Friday, December 6, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
The 7B days of Christmas the holidays
7B/Vazac's/Horseshoe Bar at the corner of East Seventh Street and Avenue B is always looking festive in this season of being more festive than usual.
Mudspot Café now open in First Park
Mudspot Café is now open for coffee business in the kiosk off of East Houston and East First Street.
As we first reported on Oct. 10, the East Ninth Street-based café was taking over the food and beverage service from S'MAC, which left the space back in July.
EVG reader Jennifer Spero, who took the above photo, notes that they had muffins and other breakfast items as well as a full coffee/espresso menu.
Updated 12:30 pm
Sorry! Not First Park! But Mud Park!
[Photo via @shmnyc]
Previously on EV Grieve:
More about S'MAC's decision to leave First Park
Mudspot Café opening at the First Park kiosk next month
Mudspot Café prepping kiosk for service in First Park
About the new ownership for 105-year-old East Village institution John's of 12th Street
John's of East 12th Street, the 105-year-old East Village treasure, is about to begin its fourth generation of ownership.
Public documents on file at the CB3 website ahead of next week's SLA committee meeting show that principals involved in the new Beatrice Inn on West 12th Street will be taking over John's, the venerable Italian restaurant between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
New ownership is led by Brett Rasinski, who reopened the revamped Beatrice Inn on West 12th Street along with Graydon Carter and Emil Varda in December 2012. (Carter's name is not involved with John's.)
So does this mean the end to John's of 12th Street, which seemingly hasn't changed all that much through the years (vegetarian menu aside)?
We reached out to Rasinski, a former GM of the Waverly Inn, for more on his plans for one of the last of the so-called red sauce joints around.
"I can't reveal too much at this point, but I will say that I am approaching this venture as a preservationist," he said via email. "As an East Village resident, and a longtime patron of John's, I understand the historical relevance of the space, as well as the importance of its position in our neighborhood. That is why I was so adamant about securing the property."
Since 1973, Mike Alpert and Nick Sitnycky have owned and operated John's; they bought it from the founding Pucciatti family. (Sitnysky, who grow up in the neighborhood, owns the building at 302 E. 12th St.) Alpert died this past July 13 at age 71. He and Sitnycky had together previously discussed selling the business, according to Alpert's widow Judy Anderson.
"Prior to Mike’s passing away in July, he and Nick had made the decision to retire after 40 years at John's, and they were both very happy to come to an agreement with Brett, who has been a regular customer for over six years and has frequently spoken of his appreciation for the history and authenticity of John’s," Anderson told us. "Brett has told our kitchen staff and servers directly that he comes to John’s as a preservationist, so the neighborhood can anticipate seeing familiar faces and essentially the same menu."
Rasinski recalled his first meal at John's, and the immediate impression the place had on him.
"When I first moved to New York City from Newport Beach, California nearly seven years ago, John's was one of the first restaurants that I visited. I came across it one evening while wandering the neighborhood by myself. It was a freezing night in December, and the place was packed. They didn't have any tables available. Big Mike, who I later learned was one of the owners, approached me and said that he would find a way to clear some space. He ended up sitting down with me at a table by the bar for over three hours. He bought me a bottle of Chianti and a Chicken Parmigiana. Given that I didn't know too many people in the city, his generosity and kindness meant more than I can possibly explain."
Since then, he became friends with the owners of John's, and even expressed an interested in buying the space if they ever decided to sell. Several months ago, Alpert called Rasinski and said that they were going to retire.
"Prior to his passing, we were able to agree to the terms of the deal, and I have ultimately been entrusted with the responsibility of preserving their legacy, a 105-year-old tradition that Big Mike and Nicky have kept up for the past 42 years," said Rasinski, 29, who is the same age as Alpert was when he bought John's from the Pucciatti family. "I love John's the way that it is, the way that it has been for over a century, and I will do my best to ensure that it stays around for years to come."
[Via the John's Facebook page]
For Anderson, she feels good that the restaurant will continue on the same as it ever has.
"It's been gratifying to continue to have longtime customers from as far back as the 'second generation' while making new friends as people discover this treasure. We’re sure that Brett will enjoy the wonderful mix of people that grace our door. And of course, Nick and I are happy to help with whatever assistance Brett needs during the transition," Anderson said. "As Mike and Nick were the third generation of John's, having purchased from John's son Danny Pucciatti, we view Brett as the fourth generation and wish him and his team all the best in carrying on the John’s tradition."
