Last Tuesday I wrote about a new photo book by Kyle de Vre, an East Village resident who has worked at Sophie's for the past four-and-a-half years.
The book, "See You Next Tuesday," features portraits of patrons seated in the bar. The launch is tonight at 9 at Sophie's, 507 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. Read my interview with Kyle here.
Sadly, Freddy Corea, pictured in middle of the top row, died back in July. He was a longtime regular at the bar and a familiar presence in the neighborhood. I never did hear anything further about his passing. In recent years he had been splitting time between his East Village apartment and his family's place in Puerto Rico.
They were planning on putting in new shelves, fixing the floor, moving the ice machine and "adding a better drip brewer."
Steven shared these photos from this morning...
The Longo family has owned the business, with four locations now, since 1958. Peter Longo took over the business in 1976 after the death of his father, Angelo.
According to the Times, Shopsin was 76. The Times noted that Shopsin had a variety of health issues in recent years.
Before relocating to Essex Street in 2007, Shopsin’s General Store anchored the corner of Bedford and Morton streets starting in 1971.
Per a feature by Calvin Trillin in The New Yorker from 2002:
Normally, mentions of Shopsin's in print are complimentary, in a sort of left-handed way — as in Time Out New York's most recent guide to the city's restaurants, which raved about the soups and described Kenny ("the foul-mouthed middle-aged chef and owner") as "a culinary genius, if for no other reason than he figured out how to fit all his ingredients into such a tiny restaurant." To Kenny's way of thinking, a complimentary mention is worse than a knock. It brings review-trotters — the sort of people who go to a restaurant because somebody told them to. Kenny finds that review-trotters are often "petulant and demanding." Failing to understand that they are not in a completely conventional restaurant, they may be taken aback at having the person next to them contribute a sentence or two to their conversation or at hearing Kenny make a general remark in language not customarily heard in company unless the company is in a locker room or at being faced with deciding among nine hundred items and then, if they have selected certain dishes, having to indicate the degree of spiciness on a scale of one to ten.
There were many Shopsin tributes on Twitter yesterday...
Kenny Shopsin, raconteur and chef, died today. Someone who made New York City an amazing funky place, a spark of personal humanity in the big city. He will be missed.
Kenny Shopsin died this morning. I can’t explain how important his restaurant was to me and my idea of what New York is. He was one of the kindest people I ever met and I never saw that more clearly than when he was throwing someone out for not following the rules.
In memory of Kenny Shopsin, the Calvin Trillin piece on him and his old restaurant on Carmine. I remember when I first met him, he had a flip phone hanging around his neck on a piece of twine, in case his wife had to call and yell at him. https://t.co/VFgCGQeVUv
Sad to hear that Kenny Shopsin has died. Can’t think of anything uncliched to say about his cooking, his candor or what he symbolized when it comes to NYC. In his honor, I vow to spend more time spouting impassioned expletives in mixed company then unapologetically dozing off.💔
Kenny Shopsin was your favorite New York character’s favorite New York character. A client of my CPA father for more than 40 years, they communicated more or less exclusively through insults. Rest in Pancakes.
There's nothing I can say about Kenny Shopsin's passing that he wouldn't find insufferable, except: this city is a boring shithole made for tourists, and your kid is beautiful.
Horrible horrible news today: NYC’s impossibly great Kenny Shopsin has left the planet. For those who don’t know Shopsins, his daughter Tamara made a great book in 2017 about the restaurant and the world Kenny embodied: https://t.co/c8ar5F2x19
I loved Kenny Shopsin. He/Eve fed me for free when I was broke. Like everyone, our friendship was based on profane barbs flung back & forth at each other. The magic of Bedford St has so many memories. I’ve more to say, but for now- #AllOurCooksWearCondoms#RIPkennyShopsin#EatMe
As Brooklyn Vegan pointed out, the 2004 documentary on Shopsin's, titled "I Like Killing Flies," is not available on any streaming services and the DVD is out of print.
There are, however, assorted clips from it on YouTube...
Brick Lane Curry House closed after service last Thursday here at 99 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street... and workers quickly cleaned out the space...
The Rite Aid signage arrived back on Friday in the retail space of Niko East Village, the 12-story retail-residential complex via L+M Development Partners on Avenue D between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...
To recap: The lots previously along here housed one-level storefronts that included a Rite Aid, which relocated one block north to the ground floor of Arabella 101. Rite Aid had signed a lease to return to the retail space in this building.
The former Rite Aid at the site of Niko had a pretty cool underwater theme painted on its walls, courtesy of The Royal Kingbee UW.
