Thursday, October 6, 2022
Police: Delivery man slashed in face at 7th Street and Avenue A entrance to Tompkins Square Park
Photos by Stacie Joy
The injured man was taken to hospital, but his condition is not life-threatening, sources confirmed.
It's not immediately clear what led to the slashing, which an EVG reader said occurred right inside the park entrance.
Police have once again closed off the area around the chess tables steps away from this entrance to Tompkins, something which has happened multiple times in recent years. There have been numerous reader reports about drug use, stolen property and fights in this space.
The annual Harvest Arts Festival starts tomorrow in East Village community gardens
This year's 9-day festival includes activities at dozens of East Village/LES community gardens, each featuring various performances, concerts, workshops and other related events.
Check the LUNGS website here for the day-by-day, garden-by-garden schedule.
The opening-night festivities are at La Plaza Cultural on the SW corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C... featuring "LGBTQ performers highlighting famed artists from the legendary Apollo Theater, with guest MC Lee Soldier Simmons." The show starts at 6:30 p.m.
These 'Friends' are looking to care for Tompkins Square Park
The group's first event is this Saturday (Oct. 8). Volunteers can meet at the Park office/fieldhouse at 9 a.m. to pick up trash and rake leaves.
On Oct. 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friends of Tompkins Square Park will gather in the main lawn/central plaza to plant flower bulbs and spruce up the garden areas.
Gloves and tools will be provided ... though you are welcome to bring your own favorite trash grabber or rake.
City parks have faced maintenance staff shortages in recent months... which has been noticeable to East Village residents who frequent Tompkins Square Park.
The Partnerships for Parks is mentoring Friends of Tompkins Square Park.
Background: "Partnerships for Parks is a unique public-private partnership between City Parks Foundation and NYC Parks that supports and champions neighborhood volunteers by giving them the tools they need to advocate and care for their neighborhood parks and green spaces."
Zee Convenience & Smoke debuts on Avenue A
The signage notes that available goods here include CBD/hemp, beverages, e-cigarettes, snacks and hookah.... and, per this interior photo by Lola Sáenz, paper towels and cigars...
We understand that ownership here operates other shops, perhaps Zee Smoke & Convenience (not to be confused with Zee Convenience & Smoke) on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.
Caffè Bene closed here in December after nearly six years in business.
And as previously noted ... back in May, the owners of Keybar on 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue were looking to relocate here, but the application didn't make it past Community Board 3.
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Noted
The truck, selling shawarma and kebab plates, was previously stationed on Sixth Street at Avenue A for most of August and September.
Long-vacant P.S. 64 now being pitched for medical use, educational purposes
Photo from July by Stacie Joy
An EVG tipster points us to a new listing from late last week at LoopNet. According to the listing, 156,000 square feet of space is available for sale or lease here between Avenue B and Avenue C via Wexler Healthcare Properties at the Corcoran Group.
The listing states:
The redevelopment and historic restoration of this century-old landmark, a former New York City elementary school, can be transformed into a variety of modern, amenity-rich opportunities, including:• Student Dormitories• Education Center College• Satellite Campus• Medical Center• Nursing Home• Assisted Living
The listing also notes that the property "can be made Article 28 compliant" and "leasehold condo structure considered."
The building became the CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center after the school left in 1977. New landlord Gregg Singer reportedly evicted the group in December 2001. He bought the property from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.15 million.
As previously reported, ownership of the property had been in transition. In January, Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane ruled that Madison Realty Capital could move forward with a foreclosure against Singer after years of delay.
Madison Realty Capital reportedly provided Singer with a $44 million loan on the property in 2016. Court records show that he failed to repay the balance by its maturity date in April 2016, and by that September, the lender filed to foreclose, as reported by The Real Deal.
Now we're back to some familiar proposed uses for the space. Singer wanted to turn the building into a dorm (more here), though those plans never materialized. (In past years, the Joffrey Ballet and Cooper Union were attached to the project.)
There was also a moment when the building could have been used for medical purposes: In March 2020, Singer reportedly offered the building to the city for use in treating patients with COVID. The city declined.
The address has multiple open fines and violations with the Department of Buildings, which still has a Stop Work Order (dating to August 2015) and a Full Vacate Order (from February 2019).
