Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a pic of St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery from Thursday)...

• Help for the family of Ommatt Cruz, who died Nov. 17 in a construction accident in the East Village (Monday) 

• At the grand opening of El Rinconcito on Avenue C (Monday) 

• RIP Bob Contant (Saturday) 

• Rockwood Music Hall 'getting back to basics,' closing its Stage 2 space (Friday) 

• Watch the video presentation for the 'City of Yes for Economic Opportunity' text amendment (Sunday) 

• Apartment fire temporarily shutters Scarr's Pizza on the Lower East Side (Monday)

• In 2024, Bank of America will be moving on up on 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• The 'Snappy' new show at O'Flaherty's (Friday) 

• Openings: Potenza Centrale on Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Demolition underway on the fire-damaged Middle Church façade (Monday) ... Steeple watch (Tuesday) ... Brick by brick: Historic steeple removed from the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church (Friday) 

• A Thanksgiving Day message to stop throwing eggs on 9th Street (Thursday) 

• Sharaku Japanese Restaurant emerges from plywood frozen in 2020 time (Tuesday) 

• EV trees in the fall (Thursday) 

• Scaffolding and sidewalk bridges coming and going along Avenue A (Friday) 

• Incoming bagel shoppe on a roll with renovations (Monday) 

• Signage alert: Hen House on 1st Avenue (Friday)

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A conversation on the history of drag in NYC

Here's information about an event of potential interest this Wednesday evening (Nov. 29) at 7 p.m.

Via the EVG inbox:

Village Preservation will be joined by journalist, historian, and photographer Elyssa Maxx Goodman to discuss her newly published book, "Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City." Goodman will delve into the meanings of drag, both then and now, its history in the city, its role in the development of the East and West Villages, its sociocultural impact, its future, and more. 

The reading takes place at the Church of the Village, 201 W. 13th St. near Seventh Avenue. RSVP for free here. 

RIP Bob Contant

Bob Contant, a founder of the countercultural St. Mark’s Bookshop in the East Village, who prided himself on stocking titles that were not “too popular” and stayed in business for four decades, died on Nov. 6 at his home in Manhattan. He was 80. https://t.co/uFpbf6K1GR

— NYT Metro (@NYTMetro) November 22, 2023

Bob Contant, co-founder and co-owner of St. Mark's Bookshop, died at his Manhattan home on Nov. 6. Per published reports, he died of cardiac arrest. He was 80. 

According to Shelf Awareness, Contant was born in Rochester, N.Y., and grew up in suburban Washington, D.C. After college, he worked at the Washington Public Library and, after a move to Cambridge, Mass., at two of Harvard's libraries and then at several Harvard Square bookstores.

He came to New York in 1972 and was manager of the old 8th Street Bookshop in Greenwich Village. In 1977, Contant, along with others working at East Side Books — Terry McCoy, Peter Dargis, and Tom Evans — decided to open their own store at 13 St. Mark's Place. St. Mark's Bookshop moved to a larger location, at 12 St. Mark's Place, in 1987 and then in 1993 to a new development by Cooper Union at 31 Third Avenue. 

The store built on its strength in poetry, critical studies, small press literature, and art. But after many years, with a change of board, the school shifted its approach to the bookstore and offered no help when, in the wake of the financial crisis, St. Mark's had trouble paying its $20,000-a-month rent. 

After 38 years at four locations, St. Mark's Bookshop eventually closed for good on Feb. 28, 2016, at a smaller space on 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Adena Siegel, a retired sales representative at Yale University Press, Harvard U Press and MIT Press,  remembered Contant as "a passionate bookseller, principled, enthusiastic, so knowledgeable," per Shelf Awareness.

'Bang' it up

 

Melenas, an indie quartet from Pamplona, Spain, released its fourth record earlier this fall... the video here is for "Bang." 

RIYL: Stereolab.

The 'Snappy' new show at O'Flaherty's

Photos by Stacie Joy

The latest exhibit is up and running at O'Flaherty's, the gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A and Third Street. 

EVG's Stacie Joy stopped by the opening last weekend for Christian Ludwig Attersee's "Snappy Armpits and More." The show features work from the Austrian artist dating to 1965, many pieces never shown before in the United States. (The artist was also present for the opening.)

First up, O'Flaherty's gallerist Billy Grant and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani ...

The exhibit will be here through Jan. 15. Hours Wednesday-Sunday from 2-7 p.m.

Rockwood Music Hall 'getting back to basics,' closing its Stage 2 space

The financially troubled Rockwood Music Hall announced that the venue at 196 Allen St. is "getting back to basics" and closing its Stage 2 space in the complex between Houston and Stanton.

Here's part of the announcement from Wednesday: 

After careful consideration, we've come to the realization that the best way to secure Rockwood's future is by getting back to basics. That means focusing on the heart and soul of our venue, which is the original room: Stage 1, and relinquishing Stage 2. 

