Summer Streets, early Wednesday morning edition... thanks to Vinny & O for the photo...
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Wednesday's parting shot
Summer Streets, early Wednesday morning edition... thanks to Vinny & O for the photo...
'Season of the Witch' benefit at Bowery Electric to raise funds for the ACLU
An impressive array of NYC-based women musicians are coming together tomorrow (Thursday) night at the Bowery Electric for a benefit concert for the ACLU.
Per the invite:
Season of the Witch was put together by Dylan Hundley of Lulu Lewis and Diane Gentile of Diane and the Gentle Men to help raise funds for the ACLU to fight abortion bans. An all-girl night with some of the most respected female musicians in New York, Season of the Witch will help start a year-long call to action for women in music.
The band are: Cait O'Riordan (original and longtime bassist of the Pogues), Karyn Kuhl of New Jersey's popular Karyn Kuhl band, Linda Pitmon on drums from the Baseball Project (a band with Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate plus members of R.E.M.) Special guest singers include: Christina Martinez (Boss Hog), Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), Ann Courtney (Mother Feather), Dina Regine, Dylan Hundley and more!
Find more info about the show at this link. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The Bowery Electric is at 327 Bowery between Joey Ramone Place and Third Street.
I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant
East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She shares some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.
Photos and text by Susan Schiffman
Tenant: Jenny, since 1978
Why did you come to the East Village. How did you find your apartment?
I was here in the summer and I lived on Bleecker Street with a bunch of hippies. They told me “don’t ever go past Third Avenue. There are speed junkies in railroad apartments.” I was scared.
I went back upstate to where I am from — North Tonawanda. I came back down to buy astrology books in the East Village. We didn’t have the internet then and I couldn’t find the astrology books anywhere else. The Astrology Center was on Sixth Street next to the Cauldron, the macrobiotic restaurant. I was checking out the neighborhood and thought “this place is groovy.” You had Pete’s Spice and Natural Food stores. I didn’t have any of that upstate. It was 1971.
I came back down to the East Village and I had my daughter with me. I am a single mom. I got a job working on this street. My father and my brother build sailboats. My grandmother and grandfather are pastry chefs. I had the culinary thing and the woodworking thing. The town where I grew up is where they created the first hand-carved carousels. My grandfather lived across the street and he would take me in there to go on all the rides.
I started a woodworking job. I needed a place to stay. My boss said go talk to Mr. Kuperberg. I went over there and said “Mr. Kuperberg, I have a kid, I have no money, I need a place to stay.” He gave me the keys. When I came in the apartment it was all chocolate brown and lime green. Two dancers from "Fiddler on the Roof" lived here. Before I moved in the apartment was two separate apartments with the bathroom in the hall.
I opened up a shop on Sixth Street and I built handmade wooden instruments. I was with the NYS Council on the Arts. I moved uptown and was working at a furniture store called Impressions in Wood. I made gift items for Macy’s and Gimbels. Then I came back down to the East Village.
By this time I had had a couple of close accidents with the table saw. I thought this is the time to give up the sawdust and I’m going to open a coffee house across the street. There were 12 restaurants in the neighborhood in 1978 — I counted.
When I opened my restaurant, I wanted to have a piano and a little cafe. Joel Forrester is a famous jazz pianist. He came over to play. People kept asking me to make food and at the time I didn’t really know how. Eventually it grew into a 70-seat restaurant. There were lines out the door. We made our own tofu and aduki steamed buns.
I had that big restaurant and then the 80s came. Pluto was just going into Scorpio: everybody was getting AIDS; people were going into rehab; self-help books filled the shelves at Barnes & Noble. All of the astrology books went out.
Pluto was in Leo when I was born, it was all about rock and roll then, Mick Jagger, etc. When Pluto was in Virgo everybody was eating natural foods and starting companies that reflected those interests, including macrobiotics. Then Pluto is in Libra, we have Studio 54, disco and then we go into rehab, Pluto went into Scorpio right after Libra.
An astrologer came here and he said you know “Pluto’s coming and he’s going to sweep everyone, just take them away." And it happened, everybody got AIDS, people disappeared. Keith Haring had been in my restaurant every day.
I was going to buy the building for $100,000 but I would have to kick everybody out to make it work. I just couldn’t do it, I’m a spiritual person.
Somebody came here, bought the building, chased all of the old ladies out and said “I’m going to raise your rent five times or I’ll make your life miserable." So he made my life miserable. Unbelievable. He stuffed rags down the sewage system so the sewage would back up in my restaurant. He was doing so much construction. There were rats running around. I decided I’m done.
