EV Grieve

Friday, September 23, 2016

Cool, free chair without bugs of the day

Spotted earlier this evening on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue... as the sign says, "Cool free chair! Clean — no bugs"...

Photos via Steven

TV land

Never Enough, the debut record from the East Village-based Public Access T.V., is out next week. They're playing (a sold-out) Mercury Lounge tonight... and later this fall heading to Europe for some shows.

The video above, featuring some familiar places (the Grassroots, Lucy's, etc.), is for "In Love and Alone."

Other Music alum will be part of the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair tomorrow (Saturday!)

Fans of the late Other Music take note...

A photo posted by Other Music (@other_music) on Sep 23, 2016 at 10:38am PDT

The Brooklyn Flea Record Fair is tomorrow (Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in East River Park. Details here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Avenue A's transformation; thoughts on Lenin's departure

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park via Derek Berg]

The transformation of Avenue A (Curbed)

Michael Rosen on the fall of Lenin (Bloomberg ... previously)

Plans for 25-story building on Essex Crossing Site 4 unveiled (The Lo-Down)

People seem to like those giant dumplings at Drunken Dumpling on First Avenue (Eater)

Some Bowery-of-1985 pics (Flaming Pablum)

History of the former Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarn on Seventh Street (Off the Grid)

Christo and Dora outtakes from this past hawk season (Laura Goggin Photography)

A talk with the proprietor of Downtown Yarns on Avenue A as the NYC Yarn Crawl commences (DNAinfo)

Upcoming: 50th anniversary screening of "The Chelsea Girls" (Anthology Film Archives)

The Lower East Side Pickle Day is Sunday on Orchard Street (Official site)

"American Psycho" at midnight this weekend (Sunshine Cinema)

"Ubu Rex" through Oct. 9 at the Theater for the New City on First Avenue (SmartTix)

For fans of diners... on 23rd Street near First Avenue, East Side Café has been rebranded the East Side Diner (Town & Village)

...and remnants of, perhaps, the first smashed pumpkin of the season this morning on St. Mark's Place...

Celebrate local community gardens this weekend with the LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival

Via the EVG inbox...

The Fifth Annual LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) Harvest Arts Festival will take place in 38 community gardens on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Sunday, Sept. 25.

The Festival is free and open to all. Events include music, dance, performance, films, photography, painting, sculpture, puppets, and comedy as well as environmental workshops and yoga. Each garden designs its own programing, so the festival is as interesting and eclectic as the Lower East Side.

The 2016 Harvest Arts Festival is organized by LUNGS, a nonprofit organization founded to promote, protect and preserve the community gardens on the Lower East Side.

Here's the complete schedule by garden.

Lucky's has its grand opening tomorrow (Saturday!)

Longtime East Village resident Abby Ehmann fulfilled a dream and opened her first bar back in early July.

Now tomorrow (Saturday), Ehmann is hosting the official grand opening of Lucky at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. (The space was home to Boxcar, which closed in February after 18 years in business.)

Ehmann aspires to foster a sense of community at Lucky. To date, the bar has provided space for Gays Against Guns' poster and t-shirt painting parties, Waggytail Rescue's adoption socials and other gatherings, including memorials.

She also says that she "hopes to attract people who feel unwelcome or out of place at the many newer East Village establishments."

The bar opens at noon. (Free pizza is expected around 6 or 7 p.m. tomorrow.)

You can read our interview with Ehmann from March right here.

Last call for the Edge, and the return of an old friend

As we first reported last month, The Edge, the 29-year-old bar at 95 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, is closing for good ... the bar did receive a one-month reprieve ... and those extra few weeks have come to an end: Last call for The Edge is tomorrow (Saturday) night.

"We'll just say [the landlord, Thermald Realty Associates] found an opportunity to sue us for a bunch of money that we can't pay," a bar rep told us last month.

Meanwhile, an EVG reader noted the return of a familiar vehicle on the block this week...

This appears to be one of an RVs owned by now-former EV resident Ron Britt... whose RV empire once consisted of Old Flat Top and the Free Willie Nelson.

The above RV was first spotted here back in the fall.

A few more details on the Swiss Institute's move to the East Village

As reported last Friday, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center currently located on Wooster Street, has signed a lease for 130 Second Ave. — the former Chase branch.

Landlord Icon Realty issued a news release about their new tenant. Here's part of it:

Icon Realty Management LLC has leased space to Swiss Institute, a non-profit contemporary arts center that promotes artistic dialogue between Switzerland and the United States. Swiss Institute seeks to explore how a national perspective can foster international conversations in the fields of visual and performing arts, design and architecture.

