This is how Veselka makes its borscht

For the past 30 years, Malgorcata Sibilski has been making the borscht at Veselka on Second Avenue and East Ninth Street.

The New Yorker has her story right here...



Veselka is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

California resident says he is the East Village man who vanished 20 years ago and declared legally dead (DNAinfo)

Mathieu Palombino closing The Bowery Diner to make way for new concept (Eater)

STOMP celebrates 20th anniversary at the Orpheum on Second Avenue (BoweryBoogie)

Proposed law would up fine for property owners who don't shovel their sidewalks (Gothamist)

The Heidelberg restaurant struggles to survive in the shadows of the Second Avenue Subway construction project (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

RIP Devo guitarist Bob Casale (The Los Angeles Times)

... and free tonight at Pangea at 178 Second Ave. ... Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura."





... and things we find on snow piles on East 10th Street...


[Photo by Derek Berg]


[Photo by BagelGuy]

... and Google picked a lousy spot to cut off this headline about Mission Cantina on the LES...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Mike Stuto
Occupation: Co-Owner, HiFi
Location: HiFi, Avenue A between 10th and 11th.
Time: 3 pm on Monday, Feb 10.

I was born in Whitestone in 1966, but we moved to Bergen County, N.J. in ’77, shortly after the blackout and Elvis’ death. My folks were both native New Yorkers; Dad was Italian and grew up on 111th and Lex; my mother is Syrian and lived in Cobble Hill. But their ethnicity centered mostly around food.

I moved into this neighborhood in March of 1989, a little less than a year after college. Back then I didn’t really know the neighborhood east of 2nd Avenue. I knew CBGBs and St. Mark’s Place and would go to record stores and book stores. I got an apartment on 9th and A, right by Tompkins Square Park. I didn’t choose the area as much as I just needed a place — but I quickly fell in love. We were on the top floor and had roof parties all the time. Then I lived in a storefront at 40 Clinton St., where the Con Ed guy would have to go through my room to read the meters. It didn’t seem that odd to me. I’ve been on Orchard Street near Houston since 1996. Twenty-five years in the neighborhood and 20 years in the bar I now own at 169 Avenue A.

What I loved about this neighborhood was how it felt like a pretty tight community even though there were all kinds of different people living here with all kinds of different life stories. I think what tied them together was a need or desire to exist outside the normal nine-to-five life. It doesn’t mean they were all artists or socialists or off-the-grid radicals, but they all had a respect for the notion that you could live your life the way you wanted to live your life and it didn’t have to subscribe to what the mainstream part of the world expected of you.

That bred an overall respect for people and their life choices. While I was technically a grown-up when I moved here, this neighborhood made me an adult — and for better or worse made me the person I am today. As a 22-year-old kid who could easily have been considered a suburban outsider, I was embraced for who I was and welcomed into this place that has an enormously rich history of defiance of the “normal.”

I was in the record business. I did some college radio promo and marketing, A&R, artist management, and other various functions. When I was out of work in the fall of ’93, I spent most of my time inside 7B where I met many of the people who are my closest friends today.

In early '94 when my unemployment ran out I was hired to book a few shows a month at Brownies. They had just added the “big” stage. Brownies opened in 1989 and they used to have a little stage in the corner up until then. Laura McCarthy opened the bar and was my boss; now she’s my partner. It was an Irish bar with a stage and it slowly became a place that out-of-town bands played at, mostly through Laura’s friends and some independent promoters.

There were always several different music scenes swirling around the place, and when I got there a lot of out-of-town indie-rock bands had been doing shows. The people at Brownies returned calls quicker than the people at CBGBs, which was really all it took. I was a part of that scene and I knew a lot of folks in the business, so in a way it was a right-place, right-time kind of thing. Combine that with an era when anyone with two guitars, a ripped t-shirt and a Sonic Youth record in their bag could get a six-figure record deal, and the place just took off.

In '96, I scored a corporate A&R gig at Columbia Records, which was a pretty miserable experience for me. For the second time it was clear to me that I had zero ability to function in a corporate environment, but it did afford me the opportunity to return to Brownies as a 50 percent partner less than 18 months after I had left.

Brownies’ crowd was pretty much dictated by who was playing. It was mostly white-kids with guitars, but our booking policy was pretty inclusive; we tried to put together interesting bills — and having more than one thriving New York scene to feed off made it an ideal time to do that what we were doing. I had the opportunity to book many bands who went on to huge successes, some of whom I am still quite good friends with.

But the real contribution that place made was to support a somewhat under-the-radar world of rock musicians who did not have that many places to play. It was a pretty insular world and many of the best moments in my life happened inside that room during those years.

Brownies had a great run, but in 2002 we turned the space into a neighborhood bar called HiFi, which is what it is today. Upon opening, the centerpiece of HiFi was EL-DJ — the homemade digital jukebox that I created with a software developer based on my record collection.

