Monday's parting shot

Thanks to Rainer Turim for this still life today in Tompkins Square Park... where the rain from Tropical Storm Henri flooded the area to the east of the main lawn. 

Click on the image for more detail!

More details on the East 7th Street fire victims seeking help from their former landlord

As previously reported a few weeks back, the longtime tenants of 48 E. Seventh St., destroyed in a six-alarm fire last December, are "seeking basic decency" from the building's landlord, acclaimed futurist Faith Popcorn. 

The Post has some new information on the story. 

[T]wo of Popcorn's tenants, mother and daughter Zwenyslawa and Chrysanna Woroch, are living in a former hotel turned homeless shelter, their lawyer, James Fishman, said.

"They had no place else to go," Fishman said.

The Worochs paid $617 a month for their rent-controlled apartment, which had been in the family since 1957.

The pair filed suit in April against Popcorn's LLC, which owned the property, seeking to have Popcorn, or a subsequent owner, "take any and all actions necessary" to restore their occupancy of the apartment and maintain their rent-regulated status.

Popcorn argued in legal papers that since there is no building, she had no obligation to do so. 

"If that were true, then any landlord that wanted to terminate rent-controlled or rent-stabilized tenancies could just simply allow the building to either be burned down or not repair it or whatever," Fishman said. "That can't be right."

The insurance company for four other tenants is also suing Popcorn's LLC for $186,301 in damages, the Post reported.

The misery for the tenants started in February 2020 when a fire displaced the building's residents. No. 48, which included retail tenants Via Della Pace and Cafe Mocha and eight apartments, was under renovation this past fall and was vacant at the time of the December fire, which also destroyed the Middle Collegiate Church next door.  

The FDNY previously said that faulty electrical wiring was to blame for both fires. Workers demolished the building on Dec. 7. 

According to legal documents cited by the Post, tenants were offered $200,000 each to give up their rights to their apartments in early December. 

Photo today by Steven

Duane Reade, fully visible again on Avenue B

After what seems like years, workers have finally removed the sidewalk bridge from outside the Duane Reade on Avenue B and Second Street... crews had been working on the apartment complex here called The Villager. (Onetime home The Gas Station, aka Art Gallery Space 2B!) 

Thanks to Stacie Joy for the pic!

Ray gets his day on Humans of New York

Photo from early 2020 by Peter Brownscombe

Brandon Stanton at Humans of New York has been featuring several East Village business owners of late (Mary O's ... Dress Shoppe II ... Mikey Likes It ... McSorley's).

And now ... one that doesn't need any introduction: Ray at Ray's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A...

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A post shared by Humans of New York (@humansofny)

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A post shared by Humans of New York (@humansofny)

[Updated] Flooding seen in Tompkins Square Park

The ongoing deluge from Tropical Storm Henri has flooded the east side of the main lawn of Tompkins Square Park ... Steven shared these photos from late this afternoon...

No sign of marine life just yet. Rain is expected to continue tonight. A flash-flood warning is in effect until 8:45 p.m. 

Updated 8/23

Via Steven, here's a Monday morning look at the water ... which still appears level to yesterday... 

The sun returns tomorrow for four straight 90-plus days... 

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo from Tompkins Square Park by Steven) ... 

• ICYMI: Proof of vaccination now required for restaurants, bars, theaters and more (Wednesday) 

• Report: Madison Realty Capital moving to foreclose on leasehold for 3 St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• The NYPD is collecting donations for earthquake victims in Haiti (Monday) 

• Good news-bad news about the water-main work on 7th Street and 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• Animal collective: Pillow-Cat Books coming to 9th Street (Monday) 

• Spellbound: Spooksvilla + Friends moving to 309 E. 9th St. (Thursday) 

• Kestrel maneuvers to rescue this fledging along Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Report: Superiority Burger moving into the former Odessa space on Avenue A (Friday)

• Cure Thrift Shop opening later this month in new space on 3rd Avenue (Monday) 

• In the midnight hour, East Berlin will start a weekly film series (Tuesday) 

• Last weekend for Tea Drunk on 7th Street (Friday) 

• Express yourself: A look at the new FedEx space on Houston (Friday) 

• The expanding and shrinking pedestrian passage on St. Mark's Place at 3rd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Stuyvesant Deli Grocery debuts on 14th and A (Wednesday) 

• Rakka Cafe has not been open lately (Wednesday) 

• Where are they now? Catching up with Gem Spa's former Zoltar in Bushwick (Thursday) 

• Like a diversion: Former local resident celebrates a birthday (Monday)

And we've seen signage on storefronts around the neighborhood as businesses take a late-summer break...

