EV Grieve

Saturday, June 6, 2020

EVG Etc. Defunding the NYPD; feeding the hungry on the LES

[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

• Police reform advocates want Mayor de Blasio to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget. Per local City Council member Carlina Rivera: "It’s absolutely shameful, that in the wake of all of these protests, our mayor still clings to the notion that the NYPD’s massive budget doesn’t play a huge role in the inequities and racism that we see in this city." (NY1)

• What could NYC do with its $6 billion police budget? (Curbed)

• Details on the 10th day of protests in the city (Gothamist)

• More arrests, more calls to end the curfew (B&B)

• Supporting black-owned restaurants in NYC (Eater)

• Efforts to provide meals to the growing numbers of homeless and in-need residents on the Lower East Side (The Nation)

• Online Pride Month activities (Stonewall50)

• 1 Union Square South fetches $200 million (The Real Deal)

• The plan for expanded outdoor dining in NYC (Grub Street)

• Diversions: Punk covers of AC/DC songs (Dangerous Minds)

Anwar Grocery burglarized

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Anwar Hossain, who owns Anwar's Grocery at 106 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, arrived to work yesterday morning to find his front door knocked in and $1,200 missing from the cash register.

Anwar said that there isn't any video record of the burglary. He plans to ask the building's landlord for help getting additional plywood to prevent or deter another break-in.

While Anwar was sad about the burglary, he remains optimistic about the future and said he doesn't have plans to close the store. The grocery's hours will remain flexible for now.

Metrograph and Club Cumming are open to protestors this weekend

The independent cinema down at 7 Ludlow St. is opening its lobby this weekend (2-6 p.m.) for people taking part in peaceful protests... offering up water and other supplies as well as use of the theater's restrooms.

Metrograph is the latest arts-theater space to take part in the growing Open Your Lobby campaign... other neighborhood participants include the Public Theater ... the New York Theatre Workshop ... and Performance Space New York.

For updated lists on NYC protests, you can visit @justiceforgeorgenyc. And you can make a sign today (starting at noon, and they have supplies) at Amy Van Doran's Modern Love Club, 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Updated:

Club Cumming on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is also open to protestors...

View this post on Instagram

We are here if you need us 1pm-5pm Water, Snacks, PPE, First Aid, Restroom #openyourlobby #blacklivesmatter
A post shared by Club Cumming (@clubcumming) on Jun 6, 2020 at 8:15am PDT

Reopenings: The Coffee Project, the EVO juice bar, the Hard Swallow, Big Bar, Otto's Shrunken Head and more

The Coffee Project started takeout service this past week here on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. For now, their hours are 8 a.m. to noon.

In other reopenings... the juice bar at East Village Organic is up and running again. The market at 124 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place also extended their hours to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• The Hard Swallow, 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, is offering take-home drinks and hot dogs from noon to 7 p.m. daily.

[Photo by Steven]

• Big Bar, 75 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will be open for takeout drinks from noon to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow.

• Otto's Shrunken Head, 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, will be offering "Tiki ToGo" from 2-6 p.m. today and tomorrow.

• Papilles, 125 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is offering a three-course meal for takeout or delivery. Details here.

• Kindred, 342 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has unveiled Kindred Spirits & Provisions, offering a variety of to-go items. Open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details here.

2 break-in attempts in 1 night at East Village Finest Deli

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Two attempted break-ins occurred this past Tuesday night at East Village Finest Deli on the southwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street.

The first attempt occurred when a man took a hammer to the door at 12:23 a.m. Several hours later, a man with a skateboard, possibly seeing that there was already a smashed door, tried to finish the job and get in at 4:38 a.m.

Manager Anwar Shahbain told me that Mohammad, a neighbor in the building across the street, screamed through the window at the perpetrators, potentially scaring them off while another neighbor called the police. (The store also has an alarm.)

Anwar expressed gratitude to his neighbors as well as to Sgt. Omar Elsayed at the 9th Precinct, who responded to the burglary attempts and called the family multiple times to alert them to the attempted break-ins.

Anwar arrived at 5:09 a.m. and spotted Mohammad, who was still standing in the window across the street, arms crossed, keeping an eye on the business.

East Village Finest Deli will keep their COVID-19-adjusted hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but have boarded up the store with plywood for now.

And in the photo below (from the left) Ahmed Almulaiki, Mohammed Alaskari, Anwar Shahbain and Yusif Zindari ...

Friday, June 5, 2020

Friday's parting shot

EVG reader Juli S. spotted this discarded flat-screen TV today on 10th Street near First Avenue ... the sign notes, "As broken as our justice system" ...

On the march

Thank you to East Village-based photographer Gudrun Georges for sharing these images from before, during and after some of the peaceful protests this past week...

'You ain't seen no one like me since Lauryn Hill back in the '90s'

London-based rapper Simbi Ajikawo, aka Little Simz, surprised fans with a new EP (part of her ongoing early-career Drop series) last month, recorded while she was on lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis ... the audio track here is for "Might Bang, Might Not."

Performance Space New York is now a rest stop for protestors; donations needed

Performance Space New York on First Avenue at Ninth Street is now offering protestors water and other supplies as well as use of their restrooms ...

And they are the latest East Village theater space to do this as part of the Open Your Lobby campaign... we mentioned yesterday that both the Public Theater and the New York Theatre Workshop are providing similar services in the afternoon and early evening hours.

Remembering their names

In recent days, someone has added stickers on the sidewalk bridge outside Village View along First Avenue... paying tribute to the unarmed black men and women who died at the hands of police across the country in recent years.

EVG reader Elissa, who shared these photos, estimates that there are nearly 200 stickers (some of the names repeat) on this stretch between Second Street and Sixth Street...

Are you interested in volunteering to help East Village businesses?

The East Village Independent Merchants Association in collaboration with the East Village Community Coalition are seeking volunteers to help local businesses.

Per a tweet yesterday:

COVID-19 and current social unrest have hit the East Village hard, particularly local businesses. We could use your help. Interested in volunteering around the East Village? Sign up here to help out.

Again, that volunteer form is here. (Among other things, the form asks if there are any skills or volunteer interests you would like them to know about, such as painting, carpentry, cooking or teaching.)

By my count, more than 50 East Village storefronts were damaged in recent days from either post-protest vandalism or break-ins — many of them late-night Sunday/early Monday morning.

At Ama Raw Bar, the three-month-old restaurant at 190 Avenue B near 12th Street, someone tried to break down the front door, but was unsuccessful at gaining entrance.