The great 'Escape'

An audio version of "I Can't Escape Myself," the first track from the Sound's 1980 debut album Jeopardy. An under-appreciated band.

Breakdown and Choking Victim headline Tompkins Square Park police riot anniversary shows this weekend

Via the EVG inbox...

Come and commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1988 Tompkins Square police riot. This will be the first of a two-day event (Aug. 4-5), followed by another two day commemoration on Sept. 8-9.

After the Sunday show in the Park, there will be a multimedia presentation at the Museum Of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS), 155 Avenue C, starting at 7 p.m., linking two generations of resistance. Comic slide shows by Eric Drooker + Seth Tobocman, with music.

There will also be a screening of "By Any Means Necessary," a classic documentary on the Tompkins Square Movement. Additional speakers and performers to be announced.

Here's the lineup for the shows in Tompkins Square Park:

Saturday, Aug. 4
2 Jennifer Blowdryer
2:45 Professor Louie
3:30 Iconicide
4:15 Sea Moinster
5 Breakdown

Sunday, Aug. 5
2 D.I.Y.ing Breed
2:45 Zero Content
3:20 Skitzopolis
4 David Huberman
4:20 Team Spider
5 Choking Victim

Guest speakers will include:

• Father Pat Maloney
• Activist attorney Norman Siegal (formerly of the N.Y. Civil Liberties Union)

Find more info and any updates here.

Ahead of the event at MoRUS on Sunday ... there's a sneak preview of their political punk exhibition tonight from 6-9. (The museum is between Ninth Street and 10th Street.)

Political punk exhibition opening Friday, August 3rd at MoRUS (155 Ave C). Performances by Seth Tobocman and Eric Drooker and screening on Sunday, August 5th from 7-10pm. With more live performances and screening TBA. Updates at: http://www.morusnyc.org/political-punk-exhibition

A post shared by Museum of Reclaimed UrbanSpace (@morusnyc) on Jul 30, 2018 at 4:09pm PDT

TODAY- POLITICAL PUNK Radical Action in Radical Times! Photos From DIY Venues and shows at Silent Barn, Club Anarchy, HECK, Secret Project Robot, and The Glove will be exhibited this Today August 3rd (Photos by #DestinyMata) at @morusnyc 6-9pm Big Thanks to @rockdove1er & @autonomous_t0ddler for putting me on and helping me make this happen 📸🙏🏾❤️ ・・・ Political punk exhibition opening Friday, August 3rd at MoRUS (155 Ave C). Performances by Seth Tobocman and Eric Drooker and screening on Sunday, August 5th from 7-10pm. With more live performances and screening TBA. Updates at: http://www.morusnyc.org/political-punk-exhibition

A post shared by Destiny Mata (@destiny.mata) on Aug 3, 2018 at 5:59am PDT

July - August

July - August

Day long with light

                      heavy with heat

sounds of laughter

       shaved ice blocks

children’s eyes bright

            their colored treat

lawns decorated with bodies

      some moving

some not

some turn slowly

      as a burger on the grill

sizzling hot

  oppressive  flushed face

   

shade a premium

             beating the heat

       

wearing brightest lightest clothes

  

becoming summer’s damp

    embrace

until

                  the nights draw in

summer will conspire

                                   holding us in its fire

resigned we

                                   will try not to let it win.

     •

     peter radley

Report: City Council committee approves tech hub for Union Square; no zoning protections for now

[Tech hub endering via RAL Development]

The City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises yesterday unanimously approved the mayor's proposed 21-story tech hub for the former P.C. Richard property on 14th Street at Irving Place, according to published reports.

This was the second-to-last stop in the months-long approval process tour — the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) — for the Union Square Tech Training Center, which would include educational facilities, with scholarships "to make the tech industry more accessible to a wide range of New Yorkers."

The 240,000-square-foot building would also include space for fledgling companies, market-rate offices "to attract established, industry-leading corporations to the ecosystem" and a food hall, per a release from the city's Economic Development Corporation, which is lobbying for the tech hub

As previously reported, a number of residents, activists, small-business owners and community groups are concerned that the rezoning necessary for the project would spur out-of-scale development on surrounding blocks.

District 2 City Council member Carlina Rivera, who holds the crucial vote for the zoning changes to make the project a go, has said that she'd sign off on the tech hub only if the city agreed to downzone the surrounding area. (She threatened a no vote during a Council subcommittee hearing last month, as the Lo-Down reported.)

However, yesterday, Rivera voted for the rezoning without any protections.

