Here are J. Kathleen White's 2023 dioramas at the 9th Street Community Garden & Park

Photos by Stacie Joy 

It's diorama season here on the northeast corner of Avenue C outside the Ninth Street Community Garden & Park. 

East Village-based artist J. Kathleen White's 2023 collection is titled "Flowers" ...

Let's take a closer look... 

• "Home"

• "Donkey"

• "Opera"

* "Veteran"

The dioramas should be up until early November — definitely check them out in person. 

White started creating and sharing the dioramas in 2005. Revisit the early editions here.

Celebrate National Pierogi Day at East Village Meat Market

Tomorrow (Saturday!), East Village Meat Market will celebrate National Pierogi Day... with all sales from the pierogi going to Ukrainian relief efforts. 

They'll serve six varieties from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the shop, 139 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

And as we've seen, this event draws a crowd, so plan accordingly...

Posse officially in Effect now with the Beastie Boys on 14th Street and Avenue A

Photos by Daniel Efram

Work is wrapping up at the new mural on 14th Street at Avenue A featuring the Beastie Boys (Posse in Effect).

As previously noted, Shepard Fairey (below), in collaboration with the Lisa Project NYC, created this stories-high work from a photo by East Village-based photographer Glen E. Friedman.

The mural is part of the ongoing celebration of 50 years of hip-hop.

This afternoon, there was a dedication ceremony featuring First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and local City Councilmember Keith Powers ... and Lisa Project co-founders Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa (you can watch the broadcast here) ...

Last month, the city officially co-named the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Beastie Boys Square on the Lower East Side.

Dennis Edge

 Somehow he still feels present.

In the park nearby a fluttering

little bird, looking, hearing, 

calling their familiar call, 

Dennis, liked to sit here where he

could see the hawk fledglings

almost flying, what graceful beauty 

a paradox of pigeons take flight

His eyes followed their every move 

turning his long-lens camera, a warbler,

many warblers to know, and he did

a birder sits down on a bench

they list what birds seen and where

as light of evening eases, he stands

turns for home, pausing but wait …

Isn't that him now?

•

peter radley

Dennis Edge, 1938-2023 

Photo by Steven

Loisaida Fall Festival brings pumpkin-picking fun to East Village residents

Reporting and story by Stacie Joy

East Village residents are invited to the Loisaida Fall Festival on Saturday outside Mariana Bracetti Plaza at 251 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Kanielle Hernandez, the CEO/president of The Loisaida Foundry Inc., a lifelong resident here, talked about the inspiration behind the event.

"This is my third year serving the community through my foundation, and this year, I wanted to recreate a city version of a pumpkin-picking harvest festival," she said. "As a kid, I only saw this on TV and in movies, and I always wanted to experience it."

She continued: "When I became a mom, I was finally able to experience it and some wonderful small-town suburban life activities with my son. I'm blessed to have a vehicle, which allows me to do so, but it's not the case for most families in the community."

The Fall Festival will feature a pumpkin patch where each child will receive a ticket to pick out their own pumpkin for free and get a cup of apple cider. Via an art table from sponsor Loisaida Inc., the kids can carve and decorate their pumpkins.

The afternoon will also feature a reveal of the NYCHA beautification garden project in front of 251 E. Third St. For Hernandez, this is a significant development. She has been an outspoken advocate about the quality-of-life issues at the public housing complex (see links below).

"This is important to me because I was born and raised in this community. I'm a third-generation resident of the Lower East Side and a lifelong NYCHA tenant. I truly love my community, but when I started advocating for it, I was motivated by anger at the conditions we as a community faced with quality of life and public safety," she said. "I started off upset, but as I dived deeper into my mission to change things, I realized the issues surrounding us were deeper than I ever understood."

Saturday's Fall Festival is from 2-6 p.m. And despite some rain in the forecast, Hernandez said they will move forward with the event (city permits do not allow for rain dates).

"Bring your umbrellas and get your kids a free pumpkin, and support our awesome vendors who have worked hard to prepare for this event," she said.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

2 bad signs at Luzzo's on Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Marshal has seized Luzzo's La Pizza Napoletana on the SE corner of Avenue B and Second Street. 

A notice on the front door states that the landlord is now in legal possession of the premises...

In addition, there's a yellow closed notice — mostly peeled off — from the Department of Health. The DOH closed the pizzeria late last week following an inspection. 

According to public records, the most recent violations are: 

1) No approved written standard operating procedure for avoiding contamination by refillable returnable containers. 

