Samoa's 'Candy Coated Evil' opens tomorrow at Howl! Happening

Via the EVG inbox...

Howl! Happening is pleased to present "Candy Coated Evil," a solo exhibition by the multifaceted Samoa, curated by artist and performer Kembra Pfahler.

The exhibition encompasses the full range of Samoa’s diverse art forms — an installation recreating his now-legendary Candy Coated Evil store, which opened in 1996 within The Pink Pony; costumes and props from his performances and music groups; and paintings that capture his deep experience of living in New York City. A major element of the artist’s show are live events — performances by Samoa and Kembra Pfahler, as well as a panel discussion, and an evening of video and film. The exhibition continues through Feb. 11.

The opening reception is tomorrow (Wednesday!) night starting at 6. Find more details on the exhibit as well as the dates and times of the special events here.

Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project is located at 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue.

Noted

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Several EVG readers noted these canvases on the fence at Second Avenue and Seventh Street this afternoon/evening ... featuring Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Marley, Jesus, JFK, President Trump, former President Obama, among other people ... and places...


[Photo by Raquel Shapira]

The artist, Reyaz Nadi, apparently wasn't around...

Stranger in town

Goggla shares these photos of a young (immature!) red-tailed hawk that has been hanging around Tompkins Square Park and Avenue A the past few days...



Goggla notes that there have been several young hawks migrating through the area this winter. Since Christmas, she can confirm three different ones in/around the Park... and for whatever reasons Christo, the Park's resident red-tailed hawk, has been unusually tolerant of this one...

Bella Tile showroom closes on 1st Avenue

Multiple EVG readers have shared the news that he family-owned Bella Tile — established in 1983 — has closed its showroom on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street.

This sign greets potential customers...



However, as the sign notes, the Bella Tile Store Room remains open around the corner at 408 E. 11th St. ...



I reached out to a member of the Giurdanella family, who run the business and own the building on First Avenue, to see what might be happening with the space.

The renderings for the all-new 180 2nd Ave. include Leonardo DiCaprio on a Citi Bike

[No. 180 from August 2017]

During the December holiday break, I noted that gut renovations were underway at 180 Second Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street.

According to the previously approved work permits on file with the city, workers are converting the building to residential use and adding two floors in the process. Permits show that there will be one residential unit on each floor.

A tipster shared the renderings for the building... via Ole Sondresen Architect...



And the description:

This East Village residential building is elegantly comprised of four 2 bedroom units and two 1 bedroom homes. Each unit features its own private terrace with open views down 2nd Avenue. The apartments are composed of two programmatic wooden boxes housing closets, bathrooms, and mechanicals which allows for an open loft-like feeling in the rest of the living space. The building is designed to earn LEED Platinum and Passive House certification, integrating a green roof with solar hot water panels for each residential unit. Reclaimed wood planters are incorporated into each terrace allowing lush plantings to liven the facade. The concrete structure is left with exposed joints and formwork markings, juxtaposing textured concrete surfaces against refined wood and glass. The building's order is achieved through the honesty of materials and the clarity of its design.

Meanwhile, a closer inspection of the rendering reveals a Citi Biker facing the wrong direction in the Second Avenue bike lane...



Celebrities-Who-Citi-Bike watchers will recognize that scalie...



Leo!



As for the ground-floor retail space, the Ninth Ward, the previous tenant, is expected to return.

The Chicago-based Polish National Alliance was the previous owner of No. 180. The building housed the Józef Pilsudski Institute of America, which is the largest Polish-American research institution specializing in the recent history of Poland and Central Eastern Europe. (They found a new home in Greenpoint.) An LLC bought the building for $6.75 million in June 2014, per public records.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2nd Avenue bar Ninth Ward is closing for good on Feb. 14; building rumored to be demolished

Residential conversion underway at 180 2nd Ave.; the Ninth Ward expected to return

CB3 committees to hear update from city on proposed 14th Street tech hub

[Rendering via NYCEDC]

Tomorrow (Wednesday) night, there's a joint meeting between two Community Board 3 committees to hear an update from the city on the "proposed workforce development and digital skills training center" at 124 E. 14th St.

This is the so-called tech hub at the city-owned site that P.C. Richard currently leases on 14th Street at Irving Place.

Last February, the de Blasio administration unveiled the renderings for Civic Hall featuring "a tech-focused work and event space" that will anchor the 20-plus story building.

Per the city's news release on Civic Hall:

“This new hub will be the front-door for tech in New York City. People searching for jobs, training or the resources to start a company will have a place to come to connect and get support. No other city in the nation has anything like it. It represents this City’s commitment to a strong and inclusive tech ecosystem,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

As you may recall, this announcement prompted another push by local residents who fear that the fabric of the neighborhood will be destroyed by a host of new developments south of Union Square along Broadway, University Place and Fourth Avenue. (And not to mention the Moxy hotel coming to 11th Street.)

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) has been leading the efforts behind a rezoning of the area to enforce some height restrictions and affordable housing requirements. The GVSHP lays out their case here.

