Dancers in the Park

Hundreds of dancers took part in the DanceFest in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon at the conclusion of the 13th annual Dance Parade... EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there to capture some of the participants...

Reminders: the Dance Parade and DanceFest is today!

As you've likely noticed, barricades are up along St. Mark's Place (above) ahead of the 13th annual Dance Parade (and DanceFest!) this afternoon.

The parade begins at 1 p.m. at 21st Street and Broadway, and will feature live bands, DJs and a lot of dancers — more than 80 styles of dance and nearly 200 groups. (This link has a list of all the participants.)



The route eventually passes Astor Place and moves along St. Mark's Place ... wrapping up in Tompkins Square Park... where DanceFest 2019 happens from 3-7 p.m. "with choreographed performances, dance lessons, aerial and social dance – on five stages, all free to the public."

Rain date today for the annual 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden plant and bake sale

Last Sunday, the annual 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden plant and bake sale got rained out... so, they'll be hosting a do-over today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Per the invite:

This is a fundraiser and the proceeds from sales goes to fund the 6&B Events Program that brings you FREE Events-Music, workshops, poetry, screenings and much more throughout the Summer months! Help support us — buy a plant, a yummy home-made baked good, a T-shirt and more!

Happening today: The 4th Annual Lower Eastside Girls Club Comix Fest

Via the EVG inbox...

The 4th Annual Lower Eastside Girls Club Comix Fest!
Saturday, May 18
11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
At the Lower Eastside Girls Club, 402 E. Eighth St. at Avenue D.

Meet the women (and men) who write and illustrate some of your favorite characters, including our host Fly Orr, Javier Cruz Winnik, the Fearless Feminists, Isabella Bannerman, Katherine Arnoldi, Women in Comics NYC Collective International, Bronx Heroes, the Spicy Mangoes & more artists & creatives TBA!

Comix Market:
Discover the coolest comics and zines available for sale.

Workshops:
Stop by our comics workshops and drawing stations led by NYC comic art professionals, Girls Club instructors and members (for kids of all ages!)

Learn how to make mini comics, create characters, develop story ideas, get drawing tips or just have fun reclaiming your power and creativity with crayons and sharpies!

All eyes and ears

After a sting of EPs, The Liz Colby Sound, based right here in the East Village, is releasing its full-length debut — Object To Impossible Destination — on July 19.

Ahead of that, the band released the above video for "Eye on You" recorded at the Bowery Electric.

Read more about the band in this feature at Billboard.

FleaVCS happening tomorrow at the East Village Community School

There's a flea market — FleaVCS — tomorrow (Saturday) from noon to 4 p.m. at the East Village Community School, 610 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

You can buy a bag of clothes for $10 ... there's also a bike-and-scooter swap... they're also accepting clothing donations (NO SHOES!) ...



All proceeds go to the Parent Association to fund schoolwide programs.

Reminder: The Ukrainian Festival starts this afternoon!

The 43rd edition of the Saint George Ukrainian Festival kicks off later this afternoon in the usual place — Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

The main stage shows are tonight at 6:30 ... tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ... and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.


[Photo from 2017 by Derek Berg]

And the Festival hours to enjoy Ukrainian culture and traditions:
Friday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

And the weather looks promising...

A visit to Sei Shin Dojo on Avenue A

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy

I have zero experience with martial arts, not in any form, so I wasn’t sure what to expect setting foot in a dojo that teaches close-quarters live-blade combat fighting, or Pekiti-Tirsia Kali (PTK) and American Jiu Jitsu (AJJ).

The second-floor space at Sei Shin Dojo, 34 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street, is large, well-cushioned, spotless and airy.



And owner Glenn Genovas, an East Village resident who is a third-degree black belt in AJJ and a certified instructor and guro in PTK (as well as being a licensed massage therapist), was welcoming, precise and patient in answering my novice questions.

I also got a chance to observe both a kid’s and an adult’s class as well as seeing — from a safe distance — Genovas wield dual swords.

Can you speak a bit about the history of Sei Shin Dojo?

Sei Shin Dojo doesn’t have a long physical history, but spiritually it has deep roots. A friend of mine opened a dojo in SoHo in 2001, where I trained and taught since 2004. It was a multi-discipline dojo with four styles of martial arts offered.

Each style had its own head instructor, and each ran his own program at the space. My friend, the owner, was the head instructor for American Jiu Jitsu. In 2014, he decided to let it go: the dojo would have to close.

While the other three programs went their own ways and found new spaces, there was no one to take over the American Jiu Jitsu program. I had been running much of it for some time, so when he told me he was going to close it, I had to decide: either lose it completely or take over the program myself.

There were many students of higher ranks training, so I decided it was worth continuing to keep the program available for the core students — and to build on its success if I could. “Sei Shin” means pure heart, and it was with a pure heart that I decided to open in January 2015.

