View of Tompkins Square Park this afternoon from Seventh Street...
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Noted
Someone left this message — Disconnect From Desire — along the fence at the Grace Church School yard on Fourth Avenue and 10th Street ... photo today via Derek Berg...
Where residents can get a free meal during the week
Any hungry East Village resident in need of a free meal during the COVID-19 outbreak can pick one up at one of several local public schools.
The city has been offering free grab-and-go meals for any resident Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. since the beginning of April.
Per the NYC Department of Education website: The Meals Hubs will operate for children and families from 7:30 a.m to 11:30 a.m., and for adults without children from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (There is no need to prove residency or bring any other form of ID.)
Local schools offering free meals include:
• P.S. 19 Asher Levy, 185 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street
• P.S. 64, 600 E. Sixth St. at Avenue B
• P.S. 63/the Star Academy, 121 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue
The meal features an assortment of sandwiches or wraps, a vegetable, piece of fruit and milk. (There's a daily menu here.)
At P.S. 64, where Stacie Joy shared these photos, only two people are allowed inside at a time — one at the food baskets and one downstairs waiting.
Two Boots Pizza returns today after a 17-day break
Two Boots announced a two-plus week closure starting on April 6 to regroup and give their employees a much-needed break.
The pizzeria on Avenue A and Third Street returns to service today. Moving forward, their temporary hours are 4-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
And they weren't completely off-duty these past two weeks: They served pizzas to first responders and other health-care workers via @sliceouthunger.
SMØR returns to service today
[Sebastian Perez, left, and Sebastian Bangsgaard]
SMØR, the Noridc cafe on 12th Street, is returning to service today. Owners Sebastian Perez and Sebastian Bangsgaard are debuting a temporary all-day menu available through delivery, pick up and curbside ordering to ensure safety guidelines.
They'll be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. here at 441 E. 12th St. just west of Avenue A.
SMØR closed on March 15 at the start of the ban on dining at NYC restaurants and cafes.
Thanks to Lola Sáenz for the photo!
Dual Specialty Store is back open
[Photo from last night]
Several readers, both in the comments and via email, have noted that Dual Specialty Store reopened this week at 91 First Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. (They had been closed the past week or so.)
The shop, which carries a wide variety of bulk Indian spices, herbs, groceries and beer, is open from 11 a.m to 8 p.m. daily.
And check out this photo essay of the shop via Gudrun Georges right here.
H/T Vinny & O
Need something to read? Book Club now making local deliveries via bike messenger
[Image via @bookclubbar]
Book Club, currently closed to in-store customers due to the COVID-19 crisis, is still active behind the scenes with fulfilling online orders.
Now, the shop on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is offering free deliveries via bike messenger to all of Manhattan as well as parts of Brooklyn and Queens. In stock titles will be delivered same or next day by co-owner Nat Esten, the East Village resident who runs Book Club with his wife Erin Neary.
Check out their website for more details.
Loews Village 7 appears safe for now
In recent weeks there had been rumors that some AMC locations, including the one on Third Avenue at 11th Street, were at risk of closing because of a potential bankruptcy filing.
However, according to published reports, AMC — the largest network of theaters in the country — has announced it plans to raise $500 million, improving its liquidity and pushing the threat of bankruptcy to the background.
As the Commercial Observer reported on Friday, AMC Entertainment skipped rent in April after closing all its 1,000 theaters globally in March and furloughing 26,000 workers in the United States, or 96 percent of its workforce. Their theaters are expected to remain closed through June, with hopes of a partial reopening later in the summer, according to reports.
A joint venture of ABS Partners Real Estate and Benenson Funding is AMC's landlord in the East Village, where the theater chain has a ground lease through July 2037.
The seven-screen theater is in the corridor south of Union Square that preservationists have worried will turn into a "Silicon Alley" thanks to the zoning change made for the mayor's tech hub on 14th Street.
This prime real-estate sits near the new Moxy East Village hotel. The Nathaniel, a 9-story luxury rental, arrived right next door in 2014.
I was never really a fan of the rather cinder-blocky theater, but have grown to like it in the past year or so for mainstream films. On the downside, even after the 2015 renovation the lobby is too cramped — lines for tickets and concessions spill into one another — and the carpet pattern can cause seizures.
Still, it's more comfortable and seemingly less crowded than, say, the Regal Cinemas at Union Square or Essex Crossing — locations where people think it's OK to have animated conversations throughout a movie.
Loews opened the theater on May 24, 1991 on the site of a one-story parking garage that had been built in 1868 as headquarters for the NYC Department of Public Charities and Corrections, per Cinema Treasures.
And here's a late-1970s look at the block via a photo by Mark Kane that I stole from Jeremiah Moss ... before the theater and the luxury rentals with the Westside Market...
H/T Upper West Sider!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Pretty ugly AMC Village 7 building sells for $32 million
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Travels of a cello
Derek Berg first spotted the man with a cello on Fourth Street just west of Second Avenue ... the man eventually made his way to Second Avenue...
On Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, the man offered to sell the cello, which was missing its strings and in need of repairs, to a passerby who had made eye contact with him...
They agreed on $5...
The cello's new owner then continued on his way north along Second Avenue...
Updating: Here's a map of what's open in the East Village
A volunteer effort led by the East Village Community Coalition (EVCC) along with residents Perry Leung and Paul Gale has created an interactive map of what's open in the neighborhood during the COVID-19 crisis. (The site is designed by Zhi He of BetaNYC.)
The map includes telephone numbers, links to delivery and Instagram, and business-specific details (like local discounts and contactless pickup options). There's also information, confirmed via phone, about whether 13-plus supermarkets in the East Village accept SNAP/EBT and have immunocompromised hours/senior discounts.
The rest of the data comes from several EVG posts (like this one and this one) along with fact-checking calls and Instagram research done by the volunteers.
Moving forward, EVIMA will help the group maintain the accuracy of the existing data, and expand the number of businesses included on the map.
If you are a business owner and want to add or edit your information, then please fill out this form here. Find more details at this link.
And now the map...
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