5 big events in May that you may or may not already know about

[Loisaida Festival photo by Stacie Joy]

May marks Lower East Side History Month, the annual celebration created by Fourth Arts Block and Downtown Art, with other local organizations and businesses taking part.

In addition to the activities (see the calendar here) associated with the History Month, here are a few more high-profile events this May...

• May 18-20 — Saint George Ukrainian Festival, Seventh Street. Details here.

• May 19 — Dance Parade and DanceFest, Astor Place, St. Mark's Place and Tompkins Square Park. Details here.

• May 25-27 — The Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. Details here.

• May 27 — Loisaida Festival, Avenue C. Details here.

6 posts from April

[Photo on 7th Street Saturday by Derek Berg]

A mini month in review...

• HAWK FIGHT (April 2)

• In memory of Kelly Hurley (April 5)

• New-look Alphabet Scoop reopens on 11th Street (April 13)

• A call to help preserve Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place (April 13)

• Props for the Skateboard Gardener of 7th Street (April 18)

• The Donut Pub opening an outpost on Astor Place (April 20)

Joe & Pat's now open on 1st Avenue

Joe & Pat's, the Staten Island-based pizzeria, opened its first Manhattan location today (as you probably know) at 168 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

EVG regular Lola Sáenz stopped by for a pizza to go...



As Eater noted:

The hallmark of the pizza here is the cracker-thin crust with fresh-mozzarella. The food, from the Pappalardo family, has earned the restaurant cult status, and fans will be pleased to know that the Manhattan location is a straight-up duplicate of its older Staten Island sister.

You can find their menu here.

This Joe and Pat's outpost is open weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. ... and 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekends.

Updated 5/1

You can find more details on the pizzeria at Eater and Grub Street...

Construction starts at 118 E. 1st St., future home of a 9-floor residential building

The extended plywood arrived on Friday at 118 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue...



... as work officially started in the lot that will be home to a 9-story residential building featuring seven units divided over 12,500 square feet of residential space (likely condos). The building will include a small retail space on the ground floor.

Meanwhile, no sign of a rendering just yet. (Warren Freyer's Freyer Architects is designing the building.) Perhaps one will eventually show up on the plywood along with the required work permits.

Not much has happened here in the past 12-14 months since workers demolished the three-story building that was standing here.

As noted in a previous post:

No. 118 was one of five new East Village projects identified by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation as an oversized new development ... "in the neighborhood's affordable housing zones [that] were approved by the city without requiring affordable housing."

According to their investigation released in February 2016 (find the letter to the mayor here), the city approved new developments "with greater square footage than allowed for market-rate developments, without requiring any affordable housing either on-site or off, as mandated by law."

We also heard from a dismayed next-door neighbor when construction started in the lot on Friday.

I am now going to lose 70 percent of light in my place. The kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom will all have shaft windows. I am not even going to rant about another luxury condo absurdity but to lose all this light feels tragic. It is stunning that nobody considered this or there was no hearing in place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
118 E. 1st St. arrives on the market with so many possibilities, and air rights

118 E. 1st. St. will yield to a new 9-floor residential building

Demolition of 118 E. 1st St. begins to make way for 9-story residential building

Moving day for Bareburger

Bareburger is moving out of its corner space on Second Avenue and Fifth Street today ... for the short relocation down to Orchard and Stanton...



Matt Kouskalis, who owns and operates a handful of the city's Bareburger outposts, told me in February that escalating rents at this location were behind the reason for the move.

"So we are moving to a slightly smaller and cozier spot on the Lower East Side," he said in February. "We are sad to leave the East Village but our new location is only a few blocks away and our delivery area will remain the same!"

Bareburger opened here in January 2012.

The asking rent for the two-level space (plus basement) is $25,000, per the listing.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bareburger is leaving 2nd Avenue; new outpost slated for Orchard Street

L.A.-based ramen shop opening outpost on 1st Avenue

Tatsu Ramen, with two locations in Los Angeles, is opening an outpost at 167 First Ave., two storefronts away from Momofuku.

Here's more about Tatsu, via their website:

Tatsu was founded by a handful of tight-knit USC family who fell in love with Tokyo and ramen. Having tasted the best, we went on a mission to find the best ramen in LA — and were terribly disappointed.

This sparked our (neon) lightbulb to bring Tokyo "home" to LA. We reimagined the typical Japanese ordering vending machine as iPads and flew multiple chefs from Japan to deconstruct the chemistry-laden recipes and have them painstakingly house-made from scratch with natural ingredients (and tough love!).

We shocked the ramen traditionalists by also offering gluten-free option, 100% chicken and vegan broth.

"Tatsu" means dragon and opened its door in 2012, the year of the dragon. It has since become an LA institution that’s frequented by A-listers, hipsters and blacklisters.

Buzzfeed named it one of the best ramen places in Los Angeles:

You are greeted at Tatsu Ramen by iPads, not people. You select your order on the touch screen, grab your receipt and then take a seat. We ordered two bowls of the the default-vegan "Hippie Ramen." It's a garlicky bowl of veggies, fried tofu, and delicious noodles. You can add more flavoring at your table, including crushing your own garlic, but there was no need. It already tasted great.

You can find the Tatsu Ramen menu here.

No. 167 here between 10th Street and 11th Street has been empty in recent years. The last tenant was Ashiya Sushi, who moved away in 2015.

Avenue A bank-branch free for the moment with Santander's closure

This Santander outpost closed on Friday here on Avenue A at Fourth Street. Workers had removed the signage by the end of the business day.

A letter to Santander customers in January explained that the bank was consolidating this branch with the one at 841 Broadway.

This departure makes Avenue A bank-branch-less for now. The Chase closed at Second Street in November 2015 ... while the Citi shut down between Third Street and Fourth Street in January 2017. Both of those spaces remain on the rental market.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Santander branch closing in April on Avenue A

EastVille Comedy Club has left 4th Street for Brooklyn

Here's one way to announce a move: Spray paint the message over your business sign. (Thanks to @EdenBrower for the above photo!)

That's the case here at the now-former EastVille Comedy Club on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery ... the club has relocated to Brooklyn (by the Barclay's Center)...



Last October, EastVille looked at taking part of the former Chase space at 20 Avenue A and Second Street. However, CB3 denied the application, citing, among other reasons, that this address was never licensed before ... and that it exists in a saturated zone.

Previously on EV Grieve:
EastVille Comedy Club space for rent on 4th Street

Unwrapping the future Swiss Institute on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Back on Saturday, workers removed the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding from around the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...



... the future home of the Swiss Institute...



As previously reported, the nonprofit cultural center will open on June 21.

And via a news release:

The inaugural exhibition is titled "Readymades Belong to Everyone," marking the 3rd edition of SI’s Annual Architecture & Design Series. This exhibition is curated by Fredi Fischliand Niels Olsen, directors of exhibitions at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architectures at ETH, Zurich, and will track a history of exchange between artists and architects employing found objects associated with urban space.

The revamped building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs ... as well as a library, bookstore and rooftop garden.


[Rendering via the Swiss Institute]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Neighbors at First Street Green Art Park

The Neighbors project is a series of portraits of Americans taken across all 50 states by photographer John Raymond Mireles ... the portraits went up yesterday along East Houston Street from First Avenue to Second Avenue at First Street Green Art Park.

Here are just a few of the images...











The opening reception is May 12.