There's a hiring sign up at 69 Cooper Square, where an outpost of Möge Tee is presumably opening here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place...
This will be the third location for the Flushing-based bubble-tea business. (Franchising is available.)
Here's part of their menu...
They'll have some competition around the corner, where there are already four businesses on St. Mark's Place that sell similar products between Third Avenue and Second Avenue. (And a fifth, Mi Tea, is on the way.)
This space at 69 Cooper Square was previously Cafe Zaiya, the Japanese bakery-cafe that closed back in the spring.
The latest development to note at the 13-story Moxy East Village here on 11th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue: the arrival of the windows...
The 285-key hotel for Marriott's Moxy brand has a late 2019 opening date.
Signs for Westville Bakery just went up on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue ... where this storefront will be selling the cakes, pies, cookies and seasonal desserts offered at the six Westville locations, including on Avenue A and 11th Street. (The baking is done in Chelsea.)
Jay Strauss, Westville's founder, told EVG correspondent Steven they hope to be open in six weeks.
Westville’s longtime pastry chef Meital Cohen will be in charge of the food, focusing on sweets such as carrot cake, apple and blueberry pies, assorted cookies, and seasonal specials like a dragon fruit smoothie bowl with berries, almond butter, and granola. But there will also be a savory menu featuring sandwiches, tartines, quiches, and salads. Specific tartines include ones with smoked trout, crème fraîche, and chives or marinated fennel and chickpea salad with whipped feta, while quiches may have roasted vegetables and herb goat cheese or grilled onions and mixed mushrooms. Expect vegan and gluten-free options too.
Here's an exterior look at StuyFitness, the new gym on 14th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C for residents of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village...
Christo and Amelia's hawklet was quite active this past weekend... with numerous sightings as the young red-tailed hawk continued to hone his food-gathering skills.
On Friday, Christo brought a mouse by for a snack. Unfortunately, as these photos by Steven show, the mouse fell off the branch and into the bush below during the exchange from father to son. The young hawk spent considerable time looking for the mouse...
In the end it was just easier for Christo to drop off another mouse...
By Saturday, the juvenile was on to larger food sources... this photo is by peter radley...
Yesterday, the young hawk caught a squirrel ... these two photos are by Steven...
As always, there are like 500000000 free activities — classes, screenings, workshops and discussion groups — at the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Here is a partial list for September, in case you're planning your month out today... via the EVG inbox...
• Wednesday, Sept. 5, 4 pm-7 pm: Meet your Assembly Member: Harvey Epstein. 74th District Assembly Member Harvey Epstein will be visiting Tompkins Square to meet constituents. Epstein represents the East Side of Manhattan, including the East Village.
• Thursday, Sept. 6 at 5:30 pm: Meditation in Tompkins Square Park. In partnership with Science of Spirituality Center. The group meets outside the library. Please bring a mat, a blanket, or a chair. In case of rain, the classes will be moved inside the library. Use the link to register.
• Fridays, Sept. 7, 14, 21, 28 at 3pm: Knitting Circle. Not a class, but a knitting group. Participants must bring their own supplies.
• Saturday, Sept. 8 at 2 pm: Russian Culture Club. A Russian language discussion of poet Yuriy Mandelshtam.
• Saturday, Sept. 15 at 10:30 am: Walking Tour: Immigrants of Tompkins Square Park. With Tompkins Square Library manager Corinne Neary and street photographer Michael Paul. Register using the link.
• Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 6 pm: Speaking Techniques and Vocal Exercises. The quality and use of the voice is a fundamental factor in life. This program can be helpful to anyone interested in making the most of their speech delivery.
• Thursday, Sept. 20 at 5:30 pm: Writing / Performance Lab. The intention is to provide artists in the community the opportunity to develop works-in-progress of writing pieces, theater texts, performance pieces and related projects. In addition to writers and performers, musicians, singers, dancers, etc., are welcome to participate.
• Monday, Sept. 24 at 1 pm: Matinee Movie: "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951; 125 mins.) Dir: Elia Kazan. A faded Southern belle moves in with her sister and brutish brother-in-law in New Orleans, where he torments her delicate sensibilities, and she becomes disconnected from reality. A Best Picture nominee. Starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh.
• Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 3:30-5 pm: Voter Registration Table. Are you registered to vote? September 25 is National Voter Registration Day, and we'll be helping people register from 3:30pm-5pm. Just stop by to fill out the form, and you'll be ready to vote on Nov. 6!
Find the full list of activities for kids and adults here.
As a reminder, the Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, is currently closed for upgrades that will keep the branch out of commission until early 2019.
