There's some sandalwood burning here outside Zoltar's residence at Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Zoltar is — more than usual — increasing spiritual energy this morning
There's some sandalwood burning here outside Zoltar's residence at Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...
Friday, December 7, 2018
On such a Winter's day
UK shoegazers Swervedriver have a new record, Future Ruins, coming out on Jan. 25 via Dangerbird Records. The video here is for "Mary Winter."
EVG Etc.: Possible weather-related death on 9th and 3rd; honors for dogs-rescuing cop
[Tompkins Square Park the other night]
A homeless man found overnight on Ninth Street and Third Avenue dies; officials say he may be the first weather-related fatality of the season (Daily News)
ASPCA honors NYPD officer who helped rescue 33 Shih Tzus from a sweltering East Village apartment last summer (Daily News ... previously)
Some early history of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on Third Street (The New York Times)
More on the Strand's objections to landmark designation (Curbed ... Gothamist)
That hunk Christo is in the 2019 Peregrine Fund "Birds of Prey" calendar (Laura Goggin Photography)
City Council quickly sues over the Two Bridges development (The Real Deal)
A preview of Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s "Tenemental (With Sighs Too Deep For Words)" at Howl! Happening (Hyperallergic)
Nathan Silver's latest, "The Great Pretender," making its U.S. theatrical debut (Anthology Film Archives)
Stanton Social is closing at the end of the year (The Post)
A tiny owl in Stuy Town (Town & Village ... previously)
Some NYC coffee history (Ephemeral New York)
... and here's the original Twitter footage of the man taking on a bus on East Houston at Forsyth on Wednesday night...
new york niggas don’t play pic.twitter.com/99YgNxkIsY
— TJANI (@TJANI) December 5, 2018
A visit to C&B Cafe on 7th Street
Text and photos by Stacie Joy
It's early evening when I arrive at C&B Cafe, 178 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, for the start of dinner service. The interior is intimately lit, with the sounds of Isaac Hayes coming from the record player. (Yes, an actual turntable and stylus.)
Chef and owner Ali Sahin is cutting up chickens while prep chef Sayvon “Sam” Flemings is chopping eggplant into symmetrical cubes for tadig, an Iranian dish served here with tomato, asparagus and a poached egg over crispy Persian rice. The freshly prepared chicken will be made into several meals: breast meat for sandwiches, made with avocado and lemon juice, chicken legs for the chicken and eggs breakfast bowl as well as braising for the dish’s accompanying jus, and bones for making stock.
[Sam Flemings]
Bread is proofing gently on racks, about to be transferred overnight to the tiny and well-organized cold storage. C&B creates and serves two kinds of breads, a 4-pound sourdough loaf that takes three days to make, and the round bread rolls for sandwiches and burgers. Ali uses a bit of aged or “old” dough in each batch to add tang and flavor to the finished product.
Best sellers at the small restaurant include the sausage egg and cheese (with either merguez or chorizo) and one of Sahin's’s favorites, menemen, a Turkish breakfast. Sahin, who is Turkish, makes the dish with tomatoes, garlic and onion, oregano and spicy red peppers, finished with two scrambled eggs stirred into the cooked dish.
Barista Sade King selects a new album, “On the Radio: Greatest Hits (volume 1)” by Donna Summer and rings up the midweek burger-and-fries dinner special for a local repeat customer before making a cup of Callebaut-chocolate-based hot cocoa with steamed whole milk.
She reflects on the recent rise in popularity of oat milk, while Sahin uses a propane torch to flame-finish the cheese on the burger. “No lettuce today,” he informs the customer, due to the CDC’s temporary banning of romaine. Before he can even answer (he is fine with it!) Sahin has already turned his attention to his roasted red peppers, which will be used for the housemade (and available for sale) hot sauce, cooked down with roasted garlic and habaneros. He winces a bit as he tastes it: “Spicy!” he announces, satisfied.
[Ali Sahin]
C&B Cafe, 178 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. You can keep up with C&B Cafe on Instagram here. The Cafe opened in January 2015.
Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street
A visit to Bali Kitchen on 4th Street
A visit to Eat’s Khao Man Gai on 6th Street
A visit to Yoli Restaurant on 3rd Street
Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street
A visit to the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on 7th Street
A trip to the recently expanded Lancelotti Housewares on Avenue A
When is the fruit vendor on 1st Avenue and 6th Street closing down for the winter?