According to Crain's:

Rivera indicated that while she voted yes at the committee level, she is still working on securing some sort of rezoning or study for the surrounding neighborhood.

"I am doing this so that I can continue negotiations with the mayor's office toward the possibility of reaching a deal that would satisfy all impacted communities," she said before giving the thumbs up. Her district includes the project site, so she expects her colleagues to follow her lead, per council tradition.

Her move disappointed and angered some local residents, who shared their thoughts on Twitter...

@CarlinaRivera did you go back on your promise to protect the area? Pls I don’t want to believe it? @NY1 no historic protections? None? How? Why? @NYGovCuomo @BilldeBlasio @NYCMayor

— John Leguizamo (@JohnLeguizamo) August 2, 2018

Thank you, but very disappointed you seem to be approving development of the “Tech Hub” on 14th St. without protections for the neighborhood against further outsized developments. As I understand it Rosie agreed to that and so did you. What’s up?!

— Charles J Browning (@Cbrow46) August 3, 2018

It is very hard to understand @CarlinaRivera's action when she strongly verbalized support of the community and @GVSHP in it's oposition to the Tech Hub and now she voted in favor. We need an explanation. https://t.co/DYwLVLRoqA

— Rosalie Grossman (@GrossmanRosalie) August 3, 2018

@CarlinaRivera as a new homeowner (& 9 yr resident) of the village, I want civil+economic progress, and I also want reasonable rights to shield from irrational overdevelopment. You stood for both, what happened? What next?@GVSHP @evgrieve @RosieMendez @GrnVillageNYC @jeremoss https://t.co/PZwbEeuelE

— Kat Stewart (@kat_stewart_) August 3, 2018

When @CarlinaRivera runs again in 2021, the destruction of our neighborhood she unleashed today will be fully visible.

Her fingerprints will be on every glass office tower, condo & party hotel that goes up.

We will hold her #accountable. https://t.co/qyPyBQFhOV

— Peter Feld 🔥 (@peterfeld) August 2, 2018

There were positive reactions as well...

Please join me in
Thanking Councilmember Carlina Rivera for making sure that our communities are given more opportunities to succeed by approving the tech training center!
Thank you for remembering the thousands of NYCHA families in District 2 and 1.

— Smith Houses (@smithhouses) August 3, 2018

Thanks @CarlinaRivera for doing the right thing for your constituents today by approving both the Tech Hub and more housing on E 33rd Street. The results will be job training for low-income NYers, over 40 permanently affordable apartments, and myriad other community benefits!

— Open New York (@OpenNYForAll) August 2, 2018

Thank you Councilwoman @CarlinaRivera for supporting the Tech Hub project on 14th Street. The 21 stories of #union work will provide great jobs for many hardworking New Yorkers, including many of our own members. We look forward to making these blueprints a reality. #1u #NYC1u

— CarpentersNYC (@CarpentersNyc) August 2, 2018

Meanwhile, here's more reaction from yesterday's vote. From Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation:

It is deeply disappointing that the Council would approve this rezoning without anything even remotely resembling the protections for the surrounding neighborhood that had been under discussion. This will turn Greenwich Village and the East Village into extensions of Silicon Alley and Midtown South, with more out-of-scale and out-of-character tech office buildings and condo high-rises going up in the area.

Councilmember Rivera publicly pledged during her campaign that she would not vote for the Tech Hub without the comprehensive neighborhood protections which have been under discussion for more than two years. This falls very far short of that pledge she made to her constituents.

RAL Development Services, who's partnering with the city on the project, released this statement:

[Yesterday's] vote is an important step forward for the innovative and inclusive Tech Training Center at 124 East 14th Street. We are dedicated to developing a new property model for inclusive community and economic impact, embracing and interacting with its local community and in permanent support of emerging and existing local entrepreneurs and industries.

We look forward to continuing our dialog with the community and local officials, working together to make sure the Tech Training Center responds to the community’s needs and becomes a vibrant addition to the iconic Union Square area in Lower Manhattan.

The final City Council vote will take place on Wednesday.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Behold Civic Hall, the high-tech future of Union Square — and NYC

Speaking out against a 'Silicon Alley' in this neighborhood

P.C. Richard puts up the moving signs on 14th Street; more Tech Hub debate to come

Preservationists: City schedules next public hearing on tech hub without any public notice

City Council's lone public hearing on the 14th Street tech hub is tomorrow

Tompkins Square Parkgoers irate after finding notices for use of controversial weed killer

[Photos by Steven]

On Wednesday, we heard from several residents who were upset to find these flyers posted along 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B (and elsewhere around Tompkins Square Park)... offering "notice of pesticide application."

