There's a free screening of 'Florence Foster Jenkins' in Tompkins Square Park Friday night

The city's "Movies Under the Stars" series comes to Tompkins Square Park Friday evening for a free screening of "Florence Foster Jenkins," the 2015 biopic that saw Meryl Streep earn her 20th Oscar nomination.

Here's the consensus via Rotten Tomatoes: "'Florence Foster Jenkins' makes poignant, crowd-pleasing dramedy out of its stranger-than-fiction tale — and does its subject justice with a reliably terrific turn from star Meryl Streep."



A few details via the NYC Parks website:

You should arrive by 7:30 p.m. to get your spot. Feel free to bring a blanket to sit on; there will be a limited supply of chairs available. Bottled water is OK, but no glass. Reservations are not taken; space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. All are welcome!

The movie starts at dusk (8 p.m.-ish) at the multi-purpose fields off of Avenue A and 10th Street.

Space Mabi sets Sept. 19 opening date on 1st Avenue

Several readers have noted the opening-soon sign at 67 First Avenue at Fourth Street ... where Space Mabi has set a Sept. 19 opening date...



Here's more about the concept from the questionnaire for a liquor license here (CB3 approved this last month):

Our team is planning on making the space ... an intimate but stylish restaurant/bar which seeks to gather people of all backgrounds to share in a Korean dining experience with tapas influences. Exploring traditional flavors and dishes while utilizing modern cooking techniques and ingredients, artful plating and portion sizes, we hope that the authenticity of the food and the enjoyment of the dining experience will invite patrons for generations to come. It is our goal to realize something appropriate that addresses our aspirations and priorities.

We also want to provide the space to the community in the mornings and afternoons so that they can have utilize the space for working, studying, having group discussions, catching up with others, etc.

Dishes on the sample menu include a fried tofu ball, avocado salad and soy rice cake to start, and a variety of kimchi dishes, among others.

The proprietors were previously behind a similar venture on Fifth Avenue at 30th Street called Space Nabi, which closed in the spring. (It was a cafe in the morning hours, with food and drinks later in the day.)

The previous tenant, the Venezuelan restaurant Guayoyo, never reopened after an early-morning basement fire on Jan. 13, 2015.

H/T Vinny & O!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Guayoyo has been closed now for 1 year

Gastropub — 'Your new playground' — slated for former Guayoyo space on 1st Avenue

An updated look at that Moxy hotel for 11th Street

On Monday, we noted the foundation work was underway for the Moxy hotel coming to 11th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

To date, only one preliminary rendering had been making the rounds.

Now, though, New York Yimby got the first full one via Stonehill & Taylor Architects...



Per Yimby: "[T]he building will be substantially more attractive than most new hotels in Manhattan, with industrial-style casement windows that lack the PTAC units that proliferate across so many low-budget developments."

The hotel geared toward millennial travelers will feature 311 rooms and a variety of eating-drinking options with an optimistic opening date of late 2018.

...and after the party, IT'S THE AFTER PARTY. #atthemoxy

A post shared by Moxy Hotels (@moxyhotels) on Aug 9, 2017 at 4:45am PDT

Previously.

Meanwhile, on the most humid day of summer, Christmas comes to St. Mark's Place

Film crews for the Amazon series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" beat the Astor Place Kmart to setting up a Christmas display... crews are on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue prepping for scenes for the dramedy set in 1958.

The scene provided a WTF moment for EVG regular Jose Garcia, who shared these photos...

Report: The Village Voice is ending its print edition

After more than 60 years, The Village Voice is ending its print edition.

Said publisher Peter Barbey, who bought the weekly in 2015, via The Hollywood Reporter:

"For more than 60 years, The Village Voice brand has played an outsized role in American journalism, politics, and culture," Barbey said in a prepared statement. "It has been a beacon for progress and a literal voice for thousands of people whose identities, opinions, and ideas might otherwise have been unheard. I expect it to continue to be that and much, much more.”

The paper left Cooper Square, its home since 1991, in 2013 for a move to Maiden Lane in the Financial District.

More tributes TK...

The Village Voice is ending its weekly print edition. End of a journalism era in New York City.

— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) August 22, 2017

Here's more via Poynter, which called the announcement "a symbolic blow for alternative weeklies across the United States, which have endured successive cuts and closures in recent years as print advertising revenue has dried up."

Updated

Here are thoughts via the Columbia Journalism Review.

