Showing the former P.S. 64 some love during rally and press conference this Sunday

Photo from last month by Stacie Joy 

With the fate of the long-vacant former P.S. 64 at 605 E. Ninth St. up in the air, a group of locals is hosting a rally and press conference here on Sunday afternoon between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Last month, Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane ruled that Madison Realty Capital can move forward with a foreclosure against building landlord Gregg Singer after years of delay. 

When news circulated that the forclosure could move forward, several sources EVG spoke with said that the news was not unexpected. However, at this point, sources said, what happens next, or what this means for the future of the building, is anyone's guess. 

Here's more about the rally Sunday afternoon via the EVG inbox: 

Join SOCCC-64, elected officials, community orgs, artists and activists this Valentine's Day eve to ask the City to return our beloved community and cultural center, CHARAS / El Bohio. 

This is an urgent call, as developer Gregg Singer, who purchased the building that housed CHARAS, former P.S. 64 at public auction in 2001, is now in default of his mortgage and is in foreclosure! 

We are rallying to urge the City to work with us to return our center, and we need everyone's help to make it a reality.

The rally starts at 1 p.m.

Some history. The building became the Charas/El Bohio Community Center after the school left in 1977. The group was eventually evicted in December 2001 when Singer took over as the landlord. 

Singer, who bought the property from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.15 million, has wanted to turn the building into a dorm. (The DOB maintains a Stop Work Order on the property.)

There has been a call to return the building for community use in years past. Given this movement some hope: then-Mayor de Blasio's statement at a Town Hall on Oct. 12, 2017, that the city would take steps to reacquire the building. According to published reports, the Mayor said he'd work to "right the wrongs of the past." 

Those plans have never materialized, and it has sat empty these past 20-plus years.

A new 10-year lease for Astor Place Hairstylists

Photo yesterday by Steven 

Astor Place Hairstylists was set to close in late 2020 after business plummeted by nearly 90 percent during the pandemic. 

However, as announced in November 2020, a group of investors featuring financier Jonathan Trichter, former Hillary Clinton aide Howard Wolfson, pollster Jefrey Pollock and gaming mogul Jeffrey Gural, who's also the landlord at the address, put in the money to keep the shop afloat. (Gural was also said to reduce rent at the time.) 

Yesterday, details about a new 10-year lease for the subterranean shop that dates to 1947 at 2 Astor Place (aka 740 Broadway) were announced. 

"Astor Place Hairstylists is a New York institution," said Gural, chairman and principal of GFP Real Estate. "As a long-time client I am delighted to see that the business has not only pulled through the worst of the pandemic but is able remain in the same location they've occupied for more than 75 years. They are an important tenant, and we look forward to their continued success." 

According to the release, Michael "Big Mike" Saviello, the longtime manager, is now one of the owners.

Previous co-owners John and Paul Vezza retired at the end of 2021, making it the first time since the opening that a Vezza family won't be involved with the shop. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

Documentary offers a day in the life of Michael Saviello, longtime manager of the iconic Astor Place Hairstylists

The remains of the Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge

Workers started the late-night demolition of the Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge the week of Jan. 24. 

Here's a look at what's left... the Park and neighborhood sides have been KO'd...

... just the section over the FDR remains ... (now how will they remove this without interrupting traffic on the beloved FDR?) ...

Also, according to the Weekly Construction Bulletin: "Construction activities will necessitate the closure of the sidewalk at Delancey Street between FDR Drive and Baruch Drive." 

Park entry remains at Houston, Sixth Street and 10th Street. Everything below Stanton Street is closed and demolished (save for the new passive lawn). 

For further reading, the February issue of The Brooklyn Rail has a piece on the $1.45-billion East Side Coastal Resiliency Project titled "Land Grab."

Give my regards to...

From earlier today... Louise and Danny spotted this discarded item on Second Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street — an vintage-y Broadway poker machine... perfect for the man cave in your life...

Steak out: Man reportedly walks out of Trader Joe's with 10 packs of meat

Yesterday morning, a man reportedly walked out of the Trader Joe's on 14th Street near Avenue A with 10 packs of steaks. 

East Village resident Steven Hirsch, a photographer who contributes to the Post, happened to be in the store at the time. Per the Post article:

Two helpless Trader Joe's staffers had followed the man up an escalator leading to the store's exit but only stopped him from taking a shopping basket outside — not the meat, the video shows. 

