Week in Grieview

Stories this past week included... (with a Second Avenue snow pic by Derek Berg...)

• City releases COVID-19 vaccine data by ZIP code; where do local neighborhoods rank? (Wedensday) 

• Mikey Likes It and Tompkins Square Bagels join forces for first collaboration (Wednesday) 

• Free COVID-19 testing coming to Haven Plaza next week (Saturday) 

• The return (again) of indoor dining (Monday) 

• Lights on! Panna II expands into the former Milon space on 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Village Cafe & Grill debuts on 4th Street (Tuesday) 

• Planet Taco entering 2nd Avenue's orbit (Friday) 

• Lilly's Shakes & Crepes is now open on Avenue C (Tuesday) 

• Reader report: Someone broke into our apartment while we were at home (Friday) 

• Good hair day in this week's NY See panel (Thursday) 

• Gallery Watch heads to Perrotin Gallery (Wednesday) 

 

• Novum EV comes into full view (Wednesday) 

• Your Desire For Food hasd closed on Avenue B (Thursday) 

• Medical procedures: A few moments during filming for 'New Amsterdam' today along Avenue A (Wednesday)

• Development site on 14th Street and Avenue C remains dormant (Tuesday) 

 ... and please be careful when using your cart as a skateboard in snowy conditions ...

3-second cinema: A nice recovery on 7th and A... pic.twitter.com/X2lN8WJ0YE

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) February 19, 2021

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Follow EVG on Instragram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

EVG Etc. A dabba lunch service at Khiladi; an update on Amelia and Christo's 2021 nest

With a random photo on the Bowery above... 

 • Khiladi on Avenue B at 11th Street has launched a dabba lunch service (Eater) 

• The NYC Health Department is recommending that New Yorkers wear two masks — a paper one covered by a cloth one — to better stem the spread of the coronavirus (Westside Rag) 

• Reviving the performing arts with the NY PopsUp initiative. The article includes details on the Saturday afternoon pop-up entertainment taking place at Theater for the New City on 10th Street (PIX11) 

• A feature on the 32-year-old Anthony Aiden Opticians at 42 St Mark's Place (Off the Grid) 

• An interview with Julia Copeland, who opened the boutique Here nor There on Ninth Street last fall (B+B ... previously on EVG) 

• Two Boots joined forces with Slice Out Hunger on an emergency initiative that supports shelters, soup kitchens and community centers impacted by the power outages in Texas (Instagram) 

• An update on Amelia and Christo's nest construction in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography ... previously on EVG) 

• Nearly 40-year-old dim sum destination Jing Fong will close its Chinatown banquet hall and indoor dining in early March (Gothamist) 

• Diversions: In our weekly Friday at 5 video on Dec. 11, we hyped an OSEES livestream event. The full-length concert video has been posted, and the setlist includes three Black Flag covers (Brooklyn Vegan) 

 ... and false alarm on Eighth Street (previously) ...

How package thefts helped unify this East Village building

The above photo is from the EVG archives and isn't related to this story in the Times. 

Over at The New York Times today, Julie Besonen writes about the East Village building that she has lived in since the 1990s... touching on some relatable themes — changing demographics and package thefts. 

Some excerpts:

Package theft wasn’t an issue when I first moved in during the Grunge years, although crack vials routinely littered our stoop. Sleepy addicts sometimes blocked the door. But these entryway inconveniences were minor compared with the constant robberies, which rapidly escalated last year.

And...

But back to 30 years ago: Aside from the stoop problem, our building was a neighborly haven, owned by the same family for generations and monitored by live-in supers, a couple from Malta named Agnes and Tony. Our ensemble of residents (Bill, Bob, John, Pat, Tom) worked unflashy jobs — mailroom clerk, museum guide and so on — and stayed for decades, giving me the chance to grow fond of them, including nuisances like Edith and Victor (secretary, janitor), who banged on my ceiling when my music blared. It only took them 14 years to trust me enough to water their plants when they traveled. 