When EL DJ first appeared, iTunes was still a Mac-Only program and I did not really know what an MP3 was. To this day, there’s only one of them on the planet — about 4,000 full albums that sound good in a bar. It’s certainly indie-rock centric, but there is a lot of stuff on there for anyone with discerning tastes. I’m a music snob I guess, but I’m not a snob to any particular genre. Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones would be where it all began for me.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Something rather unexpected is opening on Avenue B (hint: not a bar)

So, yeah — there's a new tenant for the former M&M Variety Hardware at 8-10 Avenue B near East Houston… Top Notch Security — "a growing locksmith, security and home automation company." (Check out their website here. BE PREPARED FOR THE GUNSHOTS!)

EVG regular Salim shared these photos… it appears that Top Notch is not quite open for business…



Back in November, Cantina LES, a sit-down Mexican restaurant, was on the CB3/SLA agenda for a liquor license at this address. We're honestly not sure what happened with this applicant — aside from that they won't be opening here.

Winter Antifolk Festival, now in its 20th year, is underway at Sidewalk Cafe

From the EVG inbox…

Over the last 20 years the back room at the Sidewalk Cafe on Avenue A and East Sixth Street has been an incubator, laboratory and town square for a dynamic community of performing artists. It helped launch the careers of singer-songwriters like Regina Spektor, Adam Green, Kimya Dawson, and Jeffrey Lewis, and today is one of the few remaining Manhattan venues that welcome and nurture emerging performers.

More than 80 artists who represent a cross-section of standout talent from the scene will appear in the Winter Antifolk Festival 2014, running Feb. 18 through Feb 28. Among the notable performers scheduled are Hamell on Trial, Debe Dalton, Crazy & the Brains, Larkin Grimm, Fayaway, and Jason Trachtenburg. Special guest artists will also appear. Sidewalk Cafe is located at 94 Avenue A at East Sixth Street. There is no cover charge, although there is a one-item food or drink minimum.

The biannual Antifolk Festival was launched in the mid-1980s by a group of young songwriters who created the event as an alternative to the more mainstream New York Folk Festival. The Antifolk scene then coalesced around a regular open mic session, the Antihoot, that was spearheaded by the songwriter Lach and moved from spot to spot before settling in at Sidewalk Cafe in 1993. Lach was Antifolk’s ringleader and impresario until 2008 when he handed the baton of leadership to Ben Krieger. Today the landmark Monday night open stage is still the focal point of the Sidewalk scene, although the club offers shows seven nights per week. Krieger now oversees the Sidewalk stage in partnership with Somer Bingham.

So, what is Antifolk? Many participants have said that it describes a community of artists rather than a particular style. “Antifolk revolves around conviction and passion, and is inclusive of many different types of sounds,” said Krieger. “The best way to learn more about it is to come to Sidewalk Cafe and listen to the artists playing today.”

Check out the full list of performers here.

In other Sidewalk-related news, American Songwriter reported yesterday that Ben Krieger is stepping down as Sidewalk's booker. Somer Bingham, who has been running sound there the past six years, will be taking over. Krieger will still be hosting the Monday Night Open Stage.

Video: Hanksy & friends transform this East Village tenement into 'Surplus Candy'

As we first pointed out last month, 324 E. Fourth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D is being fitted for two new floors, not to mention a head-to-toe renovation for 11 residential units. The plans are currently awaiting approval by the city.

The empty tenement was also home to two recent, not-so-secret art shows by Hanksy.

Yesterday, Gothamist posted a video of the Jan. 10 "Surplus Candy" show coming together…



And if you want more Hanksy, the Times filed a profile on the street artist on Sunday. Enjoy that here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 new floors, gut renovation in store for empty tenement that last housed a Hanksy art show

At Hanksy's 'Surplus Candy' art show in an abandoned East Village tenement

Going… going…

Photo this evening by Bobby Williams

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 2nd Street]

Video: Celebrating 160 years of McSorley's (Grub Street)

Memorial info about MTA bus driver William Pena, the LES native killed last week on the job (The Lo-Down)

The hawks continue to build a nest around Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

Ludlow Hotel now booking for the spring (BoweryBoogie)

About the weirdest building in Midtown (Scouting New York)

Concern for this UES block (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

New building life for former Second Avenue funeral parlor

Workers have removed the construction netting and scaffolding from 154 Second Ave., the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel now with three extra floors. The building will house luxury rentals and ground-floor retail here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.



For a little contrast… here's how the building looked in the summer of 2011…

[Via Off the Grid]

Here's what the address looked like in the 1940s, via Vanishing New York...

And here is the rendering …

Thoughts on the look of the new building?

No word yet on pricing for the units. It's from Icon Realty, who's currently peddling 6-bedroom frat houses on Avenue A.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'

Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants

The walls come tumbling down at 154 Second Avenue

Arcane transforms into Cafe Cambodge on Avenue C

Laat month, Benjamin Alter, the owner of Arcane, announced that the French-Caribbean restaurant on Avenue C near East Seventh Street would close… and reopen with a new concept...