The Parkgoers who emailed us said that there was less than 24-hours notice given for the use of Monsanto's controversial Roundup Promax pesticide ... being applied to tree pits, cobblestones, blue stones, hex blocks and curb lines in the Park.



In 2015, the IARC, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency, stated that glyphosate — the weed killer's key ingredient — was "probably carcinogenic to humans." However, in May 2016, Glyphosate was given a clean bill of health by the UN's joint meeting on pesticide residues. Monsanto has also said that it's product is safe.

Regardless, several countries have banned the use of the product. And it has been in the news of late as a former Northern California school groundskeeper is suing Monsanto over his terminal cancer. (A reported 4,000 other people are looking to sue the weed and seed maker for similar allegations, per Fox News.)

According to readers who had contacted the Parks Department, officials responded that they cancelled this application, and would not use it in the future in Tompkins Square Park.

Workers do not use rodenticide in the Park. As for Roundup, an interactive map created by Rev. Billy and the Coalition Against Poison Parks several years ago did not show its use in Tompkins, though it is applied in other Parks in the five boroughs.

Pinks Cantina opening in the Bowery Market

Pinks Cantina will be the latest vendor to join the Bowery Market, the year-round open-air food court at 348 Bowery and Great Jones.

The taco shop is an extension of Pinks Bar & Grill, which opened in the fall of 2014 on 10th Street near First Avenue.

The Cantina is taking over the space last held by Dosa Royale, which lasted less than a year here.

The Market launched in July 2016 with five vendors. Alidoro, the only original tenant, recently vacated its space (as did Oaxaca Comida Calle). The remaining vendors are Sushi on Jones, Fruitsand and L’Arte del Gelato.

Pinks Cantina had been planning on opening a taco shop on Chrystie Street last fall. Not sure what the status is of that location at the moment.

Reminders: Time for Summer Streets

Summer Streets is back for its 11th year starting tomorrow (Saturday). As in previous years, the Department of Transportation turns Park Avenue ... and Lafayette, Astor Place and Fourth Avenue into vehicle-free zones from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. for these next three Saturdays.

This year's them is "Finding joy in unexpected moments."

Activities taking place at Astor Place include the BF Bouldering Wall & Obstacle Course and Gazillion Bubble Show’s Bubble Garden and the Oh-Shit-I-Just-Want-to-Cross-Fourth-Avenue-to-Sell-These-Books-Back-at-the-Strand Dodge 'Em.



Previously on EV Grieve:
This year's Summer Streets celebration includes rocks and bubbles on Astor Place

Thursday's parting shot

A view downtown at sunset via Bobby Williams...

Pack your bags

[Photo by Steven]

A plastic-bag humanoid has taken up residence along the fence on Seventh Street at Second Avenue (the gas explosion site)... this is apparently one of the Citizens of the Anthropocene — the anthropomorphic race of plastic-bag humanoids that previously lived in the trees of Tompkins Square Park.

More might be on the way...

A post shared by Citizens of the Anthropocene (@citizensoftheanthropocene) on Jul 30, 2018 at 11:15pm PDT

Grant Shaffer's NY See

[Click on image to go big]

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 documents 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: Caren, since 1987

Why did you move to the East Village?

It was so long ago, it’s hard to remember. All of my friends were living here, and we were hanging out down here. The first place I had was in Williamsburg, among the first wave of artists in 1984. I had a 9,000-square-foot loft I shared for $800. I floated around Brooklyn a bit and then I came here.

I’ve been in the East Village since the mid-1980s. Everything was going on here — it was an active art and music scene. There was a lot to do and you could afford to live here.



How did you find your apartment?

First I lived on 11th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue before moving here. I got both of the apartments through Chuck Walsh. He was a well-known realtor on Sixth Street.

I was working with a guy who was getting married. And it was, “Congratulations, whose apartment are you taking?” This was his girlfriend’s apartment. I got to take it over. My landlord didn’t even raise the rent. In exchange for doing work on the apartment the landlord kept the rent at the same price. I was married at the time. My old apartment was too small for the two of us. Even though this apartment is just 500 square feet, it is so much bigger than my old apartment.









What do you love about your apartment?

I love the light. That is the No. 1 thing. The light makes it feel more open and the windows face the street. I don’t think I could live in a space that was dark. It’s important to me. I like to feel time and the seasons moving, so it is important for me to see out.

