The resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, Christo (on top in the first pic) and Amelia, grab some of the fading sunlight early this evening after the showers passed through ...
Monday, May 11, 2020
After the rain
The resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, Christo (on top in the first pic) and Amelia, grab some of the fading sunlight early this evening after the showers passed through ...
Owner of Taste Wine leaving the business to help save his young sons Benny and Josh
You've likely noticed the for rent sign hanging at Taste Wine on Third Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street.
It went up in early March ... followed shortly by another sign — a heartfelt letter from owner Gary Landsman that details his family's fundraising efforts to help find a treatment for the fatal genetic disease that his two young sons have.
The letter reads:
I launched Taste Wine Co back in 2015 with much excitement.
Earlier that year I married Jennie, the woman of my dreams & with her support we built a beautiful store, hired a great staff and loaded up the store with great wine and spirits. The future was bright!
The store experienced growing pains, but we were committed to making it work.
Then, about two years after we opened we learned that our first born son, 1 year old Benny, and his two-week old brother Josh both had a fatal genetic disease called Canavan. I was in denial & wouldn’t allow myself to think about what the doctor told us; that our sons will never walk, never talk and live a short and challenged life.
While still attempting to make Taste Wine Co successful, my wife and I launched a public campaign to raise money to #SaveBennyAndJosh. We found a researcher with 20+ years of experience who’d been working on a cure who believed she could treat my boys. The problem? We needed to raise LOTS of money.
My family is now working tirelessly to raise the final $1.8M needed (above the nearly $4M raised so far), to pay the remaining costs (due over the next 90 days) and treat our boys. If all goes well, the experimental gene therapy to treat their Disease will take place at Dayton Children’s Hospital this May/June.
This ordeal has reinforced a belief that much as I cherish the business and my customers (many of whom have become good friends), family must come first.
And so I’ve made the decision to give up the business.
We hope someone will want to take it over, but we realize that might not happen. As such, you may notice fewer products in store and special sales we’ll run to help sell as much of our inventory as possible.
We hope you’ll continue to buy your wine and spirits at Taste Wine Co. as we go through this transition and figure out what comes next.
To my loyal customers and friends, I thank you with all my heart for your years of support. It is time to be with my family. Wishing you peace, health and happiness.
Yours, most sincerely and appreciatively,
Gary Landsman
Landsman's time with the shop is winding down this week, and there are sales: 20-percent off all bottles of wine (minimum three-bottle purchase) and 10-percent off spirits. Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. today through Friday.
Landsman told me that he remains hopeful that he can sell the business before taking the family to Dayton Children's Hospital in Ohio later this spring. (If he can't find a buyer, then he'll be forced to closed.)
"There are three parties that seem serious about purchasing the store, and keeping things going, which our customers have let us know they would love to see happen," he said. "After [this] week, I'll likely come in a bit to try and close things out, but my goals at this point are to sell everything we have left in stock and consummate a deal with one of the prospective buyers."
You can read more about the campaign to save Benny and Josh — as well as others with Canavan — at this link.
The best carnitas in Los Angeles are coming to the East Village
Signage is up now for Amigo at 29 Second Ave. between First Street and Second Street...
There's only a hint of what's to come to the space. This is a collaboration between Chef Ruben Rodriguez of Nai Tapas at 85 Second Ave. and Juan “Billy” Acosta, whose family runs the much-ballyhooed Carnitas El Momo in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
First, a little about Carnitas El Momo via a recent Los Angeles Times review:
Romulo “Momo” Acosta learned the art of exceptional carnitas from his father, a farmer and carnitero from Salamanca, a town about 200 miles northwest of Mexico City in the state of Guanajuato. Acosta moved to Southern California and began selling carnitas on weekends in the mid-1970s as a side gig from his job as a welder. His porcine mastery didn’t become a citywide phenomenon until his children, including his daughter, Adriana Acosta, and son, Juan “Billy” Acosta, mobilized the family business with a food truck, and occasionally street stands, beginning in 2013.
