Sunday's parting shot

Featuring Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street on Long Island Sound... per her owners: "She can report that rumors of this being one of the 10 best days of the year weather-wise are true!"

Week in Grieview

[Photo last Sunday on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

About Jake, who roamed the East Village these past 11 years (Thursday)

Golden Food Market closes on 1st Avenue and 7th Street (Tuesday)

5 years of Out and About in the East Village (Wednesday)

Here's the sidewalk bridge-free corner of 9th Street and 1st Avenue — and the 122 Community Center (Wednesday)

SobaKoh has closed on 5th Street (Monday)


[Photo Wednesday on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Friday)

Sunny's Florist off until after Labor Day (Thursday)

The former Shoolbred's space is for rent on 2nd Avenue (Thursday)

Eastern Bloc closes Sunday; Club Cumming coming soon (Friday)

The stately 153 Avenue B has a new owner (Thursday)

Tompkins Square Park sinkhole no longer sinking (Wednesday)

The Great Jones Cafe reopens (Wednesday)

DBGB is closing on the Bowery (Monday)


[Photo Thursday on 2nd Avenue by EVG]

244-46 E. 7th St. has a new owner (Tuesday)

Express Thali has not been open lately on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

Signage arrives for Ahimsa on 10th Street (Monday)

Baron's Dim Sum gives way to Tasty Garden on 6th Street (Thursday)

Sales underway for Rite Aid-adjacent condoplex on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

Former Avenue A dental center is "great location for restaurant" (Thursday)

...and Key Food recently put up some new East Village-branded signage on Avenue A at Fourth Street...



Key is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year...



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Follow EVG on Instragram and/or Twitter for more updates

An appeal to landmark these buildings on Broadway

Three buildings at 827-831 Broadway (pictured above) and 47 E. 12th St. may be demolished to make way for a 14-floor office building.

As previously reported, Quality Capital and Caerus Group bought the parcel between 12th Street and 13th Street last summer for $60 million. The deal reportedly included 30,000 square feet of air rights.

In the late 1950s, Willem de Kooning had a studio in No. 827, one piece of the history of these buildings uncovered by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP).

GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman co-authored an op-ed at the Times this past week, providing more history of the addresses and making the case for why they should be landmarked:

Despite protests by preservationists, elected officials and neighbors, two developers, Quality Capital and the Caerus Group, intend to demolish it and build a 14-story tower. (Caerus is the Greek god of opportunity and luck who seizes favorable moments.)

In August 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected an application to protect 831 Broadway and its next-door twin, 827. According to its director of research at the time, the commission decided that New York already had enough buildings with “earlier cast-iron facades” and that “there are buildings on Broadway of a similar date, type and style” to represent this era of development in New York.

Fortunately, the commission has recently agreed to reconsider that decision, and the developers have agreed to withdraw their application for a demolition permit pending the reconsideration. Now the commissioners must decide whether to take the first formal step toward considering the buildings for landmark status and vote to “calendar” them — put them on the docket for active consideration for designation — which would be followed by a public hearing and a vote.

You can read more about these buildings at the GVSHP website here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: 14-story building planned for 827 Broadway

Reader report: major damage avoided when tree falls behind 1st Avenue buildings

An EVG reader shared these photos... Around 3 a.m., about half of a large tree fell and came to rest on part of two buildings behind First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street...





The reader said that no one was injured ... the tree narrowly missed the enclosed canopy behind d.b.a.

Apparently there was a crack in the tree, and a neighbor warned that this might happen.

Summer of Love Redux

[Photo by Goggla]

An early evening concert atop a bus on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place... more details TK...


[Photo by Dave by 7th]

... and a few more photos via Steven...





... and via Cheyenne...







Updated:

Thanks to a reader for this...

Here's more via the Facebook invite...

We are a roving music jam hitting parks across NYC! Incredible musicians led by drummer Ethan Kogan with Laura Newman on vocals will make spontaneous magic beginning in Union Sq Park at 5pm. Then we hop on Tycho Dan's Blue Bird Bus and head to Thompkins Sq Park for sunset and finally MacCarren Park for a nighttime DJ set with Penny Lane.

Come dance! Bring your bike and follow the parade spreading splendid spontanious music to all!

5pm Union Sq Park
7pm Tompkins Sq Park
9pm McCarren Park Williamsburg

Summer Streets

Second Avenue at Fourth Street...

Details on the $10-a-week CSA in these East Village community gardens

Via the EVG inbox...

LUNGS Fresh Food Bag CSA
Get a bag full of fresh & healthy produce straight from the farmer to you for only $10 a week — and only the weeks you want — along with volunteer help from you and the gardens of our New York City Community Garden District. The program is managed by LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens).

