Appreciating the pinhole photography of late East Village resident Veronica Saddler

Veronica Saddler, who taught pinhole photography at Cooper Union, died in February 2020.

Thankfully, a friend rescued some of Saddler's photographs and negatives from her Fourth Street apartment, and a selection of the work is now featured at the Wilmer Jennings Gallery, 219 E. Second St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

Here's more about her photography from a New York Times feature in 1999: 

For most New Yorkers, Manhattan with empty streets is only a beautiful dream. But Veronica Saddler, a pinhole photographer, can clear out the city with her cameras. The two faded cardboard boxes scribbled over with exposure times could not look more unassuming, yet they have produced dozens of majestic photographs. 

For Ms. Saddler, who is smitten with Manhattan's architecture, pinhole is the ideal medium. The city is transformed into a place where buildings, not people, are the focus, and for anyone used to crammed city streets, the vast stretches of empty pavement in these photos are almost as compelling as the buildings themselves. The pinhole's infinite depth of field and wide-angle capacity have a distorting quality that causes some buildings to appear to stretch out and envelop an entire block, an effect Ms. Saddler enhances by not shooting her subjects straight on.

The New York in her photos is serene and slightly haunted: Delmonico's steakhouse is a stony battleship sailing down a deserted Beaver Street; Jefferson Market Library looks more than ever like a misplaced fairy castle, its tower oddly warped like a melting ice cream cone on an abandoned stretch of the Avenue of the Americas. An afternoon shot of Trinity Church looks as if it was taken at the dead hour of 5 a.m. 

Her work will be on display until April 3. Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Said an EVG reader who alerted us to the show: "The exhibition is beautifully installed. It would be sad if this talented African American woman's passing went unnoticed." 

Here's a look at some of her work on display courtesy of EVG contributor Stacie Joy...

Sidewalk bridge fakeout at the beleaguered Mariana Bracetti Plaza

Word spread yesterday that workers were removing the sidewalk bridge from around Mariana Bracetti Plaza, the 7-story NYCHA-run housing complex on Third Street and Fourth Street along Avenue C.

There were momentary cheers, as tenant advocates have blamed the longstanding sidewalk structures for the increase in illegal activities here in recent years.

As resident Kanielle Hernandez told EVG contributor Stacie Joy in January:

Landlords put up these dark ugly scaffolds as a resolution instead of actual repairs. Then they stay up for years without any actual work being done. But someone is getting paid to have these sidewalk bridges just up with no real purpose. It creates dark hidden places for illegal activity. 

With the sidewalk bridges came more and more and more homeless, drug addicts and alcoholics. The money being spent to have these useless sidewalk bridges up should be used to actually improve the building conditions.

Upon arriving at the complex yesterday, Stacie learned that the sidewalk bridge will be rebuilt, with workers replacing the rotting wooden planks...

While the pieces did need to be replaced, workers also said that the sidewalk bridge would remain up for another three years.

According to DOB records, permits for a sidewalk shed date here to December 2000. (Reason: "loose brick.") There are records of permits for the installation of a sidewalk bridge in March 2003 ... April 2004 (for "remedial repairs") ... August 2015 ... and October 2017. (A Google Streetview shows a structure in place continuously back to 2016.)

And some scenes from yesterday's work... 

Tonight, Community Board 3's NYCHA & Section 8 Housing Subcommittee will discuss the conditions at the Mariana Bracetti Plaza housing complex.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

• PSA 4 providing increased security at Mariana Bracetti Plaza

Claim: The pandemic caused more bar-restaurant closings in the East Village than in any other NYC neighborhood

The pandemic has devastated countless businesses in the city these past 12 months.

And according to one tally, there were more bar-restaurant closings in the East Village than in any other NYC neighborhood. 

Citing statistics compiled by restaurant recommendation site the Infatuation, the Post reports that 55 establishments have closed in the East Village. 

Cutting and pasting:

By comparison, 21 restaurants closed in the West Village; 19 restaurants closed on the Lower East Side; 15 closed in both Williamsburg and Staten Island; 14 closed on the Upper West Side; 13 closed in Midtown; and 11 closed in Chinatown. Neighborhoods with 10 closings or less include the Upper East Side with 10, and six each in Murray Hill, Soho and FiDi, according to the Infatuation. 

Why so many here?

The problem, sources say, is that the East Village — sometimes referred to the city's version of "Bourbon Street" — boasts a young, late-night crowd that spends more money on booze than food, which means it was hit first by the lockdowns and then by the curfews, which now end at the geriatric hour of 11 p.m. 

One named source in the Post article is Stratis Morfogen, who's opening the automated Brooklyn Dumpling Shop on First Avenue and St. Mark's Place one of these days.

"The neighborhood is filled with college students and first-time apartment owners — people in their 20s who don't sit down to eat until after midnight. Pizzerias stay open here until 7 a.m. In most neighborhoods, food is 75 percent and liquor is 25 percent. In the East Village, it's the opposite. Liquor is a vital part of the East Village's restaurant business and it has been crushed by the curfew," Morfogen said. 

A few places on the Infatuation's list of 55 aren't in the East Village, such as Oatmeals on West Third Street and Nix on University Place. In addition, while Coyote Ugly on First Avenue closed, they relocated to 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

There are also many closures that they didn't note, including B Bar & Grill on the Bowery, Lovenberg on Sixth Street, Vegan Love on 10th Street Dia, Atlas Cafe and Nostro on Second Avenue. Boilery on Third Avenue, the Dumpling House on Second Avenue, Native Bean on Avenue A, etc. 

