RIP Marty Thau

[Thau, right, with David Johansen and Muddy Waters in the early '80s. Photo via Facebook]

Legendary music producer-manager-entrepreneur Marty Thau died last Thursday at age 75. While there hasn't been any official announcement about his passing, his many friends are paying their respects on Facebook.

Updated 4:45: Billboard has his obituary here.

He told Vice a few years back that he had been in poor health starting in 2010. "I had inner bleeding in my abdomen and I had an operation [where] I died on the operating table but they revived me. ... And then I lost the use of my kidneys. Now I have to go to dialysis three times a week."

Thau, the founder of Red Star Records, worked with everyone from John Cale to the Ramones (he recorded the band's first demos) … Blondie… Richard Hell and the Voidoids … the Fleshtones … Suicide… and the New York Dolls, who he served as manager.

Here's an excerpt from an interview in Vice from June 2012 where he talks about working with Suicide:

I came across [them] when I was doing shows with the Dolls and bands who were part of that Mercer scene in '72. I put them on a St. Valentine's Day show and I thought, “These guys are incredible!” They weren't for everyone but they were really stunning as far as I was concerned. But I was so immersed with the Dolls — they were sort of my financial albatross — that I couldn't do anything with [Suicide] as much as I enjoyed what they were doing. Then I didn't run back into them for a few years. '76 is when I came across them again.

It was down in the East Village one afternoon. I happened to bump into Marty Rev and he said, “Ah, how ya doin'?” and all. “We're playing at Max's Kansas City in a couple of weeks. Would you like to come to the show?” And I said, “Sure, I'd love to.” So I went to the show and I couldn't believe how great I thought they were. Even better than they were earlier. Certainly more unusual. I never thought they were really commercial but I enjoyed what they were doing and I respected what they were doing.

He had reportedly been working on a memoir titled "Rockin' the Bowery: From the New York Dolls to Suicide." Rocker had an excerpt of the memoir a few years back.

Leaving with Suicide and "Dream Baby Dream" …

Happy 160th anniversary McSorley's

Hey, the bar on East Seventh Street is celebrating its 160th (or 152st!) anniversary… (There are some doubters about when McSorley's actually opened. Per New York: "Though McSorley’s claims it opened its doors in 1854, NYC historian Richard McDermott used public records to prove it really opened in 1862." Which means Lincoln never set foot in the place.)

Anyway!

Per the McSorley's Facebook page the other day:

February 17th is our 160th Anniversary. So c'mon in and help celebrate. We'll have a fine cut of a man on the squeezebox, another singing song and our civil war era sword behind the bar will slice everyone a fat piece of cake. Are you ready?

Squeezebox!

Updated:

A photo from this afternoon via Bobby Williams… looks orderly enough outside…



Previously on EV Grieve:
Happy 155th birthday, McSorley's (or not)

Exclusive: Minnie McSorley's first interview

[Photo circa 1970 by JP Laffont/Sygma/CORBIS]

San Loco on Avenue A has closed after 15 years

The sign here between East 9th Street and East 10th Street is pretty self-explanatory… the Second Avenue location remains open… Meanwhile, what will become of San Loco's full liquor license?

H/T Andrew Coamey

Burkina renews lease for First Avenue

[Photo by Yenta Laureate]

Last month, hip-hop clothing shop Burkina NYC began a going-out-of-business sale at their store on First Avenue near East Fourth Street. We heard that they were set to close after Saturday….

However, EVG correspondent Stacie Joy stopped by on Saturday and talked with owner Ahmed Sankara …


[Photo by Stacie Joy]

… and learned that their closing/$5 fire sale was so successful, the landlord has asked Burkina to stay … Sankara has agreed to another several years on a lease at an "affordable" price. He also said that he was overwhelmed by the support of the neighborhood … and credits the outreach and support with helping change the landlord's mind about a lease.

Burkina moved here in the fall of 2011 after 16 years on East Houston.


[Photo by Yenta Laureate]

Report: Ben Shaoul's parents are suing him for $50 million

Developer Ben Shaoul is being sued by his parents for $50 million, according to The Real Deal.

“The people he is stealing from are his own parents – the same parents who worked hard all their lives and saved their money, the same parents that bailed him out of jail, took him back into their home when he dropped out of school, the same parents who paid for him to learn the real estate business and the same parents who provided the millions in seed money to begin the family real estate business,” the complaint states.

Jail? Do tell!

And!

Abraham and Minoo Shaoul are accusing their son of treating Magnum, a major Manhattan real estate investment company co-founded by Shaoul and his parents, like his “own personal piggy bank,” using clever legal maneuvers to derive payouts from buildings purchased by the company without their permission.

