Friday, April 14, 2017

Jesus falls on 3rd Street and other Good Friday scenes


[Photo on 3rd Street by EVG reader David]

Here today on Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, parishioners from Most Holy Redeemer/Nativity Parish and St. Mary Grand took part in the "Way of the Cross" procession, a Good Friday tradition that marks the last stage of the journey that Jesus walked in his earthly life.

EVG correspondent Stacie Joy shared these photos... this year, the church officials mic'd the cross so you could hear the pounding of the "nails."









The Easter rush at East Village Meat Market



The ham rush is on... Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street this afternoon... photo by Steven

Report: NYPD looking for suspect who took $60 plumber's snake from 4th Street apartment


DNAinfo has more on the story:

The burglar walked into the back of the building near East Fourth Street and Avenue C at around 10 a.m. on April 7 and reached into an open window, grabbing the plumber's snake, which is valued at around $60, police said.

And there is video...



Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

RIP Kelly Hurley


[Photo via Facebook]

Kelly Hurley, who was struck by a box truck while biking on First Avenue at Ninth Street on April 5, has died from her injuries. She was 31.

Hurley, who lived on the Lower East Side, was riding in the northbound bike lane around 7:20 a.m. According to published reports, a box truck driver, also traveling north, made a left turn onto Ninth Street and struck Hurley, who had the right of way. The Daily News reported that she "skidded to try and avoid the truck, but it slammed into her."

The driver remained at the scene. He has not been charged. The investigation is ongoing.

This past Sunday, a friend said that, despite her significant injuries, doctors had been optimistic that she would recover. However, there were complications from one of the surgeries, the friend said. Doctors removed her from life support on Tuesday, DNAinfo reported.

For the past two-and-a-half years, she worked as the senior studio manager of training and development at SoulCycle. Hurley was a 2007 graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

She was also the co-founder of the Movemeant Foundation, an organization that provides "body-positive, self-confidence building tools, resources and experiences" for girls and women.

On Tuesday evening, a group of 12-15 cyclists placed flowers at the scene where the collision took place.


[Photo from Tuesday]

Reactions to Kelly Hurley's death

Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, released a statement yesterday about Kelly Hurley's death.

It reads in part:

The crash happened in one of the so-called “mixing zones” where drivers are allowed to make careful left turns from First Avenue as cyclists are going straight through intersections with the green light.

Mixing zones only work when motorists yield. Time and again, New York City motorists have proven incapable of exercising basic care, with deadly results. As with pedestrian crossing phases that similarly rely on the hope of motorist compliance, this deadly traffic signal design flaw must be corrected so that there is a clear unambiguous right-of-way signal phasing for bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike.

The NYPD is making a mockery of the data driven principles that undergird Vision Zero. As they have done in the wake of other recent tragedies, the NYPD unleashed a ticketing blitz on cyclists shortly after the preventable crash that killed Kelly. Yet data show the majority of bikers and walkers are killed not by their own mistakes, but by speeding, unyielding and lawless motorists.

Of the 18 cyclist fatalities in 2016 for which details of the crash are known, 13 were caused directly by the criminal or reckless actions of a driver — including failure to yield, driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, speeding, and ignoring red lights. As the DOT upgrades design to account for widespread lawless driving, the NYPD must redirect enforcement towards the real killers on our streets.

As mentioned in the above statement, officers from the 9th Precinct were ticketing cyclists yesterday for a variety of infractions on First Avenue at 10th Street — one block from where the collision occurred last week.

Per Streetsblog:

Red light running has nothing to do with the crash that claimed Hurley’s life. She would have had a green when the truck driver ran her over, since the intersection design requires cyclists and turning drivers to negotiate the same space at the same time.



The driver of the box truck who struck Hurley remained at the scene on April 5. As The Village Voice reported yesterday, the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad investigated the crash, "but he was not charged with failure to yield, or failure to exercise due care, or any other crime." The collision remains under investigation.

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.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

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


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.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

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.