A celebration of the 13 Portals tonight

[Portal 0 by jdx from December]

Since last December we've been following the 13 Portals, the interactive street art project created by Nicolina, Pérola Bonfanti and the Free Art Society ... On Saturdays this past summer, the artists have unveiled 13 site-specific, hand-painted murals ... along the way, we've been treated to some pretty colorful portal ceremonies...

And it comes to a conclusion tonight with the final (maybe!) 13th Portal. (Each unveiling provided people with the chance to acquire a key to tonight's event where the puzzle will be solved.) Nicolina passed along details about the celebration at ABC Sanctuary, 638 E. 6th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C...

The last and final Portal is this Saturday October 5!
THE PORTAL THIRTEEN.

Everyone is invited!
10:00pm - late
$13 -or- $7 in costume
Open bar from 10-11pm

We begin with the Electric Angel Theremin Convergence of Celestial Supernatural Frequencies...

from there we bring you:

The NY Zimbabwe Imbira Connection
A special performance by Angel Eyedealism
Kiss Slash Crooked Smile
Dynasty Electric
Nick Demopoulos
Monkey and the Elephant
DJ 2Melo
DJ Joro Boro
Original Sounds by PJoe

***PLUS***
Interactive Light Sound Installations by Justin Case
Visuals by Rachel Lubeck
+ Elements of Surprise~

Check out the Facebook event page here for more details. Check out the 13 Portals website here. Read more about Nicolina here.

The Nugget Spot debuts tonight on East 14th St.

The Nugget Spot has its official grand opening at 230 E. 14th St. tonight at 6...

Here's a description of their food via Facebook:

It's not just chicken and it's not just breadcrumbs. We make signature nuggets from different meats and vegetables, coated with innovative breading.

[Via Facebook]

Let us know if you try them...

Annual Harvest Festival at the 6th & B Garden today

Via the EVG inbox... at the 6th & B Garden...

Today's late-afternoon cloud coverage

Photo by Bobby Williams

Tonight I think I'll walk alone...

New Order with a live performance of "Temptation" at BBC Radio 1 studios, 1984.

Noted

Hey @770Broadway! Old called. It wants you back.

— 51 Astor Place (@51deathstar) October 3, 2013

You wish! RT @770Broadway Please stop tweeting me.

— 51 Astor Place (@51deathstar) October 3, 2013

No subtweeting here in Midtown South!

Found photos in the East Village from the early 1990s

When Roy Lee lived in the East Village in the early 1990s, he'd always pick up and save discarded photos that he'd find on the streets. All these years later, he finally got around to scanning them ... he shared them on Facebook, where we spotted them...

"If anyone actually recognizes anyone, that would be fun, but I don't expect it," he said.

And does anyone know if any manufacturer still makes that snazzy zebra-tiger print in the bottom photo?

Today in mutant plants of the East Village

EVG reader Zenon Marko shares these photos... with some background. And questions!

This mutant tree plant grew at astounding speed from a minuscule sprout to its current 3-meter height in the back common yard of our East Village residence. What is this exotic species? A Brazilian transplant? A prop bred for the rain forest scene in the film remake of "The Illustrated Man"? An experimental hybrid grown for the sequel of "Avatar" or a new "Doctor Who" episode? A Triffid? Consider this: the plant is growing from a hole in the concrete wall, with no apparent soil or water for nutrients.

Anyone?

Part of St. Mark's Place will be co-named for Sara Curry tomorrow

Tomorrow, the city is co-naming St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Avenue A Sara Curry Way.

Curry started the Little Missionary's Day Nursery in 1896, which is still in operation today. (The Nursery is also seemingly and amazingly one of the few businesses along this portion of St. Mark's Place without a liquor license.)

Here's more about Curry via the Little Missionary's Day Nursery website:

[She] dedicated her life to providing childcare to the working parents of the Lower East Side. Since she worked so hard to help the community, and she was short in size, many called her the “Little Missionary,” hence the name of the school. At the turn of the century, children often roamed the streets of the Lower East Side while their parents worked long days in factories.

Sara Curry organized a program in her own apartment on Avenue C, and provided children with reading lessons as well as healthy food in a safe, clean environment. In 1901 the building at 93 St. Marks Place was purchased with the help of generous benefactors. On any given day, 200 children were cared for in this wonderful building, still a haven for children to this day.



Sara Curry was famous in her time, and was featured in many publications including Harpers Weekly and Fifty Years on the East Side, by Rev. John Robertson Henry. Through her tireless efforts she made numerous friends in the business community and was able to enlist the support of several very wealthy families.

