As previously reported, the proprietors of the well-regarded Desi Galli on Lexington Avenue and East 27th Street were opening a location at 172 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street (the old Mercadito Cantina space).
Anyway, Desi Galli, which offers quick-serve Indian food, opened this past Wednesday (a few days later than previously announced) ... and they are open late (or early depending on your schedule) ...
The Barcelona-based Zephyr Bones have a new single out today... which might be a good time — given the temps today — to play "Weird Summer" from their debut EP "Wishes/Fishes" from 2014.
On Sunday: The romantic-comedy "The Square Root of Zero" (1963) "pits a pair of Village beatniks against a clan of moneyed squares vacationing on the Maine coast." (Anthology Film Archives)
Some presidential history of the Church of the Ascension, on Fifth Avenue and 10th Street (Ephemeral New York)
Now the developer, BSD Realty, has filed new plans for the property. As New York Yimby first reported yesterday, the developers filed new plans this week with Issac & Stern Architects designing the project — another 6-story, 6-residential building with a penthouse... "its units should average a spacious 1,498 square feet apiece, indicative of condominiums." (Ramy Issac of Issac and Stern is well-known for many East Village projects, including 100 Avenue A and 154 Second Ave... and various penthouses.)
As we noted in February, the address is for sale. The listing is still active at the E Property Group website. Among the options here, per the listing: "Your dream custom mansion townhouse." But it looks as if a residential building is the plan.
East Village Cheese Shop opened in its new home on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue last Sept. 29.
The shop's lease at 40 Third Ave. between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street was up at the end of last July, with its former neighbor Duane Reade apparently moving into the adjacent storefronts.
Based on reader comments ... and conversations with friends and neighbors, people were pleased that the store was able to stay in the neighborhood, albeit in a smaller space.
However, a few people who shop here regularly have concerns about its financial health. Per an EVG reader: "East Village Cheese went back to cash only and the minimum counter order went up to half a pound from a quarter-pound."
The reader feels as if these are bad signs... along with the fact that there's rarely anyone in the store upon the reader's visits...
The shop is usually also empty when I stop in ... and it certainly lacks the energy of the Third Avenue space. Another EVG reader felt similarly about St. Mark's Bookshop moving from Third Avenue to East Third Street .. the the store just lost something in the new location on a side street.
Said the Cheese Shop regular: "I would be so sad to lose it after the long wait for it to reopen."
Updated 4/23
A few people asked about this. The owners Thupten Tenphel and Lobbing Tsultrim, who are from Tibet, worked at the shop... and bought it from owner Alvin Kaufman when he retired in 2005.
The applicant was on CB3's SLA committee docket in February (as Caz, per the paperwork) for a full liquor license (like Cafecito had). The proposed menu included salads, sandwiches and various items described as "large bites." (The menu is on the questionnaire here.)
CB3 recommended to deny the license, according to the minutes from the meeting...
WHEREAS, this is an application for a "large bites" restaurant with hours of operation of 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. Sundays through Thursdays and 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 A.M. Fridays and Saturdays, a fifteen (15) foot bar with eight (8) stools, three (3) forty-two (42) inch screen televisions and recorded background music; and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding that this location has a business with a full on-premise liquor license, that this application is for a bulk asset sale, and that this applicant furnished twenty- nine (29) petition signatures in support of its application, this applicant did not demonstrate that it has the experience or is prepared to operate a business with a full on-premise liquor license, in that it has limited experience managing a licensed business outside of this community since 2013 and did not articulate a well-thought out business plan with defined personnel and menu; and
WHEREAS, although respresented to be a restaurant, the proposed business plan appears to be that of a bar serving a limited menu with proposed later hours and three (3) large screen televisions...
In any event, it looks as if Kaz is moving forward with beer and wine ... this reader photo from last week shows more than 20 taps (and there are apparently more not pictured)...
Per Gothamist: "Signing up is simple and doesn't appear to have any strings attached: enter your email and name on Citi Bike's website (you can opt out of promotional mailings), and you'll be sent a code to redeem a 24-hour access pass that'll be valid at any of Citi Bike's stations..."
This kitty was found this afternoon on Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street... per the message we received:
Small gray tabby with a tiger stripe like coat and gorgeous fluffy tail. Estimated 1-2 years old. Very very sweet and friendly. Does not seem to be a stray. Please contact Fred Brown 646.387.0874 for more info ...