2) Food Protection Certificate (FPC) not held by manager or supervisor of food operations.

The restaurant's interior is also in different stages of being packed up...

The pizzeria from the Luzzo's brand opened here in May 2022, coinciding with the closing of their 18-year-old coal-oven space on First Avenue. 

There's no word of a closure on the Luzzo's website or social media platforms.

Meanwhile, two new pizzerias are in the works for nearby on Avenue B — Potenza Centrale and Lollo.

The Hard Swallow is now closed

Workers have removed the sign outside The Hard Swallow at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street (thanks to Steven for the photo). 

As previously reported, the bar closed after service this past Saturday night. This came two-plus months after the sudden passing of co-owner Leroy "Big Lee" Lloyd, who was 51. 

Maria "Sasha" Lloyd, his wife and business partner, hosted a closing-night party on Saturday — which also happens to be close to Lee's birthday — featuring regulars from the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. (Big Lee grew up in Coney Island.) 

While the Hard Swallow is done, Sasha's business partner will be keeping the space and eventually opening a new bar after going through the liquor license process. 

As for Sasha, a lifelong neighborhood resident, she's making a fresh start and will move to Hawaii in the weeks ahead. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by The Hard Swallow on its last night... and took a parting shot of Sasha...

... and a very full bar...

The Avenue Cafe bringing pastries and coffee to St. Mark's Place

Photo by Steven 

The Avenue Cafe is expected to open soon at 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The independent/minority-owned shop will offer a variety of coffee drinks and housemade pastries. This marks their first storefront after two-plus years inside the Jamaica Market food hall in Queens.

If you're on Instagram, you can follow The Avenue Cafe here. 

The previous tenant at No.102, Compilation Coffee, quietly closed last fall after a few months in business. (They recently resurfaced in Fort Greene.)

So the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade will take place this year after all

There will be a Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade after all this month.

Last Thursday, organizers canceled the event "for the foreseeable future." According to an Instagram post: "Despite our best efforts to keep the parade going, with ongoing building work in both our local parks [East River and Tompkins] there was just no way to hold the parade this year." 

Organizer Joseph Borduin told EVG and other outlets that there was too much bureaucracy involved with city agencies and local elected officials for the necessary permits and insurance costs — upwards of $50,000. The parade was to take place along the Open Street of Avenue B.

Enter Get Joy, a Connecticut-based dog wellness company, who, according to a press release, jumped in as the exclusive title partner to work with the Friends of the First Run, the official 501(c)(3) fundraising organization for the Tompkins Square Dog Run, to help fund and orchestrate this year's parade. 

"This parade is all about dogs finding joy by spending time with their families and other dogs in their community," Get Joy founder and CEO Tom Arrix said in a statement. 

"I couldn’t have imagined this in my wildest dreams. First, the Mayor offers his support, and then Get Joy reaches out to pay for everything all within the hour," Borduin told EVG's Stacie Joy last night. "I was done with Halloween and ready [to] think about Thanksgiving, but this time, the entire country spoke out and said that this show must go on, and thanks to everyone's support, it will!" 

The parade is scheduled for Oct. 21 from 1-3 p.m. Stay tuned for more details on this 33rd edition.

Updated: Per City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office:

The parade will take place on Avenue B from Sixth Street to 14th Street, with staging on Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. Additionally, a stage will be set up in Tompkins Square Park. 

The event was nearly canceled in 2018 as well, though a deal was eventually worked out.

A Bank of America is checking into the corner of 2nd Avenue and 7th Street

Interior storefront renovations are underway at 119 Second Ave. (aka 45 E. Seventh St.) ...

According to work permits on the front window, Bank of America will be the new (and first) tenant of this newish condominium complex ... (H/T Adam!)

This branch arrival comes at a time when banks are reportedly closing neighborhood locations. (Plus, there's a BoA branch three blocks south on Second Avenue and Fourth Street.)

The corner building was ready for occupancy in mid-2021... six years after the deadly gas explosion destroyed this corner in March 2015 and took the lives of Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locón. 

Figueroa, 23, who had recently graduated from SUNY Buffalo State, was at Sushi Park, 121 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place and the site of the fatal blast, dining with a co-worker. Locón, 27, worked at Sushi Park.

The explosion injured over 20 others and leveled 119, 121 and 123 Second Ave. 

The previous corner building housed vintage shop Love Saves the Day for 43 years... closing in January 2009 after their rent was tripled. (Their location remains open in New Hope, Pa.)

Previously