Live painting with Mike (MiMo) Mozart at 212 Arts on East 4th Street

Words and photos by Stacie Joy

On Sunday afternoon, I stopped by 212 Arts where gallery co-directors Lulu Reich and Marc Leader hosted Mike (MiMo) Mozart's live-painting event.


[From left: Mozart, Reich and Leader]

Mozart is part of the Art Basel on 4th Street exhibit at the gallery, 240 E. Fourth St. at Avenue B, where you can also see works by Claw, Sean Sullivan, Blind156 and Reso, among others, through Dec. 31.

Mozart, a longtime illustrator, has also apparently been doing ghost-drawing for Alec Monopoly ... including work featuring Hasbro's iconic board-game character Mr. Monopoly. (BoweryBoogie recently looked into the relationship between Mozart and Monoploy here.)





During the time I was there on Sunday, Mozart's work was selling and there were people clearly excited and entertained to see him creating art on-site.

Here, Mozart created a pen-and-ink (with pastels and pencil) rendition of Mr. Moneybags...







You can find more info on the 212 gallery here.

Candles for Joe Strummer

As of around 5 p.m., someone had left two candles at the Joe Strummer mural outside Niagara, East Seventh Street and Avenue A.

Strummer, the lead vocalist of the Clash, died 13 years ago today.

Previously.

[Updated] Watch this guy take all the packages from an East 3rd Street building lobby

A resident who lives on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B shared this surveillance video with us ... it's from around 6 p.m. on Saturday. The video picks up the man entering the building, taking a look around, then helping himself to all the packages by the mailboxes in the lobby.



There have been multiple package thefts from this one building. (Someone has routinely hit the buzzers seeking access in the evening.)

We understand that the NYPD is on the case.

Updated 11:28 a.m.

From an EVG reader... management from a building on East 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B sent residents a photo of the man who surveillance cameras show taking two packages from the lobby. He allegedly did this after delivering another package to the address.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Watch this man help himself to packages from an East 7th Street lobby

Another report of stolen packages from an East Village lobby

Bluebird Coffee Shop has closed on East 1st Street

[Photo by Marjorie Ingall]

Multiple EVG readers noted that Bluebird Coffee Shop has closed on East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The note on the door says that the shop will reopen with new ownership and a new identity.

If the space remains a coffee shop... then it will be the third coffee spot here in the past six years. The Bluebird Coffee Shop opened in November 2009 ... and in late 2011 the folks behind Ditmas Park-based Cafe Madeline took over the space.

It's a competitive little area for coffee... you have Juicy Lucy on one side... and Juice Press on the other (JP sells cold-brewed coffee and a few lattes)... and Mudspot Café/Mud Park right across the street.

H/t @seancarlson

Incoming 99¢ pizza place on Avenue A will be called 99¢ Pizza

Signage is up for the incoming 99-cent pizza dispensary at 91 Avenue A ... looks like the business is called 99¢ Pizza. (With the promise of being both "famous & fresh," per the sign.)

The pizzeria is taking the vacant space that last housed Benny's to-go right here by East Sixth Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
How about some 99¢ pizza for Avenue A

Minca Ramen Factory remains closed on East 5th Street

Last Thursday, an EVG reader noted that the popular Minca Ramen Factory on East Fifth Street just west of Avenue B had been closed for days.

And last night, Minca remained dark... there is a note up now, pointing to some plumbing work...



There's no word on how long Minca might need to stay closed. Plumbing-related issues around the neighborhood haven't been on any kind of fast-track these days.

Mina's sister restaurant, Kambi Ramen House, is open at 351 E. 14th St.

The good shepherd

A man walking on East Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue tonight noticed that someone had discarded this framed photo of sheep.

He thought that his kids might like the print. So he carried it off with him...



Photos by Derek Berg

Noted

CBGB's Reopening! At Newark Airport: ht @readmyback pic.twitter.com/m9Ay6VaI8j

— WFMU (@WFMU) December 21, 2015

In case you didn't already hear/see this everywhere earlier today... CBGB is opening as restaurant in the Newark Airport. (No one noted which terminal.)

