If you don't like movie posters of En Sabah Nur strangling Mystique, then move to...

Kidding!

However, as this photo from EVG reader Michael shows, someone did take exception with the poster for "X-Men: Apocalypse" at First Avenue and 14th Street.

Someone took the time to leave an eight-pieces-of-paper message: "This violence in my kid's face is not OK."



On that topic, what character is most likely to die in the film out on May 27?

Beast? Psylocke? Moira MacTaggert? Magneto?

Flags of our red-tailed hawks

Christo late this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... photo by Peter Brownscombe

H/T Goggla because I always have to double-check if it's Christo or Dora!

N' Rock N' Roll

The Austin, Texas-based A Giant Dog have a new record out on Merge ... and they'll be at the (recently revamped) Cake Shop on Ludlow Street on May 26.

The video is for their single "Sex & Drugs."

Where to find Art & Science (& glop) tomorrow

At The Children’s Workshop School, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., tomorrow (Saturday), 610 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. The flyer promises glop.

EV Grieve Etc.: CB3 tries again with de Blasio; 'When Jackie Met Ethyl'

[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

24-year-old man falls to his death from Campos Plaza roof (Daily News)

Community Board 3 has sent another resolution to Mayor de Blasio regarding Rivington House (The Lo-Down)

Jared Kushner and the Trumps (Bloomberg BusinessWeek ... reaction at Gawker)

PS 122 offering a free self-guided tour of the East Village performance arts history (The New York Times)

East Village represents in this Best Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwiches listicle (Gothamist)

Speaking of cheese, this Mother's Day, mothers eat free at S'MAC on East 12th Street (Official website)

Another Prince tribute (BoweryBoogie)

The Metrograph cinema on Ludlow Street unveils its food and drinks (Eater)

Fairway files for bankruptcy (Grub Street)

The Ramones and the Fillmore East on Second Avenue (Flaming Pablum)

Early 20th Century rooftop ragers in NYC (Ephemeral New York)

When Peter Tork of the Monkees played at CBGB in 1977 (Dangerous Minds)

... and last night was the opening of "When Jackie Met Ethyl," a new exhibit at the Howl! Happening space on East First Street near the Bowery. Per Howl!:

This exhibition considers the cultural and historical impact of Jackie Curtis (1947-1985) and Ethyl Eichelberger (1945-1990) two of the most influential figures from the East Village’s heyday as a cauldron of transgressive gender-twisting performance.

Here are a few photos from the opening via EVG contributor Stacie Joy...

Community acupuncture in the East Village

By Carol Porteous

East Village resident Donna Nield is excited to bring something new (and old) to her community. In April, she opened a community acupuncture clinic, City Acupuncture East Village, on the ground floor of an HDFC co-op building at 155 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Although community acupuncture is new to the East Village, it is an ancient Chinese practice.

“In China, acupuncture is usually conducted in a big group setting where people all receive acupuncture together,” says Nield, who went to China to observe this firsthand while studying at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM), where she earned, with honors, a Master of Science degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine.

Since the acupuncturist circulates among patients and can treat several at once, community acupuncture costs less and so is a feasible route to healing for more folks in the community. But the intention reaches much deeper.

“The sense of community that is created by having acupuncture in a room with other people is beneficial for everybody in many ways,” says Nield. “New Yorkers hold onto a lot of stress from living in the city; we really guard ourselves. When you walk into a community acupuncture clinic, you can hear the relaxed breathing. It’s amazing to me that in New York people can be relaxed enough in a room with other people that they can actually fall asleep.”

The clinic’s large treatment room is not completely open. Screens separate patients, who are treated on massage tables and zero gravity reclining chairs.



“It’s not super new-agey. It’s a medical clinic. We take our patients’ health very seriously.” That message comes through in the clinic’s tagline: “Making Acupuncture a Little Less ‘Alternative.’”

Nield has practiced acupuncture in traditional Western medical clinics at NYU Langone and Beth Israel, and in her own private practice. She says her training at PCOM positioned her to straddle the worlds of Chinese and Western medicine.

“We studied a lot of Western medicine so that we can understand people’s conditions and look for red flags, know when a patient needs to be referred to an MD, and be able to have conversations with doctors if we need to.”

Patients have a choice of three acupuncturists at City Acupuncture East Village: Leo Bierman and Carmichael Monaco, who both have degrees from Tri-State College of Acupuncture, and Nield. All are licensed in New York State and certified in clean needle technique.

Nield is partnering with Robbie Benhuri, the founder of the first City Acupuncture, which opened eight years ago and provides some 1,200 treatments a month downtown on Fulton Street. A third City Acupuncture clinic will open in Bed Stuy later this month. According to Nield, “we see the City Acupuncture affiliation as a community for clinic owners. We are pooling our resources so that we don’t have to figure it all out on our own.”

Feeling a connection

Nield has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, and her new office is a few blocks from her family’s apartment.

“I wouldn’t have imagined doing this anywhere else. I feel really connected to this neighborhood. One of the things I like about it is that even though there are so many sad postings about local businesses closing, and we do see the neighborhood changing, we all really care and work hard to maintain a sense of community," she says. "I feel very inspired by this.

