EVG contributor Stacie Joy was at the store yesterday: "Crew reports new lettering and signage (to reflect new colors, font, etc.) should be up next week. They told me they have no plans to close, that all Rite Aids are being rebranded."
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Your Rite Aid on 1st Avenue signage update
Friday, March 12, 2021
Friday's parting shot
March 12, part II
Friday I'm in love
Good pick, though not my No. 1.
This is all really subjective ... I'd put "The Catepillar" atop the list ... (No. 10 at Mojo)...
"Six Different Ways" would be in there (didn't even rate a mention in Mojo)...
... and "Primary" (No. 16 in Mojo)...
.
.. and "In-Between Days" ... (No. 2 in Mojo)...
March 12
And don't forget to spring forward this weekend.
Concern for the barking dogs at 58 St. Mark's Place
Since then, thanks to some sleuthing, the reader has tracked down the location ... but is stymied by the lack of progress to free the dogs.
I posted on Next Door, where I was able to find a man across the courtyard who had already posted about the dogs, and could identify the building and posted a video of the dogs barking and scratching at the back entrance, as well as someone who had seen the dogs moved into the same building at the time when the barking started.
Unfortunately, what we learned is that the dogs are being kept in the abandoned unit that formerly was home to Clay Pot at 58 St. Mark's Place. It's empty. So every time I report it to 311, they send a police officer who knocks on the door, no one answers, and they shut the animal neglect ticket.The Office of Health and Mental Hygiene isn't answering their phones or returning messages. The barking is near-constant day and night, and obviously very distressed and suffering. I have been posting flyers outside the door, which get ripped off, and I found a ConEd notice this week saying that there was no tenant in the unit but it was still receiving gas, which would be shut off.I (and the others on NextDoor) am now worried that if it gets cold again, or if electricity is cut off, those dogs will freeze to death, or die of sheer neglect in the dark.Is there anything else EV Grieve readers can think of? I have tried 311 and the 92nd St ASPCA (both of which send the complaint to the local NYPD precinct, which knocks and leaves), flyers, Next Door. I'm at wit's end and feel as though I am just waiting for the dogs to die tragically.
58 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second is one of the many East Village buildings scooped up by now-disgraced landlord Raphael (Rafi) Toledano. The building appears to still be in his name, per public records.
In 2017, a subsidiary of lender Madison Realty Capital took over the portfolio while Toledano was mired in bankruptcy proceedings. It's not immediately clear who is managing the building today... or who is keeping the dogs behind an empty restaurant space.
RIP Julian Baczynsky
The shop's Instagram account posted this tribute:
It is with great sadness that we write to inform you of the passing of our beloved founder/owner, Julian Baczynsky. His work and dedication to the Ukrainian community and the East Village will always be remembered.According to Village Preservation, Baczynsky emigrated here from Ukraine in 1949.
In 1955 he opened his first store on Avenue B and 10th Street, and later he and a partner opened a store on First Avenue. In 1970 he and his partner parted ways and he started his own store at 139 Second Avenue with the goal to have a store that would preserve Eastern European culture.Per the East Village Meat Market website: "It was his life-long dream to own a business and have a slice of the American Dream."
We asked Tom Birchard, the longtime owner of Veselka on Second Avenue at Ninth Street, for his thoughts about the passing of his friend and neighbor.
Mr. Baczynsky opened his shop on Second Avenue shortly after I came to Veselka in 1966 and we’ve been friends and neighbors ever since. He has supplied us with his excellent home-smoked kielbasa for over 50 years. We have at times struggled to survive and at times flourished together. We couldn't have asked for a better neighbor and collaborator. We are very thankful for his long and very productive life. He will be sorely missed.
Although Baczynsky lived outside the city of late, he was a resident of this neighborhood for many years. The shop will continue under the leadership of manager Andrew Ilnicki.
Image via @eastvillagemeatmarket
New owners in line for former Thirsty Scholar Pub on 2nd Avenue
Thirsty Scholar Pub has not been open since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street.
New owners are now in line to open a like-minded establishment here. David Harris (above left) and Cris Nastasi (right) will appear before CB3's SLA Committee on Monday for a liquor license for a bar called the Long Pour.
The two, who collected signatures of support outside the space this week, have ties to the neighborhood — and this block. Harris is currently the manager of Bull McCabe's on St. Mark's Place and previously served as a bartender at now-closed block-mates the Telephone Bar & Grill and Ryan's Irish Pub. Nastasi was born and raised in the neighborhood and spent 15 years as the technical director of "Stomp" at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue.
You can find the Long Pour questionnaire on the CB3 website here.
The virtual committee meeting starts Monday evening at 6:30. The Zoom link is here.
The Thirsty Scholar opened in 1999, first going as the Jolly Rodger.
Photo by Steven
Phony Express serving up an 'Odessa' special
The pandemic-era local band Phony Express (read the backstory here) is back with a new single in honor of a longtime friend on Avenue A ... here's "Odessa" ...
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Spring break
Grant Shaffer's NY See
Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood and NYC ...
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