From June 9, 2014... when Prince was featured on the roll-down gate at Mikey Likes It, 199 Avenue A near East 12th Street.
The mural, created by Bronx-based artist Andre Trenier, was in honor of the shop's Flavor of the Month: Purple Rain (double blueberry ice cream with cheesecake chunks).
And in case you haven't heard the news... Prince has died. He was 57.
As you may recall from last month, the owners of Stay Classy, the Will Ferrell-themed bar that opened last October on Rivington Street, announced plans to open another personality-driven establishment — this time in the East Village.
In the weeks ahead, Beetle House — "with an atmosphere and menu inspired by the works of Tim Burton" — is opening at 308 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
The bar will feature drinks such as:
• Beetlejuice – Muddled blackberry and limes, Tequila, Blackberry schnapps, Angostura bitters, splash of cranberry. $14
• Edward’s lemonadee – Old fashioned with Orange bitters $12
• The headless horseman – Hendricks Gin, Lillet blanc, Cointreau, dash of absinthe, fresh lemon juice. Garnished with an orange peel. $16
• Chocolate factory martini – Vanilla vodka, Dorda chocolate liqueur, cream, creme de cocoa. Garnished with a chocolate bar. $14
You can check out the rest of the drinks and food menu at the Beetle House website. (You may text them for a preview invite.)
The space was, until last month, home to Confessional, who announced that they'd be moving to a new location. The space later hit the market for $8,500 a month plus $125,000 key money.
Thank you to Vinny & O for the tip! Time Out had a small write up of Beetle House this week, though the piece doesn't appear to be online.
Spectacular townhouse ... that was formerly one of the city's last tenement Shuls ...was brilliantly transformed into a magnificent home in 2005 by world-famous designers from the Ian Shrager Hotels – earning recognition in Architectural Record for its extraordinary transformation, and attracting the likes of press, politicians and entertainment figures.
Yours to rent is the exquisite result of their top-of-the-line gut renovation: an immaculately-designed, 3 bedroom (possible 4), 2.5 bath fourplex that boasts 3 wonderful outdoor terraces, the finest finishes and fixtures, plus the most advanced automated central audio/visual, lighting, HVAC and integrated security systems.
The 4th story presents a special floor-to-ceiling glass hallway and secluded master bedroom with a custom-built working fireplace, huge walk-in closet, and opulent master bath with an oversized Jacuzzi tub, walk-in shower with steam unit, rain shower, waterfall and separate hand-held shower. Enjoy quiet time on the delightful terrace off the master with a hot tub for 8, or ascend the glass stairs to the top floor sun-drenched lounge/media room (possible 4th bedroom) and terrace that also has Ipe wood floors and planters, copper rainspouts, a custom sound system and security cameras. 3235 interior sf and 982 exterior sf. AVAILABLE FOR 2 MONTH LEASE TERM - FURNISHED ONLY. Live-in caretaker and housekeeper provided on-site in separate apartment.
The EVG reader who forwarded this listing wondered if this was the most expensive East Village rental... The most expensive one that we recall is #3C at 38 E. First St., which had been asking $35,000 in 2014. So the Eighth Street place seems like a bargain.
• Thursday, April 21 — "Garbage Warrior," dir. Oliver Hodge, 2007, 86 min. In honor of Earth Day, "Garbage Warrior" follows U.S. architect Michael Reynolds and his mission to introduce radical sustainable housing to the masses.
Upcoming Movies @ MoRUS include:
• Thursday, May 19 — "Food Inc.," dir. Robert Kenner, 2008, 94 min. The documentary examines how big corporations influence all aspects of food production in the United States.
Movies @ Morus, which play the third Thursday of the month, are free to the public but a suggested donation of $5 is appreciated. Showtime is 7 p.m. at MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.
East Village-based filmmaker Jenny Woodward has released an entertaining new video short titled "Last Days of the Mars Bar," featuring interviews with owner Hank Penza in the days leading up to the bar's closure in July 2011.
Penza shares some colorful anecdotes (and perhaps tall tales), such as how the bar got its name and how the first art appeared on the bar's walls on Second Avenue at East First Street.
And Penza doesn't seem all that broken up about the end of days here.
"Fuck the bar. What am I, crazy? There's a beginning and an end. You hear? The Mars Bar will live forever and I'll die... I feel like there's a beginning and an end, and this is the end to another chapter in my life."
