Are you missing your pet parrot?

Several readers noticed an exotic bird out in the wild this morning in Tompkins Square Park nearest to the entrance at Seventh Street and Avenue B.

EVG reader Clint was able to corral the bird, and now has it at home for safekeeping...



Per Clint: "It is a black-headed caique. It's very friendly and tame. It was obviously someone's pet and well cared for."

Does it belong to you?

Updated 1/31

Clint has not found the owner yet. There is a lead that it may belong to someone at St. Brigid's. Clint is talking contact there today.

Workshop next week will offer free legal resources for East Village small business owners

Several local organizations are joining forces to provide small business owners in the East Village with free legal resources during a workshop next week at Book Club on Third Street.

Via the EVG inbox...

Many small businesses and commercial tenants have concerns about non-rent charges and how they impact the bottom line.

Cooper Square Committee, East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA) and Brooklyn Legal Services will bring free legal resources to neighborhood businesses and commercial tenants.

Join us for one or both of our upcoming sessions on non-rent charges. Lawyers will be available after each session to do one-on-one consultations.

Bring your commercial lease and your questions!

Morning and evening session available:

Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 9 a.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Book Club
197 E. Third St. near Avenue B

Now hear this: About the new book of East Village bar quotes from Billy the Artist

[Image via @Instagram]

Billy the Artist is never without his sketchpad, which aided him with his latest project — a book of illustrations with snippets of conversation titled "Things You Don't Hear Twice: Quotes From the East Village."

The copies just arrived ahead of a signing this Saturday at one of his favorite neighborhood haunts — International Bar on First Avenue.

In a recent exchange, he shared a little about the book and his thoughts on the East Village ...

I’ve lived in the East Village for 30 years and have always loved the vibe and people here ... I almost always have my sketchpad on me and would draw in my various East Village bars and, of course, hear the craziest quotes from my friends or strangers. I would write down the quotes in the back of my sketchpad and that’s how this book became a reality.

Living and working in my studio in the East Village I need to get out and be with people — be it in the afternoon or night. As I’ve gotten older, I tend to like the daytime in a bar because it [attracts] more regulars.

This book has been in the making for a long time, and both the quotes and illustrations I hope remind everyone how great the East Village was and still is.

[Image via @BillytheArtistNYC]

Billy the Artist will be signing copies of his book this Saturday (Feb. 1) from 2-6 p.m. at International Bar, 102 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

That unique pop-up gallery space on 7th and C is now home to a palm reader

[Photo from 2012]

For several years, starting in 2012, the shed/storage space outside Wholesome Foods on Seventh Street and Avenue C was home to the Stand, a wholly unique pop-up gallery and performance space.

The Stand featured work by street, homeless and unknown artists. You never knew exactly what you'd find there on a given weekend night. It lasted until October 2017. The space was a holiday market during the 2018 Christmas season, featuring the work of local vendors and offering entertainment such as a shakuhachi zen flute performance during the opening reception.

After that, we hadn't seen much, if any, activity here. Last fall, someone tagged the Bruce Lee mural on the gate.

Well, there's a new tenant now. The gate was open the other day, showing that the space is now home to a palm reader...

Pinks Cantina bringing the tacos to Webster Hall

Pinks Cantina is teaming up with Webster Hall to serve food during concerts and club nights starting on Tuesday.

Pinks Cantina, which started at the Bowery Market in 2018, has an outpost on the Lower East Side at 203 Chrystie St. that serves a variety of tacos and sides. (Find their menu here.)

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

The revamped Webster Hall, now owned and operated by BSE Global and The Bowery Presents, reopened last April with Jay-Z over on 11th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

Wednesday's parting shots

Some time on Monday night or early Tuesday morning, someone took a firehose to the Con Ed substation on Avenue A between Sixth Street and Fifth Street...



This past August, someone sprayed DBDBDBDBDBDBDB from Sixth Street all the way across Avenue A. It took two months before Con Ed had the tagggggggg removed.

Thanks to Stacie Joy for the photos!

Recognizing Debi the Gardener for her years of service in Tompkins Square Park

Deborah Hulse, better known as Debi the Gardener to regulars of Tompkins Square Park, retired in December after nearly 15 years with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

During the January Community Board 3 meeting last night, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera recognized Hulse for her years of service to the neighborhood. Hulse had worked in Tompkins Square Park since March 2009.

