Former Mobil station transformed into gorgeous Styrofoam® Park

[Last weekend]

Last weekend, the soon-to-be-demolished Mobil station on Avenue C and East Houston became a splendid and scenic cafe for two…

Now, in recent days… giant blocks of Styrofoam® have been carefully placed at the scene (along with some discarded furniture) …





What might next week bring?

Catching up with legendary street photographer Flo Fox

We've written about the prolific street photographer Flo Fox in the past … Today, at age 69, Fox, despite blindness, multiple sclerosis and lung cancer, continues to take photos on a daily basis thanks to her attendants, friends and sometimes total strangers.

Curbed has a new interview with her, which you can read here.

Do you find today's New York less photogenic than it was in the 70s and 80s?

No. It's always a place to be. I am a tourist every day in my own town. I don't miss the '70s and '80s, but the '50s and '60s. The doo wop. The rhythm and blues.

Meanwhile, check out her interview on Tom Snyder from 1980...



You can watch part 2 here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Watch this 10-minute documentary on the amazing street photographer Flo Fox

The photography of Flo Fox

Tweets and free irons that leak

For starters, thank you to Thrillist for including @evgrieve in the listicle "42 NYC Twitter Accounts You Need to Follow NOW."

Per Thrillist: "No East Village neighborhood news is too small to report for the EV Grieve."

Hmmmk.

Meanwhile, might be late on this … Crazy Eddie spotted this yesterday on Avenue A near East 13th Street… dunno if someone has already claimed it…

RIP Amnon Kehati

Amnon Kehati, a longtime partner in Sidewalk Cafe on Avenue A and more recently Mark burger on St. Mark's Place, died Feb. 19 after going into cardiac arrest. He was 64.

The Villager has a feature obituary on Kehati in this week's edition.

“Restaurants are a way of life rather than a business,” his daughter said. “People would say that he shouldn’t be working so hard, but it wasn’t work to him.”

An East Village Sugar sighting

There have been several reports of a Sugar sighting on East 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C today…

SOS. #FINDSUGARNYC seen running on East on 12th st towards the River DO NOT CHASE

— FindSugarNYC (@FindSugarNYC) March 6, 2015

ALPHABET CITY VOLUNTEERS: Spread out. Walk slowly. Stay calm. Sugar is a rescue. If she's there we need to coax her out. #FindSugarNYC

— FindSugarNYC (@FindSugarNYC) March 6, 2015

SOLO PAW PRINTS SPOTTED (sent by M's friend) - entrance to gated alley south side 12th btwn B&C #FindSugarNYC pic.twitter.com/1NxHKkwJ1P

— FindSugarNYC (@FindSugarNYC) March 6, 2015

ALPHABET CITY VOLUNTEERS: Pls check alleyways/behind trash bins. Sugar is a rescue. Please stay calm. Responds best to SHUGY #findsugarNYC

— FindSugarNYC (@FindSugarNYC) March 6, 2015

Sugar, whose owner is an East Village resident, is the Amstaff/pit bull mix that went missing on Feb. 23 under mysterious circumstances. Read more background here and here.

For the latest, head to Twitter and Facebook.

The reward is now $10,000. Find more details here.

Along comes Mary

Oh, because we're reading the Kim Gordon memoir at the moment. Sonic Youth and "Mary-Christ" from 1990's "Goo."

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 11th Street the other night by Peter Brownscombe]

RIP Gray Wolf, a longtime member of the 6th and B Garden (The Villager)

Get involved in #SaveNYC (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Photos from Ash Thayer's new book on East Village squats (The New Yorker)

Spending the night at Katz's (Grub Street)

The history of Puerto Rican migration to the Lower East Side (Off the Grid)

Many great films in the Screenwriters and the Blacklist series at Anthology Film Archives, including Sidney Lumet's "Fail-Safe" from 1964 with Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau...



Another look at the 1980s East Village photography of Ken Schles (Dangerous Minds)

More about Elvis Guesthouse opening soon at 85 Avenue A (Bedford + Bowery)

12 great lost NYC music venues (Flaming Pablum)

Drone footage of the demolished Roseland Ballroom (Animal NY)

What Christo and Dora did during yesterday's snowstorm (Gog in NYC)

More delays for Hotel Indigo on Orchard Street (BoweryBoogie)

More about the new Richard Taittinger Gallery on Ludlow Street (Bloomberg Business)

At The Ramones Museum in Berlin (NPR Berlin)

... and tomorrow at The Neighborhood School on East Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...

A Village moon view

The moon seemingly setting just beyond Village View this morning around 6:20 ... photo by Bobby Williams

The Cardinal has apparently closed on East 4th Street

Not too many signs of life over at The Cardinal, the Southern-style restaurant from chef-owner Curtis Brown at 234 E. Fourth St. just west of Avenue B.