For his part, Ben told The Real Deal in a statement that he "categorically" denied "all of the allegations contained in the complaint." He said that it was a private matter, and blamed it on "the deterioration of my relationship with my mother."

Meanwhile, in reporting on the matter. Curbed is the clear winner in the Paragraphs of the Year Awards:

Developer/80s breakdance movie villain, Ben "The Sledgehammer" Shaoul is well known for his hated developments in the East Village/LES. But when he isn't tearing down nursing homes and shrieking with maniacal laughter, he's also getting into ugly legal entanglements with his own parents.

Week in Grieview

[Abandoned hornet's nest over Avenue A via Grant Shaffer]

RIP Maggie Estep (Wednesday)

Surprise! Surprise! is closing (Tuesday, 41 comments)

Someone finally builds a decent looking new building in the East Village (Monday)

An appreciation: the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen (Friday)

Recreating "tent city" in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

Sounds to close on St. Mark's Place (Friday)

176 E. Third St. hits the market for $38.5 million (Thursday)

Out and About with Dawn of Juicy Lucy (Wednesday)

Deth Killers of Bushwick pop up on the Bowery (Tuesday)

INA opening a designer consignment shop on East 13th Street (Monday)

Looking at Centre-fuge Cycle 12 on East 1st Street (Tuesday)

Down one Joey Pepperoni's now (Wednesday)

Former Shima space asking $25k (Friday)

Should we start worrying about the Subway Inn? (Wednesday)

Coyote Ugly is hiring (Wednesday)

Slush! (Friday)

It snowed again. Again. (Thursday)


[Photo of East 6th Street Thursday by Vinny and O … click image to enlarge]

Makeshift altar arrives at former Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church

[Photo by EVG reader Matteo]

Last summer, workers demolished the church, school and rectory on the Mary Help of Christians lot on Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 11th Street. Developer Douglas Steiner awaits city approval for his retail-residential complex at the now-empty lot.

In the meantime, someone has created a makeshift altar on the East 12th Street plywood… which includes a frame around the plywood portal…


[Photo by EVG reader Matteo]

..and EVG reader Alta Tseng shared these photos…







Despite the demolition, former church regulars continued to hold their daily sidewalk prayer service on East 12th Street through August.

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

Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site

Scaffolding arrives for demolition of Mary Help of Christians

The 'senseless shocking self-destruction' of Mary Help of Christians

Into the snow, again

[Tompkins Square Park]

Photos this snowy day via Derek Berg


[East 4th Street]

Noted

Astor Place tonight via EVG reader 8E…

E Smoke Shop now anchoring St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue

We spotted workers putting up the new sign yesterday afternoon at the newsstand/deli on St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue… and a reader sent us a shot from this morning showing how it's looking… say hello to E Smoke Shop…



A new operator took over the now former New Corner Magazine (or King's Magazine) last month … the fellows who work here couldn't be any nicer … as for the sign … rather schlocky, though maybe the use of S-shapted pipes might seem kind of quaint in about, oh, 50 years. And awesome display of bongs water pipes in the window… some competition for the other shops down the street…

Previously on EV Grieve:
New Corner Magazine closed for renovations; new operator to take over

What happened to DJ Lenny M?

[Updated] A new look for the magazine shop on Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Bombed again at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Maya Hayuk's nearly two-week-old criss-cross mural up on the wall at East Houston and the Bowery was hit for the second time…



Her mural was tagged just two days after completion, as BoweryBoogie noted.



Apparently all this happened during Thursday night's snowstorm, per AnimalNY.

East 14th Street, 8:06 a.m., Feb. 15

You can get into The New Museum for free by donating a winter coat

[A work by Paweł Althamer via The New Museum]

From the EVG inbox...

Beginning in February, the New Museum will present the first US museum exhibition devoted to the work of Paweł Althamer. Since the early 1990s, Althamer (b. 1967 Warsaw, Poland) has established a unique artistic practice and is admired for his expanded approach to sculptural representation and his experimental models of social collaboration. Althamer is predominantly known for figurative sculptures of himself, his family, and various other individuals within his community. Beyond simple portraiture, these sculptures, along with the artist’s other activities, highlight the complex social, political, and psychological networks in which he operates. “Paweł Althamer: The Neighbors” will be on view on the Fourth, Third, and Second Floor galleries from February 12–April 13, 2014.

And about admission…

For his exhibition, Althamer has initiated a coat drive for the Bowery Mission, the Museum's neighbor, which has been serving the homeless and hungry since 1879. For the duration of the exhibition, visitors bringing new or gently used men's coats to the New Museum will receive free entry. All the coats will be donated to the Bowery Mission.

The New Museum is at 235 Bowery.

So I meet you at the cemetry gates

A little Valentine's Day mood music for you… "Found Love In a Graveyard" by Veronica Falls circa 2010...