What do you love about your apartment?
I’m still here. It’s been 41 years. An astrologer told me “your lights are fixed, you will never move.” I wonder how many more years can I climb the stairs? In astrology we can look at your 4th house and we can see what your home is going to be like. You come in here and you say “neat. She’s neat.” That’s Saturn in the 4th house, no messes. On a good day it’s sunny. That’s Leo in the 4th house.
I like the Southern exposure. I like the brick. I look over the buildings on Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti album cover. I was there too, when The Rolling Stones made their “Waiting on a Friend” video on this block.
This is a real creative vortex. I’ve seen a lot of people create around here. One friend told me the East Village is a fertile crescent — it’s the vortex, the center of the universe. It’s really true. You get the most amazing people.
If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email. And read about her in the new issue of The New Yorker!
Crane crew spotted at the former P.S. 64 on 10th Street
[Reader-submitted photo]
Several EVG readers yesterday reported a boom lift and at least one worker giving attention to the northeast-facing facade at the former P.S. 64 on 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...
This is the spot where city inspectors examined back on Feb. 6 and, a week later, issued a Full Vacate Order. This marks the first activity that neighbors have noted at the long-vacant property since then.
Developer Gregg Singer bought the property — the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center — from the city during an auction in 1998. The building has been empty for years. (Singer reportedly has an office on the premises.)
The vacate order is dated Feb. 13. According to the DOB (in their ALL-CAP STYLE):
AT VARIOUS EXPOSURES OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITY, ORNAMENTAL FACADE ELEMENTS ARE IN A STATE OF DISREPAIR WITH VISIBLE CRACKS, GAPS, AND DETERIORATION. THESE ORNAMENTAL ELEMENTS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO FALL INTO THE STREET AND YARD. IN ADDITION, INTERIOR FIRE PROOFING ARE MISSING THEREBY EXPOSING STRUCTURAL STEEL MEMBERS. THESE CONDITIONS HAVE MADE THE ENTIRE BUILDING AND YARDS UNSAFE TO OCCUPY.
City inspectors eventually determined that the building was safe, but did issue a violation to Singer for failure to maintain the exterior facade for cracks observed on the corner of the building at the third floor, as Curbed reported.
Singer told Curbed at the time: "It’s all political. This is part of a concerted effort to put pressure on us. I was just at the building. There's definitely cracks — that we were already aware of — that will be pointed and repaired, but there’s no immediate danger."
Perhaps this work yesterday was to rectify the vacate order.
Singer has wanted to turn the landmarked property into a dorm called University Square, which continues in a holding pattern while the DOB maintains a Stop Work Order — dating to August 2015 — on the building.
On Feb. 7, local elected officials gathered outside the building and urged the city to reclaim the property for community use. Singer has stated that he will not give up the building.
H/T Jason!
Your McDonald's renovation report
The McDonald's on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street closed last Tuesday for renovations that are expected to last three weeks.
Workers have already cleared the sidewalk bridge. And yesterday, part of the new McD's facade went up as the top photo via Steven shows.
McD's facade watchers — currently one person — are said to be anxiously awaiting the final facade reveal.
In 2015, workers removed the (at least) 7-year-old "Dollar Menu" signage...
... to make room for a big Big Mac and large container of upside-down fries...
Meanwhile, the owners of Organic Grill nearby on First Avenue are offering currently displaced McDonald's customers a deal... if you don't like your meal. then it's free...
As for the "McDonald’s Free for the first time in at least 20 years" line... I know we talked about this before — this McDonald's location has been around since the 1980s. (If someone wants to chime in with more exact info...)
[McD's in the 80s pic via Jeremiah Moss]
Camellia closed for renovations on 3rd Avenue
Blog friend Nick Solares tells us that Camellia, the newish ramen-gelato combo dispensary on Third Avenue between 15th Street and 16th Street, is currently closed (as of last week) for renovations.
A note for patrons states that they are updating/remodeling the dining room, and "will be back better than ever very soon!"
An Instagram post promises new menu items as well.
Camellia opened earlier this year in space that was, in part, a Subway (sandwich shop).
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Tuesday's parting shot
Creating Instagram-worthy ice cream photos on a budget. A reader-submitted photo tonight from an East Village corner deli.
Noted
Send your Thoughts and Prayers to the GOP on Third Street at Avenue A... payphone art via Winston Tseng, whose MAGA-related satire has been spotted around here in the past.
