Square Park.

Pools opened citywide today.

Remember, breath. And wear a swimsuit.

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing 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: Colette Pwakah
Occupation: Artist, Adventurer, and Part-Timer. Editor of Time Warp. (Find a PDF of the zine here.)
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 3 pm on Friday, June 10

This is Part 2 of our interview with Colette. Read Part 1 here. We start with the last paragraph from Part 1.

I left the city for maybe four months at a time each semester, and each time I came back to the city, the changes were very significant. It seems like time passes more quickly, here. You might leave for a week and it’s like a month has passed. It kind of freaked me out when I returned from my first semester and saw how the area around Mars Bar had changed in such little time. Astor Place suffered a similar fate. The streets are swarming with zombie-like people. It's like something outta the Twilight Zone.

I did a lot of research into local musicians, artists, and the area's history to help anchor me. My dad does The Shadow, so I get a lot of information about it, but it never really sunk in. I never really immersed myself in that history and in getting in touch with my community until I dropped out of college and needed to find myself.

In my research, I’d explore the city with new eyes. If you go out late at night and there’s no one on the streets, it’s kind of spooky. You can get really lost in that. It makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time almost. Time Warp kind of came out of that. To get lost in the past or that fantasy is what I would call a time warp — this kind of void or disconnection from reality. The only thing that could really get you out of that was punk rock or rock 'n roll music. It gets you energized, fired up, and makes you want to do something. There's a sense of urgency in it. I wanted to do something. I didn’t just want to sit around and be sad anymore.

With Time Warp, I am trying to inspire people to act and actually do something instead of just being sad and resigned to the situation we’re in. We need more people to get organized. We need people to get together and actually make some kind of action on a large scale, whether it’s protest, boycott, graffiti with a real message... Anything is better than just sitting around waiting for our doom.

Just go out and do things; be positive. Don't give up. The city hasn’t been entirely lost. Do anything you think will help — use your imagination. Get angry, create your own zine, start a band, post up flyers. For example, I saw a photo of a flyer posted in Chinatown explaining to people that AirBnB is destroying their neighborhood. A lot of people don’t get that what they're doing is contributing to the ruin of the places they visit or move to and that they can either be part of the problem or part of the solution.

John Holmstrom was our first interviewee. In the interview, he encouraged us by saying things like, “The world is coming to an end and you’re going to grow up with this stuff! You guys should be angry! You guys should be doing something to wake people up!” When he said that I was like, 'fuck yeah!'... It really inspired me.

Jeremiah Moss also has a piece titled Get Angry that we included in the zine. It pretty much summed up what I had been feeling. Expect more issues of Time Warp in the future... we've got a lot of ideas a brewin'. We’ve also been putting on free punk/variety shows in Tompkins Square Park with a handful of collaborators, including The Shadow. The shows are happening all throughout the summer and early fall. (Find a list of shows below.)

The city is an ecosystem. While studying biology and whatnot, I noticed that the city itself has distinct parts that it relies on to function. You’ve got small businesses that serve the community and invasive chains that are difficult to compete with. You've also got people that contribute in the various niches they fill. People need a habitat that can support them, too... If people are too occupied with merely staying afloat, they can't do much else. When we lose parts of our city ecosystem, it suffers and risks collapse.

New York is being made to suit the invasive class. They’re trying to make it into Disney World. They’re turning it into an entertainment zone. The New York City I love is vulgar, filthy, and full of unique people. They’re trying to turn it into this family friendly, sterile, clean, G-rated place. New York City is not an entertainment zone. New York City is not Disneyland. I mean, children grew up here and we turned out fine. We don’t need to have everything clean and censored. It’s not meant to be that way and these people are coming in and trying to change it. If you move here and want to be a part of it, that’s good. If you move in and you want to change the place or you don’t want to be a part of it, then what are you doing here? You’re just part of the problem.

A lot of these people are coming in here and isolating themselves. They don’t want to be part of the community. They want to impose their preferences on the people here. A lot of these invaders don’t like poor people. They don’t even like the people that they’re moving near. Why come here if you don’t like poor people, you don’t like working class people, you don’t like people who look different from you and act different from you?

You don’t have to be born here to become a New Yorker but you have to be part of the community. Just because you come in here and you paid millions for your apartment or you come in here and you’re rich, doesn’t mean you’re any better than people less fortunate than you. The so-called 'vagrants' have seen more shit, dealt with more shit. They're more respectable than yuppies or hipsters that just come in here thinking they own the place and should be respected, despite their lack of respect for other people.