“I will consider the clinic a success when it’s serving the neighborhood and improving people’s lives. That’s what it’s all about, really. We want to deliver what the community needs.”

It is fitting that the official opening of Nield’s clinic is on Mother’s Day, as her interest in community acupuncture was sparked by her mother’s experience in Ottawa, Canada, many years ago.

“My mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was referred to an acupuncturist who saw people in a large house. There were beds everywhere," Nield says. "She went to see him every day. It didn’t cure her cancer, but it really helped her handle the pain of the cancer and its treatment. It also gave her a connection to others, kind of a support group in a way; she’d see the same people there every day. So while it was a really sad situation, there was such a positive aspect to it.”

-----

City Acupuncture East Village's opening party is Sunday afternoon from 1-4. Find more details at Facebook.

The office is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Appointments can be booked online here.

-----

About the author, Carol Porteous

I’ve been involved in East Village communities of all kinds for the last few decades (public and private schools, the Boys Club, playgrounds, community gardens, East Yoga Center as karmi and curator of the Facebook page, etc.). I met Donna Nield many years ago at East Yoga, and recently got an acupuncture treatment for the first time.

The mission of community acupuncture is to bring an important healing opportunity to the entire community in an affordable way. This taps into my love for community, so I have jumped onboard for the first few months to help get this clinic started and connected.

Sunday is the last day for Podunk – the American Tearoom on East 5th Street

As we first reported back in February, the 14-year-old Podunk – the American Tearoom, the family-run cafe on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, is closing after service this Sunday.

The owners have said they are relocating, though they haven't divulged the location just yet...



You can keep tabs on their Instagram and Facebook accounts.

The building that houses Podunk at 231 E. Fifth St. was part of the portfolio that Raphael Toledano’s Brookhill Properties purchased last fall.

Former Bar 82 space gets the plywood treatment on 2nd Avenue

[Photo via Steven]

Workers yesterday erected the plywood around the vacant storefront at 136 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street... there aren't many details available at the moment. However, the word from here is that the space will be home to a bar-restaurant.

Approved work permits on file offer the following (in the DOB's all-CAP style):

PROPOSED RESTAURANT LOCATED AT 1ST FLOOR, CELLAR & SUB-CELLAR. PROPOSED BANQUET HALL LOCATED AT CELLAR AND 1ST FLOORS; STOREFRONT RECONFIGURATION.

Banquet hall!

Bar 82, which closed at the end of March 2013, was the last tenant here. At the time of the closure, a tipster told us that the landlord did not want another bar or restaurant in the space... and was looking for "dry goods" as the basis for a new tenant.

Apparently the landlord changed his/her mind after nearly three years of sitting on an empty space.

H/T Steven!

Beetle House officially opens tonight

[Photo by Derek Berg]

After a week or so in previews, Beetle House officially opens tonight at 308 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

As we've noted, Beetle House features "an atmosphere and menu inspired by the works of Tim Burton." (You can find the food and drinks menu at their website.)

DNAinfo's Allegra Hobbs had a preview piece on Monday. (Bedford + Bowery posted a preview here.)

Co-owner Zach Neil claims that the Beetlejuice impersonator spotted hanging outside the place wasn't affiliated with Beetle House. "He showed up at the bar one night, and he just kept showing up," Neil said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tim Burton-themed bar opening in former Confessional space on East 6th Street

Tim Burton-themed bar Beetle House now in sneak previews on East 6th Street (37 comments)

Plants and baked goods for sale this weekend at the 6th & B Community Garden

Via the EVG inbox...

The 6th & B Community Garden Plant & Bake Sale Fundraiser

Sixth Street and Avenue B (entrance on Avenue B between Fifth and Sixth)

Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Plant and Bake Sale supports the Garden's Events Committee's community programs, which include crafts, horticultural/science workshops, culinary events, films, multicultural festivals, and musical and theatrical performances from around the world.

Tiny Empire's short run ends on Lafayette Street

Brooklyn-based juicery Tiny Empire opened a location down on Lafayette Street at Spring last August... by November, the DOH had shut down the location over some zoning issue with the downstairs bathroom, as BoweryBoogie noted.

By the end of January, a "temporarily closed" for "emergency maintenance/construction" signage arrived.

And Tiny Empire never reopened. On Wednesday, the Marshal paid a visit... and the landlord took legal possession of the space...



Previously

Found puppy

Found puppy near E 11th & Szold Pl. Any info, please call 212-979-7297. #woof #lostdog #FOUNDdog @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/zfQWQmX9q2

— Paws & Relax (@pawsandrelaxnyc) May 6, 2016

3 cheers (AGAIN) for Christo and Dora

[Photo today by Bobby Williams]

Goggla and Urban Hawks have visual confirmation that red-tailed hawk parents Christo and Dora have three nestlings (hawklets!) in Tompkins Square Park.

As Goggla noted, this is the third time in as many years that this hawk pair has had three kids. (Nine is enough?)

For all your Christo and Dora groupies, here's a video via Urban Hawks...

