This is the closing date for Dress Shoppe II

As previously reported, Dress Shoppe II, the Indian boutique at 83 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, is closing at the start of 2022, ending a 20-plus year run in the East Village. 

Saroj Goyal has been doing her best to keep the shop going since her husband of 50 years, Purushottam Goyal, died in September 2019. 

She recently announced a closing date: Jan. 31. There are advertised specials on items up to 50-percent off. 

Meanwhile, Vidhu Kota, a film student at Pratt, posted this video short with Goyal this past week...

 

In the previous post, you can read more about the closing and the financial arrangements with the landlord, the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association II.

You can find the Dress Shoppe II Etsy account here. The shop is open from noon to 8 p.m. daily, with 1-6 p.m. hours on Sunday.

Wednesday's parting shots

This evening, EVG contributor Derek Berg came across a woman with a trowel digging at the base of a tree along Seventh Street. 

At first glance, Derek thought that she was planting something. Turns out she was laying a mouse to rest.

The mouse was not a pet but lived in her apartment. She and her friends didn't want to kill it. So they co-existed. Eventually, the mouse died, and she gave it a Seventh Street sendoff. 

Free the Cube!

We've fielded some queries about the Cube — aka Alamo — on Astor Place ... mainly: Why is it surrounded by barricades?

We reached out to some Astor Place folks to see what might be happening here. To be continued (maybe!). 

Photo by Steven; H/T to Ada!

Putting the heat on plans for 2 power plants in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village

The Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association is hosting a rally tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 16) at 11 a.m. to speak out against their property's natural gas power plants. 

According to a TA rep, the majority owner, the giant real-estate investor Blackstone Group, has built one (not yet operational) and is planning another on the 80-acre parcel.

"We've been fighting this for more than a year," the rep said via email. 

And it sounds as if they have some help. Local elected officials, including City Councilmember Keith Powers, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Rep. Carolyn Maloney are expected to attend. 

Details and background here via the Tenants Association: 

Blackstone decided to build the plants on the property to lower their electric bill with Con Ed because gas and electricity are included in our rents. The electricity would be exported to the Con Ed grid, and our buildings would get the steam as a byproduct for heat. 

A major issue is that we think this violates the zoning applying to the property. But the pollution is of concern beyond our community. The plants are CHP (combined heat and power), also known as cogen, short for cogeneration, burn natural gas (a fossil fuel), and are regarded as less polluting than other types of plants. But Con Ed will not be reducing its output, so any emissions from the plants in ST will be additive. The plant that has been built but isn't yet operational is on Avenue C between 15th and 16th Streets. 

Our neighbors to the south are already living in the shadow of the massive Con Ed plant on 14th Street. Our air is already some of the most polluted in the city with the resulting bad health outcomes.

StuyTown-Peter Cooper management previously said that "the project will significantly reduce source greenhouse gas emissions" and that the property "remains a model for best-in-class sustainability practices." 

The rally takes place on Avenue C at 16th Street. You can find more background via the TA's website here.

The TA's last rally was in June. You can read coverage of that at amNY ... and The Village Sun.

August Laura has apparently closed on Avenue A and 6th Street

Multiple EVG readers reported that workers were clearing out August Laura on Monday evening and all day yesterday here on the NE corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street... some items were said to be bagged and tossed on the curb while others were loaded into trucks...

Several workers told readers that August Laura has closed for good. There isn't any mention of a closure on the bar-restaurant's website or Instagram account, though Google lists them as permanently closed.

The space was mostly cleared out last night...

August Laura opened here in October 2019. They seemed to have more irregular hours over the last few months, rarely open at the advertised 4 p.m. hour. Their ample outdoor space, including sidewalk seating and streetside dining structures on Avenue A and Sixth Street, sat unused on pleasant summer and fall afternoons and early evenings. 

August Laura took over the space from what some people considered an East Village institution — Sidewalk, the restaurant bar and live music venue (home of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after 34 years.

Pini Milstein, who retired, was the principal owner of the building and the operator of the Sidewalk. According to public records, Penn South Capital paid $9.6 million for the property in March 2019. The building's new owners added a one-floor extension here in 2020.

