Earlier today on First Avenue and Seventh Street ... photo by Derek Berg...
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Ryan John Lee's 'Soul of a City'
The Loisaida Center has a new exhibit starting tomorrow evening featuring the work of East Village-based photographer Ryan John Lee. (He has shared his work with EVG in the past, such as here and here.)
The exhibit, which will remain up through March, is titled "Soul of the City."
Per Lee: "The soul of a city is manifested through its inhabitants: its newspaper sellers, subway riders, pavement pounders, window shoppers, among others. These seemingly banal routines and daily tasks are what feed a city’s energy and identity. Soul of a City represents a collection of these everyday moments I’ve been fortunate enough to capture."
"Soul of the City" is accompanied by an auction wall to benefit the Loisaida Center and Puerto Rican relief.
The opening tomorrow is from 6-8:30 p.m. The Loisaida Center is at 710 E. Ninth St. ... just east of Avenue C. Find more details here.
BarBacon looking to pig out now on 4th Avenue
BarBacon signage recently arrived on the front door of 127 Fourth Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street... where the proprietors of the bacon-centric bar-restaurant in Hell's Kitchen are looking to expand their business ... there's a CB3 notice up in the window as well for a yet-to-be-scheduled SLA committee meeting for a new liquor license...
As you may recall, BarBacon was looking at opening in 171 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street late last year. However, BarBacon withdrew from December's CB3-SLA committee meeting. And apparently the BarBaconers decided on a different location.
In any event, here's more about BarBacon, which has an outpost on Ninth Avenue: "Bacon flights & other swine-spiked grub served in a gastropub setting with a large bar." (Read more about the place here.)
This Fourth Avenue space, now chopped into two storefronts, was previously the bar Royal until April 2016...
Previously on EV Grieve:
BarBacon looking at expanding to Avenue A
Ho Foods will start serving Taiwanese beef noodle soup today on 7th Street
As previously noted, chef-owner Richard Ho, who has worked at Blue Ribbon Sushi’s Brooklyn and Columbus Circle locations for eight years, is behind this venture, which took part in several pop-up events in recent years. His speciality is Taiwanese beef noodle soup.
Grub Street has a preview here:
His idea was to mimic actual beef noodle shops where the soup, he says, is usually just complimented by a single hot side and rotating vegetable sides. Here, the menu will be rounded out by extras like pork rice and a few sides, including homemade soft tofu with century egg, sweet soy, and bonito. Down the road, he plans to introduce Taiwanese breakfast. “It’s super carb heavy. It’s delicious,” he says, pointing to sweet and savory soy milks and sticky-rice rolls that bundle crullers, pork floss, and other fillings.
And a look at the menu...
No word on hours just yet. (Didn't spot them on the Ho Foods website.)
The smallish space was home to Porchetta until November 2016.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Ho Foods coming to 7th Street
Le Sia opens today on 7th Street
Today is the grand opening (per Facebook) for Le Sia at 11 E. Seventh St. near Cooper Square.
The restaurant will serve Chinese barbecue, seafood and an assortment of kebobs. Here a look at their menu via Facebook (there isn't much more information about the place at the moment) ...
As previously noted, the space was home to Surma Books & Music for 98 years until June 2016. Third-generation owner Markian Surmach cited a decline in business and the expense of property tax and other charges related to owning the building. Public records show that the Surmach family sold the property to Icon Realty for $5.75 million.
Kulture moves on St. Mark's Place
Kulture, the tattoo-piercings-jewelry-smoke shop, is leaving its home at 23 St. Mark's Place ... and headed east several storefronts to the upper level of No. 31 here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...
This opens up a prime storefront in the same complex that houses the St. Mark's Market and Chipotle. Kulture arrived here in in 2011. Previously, the space was the short-lived St. Mark's Cafe, Red Mango, Quizno's and, until June 2008, the CBGB shop...
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
'Candy Coated Evil' — live
"Candy Coated Evil," a solo exhibition by Samoa, is up through Feb. 11 at the Howl! Happening space on First Street.
To date, we've heard really good things about the exhibit, especially the special live events put on in conjunction with the show.
Here, Walter Wlodarczyk shares photos from this past Saturday evening, when Samoa and Kembra Pfahler, the curator of "Candy Coated Evil," performed for an enthusiastic audience. (The two are the founders of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.)
Caroline Tennessee was also on hand to perform her song "I Want Some Sweet Corn."
Tomorrow (Thursday!) from 7-9 p.m., Samoa and Pfahler host an evening of films ... selections include Samoa’s short features "My Way to Hell" and "Until the Day I Die" as well as performance videos from the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.
Find more details on the exhibit as well as the dates and times of the other special events here.
Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project is located at 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue.