The restaurant hasn't been open of late. The phone is not in service. The website domain is available for sale.

Plus, last month, in a sale of assets, CB3 gave the OK to a "a full-service Spanish-influenced international restaurant" in the space. (You can read a PDF of the applicant's paperwork here.)

The restaurant, which opened in August 2011, received positive notices. (Robert Sietsema liked it when he was over at Fork in the Road.)

But it wasn't easy here. Brown, who previously worked at Bubby's in Tribeca, told The Local in September 2012 that he spent an estimated $35,000 to upgrade to a full liquor license via CB3 for the space. (Brown said that it was a handicap to not have a full-liquor license, particularly at brunch.) Then there was the increased competition, with Root & Bone, also serving Southern fare such as fried chicken, opening last June a block away on East Third Street.

All of which didn't go unnoticed at The Cardinal.

Here's their last Facebook post, a doozy from Jan. 8:

Best fried chicken in nyc? while walking around the east village yesterday i noticed three separate restaurants with the claim "the best fried chicken in nyc" displayed on sandwich boards in front of their respective establishments.

How can this be?? How can there be three restaurants with in three blocks of one another all claiming to have "the BEST fried chicken in nyc"? Now I understand there is no accounting for taste and that people's idea of the best fried chicken in new york city may vary, that being said our fried chicken IS the best in new york city.

While our service may be touch and go and maybe you can say our music is a bit too funky from time to time and we could be accused of not necessarily being "kid friendly", there may times when your waiting on a drink and our waiters are outside smoking a joint, but in a straight up chicken battle we SLAY all competitors.

Report: East Village Radio aims for a spring return

Back in November, Brooklyn Vegan had the scoop on East Village Radio returning to the Internets. The station is part of the all-new Dash Radio network, which includes the new Brooklyn Radio.

So what's been happening?

General Manager Peter Ferraro told DNAinfo yesterday that EVR will return this spring. Ferraro has been busy, he said: "finalizing the lineup, which will retain its 'eclectic' mix of music and talk programming" with new and old programming.

East Village Radio signed off after 11 years last May 23, as we first reported.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: East Village Radio is signing off after 11 years; final day of broadcasting is May 23 (53 comments)

Signs of life at East Village Radio, but what does it mean?

Matty's now serving eviction papers on Avenue B

That is apparently officially it for Matty's at 25 Avenue B.

Last week, we noticed a rent-due notice on the gate for the sum of $38,326.77 (just for January) here between East Second Street and East Third Street.

And now, there is a mass of eviction papers... noting that the landlord is in possession of the space, etc.



Matty's, run by some folks who had a bar called Matty's on the Drive in Wilton Manors, Fla., took over the Idle Hands space... opening on Dec. 12. They didn't get around to painting the new sign until Jan. 17. And by Feb. 17, the landlord served them rent-due notices. We haven't seen them open since the end of January.

We're trying to remember a bar that came and went so quickly in the neighborhood... opening and closing in under two months. Can you think of a place that closed in less time than this?

Previously on EV Grieve:
A bar called Matty's in the works for Idle Hands on Avenue B

Matty's makes it official on Avenue B

That time there was a winter storm warning on March 5

[Tompkins Square Park photo by Grant Shaffer]

Just a few photos from this fine March day... thanks to everyone who shared the misery photos... we actually have more, but you get the idea...


[2nd Avenue photo via Derek Berg]

[St. Mark's Place photo by Katie B.]


[East 1st Street photo via EVG reader John]

[2nd Avenue photo via Vinny and O]

[First Street Green photo by Sean Carlson]

[Tompkins Square Park photo by Alta Tseng]

... and via Twitter...

View from 12th St, another snowy day in NYC - this never gets old! #YesItDoes @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/WvvXQX1oCQ

— Academy Records NYC (@AcademyRecords) March 5, 2015

A magical fundraiser for The Earth School

The Earth School's annual fundraiser is tomorrow evening features the magical stylings of the Amazing Cardone ... all the details are on the flyer. The show is at 6 in the school's auditorium, 600 E. Sixth St. at Avenue B.

Now to look under 12 to get in for just $5...

Keep smiling

It's almost March April... photo on East 10th Street via Michael Sean Edwards

Hey, the Funkiberry closed on 3rd Avenue

That's it all she swirled for Funkiberry, the colorful FroYo establishment at 88 Third Ave. and East 12th Street.

Not sure exactly when they closed … there is a few day's worth of mail now waiting…



Anyway, likely not a surprise. Aside from the fact that we rarely, if ever, saw anyone inside… we spotted a listing for the space last month. Asking rent on this corner: $21,321.

Red Mango, Pinkberry and Funkiberry have all closed in recent months. It's all on 16 Handles now.

