Keyapalooza! Key Food is hosting a 6-day 'RE-GRAND Opening' next month

Photo by Stacie Joy

After nearly a year of renovations and some changes, some subtle (the non-dairy milk brands moved across aisle 2) and not-so-subtle (we still can't find the bacon), Key Food is hosting a "RE-GRAND Opening" during the first two weekends of September. 

That's six days to celebrate Keychella and the upgrades (we haven't even posted about the new lights, which are pleasantly soft and don't cause seizures, as far as we know). 

At this moment, we don't know what to expect over these six days other than to celebrate our appreciation of the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street. 

We will see you there for all six days of this Keyapalooza. 

P.S. 

Yes, we have never heard of a "RE-GRAND Opening" and don't know if this is some kind of transpose glitch. (If so, collector's item!)

P.S.S.

Key was never actually closed during any of the renovations, other than shaving a few hours off the open and close times. We love you Key.

The replacements

 

A new single/video dropped today via local musician-artist Ruby Trademark (aka Ruby Aldridge) ... enjoy the noirish noise-pop of "My Replacement."

The ever-changing East Village skyline's newest addition is a 32-foot-tall Link5G tower

The first 32-foot-tall Link5G tower has gone up (earlier this week) on Second Avenue near First Street. (Thanks to the reader for the pic! 🙌) 

So what the *(*&#^%%$$@@ are these? 

Per amNY: 

The new structures are operated as a public-private partnership by consortium CityBridge, and are a revamp of the old 10-foot kiosks the firm set up under former Mayor Bill de Blasio starting in 2015 with free Wi-Fi, USB charging ports, a tablet, a 911 button, and calling capabilities. 

We remember!

The old ones were supposed to be funded by digital ad displays on the side and the city originally hoped to build 10,000 of them, but the screens did not bring in the promised revenue, which brought the program to a halt with some 1,800 units built largely in Manhattan. 

Read more about the supersize LinkNYC and the plans to revive the broken promise to bridge the digital divide in NYC at The City. 

Currently accepting nicknames for the Link5G towers in the comments.

People keep stealing catalytic converters

Top photo from 6th Street

Catalytic converters remain a hot property. (Background)

This appeared on the Citizen app this morning ... two men stole one (allegedly!) from a vehicle on the south end of Avenue B, prompting a police search of the area ...

Meanhile, the 9th Precinct tweeted this back on Saturday morning...

There is a big market for catalytic converters and these thieves know that. Great Police work by Officer Ramos and Officer Foster. They responded to a 911 call of a man stealing a catalytic converter from a car and after a brief foot chase the individual was arrested. pic.twitter.com/o8IH7zYQqT

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) August 20, 2022

Reminders! The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is back in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is taking place this weekend...  with a return to Tompkins Square Park from 3-7 p.m. on Sunday.

Here's what to expect here via the SummerStage 2022 program: 

Archie Shepp and Jason Moran are two avant-garde jazz musicians from different generations that nonetheless share a penchant for pushing the envelope. Shepp is a veteran saxophonist who has been called both a musical firebrand and a cultural radical, standing out even amongst myriad talents in the free jazz generation. Moran is pianist 37 years Shepp’s junior, with an equal respect for tradition and trailblazing. Their 2021 collaboration Let My People Go is a warm and intimate collection of duets recorded live in 2017-2018, a pristine portrait of two masters at work. 

The bill also includes the Grammy-nominated Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, who plays with a ferocious energy and deft musicality; Bria Skonberg, a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader once described by The Wall Street Journal as one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation; and Pasquale Grasso, a master be-bop guitarist known for elevating the instrument through his pianistic approach, showing the influence of Bud Powell and Art Tatum in a revolutionary hard-swinging way. 

An abbreviated version of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival took place last year in Harlem; the 2020 slate was canceled with the pandemic. 

The festival started in Tompkins Square Park in 1993 ... taking place near or on Parker's birthday on Aug. 29. Additional dates were added in Harlem in 2000. 

Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived at 151 Avenue B from 1950-1954. That residential building between Ninth Street and 10th Street is landmarked.  

Thursday's parting shot

EVG reader Garrett Rosso points out that for the first time since its arrival in late 2014, the "Alphabet City" mural has been tagged on the SW corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street ... on the (rather mysterious) RCN Cable building. 

The ABC mural is the work of Brooklyn-based artists The Yok and Sheryo. And there was a little bit of controversy when this mural first arrived.

A liquidation sale at La Sirena on 3rd Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

A liquidation sale continues at La Sirena, the longtime Mexican artisan shop at 27 E. Third St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

In an email about the in-shop-only sale, owner Dina Leor said: "Long story short, we have enough for four stores, and we want to empty. We'd rather you enjoy it than have it saved."

Here's more:

Everything is handmade by artisans from many regions of Mexico. Our mission has always been to help and support artisans and craft traditions.

We have a lot of embroidered clothes, textiles, ceramics, hand-carved wooden masks, jewelry (handmade silver earrings and others too), Talavera ceramics, Gorky Gonzales ceramics, home decor, wall art, tin art, leather and fabric wallets and purses, Halloween art, sombreros, good luck charms, statues of saints, Mexican wrestling masks and souvenirs, baskets, market bags, hand woven blankets, paper flowers and much more. 

She said the liquidation runs through Aug. 31.

Asked on Instagram if she was closing the shop, she wrote: "First liquidating storage and then we'll see. I believe in miracles."

The shop is open from noon to 7 p.m. daily. Questions? You can call La Sirena at (212) 780-9113. Check out @LaSirena_nyc here. 

Lucky No. 77: Victory Tattoo NYC opens in the former Hells Angels HQ on 3rd Street

Images and reporting by Stacie Joy

Victory Tattoo NYC is the first permanent retail tenant since the gut renovations were completed at 77 E. Third St. — the former HQ of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

The last of the members and/or their entourage moved out of No. 77 between First Avenue and Second Avenue at the end of March 2019. Until then, the Hells Angels had the clubhouse in their possession since 1969.

The two retail spaces, where the Angels once had their bar, entertainment area and storage space, became available in February after the building underwent extensive renovations. (Several pop-up concepts have leased the other storefront.)

Vic Tamian (below), a tattoo artist and entrepreneur, owns Victory Art and Tattoo in Little Falls, N.J. On the shop's fifth anniversary, Tamian decided to expand and open Victory Tattoo NYC.

Tamian liked the location because of the No. 77 address, "which is a lucky number."  

They were also aware of the building's history, which "only adds to the appeal that a tattoo shop already has." 

Tamian said they messaged the Hells Angels to get their blessing. They got a "hells yeah" in response. 

The shop features apprentice Katie Lau (right, below) and piercer Strawberry Reynolds (left). 

You can find more info at the Victory Tattoo NYC website here.

Senses working overtime: The former Taj Mahal is now home to a psychic on 6th Street

The long-shuttered Taj Mahal space on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue will be home to a psychic.

The awnings and signage were covered in blue this week... a small "psychic readings — $5 special" is on the front window. Not open just yet.

In keeping up with the Mahals... Raj Mahal is still open a few storefronts to the east for some live sitar music and reasonably priced food ... 

... one of two Indian restaurants left on the block (along with Malai Marke) ... 

Signage alert: Pizza Loves Sauce coming to East Houston

Signage is up for Pizza Loves Sauce at 147 E. Houston St. between Eldridge and Forsyth.

Not sure who's behind the pizzeria at the moment. The shop's website describes it as "a New York Style Pizzeria." There's an Instagram account here for updates. 

The space (once part of Lucky's Famous Burgers!) was previously an outpost of Il Mattone.