Thanks to Walter Wlodarczyk for the photos! Find more of his work here.
Veselka honored for its workplace practices with employees over the age of 50
[All photos by Dorian Block]
Veselka is one of 13 NYC businesses that the Columbia Aging Center — part of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health — is honoring today for its efforts to hire and retain workers over the age of 50.
I asked Tom Birchard, the longtime owner of the diner on Second Avenue at Ninth Street, for his reaction to the recognition. From our email exchange:
Honestly hiring and retaining an older work force isn’t something that we’ve done consciously or as a matter of policy. When I first started working at Veselka in the late 1960s, the small staff was comprised almost entirely of older Eastern European women who lived in the neighborhood. They were incredibly hard working and very reliable.
When I took over the business in the mid 1970s, I just naturally continued to seek and hire similar type people, many of whom came to us through word-of-mouth from the existing staff. In general, we’ve found that older people are more reliable, more stable and more loyal to their workplace so they tend to stay for longer periods.
We have a soup cook who has been with us for 30-plus years who is extremely devoted to her work. When I hired her she lived down the street from Veselka and walked half a block to work every day. As their family grew, she and her husband bought a home in Perth Amboy, N.J. So she has been commuting by bus and train every day since they moved. In spite of the long distance and difficult commute, she comes to work on time every day without complaint.
One of her younger co-workers commented that even a war would not keep her from showing up and making her borscht. She and I are the same age, 71, so I guess I have a special place in my heart for mature people and I especially appreciate the opportunity to continue to do the work I love.
A rep for the Columbia Aging Center listed several reasons (many of the practices benefit all workers regardless of age) about what makes Veselka, which opened in 1954, such a good employer of people 50 and over.
Those practices include strong benefits, opportunities for advancement, responsiveness to employees’ ideas to improve the work environment, a culture and atmosphere that demonstrates workers are valued, educational opportunities and flexible work arrangements.
Specifically, Veselka offers health insurance to its employees and pays 60 percent of the cost of it, which the Columbia rep said is unusual in the restaurant business. They also have a profit-sharing program, paid vacation time and a meal plan that lets employees eat whatever they want for $2.50 a meal. In addition, Veselka offers opportunities for advancement. For instance, prep cooks have risen up the ranks, including one who is now their executive chef. Veselka paid to send him to culinary school.
Said Birchard: "We are honored to be considered for this recognition but we have also been honored over the years to have had the privilege of working with some incredible people."
Unique former 10th Street residence is now a nail salon
[Photo by Michael Sean Edwards]
In 1971, Tom Mulligan moved into a former storefront on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue that had been outfitted as a live-in woodworking shop.
Mulligan died in July 2016 at age 79.
The ground-floor unit, a cozy-looking space that was filled with books and plants, had remained empty since his death.
At the end of 2017, EVG regular Daniel noted that the space looked to be in use as a nail salon...
There isn't any sign up yet... but they are open for business...
EVG regular Scuba Diva called this one in the comments upon hearing about Mulligan's death: "I have to wonder if Tom's apartment will become a bar, a nail salon, or a dry cleaners now, though."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Remembering Tom Mulligan
Saying goodbye to a familiar presence in Tompkins Square Park
[Updated] You literally can't say this word now at the Continental
Slum Goddess spotted this sign up on the front door at the Continental, 25 Third Ave. near St. Mark's Place.
Not sure if they are serious about this offense ... [updated: see the comments. Trigger, the bar's owner, says the sign is meant to be tongue-in-cheek] in any event, per the sign:
Sorry but if you say the word "literally" inside Continental you have 5 minutes to finish your drink and then you must leave.
If you actually start a sentence with "I literally" you must leave immediately!!!
This is the most overused, annoying word in the English language and we will not tolerate it.
Back in November, Trigger, the owner of the bar, which opened in 1991, announced that he would close the Continental this summer. (He left open the possibility of a relocation.) The updated closing date is now June 30.
As previously reported, Real Estate Equities Corporation plans to demolish the existing low-rise buildings at 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Ave. to make way for a 7-story office building.
Updated 1/24
A new version of the sign explains that this literally ban is to help end "Kardashianism" ...
Report: 186-188 First Ave. changes hands for $14-plus million
There's a new owner for 186-188 First Ave., a pair of 5-story walk-ups between 11th Street and 12th Street.
News of the all-cash transaction earlier this month was posted in a piece at The New York Times yesterday:
Hubb NYC, described as a local investor, bought the buildings from Allen Park, who owned the properties since 1980, for $14.25 million.
Per the Times:
They offer 16 two-bedroom apartments, which are mostly free-market, as well as three retail spaces occupied by a computer store, Handsome Dan’s candy shop and Uogashi, a Japanese restaurant. Air rights come to about 5,000 square feet.
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