La Cabra opening a Scandinavian coffee roastery and sourdough bakery on 2nd Avenue

Signage is up now in the window of a retail space at 152 Second Ave. for La Cabra, which will bring a Scandinavian coffee roastery and sourdough bakery to this space between Ninth Street and 10th Street...

Per an Instagram post via @lacabra.nyc:

We are revisiting this city sooner than we expected. Back in February, we signed a contract for a beautiful location in East Village and our first location will be an open and beautiful sourdough bakery combined with a coffee bar. 

We recently started the renovations and together with our local partner we look forward to welcoming you this summer with bright coffees, sourdough bread and handmade pastries.

The previous tenant here, Pure Green, which sold cold-pressed juices, smoothies and açaí bowls, closed in early 2020. They had several roommates — Wattle Cafe, Greecologies, PlantMade and the I.V. Doc — dating back to their opening in March 2017.

Thanks to Steven for the photo and tip!

Openings: Burrata Pizza on Avenue A, Sal's Pizza II on 14th Street

Burrata Pizza has debuted at 221 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street. 

As previously reported, this pizzeria is taking the place of Muzzarella Pizza (1991-2020). 

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. You can find a menu, which includes salads and paninis, at GrubHub. 

... and New York Sal's Pizza II recently opened at 536 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. The deal signage on the sidewalk offers two slices and a soda for $6.

The hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

This is a sibling to the New York Sal's Pizza up on 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen.

Anyone try either pizzeria? EVG regular Edmund John Dunn liked his slice from Burrata.

Gong Cha debuts on St. Mark's Place

The new Gong Cha outpost has officially opened at 27 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

This is the ninth Manhattan outpost for Gong Cha, which describes itself as "one of the most recognized bubble tea brands around the world" ... which got its start in 2006 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

This block of St. Mark's has seen a variety of bubble tea come and go through the recent years... some still in business (Kung Fu Tea right across the street).... and some not (Mi Tea). And there's more on the way for the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

This storefront had been vacant since Lab -320° closed in late 2016 after six months of selling ice cream. The previous longtime tenant here, The Sock Man, closed in January 2016 after a reported rent hike via (now former) landlord Raphael Toledano. 

Sock Man owner Marty Rosen later opened a new location at 99 1/2 St. Mark's Place ... where he remains today.

Added:

There was previously a Gong Cha location on 14th Street. 

Photo by Steven

I say love, it is a flower

An EVG reader shared these photos from Fourth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue today ...

Headline H/T

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg) ...

 • City tries again with release of a Value Engineering Study for East River Park (Thursday) 

• Barnyard Cheese Shop returns; Brix Wines moves a storefront away (Monday) 

• Packing up the last of The Pyramid Club (Thursday) 

• At the first East Village Flea of 2021 (Tuesday) 

  A look at Full Tank Moto Cafe, now open on Monroe Street (Tuesday) 

• Easter in Tompkins Square Park (Monday) 

• Reopenings: Indochine, Kindred and Van Da (Wednesday) 

• This week's Gallery Watch looks at "There's the Air" by Clare Grill at Derek Eller Gallery (Friday)

• Halftime at NY See (Thursday) 

• Fresco will not be reopening at 138 2nd Ave. (Tuesday)

• "Diamonds, Razors & Champagne" debuts at 3rd & B’Zaar (Friday) 

• Vinny Vincenz Pizza has closed (Monday) 

• This photogenic East Village wisteria now has its own jigsaw puzzle (Tuesday) 

• Doc Holliday's turns 27 while closed during the pandemic; "We will be back" (Wednesday) 

• The Hayaty Hookah Bar space is for rent on Avenue A (Monday) 

• Rendering watch: 650 E. 6th St. (Wednesday) 

• Report of a balcony fire on 7th Street (Sunday) 

• 45-47 2nd Ave. has a new owner (Thursday) 

• Back to the 1980s (again) for "Russian Doll" (Friday)

• Partial reveal at the 101 Condominium (Monday)

... and William Klayer spotted DJ Mike Márquez at 7 a.m. for an early Twitch live stream in East River Park by the fogged-in Williamsburg Bridge...

---

Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

Vinnie is missing [UPDATED: Vinnie is home safe]

Per the flyer:

Vinnie, very beloved, very friendly, and very dumb, not sure he knows his name but responds to treat-shaking. Gray and white striped. Wearing collar/nametag, microchipped. Probably got over wall to East 2nd Street cemetery or East 3rd Street backyards. Reward!!! 917-446-8822. Missing since late Saturday night, 4/10/21. 

