At the 27th Tompkins Square Park holiday tree lightning

As promised, some more photos from yesterday's tree lighting ceremony in Tompkins Square Park.

All photos here are from EVG contributor Stacie Joy...







Carolers of Olde New York from Theater for the New City provided entertainment ...







...along with the Mandel & Lydon Trio...





And some of the residents and local business owners in attendance ...









































Albert Fabozzi started the event in 1992. He planted the tree in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS.”

On this day in NYC history

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The beloved, legendary, and mourned CBGB opened on this day in 1973. The club was the birthplace of punk, a defining cultural movement of New York City in the 1970s, featuring bands like the Ramones (swipe 👉 to see them performing), Blondie, Talking Heads, and Joan Jett... and the list goes on and on. From its location on the Bowery, CBGB became a cultural destination and badge of honor for punk, rock, and new wave bands looking to make it big. 🎸The venue closed in 2006 with one final concert on October 15 by Patti Smith. . Discover more NYC punk history in #NYatItsCore, including Roberta Bayley’s Ramones photograph, on view starting Dec 11. __ 📷 CBGB, Bowery 1977; GODLIS; Roberta Bayley. Ramones CBGBs New York, 1976. @GODLIS #cbgb #punk #ramones #talkingheads #blondie #joanjett #rockandroll #pattismith #oldnewyork #vintagenewyork #vintagenyc #otd #onthisday

A post shared by Museum of the City of New York (@museumofcityny) on Dec 10, 2018 at 6:35am PST

Here's the new facility for Barrier Free Living on 2nd Street

Officials at Barrier Free Living (BFL) have announced their plans for a new state-of-the-art facility that will replace its current home on Second Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Here's a rendering of the building, designed by JCJ Architecture ...



And here's more from the news release about the new building for the nonprofit, which provides services and support for survivors of domestic violence with disabilities

The new 65,000-square foot facility will provide permanent housing specifically to meet the needs of this population and will include 74 apartments, administrative offices, a rear garden, an elevated outdoor recreation area, and community and support spaces.

The building will challenge assumptions about the aesthetics associated with supportive housing and create a more direct and engaged relationship for residents with the surrounding environment. The new facility is intended to efficiently serve the needs of BFL’s clients, to provide a sense of pride, place and home for residents, and to create a unique architectural presence in the rapidly changing neighborhood where the East Village and Lower East Side converge.

Inspired by the parameters of Mayor de Blasio’s Housing NYC Plan, this project will provide affordable housing and support services for a grossly underserved population. The project team will work alongside agencies and stakeholders including NY State Home and Community Renewal, ESSHI and NY City Board of Standards & Appeals. Funding for related services and rent support will come from the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative.

The $30 million project is anticipated to break ground in the fall of 2019 with completion planned for January 2021.

New owners set to take over the 33-year-old Sidewalk Bar & Restaurant on Avenue A

[EVG photo from November]

A new ownership team is on this month's CB3-SLA agenda for the Sidewalk, the 33-year-old bar-restaurant-live-music venue on Avenue A at Sixth Street.

The applicants are hospitality veterans Laura Saniuk-Heinig and Alyssa Sartor. (Saniuk-Heinig is the general manager at the Bar Room on East 60th Street; Sartor co-owned August Laura in Carroll Gardens.)



The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website (PDF here) describes the food/menu concept as "American bistro."

Live music, a longstanding tradition here, will apparently continue.

"We are looking forward to keeping the music aspect of the room still alive. Exactly what kinds of shows, we do not know yet," Saniuk-Heinig told me via email.

And will they keep the Sidewalk name? "We are in talks with the current owner, but no decision has been made," she wrote.

Sidewalk opened in the corner spot in 1985 ... eventually expanding to the space next door when Sophie's relocated to its current home on Fifth Street.

The biannual Antifolk Festival has been held here since 1993. The music venue has helped launch the careers of singer-songwriters like Regina Spektor, Adam Green, Kimya Dawson and Jeffrey Lewis. The Sidewalk still hosts live music, open mic nights (one of the longest-running ones in the city) and reading series seven days a week.

Sidewalk underwent a full renovation in 2011. Amnon Kehati, one of the Sidewalk partners, died in February 2015 at age 64.

The committee meeting starts tonight at 6:30. Location: The Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.


[Photo from 1997 by Dave Buchwald]

On 2nd Avenue, new owners for 12th Street Ale House, Durden

New ownership has taken over the 12th Street Ale House here on Second Avenue...


[Photo from Friday]

Rob Gelardi, the longtime manager of WXOU Radio Bar on Hudson Street who became the owner in 2008, is one of the principals here. (The place was previously owned by the folks behind Tile Bar on First Avenue and The Magician on Rivington.)

