Downtown Bakery preparing to reopen after being sidelined with an expired license

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Updated 5/11 here

Today marks two months that Downtown Bakery at 69 First Ave. has been dark. 

On Feb. 21, as we first reported, the DOH closed the delicious and affordable quick-serve Mexican restaurant for operating with an expired health permit. (Updated.)

Last evening, I ran into the management, who said the license had expired, and it was challenging to cut through red tape to get a new one. They want people to understand it was an expired license, not food- or hygiene-related issues.

The good news: They plan to reopen here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street in two to three weeks and have decided to use the downtime to renovate the small space, including installing a new floor...

And they say the menu, with some of the best breakfast burritos (not to mention tamales!) around, will remain the same...

A visit to East Village Buyers, now in soft-open mode in new Avenue A home

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The team at East Village Buyers is settling into its new storefront at 39 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. 

Owner Gabriel Shaulov (below) said that the high-end consignment shop specializing in sneakers, jewelry and other collectibles is still officially in a soft-open mode (hence the paper on the front windows)...

Shaulov and his co-workers welcomed me into the space the other day to look around...

With the new space on the avenue, the shop has a much larger retail footprint than their previous home at 150 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B ...

You can keep up with East Village buyers on Instagram here.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

At the Key Food checkout tonight with Shirley and Cáit!

P.S. 

In the background... Key seems to have even more Keebler® Export Sodas in the recloseable can these days. (And why are they always by the checkout and exit?)

Happy trails to the Shake Shack curbside dining structure on 3rd Avenue

Today, Shake Shack had a crew via 1-800-GOT-JUNK? dismantle its lengthy curbside dining structure along Third Avenue between Ninth Street and Canal Street Eighth Street/Astor Place...

Help for A&C Kitchen, which remains closed after a late-February fire

Photo of Mr. Li from March by Stacie Joy 

On Feb. 27, a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. 

Initial reports blamed a "lit object" discarded from a residential window down to the courtyard in the rear of the building. Unfortunately, a groundfloor tenant, A&C Kitchen, the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant, remains closed. 

Sierra Zamarripa, who owns Lovewild Design next door, recently started a crowdfunding campaign to help Mr. Li, who has run A&C Kitchen for 30-plus years, with lost income over the past two months as well as other additional reopening expenses. 

You can find the link here.

After group-show ghosting, the EVAC space is for lease on 1st Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

A for-lease sign arrived late yesterday afternoon outside 215 First Ave., the now-former home of the East Village Art Collection (EVAC) between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

The rental notice comes five days after the art venue failed to open for a group show featuring 25 artists from around the country (and overseas) who now find their work locked inside the space.   

As previously reported, the artists, who paid a $500 submission fee to display their work here, showed up for the opening on Friday night — only to find the space locked and papered up. Attendees who bought tickets for the event received notices and refunds from Eventbrite minutes before the start of the show, per comments on EVAC's Instagram account. 

 

After the weekend, a sign on the EVAC's front door noted, "Due to an unforeseen medical emergency, the gallery is closed at this time."   

Greg Goldberg, a senior director at Meridian Capital Group, had just arrived and put up the rental sign when EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the space late yesterday afternoon. 

Goldberg said he spoke with "a representative" of Steve Hirsch, who opened EVAC under questionable circumstances in 2021, and was told that they were "vacating the space and would be out by the end of the month." (There is no mention of a new location on the EVAC website or social media properties.)

And the artwork inside? The EVAC representative told Goldberg that "all the art was being packed up" to be returned to the artists by the end of next week.

Meanwhile, some of the artists involved in the group-show ghosting have banded together and formed Artists United NYC...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Artists United NYC (@artistsunitednyc)

Goldberg said he didn't know anything else about the circumstances here... that he was simply the leasing agent for the property. As such, he noted that the storefront, previously a Dunkin', will be available to rent starting May 1. Asking rent: $12,500. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• The EVAC, an arts venue, replaces FlyeLyfe on 1st Avenue after 1 day in business — why?

Sushi on Jones departs The Bowery Market, where several new concepts are on the way

After nearly seven years, Sushi on Jones has moved out (as of last week) from the open-air Bowery Market on the Bowery at Great Jones.

The popular omakase spot with just a few seats arrived here in 2016 via former Sushi Dojo chef David Bouhadana and partner Derek Feldman. This marked the beginning of Sushi on Jones, which now has multiple locations, including London.

Scott Marano, the founder of The Bowery Market, told us that he has a new establishment on the way called Sunday, a plant-based concept out of Miami whose owner, of Colombian descent, creates a new menu every three months. 

"Sunday's food is influenced by South American and Caribbean cultures and will incorporate local ingredients whenever possible," Marano said. 

He also said that he has several other new vendors lined up to join current tenants, Current Coffee and Kettl tea. 

The year-round market first opened in the summer of 2016. Marano, who grew up in the neighborhood, previously said that he wanted The Bowery Market "to provide an opportunity to do some fun short-term seasonal or experimental-type concepts" and a low-overhead opportunity for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

Wednesday's parting shot

The late-afternoon light on First Street walking toward First Avenue...

Making headlines in ad shoots today

Photo by Derek Berg 

Shooting a spot today in Tompkins Square Park for Kiehl's... including a model with a prop newspaper titled The Pear Street Journal. (Wish we knew before that this wasn't a real journalistic enterprise. We pitched them several bylines, including "Why you should never out Avocado Eye Cream on toast.") 

P.S. 

You can read about the pear tree that was outside Kiehl's on 13th Street and Third Avenue right here.

Awakenings: A celebration of East Village community gardens this Saturday

On Earth Day this coming Saturday, Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is hosting its annual Spring Awakening to celebrate the neighborhood's community gardens.

Per the LUNGS website:

Spring Awakening kicks off with our parade led by Batalá, through the Streets beginning at 11 a.m. at El Sol Brillante, 522 E. 12th St. between Avenues A and B, walking east to Avenue C, south on Avenue C to Seventh Street, west on Seventh to Tompkins Square Park, meandering through the Park and ending at Avenue B and Ninth Street.

Some of the individual community gardens will be hosting events throughout the afternoon. Check this link for details.