Friday's opening shots

Ahead of the Dance Parade and DanceFest taking place tomorrow (rain or shine!), someone decided to show his/her enthusiasm by knocking over all the barricades that the NYPD put up along the route on Avenue A ... thanks to EVG reader Joe for these photos. 

And read more about the parade here ... and here.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

For some reason, someone removed these wheatpaste signs within a few hours today on Seventh Street ...

This East Village resident is bringing a classic 82-year-old radio back to broadcasting life

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

I first stumbled across the radio — Zenith Radio Corp. 1941 Model 10-H-573 — in the old Babel Hookah and Lounge spot on Avenue C near Eighth Street, where superintendent Joey Oskowitz had stored it after rescuing it from the street several years prior. 

Joey was looking for someone who loved old radios (and this early 1940s era model indeed counted!) to take it off his hands. After EVG published this story last month about the radio needing a new home, several suitors, including Pete Margolis of the nearby Pete's Amp Shop, stepped forward. 

Pete and Joey met, and they agreed on a price... Pete then took the radio to his shop for restoration.

To repair the Zenith, he needed to source a new dial belt, a replacement cord, 50 new capacitors, and a new power supply. Pete fixed the circuits, cleaned the unit, and rearranged the tubes (a few were in the wrong spot).

Pete, originally from Connecticut, moved to the East Village 42 years ago. Pete, a musician himself, has been on Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D for more than 20 years. He's got an amp repair workshop inside the unit that he shares with his girlfriend, Francine. 

During the repair process, he heard from LUNGS founder and president Charles Krezell, who told him that he was the previous owner of the piece, and later confirmed to me that he'd had the working radio in his apartment on Eighth Street from 1991 to 2015. 

When he moved, there wasn't any room for the radio cabinet, so he put it on the street, where, presumably, Joey found it.

So far, Pete has gotten the AM stations to work ...  and since there's no real FM in the dial, it's pretty much in working order. You can even pick up some local (New Jersey!) police scanner stations. 

Next, he's considering doing some restoration work on the cabinet, and it may be available for sale once it's completed to his satisfaction. 

Here, Pete provides a radio tour... don't touch that dial!

 

The Cube will return to Astor Place this summer — but not before a spin to the Hamptons

Just after midnight on May 8, workers whisked away the Cube (aka Alamo) from Astor Place for repairs, with an expected return mid-summer.

As previously reported (first by THE CITY), the 1,800-pound Cube was going to Bethany, Conn., for restoration by Versteeg Art Fabricators.

The Cube had been out of commission with structural damage since December 2021. At the time, we were told that the spinning mechanism for the Cube, which manually rotates around a pole hidden in its center, was not working. 

However, before returning to its Astor Place home of 56 years, the sculpture will be making a guest appearance in the Hamptons, where its creator, Tony Rosenthal (1914–2009), lived and worked. (Rosenthal's estate is picking up the estimated repair bill of $100,000.)

According to Dan's Papers, the Cube is headed to Southampton for the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, which takes place in July. 

Per the publication:

The restored Alamo will be on display from July 10-16. Rosenthal is being inducted posthumously into the fair's Hall of Fame, so the city's commissioners voted unanimously to loan the historical piece to commemorate the occasion. 

Hamptonites may also be familiar with the similar spinning steel Rosenthal sculpture, "Cube 72," which was made in 1972 and found a prominent spot outside Guild Hall in East Hampton.

Hamptons Fine Art Fair founder and Executive Director Rick Friedman says securing the massive piece was no easy feat. "To get this loan from New York City is outrageous," he said. "It's like getting the Statue of Liberty," Friedman added, pointing out that negotiations took about a year, with a lot of back and forth, an army of lawyers and piles of paperwork. 

But, he said, it was worth the effort. 

Given its VIP reception out east, the Cube will likely not return home via the Jitney. 

Checking in at Jazba, a new Indian restaurant opening this summer on 2nd Avenue

Interior renovations continue at 207 Second Ave., where an Indian restaurant will open here at 13th Street this summer.

