6 posts from December

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

A mini month in review...

Storm center: Questions linger over updated plans for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project (Dec. 26)

The makeshift memorials at the 2nd Avenue gas explosion site have been removed (Dec. 20)

Affordable housing planned for city-owned buildings at 204 Avenue A and 535 E. 12th St. (Dec. 19)

When in rehab: Meet Winston, the new red-tailed hawk in Dora's life (Dec. 12)

Here's the new facility for Barrier Free Living on 2nd Street (Dec. 10)

A visit to C&B Cafe on 7th Street (Dec. 7)

Gone but not forgotten

Remembering a few of our friends and neighbors who died in 2018...

• Adela Fargas...


[Photo by @casaadelarestaurant]

• Gino DiGirolamo...


[Photo from 2014 by Michael Paul]

• George Cameron...


[Photo from 2015 by James Maher]

• Mikey Evans...



• Beverly Bronson...


[Photo courtesy of House with Heart]

• Jim Moffett...



• Tony ...


[Photo by Jen Fisher]

• Chile...



• Jimi Zhivago...


[Photo by James Lanning via Facebook]

• Todd Youth...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

• Kenny Shopsin...



• Milton Ellison...



• Glenn Branca...



• Hamlet Zurita...


[Photo by Enrique Lara]

• Anthony Pisano


[Photo by Marty Wombacher]

• Freddy Corea ...


[Photo by Thomas Donal Ward]

• Fred Bass...



• Amos Little Jr. ...


[Photo by Walter Wlodarczyk via Instagram]

• Philly Abe...

Noting noted

In the spirt of the year-end listicle season... here's the most-viewed EVG post from 2018 ... the item on Target's 14th Street Grand Opening on July 21 that included a replica CBGB storefront ...

The art of Sir Shadow and the remaining residents of the Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery

In case you didn't see this feature in the Times over the weekend... Alex Vadukul profiles the artist Sir Shadow, one of the six remaining residents of the Whitehouse, about the last of the flophouses on the Bowery.

A few passages:

As Sir Shadow hums for inspiration, his slender hand strikes a sketchpad with a silver marker and swirls deliriously, never leaving the page, as though he were signing a signature. The elegant silhouette, formed with one continuous line, depicts a saxophone player. He blurs through more: a jazz ensemble featuring trumpet and upright bass; a drummer in the flurry of a solo. His musicians are faceless abstractions.

And...

At 6-foot-4, he sleeps diagonally to fit into his windowless cubicle. Rarely without his fedora, he gets around on a red electric scooter and draws his blues and jazz musicians across the neighborhood. He calls his one-line style Flowetry, which can be found in the calendars he sells.

But his masterpiece might be the Whitehouse Hotel itself. Nearly every hallway and boarding room contains a Sir Shadow mural. Even the keys behind the reception desk are marked with his musical silhouettes.

The piece also delves into Sir Shadow's past as well as "another surreal accent" of his life — his connection to one of the most powerful real-estate families in NYC.

The Whitehouse, a four-story building erected in 1916 at 340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond, spruced itself up in 2011 to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling... while the longterm residents remained on another floor.)

However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. Those plans never materialized. The Renatus Group now owns the property. However, as the Time notes, "development has been hindered by Sir Shadow and his compatriots."

A few residents have died, and buyouts have lured away others. The men who remain in the flophouse have refused these deals. The Whitehouse Hotel’s future appears to now hinge on a grim but simple waiting game.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery is 'temporarily closing down'

The Whitehouse Hostel has closed for good on the Bowery

Happy New Year's Eve Day!

The vendors outside Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place have already moved on, though. (And has the Kmart on Astor Place already started selling Easter candy?)

Week in Grieview

[Tompkins Square Park shadows the other morning]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Photos: Holidays in the East Village (Thursday)

Storm center: Questions linger over updated plans for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project (Wednesday)

Report of a fire at 93 E. 7th St.; Luke's Lobster temporarily closed for several weeks (Friday)

After fire, Fiaschetteria Pistoia closed until January (Wednesday)

Report: Residents of Kushner-owned 118 E. 4th St. learn building had 10X legal levels of lead (Thursday)

A visit to Mashbill Wine & Spirits on Avenue C (Friday)

Bar Virage has closed on 2nd Avenue (Friday)

The unknown future of the Sidewalk (Monday)

Joyface debuts on Avenue C (Thursday)

Rue-B adds daytime café service (Thursday)

Christmas Eve Eve, ruined (Sunday)

Holidays on 5th Street (Monday)

Engineering the return of CBGB in this model train set at Grand Central Terminal (Monday)

Coming soon to 13th Street: On the Mark Cleaners (Friday)

48 Clinton St. has new owner; first property sold in an NYC Opportunity Zone (Wednesday)

The rush to be the first tree in the Tompkins Square Park MulchFest pen (Wednesday)

Tonight's Con Ed blue light special brings back Sandy memories (Thursday)

The French connection: Salon Chérie Chéri opening soon on Avenue B (Wednesday)

A year-end look at the Streit's-replacing condoplex (Friday)

Retail moves at 250 East Houston (Tuesday)


[Time to renew]

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2 New Year's Eve options

Via the EVG inbox...

