Vintage Day at the Hester Street Fair

Until 6 p.m. down at Essex and Hester... find the list of vendors here.

The good people from the East Village Vintage Collective are there... with this gem to wear to the picture shows...

View this post on Instagram

Where my movie buffs at?! This amazing hand painted denim vest and much more available today @hesterstreetfair Vintage Day! Come by and see us or stop by the store which is also open regular hours! 👀 our stories for the back view of this little number 🎥 🍿

A post shared by E Village Vintage Collective (@evvintagecollective) on Sep 8, 2018 at 8:51am PDT

Last weekend for Matcha Cafe Wabi on 4th Street

[Photo via Instagram]

Matcha Cafe Wabi will close tomorrow after nearly three years at 233 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B.

The owners announced the news on Instagram:

We thank each and every one of you for the wonderful memories and the the chance to make the best matcha for you. It was truly an honor! Thank you for making Wabi your go-to place. I hope one day soon, we will have the opportunity to open up a new place, with the same name and to make sure, there are plenty of tables and chairs 😂. Stay healthy, safe and happy, all! ❤️

The small shop, serving matcha lattes, sencha tea and other Japanese-style drinks and pastries, opened in December 2014. It's owned by the folks at Pirka Salon next door.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Matcha Cafe Wabi now open on East 4th Street

Open house Sunday at the all-new Matcha Cafe Wabi

Friday's parting shot

Second Avenue and Seventh Street today via Derek Berg...

'Reverser' of fortune

The Oh Sees just released this video for "Overthrown" ... off the latest record, Smote Reverser, via John Dwyer and company. If you're counting, then his Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees tally is something like 21 full-lengths, eight EPs, two live albums, four compilations and assorted 7-inch singles.

P.S.

The "Overthrown" video may cause a seizure. Maybe this live clip from late 2017 is better...

[Updated] 2 days of shows in Tompkins Square Park this weekend

The Shadow and the Time Warp Zine are presenting free concerts tomorrow and Sunday in the Park.

Here are the band lineups (they'll be guest speakers as well) ...

SEPT. 8:
• The Drew Stone Hit Squad
• The Carvels
• Suicide Sister
• Damn Kids / Hammer Brain
• The Minutes

Updated: Rain has washed out Sunday's show.

SEPT. 9:
• Mora Tao
• Love Pirates
• Night Terror
• VON LMO
• (More performers to be announced)

Find more details at the Facebook event page here.

Jimmy Carbone is on the mend

[Photo via Instagram by @jtaggfoto]

This has been an extremely challenging summer for Jimmy Carbone, the East Village resident and restaurateur.

Carbone, the proprietor of the currently closed Jimmy's No. 43 (and Mugsy's Chow Chow previously), shared the above photo on Instagram this past week of his "new look," featuring a spine brace and wheel chair.

His brother Christopher provide background in this update on Wednesday:

As you know, Jimmy had been in the hospital since June, where they found spinal infection and he had two emergency surgeries.

Since then he had been in and out of ICU and the Acute Rehabilitation wing of the hospital for recovery and rehab. Jimmy was recently shifted to a less intensive facility: NYU Gouverneur Medical Rehab on the Lower East Side.

1. Infection: generally stable, but there is still bacteria lingering in the spine where the rods were installed that can't be cleared out due to the sensitive area in the spine. He will be taking antibiotics for at least another year with the hope there is no relapse.

2. Legs & Spine: Doctors report that Jimmy is very lucky that he was finally diagnosed in June. He was very close to being permanently paralyzed in his legs. Now with ongoing rehab work, he is getting stronger with sitting up with back brace for longer periods of time – and LEGS are BEGINNING to MOVE and get STRONGER!!!

Now Jimmy is STANDING with support for brief periods and Taking SUPPORTED STEPS as well — with Walker/Crutch-support to walk in the future: seeing a chance to cross a finish line, even if it takes a long time… One day, One week at a time.

Financial difficulties forced Carbone to close Jimmy’s No. 43, the restaurant he owned and operated on Seventh Street near Second Avenue for 12 years, in August 2017. (Read more about that here.)

Carbone fell sick last fall and wound up in a hospital. "That was from my 20 years of running a restaurant," Carbone told me on the phone in February. "I let my health go. I had diabetes."

