When is the fruit vendor on 1st Avenue and 6th Street closing down for the winter?

By this time of year, the fruit-vegetable vendors here on First Avenue and Sixth Street outside Village View usually pack it up for the season... with a spring-time return.

However, as the photo above via Riley McCormick from last night shows, the vendors are still on the scene ... and will be here through the winter. Riley double-confirmed the news with the sellers last evening. So there's a good daily produce option here to ease the winter doldrums...

ICYMI: Here comes SantaCon

[Image via @SantaCon]

As you likely heard by now, SantaCon 2018 is tomorrow (Saturday).

The woo-hooery starts tomorrow (still Saturday) at 10 a.m. at Plaza 33, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue.

From there, the Santas will fan out across Midtown, Murray Hell, Midtown East, et al. Once again, the East Village will serve as a host planet for the harvesting. There are 15-plus participating bars — list here. (The 13th Step/The Step isn't on the list, though they usually have one of the longest lines of people in Santa hats.)

Solas on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue and The VNYL on Third Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street are designated "Special Santa Venues," which require a $12 donation. As Gothamist noted, "they are larger and offer additional hellish delights such as undoubtedly terrible DJ, holiday decorations, 'sexy' bar games, rooftops, cash prizes, etc."

Meanwhile, some thoughts via Twitter... including a little campaigning for a mayoral run in 2021...

F O L K S we outlawed salt, soda and straws in this great city but santacon is still legal?? unbelievable

— Rachel Holliday Smith (@rachelholliday) December 3, 2018

BAN OUTLAW QUARANTINE.

— Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) December 3, 2018

Thursday's parting video

RIP Pete Shelley, lead singer of Buzzcocks. He died today of an apparent heart attack at age 63.

Revisited this post from May 2010 about "the sketchy 1991 Cutlass Ciera" parked near the Con Ed building on 14th Street that caused a bomb scare. The owner was at Irving Plaza for the Buzzcocks show.

Get Ray's Candy Store delivered to your door

Over at Ray's Candy Store at 113 Avenue A, Ray started a delivery service via Uber Eats back in the late summer... which has apparently helped boost business ...


[Photo by Peter Brownscombe from September]

And now, Ray's has even more delivery options, as announced today, so you can get beignets or Belgian fries or something crazy that Ray has even dreamed up just yet brought to your doorstep...

View this post on Instagram

More big news!!! @RaysCandyStore delivery is now available via @Seamless and @Grubhub!!! Another way to get Ray's famous delights delivered right to your door! 🚗🛴🚲🛵🚘🚞🚙🚗🛴🚲🛵🚘🚞🚙 Perfect for these cold Winter nights!!! Give it a shot!!! Order via the web or download the Seamless and/or Grubhub apps for iOS and Android and search for "Ray's Candy Store!" And you can also order Ray's delivery via Uber Eats!!! 📱💻📱💻📱💻📱💻📱💻📱💻📱💻 AND AGAIN –– PLEASE DON'T BE A STRANGER AT THE STORE!!! WE'D MISS YOU TOO MUCH AND CUSTOMERS WHO BUY IN-PERSON GET EXTRA SERVINGS OF LOVE!!! #️⃣ #rayscandystore #eastvillage #alphabetcity #avenuea #nyc #realnyc #smallbiz #ourmanray #everythingmadewithlove #hoorays #nyceats #nycfood #nycfoodie #newyorkdesserts #newyorkfood #munchies #famousrays #trueyorker #trueyorkcity #delivery #latenighteats #grubhub #seamless #ubereats #uber #foodiegram #nyu #gamechanger #netflixandchillandrays

A post shared by Ray's Candy Store (@rayscandystore) on Dec 6, 2018 at 7:17am PST

St. Dymphna's eyeing a return engagement, this time at 117 Avenue A

[The former St. Dymphna's on St. Mark's Place]

The owners of St. Dymphna's are planning a comeback for the Irish-style pub, which closed on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue on Oct. 20 after 24 years in service.

Eric Baker, one of the bar's previous owners, is on this month's CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license at 117 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.


[117 Avenue A]

"The new space will be going by St Dymphna's — I believe yellowish gold facade and all," Baker told me via email. "We hope to continue the tradition, history and culture of the former space by continuing to provide our local community with a comfortable place to gather together with friends and family for good food, good beverages and good music as we have done previously for over 23 years."

Baker and company began a collaboration with Brendan McElroy, owner of Dr. Brendan Mac Repair on St. Mark's Place and a "St. Dymphna's family member," to hopefully reopen at the new location.

