Mi Casa Latina debuts on 14th Street

Mi Casa Latina is now open at 250 E. 14th St., just west of the Colonel on the corner of Second Avenue.

The sidewalk chalkboard signage touts quick-serve a.m. items like coffee and muffins for the commuting crowd... the menu includes a variety of fresh juices and bowls of açaí ... there are also steam tables with daily lunch specials such as the pork and rice for $10...



No. 250 previously housed PokéVillage, which closed in March 2018 after 16 months in business.

Previously.

Former Kingsley space now for rent

Kingsley went dark back in early September without any notice to patrons — at the restaurant or online — here at 190 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street.

Someone emptied out the restaurant in late December, and the for rent signs arrived this past week, officially closing the book on Kingsley, which served "seasonal, local ingredients with a contemporary French-American menu," per its website.

Chef-owner chef Roxanne Spruance opened the space in December 2015, and received some attention given her past work in well-regarded kitchens such as Blue Hill and WD-50.

The restaurant took over the space from Back 40, which closed in December 2014 after seven years in business. Chef-owner Peter Hoffman told Eater that "a difficult landscape and lease uncertainty" led to the closure. Not sure if we ever moved past the "difficult landscape."

That was Life

In honor of the hoopla around Fox's live production of "Rent" tonight... here's a look in the EVG archives... Michael Sean Edwards took these photos outside Life Cafe, where Jonathan Larson spent time when he was writing the musical, in the weeks leading up to its closure in September 2011 after 30 years in service on 10th Street and Avenue B...








[Click to go big]

Week in Grieview

[1st Avenue steam out]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

RIP Jonas Mekas (Wednesday ... Thursday)

There was a slight decline in the number of NYC chain stores this past year (Monday)

A visit to Miscelanea NY on 4th Street (Thursday)

A look at where Citi Bike is expanding in the East Village (Wednesday)

1st signs of the construction to come at the 2nd Avenue explosion site (Friday)

Joe’s Steam Rice Roll heading to 36 St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

Cheska's pizza now serving in the Bowery Market (Tuesday)

Today's Urban Etiquette marijuana sign of the day (Sunday)

A session for tenants to learn how to fight back against construction as harassment (Thursday)

Former Nicoletta space for rent on 2nd Avenue and 10th Street (Tuesday)

Report: The L-train's weekend repair plans would mean exit-only stations on 1st and 3rd avenues (Thursday)

On the Mark Cleaners now open on 13th Street (Tuesday)

Checking in on the under-renovation Ottendorfer Library (Wednesday)

'Fear and misinformation' on 4th Street: Developer sues over rejected hotel plans (Thursday)

This is what the Sunshine Cinema looks like today — 1 year after it closed (Monday)

Whatever happened to ... Donostia? (Thursday)

... and over on Broadway and 13th Street, someone made an addition to the ad for Success Academy Charter Schools... writing in the annual salary of founder and CEO Eva Sarah Moskowitz ...



On this topic, the East Village Community School PA is hosting a screening of the documentary "Backpack Full of Cash," which explores the cost of privatizing America's public schools, free of charge and open to all, on March 6 at 6 p.m.

Thanks Choresh Wald!

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Grant Shaffer's NYC 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 ... and NYC.

Ghost signage reveal on 5th Street

Workers renovating 317 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue uncovered this ghost signage today ... Derek Berg spotted this earlier today... Wines & Lager Beer (early BEER STORE?)... I can't quite make out the first name (Cosrt?)...



Updated 1/27

I looked at the city tax photos for this address ... a business is in the space, though it doesn't have this wine/lager signage...



Can't quite make out the sign ...

The West African fare at Golody Halal Buffet on 1st Avenue

Over at Eater, Robert Sietsema visits Golody Halal Buffet at 222 First Ave. (between 13th Street and 14th Street) in his latest Cheap Eats series.

The longtime food writer likes what he found. A sampling from the buffet:

Choices include popular dishes from Senegal, Guinea, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, and the selection changes daily. The cashier told me, for example, that a fermented cornmeal mash from Ghana called kenkey would be available on Wednesdays ... The day I went, there were several types of rice available, and a Guinean sauce de feuilles made with sweet potato leaves, a Nigerian okra sauce dotted with beef, and a Senegalese chicken yassa ... It helps to know this food already, but you’ll do quite well just loading up your plate with things that look good to you. The cost is $5.99 per pound, which is a great deal.