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Looking at a Missed Connection on Craigslist today...

dude who looks like Robert Smith - w4m (East Village)
I used to see you all over the East Village. The first time I saw you was at a Karen Finley reading at Barnes and Noble 3 or 4 summers ago. Then you were everywhere. On the L train. At some other feminist performance event I can't remember the name of now. Once I was at the Bean on 2nd ave and you came in to put up your event poster. It seemed like you were a regular. I went away for the summer and haven't seen you since. Are you still alive?

Not sure what era of Robert Smith this Robert Smith looks like (80s? 90s? 2000s?) Regardless! Hope that it works out for you kids!

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[On Avenue A, photo by Grant Shaffer]

Landmarks Preservation Commission still not pleased with plans for 9-story hotel adjacent to the Merchant's House Museum on East 4th Street (Curbed)

Early photos of the Merchant's House Museum (Off the Grid)

Mayor de Blasio nixes 'infill' plan for NYCHA properties (The Villager)

The paintings of East Village artist and activist Sally Young are up at the Ottendorfer Library (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

East Village photographer Sally Davies has a show at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery (The Jewish Week)

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Video interlude... Casey Neistat snowboarding yesterday on the streets of the East Village and LES...



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Join Citi Bike's email list and get a free 24-hour Citi Bike pass (Citi Bike Facebook page)

Playing bocce on First Avenue (Ephemeral New York)

Talking 2 years of Centre-fuge art on East First Street (BoweryBoogie)

A look at new restaurants opening on the Bowery (Eater)

An interview with LES resident Michael Kelly, who stars on "House of Cards" (The Lo-Down)

The last 5 standalone diners in Manhattan (Scouting NY)

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And this week marked the annual wreath-laying on Founder's Day at Cooper Union ... EVG reader Beth Sopko (Cooper Union class of '87) shared these photos (find more here) ... some students turned out on Wednesday, on Peter Cooper's 233rd birthday, wearing all black clothes and carrying black balloons — a statement regarding the board's decision to begin charging undergraduate tuition at the school starting this fall ...

Scenes from the Great East Village Slushathon

[First Avenue and East 13th Street]

As you may have noticed, it's really slushy and mushy out there ... East Village-based photographer Gudrun Georges captured some of the messy leftovers from yesterday's storm...


[Avenue A, we're gonna need a bigger boat]

Find more of her work here. And consider buying some waist waders.

Soon, there won't be any record stores on St. Mark's Place, and that sucks

[EVG file photo]

Here's a bit of depressing (but not really surprising) news buried in a Wall Street Journal piece today about St. Mark's Place:

Sounds, the last of once-many record shops on the strip, recently limited its business days to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, said Felicia De Chabris, an associate broker with Halstead Property. She said Sounds' space went on the rental market this month, with its first showings this week.

Among the CD/record shops that have closed on (or near) St. Mark's Place in recent years ... Joe's CDs, 13 CDs, Venus Records, Mondo Kim's, Smash, Norman's, Rockit Scientist Records...

From an EVG post on the topic from January 2012:

Didn't seem like too long ago where you could have spent an afternoon on St. Mark's Place rooting through the bins of the record stores here ... then reading the liner notes/CD sleeves of your purchases at the Grassroots or wherever over a beer ... Ah, how old-fashioned

Meanwhile, all the more reason to support the record stores that remain here ... places such as...Kim's ... Good Records NYC ... Turntable Lab ... A-1 Records ... Other Music ... Academy Records ... Rainbow Music...

Updated 3:34 p.m.
Alex weighs in on all this over at Flaming Pablum.

At the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen

I've been meaning to write about the the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on East Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square now for about the past, oh, seven years.

The basement cafeteria of sorts is a fundraising arm of the St George Ukrainian Catholic Church up the street. Most of the food is made by elder members of the church.(Read all about it in this feature from the Times in September 2007).

So here we are.



The menu is really straightforward with Eastern European offerings … and reasonably priced… (not really here to review this or anything… just as an appreciation that this kind of place still exists here… )



Oh, the "bacon bites" are free…



These photos are from this past December holiday, though I seem to recall it feeling Christmasy year-round (they usually take the summer off…)



Even if you don't like this kind of food it's worth a trip down here for a $1 coffee or tea to soak up the timeless ambiance.

KEEP IN MIND: It's only open Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (The after-church crowd can get a little rowdy, so … haha)

A look at your new post office on East 14th Street

By now you know that the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will be closing soon (enough) on East 14th Street near Avenue A… and the USPS is leasing the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue just for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

There was a hole in the paper on the inside of the former Duane Reade… we took a look inside the other afternoon…



Not real exciting, but… No official word just yet when this location will open for business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal