Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a tree trick on Astor Place via Derek Berg) ...

• Report: Advocates lose appeal to halt East River Park demolition; temporary restraining order lifted (Wednesday) 

• PlantShed bringing flowers, plants and coffee to 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• Barnyard Cheese Shop making a return as Barnyard Express with weekend-only service (Friday) 

• Meet The Acute (Thursday) 

• Happy birthday to the Tompkins Square Library branch! (Thursday) 

• Clare checks out "Night Moves" by Jacqueline Cedar at Shelter Gallery (Wednesday)

• A new NY See! (Thursday) 

• Local students distribute pre-Thanksgiving meals in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday) 

• Cutlets Sandwich Co. debuts on 3rd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Ahimsa Garden has left the East Village (Monday) 

• Retail space comes into view at the former Hells Angels HQ (Thursday) 

• 2 restaurants opened and closed in 6 weeks at this space on 10th Street (Thursday) 

• Santa returns to Rite Aid this holiday season with his head intact (Wednesday) 

• Mug & Cup in soft-open mode on Avenue C (Tuesday) 

• Flamingos Vintage Pound checks out (Monday) 

• Openings: 75 Degrees Cafe & Bakery (Tuesday) 

• Here's your Smoke City Exotics signage on Avenue B (Friday)

• Happy holidays from Wegmans (Monday) 

• Bar None seized for nonpayment of taxes (Monday) 

• The VNYL has not been open in a long time (Tuesday)

• 1st Street Prune watch (Monday) 

... speaking on Prune, someone left this mod piece outside the restaurant over the weekend...

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An art fair at the Tompkins Square Library branch

That's a wrap on the fifth annual East Village Arts Festival at the Tompkins Square Library, a four-day event at the branch on 10th Street.

On Thursday afternoon, a group of local writers and artists were on hand with their work. EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by for a visit with ...

... Eve Packer and Ron Kolm... 

... Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges... 

... Greg Masters...

... J. Scott Orr of B Scene Zine... 

 ... Ruth Oisteanu...

... Frank New...

...Delia Anne Parker...

... Carpo...

... Delphine le Goff...

... Sara Ann Rutherford...

A celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 3rd Street

You may have noticed the colorful procession yesterday outside the Most Holy Redeemer/Nativity Parish on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

It was a celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe. (This was a prelude to the official Feast Day on Dec. 12.)

As NBC News reported back in 2019:

For Mexicans and Mexican-Americans as well as other Latinos, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a powerful symbol of devotion, identity, and patriotism. Her image inspires artists, activists, feminists and the faithful.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos from the celebration... 

Saturday's parting shot

A development to watch at the Rite Aid on First Avenue at Fifth Street... where the (formerly headless) Santa has been moved from the greeting cards section to inside the front doors 

In addition, EVG contributor Stacie Joy, who took this photo, noted in a not-alarming way that Santa's head is super wobbly ... meaning a headless Santa is once again a possibility ...

EVG Etc.: A deep dive on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project; a night at House of X

• Michael Kimmelman, the architecture critic at the Times, checks in with a long read on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (The New York Times)

• With omicron variant concerns, Mayor de Blasio is considering second shot, booster vaccination mandate for NYC restaurants, concerts (Daily News) More about omicron in NYC (Gothamist) 

• In a lawsuit, the family of Jennifer Blumin, who died with her two young children in a plane crash in 2017, says her landlord contained to charge rent for her East 13th Street penthouse for several months after her death (The Post) 

• A feature on the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis of Middle Collegiate Church on Second Avenue (The Times ... reminder: tomorrow, the church is marking the 1-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed its sanctuary on Second Avenue) 

• Residents of the Jacob Riis Houses say they are living with inconsistent heat and hot water and no gas service in their apartments (PIX11)

• Interviews with Council House Speaker candidates, including Carlina Rivera (City Limits) 

• A four-year-old piece of legislation before the City Council would enable more consistent scrutiny for placement in supportive housing (City Limits) 

• The legal battle continues at Children's Magical Garden on Norfolk and Stanton (The Post) 

• The fourth International Human Rights Arts Festival takes place Dec. 6-12 at Wild Project on Third Street near Avenue B (Official site) 

• Remembering 2 Bridges Music Arts on East Broadway and other long-gone record stores (Interlude Docs) 

• One night at House of X at the Public Hotel on Chrystie (The Cut)

• How They Might Be Giants — celebrating their 40th year — made "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (The Guardian ... read our 2011 Q&A with John Linnell)

EVG recent retail recap

A recap of some recent retail-related news... 