HOW IT WORKS:
This CSA is unique — you pay in advance but only for the weeks you want. SIGN-UP & PICK-UP is Sunday from 1 pm to 3 pm. When you pick up on Sunday you will pre-order and pay for the following week, or the week after.

See you this Sunday, August 6th, between 1 pm and 3 pm at Green Oasis on 8th Street between Avenues C&D to sign up!

It’s run entirely by volunteers, so all the money goes to the farmer. The family farm we work with uses organic methods but is not certified organic. The CSA typically begins in mid-June and—as we have for the past four years — runs every Sunday until Thanksgiving.

Pick up your produce between 1 and 3 pm on Sunday. If you cannot make the pickup time you need to arrange for someone else to pick it up for you. After 3 pm we are not responsible for your order. So if there are bags not picked up at the end of the day we will sell them to cover any losses that are inevitable in a volunteer-run program.

Bring tote bags! The first week you order please bring two tote bags for the season. Please bring good sturdy bags that can carry 10 pounds of produce. When you pick up the following week, bring back your bag!

Please remember that ALL the money that goes through this program goes to the farmer. This is a strictly volunteer program bringing fresh healthy food to your table. Please respect the time and energy that goes into setting this up and putting it together week to week.

Schedule of Loisaida community gardens hosting the LUNGS CSA:
August — Green Oasis, 8th Street between Aves C&D
September — La Plaza, 9th Street & Ave C
October — De Colores, 8th Street between Aves B&C
November — TBD
(and thanks to Campos, 12th Street near Ave C, for hosting us in July!)

CONTACT info@lungsnyc.org with CSA in the subject line if you would like to join.

Friday's parting shot

[Click to go big]

Storm exiting the neighborhood this morning... photo by EVG reader EJ...

Shredding the Needle

Three of Brian Eno's studio albums from 1974-1977 have been reissued... including 1974's Here Come the Warm Jets, which includes the great track here — "Needles in the Camel’s Eye."

Branch down in Tompkins Square Park

[Photos by Steven]

The storm this morning brought down a branch from one of the elm trees (in Elm Island) in Tompkins Square Park near the Eighth Street and Avenue B sinkhole/entrance ...

EV Grieve Etc.: Local venues parting ways with Bowery Presents; streaming films via the NYPL

[PDA outside BBQ via Derek Berg]

Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge part ways with Bowery Presents; Live Nation rumored to be next in line to book shows (Variety)

The music program for senior citizens at the Third Street Music School (Daily News)

Here are the candidates competing for Rosie Mendez's Council seat (DNAinfo)

Patti Smith remembers Sam Shepard (The New Yorker)

A 16-film retrospective of UK filmmaker Alan Clarke starts tonight; 14 of the screenings are free (Film Anthology Archives)

A raid at Boss Tweed's (DNAinfo ... previously)

Praise for Yuan Noodle on Second Avenue (Eater ... previously)

Limited to One, specializing in rare and collectible contemporary vinyl, is now open at 221 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... Q-&-A with the owners (Brooklyn Vegan) ... a visit on opening day (B+B)

Bikram Yoga raising funds to stay on the LES (BoweryBoogie)

Cleaning Basquiat’s headstone at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn (The New York Times)

If you have a library card, then you can now stream thousands of feature films, including the Criterion Collection (Gothamist)

Flatbush, the rescued red-tailed juvenile, is really branching out (Laura Goggin Photography)

The East River bike lane sinkhole has finally been repaired (Town & Village)

A late-1970s look at Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Flaming Pablum)

Check out Cindy Sherman's Instagram account (artNet)

Demolition at Silver Monuments on Stanton Street (The Lo-Down)

End of the line for the Riviera Cafe in Greenwich Village? (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

In honor of Jeanne Moreau's death, the Film Forum has a return engagement of the great "Elevator to the Gallows" starting a week-long run today (Film Forum)

... and the Gelarto (GelARTo) signage arrived on Wednesday here on Avenue A and Ninth Street...


[Photo by @jimnobu]


[Photo by Steven]

Scenes from the morning downpour

Photos by Peter Brownscombe...

Noted

[Photo this morning by Lola Sáenz]

Someone decided to spraypaint "Shame on you for selling veal" on the sidewalk outside John's of 12th Street, the 109-year-old Italian restaurant near Second Avenue.

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Tenant: Daryl, since 1992.

Daryl lives in one of three remaining rent-stabilized apartments in her building. There were a total of nine apartments. The other six have been under renovation for the past year.

The building was bought from the owner, Arthur R. by Icon Realty. Daryl was living in another apartment in the East Village when Arthur R. (she had lived in the building before) called her and told her about an apartment that was available here.

