The Halloween Pop-Up Store pops up on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

A pop-up shop for the Halloween season is now open at 70 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street (in the vacant storefront between Cafe Social 68 and Mast). 

This is the second year here for the shop, run again by some local entrepreneurs. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy paid a visit the other day...

There are some discounts here: 10% off for students, and 10% off for all EV residents with ID. The shop is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Oct. 31. 

And while Stacie was there, workers opened up a package intended for a shop in South Carolina... in case you needed a child-size costume of a Confederate officer...

A familiar new owner for the development site at 280 E. Houston St.

The development site at 280 E. Houston St. has a new owner who's familiar to residents of the Lower East Side.

As The Real Deal first reported, landlord Samy Mahfar, whose descriptions in the press often include the words "notorious" or  "oft-embattled," and investors picked up the property from members of the Hirsch family for $36.8 million.

In January, we had the scoop on this new building when the permit for a 68,000-square-foot residential building with 67 units first arrived here between Avenue A and Avenue B. However, as you'll read ahead, the complex will likely end up much larger than this... 

Per TRD:

The Hirsch family obtained demolition permits and did enough foundation work to qualify the site for the 421a property tax abatement before it expired in June...

And...

The apartment building and retail space [the former Red Square at 250 E. Houston St.] were partially sold in 2016 to a group led by Dermot Company in a condominium structure, with the family entities retaining a percentage. When the site was later upzoned to R8-A, which permitted bonus floor area for voluntary inclusionary housing, it added roughly 65,000 square feet as-of-right to any project, which would nearly double to 127,000 square feet if it qualified for 421a. 

So we'll see where No. 280 ultimately ends up. Last fall, workers demolished the one-level strip of storefronts (Dunkin'/Baskin-Robbins, Subway, China Town restaurant, etc.) adjacent to the 13-floor residential building at No. 250. Qualified projects under the 421a designation must be completed by June 15, 2026, to receive the incentive, per TRD.

In 2017, a years-long investigation into Mahfar "uncovered harassment tactics, dangerous living conditions and failure to provide heat and hot water," according to DNAinfo at the time. He reached a $225,000 settlement with then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. 

At 102 Norfolk St., dust covering the building's stairs was found to contain as high as 40,000 micrograms per square foot and 110,000 micrograms per square foot of lead, according to the settlement agreement. The limit for lead concentration on floors per the city's health code is 40 micrograms per square foot.

Mahfar also owns the newish 14-floor residential complex across the street at 255 E. Houston St./171 Suffolk St.

He also recently unloaded several of his multifamily properties on the LES (99 Allen St., 177 Ludlow St. and 102 Norfolk St.). 

For rent: space ideal for a gallery on 6th Street

The folks at the co-op at 629 E. Sixth St. let us know there's a vacancy in the 525-square-foot storefront space here between Avenue B and Avenue C.

The last tenant, 3A gallery, recently relocated down to Canal Street. 

Per a co-op rep: "We'd really like someone with roots in the neighborhood and ideally tenant related to the arts. The space is ideal for a gallery."

You can find the link to the listing here. 

Tuesday's parting shot

Prom night As seen on Sixth Street and Second Avenue... photo by Derek Berg...

This is no dream. This is really happening!

There's a great new Halloween-themed mural by BKFoxx up on the Third Street side of The Bean, 54 Second Ave. ... showing Mia Farrow from a scene in the 1968 horror classic "Rosemary's Baby." 

And the headline reference from the film.

The 3rd annual Mask-Querade taking place on 7th Street this Oct. 30

East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi's Overthrow Hospitality group is once again hosting a Trick-or-Treat Halloween festival for children ages 12 and under on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The third-annual event takes place on Oct. 30 from 1-3 p.m.

Details via the EVG inbox...

Come join the East Village for an afternoon of fun-filled trick-or-treating! Now in its third year, Overthrow Hospitality's Maskquerade offers an afternoon of trick-or-treating to over 1,000 neighborhood children — plus treats for adults, bag-decorating stations and more. 

Hosted on Seventh Street, Overthrow Hospitality transforms the open street into a Halloween scene with the help of a 12-foot skeleton, lifesize dragon, cobwebs galore and more. 

