[Updated] About Raife Milligan, the NYU student who police said was killed by a drunken driver on Houston Street

Raife Milligan was a junior studying BioChemistry at NYU with aspirations of becoming a doctor. 

On Monday, around 2:45 a.m., Milligan was crossing Houston Street at First Avenue when police said he was struck by a Chevy Camaro. Witnesses said the car was speeding. 

EMTs transported Milligan to Bellevue with severe head trauma. He died later this week. He was 21. 

Milligan was from Jasper, Ind., where a family friend has established a GoFundMe to help with expenses. 

From the fundraiser: 

He just loved life to the fullest always thinking of others first. While in New York he did volunteer work delivering food to the elderly. He loved playing video games ... He also had a huge passion for playing volleyball. He joined a club volleyball team at NYU and loved every single minute of it. He found a great group of friends when he first came to New York. They all loved hanging out by the Hudson River watching sunsets and throwing frisbee. He had a profound love for the Beatles and has acquired quite the collection of vinyl records. 

He loved his family with all his heart especially his twin, Reece, as well as his sister, Ryanne and brother Reid. His twin nieces, Coltrane and Era, adored their Uncle Raifey. 

Raife was one in a million. Brilliant beyond his years. Saying he will be missed is an understatement. He impacted so many lives in a positive way and will be greatly missed. 

According to the Daily News yesterday, police charged 49-year-old Queens resident Michael De Guzman (also spelled Deguzman in some media reports) with drunken driving and vehicular assault. Per the News: "He was released without bail after a brief arraignment proceeding. None of the charges were bail eligible, officials said." [Updated 5/7: The Post reports that De Guzman was "than 1.5 times over the legal blood-alcohol limit at the time of the crash." In addition: "De Guzman was charged with felony vehicular assault in the second degree and two counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He was arraigned and granted supervised release at the request of prosecutors."

De Guzman was reportedly driving eastbound when he struck Milligan. De Guzman then collided with a Honda CRV driven by a 52-year-old man. De Guzman, two of his passengers, and the other driver were all taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, per reports. 

Since December, the driver has reportedly received four camera-issued speeding tickets per a lookup of his license plate. [Updated 5/7: The Post reports "the vehicle also gathered 25 parking tickets, including one for blocking a crosswalk in Queens and another for violating a 'no standing except authorized vehicles' ordinance in Brooklyn."

As an EVG reader told us in our post on Monday: "The sound of the car speeding down Houston — rapidly upshifting through the gears — was so loud it woke me up." The reader then went to the intersection. "There were witnesses who were extremely upset — it was awful." 

Three New Yorkers, including 16-year-old Bronx resident Alissa Kolenovic, were killed by reckless drivers in the past week. As Gothamist reported, pedestrian deaths are up 44 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to last year. 

On Monday morning, Mayor Adams unveiled a new $4-million public education campaign, "Speeding Ruins Lives, Slow Down," which was panned by safe-street advocates and journalists.

Image via GoFundMe

Spin city: The Alamo remains out of commission on Astor Place

As you likely noticed in recent months on Astor Place, barricades have surrounded the Cube — aka the Alamo — since late last fall.

A spokesperson for the Village Alliance told us this earlier this year: "The Cube, unfortunately, needs some repairs to its base. We are working with the DOT to get it in tip-top shape." 

We're told that the spinning mechanism for the 1,800-pound cube, which manually rotates around a pole hidden in its center, is not working.

A DOT spokesperson told us that workers installed "the temporary in-house fabrication and support" for the cube on April 27.

And next?

"We are completing the painting for phase 1 and the barriers will then be removed," the DOT spokesperson said. "No timeline at this time for the second phase."

So there won't be any spinning of the cube for the foreseeable future (despite the annual lubing of the cube)...

 

Tony Rosenthal created the Alamo, then titled "Sculpture in Environment," .... and it arrived here on the south side of the Astor Place subway entrance in November 1967. Read more Cube history here. 

About Abortion Stories, an interactive arts festival taking place this weekend

Abortion Stories is an interactive arts festival taking place in Tompkins Square Park today and at the Cindy Rucker Gallery on Orchard Street this weekend. 

