Meanwhile, outside Bull McCabe's ...

Filming for the HBO television program "Girls" is underway on St. Mark's Place...

Photo by Riley McCormick

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: Lauren Edmond
Occupation: Artist
Location: 9th Street and Avenue A
Date: 4 pm on Tuesday, July 8

I was born in Park Slope and I grew up on Long Island. I came to the East Village when I was 25 in 1977. Cheap rent brought me here. I’ve been an artist my whole life. I have been painting since I was 13. I came here so that I could not have to pay a large rent and just do odd jobs and paint as much as I can, and I’m still doing it 37 years later.

I was an oil painter for 30 years and then I got very toxic from the paint and searched around for another medium. I started painting on my computer in the mid 1990s and I’ve been doing that ever since. It’s been about 20 years that I’ve been painting using software and a Wacom tablet. Either I go completely abstract or I do landscapes of the neighborhood.

It was a slum here in 1977. It wasn’t like this at all. It was a completely different feel. There were a lot of Polish and Ukrainian restaurants. There were bars but there were no cutesy stores. There were interesting stores, clothing — second-hand clothing. There were people who did art and made little things. There were a lot of stores like that. They came and went, even then. There was not this proliferation of bars and cafes like there is now. There were a lot more divey places. It was a different economic time.

Uptown people still made money, but the people who lived uptown wouldn’t come here. They wouldn’t want to live here. I remember one Saturday night in 1978 in the summer. We sat across from the Grassroots and we could count on one hand how many people walked by in one night. I said to myself, Remember this, because it's probably not going to be this way forever, because here is this neighborhood that lies between Midtown and Downtown. How could it not be a big deal? How could it be lost and forgotten? How long could this go on?

It wasn’t until the mid-1980s when the wealthier people started coming here. By 1980 it started to change. We started to get on the map. People were having fun. We had a blast. It was just a lot less crowded. There was a lot of romance. It was very romantic for us young artists. We had a real fantasy thing doing on here.

I remember when we put together the East Village Eye in 1979. I was on the original staff of that and it was great. I got to work with a lot of very good people. The Eye was a newspaper that was devoted to the East Village scene — music, fashion, art. We kept up with politics, but it had a lot of fashion and style and scene, because there was a lot of scene and there was a lot more live music going on, not necessarily just in this neighborhood.

By the 1990s it really had completely changed and now it just keeps getting more so. It’s good and bad. It’s good because there’s more wealth and that’s not a bad thing. People of my generation think all wealth is bad. I don’t agree with that. Wealth is fine. It’s how you use it and what your values are. It’s a tool. Wealth for wealth’s sake can get out of hand, but it’s a tool.

Now they say the old East Village is done, but if you go to another neighborhood and come back here you realize that it is a lot more laid back here than any other place ... it’s got a different style to it here. It’s still the East Village. It’s still creative and it still draws creative people, although not only creative people. You can be creative and be into money. There are a lot of ways to be creative that don’t rely on just putting it on canvas.

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

I Coppi returns to the East Village

I Coppi, the modestly priced Tuscan restaurant, closed after 14 years on East Ninth Street in September 2012.

Proprietor Lorella Innocenti then planned to open a similar-themed restaurant at 189 Avenue A with her sister Maristella, who owns Matilda on East 11th Street near Avenue C.

Unfortunately, the sisters couldn't make it work on Avenue A despite their best efforts.

However, the two remain undeterred, and have reopened I Coppi in the Matilda space at 647 E. 11th St. near Avenue C. The new space will be called I Coppi Di Matilda.

"It's my sister, myself and my husband Esteban," Maristella told us. "We've all been through the recession, Sandy and more, but we are back with [our] mama's food at very good prices."

The sisters were born and raised in Pistoia, Tuscany. They looked for ways to reproduce the recipes that their mother made for them while growing up. Lorella was able to do so at I Coppi. Maristella helped in the kitchen, where she met her future husband, Esteban Molina, a sous chef.

Maristella and Esteban opened Matilda in 2007.

