A new community arts and performance venue on 8th Street and Avenue B

Starting in early December, the former yoga studio in the basement of 295 E. Eighth St. (this building) at Avenue B was transformed into Planeta Space.

Per their website, Planeta Space "is a community arts and performance venue focused on multidisciplinary collaboration within the fields of digital media, virtual reality, architecture, and music."

The space is part of Planeta, a research-and-development studio that works on applications for mobile devices and virtual reality.

This weekend, Planeta is hosting an exhibition of young Nicaraguan artists (Saturday at 6 p.m.) and a "KID'S Disco (Sunday at 4).

Check out Planeta's Facebook page for more upcoming events.

Beyond Vape latest shop to depart St. Mark's Place

The sale continues at Beyond Vape, the upper-level shop closing at the end of the month at 19-23 St. Mark's Place...





I do not know why this store is closing, whether it's an unmanageable rent increase or ongoing e-cigarette competition on the block. (Or perhaps the new FDA regulations enacted last spring have made an impact.)

Beyond Vape opened here in late 2013. At that time, it was the growing chain's first East Coast outpost. Today, there are eight other NYC locations of Beyond Vape.

Grand Sichuan closed next door back in the fall. Other more recent closures on this block include Friterie Belgian Fries and Lab -320°.

New broker for former 7-Eleven space on St. Mark's Place

The 7-Eleven at 37 St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue closed at the end of November 2013. And the storefront has been empty ever since... there's now a new broker for the retail space. (The listing isn't online just yet at Walter-Samuels.)

A few of the storefronts here in the corner building have sat empty since late 2011. (RIP Timi's Gelateria Classica™.)

However, there will be a new tenant soon enough next to the former 7-Eleven with the arrival of 98 Favor Taste, which will specialize in traditional Korean-style barbecue and Chinese hot pot meals

It would have been a good day for some football, except for 1 small detail

Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Bobby Williams...

2nd Avenue ring toss

Photo this morning by Derek Berg...

RIP Rita Lasar

Rita Lasar, a longtime East Village resident and business owner, died of cancer on Sunday in her Village View home. She was 85.

Her son, Raphaël Lasar, told me more about his mother:

She was a peace activist and retired businesswoman who moved to the neighborhood in 1965. She had filled her prescriptions at Block Drugs all those years and ate at Three of Cups more often than just about anyone and brought them numerous new customers. She and my father ran an electronics manufacturing business at 59-61 E. 4th St. from 1967 to 1989.

She sold the business, the Electric Eye Products Company, which made electrical security devices for retail stores, in 1989 after her husband Ted suffered a stroke. He died in 1991.

On 9/11, her younger brother Abraham Zelmanowitz died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Instead of leaving the building, he stayed with a quadriplegic co-worker until firefighters could arrive.

Her brother's death inspired her to become an activist.

From a remembrance written by her other son, Matthew Lasar:

Three days later President George W. Bush cited Abe’s courage in a speech before the National Cathedral, but Rita began to fear that her brother’s sacrifice would be used as justification for recklessness abroad.

On September 17, she sent a letter to The New York Times that expressed this concern. “It is in my brother’s name and mine that I pray that we, this country that has been so deeply hurt, not do something that will unleash forces we will not have the power to call back,” she wrote. The letter attracted widespread attention. Dozens of spouses, children, and siblings of victims of the attack called or wrote to her to share their concerns.

Not long after this statement, Rita travelled to Afghanistan with three other victim family members to protest the US/NATO bombing of civilians. As the US deployed forces across the Middle East in the name of a “war on terror,” Rita chose another mission and path. “I will stay behind just as my dear brother did” she promised audiences. “I will stay behind and ask America not to do something we can’t take back.” In February of 2002 she became a co-founder of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.

There will be a short gathering in her honor at The Riverside Memorial Chapel on 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue tomorrow (Jan. 13) at 11 a.m.

Did Friterie Belgian Fries close on St. Mark's Place?

The gate was down during business hours yesterday afternoon at Friterie Belgian Fries, 36 St. Mark's Place.

A man putting a lock on the gate told EVG correspondent Steven that the business was done. Calls to the shop between Second Avenue and Third Avenue are directed to a message noting that this customer hasn't set up a voicemail box.

Meanwhile, the business that shares the address, Topoo Village Gifts (Best Head Shop in 2012 per the Voice) cleared out back in the summer. That space now has a for rent sign...



Friterie Belgian Fries opened in June 2015 ... in an attempt to fill the void after Pommes Frites was lost in the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion on March 26, 2015. (Pommes Frites reopened last May on MacDougal Street.)

The previous tenant here, Fasta ("Pasta Your Way"), lasted less than six weeks in business.

And before that, it was the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza, which closed in February 2015.

The art of the deal at Taj Restaurant

Several EVG readers noted the ongoing special at the old timer on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue ...



It's a "Trump Surprise" with 50 percent off all ... "whenever we decide." (Sounds like a gag leftover from former neighbor 'Merica NYC.)

In any event, the 25-year-old, family-owned Taj Restaurant was closed for part of the fall... a sign pointed to an issue with Con Ed...


[Photo from October]

The restaurant reopened in November... and they seem to be emphasizing more of their later-evening bar business...

F*ck your New Years Resolution party tomorrow night. Starts at 10 pm, all drinks are $6 🍻310 E 6th St NYC

A photo posted by Taj (@tajeastvillage) on Jan 6, 2017 at 12:53pm PST

New mural in the works for Houston and the Bowery

[Photo from yesterday morning]

After nearly a five-month run, workers have started removing the stenciled tapestry by Logan Hicks at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall.

