Here are your all-new trash cans on Avenue A

A reader told us that they arrived today on the west side of the Avenue … check back tomorrow for our comprehensive review…

Meanwhile, remember not to litter…

Jimmy McMillan's legal battle against his landlord continues on

The Voice has an update on the ongoing legal wrangling between Jimmy McMillan and his landlord, Lisco Holdings LLC.

After a 4-year legal fight, the "Rent is Too Damn High" party founder was set to be evicted on Feb. 5 from his rent-stabilized apartment of 38 years on St. Mark's Place. However, a court gave McMillan a reprieve.

Now as the Voice notes, McMillan bought himself more time thanks to the intervention of the city's Adult Protective Services program.

To the article:

McMillan, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, cites his war-related post-traumatic stress disorder and other medical issues — including memory loss and high blood pressure — as reasons for seeking help from APS. The stress of the long legal battle with his landlord and the looming threat of eviction brought back old battle wounds, he says. "I almost had a nervous breakdown," McMillan, 68, tells the Voice. He even called the suicide hotline.

According to his attorney, John DeMaio, McMillan turned to APS after "all other legal remedies had been exhausted." A "renowned" doctor, whose name DeMaio did not disclose, examined McMillan and recommended the court's intervention in delaying the eviction.

Also:

McMillan, whose family has occupied the apartment since 1977, claims the eviction is "racist" because he and his family are the only African Americans living in the building. Lisco Holdings purchased the building from its previous owners in 2006.

The landlord contends that the apartment is not McMillan's primary residence.

The case is not under further review until April 7, according to the Voice.

Previously

Reel fun: Watch films that people never picked up from Pac Lab

[Image via]

An EVG reader passed along this screening info ... sounds interesting to us...

UNESSENTIAL CINEMA PRESENTS: THE RECKONING OF PAC LAB
Anthology Film Archives
Thursday, March 12 @ 7:30pm

The echoing conversation about the death of film is endless and depressing, as is the recent demise of our longtime neighbor on E. 1st St., the esteemed and notorious Pac Lab. Like them or hate them, and there was no in-between, Pac Lab was a true NYC staple, as well as the last local resource we had for same-day processing of Super-8mm and 16mm film. Over the years Pac Lab proved itself to be a company that possessed as much character and quirkiness as its clients.

They catered to artists, students, and even everyday folks looking to transfer their parents’ home movies to video. Being a Pac Lab client often involved an element of risk, with anxious patrons left to wonder: Will my film come back scratched? Will there be any image? Will it come back at all?

In any case, they were a key component and longtime enabler of our regional filmmaking community. Without them, we are forced to face the end of celluloid film much sooner than most of us ever expected.

This unique event will offer up a baker’s dozen of film reels and tapes culled from the remnants of Pac Lab’s significant detritus. Anthology has inherited boxes and bags of films that were submitted for processing, but abandoned by clients who never paid or picked up their footage.

Uncatalogued and entirely unseen by us, our educated guess is that these reels contain copious examples of student film shenanigans, home movies, stoned experiments, attempted art projects, and probably a naked girlfriend or two. For this special show we guarantee that no films will be previewed beforehand and that all selections shall be made blindly and without prejudice. Soundtracks and other alterations may be added to enhance entertainment potential. If you think that one of these reels might be yours, then please join us for your world premiere screening!

FREE for Anthology members

The Anthology Film Archives is at 32 Second Ave. at East Second Street.

Out and About in the East Village, part 2

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: Stephen Shanaghan (pictured left), Arnoldo Caballero
Occupation: Owners, Pangea Restaurant
Location: Pangea, 2nd Avenue between 11th and 12th Street
Time: Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Picking up at the end of Part 1 … where Shanaghan and Caballero were discussing the success they had with La Spaghetteria on East Seventh Street near Avenue A in the 1980s…

Stephen: That’s why we were able to open this second location [Pangea] soon after because we had money coming in. La Spaghetteria was open from around from ’84 through ’96, when the low-carb thing was in, which is when we basically changed to a more Mediterranean-based menu for Pangea. It was by fate in ’86 we just discovered this location on Second Avenue and Stephen said, "Lets just take a place and see what happens."