Having achieved their individual successes, the sisters along with Esteban decided to bring together both of their businesses with I Coppi Di Matilda, which features an array of pastas priced at $15 and less.

"It has most of the original menu from I Coppi, but also includes some of the specialty dishes specific to Matilda," Maristella said.

And the plans for a restaurant on Avenue A?

"We couldn't get enough money together and finally had to give up," she said. "But the family is together and stronger than ever. Hopefully, even without any help from the city or the government — I got zero after Sandy, and we lost everything at Matilda's — we will do better now with mama's food."

Deeper discounts at Kim's as closing countdown continues

The 50 percent off banner is now up at Kim's Video and Music at 124 First Ave. between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

As we first reported on April 21, the store is closing.

Our source tells us that the closing date will be right around the midpoint of August. However, the source says that it's conceivable that the owner, Yongman Kim, could decide to do shut the doors for good by the end of this month.

The space has not yet been rented. The asking rent is $16,500.

As for the sales, the new CD/DVD/Blu-ray releases are 30 percent off ... while the rest of the stock, from vinyl to DVDs, is 50 percent off. We've stopped by several times in recent weeks. For those with discerning tastes, there's still a lot of treasure to be found in the remaining piles.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] A really bad sign outside Kim's Video & Music on First Avenue (31 comments)

Source: Kim's staff looking for ways to save their store

More about the closure of Kim's: 'We are NOT closing because record stores are dying'

Listing for Kim's Video says space is 'ideal for Bank, 711, Starbucks'

Time-lapse video takes you through the months with the baby hawks of Tompkins Square Park

[One of the kids in the Park Saturday via Grant Shaffer]

The three offspring of Christo and Dora have been busy frolicking in Tompkins Square Park of late, as Goggla continues to document.

They started their lives up on the AC unit on the Christodora House ... where residents in the apartment agreed to have a nest cam set up to monitor the birds. As for a timeline, the nest arrived in February ... followed by the eggs in April ... and the last fledgling left the house on July 2.

East Village resident and photographer Francois Portmann has posted the following time-lapse video ...

Hold on!



Previously on EV Grieve:
Red-tailed hawks nest on the Christodora House

The hawks of Tompkins Square Park have laid an egg at the Christodora House

More eggsciting hawk news from the Christodora House

Breaking (heh) news: The hawks of Tompkins Square Park are officially parents

OMG baby hawks! (UPDATED WITH VIDEO!)

VIDEO: Watch the baby hawks of Tompkins Square Park dine on some rat

Time to wait in line like it's 1954 at Veselka

Wednesday from 6pm-6:54pm - rolling back the menu to 1954 prices in honor of our 60th year. http://t.co/UKgZbIUs0K

— Veselka Restaurant (@veselkanyc) July 22, 2014

As previously noted, Veselka is celebrating its 60th anniversary … in honor of this, the restaurant at 144 Second Ave. (at East Ninth Street) is turning prices on some items back to 1954.

And as the above Veselka tweet shows ... the first of these turn-back-time-to-1954 eatathons is tonight from 6-6:54.

Think there will be a line?

Report: Google engineer accused of raping woman inside his East 12th Street apartment

According to published reports, 28-year-old Google engineer Justin Chan was arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court today on rape charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault inside his East 12th Street apartment.

As the Post reports:

Chan ... allegedly chatted up the 19-year-old victim … in Union Square on June 1 and convinced her to go back to his apartment at 121 E. 12th St., sources said.

There, the two took a shot of booze, but when the victim told Chan she wanted to leave, he forcibly threw up on top of his bed and held her down.

“It will be over in five seconds,” Chan, a Canadian resident, told her.

While Chan doesn't have a criminal record, a prosecutor said that they are investigating other complaints of sexual assault against him.

