Friday, May 22, 2015
A place in the sun
Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker of Girlpool head to Coney Island in the video for their new release "Before The World Was Big."
The Loisaida Festival is this weekend
There's a lot going on this weekend related to the Loisaida Festival, now in its 28th year.
Here are some details via the Festival's Facebook page:
The Loisaida Festival has been celebrated on Sunday before Memorial Day since 1987.
Performing on the LoisaidaFest Main Stage: Calma Carmona, Chicano Batman, Papote Jimenez, Herencia De Plena, E.A.Flow, Capá Prieto & more...
Hosted by Luis Guzmán
Beyond the top-notch diverse musical line-up of our Main Stage, the Festival offers a Green Zone, Healthy Living Zone, Arts and Craft Zone, and rich culinary street-level experiences, our Theater Lab with an Itinerary for Kid Friendly Activities, the Loisaida Awards, and our celebratory Loisaida Fest Carnival Procession.
The Festival is the annual signature event of Loisaida Inc. Funds are raised to expand our non-profit, which recently secured a 51-year lease for its new Loisaida Center. All proceeds from the Loisaida Festival are used for the production of the same and for the operations of the Loisaida Center.
This year’s theme is “One neighborhood… and entire community.”
The Festival hours on Sunday are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Avenue C, from East Sixth Street to East 12th Street.
And head to the Festival's website for all the activities this weekend, including tonight — Performing Queer Latin@ Loisaida: A Cabaret.
Last night, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the Festival's opening reception at the Loisaida Center at 710 E. Ninth St., where several of the participating artists were on hand...
[Calma Carmona]
[Eury G. Orsini & Zuleira Soto Roman]
[Papote Jimenez & Edgardo Tomas Larregui]
Down On Avenue A, 1922
Anton van Dalen shared the following with us this week...
Ever since my settling on Avenue A in 1971, I have been collecting the neighborhood's history. That gathering is of diverse interest with ephemera and artifacts of all kinds. It includes vintage press photos, flyers, maps, architectural salvage, street signs, etcetera.
One of my favorite finds is this sheet music of 1922 titled "Down On Avenue A." The great cover image in style, fashion and attitude still looks contemporary, timeless.
As now with impending summer the down on Avenue A sidewalk parade has started anew.
You can find more details about the music here.
Next week: The Follow Me Friday Small Business Crawl on 2nd Avenue
Via the EVG inbox...
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Rosie Mendez today announced the Council will host a “Follow Me Friday” tour of the East Village with local business owners, community members and elected officials on Friday, May 29.
The Follow Me Friday Small Business Crawl will help highlight and promote East Village businesses recovering from the aftermath of the March 26 building explosion ... and will begin with a moment of silence at the site of the explosion on 2nd Avenue and 7th Street. The small business tour will begin at 5:30 PM and will include the following stops:
• Moment of silence for victims of recent explosion (Northwest Corner of 2nd Avenue and East 7th Street)
• Tour of Moishe’s Bake Shop (115 2nd Avenue)
• Tour of New Yorker Market (550 2nd Avenue)
• Tour of Café Mocha (116 2nd Avenue)
• Tour of Bar Virage (118 2nd Avenue)
• Tour of Himalayan Vision (127 2nd Avenue)
• Tour of Enz’s (125 2nd Avenue)
• Tour of Jimmy’s No. 43 (23 East 7th Street)
Those wishing to join the event should RSVP by sending an e-mail here
The John's of 12th Street documentary is now available for home viewing
[EVG file photo]
"John's of 12th Street," the documentary by Brooklyn-based filmmaker-editor Vanessa McDonnell, is now available as of today on Fandor and Vimeo on Demand.
The 65-minute film had its debut last November.
Here's a quick description:
"John's of 12th Street" is a portrait of a century-old Italian-American restaurant in New York City, one of the last of its kind in a rapidly changing East Village. This observational documentary loosely follows the rhythm of the restaurant’s day, which swings between boredom and frenzy as the old rooms empty and fill, cataloguing the overlooked details of working life and a vanishing facet of New York City.
Watch John's on Fandor here … and on Vimeo on Demand here.
And to warm you up…
John's is located at 302 E 12th St. just east of Second Avenue.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Vanessa McDonnell, director of the John's of 12th Street documentary
Union Square getting a bank branch-coffee shop combo because why not
So here's what is in the works for the southwest corner 14th Street and Broadway via Crain's ...
Capital One has come up with an alternative to the staid retail bank branch. It will launch a concept in Union Square, at 853 Broadway, on the building's ground, basement and mezzanine levels. The entrance will feature a large café operated by Peet's Coffee. The space upstairs will differ from a typical retail bank branch. Capital One will create a large work lounge, where customers can camp out and use free Wi-Fi.
Capital One, which operates several similar cafes across the country, is also eyeing a location on Lafayette Street near the Puck Building for another branch.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Immerse yourself in archival photos of NYC
The New York Public Library today unveiled OldNYC.org, an interactive map that brings its digitized collection of vintage photos to life by street/avenue/neighborhoods.