The poignant exodus of these characters, through death, eviction, buyouts and, most recently, the pandemic, made way for my current neighbors, variously named Summer, Kennedy, Madison, Kayleigh, Mackenzie, Hannah and Charity. They pay rents that seem exorbitant, upward of $4,000 in some cases, reflecting the East Village’s own hypergentrification.

However, as Besonen writes, the spate of pandemic-era package thefts helped her forge a bond with her new, younger neighbors.

Ralitsa Kalfas, 23 ... found an empty cardboard box instead of winter coats and sweaters sent to her from her family. A vintage jacket that once belonged to her grandmother was stolen too. My empathy for these young women grew, realizing they weren’t that different from me when I first moved to New York, my shyness sometimes interpreted as unfriendliness.

You can read the full piece here.

Today's photos of a squirrel eating an apple in Tompkins Square Park

As part of the periodic Squirrels Being Adorable series, we present this squirrel's healthy choice today in Tompkins Square Park... photos by Steven...

Previously on EV Grieve:
• What other photos of squirrels eating things can we post?

• Meanwhile, a squirrel with a coconut drink this morning in Tompkins Square Park

• Today in photos of squirrels carb loading in Tompkins Square Park

Free COVID-19 testing coming to Haven Plaza next week

Local elected officials are helping bring free COVID-19 testing to Haven Plaza on 13th Street this coming week. 

No appointments are necessary on Wednesday (Feb. 24) or Thursday (Feb. 25) from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Find Haven Plaza at 726 E. 13th St. at Avenue C. The testing will take place in the Community Room.

Another smoking manhole on 12th Street

There were reports of another smoking manhole on 12th Street... the first reports came in before midnight here between First Avenue and Second Avenue (looks to be outside the Sirovich Center at No. 331) ... 

Per the resident who shared the top photo: "Went on for hours, was super loud." 

Citing Gothamist again about these winter-time incidents:

The phenomenon typically happens after a major winter storm, as de-icing salt seeps into the ground, corroding subterranean wires and unleashing gas, which in some cases sparks fires and blows the several-hundred-pound manholes straight into the sky.

Saturday's opening shot

Today's sunrise as seen along Avenue A at Tompkins Square Park...

Friday's parting shot

New temp signage at Veselka on Ninth Street at Second Avenue ... thanks to Steven for the photo...

The big 'Hurt'

 

It's just Feb. 19, yet some folks have said that the new record (Collapsed in Sunbeams) by UK-based singer-songwriter Arlo Parks will be one of the year's best. It's that good.

The video here is for a previously released single called "Hurt."

Indoor dining to expand to 35-percent capacity next week

Gov. Cuomo today announced that indoor dining will expand from 25 to 35 percent starting next Friday (Feb. 26!). The news comes one week after the return of indoor dining in NYC.

During today's press briefing, Cuomo said that COVID-19 data continue to improve, allowing New York to continue on a path toward reopening.

The rest of the New York state's restaurants, including on Long Island and in Westchester, are operating at 50 percent capacity. As the governor noted, the 35-percent capacity will be the same as New Jersey's current mandate. 

Cuomo originally ended indoor dining in the city in December after two-plus months ahead of an expected holiday-related spike in COVID-19 positivity rates. 

You can read more reaction/analysis via Gothamist and Eater.

Photo of Lavagna on Fifth Street last weekend by Stacie Joy.

Manhole watch on 12th Street

There was a report earlier this afternoon — via the Citizen app — of an exploding manhole on 12th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Nothing appears to have actually exploded here outside No. 222... though we have a smoker... the FDNY is on the scene and keeping watch...

This kind of thing is to be expected these days TBH. As Gothamist has reported:

The phenomenon typically happens after a major winter storm, as de-icing salt seeps into the ground, corroding subterranean wires and unleashing gas, which in some cases sparks fires and blows the several-hundred-pound manholes straight into the sky.

Mid-morning snow photo break

As seen on 14th Street and First Avenue this morning exiting the L train... not sure what's going on ... and why members of the NYPD counterterrorism unit are here... 

Pic via William Klayer...