At East Village Buyers at 150 E. Third St., the temp closure note includes an apology, to which someone responded: "It's okay. We understand." (Thanks to Stacie Joy for the pics!)

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

The Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket is CLOSED today

The arrival of Tropical Storm Henri has prompted the citywide cancellation of the Greenmarkets today... including at Tompkins Square Park. 

H/T Steven

With Henri approaching, Key Food still stocked with the essentials

With Tropical Storm Henri on the way, we wondered what Key Food might be like this evening on Avenue A. (Through the years the grocery has been picked over ahead of a storm.) 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by to check in on essential items... the shelves were well-stocked... Milk! Eggs! Bread! Beer!

And the music was topical as well... Stacie heard Blind Melon's "No Rain" while there... a choice that inspired a sing-along in the snacks aisle...

Today in photos of random trophies in Tompkins Square Park

Congratulations! (For something.) Your hardwork really paid off!

Thanks to Grant Shaffer for the photos...

Regarding Henri

We're officially on storm watch, as this random photo from First Avenue and Sixth Street doesn't really show. 

As of 11 a.m., Henri is now a hurricane, and warnings have been issued for parts of Long Island, Connecticut and Rhode Island...

#Henri has strengthened to a hurricane and is headed for Long Island and southern New England. Hurricane and Tropical Storm Warnings have been extended eastward. Here are the 11 am EDT Key Messages. See https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB for details. pic.twitter.com/lRb61AnHaj

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 21, 2021

In NYC, we're under a tropical storm warning... with strong winds and heavy rains arriving overnight...

We are continuing to monitor Tropical Storm Henri. Here’s the latest:

-New York City is under a Tropical Storm Warning. We expect strong winds and rain to begin late tonight and last through tomorrow.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) August 21, 2021

Gothamist has a nice recap of all this here. 

Headline H/T

Watching the neighborhood like a hawk

From near the top of Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... Christo and Amelia take a moment to spend some sunset time together away from their Tompkins Square Park home.

Goggla spotted the Park's resident red-tailed hawks here on Thursday evening ... watching over the land like hawks...

As Goggla documented, it was a challenging summer for the pair.

Two of their three offspring did not make it this year. Thankfully the surviving juvenile is doing well, hunting rats and trying to beat the heat. 

Per Goggla in an email: "They seem like a couple who has sent their kid off to college, and they're now kicking back, waiting for whatever is next."

HBD Joe Strummer

HBD Joe Stummer, born on this date in 1952. 

Mural by Dr. Revolt and Zephyr in 2003 ... and as seen outside Niagara this morning on Seventh Street at Avenue A. 

Now enjoy this clip of Strummer playing with the Mescaleros on Letterman in October 2001...

 

Friday's parting DM

Any sightings? 🤔 

Updated 8/21

A reader shared this from the @stoopingnyc Stories feed... apparently, the ostrich emu wasn't doing much running in its stuffed state...

Case closed! 🕵️‍♂️

And another view via @aczar ...

Updated 10:38 a.m. 

THE PLOT THICKENS!

The Emu(?) was around all day yesterday but disappeared overnight. I’m intrigued by the fact the it started the day with a Santa hat though. pic.twitter.com/gSWPefjPJ5

— Richard Frank (@Thtguyrich) August 21, 2021

Pace yourself

 

Parquet Courts this week announced details about their new album, Sympathy For Life, due out in October. Read more about that here. 

The first single from the Brooklyn-based band's forthcoming record is "Walking at a Downtown Pace" ... as seen in the above video.