"Everything was always done by hand," Daryl said of her previous landlord. For instance, when she would need to renew her lease, she would meet with Arthur in person to sign it.

Their super has worked in the building for the past 40 years. He is Arthur's nephew.

Daryl showed me the Bible that is on her fireplace. It has been there since she moved in. It belonged to the previous tenant. Daryl opened the Bible, where the name of the previous tenant is written in pencil on the inside cover.











If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.

The Living Stage Summer Festival is this weekend in the Meltzer Tower Garden

The (outdoor) stage is set inside the Meltzer Tower Garden on First Street between First Avenue and Avenue A...



As a reminder, volunteers from the Superhero Clubhouse along with University Settlement are hosting the Living Stage Summer Festival here this weekend.

The details via Facebook:

The Living Stage combines horticulture, theatrical design, and community engagement to create recyclable, biodegradable, biodiverse, and edible performance spaces.

Created by and for the Lower East Side community, The Living Stage Summer Festival features family-friendly activities including a live, original, intergenerational performance, music, gardening information sessions, and tours. There will be opportunities to engage with local nonprofits, businesses, gardeners, artists, and community leaders. Join us!

A free event for the whole family!

Meltzer Tower Garden, 94 E 1st St

Friday, August 4, 5-8 p.m.
Saturday, August 5, 12-5 p.m.
Free Outdoor Performance: Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m.

Find more info here ...

Eastern Bloc closes Sunday; Club Cumming coming soon

[Photo from June]

Eastern Bloc is hosting its farewell party this Sunday evening.

As previously reported, after 12 years on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, Eastern Bloc — described on their Twitter account as "The best fucking gay bar in the universe!!!" — will be turning the keys over to actor-author Alan Cumming for Club Cumming...

Thank you all for the last 12 years. Sunday will be our closing night. Come by this week for some final fun. See you in the fall for @clubcumming

A post shared by Easternbloc (@easternblocnyc) on Aug 2, 2017 at 6:52am PDT

Cumming, an East Village resident, is partnering with the owners of Eastern Bloc for the reboot of the space.

A rep for Cumming described the venture this way to Page Six back in the spring: "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."

Club Cumming is expected to debut this fall.

Let's talk about rats

Members of LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens) are hosting a public meeting tomorrow (Saturday!) afternoon to discuss rats... specifically, Mayor de Blasio's recently announced $32 million plan to help reduce the number of rats in several neighborhoods, including the East Village.

The meeting is at 1 p.m. in the Green Oasis Community Garden, 386 E. Eighth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D.

2 free concerts in Tompkins Square Park this weekend; David Peel tribute and a Riot Reunion

There are two free shows in Tompkins Square Park this weekend... text via the EVG inbox...



• Saturday, Aug. 5: David Peel Tribute: Commemorate and celebrate the life of musician-political activist David Peel, who died in April. There will be speakers and bands/performers including The Accelerators, Sea Monster with Jism of ISM, GLOB (Gorgeous Ladies Of Blood-wrestling) and other bands and surprise guests to appear.

Peel would have been 75 years old today.

More details here.

• Sunday, Aug. 6: 29th Annual Tompkins Square Riot Reunion: Commemorating the infamous police riot in Tompkins Square Park on the evening of Aug. 6, 1988, featuring speakers, literatire tables by community groups and music by: Iconicide with Jism of ISM, The Nihilistics, Hammerbrain, Sick Shit, Trashy and Leftover Crack.

More details here.

The shows are scheduled from 2-6 p.m. both days.

About Jake, who roamed the East Village these past 11 years

[Photo by Josh Rogosin]

EVG reader thomkat, an East Village resident since 1980, shared this piece about Jake, who roamed the neighborhood for the past 11 years. "He made a lot of friends all over the East Village from Tompkins Square Park to Avenue D, mainly between 10th and 4th streets — and possibly a few enemies."

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Out the door to work one morning on 7th Street in the fall of 2006, I noticed a young and healthy looking tuxedo cat pawing at the black plastic trash bags next to the curb.

Obviously hungry and lost (?), he willingly accepted my offer of food. After he gobbled that down, I snapped his picture and later posted “Is This Your Cat?” flyers all over the East Village. After two weeks, when no claims had surfaced, he was mine. The vet estimated his age to be a year and a half. He also pronounced, “That cat’s going to dominate you!” That seemed preposterous at the time, but little did I know.

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At first, Jake was constantly trying to find a way to get outside. We tried a leash – not a good idea. You’ve never seen the likes of such thrashing, clawing and biting. So I let him out into the garden adjoining our building — and over the wall he went and across the street.

Finally, realizing how street savvy he was, I installed a flap door in the bathroom window and built an 8’ wooden plank down into the garden so he had 24/7 access to come and go at will.

