MSCHF on the Bowery

We fielded a few queries about the faux 7-Eleven storefront that arrived Friday at 306 Bowery between Bleecker and Houston (thanks, Robert Miner, for these pics!)...

Today and tomorrow, the storefront is serving as a pop-up space for MSCHF (primer article here), the Brooklyn-based art collective, and sales of their Boosted Packs V2 (aka drop 56). 

What might be inside these collectible packs?

   

Anyway, the pop-up status of the space apparently signals the end of the New Stand's upscale and tech-driven take on the convenience store.

Sunday's parting shot

😱😱😱😱 

Snowplow practice today on Avenue A and Ninth Street... thanks (maybe!) to Derek Berg for the photo...

RIP Faith Laugier

Faith Laugier, a prominent presence in the East Village and NYC activist community, died unexpectedly this past week. She was 42. A cause of death was not revealed. 

Here's more on Laugier from the Daily News, which first reported on her passing.

“She was a sensational woman who had an enormous amount of potential and it’s a huge loss for the activist movement and a huge loss for the city,” said Aton Edwards, a friend. 

Laugier became a prominent activist when Occupy Wall Street formed in September 2011 and protesters set up an encampment in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District. 

Laugier slept in the park the first night of Occupy Wall Street protests, said John Penley, a friend. "There weren't that many people who stayed there the first night," Penley recalled. 

The number of protesters in the park grew, and Laugier emerged as one of the movement's leading organizers.

Laugier's friends and family created a website to commemorate her accomplishments. News about a memorial will also be posted on this site. Her family also initiated a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses. 

Photo courtesy of John Penley

Week in Grieview

Posts this last week included (with a pic from Drag Bingo the other night at 3rd & B’zaar by Stacie Joy) ...

• Help East Village Loves NYC feed 10,000 people in 3 days (Friday) 

• The 10th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival is underway (Wednesday) 

• A visit to Ergot Records (Wednesday)

• Jiang Diner owners taking over the former Jule's Bistro space on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• A makeover for the East Village Neighbors Community Fridge and Pantry (Tuesday) 

• A clue about future development courtesy of the former Subway at 250 E. Houston St. (Tuesday) 

• At the sidewalk runway show on Ludlow Street for cumgirl8's latest collection (Wednesday) 

• Memories of Homecoming 2021 (Friday) 

• One last seasonal fling for Halloween Adventure and Gothic Renaissance? (Monday) 

• A new NY See panel (Thursday) 

• Sri Lankan specialists Sigiri back open on 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Pillow-Cat Books is open now on 9th Street (Tuesday) 

• SLCT Stock brings vintage t-shirts and sneakers to 12th Street (Tuesday) 

• After a few days away, barricades return to the Tompkins Square Park chess tables (Wednesday) 

• Neighbors curious about what might be next for the NE corner of Avenue A and 13th Street (Monday) 

• Salma brings Lebanese cuisine to 12th Street (Monday) 

• Sweetie debuts on Avenue A (Thursday) 

• Wingstop joining Gorillas and European Wax Center in this retail space on 14th Street (Monday) 

• Taqueria St. Mark's back in taco action (Thursday) 

 ... and we're continuing to monitor the Seinfeld wheatpaste transformation on Second Street at First Avenue...

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

Checking in on what's left at Lancelotti Housewares

As we first reported on Sept. 17, Lancelotti Housewares is closing its doors this fall after a 25-year presence on Avenue A.

Co-owners Michael Isaacs (below) and Jeff Chatterton are moving to Dallas to be closer to family, and plans are in the works to open a similar concept/new home-goods store there. 

And since the news of the pending closure hit, the well-curated shop between Fourth Street and Fifth Street was quickly picked over. EVG correspondent Stacie Joy stopped by yesterday to see what was left... as you can see in the last photo, the second room in the store is empty... everything is currently 30-percent off... 

Lancelotti was originally expected to close in mid-to-late October. Not sure about that now! You can find updates on the shop's Instagram account. 

