Book Club, currently closed to in-store customers due to the COVID-19 crisis, is still active behind the scenes with fulfilling online orders.
Now, the shop on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is offering free deliveries via bike messenger to all of Manhattan as well as parts of Brooklyn and Queens. In stock titles will be delivered same or next day by co-owner Nat Esten, the East Village resident who runs Book Club with his wife Erin Neary.
In recent weeks there had been rumors that some AMC locations, including the one on Third Avenue at 11th Street, were at risk of closing because of a potential bankruptcy filing.
However, according to published reports, AMC — the largest network of theaters in the country — has announced it plans to raise $500 million, improving its liquidity and pushing the threat of bankruptcy to the background.
As the Commercial Observerreported on Friday, AMC Entertainment skipped rent in April after closing all its 1,000 theaters globally in March and furloughing 26,000 workers in the United States, or 96 percent of its workforce. Their theaters are expected to remain closed through June, with hopes of a partial reopening later in the summer, according to reports.
A joint venture of ABS Partners Real Estate and Benenson Funding is AMC's landlord in the East Village, where the theater chain has a ground lease through July 2037.
The seven-screen theater is in the corridor south of Union Square that preservationists have worried will turn into a "Silicon Alley" thanks to the zoning change made for the mayor's tech hub on 14th Street.
I was never really a fan of the rather cinder-blocky theater, but have grown to like it in the past year or so for mainstream films. On the downside, even after the 2015 renovation the lobby is too cramped — lines for tickets and concessions spill into one another — and the carpet pattern can cause seizures.
Still, it's more comfortable and seemingly less crowded than, say, the Regal Cinemas at Union Square or Essex Crossing — locations where people think it's OK to have animated conversations throughout a movie.
Loews opened the theater on May 24, 1991 on the site of a one-story parking garage that had been built in 1868 as headquarters for the NYC Department of Public Charities and Corrections, per Cinema Treasures.
And here's a late-1970s look at the block via a photo by Mark Kane that I stole from Jeremiah Moss ... before the theater and the luxury rentals with the Westside Market...
Derek Berg first spotted the man with a cello on Fourth Street just west of Second Avenue ... the man eventually made his way to Second Avenue...
On Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, the man offered to sell the cello, which was missing its strings and in need of repairs, to a passerby who had made eye contact with him...
They agreed on $5...
The cello's new owner then continued on his way north along Second Avenue...
A volunteer effort led by the East Village Community Coalition (EVCC) along with residents Perry Leung and Paul Gale has created an interactive map of what's open in the neighborhood during the COVID-19 crisis. (The site is designed by Zhi He of BetaNYC.)
The map includes telephone numbers, links to delivery and Instagram, and business-specific details (like local discounts and contactless pickup options). There's also information, confirmed via phone, about whether 13-plus supermarkets in the East Village accept SNAP/EBT and have immunocompromised hours/senior discounts.
The rest of the data comes from several EVG posts (like this one and this one) along with fact-checking calls and Instagram research done by the volunteers.
Moving forward, EVIMA will help the group maintain the accuracy of the existing data, and expand the number of businesses included on the map.
If you are a business owner and want to add or edit your information, then please fill out this form here. Find more details at this link.
"Stacie, I promise you, we'll be back," Ben says this past Sunday evening, while gesturing with his cigarette. "We have a long lease. We've been here for 45 years. We will come back. When all this is over."
He tries to finish his smoke before heading back in the deli on Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street to grab some hummus for the road, but forgets that he's wearing a face mask and has to maneuver things around in order for the cigarette to find its target.
Ben's youngest son, Gamal, is packing up some cereal and snacks for Ben's grandkids back home. Meanwhile, store employee Glenn is carting perishables into Ben's "office," his Astro van parked across the street. A few people come in to say goodbye and grab some last-minute supplies. The mood is somber.
