Sunday, October 26, 2025

Having a Halloween ball in the schoolyard

Photos by Stacie Joy 

There were a lot of Halloween-related activities yesterday at neighborhood schools and community gardens. 

We stopped by PS 19 on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street for their "Under the Sea"- themed Fall Ball in the schoolyard ...

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Cynthia Nixon and Zohran Mamdani dropped by the Meow Mix reunion last night

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The 30th anniversary reunion and celebration of Meow Mix continued last night at the Parkside Lounge, drawing another packed crowd to honor the legacy of the iconic lesbian bar that once thrived on the Lower East Side.
There were some surprise guests at the outset. Justin Vivian Bond kicked off the evening, introducing Cynthia Nixon, who in turn welcomed Zohran Mamdani, the mayoral hopeful running against Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running as an independent. 

Bond joked about being called a socialist, saying they'd once confused it with being a socialite. 

Nixon drew big laughs with the line, "Andrew Cuomo is not in a dyke bar tonight."
Mamdani spoke about early voting, affordable housing and the future of the city, calling on New Yorkers to keep fighting and organizing. He name-checked ACT UP and said leadership means saying goodbye to Mayor Adams and Cuomo — and showing President Trump "a city that's ready to fight him."
Though he'd never been to Meow Mix, he said he was thrilled to be part of the reunion, calling it a "vision of what New York should be." He added that queer and trans New Yorkers should not only be protected, but also cherished and celebrated. 

Mamdani accepted a Meow Mix reunion T-shirt (and joked about the ethics rules on gift values) before heading out to more applause.
Here are more scenes from last night...
The Meow Mix reunion continues tonight and tomorrow at the Parkside Lounge, 317 Houston at Attorney. Visit this link for event info.

Meow Mix opened on the corner of Houston and Suffolk in 1996 and closed in 2004 — but its spirit clearly lives on. 

East Village artist hmac at Orchard Paint Supply

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

You have a few days left to check out the collab between East Village-based artist hmac and Orchard Paint Supply

A variety of colorful art — including prints, shirts, and hats — is available from the artist at the shop located at 148 Orchard St., between Stanton and Rivington. 

Below is hmac with store/gallery manager Zach Denerstein...
The show ends Monday... with daily hours noon to 10 p.m.
Previously

This weekend in free Halloween shows in Tompkins Square Park

The Halloween weekend shows return to Tompkins Square Park today and tomorrow from 2-6 p.m. 

Here's the rundown: 
 
Saturday, Oct. 25 
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black 
Tear Drop 
Memphis Morticians 
Robby Bloodshed 
Jess-O-Lantern 

Sunday, Oct. 26
Non Residents
Precious Blood 
Oedipus 
Triple Rex
Brain Candy
Skitzopolous
Kyler Sane
Expect some ghoulish fun in the heart of the East Village...

Saturday's opening shot

A reader-submitted photo from 10th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

And the pre-Halloween weekend weather: 60 and mostly sunny today AND tomorrow for the many seasonal activities going on around here...

Friday, October 24, 2025

Friday's parting shot

Second Avenue at Sixth Street today (SW corner)...

Night moves

 

The above video for "Ascension" is from the recently released debut album by the Manchester, UK, duo Nightbus — an eclectic mix of moody nocturnal pop and post-punk.

Where to carve and paint pumpkins tomorrow

There will be pumpkin painting tomorrow (Saturday!) from 1-4 p.m. in the Green Oasis Community Garden, Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. 

It's BYOP. All art supplies are provided by the garden.

Meanwhile...
... between 3-5 p.m., there's pumpkin carving at the 6&B Garden on the SW corner of Avenue B and Sixth Street. 

Per organizers: "Children will be first on pumpkin distribution. Carving tools supplied!"

A voting FYI

Find more info, including what's on the ballot, at NYCvotes.

Saturday brings fall fairs to 3 East Village schools

Several East Village schools are hosting their annual fall/harvest fairs tomorrow (Saturday!) ahead of Halloween... a parent created the flyer above with times and locations for all three. 

FYI — The Fall Ball at PS 19 on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street includes an under-the-sea haunted house. (Beware the krakens 🦑.)

Friday's opening shot

Bleecker near the Bowery... and cue the Oingo Boingo.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

All the vendors have left The Bowery Market; future new development in the works?

The Bowery Market at 348 Bowery is closed now on the NW corner at Great Jones. 

Twig'm, which served Korean street food, was the final vendor to shutter, closing on Oct. 12. Sept. 30 was the last day for the other vendors, including The 88 Coffee Company, which said in an Instagram post that "the Bowery Market is also closing to evolve and change for the better."

In announcing its closure, Kettl Tea owner Zach Mangan wrote on Substack on Sept. 29: "This week marks the end of a chapter for Kettl as we serve our final guests at our Bowery outpost. The owner of the market has decided to sell the space to a developer and pursue a new direction." 

The small garage on the property also appears to be closed now. 

In April, PincusCo reported that Lonicera Partners was assembling a potential development site at this northwest corner. Lonicera signed a contract to purchase 348 Bowery and took a minority stake in 350 and 352 Bowery, the adjacent properties to the north.

As of now, there are no new work permits on file for the addresses. 

Development along this corridor is nothing new — just look across the street (below).
Most recently, a few storefronts to the north, the former single-level B Bar & Grill space is now home to a 22-story office building for Chobani.
Real estate developer Scott Marano opened the year-round outdoor food market in July 2016, with spaces for up to five new or established food businesses. 

In an email to EVG in May 2019, Marano shared his vision for the space, a former auto-body shop
Creating The Bowery Market was a very important, long-held goal of mine. I have been part of the neighborhood since I was a child and I have seen how it has changed. There are a lot of great restaurants in our neighborhood, but there are not many places that serve really good food in a very casual environment or on the go. 

I wanted to create a place that people could come to several times a week at different times of the day to satisfy them and their guests. I also know the real estate market and how expensive and risky it is for a food producer and operator to open a brick-and-mortar.

Free compost giveaway in Tompkins Square Park this Sunday

The LES Ecology Center is celebrating Tompkins Square Park with a free compost giveaway on Sunday. 

Per the invite: Stop by to bag your own finished compost and learn how it's used to help steward the park. 

The Center will provide the compost, shovels and wheelbarrows (sounds like the start of a horror film) ... just bring your own containers or a cart to take home as much as you'd like. 

Enter the park through the Seventh Street entrance between Avenue A and Avenue B and follow the signs to the compost pile. 

Registration is recommended here. The event runs until 1 p.m. — or until the compost pile is gone.

A Brussels-based nut-butter coffee bar is opening on the Bowery

Buddy Buddy, taking claim to being the world's first nut butter coffee bar, is making its foray into the U.S. with an outpost on the Bowery. 

Signage arrived yesterday for Buddy Buddy at 340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond. (News of the lease came in January via TradedNY.)

Two life partners started the brand in Brussels in 2020 and expanded three years later with a café in Paris.

Per their website: "Today, our nut butters are available in over 500 retail locations across 10 countries — including Harrods in London and Erewhon in the U.S. — and our global community continues to grow." 

This is the storefront adjacent to Now Now NoHo, a micro-boutique hotel for solo travelers that opened this past spring. A cafe concept was expected in the retail space. 

No. 340 was The Whitehouse, a single-room hotel/flophouse for decades. This post has more about the new hotel and some history of the address.