Saturday, February 17, 2024
Saturday's opening shot
Friday, February 16, 2024
Friday's parting anniversary shot
There's live music today through Sunday... with cake from newbie Veniero's on 11th Street, which is only 130 years old.
Per the McSorley's Instagram account: "We look forward to seeing all of you. Stay well and 'Be Good.'"
Photo via @NYCGO
'Stuck' in a groove
NYC's dream-pop duo Phantom Handshakes is just one of the bands playing this year's New Colossus Festival in several LES-EV music venues. Check out the lineup for the festival, March 6-10, right here.
The above video is for "Stuck in a Fantasy."
P.S.
Phantom Handshakes play Arlene's Grocery on March 8 at 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Boris & Horton, NYC's first dog-friendly cafe, announces the 'devastating' decision to close on Feb. 26
Photo by Claire Esparros via the Boris & Horton website
Updated 2/28: The cafe will remain open. Read more about it here.
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After six years anchoring the NW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street, Boris & Horton, the city's first dog-friendly cafe, announced today that it was closing effective Feb. 26.
The notice came via Instagram from daughter-father co-owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman... the brand is also closing the newer Williamsburg location...
Ownership did not offer a specific reason behind the closings and said they were opting to "celebrate the great times we've had as New York's first dog-friendly cafe."
For the next 11 days, Boris & Horton will sell merchandise and fixtures "at a deep discount."
Later in 2018, Boris & Horton expanded its footprint in the building along Avenue A.
News of the closing shocked regulars, with the Instagram post prompting hundreds of comments in less than 20 minutes.
Source: DA's office mulling charges against tow truck driver in the death of longtime East Village resident Merle Ratner
Photo by EVG
Reporting by Stacie Joy
Charges are pending against the tow truck driver who struck and killed a longtime East Village resident on Feb. 5 while crossing 10th Street at Avenue C.
NYPD sources told us that the incident remains under investigation, stating that the DA's office "is still going back and forth on it if they want to prosecute or not. The NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad thinks they might make an arrest."
When asked about the possible charges, the NYPD source stated, "That's what the ADA is going back and forth with. I don't think they are sure themselves, and that's probably why it's taking [so] long."
According to police and media reports, Merle Ratner was crossing 10th Street at Avenue C with the light at 7 p.m. to visit a friend when she was struck and killed by the driver of the tow truck who was traveling south on Avenue C before turning left onto 10th Street.
Police said Ratner, 67, died at the scene.
According to police and media reports, the 59-year-old driver of the tow truck, owned by Timmy's Automotive in East Harlem, remained at the scene and was given a breathalyzer test.
Meanwhile, the flatbed tow truck involved in the collision has been parked on Second Avenue near Sixth Street for the past week and a half. (Top photo.) Our police source was surprised to hear that the truck remained in this spot, located around the corner from the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
Journalist Liam Quigley pointed out the truck's rear license in an X post on Feb. 8.
According to the How's My Driving NYC account, the plate has 86 violations, including 18 school zone speed violations and six red light camera violations — with over $9,700 in fines.This is the tow truck in the crash that killed Merle Ratner earlier this week. The license plate is completely defaced — a common practice in the industry pic.twitter.com/15jL1hduD1
— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) February 9, 2024
Ratner grew up in the Bronx and lived in the East Village starting in the 1980s. She was a co-coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign. She also worked as a labor rights organizer at the International Commission for Labor Rights ... and served on the board at the Laundry Workers Center, which organizes low-wage immigrant laundry and food service workers.
Here's more from Ratner in an EVG interview with James Maher in 2017:
My family has a history — my grandmother, when she came from Odessa, was the first woman business agent at the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and my mother was a member of Local 1707 Day Care Workers. I have a picture in my house of my grandmother; it must have been in the 1920s, with a long skirt with a bustle, the very traditional thing that women wore, holding a picket sign with her friend that said, 'Don’t be a scab.'"
Ngô Thanh Nhàn talked with The Village Sun about his wife of 40 years.
"She loved life and was always thinking about ways to build a society that supports people, not profit," he said.
Daniel's Bike Shop slated for this 14th Street storefront
Photo by Pinch
Signage arrived Tuesday for Daniel's Bike Shop at 313 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
This appears to be the fifth store for the shop, which has outposts in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
The Daniel's Facebook page shows a variety of e-bikes for sale as well as biking accessories. The Facebook page also describes this as a bicycle repair shop.
The business takes over a storefront that was mostly recently a smoke shop called The Tree Shop (and previously Eyes on 14th).
Signage alert: Dear Rufino on 2nd Avenue
Photo by Steven
The Dear Rufino signage is up now at 221 Second Ave., just south of 14th Street.
As we noted a few weeks back, this is the taqueria — via Chef Iván García — taking over the former Chicken & the Egg space... the food establishment in front of the cocktail lounge Sincerely, Ophelia.
The taqueria from the owners of Zona Rosa out on Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue is expected to open soon.
You can find the Dear Rufino Instagram account here.
We are now signage official with the new Bank of America Branch
Photos by Steven
The official BoA signage arrived yesterday at 119 Second Ave. at Seventh Street...
Read alllll the background about the first retail tenant for the building in this post.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Wednesday's parting shot (part 2)
Photo by Stacie Joy
At Book Club on Third Street today, a pop-up featuring East Village-based florist Bloom Bloom ... pictured is Sophie Bromberg, the floral designer working for Bloom Bloom.
Best sellers were the Japanese sweet pea and the ranunculus (in various colors). Sorry, roses!
2 weeks left before Gizmo closes and relocates from longtime East Village home
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Updated 2/26: Unfortunately, the deal for a new Gizmo space fell through, and Rosa and Hossein are searching again for a new space. Details here.
As we first reported on Jan. 3, Gizmo is leaving its longtime home at 160 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street for a new EV storefront.
Wife-and-husband owners Rosa Malmed and Hossein Amid told me that while they have not secured a new space yet for their sewing supply shop, they are still "in negotiations" for a new storefront...
The last day here is Feb. 28. Until then, expect markdowns on fabrics, trims, and zippers (50% off) and discounted prices on other merchandise.
And be sure to check out the table out front ...
Rosa said she opened the shop 32 years ago because she needed space for her alterations business.
Hossein told us that their rent has increased to a point where the couple can no longer afford to stay here.
Closings: Emilia by Nai on 1st Ave.
Photo by Pinch
A for-rent sign hangs above 174 First Ave. (south storefront), marking the official end of Emilia by Nai here between 10th Street and 12th Street.
There's no mention of a closure on the restaurant's website or Instagram account. A "Closed for Private Event" sign had been on the storefront for months.
This was a return (circa June 2022) to the address for Chef Ruben Rodriquez, who ran Nai Tapas Bar in the subterranean space until a move to Second Avenue in 2018.
Rodriquez has several other restaurants in the neighborhood, including the recently opened Bad Hombre at 29 Second Ave. — the former Amigo.
Per the listing (PDF), the asking rent at 174 First Ave. is $18,500 a month.
The Bloom Bloom-Book Club mashup returns this Valentine's Day (today!)
If you need a gift this Valentine's Day (TODAY), Book Club is once again hosting the East Village-based Bloom Bloom floral design studio at the shop-cafe on Third Street.
From 11 a.m. to whenever the flowers are gone, Bloom Bloom is selling grab-and-go wrapped bouquets and custom floral arrangements.
Book Club is at 197 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
This is the third year for the Feb. 14 collaboration between the two businesses.
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