Cautionary nesting instincts

Perhaps not as exciting as red-tail hawks or night herons or seagulls or people dressed like chickens or.. what were we talking about?

Oh, birds.

@SquareMusings shared this photo from Avenue D and East Eighth Street, where a nest remains strategically placed in the yellow (speed up? slow down?) slot…

Did anyone watch the 1st Tompkins Square Park ping pong tournament championship yesterday?

We only noticed the sign today…



Appears as if the 1st tournament was sponsor free.

Remembering Dorothy Day, with a call for a shrine in her honor on 2nd Avenue

Tonight at 6, the Church of the Nativity is holding a special mass in honor of Dorothy Day at 44 Second Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street.

Day was a journalist and social and political activist in the Lower East Side where she worked with the poor and founded The Catholic Worker. Today the Church refers to her as a "Servant of God" as the canonization process has begun.

Day's granddaughter, Martha Hennessey, will share readings from Dorothy's writings throughout the service. She will also talk about the parish's request for a Dorothy Day shrine after the mass, outside of the church.

The Church of the Nativity is slated close Aug. 1. After months of fighting the archdiocese for a chance to appeal, parishioners are now asking the Archdiocese to build a shrine for Dorothy Day within Nativity, or to build a chapel/retreat center within the new building should the church be demolished. Nativity was the parish of Dorothy Day.

The New York Times has more on this in an article from Monday titled Invoking the Radical Spirit of Dorothy Day to Fight a Church Closing.

The expected closure comes amidst a massive reorganization of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

Under the plan, the church, founded in 1832, would merge with Most Holy Redeemer on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The conventional wisdom is that the Archdiocese will sell the property for retail-residential development.

One passer-by told the Times: "If you ask me, I think they’re trying to close it to make a high-rise condo so they can bring more money to the neighborhood."

And we've heard from people who figure the block from the church to East Second Street will eventually all be luxury housing…



As for Dorothy Day, here's more from here granddaughter in the Times:

Ms. Hennessy, who lives nearby at the Catholic Worker’s Maryhouse when she is in New York, said she felt “a disconnect” between the drive to canonize her grandmother and the decision to close her church. She said she hoped a way could be found to honor Day and her legacy, perhaps using the vacant rectory building, if not the church itself.

"In the East Village, with all the affluence, the party atmosphere and the materialism, we still have poverty," Ms. Hennessy said. "They are doing their best to hide it, but if there was a shrine dedicated to the history of her work, that might be more helpful. It would raise the question of economic refugees."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue

At the 2015 New York City Drag March

The annual Drag March departed Tompkins Square Park last evening for the walk to the Stonewall Inn … EVG contributor editrrix was there and shared photos from the Park with us…

























Find her whole set from last night here. And check out Goggla's photos from the evening here. As she wrote: "Beautiful day, beautiful people."

[Updated] Vivian is missing

Help find Vivian! @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/sKHWqn3To1

— EdenBrower (@edenbrower) June 26, 2015

Flyer spotted on First Avenue at East Seventh Street... Here's the email if you have any info: helpusfindvivian@gmail.com

Updated 6-28
Vivian isn't missing. She is part of a "social experiment" on kindness.

The 'Empire' strikes back

The Lester Bangs-celebrated British band The Mekons will be performing as a full group (a rarity these days) at the Bowery Ballroom on July 21. And look for the documentary "Revenge of the Mekons" coming soon too.

Here is the band with "Empire of the Senseless" from 1989.

EV Grieve Etc.: Fighting for the Church of the Nativity; assisting a wayward fledgling

[Photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg]

Continuing the fight for the Church of the Nativity on Second Avenue (The New York Times)

A rundown on all the Pride weekend activities (NYC Pride)

The number of shootings in the East Village/LES are on track to match last year’s figures (DNAinfo)

Preservation groups seek Lower East Side Historic District designation (The Lo-Down)

Update on Cycle 17 of the Centre-fuge Public Art Project (BoweryBoogie)

20 ways to die in NYC (The Village Voice)

Opening thoughts on Babu Ji on Avenue B (Eater)

Q-and-A with Romy Ashby, author of "Stink" (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

More details on Superiority Burger, now open on East Ninth Street (Grub Street)

190 Bowery developer Aby Rosen: "Bowery’s on fire. Bowery’s cool. Bowery’s smart… It’s always been beautiful here — it was just dilapidated, run down" (The New Yorker)

What's next for Pommes Frites (The Forward)

Here come the Whole Foods lawsuits (Gothamist)

Recent rock book recap (Flaming Pablum)

When a drunken guy landed his airplane in Washington Heights (Ephemeral New York)

Discovering a rare Andy Warhol film with the Velvet Underground (Dangerous Minds)

... and one of the fledglings, who appeared to be disoriented, attracted attention on Avenue A and East Third Street on Wednesday...