Stage 1 is where it all started 19 years ago, it's where Rockwood's reputation was built and what allows us to pursue our mission of creating a community that supports emerging artists. We will be sending off Stage 2 with three nights of The Lone Bellow from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. The Lone Bellow got their start at Rockwood and are celebrating their 10th anniversary ... 

We offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the campaign to save this NYC cultural institution. Because of you, Rockwood can continue to provide a space in NYC where artists launch & grow their careers and where unforgettable musical moments are made.

Stage 2 opened in 2010 and was the larger space with a 175-person capacity. (Stage 1 holds 50 people.)

In June, the indie venue launched a GoFundMe (which raised $124,670) to help stay open after financial difficulties during the pandemic. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles also launched a #PreserveRockwood benefit concert series.

According to reports, the club closed two other venues in the Rockwood Music Hall complex, Stage 3, and its bar space earlier this year. 

Signage alert: Hen House on 1st Avenue

Photo by William Klayer

Signage for Hen House NYC went up on Wednesday here at 120 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

Owner-chef Antony Nassif's quick-serve spot has been in soft-open mode serving Lebanese shawarmas, pita sandwiches and platters (menu here).

Nassif launched the business at Smorgasburg and also has a stand at the Barclays Center for the first half of the Nets season. 

If you're on Instagram, you can follow Hen House here.

The retail space at 120 was previously Raíz Modern Mexican, the plant-based, fast-casual restaurant that closed over the summer. 

Scaffolding and sidewalk bridges coming and going along Avenue A

Because many people have pointed this out... on Tuesday, workers removed the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge from around the building on the SW corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street.

... and on the corner building at Second Street and Avenue A... where there are now floating tags on that south-facing wall where the scaffolding was ...

Workers had been doing roofing and façade-repair work for the past five months. 

The Petopia on the corner remains closed for emergency repairs (courtesy of the construction). 

While the sidewalk bridge is gone from the corner... workers have been extending it along Avenue A outside the city-owned First Houses between Second Street and Third Street.

Brick by brick: Historic steeple removed from the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church

A photo from yesterday morning shows that workers have whittled down the steeple at the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church façade on Second Avenue at Seventh Street. (Thank you to everyone who shared photos — there seems to be a lot of interest in this.)

Demolition got underway on Monday... with attention focused on the steeple starting on Tuesday. 

The steeple housed the church's historic Liberty Bell, which was preserved and is temporarily at the New York Historical Society.

Work is expected to last up to three months here... with a new sanctuary rising again someday for Middle Collegiate.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Workers prepping to remove the remains of the fire-damaged façade at Middle Collegiate Church

• The remaining structure of the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church will be demolished

A Thanksgiving Day message to stop throwing eggs on 9th Street

Photo by William Klayer 

Spotted on Ninth Street and First Avenue... 

Happy Thanksgiving

Are you throwing eggs at the people in the encampment, or do you know who is? Please ask them to stop. 

Likewise, whoever has been throwing eggs at buildings 400, 402, 404, 406... please stop.

Fall classics

Scenes of fall from around the neighborhood over the past six weeks.. starting and ending in Tompkins Square Park...

Thursday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy

Happy Thanksgiving from Key Food... where Green Pigeon Peas are aplenty... (BTW: Should you need anything, the grocer on Avenue A and Fourth is open 24/7 per usual)...

Wedneday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Chair art on the NE corner of Avenue A and Fifth Street...

EVG Etc.: Veselka continues its support of Ukraine; CBGB memories 50 years later

Reader-submitted EV skyline pic

• Perspectives on NYC's budget crisis (The City) 

• Veselka has raised more than $400,000 to support humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine ... and has employed former Ukraine residents who came to the U.S. (NY1) 

• Teen arrested in fatal stabbing of an unhoused man in Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side (Daily News ... ABC-7) 

• A look at the Fair Housing Framework, the affordable housing legislation passed earlier this month by City Council (City Limits) 

• Support for Mayor Adams is sinking amid federal investigation, poll shows (Gothamist) 

• If you want to speak out against having a 32-foot 5G tower on Seventh Street and Avenue B (Village Preservation) 

• Kushner Companies sold a multifamily property at 504-508 E. 12th St. for $19.5 million. An entity controlled by Sabet Group bought the 50-unit property (The Real Deal) 

• This Broadway building owner takes retail landlord to court ... 1 Great Jones Alley located on Broadway near Fourth Street (Habitat) 

• A look at the slate of films featured in the month-long World Cinema Project courtesy of Martin Scorsese and others! (Anthology Film Archives) 

• A new exhibit at Brooklyn Museum, Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines, includes REBEL FUX by longtime East Village resident Kate Huh (Official site) 

• A quick review of Kolachi on 1st Avenue (The Infatuation... previously on EVG) 

• Rice to Riches is opening on Ludlow and Rivington (Eater) 

• Ex-Rolling Stone Press director Jonathan Wells recalls his first visit to CBGB (Reader's Digest) 

• Street closures and info about the Thanksgiving Day Parade (NY1)