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Future Positive New Year's Eve at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS), 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street

This Future Positive New Year’s celebration is brought to you by MoRUS, celebrating its sixth anniversary, and Time’s Up, celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The evening includes multimedia presentations by Fly, Seth Tobocman and Eric Drooker .... and live music by Banji and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. Find more details at this link. Admission: Sliding scale between $5 and $25.

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Otto's Shrunken Head, 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B

The evening features three bands, Sister Ray Gun, Women of the Night and Mesiri, with a midnight performance by Kembra Pfahler and members of Karen Black. Find more details at this link. Admission: $10.

New-look Paquito's debuts

After an 18-day closure for renovations, Paquito's, the dependable Mexican takeout spot on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, reopened yesterday, as promised...

Here's a look at the new interior via the quick-serve restaurant's Instagram account...



The family-owned restaurant has been here since 1992...



Paquito's closed its larger bar-restaurant operation next door at the end of last year due to a reported rent increase. That space, one year later, remains without a tenant.

H/T Steven!

Previously on EV Grieve:
On 1st Avenue, Paquito's is closed for renovations until Dec. 28

New signage arrives for Paquito's on 1st Avenue

This week in East Village music history

Hilly Kristal debuted the short-lived CBGB's Theater at 66 Second Ave. at this time in late 1977 ...

View this post on Instagram

Grand Opening Week (1977) #thedictators #deadboys #pattismith #pattismithgroup #pattinotpatty #richardhellandthevoidoids #cbgb #rrexplorernyc

A post shared by Rock & Roll Explorer Guide NYC (@rrexplorernyc) on Dec 28, 2018 at 4:45pm PST

Here's one description of the CBGB Theater via: "The place was disgusting. It made the CBGB club look like the Rainbow Room. We were talking about eighty years' worth of dirt. I mean there was popcorn left over from the last performance of the Yiddish theater in 1925...They did manage to clean up the entryway, and made it look like a subway station."

Read more about the Anderson Theatre, 66 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street, at Cinema Treasures and It's All the Streets You Crossed Not So Long Ago.



Previously on EV Grieve:
When you could see the Grateful Dead on Second Avenue for $2

Spiral up

Here's Johnny Marr with "Spiral Cities," the second single from his 2018 release Call the Comet. Perhaps an under-appreciated record from this year. (And a good live show at the Irving Plaza back in October.)

Happy trails to the 'Queen of Borscht'

Malgorzata Sibilski — aka the "Queen of Borscht" — retired from Veselka on Dec. 1 after 30 years at the restaurant on Second Avenue and Ninth Street... Veselka paid tribute to her today on Instagram...

View this post on Instagram

. Veselka's "Queen of Borscht" - Malgorzata Sibilski - retired on Dec. 1st, after feeding the neighborhood and visitors from around the world about 5,000 gallons of borscht every year for more than 30 years. Let's wish her a long and happy retirement! ❤️. #veselkanyc #retirement #borscht #malgorzatasibilski #veselka #eastvillagenyc #littleukraine #thankful #notablewomen #notablenewyorkers #miracleworkers #ourfriend

A post shared by Veselka (@veselkanyc) on Dec 28, 2018 at 9:55am PST

In January, Veselka was honored by the Columbia Aging Center — part of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health — for its efforts to hire and retain workers over the age of 50.

Report of a fire at 93 E. 7th St.; Luke's Lobster temporarily closed for several weeks

[Photo last night by Lauralynn]

The FDNY responded to a report of a fire on the fifth floor of 93 E. Seventh St. just east of First Avenue last evening. (Eden tweeted about it here.)

EVG correspondent Steven shared these photos from this morning...





Luke's Lobster is the retail tenant on the ground floor...



The fire (obviously) caused them to close early last night. No word on the extent of the damage in the building... and to the restaurant. There weren't any reports of injuries.



Luke's will be closed for the next few weeks... [Updated 1/6 — Luke's is back open!]

Due to a fire in the building (everyone’s ok), our #eastvillage shack will be closed for the next couple of weeks to fix the damage. Stay tuned here for further updates, and check us out on #UniversityPlace in #UnionSquare to get your fix. 🦞

— Luke's Lobster (@LukesLobster) December 28, 2018

This is the second fire this week to temporarily close a restaurant. Fiaschetteria Pistoia is currently closed following a fire Sunday night at 647 E. 11th St. at Avenue C.

In September 2016, a fire broke after inside the Caracas Arepa Bar next door to Luke's at 93 1/2 E. Seventh St. The owners decided not to reopen the restaurant.