Metrograph and Club Cumming are open to protestors this weekend

The independent cinema down at 7 Ludlow St. is opening its lobby this weekend (2-6 p.m.) for people taking part in peaceful protests... offering up water and other supplies as well as use of the theater's restrooms.

Metrograph is the latest arts-theater space to take part in the growing Open Your Lobby campaign... other neighborhood participants include the Public Theater ... the New York Theatre Workshop ... and Performance Space New York.

For updated lists on NYC protests, you can visit @justiceforgeorgenyc. And you can make a sign today (starting at noon, and they have supplies) at Amy Van Doran's Modern Love Club, 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Updated:

Club Cumming on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is also open to protestors...

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We are here if you need us 1pm-5pm Water, Snacks, PPE, First Aid, Restroom #openyourlobby #blacklivesmatter

A post shared by Club Cumming (@clubcumming) on Jun 6, 2020 at 8:15am PDT

Reopenings: The Coffee Project, the EVO juice bar, the Hard Swallow, Big Bar, Otto's Shrunken Head and more

The Coffee Project started takeout service this past week here on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. For now, their hours are 8 a.m. to noon.

In other reopenings... the juice bar at East Village Organic is up and running again. The market at 124 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place also extended their hours to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• The Hard Swallow, 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, is offering take-home drinks and hot dogs from noon to 7 p.m. daily.


[Photo by Steven]

• Big Bar, 75 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will be open for takeout drinks from noon to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow.

• Otto's Shrunken Head, 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, will be offering "Tiki ToGo" from 2-6 p.m. today and tomorrow.

• Papilles, 125 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is offering a three-course meal for takeout or delivery. Details here.

• Kindred, 342 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has unveiled Kindred Spirits & Provisions, offering a variety of to-go items. Open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details here.

2 break-in attempts in 1 night at East Village Finest Deli

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Two attempted break-ins occurred this past Tuesday night at East Village Finest Deli on the southwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street.

The first attempt occurred when a man took a hammer to the door at 12:23 a.m. Several hours later, a man with a skateboard, possibly seeing that there was already a smashed door, tried to finish the job and get in at 4:38 a.m.

Manager Anwar Shahbain told me that Mohammad, a neighbor in the building across the street, screamed through the window at the perpetrators, potentially scaring them off while another neighbor called the police. (The store also has an alarm.)



Anwar expressed gratitude to his neighbors as well as to Sgt. Omar Elsayed at the 9th Precinct, who responded to the burglary attempts and called the family multiple times to alert them to the attempted break-ins.



Anwar arrived at 5:09 a.m. and spotted Mohammad, who was still standing in the window across the street, arms crossed, keeping an eye on the business.

East Village Finest Deli will keep their COVID-19-adjusted hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but have boarded up the store with plywood for now.

And in the photo below (from the left) Ahmed Almulaiki, Mohammed Alaskari, Anwar Shahbain and Yusif Zindari ...

Friday's parting shot

EVG reader Juli S. spotted this discarded flat-screen TV today on 10th Street near First Avenue ... the sign notes, "As broken as our justice system" ...

On the march

Thank you to East Village-based photographer Gudrun Georges for sharing these images from before, during and after some of the peaceful protests this past week...

'You ain't seen no one like me since Lauryn Hill back in the '90s'

London-based rapper Simbi Ajikawo, aka Little Simz, surprised fans with a new EP (part of her ongoing early-career Drop series) last month, recorded while she was on lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis ... the audio track here is for "Might Bang, Might Not."

Performance Space New York is now a rest stop for protestors; donations needed

Performance Space New York on First Avenue at Ninth Street is now offering protestors water and other supplies as well as use of their restrooms ...



And they are the latest East Village theater space to do this as part of the Open Your Lobby campaign... we mentioned yesterday that both the Public Theater and the New York Theatre Workshop are providing similar services in the afternoon and early evening hours.

Remembering their names

In recent days, someone has added stickers on the sidewalk bridge outside Village View along First Avenue... paying tribute to the unarmed black men and women who died at the hands of police across the country in recent years.

EVG reader Elissa, who shared these photos, estimates that there are nearly 200 stickers (some of the names repeat) on this stretch between Second Street and Sixth Street...

Are you interested in volunteering to help East Village businesses?

The East Village Independent Merchants Association in collaboration with the East Village Community Coalition are seeking volunteers to help local businesses.

Per a tweet yesterday:

COVID-19 and current social unrest have hit the East Village hard, particularly local businesses. We could use your help. Interested in volunteering around the East Village? Sign up here to help out.

Again, that volunteer form is here. (Among other things, the form asks if there are any skills or volunteer interests you would like them to know about, such as painting, carpentry, cooking or teaching.)

By my count, more than 50 East Village storefronts were damaged in recent days from either post-protest vandalism or break-ins — many of them late-night Sunday/early Monday morning.

At Ama Raw Bar, the three-month-old restaurant at 190 Avenue B near 12th Street, someone tried to break down the front door, but was unsuccessful at gaining entrance.


