Davey's Ice Cream opens tonight; free scoops alert

[Photo via @salim]

As noted earlier ... over at 137 First Ave. just north of St.Mark's Place...

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on Davey's Ice Cream, opening later this summer on First Avenue

A walk in Alphabet City in 1978: 'I was in love. I stayed.'

EVG reader and East Village resident ilyse kazar recently shared a few photos from 1978... Shot on East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.





I asked ilyse if she had any memories to share with the photos. Here's what she said:

In 1978 I took a long walk with my camera, heading eastward from my apartment on 2nd Avenue. As I strayed farther and farther into the burnt out and rubble-lot blocks of Alphabet City, I was simultaneously shocked by the desolation and desecration and urban neglect and conditions people had to live in, and awed by the subcultures and the bright and energetic spirit of the people.

Here and there the community was beginning to claim this land and these buildings that had been redlined by banks, burned down by owners, and ignored by government. Some lots had been cleared, some little gardens started. Amidst the drug dealing and desolation were murals and interesting stores and kids playing stickball.

Spray-painted on the side of one building alongside a rubble-filled lot was "Milagro de Loisaida," with a big flower springing up from the destruction.

I was in love. I stayed. I raised my kids here. I'm growing old here. I cling to the little scraps of evidence that the renegade, tenacious, creative spirit still lives amidst the alarming suburbanization of my neighborhood.

Looking forward to seeing more of ilyse's photos from this time...

[Photos © by ilyse kazar. Reposted with permission]

First sign of more development on East 14th Street?

[Image between A & B via Google]

As you know, many storefronts along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B have been cleared out ahead of some new development that will eat up a good portion of the block. (Read about this here.)

Now it appears that it's time to starting clearing out storefronts just to the west... between Avenue A and the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office, whose lease expires in February.



The USPS will lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

Back in April, we noted this about the single-level businesses lined up next to the post office: "This is all drool-worthy space for some developer."

And just like that, an EVG Facebook tipster notes that the Stuyvesant Stationery shop next door has lost its lease and is closing...




For now, there are only the usual rumors about what's next here (NYU dorms are always a popular guess) ... and how will the other businesses along here fare in the coming months? Will the rest of the block to Avenue A go away to make way for a new development?



Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

Give me 'Liberty:' New mural on East 9th Street honors Tompkins Square Park

Throughout the week, we've been watching a new mural go up on the side of Doc Holliday's on Avenue A and East Ninth Street... Bobby Williams has been keeping tabs on the progress...







... the mural is now complete...



What's it all about? Per a tipster:

A gift from Dorian Grey Gallery [on East 9th Street] and UK street artist STIK to the neighborhood. The mural is titled "Liberty" in honor of the history of Tompkins Square Park.

This month: A lot of community garden plays and art on the Lower East Side

From the EVG inbox...

1) COMMUNAL SPACES: A GARDEN PLAY FESTIVAL

This September, five short plays inspired by and performed in Lower East Side community gardens will take place. The 2013 version of writer, director and native New Yorker Lillian Meredith's Communal Spaces marks the outdoor festival's third annual installment. Meredith, whose body of work uses site-specific productions to "explore the boundaries of performance and the role of the audience in live theater," has commissioned five 30-minute plays. Each takes place in a different Lower East Side community garden.

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 13-15, 20-22 and 27-29. Each play is 30 minutes.
For more info, visit lillianmeredith.com. Admission is FREE. No
reservation needed.

Schedule: Fridays - Sundays: Sept. 13-15, Sept. 20-22, & Sept. 27-29.

11:00am - Tim and Tuna in Town.
Written by Josh Gulotta, Directed by Jaki Bradley
Siempre Verde Garden on Stanton and Attorney Streets
(no performance on Sept. 14)

12:30pm - Extinguish Yourself
Written by Angela Santillo, Directed by Michael Padden
Miracle Garden on East 3rd Street btw Aves A and B

3:00pm - Yield!
Written by Will Arbery, Directed by Stella Powell-Jones
All People's Garden on East 3rd btw Aves C and D

4:00pm - CO . OP
Written by Patrick Shaw, Directed by Lillian Meredith
Parque de Tranquilidad on East 4th btw Aves C and D

6:00pm - Limoncello Limoncello.
Written by Alexandra Bassett, Directed by Lillian Meredith
Green Oasis Garden on East 8th btw Aves C and D

Find more details here

2) LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens)
SECOND ANNUAL HARVEST ARTS FESTIVAL IN THE GARDENS

Saturday, September 27 & Sunday, Sept. 28
24 Community Gardens
Loisaida / The East Village / The Lower East Side / The Village

WHAT TO EXPECT

A multidimensional arts festival that reflects the creative spirit of the neighborhood and the integral part that community gardens play in the culture and life of Loisaida. Scheduled events include music, dance, performance, films, photography, puppets, environmental workshops, yoga. Each garden is designing its own program, so we know it will be interesting.

