After a 10-day closure for various renovations/improvements (like a new AC system), Barnyard Cheese Shop reopened yesterday at 149 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.
And we missed their early-evening deal…
Barnyard is BACK!!! CRAZY special!! FREE SPINACH EMPANADA now til 8:30pm with ANY purchase!! Just out of the oven! Magic word is CHEESE
If you been walking on Second Avenue near East First Street, then you've likely seen the new mural going up next to the former BP station on the corner.
As BoweryBoogie noted yesterday, this is the work of the Brazilian twins Os Gêmeos … Goggla shared the above photo from yesterday… we walked by earlier this morning, and they were just starting work…
P.S.
There is a new mural going up at Bloom 62 on Avenue B as well… will post about that later. Update: That post is here. (Ditto for the new mural on East Third Street next to the shelter.)
The 89-year-old East Village resident behind the "Ask My Neighbor Lorraine" video series (DNAinfo)
The New York Mandolin Ensemble performs in a free show tomorrow night at 7 at La Plaza Cultural Garden on Avenue C and East Ninth Street. (La Plaza Cultural)
Minneapolis writer on her Kavasutra Kava Bar experience on East 10th Street (CityPages)
More about the rape accusations at Happy Ending (Jezebel)
New mural by Os Gemeos on Second Avenue at East First Street (BoweryBoogie)
Historic 130 Orcahrd St. has sold, "retail reposition" on the way (The Real Deal)
Department of Justice: It’s unconstitutional to ban the homeless from sleeping outside (The Washington Post)
A young hawk discovers the Marble Cemetery (Gog in NYC)
A resident noted the mess that the crew of "Mozart in the Jungle" left behind on Wednesday on East Sixth Sixth between Cooper Square and Second Avenue...
After nearly five months, B&H Dairy reopened this morning ... and there was a line of people waiting for one of the 76-year-old lunch counter's handful of seats...
East Village resident Elinor Nauen was among the first to arrive... waiting up the block...
[Photo by Sheila Rothenberg]
The diner was set to start serving again at 9 a.m., though it was actually 9:27 before the doors opened, EVG contributor Berg noted.
B&H remained closed after the deadly gas explosion that leveled three buildings on March 26. Owners Fawzy Abdelwahed and Ola Smigielsk faced multiple hurdles (we documented this here) to get the diner back open here between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.
With the darkest days behind them, Abdelwahed is now relieved that his wife didn't listen to him several months ago when he was ready to give up.
"Since this happened, I explain to her, 'Let's go look for another job,'" he said. "She said, 'No way. This is our dream and we're going to fight for it.'"
B&H is expected to be back to its usual 7 a.m. opening time tomorrow.
Updated noon:
NBC 4 is on the scene talking to B&H patrons about the reopening...
EVG reader Dan Efram shares these photos of his favorite local community garden — the 9th Street Community Garden on the northeast corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C.
"I lived upstate and this garden registers with me because it has such a home-grown appeal," Efram says. "The people there are always very welcoming, but you do know that you are entering their home. They put so much love into it."
The garden, which encompasses an acre, started in 1979. Its hours are Friday 5-8 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday from noon-6 p.m. Find more info here.
Of course there are nearly 40 other community gardens in the neighborhood to enjoy. Find a list here. Meanwhile, The Guardian filed a story this week looking at the past, present and future of the local community gardens. Find that article here.
As we noted last week, there is a new tenant seeking a liquor license for the former Lit Lounge space at at 93 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street.
Turns out the Cock is looking to move up Second Avenue from its current home between East First Street and East Second Street. They are on this month's CB3 SLA committee meeting docket.
Meanwhile, there's already opposition — via the the East Fifth Street Block Association — forming to block the Cock…
This will not be the first time that the Cock has faced unhappy residents. Last fall, the Cock was looking to move from Second Avenue to 25 Avenue B, home at the time of Idle Hands. The Cock reportedly decided to withdraw when it became clear that the SLA committee was going to issue a denial.