There's still some milk and yogurt left on the shelves, which Ben offers to me as I take some final images. I know there is social distancing in place, and I am also wearing a mask, so I don't know if he can see I am moved by the shuttering of the store. I wish I could touch his arm, communicate in some way how sorry I am that this is happening.
"I worry about you and the neighborhood," he says. "There's crime now, much worse that it was before. People have no work, no jobs, and soon, no money for rent. Then what will happen? Not good. Take care, be careful."
His son steps around the figure sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the store in order to pull the gate down. Ben shakes his head, climbs in his van and takes off for home.
A short and sweet reader appreciation via the EVG inbox...
Mamoun's because it still reminds me of St. Mark's Place as it was a few years ago (even though this is a different location on the block).
Mamoun's is at 30 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. They are open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a midnight close on Friday and Saturday.
Want to share an appreciation of an essential East Village business that remains open during the COVID-19 crisis? Send us an email here. (Thank you for the suggestions!)
As previously noted, the #ClapBecauseWeCare cheer for health-care workers and first responders is especially raucous on Seventh Street between Avenue A aand First Avenue... where, since April 3, resident John the Baptist has played "The Star Spangled Banner" on his guitar from an upper floor. (An EVG regular tells us that Janie Hendrix, sister to Jimi, loves this tribute.)
Here's a video via EVG contributor Stacie Joy from a nearby rooftop last night, where the 7 p.m. cheers seemed the loudest and longest in the neighborhood to date...
There's a new sculpture atop the COVID-19 memorial outside Tompkins Square Park on 10th Street and Avenue A... Dave on 7th shared this photo... it also looks as if it might light up...
Free-jazz legend Giuseppi Logan, a onetime East Village resident and fixture in Tompkins Square Park, died Friday at the Lawrence Nursing Care Center in Far Rockaway. According to his friend Matt Lavelle, Logan died from complications of COVID-19. Logan was 84.
Here's a brief overview via an extensive obituary at WBGO:
Logan leaves behind a small body of recorded work, but his standing in the improvised avant-garde is considerable. He emerged just as free jazz was beginning to crest as a movement, and even amidst a crowded field of iconoclasts, he distinguished himself as an original.
An April 2012 feature in The New York Times delved into Logan's mysterious past, in which he disappeared for decades and spent time in a mental institution.
His long journey eventually brought him back to the East Village, where he was a regular in Tompkins Square Park, playing a setlist heavy on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Matt Lavelle, a trumpeter and clarinetist, helped Logan get back into music with his first proper gig in some 40 years at the Bowery Poetry Club on Feb. 17, 2009, per WBGO's report. They also recorded an album for Tompkins Square Records titled "The Giuseppi Logan Quintet."
“The main thing for me, to be honest, was just to make Giuseppi feel good and to give him some money and some CDs to sell in the park,” Josh Rosenthal, founder of Tompkins Square Records, told WBGO. “He made his first record in 45 years, and that was enough. But the record was surprisingly well received.”
[Photo from 2012 by Bobby Williams]
Logan had hip problems, and sometimes got around with the assistance of a walker. The 2012 piece in the Times provided a snapshot of his typical day:
To get from Tompkins Square Park to his room on East Fourth Street, a trip of just a couple of city blocks on foot, Mr. Logan hobbles west to a northbound bus on Avenue A, then gets on a bus at 14th Street that drives east to Avenue D and then turns south. It can take half an hour. Most days, this is the extent of Mr. Logan’s universe.
Through the years, many East Village residents pitched in to help Logan. For instance, in September 2013, residents collected money for Logan after he was jumped on Ninth Street. A resident also gave Logan a spare tenor saxophone.
In 2014, someone stole his saxophone, which left him with a different instrument...
He said that he played the flute in the 1960s in Paris, but was a little rusty. Neighbors eventually secured him another saxophone.
By the fall of 2014, he was no longer spotted in Tompkins Square Park. Several years went by before we learned that he was living in a senior residence in Far Rockaway.