What I love most about the city is the people. The people are what make the city special. They give the city its energy. People always talk about the city's unique aura or its energy. That’s what everyone usually notices when they come here, and that’s what everyone seems to love about it, but it’s the people that make that energy, and when you drive the people out, all that will remain is a sterile shell of its former self.

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

Upcoming shows in Tompkins Square Park:

Dr. Know Benefit Show — July 23:
Maximum Penalty, Antidote, Cro-Mags, Token Entry, and Breakdown

TSP Riot 28th Anniversary — Aug. 6:
Iconicide, Psycho Sin, Coffin Daggers, and Simon Chardet plus more TBA

TSP Riot 28th Anniversary — Aug. 7:
Hammerbrain, Nihilistics, ISM, Killer Instinct plus more TBA

Take Back NYC and FUCK WORLD TRADE !! - Sept. 11:
The Crack Rock Steady 7, All Torn Up!, The Flux Machine and more extra special guests, TBA...

235 2nd Ave. being pitched for bar-restaurant usage



There are retail possibilities being pitched for the ground floor and basement at 235 Second Ave. just north of 14th Street...



Here is one possibility via a rendering at ABS Partners (PDF here)...


[Via ABS]

The awnings show an establishment called Brag Haus!

Per this listing: "Ideal for a proven restaurant group to secure a long-term lease with over 3,550 total SF." The asking rent is avaibale upon request. Not sure what currently exists in this ground-floor space.

While this listing is for No. 235, there's another rendering showing the whole corner looking like...


[Updated] Brooklyn's Dun-Well Doughnuts opening an outpost on St. Mark's Place



At the beginning of June, we heard that a vegan doughnut shop was opening at 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. We didn't have more info, other than that the baking would be done off-premises.

Now EVG correspondent Steven notes that the sign arrived for Dun-Well Doughnuts ... the second outpost for the popular East Williamsburg-based vegan doughnut shop started in 2011 by friends Christopher Hollowell and Dan Dunbar.

No word on an opening date here at the space that previously housed New York Macaroni Co. and Puddin'.

Updated 1:30 p.m.

Per Gothamist:

Dunbar says the operation will be very similar to their Brooklyn original, with their full lineup of vegan doughnuts and pastries like pull-aparts, which they'll shuttle in daily from Montrose Avenue. "Right now it's a doughnut and coffee shop," according to Dunbar, who hopes to have their ice cream operation at the Manhattan spot at some point, too. Espresso drinks, Brooklyn egg creams, tea and lemonade will all be available at the St. Mark's shop.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Reverend Jen departs her LES home, and Troll Museum, for now



Longtime downtown performance artist Reverend Jen Miller has been evicted from her apartment, which also doubled as the Troll Museum, after 20 years.

Last Thursday, a Marshal reportedly entered her apartment while she was only wearing a towel after a shower and served the eviction notice via landlord Misrahi Realty. (There is a video of the incident here.)

Miller said that she was given three minutes to leave the sixth-floor, rent-stabilized walkup on Orchard Street where she has lived since 1995.

Miller told Gothamist that a series of illnesses landed her in the hospital several times last year, and that she fell behind on the rent. She wanted to work out a payment plan with the landlord.

[S]he insisted she never received warnings of an impending eviction. "On Thursday, they came to tell me I was post-eviction," she said, and "I was shocked." For now, Miller hopes to get a stay for at least three months, she said, but warned that if she's not granted a stay, she may refuse to leave anyway. "I'm at the end of my rope," she said, shaking her head. "I guess they can arrest me. Let them."

She was able to return to her apartment today to gather her things. She invited friends to help pack up (and take some of) her belongings. EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by...














Slum Goddess has more photos and a video here.

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



Bobby Williams got a photo of the black crowned night heron that has been spotted here and there around Tompkins Square Park the past few years...

EV Grieve Etc.: Protection for commercial tenants; Renovation estimates for Beth Israel


[Sidewalk sale on 7th Street from Sunday. Photo by Susan Schiffman]

The Mayor expected to sign legislation today establishing safeguards to prevent harassment of commercial tenants (DNAinfo)

Longtime LES resident Rev. Jen has been evicted, and her Troll Museum is being dismantled today (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

A conversation with Jonas Mekas, the 93-year-old artist and filmmaker, and founder of the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue (ARTnews)

Hospital officials say renovating Beth Israel would have cost $1.3 billion (Town & Village)

CB3 chair vote is tonight (BoweryBoogie)

Hi-Collar on East 10th Street named among the best iced-coffee drinks in NYC (Gothamist)