Beloved Chinook RV still transporting precious holiday tree cargo

[Back in March via Andréa Stella]

Back in March, we noted the above holiday-tree-carrying Chinook RV here along East 14th Street near Avenue A.

Fast-forward to today, when a special EVG correspondent spotted the Chinook on the road (Avenue B and Third Street) ... still with the [much deader] tree on top...



Per the EVG special correspondent: "Note that the tree is tied on firmly with red cord — as if it’s really important or something?"

Is that a question?

This morning on 7th Street and Avenue A

Photos by Derek Berg

Reader report: Life next to 377 E. 10th St.

Gut renovations are ongoing at the now-vacant 377 E. 10th St., a former squat between Avenue B and Avenue C.



This address is one of the buildings that the city sold to tenants for a $1 via a deal brokered by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) in 2002. Under the terms of the deal, the tenants were to bring the buildings up to code.

However, as The Villager reported back in the fall, the conversions of No. 377 as well as 544 E. 13th St. were stalled.

Let's go to The Villager for more details on the renovations of the two buildings:

According to the city, the renovations will last two years, after which the former squatters will be allowed to return and buy their units at a low, insider’s price.

Meanwhile, a private developer, BFC Partners, led by principal Donald Capoccia, will rehab the two buildings as affordable housing, in return for which BFC will get development rights in the form of an “inclusionary housing” bonus — or F.A.R. (floor area ratio) — usable to build market-rate housing elsewhere nearby.

The city is temporarily offering the former squatters units in Stuyvesant Town, for which they would pay a discounted rent — not to exceed 30 percent of 30 percent of area median income. The developer will cover the balance of the rent.

As for the gut renovation, a resident who lives next door describes it as a living hell.

Here's part of an email from the resident, who has also witnessed the workers urinating on the sidewalk:

Every morning 7 days a week at 7 am there are the main characters: The Ball Peen Hammer Dude panging on random shit, The Dude with a Giant Vibrator who's just vibrating the shit out of every building around us, The Door Knocker who is knocking on the old ass doors that are still in there for some reason, The Guy banging metal trash-can lids from the 1980s... They're also Peeping Toms. Creeeeeeepy!!

I could go on for hours, because I've already reported these assholes to 311 numerous times to no avail. They have disturbed us on not only Saturdays, but FRIGGING Sundays! They need to stop. The building looks worse than it did before.

And here are some photos...









Back in 2008, I posted a photo of the building from the 1980s... the undated photo is by amg2000 via Flickr...

Here's Centre-fuge Cycle 20 on East 1st Street

[Art by Claw Money]

Despite the crap weather of late, the six artists taking part in Cycle 20 of the Centre-fuge Public Art Project were able to wrap up work this week ... at the rotating outdoor gallery/construction trailer here along East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The artists are Claw Money, Himbad, K-NOR, Resa, Balu and Adam Dare.


[Art by Himbad]


[Art by K-NOR]


[Art by Resa]


[Art by Balu]


[Art by Adam Dare]

This work will be up through late July.

Find more info about Centre-fuge here.

MetroPCS has closed on East 14th Street

That's all for this MetroPCS outpost on East 14th Street at First Avenue... the landlord has taken possession of the premises, as these photos via EVG regular dwg show...



This location seemed to be a good spot for a stick up... as it was robbed twice that we can recall in early 2012...

As for MetroPCS, you won't have to travel far to find another one. According to the The Center for an Urban Future, MetroPCS is the third largest chain store in NYC with 323 outposts in 2015, trailing only Dunkin' Donuts (568) and Subway (444).

Report: Menswear boutique and cocktail den in the works for East Houston

We've been curious about what's coming to the former Bowery Coffee space at 87 E. Houston just west of the Bowery.

We've seen movers hauling boxes into the space. BoweryBoogie got the scoop on the new tenant: VK Nagrani, a menswear boutique and cocktail den.

Apparently menswear designer Vivek Nagrani had been operating out of a former gallery on the Upper East Side. That space is closed now in anticipation of opening here on June 1.

Here's BB with more on the concept:

We are creating an experiential men’s boutique featuring luxury men’s clothing, custom clothing, bespoke jeans, hand made shoes and organic men’s grooming products (hangover recovery kits, post flight rejuvenation kits). Everything is made by artisan workshops in Italy, Peru and here in New York. The space is more theatre than traditional retail.

Nagrani will appear before CB2 (not CB3) for a liquor license at some point in the future.

Bowery Coffee closed after three-plus years in January 2015.

Florence and the Machine time at Village East Cinema

The Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at East 12th Street is prepping for tonight's U.S. theatrical premiere of "The Odyssey," a 47-minute film that strings together video clips released in 2015 of songs from Florence and the Machine's latest album, "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful," per Rolling Stone.

Here's more from the film's director, Vincent Haycock:

"Like the layers of Dante's purgatory, each song or chapter represents a battle that Florence traversed ... that embodied each song or story," he said.

And here's a clip of Florence...



As for the one-night-only screening at 7, it's by invite. And the after party will NOT be held across the street at DumplingGO.

Thanks to EVG regular Daniel for the photo and info!