Medina's worldly chef brings Mediterranean street style to Second Avenue
Text and photos by Linda Dyett
In less than a week since it debuted, Medina's Turkish Kitchen – its front door and windows open to the street, with sample dishes prominently displayed on a sidewalk table – has already added a mood of welcoming hospitality to this block of Second Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street. It isn't much of a stretch to say that just walking past is almost like being transported to a Southern European seaside city and finding yourself in front of an unpretentious neighborhood brasserie.
A friend from Sweden and I were passing by on opening night, on our way to one of the many Asian restaurants now dotting the neighborhood. But the delicate scent of what turned out to be roasted red peppers, along with the smiles of the welcoming staff, were irresistible. So we sat down at one of the sidewalk tables and ordered from the eight-page menu. Yes, lots of choices there.
Midway through dinner, Medina's overseer-chef, Aydin Zeikrovski, stopped at our table to say hello. Always the nosy reporter, I asked him about his previous restaurant experience. That was in Denmark, he said, where he'd lived for 11 years. I too lived there for many years, and suddenly we were speaking Danish together. And then he turned to my friend Monika and started speaking Swedish with her. Turns out he'd lived briefly in Sweden too. (He's quick with languages, evidently.)
It was that grandmother, a chef, who taught him to cook. One of his distant cousins is also a chef – René Redzepi, founder of the celebrated, world-famous Copenhagen restaurant, Noma. Gastronomy has got to be in this family's DNA.
In 2003, at age 14, Aydin moved to Denmark, home to many transplants from the former Yugoslavia. There, he continued his education, eventually graduating with a marketing degree. But he never abandoned cooking.
While at university, he ran and was the chef at a fast-food eatery in Copenhagen's gritty, lively Nørrebro neighborhood (similar in spirit to New York's East Village and Lower East Side). The house specialties were home-cooked-style chicken and salads, prepared with healthy ingredients. So successful was this little restaurant that it expanded with several branches around town.
In 2011, Aydin made another move, to New York. Here he's become a U.S. citizen, husband, father of two, and consultant to the foreign and domestic travel industry. And now – partnering with his father-in-law – he's running Medina's, which happens to occupy the 700-square-foot space that most recently housed the Dinah Hookah Lounge, before that was a Dunkin' Donuts, even earlier on was a pizza-by-the-slice spot — and going way back in time, had been a paint store.
"Meat and salads are the most important elements in Turkish meals," Aydin says. His ingredients are high-quality, and all the condiments (even the salt) are organic and imported from Turkey. The appetizers include those Mediterranean standards, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghanouj, and tabouleh. But not to be missed are the amazing Sigara Boregi—fried filo dough stuffed with feta cheese — and the home-made seasoned fries accompanied by a secret sauce.
Aydin is proudest of the gyros platters. One of them is made from sliced lamb and rib eye sourced from a 25-acre organic farm in Pennsylvania and seasoned with herbs and spices. And then there are the kebabs. I ordered the beautifully flavored chicken shish kebab, marinated in dried red and white peppers, curry, and olive oil sauce. Other choices include rib eye steak, fried calamari, mixed grill, bronzino and salmon.
Dessert? There's baklava, of course, as well as rice pudding, Turkish custard, and a dish that may be new to many – bubbling-hot, oven-baked Kunefe: shredded filo dough filled with mozzarella-like Turkish string cheese and doused with honey mixed with homemade cane sugar syrup. (I can readily imagine consuming Kunefe as a one-course meal accounting for a full day's worth of calories.)
Beverages include Turkish and American coffee, Turkish tea, ayran (the frothy yogurt drink), and growing selections of beers and wines. The Sapporo-like Efes comes out of Turkey's oldest brewery. Macedonian wines may soon appear on the menu.
Don't be surprised if the menu expands even further to — who knows? — dishes from Denmark. Aydin and his staff are open to and eager for suggestions from diners and passersby. (If you happen to stop by to see Aydin in the days ahead, he's now out of town until early September.)
Linda Dyett is an East Village-based freelance writer and editor who’s been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Monocle, New York magazine and — back when glossy magazines were still magazines — Allure, Glamour, etc.
DOB fines crane operator $110,000 for boom collapse last month at the Riis Houses
[Photo on July 30 by @FDNY]
Officials at the Department of Buildings yesterday stopped all work citywide by United Crane and Rigging, the company reportedly responsible for the July 30 boom collapse at the Jacob Riis Houses, 749 FDR Drive and Sixth Street.