By this time of year, the fruit-vegetable vendors here on First Avenue and Sixth Street outside Village View usually pack it up for the season... with a spring-time return.
However, as the photo above via Riley McCormick from last night shows, the vendors are still on the scene ... and will be here through the winter. Riley double-confirmed the news with the sellers last evening. So there's a good daily produce option here to ease the winter doldrums...
ICYMI: Here comes SantaCon
[Image via @SantaCon]
As you likely heard by now, SantaCon 2018 is tomorrow (Saturday).
The woo-hooery starts tomorrow (still Saturday) at 10 a.m. at Plaza 33, 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue.
From there, the Santas will fan out across Midtown, Murray Hell, Midtown East, et al. Once again, the East Village will serve as a host planet for the harvesting. There are 15-plus participating bars — list here. (The 13th Step/The Step isn't on the list, though they usually have one of the longest lines of people in Santa hats.)
Solas on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue and The VNYL on Third Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street are designated "Special Santa Venues," which require a $12 donation. As Gothamist noted, "they are larger and offer additional hellish delights such as undoubtedly terrible DJ, holiday decorations, 'sexy' bar games, rooftops, cash prizes, etc."
Meanwhile, some thoughts via Twitter... including a little campaigning for a mayoral run in 2021...
F O L K S we outlawed salt, soda and straws in this great city but santacon is still legal?? unbelievable
— Rachel Holliday Smith (@rachelholliday) December 3, 2018
BAN OUTLAW QUARANTINE.
— Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) December 3, 2018
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Thursday's parting video
RIP Pete Shelley, lead singer of Buzzcocks. He died today of an apparent heart attack at age 63.
Revisited this post from May 2010 about "the sketchy 1991 Cutlass Ciera" parked near the Con Ed building on 14th Street that caused a bomb scare. The owner was at Irving Plaza for the Buzzcocks show.
Get Ray's Candy Store delivered to your door
Over at Ray's Candy Store at 113 Avenue A, Ray started a delivery service via Uber Eats back in the late summer... which has apparently helped boost business ...
[Photo by Peter Brownscombe from September]
And now, Ray's has even more delivery options, as announced today, so you can get beignets or Belgian fries or something crazy that Ray has even dreamed up just yet brought to your doorstep...
St. Dymphna's eyeing a return engagement, this time at 117 Avenue A
[The former St. Dymphna's on St. Mark's Place]
The owners of St. Dymphna's are planning a comeback for the Irish-style pub, which closed on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue on Oct. 20 after 24 years in service.
Eric Baker, one of the bar's previous owners, is on this month's CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license at 117 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.
[117 Avenue A]
"The new space will be going by St Dymphna's — I believe yellowish gold facade and all," Baker told me via email. "We hope to continue the tradition, history and culture of the former space by continuing to provide our local community with a comfortable place to gather together with friends and family for good food, good beverages and good music as we have done previously for over 23 years."
Baker and company began a collaboration with Brendan McElroy, owner of Dr. Brendan Mac Repair on St. Mark's Place and a "St. Dymphna's family member," to hopefully reopen at the new location.
The questionnaire on file (PDF here) has more information on the proposed relocation, including a diagram of the layout and sample menu, which includes the $10 all-day Irish breakfast.
117 Avenue A has remained empty since the bar the Black Rose closed in April 2017 after nearly two years in operation. No. 117 was the longtime home, until August 2013, of the Odessa Cafe & Bar.
Baker said escalating rents were behind St. Dymphna's closure on St. Mark's Place.
"We are excited about the new digs, a new place to make a home," said Baker, who's collecting signatures of support for the new St. Dymphna's.
The committee meeting starts Monday at 6:30 p.m. Location: The Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Previously on EV Grieve:
St. Dymphna's is closing this weekend after 24 years on St. Mark's Place
So long St. Dymphna's
The Black Rose, 'a neighborhood rock and roll bar,' opening in the former Odessa Cafe and Bar space
Tomorrow (Friday!): Holiday Bazaar at the Children's Workshop School
The Children's Workshop School on 12th Street is hosting its Holiday Bazaar tomorrow (Friday). Here are a few details via the EVG inbox...
