Cowboy up on A

Over on Avenue A yesterday, Solus (via the L.I.S.A Project NYC) started work on the above mural here between Third Street and Fourth Street...

And today...



This retail space has sat empty since the Citibank branch closed in January 2017.

And how the space was looking before the cowboy mural arrived...



H/T The Dusty Rebel!

Today, on 3rd Avenue, a street festival

Indeed. From 14th Street to Sixth Street.

At this hour, belts were the only thing available for purchase...



Other vendors were still setting up the tents and putting together the mannequins...



... and firing up the deep fryers...



The Cooper Square Committee is today's street festival (avenue festival?) host.

And as far as street festivals go, this is one of the better ones...

Friday's parting shot

First Avenue...

So 'Happy' together

Jungle recently released two tracks from their sophomore release, due out on June 22. The video here is for "Happy Man."

The London-based collective play at Brooklyn Steel on June 18. (That show is sold out.)

Mast Books now open in its new corner space on Avenue A

Several readers have noted that Mast is making its corner debut today on Avenue A and Fifth Street...



They moved here from a few storefronts to the south.

Last night, Mast hosted a conversation between Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Ryan Martin in the new space.

EVG Etc.: Lower East Side Film Festival underway; new Essex Street Market concerns

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

City Council Member Carlina Rivera reportedly doesn't want 24/7 bus lanes on 14th Street during the L train shutdown (Streetsblog)

The Lower East Side Film Festival continues through Wednesday (Official site)

Details on Sunday’s Puerto Rican Day Parade (Curbed)

Report outlines concerns that longtime residents have about the new Essex Street Market (The Lo-Down)

The first comprehensive NYC retrospective of the work of filmmaker Betzy Bromberg (Anthology Film Archives)

Patti Astor revives Fun Gallery in Hermosa Beach, Calif. (The Beach Reporter)

Service on the new Lower East Side ferry route, including at Stuyvesant Cove, is on schedule to begin at the end of the summer (Town & Village)

When kids listen to Swans (uh, the band) (Dangerous Minds)

More IHOP-IHOb theories (The Post ... previously)

A quest to correct a mistake about the London Calling album cover, shot at the Palladium on East 14th Street (Flaming Pablum)

Caffe Vivaldi is closing after 32 years in the West Village (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

RIP Anthony Bourdain

People are waking up to the news that chef, author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain was found dead in a Paris hotel room. His employer, CNN, reports that Bourdain took his own life. He was 61.

CNN released this statement:

"His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time."

Season 11 of the Emmy-winning "Parts Unknown" debuted on the network last month. Earlier this spring, Bourdain was in the neighborhood filming scenes for an episode to air this fall. Among his stops: Ray's Candy Store, John's of 12th Street, Veselka and Max Fish, among many others. He documented his travels through the East Village and LES on his Instagram account...

Egg creams with NY Hard Core pioneer. @harleyfflanagan at Ray’s Candy Store #AvenueA #CroMags #Stimulators

A post shared by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on Apr 4, 2018 at 1:56pm PDT

The amazing @kembrapfahler_ #thevoluptuoushorrorofkarenblack #NYC

A post shared by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on Mar 31, 2018 at 8:52am PDT

LEGEND Danny Fields , who signed The MC5 , The Stooges, The Ramones And is the living witness to everything that ever happened. Thank you! Watch the Doc “Danny Says” #Veselka

A post shared by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on Apr 3, 2018 at 3:35pm PDT

The man who changed the world: @fab5freddy #NYC

A post shared by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on Apr 3, 2018 at 8:47am PDT

In February 2009, Bourdain's previous show, "No Reservations," aired an episode titled "Disappearing Manhattan." In the last segment, he stopped by Sophie's on Fifth Street to meet with writer Nick Tosches... here is a grainy clip showing 90 seconds or so of the three-minute scene...



As Bourdain said, "Sophie's in the East Village remains a good place to stop time."

Howl! Happening's Basquiat exhibit extended through July 29

Howl! Happening's current exhibit, "Zeitgeist: The Art Scene of Teenage Basquiat," was originally set to close after Sunday.

However, Howl! has announced that the group exhibition focusing on the artists and scene around Basquiat's teen-age, pre-fame years, has been extended through July 29. (Find more details here.)

"Zeitgeist" complements the recent theatrical release of Sara Driver’s documentary "Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat." That film's run continues at the IFC Center over on Sixth Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Teenage fan club: Basquiat exhibit opens tonight at Howl! Happening

Tarallucci e Vino East Village remains closed for renovations

Tarallucci e Vino remains behind plywood on First Avenue and 10th Street ... the cafe closed in mid-February for renovations. Per the sign on the door at the time: "After 16 great years ... it's time to spruce things up a bit."

