Creating Instagram-worthy ice cream photos on a budget. A reader-submitted photo tonight from an East Village corner deli.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Tuesday's parting shot
Creating Instagram-worthy ice cream photos on a budget. A reader-submitted photo tonight from an East Village corner deli.
Noted
Send your Thoughts and Prayers to the GOP on Third Street at Avenue A... payphone art via Winston Tseng, whose MAGA-related satire has been spotted around here in the past.
Medina's worldly chef brings Mediterranean street style to Second Avenue
Text and photos by Linda Dyett
In less than a week since it debuted, Medina's Turkish Kitchen – its front door and windows open to the street, with sample dishes prominently displayed on a sidewalk table – has already added a mood of welcoming hospitality to this block of Second Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street. It isn't much of a stretch to say that just walking past is almost like being transported to a Southern European seaside city and finding yourself in front of an unpretentious neighborhood brasserie.
A friend from Sweden and I were passing by on opening night, on our way to one of the many Asian restaurants now dotting the neighborhood. But the delicate scent of what turned out to be roasted red peppers, along with the smiles of the welcoming staff, were irresistible. So we sat down at one of the sidewalk tables and ordered from the eight-page menu. Yes, lots of choices there.
Midway through dinner, Medina's overseer-chef, Aydin Zeikrovski, stopped at our table to say hello. Always the nosy reporter, I asked him about his previous restaurant experience. That was in Denmark, he said, where he'd lived for 11 years. I too lived there for many years, and suddenly we were speaking Danish together. And then he turned to my friend Monika and started speaking Swedish with her. Turns out he'd lived briefly in Sweden too. (He's quick with languages, evidently.)
It was that grandmother, a chef, who taught him to cook. One of his distant cousins is also a chef – René Redzepi, founder of the celebrated, world-famous Copenhagen restaurant, Noma. Gastronomy has got to be in this family's DNA.
In 2003, at age 14, Aydin moved to Denmark, home to many transplants from the former Yugoslavia. There, he continued his education, eventually graduating with a marketing degree. But he never abandoned cooking.
While at university, he ran and was the chef at a fast-food eatery in Copenhagen's gritty, lively Nørrebro neighborhood (similar in spirit to New York's East Village and Lower East Side). The house specialties were home-cooked-style chicken and salads, prepared with healthy ingredients. So successful was this little restaurant that it expanded with several branches around town.
In 2011, Aydin made another move, to New York. Here he's become a U.S. citizen, husband, father of two, and consultant to the foreign and domestic travel industry. And now – partnering with his father-in-law – he's running Medina's, which happens to occupy the 700-square-foot space that most recently housed the Dinah Hookah Lounge, before that was a Dunkin' Donuts, even earlier on was a pizza-by-the-slice spot — and going way back in time, had been a paint store.
"Meat and salads are the most important elements in Turkish meals," Aydin says. His ingredients are high-quality, and all the condiments (even the salt) are organic and imported from Turkey. The appetizers include those Mediterranean standards, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghanouj, and tabouleh. But not to be missed are the amazing Sigara Boregi—fried filo dough stuffed with feta cheese — and the home-made seasoned fries accompanied by a secret sauce.
Aydin is proudest of the gyros platters. One of them is made from sliced lamb and rib eye sourced from a 25-acre organic farm in Pennsylvania and seasoned with herbs and spices. And then there are the kebabs. I ordered the beautifully flavored chicken shish kebab, marinated in dried red and white peppers, curry, and olive oil sauce. Other choices include rib eye steak, fried calamari, mixed grill, bronzino and salmon.
Dessert? There's baklava, of course, as well as rice pudding, Turkish custard, and a dish that may be new to many – bubbling-hot, oven-baked Kunefe: shredded filo dough filled with mozzarella-like Turkish string cheese and doused with honey mixed with homemade cane sugar syrup. (I can readily imagine consuming Kunefe as a one-course meal accounting for a full day's worth of calories.)
Beverages include Turkish and American coffee, Turkish tea, ayran (the frothy yogurt drink), and growing selections of beers and wines. The Sapporo-like Efes comes out of Turkey's oldest brewery. Macedonian wines may soon appear on the menu.