Anyway, Rodriguez and Billy met and decided to team up for what L.A. Taco says will be "arguably the best carnitas you will ever find in the U.S."
And what to expect here? Back to L.A. Taco:
An elevated taqueria without “the stereotypes” with a nice bar is the idea. The menu is going to be composed of what Carnitas El Momo is known for “because what he does is beautiful,” according to Rodriguez. He’ll be adding an oxtail taco and a smoked trout taco to the menu and they will both be collaborating on some menu items together, but that’s still to be determined.
It’s no secret that El Momo’s recipe and technique are a highly sought after treasure and when asked about it, Rodriguez answers: “It’s a very emotional thing, especially when we are talking about our food. This is how we relate to emotions, our family, our past. So I wanted to make sure he felt comfortable. [Billy] as well did his part for me to feel comfortable.”
“I will be going out there for the beginning and get it rolling” Billy explains. “I’ll be bringing a few of my crew mates to ensure the same quality and eventually I’ll be leaving a full staff running it.” The plan is to have the family’s trusted nephew, Ricardo Sandov, who has worked his way up over the years, to man the taqueria.
Amigo is hoping for a July opening date in the space that was previously home to Neapolitan Express.
Partial Stop Work Order at the tech hub after worker rescued from scaffolding collapse
In late April, the Department of Buildings deemed that the Zero Irving (tech hub!) development was an essential construction project here on 14th Street at Irving Place.
Construction started up again on May 1, per the 14th at Irving Construction website, which outlined the COVID-19 measurements put in place, including screening each worker entering the job site for fever via a third-party practitioner.
Meanwhile, there was a non-virus-related safety breach at the site with reports of a scaffolding collapse this past Friday afternoon. Here's the alert via the Citizen app...
The incident happened in the back of the building, and wasn't visible from 14th Street. The FDNY reported that "scaffolding gave way with a worker on."
Instagram user @Bubbahtweet posted photos of the incident on Friday afternoon...
There's also a clip of the man seen being pulled to safety by his co-workers...
Subsequently, there's now a partial stop work order for the address, 124 E. 14th St. Per the ALL-CAP Style of the DOB: "INADEQUATE SAFETY MEASURES FOR DOKA INSTALLATION. STOP ALL USE/INSTALLATION OF DOKA SYSTEM PROVIDE SAFETY MEASURES."
The 21-floor building, developed jointly by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and RAL Development Services, will feature 14 floors of market-rate office space as well as "a technology training center and incubator, co-working spaces, state-of-the-art event space, and street level food hall on the seven floors beneath," per the Zero Irving announcement issued last October.
The new building sits on the former site of a P.C. Richard & Son.
Previously on EV Grieve:
P.C. Richard is gone on 14th Street; preservationists want answers about tech-hub commitments
Revel quietly expands downtown with rideshare scooters now available in the East Village
In recent weeks, several readers — notably Dave on 7th! — have shared photos of Revel scooters parked on East Village streets.
The electric scooter company launched here in March 2018 with operations mostly in parts of Queens and Brooklyn. More recently, the company expanded into upper Manhattan ... and by the end of April, their service now includes the East Village (kind of hard to tell on this coverage map that Revel supplied).
A rep for the scooter-share company confirmed the expansion, and emphasized their free membership for health-care workers.
For non-frontline workers... to get started, you need to download the Revel app. Pricing is $1 to unlock a scooter (and access a helmet) parked on a street and then it's 31 cents a minute. Any scooter rented in Manhattan has to stay here. So no road tips to, say, Fort Tilden.
You now have 2 extra hours to shop at Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's locations citywide, including the two on East 14th Street, will now be open later, expanding from 7 to 9 p.m., starting today.
Moving forward, the hours for TJ's are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with an 8-9 a.m. slot reserved for seniors or anyone with special needs...
And if you're hitting the TJ's on 14th Street at Avenue A, you can always get a real-time line check via Twitter.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Sunday's parting shot
A cat hunting rats in the Tompkins Square Park dog run... thanks to Sonya for the photo...
Week in Grieview
[As seen at El Camion]
Posts this week included...
