Saturday's opening shot

By Stacie Joy 

The Sock Man — aka Marty Rosen, pictured here — officially kicked off the shop's 40th anniversary yesterday at 99 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Some giveaways and stuff are going on at the store this month. (Details are on The Sock Man Instagram account.)

The shop has been at this storefront since November 2016... a rent increase forced him to close his longtime outpost at 27 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

The Sock Man opens daily at noon, with an 8 p.m. close during the week and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (and 9 p.m. on Sunday). 

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As you may have read/seen, today is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. 

In the photo, local artist Danny Cortes shows off his tribute at the CLLCTV at Third Street and Avenue B 

And 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx was considered the birthplace of hip-hop. Per Gothamist today:

On Aug. 11, 1973, Cindy Campbell and her brother DJ Kool Herc threw a back-to-school party in the recreation room of this multistory apartment building. Herc figured out how to find the most danceable parts of songs and extend them by playing the same record on two turntables and repeating the sample. Over 300 people showed up to the party, and the building soon became known as where hip-hop was born.

Stop, look and listen

 

Annie Hart, a member of the under-appreciated Brooklyn-based Au Revoir Simone, just released her fourth solo album, The Weight of a Wave.

The above video, in which Hart does a Yvonne Rainer-inspired dance, is for the Instagram-era single "Stop Staring at You."

And you can see her live on Aug. 18 at TV Eye in Brooklyn. 

Get a little of the old Essex Card Shop at the new Essex Card Shop

Top photo by Stacie Joy

Essex Card Shop, 47 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street, recently unveiled some new merch in the form of an Essex Card Shop t-shirt ... in which owner Muhammad Aslam was happy to model for us.

The t-shirt ($24.99) features an illustration by Joel Holland showing the shop's signage when it was one block to the south at 39 Avenue A. (A local news site declared this "one of the neighborhood's greatest business signs.")

It's a quality t-shirt and an easy way to support the shop, which reopened last September after a devastating fire. 

And check out Joel Holland's book of classic NYC storefronts here.

Early this morning in Tompkins Square Dark

EVG reader Joe shared these photo of Tompkins Square Park at first light this morning. As you can see, the lights are off inside the Park...

As we reported on Monday, the lights were out overnight in the Park from Thursday through Saturday, with a return on Sunday night. 

Meanwhile, some parkgoers noted that the lights were on during the day. Here's what happened. According to Parks employees, the timer on the lights was set incorrectly. They were supposed to come on at 7 p.m.; instead, they switched on at 7 a.m. and off at 7 p.m. 

We were told on Monday that workers adjusted them to being on 24/7, but hope to have them switched to the correct timer cycle. Apparently not!

Openings: Memphis Seoul on 1st Avenue

Photo by Steven

Memphis Seoul debuted on Wednesday here at 123 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

The quick-serve establishment describes it as "Southern cookin' with a Korean kick!" ... offering the comfort food of the South with the spices and sauces familiar to Korean food. So expect items like ramen mac n' cheese, bulgogi meatloaf and Korean cornbread. Find the menu here.

Founder Bart Hubbuch opened the first Memphis Seoul in Crown Heights. 

Per Grub Street: "Originally from Dallas, Hubbuch was a career sportswriter who’d spent 27 in the business before getting fired from the New York Post for a tweet about Donald Trump winning the 2016 presidential election." 

Grub Street also states that "Hubbuch had always been a home cook... and had long been interested in running his own business." 

Current hours: 

Monday-Thursday: 5-9 p.m., with a 10 p.m. close on Friday... and on Saturday-Sunday: noon-9 p.m.

Previously 

First sign of El Primo Red Tacos on Avenue A

Photos by Steven

Taco signage went up yesterday at 151 Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street ... where the first NYC outpost of Miami-based pop-up hit El Primo Red Tacos is expected to open early next month. (Sept. 7, per Google.)

As the name suggests, El Primo specializes in "red tacos," which Eater Miami describes as "birria tacos dipped in a soup-like liquid that gives them a red glow." 

And more from Eater:

El Primo "focuses only on birria, a slow beef shoulder cooked in a “red” stew made with tomatoes and seasonings. The chefs then fill tacos with the beef, which also stains the tortilla giving them that red color, and then serves it with a side of broth made with the birria cooking liquid to dip the tacos in."

Reps for owner Frank Neri appeared before CB3 for a liquor license last August... there were concerns about full liquor here and the use of the backyard space. We're not sure where everyone eventually landed on this.

This north storefront at 151 Avenue A has been vacant since Mamani Pizza, a 99-cent slice joint, closed in June 2017. (Because someone will mention it: San Loco was in the south storefront at No. 151 until February 2014.) 

Updated:

Previously

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

The team at Ludlow Garage this afternoon right before the rain... located on Attorney between Houston and Stanton (since 1981) ...

A fundraiser for La Plaza Cultural, and a new era for Pinc Louds

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

You are invited to visit La Plaza Cultural late Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. for a fundraiser for the community garden's new solar pavilion. 

The event includes a solo set by the lead singer of Pinc Louds and singer-songwriter K. Porcelain. Attendees can donate to the pavilion. (Read more about the project here.) 

Meanwhile, in a Instagram post last weekend, the driving force behind Pinc Louds made a heartfelt announcement starting with "the wig is off..." 

Over seven years ago, I created a look and voice that allowed me to be more extroverted, vulnerable and honest while performing. It helped me be brave enough to go into the subway stations and wail my soul at millions of strangers every day.

I am so grateful that this side of me was able to blossom through this "persona," this extension of myself… It led me to so many magical adventures and to meet so many beautiful humans… But I was wearing an armor. I wasn't letting people in completely. I would see some of these same people on the street when I wasn't performing, and since they wouldn't recognize me, I would pretend not to know them either. 