Living in an apartment for so long you sort of rediscover what you love and don’t love about a place. There are days when I feel that my life is never changing. It's pretty much impossible to move unless you can afford to buy a place.

And then you have the flip side which is that I feel so grateful that I have this space. If I said prayers at night, I would pray that my landlord would live forever. I feel a real sense of gratitude, having this space. Being able to have it for myself and not need to have a roommate. It’s my little piece of the world in here.







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

Foot Gear Plus has closed on 1st Avenue

Foot Gear Plus is now closed on the southwest corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

As we first reported back on July 11, Tony Scifo, who opened the shop here in 1980, recently made the difficult decision to close his family-fun business on July 31.

Scifo told this to EVG contributor Stacie Joy:

"After several years of peaks and valleys in business there were just too many valleys. Companies now sell direct to consumers and once they started offering free shipping it was all over. This is happening everywhere, not just locally.

The landlord wanted us to stay. She offered us a fair price and she's been great. We just couldn't make it."

No word just yet on who the next tenant might be in this high-profile corner space.

Cinema of rock at the Anthology Film Archives this month

["Viva Las Vegas" at the Anthology Film Archives this month]

A rockin' month-long series kicks off tonight over at the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street at Second Avenue.

Here's a quick overview:

This extensive film series — inspired by David E. James’s extraordinary book, “Rock ‘N’ Film” — ranges from major and minor studio productions to independent documentaries and avant-garde projects. Borrowing its structure from the successive chapters of “Rock ‘N’ Film,” this series functions as a kind of illustrated edition of James’s definitive book, and demonstrates how intertwined the cinema and popular music have been since the inception of rock ‘n’ roll.

Among the titles playing during August:

Richard Brooks
"BlackBoard Jungle"

Fred F. Sears
"Rock Around the Clock"

George Sidney
"Viva Las Vegas"

Richard Lester
"A Hard Day's Night"

Michael Wadleigh
"Woodstock"

Donald Cammell & Nicolas Roeg
"Performance"

Albert Maysles, David Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin
"Gimme Shelter"

Mel Stuart
"Wattsstax"

D.A. Pennebaker
"Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars"

Find more details about the films and the schedule here.

The Chipotle on St. Mark's Place has permanently closed

Permanently closed signs now adorn the front doors of the Chipotle outpost at 19-25 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

An EVG tipster shared this news...



Chipotlers are instructed to visit the nearest location at 55 E. Eighth St.



I don't recall when this Chipotle opened. 2003? 2004? 2008? (The first one opened in the city on 44th Street and Third Avenue in 2003, per the Times.)

Chipotle recently announced that the company was closing 65 U.S. locations as part of a brand restructuring.

This article has some history of the buildings that stood here previously.

EVG Etc.: Combatting wheelchair-ramp scams; searching for serial package thief

[14th Street near C the other morning]

The owner of Via Della Pace on Seventh Street is organizing local businesses to lobby City Council and the mayor for help with wheelchair-ramp scams (The Post)

NYPD searching for this suspect wanted for package thefts in buildings across Lower Manhattan, including in the East Village (Patch)

Jeremiah Moss on Target's CBGB storefront tribute: appropriating neighborhood icons is at the heart of planned gentrification (The Village Voice)

Hunan Slurp Shop gets high marks from Adam Platt (Grub Street ... previously)

Manhattan DA will no longer prosecute marijuana arrests (WNYC)

When the Young Lords announced the founding of their New York Chapter in Tompkins Square Park in July 1969 (Off the Grid)

A vigil for the Rivington House on Aug. 8 (The Lo-Down)

LES ferry line starts service on Aug. 29 (BoweryBoogie)

An interview with Kim Gordon and Bill Nace of Body/Head (Gothamist)

Mapping the city's lost movie theaters (Curbed)

Koreatown has been overrun by chains (Eater)

A charming Iggy Pop in this French TV interview from 1988 (Dangerous Minds)

... and via the 9th Precinct ...

The #NYPD is asking your assistance in identifying these two individuals in regards to a burglary that occurred on Saturday July 21 inside of 44 Avenue B.
If you have any info we ask you to call #800577TIPS #EastVillage #NYC pic.twitter.com/AxUbWnw58q

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) August 1, 2018

A new mural to keep an eye on at Great Jones and the Bowery

A very early WIP here on the southwest corner of the Bowery and Great Jones... not sure who the artist is just yet... JR is the artist (H/T xOMars!)