• The holiday market is open at 3rd & B'Zaar (Link) 

• Karen McDermott, who runs the March Hare with her husband Jason McGroarty, was diagnosed with colon cancer this fall. The toy store on Ninth Street also marked its first anniversary on Nov. 23. (Link) 

• A new storefront for P.J. O'Rourke II on Avenue B (Link) 

• Jo Laurie Loves debuts on Ninth Street (Link) 

• Leekan Designs winding down its operations on the Lower East Side (Link)

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.. and there's an East Village Flea on First Avenue and First Street today (Dec. 4) from noon to 5 p.m. You can find vendor info @NexusFlea ...

Saturday's opening shot

Hey, there's an inflatable Santa after all this year here on the glorious NW corner of 14th Street and First Avenue (outside the now-closed Papaya Dog) ...

P.S. Bonus (accidental) photo from the very moment a FedEx truck passed by the corner...

Horse sense

 

The Chicago-based teen trio Horsegirl recently released this video for "Billy," a forthcoming 7-inch single (with a cover of the Minutemen's "History Lesson Part II" on side B) via their new label, Matador. 

The band has said the song is "a love letter to past music scenes we wish we could have witnessed."

Details on the Suffolk Street Solidarity fundraiser

Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore and The Clemente Center are hosting a fundraiser on Dec. 8 — in person as well as via live stream. 

Here are some details about the event, held at The Clemente, via the EVG inbox...

Bluestockings has been part of the Lower East Side for 22 years and The Clemente for nearly 30. Bluestockings found a new home during the pandemic, and it's right across from The Clemente on Suffolk Street. We are thrilled to be neighbors and for all the possibilities this opens for us to work together. 

We're marking this new chapter with a joint fundraiser to mutually support each other's work and connect our already overlapping communities.

Speakers: Alok, Rita Indiana, Molly Crabapple, Yin Q, Victoria Law

Performers: Claudi of PincLouds and Choked Up (with Cristy Road)

Raffle Items: We have coveted items and great gifts which include thematically curated bundles from Bluestockings merch, Hardcover coffee table books donated by the Museum of the City of New York, tickets and passes to plays and concerts donated by Teatro SEA, and Arts for Art, and more.

Suffolk Street Solidarity is a celebration of our communities that will support our spaces' continued survival and shared commitment to solidarity work. Our fundraising goal of $70k will be split equally between Bluestockings & The Clemente.

Find ticket information and more information about the fundraiser at this link. 

The Clemente Center is located at 107 Suffolk St. at Rivington. 

Marking the 1-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed Middle Collegiate Church

Photo from June by Stacie Joy 

On Dec. 5, 2020, a six-alarm fire destroyed the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street, including the sanctuary of the neighboring Middle Collegiate Church. 

Middle Collegiate will mark the first anniversary with a pilgrimage to the site on Sunday. 

Here are more details via church officials: 

The congregation will be making a pilgrimage from our temporary home at Calvary Episcopal Church at 21st Street and Park Avenue South to the ruins of our sanctuary on the one-year anniversary of the fire. We'll be starting the walk at 11:45 a.m. uptown, and should get to Middle Collegiate around 12:15. 

People are welcome to join us for that but for an easier way to show support, we're just inviting folks at any point during that day to stop by and leave an offering by the construction fence — a flower, a candle, an old photo of the building, whatever they’d like. 

We thought it would be beautiful if congregants saw other people's offerings when they arrived, and if we continued to collect expressions of love throughout the day.

The fire spared the steeple and its historic contents — the New York Liberty Bell, which dates to the early 1700s. The bell is for now housed at the New York Historical Society. 

The FDNY previously said that faulty wiring at 48 E. Seventh St. was to blame for the fire. An FDNY spokesperson told 1010 WINS that the fire had been deemed "non-suspicious." No. 48 was demolished. (More background here.) 

Middle Collegiate Church is currently raising funds to help rebuild the sanctuary (link here).

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• At fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church, it's moving day for the historic New York Liberty Bell