Arnoldo: It was just unbelievable. We had the drug dealers and the prostitutes and the fights and the police. It was constant. But we also had… it was just magic. There was hardly anything around here. We had Eileen’s Bar across the street, which was really amazing. John’s was, of course, around the corner. Iso had just opened, the Japanese restaurant on the corner. By 9 p.m. it was just absolutely desolate. It was just all the girls working.

S: This was a big circuit for prostitution. The cars would kind of do the block between Second and Third Avenue and they would just keep circling — a lot of Jersey plates. One of the things that was taking place was a house of prostitution. This was the late ‘80s, I think. The first one was run by this very powerful Korean woman.

A: They used to leave the windows open and walk topless so you could see them from the street. And they had a tremendous business.

S: But I guess they were involved in other things besides just prostitution, so they were getting raided. Just to give you an example of how bad it got: One night I was hosting and I just stepped outside to get some air and all of a sudden cop cars came from both directions on 2nd Avenue, pulling onto the sidewalk with rifles. They broke the front door of the building and they ran upstairs and they came out and they had people handcuffed. They confiscated guns. It was wild.

A: I turned on the TV and this woman was found dead in New Jersey and they were looking for the killer and on the TV was the front of Pangea. Instead of showing upstairs, they showed us.

S: It was really interfering with the business. During the raids they would come down here and hide. One night I came back in and there was a table of 14 skimpily clad girls having frozen drinks. I mean, they were dressed but they were in like bathrobes.

A: You had all these naked women here. They would drink their frozen piña coladas. The girls at one point — because we were so stupid, so naïve, so young ... would come and sit at the bar, order a cocktail and then their "boyfriends" would come and meet them. And then they’d disappear to the bathroom.

S: One of our customers at the time was a local city council member. And I said, "Look I need your help, I need a lawyer." So we got this politician involved and we hired a law firm, a retainer fee of $10k to start. We finally got them out and then the landlord had the space renovated and was rented to a "legitimate manufacturing company," a 9 to 5.

It turns out it was a 9 to 5. It was the Italian prostitution house that used to be on 12th Street that moved up there. That one it took a long time to get out. This all happened over a period of about seven years.

A: Pangea has always been a place where we’ve built long-lasting friendships. We’ve had the same friends and colleagues and customers for years and years. The one thing about them is the relentless support that they have for us regardless of what we do. Pangea means "all earth," based on a Greek word. It represents us because it’s where community collides. We’re a place where people come together.

S: We’ve always supported the artists. I always try to support local artists in any way possible because I think that’s an important aspect of any business in a neighborhood. We worked with so many and some of them became famous. Some of them passed away during the AIDS epidemic. It’s been more than just a restaurant. It’s not just serving food. We’ve always been a community-based restaurant. I remember, there was a painter, David Wojnarowicz, who back then hadn’t been completely discovered, and he came in and asked if he could eat in exchange for a painting and Arnoldo said, "Oh, no no no, you can come in and eat anytime you want." And in hindsight you should have taken the painting. We could have bought the building.

We recently had the entire place painted with a mural [“Pictographic” Modern Hieroglyphs] by Jody Morlock. Jody is a regular customer here and she knew that we had regular rotating artists. She asked, "What do you think about doing a mural?" She got the idea because another neighborhood artist painted the ceiling panel above the bar, which was a cool installation put in two years ago by William Engel. The mural has completely transformed the front room. It’s interactive and it start conversations. Adjacent tables start talking, and everybody sees things differently.

A: People create their own stories, their own myths. It creates a narrative within the room.

S: We also started Café Noctambulo, an intimate music supper club in the room at the back of Pangea late last June. We started with a performer Eric Comstock, once a week. We’ve been kind of selective with who we have come in. We haven’t yet assumed a full schedule back there. We want to make sure that the room gets full. We had Andy Bey and that’s when The New York Times saw it, so that kind of put us on the map for that. There’s that need in this area for a small, intimate room where you can go and perform in. It’s mostly just piano and vocals. We’re trying to keep it to that, almost like a supper club. A lot of artists prefer it as kind of a launching space. It’s an intimate space and I think the artists feel like they can take chances a little bit and test their audience.