Good news & mostly bad news about SantaCon, which reportedly starts in Tompkins Square Park
[Photo of 7th and A from 2007 by Bob Arihood]
SantaCon is fast approaching this year… just nine days 'till Dec. 14. (And just a few more days to book your trip to Greenland!)
And the Daily News casually dropped this bit of info in a feature about this year's Con:
Sources said this year's SantaCon will kick off around Tompkins Square Park and wind its way through the East Village and the Lower East Side before jumping over to Brooklyn.
Oh. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Wait, was that a bad dream?
Sources said this year's SantaCon will kick off around Tompkins Square Park and wind its way through the East Village and the Lower East Side before jumping over to Brooklyn.
Start calling 311 in advance, kids!
And was there something about good news?
The organizers will reportedly share the route for the annual pub crawl with the NYPD and elected officials ahead of the event, according to the Daily News.
Uh-huh.
And?
SantaCon organizers confirmed that they also plan to have 80 helper elves along the route to coordinate traffic and make sure their Santas stay respectful to residents and local businesses.
Feel better?
And visit Neither More Nor Less for some of Bob Arihood's photos from when SantaCon visited Tompkins Square Park in 2007. Right here.
Updated high noon:
DNAinfo has an article this morning on SantaCon here.
Excerpt:
"They're going to be there until about noon, and then wind up in Brooklyn somewhere," a police source told DNAinfo New York. "Hopefully it will be a nice safe day, and hopefully things will be much better than last year."
The police source and Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer said a SantaCon organizer contacted their offices Tuesday.
Stetzer said that she spoke with a SantaCon representative through email, on the phone and in person, adding he was "very friendly and cooperative" in the "several" conversations they had.
"I am hoping management of Santas on sidewalks and streets will be improved," she said.
Jehangir Mehta's private dining spot looks like an ice cream shop
[October 2012]
As we first reported in September 2012, Graffiti chef Jehangir Mehta was taking over the former bridal shop next door to his well-regarded restaurant on East 10th Street. The concept: Graffiti Me, featuring one 14-seat table for customizable private dining.
And that was the last we heard of all that.
Until one recent day when we walked by… and saw that the orange had been painted over…
The colors kinda makes it look like, oh, an ice cream shop?
Then we walked by again… and saw that it really looks like an ice cream shop now…
Well, we're guessing that this is the evolution of Graffiti Me… now called Me and You.
Kate Gunning, one of the initiators of the project, told this last week to The Boulevardiers:
When you dine at Me and You, you dine in Chef Mehta’s private kitchen, and the whole evening is really about the experience as well as the food. Chef will present each course, telling stories about the ingredients, and on occasion, their connection to a memory from his childhood in India.
Chef’s kitchen is in a secret location in the East Village, because we want it to be special, and only seen by those who dine with him, almost like you’re entering the kitchen in his home. The space is really intimate, with 1 big communal table, and an open kitchen so you can really be with the Chef for the whole evening.
The first of these intimate dinners is tonight.
Manhattan's 1st Dairy Queen will be kinda close by
According to the Post, "Manhattan city slickers will soon be able to embrace the beloved suburban Dairy Queen."
The new location will be at 54 W. 14th St. between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue... at the former site of Fabco Shoes.
A DQ opened earlier in the year at the St. George Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. And more locations are planned.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Craft services for 'The Cobbler' on East 7th Street
Filming continued today near and around Tompkins Square Park for the Adam Sandler feature, "The Cobbler."
Bobby Williams spotted the crew in action late this afternoon on East Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C…
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
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
By James Maher
Name: Rew Starr
Occupation: Host of ReW & WhO, Musician, Guitar Teacher
Location: The Bean, 3rd Street and 2nd Avenue
Time: Friday, Nov. 29 at 4 pm
I was born in the Bronx but I never lived there. My parents were both raised in the Bronx, when it was the country, but my grandparents all came from the Lower East Side. They were from Eastern Europe. My grandmother was in Vaudeville and sang the blues and jazz and supposedly worked with Jimmy Durante. And my mother was an actress and singer. She was an understudy on Broadway to Shirley MacLaine in "The Pajama Game."
I was raised in Westchester but I could never admit it my whole life. I used to lie all the time and say I was from the city cause that’s the only place I ever wanted to be from. I left home when I was 15 and I went to college at Maryland at 16. I was in a big hurry to get to somewhere. Then I moved to Philadelphia for awhile and ran a skincare salon for a few years. Then I came back here and never left. That was in the early ‘80s.