He had lost weight (40 pounds) and was trying to get healthy when doctors at NYU Langone made the spinal diagnosis — stemming from a knee infection last fall. (You can find more information at the Jimmy's Wellness Fund here.)

Meanwhile, the 9th annual Pig Island NYC takes place tomorrow on the Red Hook waterfront. Carbone, who founded the food-and-beer fest, sounded confident of attending via this Instagram post earlier this week:

Hell yeah, I'll be there! I'll take a hospital day pass, practice occupational therapy tasks like: taking a wheelchair in a taxi, using crutches in public, and getting some sun! I've been cooped up in hospitals since June 19, I will not miss this 9th annual event...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jimmy Carbone and Paloma Rocket collaborating on new venture for the Jimmy's No. 43 space

On 6th Street, the Brant Foundation's inaugural exhibit will feature the work of Basquiat

The Brant Foundation will make its debut on Sixth Street in March 2019 with an exhibition of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.



ARTnews, whose parent company is owned by Peter Brant, made the announcement yesterday.

The inaugural show will be curated by the Brant Foundation’s founder, Peter Brant ... and art historian Dieter Buchhart. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Foundation Louis Vuitton, will include loans from Brant collections as well as international museums and other private collections.

Brant said in a press release, “Basquiat has been a cornerstone of the East Village art scene for decades, and to bring his work back to the neighborhood that inspired it is a great privilege. Our family is thrilled to launch the Brant Foundation’s New York space with an artist who is central to the collection, and above all to share his legacy with the community that was fundamental in shaping it.”

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27. (He also lived for a year in 1979 in this East Village apartment, as you may recall.)

Brant reportedly began acquiring Basquiat's work shortly after being introduced to him by Andy Warhol in 1984. "Jean-Michel Basquiat is the quintessential Van Gogh figure of our time," Brant said in a 2013 interview. "He left with us a genius body of work."

The show opens on March 1 and will be on display through May 15. No word at the moment about about hours or admission. (The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich is open to the public by appointment and free of charge.)

As for the building, the Brant Foundation at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors.





Here's a recap from recent years:

Brant bought the building for $27 million in August 2014.

The gut renovations started in April 2016 at the former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio.

Brant's daughter Allison Brant oversees her father's contemporary art collection. This feature on her in the April 2017 issue of Town & Country reported:

Allison will also run this second space, which is in the East Village and will primarily be used to showcase the foundation's permanent collection. "So many artists my father collects have a connection to that neighborhood," she says.

And here are a few more photos from earlier this summer...









... and on the Seventh Street side...



Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

Hardware store replacing hardware store on 4th Avenue

The Ace Hardware outpost at 130 Fourth Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street closed back in April.

After being on the rental market for several months, the storefront has a new tenant — Union Square Supply, as this photo via EVG reader Doug shows...



This will be a sister store for Fulton Supply Hardware, which opened down on Fulton and Gold in 1970.

TBT: Breaker, breaker: The Bandit spotted on Second Avenue

First posted on Sept. 5, 2011... RIP Burt Reynolds...





Perhaps dining at a nearby "choke and puke"? (And if you really want to watch the trailer for this cinematic milestone ... go here.)

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Report of a suspicious package outside Cooper Union

EVG reader Chris Rowland shares this photo from outside Cooper Union... where the NYPD has blocked off the area due to a report of a "suspicious package."

Cooper Union's Great Hall also happens to be playing host tonight to the Democratic primary debate for New York State Attorney General ... however, they have not been told to leave, per a reporter on the scene...

There is a suspicious package outside Cooper Union where NY AG debate is being held. Debate hall not being evacuated. I was ushered off block right before a live shot at 7:15. Will apprise. ⁦@NY1⁩ pic.twitter.com/WZuHoK4nAG

— Josh Robin (@joshrobin) September 6, 2018

Updated

The suspicious package turned out to be a "harmless suitcase."

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

This morning in inflatables

First, on Astor Place, EVG reader Liz S. shares this photo (subject line: "can't bear it") of the Thomas Burberry Bear ... the bear has been making the rounds showing off the brand's new logo, having been spotted at Xintiandi Taiping Lake, Shanghai.

Meanwhile, on Seventh Street and Avenue B, the Philosophical Zombie notes the always mesmerizing lime green inflatable tube man welcoming back students to the St. Brigid School...