EVG correspondent Steven shared the above photo from the meeting. From left: Alan Good, who donated the ping pong tables to the Park, Hulse, Park regular Monica Rittersporn, and Rivera.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Debi the Gardener retires

Noted

A reader shared this today from along the Verizon building on 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

On the bright side, per the reader — at least the truck isn't parked in the bike lane.

P.S.
Might need to revisit the Brown Paint Wars

EVG Etc.: Appreciating East Village street art; ranking City Council members

[Gnome side table spotting on Astor Place via Derek Berg]

Supporters trying to get activist Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement with roots in this neighborhood, canonized as a saint (The Washington Post)

Jeremiah Moss meets his new EV neighbors: "Young and funded, they belong to a certain type: utterly unblemished, physically fit, exceptionally well dressed, as bland as skim milk and unsalted saltine crackers." (N+1)

A look at some East Village street art (Off the Grid)

Ranking the City Council members — Carlina Rivera listed at No. 18 out of 50 (City & State)

Chinatown residents are stocking up on masks in the wake of coronavirus fears (Gothamist)

There's a Q&A with "JoJo Rabbit" writer-director (and Hitler star) Taika Waititi after the 7 p.m. screening Friday at the Village East on Second Avenue and 12th Street (Official site)

Peter Brant preps for a major Warhol exhibition in 2021 at his foundation's East Village HQ on Sixth Street (Architectural Digest ... previously on EVG)

Several swastikas were found scribbled inside the Hillman Houses on Grand Street (The Lo-Down)

Passersby lift SUV off woman after collision on Delancey and Norfolk; victim speaks (CBS 2)

A Manhattan judge awarded a Brooklyn-based artist more than $250,000 after a now-closed Lower East Side gallery failed to pay her for the pieces she sold there, and refused to return her unsold work (Daily News)

Recovery efforts underway to salvage the archives of the Museum of Chinese in America after last week's fire on Mulberry Street (Gothamist)

East Village, an overlooked UK band (1987-1991), gets the re-release treatment on Slumberland Records (Official site)

... and via the 9th Precinct... Enrique Jones was last yesterday afternoon leaving 420 E. 12th St. ...

He’s about 5'11" tall, 180 lbs., wearing eyeglasses, a black jacket, blue jeans and black sneakers. Anyone with information, please ☎️ @NYPDTips at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or DM 📲 @NYPDTips.

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) January 29, 2020

A musical reunion to celebrate Tribal Soundz,

In 1998, musician Nora Balaban opened Tribal Soundz, a community-oriented world music store that had a 10-year run at 340 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The shop's legacy has endured since closing in 2008. Tomorrow (Thursday) night, Balaban is hosting a Tribal Soundz musical reunion with a variety of performers in the space, now the East Village Playhouse.

Per the invite:

The space is now a wonderful small theater and we've been invited back to reunite, play some music, hang out, brainstorm & imagine what we can do together in the future. Come early for seating! Doors 5:30 p.m. Limited Seating.

The free performances will run until 9:30 tomorrow night.

I asked Balaban about what made the store special.

"Our tagline in the Tribal Soundz days was 'Bringing you the world's music, and everything you need to play it,'" she said. "Tribal Soundz was more than just a store — it was the nerve center for global music action in NYC. We sold instruments from around the world, CDs, held music workshops and performances. All kinds of musicians and people from the neighborhood were brought together, centered around global music."

And for one night, that will be happening again.

Behind the build: Amelia and Christo's dream nests 2020

[Amelia]

In recent weeks, Amelia and Christo, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, have been busy building their 2020 nest.

East Village-based photographer Laura Goggin (aka Goggla!) shared these photos of the two in action...


[Christo]

Amelia and Christo have been working on two nests — one in a ginkgo on the east side of the Park, and one in a locust near Temperance Fountain.

To date, the Temperance Fountain location (seems a little noisy?) is further along ...


[Amelia]

Hard to say which one they'll end up nesting in for the season...



Be sure to follow Goggla's website (link here) for updates on the red-tailed hawks ... and other urban wildlife ... as the year unfolds.

Deadline extended to apply to serve on a Community Board

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's office has extended the application period for the 2020-2022 class of Manhattan Community Board members.

You now have until Feb. 14 to apply. Here's another look at the info:

Interested in what gets built in your community and how government works to deliver services in your neighborhood? Apply to join one of Manhattan's 12 Community Boards.

