Pop-up Mr. Bing has its grand opening tomorrow on St. Mark's Place

Mr. Bing has been in soft-open mode this past week at 115 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The quick-serve shop, which specializes in the Northern Chinese street food crepe — aka a jianbing or bing for short — is having its Grand Opening tomorrow morning.

Per the EVG inbox: "The first 100 customers will enjoy a free bing [starting] at 11 a.m."

This is one of three new Mr. Bings to open in NYC. The St. Mark's Place location is apparently "the first to offer seating and late hours." The news announcement about the opening notes that "wine and beer [is] coming later this fall."

However, this Mr Bing is just temporary (as in a pop-up shop, not going out of business in three months): It's only going to be on St. Mark's through the end of the year. The other Mr. Bing shops will remain open. (Not sure what the deal is on the beer-wine license for the address, if that is temporary too. Mr. Bing was on the September CB3 SLA committee docket.)

The previous EVG post on Mr. Bing has more on the owner and operation.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Mr. Bing will sell traditional Northern Chinese street crepes on St. Mark's Place

343 E. 6th St. enlightened by new tenant

[EVG file photo]

The rental shop that specialized in Indian music and Bollywood cinema closed at 343 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue in October 2015.

After two months as J-Mar Special Touch barber shop ... workers bricked up the storefront in February and turned it into what everyone thought would be a residential space...


[Photo from February]

Per Streeteasy, the studio was asking $1,999 per month.

Anyway!

In the past week... the space quietly became ... a ... PSYCHIC!

East Village resident writes and performs 'The Bench,' opening this Sunday

East Village resident Robert Galinsky is the writer and performer of a new play opening this Sunday at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the West Village.

Here are details via the EVG inbox...

Golden Globe Nominated Chris Noth
Drama Desk, Obie, and Olivier Award-winner Barry Shabaka Henley and Cherry Lane Theatre present

THE BENCH, A HOMELESS LOVE STORY
Inspired by Real People and True Stories
Written and performed by Robert Galinsky
Directed by Jay O. Sanders

Based on true stories, "The Bench," set in urban decay and rubble, explores the emotional heartbreak of five homeless characters and the catastrophic hysteria surrounding AIDS in the 1980s. The sparse set is accented with hand-drawn imagery, from Daphne Arthur's graphic novel adaptation of the play, and audio design is by world renowned composer and multi-instrumentalist Deep Singh.

Oct. 15 - Dec. 17
Playing Sundays at 7 p.m.
Exceptions: NO Performances on Nov. 5 and Dec. 3

The show runs 65 minutes, no intermission

Said Galinsky in an email to me: "I am simply telling the story of every human who has the potential to be more than society wants them to be."

Find more info here.

A moment in Tompkins Square Park today

Would have been a nice addition to the Tompkins Square Park Art Bar ...

Photo by Steven

Bear down

An EVG reader shared this from Third Avenue near 14th Street today. As Howard Jones said, Things Can Only Get Better.

Street co-naming ceremony Saturday for the 2 victims of the 2nd Avenue gas explosion

Last spring, City Council approved co-naming the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Second Avenue Moises Locón and Nicholas Figueroa Way.

Locón, 27, and Figueroa, 23, were killed in the gas explosion here on March 26, 2015, that also destroyed three buildings, 119-123 Second Ave.

This Saturday morning at 11, city officials will be on-hand on this corner for the official co-name ceremony ...



Organizers who were behind the co-naming hope that the street sign bearing the names of the two men will both help commemorate their loss and serve as a warning against unscrupulous landlords.

In a story at DNAinfo on the co-naming proposal this past May, Ana Lanza, Figueroa's mother, said, "It's not going to bring him back — nothing is going to bring him back. But at least this brings a little bit of comfort, that he's going to be remembered somewhere, somehow. That his life wasn't taken in vain. That he meant something."

Authorities have said that illegally siphoned gas at 121 Second Ave. was to blame for the explosion. In February 2016, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance's office charged landlord Maria Hrynenko and her son Michael Hrynenko Jr. along with contractor Dilber Kukic and plumber Jerry Ioannidis with manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide and assault in the second degree, among other charges.

According to an obituary, Michael Jr. died on Aug. 25 at age 31.

The criminal case has yet to go to trial while the multiple civil actions are still making their way through the courts.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: 2nd Ave. explosion — landlord, 3 others charged with 2nd degree manslaughter; showed 'a blatant and callous disregard for human life'

Memorial for Mary Spink tomorrow

RIP Nicholas Figueroa

RIP Moises Ismael Locón Yac

A proposal to co-name part of 2nd Avenue and 7th Street after the victims of the 2015 gas explosion

Michael Hrynenko, Jr., awaiting trial for his role in the 2nd Avenue gas explosion, dies at 31

About the scaffolding at 125 2nd Ave.