After a fairly quick turnover, the space is now Cafe Cambodge, which features a French-Cambodian menu… there was a friends and family preview this past Saturday… no word just yet on an official opening date…


[Via Facebook]

Report: Pride and Joy BBQ partners suing landlord Hayne Suthon for $22 million

[East 2nd Street side of the dormant Pride and Joy BBQ site]

There's yet another legal battle involving the yet-to-open Pride and Joy BBQ on First Avenue.

Celebrity BBQ chef Myron Mixon was going to open a restaurant/saloon in the former Lucky Cheng's space. (Read that post here.) But a subsequent lawsuit between Mixon and his partners put the debut in doubt.

However, his remaining partners decided to move forward with a 220-seat "draft house" and "honky tonk" featuring three bars and about 20 TV screens, per DNAinfo. (The SLA approved a liquor license for the space with a 4 a.m. closing time in October.)

Now, as Serena Solomon first reported last week at DNAinfo, the owners of Pride and Joy BBQ are suing building landlord Hayne Suthon for allegedly lying about the building's condition and then attempting to evict them from the location for demanding repairs. The BBQ group is seeking $22 million in damages.

Per DNAinfo:

Pride and Joy BBQ, which has an operating location in Miami, ... has so far invested $3.1 million in the space, including renovations, repairs and $600,000 in rent, according to court documents.

When fitting out the space, Pride and Joy BBQ discovered "almost too many structural deficiencies to count, and the extent of the problem was vast," according to legal documents.

The lawsuit lists issues such as termite infestation, deteriorating structural frames and a leaking roof and walls.

Pride and Joy BBQ recently stopped paying its rent while attempting to broker a deal on the repair costs with Suthon, which prompted Suthon to threaten to evict the restaurant, according to documents.

Suthon, who has lived at the address, 24 First Ave. since 1989, denied the allegations. She moved Lucky Cheng's to West 52nd Street in the fall of 2012.

The lawsuit seems a little … weird.

As we wrote before, the space was seemingly ready for BBQ action, after crews previously gut-renovated away the former Bento Burger and Lucky Cheng's. There was even a preview event here with Mixon back in May… which prompted the one Yelp review, a four-star affair in which the author stated: "The pork belly mac and cheese was equally exquisite. I can imaging filling a large, clean tub with this delightful concoction and then diving in and eating my way out."

And what about the giant rotisserie that workers installed in early 2013? There was even a press event for it… (No one noticed "deteriorating structural frames" then?)



Despite the opening preview party, workers gutted the space down to nothing in the fall. If the restaurant was good to go last May, then why did the remaining partners decide to rip everything down to the bare walls and floor?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Myron Mixon's Pride & Joy BBQ now in the works for the former Lucky Cheng's space

Fire reported at incoming Pride and Joy BBQ on East Second Street

Myron Mixon lawsuit puts opening of Pride and Joy BBQ in question at former Lucky Cheng's space

More alterations for the Pride and Joy space

Former laundromat for rent now on Avenue B

The laundromat at 44 Avenue B has moved down to 47 Clinton St. … and the space is on on the market … and it's the third vacant storefront now on the western side of Avenue B between East Third Street and East Fourth Street… joining Cafe Rakka and Coyi Cafe …


[Inside the former Cafe Rakka]

All three businesses have had Steve Croman as a landlord.

Silent night: Holiday tree lights are OFF now in Tompkins Square Park

Just a little more than two months removed from the 22nd annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square Park … and the lights have been officially extinguished for another year…

[Pausing to regain composure]

We noticed the lights were off last Wednesday or Thursday night… but thought that it may have just been a terrible, terrible mistake… someone forgot to plug the lights in or something … Not the case…



Perhaps now we can hope for a St. Patrick's Day miracle …

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 2nd Street at Avenue A]

Fashion designer Michele Savoia, who owned a shop on East 7th St., found dead (The Daily Beast)

Dog electrocuted by frayed wiring from a scaffolding light on Clinton Street (The Lo-Down)

The Stone on Avenue C is "a pinnacle of what such a music space should be" (The New York Times)

The East Village and Coney Island are among filmmaker Stephanie Gray's subjects in these short films playing tonight at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn (Mono No Aware)

Who is guarding the front door outside 73 St. Mark's Place? (Ephemeral New York)

Are the hawks squatting at the Christodora? (Gog in NYC)

An urban etiquette don't slip sign at Prohibition Bakery on Clinton Street (BoweryBoogie)

A look at the under-renovation Jarmulowsky Bank Building on Canal Street (Curbed)

Montauk is home to the highest-grossing 7-Eleven in the United States (The Real Deal)

Here's the trailer for the Slint documentary (Dangerous Minds)

… and some moon shots … last night on East 10th Street …



… and a closer look at 6:25 a.m. today via Bobby Williams…