Chan, who the Daily News reported left the courthouse with his girlfriend, is currently free on $50,000 cash bail.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Along First Avenue]

Effects of water main break still hurting the business at Katz's (The Lo-Down)

Map of East Village art and nightlife, circa 1983-1985 (Stupefaction)

Checking out the new St. Mark's Bookshop (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Tickets are available for the Second Annual MoRUS Film Fest, Aug. 1-9 (MoRUS)

Photos of "Empty New York" in 1964 (The Laughing Squid)

100 Montaditos still planning restaurant at the former EarthMatters store on Ludlow Street (BoweryBoogie)

Metal gate makeover on the Lower East Side (DNAinfo)

How New Yorkers beat the heat in 1899! (Ephemeral New York)

Memories of the Marquee club on West 21st Street (Flaming Pablum)

The baby hawks in Tompkins Square Park are like huge now (Gog in NYC)


[Brandon Sines creating a stop-motion Frank Ape]

... and tonight at Bowery Electric, artist Brandon Sines is debuting a Frank Ape stop-motion animated film with an original soundtrack performed live by Les Racquet ... part of Racquet's Tuesday Night Residency this month. Per the press materials: "Both Sines and Les Racquet seek to curate a unique event that introduces fans to quality collaborative art. They see the residency as part of a larger trend to return to a supportive, inclusive artist community."

More about the Between the Seas Festival 2014, now underway in the East Village

Between the Seas, the only festival in New York celebrating Mediterranean performance, has returned to the Wild Project on East Third Street for its fourth year.

This year's highlights include a world premiere adaptation of Chuck Mee's "Matisse's Self Portrait"; new work by the choreographer Nejla Yatkin, and the return of Balletto di Sardegna with dance inspired by designer Elsa Schiaparelli.



In addition, Between the Seas is debuting a new program, 4x4, a series of staged readings that pair American directors and actors with Mediterranean playwrights.

Aktina Stathaki, the artistic and producing director of Between the Seas, answered a few questions for us about the festival.

This is the fourth year for Between the Seas. How did the event initially finds its way to the East Village?

When the idea of launching this festival started taking shape I lived on East 9th Street. The East Village felt like a very natural environment for a grassroots, international festival like Between the Seas. I started looking for spaces and one day I just walked past the Wild Project. So I decided to go in and check it out. I instantly loved the space and the staff was so helpful and supportive.

Even though I continued looking for spaces in other neighborhoods there was this little voice that was telling me that I should do it at the Wild Project. And I am so happy I followed my gut feeling — now the Wild Project has become a home to us and we have a great working relationship with them.

Does the East Village seem like a good home for this event?

The East Village is the ideal home for this event. Every year I am more convinced about it. There's a thriving theater community and a curious, generous audience. It's wonderful to be part of this community.

It also fits very much our international character — there are so many different nationalities living or hanging out in the East Village ... so we and our artists feel very much like we belong there.

As we grow we start partnering with businesses in the neighborhood – this year we're partnering with Contrada and Lumiere, two great restaurants who are very keen in supporting the arts. So this makes us feel even more rooted in the neighborhood.

How have you seen the festival expand these past four years?

Year after year I feel that we are cultivating and growing our audience and artistic community. People get to know what we do and trust us – they will return from one year to the next, or they will return to see more shows during the course of the festival week.

Same with the artists — they trust us with their work because despite the difficulties of producing in the city we try to make sure to respect them, to offer the best possible conditions for production and create a compelling program that will do justice to their work but also to the region we want to represent.

It is also great to see that after three years of production, organizations in New York start to show us their support and that is truly essential for our growth: this year we were accepted as a member at Alliance of Resident Theaters in NYC, who's doing an incredible work for artists; and we received our first grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, which has been so empowering in enabling us to do new programming and giving us confidence to continue our work.

What can first-time festival-goers expect?

They can expect a great, interesting programming and a vibrant, fun and laid-back setting. We welcome everyone. We try to engage into dicussion ... and we want everyone to come and have a great time, meet new people, learn something about the region, come out with more questions and curiosity about the artists and the works. We believe in community. We want our audiences to feel like an important part of our growing community.

We know how hard it is to get audiences in the city with all the great art that is happening so we really value our audience's presence ... and we try to offer them something innovative and compelling.

You can find more details and tickets here. The festival runs through Sunday.