In addition, The Communal Spaces Play Festival, five 30-minute plays inspired by the selected garden landscapes, will wrap up its three-week run during the Harvest Arts Fest.

We hope you'll join us for an hour, a day, or the full weekend.

WHAT IT COSTS
Nothing. Nada.

HOW IT HAPPENS
The 2013 Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens is organized by LUNGS (Loisada United Neighborhood Gardens).

This year's festival is sponsored in part by a generous grant from The Citizens Committee for New York City.

Find more details here.

Archie & Sons now sporting neon signage

Over on Third Avenue just off St. Mark's, the newish Archie & Sons (try the tuna melt) now features a new neon sign... right there.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Archie & Sons, a new luncheonette, opening very soon at 23 Third Ave.

Tonight's thunderstorm in action

From tonight's storm... looking northeast toward the East Village and Brooklyn..

Via EVG reader Ariel E. ... Taken with 8-20 seconds exposure with Panasonic G3, through the closed window...

A hard rain fell

East 10th Street and Avenue C tonight. Photo by Bobby Williams.

The Feast of San Gennaro starts tonight: Do you care?

[EVG file photo]

Or maybe the question is, Will you go?

Anyway! I haven't been since 2009, and that was before anything was open for the day.

Also, Eater has a food preview here. The official Feast site is here.

That Cadillac that we've long admired on East 2nd St. now has a stuffed tiger on the front seat

Yes, this one on East Second Street. It has been for sale, and the addition of the stuffed tiger makes it all the more...

Thanks to EVG reader Ann for the photo.

5 pretty amazing photos of Tompkins Square Park in 1904

Thank you to esquared™ for pointing out these photos of Tompkins Square Park from the Museum of the City of New York... these photos date to 1904, and are from an "Arbor Day" celebration in the Park ...











Can we get that overhead seesaw thing back?

And head on over to the Museum's website for more photos... they are available for purchase as well as gawking...

Avenue A is for... Avoid?

Well, no. But we have talked with a lot of people in the last month who are dreading the Construction Hell that awaits parts of Avenue A ... between the new residential complex at 181 Avenue A, aka the former Mary Help of Christians lot between East 12th Street and East 11th Street ... and the impending destruction of 100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street ... which will yield a new residential building and retail space...



And for good measure... there's the out-of-place-looking 7-Eleven opening soon enough on East 11th Street...



Not to mention the loss of the familiar — the Odessa Cafe and Bar, which had been around since 1965. At least the Joe Strummer mural is coming back to East Seventh Street and Avenue A.

Updated: Brownstone Bar & Grill bringing Caribbean/Southern food to former Affaire space

Affaire, the French bistro and lounge, closed at 50 Avenue B last August. According to documents (PDF!) filed ahead of Monday night's CB3/SLA meeting, new owners are looking to open a venture called Brownstone Bar & Grill.

Proposed hours are noon - 2 a.m. Monday to Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. Thursday to Sundays. The application lists a menu of "Caribbean/Southern food," including burgers, ribs and chicken. As for the ample space here for various DJs, weekly burlesque performances, etc., the application simply notes "There will be events, but no covers will be charged."

Before Affaire, China 1 prompted a whole lot of noise-related complaints from neighbors.

Updated 5 p.m.
This item has been removed from the September meeting docket.

Neighbors complaining about the trash at newly opened Taverna Kyclades

The East Village outpost of Astoria favorite Taverna Kyclades opened for business last week at 228 First Ave. By most accounts, people are very happy to have the chance to eat their Greek fare in the neighborhood.

However, some neighbors here between East 13th Street and East 14th Street are already grumbling about the restaurant's trash.

Here is one claim by an affected party, who sent along the photos:

"They dump really stinky fish trash not in front of their restaurant but outside of neighboring business properties and next door to the local street fruit market seller ... causing horrible stenches."