EVG Etc.: Commercial rent tax battle; wedding on an M14D

[At the former Golden Market on 1st Avenue at 7th Street]

Police have arrested the Uber driver accused of raping an East Village resident after she fell asleep in his car (New York Post)

The East Village Queer Film Festival is underway at the Wild Project on Third Street (Official site)

A proposal to declaw Manhattan’s commercial rent tax has pitted de Blasio against his own party (The Real Deal)

Couple gets married on a 14D bus (B+B)

East Village man arrested, accused of taking peeping-Tom photos of neighbor (Daily News)

City Hall reported 70 pedestrians and cyclists killed by city motorists through July, and 8,074 injured, compared to 80 deaths and 8,502 injuries in the first seven months of 2016. (Streetsblog)

Pier 36 becomes party boat, cruise ship destination (The Lo-Down)

Celebrating the longstanding and ongoing ties between boxing and cinema (Anthology Film Archives)

Invasion of the outlet malls in NYC? (Gothamist)

Diversions: Andy Kauffman's 1979 show at Carnegie Hall (Dangerous Minds)

On Target for a summer 2018 opening on 14th Street and Avenue A

Last week, workers removed the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding at 500 E. 14th St. at Avenue A... providing a good look at the storefront that will house the Target small-format store...



According to the Target news room, the store in the base of Extell's 7-floor residential complex will open next summer. A few details via Target:

Approx. 27,000 sq. ft. over two levels.
Merchandise includes men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, home, food (with grab-and-go selection spanning sandwiches, salads, beverages and more), health and beauty and electronics assortment.
Services offered: Target Mobile and Order Pickup.

Checking in on the former Other Music space, soon to be a health-focused restaurant

Renovations continue behind the papered-over storefront at 15 E. Fourth St. between Lafayette and Broadway, the former home of Other Music.

The incoming establishment is called Broken Coconut, a quick-serve healthy restaurant serving items such as quinoa parfaits and coconut chia.

BoweryBoogie first reported on this last month, with Eater getting further details, including that the venture is via Scott Sartiano, the nightlife impresario who was one of the founders of both 1Oak and Butter.

You can see the progress from a gap in the papered windows...



Broken Coconut is currently hiring. The Craigslist ad doesn't have many details about the venture: "Full and part time jobs available for new quick service concept serving healthy, delicious meals on the go. We value hard working employees with a great attitude over experience. Competitive hourly wage plus tips."

Other Music closed in June 2016 after 20-plus years in business. The store's owners cited rising rents and the changing face of the music industry as reasons behind the closure.

The filmmakers behind the documentary on Other Music successfully raised the necessary funds last month to complete the project.

We made our goal! Thanks to our backers & to @mollydneuman & everyone at @kickstarter. We're so humbled & can't wait to show you the film. #othermusicforever

A post shared by Other Music Documentary (@othermusicdoc) on Jul 27, 2017 at 12:14am PDT

Just For Fen bringing rice noodles to 1st Avenue

Signage is up at 229 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street... where Just For Fen is coming soon (H/T EVG regular Pinch!).

In this case, Fen meaning a type of Chinese noodle made from rice ...



Don't know anything else about the operation at the moment.

In three years, three quick-serve restaurants have come and gone at this location — Bago ... Hibachi Dumpling Express ... and 2 Bros.

[Updated] Starbucks signage arrives at incoming Starbucks on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

The sign arrived yesterday...


[Photo by Fenton Lawless]

Still no word on an official opening date. Looks close to being ready, though.

Updated 11:30 a.m.

The rest of the signage has arrived this morning...



Above photo by Daniel Weiss

Previously

Watts up with the bright lights inside Key Food?

If you still have a pair of solar eclipse glasses, then you may want to bring them along the next time that you shop at Key Food on Avenue A... the grocery's new lights, as I discovered this morning, provide the ambiance of an interrogation room...



... perhaps this is an attempt to get people in and out of the store more quickly...



Anyway!

This is just the latest new development here ... joining the new Key logo that arrived in late July...


[Photo by EVG reader Steph]


[Photo from Aug. 1]

Key is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year...

This has nothing to do with a new LinkNYC kiosk

That toppled telephone booth is just a film prop... Crews are dressing up the front of 94 St. Mark's Place this afternoon... the filming here (and elsewhere) is for the Amazon series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," a dramedy written and directed by "Gilmore Girls" creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino.

The show stars "House of Cards" alum Rachel Brosnahan as a 1958 New York City housewife "who, through a series of events, winds up exploring the world of stand-up comedy."

Scenes for the pilot episode were filmed last fall at 7B/Vazac's/Horseshoe Bar.