Lancelotti is open Tuesday-Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

Check out these NYC taxi views from 1977-1987 along East Houston Street

In case you haven't been over on East Houston at Second Avenue in the past week ... there's a new exhibit up along First Street Green featuring the work of photographer Joseph Rodriguez.

He drove a cab in NYC from 1977 to 1985 ... and later published a book of his work: "Taxi: Journey Through my Windows 1977–1987." 

Some of those photos, including scenes from the East Village, are featured along this corridor ...

The work, part of the Photoville Festival, will be up here until Dec. 1.

The 10th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival is underway

In case you missed our post from Wednesday... the 10th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival is underway.

This year's festival includes activities at dozens of gardens, each featuring various performances, concerts, workshops and other related events.

Check the LUNGS website here for the day-by-day, garden-by-garden schedule. There's a lot of free live music on the calendar for today (Sunday!).

Saturday's parting shot

Felice Rosser today in Tompkins Square Park with her band, Faith NYC. 

She'll be performing next on Friday night in the Green Oasis Garden, 368 E. Eighth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D as part of the LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival.

Photo by Derek Berg.

Mobile unit offering COVID-19 vaccines today on Avenue A

One of the city's mobile units is offering free COVID-19 vaccines today on Avenue A outside Blink between Sixth Street and Seventh Street ... no appointments are needed for the Pfizer vaccine (ages 12+)...

According to the city's COVID-19 Vaccine Finder, the $100 incentive is available at this pop-up site. The mobile unit will be here today until 5:30 p.m. 

UPDATED

The van is back today (Sept. 26)... same block but on the west side of Avenue A...

Details on Autumn Rocks in Tompkins Square Park

Autumn Rocks in Tompkins Square Park takes place this afternoon, which brings together several events. There's the second annual Tompkins Square Book and Arts Fair, which starts at noon, and a lineup of bands from 2-6 p.m.

Here's a list of the bands, per the Shows in Tompkins Square Park page on Facebook: 

• Midnight Jerks 

• No Police State Girl 

• Dub Corps 

• Simon + JJ 

• The Uplifters 

• Faith 

• Bachslider 

And at 1 p.m., there will be a memorial for Jerry Foust, a familiar figure in Tompkins Square Park in recent years. He died on Sept. 13. We'll have more on his passing in an upcoming post.

Days of your youth

 

Going back to 1981 for this live clip of Delta 5 performing "Anticipation." 

Julz Sale, the lead singer of the UK-based post-punk band, died this week. Details about her death were not disclosed. 

Some background, cutting-and-pasting from Pitchfork: "Although the Delta 5 only released one full-length album —1981's See the Whirl — they released several other singles, which Kill Rock Stars collected in the 2006 set Singles & Sessions: 1979-1981."

Looking at the estate sale of Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor who created the Alamo on Astor Place

Fans of the Cube — aka Alamo — on Astor Place may have an interest in gawking at this. (Thanks, Lori!)

There's an estate sale tomorrow featuring the work of Bernard "Tony" Rosenthal, the American abstract sculptor who created the Alamo. He died in 2009 at age 94. 

Per the sale notice: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own pieces from his private collection amassed in his Southampton, N.Y., home and studio over several decades."

The sale includes some prototypes of the Cube, which are expected to fetch $4,000 to $6,000. 

And some cube history via Village Preservation:

On November 1, 1967, an 8′ x 8′ x 8′ 1,800-pound giant black cube was installed in Astor Place as one of 25 temporary public artworks by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. However, it was so popular that local residents petitioned the City to keep it, and except for its absences for restorations over the past few years, it has stood there ever since.

Bernard "Tony" Rosenthal's sculpture was originally named "Sculpture and the Environment," but was eventually renamed The Alamo by his wife, Cynthia Rosenthal, because its size and mass reminded her of the famous Alamo Mission in San Antonio

  Pic from the archives by Peter Brownscombe