"They basically just tell us not to do anything, just let them go," a Trader Joe's worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, later explained to The Post. 

"We get in trouble if we do anything … It don't bother me, I've been working here for two years, I see it happen every day. After a while, you just don't care."

The man initially told Hirsch that he paid for the items, but then "claimed that he was homeless and had stolen the food to eat."

"I'm gonna eat it," the man says in the video. "I'm f–king hungry." 

The incident made the cover of the Post under the headline "Hamburglar," part of a larger package on how CRIME is UP throughout the city.

Where are they now? Catching up with Willie from Odessa

Text and photos by Stacie Joy 

After Odessa’s closed in July 2020 at 119 Avenue A, several EVG readers wrote in asking about longtime waiter Willie Forero.

Thanks to a tip from Bobby Lesko, we found him working at old-school diner Zafi’s Luncheonette at 500 Grand St. (between Willett and Columbia) on the Lower East Side.

I recently dropped by to see how he’s doing, and I’m greeted like family at the unpretentious no-frills luncheonette. Zafi’s is owned by brothers Mike and Gerry Kekatos ... and today I find Mike behind the counter of the 46-year-old business.

Willie seems pretty happy at Zafi’s, where he started in late 2021, telling me that his role here is an “everything job,” including waiting tables, cleaning up and cooking “if I have to.” 

He recommends the “grilled chicken con mayo” and confides he tries something different on the menu each day.

If you’d like to drop by and say hi, he works every day except Tuesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. He says he’s happy to see regulars and meet new regulars too!

A groovy kind of love: 3rd and B'zaar back with a Valentine's Market this weekend

Like Air Supply, if you're lost in love, then you may want to check out the next pop-up market at 3rd and B'Zaar.

The mixed-vendor market and event space at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B will host a variety of local designers, artists, merchants and vintage sellers for this Valentine's weekend.

The Valentine's Market runs Friday-Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.

In a photoshoot with Stacie Joy, organizers (from left) Maegan Hayward, Sara Ann Rutherford and Delphine Le Goff paid homage to some 1980s excess and indulgence ...

3rd & B'Zaar debuted in late 2020 with a month-long Holiday Market followed by Sex, Love & Vintage in February ... Spring Into Pride in May and June ... Summer in the City in the summer and another holiday-themed pop-up late last year. 

You can follow them on Instagram for more info about vendors.

Le Phin debuts on 10th Street

Le Phin, which describes itself as a "little Vietnamese café," debuted this week at 259 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

An EVG reader shared the tip about the (soft) opening, noting: "Very calm, bright little shop. Got a nice Americano this morning. And more important: glad to have an empty storefront filled!" 

They are open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. You can find Le Phin on Instagram here. 

Thanks to Steven for the photo!

Last looks at today's 'Law & Order' shoot

Photos by Derek Berg 

As we've been mentioning (here and here and here), "Law & Order" is back with new episodes after a 10-plus year absence from NBC (obvi reruns play every few minutes on cable). 

Anyway! Today's filming action along Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B saw the return of Anthony Anderson's Det. Bernard and newcomer Jeffrey Donovan as Det. Frank Cosgrove ...

The two were seen checking out a crime scene in a van...

"Law & Order" returns with its first episode on Feb. 24.

'Law & Order' prep walk

"Law & Order" came to town the East Village today.

As noted yesterday, crews erected a tent city ahead of filming in Tompkins Square Park, not all that different from the actual tent city the city discarded in the same area this past November. 

EVG correspondent Steven shared these pics from earlier today... as some film vehicles were put into place on Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... (maybe this will be an episode about illegal van AirBnBs?) ...

... of course, we weren't the only media outlet here... those pesky SOBs from WXDV were on hand along with a crew from 1NYC...

... a crew member also created a makeshift memorial inside Tompkins Square Park for a scene...

The original "Law & Order" debuts on NBC on Feb. 24. No word when this episode will air. 

This 21st season will once again feature Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy ... new cast members include Odelya Halevi as ADA Samantha Maroun, Jeffrey Donovan as Det. Frank Cosgrove and Hugh Dancy as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price. 

The Emmy-winning series originally ran for 20 seasons on NBC, from 1990 to 2010, with 456 episodes. The franchise has been a regular presence on EV streets during its run.

Stay tuned for a few more pics!