Himalayan Vision is closing on 2nd Avenue

Himalayan Vision, the Tibetan shop at 127 Second Ave., is closing after 23 years in business between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Tenzin, the owner, says his last day will be March 26. Until then, he has discounted items by 20 to 80 percent ...

Tenzin said he simply couldn't make the rent anymore and decided to close. (There was not a rent increase, and at the same time, the landlord was not going to negotiate a lower rate.) 

Himalayan Vision and Millie, the store cat... will be missed... 

And we were told that Tenzin won't be able to keep Millie. So if there's anyone interested in adopting her, please reach out to Tenzin at the shop. [Updated 3/26: Millie has a new home!]

Himalayan Vision is open noon-8 p.m. ... and closed on Wednesdays. 

Top two photos by Steven... Millie photo by Lola Sáenz

Checking in on the USA Super Stores, opening soon on 3rd Avenue and 10th Street

Here's a progress report on the USA Super Stores (yes plural) coming to the former Duane Reade on the SW corner of Third Avenue and 10th Street...

Workers have been filling the space with large displays of items, including Marcal toilet paper ...

... and tins of McKenzie & Lloyds Danish Style Butter Cookies ...

We first reported on this pending arrival on Feb. 3. Looks like the place will be open SOON.

USA Super Stores have been opening in former Duane Reade/Walgreens outposts around the city, including Avenue D and Second Street.

This Duane Reade by Walgreens closed in early March 2020 ... several years after expanding and gobbling up several small storefronts, forcing Excel Art and Framing Store and East Village Cheese (which was never the same) to relocate.

A'more Caffè coming to 2nd and A

Signage is up now for A'more Caffè at 150 E. Second St. on the NE corner of Avenue A. 

The sign promises premium coffee roasted in NYC. 

The business has a new Instagram account that notes "something good is coming."

This retail space was previously BikeFix NYC, which relocated to a larger storefront on Sixth Street. 

The former Barnyard Cheese Shop is for rent on Avenue B

Unfortunately, the Barnyard Cheese Shop's Barnyard Express experiment didn't last.

In early December, Beatriz Gutierrez decided to reopen her popular sandwich shop/market for weekend-only service at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. It was done by the end of January. 

This past week, the smaller for-rent sign on the storefront was joined by a much-larger banner.

Barnyard closed in October after Gutierrez could not find someone to helm her kitchen. Her longtime cook, who lost a brother during the pandemic, left to be with his family in Mexico. 

Barnyard Cheese Shop's companion business next door, Brix Wines, remains open.

The white and red stripes: The new-look KFC on 14th Street

The KFC on the SW corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue closed earlier this month for interior and exterior renovations...

As a few EVG regulars have noted, the new-look outpost has reopened with a refreshed look featuring KFC's signature white and red stripes on display outside (this pattern replaces the rather drab beige-red combo on the Second Avenue side) ...

The interior now features a wall dedicated to founder Harland Sanders, who started the business in Corbin, Ken., in 1930, billed here as the original celebrity chef... 

Sunday's parting shot

As seen on Stuyvesant at 10th Street (there are others)... photo by Steven...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on 2nd Avenue at 6th Street by Derek Berg) ... 

• Holyland Market is closing on St. Mark's Place; owner to focus on hummus biz (Monday) 

• A visit to Archie's Press on 10th Street (Thursday) 

• Gaia Italian Café Shop is coming to the East Village (Thursday) 

• Cooper Union: Longtime Stuyvesant Street businesses "informed us of their decision to vacate the property" (Wednesday) 

• Report: Relief supplies for Ukraine stolen from 2nd Avenue nonprofit (Wednesday) 

• 9th Precinct now issuing tickets to anyone parking in Neighborhood Loading Zones (Tuesday) 

• Gallery Watch: Emily Oliveira at Geary on the Bowery (Friday)

• Longtime East Village artists bring 'Double Trouble' to the Tompkins Square Library branch (Tuesday)

• A broken gate at 89 1st Ave., where permits are still pending for a new building (Wednesday)

• La Fleur Café to set up shop on 9th Street (Monday) 

• The taco cart is BACK on 2nd Street and Avenue A (Thursday) 

• Indoor service is back at Abraço (Sunday) 

• Openings: Nudibranch on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) ... Openings: Essex Squeeze on 5th Street (Tuesday) 

• A new restaurant for the Papilles space on 7th Street (Tuesday) 

• Avenue A Deli and Grill shapes up (Monday) 

 ... and from EVG reader David Sippel from Friday on Second Avenue at 14th Street — a mini-tree discard for the books... 

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Support for Ukraine at Archie's Press

Photos by Stacie Joy

Archie's Press, one of the neighborhood's newest businesses, is showing its support for Ukraine. 

Owner Archie Archambault, an East Village resident, is donating the proceeds of his Little Ukraine print (available in-store only) to humanitarian aid for the war-torn country. (He was also going to distribute them to any shop to display in their windows)...

We featured Archie's Press this past week in a post here. Since EVG contributor Stacie Joy's previous visit, Archie created the Ukraine flyers. 

Meanwhile, while Stacie was at the shop yesterday, Archie worked on a new flyer with his Vandercook SP-15 letterpress...

Watch your fingers!

 

... and the final product...

Archie's is at 219 E. 10th St between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Store hours: 

Monday 1-6 p.m. 

Tuesday-Wednesday Closed 

Thursday-Friday 1-6 p.m. 

Saturday-Sunday noon- 6 p.m.

Sunday's opening shot

Spring is underway in Tompkins Square Park. 

Per this cut-n-paste:

In 2022, the March equinox happens on Sunday, March 20, at 11:33 A.M. EDT. This marks the return of spring to the Northern Hemisphere.

A 'Wild Style' anniversary

The Source notes an anniversary for "Wild Style" ... the hip-hop classic starring Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quinones, Patti Astor, Lady Pink, the Rock Steady Crew, the Cold Crush Brothers, Queen Lisa Lee of Zulu Nation and Grandmaster Flash, among many others, made its theatrical premiere 39 years ago, on March 18, 1983, as part of the New Directors/New Films Festival at the 57th Street Playhouse ... before a commercial release later that year. 

Here's a climatic scene filmed at the now-demolished East River Park amphitheater...