The St. Stanislaus flea market is this weekend

Noon to 6 p.m. today. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Down in the church hall … 101 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue...

Stuck on You

Here is some pop via the Twerps, who are playing at the Mercury Lounge tomorrow night.

The track here, "Back to You," is from the Australian band's second full-length release on Merge Records.

East Village students, parents and teachers join in protesting Cuomo’s education reforms

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Between chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, Andrew Cuomo has got to go!” and “Save Our Schools,” parents, teachers and students marched and rallied at the Earth School (600 E. Sixth St., which also houses PS 64 and the Tompkins Square Middle School) yesterday afternoon to express their displeasure with the governor’s budgetary plans.



The proposed budget, which would be decided upon by April 1, would increase the focus on high-stakes standardized testing, and teachers feel that the state would be intruding on their classroom teaching methods. There would also be increased funding for charter schools, which traditionally do not educate the same number of higher-need students.

The parents I spoke to expressed fear that their kids’ public schools would continue to be underfunded and that programs that are much-needed e.g., arts, therapy, libraries would suffer.







I spoke with Fatima Geidi and her son, Jamir Geidi (who is in third grade at the Earth School), about their experiences. Jamir had been at a charter school, Success Academy, for a few years and his mother said she was fed up with the lack of teaching and proper learning at the charter school.

She felt that her son was taught only what was necessary to take and pass standardized tests, not to think critically, or for himself. That he was, essentially, a test score and that the charter school was a test-prep center. And enrolled in public school her son (who has special-learning needs) now has social studies classes, something he wasn’t taught at charter school. She was particularly irritated that Cuomo failed his own standardized tests (the Bar) four times but mandates that public school funding should be cut on underperforming schools.



While I only attended the local Avenue B rally, it was part of a city- and statewide call to action. You can read more about it here.

Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A

[Image via Facebook]

The rumors about the demise of Cafe Pick Me Up have turned out not to be true. However, the 20-year-old cafe, which has been on and off the market the past year, is losing its prime corner space on Avenue A and East Ninth Street.

Cafe Pick Me Up currently occupies two adjoining spaces in two different buildings, and each side has its own lease. As Lisha Arino reported at DNAinfo, the lease on the larger corner property expires in May, when they will move the operation entirely next door. (The kitchen is also in this space.)

A rent hike is to blame, manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo.

“I don’t know who can afford that much rent,” she said, declining to say how much the landlord charged. “I know it’s a nice location on the corner but it’s way too much for what they’re asking.”

Icon Realty bought the building at 145 Avenue A for $10.1 million last April, according to public records. At least two of the storefronts on the East Ninth Street side have vacated the building apparently due to rent hikes.

You'll now have until March 23 to visit Puebla Mexican Food on 1st Avenue

As we reported back on Monday, Puebla Mexican Food is shutting down at 47 First Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street.

We were originally told that the family run restaurant was closing for good after Sunday. However, several readers (including Marty E.!) told us that owner Irma Marin will keep preparing favorites like chicken-mole burrito through March 23.

With a rent increase, Marin was unable to sign a new lease. When asked how high the new rent is, Marin simply pointed her thumb skyward.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Puebla Mexican Food is closing after 25 years on 1st Avenue (29 comments)

Kabin space for rent on 2nd Avenue

Several readers pointed out the arrival of a for rent sign above 92 Second Ave., currently home of Kabin Bar & Lounge.

The listing is at the Newmark Grubb Knight Frank site…


[Image via Newmark Grubb Knight Frank]

The rent is negotiable for the 2,100-square-foot space between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street (there's also a 1,100-square-foot basement) … the date available is February 2015.

The future of 347 Bowery (sorta!) revealed

[EVG photo from January]

The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence on the Bowery at East Third Street is now an empty lot … killing time until the work begins on a 13-story, 30,000 square-foot mixed-use residential development.

Here's a sketch of the proposed building for 347 Bowery that we spotted at the owner Urban Muse's website back last March...



There are now some equally minimalist renderings up on the plywood …





The building sure looks taller than 13 stories here. However, according to the Department of Buildings, the city approved the permits for the 13-story building last month.

Annabelle Selldorf, who designed the neighboring 10 Bond Street, is listed as the architect of record.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Whatever happened to that really ugly hotel planned for the Bowery?

Permits filed to demolish former Salvation Army residence on the Bowery

The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence will be demolished on the Bowery

Looks like 347 Bowery will be home to a 13-floor mixed-use residential development

Plywood arrives for renovation of former Vella Market/Kate's Joint space on Avenue B

The plywood is now up around the northwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street… we haven't heard anything official yet about the next tenant. The approved work permits just note "interior renovation of existing commercial space."

Last summer we heard a rumor that a tattoo shop was opening here. But that was never confirmed.

Anyway!

The previous tenant, the nice Vella Market, lasted just six months here, closing in October 2013.

The 16-year-old vegetarian restaurant Kate's Joint closed here in April 2012.

The Marshal seizes Mercadito on Avenue B

It looks like this might be the end of the Mercadito taco empire in NYC.

A reader sends along this photo tonight, showing that the landlord has taken legal possession of Mercadito at 179 Avenue B between East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

This doesn't necessarily mean the end… but it's not a great sign either. So far there isn't any mention of a closure on the restaurant's website or social media properties.

Mercadito Grove in the West Village closed last fall. And Mercadito Cantina at 172 Avenue B closed in January 2011.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 7th Street yesterday via Derek Berg]

Suspect charged in shooting death of 33-year-old Shemrod Isaac on Avenue D (DNAinfo)

A look around the new Holiday Cocktail Lounge (Eater)

Scrubbing down 190 Bowery (Gothamist)

Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival is expanding this summer (BoweryBoogie)

The landmarked Tammany Hall on Union Square will be topped by a glass tortoise shell-inspired dome (Curbed)

Will the Will Pier 35 Eco-Park ever open? (The Lo-Down)

More about the Horn & Hardart Automat documentary (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)