The 2HawksNYC site has all the details on what happened, including an assist from Ranger Rob.

Thanks to EVG reader John Coakley for the photos!

1st Avenue seagull makes it seem all the more summery

Enjoying a quiet morning on First Avenue at East Ninth Street...



Photos via William Klayer

Christodora House residents remain without gas for cooking and hot water for the time being

[EVG file photo]

A tipster passes along word that Christodora House residents have been without gas for cooking and hot water these past two weeks... and, according to a memo — titled Important Notice #3 — dated June 19 from the management company, there won't be any in the weeks ahead either here in the residential building on Avenue B at East Ninth Street...



The memo notes that "the plumbing company has successfully obtained the required Buildings Department permit and are in the process of replacing defective lines in the basement where the initial leak originated."

And what's next? Back to the memo...

"Once all the gas lines hold the required pressure, the plumbers will contact Con Edison to schedule their building inspection. Please note the pressure tests and the Con Edison inspection is expected to be a lengthy process over several weeks, if not longer. It is hard to determine a time frame at this point."

The 2015 New York City Drag March is tonight

The annual march departs Tompkins Square Park at St. Mark's Place around 8 p.m. ... heading west to new New York City landmark the Stonewall Inn.

And revisit some photos here from Tompkins Square Park last year via EVG contributor editrrix...

Construction watch: 319 Bowery

Landlord Steve Croman received DOB approval last September to convert the former Amato Opera house at 319 Bowery into a commercial and residential building.

Documents show that there will be one residence on each floor above the retail space here between East Second Street and East First Street.

Workers have been on site since the fall… and the other day, EVG reader Roger took a look inside the open door ...



… to see what was going on with the interior. Per Roger: "The photos don't show much but I thought it was interesting that the place is getting completely gutted."





We're unsure about the incoming retail space here. We'd seen several listing for it. One at Croman's 9300 site says that the storefront — with the rent listed at $34,995 — is rented.

Amato Opera ended its long run on May 31, 2009.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Life after the Amato Opera

Costume drama on the Bowery as the Amato Opera empties out

Ruin of the Bowery nearly complete: Last season for the Amato Opera

Amato Opera looks to be getting an encore as city OKs residential use

Work permits arrive at the former Amato Opera on the Bowery

Reminders tonight: Films on the Green in Tompkins Square Park

Tonight is the second of the two screenings in Tompkins Square Park in the Films on the Green series ... the free outdoor French film festival in NYC parks... Here's what's playing tonight at 8:30ish...

"Zarafa" from 2012:

The plot of the film has a grandfather telling his grand kids the story of Maki, a young boy who escapes from slave traders, befriends a giraffe (the title character), cross the desert, meet a pirate, and a few other things on a trip that takes him from Africa to Paris.

It is a kids movie, though unnamed sources tell us that adults might enjoy it as well. (Plus, you can hide the alcohol in the kids' belongings.)

Find more about the Films on the Green series here. They'll be more free screenings in other city parks throughout the summer.

Reader mailbag: How many wall renovations does one school need?

From the EVG mailbag…

Can anyone explain what these workers have been doing outside East Side Community School on East 12th Street for the past month or more, besides spending millions of tax dollars? This is the second time in five years they've reconstructed this wall. Cheaper to tear down the existing structure and replace it with a state of the art school, no?

The school had to be evacuated on September 2012 when the wall was found to be separating from the rest of the structure. The emergency renovations displaced the students for four months.

[Updated] Belgian fries coming to St. Mark's Place

EVG correspondent Steven notes that the sign's up for the new food place at 36 St. Mark's Place ... and as you can see, Belgian fries will be the speciality of the house here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Perhaps this will make up for the loss of Pommes Frites, whose home of 18 years was destroyed in the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion this past March 26. (The Pommes Frites owners will reopen near Washington Square Park after finding a bigger space with lower rents on MacDougal Street.)

The previous tenant here, Fasta ("Pasta Your Way"), lasted less than six weeks in business.

The previous tenant, the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza, closed in February. As we understand it, the owners of 2 Bros. still hold the lease on this space.

And h/t EVG reader Russell!

Updated 2 p.m.

Word is they will open in the next day or two... and a reader shared the Friterie website.

Here are the sauces...



Updated 6:03 p.m.

A reader tells us that they are opening tonight. Right now!



Previously on EV Grieve:
With space too expensive in the East Village, Pommes Frites will reopen on MacDougal Street

Pasta in the works for St. Mark's Place