A lot of that has changed in the neighborhood. It’s that aspect of being able to connect with people. NYU is my alma mater but what they’ve done to the neighborhood by putting up all these dorms is that it’s made it very transient, where students come in every semester, three or four to every apartment, or in one of the dorm spaces, and then they’re gone.

So little by little we’ve seen many people move out, whether they have to because of financial reasons or their lives change. So that aspect of being able to tap into that permanency of people living here is not so easy anymore because people are not permanent. It’s not as easy for us to build a regular base for us because of the transience.

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

At Pardon My French, now open on Avenue B

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Getting to take a sneak peek at a restaurant prior to opening is somewhat thrilling: you get to see the conflicts, team-building and hints of what’s to come in terms of food, drinks and patrons.

I witnessed all of that at my visit to Pardon My French, which opened Monday at 103 Avenue B near East Seventh Street.

Mario Carta was the owner of the restaurant formerly occupying that space, the 16-year-old bistro Casimir. Along with former waiter, now co-owner Antonin Brune, the pair has teamed with mixologist Simon Sebbah to create a warm French-inspired local spot.








[Co-owner Mario Carta]

When I visited last Friday, the chef was Yllan Laloum. However, on Monday, restaurant reps told me that “PMF has decided to go in a different direction with the chef. The new chef is Guilherme Barreto and he has much more experience in the New York culinary scene.”


[Co-owner Antonin Brune with former chef Yllan Laloum]

Meanwhile, why the name — Pardon My French?

Brune said that he and Carta were tossing around names … when it came to Carta in a “lightbulb moment.” They are also fine with people saying PMF instead, and indeed, the website is listed under that as well.

The menu is not 100 percent French — it’s a mix of Mediterranean tapas and French-inflected fusion cuisine. I was shown duck tournedos with rutabaga confit and watercress, and stuffed mushrooms with quail eggs, goat cheese, mashed potatoes and microgreens.



I asked the owners about the bottomless brunch (PMF has one featuring mimosa and Bloody Marys for $25), the often-dreaded-by-neighbors weekend ritual. Is PMF trying to appeal to locals or the woo crowd? Both Carta and Brune spoke about how they embrace the neighborhood, how they wanted to stay here, but refresh the space. Carta was sad to close Casimir, but said it was time to try a new concept, a new menu, and bring people back to the spot.

He felt that people had forgotten about Casimir, and he hopes that the new spot will be ideal for family meals, brunches, a post-work drink and romantic dinners.

I also asked about the ADA lawsuit, the much-discussed one that neighboring bar Manitoba’s crowd-funded to pay. (The same man sued both Manitoba's and Casimir as well as a reported 25 other businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act.)

Carta shrugged his shoulders and said “we paid it of course, what else could we do?” There are plans in the works to make the space ADA-compliant, with a ramp and accessible spaces for patrons in wheelchairs.

As for the food, the kitchen plans to stay open until 11 p.m. during the week, midnite or 12:30 on the weekends; the bar until 2 a.m. weeknights, 4 a.m. on weekends.

You can find the PMF menus here.


[East Village resident Linn Tonstad was a guest at the Friends and Family Night last Friday]

Reader mailbag: What's the deal with the film crew parking?

An EVG reader asked the following yesterday upon seeing this scene on East Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C…

I'm curious about the legality of these crews taking over the street hours before the time posted on these no parking posters. For example, this poster says no parking after 10 p.m. on Tuesday. It's only just after noon and already the cones are blocking drivers from parking on the street and there's a parking guard out here directing people away. What gives?

4 months after moving across East 14th Street, Vegtown closes

Back in the late fall, Daily Juice left its storefront and moved across East 14th Street to become Vegtown Juice.

Unfortunately, the new venture didn't last long — Vegtown Juice closed here between First Avenue and Second Avenue at the beginning of the month.

