This year's TreeCycle event left mulch to be desired, at least before it started

Despite having VIP All-Access Backstage Passes, we thought we'd still sit with everyone else to watch MulchFest 2015 in Tompkins Square Park.

To avoid the lines, we arrived 90 minutes (or so) before the 10 a.m. start time.

And no one was there yet to watch, lining up early for the best angles. The only people on the scene were some bored-looking Parks employees sitting in their vehicles, refusing to sign autographs even to those holding VIP All-Access Backstage Passes.

The whole thing was pretty shoddy.

The MulchFest banners had already come undone before the mulching commenced.





Worse, there were already mounds of mulch lying around the Park...



When did this mulching happen?



It's like releasing the Super Bowl commercials on YouTube weeks before the actual Super Bowl.

Back in the VIP section, the in-MulchFest buffet almost made up for it.

Moonlighting

EVG reader Gregory Patrick shares this photo looking downtown from last night...

Remembering Walter Kühr

Walter Kühr, the owner of the Main Squeeze Accordion shop on Essex Street, died on Jan. 2 after fighting lymphoma for seven years. He was 59.

The Times checks in with a detailed feature obituary, noting: "From his boyhood in Germany to the end of his life, he sought to prove that the accordion, long derided, is actually 'the hippest instrument on the planet.'"

Unfortunately, his 19-year-old shop at 19 Essex St. will close next week. As Jeremiah Moss reports, the shop would have had to close anyway — the landlord chose not to renew the lease.

There's a stoop sale at the shop next weekend. Jeremiah has more details here.

[Photo by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis for The Lo-Down]

For those about to Roki

Tartu Popi ja Roki Instituut (translated: Tartu Pop and Rock Institute) is from the university town of Tartu, Estonia.

And the band is on the bill tonight at the Cake Shop on Ludlow Street. Here is "Marienbad" from their new release "Biedermeier-Psychedelia."

Reminders: Pun-friendly MulchFest is this weekend

[2nd Avenue this morning via Vinny and O]

As if you need any reminders about the best event that takes place in NYC every January. (We hear that organizers are combining MulchFest with Restaurant Week and the No Pants Subway Ride next January. No Pants Mulch Week is the working title.)

MulchFest 2015 takes place tomorrow and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park. Just follow the soothing sounds of the wood chipper toward the middle of the Park...

Our first snow photo post (snow post photo?) of 2015

Only 34,561 to go!

This view comes from an EVG reader on East 14th Street.

Take caution out there. If you need to ride a bike today, then at least try to get one of those bright red "Annie"-branded Citibikes...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Hanging out on Avenue A yesterday via Bobby Williams]

RIP Main Squeeze proprietor Walter Kuehr (The Lo-Down)

Cake Shop seeking investors to continue bringing live music to the LES (Gothamist)

Meanwhile, go see a band at Cake Shop. Check out their live lineup (Cake Shop)

Success Academy won't be opening a new charter school in the East Village or LES for at least another two years (DNAinfo)

Protecting the University Place/Broadway corridor from towers (Off the Grid)

More tenant woes at 113 Stanton St. (BoweryBoogie)

Fundraiser Sunday for fire-stricken Black Crescent on Clinton Street (Facebook)

Marky Ramone: "The Lower East Side is like anywhere else in the country now" (New York Post)

When burlesque meets opera at Drom on Avenue A (Bedford + Bowery)

A look at 3,000 Manhattan doorways from 1976 (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Rev. Billy arrested at Grand Central (Runnin' Scared)

Rain dogs (Gog in NYC)

A place that can't exist again: Blondie's New York (NPR)

Group show Places and Things continues at the Dorian Grey Gallery on East Ninth Street (Dorian Grey)

Check out a full concert from the Talking Heads in 1980 (Dangerous Minds)

... and EVG reader Greg Masters caught Christo in action for a moment the other day in Tompkins Square Park...

As the storefronts move

OK!


[Photo in December by Derek Berg]

In late December, The 2nd Ave. Smoke Shop & News closed due to a rent hike at 89 Second Ave. near East Fifth Street.

However, the owners found something in their price range nearby ... on the east side of Second Avenue past East Fourth Street where Gelato Ti Amo recently shuttered.