One of these humans — a very beautiful bright light in Tompkins Square Park — died earlier this year, and I decided I don't want to keep wearing this armor anymore. In the beginning, it freed me, but recently it's just been crushing me. 

At shows, I've always urged the audience to be more human, to make true connections, "talk to your neighbors…" But you can’t make true connections when you're hiding behind a mask. It's easy to be honest and vulnerable when no one knows who you really are. I'm going to try and give it a shot, this time without the armor. Hopefully, I can. Hopefully, you'll accept that. 

I’m excited about this next chapter. It's going to be scary. And weird. And intense and fun. But above all, it's going to be true. 

My name is Federico… but you can still call me Claudi. Claudi was never a "character." She has always been a side of me. And this side of me is and will remain the essence of Pinc Louds. 

And here is Federico in East River Park on Saturday, photographed by EVG's Stacie Joy...

And you may have seen Federico in recent weeks as he has returned to busking, such as in Tompkins Square Park on July 31 (photo below by Derek Berg)...

While the band formed in 2015, Pinc Louds came to prominence during the pandemic summer of 2020, when its brand of quirky cheerfulness gave COVID-weary residents a much-needed dose of joyfulness with socially-distant live shows that could feature a hopscotch contest or a movement meditation trash outing by Dance to the People depending on the afternoon.

You never knew exactly what you might get with an impromptu show, but it was always a lot of fun. We know that spirit will continue on with the work Federico and Pinc Louds create. 

The Whiskey Ward set to close next month on Essex Street

On the Lower East Side, the Whiskey Ward will close in the middle of September — three months shy of its 24th anniversary, according to co-owner Sandee Wright.

As for a reason for the closure, Sandee said simply in an Instagram message that "it's time."

The no-frills neighborhood bar with a pool table, free peanuts, and an extensive menu of whiskeys has been a solid, low-key hangout through the years at 121 Essex between Rivington and Delancey. They will be missed.  

At the O'Flaherty's Café, come for the art, stay for the chicken fingers

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

There's something new cooking at O'Flaherty's, the gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A and Third Street.

Starting this evening, you can partake in the new café (The Café) concept from artist, curator and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani (below right)...

... with a menu that features comfort food (nachos! mac & cheese!), salads (loaded iceberg!), and small bites (chicken fingers!)...

... and some new artwork from seven featured artists to coincide with the food...

At the moment, we're not sure if the exhibit is part of the Café or the other way around. In any event, it should be interesting and crowded, given the previous shows here. 

The opening is tonight from 7-10...

And hereafter... Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 2-7 p.m. Cafe Hours: Thursday-Saturday 5-10 p.m.

A pre-dawn collab with the Moon and the Seven Sisters

Felton Davis of the Second Avenue Star Watchers shared this dispatch early this morning...

Waning crescent Moon and very close by, the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus, high over East Third Street at 4 a.m. on Wednesday. 

All Seven Sisters could clearly be seen, especially if you blocked the glare from the Moon, but only three of them showed up in the photos.

Laundry day at Village View?

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As seen on Fourth Street and Avenue A...

These are longtime food writer Robert Sietsema's 10 favorite East Village meals

Food writer-critic Robert Sietsema, in partial disguise, at the 6th & B Community Garden 

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

I met longtime food writer Robert Sietsema at the 6th & B Community Garden earlier this summer.

While enjoying a simit from C&B Café, Robert tells me about moving to the area. He lived for 13 years on 14th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C starting in 1977 when he paid $150 monthly for a four-room railroad apartment with a toilet in a closet. (It was rumored that Sylvester Stallone may have lived in the tenement building, now a co-op.)

"NYC was aflame when I arrived,"  said Sietsema, originally from Dallas. 

Sietsema was a rock star — or, as he says, a micro-celebrity — for 14 years playing (bass, guitar, keyboards) in Mofungo. 

"If you weren't carrying a guitar around the East Village, there was something wrong with you," he says of the time. 

He also started a rock star food fanzine called Down the Hatch, which focused on under-the-radar spots. 

The Village Voice took note of the zine and offered him a job as a part-time food critic, which soon turned into a full-time gig. 

Sietsema, who currently works at Eater on the NYC beat, considers himself a consumer-focused reality-based food photographer and, in the past, had to pay cash mostly to avoid detection when on the job.

He says he can now use his credit card, as he believes no one cares as much about the reviewer's role, which has been entirely eclipsed by the social media influencer.

An adventurous food consumer, Sietsema admits that he will eat anything, though he doesn't care for brains (although he happily tries other organ meats). 

As we debate where the official borders of the East Village are, I ask him for some of his favorite local dishes: 

• Mushroom barley soup with buttered challah bread from B&H Dairy Kosher, 127 Second Ave.

• Pork katsu don from Beron Beron, 164 First Ave.

• Egg and chorizo sandwich from C&B Café, 178 E. Seventh St. 

• Three mezze with a glass of wine from Café Mogador, 101 St. Mark's Place

• The spicy redneck from Crif Dogs, 113 St. Mark's Place

 • Falafel sandwich from Mamoun’s Falafel, 30 St. Mark's Place

• A bowl of pho from Sao Mai, 203 First Ave.

• Pierogi with sauteed onions from Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen, 33 E. Seventh St.

• The slightly sweet cheese slice at Stromboli, 83 St. Mark's Place

• Potato-filled flautas with salsa verde at Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery, 215 Avenue A 

Sietsema says the East Village is one of the best food neighborhoods in the city and across all socioeconomic levels. 

What’s missing from the local food scene? A good masala dosa. 

You can keep up with Robert on X (formerly Twitter)