Don't be surprised if the menu expands even further to — who knows? — dishes from Denmark. Aydin and his staff are open to and eager for suggestions from diners and passersby. (If you happen to stop by to see Aydin in the days ahead, he's now out of town until early September.)
Linda Dyett is an East Village-based freelance writer and editor who’s been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Monocle, New York magazine and — back when glossy magazines were still magazines — Allure, Glamour, etc.
DOB fines crane operator $110,000 for boom collapse last month at the Riis Houses
[Photo on July 30 by @FDNY]
Officials at the Department of Buildings yesterday stopped all work citywide by United Crane and Rigging, the company reportedly responsible for the July 30 boom collapse at the Jacob Riis Houses, 749 FDR Drive and Sixth Street.
According to their report, the operator hoisted a load of steel beams that weighed 700 pounds more than the crane's permitted lifting capacity. The collapse forced the temporary evacuation of more than 100 families as well as the closure of the FDR.
United was also involved in a fatal accident this past April 13 at 570 Broome St., in which the counterweight of a crane fell to the ground and killed a worker.
Here's more from a news release via the DOB:
The agency’s order will remain in effect until the firm replaces the personnel who supervised the crane work at this and 21 other locations, and puts in place an independent monitor who will make monthly safety-compliance reports to DOB regarding United’s work.
DOB’s investigation of the FDR Drive incident revealed that the crane’s operator lifted a load of steel beams that weighed more than 4,400 pounds, exceeding the crane’s permitted lifting capacity of 3,700 pounds. The total load weight caused the crane’s boom to bend and partially collapse. The collapse of the boom caused the operator to lose control of the load, which struck the roof and side of the building before falling to the ground. The load of steel was intended to be placed on top of the building to support future mechanical equipment.
Accordingly, DOB issued five violations today to United that carry penalties of $110,000. The violations include failure to designate a qualified and competent Lift Director; failure to make proper notifications to DOB regarding the work that was being performed; inadequate safety measures on site; failure to safeguard the construction site to protect workers and the public; and failure to have proper construction documents on site.
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein reacted to this news...
Below is my statement on the closing of the DOB investigation on the crane collapse at Jacob Riis Houses. pic.twitter.com/QGcf3bbdoh
— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) August 12, 2019
The city has been upgrading buildings in the Riis complex in recent months as part of the Sandy Recovery Program Restoration.
In a blistering open letter to incoming NYCHA director Greg Russ on Friday, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera urged the agency to ramp up its oversight of contractors carrying out federally funded reconstruction work.
As she wrote, the crane collapse was "the latest in a string of failures for an agency with an entrenched culture of mismanagement, documentation of wasted resource and a seeming disregard for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who live in public housing."
[Click on image for more detail]
You can read more about the Rivera letter at the Post and Curbed.
The serious renovations happening at China Star
Renovations continue inside the China Star, the family-owned takeout-delivery spot at 145 First Ave. near Ninth Street. The restaurant has been closed since the middle of July.
EVG regular Lola Saénz shared this progress shot from late last week...
...here's another shot via EVG correspondent Steven...
China Star owner Jay Yang told Lola that he was about two weeks out from reopening.
You can read our interview from October 2017 with Jay and learn the backstory of the China Star at this link.
5 Napkin Burger shrinks on 14th and 3rd
From the tipline, news that the 5 Napkin Burger outpost on the southwest corner of 14th Street at Third Avenue has given up some up its dining-room space.
Plywood is now up next door, as workers are carving out a new storefront in the space between 5 Napkin and Joe's Pizza...
No word just yet on the new tenant.
This 5 Napkin location opened in February 2012.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Monday's parting shot
Thanks to Adrian Wilson for this nice capture earlier today of the Puck Building on Houston and Lafayette...
Reader reports: Car making U-turn strikes woman on Avenue B sidewalk
[Photo by Christopher J. Ryan]
There are a lot more questions than answers at the moment late this afternoon after a car struck a 72-year-old woman on the sidewalk on Avenue B at 10th Street.
It's not immediately clear how the car ended up on the sidewalk, striking the woman in the process.