Meanwhile, there is a continued call to return the building for community use.
The five-story building has been vacant for 20-plus years.
Beat happening: A plaque unveiling at the former residence of Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs
The event takes place outside 204-206 E. Seventh St. between Avenue B and Avenue C, where the two lived in a third-floor apartment in the early 1950s. According to NYU's Grey Art Gallery, "Ginsberg took some of his best-known photographs of the Beats in this apartment, on the building's roof, and on the fire escape."
We will install a plaque to commemorate the Beat Generation at a building where Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs lived early in their careers. The two and occasional visitor Jack Kerouac formed the nucleus of this influential post-war countercultural movement. We will hear excerpts from their work and a discussion of the importance of the Beat Generation and of these authors' early work.
The festivities begin at 5:30. Village Preservation asks attendees to register here in advance.
Ginsberg lived in multiple apartments in the neighborhood from the 1950s to his death in 1997, including 170 E. Second St., 704 E. Fifth St., 408 E. 10th St., 437 E. 12th St. and 404 E. 14th St.
These 3 East Village restaurants make list of new Bib Gourmands
Background, per the news release: "Introduced in 1997, the Bib Gourmands are awarded to restaurants that earn the attention of Michelin inspectors for an affordable and remarkable dining experience. Bib Gourmand restaurants offer a full menu of a starter, main course and dessert, making it possible to order two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for around $49 or less (tax and gratuity not included)."
Here’s the list of new East Village Bib Gourmands, with a short description of each restaurant that Michelin provided... and we're noting that Google lists Dumpling Lab as permanently closed, and their phone is not in service.
• Dumpling Lab, 214 E. Ninth St. [Updated: The restaurant has closed.]
Cuisine: Chinese
There are flashy dishes, like uni dumplings made with squid ink-tinted wrappers and dusted with gold powder, though some of the best dishes are dressed down and offer amped-up flavor.
• Soda Club, 155 Avenue B
Cuisine: Vegan
The name is derived from Italy's tradition of hand-crafted sodas; and its spirit from the turbulent Prohibition era. On the menu, house-made pasta is a focus. There are also natural wines to accompany the seasonal, deftly executed vegan dishes.
Yellow Rose, 102 Third Ave.
Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Amidst this setting of weathered wood and stained glass chandeliers, diners can be found devouring Tex-Mex food with a focus on tacos and inspired cocktails. Flour tortillas are made in-house daily and feature in a myriad of deliciously dressed-down creations.
Several EV establishments continued to receive recognition from Michelin, including standbys such as
Van Đa and MáLà Project. Find the complete list here. (And Prune remains on the list despite being on hiatus since March 2020.)
This year's star ratings for New York restaurants will be announced on Thursday (tomorrow).
Image via @yellowrose.nyc
Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Coming soon: the 'Meet Me in the Bathroom' documentary
The doc, directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Based on Lizzy Goodman's 2017 book, "Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011," the documentary reportedly focuses on 1999-2004 and bands that include the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, Liars and the Moldy Peaches.
The East Village and Lower East Side played a supporting role with venues such as the Mercury Lounge and now-shuttered spaces like the Luna Lounge, Plant Bar and Sidewalk Cafe.
Here's part of a review via Brooklyn Vegan:
The footage Southern and Lovelace managed to get their hands on is the real reason to watch Meet Me in the Bathroom: The Strokes playing Don Hills and Mercury Lounge in 2000; Paul Banks in his pre-Interpol singer-songwriter days (as well as footage of him in downtown Manhattan on 9/11); Moldy Peaches at Sidewalk Cafe; the August 2002 Williamsburg parking lot show with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Oneida and more that had crowds of people watching on every adjacent rooftop; and so much more that you didn't know existed...Meet Me in the Bathroom does a good job of dropping you into a time and place that is gone and could not happen today. "I was there!" James Murphy cries in "Losing My Edge." If this doesn't totally make you feel like you were there, it comes close.
Look for the first trailer soon.