On the topic of the Second Avenue explosion... several readers have asked about the scaffolding that arrived at the end of September on the south-facing wall at 125 Second Ave.

A reliable source told me workers are will be repointing the building, and it has nothing to do with any possible new construction in the now-empty adjacent lots.

As for those parcels... late last spring, Shaky Cohen's Nexus Building Development Group paid $9.15 million for 119 and 121 Second Ave. at Seventh Street. To date, there haven't been any new permits filed at the DOB.

In September 2016, the lot that housed 123 Second Ave. sold for $6 million. The buyer was reported as Ezra Wibowo under the LLC 123 Second Ave. Corp. His plans? "[I]t’s a long-term investment. He’s not in a rush to build or develop," a source told the Post last March.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: 2nd Avenue explosion sites have a new owner

Hitchcocktober movie of the week — 'Notorious!'

Tonight's Hitchcocktober movie of the week is "Notorious!" playing at 8 at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue and 12th Street.

Here's a look at the Cary Grant-Ingrid Bergman spy noir...



And the upcoming Hitchcocktober films:

Oct. 19 — "Vertigo"

Oct. 26 — "Rebecca"

And on Oct. 31, Halloween night, there's a screening of "Psycho."

You can buy advance tickets here.

A wedding in Tompkins Square Park

On Sunday, East Village residents Yael Kanarek and Gili Getz, surrounded by friends, family and the neighborhood they love, were married in a ceremony in Tompkins Square Park (near the Slocum Memorial Fountain) ...





Following the short ceremony, the guests went to a celebration at Abraço, the cafe on Seventh Street where the couple are regulars.

Photos by Daniel Efram

Noted

EVG reader Brad212 notes an addition to the monument-sculpture along Avenue D here between Sixth Street and Seventh Street... there, up top...





The person/people responsible might say that the addition speaks for itself...

RIP Bonnie DeWitt

Bonnie DeWitt, an artist and teacher who lived in the East Village, died on Oct. 1. She was 34.

Here is part of her obituary, which does not mention the cause of death:

Born on August 11, 1983 in Plainview, NY, she was a daughter of David and Sara Dewitt. After graduating Old Beth Page John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, she continued her education in Massachusetts at Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, graduating in 2005. In 2007 she earned a Masters in Fine Arts at the New York Academy of Art.

Bonnie went on to pursue her passion for art in Manhattan, working as curator of the Kraine Gallery in the East Village. She then redirected her love of art towards teaching. She taught at the New York Academy of Art for nearly a decade, specializing in figure drawing. Her innate artistic abilities and dedication to her craft fueled her desire to share her talent and knowledge.

She loved to explore New York's museums and would often take her art students on field trips to the Met. Outside of museums, she spent her free time in her beloved neighborhood, the East Village. She had a vibrant personality and a great sense of humor. Full of compassion, she loved animals, and was always a helping hand to others in a time of crisis.

Bonnie had a radiant presence; anyone who had the opportunity to cross paths with Bonnie would agree that she was someone everyone wanted to know. She was a true rarity, someone who was and will always be unforgettable.

This Saturday from 3-5 p.m., her friends and loved ones are gathering for a celebration of her life at the Fish Bar on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. Find more details at Facebook.

Ai Weiwei on 7th Street

[Photo yesterday by EVG reader Russell K.]

As previously reported, artist-activist Ai Weiwei's installations titled "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors" are going up around the city.

Yesterday, workers were installing the site-specific fencing at 48 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Other local installations include 189 Chrystie St., 248 Bowery, Cooper Union and the Essex Street Market.)


[Photo by Derek Berg]

The press materials note that "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors" is "a reflection on the growing hostility toward immigrants and the rise of nationalism throughout the world."

This collaboration with the Public Art Fund is officially on view starting tomorrow through Feb. 11.


[Photo by DB]

The Dessert Kitchen opens on St. Mark's Place

The Dessert Kitchen is up and running (in soft-open mode) at 94 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

They serve "homemade Asian-fusion-styled desserts from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan," per their Facebook page.(Menu here.)



The Dessert Kitchen was previously over at 192 Bleecker St. near Sixth Avenue. I do not know the circumstances behind the closure there and move here.

This space on St. Mark's adjacent to Fun City Tattoo was previously a residence. Workers converted it into a storefront back in the late winter and early spring.

The return of the WASP

[On the Bowery]

You've probably seen the many No Parking-filming notices on parts of Sixth Street and Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... and on the Bowery for WASP2017...


[7th Street]

WASP2017 is short for Woody Allen's Summer Project, a still-untitled movie starring Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law, Diego Luna and Liev Schrieber, among many others. Crews will be filming in parts of the East Village today and tomorrow.

Last year, Allen filmed a few scenes for "Wonder Wheel" around here ... and in 2009, he was here shooting "Whatever Works" with Larry David.