An early spring in Tompkins Square Park

As the shadow hand reaches for the last bit of snow... Photo today by Grant Shaffer...

The Subway (sandwich shop) has closed on 4th Avenue and East 12th Street

That's all for the Subway here on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 12th Street. The space had been on the market this past month. (The asking rent is $20,000 a month, per the listing.) Workers started gutting the interior yesterday.

This now marks the sixth Subway sandwich shop to close in the immediate area in the past three-plus years, joining the one on the Bowery … East 14th Street … First Avenue … Second Avenue… and Third Avenue.

Subway fans still have the locations at 250 E. Houston St., 223 Avenue B and 108 First Ave. to choose from, among several others close by.

Blythe Anne’s (the former Lula’s Sweet Apothecary) has closed on East 6th Street

Another dairy-free dessert option is gone in the neighborhood. Yesterday, Bill the Libertarian Anarchist came across owner Blythe Anne Boyd cleaning out Blythe Anne's, her vegan ice cream shop on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Boyd and her husband Derek Hackett, who opened Lula’s Sweet Apothecary together in 2008, were reportedly involved in an ugly divorce several years ago. The shop was closed for several months for a "reorganization" in 2013... Boyd eventually rebranded the space in 2014.

Blythe Anne's ice cream was also available for sale at Sustainable NYC, which closed for good back in August on Avenue A.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Divorce could force closure of Lula’s Apothecary on East Sixth Street

A new sign at Lula's Sweet Apothecary, which remains closed on East 6th Street

Image via

Bago hasn't been open recently on 1st Avenue

Nick Solares at Eater yesterday pointed out that Bago, the quick-serve Filipino restaurant on First Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street, hasn't been open for the past few weeks.

Bago's Twitter account has been dormant since last summer... and on Facebook, the last update is from Jan. 4: "Our account has been hacked. We are noticing false posts. Please pardon the inconvenience for now. From all of us at Bago, have a lovely rest of evening and have a great New Year once again!" Seamless also notes that Bago is closed.

The restaurant opened last June in the former Hibachi Dumpling Express space (and a 2 Bros. before that).

Bago, which received a nice write-up in the Times back in November, is/was run by a daughter of Elvira Cinco, the proprietor of Elvie's Turo-Turo for nearly 12 years.

Avenue A on high alert for Ice-T sightings

That one of shows in the "Law & Order" family is filming around here was never really all that newsworthy... given how often they'd film around here through the years.

However, I am noting the fact that "Law & Order: SVU" is filming along Avenue A and Tompkins Square Park... mostly because I had no idea that NBC was still creating new episodes. (I thought the show only existed to help the USA Network fill 14 hours of programming a day.) But "SVU" is in its 17th season. So keep an eye out for cast members Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T today.

Now! Flashback to September 2011 when "SVU" filmed a scene at Sunny & Annie's on Avenue B...

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

And NBC has picked up the show for season No. 18, as Ice-T learned yesterday...

Did SVU officially get renewed for season 18??! Wow. Looks like I’m the last to know. That’s great news. I still gotta JOB.

— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) February 1, 2016

NY Village Deli reopens in new 1st Avenue home

[A few weeks ago]

As we noted a few weeks ago, the NY Village Deli closed its doors at 39 First Ave. after 25 years...ahead of a move a few storefronts to the north. (According to a store regular, the landlord of NY Village Deli raised the rent to an amount higher than the store owners could pay and stay in business.)

The new location recently opened at No. 45...



Meanwhile, the former NY Village Deli space is on the market. According to the listing, the asking rent is $18,000 a month.

If you are looking for Smoke & Beer on Avenue A, then this store is for you

Do you remember back in December, when we reported that the former nail salon on Avenue A between East 13th Street and East 14th Street was going to become a smoke shop?

Well, anyway, that smoke shop is now open... Correction! Make that Smoke & Beer shop...



As you can see on the marquee, the shop sells E-cigarette, Cigar, Tobacco, Craft Beer, Cigarette and Lotto.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Smoke shop, the new nail salon, opening in former nail salon on Avenue A

Police looking for suspect in a string of area armed robberies

The NYPD has released an image from surveillance video of a suspect wanted in connection with five armed robberies in the West Village and the East Village dating back to Dec. 13.

According to published reports, the man has followed his victims into their apartment buildings... once in an elevator on East 12th Street and Third Avenue. Then per DNAinfo:

He followed a 28-year-old man into an apartment building at 381 East 10th St. about 5:25 p.m. on Jan. 19, threatened him with a knife and demanded his messenger bag, police said, but the victim refused to hand over the bag and the suspect ran off.

The media reports on the robberies did not include a physical description of the suspect.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

The return of the 'White Negro' tag

EVG reader Ronnie shared this photo from earlier today on East Fifth Street at Avenue B.

We don't recall seeing this tag since the spring of 2009, when it started showing up on walls around the neighborhood.


[EVG photo on Avenue A from 2009]

Empire Biscuit is taking a sabbatical for the month of February; will retool for the apocalypse

[Photo via dwg]

That's what the plate-shaped signage says here at Empire Biscuit at 198 Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street.

Here's the word from their Twitter account...

Empire Biscuit will be closed until March to retool for the coming apocalypse and make pastries.

— Empire Biscuit (@empirebiscuit) January 31, 2016

The quick-serve biscuit emporium cut back its hours during January. At the time, Empire Biscuit owner Jonathan Price told us that they were just taking a break for parts of this month. "It's a slow time of year," he said a few weeks ago. "We're doing some housekeeping. We refinished the floors in the kitchen ... for example."

Empire Biscuit opened on Oct. 30, 2013.

