A crowdfunding campaign for Andy Gil, killed by a hit-and-run driver on East Houston Street

The older brother of Andy Gil, the 21-year-old killed by a hit-and-run driver on East Houston Street last Thursday morning, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help his family pay for expenses. 

Andy lived with his parents and two siblings. 

Here's more from Jesus Gil: 

Andy was just beginning his adult life. At the young age of only 21 years old, Andy had multiple talents that nourished and grew within him daily. 

While working full-time at Casa Cipriani as a lobby door ambassador, Andy also focused on creating, producing and managing bold and understated photo shoots and fashion pieces such as clothing and handbags. His ambition and drive to become a successful and hard-working son to provide for our mother and family touched the lives of everyone around him. 

Andy, being the sweetest and most kind-hearted person he was, threw himself into all of these different projects as a way to provide for our mother. He believed in nothing more that he would one day buy a house for our mother and was even planning a trip to Mexico so that she could see her mom, whom she hasn't seen in decades. He was ultimately the kindest and most gentle family-oriented young man. 

Police say Gil was crossing Houston at Forsyth from south to north when he was struck and dragged by a sedan that continued westbound. The driver remains at large.

You can find the GoFundMe link here.

Openings: Dhom on 12th Street

Dhom recently (July 8) debuted at 505 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos!)

Soulayphet "Phet" Schwader and Nick Bradley, whose credits include Tribeca's Khe-Yo, are behind this Southeast Asian cafe and cocktail bar.

Hours: 

Monday-Wednesday — 11 a.m. to midnight 

Thursday-Saturday — 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. 

Sunday — 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

You can find the all-day cafe menu here. And some food pics on Instagram. 

Mace, the high-end cocktail bar, left the address in the summer of 2020.

Kura has apparently closed on St. Mark's Place

Photo by Steven

A large for-rent sign now hangs on the gate at 130 St. Mark's Place just west of Avenue A... apparently bringing an end to Kura.

There isn't any official notice of a closure, though the restaurant has been closed during listed business hours and Resy is no longer accepting reservations. (The phone goes unanswered as well.)

The upscale sushi spot opened in early 2013, and its omakase meals and presentation drew praise from The New York Times.

This space has the dubious distinction of housing Tre Scalini, an Italian restaurant that opened and closed in less in two weeks in July 2011.

The 9th Precinct will add bicycle patrols to the East Village

Due to popular demand and as we promised we’ve gotten some of our Officers to be bicycle trained. You will be seeing them patrolling the east village on bicycles. pic.twitter.com/4A065T2Usi

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) July 16, 2022

The 9th Precinct recently announced that officers will soon be canvassing the East Village on bicycles.

There have been calls to get more officers to patrol their communities via bicycle, such as in this Streetsblog op-ed from last July. Per Jeremy Posner: "Just as NYPD officers are being asked to get out of their cars more often as part of community policing, they should experience cycling on the streets they police."

In the summer of 2020, Bike New York called on the NYPD to put more officers on bicycles to improve community policing, among other items. 

Tuesday's parting shot

Brooklyn's Pan Arcadia brought their guitars and horns to Tompkins Square Park this afternoon for a surprise show... (they played the Bowery Ballroom a few nights ago)... photo by Derek Berg

EVG Etc.: Remembering Hunter Reynolds & Claes Oldenburg; looking at de Blasio's campaign donors

Some links to other sources from the past week (with a photo from this morning on Houston and Ludlow) ... 

• Remembering Hunter Reynolds, East Village artist and AIDS activist (POZ) 

• RIP Claes Oldenburg (CNN ... more background on his LES history at Off the Grid)

• Family looking for answers after murder of Jesse Parrilla (PIX 11 ... previously on EVG) 

• Police seek man on e-bike accused of sexually assaulting 2 women in Manhattan early Saturday morning, including a 28 year old on Avenue A and Fourth Street (Westside Rag ... CBS 2 ... ABC 7 ...