The questionnaire on file (PDF here) has more information on the proposed relocation, including a diagram of the layout and sample menu, which includes the $10 all-day Irish breakfast.

117 Avenue A has remained empty since the bar the Black Rose closed in April 2017 after nearly two years in operation. No. 117 was the longtime home, until August 2013, of the Odessa Cafe & Bar.

Baker said escalating rents were behind St. Dymphna's closure on St. Mark's Place.

"We are excited about the new digs, a new place to make a home," said Baker, who's collecting signatures of support for the new St. Dymphna's.

The committee meeting starts Monday at 6:30 p.m. Location: The Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Previously on EV Grieve:
St. Dymphna's is closing this weekend after 24 years on St. Mark's Place

So long St. Dymphna's

The Black Rose, 'a neighborhood rock and roll bar,' opening in the former Odessa Cafe and Bar space

Tomorrow (Friday!): Holiday Bazaar at the Children's Workshop School

The Children's Workshop School on 12th Street is hosting its Holiday Bazaar tomorrow (Friday). Here are a few details via the EVG inbox...

Come see our lobby transformed into a winter wonderland, do some holiday shopping and come eat at the CWS Cafe. We have something for everyone.

• An expanded Cafe — breakfast items including bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, breakfast sandwiches, assorted holiday treats! Lunch items including salads, chili and sandwiches, after-school treats! Also available: whole breads — banana, babka, etc.
• Gifts for children to buy — CWS slime, air plants, small crafts
• A wide variety of vendors — from homemade crafts to artisanal chocolates, gold jewelry, records, CWS branded items

And for the first time this year, a gift wrap table — buy something and get it wrapped for only $3

Come browse, get something to eat and enjoy the beginning of the holidays with the CWS community.

CWS Holiday Bazaar
Dec. 7
7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
610 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C

This link has the full list of vendors.

Y7 Studio debuts its candlelit hip-hop yoga at 250 E. Houston on Monday

The plywood came down this week along the retail portion of 250 E. Houston St. ... exposing the new Y7 Studio here between Avenue A and Avenue B...



The ground-floor studio, equipped with showers, changing rooms and retail space, opens on Monday morning. This marks the growing yoga chainlet's 11th location in Manhattan and Los Angeles. (Y7 is also reportedly one of the fastest-growing fitness boutiques in the country.)

Here's more about Y7, which describes its practice as "sweat dripping, beat bumping, candlelit yoga" set against a soundtrack of Cardi B, Fetty Wap and Beyoncé.

At Y7 we do things differently. We give you 60 minutes of intensity combined with heat and strength complemented by deep breathing and a calming of the mind. We ask you to step outside the chaos and embrace the fire inside. You’ll flow along to the latest beats. There are no mirrors in the candle-lit studios. The darkness, the sounds, and the heat will take you to a place you’ve never before been. Join us for the best hour of your day. Leave here feeling strong, clear and ready to take on whatever the city has in store for you. Take a class and never look back.

The is the first new retail tenant at No. 250 since the under-renovation 13-floor building changed ownership in the fall of 2016.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Red Square has been sold

New ownership makes it official at the former Red Square on East Houston

Apartment listings at 250 E. Houston look to offer glimpse of former Red Square's future

Long-vacant retail space hits the rental market at 250 E. Houston St.

Former Red Square lobby gets the plywood treatment on East Houston

Y7 Studio bringing the hip-hop yoga to 250 E. Houston St.

That's a wrap for Five Tacos on St. Mark's Place

[Photo by Steven]

The Five Tacos comeback has apparently come to an end. A for rent sign recently arrived on the now-empty storefront at 119 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The quick-serve taco shop went dark back in January... a sign on the door said they'd be "closed until further notice."

In February, a Five Tacos rep emailed me, saying that they'd be reopening very soon, but only for a lunch service and catering.

Anyway, it never looked all that open to the public in recent months. Five Tacos, owned by the folks behind 10 Degrees Bar on the block, debuted in January 2012.

The holiday lights on 9th Street

Earlier today, workers arrived on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second to hang the holiday lights... as in previous years... EVG Ninth Street Holiday Lights Correspondent Steven shared these photos...


[There's a little knot here]



... and by tonight... the block was aglow...



... you hardly noticed the recyclables on the curb...

You're gonna need a bigger bike

A scene today outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street where the Tree Riders NYC sell some of the largest Christmas trees around... thanks to @GMKevv for the photo ...