What made you choose the East Village to open your dojo, and when did you do so?

I always wanted to live in the East Village. I was born in NYC but raised in Huntington, Long Island. Growing up out there, my imagination was captured by amazing stories about the East Village.

As I grew older and was able to come into the city in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I saw the East Village as a place without judgment, where you could dress as you liked, be who you wanted, and, for the most part, where people from all walks of life got along.

Of course, back then there was some funkiness mixed in, but that made it exciting! I moved in — and stayed. Between my childhood love of the East Village and already living here, it felt natural to bring my dojo here too.

Even though the East Village has changed over the years, it still has that neighborhood feel I like. I enjoy meeting my neighbors and chatting with them about their businesses and the neighborhood. Knowing your neighbors, who they are as people, not just the business next door, lets me feel like I am not just any old business, but part of a real community.

So, after a couple years renting spaces from other local martial arts and dance schools, I knew I wanted to settle the dojo somewhere south of 23rd Street and north of Canal Street.

While finding a space, getting equipment, and managing all the paperwork that comes along with owning a dojo are challenging, I finally found this place on Avenue A, took the chance, and opened Sei Shin Dojo in its first real home in January 2017.

Can you talk a little bit about your history with martial arts and how you feel the practice benefits the community?

I have studied martial arts since 1982. Through the years, I’ve met, studied, and trained with other martial artists, most intensively in Japanese Jiu Jitsu and Filipino Pekiti Tirsia Kali. I also have experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing, and arnis. I went to college for athletic training/sports medicine and I’m a licensed massage therapist as well.

Combining the two disciplines (martial and healing arts), gives me an understanding of human anatomy from two different, complementary perspectives: the knowledge of anatomy and body mechanics in movement, the understanding of the body’s responses to injury or trauma, and the skills to heal sports injuries; and how that double skill set can be practically applied, both to martial arts techniques and to helping people recover from trauma or injury.

Having my healing practice in the same location as my martial arts studio enables me to optimally combine both disciplines when teaching about not only self-protection, but living healthfully through movement as well.

Teaching movement based on sound body mechanics will keep my students healthy in their later years, while it builds the confidence to successfully handle difficult life experiences.










[Dojo assistant Alan McGrath]

What can newcomers expect in your classes?

We expect new students to learn and have fun. We are a semiformal dojo, where we aren’t too strict about formalities. Our goal is to educate our community about the connection between health and movement, using the healing arts of medical massage and acupuncture, the movement arts of yoga as well as the martial arts.







What’s next for Sei Shin Dojo? Any plans to expand?

We plan to offer a special seminar to the public in June on using an umbrella/cane for self-protection. We would like to stay in the East Village area as long as rent stays affordable. Even with all the changes going on in our area, the East Village still has the charm that inspired me when I was a kid.

Report: Ex admits to murdering Elizabeth Lee on Cooper Square

[Photo from March 2018]

Vincent Verdi, a former federal intelligence officer, pleaded guilty to murder in the 2nd degree yesterday for gunning down Elizabeth Lee on Cooper Square as she arrived for work on Nov. 1, 2017.

As the Daily News reported last evening, Verdi told a judge he was remorseful for killing Lee.

"These words come of a heavy heart,” Verdi said in Manhattan Supreme Court. "My sorrow for what I did has no limit, and is also true of my regret for the pain and anguish I have caused to many, many people."

The terms of this deal will see Verdi, 63, serve at least 18 years for the murder.

Lee, who was 56 and a mother of two grown children, lived on the Upper East Side. She had just docked a Citi Bike when Verdi approached her and shot her twice. He then shot himself in the head.

According to previous reports in the Daily News, Verdi spent four months stalking and harassing Lee. Police had arrested him previously for stalking. She had an order of protection barring him from contacting her, which was in place the morning he killed her.

The DA's office originally charged him with murder, weapons possession, aggravated criminal contempt and stalking.

Lee was a longtime administrator at the nearby Grace Church School. She was remembered as a devoted mother and a friend to many.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Memorial for Elizabeth Lee on Cooper Square

Prepping the former P.C. Richard & Son for demolition on 14th Street

Workers started prepping the former P.C. Richard & Son two-story compound on 14th Street at Irving Place yesterday for demolition (thanks for the photo Pinch!) ... clearing the site for the eventual construction of the 22-story Union Square Tech Training Center (aka tech hub).

The project is being developed jointly by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and RAL. The Union Square Tech Training Center includes Civic Hall, which will offer digital skills for low-income residents, as well as market-rate retail, office space and a food hall.


[Image via Davis Brody Bond]

The hub, championed by Mayor de Blasio and initially announced in early 2017, passed through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process earlier in 2018, capped off by a unanimous City Council vote in August. A rezoning was required to build the the structure, which is larger than what current commercial zoning allows.

