A handful of protestors — said to be remants of the day's early peaceful demonstrators — smashed windows along Second Avenue last night. Le Fournil, the French bakery at 115 Second Ave. at Seventh Street, was among the local businesses to suffer damage.
[Reader-submitted photo]
[Photo this morning by Steven]
There were unconfirmed reports that someone attempted to start a fire out front. (Several trash cans and mattresses along the Avenue were set ablaze.)
Ownership shared this on the Le Fournil Instagram account...
Protestors fanned out across the city today, including two groups who marched through the East Village late this afternoon.
The protests, like others around the country and NYC in recent days, were sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis this past Monday.
One group, numbering in the hundreds, entered Tompkins Square Park at Ninth Street... and exited on Seventh Street and Avenue B... Steven shared these photos...
Another group, numbering at least 1,000, with a large NYPD presence following along, entered the East Village via Second Avenue.... EVG reader Ben Lebovitz shared these photos on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street...
The blocks-long assemblage turned on Seventh Street, then went south on First Avenue... these reader photos show the size of the crowd on First Avenue ...
... who stopped on Fifth Street, shouting "Black lives matter" and, "No justice, no peace." The NYPD had blocked off Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, the location of the 9th Precinct.
While the groups in the East Village early this evening were described as peaceful by passersby, ABC 7 reported that there were at least three dozen arrests in the city today related to the various protests.
There are now reports of broken windows along Second Avenue (the TD Bank location at First Street and Le Fournil Bakery at Seventh Street). There are also reports of several burning vehicles around Union Square.
— Jessica Cunnington (@JessicaNews12) May 31, 2020
My photographer Greg Giglione just took this video of two NYPD Vans being lit on fire, near Union Square. A police officer yells that there are bullets inside and for everyone to stay back. We have heard several mini explosions. @CBSNewYorkpic.twitter.com/cl9yLCtLkE
— Natalie Duddridge (@NatDuddridgeTV) May 31, 2020
A welcome sight on Avenue A ... Blanche’s Lucy’s Tavern — aka Lucy’s — is back open now for take-home drinks here at 135 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street... EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by to say hello to proprietor Ludwika "Lucy" Mickevicius, who's serving drinks from a to-go table at the front door...
You can't go inside the longtime bar, where Lucy has been these past 40 years ... but Stacie did get the grand tour (including the basement!)... we'll post those photos at a later date...
Several NYPD officers involved in the violent arrest on Avenue D on May 2 will face disciplinary charges, The New York Timesreported.
Per the Times:
Investigators with the New York Police Department have recommended misconduct charges against three police officers, including one who sat and knelt on the neck and upper torso of a man he was arresting, a maneuver similar to the one used in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, two people familiar with the matter said.
It is unclear what charges the officers, including Francisco X. Garcia, will face in connection with the investigation of the May 2 incident ... one of several police encounters that led to accusations of racial bias in the enforcement of social distancing, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an internal police investigation.
Departmental charges are expected as soon as next week.
Garcia, who's stationed at PS4 on Avenue C, was stripped of his gun and put on a desk assignment following the ugly confrontation when an attempt to enforce social distancing rules escalated.
Garcia and his partners originally approached a man and a woman outside the corner deli on Ninth and D over a lack of social distancing, police officials previously said. This encounter reportedly led to an arrest on marijuana and weapons charges.
As seen in a widely circulated video shot by a witness, Garcia, who was not in uniform, then walks toward several bystanders, including Donni Wright, a nearby resident who works for the NYCHA. Police officials originally said that Wright took a "fighting stance," which led Garcia to shout the n-word and brandish a taser before wrestling Wright to the ground and kneel on his head.
Back to the Times:
Afterward, the officers filed charges accusing Mr. Wright of assaulting a police officer, but a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Friday that prosecutors had dropped the case on May 18. The spokesman, Danny Frost, said prosecutors were still reviewing the officers’ conduct.
As previously reported, the city has paid out nearly $200,000 to settle lawsuits involving Garcia, an eight-year veteran.
According to a complaint filed in 2013, Garcia allegedly told a woman eating with her partner inside a Harlem restaurant that she "dressed like a man." When the woman attempted to get his badge number, Garcia allegedly pushed her, then replied: "Take a fucking picture of it, fucking dyke." The city settled that suit for $8,500.
A year later, Garcia was accused of wrongfully arresting a man trying to visit his girlfriend inside a Washington Heights NYCHA building. According to a federal lawsuit, which the city settled for $27,500, Garcia "forced [the man] to the floor face-first," then punched, kicked, and clubbed him.
Meanwhile, Wright "filed a notice of claim announcing his intention to file a $50 million lawsuit against the city."
His lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, also called on the district attorney to bring criminal charges.
"The video, pictures of the truth, clearly call for a criminal investigation of this matter," Mr. Rubenstein said. "The evidence is there."