Meanwhile, enjoy the first show by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Mercury Lounge on Sept. 24, 2000 ...Remembering off-Broadway theater legend Jeff Weiss
Jeff Weiss, an actor, playwright and "doyen of downtown performance" who received multiple Obie Awards, died on Sept. 18 at an assisted living facility near his childhood home of Allentown, Pa. He was 82.RIP to NYC downtown theatre legend Jeff Weiss. I had the privilege of working on the 2015 revival of his serialized masterpiece ‘And That’s How the Rent Gets Paid’ @TheKitchen_NYC . A highlight of my life. He was such a genius, and so fiercely loved by all who knew him ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BdReD1rw2i
— Jane Bradley (@jebrad88) September 19, 2022
Longtime residents recall performances at Good Medicine & Company, the storefront theater that Weiss and his partner Carlos Ricardo Martinez operated from their 10th Street apartment.
Said one EVG reader in an email: "None of us who were privileged to see him perform in the tiny theater he created on East 10th Street will ever forget those nights. Nor will anyone who saw the various incarnations of 'And That's How The Rent Gets Paid,' which he performed at La MaMa, forget the brush with the genius that was Jeff."
"Jeff was one of the greatest figures in the history of American theater," Charles Richter, retired director of theater at Muhlenberg College and co-founder of Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre, told the Lehigh Valley Press. "He never sold out. He always had enormous integrity. He was always asking profound life questions in shocking and hilariously funny ways."
Here's more about Weiss via a feature obituary at Artforum:
Forgoing formal acting training — he reportedly quit Stella Adler's class after a single session, finding it to be an "offensive lesson in group therapy" — Weiss's made his onstage debut at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in 1964 in Robert Sealy's "Waiting Boy."In the ensuing years, Weiss would regularly perform at the storied venue, garnering attention for his eccentric and unnerving performances in productions such as Louis Mofsie's "Three Mask Dances" (1966); Jean Reavey's "Window" (1966); H.M. Koutoukas's "When Clowns Play Hamlet" (1967); and Julie Bovasso's "Gloria and Esperanza" (1969), among others.
His last performance came at La MaMa in May 2017.
Jeff Weiss, a singular theater artist, a great influence on me and many others, died this weekend. Have a look at this video he left. His energy, his will to perform, his innocence is astounding.https://t.co/O1V5UtRc7v
— Harvey Fierstein (@HarveyFierstein) September 19, 2022
Construction watch: 351 E. 10th St.
As previously reported, the long-empty lot is yielding an 8-floor residential building featuring 28 residences. News of housing here dates to October 2019, when an array of city and federal officials came together during a press conference "to celebrate the commencement of the preservation and rehabilitation of project-based Section 8 housing in the East Village." During this event, officials noted that more affordable housing was set for this 10th Street parcel.
It appears that 30% of those 28 units will be considered "affordable." Here's more from the website of Goshow Architects:
[The building is] intended to interchangeably mix market rate (70%) and affordable (30%) dwelling units. In the interest of dignity-for-all, there is absolutely no distinction between the two: same size rooms, same kitchen appliances, same level of fit and finish.
The rendering at the lot lists a completion date of Sept. 1, 2023.
Previously on EV Grieve:
A new art installation on Astor Place honors playwright-activist Lorraine Hansberry
Coinciding with the staging of this 1959 classic ... is an installation on Astor Place by Alison Saar titled "To Sit A While."
Here's more via the Village Alliance:
"To Sit A While" features the figure of Hansberry surrounded by five bronze chairs, each representing a different aspect of her life and work. The life-size chairs are an invitation to the public to do just that: to sit with her and think.
Hansberry was the first Black woman to have her work produced on Broadway. She died of pancreatic cancer in 1965 at age 34.
The installation, which has been in several NYC locations since June, will be here through Oct. 21.
Thanks to Steven for the photo.
Openings: Irving Farm New York on 10th Street
Irving Farm New York is now open at 79 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. (We first reported on this pending arrival in early January.)
This is the eighth cafe/coffee shop in NYC (plus one upstate in Millerton, where they also operate a roastery) for the company that started on Irving Place in 1996.
The cafe is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an 8 a.m. start on Saturdays and Sundays.
No. 79 was previously City of Saints Coffee Roasters, which debuted in June 2014 and never reopened after the PAUSE of March 2020.
Monday, October 3, 2022
Monday's parting shot
Photo by Derek Berg
On Second Avenue today... and keep those umbrellas handy — showers are expected through Wednesday.
