Work underway on 8-story residential building with affordable housing for 10th Street lot

Work is underway on the long-empty lot at 351 E. 10th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C ...

News of housing here dates to October 2019, when an array of city and federal officials came together during a press conference "to celebrate the commencement of the preservation and rehabilitation of project-based Section 8 housing in the East Village." During this event, officials noted that more affordable housing was set for this 10th Street parcel.

This lot will yield an 8-floor residential building featuring 28 residences. We don't know how many of these units will be designated as affordable.

The rendering at the lot lists a completion date of Sept. 1, 2023... 

John Scobie of the NYC-based developer Center Development Corp. is listed as the property owner. 

Housing plans here date to 2005, when permits were filed for a 6-floor building with 24 units. The work was never approved, though, per public records. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Details on the preservation and rehabilitation of 243 affordable housing units in the East Village 

Openings: Bake Culture on St. Mark's Place

Photos by Steven

Bake Culture has debuted at 22 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

The Taiwan-based bakery chain sells Asian and European pastries. The bakery's specialties include a variety of tarts and cakes, and you can find the menu here. 

This will be the fourth NYC location for the brand, which also has a storefront down on the Bowery (No. 48). According to this 2018 post at Eater, three Taiwanese celebrities — former boy band members — started the company. 

Hours: Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.; until midnight on Friday and Saturday ... and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays.

Checking in on those 'MotherF**king Girl Scouts' at the Wild Project

Photos by Stacie Joy 

A new play, "MotherF**king Girl Scouts," written by East Village resident Emmy W. (below), makes its debut in the days ahead as part of the Fresh Fruit Festival at the Wild Project.

Here's more about the production: 

In "Motherf**king Girl Scouts," camp counselors Jazmyn and Jia take an impulsive and unhinged group of young Girl Scouts on a camping trip they will never forget. On their journey, the Girl Scouts begrudgingly learn how to navigate the great joys and intense traumas of being a teenager, complete with motivational creatures popping out of the forest, accidental molly consumption, and most crucially, each other. 

And its showtimes at the theater, 195 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B:

• Wednesday 5/11 at 8:45 p.m. 

• Friday 5/13 at 6 p.m. 

• Saturday 5/14 at 3 p.m. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the theater this afternoon for the play's tech rehearsal...

You can find tickets for this and other Fresh Fruit shows here. 

The Fresh Fruit Festival is presented by All Out Arts to celebrate the LGBTQ community’s unique perspective, creativity and diversity, and to build links between the LGBTQ artistic communities.

An 'Open Mic Under the Stars' at Trinity Lower East Side on 9th and B

Via the EVG inbox... 

Join poet, author and activist Robert Galinsky and Trinity Lower East Side for Open Mic Under the Stars! Wednesday, May 11 8-9:30 p.m. in Trinity's garden at the corner of Ninth Street and Avenue B. 

Whether you’re a singer, a poet, an author, a comic, a magician … whatever! We want to hear you at our mic! Sign up in advance for a 5-minute slot at Eventbrite or just show up at the door. Freewill donations are gladly accepted, all supporting Trinity's work in the community.

There's another Open Mic night set for June 8. 

A campaign to co-name this block of Avenue C after Casa Adela founder Adela Fargas

Photos by Stacie Joy

Updated 8:15 p.m.

District Leader Assembly District 74 Part A Aura Olavarria, who drafted the petition, reports that the CB3 committee approved the street co-naming this evening.

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A campaign is underway to co-name Avenue C between Fourth Street and Fifth Street after Adela Fargas, the founder and namesake of the popular Puerto Rican restaurant Casa Adela on the block.

Fargas, who ran Casa Adela here for decades, died in January 2018. She was 81.

Adela's son Luis Rivera, who has been running Casa Adela with his sister Abigail, is collecting signatures of support at the restaurant, 66 Avenue C...  

The petition — drafted by District Leader Assembly District 74 Part A Aura Olavarria — reads in part: 

Adela Fargas was a working-class, Afro-Puerto Rican fixture in Loisaida and the owner and matriarch behind the iconic and authentic Puerto Rican restaurant, Casa Adela. She was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where she became a domestic worker who prepared frianbreras, or packed lunches, for factory workers. 

She moved to the United States at age 39, where her first job in the Lower East Side was at a restaurant on East 4th Street and Avenue D. When the restaurant closed, Adela found a way to provide for her family and feed those less fortunate through selling pasteles on street corners. In 1973, Adela opened her family-run restaurant, Casa Adela. 

Adela Fargas's impact goes far beyond a restaurant, which represented an important meeting place for the Puerto Rican community in New York City, in the diaspora, and worldwide. Outside the restaurant's walls, Adela was a center of Latino life on the Lower East Side and a tireless community advocate. Adela became the godmother to many on the Lower East Side, employing those who lived in the neighborhood and feeding anyone who came in hungry. 

Her soul food attracted a profound sense of community and this street co-naming will serve to honor her living legacy. Each year at the Loisaida Festival, Adela provided food for the community and organized dance and music for the festival as well.