For further reading: Gothamist has coverage of last night's protest — touched off by the death of George Floyd — in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, which saw the NYPD dousing the crowd with pepper spray and using batons during arrests. More coverage at PIX11.
• Aggressive NYPD response cited during George Floyd protest yesterday in Union Square (Gothamist) Dozens arrested (NBC New York) Another protest planned today at 4 p.m. at Foley Square (CBS New York)
• The city's indie theaters hope for some rent relief (Broadway News)
• About Alessandro Simonetti’s “D Bulletin,” which chronicles the daily activity off Avenue D (HIGHSNOBIETY)
• NYC needs some guidance for bars and restaurants to reopen (Eater) City Council introduces legislation for outdoor dining (The Post)
The Wild Son made its EV debut yesterday at 132 First Ave. at St. Mark's Place.
As previously reported, this was to be a second outpost of the cafe, which opened in 2016 on Little West 12th Street.
However, Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall (The Wayland, Good Night Sonny, The Lost Lady) decided not to reopen the original location.
Here's a little more from the restaurant's reps:
The Wild Son’s kitchen is newly headed by Luigi Petrocelli, who previously cooked under Marco Canora at Hearth for eight-plus years, including overseeing its recent transition to a healthier focus. With its casual anytime fare, The Wild Son’s opening all-day menu features sandwiches, salads, bowls and shareable plates.
When the restaurant is able to expand their hours and launch a separate dinner service in the future, the nighttime menu will apply the same philosophy of creative seasonal cooking drawing on influences from around the world to more substantial dishes.
And the current menu...
I asked Ceraso why they decided to debut now, as the city remains on PAUSE and the restaurants that are open are relegated to takeout and delivery service.
"We were planning to open the week of the shut down. So the space has been done for a long time," Ceraso told me. "Assuming we won’t be allowed to have customers inside in even a limited capacity until at least the middle of July, we needed to do something. Like everyone else, we need to operate with a limited staff at the moment. This seemed like the best way to bring the food back that customers from the west side had been waiting for, as well as introduce the restaurant to the neighborhood."
The Wild Son is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. for pick-up and delivery (no alcohol right now). Find more details and place orders via the Wild Son website.
The corner space was most recently the Rolling Stones-themed Waiting on a Friend, which took over from Colibri and VBar before that. (And yes — St. Mark's Bar & Grill one day long ago.)
A new deli is opening next week on the southeast corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street... EVG contributor Stacie Joy spotted workers filling up the store with deli-ish items yesterday...
And the name of the store: Your Desire. Not sure at the moment if this might be a sibling to Your Desire in Food, the corner deli on Seventh and C.
A conversation is evolving through several notes on this sidewalk bridge on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. (Thanks to Katherine Rusch for sharing the photo!)
The first note is addressed "to whomever stole my bike from this location."
It reads:
You stole it from a nurse who's been working in a COVID ICU for the past 2.5 months. This was my only way of getting to work without contaminating other people. PLEASE return it if you have a heart.
P.S. I hope you disinfected it...
A second note offers to help fundraise for a new bike for the nurse.
A third note arrived from someone else who had his-her bike stolen here.
I'm working from home and it was my only way of exercising. I can't believe these people are stealing from people who need their things right now.
It makes me sad for humanity but then I think about people like you. You risk your life daily for others. This is the biggest service to humanity. Thank you.
This letter writer also offers to chip in for a bike for the ICU nurse.
EVG reader Cajsa spotted this discarded beauty casually discarded alongside P.S. 64 Robert Simon on Sixth Street near Avenue B. No word if the Christmas tree had been decking the halls recently inside the school.
Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood... this panel goes back to March, when the preventative measures against COVID-19 were in the early bonkers phase...
First, a thank you to our friend Alex at Flaming Pablum for uncovering this gem: A 13-minute clip in which a Brazilian journalist named Ernesto Varela does some reporter-on-the-street interviews to uncover the latest happenings along St. Mark's Place circa 1985 ("Desperately Seeking Susan" era!) ...
And it goes as expected at times...
The East Village portion commences near the 5-minute mark as Varela arrives in the East Village, "the most trendy place in New York nowadays." Look for excursions into Trash & Vaudeville and Astor Place Hairstylists. Other highlights include someone looking for a safety pin to pierce Varela's ear and the reporter asking people if they are capitalists...
Luster Photo & Digital is back open after two-plus months here at 121 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place ... they set up a contact-free system for dropping off or picking up any orders... in case you've been shooting on film here in recent weeks...
The latest establishments back open for takeout and delivery: Muzzarella Pizza at 221 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street with to-go service at the front door ... and 787 Coffee at 113 Seventh St. just west of Avenue A is back with take-out carry and pastries...
Other recent reopenings from the tipline: M & J Asian Cuisine at 600 E. 14th St. at Avenue B is available for takeout from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. ... and the Starbucks at Astor Place returned back on Monday.
