[Updating] 2 people shot in Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Updated 3/19: Police sources, who did not have permission to speak on the record, told us that they have identified the alleged gunman and have photos and video of him circulating internally.

Updated 3/21: The same suspected gunman fired more shorts in Tompkins.

Updated 3/26: Police made an arrest in the shooting.

-----

A dispute in Tompkins Square Park turned violent this afternoon as a gunman fired 5-6 shots, striking two people, including an unintended target — a woman in town visiting her son who's running the NYC Half Marathon tomorrow, police said.

According to NYPD sources in the Park, a fight broke out outside the fence to the playground near Temperance Fountain. Two men were said to be hitting a third man. Police said the victim had a gun in a crossbody bag. He took 5-6 shots, striking two people. At least one, a 53-year-old woman visiting from Illinois, was an unintended victim, police said.

The woman was hit in the hip by a bullet and was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, where she is expected to survive. Her son was at the scene looking for his mom before the NYPD transported him to the hospital. 

A 31-year-old man was hit in the buttocks. His injury was also not considered life-threatening. It's not immediately known if he was one of the men involved in the initial dispute.

The NYPD has blocked off the entrance on Avenue A at Ninth Street ... and put up crime scene tape, keeping people from heading in that direction from Temperance Fountain. Police were continuing to search for the shell casings.

A detective at the scene said the nearby cameras in Tompkins were not operating, so there wasn't any surveillance video from the shooting. 

The gunman is still at large as of 2:30 p.m.

The shots rang out just before 1 p.m., scattering parkgoers enjoying a sunny day in Tompkins.

A significant police presence remains.

Updated 5:18 p.m. 

Initially, we were told only a partial bullet fragment was found in the park but farther away from the scene and more toward the center of Tompkins ... however, evidence collection teams appear to have found additional material ... they were spotted removing it around 4:30 p.m. ...

Crime Stoppers is also seeking information on today's shooting...

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online. All calls are strictly confidential. 

Tompkins is now fully open, although some NCO officers may still be on patrol.

Saturday's opening shot

Three days until spring... sunrise from Peretz Square (First Avenue and Houston) this morning...

Friday's parting shot

Photo by William Klayer 

A new mural outside Performance Space New York on First Avenue at Ninth Street by Ellery Neon ... created for the 2024 Spring Gala happening TONIGHT...

'Judgment' day

 

Scream from New York, NY, the debut record from NYC's Been Stellar is out this June 4. 

Ahead of that release, they shared this single (and video!) for "Passing Judgment."

'Americans in Paris' at the new Grey Art Museum on Cooper Square

The Grey Art Museum recently relocated from Washington Square East to 18 Cooper Square (roughly at Fifth Street). 

The inaugural show for NYU's fine art museum (fka, the Grey Art Gallery) opened on March 4 and is titled "Americans in Paris." 

A description: 

Following World War II, hundreds of artists from the United States flocked to the City of Light, which for centuries had been heralded as an artistic mecca and international cultural capital. Americans in Paris explores a vibrant community of expatriates who lived in France for a year or more during the period from 1946 to 1962. Many were ex-soldiers who took advantage of a newly enacted GI Bill, which covered tuition and living expenses; others, including women, financed their own sojourns. 

Showcased here are some 130 paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, textiles, and works on paper by nearly 70 artists, providing a fresh perspective on a creative ferment too often overshadowed by the contemporaneous ascendency of the New York art scene. 

And a brief look around...

This show runs through July 20. Related to the exhibit, there are also panel discussions and film screenings here (check the website). 

Hours: 

• Tuesday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 
• Wednesday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. 
• Thursday-Friday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 
• Saturday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

There isn't an admission fee... and the show is worth your time...

Friday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As seen at Book Club on Third Street... "Some Strange Music Draws Me In," the first novel by East Village resident Griffin Hansbury. (Griffin also wrote the nonfiction "Feral City" and "Vanishing New York," both as Jeremiah Moss.) 

Griffin will speak this evening (March 15) at the Strand with Hugh Ryan. More information is here. 

As previously noted, Griffin/Jeremiah has been a longtime friend of EVG... and is really the reason the site exists today (as it almost went away in 2008).

Meet Belvedere, the Russian tortoise

Photo by Steven

Urban Park Rangers were in Tompkins Square Park today for an educational program... a special guest included this Russian tortoise that someone had abandoned in Central Park. 

The Park Rangers named it Belvedere after the iconic mini castle in Central Park.

This day on the Bowery in 2007

A new EVG reader, Ernst (of Oasis D'Neon Video Magazine), shared these photos that he took on March 14, 2007, outside the former CBGB at 315 Bowery. 

On this day, the country blues-turned-punk club had been closed for almost five months (Oct. 15, 2006). John Varvatos would open a store in the space some 13 months later. 

So here's a look at some more recent ghosts of the Bowery.

... at this time, 313 Bowery, the former CBGB Record Canteen and CB's 313 Gallery space, was still for rent ... before the Morrison Hotel Gallery arrived in 2008... (the first of several businesses here; it's now the gallery Amanita)...

And this all seems longer than 17 years ago...

Coming attractions: The 'Kim's Video' documentary debuts at the Quad on April 5

The "Kim's Video" documentary from award-winning filmmakers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin has an April 5 theatrical release date.

First, to the official description:

...an elegiac tribute to the iconic video store in New York City that inspired a generation of cinephiles before it mysteriously closed its doors and sent its legendary film archive to a small and slightly dubious Sicilian village for "safekeeping." But what starts as an homage to cinema quickly becomes a rescue mission to ensure the eternal preservation of the beloved video collection.