This Tarallucci e Vino, the first in NYC (there are now five locations total), was to be back in action by the end of March.

The cafe's website now states they will reopen in the spring. (Well, there's still officially about two weeks left of that season.)

Anyway, some regulars are apparently getting restless for the return. Several weeks ago, regulars L and J wrote a message on the construction door: "You were supposed to reopen at the end of March. It's May 10th. What gives?"



UPDATED: The cafe reopened on June 12.

That's all for Lucky's Famous Burgers on East Houston

Lucky's Famous Burgers has closed after eight years at 147 E. Houston St. near Eldridge...



As BoweryBoogie, who first reported on this closure yesterday, noted, Lucky's had been on Deathwatch for the past few years. The retail space first hit the market in March 2014. A different broker has the listing now, with a $14,580 monthly ask.

The corner space next door sits empty as well...



... and Lucky's former neighbor on the block, the Sunshine Cinema, will soon be demolished for a boutique office building.

Lucky's still has two locations left in NYC — on 23rd Street and 52nd Street. Before landing on East Houston, they had a small shop on Avenue A next to the former Benny's Burritos. (Circa 2005?)

Summer benefit Saturday at El Sol Brillante Community Garden on 12th Street

[Image via]

Via the EVG inbox...

El Sol Brillante Community Garden on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is hosting their Summer Benefit this Saturday, June 9, from noon to moon. There will be live music, food (BBQ!), refreshments, tie-dye for kids (and adults!).

Admission is free and everyone is welcome. All proceeds from food/refreshments/tie-dye go directly to the garden for fence repair and general maintenance.

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

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.



Photos and text by Susan Schiffman

Tenant: Birdie, since 2013

Why did you come to the East Village?

The boy. He had been living here for years before me. When I met him I had been in a rocky relationship and we just clicked right away. He had a place. I had nowhere to go. We loved each other right off the bat, so I moved in.





How did you discover that your apartment is rent stabilized?

After being in the East Village for awhile my husband knows a lot of people who have been here their entire lives. He asked them if they had any experience with rent stabilization. They said he needed to contact GOLES and look into our rent history. You can get it for free. As soon as we did this, it was a window that opened to the world. We didn’t know we could get our rent history from the city. You can go back four years.

My husband lived upstairs for five years. I moved in with him ... the week we met. I lived with him for a couple of years upstairs, and now downstairs in this apartment for three. We stopped paying rent when we found out all of this information in November. They’ve let us ride out not paying rent because it’s moving that four-year period forward. His time upstairs isn’t going to count since each apartment is separate. We are paying twice as much as we should in this downstairs apartment and upstairs is a little bit less than double.

[The landlord is] trying to run us out. We sit in bed and talk about this all the time and try and figure out what their plan is. We have lawyer-ed up and nobody else did. [Other residents] have all taken the buyout. The first tier was $6,000. A lot of tenants left for $6,000. That was before we discovered that we were rent-stabilized. The second tier of the buyout was $10,000.

For months up until April it was just us in the back building, and then just the tenant across the hall from us. They offered him $15,000 because he stopped paying rent for a couple of months but he didn’t have a lawyer. He didn’t know that he was rent-stabilized. He took the buyout and is staying up the street, crashing with a friend.

You really have to do your research. We paid $2,500 in a retainer to a lawyer, which was really painful, but what we’re going to get in back rent — not a buyout — will be worth it. People need to know that if you don’t check your rent history you will never know if you are actually owed something.

There were only six tenants before us in our apartment since the 1980s and they were all paying $500. Then tenants were listed as living here but their rent was not listed and then it jumped to $1,550. The lawyer did the math. The landlord can only justify massive rent hikes if they put in $20,000 or more in renovations. And they must be able to provide receipts for all of the improvements that were made.

They have not done any of that.

We were never registered as rent-stabilized. None of the apartments in the front building or the back building were registered as rent-stabilized. There are eight apartments in this back building. We are the last ones here. Seven of the other apartments are empty and will be renovated.

The apartment across the hall from us is a mirror image of our apartment. When the tenant was living there he was paying $1,750. We were paying $1,550.

Renovations have begun in the empty apartments in the front building. One tenant was sitting in her living room and a drill came through the wall.

We won’t pay rent till we get the back rent check.



What do you love about your apartment?

I love that there is just enough room for me to paint and we can breathe and it’s still cozy. It’s a little difficult because it’s so tight but it’s made us really close in our marriage. We lost 45 square feet from our apartment upstairs to down here. Which doesn’t seem like a lot but when you’re in it it changes everything. We’re so right on top of each other. I love that we’re a lot closer than we would have been in a larger space and there is nowhere to run and hide. We have to communicate with one another and figure it out.