And come and go he did, for more than 11 years. With an implanted chip, a red stretch collar with three bells (warning to birds, etc.), a tag engraved with my cell and the explanation “I can jump over the wall and go inside by myself” — and of course, regular visits to the vet (usually the result of cat fights), he survived many a close scrape.

That first summer, he came home with a long cut on this tail. The vet took pains to save it and Jake was confined to the apartment sporting an Elizabethan collar and a heavy cast on his tail for 30 days. But alas, the tail could not be revived so he lost a little over half its length. (My son who lives down on 1st Street called him “Stumpy”).

He truly lived up to the reputation of his namesake — Jake, the handsome and rowdy lady killer from the book I was currently reading, "Lonesome Dove," a cowboy who was always riding off, being chased and getting into trouble.

Jake’s regular hangouts were the many East Village Gardens gardens and parks, Tompkins Square Park being the first. Other favorites were 6BC, the Fireman’s Garden and Green Oasis on 8th Street (where the gardeners squirted him with water for pestering the resident feral cats), La Plaza on 9th Street (where he had a girlfriend named Ruby and also bothered irate gardeners who were fearful for their chickens), the Generation X, 4th Street Garden, and the LES Ecology Garden on 7th Street.

At times he would frequent the same garden for an entire summer as the "resident cat."

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Jake did not suffer fools – when certain people approached him he would move away. Dogs didn’t faze him; most gave him a wide berth. He seemed to be able to judge them from afar and was always close enough to a parked car or a fenced-in tree pit for a quick escape.

More often he wouldn’t budge and gave them a quick swat if they came too close. Sometimes he would even go after dogs if they were close to his size.

But he could charm most people — he knew how to work the block, lying on our stoop or stretched out in the middle of the sidewalk during rush hours, morning and evening, being greeted and patted by passersby — especially young girls who would sit on the stoop and leisurely pet and fawn over him.

Neighbors would often comment, “I never liked cats, but he’s great,” and “I know the woman who takes care of him over on 9th Street” (when we live on 7th ).

A few times he came home reeking of perfume. Traitor! And he was obviously overweight, fed by well-meaning neighbors or scouting out the regular offerings by the always-dependable feral cat feeders. (I confess to extra treats of low-salt turkey slices from Sunny & Annie’s in addition to his regular diet.)

Most days after work when I reached the corner of 7th and B, three short blasts on a dog whistle would bring him bounding up the street to walk home with me for dinner. And if he still hadn’t come home after the dinner hour, I would go searching for him, making the rounds of his usual haunts with the dog whistle.

One evening after about an hour I gave up and was walking back home on Avenue C and heard his meow. He was trapped on a fire escape on the second floor of a building and must have heard me whistle on 6th Street, then spotted me walking below. No buzzer system, so I waited for someone to open the door, and went up to the front apartment – they had let him in as well as out the window and were so absorbed in TV, had forgotten him. Finally I had to realize that, nocturnal in nature, he would usually stay out all night, still always a concern.

Over the last few years Jake became much more domesticated and affectionate, and actually once in a while would rub against my legs (!) – and he loved having his stomach massaged. He would jump up on the bed, lie flat on his stomach like a sphinx with his head down and I would massage under his stomach in time with his breath and extremely loud purring. And late nights we might go for walks, one following the other, taking our time. He also acquired a fascination for car license tags – would sniff one after the other – I always wondered what he learned from those sniffs. And often he would “mark” the tags — embarrassing when the owner was there and fuming.

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However, 11 years later, in February of this year, Jake began to seem off his game and would go through spells of not being able to keep his food down. After several visits to the vet, he was diagnosed with an inoperable, malignant, abdominal tumor and given only a few weeks to live back in April.

I inquired if there was any way to make him more comfortable and the vet said steroids would help, so he began to receive house calls for steroid shots at home. It worked like magic for over a couple of months. And we tried to make the best of it – he mostly stayed outside, we took lots of walks and he had all the favorite foods and stomach massages he wanted.

But he was definitely slowing down, and last week he slept almost all of the time in our garden, moving and eating very little, to the point that it became obvious he was not at all happy and most certainly in pain. So the vet came and we eased him out of this life at home on Saturday, July 29.

I — and I think some others — will miss him terribly.

Sunny's Florist off until after Labor Day

[Photo from April by Vinny & O]

Sunny's Florist is taking a break... the sign on the small space on Sixth Street at Second Avenue points to a vacation-renovation combo... with a return after Labor Day — specifically Tuesday, Sept. 5.



The shop, operated by Sun "Sunny" Ja Hwang and her son Edward, has been open now for 29 years.