Come see our lobby transformed into a winter wonderland, do some holiday shopping and come eat at the CWS Cafe. We have something for everyone.
• An expanded Cafe — breakfast items including bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, breakfast sandwiches, assorted holiday treats! Lunch items including salads, chili and sandwiches, after-school treats! Also available: whole breads — banana, babka, etc.
• Gifts for children to buy — CWS slime, air plants, small crafts
• A wide variety of vendors — from homemade crafts to artisanal chocolates, gold jewelry, records, CWS branded items
And for the first time this year, a gift wrap table — buy something and get it wrapped for only $3
Come browse, get something to eat and enjoy the beginning of the holidays with the CWS community.
CWS Holiday Bazaar
Dec. 7
7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
610 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C
This link has the full list of vendors.
Y7 Studio debuts its candlelit hip-hop yoga at 250 E. Houston on Monday
The plywood came down this week along the retail portion of 250 E. Houston St. ... exposing the new Y7 Studio here between Avenue A and Avenue B...
The ground-floor studio, equipped with showers, changing rooms and retail space, opens on Monday morning. This marks the growing yoga chainlet's 11th location in Manhattan and Los Angeles. (Y7 is also reportedly one of the fastest-growing fitness boutiques in the country.)
Here's more about Y7, which describes its practice as "sweat dripping, beat bumping, candlelit yoga" set against a soundtrack of Cardi B, Fetty Wap and Beyoncé.
At Y7 we do things differently. We give you 60 minutes of intensity combined with heat and strength complemented by deep breathing and a calming of the mind. We ask you to step outside the chaos and embrace the fire inside. You’ll flow along to the latest beats. There are no mirrors in the candle-lit studios. The darkness, the sounds, and the heat will take you to a place you’ve never before been. Join us for the best hour of your day. Leave here feeling strong, clear and ready to take on whatever the city has in store for you. Take a class and never look back.
The is the first new retail tenant at No. 250 since the under-renovation 13-floor building changed ownership in the fall of 2016.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Red Square has been sold
New ownership makes it official at the former Red Square on East Houston
Apartment listings at 250 E. Houston look to offer glimpse of former Red Square's future
Long-vacant retail space hits the rental market at 250 E. Houston St.
Former Red Square lobby gets the plywood treatment on East Houston
Y7 Studio bringing the hip-hop yoga to 250 E. Houston St.
That's a wrap for Five Tacos on St. Mark's Place
[Photo by Steven]
The Five Tacos comeback has apparently come to an end. A for rent sign recently arrived on the now-empty storefront at 119 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.
The quick-serve taco shop went dark back in January... a sign on the door said they'd be "closed until further notice."
In February, a Five Tacos rep emailed me, saying that they'd be reopening very soon, but only for a lunch service and catering.
Anyway, it never looked all that open to the public in recent months. Five Tacos, owned by the folks behind 10 Degrees Bar on the block, debuted in January 2012.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
The holiday lights on 9th Street
Earlier today, workers arrived on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second to hang the holiday lights... as in previous years... EVG Ninth Street Holiday Lights Correspondent Steven shared these photos...
[There's a little knot here]
... and by tonight... the block was aglow...
... you hardly noticed the recyclables on the curb...
You're gonna need a bigger bike
A scene today outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street where the Tree Riders NYC sell some of the largest Christmas trees around... thanks to @GMKevv for the photo ...
Dante and Diego's adoption is the feel-good story that we need right now
On Sunday, I posted that Dante and Diego, the two bonded senior labs that belonged to Chile, the longtime 12th Street resident who recently passed away, had been adopted together by a couple in Brooklyn.
Reps from Animal Haven, the nonprofit animal shelter, took the dogs in on Nov. 27. Chile's neighbors rallied to keep Dante and Diego together following his death.
Animal Haven shared the adoption story on Instagram:
The couple recently had to say goodbye to their senior lab. As lifelong dog lovers, their home was empty and quiet, and they decided it was time for a new addition.
So they came to Animal Haven looking for a new puppy. But after seeing Dante and Diego and hearing their story, they knew in their hearts that those old souls were the dogs for them. It was fate.
Dante and Diego are now happily home, less than one week after losing the only home they'd ever known. We are beyond thrilled!