Thanks to Lola Sáenz for the photos...

The Ottendorfer Library closing for 6 months to install new fire-suppression system

[Photo yesterday by Steven]

The Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, closes on Monday for upgrades that will keep the branch out of commission for at least six months.

Here's the message via branch manager Kristin Kuehl...

The New York Public Library's oldest branch, the Ottendorfer Library, will close temporarily on August 6 to install a new fire alarm and life safety system. The 8,000-square-foot Ottendorfer Library opened in 1884 as New York City's first free public library.

The upgrades at Ottendorfer Library will strengthen the well-being of a historic New York City building as well as further support nearly 135 years of library service to the Lower East Side community.

Due to the building's age and landmark status, the project is expected to take six months. The branch ... will reopen in early 2019. While Ottendorfer Library is closed, patrons are advised to use the Tompkins Square Library at 331 East 10th Street.

As for the Tompkins Square branch between Avenue A and Avenue B ... check out their free activities (link here) for August.

Illegal hotel row mural defaced again in First Street Green Art Park

Someone has twice vandalized the illegal hotel row mural since its arrival in First Street Green Art Park back in May.

The folks at the Cooper Square Committee shared this with me on Monday:

On June 27, tenants from East 1st Street rallied alongside affordable housing activists and elected officials to celebrate the completion of a community mural project, which called attention to the high concentration and negative effects of commercially operated, short-term apartment rentals facilitated by platforms like VRBO and Airbnb. These amateur muralists were shocked, but not surprised, to find that their project had been vandalized for the second time since they had begun work on the mural in early May.

On both occasions their mural was the only artwork in the First Street Green Art Park to be hit by the vandal, and the muralists allege that their messaging about the negative impact of short-term rentals on the community, as well as information on what tenants can do if they believe an illegal hotel is being operated in their building, were intentionally obscured.

A report issued in May 2018 by City Comptroller Scott Stringer notes that Chinatown and the Lower East Side are home to a high concentration of short-term rentals. Tenants living in buildings where illegal hotel operations are common allege that illegal hotels reduce affordable housing options and compromise tenant safety and quality of life — the lucrative prices that short-term rentals fetch contribute to displacement pressure on long-term tenants, and tenants' lives are often grossly disrupted by the influx of tourists and strangers who are able to access their building.

Residents in buildings where these operations are common claim they are routinely woken up in the middle of the night by confused guests ringing their buzzers and travelers carrying luggage up and down their stairs at all hours of the night. Others have woken up to find vomit in building common areas.

The tenants who worked on the mural are currently planning their response, and are looking for support from members of the community who are also concerned about illegal hotels' detrimental effects on the community.

Here's a video about the mural project...

`


[Photo from late June]

Beetle House founder brings ridiculous milkshakes to 6th Street with Cake Shake

Cake Shake USA has arrived at 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The shop's Instagram account simply notes: "Cake Shake USA COMING SOON TO NYC AND LA!"

Cake Shake is the creation of Zach Neil, the entrepreneur behind the Tim Burton-themed Beetle House on Sixth Street as well as the now-closed Will Ferrell bar Stay Classy on the LES and the short-lived 'Merica NYC on Sixth Street.

Neil shared a few posts via his Instagram account showing Cake Shake's vegan concoctions... such as this pop-mocha shake with vegan chocolate cake, handmade caramel corn, caramel, vegan whipped cream, etc. ...



Cake Shake will also serve over-the-top non-vegan items too, such as the Shake Rattle and Roll, aka the “Elvis” chocolate cake with peanut butter, chocolate ice cream, maple glazed bacon, banana, freeze dried banana cubes, fresh caramel and chocolate straws...



Cake Shack had a soft-opening sneak preview Saturday evening. No word on when they will be open full time.

The space was most recent recently an office for restaurateur Ravi DeRossi and DeRossi Global (they moved a short distance away) ... and Betola Espresso Bar before that.

Film Forum reopens today after months-long revamp

[Image via @FilmForumNYC]

Over on West Houston, the Film Forum reopens today with a fourth screen and new seating, among other improvements. (The movie house closed back on May 2 for the upgrades. Read more about the changes here.)

The re-opening day lineup includes the start of a Jacques Becker retrospective and the biopic "NICO, 1988."

Meanwhile, enjoy this time-lapse clip of the renovations...



The Film Forum has been in its Houston Street space between Sixth Avenue and Varick since 1990. It was established in 1970.