According to their report, the operator hoisted a load of steel beams that weighed 700 pounds more than the crane's permitted lifting capacity. The collapse forced the temporary evacuation of more than 100 families as well as the closure of the FDR.
United was also involved in a fatal accident this past April 13 at 570 Broome St., in which the counterweight of a crane fell to the ground and killed a worker.
Here's more from a news release via the DOB:
The agency’s order will remain in effect until the firm replaces the personnel who supervised the crane work at this and 21 other locations, and puts in place an independent monitor who will make monthly safety-compliance reports to DOB regarding United’s work.
DOB’s investigation of the FDR Drive incident revealed that the crane’s operator lifted a load of steel beams that weighed more than 4,400 pounds, exceeding the crane’s permitted lifting capacity of 3,700 pounds. The total load weight caused the crane’s boom to bend and partially collapse. The collapse of the boom caused the operator to lose control of the load, which struck the roof and side of the building before falling to the ground. The load of steel was intended to be placed on top of the building to support future mechanical equipment.
Accordingly, DOB issued five violations today to United that carry penalties of $110,000. The violations include failure to designate a qualified and competent Lift Director; failure to make proper notifications to DOB regarding the work that was being performed; inadequate safety measures on site; failure to safeguard the construction site to protect workers and the public; and failure to have proper construction documents on site.
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein reacted to this news...
Below is my statement on the closing of the DOB investigation on the crane collapse at Jacob Riis Houses. pic.twitter.com/QGcf3bbdoh
— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) August 12, 2019
The city has been upgrading buildings in the Riis complex in recent months as part of the Sandy Recovery Program Restoration.
In a blistering open letter to incoming NYCHA director Greg Russ on Friday, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera urged the agency to ramp up its oversight of contractors carrying out federally funded reconstruction work.
As she wrote, the crane collapse was "the latest in a string of failures for an agency with an entrenched culture of mismanagement, documentation of wasted resource and a seeming disregard for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who live in public housing."
[Click on image for more detail]
You can read more about the Rivera letter at the Post and Curbed.
The serious renovations happening at China Star
Renovations continue inside the China Star, the family-owned takeout-delivery spot at 145 First Ave. near Ninth Street. The restaurant has been closed since the middle of July.
EVG regular Lola Saénz shared this progress shot from late last week...
...here's another shot via EVG correspondent Steven...
China Star owner Jay Yang told Lola that he was about two weeks out from reopening.
You can read our interview from October 2017 with Jay and learn the backstory of the China Star at this link.
5 Napkin Burger shrinks on 14th and 3rd
From the tipline, news that the 5 Napkin Burger outpost on the southwest corner of 14th Street at Third Avenue has given up some up its dining-room space.
Plywood is now up next door, as workers are carving out a new storefront in the space between 5 Napkin and Joe's Pizza...
No word just yet on the new tenant.
This 5 Napkin location opened in February 2012.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Monday's parting shot
Thanks to Adrian Wilson for this nice capture earlier today of the Puck Building on Houston and Lafayette...
Reader reports: Car making U-turn strikes woman on Avenue B sidewalk
[Photo by Christopher J. Ryan]
There are a lot more questions than answers at the moment late this afternoon after a car struck a 72-year-old woman on the sidewalk on Avenue B at 10th Street.
It's not immediately clear how the car ended up on the sidewalk, striking the woman in the process.
Some more photos from Avenue B and 10th St where a person on the sidewalk was hit by a car. No idea why it was on the sidewalk. pic.twitter.com/PRURgRun5S
— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) August 12, 2019
Witnesses report that the woman was pinned under the car. Emergency responders took her away with reported head injuries.
[Photo by Christopher J. Ryan]
We'll update this post when more information becomes available.
Updated 5:51 p.m.
ABC 7 reports that the driver was making a U-turn.
Officials later said the driver was actually attempting to make a U-turn, and when he put the car in reverse, it jumped the curb and struck the pedestrian.
Police say the woman was taken to Bellevue hospital in serious condition, but was expected to survive.
No word about charges against the driver.
Updated 6:22 pm.
Witnesses said that the woman was one of the longtime shaved ice vendors on Avenue B...
[Photo by @djmcboarder]
Updated 8 p.m.
Yes, as several readers noted, this corridor is one that local elected officials are urging the city to make safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Updated 8:15 p.m.
An aerial view early this evening via a Citizen user...
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