These 2 luxury residential buildings are rising very quickly on Lafayette Street

We're used to rather pokey developments around here (185-193 Avenue B, 98-100 Avenue A, etc.). But over on the west side of Lafayette between Great Jones and Bond, the two new projects are racing skyward at a record pace.

There's the 6-floor rental at 372 Lafayette St. and Great Jones ... and the 7-floor 10 Bond Street, which is already getting glassy. (And Curbed reported last month that four of the building's 11 $$$ homes are already in contract.)



These photos are from Sunday. By now residents are probably moving in.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New skyline for Lafayette Street?

Another corner still primed to fall on NoHo

Demolition starts on former garage and lot; new developments coming for Lafayette Street

Looking at the future luxurious corners of Lafayette Street

Reader mailbag: I need a small kitchen space for my business

From the EVG reader mailbag:

I'm an East Village resident looking for a very tiny kitchen space (without a storefront) in the area, something hopefully the size of where Otafuku used to be (236 E. Ninth St.). I just need to fit an oven, a refrigerator and a table for rolling out dough. I deliver pastries throughout NYC and I ship them nationally but I want to move on from using a shared space kitchen in Brooklyn.

It's kind of an odd request because of the lack of storefront.

There you go.

Any recommendations? You may send any credible leads to the EV Grieve email

-------------

We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)

Reader mailbag: What has happened to the Cooper Station Post Office? (41 comments)

Reader mailbag: Can the landlord 'drill' the lock to gain access to my apartment for simple repairs? (15 comments)

Reader mailbag: Should we receive a rent abatement for having sporadic heat and hot water?

Reader mailbag: How often does your mail get delivered?

Oyama getting the reboot on First Avenue

[EVG file photo]

Oyama, the inexpensive sushi restaurant at 188 First Ave. between East 11th Street and East 12th Street, closed back in May.

However, several regulars told us that the owners were going to reboot the space with a renovation and new menu.

Appears that's the case … new signage is up for Honshu-ichi …



One of the former regulars says a mid-August opening is planned.

Hey, it's Max Fish

Happened to be walking on Orchard Street between Rivington and Delancey the other morning ... and we saw the new Max Fish signage for ourselves for the first time.

BoweryBoogie pointed this out earlier last week. BB hears from owner Ulli Rimkus that the opening date here at No. 120 is currently set for Aug. 2.

As previously noted, the new space will be on two levels ... with some possible scheduled performances as well as a small menu that includes — !!! — chili ($5) and hard-boiled eggs ($1).

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St. Plans to open an outpost in Williamsburg never materialized.

CB3 approved the liquor license for the space in April.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

Noted

Spotted on Avenue C near East Ninth Street today.

Not quite the (RIP) Tree Chair of East Sixth Street. But what is?

Photo by Bobby Williams

Family history found in free newspaper box

EVG contributor Derek Berg came across this scene earlier today on Second Avenue at East Fourth Street.

A man reached into one of the free newspaper boxes, and discovered two photo albums.



They were photos, which Derek estimated to be from the 1970s, from vacations as well as a wedding. The man who found the photos stood there with them, quietly studying each shot.

We don't know how the photo albums got into the box... or what became of them.

Updated 2:27

Derek had two more photos to share...

Did you know Michael Brody?

Michael Brody has died. He had lung cancer.

We didn't know Michael. Or anything about him. He was likely in his 70s.

News of his death comes from a resident who lives in the same building on East First Street. Michael had lived here for a very long time.

Apparently Michael didn't have many friends or relatives left. [Updated: We have since heard from several of Michael's friends. We hope to have an update later this week.] There is no mention of a will.

And now the super, via the landlord, is responsible for clearing out his apartment. The super invited the resident inside, to help find some information.

"It is FILLED with artifacts. There are trunks filled with collections of tapes, old cameras, altar-like installations, etc. I found newspaper clippings that the tenant put in a scrapbook, in the 1960s, which were reviews of all the plays he was in. (He was an actor for some period of his life.) There was a folder with a dozen pictures of him and a girl (also looked like 1960s photos).