So, unfortunately, the number is higher than 55. And I don't want to count myself ... to avoid turning this into some kind of sporting event. 

Tuesday's parting shots

"Russian Doll" day continues... season 2 of the Netflix series is filming at multiple locations in the East Village, including at (in!) 7B/Vazac's/Horseshoe Bar ... which is going by Black Gumball for the shoot...

Film notices around the neighbor names this production as "Black Gumball."

And there'll be more filming tomorrow on Avenue B, Third Street and Houston, among other locales.

In a piece of casting news, Annie Murphy, who played Alexis Rose on "Schitt's Creek," will reportedly be in the second season of "Russian Doll." 

Prepping for 'Black Gumball' (or 'Russian Doll' — shhhh!) on 3rd Street and Avenue B

Crews for "Black Gumball" are prepping some storefronts on Third Street and Avenue B ahead of tomorrow's shoot along here.

As Stacie Joy's photos show, Jane's Exchange is now Old Ukraine Grocer ...

Expect a laundromat here too...

... and Ben's Deli on B is getting some enhancements...

Ben's at 32 Avenue B served as a pivotal location for the time-bending Netflix series "Russian Doll" and Natasha Lyonne's character. Much of that award-winning series from 2019 was filmed in the East Village.

Word is "Black Gumball" is code/the working title for season 2 of "Russian Doll." 

Gotta get up, gotta get out. 

Updated 2 p.m. 

Crews are at 7B/Vazac's/Horseshoe Bar too... a scene of several interesting moments in Season 1... photo by Vinny & O...

See this post for more details on the shoot.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your 'Russian Doll' reader

Letters

You've likely seen an array of letters posted around the East Village... the top one (thanks Stacie Joy!) is taped to the bear outside Josie's on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... the one below (thanks Robert Miner!) is outside Ninth Street Espresso at Avenue C... (you may click on the images for more detail)... 

There are other variations, like one outside Mast on Avenue A and another near Juicy Lucy the next block up the Avenue. Some namecheck East Village businesses and at least one is signed by EVQ (East Village Queen).

Frank Prisinzano planning grocery concept near Lil' Frankie's on 1st Avenue

East Village restaurateur Frank Prisinzano is opening a personally curated grocery store on First Avenue. 

In a series of clips in Stories at the newly created @frankiesgrocery on Instagram, Prisinzano unveiled some of the plans.... starting with that he might not actually call it Frankie's Grocery. 

"I'm still conceptualizing everything," he said.

He has signed two leases for storefronts, though he only divulged details on a space adjacent to Lil' Frankie's on First Avenue between First Street and Second Street. 

"I've always wanted to have a grocery store. I've always wanted to curate all my own products," said Prisinzano, who also owns and operates EV mainstays Frank on Second Avenue and Supper on Second Street. "It will be a curated list of products that I use and recommend. Nothing will be on the shelves that I don't personally love." 

He plans on having a deli case inside the new shop to sell sandwiches ... with a vertical slicer for prosciutto. He's also thinking about offering homemade gelato and sorbet — similar to what his restaurants have on the dessert menus. Other amenities will include a 20-foot table to host private parties catered by the shop. 

"I'm going to keep it real simple, real Italian and real fresh," he said.

NYPD reps to brief Community Board 3 on the activity around 3rd Street and Avenue C

Tonight, Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety & Environment Committee will hear from reps from PSA 4, who patrol public housing, and the 9th Precinct about "public safety issues in the Avenue C/Third Street area."

On Jan. 18, a 36-year-old man was shot and killed here. According to published reports, the man was shot multiple times around 8:40 p.m. The Post reported that three men were seen fleeing westbound on Third Street.

Since then, an NYPD vehicle has been parked on the corner.

Residents have long complained about the drug activity on the southeast corner of Avenue C and Third Street, which has been under a sidewalk bridge now for more than eight years. (The renovations to the three-story building, 32 Avenue C, came to a halt in recent years. A full vacate and stop-work order remain at the address.)

In August 2019, residents posted these flyers on buildings in the immediate area... asking tenants to reach out to the NYPD and local elected officials about the "drugs and hookers at the homeless camp" on the corner...

Tonight's virtual meeting starts at 6:30. The Zoom invite is here. 

Visit the CB3 website at this link for more details on all this month's CB3 meetings. Tomorrow night, the NYCHA & Section 8 Housing Subcommittee will discuss the conditions at the nearby Mariana Bracetti Plaza housing complex.

Changes: Looking for a Coinstar replacement after the Food Emporium closes this spring?

In our post last Thursday about the May closure of the Food Emporium on Union Square, a reader lamented the pending loss of the grocery's Coinstar machine.

As another reader noted, there's a Coinstar machine in the lower level of the Kmart on Astor Place.

Also! You can find one at the PayOMatic at 303 E. Houston St. between Clinton and Attorney... where EVG contributor Stacie Joy took these photos the other day...

There is an 11.9 percent service fee here ... (fees may vary by location!) ...

Other nearby locations include the D'Agostino outpost on First Avenue between 20th Street and 21st Street.

A quick look at CTown's new deli

Also from our post about the Food Emporium closing in May on Union Square ... a reader pointed out that the CTown over at 188 Avenue C between 11th Street and 12th Street has a new deli ... Indeed! EVG contributor Stacie Joy happened to be by and shared these two photos... a bevy of Boar's Head products ...

Open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.