In addition to providing child care, Miss Curry fed the poor in the neighborhood and often gave her own clothing or shoes to those without. She organized cooking, sewing and child care classes for the mothers. She organized meetings to help families with their problems, and helped to steer parents towards sobriety and economic responsibility. A summer house in Rye, donated by benefactors, was for many years a haven for children to escape from the sweltering heat of the city.

Miss Curry died in 1940.

"Her life was devoted to other people," Eileen Johnson, who has led Little Missionary's since 2001, told Serena Solomon at DNAinfo. "I just think she is a really great role model."

Tomorrow's co-naming ceremonies include a street fair from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

One way to see the inside of CBGB again

Here's a detail about the upcoming CBGB Music and Film Festival that we missed... Brooklyn Vegan pointed out yesterday that the original CBGB walls and sound system will be reconstructed at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema on East Houston next Thursday... on the occasion of the keynote addresses by former MTV President Van Toffler and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Duff McKagan ...

CBGB owner Hilly Kristal and club talent booker Louise Staley oversaw the removal of the interior back in November 2006... According to a news release that Brooklyn Vegan quotes, "Hilly wanted them to live on. He saved them for exactly this type of occasion," said Staley.

Meanwhile, "CBGB: the Movie" premieres at the Sunshine on Tuesday night. Maybe you read Marc Campbell's review of it at Dangerous Minds after you see it...

Some less-expensive expensive options at 130 E. 7th St.

Last week, we posted photos of those new penthouses available above 7A at 130 E. Seventh St. The homes are quite nice, offering panoramic views of Tompkins Square Park, the Con Ed plant, the soon-to-be demolished 100 Avenue A... all for the princely sums of $16,995 and $14,995.

Turns out that you may not need to find 15-17 roommates to share the place with after all!

Unit #4 is also on the market... and the list price is $7,500.



Per the Corcoran listing:

Perfect corner 2-bedroom loft facing Thompkins [sic] Square Park. Condo finishes, floor-to-ceiling windows, and exposed brick throughout. Open kitchen with Viking range, Bosch dishwasher, and poured concrete coutertops. Individual climate control in every room, marble baths with radiant floor heating, separate laundry room. Boutique Pre-War elevator building.

Also, Condo Finishes might make a pretty good band name.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Penthouse life above 7A will cost you $16,995 monthly

Here's what the former Mercadito Cantina space is renting for on Avenue B

Just noting the recent arrival of a for lease sign at the long-vacant Mercadito Cantina space on Avenue B between East 10th Street and East 11th Street. Mercadito's offshoot closed in January 2011

The guys behind Ditch Plains had hoped to open a lounge called The Asphalt Jungle here ... However, in April, the CB3/SLA committee voted to deny the Asphalt Jungle application during a rather ugly meeting. (Read about that here.) ... and the owners reportedly decided to scrap their plans for 172 Avenue B.

As for the space... here's the listing...



The rent is $102,000 "per annum" with no key money... and it is still being peddled for restaurant use...

Previously on EV Grieve:
About Mercadito Cantina closing:'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3' (58 comments)

Today in Auction Today photos on the Bowery

Somebody needs to keep the Bowery classy.

Photos by Derek Berg

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 6th Street]

A great Nathan Kensinger photo essay on SPURA (Curbed)

How about a 'Negative Energy Absorber' for First Park? (DNAinfo)

Looking at the upcoming CBGB Festival (The Village Voice)

Artists wanted for this LES median (BoweryBoogie)

Expanded Delancey Street Plaza construction (The Lo-Down)

The beauty of Ray Beauty Supply off of Times Square (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

The Clean in NYC circa 1989 (Flaming Pablum)

When Jimi Hendrix shopped at Manny's Music (Dangerous Minds)

...and Tea Drunk NYC is now open at 123 E. Seventh St. ... "Our mission is simple: to open access in the west to the finest Chinese teas in the world, and to provide an authentic tea experience that embraces traditional methods of production and consumption."


[Via Twitter]

Lyric Diner now back open at former Lyric Diner space on 3rd Avenue

As you may recall!

Taverna, the Greek restaurant that took over the Lyric Diner space on Third Avenue at East 22nd Street, closed back in August after just six months in business. The same owners closed Lyric Diner during the summer of 2012.

The owners had been revamping the space to return it to its old diner self... and the Lyric Diner 2.0 reopened yesterday, as several EVG readers have noted. Said one: "I live across 3rd Avenue and saw the open sign last night... went in to check it out and they are firing on all cylinders!"

Here's a look inside Tuesday night right before the grand reopening...