I also found his diary from 1967 about living in the East Village — totally written in beat style (ie. "Beatles and Brahms and cigarettes in the park and tea and whiskey and Uncle ted.").

The resident has been doing research about Michael, but hasn't turned up much. He walked with a cane, as there are five canes near the front door. The photo at the top is of Michael from the mid 1960s.

While this is a long shot, the resident is hoping to track down anyone who may have known Michael … and may be interested in some of his belongings. (This is not intended to be a public raid on the apartment.)

As Michael spent time as an actor, the resident has already arranged to donate his many suitcases to a theater set designer.

If you knew Michael or have any information about him, then you can contact us via the EV Grieve email

Updated 2:37 p.m.

Someone left this brief obit in the comments. Michael died June 8. He was 70.

Celebrating 25 years at Paul's Da Burger Joint

Paul's Da Burger Joint celebrated its 25th anniversary on Saturday. EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by here at 131 Second Ave. at St. Mark's Place for a few photos (and samples) at the beginning of the day … she reported that the place was packed, as prices rolled back to 1989 prices …





As a vegetarian, I wasn’t able to sample all of what Paul's had to offer, but I did get to try to the delicious Baily's milkshake, some East Village veggie Frites and the caprese salad on a skewer. All yummy.

I sat at a table with folks from ABC News, who reported (heh) that the new sliders — called Second Avenue Sliders — were juicy, fresh and tasty. I heard that same refrain over and over again — how juicy the burgers were.



Founder Paul Koval's family still operates the restaurant today. Matt Wardrop, who has been running Paul's since 2007, was busy hustling samples out for the crowd. (Read an interview with him here.)

I was lucky enough to catch him in a rare moment of stillness for a quickie snapshot.



I also got to snuggle Ruby, the puppy mascot, as she sat outside welcoming people to the party.



Even Zoltar next door at Gem Spa got in on the action.

Work starting on Mars Bar 2.0

Over at 21. E. First St., workers have removed the for lease sign and put up brown paper on the front windows … likely signaling the start of Mars Bar 2.0.

The city issued work permits issued last Tuesday. Nothing too exciting on the permits. Some "structural stair work" and "removal of non-load bearing interior partitions," etc.

Mars Bar owner Hank Penza — along with a new group of partners — is returning to his former home, now part of the luxury Jupiter 21 building.

The new space will be a two-level cafe-restaurant-lounge combo that will feature a juice bar upstairs with a cafe that serves items such as quinoa bowls, according to DNAinfo. And the downstairs portion will house the bar-club-whatever. (Details remain a little murky on how all this is going to work.)

The place will apparently retain the Mars Bar name, even though we spotted the architect's plans in the window with The Pink Elephant on them.



Penza's new partners are Alain Palinsky, a co-founder of Juice Press, Chris Reda, an owner of The Griffin in the Meatpacking District, and Robert Montwaid, an owner of the club The Pink Elephant.

CB3 OK'd the license for the space back in May.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will the new Mars Bar be another location of The Pink Elephant?

That's it: The Mars Bar is closed for good

Here lies the Blarney Cove

While we're on the topic of bars that we used to like … we were walking on East 14th Street just east of Avenue A on Friday … and noticed that the ongoing demolition here has now claimed the former Blarney Cove space.

[Moment of silence]

The Blarney Cove closed for good in June 2013. But we got the sign.

Given the water on the site, perhaps we can call it The Blarney Cove. Or The Blarney Cove Cove.

As you know oh so well, many of the businesses on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B either relocated or closed to make way for two, 7-floor retail-residential buildings.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

Here is your Red & Gold Crab Shack! signage on St. Mark's Place

The emoji-ish Crabby arrived on Friday here at 30 St. Mark's Place, per neighbor Jordy Trachtenberg.



Otherwise, we don't know much else yet about the incoming restaurant taking over the former Japadog space along here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Breaking: Japadog is closing for good after tonight on St. Mark's Place

Reader report: Crab Shack in the works for former Japadog space on St. Mark's Place