The Smoke Shop & News is now open, and selling the usual, such as gum, water and sodas, water pipes for tobacco, and periodicals like Time Out New York, Escorts and She-Male.


[Photo by Derek Berg]

Meanwhile!



On East Fifth Street near Second Avenue, S & P Liquor & Wine, which had to close for parts of last year during renovations to the building, is moving to ...


[Photo last night by Goggla]

...89 Second Ave. near East Fifth Street, the former home of the 2nd Ave. Smoke Shop & News... which recently relocated to...

Moonstruck Diner reopens today after another revamp

The diner's dining room on Second Avenue at East Fifth Street has been closed the past few days (though they were making deliveries) ...

They are expected to be back open today...



Not sure exactly what management had revamped. (New floor? New tables and chairs? New bamboo motif?) Slum Goddess took this photo on Wednesday night...



This will be the second renovation in recent months. Back in September, EVG regular ~evilsugar25 noted the new bar, draft beer and multiple flat-screen TVs… (and mason jars!). "I walked in and my jaw dropped," ~evilsugar25 said.





It's still Moonstruck. Same menus, though there's a "$15 cocktails brunch."

Anyway, we haven't been here in some time. Any regulars want to share their thoughts on the recent changes?

In a strong wind, these wind chimes on 7th Street are keeping residents awake

An East Seventh Street resident shares this Urban Etiquette Sign with us.

The original sign maker left this message:

"Your wind chimes in a strong wind, sound like an incessantly ringing doorbell with the power to awaken one from a deep sleep."

And it certainly must be loud, as two other residents chimed (sorry!) in with their own handwritten comments, including one from that person we all hate to be but must at times: "that cranky neighbor."

Contrada's artist brunch continues tomorrow with 'Sorry Robot'

[From "Sorry Robot"]

Contrada owner Eric Anderson's Italian restaurant on Second Avenue at East Fourth Street is beginning 2015 the way they ended last year — making a connection with the artistic community.

Previous Contrada events have included "Invisible Hand" director Ken Rus Schmoll and a celebration of Dylan Thomas.

Here's what's happening tomorrow starting at 11:30 a.m. via the EVG inbox...

Join us for a conversation over brunch with playwright Mike Iveson — one of "Downtown's ever shining lights" according to Paper magazine — to discuss his new play "Sorry Robot." He'll be joined by performers Tanya Selvaratnam and Nicky Paraiso, who will jointly act as moderator.

2013 Ethyl Eichelberger Award winner Mike Iveson has written a "spaz opera" with nine original perverse pop songs which together provide a window into the hidden hankerings of robots and humans alike.

"Sorry Robot" is playing at the New Ohio Theater Jan 6-17.

There's no extra charge for the event. Find more details here.

Reader report: Call for a boycott at Grand Sichuan on St. Mark's Place

Supporters and former employees of the restaurant between Second Avenue and Third Avenue have assembled for what is expected to be a weekly picket...

The workers are handing out flyers outlining their allegations...



Here's a PDF with background on the legal case.

Thanks to @kxd8053 for the photos via Twitter

Updated:

Gothamist has more on the story here.

A Crude awakening on East 3rd Street

A reader came across this scene (oil that is, black gold, Texas tea) this morning at 11 on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Per the reader: "Not sure what happened here but what a mess..."

After 40-plus years, Open Pantry looks to be closing on 2nd Avenue

A disturbing sign has arrived on the front door of the family owned Open Pantry, the coffee and tea specialists at 184 Second Ave. between East 11th Street and East 12th Street...

"After 40 years of success, The Open Pantry will be closing its doors. Our family would like to thank the neighborhood and all our customers for their loyalty and continued support throughout the years."

A tipster tells us that the closure would likely happen in the next month. While there was a rent increase, we hear that the continued competition from the nearby Starbucks (Second Avenue and East Ninth Street, First Avenue and East 13th Street) as well as the new Westside Market have put a damper on sales.

The sign mentions "we hope that in the future we are able to again serve the community in a capacity more conducive to its changing needs." So perhaps it's possible that the store would restructure, shedding the groceries and focusing on coffee and tea.

In any event, sad news. According to The Open Pantry website, the shop opened in 1970.