Meanwhile, the official trailer was dropped for it last week.

   

The Quad Cinema on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue hosts the NYC theatrical premiere on April 5. Post-screening Q&As with Yongman Kim, the man, the myth, and the legend behind Kim's empire will also be held there. (Details here.)

"Kim's Video" opens April 12 at the Alamo Drafthouse in the Financial District. 

After Sundance last year, Deadline called the doc "a playful and intelligent film" ... while Variety said it's "a flaked-out, one-of-a-kind story of film obsession." On the other hand, IndieWire graded it a C+.

The video empire had a modest start in Kim's dry-cleaning business at 99 Avenue A in 1986 ... there were also two locations at different points on St. Mark's Place, including the Mondo Kim's at 6 St. Mark's Place (pictured above). The last Kim's Video & Music closed in 2014.   

As you may know, Kim's massive collection of DVDs and videos is now available to rent from the Alamo Drafthouse in the Financial District. (Background on all this here.)

An update from G's Cheesesteaks, opening May 1 on Avenue B and Houston

Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy

Renovations continue inside the storefront at 6 Avenue B on the NW corner at Houston.

As previously reported, this will be home to an outpost of G's Cheesesteaks. I ran into owner Giacomo Pisano (above) the other day. He said they'll be open on May 1, hopefully sooner if all goes well.

Pisano said he is looking for a local artist who can pay homage to Chico's current artwork on the gate. The liquor store, the last tenant in the retail space here, closed when the owner passed away in 2009 at age 89. Chico created her tribute mural in February 2010. (The building's landlord plans to paint over the well-worn art.)

He also said he'd like to preserve the "liquor" signage and, if possible, bring it inside. 

This will be the fourth location for the cheesesteak brand, which also has a food truck business. (On that note, he said he'd like to use a truck for free food distribution to the community.)

Pisano, whose family has been in the restaurant business for several generations, founded G's in Staten Island in 2015 at age 20. 

The residential portion of the building — now going as The B — is currently renting.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Here's a look at the renovated interior of the long-vacant 6 Avenue B

• Because you've always wanted to know what the inside of the long-empty 6 Avenue B looks like 

• Let's take another look at the eerie remains of the long-abandoned 6 Avenue B 

• Time passages: Check out the interior of the long-empty Mom's Liquor Store on Avenue B

Architectural sculpture digest: A look at some unique 'Houses and Hotels' at O’Flaherty's

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Longtime East Village resident Donna Dennis, part of the architectural sculpture movement of the early 1970s, is the subject of a new solo show at O’Flaherty's, 44 Avenue A at Third Street. 

"Houses and Hotels" spotlights a selection of the early sculptures that helped launch her career. Dennis created these pieces while living on St. Mark's Place (they were assembled elsewhere). She now lives in Germantown, N.Y.

Saturday was the opening-night reception... here's a look around (I was told that the roof/ceiling at 44 Avenue A may or may not have been cut open to transfer and install these pieces)...

Dennis also has a new book coming out, which will be launched on April 13 at Karma Bookstore on Third Street, co-hosted by O'Flaherty's.

We also spotted O'Flaherty's gallerist Billy Grant...

... and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani, here with her mom...

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2-7 p.m.; or by appointment. 

"Houses and Hotels" is up through April 28.

1 year after building fire, A&C Kitchen grandly reopens on Avenue C

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Great news for fans of A&C Kitchen — the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant reopened yesterday at 136 Avenue C after more than a year on the sidelines. (H/T Ryan John Lee for the first report.)

Mr. Li, who has owned the business for 30-plus years, was happy to see many returning customers...

It had been a rough 13 months here. 

On Feb. 27, 2023, a two-alarm fire broke out behind the building between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. Initial reports blamed a "lit object" discarded from a window down to the courtyard. 

The fire destroyed a ground-floor apartment. A&C Kitchen sustained some water damage — mostly in its basement. 

However, as we understand it, the gas was shut off as a precaution, and it took some time (and red-tape cutting) to get all the proper approvals in place ... and the various inspections.

We've mentioned this before: One of the original chefs from Dojo works here, and the menu includes such old favorites as the hijiki tofu burger. 

Find the restaurant's website here. For phone orders: (212) 677-8112. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• The owner of A&C Kitchen on Avenue C would like to reopen his business now

A familiar face returns to Key Food

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

We were surprised to see a familiar employee face this week at Key Food. 

After a year of partial retirement, Arrman Mohammed returned to the supermarket on Avenue A and Fourth Street. 

Mohammed, a manager at Key Food, retired last April 29 after a 35-plus year career with the company, the last 10 in the East Village. (He started at Key Food in 1986 as a teenager on Long Island.) 

He said he "got bored of Florida and missed the excitement of NYC and decided to return to the place I know and the people I know." 

Now an NYC resident again, Mohammed is at 52 Avenue A until tomorrow before he heads to the Astoria Key Food on Newtown Avenue. 

He said he'll be back and forth at different stores but will return to the Avenue A location in two weeks. 

Mohammed doesn't have a direct answer about whether he'll be back permanently, offering with a smile: "Perhaps. I go where I am needed."

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo by Steven 

A pleasant surprise late this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... with a set by Pinc Louds. 

BTW, the band is at Knitting Factory at Bakers Falls on Avenue A this coming Saturday...