Ravi DeRossi's Coup opens tonight; profits go to organizations threatened by Trump White House

[Photo from the other day]

Ravi DeRossi debuts his latest bar tonight on Astor Place.

Coup joins his local bar-restaurant empire that includes Death & Company, Mother of Pearl, Avant Garden and Cienfuegos.

The idea for Coup came about in the wake of Election 2016.

Per The New York Times:

“For the few weeks after the election, I couldn’t get out of bed,” he said. “It was all I could do to read the news.”

So, to snap himself out of it, he did what he does best: open a bar.

And...

“One-hundred percent of the profits are going to organizations that are either being defunded by the current administration or need money to fight the current administration, like Planned Parenthood and the A.C.L.U.,” he said.

Gothamist has more on how all this will work:

The space features two bars, one of which will host a rotating lineup of the city's best bar talent, who will choose a cause of their choice to which that evening's bar sales will be donated. The list of signed on talent is impressive, including Best American Bartender of the Year for 2015 Ivy Mix of Leyenda, Jim Meehan of PDT, Joaquin Simo from Pouring Ribbons and Alton "Good Eats" Brown himself. Each will create specialty cocktails for their shifts.

At the other bar, guests are given a wooden token with each beverage purchased, which they'll drop into jars bearing the names of different charitable organizations. The donation groups will rotate on a day-to-day basis. The dollar amount from the tokens in each jar will be calculated, the total of which will be donated to said charity by Coup.

Cocktails and glasses of wine are $20 each; beer and cocktails are $15. Coup is also gratuity free. You can find the drink menu at the Coup website here.

The space at 64 Cooper Square was previously home to DeRossi's Bergen Hill.

So long to the BeerStore signage

Lions BeerStore closed on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street last month.

Not sure where the BeerStore signage had been stored since the place became Wall 88 ... but it emerged today...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

... where it was up for grabs in the trash on the curb...




[Bottom 2 photos by Vinny & O]

Sneak preview at Che Cafe tonight on 7th Street

Che Cafe is holding a free tasting tonight from 6-8 at 86 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This quick-serve venture is via Mark Merker, who started Harry's and Benny's Burritos in 1987. Che specializes in empanada pouches aka Chechenitas.

Come on in a taste our Che's. Free tasting tonight. Thursday from 6-8 pm

A post shared by Che Cafe (@che_cafe_nyc) on Apr 12, 2017 at 9:32pm PDT

The small space was home until last fall to Abraço, who moved across Seventh Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Che Cafe bringing empanada pockets to 7th Street

Fruit vendor returns to 1st Avenue and 6th Street

As the headline implies, the fruit vendor is back in action on First Avenue at Sixth Street after a winter hiatus from this spot... EVG reader Riley McCormick, who shared the top photo, said the stand returned here yesterday...

And a reader-submitted photo from this morning...

Report: David Schwimmer looking at new East Village homes

Actor David Schwimmer, who had a historic townhouse demolished to build a single-family home on Sixth Street, is now reportedly looking for new digs in the East Village.

The Post reports that Schwimmer was spotted checking out at a unit in the almost-finished condoplex at 64 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Maybe he will be neighbors with Seth Rogen.)

This sighting comes following the announcement last week that he and his wife Zoe Buckman are separating.

Per his spokesperson: "He is always looking at interesting investment opportunities in New York." (Interesting!)

The Post's Jennifer Gould Keil recaps the Sixth Street Schwimmer timeline:

He destroyed the 19th-century home at 331 E. Sixth St. months after the city told him it was slated for landmark status ... The property had, in fact, been one of the oldest on the block. Schwimmer paid $4.1 million for the old house in 2010.

In 2011, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission sent him two notices stating that it could get landmark status by 2012. But Schwimmer razed the home in the fall of 2011, earning him the wrath of neighbors and preservationists.

Noted not cool.


[Photo from August 2013 via EVG reader Marc]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Here is David Schwimmer's East Village home

Report: David Schwimmer's surveillance footage helps NYPD in male prostitute stabbing

Cherin moving to a larger space next door on 6th Street

Brick Lane Curry House moved from East Sixth Street to 99 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Fifth Street in August 2014. Now it appears Brick Lane's former space finally has a new tenant here between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

It will be a short move for Cherin Sushi, which is directly next door. Ownership plans to relocate to the larger adjacent space ... and expand their menu offers to including ramen. They will be going by Cherin Sushi N Ramen.