About Paradise Alley, an artists enclave on Avenue A through the 1960s (Ephemeral New York)


[A red-tailed hawk juvenile in Tompkins Square Park yesterday via Derek Berg]

Carroll Gardens neighborhood favorite Bergen Hill relocates to Cooper Square (Grub Street)

"The Lams of Ludlow Street" (The Lo-Down)

Check out Goggla's photos from the Drag March leaving Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)

More about “The Holdouts,” a comedy series about New Yorkers who can’t afford to live in the new New York (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Photos of the Ramones by Danny Fields (Slate)

The surprising backstory of White Zombie, "It Came from N.Y.C." (Flaming Pablum)

...and EVG contributor Steven spotted Theatre 80 proprietor Lorcan Otway outside 80 St. Mark's Place... building a model whaling ship....

Report: Another freeze on 1-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments; 2% for 2-year leases


Here's part of a report from The New York Times from the Great Hall at Cooper Union last evening:

The board that sets rents for more than one million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City voted on Monday to freeze rents for one-year leases for the second year in a row.

By a vote of 7 to 0, with two abstentions, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board also decided to raise rents by 2 percent for two-year leases, a modest rise that mirrors last year’s. The vote, which came during a typically emotional board meeting, was in keeping with the historically low rent increases that the board had previously approved during the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat who appointed the full board.

Head to the Times for full details and the usual drama.

WABC-7 reported that, given the number of people in attendance, it took an hour for tenants to file into Cooper Union.

Per The Wall Street Journal:

Landlord groups criticized the rent freeze, calling it a political move by the mayor and his appointees at a time when local property-tax assessments and other costs have been rising for years. They said owners’ heating costs haven’t fallen as much as the board’s data suggested.

“Another abhorrent illustration of de Blasio’s politics dictating housing policy,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, a group representing building owners.

To recap via Curbed: Now, tenants living in rent-stabilized units, whose leases expire between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017 can renew at the same rate for one-year, and tenants with two-year leases will be able to do so with a two percent increase.

Full reveal at Icon Realty's 327 E. 9th St.



Three-plus years in the making, Icon Realty’s six-story, two-unit residential building under construction at 327 E. Ninth St. has finally shown itself.

EVG contributor Steven noted that workers removed the scaffolding and construction netting here yesterday between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



We haven't seen any listings yet for the two units at this site of a former parking lot.

Issac & Stern Architects are the designers of record.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The big dig begins for 6-story, 2-unit condo on East 9th Street

East Ninth Street parking lot will yield to 6-floor residential building

2 more sidewalk cafe choices for 2nd Avenue

Two Second Avenue restaurants added sidewalk cafes last week... starting with Lions Beer Store on Second Avenue and Sixth Street, which features lamps — and lamp shades! ...



... and San Marzano at Seventh Street...



... which includes a few tables positioned on the Seventh Street side...



These two join Brick Lane Curry House, which debuted its sidewalk cafe on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street on June 15.

Photos by EVG contributor Steven

Thursday Kitchen will serve Korean tapas on East 9th Street



A few more details have emerged about the restaurant taking over the former King Bee space at 424 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue... the space will be called Thursday Kitchen, and serve Korean tapas, according to workers...



Thursday Kitchen is expecting to open in two more weeks.

As previously noted, a variety of concepts have come and gone in the space in recent years... including King Bee (Acadian cuisine), Exchange Alley (New Orleans-inspired fare), Olivia (Mediterranean), Sintir (Moroccan) and Zi' Pep (Italian).

Thanks to William Klayer for the photos and Steven for the initial tip.

Osaka Grub bringing Japanese fast food to the Essex Street Market

The Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St., has a new vendor ... Osaka Grub, which serves Japanese street food, officially opens today after a practice run this past weekend.

Via the EVG inbox...

Osaka Grub’s specialty is okonomiyaki, which is a savory ‘pancake’ originating from Osaka, Japan. They offer three versions; the classic shrimp & pork, a fully vegetarian miso mushroom, and an okonomiyaki slider. The okonomiyaki slider is a Japanese-American mashup which uses two mini pancakes to sandwich a beef patty. Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and hashimaki (okonomiyaki on a stick.

Osaka Grub’s founders are London expat David Senn and native New Yorker Diana Tam. The co-owners met in Tokyo, Japan where they lived and worked for a combined 8 years. A shared love for okonomiyaki spurred the beginning of this fast food startup. They debuted in the LIC Flea & Food in April 2015.

They will be open six days a week from Tuesday – Sunday.