Per OldNYC:
This site provides an alternative way of browsing the NYPL's incredible Photographic Views of New York City, 1870s-1970s collection. Its goal is to help you discover the history behind the places you see every day.
And, if you're lucky, maybe you'll even discover something about New York's rich past that you never knew before!
Where did these images come from?
The images all come from the New York Public Library's Milstein Collection. While many photographers contributed to the collection, the majority of its images are the work of Percy Loomis Sperr, who documented changes to the city from the late 1920s to the early 1940s.
We clicked on Avenue A and East 10th Street...
... and found this shot (and more) from 1934...
Enjoy your Memorial Weekend. (And if you don't like historical photos, then....)
Today in photos of an abandoned carousel horse in Tompkins Square Park
Photographed by EVG regular William Klayer this morning... probably a good reason why it's here...
Demolition of 118 E. 1st St. begins to make way for 9-story residential building
Work is underway here between Avenue A and First Avenue, where the existing 3-floor building will be demolished … and a 9-floor residential building will rise…
As NY Yimby first pointed out last November, a developer operating under the name of Acacia 118, LLC is behind the project.
Per NY Yimby...
As with many new projects in neighborhoods that once only supported rentals, 118 East 1st will likely be condos, with its seven units divided over 12,500 square feet of residential space. The average size is a quite hefty 1,800 square feet, with duplexes on the top and bottom and full-floor units in between…
The city has yet to approve the plans for the new building.
This development can't sit well with the owner of Punjabi Grocery & Deli next door. Owner Jashon Singh has reported declining sales these past five years with the ongoing East Houston Reconstruction Project outside his front doors.
The work on East Houston, reportedly three years behind schedule, is expected to wrap up in August. Just in time for the new construction at No. 118.
The new building will also include a 250-square foot retail space on the ground level.
Thanks to EVG reader Gacin for the photos
Previously on EV Grieve:
118 E. 1st St. arrives on the market with so many possibilities, and air rights
118 E. 1st. St. will yield to a new 9-floor residential building
How displaced residents are faring after the 2nd Avenue gas explosion
[Photo Monday via Blue Glass]
City Limits files an in-depth look at the residents who lost their homes during the deadline gas explosion on March 26.
Here are a few excerpts from the piece:
The three buildings destroyed in the March 26 blast—45 East Seventh St. (119 Second Avenue), 121 Second Ave., and 123 Second Ave.—included 15 apartments. Adjacent buildings also sustained damage and many were ordered vacated. While most tenants buildings have reopened, at press time, five apartments at 125 Second Ave. and two at 41 East Seventh St. were still under vacate orders.
---
Kim-Nora Moses, 52, also lived at 45 East Seventh St. She and her husband, Robert Schmidt, 55, had a three-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment for 23 years, and paid close to $2,000 rent. Moses laments the loss of her gorgeous home, and where she is now pales in comparison. The couple, who had renter's insurance, moved into the same building as Guy this week with help from Cooper Square Committee. Their one-year lease is for a one-bedroom, with a monthly rent of around $800. Lease renewal for the building is dependent on income, and the couple earns too much to stay permanently.
---
Whatever their rent status, tenants who lost their homes need help. There is some monetary relief on its way to individuals and families affected by the explosion, for housing and material goods. The first installment of $45,000, from the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, was released to LES Ready on April 29. More than $150,000 was raised by donation, and LES Ready will disseminate funds based on need.
---
Read the whole article here.
Peter Brant meets the neighbors
[Another photo we use a lot]
On Tuesday night, as we noted, reps for Peter Brant were to meet with residents at Village View to discuss his plans for 421 E. Sixth St., the building he purchased last year for $27 million.
Posted flyers said that the owner would be present. Owner owner? Or owner as in owner of, say, the company overseeing the renovation project?
Well, according to an EVG reader who attended the meeting, "Brant was actually there. Yes. Cufflinks and all."
First, though, as previously reported, the building between Avenue A and First Avenue is intended to be a gallery space to display Brant's personal art collection. The intention is to have approximately two shows per year, with the first one scheduled for Fall 2016.
[Meeting photo via Bill the Libertarian Anarchist]
Back to Tuesday night's meeting, which the EVG reader described as intense, though Brant was "open, engaging."
Some guy asked Brant "Why don't you have your art displayed at your Polo Club?" To which Brant replied, "Because they play polo there."
Brant also said that he wasn't aware that the party on March 26 — for the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé — in the building would be what it was, that he was doing a favor for a friend. Per the reader, "He is aware how it affected the neighborhood."
He invited everybody to come to his foundation in Connecticut to see what he is all about. One woman kvetched that she couldn't get there, is anything closer? He said he has a building in Soho. Well, the guy was trying.
I'm starting to sound too much like I'm defending him.
Again, of all the things that could happen to this building, I think this seems like one of the best things. It will be a private space. Not a lot of people there. Maybe a couple of invite-only openings. I want to believe him. Basically it sounds like a garage to store some of his art.
Anyone who attended the meeting want to share his or her thoughts on Brant's plans?
Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)
Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio
1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street
A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio
More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street
Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street
When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner
Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection
Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)