A look at Everythings Fine (fine!) Vintage at the Market Line

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Everythings Fine Vintage is in pop-up mode for this holiday season at the Market Line, the marketplace below the Essex Market. 

Selina Gladys (below) and Kacie Shea Ryan started the business from an East Village living room during the pandemic.

Here's a look around the space, which showcases 35-plus local and small-maker brands.

Everythings Fine Vintage is open Wednesdays-Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Dec. 17.

You can follow them at Instagram here.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Eden 

Getting into the Christmas spirit early this season... right to the curb on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

6 posts from November

A mini month in review... (with a mural on Bleecker and the Bowery by @miki__mu)... 

• More asylum seekers are lining up for help at the former St. Brigid School in the East Village (Nov. 29)

• At the grand opening of El Rinconcito on Avenue C (Nov. 20) 

• 19-year-old worker killed by father in construction accident on 1st Avenue and 7th Street (Nov. 17) 

• The unhoused residents living on 9th Street and 1st Avenue (Nov. 17) 

• Flaco continues East Village tour (Nov. 11)

 

• A new era begins for Downtown Burritos Cocina Mexicana on 1st Avenue (Nov. 6)

Moving Day

Strange men knock 

Jostle 

Blue padded mats 

Leave the shelving

Wrap the sofa 

Take the sconce away 

Away away with Apollo 

That sconce is a witness 

Lighting on my loves 

Wrestle it to the street 

Disembowel it 

Give me your honorable word 

When the shredder's done. 

Donald Davis of East Village Books 

From the bookstore's Poetry Window

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

'Tis the seasons at Saifee Hardware on Seventh Street and First Avenue...

More asylum seekers are lining up for help at the former St. Brigid School in the East Village

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Note: Faces of the asylum seekers have been blurred 

The former St. Brigid School is seeing an overwhelming number of asylum seekers this week here on Seventh Street and Avenue B. 

The site is being used for "reticketing" services ... which help provide transportation to asylum seekers bussed to NYC but whose final destination is elsewhere.

In recent weeks, up to 150 people — all adult males, no children — come through the site on a given day. On Monday, more than 650 were at the former school, which is not offering beds or shelter now. 

On Monday, the volunteer-run East Village Loves NYC handed out 275-plus Halal meals to the men waiting outside. Below are Sasha Allenby and Mammad Mahmoodi from EV Loves NYC...

Most of these asylum seekers reported they were hungry and had no food. They also said they had been removed from other shelters after 30 days and hoped to find another respite center to await a final destination in the States. (Mayor Adams has limited the amount of time adult migrants can stay in city shelters to 30 days.) 

While I was there, some people chose to go to respite centers at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens or at JFK, and one person was reticketed to Albany.

Most people waiting in recent days would not be able to be processed. They will most likely return to Bathgate, in the Bronx, where asylum seekers can sleep on the floor indoors before trying their luck again another day. 

On Monday, there was a heavy NYPD presence with barricades erected to help manage the crowd. Staff from the Office of Emergency Management handed out mylar blankets. The site had prepackaged sandwiches and bottles of water inside, plus what looked like cans of tuna and some snacks.

A few local businesses have reached out about doing a distribution. However, working with the city is exceedingly difficult. I can't stress that enough.

Some asylum seekers were spotted sleeping in Tompkins Square Park and nearby curbside dining structures as temps hovered in the high 20s Monday night.

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo by Steven 

The Mudspot Family Christmas Wreath went up outside the cafe at 307 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Meanwhile, the usual holiday lights aren't expected on this block this year... word is the lighting company wanted to charge too much — more than the store owners could reasonably pay...

Winter Flowers on this November day

Photo by Daniel Efram

Spotted Rolando Politi today tending to his Winter Flowers along Avenue C at Ninth Street.

Rolando created these unique, brightly colored sculptures from discarded materials in 2000, and displayed them here along La Plaza Cultural, the community garden on this SW corner.

A public meeting (tonight) about the pending closure of Mount Sinai Beth Israel on 1st Avenue

EVG file photo by Stacie Joy 

Mount Sinai officials are hosting a public forum tonight on the proposed closure of the Mount Sinai Beth Israel 16th Street campus on First Avenue. 

As previously reported, there's a pending July 12, 2024, closing date on the books. Last month, officials reportedly notified state regulators — who must sign off on their plans — of their request to shutter the 799-bed teaching hospital. 

Per the meeting flyer (which we only just received): 

Mount Sinai Beth Israel executives will discuss the plans for Downtown, the timeline on closure, and how Mount Sinai will continue to address the needs of the community now and in the future. After the presentation, there will be a Q&A open to the public.

Tonight's meeting (6-8) is inside Baruch College's Engleman Hall, at 55 Lexington Ave. at 25th Street. 

The news of the closure here drew immediate criticism from health advocates and elected officials, who say downtown Manhattan is underserved and emergency response times are already high. 

Per the Times from Nov. 3: 

The closure would mean longer ambulance rides and wait times for some downtown residents having strokes and heart attacks, nurses who work at the hospital said. And it will most likely lead to overcrowding and longer wait times in emergency rooms at hospitals farther uptown.

Openings: Rakka on 1st Avenue

Photo by Steven 

Rakka debuted last week before the holiday at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

As we mentioned earlier in the month, this is a return for the quick-serve Middle-Eastern restaurant that had outposts on St. Mark's Place and Avenue B. 

Rakka continues to serve some staples, including falafel ($6.50) and chicken shawarma ($8.75) sandwiches. 

There are two tables here... otherwise, it's a primarily to-go operation. 

Daily hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Blank Street is down to 1 East Village location

Photo by Steven

The Blank Street outpost on Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street closed earlier this month.

After an expansion tear, the V.C.-funded coffee chain launched in 2020 has closed two of three East Village locations (not including the kiosk in the Bowery Market). The space on First Avenue at 13th Street closed to the public in May and is now a "training + innovation lab."

The Blank Coffee on Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street remains in service.

As previously noted, not everyone is a fan of the company. Per the Times last year: "When word got out that Blank Street is not an independent chain like Variety or Bean & Bean, but an enterprise with global ambitions backed by private equity financing, many became curious — and sometimes suspicious."

Across the Atlantic, Blank Street opened in London last year and is debuting its first shop in Manchester next month.

Don Ceviche debuts today on 1st Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After some friends-and-family meals, Don Ceviche debuts today at 57 First Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street. 

Owner Lenin Costas said that the Peruvian restaurant will be open daily for lunch (with lunch specials, see below) and dinner...

You can find the website and menu here. 

Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with an 11 p.m. close Friday and Saturday.

Don Ceviche also has an outpost at the Essex Market. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

Inside Don Ceviche, opening soon on 1st Avenue

Liftonic bringing group weight training classes to this 2nd Avenue condoplex space

Liftonic is opening a studio at 24 Second Ave., the newish condoplex on the NE corner of First Street.

Window signage is on display for the gym that offers group weight training classes starting here in January...

The retail space has seen a variety of pop-up concepts in the past few years.

This corner parcel was previously a BP station, closing in 2014.

Updated: Tako is safe!

Updated! 

Tako was found safe, if not a little shaken, early Sunday evening in Seward Park. Some kind-hearted community members there took her in... and helped reunite Tako and family.

Takoyaki, a 50-pound pitbull mix with large spots on a white body, went missing this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park. 

Her owners say that she is easily frightened...