• A $95 million lawsuit alleges sexual assault against famed East Village restaurateur Shuji Bon Yagi (The Post) 

• City under a heat advisory through tomorrow night (Gothamist ... find a cooling center via this city map) 

• De Blasio scores campaign cash for the Congressional District 10 race from subjects of his ethics probes (The City) UPDATE: The former mayor drops out of the race (Axios) 

• Displaced Lower East Side Ecology Center heading now to Canarsie (NY1 ... previously on EVG) 

• Jesse Malin pays tribute to his longtime friend Howie Pyro (The Village Voice) 

• The MTA has put up a want ad for companies seeking to install platform barriers at three stations in the subway system, including the L at Union Square (The City) 

• History of Mechanics Alley on the LES (Ephemeral New York) 

• More on the Acne Studios handbag ads with the butt shots (The Post ... previously on EVG)

Some 13th Street residents want the fried-chicken smell to stop

Some residents who live behind Wing Stop at 426 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue have been treated to the nonstop smell of fried chicken in recent months, they say. 

Wing Stop, a multinational chain of aviation-themed restaurants specializing in chicken wings, opened here in late April. 

A resident who lives behind the fast-food establishment in the A Building at 425 E. 13th St. shared this photo of the Wing Stop's industrial ventilation system, which "is blowing the smell of fried chicken into roughly 50 condominiums."

"We are getting blasted all day, every day," said the resident, who's doing outreach for the building's board. "I've lived here for 14 years — it's literally unbearable." 

The resident said the new management at 426 E. 14th St. has not been responsive. 

Condo reps have been in touch with the Wing Stop corporate office. (The company is publicly traded, and while many locations are franchises, this location is corporate-owned.) After multiple calls to the corporate office, the resident received an email from the company in late June: 

We appreciate you reaching out to us in regards to our restaurant NY New York — E. 14th Street. 

We discussed this with our VP of Construction and Operations and we are within our rights per the terms of our lease. 

We suggest that you reach out to your landlord to discuss your concerns. 

The resident and others facing Wing Stop, which has daily hours of 10:30 a.m. to midnight, say they are at a loss over what to do now. 

"Since Wing Stop opened, we are unable to use our balconies, open our windows or even use our AC systems because the ongoing smell of fried chicken and/or french fries is blasted directly into our homes," the resident said. "It comes so quickly without warning and continually throughout the day, so there is no way to mask the smell because you don't realize it until it hits you. Then you feel like you're wearing it — it's truly disgusting."

Construction watch: 204 Avenue A

Workers look to be up to the fifth floor on the new building here at 204 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

As previously reported, this city-owned property, along with the one at 535 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, will make way for affordable housing.

The project is an income-restricted cooperative with units available to households earning no more than 80% AMI. When the new construction is complete, No. 204 will rise to seven stories, yielding 10 units (8-1BRs & 2-2BRs). There are 11 one-bedroom rental units planned for the 6-story No. 535.

No. 204 and 535, part of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development's Tenant Interim Lease Program, have been vacant since 2008. "Due to deteriorating structural conditions," tenants from both buildings were relocated then.

The former tenants of each building will be able to purchase the co-op units in the newly constructed building at No. 204, which will include ground-floor retail.

Here's the last rendering that we saw for No. 204 (before neighboring 202 Avenue A was demolished for the building called the Topanga) ...

Shakespeare Gordon Vlado Architects is the architect of record for the project ... with an estimated December 2022 completion date.

Kent's Dumpling House has apparently closed on 14th Street

Photos by Steven

That looks to be all for Kent's Dumpling House at 220 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (H/T @AlexVadukul!) 

The quick-serve restaurant has been closed of late, stuck under not one but two sidewalk bridges (!?!?) ... Google lists Kent's as permanently closed...

Workers have started to take apart the interior of the bargain-eats fave...

Kent's opened in 2019, taking over from Vanessa's Dumpling House (most of the staff remained the same).

Monday's parting shot

Midtown views from the EV... and one of the 23 times* today we were in a thunderstorm warning... 

* or so it seemed