Some more photos from Avenue B and 10th St where a person on the sidewalk was hit by a car. No idea why it was on the sidewalk. pic.twitter.com/PRURgRun5S
— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) August 12, 2019
Witnesses report that the woman was pinned under the car. Emergency responders took her away with reported head injuries.
[Photo by Christopher J. Ryan]
We'll update this post when more information becomes available.
Updated 5:51 p.m.
ABC 7 reports that the driver was making a U-turn.
Officials later said the driver was actually attempting to make a U-turn, and when he put the car in reverse, it jumped the curb and struck the pedestrian.
Police say the woman was taken to Bellevue hospital in serious condition, but was expected to survive.
No word about charges against the driver.
Updated 6:22 pm.
Witnesses said that the woman was one of the longtime shaved ice vendors on Avenue B...
[Photo by @djmcboarder]
Updated 8 p.m.
Yes, as several readers noted, this corridor is one that local elected officials are urging the city to make safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Updated 8:15 p.m.
An aerial view early this evening via a Citizen user...
Today in free fennel on Avenue A
EVG reader Kate spotted this note and stash of what is believed to be fennel on Avenue A near 10th Street...
Whoops!
Thought this was dill ... it's fennel!
Please take! (Organic)
RIP Brendan Cregan
[Image via Facebook]
Brendan Cregan, a longtime daytime bartender at Bull McCabe's Irish Pub on St. Mark's Place, died last Wednesday night at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. He was 64. According to a friend, Cregan died as the result of a fall on his way home in Woodside that evening.
Regulars at Bull McCabe's recall Cregan, a native of Northern Ireland, as the consummate professional with a sharp sense of humor.
"He had a wry, mischievous wit and a distinct twinkle in his eye as well as a serious nature," said Russell Atwood, a former daytime regular who also worked at the bar as a porter. "We got each other’s jokes."
Bull McCabe's has been a gathering spot for a group of artists and writers in recent years — especially during Cregan's shifts.
"He was a daily part of my life for the last 15 years," said the East Village-based Billy the Artist. "I got to know his beautiful loving family, and he was always interested in what was going on in my life ... like a caring father. He had a zest for life and adventure like no other and I will miss him dearly."
Visitation hours are tonight from 5 to 9 and tomorrow from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Edward D. Lynch Funeral Home, Inc, 43-07 Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside. A funeral mass will be held at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday at St. Sebastians RCC, 58th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside. (More details at this link.)
Cregan is survived by his wife Debbie and sons Rory and Conor.
Bull McCabe's is planning a celebration of Cregan's life at a date and time to be announced.
Thank you to Steven for background help on this post.
Report: 14th Street busway halted once again by last-minute appeal
And just when you thought the 14th Street busway was debuting today.
On Friday afternoon, a judge halted the city's plan to ban almost all cars on a portion of 14th Street between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue, according to published reports. (NY1 had it first. Here's Gothamist's coverage.)
This marked the end of a chaotic busway week. A quickie recap: Last Tuesday, State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Rakower lifted a temporary injunction on the 14th Street busway, allowing the city to move forward with its plans.
In late June, right before the new busway was to launch on July 1, a coalition of block associations — repped by attorney Arthur Schwartz — filed a last-minute lawsuit to block the project, arguing that the city failed to complete the proper environmental review for the work.
On Friday afternoon, the city was out educating drivers on the changes that were to take effect today...
DOT staff were out this morning reminding drivers about new 14th St regulations going into effect on 8/12:
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) August 9, 2019
6AM-10PM Every Day: Buses & trucks only btn 9th-3rd Aves. All other vehicles may make local trips, but must turn at the next available right.
More: https://t.co/gsIvfVszf2 pic.twitter.com/cyXnGk7Ip1
To Streetsblog:
The coalition of wealthy West Village and Chelsea landowners, who lost their court bid to stop the Busway on Tuesday afternoon filed a hurried appeal that was granted by the Appellate Division on Friday ...
According to the court papers, Schwartz’s plaintiffs, who are among the wealthiest people in the city, argued that Justice Eileen Rakower was wrong in allowing the Busway to proceed because the city did not actually take the required “hard look” at possible impacts of the car-free Busway that is necessary under state environmental law.