The new location will open in the Spring of 2017. The 7,500 square foot space will feature exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, bookstore and rooftop. Additionally, Icon will be collaborating with Swiss Institute artists on public art murals at 128 Second Ave, the building next door to the Institute.

“Considering the vibrancy, diversity and ample foot traffic in the neighborhood, our move to the East Village will offer a vast array of opportunities to engage with our audience in new, stimulating ways,” says Swiss Institute Director Simon Castets. “We’re incredibly lucky to be on a street with such a deep artistic history as St Marks Place, and it’s exciting to imagine how this new location can help us in expanding our mission.”

Back in June, Icon announced a project in which artists would be creating murals on Icon properties in the city. Jerkface started work at 128 Second Ave., but the mural has remained incomplete since June...

We asked Icon spokesperson Chris Coffey what the status was on this project.

"We needed a lift to complete the mural, and applied for a permit. We are just waiting for DOT to issue," he said via email. "We are excited about it. One of the great things about Swiss Institute is that we will be collaborating on future murals."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

255 E. Houston St. is disappearing

An EVG reader passed along these photos... showing the demolition in progress at 255 E. Houston St. between Norfolk and Suffolk...

No. 255 previously housed the day-care center Action For Progress. (Read about how that building was damaged back in 2008 here.) Controversial developer Samy Mahfar, the property's owner, has approved plans for a 10-story residential complex with space for community facilities.

The new building on the L-shaped parcel will look something like this some day... per the plywood renderings...

Or, the 13-floor version Mahfar was peddling ...

Earlier this month, Mahfar withdrew his application — after a five-year fight — for a commercial zoning change for this property and surrounding parcels.

If approved, then Mahfar would have had the go-ahead to build a restaurant or bar in the new building. The current zoning only permits a community facility.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Next for 255 E. Houston St.: Community facility/school/medical building?

10-story building now in the works for 255 E. Houston St.

Debate over commercial overlay for 255 E. Houston St. and surrounding blocks continues

Report: Samy Mahfar drops bid for commercial overlay on East Houston and parts of the LES

Thursday, September 22, 2016

A view to a Park

We rented a helicopter earlier to scout potential locations around the neighborhood for the Lenin statue that workers removed from Red Square on Monday.

Seeing as the statue likely has a new home already... just enjoy the view looking west toward Tompkins Square Park between Seventh Street and Ninth Street...

Thanks to Steven for the photo.

Report: de Blasio administration looking to make street fairs less generic, more local

[EVG file photo from either 2015, 2014, 2013...]

Let's just jump right into Politico's story:

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration is proposing changes to the city’s street fairs intended to end the corporate flavor of many of the festivals, addressing a long-standing complaint from civic groups and elected officials that the fairs are a costly headache and do little to benefit the communities where they’re held.

Under proposed rules scheduled for a public hearing on October 13, at least fifty percent of vendors participating in a street fair would have to be businesses with locations inside the same community board where the event is being held. That proposal marks a major change that could remake the character of the roughly 200 street fairs the city currently allows each year.

JuiceGo opening in the former Cadillac's Castle storefront on 9th Street

Signage arrived yesterday for JuiceGo at 333 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This appears to be the first location for JuiceGo, which will specialize in fresh, cold-pressed juices and other healthy choices.

Here's their pitch, via the JuiceGo website:

JuiceGo is opening in the East Village aiming to give New Yorkers the tools to eat healthier by allowing them to customize their own cold-pressed juices, smoothies, salads, sandwiches, and much more. We have created our own cold-pressed juicing system that allows us to make the freshest cold pressed juice in the city because we can make it as soon as a customer orders. None of our juices at JuiceGo will be made at an off-site facility in mass quantities, then delivered to our stores compromising the freshness.

As for the juice element, it seems to be a pretty crowded market right around here... beginning with the beQu Juice shop nearly directly across the street...

... and there's Juice Press on 10th Street just east of Second Avenue … not to mention Liquiteria on Second Avenue and 11th Street... and Juice Vitality at 192 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street. (Oh, and East Village Organic on First Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... and Commodities on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street sells juice...)

JuiceGo is expected to be open later this fall.

Cadillac's Castle, the consignment/thrift shop, closed here back in the spring. There wasn't any official explanation about the closure. Jared Kushner's Westminster Management is the landlord here.

H/T Steven