According to materials (PDF here) on file at the CB3 website ahead of tonight's SLA committee meeting (they are seeking a new beer-wine license), the more-spacious Cherin will accommodate 27 tables for 66 seats and a small service bar. The proposed hours are 5 p.m. to midnight during the week, and until 2 a.m. on Friday-Saturday. They will remain closed on Sunday.

There's no word on when the move may occur... a look inside the under-renovation space last week shows plenty of work left before the new Cherin can open...



Thank you to Vinny & O for the photos and tip!

History of La Plaza Cultural now on display

A new exhibit just debuted titled "La Lucha Continua The Struggle Continues: 1985 & 2017."

Here's more about it:

In 1985, Eva Cockcroft, founder of Artmakers Inc., gathered together 34 “artists of conviction” to create 26 political murals on four vacant buildings overlooking the then neglected La Plaza Cultural Community Garden. Known as La Lucha Continua The Struggle Continues, the murals addressed six political issues: gentrification, police brutality, immigration, feminism, and opposition of U.S. intervention in Central America and apartheid in South Africa. Today, the garden is thriving, the issues remain of grave concern, and only two of the murals still exist, the paint cracked and faded.

The exhibit, which debuted last Saturday, is up through June 30 at the Loisaida Center, 710 E. Ninth St. just east of Avenue C. The exhibit is open Thursday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.

Danny Meyer's incoming pizzeria looking for CB3 approval for a 4-table sidewalk cafe

One more quick note about tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting... as previously noted, Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group is opening Martina, a pizzeria, at 198 E. 11th St./aka 55 Third Ave.



They are on this month's docket to get approval for a four-table (eight seat!) sidewalk cafe ... here's a rendering (PDF) via the CB3 website... showing off that Mmartina lettering...



The street-level pizzeria proposes to operate the outdoor seating Sunday-Wednesday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. to midnight, and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

CB3 OK'd the beer-wine license back in November. Apparently this didn't include the sidewalk cafe. Not sure!

The CB3-SLA meeting is tonight at 6:30 in the Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. (corner of the Bowery).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group planning Martina for 55 3rd Ave.

Baron's Dim Sum slated for 6th Street

Coming soon to 518 Sixth St.: Baron's Dim Sum. The signage arrived this week here between Avenue A and Avenue B ... a few storefronts away from Josie's.

We don't know any more about the operation other than what's on the sign. Perhaps it will be a good, inexpensive to-go option.

On this topic of dim sum and dumplings, I've found the food at Carma East, which opened back in September, to be solid. Never eaten in the dining room, just had it to go or delivered.

As for No. 518, it was last home to a psychic... and an organic dry cleaner/cafe.

Ciala signage arrives on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Vinny & O]

The new restaurant called Ciala has announced its arrival at 77 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

As you can see, Ciala will serve "Georgian Gourmet Cuisine." No sign just yet of a restaurant website or any social media presence.

The previous tenant here, Ballaro, which served Italian coffee and pastries during the day, and beer, wine and small plates in the evening hours, closed after seven years in February 2016.

A moment with Andy Golub

EVG correspondent Derek Berg spotted (hard to miss with that shirt-car combo!) Andy Golub, the street artist, on Cooper Square and St. Mark's Place this afternoon... his canvas is usually the human body.

Cow wash at Paul's Da Burger Joint

A little cow spring cleaning today at Paul's Da Burger Joint on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place... EVG regular Daniel shared these photos...

Slashing reported outside Karma on 1st Avenue; bad night gets worse for victim

An aspiring rapper was reportedly slashed across the face early this morning after a rap battle inside Karma on First Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street.

After the attack, the man, 22-year-old Freeman Durden, jumped into an Uber, but was kicked out two blocks away when the driver saw the blood, according to published reports.

Durden, whose stage name is JU, was leaving the club "when a group of five men approached him and gashed his left cheek with a cutting object," the Daily News reported.