CB3 OK'd a new liquor license (sale of assets) back in September. It doesn't appear that much will change. The applicant's questionnaire posted on the CB3 website (PDF here) stated that:

• 12th Street Ale House will offer neighborhood residents a clean and comfortable place where they can enjoy good drinks and conversation. A casual and relaxing environment, catering to young and old alike.

• Cocktails will be well crafted and reasonably priced.

• 12th Street Ale House will provide a welcoming place for employees of the many neighboring businesses to unwind after work.

• The new owners of the 12th Street Ale House are longtime successful operators of similar bars in New York City. They understand the importance of quality, cleanliness and great customer service.

Gelardi recently opened Radio Amsterdam on the Upper West Side.

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Meanwhile, on Second Avenue at 13th Street, a new owner is set to take over Durden, the "Fight Club"-inspired sports bar.

Curt Huegel will appear before CB3's SLA committee tonight for a new liquor license at the corner space. (The questionnaire is here.) He runs a handful of bars-reaturants around the city, including Campagnola, Printers Alley, Galli and Bill's NYC.

The paperwork at the CB3 website lists this as a "sale of assets" ...



Durden opened in 2013... taking over the space from the ol' Nightengale Lounge.

The committee meeting starts tonight at 6:30 in the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Autre Kyo Ya has not been open lately

Autre Kyo Ya, the well-liked sibling of Kyo Ya, the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant at 94 E. Seventh St., has apparently closed for good at 10 Stuyvesant St.

EVG reader Christopher Pelham says the French-Japanese restaurant, operated by Erina Yoshida and her father Tony, has been dark the past two weeks. (Open Table lists them as "permanently closed." The restaurant's website is offline and the phone goes unanswered.)

Word here is that Mr. Yoshida, who also owns Sunrise Mart and the cocktail bar Angel's Share, plans to (sub?)lease out the space. We're told that Mr. Yoshida's focus now is on Japan Village, the new food hall-grocery that recently opened in Industry City.

Autre Kyo Ya opened in December 2015.

The incoming Bubbleology Tea now with Bubbleology Tea signage

As noted (a few times) earlier this year, the London-based Bubbleology Tea chain is opening an outpost at 120 1/2 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

The Bubbleology signage is up now on the front window (H/T William Klayer!) promising "the Delicious Science of the Bubble Tea." In a real-estate transaction from May, the Times reported that the owners of this franchise signed a seven-year lease for the space, which "will feature milk- and fruit-based bubble tea blends including Oreo Crush, along with alcoholic brews including Raspberry Mar-Tea-Ni. "

The owners were seeking a full-liquor license for the address. However, CB3 denied their application in April, citing "insufficient public benefit ... for a business seeking to add tea-infused cocktails to its drink menu to sustain its business plan, in an area well-served with licensed businesses furnishing cocktails," per the minutes from that meeting. Not sure if the owners still plan on the alcohol portion of the drinks menu.

Here's a look inside from the other morning...



The latest iteration of the International Bar closed here in November 2017. (Non-renewal of lease, via landlord Steve Croman.) The bar merged with its sister saloon, the Coal Yard, one block to the south between Seventh Street and Sixth Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More about Bubbleology Tea, possibly coming soon to 1st Avenue

Tompkins Square Park holiday tree now lit for the holiday (and maybe through March)

A nice-sized crowd turned out late this afternoon for the 27th annual Tompkins Square Park tree lighting.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was onhand for the festivities. We'll post (many) more photos tomorrow (updated: find more photos here).



Meanwhile, EVG contributor Susan Schiffman shared these videos... showing the Carolers of Olde New York from Theater for the New City ...



... and the countdown to the lighting...



And Lola Sáenz passed along this photo of freedom fighter Patricia Okoumou, who was in attendance...



Albert Fabozzi started the event in 1992. He planted the tree in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS.”

Week in Grieview

[Photo on 9th Street by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Educator: Turning the former Church of the Nativity into luxury housing would be a 'sordid use' of the property (Wednesday)

St. Dymphna's eyeing a return engagement, this time at 117 Avenue A (Thursday)

A visit to C&B Cafe on 7th Street (Friday)

Where the gas stations were (Tuesday)

Dante and Diego's adoption is the feel-good story that we need right now (Wednesday)

This week's NY See (Saturday)

MaKiinNy is now open in the East Village Thai space on 7th Street (Monday)

Concern for China Wok, which has not been open lately on Avenue B (Wednesday)

The holiday lights on 9th Street (Wednesday)

Eliza's Local now open at 2 St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

A look at the annual scourge of SantaCon (Saturday)

When is the fruit vendor on 1st Avenue and 6th Street closing down for the winter? (Friday)