Every Community Board has 50 seats which are filled for two-year terms by volunteers, who are selected by the Borough President and local City Council members. Half the seats are up for appointment or reappointment every year.

Community Boards get a seat at the table in high-stakes land use, real estate, and zoning negotiations, and they work directly with city agencies to influence how government services are delivered at the neighborhood level.

If you'd like to serve as a member of your Community Board, apply online here! Community Board applications will be open until 5 p.m. on Feb. 14.

Physical applications (downloadable here as a PDF) may also be dropped off at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office or mailed and postmarked by Feb. 14, but online submissions are strongly preferred.

You can find more details about our local board — Community Board 3 — via this link.

Tuesday's parting shot

Move-out day at Addiction NYC on St. Mark's Place ... photo today by Derek Berg...

Wallace was found

Updated 2:55. Turns out Wallace was found yesterday and is back home.

Several readers have shared these lost dog posters that were spotted along Avenue A and Avenue B in recent days. Wallace went missing back on Saturday.

H/T Gojira

A reading series at Odessa

Odessa has been playing host to a literary reading series in recent weeks on Wednesday evenings.

There hadn't been much notice about the events. Now, however, there's a sign up for the readings...



The series, which takes place in the back of the diner (near the bar) on Wednesday evenings, features several guests as well as an open-mic portion. There's a suggested donation of $5 as well as a request to order something from Odessa. (Ed pick: challah grilled cheese!)

Michael Graves, who started the Phoenix Reading Series in the West Village in the late 1990s, is the organizer. Amy Barone, Ron Kolm and Karen Neuberg are the featured poets tomorrow (Wednesday) night. The reading starts at 6 p.m. and runs to 8-9 p.m.

Demolition watch: 270 E. 2nd St.

Workers have prepped the four-story 270 E. Second St. for demolition here between Avenue C and Avenue D.

This is the former home of Barrier Free Living (BFL), the nonprofit that provides transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence with disabilities.

In December 2018, BFL officials unveiled plans for a new state-of-the-art facility to replace its current building.

As a reminder, here's a rendering of the new 12-floor structure, designed by JCJ Architecture ...



And here's more from the news release about the new No. 270:

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.

BFL closed here in April 2018 after 28 years in service. The project was originally expected to be complete in late 2021.

Prince Tea House expanding to the East Village with an outpost on 10th Street

Prince Tea House, with six locations in NYC, is expanding this year, adding several new outposts — including one at 204 E. 10th St. just east of Second Avenue.

The new shop will be located in the currently empty space that last housed the Le Pressing dry cleaners (and perhaps next door?).

Expect some storefront renovations here in the weeks/months ahead... here's a look at the rending for the new 10th Street ...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Prince Tea House (@princeteahouse) on Jan 16, 2020 at 2:56pm PST

This is a tea-heavy area with several established shops nearby, including Cha-An on Ninth Street ... and Uluh Tea House opened right around the corner on Second Avenue in November 2018.

A new tree nest for El Jardin del Paraiso

In recent weeks, several EVG readers shared the news that a new tree nest is under construction in El Jardin del Paraiso, the community garden on Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Back in the summer, the octagonal treehouse that East Village resident Roderick Romero created in 2003 was removed...


[Photo by Roderick Romero]

Apparently a garden committee member thought the 16-year-old structure had become decrepit. (This article for the Times in 2003 has more background on Romero's structure.)

Romero is not behind this new work, which he complimented in an email.

Monday's parting shot

From the Instagram account (@lesecologyctr) of the Lower East Side Ecology Center: A bald eagle was spotted perched near the Houston Street baseball fields this morning in East River Park.

Also, as previously reported, you can sign the petition to help save the Center's community compost program at this link.

Get well soon, Ray!

[Photo from Friday morning]

Ray Alvarez, the tireless proprietor of Ray's Candy Store at 113 Avenue A, was admitted to the hospital this past Thursday morning for emergency hernia surgery.

Several Ray's regulars have said that he's resting comfortably and doing fine. Word from the shop is that Ray, who just turned 87, wants to return as soon as possible (like, today).

And it sounds as if he's OK. According to Peter Brownscombe, who paid Ray a visit at Beth Israel: "Apparently his first action on coming out of the anesthetic was to get on his phone and order more potatoes for the store."

H/T Dave on 7th and Stacie Joy!