Per the EVG inbox: 

The festival affirms the power of our stories to fight back against the assault on our autonomy and human rights. We are inviting people to share their abortion stories in front of an audience or privately. 

We have been planning the event for months but given the recent SCOTUS leaked document, it is more important than ever to come together as a community to not only rally for our rights but to honor our experiences and recognize the importance of abortion. 

There's a "Speak Out" in Tompkins Square Park today from 2-6:30 p.m.:

Psychologist Carolina Franco facilitates a free and open event where people are invited to share their abortion stories in a group setting or sitting privately with a listener. People can also write or draw their story and add it to a story tree, or send a thank-you note to an abortion provider. 

Find the Festival's website with more details here.

Farewell to the rat-infested tree pit of 5th Street

Workers tore up part of the sidewalk and the tree pit on Fifth Street just east of Avenue A along the Con Ed substation here...

Workers cut down the tree in recent months (last fall?). Not sure about the condition of the tree, but the roots had caused the concrete to lift. 

And anyone walking here at night likely saw the large rat population. We've spotted up to a dozen rats darting back and forth between the holes in the tree pit and underneath the fencing on the Con Ed building.

Thursday's parting Cinco de Mayo shots

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by 22-year-old standby Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery at 215 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street at the start of the day ... as owners Pompeyo and Maria Martinez were getting ready for this May 5.. and serving more delicious and inexpensive tacos, burritos and tortas...

RIP Howie Pyro

Image via @officialdgen 

Howie Pyro, the prolific musician, producer and DJ, died yesterday of complications from COVID-19-related pneumonia following a liver transplant and liver disease, according to published reports. He was 61.

Rolling Stone described the Queens native as "an integral yet unassuming fixture of New York's gritty punk scene in the Seventies and Eighties, part groundbreaking artist and part observer." 

Here's more from Rolling Stone's feature obituary: 

As leader of the scrappy band the Blessed — all of its members were underage — he played fearlessly in front of luminaries like Joey Ramone and Debbie Harry at CBGB and Max's Kansas City in the Seventies, befriending many future stars along the way... 

Born Howard Kusten on June 28, 1960, in Whitestone, Queens, he adopted the moniker Howie Pyro around the age of 15; it was the same time he relocated to New York’s epicenter of the punk movement, the Lower East Side. In 1977, Pyro formed the Blessed ... In the Eighties, he assembled the ahead-of-its-time grunge outfit the Freaks with his future wife Andrea Matthews; Pyro’s fellow Whitestone native Jesse Malin worked as the group's roadie. 

In 1991, Malin, Pyro, guitarist Danny Sage, drummer Michael Wildwood, and guitarist Richard Bacchus came together to form D Generation, an attitude-heavy Noo Yawk group that mixed Seventies punk with Eighties aggression. 

Malin, the East Village-based musician and bar owner, remembered his longtime friend and collaborator in an Instagram post last night: 

We made our world together. From Whitestone, Queens to Madison Square Garden and every crazy, dirty little place in between. I learned so much from him. He made this planet a much better, cooler, weirder, and more beautiful place. For decades he impacted so many different kinds of people and so many different scenes all over with his style, his taste, his music, his knowledge, his Art, his fashion, his attitude, his humor, his records, his movies, his bravery, his swagger, his smile, his heart, and his compassion.

There are numerous tributes to Pyro on Instagram, including...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thurston Moore (@thurstonmoore58)

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A post shared by KC Powers (@kidcongopowers)

Pyro's family says donations can be made in his memory to the UCLA Division of Liver and Pancreas Transplantation.

Stand back — it's nearly time for Night of 1000 Stevies

Photo Sunday by Stacie Joy 

After being sidelined for two long pandemic years, Night of 1000 Stevies is back! 

Described as "the largest and most beloved STEVIE NICKS fan event in the world," the 30th edition ("Jackie Factory Presents: Night Of 1000 Stevies 30 — Book Of Stevie") takes place tomorrow (Friday!) night at Sony Hall on West 46th Street. 

Pictured here are longtime East Village residents and show founders (from left) Chi Chi Valenti and Johnny Dynell. (Not pictured: their crew at the Jackie Factory.) 