Neighbors have called 311 to complain, though it is not clear if they have reached out directly to restaurant management to resolve the issue.

World Famous Pee Phone™ now with lending library

New amenity on Avenue A and East Seventh Street, of course.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Miracle on Avenue A™: World Famous Pee Phone™ has a phone again

Out of order: World Famous Pee Phone™, others, face a future without quarters, whiskey

All is well at the World Famous Pee Phone™

Hot town, September in the City

Photo by Bobby Williams

It's still swimsuit season in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Also, the latest look for "Serendipity," the life-sized sculpture of Christopher Gamble's silhouette in Tompkins Square Park.

By the way, the current temperature is 168 degrees.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The street-smart style of Serendipity in Tompkins Square Park

Rosie Mendez wins the Democratic primary for District 2 City Council

A quick note from yesterday's primary election... in the race for District 2 City Council, which includes the East Village, part of the Lower East Side and Union Square, among other neighborhoods, two-term Councilmember Rosie Mendez defeated Pastor Richard Del Rio 81 percent to 18 percent. The Lo-Down has more details on other local races of interest.

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Sven Furberg
Occupation: Video Engineer
Location: 1st Street between 1st and A
Time: 4:20 on Sunday, Sept 8.

I came here from Sweden, from Stockholm in 1979 to listen to music and I ended up staying. I came here in 1979 the first time and moved here in 1980. I was 23.

My good friend had gotten an apartment on Ridge Street and it was $135 a month for a five-room apartment. From one window you could see the Chrysler Building. It was funky — very primitive. Those days are gone. So I arrived in a cab and there was so much going on on that block. We got below Houston and I asked him to take another circle around the block to see what was happening before I got off with my suitcases.

I had my first slice of pizza at Rosario’s Pizzeria on Houston Street. I remember they asked me if I wanted it to go or to eat there and I didn’t know what to say. They all laughed. I still eat there. It’s moved to Stanton.

My first thing for money, I found a couple of TVs on the street, fixed them up and sold them. I’ve always been a technical person. I was a bench tech for a while, doing video, doing shows, lights. There’s a similarity between electronics and music in some ways for me. I had that interest in electronics and so I applied it to my career. Now I’m a video engineer.

I play the Mandolin. I like to play music in the parks. I like this little community park on 5th Street. I came here to play music. I’ve played music all my life. There was a lot of interesting music going on when I came. And there still is, but it’s not quite the same. Talking Heads was one of my favorite bands to see. I saw everything. I loved to go see Latin music. There used to be a lot of music in the streets, just people playing. The first night I came to New York I went to CBGB to see DNA. DNA was an experimental avant-garde group at the time. The guitarist Arto Lindsday was in it.

So many people went away in the AIDS crisis. I had a lot of friends who died. That was the 80s. The whole club scene was much wilder and much different before all that. In 1979 when I got here it was crazy, it was so much wilder. Then in the 80s there was a big party scene. I remember clubs like 8BC on 8th between B and C.

I had a nice moment when that hotel went up on Rivington. Before they finished the penthouse it was a raw space and me and my friends, we just asked, ‘Can we go up?’ and they said, ‘Sure, no problem.’ So we went up and hung out there and had a party up there. And then we asked, ‘Well can we come back again?’ ‘Oh, sure.’ So we came back the next night with wine and cheese and everything and had a big party up there with a 360-degree view of the Lower East Side that you never saw before.

It’s been a rich life here. I don’t regret coming here. It’s a beautiful neighborhood but I kind of miss the way it was. There was a sense of a real edge. Back then you had to be much more street smart. It was tricky, funky, you had to be careful. There was a sense of reality. Now it’s not the same kind of reality. It feels unreal."

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Help CB3 assess the needs of the neighborhood

Bill LoSasso, treasurer at Community Board 3, passed this along...

CB3 Public Hearing — Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Priorities

Monday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

This is an opportunity for organizations and residents to tell the Community Board their budget priorities.

What parks need reconstruction? What programs need funding? Help us assess the needs of our community.

Every year the Community Board submits a list of capital and expense budget priorities to city agencies. This hearing is your opportunity to have input into these district budget priorities. Tell us how money should be spent in Community Board 3.

Organizations, groups and individuals representing all segments of the community are encouraged to participate.