Are you interested in volunteering to help East Village businesses?

The East Village Independent Merchants Association in collaboration with the East Village Community Coalition are seeking volunteers to help local businesses.

Per a tweet yesterday:

COVID-19 and current social unrest have hit the East Village hard, particularly local businesses. We could use your help. Interested in volunteering around the East Village? Sign up here to help out.

Again, that volunteer form is here. (Among other things, the form asks if there are any skills or volunteer interests you would like them to know about, such as painting, carpentry, cooking or teaching.)

By my count, more than 50 East Village storefronts were damaged in recent days from either post-protest vandalism or break-ins — many of them late-night Sunday/early Monday morning.

At Ama Raw Bar, the three-month-old restaurant at 190 Avenue B near 12th Street, someone tried to break down the front door, but was unsuccessful at gaining entrance.


[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Regardless, the Ama team — Will, Harvey and Rita (above) — decided to shut down for now. They had just reopened for take-home food and drinks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• 2 break-ins on Avenue A: Village Square Pizza, Tompkins Finest Deli & Grill

• Noting another break-in, this time at Rue-B

• The break-in at Khiladi on Avenue B

• Here's the moment of the break-in early this morning at Alphabet City Beer Co.

• A broken window and burglary at C&B Cafe

• More about the damage at B&H Dairy

Something new for the walls at Ray's Candy Store

Ray yesterday was the recipient of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation 2020 Village Award...



Head here for the full list of recipients.

Thanks to Peter Brownscombe for the photos!

A reminder about maintaining social distance and wearing a mask on 9th Street

These signs arrived a little earlier in the week on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue ... courtesy of the 9th Street A-1 Block Association...







Thanks to William Klayer for the photos!

Reader report: A curfew arrest on 11th Street

A reader shares the below video clip from last night on 11th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

According to the reader, the woman was standing in front of her building some 45 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect. Three police cars were involved in her arrest. It's not known what, if anything, she did aside from being out past the curfew. Per the reader: "As you can hear, the block is not having it."

Thursday's parting shot

On the Bowery this afternoon... a view of Avalon Bowery Place between Houston and First Street...

At the Public Theater

As mentioned this morning, the Public Theater on Lafayette is one of the venues offering water and restrooms to protestors as part of the Open Your Lobby campaign... they'll be open daily from 2-6 p.m for people taking part in marches.

Outside, they're featuring the work of D.C.-based creator B. Peppers...

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood — and everywhere.

Updated: Police shoot knife-wielding man in deli at 10th Street and 3rd Avenue

Preliminary reports are coming in this morning about a police-involved shooting on 10th Street and Third Avenue.

Per ABC 7:

Eyewitness News is told NYPD officers responded to a report of a man with a knife at 6:40 a.m.

One man was shot and taken to Bellevue Hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

Will continue to update as more information becomes available.

Updated 7:50 a.m.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Healthy Greens Gourmet deli on the northwest corner...

BREAKING: NYPD investigating after sources say police shot a knife-wielding man who approached two officers inside a deli near East 10th and 3rd Ave. in #Manhattan this morning.

— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) June 4, 2020

Details from NY1:

According to police, two officers were inside a deli when a man entered and got into a dispute with the clerk before pulling out a knife.

Police say officers ordered the man to drop the knife but he refused.

Police say officers then shot the man, hitting him once.

Updated 4:30 p.m.

A more complete picture of what happened is emerging. Here's the Post:

The officers walked into the Healthy Greens Gourmet on Third Avenue near East 10th Street around 6:40 a.m. when a 55-year-old man, holding a knife in his right hand, followed them inside, cops said.

The man then menaced the officers with the knife, prompting one of them to Tase him — but it did nothing to stop him, police said.

The suspect then got into a squabble with the store clerk, before making his way for the exit and shoving the second female officer on his way out, authorities said.

Outside of the store, he continued to motion toward his waistband and refused the officer’s repeated demands to stop advancing, cops said.

Several minutes before this encounter, the man was picked up on surveillance footage at Westside Market on Third Avenue at 12th Street taking a taking a bottled drink from the shop without paying for it.

A store manager said that the man "had been coming to the store for years and sometimes gets a bit agitated."

Updated:

The Times has more of narrative here.

One of the officers tried to stop the man with a Taser, but the device did not work, according to a police department statement. The man shoved the second officer, and as he rushed outside, and she followed him. He was shot moments later, as he reached for a sheath on his belt, the police said.

“Once outside, the male continued to motion toward his waistband and refused the officer’s repeated demands to stop his aggressive advances,” a police summary of the incident said. “The officer, as well as an additional responding officer to the location, discharged their firearms and the suspect was struck in the arm and torso.”