Transit champions were suitably outraged:
"For every day that the 14th Street busway is on hold, M14 rush hour commuters lose two weeks worth of time that they will never recover. Time wasted stuck behind cars in stalled traffic is time away from family, friends, work, and New York's civic life" — Riders Alliance spokesperson Danny Pearlstein
"This tiresome, tedious effort to circumvent the democratic process delays tangible improvements to the commutes of tens of thousands of working New Yorkers. It's despicable, and we're not going to accept it." — Thomas DeVito, senior director of advocacy at Transportation Alternatives
And per Streetsblog: "Schwartz was pleased. He said Friday’s ruling will delay the Busway for 'months' as the appeal is heard."
The busway aimed to help move people during the L-train slowdown. Private through-traffic would be banned between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on 14th Street between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Buses, trucks and emergency vehicles would be given priority in the center lanes between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Cars would be allowed to make pickups and drop-offs as well as access local garages.
The neighborhood groups repped by Schwartz have argued that the city has not undertaken a sufficient environmental review of the vehicle restrictions, which they say would cause "horrific traffic jams" on residential side streets while contributing to more pollution.
Updated:
Here's local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's reaction to the news...
Every day these lawsuits continue means another NYCHA resident is dealing with the slowest bus service in the city. It means car exhaust increases in 1 of the most polluted parts of Manhattan. And it means we’re 1 day further away from breaking the car culture.
— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) August 9, 2019
This has to end! https://t.co/5oeuzJrH60
Fast-casual chain Sweetgreen bringing the salads and bowls to the Bowery
The ever-expanding Sweetgreen chain is opening a location at 347 Bowery. Signage for the line-inducing fast-casual restaurant is now up in the windows here at Third Street...
This marks the first retail tenant in the ground floor of No. 347, the Annabelle Selldorf-designed 13-story luxury building that features five stacked town homes. In early 2018, signage arrived for Pilotworks, which was planning a "culinary incubator" for its food businesses to sell products. Those plans never materialized as Pilotworks tanked in the fall of 2018.
Sweetgreen has opened nearby outposts on Astor Place and University Place in recent years.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence will be demolished on the Bowery
Whatever happened to that really ugly hotel planned for the Bowery?
Looks like 347 Bowery will be home to a 13-floor mixed-use residential development
The future of 347 Bowery (sorta!) revealed
Let's take a look at 347 Bowery, now and in the future
347 Bowery getting its zinc supplements
More about the new venture from Pilotworks on the Bowery
Strings Ramen vying for 188 2nd Ave.
There looks to be another ramen choice on the horizon.
The applicants behind Strings Ramen will appear before CB3's SLA committee meeting tonight for a liquor license for 188 Second Ave.
According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, the proprietors were previously involved with the now-closed Lotus Blue Dongtian Kitchen and Bar on Union Square West. This location was part of an international chain with spots in Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney, per Eater. (There's no mention if this is part of Strings Ramen, a popular destination with two locations in Chicago and one in Madison, Wis. Only mention this since popular ramen shops in other cities have expanded here in the past year.)
Per the questionnaire, the 45-seat restaurant here at 12th Street will have daily hours of noon to 10 p.m.
No one has had much luck with restaurants at 188 Second Ave. in recent years. Lumos Kitchen lasted a whole three months in 2018. Others to make quick departures in the past four years were Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go.
Shima had a good go of it here until January 2014...
[EVG file photo]
Tonight's CB3 meeting starts at 6:30 in the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Bike shop making the Trek to the Bowery
Trek Bicycle, an American bikemaker with multiple retail shops in the city, is opening an outpost on the Bowery.
The signage arrived late last week here at 303 Bowery in the retail base of Avalon Bowery Place between First Street and Houston.
This space has been vacant since Tatyana Boutique closed in January 2016.
Trek's arrival also reverses the (micro) trend of bike shops leaving the neighborhood, including Danny's on 14th Street and Landmark on Avenue A.
Report: By Chloe joining Chase in the former Coffee Shop on Union Square
[Photo from Saturday]
ICYMI: Expanding vegan chain By Chloe will open an outpost at the former Coffee Shop space on Union Square West later this year.