The corner storefronts where Mars Bar stood were eventually demolished in late 2011/early 2012 to make way for the 12-story residential building Jupiter 21. The corner space now houses a TD Bank and The Alchemist's Kitchen, a cafe and shop that sells botanical medicines, herbal remedies and whole plant beauty products.
ABC 7 reports that Theodore Holloway, 23, of Manhattan, has been charged with second degree murder in the death of Elliot Caldwell, 23.
Caldwell, who lived nearby on 12th Street, had a 3-year-old son. "He was a great father. He changed his life for his son. He just got caught up in a bad situation," his aunt told DNAinfo.
Police have yet to release a motive for the shooting.
Updated 8:30 p.m.
DNAinfo has more details. According to their report, Holloway, who fired from the backseat of a parked car, "has been arrested 11 times before, most recently for robbery and assault."
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.
Name: Alan Good Occupation: Owner, HENGE Outdoor Ping Pong Tables, Dancer, Choreographer Location: Tompkins Square Park Time: 2 p.m. on Friday, April 15
I’m from Munich, Germany, and Ann Arbor, Mich. My mom grew up in Munich and met my dad there. He was a solider. So we started spending summers there and most of the year in Ann Arbor, where he taught in the medical school.
From growing up in Munich and Ann Arbor in the 1960s, there were big differences in the manner of thinking in the two places. One beaten and old, with a rich cultural history but recent hijacking by a tyrant, and a keenly developed propaganda machine, down to the point where people were ratting on each other. The other one a comfortable, conservative landscape around the intellectual, liberal center of Ann Arbor, and there was a particular ferment, politically and socially.
We moved when I was 3 months old. We just started shuttling every summer. My mom had kind of a PTSD from being in the bombings and bomb shelters. There were easier social guidelines for young women, and just a sense of plenty and comfort. The economic boom in Germany had not yet started, but we were very comfortable here in the states, inventing the concept of suburban sprawl development. So it was very difficult to reconcile these two worlds, but that led to an intellectual growth.
I came to New York in 1977. I changed from the University of Michigan to Purchase in dance. I was pre-med in Michigan. Then after three years there I came to the city. I was lucky. I got a place on Stuyvesant Street, and I’ve been in the same home for 37 years. At the time, I was afraid to ride my bike past First Avenue. It’s just like a 22-year-old coming to New York, not knowing what’s going on, trying to learn from instinct what’s safe and what’s not – you’re developing street wisdom.
I used to dance with Merce Cunningham, who is one of the geniuses of any art form of the 20th century. His partner John Cage, the composer, is a little more well-known. The type of dance is modern dance, and that encompasses several things, but Cunningham based his kind of modern dance on Martha Graham’s style, and ballet, with a lot of his own refining. The ballet was an important part of it.
At the time, a lot of money flowed into dance through the National Endowment for the Arts, so those were kind of the glory days of dance. There were strong pillars of modern dance and great separation between the ballet and the modern world. They thought of each other politically as antagonists, where they mustn’t mix, but that was more in the 1950s and 1960s.
In the 1970s when I got there, aside from the entire cultural revolution that was going on pre-AIDS, there was starting to be this mixture of those worlds and a lot of free thinking — kind of a renaissance. You had people after Merce, who were in the Judson movement, who were experimenting in SoHo. There was again a great respect between the various art forms, like Rauschenberg, and other artists mixed with and did productions with choreographers in SoHo.
It was just accepted that you would keep an open mind and experiment. There was a lot of that going on. Keep in mind that the city was not safe, as we’ve defined it today. The parks had a lot of beaten down and hard earth from lack of maintenance. There were many parts of lower Manhattan that were not developed for retail – no hotels, few restaurants.
The East Village was nothing like it is today. The DNA of the East Village and the glory stuff, like the lesbian playwrights and the drug dealers, and the political movements, definitely were alive here. And went way back to 1850 in Tompkins Square Park — they were having demonstration of Suffragettes. I hate to say it and it’s going to sound perverse, but there’s just something about the comfort, ugliness, and the run downness of the city that made people more honest and more here. They weren’t importing some kind of propriety and stiffer ways of being.
I had a very hard dance solo at PS 122 to perform the day or the weekend they ran out of heating oil. The stage there is very hard. I had a great time doing that but developed Plantar Fasciitis from the freezing hard floor. It’s a funny injury that you need one to 12 months, so I said to my company, I’ve got to take a hiatus. In the back of my mind it looked like a swan song.