An 83rd birthday celebration for Ray at Ray's Candy Store

[Bettina May]

Ray Alvarez, the hard-working proprietor of Ray's Candy Store, turned 83 last month.



And, as is tradition, some of Ray's friends/regulars brought in entertainment — burlesque dancers Pearls Daily, Lilin Lace, The Maine Attraction, Bettina May and Lickety Split — for a birthday celebration, which took place last night at the shop at 113 Avenue A.

EVG correspondent Stacie Joy shared a few photos...


[Lickety Split]


[The Maine Attraction]


[Lilin Lace]


[Pearls Daily]







The Ray's birthday party celebration with dancers goes back to 2007. Check out Bob Arihood's photos from Ray's 74th birthday bash here.

Rumors: 348 Bowery will house new food market

You may have noticed in recent weeks that workers have built several kiosks/stalls inside the corner lot at 348 Bowery at Great Jones...







A tipster tells us that this will soon be home to a new marketplace showcasing several quick-serve food vendors.

On Friday, BoweryBoogie wrote about Essex Street's Cabalito Pupuseria raising funds to open a food stand in an undisclosed location. Per the crowdfunding campaign: "Cabalito will make its humble traditional mark in a new food collaboration project in NoHo. This project will house six up-and-coming passionate restaurateurs of different specialties."

There are a few clues about 348 Bowery's future via the DOB website (cutting and pasting their all-cap style):

INSTALL TEMPORARY STRUCTURES - FOUR(4)EXTERIOR KIOSKS AND TWO(2)INTERIOR. THE MARKET WILL BE USED FOR PREPERATION AND COOKING OF FOOD & SALE OF DRY GOODS.

A previous DOB permit had the following:

INSTALL TEMPORARY STRUCTURES - FOUR(4)EXTERIOR KIOSKS AND TWO(2)INTERIOR. THE MARKET WILL BE USED FOR PREPERATION AND COOKING OF FOOD & SALE OF DRY GOODS. IT WILL BE ON OCTOBER 15, 2015, JANUARY 15, 2016,
MONDAY - WEDNESDAY 7AM -12AM, THURSDAY - FRIDAY 7AM - 2AM, SATURDAY 9AM - 2AM AND SUNDAY 9AM - 12AM.

The address has been without a full-time tenant since Downtown Auto & Tire left in April 2012. The Deth Killers of Bushwick opened a pop-up shop here in February 2014, selling their brand of jeans and motorcycle stuff for several months.

There have been other proposed concepts for the space, which has been on and off the market for several years. In July 2010, a group aspired to open the first New York branch of Segafredo Zanetti Espresso Café, the Italian-style coffee bar, on this spot. They went before CB2, who rejected the proposal, which included a patio with a retractable roof with soundproofing as well as sound-resistant sliding doors.

The Alchemist's Kitchen takes over the short-lived NatureEs space on East 1st Street

[EVG photo from October]

A new tenant has taken over for the short-lived NatureEs, the juice bar/cafe/wellness center combo at 21 E. First St. in Jupiter 21, the residential building that rose from the former Mars Bar and several other businesses on Second Avenue and between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Signage arrived late last week for The Alchemist's Kitchen...





Here's more about them via their website:

The Alchemist's Kitchen is dedicated to connecting you with the power of plants. We work with the finest herbalists who are producing high quality botanical medicines, herbal remedies, and whole plant beauty products. We celebrate artisanship, sustainability, and conscious living. We look to support the global need to increase plant diversity, and the sharing of ancient wisdom from indigenous cultures.

We believe strongly in the education and instruction on the use of all whole plant formulations and herbal remedies. We consider our suppliers part of our extended family, interactive, collaborative....creating one chain of supply from seed to tincture. We work closely with teachers and botanical experts, many of whom are our suppliers, to educate and inform our community.

It appears they've been in business online for some time, part of the Evolver Learning Lab... and this is their first brick-and-mortar (sorry, hate that term) storefront. An EVG reader stopped by the space last week, where he found them still getting up and running. Among other items, they are selling to-go bottles of REBBL elixirs, such as Turmeric Golden Milk and Maca Mocha.

For now, the Kitchen, which will eventually include a tonic bar, has limited hours... that will expand in the week ahead...



There are also an array of events/lectures at the space coming up...(you can find that list here).

As previously reported, there were plans plan to convert the NatureEs space into a Spanish bistro. The applicants withdrew from the November 2015 CB3-SLA meeting. The name of former Mars Bar owner Hank Penza, who died this past Oct. 29, is one of four principals listed on the active liquor license for the space.



Several people had noted that the address was home to some kind of invite-only club in the basement space. Not sure of the status of that...

Previously on EV Grieve:
NatureEs calls: About the organic cafe coming to where Mars Bar 2.0 was in the works

A quick look inside NatureEs, the new organic cafe coming to 21 E. 1st St.

At NatureEs, the Mars Bar replacement that apparently is no longer open

The Baker's Pizza signage is up on Avenue A

A few weeks back, Jordan Baker introduced himself as the new owner of the former Nonna's Pizza space on Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street.

Here's part of the comment that Baker left us:

I love Avenue A and the small businesses that comprise it (with the exception of two franchises that have recently opened that are eye-sores) and I want to keep it small-business friendly as long as possible! I had a good relationship with the previous owner, as a customer and a friend, and I’m taking the spot over, partially as a favor to him (for personal reasons), and partially because opening a pizzeria has been a dream of mine as long as I can remember.

As you can see the sign arrived at the shop this past week for Baker's Pizza... we'll check in with him a little closer to the official opening... and we want to know more about that piano!



Nonna's closed at the start of the year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The new owner of Nonna's Pizza on Avenue A says hello