"This is what we dream of for all of our animals," said Jenny Coffey, Animal Haven's director of community engagement, who facilitated the rescue. Our heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone in this amazing, animal-loving NYC community who shared and participated in Dante and Diego's journey!
Educator: Turning the former Church of the Nativity into luxury housing would be a 'sordid use' of the property
[EVG file photo]
I haven't heard anything the former Church of the Nativity on Second Avenue in almost a year to the date.
On Dec. 2, 2017, Friends of Nativity Church and the Cooper Square Community Land Trust held a prayer service and advocated that the property be used for low-incoming housing.
First, some background before getting to the point of bringing this up now.
The church closed in July 2015 as part of a massive consolidation reportedly due to changing demographics and a shortage of priests available to say mass. The Church of the Nativity merged with the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.
The Friends of Nativity had previously proposed a Dorothy Day Shrine and retreat center with services for the homeless at 44 Second Ave. between Second Street and Third Street. (Read more about that proposal here.)
This past summer, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York desacralized the former church, clearing the way for a potential sale of the desirable property.
Last Thursday, Rebecca Amato, a professor at NYU and associate director of the school's Urban Democracy Lab, presented on the Church of the Nativity at the Pontifical Council for Culture’s international conference on cultural heritage in Rome. The topic of the conference, "Doesn’t God Dwell Here Anymore?," facilitated discussion about reusing church landholdings after they are decommissioned.
According to her presentation, the Archdiocese of New York has sold at least 19 sacred properties for luxury development since 1996. (Hello Steiner East Village!)
In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter published Monday, Amato makes her case for using the site for the needy. (H/T to The Lo-Down who linked to this article yesterday.)
An excerpt from the article:
Amato ... said former parishioners proposed to purchase the decommissioned church for $18 million to develop low-income, senior and homeless family housing.
The alternative plan is to sell the property for a reported $50 million and build a luxury residential development, which Amato said would be a "sordid use" of a once-sacred edifice.
Although not all of the residents in the area were parishioners, decommissioned churches like the Church of the Nativity continue to be an integral part of "the fabric of a neighborhood," Amato said.
"Those are the kind of things that are destroyed by global investment firms, but they shouldn't be destroyed by the archdiocese; they shouldn't be behaving the same way," Amato said.
The proposal to convert the parish into low-income housing would greatly benefit the residents near the church, Amato said. Predominantly made up of Catholics of Puerto Rican descent, residents find themselves not only "displaced by housing issues, evictions, rising land costs but now they're being displaced by their own Catholic Church, by the archdiocese."
"So, the idea of selling this property — that is so associated with the Catholic Worker [Movement] and advocacy for the poor — for $50 million is astounding on so many levels."
And the Archdiocese's take:
Joseph Zwilling, communications director for the New York Archdiocese, acknowledged that several proposals for the site were reviewed, including the proposal submitted by the church's former parishioners.
Nevertheless, he said, "the parish needs to receive fair market value for the property so that the parish and the archdiocese can continue to meet the pastoral, charitable, educational — and housing — needs of the people we serve."
Zwilling also explained that the proposed sale of the property "is by and for the parish, not the archdiocese."
He also said that proceeds from the sale of the Church of the Nativity, which was merged in 2015 with a neighboring parish — Most Holy Redeemer — would not go to the archdiocese, but the parish.
You can read another interview with Amato along with more background in this article at America Magazine.
Not mentioned in this articles: This past July, Provincial Superior Father Paul Borowski announced during a mass at the Most Holy Redeemer that the Redemptorists would be turning the parish back to the archdiocese in the summer of 2019. (Among other reasons, he cited older and fewer priests.) As I understand it, the church, which was completed in 1852, will be administered by a Diocesan priest starting next summer.
Previously on EV Grieve:
As the Church of the Nativity closes for good tonight, take a look at the original structure
Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue
Parishioners hope their prayers are answered with former Nativity space on 2nd Avenue
[Updated] Eliza's Local now open at 2 St. Mark's Place
[Photo Monday by Steven]
We haven't seen much, if any, activity at 2 St. Mark's Place, the former St. Mark's Ale House near Third Avenue/Cooper Square... until Monday, when a worker was out painting the exterior.