On 4th Street, the New York Theatre Workshop opens its door to protestors

The New York Theatre Workshop on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery recently opened its doors for protestors during non-curfew hours.

The theater, currently closed during the COVID-19 crisis, is letting protestors inside to use its restrooms and supplying them with free water and snacks as well as providing them with an opportunity to recharge their phones.

As Deadline reported, this move inspired the Open Your Lobby campaign, which is calling on shutdown theaters "to repurpose their spaces in support of protesters nationwide fighting racism and injustice."

In support of #BlackLivesMattter and the many protesters nationwide fighting racism and injustice RIGHT NOW, we challenge theaters to #OpenYourLobby. pic.twitter.com/kmEU5oZzo9

— Open Your Lobby (@openyourlobby) June 3, 2020

Nearly 10 other Off-Broadway theaters have joined in, including the Public Theater on Lafayette. (Find an updated spreadsheet of open venues here.)

NYC, we hear you. If you are heading out to protest today, our restrooms are open from 2pm to 6pm today, June 3. We will have staff volunteers on hand to help facilitate social distancing.

— The Public Theater (@PublicTheaterNY) June 3, 2020

Earlier in the week, the New York Theatre Workshop shared this message of solidarity with the community...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New York Theatre Workshop (@nytw79) on May 30, 2020 at 7:30pm PDT

Say their names

On the LinkNYC kiosk on Sixth Street and First Avenue this evening... photos by Goggla...

Lower East Side against police brutality

Here are more scenes from the protest that started on Avenue D and Ninth Street on Monday night ... one of the many peaceful gatherings citywide against police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

East Village-based photographer Kyle de Vre took these photos from several stops along the march, including East Houston Street and the FDR...

A broken window at Ray's

Over at Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A, someone punched the front door, shattering the glass behind the "Best Egg Cream in Town!" sign late last night.

Ray told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that it happened around 2:30 a.m. The man, who was alone, was angry about something and took it out on the door, which Ray plans on getting repaired.



And, despite the curfew, Ray was apparently busy last night.

'You are here profiting off of our fucking pain'

On Saturday night, while a group of looters were smashing windows and damaging property along Second Avenue, Desiree Barnes made an impassioned plea to the group.

Barnes, reportedly a former aide in the Obama White House, approached the group between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place around 9 p.m. ... where Dan LaDue began capturing her video ...

View this post on Instagram

The last 24 hours have been a journey. After talking with people I respect and some sleep, the right thing to do is for this to stay up. I have to stand by what I know I felt from her in that moment of wanting to get her message out. The resonance from people from all walks of life, all across the board, both sides of the aisle, is something I haven't seen from people in a long time. She's a New Yorker, she knew what she was doing. She's frustrated and wanted to be heard. Some people don't want that opinion heard. And based off the overwhelming amount of messages people sent yesterday, she isn't alone. I stand by what I did. I'm out here now looking for her, hope to have an update soon. Please share, thank you. Edit: the legend @dnbarnes

A post shared by Dan LaDue (@danladue) on Jun 1, 2020 at 11:34am PDT

Starbucks on Astor Place hit again; arrests reported nearby

For the second night, people smashed the windows at the Starbucks on Astor Place... here's a look at the space this morning...



The Foot Locker around the corner on Broadway was reportedly looted, which explains the empty Nike boxes spotted here...



People also broke windows at nearby Astor Place businesses, including the FedEx store, Sweetgreen and Blue Bottle Coffee.

Overall, ABC 7 described it as "a quiet night in New York City, with looters largely absent."

The NYPD used several tactics overnight to crack down on the looting that has plagued the city in recent nights, including arresting non-protesting groups of people after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect.

If police approached those groups, officials say, many tried to run. Police say they found items like bats and hammers on those they arrested.

The NYPD is reporting 280 arrests.

And some of those arrests occurred on Astor Place and St. Mark's Place, as the NYPD rounded up protestors, and people using the protests as cover, out past the designated 8 p.m. curfew, which is in effect through Sunday. Journalist Bucky Turco reported what he saw via Twitter...

Astor Place Starbucks pic.twitter.com/sAgYxth0nS

— Bucky Turco (@buckyturco) June 3, 2020

Police move in to make arrests on Bowery/St. Mark’s-Astor Place, beat protester with their night sticks. pic.twitter.com/8rilIYV31p

— Bucky Turco (@buckyturco) June 3, 2020

During a short walk through the neighborhood this morning, we didn't spot any signs of break ins or damaged storefronts ... outside of the AP Starbucks...