'Memorial Day Madness' today in Tompkins Square Park with 6 bands

There's a slate of six bands on tap for Tompkins Square Park this afternoon (2-6 p.m.) ... the start of the summer concert season via The Shadow.

The Loisaida Festival is TOMORROW

The 35th edition of the Loisaida Festival returns tomorrow (Sunday!) on Avenue C... (the event was virtual the past two years).  

Most of the activities will be taking place between Fifth Street and 12th Street, the site of the main stage with a slate of live bands and DJs throughout the afternoon. 

The Festival is from noon to 5 p.m. ... with an opening parade starting at 11 a.m. featuring Batalá New York, the all-women, Black-led percussion ensemble. 

You can find the full list of performers and other events at this link.

By the way, Chico created this year's festival poster.

Friday's parting shot

A moment during the downpour late this afternoon on Second Avenue... photo by Derek Berg...

Hair and now

 

Sudan Archives has new music out ... here's "Selfish Soul," a song about women and the celebration of hair.

Last 2 days for the 'Rotten to the Apple' NYC punk photo show at C-Squat

Photos by Stacie Joy

There are two days left to check out "Rotten to the Apple" an NYC punk photo show featuring the work of 30-plus photographers at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space/C-Squat on Avenue C. (Previously.)

The show ends tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy recently stopped by the space...

... lots of great work here, including EVG friend Walter Wlodarczyk...

You can access the free show, curated by Destiny Mata and David Siffert, via MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

Today's hours: 1-6 p.m. ... and tomorrow noon to 4 p.m.

P&T Knitwear, a new bookstore, cafe and podcast studio, opens tomorrow on Orchard Street

P&T Knitwear, the neighborhood's latest bookstore, debuts tomorrow (Saturday!) at 180 Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton.

P&T Knitwear is a family-owned independent bookstore, podcast studio, event space and cafe ... "run by a team of passionate lifelong readers and listeners."

As previously reported (first by the publishing industry newsletter Shelf Awareness), Bradley Tusk, the venture capitalist and philanthropist who founded the Gotham Book Prize in 2020, and general manager and buyer Julie Wernersbach are behind the new venture. 

In 1952, Tusk's grandfather, Hymie Tusk, and his business partner Mike Pudlo opened the original P&T Knitwear, a small shop selling sweaters and collared shirts at 37½ Allen St. Per the store's website, "the two men survived the Holocaust and met in an American displacement camp in Germany after the war."

The 3,000-square-foot bookstore is open this weekend from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find a list of specials and promos here.  

The 27th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is this weekend at Theater for the New City

Via the EVG inbox...

The 27th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is on for three full days this Memorial Day weekend, from Friday, May 27-Sunday, May 29, at Theater for the New City, with a wide array of free indoor and outdoor offerings that include theater, music, dance, video, film, poetry, cabaret, an art exhibition, and a youth program, along with food and vendors. 

Find the full list of activities here. 

Theater for the New City is at 155 First Ave. at 10th Street.

Panda Express makes it signage official on the SW corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue

Orange Chicken, incoming!

The Panda Express Chinese Kitchen signage arrived yesterday on the SW corner of 14th Street and First Avenue, as EVG regular Pinch shows us...

News of the PE arrival first surfaced in January (31 comments!).

This marks the latest outpost for the quick-serve Chinese restaurant chain that launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today (with a handful around NYC). 

An AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

FULL reveal at 118 E. 1st St.

Last week, we reported that sales have commenced at 118 E. First St., the 9-story condoplex between Houston/Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Workers have now removed the scaffolding and construction netting from the building, offering a better look at the "collection of four townhouse-style duplexes with direct, keyed elevator access and private outdoor spaces."

Also yesterday, an EVG reader pointed out 118's pièce de résistance on the market ...

Tour de force of 118 E 1st, the penthouse triplex is a stunning space converging between a downtown industrial loft aesthetic that meets a modern architectural vision. Upon stepping off the elevator you are instantly awed by the 15’ ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows. The dining room is set back with a stunning south-facing terrace, perfect for enjoying an indoor/outdoor environment while overlooking clear downtown views. 

Asking price: $7.2 million. This includes Siberian Marble Herringbone heated flooring in the can bathroom.

Foundation work started on this building in the spring of 2018.

Thursday's parting shot

It's Fleet Week... and as seen on Seventh Street and First Avenue... members of the USS Bataan... thanks to Steven for the photo...