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

Council Member Carlina Rivera introducing bill that would fine Airbnb for undisclosed listings

District 2 City Council Member Carlina Rivera will introduce legislation today that seeks to fine Airbnb for every listing it fails to disclose to the city.

Here's more about the bill via Politico:

The legislation would require online home-sharing companies to submit identifying data about their individual listings to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, which is tasked with going after illegal hotel operators. They would have to report the addresses of all booked listings, the hosts' names and their home addresses, as well as the online posting numbers.

The city would be able to fine Airbnb and similar companies between $5,000 and $25,000 for each listing left off the report.

Rivera, sponsor of the bill, told Politico: "[T]o be clear, this bill is not going to punish the operators — it's going to mandate consequences, financial consequences, that apply only to Airbnb, not the operators, if they do not hand over the info that we're requiring. We are trying to get as much info as possible to make links to identify the bad operators."

For their part, Airbnb seeks passage of a state bill that would legitimize its business practice. And Airbnb representatives have suggested that this new city legislation would violate internet privacy laws.

"Let's be clear about who will feel the pain from this bill: seniors who share their space to avoid economic hardship while living on a fixed income; millennials who have opened their doors to pay off student debt; families of color who share their home to stay in their home amidst rising rents," Josh Meltzer, Airbnb's head of policy in the Northeast, said in a prepared statement.

Under state law, residents of most apartment buildings are barred from renting their units for fewer than 30 days unless they are present. Airbnb is reportedly looking to do away with this stipulation, as the Daily News reported in March.

The Real Deal had more about the bill last month. (Find that article here.)

Image via Shutterstock

Suki set for 7th Street

[Photo last Thursday by Derek Berg]

Work continues at 86 E. Seventh St., the sliver of a retail space just east of First Avenue.

Last week, workers removed the sign of the previous tenant, Cafe Che (and later Benny's Burritos & Empanadas), which sold a variety of empanadas.

Word here is that a Japanese restaurant called Suki will be opening in a few weeks...



We don't have any other details about Suki at the moment.


[Photos by Steven]

Mark Merker, who launched Harry's and Benny's Burritos in 1987, opened Cafe Che in April 2017 ... after a brief closure, it returned as Benny's Burritos & Empanadas this past January. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the space work, closing for good in March.

The space was home until the fall of 2016 to Abraço, the popular coffee shop/cafe that moved across Seventh Street.

Updated July 2

Suki is now open.

H/T Derek Berg and Steven!

Emmy Squared makes it very official on 1st Avenue

The owners of Emmy Square hoisted the coming soon signage at 83 First Ave. at Fifth Street (the former Three of Cups space) ... this after the recent arrival of the Emmy Square awnings.

The pizzeria is expected to open here later this summer. You can find the menu to their Williamsburg location here.

And Emmy Squared will be using the lower-level space that housed the Three of Cups Lounge... their questionnaire with the CB3 application (PDF here) last month included renderings of the basement space, which will feature an 11-seat bar...



And here's the main-level rendering while we're at it...



Our previous post has more background here.

It's 2 a.m., do you know where your potato pancakes are?

The jazz band Onyx Collective have released "2AM at Veselka," a track from their upcoming album Lower East Suite Part Three. (Parts One and Two came out last year.)

Other tracks from the record, out on June 15, include blog-worthy headlines such as "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Battle of the Bowery" and "Delancey Dilemma."

Band leader Isaiah Barr said that the record is — per Fader — inspired by a tumultuous period in the group's life after being forced out of their original practice space due to rising rent.

H/T Ben!

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg...

Impromptu

Today was Day 1 for the piano in use in Tompkins Square Park as part of the annual Sing For Hope campaign. Steven shared this photo of Helen the Accordion Lady making music on a different instrument.

Lady JDay designed this piano. Read more about it on this previous post.

The piano will be here through June 24.

9th Precinct beat: dining with a stolen credit card at Veselka; stealing then sprinting with a cane

The NYPD is asking for assistance in tracking down suspects in two recent thefts on Second Avenue...

The man pictured here was captured on 🎥 helping himself to a nice dinner Friday May 25 around 7PM at Veselka Restaurant in the #EastVillage. Only problem is he was using a stolen credit card. If you have any info on him we ask you to call #800577TIPS pic.twitter.com/v8aKcjKqog

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 6, 2018

And!

On Thursday May 31 at 2:30PM the man pictured here entered a coffee shop on 2 Ave in the #EastVillage and took a customer's wallet. He uses a cane to help him steal property but sprints away after exiting store. If you have any info on him call #800577TIPS #NYC pic.twitter.com/y8ZfaTbAdp

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 5, 2018

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.