Sounds like a much more interesting cheap eats option than the previous tenant here — the $1 slices of Joey Pepperoni.

'Thin Man' triple feature tomorrow at the Tompkins Square Library branch

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Tomorrow, we’ll be playing Myrna Loy all day, with a Thin Man triple feature! 11am: The Thin Man (1934), 1pm: After the Thin Man (1936), 3pm: Another Thin Man (1939). #myrnaloy #williampowell #thethinman #eastvillage #lowereastside #tompkinssquare #tompkinssquarelibrary #film #free

A post shared by Tompkins Square Library (@tompkins_square_library) on Jan 25, 2019 at 12:31pm PST

The first three of the six Nick and Nora (and Asta!) capers, starring Myrna Loy and William Powell, are playing tomorrow at the Tompkins Square Library branch (331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B) starting at 11 a.m.

The big Asleep

The London-based trio Big Joanie released their debut record, Sistas, last month (details here) ... the above video is for "Fall Asleep."

Some background, per Cargo Records:

Inspired by The Ronettes, Nirvana, Breeders and Jesus and Mary Chain, Big Joanie have described themselves as being “similar to The Ronettes filtered through ’80s DIY and Riot Grrrl with a sprinkling of dashikis.”

A return to 11th Street this weekend for 'McKinney Arts REDUX'

[Now and then]

Last month, Mark McKinney was walking around the East Village with his son.

From 1996-1997, he ran a gallery, McKinney Arts, at 526 E. 11th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. When he went by the storefront in December, he saw that it was a flex rental space available for pop-up shows.

"I figured, what's the likelihood of the exact same space being available 22 years later?" McKinney, who now lives and works from Belleville, N.J., told me. "So I rented the space for this weekend, tracked down a number of artists who I represented 22 years ago, and I've curated a show called "McKinney Arts REDUX."

The two-day show is tomorrow (Saturday!) and Sunday. A few details:

A pop-up show featuring art by:

Peter Bregoli, Jennie Booth, Peter Carey, Marguerite Day, Fred Fleisher, Mark McKinney, Tony Nogueira, and Brad Terhune.

Hours:
Saturday, 2-9 p.m., with an opening reception from 6-9 p.m.
Sunday, noon-8 p.m.

Before moving to 11th Street, McKinney lived on Stanton Street and ran an impromptu exhibition space there.

"The 'bedroom' was so small, I couldn't fit my bed in there, so I turned it into a gallery," he said.

TGIF, red-tailed hawk edition

Amelia and Christo, the red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, as seen here lounging in the nest ... photo this afternoon courtesy of Steven.

1st signs of the construction to come at the 2nd Avenue explosion site

A jackhammer crew has started to break up the sidewalk this morning on Second Avenue at Seventh Street ... where there are approved plans (as of Dec. 27 by the city) to build a 7-story condoplex on this corner.

The Morris Adjmi-designed residential building with 21 condos and ground-floor retail will include a commemorative plaque that honors Moises Locón and Nicholas Figueroa, the men who died in the gas explosion on this site on March 26, 2015.

Shaky Cohen's Nexus Building Development Group paid $9.15 million for the empty lots.

The previous owner of 119 and 121 Second Ave., Maria Hrynenko, her son Michael Hrynenko (now deceased), contractor Dilber Kukic and their plumber Anthanasios Ioannidis illegally tampered with the gas line then failed to warn those in the building before the blast, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.

According to public records, Hrynenko and the other defendants will appear in court again on March 21. Records show that Hrynenko and the other accused have appeared in New York County Criminal Court 23 times since February 2016... and the outcome was the same — "adjourned/bail continued" — since their initial appearance. There's also a new judge presiding, Michael J. Obus of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Justice Kirke Bartley had been the judge of record.

Updated 2:30 p.m.

WIP via Steven...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: 2nd Avenue explosion sites have a new owner

Dedicating Moises Locón Way and Nicholas Figueroa Way on 2nd Avenue at 7th Street

Soil testing underway at the 2nd Avenue explosion site