Per Grub Street:

What exactly pre-flight dining has to do with the seminal punk institution is not clear, but it was previously reported that Harold Moore, the otherwise-celebrated New York chef had been recruited to handle food duties at this strange business. And a quick glance at the menu reveals that the people behind this outpost think wedge salads and turkey clubs served in a fun environment will make diners nostalgic for that time they saw Bad Brains rip up the stage for the first time.

And to some mostly negative reactions on Twitter...

This is so fucking depressing to me. CBGB being used to sell wedge salads & chili dogs. WTF? Is nothing sacred? https://t.co/HLLxyHht63

— Jessie (@VampyreMermaid) December 21, 2015

I'm really hoping the story about the CBGB restaurant at Newark Airport is a hoax.

— Rob (@Svelteassassin) December 21, 2015

For people who love the new CBGB, try my hot wings restaurant, "Moulin Rouge" in Spokane. https://t.co/cqarYa6xKr

— dax shepard (@daxshepard1) December 21, 2015

Hope Newark Airport CBGB opens before I fly back to L.A. because I'd like to be the first person to smear shit on the bathroom walls there.

— Tom Ceraulo (@tceraulo) December 21, 2015

CBGB will reopen...as Maxwell's

— Shawn Perry (@A_Shawn_Ti) December 21, 2015

CBGB will reopen...as a DMV

— Shawn Perry (@A_Shawn_Ti) December 21, 2015

Anyway!

Report: Legal battle over the ownership of 80 St. Mark's Place

[EVG file photo]

DNAinfo looks at the legal battle shaping up between Thomas Otway and his brother Lorcan, proprietor of Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place.

Per DNAinfo:

In court papers filed Dec. 14, the brother, Thomas Otway, also accuses his sibling of coercing their mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, into transferring the deed to the property to him in 2010.

“This transaction was not intended to benefit or otherwise made in [Florence’s] best interest, but rather, was undertaken for the self-serving profit and financial gain of [Lorcan] to [Florence’s] corresponding detriment, damage and harm,” Thomas said in the filing in Manhattan Surrogate's Court.

Thomas, a math professor at Yeshiva University who lives in Croton-on-the-Hudson, N.Y., claims that through a trust, he and his brother were supposed to own an equal share in the two-building property at 78-80 St. Mark’s Place.

He took legal action last week, the filing says, after years of negotiations between him and his brother about the property didn’t lead to any tangible results.

For his part, Lorcan Otway told DNAinfo that "all the allegations are false, misleading and will be addressed in a court of law."

Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue houses a theater, the William Barnacle Tavern and the Museum of the American Gangster.

The new Tompkins Square Bagels will arrive before the 2nd Avenue subway

As we first reported back in June, Christopher Pugliese, the owner of Tompkins Square Bagels on Avenue A, is opening a second East Village location.

However, in recent months, we hadn't seen much, if any, activity at the former Open Pantry space at 184 Second Ave. between East 11th Street and East 12th Street — the soon-to-be home of his second shop. (His other store remains at 165 Avenue A.)

Then this sign arrived at the Second Avenue storefront on Wednesday...


[Photo by Shawn Chittle]

We asked Pugliese for an update on the renovation.

Turns out that the Department of Buildings (DOB) has been behind the delays, he said.

"The killer is, the DOB approved all of our major alterations very quickly," he said. "They came back to us with a list of about 12 minor objections and asked us to make adjustments. Little things like 'move this staircase six inches to the right,' or 'put the skylight here instead of there.' That has been dragging on for months."

He had hoped to be open for business by now.

"The whole thing is very frustrating. I signed my lease in June. I don't have money to spare on rent for an empty space. My landlord was nice enough to give me two more free months when I came to him and told him what was going on. That's unheard of in this town," Pugliese said. "We are hoping to get final approval this month, work for three to four months on the build out and open in time for spring.

"But I will beat the Second Avenue subway — that's for sure."

Previously on EV Grieve:
After 40-plus years, Open Pantry looks to be closing on 2nd Avenue

Rumor: Tompkins Square Bagels possibly opening a 2nd East Village location on 2nd Avenue

A 2nd Tompkins Square Bagels confirmed for former Open Pantry space on 2nd Avenue

Tompkins Square Bagels makes it official on 2nd Avenue