Previously.

Report: Fire on E. 2nd St. sends 4 residents to hospital

An early-morning fire on East Second Street near Avenue C left five residents with minor injuries, according to DNAinfo.

The fire started shortly before 4 a.m. on the top floor of 280 E. Second Street, per the FDNY. (DNAinfo lists the address at 264 E. Second St.) The FDNY had the blaze under control within 40 minutes.

MAN ALL HANDS 280 EAST 2ND STREET, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON ROOF,
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 3, 2013

MAN ALL HANDS 280 EAST 2ND STREET, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON TOP FLR, UNDER CONTROL
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 3, 2013

DNAinfo reports that four people went to local hospitals with minor injuries. A fifth person apparently "refused medical attention at the scene."

The FDNY is investigating the cause of the fire.

Anyone with more information?

The amazing murals inside King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

In recent weeks, we posted about 600 or 700 items on the Joe Strummer mural returning to the side of East Seventh Street and A on Niagara... which prompted an EVG Facebook friend to share the following photos from a previous tenant here — King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, open from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s...

East Village resident Laurie Olinder created these for the bar's interior... she recalled painting every wall inside the place in a course of a few days...





If you're on Facebook, then you can see more ephemeral on the King Tut's Wah Wah Hut group page right here ... such as photos of the front entrance at Seventh Street and Avenue A...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Blue Man Group and King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

More details on Root & Bone, opening at the former Mama's Food Shop on E. 3rd St.

[April 2013]

As we first reported on Tuesday, "Top Chef" alum Jeff McInnis was coming to open a restaurant called Root & Bone at the former Mama's Food Shop and Heart N' Soul on East Third Street and Avenue B.

Food & Wine had more details on all this yesterday. New "Top Chef" contestant Janine Booth is joining McInnis for this venture, slated to open in January.

Per F&W:

[T]he new spot will celebrate Southern foodways through dishes like caramelized brisket meat loaf with smoky plantain crème, sunchoke and house-made ricotta “tater tots” and Carolina Gold rice risotto with butter beans and pickled egg yolk.

Let's hope that they fare better than "Top Chef" alum Nikki Cascone, who opened and closed Octavia's Porch within six months right around the corner on Avenue B.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Note outside Heart N' Soul explains that the chef had a 'nervous breakdown'

Mama's Food Shop closes after 15 years; 'the community nature of the neighborhood has all but vanished'

Rumors: 'Top Chef' alum Jeff McInnis will help revamp former Mama's Food Shop space

From the tipline: Former Diablo Royale Este space will be home to a Greek restaurant

[From December 2012]

Neighborhood scourge Diablo Royale Este closed at the end of August 2012 after some ongoing issues with the State Liquor Authority ... and the space at 167 Avenue A has been on the market for nearly a year with at least two different brokers...

Now, word along here is that the space will soon yield a Greek place from restauranteur John Kapetanos, who operates Ethos Gallery, Ethos Meze and the Moonstruck Diners, among others.

A tipster says that the new restaurant will include a raw bar ... and serve seafood, ceviche as well as other traditional Greek fare. No word yet on an opening date. The listing was recently removed from the RKF site.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Diablo Royale Este owner blasts the 'blasphemous lies' of residents, invites the State Liquor Authority to investigate

Diablo Royale Este apologizes for 'Boats 'N Hoes' bash

For lease signs up now at the former Diablo Royale Este on Avenue A

Sarah Schulman on the East Village, street activism and the gentrification of the mind

[Photo of Sarah Schulman via MoRUS]

From the EVG inbox...

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m. at The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS)

ON THE EAST VILLAGE, STREET ACTIVISM AND THE GENTRIFICATION OF THE MIND — A discussion of Sarah Schulman’s life, writing, and the history of East Village activism, art, and the gentrification of the imagination between Sarah Schulman and Benjamin Shepard.

Does social change come from institutions or from grassroots movements? And what of the legacies of AIDS, housing, and gardens activism in New York’s East Village? Did the city create these changes or did activists? And what is the legacy of these struggles? Will the efforts of regular people be lost to the gentrification of the imagination or can regular New Yorkers create their own history and institutions?

Schulman is the author of 16 books, most recently "The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination" (U of California Press) and "Israel/Palestine and the Queer International" (Duke University Press). She is co-producer with Jim Hubbard of the documentary feature film UNITED IN ANGER: A History of ACT UP, which they will be screening in Moscow at the end of October. Sarah is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island and on the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace.

MoRUS is at 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets. There is a $5 suggested donation for each event, but no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.