Jean-Luc Godard screenings this month at the Quad Cinema
The series starts this Wednesday with "A Married Woman" from 1964.
Visit this link for more information on the films and showtimes.
Godard died on Sept. 13 at age 91.
Exclusive: This is the new tenant for the former Gem Spa space
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Owner Parviz Mukhamadkulov (pictured below) received the keys to the space — officially 36 St. Mark's Place — on Friday. This will be the second Manhattan location for the brand, which has seven spots in Brooklyn.
Mukhamadkulov, from Uzbekistan, has said that he has wanted to own his own café since he was a kid and watched his father work as a coffee wholesaler.
The café will serve housemade pastries, including croissants and several varieties of baked pierogies, which are more popular in central Asia as opposed to boiled or fried dumplings... and with coffee beans from a roaster in Brooklyn. With the landlord's permission, Mukhamadkulov would like to add an enclosed sidewalk cafe on the St. Mark's Place side.
Gem Spa, home of the egg cream according to some sources, officially closed in May 2020 amid ongoing financial challenges worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mukhamadkulov said he didn't know about the history of the space when he first rented the storefront (there wasn't any mention of the previous tenant in the marketing materials) ... and he has since explored the history of the address... and reached out to Parul Patel, who ran Gem Spa in recent years, with an offer to sell their merchandise free of charge.
He said he wants to honor the location's legacy and has "big shoes to step into."
Here's how the interior looked as of Saturday...
Parul Patel, who had been running the store that her father Ray owned since 1986, made a gallant effort to save the iconic corner shop that dates to the 1920s. This post has more background on Gem Spa's last few years.
And more history, via a Vanity Fair piece from May 2020:
The tributes that followed Patel's closure announcement ... teemed with references to the art in which the store had served as a backdrop: Madonna's turn in "Desperately Seeking Susan"; Patti Smith writing about going for an egg cream with Robert Mapplethorpe in her memoir "Just Kids"; a pair of lines from an Allen Ginsberg poem ("Back from the Gem Spa, into the hallway, a glance behind / and sudden farewell to the bedbug-ridden mattresses piled soggy in dark rain"); the back cover of the New York Dolls' first album; the title of a 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting; Lou Reed's song "Egg Cream.: The works traced a timeline of the East Village that both belonged firmly to the 20th century and remained top of mind.
The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, with a new name, returns to Tompkins Square Park
Organizers have announced that this year's event, now known as the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival, is taking place on Oct. 22, starting at 1 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park.
Dan Schachner, a former NFL referee who now serves as host of the Puppy Bowl, is the host.
Find details about registering your dog and serving as a volunteer at this link.
The Dog Parade/Festival, which outgrew Tompkins Square Park, took place in East River Park in 2018, 2019 and 2021. (That venue is no longer available.) The 2020 pandemic version was mostly virtual, with a small in-person/dog event at Lucky on Avenue B.
Building issues temporarily KOs HAGS on 1st Avenue
Photos by Steven
Owners Telly Justice and Camille Lindsley explained the situation in an Instagram post from Friday:
We're so grateful for the outpouring of love and support we’ve received in the short time since HAGS opened its doors. Our team and our guests truly mean the world to us.
Because it's in our nature to be as transparent as humanly possible, we must share the sad news that due to long-standing inherited, unsafe structural damage and plumbing issues in our building, we are temporarily closing HAGS until further notice. Our team and our guests' safety is our utmost priority, so we'll be working with the support of our new landlord to rebuild what needs fixing as quickly as possible. Send us speedy vibes!
HAGS, described as a restaurant "for Queers and everyone else," opened on July 20 with a variety of tasting menus, including a "pay what you can" option on Sundays.
You can follow the HAGS Instagram account for updates.
The address is notable to some food aficionados for being where David Chang's Momofuku empire got its start .... first as the home of Noodle Bar (2004) before it moved a few storefronts away... later becoming Momofuku Ko for six years (2008-2014), which moved to a larger space on Extra Place ... and then the first outpost of his Fuku fried chicken sandwich chain (2015-2018).
The retail space had been vacant since Fuku closed in the spring of 2018.
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