According to the Vegtown Facebook page, the owners are moving to a new location… with the exact address TK.

Meanwhile, the storefront at No. 328 seems to be a tough sell … Vegtown is the third venture following Chubby Mary's and Led Zeppole to close here in the last three years.

New York Sports Club is open on Avenue A

The four-level NYSC branch opened this week at 28 Avenue A between East Second Street and East Third Street.

Anyone gymgoers want to offer up an opinion on the space?

For hours and classes and stuff, you may visit their website here.

Also, as we noticed on the NYSC website about this location... you may want to bring your own towel if you want to save a few bucks. There is a $2 fee for a single towel or you can purchase a 10-towel card for $10.

Meanwhile, back on Saturday, the Post reported that Town Sports International, the owner of NYSC, was looking for a buyer after losing $69 million last year.

[T]he middle-market player is getting squeezed between low-cost options like Planet Fitness and more expensive, specialty chains like Equinox, Soul Cycle and Life Time Fitness.

“Town Sports has great real estate, but it is the wrong model and brand,” said one industry source.

And!

The chain has some time to improve its bottom line — about two years at its current cash burn.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

Sidewalk bridge and scaffolding arrive ahead of planned New York Sports Club on Avenue A

New York Sports Club says hello on Avenue A

Familiar Burger-Klein sign has disappeared from Avenue A

Here is the New York Sports Club building on Avenue A

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion 5 borough tour includes date at the Cake Shop on Ludlow

Via the EVG inbox…

To celebrate the release of their new, long-playing record album, "Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015," the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion will be bringing their brand of high-octane street hassling back home, with an unprecedented Five Borough Freedom Tour!

The Blues Explosion will be leveling neighborhoods in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island the week of March 23 to 28, including free shows at dive bars, breweries and beyond!

FIVE BOROUGH FREEDOM TOUR:

Mon Mar 23 - Staten Island, Liedy's Shore Inn

Mar 24 - Manhattan, Cake Shop

Mar 25 - Jersey City, WFMU's Monty Hall

Mar 26 - Brooklyn, Hank's Saloon

Fri Mar 27 - The Bronx, The Point

Sat Mar 28 - Queens, Singlecut Brewery

You can get a free pair of tickets to one of the above shows with the purchase of the record from Other Music, Turntable Lab, Vintage Vinyl, or Insound. For more details, head over here.

JSBX also released a video today for their song "Betty vs the NYPD," starring Bridget Everett…

Christo and Dora are building 2 nests on the Ageloff Towers

[Christo shops at Key. Photo by Goggla]

With the Christodora House out of the picture, red-tailed hawk parents Christo and Dora have been searching for just the right space to build their nest this spring. (OK, late winter.)

After a few false leads, Goggla has discover where the nest is. Actually, make that nests. In recent days, Christo and Dora have been building two nests on AC units on the top floor of the Ageloff Towers on Avenue A between East Third Street and East Fourth Street…



And some nest-in-progress photos via Bobby Williams…





Interesting choice given they are a few blocks away from the plentiful sticks and rats of Tompkins Square Park … above a far more active part of the neighborhood… (compared to their spot on the Christodora on Avenue B and East Ninth Street last year)…

Anyway, head on over to Gog in NYC for lots of photos and the full story.

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

Someone keeps destroying the nest that the red-tailed hawks are building on the Christodora House

[Updated] 1 reason why someone may not want the red-tailed hawks to nest on the Christodora House

Some well-deserved love for Casey Rubber Stamps

[EVG file photo]

Casey Rubber Stamps on East 11th Street is one of the neighborhood's great little shops.

And The Guardian filed a feature on owner John Casey's business here between First Avenue and Second Avenue the the other day. Among other topics, Casey discussed how he has been able to beat the odds in today's NYC rental market/business environment. And he doesn't sound as if he has plans to leave anytime soon.

“Landlords will kill you,” Casey says, chuckling. He has had a few run-ins with his landlady this past years, but that’s all sorted out now. “Bureaucracies will kill you. Typical hates of any small business.”