• RIP Ali Yasin (Tuesday)
• RIP George Eshareturi (Thursday)
• Gem Spa will not reopen (Thursday)
• Investigation for excessive force demanded after social-distancing arrests on Avenue D (Monday) ... Caravan protest on Avenue C addresses racial bias and police violence in social-distancing arrests (Friday)
• A rooftop musical salute to frontline workers (Friday)
• A visit to Juicy Lucy on Avenue A (Wednesday)
• Now that the L-train tunnel work is complete, here's what to expect along 14th Street (Monday)
• Making beautiful music: The pandemic-era arias coming from 4th Street (Thursday)
• Checking in on Brooklyn Bean Roastery (Monday)
• Checking in on East Village Meat Market (Tuesday)
• The ballfields are currently locked up in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)
• Help Limited to One stay on their feet with these limited-edition Vans (Tuesday)
• This week's NY See (Thursday)
• Asian Taste is back open (Monday)
• Construction watch: 799 Broadway (Wednesday)
• The East Village Social Distancing All-Stars (Friday)
• A Cool collab (Tuesday)
• Ruffian Wine Bar now selling bottles of wine to go (Tuesday)
• A sign of things to come? (Tuesday)
• Demolition watch: 535 E. 12th St. (Thursday)
• Temakase Hand Roll Bar coming soon to 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)
... and a flashback to Thursday's sunrise...
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Follow EVG on Instragram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.
An art collaboration to help support the Sixth Street Community Center
East Village resident Ali Fischbein has launched Sixth Street Art Coalition, a collaboration with local artists to create merchandise to sell to support the Sixth Street Community Center's emergency food pantry during the COVID-19 crisis.
Fischbein says all profits will go directly to the Sixth Street Community Center's emergency food pantry for local residents. (The Community Center was founded in 1978 between Avenue B and Avenue C.)
The first round of merchandise was released this weekend, featuring mugs by NY See illustrator (and EVG contributor) Grant Shaffer and a Frank Ape tote by Brandon Sines...
The Sixth Street Art Coalition will unveil more merchandise in the days ahead. You can find more details at their website or Instagram account. You can also donate directly to Sixth Street Community Center's emergency food pantry here.
Doubling up on the celebrations at Walgreens
[Photo from yesterday]
A happy Mother's Day and Valentine's Day from Walgreens on 14th Street and Fourth Avenue...
Samascott Orchards are back at the Tompkins Square Greenmarket
Today marks the return of Samascott Orchards to the Tompkins Square Greenmarket (haven't seen them in weeks) ... they are set up Seventh Street...
...and other vendors today until 4 p.m. ...
Saturday, May 9, 2020
That moment when it started snowing
Because nothing says the second weekend in May in NYC more than a few minutes of snow flurries in the late afternoon... video clip here by Michael Quinn from St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue... outside the dearly departed Gem Spa...
Report: East River Park rebuild construction start now set for September
Caught this item in a Politico e-newsletter on Thursday... the first update that I've heard in awhile on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, which includes demolishing and rebuilding East River Park ... the full story is behind a paywall:
An ambitious project to protect the Lower East Side of Manhattan from future storms is again facing delays. The city had been scheduled to break ground on the $1.5 billion project this spring, but is now scheduled to begin construction in September, city officials said during a Council budget hearing Wednesday.
The development marks the third delay for the major resiliency effort that was first envisioned in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and is meant to safeguard one of the city's most vulnerable areas to sea-level rise. Still, the de Blasio administration said the city’s five-year timeline for the project should remain intact, despite a delayed start and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has delayed some construction work throughout the city.
“I’m actually moving forward under the assumption that we’re still going to maintain our timeline,” said Lorraine Grillo, commissioner of the city’s department of design and construction.
On Feb. 6, opponents of the city's plan announced an Alienation of Parkland lawsuit on behalf of East River Park Action, a grassroots neighborhood group, and 90 other plaintiffs.
Spring break (temperatures in the 30s edition)
Along Avenue A this morning... when early-morning temps were in the 30s.
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