Workers were spotted bringing in equipment in recent days. (Thanks to Steven for this photo.)

As previously reported, and first by the Commerical Observer, Junoon owner Rajesh Bhardwaj has a new concept for the space called Jazba.

Per the CO: 

Jazba will have a bar at the front of the restaurant, equipped with a craft cocktail menu, and two dining rooms serving recipes Bhardwaj picked up while visiting popular roadside eateries in India. 

In May 2020, David Chang announced that he was moving the nearly 15-year-old Ssäm Bar from this corner spot to the South Street Seaport. Milk Bar had retail space on the 13th Street side before moving across the street in May 2011. The cocktail bar Booker & Dax was here until October 2016, before Ssäm Bar expanded.

This prime storefront had been waiting for a new tenant since Momofuku moved on.

You can keep tabs on Jazba via Instagram.

City issues curbside dining structure removal to the shuttered Compilation Coffee

Photos by Steven

The Department of Transportation has issued a "Termination" notice for the curbside dining structure outside Compilation Coffee, 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The flyer states that the owners have 48 hours to remove the abandoned structure, or the city will do it and charge the business that closed six months ago ...

Compilation, a pour-over coffee spot, closed last November after less than two months in business without any notice to patrons. The curbside dining structure was erected a week before the shutdown.

A for-rent sign now hangs in the front window.

Meanwhile, the status of outdoor dining in NYC remains in flux.

Parkgoer escapes injury after a branch falls in the Tompkins Square Park dog run

Photos by Steven 

Parkgoers are buzzing about a tree limb that fell early last evening in the Tompkins Square Park dog run.

According to several witnesses, the branch struck and knocked over a young woman believed to be in her teens who was inside the dog run. 

Bystanders rushed to her aid and were relieved to see she was OK. (One witness said that she was screaming, though apparently about the bugs she encountered in the fall.)

This morning, a concerned parkgoer told us: "I have been asking [the Parks Department] for years to prune the trees in the dog run. Look at the rest of the trees in the park, then look at the trees in the run, which hundreds of people sit under every day. This happened last night ... with no wind or storms."

Workers demolish the south ramp to East River Park at Houston Street

Photos by William Klayer

The demolition/reconstruction of East River Park continues its northern march. Most recently workers have demolished the south ramp at the Houston Street overpass...

The north ramp remains open for park access. 

And here's a look at the work to date... with what looks like nearly half of the park closed down and gutted...

This is part of the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project. Workers have been burying the 57.5-acre park under fill, cutting down trees and will eventually elevate the land by 8-to-10 feet above sea level to protect the area from future storm surges. The city has said they will maintain public access to a minimum of 42 percent of the park throughout construction, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2026. 

The "phased work operations" began in November 2021 in Project Area 1 between Montgomery Street and 15th Street.

Last week, CB3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee received an update on the project. You can find a PDF of the presentation here. 

Openings: Saint Pizza on Avenue B

Saint Pizza has debuted at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street. (First reported here.)

EVG reader Jake Bowling shared these photos and a quick assessment: "A pretty good slice place has opened ... they also sell cannoli and 7-layer cake. Nice people!"

A regular slice starts at $3.50 ... and there are heaven-themed pies, like the Blessed, a Margherita pizza with vodka sauce, pesto and mozzarella... 

For now, their daily hours are 11 a.m. to midnight... the placeholder website is here.

A necessary 'eVil'

Fresh off its award-winning premiere this month at the Coney Island Film Festival, Lion Heart Distribution has reportedly acquired North American rights to Allan Piper's horror-comedy "eVil Sublet." 

 

Per Deadline:

It follows the misadventures of a New York couple who think they have hit the jackpot when they move into a cheap apartment. They soon discover they have landed landlords quite literally from hell, who want them to pay the rent with their lives. 

The film is based on real-life mysterious events in Piper's apartment which he shares with his wife (Leigh Houston) in New York's East Village (aka "the eVil").

After more screenings on the festival circuit, "eVil Sublet," which also features Sally Struthers, will receive a commercial release later this year. Check out the trailer...