According to BoweryBoogie, the Spanish street-art duo Pichi & Avo will begin a new mural here at the end of the month (weather permitting).

Here's a sampling of their work from Lisbon in 2014...


[Image via]

Water issues on 10th Street

The 10th Street water main replacement and sewer rehab continues this week between Avenue A and First Avenue... EVG Water Main Replacement and Sewer Rehab correspondent Daniel shared these photos from this afternoon...



The work has required some water shutdowns along the block...



This has caused Russian & Turkish Baths to adjust their schedule...



Per their website:

Due to water mains being turned off on 10th Street our schedule will be changing daily.

On Wednesday, January 11th, Woman's day has been suspended and we will be opened at 2pm for regular CO-ED hours. Information about Thursday and Friday will be announced the night before but our hours will most likely be 2pm-10pm.

During Regular business hours you may call for updates at 212-505-0665

As Daniel noted, the work on this block is pretty intense as workers are moving the water main from the south to north side of the street.

Updated: A few more days for Caffe Bene's reopening on Avenue A with an expanded menu

As we noted last week, Caffe Bene on Avenue A at 13th Street closed for renovations.

The signage noted that the cafe was adding items such as burgers, steaks, quinoa bowls, tacos and quesadillas to the menu.

Caffe Bene remains closed today, just a day past the expected reopening... the new sign notes that they need a few more days on the renovations...



Rish, the owner here, left a comment on the previous post. He wrote, in part:

1) The previous menu is still in full effect — we'll still have yogurt, acai & pitaya bowls, avocado toast, waffles & soups.
2) We're adding a menu through which we can attract more of a crowd in the evening. We close at 11PM on most nights and midnight on the others so it's very tough for us to cater to "late-night drinkers"

Thanks to Steven for the photos!

Updated 2 p.m.

EVG reader Lola Sáenz shared these photos... she was there to hang a piece of her art in the cafe...



... she also shared a photo of the new menu...



Updated 1/18

The cafe is now back open.

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Ali Sahin
Occupation: Owner, C&B Café
Location: 7th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B
Date: Thursday, Jan at 4 pm

I’m from Turkey. I came here about 9 or 10 years ago. I visited here once before when I was a kid, and I guess it was time. New York is a charm. I’ve been in restaurants in New York for eight years now, cooking mostly, but I’ve done almost anything. I went to culinary school back in the day and worked for some fine dining restaurants in New York City, and then I wanted to open up something simpler and more approachable than fine dining.

Fine dining was a great experience. You learn a lot, but you can’t eat in a fine dining restaurant everyday — one financially and two it wouldn’t be that healthy. It’s a weird thing when you work in these fancy restaurants that you can’t afford to eat in. It was a good learning experience. It was like a school but they pay you, although kitchen work is pretty hard. The fine-dining world takes itself the most serious, which is great in one way, and it’s not that great in another, because at the end of the day it’s just food.

I was working in the West Village and there was this great little café owned by a French couple, 11th Street Café. I would always go and have a sandwich and coffee and they had a great staff and delicious food, fresh. So I thought, “Maybe I can do something like this, but a little different.” There it was very simple — we are very simple too but we make our own breads and sausages and stuff, so I took that and I said, “You know what, we’ll make everything in the house,” which is not an easy concept. We couldn’t do everything in house in the beginning because it takes a lot of labor and we didn’t have that much money, but as we started generating more money then I managed to hire other people, and now we make everything in house except cheese and butter — two years in.

I actually wanted to open in Brooklyn, where I lived at the time, but it didn’t work out — the hype and expense in Brooklyn was really high. I couldn’t find a place and I couldn’t agree with the landlords. I honestly never looked into the city because I thought I couldn’t afford it. I just randomly ran into an ad for a space below Houston, which was affordable, and so I started to look into lower Manhattan, and then the next ad was for this space, and it worked out. It happened in like 15 days after three years of trying to find a space.

The type of food is kind of hard to explain. We serve breakfast and lunch only — we serve breakfast all day and lunch starts after 11. Everything is made here and made to order. It’s a small café but it works like a high-end restaurant. We start cooking everything once you order. The idea is more approachable, more affordable, good food, which I think is still missing in New York City, and in America unfortunately. Food in New York at least is suffering a lot right now. A lot of places are closing down and big names are going out of business.

I never did a coffee shop concept, restaurants yes, but I was mostly behind the scenes. The first day we were open, I think it was a blizzard day, and I didn’t have milk or cream and people kept asking. Of course they asked for milk. One of the neighbors here, Daniel, who’s a longtime East Village person and used to be a theatre director, a very kind and artsy gentleman, brought us the milk and cream from his house. That was pretty great and he still comes in. And last year there was a blizzard and they shut down the subways, and I walked all the way from Bed Stuy. It was a two-hour walk. I didn’t know, but a bunch of people walked in that day. It was a great business day. Now I’ve moved back, a little too close. I live about 50 steps away — I never leave work.

I lived in this neighborhood when I first moved to New York, on Avenue C between 7th and 8th for the first two years, then I moved to Brooklyn and I worked in the West Village and Upper East Side. The East Village is special. The people here… especially after I started the business, now I talk to everybody who comes in and lives in the neighborhood. They’ve been really kind and generous. It’s amazing. I’ve talked to other people who run businesses in the neighborhood and we all feel the same way. I don’t think it could work anywhere else, honestly.

I feel like we’ve managed to build a place where it’s not just a hyped-out restaurant. It’s more like an in the neighborhood-forever type place. We can name about 70 percent of the people who walk into this place and have a small talk or conversations about their life – and then they know when they need to move faster too. We gotta work.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.