The rising rents are certainly a cause of concern for Casey, but the small-business owner, who learned most of what he knows on his own, hopes to stick around. Despite the headaches of running a small business, Casey can’t imagine closing down or selling out, even if someone walked in and offered to buy it at a good price.

“Why would I? What am I going to do? It’s like winning the lottery,” he says. “What would I do tomorrow morning? Get new friends?”

Organic food store taking over the former Kim's Video and Music space on 1st Avenue

We don't have many details just yet, but we can confirm what's coming soon to 124 First Ave. between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place — an all organic food store called East Village Organic.

They hope to be open in two months. (Meanwhile, the proprietors started a Twitter account.)

Kim's closed here for good last Aug. 25. The original listing for the space noted the address would be perfect for a bank, 7-Eleven or Starbucks.

Looks as if the Subway (sandwich shop) on East 14th Street has closed

The Subway here on East 14th Street just west of Second Avenue hasn't been open in the past 10 days or so, reports EVG reader Pinch.

Subway has already removed this location from its store locator (don't worry — there are still plenty to choose from in this area…)



This location along IHOP Way has had problems in the past: The Marshall seized the place back in March 2013. However, it reopened under new management several months later.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Marshal seizes Subway (sandwich shop) on East 14th Street

Subway replacing Subway on East 14th Street

Hou Yi Hot Pot coming to 2nd Avenue

You will soon have another restaurant choice along Second Avenue. Coming soon signs are now up for Hou Yi Hot Pot at 97 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street...



Hou Yi Hot Pot currently has a location on Hester Street in the northern fringes of Chinatown. Serious Eats called Hou Yi "comfortable and friendly" and "This is your Manhattan Chinatown go-to for hot pot."

The space still looks pretty raw inside, so you may have a little wait for hot pot here.

Until last June, the storefront housed the longtime laudromat Launderette.

The old Subway Inn neon sign is now up at the bar's new Upper East Side home

Leaving the neighborhood for a moment to relay some positive NYC bar-related news.

Earlier today, workers installed the original Subway Inn sign outside their new location at 1140 Second Ave. at 60th Street.

As previously reported, the bar had to vacate its home of 77 years on 60th and Lexington back in December to make way for new development via the World-wide Real Estate Group.

Per the Subway Inn Facebook page:

The same exact neon sign that hung for several decades now has a face lift and is ready to shine bright for many more years to come. And, before you ask us, yes that is the exact same Neon sign. The only difference is we painted the back using the same color as before.

As for the rest of the bar, the Salinas family promised the following:

The space will look exactly the same. Colors, floor and all! In fact, our replication architect is hard at work making sure our new home will be nearly identical. Also, our prices will not change.

Photos of the bar in progress back that up. There's no word just yet on the official (re)opening date.

Images via Facebook

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Should we start worrying about the Subway Inn?

Report: The Subway Inn will close next month

Subway Inn continues to live to serve another day


[EVG file photo]

When it comes time to dump your furniture on the street

According to this Urban Etiquette Sign maker on East Ninth Street near First Avenue ... "throw this bed away on trash night!!"



But is this really a bed?

Photos by Derek Berg

About #SaveNYC

Jeremiah Moss of Vanishing New York has launched the #SaveNYC campaign.

He writes about it today in an op-ed over at the Daily News.

Small businesses in New York City have no rights. You’ve been here 50 years and provide an important service? Tough luck — your space now belongs to Dunkin’ Donuts. You own a beloved, fourth-generation, century-old business? Get out — your landlord’s putting in a combination Chuck E. Cheese and Juicy Couture.

And despite de Blasio’s rhetorical fears about gentrification, his progressive pro-development push may well only hasten the trend.

Read the op-ed, titled The NYC we love is disappearing: It's becoming a hollow city for hollow people, right here. Find out how you can get involved at the #SaveNYC website.

Second thoughts about the future

[Photo via an EVG reader]

Last Monday along First Avenue between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street…

And today!


[Photo by Derek Berg]

Puebla Mexican Food is closing after 25 years on 1st Avenue

[Photo via @jaha7236]

Puebla Mexican Food, which features huge portions at small prices, is closing for good at 47 First Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street...