Matthew Kenney expands his 2nd Avenue plant-based empire; eyes former Cucina Di Pesce space (Monday)

Wara bringing Japanese cuisine and Batsu theater to 1st Avenue (Tuesday)

Dim Sum Palace debuts on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

More details about the Tao Group's eating-drinking options at the Moxy East Village (Monday)

A new 2nd Avenue home for the NYPD's light tower (Monday)

On 2nd Avenue, 16 Handles is temporarily closed for the season (Tuesday)

Y7 Studio ready to debut its candlelit hip-hop yoga at 250 E. Houston (Thursday)

First sign of Madame Vo Barbecue on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

TabeTomo debuts on Avenue A (Wednesday)

That's a wrap for Five Tacos on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

... and EVG reader KT shared this photo from last Sunday...



We asked Goggla for help ID-ing this one... after some consolation, "we've concluded this is a juvenile red-shouldered hawk — a relative rarity for the area!"

... and a reminder not to feed the pigeons and rats Fruit Loops in Tompkins Square Park...


[Photo this morning by Vinny & O]

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[Updated] 2 chances to hear updates on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project this week

City officials are hosting two community meetings this coming week to discuss updated plans for storm-proofing East River Park.

Details emerged earlier this fall about the construction phase to protect the East Side against catastrophic flooding along the East River from Montgomery Street to 25th Street.

As reported in October, the city plans to "lift" East River Park by up to 10 feet when work starts in March 2020. However, to do this, the city will need to close East River Park for up to three and a half years, bulldozing all the current amenities, including the new running track and soccer field.

Monday's meeting is from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Gouverneur Health Auditorium, 227 Madison St. Tuesday's meeting is 6:30-8 p.m. in the Hunter-Brookdale Rotunda, 425 E. 25th St. (And the flyer notes dinner will be served!) The flyer notes that the same material will be presented each night (not sure if the same dinner will be served each night).

This link takes you to the website for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project ... where you can find various background reports and presentations.

Updated 12/10

Ahead of tonight's first meeting, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera released this statement:

“After being briefed last week on the new design for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, I am still seriously concerned that many important questions regarding this monumental project have not been sufficiently answered by the Mayor’s Office and that the community’s pain-staking work over four years is being completely pushed aside. This new plan represents a fundamental departure from anything the City had previously discussed, particularly with respect to East River Park, which would be closed for three years.

Moreover, the proposed changes would reportedly bring the projected cost of the project to $1.45 billion, which the Mayor’s Office has failed to provide detailed analyses for explaining why the cost increase is necessary. We want a resilient city, and this projects needs to demonstrate that that is possible in all Five Boroughs. If the Mayor can clearly show that the previous, community-led version of ESCR would not provide the sufficient coastal protections needed, the city needs to be forthcoming about that. If they are pursuing this version out of convenience for the drivers who use the FDR or because they are concerned about finishing the project on time, they should also detail that as well. But until these questions are answered, I cannot back the direction the Mayor’s Office has decided to take.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: The reality of storm-proofing East River Park in 2020

Reminders: Tree lighting in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon

The 27th edition of the Tompkins Square Park tree lighting happens today from 4-5 p.m. featuring the Carolers of Olde New York from Theater for the New City and refreshments via Veselka and C&B Cafe.

In addition, several local businesses are taking part in a "Shop Hop" today in conjunction with the East Village Independent Merchants Association ... here are details via Instagram...

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East village #shophop this Sunday December 9th at the following merchants @shopexit9 @randomaccessoriesny @evvintagecollective @parlorhairstudio @lasirena_nyc #bonnieslotnickcookbooks it's the 27th annual Tompkins square park Xmas tree lighting. Join us! #vivaeastvillage #shoplocal #nyc

A post shared by EVIMA (@evimanyc) on Dec 7, 2018 at 2:37pm PST

SantaCon 2018

A few scenes from SantaCon today in the East Village... Derek Berg took these photos...



























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A reader shared this from Second Avenue at Ninth Street outside the Step (former 13th Step), which, as always, seemed to be the center for SantaCon (even if it wasn't on the list on SantaCon bars) ...



... and EVG reader Sonya shared this from the Santa Shack Shack at the DeathStar...



Updated 12/9

A reader shared this photo from yesterday on Second Avenue and 15th Street ... some Santas in an Uber headed to East Village bars, but not before making a pit stop...



Another sick Santa on Second Avenue near Ninth Street...


[Photo via @mishamc]

There are several reports of fights and assaults on the Citizen app from yesterday, though only one specifically mentioned Santas...



Not sure of the exact location of this street brawl...

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR pic.twitter.com/9kzVBGQFC9

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 9, 2018