Here's more on what to expect via Eater, who first reported this news:
At the Coffee Shop space, the interior will pay homage to the nostalgic diner by including “intimate round banquette seating” and “a nod” to the restaurant’s original neon sign, according to By Chloe marketing material.
But its a move that still may not sit well with longtime fans of Coffee Shop. The restaurant was a nostalgic, distinctively New York place, while By Chloe is part of a huge company that’s in part flourished due to colorful food and spaces made specifically with social media marketing in mind.
By Chloe will have company in this space at West 16th Street. The Coffee Shop will be divided into four spaces. One space is reserved for a Chase branch, as Jeremiah Moss reported last fall.
The Coffee Shop closed last October after 28 years in business. The rising cost of rent and wages were reportedly behind the closure.
In case you forgot that CVS is coming to Houston and Orchard
The CVS signage is in place here now in the base of the condoplex on the southeast corner of Orchard and Houston.
And as you can see, this will be another 24/7 outpost for the drug-store chain...
... which joins Marshalls at this 11-story, 94-unit building constructed in part with hand-laid, gilded-bronze brick imported from Cadaqués. An Equinox Fitness center has the upstairs space.
Last month, the developers behind 196 Orchard St., including Ben Shaoul’s Magnum Management, sold the retail portion of the building to the AR Global affiliate New York City REIT for — !!!! — $88.75 million, according to The Real Deal.
This property on Houston between Ludlow and Orchard previously housed a single row of storefronts, including Ray's Pizza, Bereket and Lobster Joint.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Making way for Ben Shaoul's new retail-residential complex on East Houston
Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard
A CVS is coming to the corner of Houston and Orchard in Ben Shaoul's luxury condoplex
Report: retail portion of Ben Shaoul's luxury condoplex on Houston and Orchard sells for a whopping $88 million
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Week in Grieview
[Key Food still life on Avenue A]
RIP Lucien Bahaj (Monday) RIP Unkle Waltie (Tuesday)
Time capsules: The Gap of St. Mark's Place (Thursday)
An annual reunion in East River Park (Sunday)
Report: New owner of the Boys' Club building on 10th Street and Avenue A — revealed! (Wednesday)
Gov. Cuomo condemns suspect who left anti-gay graffiti on Avenue A; another message found on Norfolk Street (Saturday)
The tree nest in El Jardín del Paraíso has been removed (Tuesday)
The Sunshine is gone, and an empty lot awaits a 9-story office building (Wednesday)
Tech hub officially breaks ground on 14th Street (Tuesday)
Niconeco Zakkaya, seller of Japanese stationery and gifts, opening a shop on 10th Street (Friday)
Café Social 68 debuts on A (Wednesday)
Dramatic storm shots (Thursday)
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)
Grant Shaffer's NY See (Thursday)
Maison Kayser closes Union Square location (Monday)
Another Flamingos Vintage Pound opens in the East Village, this one on 11th Street (Monday)
Former Nobletree Coffee space for rent (Wednesday)
Bowlmor Lanes-replacing condoplex cleared of construction equipment on University Place (Wednesday)
Something finally happening at the former Gotham Pizza (Wednesday)
Little Buddha pops up with vegan fare on 1st Street (Friday)
Medina's Turkish Kitchen debuts on 2nd Avenue (Monday)
Polytima Designs is closing on 9th Street (Friday)
The Boilery up next for 58 3rd Ave. (Thursday)
A new door for The Jones (Monday)
Thoughts on Ray's (the new bar on the LES) (Wednesday)
... and ICYMI...
Here’s a look at the city-sanctioned mural on the water tower atop 190 Bowery that Shepard Fairey created of actress Rosario Dawson titled "Power & Equality." The work is in part a celebration of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, where Dawson is a board member...
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At Festival Calle 6
The annual Festival Calle 6, a celebration of the Lower East Side's diversity and heritage, took place yesterday on Sixth Street between Avenue D and the FDR...
EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by and shared these photos from a gorgeous Saturday afternoon...
Entertainment included Latin pop duo Castro y Gambino...
... and Jose Luis as Michael Jackson...
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