His friend called 911 and Durden, who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he received 30 stitches.

Durden's night didn't end there. He was later arrested by cops from the 9th Precinct because he had an open warrant for trespassing, according to DNAinfo.

The suspects remain at large.

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing 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: Elizabeth Atnafu
Occupation: Artist
Location: 2nd Street and 1st Avenue
Date: April 5 at 4:45 pm.

I’m from Ethiopia originally. I moved to Washington when I was 14. I finished high school and university and then moved to New York. I met very good people — musicians, photographers and other beautiful human beings, many older than me. They were like an extension of my college teachers in a way. They gave me more ideas.

I’ve been in this neighborhood for 21 years. I’ve always been interested in this neighborhood even though I have lived in different neighborhoods. I used to live in Chelsea, Tribeca and Soho, but this neighborhood brings a lot of interesting people from all over the world.

What interests is there are a lot of older creative people who couldn’t afford the city and moved here. There is all types of diversity. Another is the gardens and the people who work together on them. A favorite thing is there’s no judgment — wherever you sleep, on the floor or not. It has the originality of a long time ago. It has that touch.

Now it’s changed. People came from everywhere, and they look at you like you do not belong. They are afraid. It is OK, that is part of life too. When you approach people with a sense of humor, that breaks the line. The neighborhood is a human being too. You push it. There is anger too — there is disappointment here. We are mixed.

This neighborhood is trying to give the creativity. Most of the tourists who come here, they see all kinds of crazy outfits and crazy people — things that are different from what they’re used to. That by itself is an art gallery — a street art gallery.

I’m an artist. I’m a storyteller. I am inspired by people. I used to have a studio at 285 E. Third St., but now the rent is so high that it’s gone. I use to volunteer the studio by inviting kids there. As for me now, I’m a nomad artist. I travel to different places and paint and live and come back to New York. Not that I have money – it’s based on invitations in exchange for work.

I like to collect a lot of things. I have 52 things collected from the streets to make the art out of it. I went to a cigar store and there were a lot of empty boxes for sale. They told me, ‘We are trying to send city kids to a camp,’ so I said, ‘OK I’ll buy 50.’ And then when I got home, I didn't know what to do with them. Finally, I started breaking them and painting them, and collecting anything I find interesting in the street, and I put them together.

So I invited different people — whether it was the Chinese deliveryman, the intellectuals, the kids. I said, pick the piece you like and write about it, but I tell everybody to speak their own language. If you are Spanish, write in Spanish; if you are Chinese, write in Chinese. And they don’t understand, but that means we are becoming together. You’ll see that book in the future. The book is called "East Village Universe."

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

RIP Guilherme Barreto

[Image via Facebook]

Guilherme Barreto, a chef and consultant who worked in several East Village and Lower East Side kitchens, was killed in a motorcycle accident Friday in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 37.

Barreto, a native of Goiania Goias, Brazil, worked for a variety of restaurants, including Pardon My French on Avenue B.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a tapas hole-in-the-wall joint or a three-star Michelin restaurant, I just cook my heart out,” he told The Wall Street Journal in a 2015 feature on the opening of Pardon My French.

He also appeared on The Food Network's "Cutthroat Kitchen."

A friend has set up a crowdfunding campaign for Barreto's two daughters, Aivie and Barbara. You can find that information here. There's a service Thursday morning in Boca Raton, Fla.

His family left a message on his Facebook page. It reads, in part:

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved brother, father, uncle, and everyone's best friend.

Thank you Guilherme for all of the knowledge, wisdom, memories, and love that you shared with us throughout the years. You shared so many and wonderful experiences with us that we will never forget our time with you. A simple laugh or joke always made the day better. Your kind and crazy charisma made you the special person that you were.

The Irish Times Pub and Eatery NYC has plans for 10th Street and Avenue C

The operators of a restaurant called the Irish Times Pub and Eatery NYC have designs on the former East Village Tavern space on 10th Street and Avenue C.

According to materials posted to the CB3 website (PDF here) ahead of this week's SLA committee meeting, the proposed hours are 7 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily, with a 10 a.m. opening on Sunday. (The questionnaire doesn't specify when the place would serve alcohol — presumably 8 a.m. when it is officially legal.)