Residents interested in helping out on Oct. 30 can sign find a volunteer sign-up here. Donations are also being accepted via a GoFundMe here. Candy donations can be made directly at Amor y Amargo, 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street, during business hours.

Overthrow has five establishments on this block of Seventh Street: Cadence, Ladybird, the Fragile Flour, Rabbit and Avant Garden.

Unveiling Donald Suggs Jr. Way on 6th Street and Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On Saturday morning, friends and family of Donald Suggs Jr. came together for a street co-naming ceremony in his honor ... on the SW corner of Sixth Street and Avenue B — now also known as Donald Suggs Jr. Way.

Suggs, a longtime resident of Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, died in October 2012 of a heart attack. He was 51.

Here's more about him via the advisory for the street co-naming ceremony:

Donald lived his life as a tireless activist for justice, a courageous advocate for the lives of people in HIV-affected communities, a critical thinker, a consequential writer, an incisive editor for The Village Voice and an international media activist based in the East Village. 

He was wise, kind, generous, funny, brilliant, creative, honorable, and out of the closet — back when it was risky to be out. Donald was our good neighbor on East 6th Street.

You can read more about his life and work in this EVG post.

Gabriella Sonam, project coordinator for The Donald Suggs Jr. Street Naming Project and neighbor, speaks about Donald's impact on the neighborhood and NYC...

Guests included his son, Dr. Luis Ramirez...

... Donald’s two sisters and his niece hold the commemorative duplicate sign after program remarks and the street sign unveiling (from the left): Delali Suggs-Akaffu (niece), Dina Suggs and Dawn Suggs... 

Suggs also worked at Exit9 on Avenue A... owners Charles Branstool and Christy Davis were in attendance for the ceremony...

Nancy Jo Sales (right) and her daughter Zazie were close to Donald and embrace as they admire the street sign in his honor and think about their friend...

The 'See You Next Tuesday' book from Sophie's will be here next Tuesday

East Village-based photographer Kyle de Vre is ready to release "See You Next Tuesday," a documentary portrait project turned photo book he shot during his Tuesday afternoon bartending shifts at Sophie's between 2017-2022. 

We wrote about the start of the project in August 2018 ... after de Vre started taking portraits of patrons seated in the comfortably worn bar at 507 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

There's a release party next Tuesday during his shift (3-9 p.m., though the festivities will likely start around 7) where you can purchase a copy of the coffee-table book ($65). You can also order a copy online here.

Previously on EV Grieve:

Tuesdays at Sophie's 

Photos here via Kyle de Vre

Another day, another cannabis operation arrives

Signage is now up for a Recreational Cannabis Dispensary on the SE corner of First Avenue and 11th Street. (Thanks to Lola Sáenz and Steven for sending photos yesterday.) 

While the shop isn't open just yet, it's the latest weed-friendly storefront to open in the East Village (and NYC) in recent months. (And we haven't mentioned the new one now on the NW corner of First Avenue and 10th Street.)

Of course, none of these operations are legal just yet. 

As Emily Stewart wrote in a piece for Vox last week titled "New York seems to have a weed store on every corner. None of them are legal.": 

New York City’s crisp autumn air has a distinct scent to it, and this year that scent is weed. Many of the city streets have a fresh look to them, too — marijuana and cannabis products are for sale, out in the open, everywhere. New York legalized recreational marijuana in the spring of 2021, but the state is still in the process of doling out licenses to legally sell it, which makes the situation ... confusing.

And... 

 "None of them are compliant, none of them are allowed," said Aaron Ghitelman, a spokesperson for New York state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), in an interview. "They're jumping the gun."

Meanwhile, as Gothamist reported, nearly 1,000 cannabis entrepreneurs are competing for New York's first 150 dispensary licenses ... "all of which will be reserved for people with past marijuana convictions or their family members."

As for this corner of 11th Street and First Avenue, the last retail tenant was Eleven Consignment Boutique, which closed amid a legal battle in November 2019.

Monday's parting shot

The pigeons of Avenue A earlier today...