CB3 OK'd a liquor license for the new owners of the space back in May. The owners for the new venture at No. 2 also run Draught 55, a brew pub (40 taps!) at 245 E. 55th St. that opened in 2012.
---
Updated 12/6
The new saloon is called Eliza's Local... and they are now open. The bar is named for Elizabeth Hamilton (aka "Eliza") co-founder and deputy director of the first private orphanage in New York City. She was the wife of Alexander Hamilton. She lived next door at 4 St. Mark's Place in what was later known as the Hamilton-Holly House.
---
According to the questionnaire at the CB3 website, the still-unnamed restaurant serving "American pub food" has a certificate of occupancy for 74 people, spread out over 19 tables and a 10-seat bar. The new place plans to operate from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays through Wednesdays, with a 4 a.m. close Thursdays through Saturdays.
The restaurant adjacent to the entry of the St Marks Hotel has been empty since Ayios Greek Rotisserie quietly closed at the end of 2017 after 16 months in business. St. Mark's Ale House had a 21-year run until July 2016. (And once upon a time it was the second location of the Five Spot Cafe.)
Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe in the works for 2 St. Mark's Place, previously Ayios and St. Mark's Ale House
Concern for China Wok, which has not been open lately on Avenue B
China Wok, the reliable quick-serve Chinese restaurant on the corner of Third Street and Avenue B, has not been open in recent days, fueling concerns among patrons that they have closed for good.
The storefront has been on the rental market. The current listing notes an asking rent of $6,495 a month. The space can also be combined with the empty storefront next door for a few thousand more.
There is an unconfirmed neighbor report that the Marshal took legal possession of the space on behalf of landlord Steve Croman. (There is another unconfirmed claim that the rent was raised to the asking amount from $2,500.)
H/T Stacie Joy!
And an EVG Instagram post from late in the summer...
My favorite comment from this Instagram post: "The fan on the side that drips grease into the cardboard on the sidewalk 😍😍"
TabeTomo debuts on Avenue A
That new ramen shop that we told you about last August is now in soft-open mode at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.
Eater had a preview yesterday of TabeTomo:
Starting today, NYC will finally have a ramen shop where tsukemen is the star. Chef Tomotsugu Kubo’s new restaurant TabeTomo, opening today, will go all in on the dipping ramen in a petite space...
Kubo has credentials that make this opening promising. The chef previously worked at the Tokyo location of Tsujita and helped open the LA location of the ramen sensation, where the restaurant that has one of the longest waits in the city. Like TabeTomo, Tsujita specializes in tsukemen, a style where room temperature noodles are dipped into an ultra-hot, ultra-rich broth.
But Kubo’s NYC restaurant will be more upscale than Tsujita, he says. It has 24 seats and a 16-seat wood bar. Warm, low light provided by hanging lanterns, a brick accent wall, and wood throughout give the restaurant a romantic vibe.
And more opening buzzzzzz via The New York Times:
In New York, Mr. Kubo says he will take up to 60 hours to simmer his broth to deep perfection. The noodles are thicker than garden-variety ramen, the better to sop up the soup, and additions like eggs, pork belly, spinach and dried seaweed can dress up the meal. Regular ramen bowls are also served. Donburi rice bowls topped with sashimi or fried chicken, among other options, are also on the lineup, along with appetizers like crisp chicken skin, braised pork belly, edamame and pickles. The focus of the room is a large counter with seating on three sides.
TabeTomo is offering a limited menu until its GRAND opening next Monday.
This is the second L.A. ramen transplant to venture into the East Village this year. Tatsu Ramen, with two locations in Los Angeles, opened its first NYC outpost in July at 167 First Ave.
Baci e Vendetta closed at 131 Avenue A in March after nearly 16 months in service. Nic Ratner, a partner in Baci e Vendetta, said that business for the Italian cafe wasn't sustainable with only a beer-and-wine license.
This space was the 10 Degrees Bistro until the fall of 2015 ... and the Flea Market Cafe before that.
H/T Steven!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Veteran of hit L.A. ramen shop behind new noodle venture at 131 Avenue A
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Tuesday's parting shot
A look inside the incoming Madam Vo's Barbecue on Second Avenue at Sixth Street late this afternoon via Derek Berg...
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