The 14th @ Irving website lists a grand opening in the fourth quarter of 2020, though that timeline is already slightly off schedule — construction was expected to start in the first quarter of this year.

The Village Preservation (GVSHP) recently called for a probe of the "sweetheart deal" that RAL Development Services, the developer of the tech hub, received here.

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

City Council unanimously approves tech hub; some disappointment in lack of zoning protections

The conversation continues on the now-approved tech hub for 14th Street

Report: Preservationists want probe of the tech hub deal on 14th Street

Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens

Several community groups and gardens are holding a town hall meeting tomorrow to learn more about and discuss the new GreenThumb licensing agreement. Here's more info via the EVG inbox...

Our community gardens are under threat again. This time not from bulldozers, but from new rules under a GreenThumb licensing agreement that if the gardeners sign, will change the focus of community gardens forever.

LUNGS, the community garden coalition, MORUS and Time's Up! are holding a citywide town hall to discuss the license agreement.

This new license contains many regulations, restrictions and new obligations that will change how we operate. GreenThumb appears to be taking on the role of an enforcement agency rather than garden-friendly enablers. This is very disconcerting to gardeners who volunteer their time and spend their own money to maintain city property.

It took the City more then four months to put this license together. Gardeners should be allowed more than one month to evaluate a document we are being asked to sign.

The LUNGS website has a copy of the new agreement, with the changes highlighted here. Some garden members worry that sections of the new license might discourage gardens from hosting events and even planting trees or installing rainwater capture systems.

The meeting takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street.

Headless Widow signage arrives on 1st Avenue

Signage arrived yesterday for the new bar-restaurant coming to the northwest corner of First Avenue at Sixth Street — say hello to The Headless Widow...



CB3 OK'd a liquor license for the applicants, who have management experience at the now-closed Michael Jordan's The Steak House N.Y.C., in March.

The sample menu on file with the questionnaire shows a variety of pub-fare offerings — burgers, salads, sandwiches and main courses like the Headless Widow Fish and Chips.

According to the CB3 minutes from March, the Headless Widow will be open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays through Wednesdays; until 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

We don't know too much else about the establishment at the moment.

The corner space here was previously Umm Burger for 13 months.

Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos!

Thursday's parting shot

A scene from Sixth Street at Avenue A today via @Phandy_13 ... showing the Sidewalk Closed sign outside the now-closed Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant.

Report: Microsoft signs lease for gas-station replacing office building on Lafayette and Houston

[EVG photo from April]

Microsoft has reportedly signed a lease for most of the available space at 300 Lafayette, the incoming 7-floor office building at East Houston — the former site of a BP station (and Gaseteria before that) and the Irish pub Puck Fair.

In total, the building has 30,000 square feet of retail and 53,000 square feet of office space. According to the Post, Microsoft signed a lease for nearly 70,000 square feet. No official word on what Microsoft plans to do with all the space. Last fall, Crain's reported that they were planning a retail presence here.

The building has a terracotta façade; the office floors boast private terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows. Microsoft apparently liked the Windows here.

Developed by Related and LargaVista Companies, the lobby is apparently paying homage to the property's gas-station past, as seen in this rendering...

The former Grassroots Tavern space on St. Mark's Place is on the market

In recent weeks various tipsters have told us that the former Grassroots Tavern at 20 St. Mark's Place was now available for rent.

As proof, there's an updated retail listing for the space between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...



The asking rent is available upon request, per the listing.

This also must mean that the new bar slated for the old Grassroots spot isn't moving forward. For the past 18-plus months, Bob Precious had been planning on opening a bar in this semi-subterranean space with a working title of Subterranean.

Precious launched the mini chain of Irish-style pubs called the Ginger Man, including the one on 36th Street. CB3 OK'd his new liquor license for 20 St. Mark's Place in December 2017.

He told us said last August that the former Grassroots space was in bad shape — including structural damage. The approvals for the renovations in the landmarked building had been slow going. In November, Previous was hoping for a spring opening.

He did not respond to an email about this latest development. Updated: Precious confirmed that he is no longer taking the space. We'll have more about that in another post.

Meanwhile, gut renovations continue inside the space that was, for 42 years, home of the Grassroots until New Year's Eve 2017.

Jim Stratton, the longtime principal owner of the Grassroots, sold the business in 2017. In January 2016, Stratton sold the building to Klosed Properties for a reported $5.6 million.

The address, known as the Daniel LeRoy House, was built in 1832. It received landmark status in 1971, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Today, the front of the former Grassroots is covered in graffiti.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New owner lined up for the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place

20 St. Mark's Place, home of the Grassroots Tavern, has been sold

Last call at the Grassroots Tavern