Jude (Asa Butterfield) is a teenage boy who is trying to reconnect with his father Les (Ethan Hawke) in 1987 Manhattan. When Jude's friend, Teddy (Avan Jogia), dies of a drug overdose, Jude finds himself befriending a group of friends who are against drugs, alcohol, profanity and sex and live for punk-style rock music. When he meets Eliza (Hailee Steinfeld), who is sixteen years old and is pregnant with Teddy's child, he and Les are forced to be her rock as she struggles through her pregnancy and early motherhood while Jude struggles with his feelings for her and his relationship with his father.
And here's the trailer ...
The Los Angeles Times has an interview with the filmmakers here. The the article, Spring Berman, who lived in the East Village during the Tompkins Square Riots of 1988, which serve as a backdrop to "Saints," discusses filming challenges and then vs. now:
The tops of buildings hadn't changed, and there are still street signs and a few landmarks that have not been turned into a Chipotle or a gourmet frozen yogurt shop. But they are becoming fewer and farther between. Even graffiti had become a scarce commodity — which led to some creative solutions.
"If we saw a graffiti-covered truck, we'd flag it down and give them 50 bucks to park in front of a Citi bike stand," Pulcini said.
The filmmakers did make use of one natural resource that always seems to be in abundance in the city. "I would often see our production designer picking up garbage," Pulcini said. "I'm not going to pay for garbage in New York," Springer Berman added.
"Saints" looks to capture both the beauty and messiness of the past, to walk up against a line of romanticization while being careful not to cross it. "I get irritated sometimes when people say how difficult it is in New York now and how much better it was then," Pulcini said. "Yes, it's hard because it's expensive and you're living with 13 roommates if you're in your 20s. But back then you were mugged and pulled into a stairway at gunpoint. There was a rat in every apartment. I don't know that it was easier."
5 E. Third St. just east of the Bowery is new to the market. Here's the listing via Brown Harris Stevens:
Amazing opportunity to own one of the few remaining totally raw lofts downtown. This is the one you've been waiting for. A modern key lock elevator opens into this top floor loft in the historic Wyoming Arts Condominium, a boutique CONDO building of eight full floor residential lofts.
This ninth floor loft has 16 windows and four exposures. The wall of south facing windows give great light and views of sky, iconic water towers and the Bowery Hotel across the street. The bones of this generous space are superb. There is a full bath and an additional water closet providing the plumbing and waste lines for two baths. Restore the original wood floors and expose as much of the brick walls as you choose.
Price: $2.6 million.
The viewings start tomorrow.
Speaking of views, here's a look out a window to the southwest...
A resident who lives on East Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B tells us that this man has entered his or her building several times in the past month… and helped himself to packages in the lobby. (Another resident said that he has struck No. 140, 144 and 150.)
In each case, the man lingers outside the front door… and waits for a resident to enter or exit the building, then walks right in before the door closes… The building management did file a police report.
The resident shared surveillance video from two of the incidents … thinking perhaps the man is hitting other nearby lobbies as well…
There's also surveillance footage showing the man walking right in after building residents, who do not seem to notice that someone is entering directly behind them…
Said the resident: "I never, ever let anyone in behind me. This is NYC — you never know who is walking in behind you."
Building management has posted a screen grab from the video and a warning note to residents…
EVG reader Naomi Paulin sends along these photos … after catching some kind of Michael Jackson-inspired pop-up performance on East Houston at Avenue C…
ConEd was at B&H Dairy yesterday at 127 Second Ave. for final inspections... and owners Fawzy Abdelwahed and Ola Smigielsk took to Facebook last night with the good news...
The gas is on!
Now after nearly four-and-a-half months, the 73-year-old diner between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street will reopen for the first time since the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion on March 26.
Updated 10 a.m.:
And here's the scene outside this morning... as supplies start arriving for opening day...
[Photo by Derek Berg]
Updated 1 p.m.:
B&H opens tomorrow at 9 a.m., and will be back to their usual 7 a.m. time on Saturday...
A rent hike did in Lan Cafe, the family-run Vietnamese vegan restaurant at 342 E. Sixth St. The homespun Lan closed at the end of April here between First Avenue and Second Avenue.