When I moved here my life hit rock bottom and then I met this total stranger, Paul, who had just moved to the city and it changed everything. He moved here because he loved the Ramones more than anything and he just wanted to play guitar and write songs. He told me that I looked like I could sing and write. It was a hidden dream of mine. I always wanted to do that but I never had the chance. So the two of us would meet and we wrote so many songs you can’t even imagine. We would write and write until we finally did our first open mic at the Sun Mountain Cafe in the West Village. Through that we started getting gigs and from then on we played all the time.
We were always called Black Flamingo. We played at Spiral and CBGBs a lot ... there was a place called Street Level, Downtown Beirut — all the local little places. It was fun, but eventually Paul left. He had wanted to add musicians to the mix because he wasn’t the best guitar player. We could write songs and we worked well together but once we got musicians to play with us, what would happen is instead of Paul’s mistakes being hidden they would be louder. The musicians would count and act like musicians and we were two little freak artists that had no training whatsoever. You bring people that know how to play into the mix and he used to get really upset.
Around then I began to hate being a singer/songwriter that didn’t play an instrument. So I learned to play a few songs on the guitar and I got cocky very quickly. Once I started playing I wasn’t codependent. And then I got a job playing sing-a-long in nursery school, so I was paid to practice. That’s why I feel like I’m a permanent kindergarden guitar player, which is my style anyway. I’m a simple writer. I have a punk rock heart but I tell too much information and I never realized until I started playing for kids how inappropriate every song I write is for kids.
I was Black Flamingo for so many transitions and then I got an email that somebody wanted to buy theblackflamingo.com. It was a store in Laguna Beach that did the clothing for the television show Laguna Beach and the Hills. So we became RewBee because my partner in music at the time was named Bee.
Bee was working doing computer stuff at this place on the Upper West Side called AriZZmARadio and they were starting to do these indie web shows, and he wanted to do one, but they said he needed a girl co-host. So we started this web show called RewBee’s world with mostly indie artists and musicians. But within six months our band fell apart and it was really ugly.
The show was every Wednesday and Bee quit on a Tuesday night. Overnight it turned into ReW & WhO. I decided I would have a guest co-host every show — it’s who’s going to be the WhO? Then I moved the show to Otto’s Shrunken Head, which was like my second home. We survive on donations now and we’re so lucky. We don’t expect it but that’s how we survive. Our show is all about rising stars and living legends and people of passion. We don’t exclude anything that’s passionate about something that they truly believe in. We’ve had politicians and the WhO’s are now booked far in advance. We’re also working with an organization called Guitars Not Guns, who give kids a guitar and lessons. Our show is totally guerrilla, it’s totally underground, we have no experience at all, and we keep it going.
I love the East Village and I’ve seen it go through many transformations. I used to live on Mulberry Street when it wasn’t Nolita. It was still Little Italy. John Gotti used to walk around the block and you could smell his cologne. He would take his walks around the block with his friends.
I worked at a shelter for moms and kids doing arts and crafts once a week on 3rd Street between C and D. You couldn’t even get a cab that would take you there. We had to call a car service. There were so many stray dogs and vacant lots. The only time you would walk there was at like 5 or 6 in the morning from the after hours clubs and the only people around were drug addicts and stray dogs with foam at the mouth.
But all I ever wanted was to have little city kids to grow up here, and thank the lord I have two. They grew up in the East Village and I live vicariously through them. They’ve found out that the city is a playground in the after hours. I forget that things like that still go on. They’re in the heat of it all. Fortunately they tell me a lot.
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
There goes the 7-Eleven awning on St. Mark's Place
For anyone thinking that 7-Eleven wasn't actually closed for good here on St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue. Workers arrived early this morning to remove the 7-Eleven sign/awning ... the store closed this past weekend, as we first reported...
The store opened in April 2012... flashback to happier sign times!
The 22nd annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square Park is Sunday
From 4-5 Sunday… details are on the flyer below...
[Bobby Williams]
The tree was planted in 1992 in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS," per the sign that hangs near the tree...
And here are scenes from the ceremony in 2008 ... and in 2011...
Report: the number of chain stores decreased slightly this past year in zip 10003
From the EVG inbox yesterday …
The Center for an Urban Future [has] published the sixth edition of its annual “State of the Chains” study ranking the national retailers with the most store locations in New York City. The study shows that the expansion of chain stores across the city slowed considerably over the past year, even as Dunkin Donuts recently became the first national retailer with more than 500 stores across the five boroughs.