Updated noon:

Vinnie is safe and sound now and hanging out in the living room...

Sunday's opening shot

Dense fog advisory until 10 a.m.! 

Thanks to Jeanne Krier for this photo, which includes the Con Ed Building on 14th Street to the left...

Saturday's parting shot

Thanks to EVG reader Doug for this photo on Stuyvesant Street at 10th Street...

A presentation of work by Ed Shostak/Rose Royale

An EVG reader just made me aware of this exhibit: Ed Shostak/Rose Royale: A Queer Perspective From Postminimalism to Social Practice, Selected Works: 1963 – 2020. 

Shostak, a longtime East Village resident, died on April 8, 2020, from complications due to COVID-19. He was 78. 

Per the reader: "He was an artist stemming from the Warhol Factory. We didn't know to what extent until after he died and his loft on Houston and Avenue A was chock-full of work and over 3,000 photos chronicling EV nightlife."

The exhibit, at the David Richard Gallery, 211 E. 121st St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, is only up through Friday. However, this is the first of several planned shows here to feature Shostak's work. 

Here's more via the gallery's site: 

It is unusual to uncover an artist of his pedigree for which so little is publicly known after establishing himself amidst the visual arts most notable institutions. Shostak cloistered himself in his downtown loft relentlessly working and opting for a less mainstream practice. This exhibition is the first look at many of his late works.

For those who are interested in reconsidering the parallel arcs of art history, examining and expanding the boundaries of the established canon of Post War art, Shostak's work will be a revelation. His work addressed so many of the known formal and conceptual concerns from that period, but through a queer lens. 

Eventually, he abandoned convention, favoring a more expansive view of the possibilities that an artist's practice could include by embracing a queer social practice and advocacy for the transgender community.

This presentation is not a retrospective of his artwork but is comprised of completed sculptural works, drawings, studies, performance, documentary images and films to illustrate and map two key aspects and threads of continuity throughout Ed Shostak's artistic career and life. 

While the imagery may have changed over the decades, the exhibition is organized to map these threads regardless of the subject matter, form or media. In fact, it becomes apparent that his personal life and art practice were inextricable — one and the same — and ultimately, the artist became both the subject and the art. 

Shostak had gone full circle from his childhood performances in the family living room to navigating the art world as a gay man and then to activism and politics to become not only his alter ego, but to be himself— transgender.

The gallery's hours: Wednesday-Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.  You can view some of the selected works and watch videos with curators Isaac Aden and David Eichholtz at this link.

How to download this Stop Asian Hate poster

Dragon76 recently painted this Stop Asian Hate mural on Chrystie and Hester (75 Chrystie St.) on the Lower East Side. 

East Village Walls, who sponsored this work, has teamed up with the artist to make free digital prints available to download via this Dropbox link. 

A free print was also going to be available today (4/10) at BAMBŪ at 124 Hester St. while supplies last. 

Per East Village Walls: 

Display it, share it, protest with it.

Be the change. Be the voice. Be active.

Do more.

We can all make a difference because it's time to stop the hate.

Awareness, Solidarity, Action.

The Welcome to Chinatown site has more information on ways to help businesses in this neighborhood. Think!Chinatown is another good resource. 

Photo by @elliephantdreams via @EastVillageWalls

Nurse Dolly

Dolly Parton reimagined as the cover nurse on blink-182's "Enema of the State" album for the COVID-19 era ... wheatpaste by SacSix as seen outside 7 Avenue A.

Friday's parting shot

Have a good weekend. And Merry Christmas. 

Photo on First Avenue and Sixth Street today by Goggla.

Details about a day of 'Free Fashion' tomorrow

The folks behind the Lexus Flea are hosting a clothing swap tomorrow (Saturday!) afternoon at Lucky, the bar at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street.

It's being billed as "a day of free fashion." Drop some clothes off, and take some with you. There is a one-drink minimum at the bar.

7th Street freeze-out

 

The Acute, the East Village-based duo, released a new video a few weeks back ... check out "NYLA" (and enjoy some winter flashbacks on Seventh Street!) ... you can find the band on Instagram here ... and Bandcamp here... hopefully we'll see them live in Tompkins Square Park one of these days...