Monday, October 14, 2024
After 5-month closure due to fire, a renovated TabeTomo reopens on Wednesday
Photos by Stacie Joy
TabeTomo, the tsukemen specialty shop, will reopen on Wednesday at 131 Avenue A, ending a 5-plus-month odyssey.
The restaurant has been closed since an early morning fire upstairs on April 24. According to ABC 7, five residents sustained minor injuries while fleeing the six-floor building on the NW corner of St. Mark's Place. Firefighters blamed a recovered lithium-ion battery from a residential unit.
Owner Tomo Kubo (below) gave us a tour of the renovated space this past Thursday as his team prepped for the return ... TabeTomo needed a complete gut renovation, with workers stripping the walls down to the studs. (See this post from May 17.)
Opening-day specials include $5 bowls of Ramen.
Live from 1st Avenue: East Village Radio continues to bolster its programming
The tiny storefront studio on First Avenue adjacent to Lil' Frankie's between First Street and Second Street has been in beta mode for several months, as the EVR team — owner Frank Prisinzano, co-founder Jorge Parreira, and veteran program/music director Brian Turner (ex-WFMU) — worked out some kinks with streams and playlists. A piece in the Times on Sept. 29 officially lifted the veil on the station's return.
As for new shows, we'll start with this collaboration with Bandcamp:
When we launched Bandcamp Daily back in 2016, we set for ourselves a simple and direct mission statement: Bandcamp Daily exists to shine a light on artists all over the world who are using Bandcamp to connect with fans.And almost 10 years later, we’re still excited about finding new ways to introduce people to great new artists... we're thrilled to announce that Bandcamp is expanding again, with a brand new weekly show on New York City's legendary East Village Radio.... Bandcamp is honored to be joining the station's rich legacy. You can tune in every Monday night starting Monday, Oct. 14, from 6-8 p.m. to hear music featured in Bandcamp Daily stories, as well as editors' picks, interviews with artists and Bandcamp Daily writers, and much more.
Other newly launched programs include The East Village Radio Jazz Show, where host (and East Village resident) Jason Wald features jazz from the neighborhood — classic, contemporary, local and beyond. Last week, multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee was the guest. The show airs Fridays from 2 to 4 p.m.
East Village Radio had several iterations, the first ending in May 2014 after an 11-year run. At the time, Prisinzano, the restaurateur who owns Frank, Supper and Lil' Frankie's, said licensing fees and Internet costs were too onerous, especially with a surging listener base.
EVR returned for another year-plus-long go-around, this time on a new platform, in June 2015.
EVR will use a different business model this time and rely on sponsors. As Prisinzano told the Post in March, operational costs for broadcasting music have decreased in the streaming age.
During its heyday, EVR counted more than 1 million listeners worldwide a month (this after starting as a short-lived 10-watt FM radio station in April 2003). However, under the Congressional Digital Music Copyright Act of 1998, Internet broadcasters had to pay a digital performance royalty for every listener.
The street-level studio was a popular draw, bringing in guests ranging from Richard Hell to Duran Duran.
You can find the EVR schedule and archives and listen live at this link.
Image via Bandcamp; studio photo by Stacie Joy
Signage alert: L&L Hawaiian Barbeque and Tōka Chef Kitchen on Allen Street
Photos: top by EVG, 2nd by Stacie Joy
Signage went up last week for two new dining options on Allen Street just south of Houston.
Tōka Chef Kitchen is coming soon to 205 Allen St., a long-vacant space whose last full-time tenant was Domino's.
We don't know anything about Tōka Chef Kitchen at the moment.
Meanwhile, Meat + Bread closed next door on Sept. 24 ... after a January 2021 debut.
L&L Hawaiian Barbeque, specializing in plate lunches, is the new tenant...
The business started 50-plus years ago in Hawaii. It expanded stateside in 1999 and continues to franchise.
This is the first latest Manhattan outpost (see the comments about a previous Fulton Street location), and one is coming to Bushwick, too.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Week in Grieview
Posts this past week included (with an evening view from 2nd Avenue)...
• Baseball bats, fisticuffs and broken windows: A bonkers fight escalates as man drives car onto the sidewalk on 3rd Avenue (Thursday)
• East Village building with Ramones history is back on the sales market (Wednesday)
• Prop or not? Looking at Avenue A during the 'Caught Stealing' shoot (Tuesday) ... Paul's Bar no more for the movies, Double Down Saloon returns to service (Monday)
• Café Social 68 revamps its space and is ready to debut as Viva! Cafe (Wednesday)
• Kushner unloads more East Village apartment buildings (Thursday)
• Taking in the Northern Lights from Avenue B (Thursday)
• At long last, you can see the NW corner of Avenue B and Houston (Friday)
• This storefront remains vacant 15 months after Ink on A closed (Thursday)
• At the reopening of the Sakanaya at Wegmans (Friday)
• What's next for the former smoke shop next to Ray's Candy Store on Avenue A? (Wednesday)
• Feeling fenced in at the 9th and B entrance to Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)
• Dreams of a smooth, freshly paved 2nd Avenue will have to wait several days (Saturday) ... Here's when 2nd Avenue is expected to be repaved this week (Tuesday)
• Sorry, that's not actually a fishmonger going into the corner space at 5th and B (Thursday)
• 2 normal and useful businesses opening side by side on 14th Street (Monday)
• The members-only Flyfish Club debuts at the former site of the Sunshine Cinema (Monday)
... and in Tompkins Square Park this past week, workers removed a long-dead (pear?) tree from near the entrance at Avenue A and St. Mark's Place... (thanks to Steven for both photos)...