It was a time of venture capital in New York, of free business advice. People could have any stupid idea, and if you murmured it at a bar somebody would say, I want a joint venture with you. Add to that that there were these programs of free business advice, of good quality that the city setup, through the Small Business Administration.
I kept bringing these cockamamie ideas to them, like vegetable oil for diesels from the soba restaurant around the corner. My advisers were kind of bored, but one day there was this one guy, 75 years old, who was in the fashion industry. He had coke-bottle glasses and eyebrows out to here, and I said to him, I’m kind of thinking of concrete ping-pong tables. I know them in China and Europe because I lived and taught over there, but I don’t see any here and I can’t find any on the web.
And he stopped what he was doing and looked into the distance and said, ‘Ping pong, I remember ping pong.’ And the complexion in his face changed and his eyes watered a little bit. This was a sincere response, even a physical one.
Next week, Alan talks about his company and ping pong in Tompkins Square Park.
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
The film follows the last family-owned matzo bakery in America during their final year in their factory on Rivington Street. The factory moved out of the city in 2015 after 90 years in that location. Condos are on the way.
Levine shared a few thoughts about the documentary, Streit's and the neighborhood with us on the eve of the film's NYC theatrical debut...
On the appeal of the Lower East Side and Streit's:
My family has had a presence on the Lower East Side in one form or another for around 100 years, and though I grew up in New Jersey, I felt compelled to come back to the neighborhood as soon as I could. I've have been here almost 16 years now — a short time in the scheme of things, I know, but long enough to have watched the systematic destruction of so many of the neighborhood institutions I knew from growing up, as well as the displacement of so many and much of the people and culture that drew me and so many others here in the first place.
When I came across Streit's, after passing by their factory on Rivington Street for years unaware of their presence, they were clearly one of the survivors: A fifth-generation manufacturing business operating with 90-year-old equipment in four tenement buildings — and I was drawn immediately to their story.
On the start of filming:
When I began filming there in 2013, it was chronicle the history, resilience and resistance of a family and their 60 union employees who had turned down millions to continue a nearly century-long legacy. They hadn't set out to the "last man standing" when it came to manufacturing in the neighborhood — they simply couldn't imagine doing anything else, anywhere else. This was their home.
But it was clear from the start that their presence their was, as one longtime worker puts in in the film, "in the balance." Despite owning the buildings since the 1930s, the factory had been losing money for several years, as the trifecta of aging, irreplaceable machinery, competition from more modern factories, and a lack of interest from the city as far as supporting manufacturing in the neighborhood finally came to a head.
During what was meant to be the last week of editing the film, the family at last made the announcement that they would be closing the factory and using proceeds from the sale of the buildings to build a new factory in Rockland County.
For another year, I continued filming as they slowly emptied the factory and began their transition to their new facility. I truly believe the Streit family has done as much as anyone could hope for, given the challenges they faced: they stuck it out as long as they could, and instead of simply pocketing the money from selling the buildings, they dove right into building a new factory, keeping it close enough to the city to be within commuting distance of many of their longtime employees, all of whom were offered jobs there.
On the factory's departure from the Lower East Side:
For the Lower East Side, though, the loss has less of a silver lining. In the next several weeks, the former factory buildings are slated to be demolished to make room for seven floors of luxury condos and retail, something that seemed unthinkable – though I suppose shouldn't have been — when I started this film three years ago.
I'm grateful that I had opportunity to start filming when I did, to experience the place as a still-vital piece of the community. And while the timing of the film coming out as its "main character" awaits the wrecking ball is somewhat ridiculous to consider, I hope the timing can perhaps offer a unique opportunity to appreciate a place like Streit's at the same moment it is being lost, and hopefully spark some conversation and action to protect the places like it, and the people who depend on them for their livelihoods, and remind people that the Lower East Side is still a neighborhood of resilience and resistance after all.
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The film's official premiere is tonight at 8. Afterward, there's a premiere party of sorts upstairs at 2A (on Avenue A and Second Street) featuring food from Russ & Daughters. Members of the Streit family and workers from the factory will be there. The party is open to anyone, not just people coming from the Film Forum.
Meanwhile, across the street...the Streit's exhibit continues (through May 5) at Art on A Gallery. The gallery is open tonight until midnight. (You can read more about the exhibit here.)
At both the gallery and at 2A this evening, Levine says that people will be able to buy tickets to the film. (Buy a ticket and receive a film poster and box of matzos.)