The tech-hub project needs Planning Commission and City Council approval.

Tomorrow's meeting of the Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee and Economic Development Committee starts at 6:30 p.m. This is listed as the first item to be discussed. The meeting takes place at the University Settlement, Speyer Hall, 184 Eldridge St. between Rivington and Delancey.

For more background, NY1 covered the story on Saturday here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Behold Civic Hall, the high-tech future of Union Square — and NYC

Speaking out against a 'Silicon Alley' in this neighborhood

JAM Paper & Envelope is closing on 3rd Avenue

[Photo via EVG reader Gwen]

A "store is closing" sign is now up in the window at JAM Paper & Envelope on Third Avenue between 14th Street and 15th Street.

The home-office stationery and supply shop will close at the end of the month, an employee confirmed. The online business will continue in operation. I reached out to the JAM main office to find out more about the closure.

For now, everything in the store is 50-percent off, per the sign.

Here's a little history via the JAM website:

The story of JAM Paper & Envelope begins in New York City in 1954, when Henry Berger opened Hudson Envelope as a paper and envelope wholesaler and printing service. In 1983, Henry's son-in-law, Michael Jacobs, would open Hudson Envelope's first retail store in New Jersey called JAM Paper & Envelope.

Hudson's first Manhattan location arrived in 1978 ... and in 1983 the first JAM store debuted.

JAM represents the first letters of the owners' first names — Janet, Andrew and Michael Jacobs, the family members who run the company.

The website notes that JAM has had over 10 different Manhattan locations. This JAM, their lone retail outlet in the city now, has been at 135 Third Ave. since 2004.

The standalone JAM addendum next door was demolished in 2008, as Jeremiah Moss noted.


[Photo from 2008 by Jeremiah Moss]

That lot is now the long-stalled 16-floor condoplex.

Gabay's Outlet has closed on Avenue A

After 77 years of doing business in this neighborhood, Gabay's Outlet has closed on Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

The designer discount store closed for good at the end of the year.

Third-generation owner Joseph Gabay shared this announcement via Facebook on Dec. 29:

It is with lots of emotion that I am announcing the closing of Gabay's Outlet. We are a third-generation business that has been operating in the east village for well over 50 yrs. I would like to pay tribute to my grandfather who started selling out of a pushcart on the street, my father and myself for lasting through the test of time. It's plain and simple, we are closing because our business model does not work in today's society. Amazon has had a huge impact and made it impossible to compete. THE GOOD NEWS is we have be blessed with some good fortune that will allow me many new opportunities. The future has never been brighter for myself and my family. We had a great run! So far!

The Gabay family owns the assemblage of buildings on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place that will reportedly yield to a 7-story office building. The 99-year leasehold for the properties was reported to be a little more than $150 million.

Gabay's grandfather Sam, a Turkish immigrant, began selling extras from garment factory floors in a pushcart on the Lower East Side in the 1920s. He eventually opened his own shop at 1 St. Mark's Place in 1940, one of several locations the store would call home in a 10-block radius before settling in at 225 First Ave. in 1970. A rent increase forced Gabay's to move from First Avenue to Avenue A in 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
After 45 years on 1st Avenue, Gabay's Outlet is on the move

Report: NE corner of St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue will yield to a 7-story office building

Dan & John's Wings looking to expand on 1st Avenue

[Photo from Dec. 23]

The owners of Dan & John's Wings, which opened two-plus years ago in the small storefront at 135 First Ave., are looking to expand into the larger (and currently vacant) space next door.

The owners of the Buffalo-style wings operation are on the CB3-SLA docket tonight for a new liquor license. The proposed hours, according to the paperwork (PDF here) posted on the CB3 website, are noon to midnight daily. The expanded space would allow for 10 tables seating 35 patrons and 1 6-seat bar. (The current Dan & John's just has a few stools as well as a beer-wine license.)



The space has been empty since last March when Rustico, the cafe that specialized in crêpes and Italian coffee here between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, closed.

Dan & John's opened their first restaurant here in October 2015. They are also regulars on the Smorgasburg circuit and last year started selling their wings at Citi Field for Mets game.

CB3's SLA committee will hear this and other applications tonight at 6:30 at the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dan and John's Wings opening a storefront on 1st Avenue

M&G Foodstuff arrives on Avenue B

We've (OK, Salim and I anyway) have been watching the retail space at 26 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street ... there's now signage for M&G Foodstuff ...



M&G is a catering and events company (you can read about them here). There aren't any plans for a retail component here at the moment.

This storefront is on the ground floor of the new(ish) condoplex called Poppy Lofts.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 6-story apartment building ready to rise from the former Croxley Ales beer garden

[Updated] Report: 28 Avenue B has been evacuated

Full-stop work order served at construction site adjacent to evacuated Avenue B building

Resident wants stuff back that workers took from not abandoned apartment

Is 26 Avenue B ready for its new building now?

Avenue B condos near former heroin hot spot named Poppy Lofts