Tonight at 6:30, members of Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety, Sanitation & Environment Committee will hear the item. (You can join in via Zoom.) 

As reported in early December, the building's landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) — at 66 Avenue C is looking to increase the rent on the LES institution to a rate that Luis Rivera says is not feasible. The two sides were working on an agreement, and we have not heard any updates. 

The March Hare returns with new daily hours

Here's some positive news to share about The March Hare, the whimsical toy store at 321 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

As previously reported, Karen McDermott, who runs the shop with her husband Jason McGroarty, was diagnosed with colon cancer last fall. (You can help support the couple here.) 

At the start of the year, the two decided running a business and navigating the challenges of chemotherapy was too much ... and they were set to sell or close The March Hare.

However, they were able to hang on to the shop, opening sporadically during the winter and spring.

In an Instagram post yesterday, McGroarty announced that they were back with daily hours. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us during Karen's battle with cancer. Our hours have been choppy to say the least but the good news is, we are back in the swing of things with lots of exciting news to come. 

We love you all so much for the kindness you have shown ❤️ 

The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

The March Hare opened in November 2020. The shop was carrying on for Dinosaur Hill, the 37-year-old toy store on the block where McDermott had worked. Dinosaur Hill closed in 2020 after owner Pamela Pier retired.

Films on the Green is bringing literary adaptations to downtown city parks this summer

The 2022 Films on the Green season begins in June... the annual free French film festival in NYC parks returns with the theme "From Page to Screen," spotlighting 12 literary adaptations. 

There are five screenings downtown, including a night in Tompkins Square Park: 

• June 10, Washington Square Park   "The Summit of the Gods" by Patrick Imbert (2021) 

• June 17, Washington Square Park   "Band of Outsiders" by Jean-Luc Godard (1964) 

• July 1, Tompkins Square Park  "Touchez Pas Au Grisbi" by Jacques Becker (1954) 

• July 8, Seward Park  "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie (2002) 

• July 15, Seward Park  "The Class" by Laurent Cantet (2008) 

You can find the full citywide lineup here. 

Films on the Green is produced annually in New York City parks by Villa Albertine, the French Embassy and FACE Foundation. 

After a year off in 2020, the series returned with a hybrid event last summer, though there weren't any events in Tompkins.

Monday's parting shot

Photos by Steven 

The remains of the massive tree uprooted Saturday afternoon on Avenue A at Seventh Street along Tompkins Square Park. 

Workers removed most of the trunk today...

May 9

Thanks to EVG reader Garth for sharing these photos today from Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square... where a discarded Christmas tree — complete with lights — lies conveniently in a move-in-ready bag... Just grab and go and be the holiday envy of your friends and neighbors this coming Memorial Day weekend...

Tompkins Square Bagels is opening an outpost on Union Square West

Tompkins Square Bagels is expanding, with a location coming to 23 E. 17th St. at Broadway later this year. 

Owner Christopher Pugliese just signed the lease for the space on Union Square West for what he called a "pretty fair deal." If all goes well, he hopes to open in six months.

 

"I'm very excited and nervous too," he said during a phone call on Friday. 

Pugliese opened his first location at 165 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street in December 2011. A second outpost arrived at 184 Second Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street in November 2016.

Despite the many vacant storefronts in the area, it took him nearly two years to find a new space.

"I've been pounding the pavement since August 2020, and I've come close. I had my heart broken a few times," Pugliese said.

"I wanted to be the [the business owner] who opened in December 2020 or January 2021, when all those stories were going around that New York was dead or New York was over," said Pugliese, born and raised in Brooklyn. "I wanted to open and give the big Brooklyn middle finger. I'm opening here. You know, New York is going to be fine! But the landlords weren't really cooperating yet, and they weren't getting it. So it took this long."

Pugliese also said he didn't want to be too close to competition.

"I have this rule that I won't open within six blocks of another bagel store," he said. "There's nobody over there, so I won't be stepping on anyone's toes." 

The 17th Street storefront was previously part of the Paragon Sports footprint. The 1,500-square-foot space has exposed brick and 22-foot-high ceilings. It's in move-in shape, save for the plumbing and AC work.

Despite some challenges during the pandemic (see this post), the two TSB shops stayed open throughout 2020 and 2021. 

"We didn't get into a jam owing back rent," he said. "Because we were able to pay rent during the tougher days, I was able to negotiate a 10-year extension. So TSB will be on Avenue A for at least another 15 years. At that point, I'll be 65, and my daughter will be 22. If she's interested in picking up the torch, then who knows?"

In addition, TSB also boosted its delivery service during the pandemic throughout Manhattan, which remains in place today. "We're busy.  The crowds came back, and my delivery is still strong. We're doing pretty well," he said. 

Pugliese closed the call on a grateful note. 

"The East Village is a place I looked at with stars in my eyes back in the 1980s when I was a kid," he said. "Being accepted and supported by the community over the past 10 years has been a dream come true."