Read more about the show — "a riot of shawls, lace, baby's breath, twirling, tambourines and great performance" — right here. Find ticket info at this link.

What to know about HAGS, a queer and trans-led dining destination opening on 1st Avenue

From the outside, there doesn't appear to be much happening on the plywood-covered storefront at 163 First Ave. just north of 10th Street.

Inside the small space is a whole other story, where HAGS, one of the most anticipated restaurant openings of this spring, is preparing to debut in the weeks ahead. 

HAGS describes itself as "an intimate restaurant in NYC by queer people for all people." In addition to some quality food and drink, the HAGS website states: "we serve radical luxury, unapologetic joy, community and optimistic change."

The restaurant via chef Telly Justice and sommelier Camille Lindsley (partners in business and in life) has received a good deal of press this year... here's a sampling to bring you up to date:

• HAGS Will Be Queer First, and a Restaurant Second (Eater)

• HAGS Wants to Be NYC’s Best Version of a Queer Potluck (The Infatuation)

• This Intimate East Village Restaurant Opening Soon Is By Queer People, For All People (SecretNYC) 

You can follow the HAGS Instagram account for updates. 

This space was last home to David Chang's Fuku. 

An Astor Place corner primed for new development

The NE corner of Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street — the current home of Chris French Cleaners (57 Fourth Ave.) — is being pitched as a development site. 

Here are details via Real Broker, LLC: 

The site offers developers a rare opportunity to acquire a site with frontage on Fourth Avenue — only steps from the Astor Place intersection. The property is C6-2A zoned and allows for a luxurious and unique buildable opportunity in a well-established district. You could be the one profiting from a luxury development that will impact three of Manhattan's most sought-after neighborhoods. 

 No word on the asking price... or what kind of air rights might be available. 

Speaking of air... there's a video too...

And add it to the list of the neighborhood's disappearing single-level structures. 

The business has been here for more than 60 years. According to public records, the owners of the business also own the building. 

Image via Loopnet

Polishing up 8 Avenue B for a new nail salon

The build-out continues inside the storefront at 8-10 Avenue B between Second Street and Houston...

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the space to learn that a nail salon is in the works here...

The pedicure area looks promising for your tootsies...

The space was previously Top Notch Locksmith & Security, which added a CBD section along the way before closing last fall.

Wednesday's parting shot

Adam Nathaniel Yauch, aka MCA of the Beastie Boys, died on this day in 2012. He was 47. 

And the MCA memorial mural remains up on Seventh Street just west of First Avenue. 

This is the third iteration of MCA here via @cramcept ... arriving in 2016 ... the first edition went up in May 2012... someone vandalized the second mural in 2016.

Report: 8 arrested in latest sweep of unhoused encampment on 9th Street

Photo from Sunday by Stacie Joy 

City agencies returned this morning to Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, where a group of unhoused residents has been living in tents under the sidewalk bridge at the former P.S. 64. 

The result: 8 arrests.

Here's more from The New York Times: 

The protest began as dozens of police officers, accompanied by a sanitation crew and a single homeless outreach worker, forced out the people living in the encampment for at least the seventh time in the last six weeks. 

[Tompkins Square Park] has become ground zero to the small but vocal movement protesting Mr. Adams's policies for addressing homelessness. "Housing is a human right, fight, fight, fight," the protesters chanted as police vans pulled up on neighboring streets around 9 a.m., and campers and supporters from a host of mutual aid and tenant activist groups taped off the tents with red packing tape. 

After a standoff, police arrested seven activists and one of the unhoused residents. 

All went willingly except Johnny Grima, 37, a homeless man who has emerged as the public face of the protests. He has been arrested three other times in the last month. 

As officers wrestled him out of his tent, then carried him toward a waiting police van, a protester shouted: "Shame on you. Is that how you treat houseless people?" 

According to city stats cited by the Times, there have been more than 700 cleanups from March 18 to May 1 — many of them of the same site multiple times — and 39 people have accepted the placement into shelters.

Unhoused residents have said that the shelter system is not safe. Read our interviews with some of the Ninth Street residents here.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Report: 2 arrested in latest East Village encampment sweep

• Standoff on 9th Street

• In Tompkins Square Park, speaking out against the city's sweeps of unhoused encampments