The report reveals that there was only a 0.5 percent increase in the number of national retail locations in New York City between 2012 and 2013, the smallest year-over-year increase since we began compiling data on the city’s national retailers in 2008—and down from a 2.4 percent gain between 2011 and 2012. Two boroughs — Manhattan and Queens — actually experienced a decline in the number of chain stores between 2012 and 2013. Overall, the 302 national retailers that were listed on last year’s ranking expanded their footprint in New York City from a total of 7,190 stores in 2012 to 7,226 stores in 2013, a 0.5 percent increase. This marks the sixth straight year there has been a net increase in the number of national chain stores in the five boroughs.
For the sixth consecutive year, Dunkin Donuts tops our list as the largest national retailer in New York City, with a total of 515 stores. Over the past year, Dunkin Donuts had a net increase of 39 stores in the city (an 8 percent gain). Subway is still the second largest national retailer in the city, with 467 locations across the five boroughs. It had a net gain of 28 stores since last year (a 6 percent increase). Rounding out the top ten national retailers in New York are: Duane Reade/Walgreens (with 318 stores), Starbucks (283), MetroPCS (261), McDonalds (240), Baskin Robbins (202), Rite Aid (190), T-Mobile (161) and GNC (138).
There are now 15 retailers with more than 100 stores across the city, up from 14 last year. Over the past year, 7-Eleven became the latest retailer with at least 100 locations in New York; it expanded from 97 stores in 2012 to 124 today.
Starbucks has more stores in Manhattan than any other national retailer, with 212 locations. In each of the other boroughs, Dunkin Donuts tops the list — it has 154 stores in Queens, 123 in Brooklyn, 72 in the Bronx and 32 on Staten Island.
Among the retailers with the largest numerical growth over the past year:
• Dunkin Donuts: 515 locations, up from 476 in 2012
• Subway: 467 locations, up from 439 in 2012
• 7-Eleven: 124 locations, up from 97 in 2012
• Starbucks: 283 locations, up from 272 in 2012
Overall, the 10003 zip (which includes Union Square and parts of Fifth Avenue) has the third-most chain stores in the city, according to the report… however, with 170 national retailers, the number has decreased by 9 from last year. The Center reports 46 chain stores in zip code 10002 this year, up from 36 in 2012.
[Click on image to enlarge]
Find the full report here.
Yuca Bar closed for a week-long renovation
If you're a fan of Yuca Bar, then do not be alarmed when you spot kitchen equipment in the restaurant's dining room this week... a sign on the door here on Avenue A at East Seventh Street explains that they are closed until Monday for renovations...
Vicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches has closed on East 2nd Street
Vicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches took over the Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches space on East Second Street just off Avenue A two years ago… and, as several readers have noted, Vicky's closed at the end of November. For rent signs are up, as you can see in the above photo. (By the way, you can still find a Nicky's in Manhattan down on Nassau Street.)
As EVG regular Salim lamented to us in an email, this is yet "another low-key, affordable shop going away" … joining the recently shuttered Cafe Rakka on Avenue B...
Fortunately, the renovated Rakka Cafe from the same owners has reopened on St. Mark's Place.
Something new to look at in the Mary Help of Christians lot
Well, while we await more news on the above residential complex at the former Mary Help of Christians property along Avenue A between East 11th Street and East 12th Street… might as well enjoy some new graffiti at the site!
These tags arrived some time during the past week or so. We took these photos last Friday...
...and via EVG reader Ruth… a fine addition!
As for the new 438 E. 12th St., there will be 158 residential units… and maybe a rooftop pool. So far, the DOB has twice "disapproved" the new building plans... the second "disapproved" is dated Monday, according to the DOB website.
Previously on EV Grieve:
New residential complex at former Mary Help of Christians lot may include rooftop swimming pool
Meet your new neighbor on Avenue A
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Dining with today's hawk in Tompkins Square Park
Taffy, bubble gum or pigeon entrails… hard to say!
Photos by Bobby Williams
The New Yorker's seasonal love for McSorley's
Finally had a chance to see this week's issue of The New Yorker… which features a familiar sight on the cover: McSorely's. The illustration, titled ''Tis the Season," is by Istvan Banyai.
Here's more about it:
“I am almost as old as McSorley’s,” says Istvan Banyai, the artist behind this week’s cover. “It’s a quintessential New York landmark that still has a character,” he continues. … "I loved to go to McSorley’s when I lived in New York, before I moved to the woods in Connecticut. It has a lovely atmosphere, and it’s a good place to talk to strangers … and forget the Internet.
[H/t Spike and Anton]
A good sign?
Maybe some Santas have decided to retire in the face of all that political pressure about SantaCon… EVG regular William Klayer spotted this in the trash along East Ninth Street today… (And are Santa outfits recyclable?)
Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicians call on SantaCon 'to adopt good-neighbor principles'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)