The configuration shows 10 tables with 55 seats and a bar with 15 seats. (And six TV sets.)

Since 2008, the owners have operated Irish Times Pub and Eatery in South Miami.

Here's a write-up of that establishment via the Miami New Times:

For decades, University of Miami students have been trying to dupe the bouncers at this Celtic-themed tavern within walking distance of campus. Yet no matter how closely they resemble their older cousin's expired driver's license photo, the bouncer, propped on his stool outside the double doors, inevitably refuses to let them in. Poor underage drinkers. They're missing out on a beacon for Dade's partygoers looking to keep the night from ending at a 5 a.m. liquor license establishment. But it's not just the postmidnight crowd that has kept the Irish Times clicking on a busy South Miami corner. A hearty menu with everything from sliders to mac 'n' cheese and more traditional fare like bangers 'n' mash, fish 'n' chips and shepherd's pie ensures an all-hours crowd. The double doors in front are left open rain or shine, and the friendly staff is welcoming whether you order a pint of Guinness before noon or are stopping by on your commute home for a game of pool.

East Village Tavern opened in 2008 and closed this past November. In announcing the closure on Facebook, bar staff blamed a disagreement with landlord Steve Croman. However, a Croman rep told The Real Deal that the bar had "been unable to consistently pay its rent in the last 12 months."

The April SLA committee meeting is tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m. Location: The Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. at the Bowery.

Joe and Pat’s mark their arrival on 1st Avenue

As you may know, Joe & Pat's, the 57-year-old pizzeria on Staten Island, is opening an outpost in the East Village.

The Joe and Pat's signage has just arrived at the former Lanza's space on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street... as these photos via Steven show...





Casey Pappalardo, one of the pizzeria's owners, told the Staten Island Advance in January that they'd be open within six months, but he didn't sound so convincing. "That's if all goes well — there's always some setbacks."

But the sign is a good sign anyway.

Grub Street recently named Joe and Pat's Staten Island's best pizza:

Joe & Pat’s is the king of Staten Island pizza. Its pies are the ultimate version of one of the borough’s dominant styles: thin-crust, vodka-sauced bar pie. Open since 1960, it doesn’t look like much, but the pizza is magnificent. The dough is pounded so it doesn’t get airy, resulting in a crust that’s disappearingly thin and extra crunchy. The vodka sauce is sweet and smooth; pepperoni, curled up in crisp cups, makes the perfect foil.

Lanza's closed for good back in July 2016 after the state seized the restaurant. But! Lanza's has come back to life as a to-go spot on 23rd Street.

Former men's boutique space yields to a threading and waxing salon on 9th Street

[Photo from March]

For rent signs had been hanging above the about-to-close home of Cadet, the men's designer shop, on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Now the coming soon signage is up announcing the next tenant — a threading and waxing salon...



H/T Steven!

Dueling inflatable Union rats land TV role

Those lovable, huggable inflatable Union rats had a moment of TV glory this morning ... as crews for the Hulu series "Difficult People" were filming on Second Avenue at Sixth Street...

One looked like the real deal...



... the other did not...





No word on what they did to craft services.

Bottom three photos by Derek Berg...

Report: Alan Cumming to help revamp Eastern Bloc on 6th Street

Actor Alan Cumming, an East Village resident, is reportedly partnering with the owners of Eastern Bloc to reboot the bar on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B early this fall.

According to Page Six, Eastern Bloc — described on their Facebook page as "the best gay bar in the world" — will close in August ahead of renovations for what is being called Club Cumming.

Per his spokesperson:

“Alan wants it to be a home for everyone of all ages, all genders, all sexualities, who all enjoy letting go and making some mischief. No judgments, no attitude, no rules, except kindness, acceptance and fun.”

And you can already sign up for updates via an email list...

Coming Fall 2017! Club Cumming is coming to NYC. Join our email list for info on opening and shows! @danielnardicio https://t.co/HoXZAM0ZsR pic.twitter.com/yuEjtDhIHg

— ClubCumming (@ClubCumming) April 3, 2017