[EVG photo]

The family run restaurant closes after business this coming Sunday, March 15. March 23. We hear that the lease was up, and the new rent was too much for owner Irma Marin to manage. As for finding another storefront, there's nothing affordable nearby … plus we're told that Marin understandably wants to take a break.


[Image via Yelp]

Back in February 2007, The Villager published a feature on Marin, who "was born into poverty in the town of Santana, in the central Mexican state of Puebla that their restaurant is named after."

She was one of 12 children. In 1979, at age 15, she left her parents and the world she knew behind to cross illegally into the United States. It was a last-minute decision. An older sister had backed out after the family had paid $550 per person to a coyote (an expert — or profiteer — at smuggling people across the border). The money could not be refunded and Marin took her sister’s spot, traveling with another sister, that sister’s husband and his brother.

The coyote led them on a five-hour hike over a Tijuana mountain into Southern California, using his familiarity with the route to avoid authorities. Marin and her small party eventually made it to Los Angeles, where they boarded a cross-country bus to New York City. Her sister and brother-in-law rented a tenement apartment in the East Village, and Marin lived with them. Her childhood and her formal education were over.

Over the next decade, she worked various factory jobs, becoming a legal resident in 1987 through a government amnesty program, per The Villager.

Marin’s sister and brother-in-law launched the restaurant in 1990… with Marin taking over in 2000. (Marin’s sister and brother-in-law run Downtown Bakery II at 69 First Ave.)

Meanwhile, we'll likely have a Puebla-heavy diet the next few days…


[EVG photo]

The new Holiday Cocktail Lounge opens tonight

[Photo from December]

The latest iteration of the Holiday Cocktail Lounge returns tonight after a three-plus year closure.

A quick recap. Stefan Lutak, the longtime proprietor who bought the place in 1965, died in early 2009 at age 89. Shortly before his death, Stefan decided to retire, and the bar closed for several weeks… only to reopen under new management on Jan. 17, 2009.

The post-Stefan Holiday lasted until Jan. 29, 2012. News broke a few weeks later that Robert Ehrlich, the founder of Pirate Brands, which makes Pirate's Booty, bought the building at 75 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue. After some anxious moments, we learned that Barbara Sibley, who lives in the building and runs La Palapa next door, would be helping oversee the operation.

No. 75 needed a a top-to-bottom renovation, and it was a long process. Sibley talked to us about it back in January 2014.

The building was in terrible condition ... It’s been such an exercise in zen and archaeology. As much as we’ve been trying to maintain it, you couldn’t keep everything. We were lucky on their closing night that we didn’t all fall through. Every time we look behind a wall it’s been a major repair. It’s been an endless process.

And here we are.

According to The New York Times, who first reported on tonight's reopening, "enough of the bar’s ancient innards have been retained that old regulars will recognize a familiar friend."

The tight horseshoe bar where W. H. Auden and Allen Ginsberg (and possibly Leon Trotsky) once presided has been given a rubdown, though it has been moved about 20 feet and now stands in the center of the space. Also still there are the battered awning, an old wooden phone booth and an exotic mural from the place’s earlier days as a burlesque cabaret.

The resurrection could not have happened without Robert Ehrlich, the snack-food mogul who created Pirate’s Booty, who decided to buy the building and preserve the bar.

The bar will include some beer-and-shot combos for $8 … and $6 cocktails served in glassware used by the old Holiday. But it won't all be the old Holiday. There are a few craft cocktails on the menu, via Michael Neff (the Rum House) and his brother Danny.

Said Michael Neff: "You have to honor the past without trying to duplicate it — that would be Disneyland."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The founder of Pirate's Booty is taking over the Holiday Cocktail Lounge

Why the future of the Holiday Cocktail Lounge may be in doubt

There goes the Holiday Cocktail Lounge

Last night at the Holiday

The Holiday Cocktail Lounge is closing Saturday night

"Beat writers...spent considerable time with the bookies, dope dealers, working girls and alcoholics for whom the Holiday was a second home"