Logan is served by two sons, Jaee and Joe.
Here's a short film from 1966 by Edward English that shows Logan in Tompkins Square Park...
The Washington Postpublished an investigative piece this past weekend examining the deplorable conditions at the single room occupancy (SRO) residence at 331 E. 12th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
The facility, above the Educational Alliance's Sirovich Center, which is currently closed, provides housing for formerly homeless single adults and veterans age 55 and up run by Volunteers of America of Greater New York, an affiliate of the national housing-focused nonprofit based in Alexandria, Va., and subsidized by government agencies.
Here's some content from the Post about the facility during the COVID-19 crisis:
According both to tenants and images viewed by The Post, sanitary conditions are poor, social-distancing has been lax and food is scarce. Residents described their situation as a ticking coronavirus time bomb, with even basic protective tools absent; never mind gloves and masks, there has not even been soap or toilet paper in the shared bathrooms.
On Saturday, their fears seemed to have been realized. A man, believed to be in his early 60′s, was found dead in his room by another tenant, according to a resident who was present on the site. An empty ambulance could be seen idling outside the building Saturday afternoon; by evening, it had been replaced by a city-morgue van. No cause of death was immediately available, but the man had been complaining of trouble breathing in recent days, said one tenant. He added that the man had not received any medical attention, and was seen as recently as Thursday mingling with other residents in the facility’s common area.
The Post notes that VOA-GNY runs it under a contract with the city’s Department of Homeless Services, and that the 92 rooms are "filled with former lawyers and veterans, stockbrokers and city workers, each with their own story of how they fell on hard times to end up here."
Though just one of what advocates say is a litany of problem spots in the New York area, the 12th Street SRO illustrates how coronavirus is endangering a whole class of people. The scene lacks the dramatic optics of a hospital lobby filled with patients on ventilators. But a closer look at its images — an elderly woman without food, a cancer patient deprived of basic cleaning necessities — tells both of the forsaken vulnerable in a besieged city and the people who have left them behind.
Joshua Goodman, a spokesperson for Kathryn Garcia, New York City's emergency food czar during the COVID-19 crisis, told the Post that the 12th Street SRO would now be moved to a new food-delivery program that will see residents receiving a four-meal box every other day.
A four-meal box did arrive for the residents on Friday afternoon.
Trader Joe's, which previously closed several outposts on the East Coast after staffers tested positive for COVID-19, will shut down several neighborhood locations for a day of cleaning.
• April 24 — 142 E. 14th St. in Union Square AND 400 Grand St. in Essex Crossing
• April 27 — the wine shop at 138 E. 14th St. in Union Square
These are just one-day closures.
And here's the official TJ's message about all this:
At Trader Joe’s, there is nothing more important to us than the health and safety of our Crew Members and customers. We believe in being proactive and transparent in addressing issues, and we value information and clear communication. With this in mind, we have temporarily closed some stores related to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, including for additional, precautionary cleaning and sanitization.
We have made sure all Crew Members at the respective locations have been informed and understand the steps to take to best safeguard their own health and the health of their community. For any unplanned store closure, Trader Joe’s pays all Crew Members for their scheduled shifts.
And Pinch shared this photo from Friday, when the line for the Union Square TJ's wrapped around Third Avenue ...
There hasn't been any activity at Lucy's in recent weeks (except for that letter for Lucy on April 12). The bar on Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street has been closed since March 14 during the COVID-19 crisis.
In recent days, however, one of Lucy's signature smiley-face signs appeared on the front door — "We will open soon" ...
Colin Huggins, unable to play his piano in public during the COVID-19 crisis, is performing live via Instagram from Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Although he most recently lived in Murray Hill, Webb was well-known in this neighborhood as an everyday presence at Trash & Vaudeville on St. Mark's Place for nearly 18 years.
Webb's passing has prompted many feature obituaries in publications as varied as Vogue to PunkNews.org, a testament to his broad influence and effusive personality.