Funkiberry opened here last June.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Stuff that you can't make up: More FroYo for the East Village

Ghost signage uncovered on Third Avenue and East 12th Street

DOUBLE ghost signage discovered at 88 3rd Ave.

Hey, the Funkiberry sign is up on 3rd Avenue

Hey, Funkiberry is now open on 3rd Avenue

Hey, the Funkiberry space is for lease on 3rd Avenue

205 Avenue A's 6-bedroom unit with rooftop deck is back on the market to annoy everyone

[EVG file photo]

In its short time as a renovated residence at 205 Avenue A, the 6-bedroom unit with a private roof deck has attracted the attention of the neighbors, the police and the media.

And now this special home — once dubbed an "East Village frat house" in a listing — is back on the market, a slightly alarmed neighbor tells us.

First, we'll head to the listing of this home courtesy of Icon Realty between East 12th Street and East 13th Street:

This is a gut renovated apartment with condo finishes featuring:

Bleached-plank hardwood floors
Recessed lighting
Carrara Marble countertops
Stainless steel appliances
Crown and baseboard moldings
3 Full Luxury bathrooms.

This apartment has a washer/dryer in unit!

This apartment features a Huge Private Roof Deck!

Asking rent: $10,800.

The listing includes photos of the unit… we'll just post one — the pièce de résistance...



After a particularly raging rooftop rager last August, Mitch Kossoff, a lawyer for Icon Realty, told the Post:

[T]here are guidelines in place for rooftop access, which only the top-floor tenants have access to. Parties past 10 p.m., loud music, consumption of alcohol, barbecuing and smoking are prohibited. Kossoff said he wasn’t aware of any complaints from last weekend’s bash but he’s ready to take necessary action, including eviction proceedings.

Not even a double-secret probation.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Friday night's rooftop party at Icon Realty's 205 Avenue A (49 comments)

Your 6-bedroom dream 'frat house' awaits you in the East Village

Icon Realty's new Avenue A 'frat house' is attracting attention

At 205 Avenue A, where the NYPD stops by 'almost every weekend'

The Pyramid Club reopens tonight

The club at 101 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street closed early last month... a sign on the door pointed to a vacation, the Pyramid website said there were renovating.

Either way, Pyramid's Facebook announced that the bar-club will reopen tonight. ... with a Back to the '80s (19) dance party tomorrow night.

The Pyramid held its 35th anniversary last fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Pyramid Club is closed for vacation (or renovations) until next month

You may now watch the documentary about former East Village boutique Mod World for free

[Photo from 1997 by EVG reader Dave Buchwald]

Last year around this time we told you about "Mod World," the documentary on the offbeat boutique that had a 12-year-run (1994-2006) at 85 First Ave. near East Fifth St.

Now, filmmaker-editor Jeff Turboff, a former East Village resident, tells us that the movie is available for free viewing at Vimeo. (Watch it here.)

You can read our Q-and-A with Turboff here.

Celebrating $pread magazine at Dixon Place

Text and photos by EVG contributor Stacie Joy

Along with a standing room-only crowd, I attended $pread magazine’s book-launch party last night ("$pread: The Best of the Magazine that Illuminated the Sex Industry and Started a Media Revolution," edited by Rachel Aimee Eliyanna Kaiser, and Audacia Ray; Feminist Press) at Dixon Place.



The book is an anthology covering 10 years of the defunct magazine (the first U.S. magazine by and for sex workers and allies), which was birthed in the East Village in 2005.

The magazine was crafted in the early years at the tables of Avenue A’s Café Pick Me Up and edited at Ludlow’s Earth Matters (RIP), and financed by repeated fundraising events at the Slipper Room. It was first for sale at Bluestockings. (I recall seeing brightly colored neon posters and fliers for the magazine all over the neighborhood back in the day.)

The former editors, writers, artists and staffers shared funny, touching and emotional stories about how sex work affected them and their friends, families and coworkers, and read some of the early responses to their work – such as a bowl of torn-up copies of their first issue, snail-mailed back to them with some seriously nasty notes.

It was also opening night of the art show “Spark to a Flame,” featuring art from the magazine.







The art show, curated by Damien Luxe, features artwork by artists Fly Orr, Molly Crabapple, Hawk Kinkaid, Xandra Ibarra/La Chica Boom and Cristy Road, and is still on view at Dixon Place, 161 Chrystie between Rivington and Delancey, until March 20.



“Spark to a Flame” is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Maybe this is the oldest footage of New York City that you've ever seen

Thanks to an EVG reader for sending along the link to this video making the rounds... Here's the description via YouTube:

Oldest and most incredible footage of New York City ever, including where the WTC would be built. With added maps carefully researched to show where the camera was. 28 shots of classic footage with a new twist and a new soundtrack.