Gia Trattoria has closed on the Bowery

After four months, Gia Trattoria has closed at 334 Bowery between Bond and Great Jones.

The Italian restaurant had been dark in recent weeks, its website offline. Ownership confirmed the closure via an Instagram message but did not cite a reason.

Gia opened in late July with promises of "craveable Italian food, handcrafted drinks and much more.

Unfortunately, this space has been challenging to make work through the years. For starters, there was already a restaurant called Gia Trattoria at this address. Actually, there were a lot of places here for a brief time between November 2014 and June 2015 ... this is when the storefront was divided into two spaces, and Forcella, Espoleta, Gia Trattoria, Slice of Naples, SRO and Bowery Pizza came and went over six months. 

This space was Gino Sorbillo, the first U.S. pizzeria from "the Neapolitan celebrity super-chef" of the same name. The "temporarily closed for renovation" sign arrived here in early January ... after a November 2017 opening.

The storefront next door remains vacant too. Burkleman, a home and lifestyle brand based in Cold Spring, opened here in 2018. 

Late last year, a "closed for the winter" sign arrived on the door, which remains outside the now-vacant shop...  they relocated to Elizabeth Street between Houston and Prince. 

Dumpling N' Dips coming soon to St. Mark's Place

Signage is up on the storefront down the steps at 5 St. Mark's Place for a quick-serve concept called Dumpling N' Dips... 

Per the signage: "I have fillings for you." ("Fillings, nothing more than fillings...")

You can keep tabs on DnD via their Instagram account here. 

This space was previously Spot Dessert, which moved a few storefronts to the west here between Third Avenue and Second Avenue.

The other retail space at No. 5, the former Yakitori Taisho, is for rent.

Tuesday's parting shot

Santa practicing for Christmas Eve today on Union Square... photo by Derek Berg...

A coat drive at St. Dymphna's tonight

St. Dymphna's is hosting a coat drive tonight at the saloon at 117 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Starting at 8 tonight, you can bring a new or used coat by the bar in exchange for a drink. (Not sure what happens if you bring in, say, 15 coats.) 

St. Dymphna's is taking all the coats to the Bowery Mission.

[UPDATED] Activists: Even with new court order city continues demolition of East River Park

Yesterday, Court of Appeals Judge Rowan D. Wilson issued a new order that stays the previous Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), halting the construction at East River Park until a hearing on Thursday afternoon. 

Judge Wilson also signed an order bringing on a motion to hold the respondent in contempt.

 

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A post shared by 1000 people 1000 trees (@1000people1000trees)

Despite this, activists at the construction site south of Houston Street this morning report that city-contracted workers continue to demolish portions of the park — as they did around the clock this past weekend, even with the TRO in place on the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency project. 

Photos from the scene show an excavator in action at the amphitheater. 

In recent days, workers have focused on the now-closed section of East River Park from Stanton Street to Montgomery Street. Trees and amenities in this section have mostly been removed, witnesses say.

Photos of East River Park show a barren landscape with piles of tree stumps for those on the FDR to view (thanks to EVG reader John for this photo)...

The city's response to date has been: "The city has reviewed the Court's written order, and we do not believe it prevents us from continuing work on this vital resiliency project. 

Updated 3:30 p.m.

A group of activists has marched to local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office. Per a tweet, they are calling for her removal... 

Come to ⁦@CarlinaRivera⁩’s office now. We are blocking the street and calling for her removal from office. 4th and B ⁦@ERPAction⁩ #SaveEastRiverPark pic.twitter.com/GxQGkeaqaQ

— a thousand people a thousand trees (@1000treesNYC) December 14, 2021

Updated 7 p.m.

Here are more photos from outside Rivera's office via EVG contributor Stacie Joy. 

The activists tried to present Rivera with a copy of the latest order from Judge Wilson...

Although people were inside the office, no one would come to the door... and a copy was shoved under the door...

The group blocked traffic ...

...under the watchful eye of the NYPD. We're not aware of any arrests here.

Top photo by @benjaminshepard via @eastriverparkaction.