[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Regardless, the Ama team — Will, Harvey and Rita (above) — decided to shut down for now. They had just reopened for take-home food and drinks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• 2 break-ins on Avenue A: Village Square Pizza, Tompkins Finest Deli & Grill

• Noting another break-in, this time at Rue-B

• The break-in at Khiladi on Avenue B

• Here's the moment of the break-in early this morning at Alphabet City Beer Co.

• A broken window and burglary at C&B Cafe

• More about the damage at B&H Dairy

Something new for the walls at Ray's Candy Store

Ray yesterday was the recipient of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation 2020 Village Award...



Head here for the full list of recipients.

Thanks to Peter Brownscombe for the photos!

A reminder about maintaining social distance and wearing a mask on 9th Street

These signs arrived a little earlier in the week on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue ... courtesy of the 9th Street A-1 Block Association...







Thanks to William Klayer for the photos!

Reader report: A curfew arrest on 11th Street

A reader shares the below video clip from last night on 11th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

According to the reader, the woman was standing in front of her building some 45 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect. Three police cars were involved in her arrest. It's not known what, if anything, she did aside from being out past the curfew. Per the reader: "As you can hear, the block is not having it."

Thursday's parting shot

On the Bowery this afternoon... a view of Avalon Bowery Place between Houston and First Street...

At the Public Theater

As mentioned this morning, the Public Theater on Lafayette is one of the venues offering water and restrooms to protestors as part of the Open Your Lobby campaign... they'll be open daily from 2-6 p.m for people taking part in marches.

Outside, they're featuring the work of D.C.-based creator B. Peppers...

Grant Shaffer's NY See

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 — and everywhere.

Updated: Police shoot knife-wielding man in deli at 10th Street and 3rd Avenue

Preliminary reports are coming in this morning about a police-involved shooting on 10th Street and Third Avenue.

Per ABC 7:

Eyewitness News is told NYPD officers responded to a report of a man with a knife at 6:40 a.m.

One man was shot and taken to Bellevue Hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

Will continue to update as more information becomes available.

Updated 7:50 a.m.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Healthy Greens Gourmet deli on the northwest corner...

BREAKING: NYPD investigating after sources say police shot a knife-wielding man who approached two officers inside a deli near East 10th and 3rd Ave. in #Manhattan this morning.

— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) June 4, 2020

Details from NY1:

According to police, two officers were inside a deli when a man entered and got into a dispute with the clerk before pulling out a knife.

Police say officers ordered the man to drop the knife but he refused.

Police say officers then shot the man, hitting him once.

Updated 4:30 p.m.

A more complete picture of what happened is emerging. Here's the Post:

The officers walked into the Healthy Greens Gourmet on Third Avenue near East 10th Street around 6:40 a.m. when a 55-year-old man, holding a knife in his right hand, followed them inside, cops said.

The man then menaced the officers with the knife, prompting one of them to Tase him — but it did nothing to stop him, police said.

The suspect then got into a squabble with the store clerk, before making his way for the exit and shoving the second female officer on his way out, authorities said.

Outside of the store, he continued to motion toward his waistband and refused the officer’s repeated demands to stop advancing, cops said.

Several minutes before this encounter, the man was picked up on surveillance footage at Westside Market on Third Avenue at 12th Street taking a taking a bottled drink from the shop without paying for it.

A store manager said that the man "had been coming to the store for years and sometimes gets a bit agitated."

Updated:

The Times has more of narrative here.

One of the officers tried to stop the man with a Taser, but the device did not work, according to a police department statement. The man shoved the second officer, and as he rushed outside, and she followed him. He was shot moments later, as he reached for a sheath on his belt, the police said.

“Once outside, the male continued to motion toward his waistband and refused the officer’s repeated demands to stop his aggressive advances,” a police summary of the incident said. “The officer, as well as an additional responding officer to the location, discharged their firearms and the suspect was struck in the arm and torso.”

On 4th Street, the New York Theatre Workshop opens its door to protestors

The New York Theatre Workshop on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery recently opened its doors for protestors during non-curfew hours.

The theater, currently closed during the COVID-19 crisis, is letting protestors inside to use its restrooms and supplying them with free water and snacks as well as providing them with an opportunity to recharge their phones.

As Deadline reported, this move inspired the Open Your Lobby campaign, which is calling on shutdown theaters "to repurpose their spaces in support of protesters nationwide fighting racism and injustice."

In support of #BlackLivesMattter and the many protesters nationwide fighting racism and injustice RIGHT NOW, we challenge theaters to #OpenYourLobby. pic.twitter.com/kmEU5oZzo9

— Open Your Lobby (@openyourlobby) June 3, 2020

Nearly 10 other Off-Broadway theaters have joined in, including the Public Theater on Lafayette. (Find an updated spreadsheet of open venues here.)

NYC, we hear you. If you are heading out to protest today, our restrooms are open from 2pm to 6pm today, June 3. We will have staff volunteers on hand to help facilitate social distancing.

— The Public Theater (@PublicTheaterNY) June 3, 2020

Earlier in the week, the New York Theatre Workshop shared this message of solidarity with the community...

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A post shared by New York Theatre Workshop (@nytw79) on May 30, 2020 at 7:30pm PDT

Say their names

On the LinkNYC kiosk on Sixth Street and First Avenue this evening... photos by Goggla...