About Susan Schiffman’s portraits of rent-stabilized East Village homes
The piece focuses on her work photographing rent-stabilized apartments in the neighborhood.
Since 2016, Ms. Schiffman has been photographing dozens of her neighboring East Village apartments. Her photos depict the clutter that collects when one lives in the same home for decades, the intimacies of people's domestic lives and the homemade quality of spaces that have never been renovated.The scenes are timeless in that there are few, if any, elements that give away exactly when they were photographed — many of them look like they were captured decades ago, stuck in a past version of New York. The images are meant to be portraits of the tenants, without actually showing any people in them.With the city's housing crisis as a backdrop and with the rent-stabilization system’s promise of affordability feeling threatened, Ms. Schiffman's photos evoke a soothing, homey sentiment. The apartments she documents are unfussy and far from luxurious, but are full of character and are strongly loved homes in their own sense.
You can find her images on Instagram.
And through the years, EVG has been pleased to publish her work and interviews. You can access the archives here.
Susan is also part of a group show at Galerie Shibumi, 13 Market St., near East Broadway, through Oct. 20.
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Where to Honk the Vote! in the East Village tomorrow
Tomorrow (Sunday!), the Hungry March Band will be parading through the East Village, starting at 4:30 at Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park. The itinerary includes stops at MoRUS on Avenue C, Lucky on Avenue B ... and 2A and Two Boots on Avenue A. (See the flyer above for timing.)
Meanwhile, yesterday, one of the participating Honk the Vote! groups, Brazil's BaBaDan Banda de Rua, was in the East Village... where EVG's Stacie Joy caught them in Tompkins...
Comet Watch NYC
As Comet Tsuchinshan approached the Sun, I spent several early mornings keeping watch on Avenue A across from Key Food, and never saw anything but clouds.
But on Monday and Tuesday of this week, the comet rounded the Sun, and the vigil continued at sunset, either on the Staten Island Ferry or Battery Park.
The Friday evening crowd included people from all over the world, and a massive cruise ship, the "Norwegian Joy" sailed down the Hudson and blocked the Sun.
It is creepy to see that while inbound, the tail appeared behind the comet, but now it is swinging around and appearing ahead of the comet. If the skies are clear on Saturday, I recommend getting on the outbound ferry at 6 p.m. and riding back inbound at 6:30 p.m. Tsuchinshan should be a little higher each night for the next two weeks.
Ed note: If you miss it, NASA estimates it will be back in another 80,000 years.
EVG Etc.: Ballot questions for New Yorkers; early voting starts Oct. 26
Vote art on Great Jones
• Mayor Adams unveils a new effort to address homelessness in the subways (Gothamist ... press release)
• Mayor says new NYPD commish is on the way since the interim one didn't work out after the previous one resigned; Feds search the offices of the NYPD's School Safety Division (NBC 4)
• Why the MTA is enjoying a sudden outpouring of public support (Gothamist)
• Exploring the neighborhood's community gardens (Village Preservation)
• A long read on the history of ABC No Rio and its new home built with an unlikely ally — the city (The New York Times ... previously on EVG)
• A look back at after-hours club Save the Robots on Avenue B (Flashbak)
• An interview with NO Wave pioneer Beth B (Mubi)
• A look at Komune, a new boutique on Orchard (Time Out)
• Details on the 2024 La MaMa Puppet Festival (Official site)
• He has his father's eyes: "Rosemary's Baby" in 35mm at the Village East by Angelika (Official site)
And this might be of interest at the main branch of the NYPL... opens today...
Dreams of a smooth, freshly paved 2nd Avenue will have to wait several days
As the top photo on 14th Street shows, it looks smooth! Yes!
And then we go one block south to 13th Street ... where the fresh asphalt abruptly stops and the milled roadway picks up...
Anyway! We walked down the avenue anyway, celebratory celebrations on hold.
Crews did mark the outline all the way to Houston.
To be continued...
Friday, October 11, 2024
A 'Sad' state
Fans of shoegaze-dream pop can check out the recently released debut record by the Los Angeles-based Mo Dotti.
The video here is for "Whirling Sad," a track the band says was inspired by "vintage Lush, the sweeter side of My Bloody Valentine, and SST-era Dinosaur Jr."
At the reopening of the Sakanaya at Wegmans
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
After three months of expanding the seafood department, the Wegmans outpost on Astor Place recently hosted its first tuna cutting in the new Sakanaya.
The store, the first in Manhattan, opened last October.
"As we continue to focus on best serving our customers in Manhattan, the decision was made to reconfigure the space to provide a more interactive experience for customers," a store rep told us via email.
Here's a look at the Sept. 22 event ...
Chairman Danny Wegman, a third-generation family member who joined the business in 1964, was present with his wife Paula Kerr-Jarrett and Yuko Kishida, the spouse of the now-former Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.
The live tuna cutting demonstrations happen at this Wegmans on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. ...
Read more about the fish market here.
Reminders: Paving time for 2nd Avenue
Updated 10/12: Never mind — the city pushed back the paving until Tuesday night.
What time, exactly? Dunno! There are posted No Parking signs noting the work from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Just be sure to follow the Work Zone signage, and you will be fine...
As noted on Tuesday, the city will return to mark a new offset bus lane. The city's release about the enhancements also mentions that the DOT "will upgrade select existing painted pedestrian islands on the east side of the avenue to concrete islands."
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