Cucina Di Pesce returns as a pop up at Nomad on 2nd Avenue

[Undated photo via Zomato]

Good news for fans of Cucina di Pesce — owner Mehenni Zebentout has announced that menu items from the now-closed Italian restaurant are available for takeout or delivery from his other establishment at Nomad, 78 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

Cucina di Pesce, the unpretentious seafood-focused restaurant on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery, closed in September 2018 after 32 years in business. The building at 87 E. Fourth St. had a new owner, and there was a rent increase for the restaurant space. (That space remains empty, though a Chinese restaurant is in the works for it.)

Late last summer, Cucina di Pesce's Instagram account teased a comeback with a photo of Audrey Hepburn wearing a sleep mask in a scene from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with a caption "that was a nice break...WHO’S HUNGRY?"

Cucina di Pesce announced their pop-up venture at Nomad via this snappy Instagram clip...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cucina di Pesce (@cucinadipesce) on Jun 20, 2020 at 3:27pm PDT

Previously on EV Grieve:
• After 32 years on 4th Street, Cucina di Pesce will close after service on Sunday

First Lamb Shabu has closed on 14th Street

For rent signs hang in the front window at 218 E. 14th St., bringing an end to the short tenure (August 2019) of First Lamb Shabu.

This was the first Manhattan outpost for the Beijing-based hot pot chain that has more than 300 locations in China. (There's also an outpost in Flushing that people like.)

Prior to the start of the First Lamb Shabu build-out in April 2018 (!), the storefront between Second Avenue and Third Avenue had been empty since Dunkin' Donuts decamped for a smaller space on the block in August 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street Dunkin' Donuts shuffle complete

The Dunkin' Donuts space on East 14th Street is for rent

Sunday's parting shot

Reader report: Fire on an Avenue C rooftop caused by fireworks last night

The ongoing fireworks around the neighborhood nearly resulted in a major fire early this morning.

An EVG reader shared the following from along Avenue C:

People setting off fireworks from Avenue C and neighboring buildings caused a fire at 1 a.m. on the rooftop of our co-op. Thankfully someone saw it and called the Fire Department and no one was hurt. Our doors were destroyed by the firefighters gaining entry, and an apartment now has considerable water damage as a result of the effort to put out the fire.

The reader then asked a follow-up question that others have asked: "Is there any effort to try and stop people from lighting these fireworks?"

Updated 9 p.m.

And a few more photos from the roof,







Per another building resident: "Part of the brand new roof will need to be replaced, and the apartment below suffered water damage. It could have been much worse, but just goes to show what happens when neighboring buildings set off fireworks from their roof."

Week in Grieview

[Friday evening along 7th Street via Derek Berg]

Posts from the past week included...

• East Village volunteers expand their outreach to feed more neighbors in need (Thursday)

• At the Juneteenth protest on Astor Place (Friday)

• Michal Gamily’s 'Mashawsha to go' from an East Village fire escape (Wednesday)

• Designer Darrell Thorne is 'Under Glass and In Color' on Avenue A (Tuesday)

• Report: These 12th Street residents are going on 5 months without gas for cooking (Thursday)

• Curb your enthusiasm: A look at more East Village businesses with their doors back open (Friday) East Village businesses reopen their doors for curbside pickup (Monday)

• Tech hub nears halfway mark (Monday)

• Essex Card Shop is moving to a new space on Avenue A (Tuesday)

• Popeyes getting nearer to unleashing the chicken combo deals on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• More prep work for incoming St. Mark's Place office building (Monday)

• Fortnight Institute leaves 4th Street (Wednesday)

• Drivers keep moving, and now breaking, the Open Streets barricades on Avenue B (Friday)

• I Need More will close next month (Friday)

• Ninth Street Espresso (on Ninth Street) reopens (Monday)

• Merry June 17 (Wednesday)

• This week's NY See panel (Thursday)

• Julie's Vintage has closed (Thursday)

• Re-openings: Juicy Lucy returns to 1st Street (Thursday)

• Ramen and dim sum for 9th Street (Tuesday)

• That new store in town (Monday)

... and by yesterday, the mannequin on Seventh Street was put to work (thanks to Eden for the photo!)...



---

Follow EVG on Instragram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

Never-ending July 4 continues

We've received about a dozen emails or DMs from readers about people setting off fireworks around the neighborhood in recent weeks. Received some photographic evidence via Vinny & O from last night around 10th Street and Avenue C.

The increase in illegal fireworks have been documented throughout the city. Per Gothamist on Monday:

According to city data, 849 complaints about fireworks were logged with the city's 311 hotline in the last two weeks alone. That's a nearly 4,000 percent increase from the same period in 2019, which saw just 21 recorded complaints. In the first two weeks of June during the previous five years, there were less than 50 complaints related to fireworks in total.

As with other 311 data, it's not clear that the figures reflect an actual spike in activity. In many cases, the growth of nuisance calls is a better barometer of gentrification than any specific change in behavior. But while illicit fireworks have long served as the sonic backdrop to summer nights in NYC, some residents say the intensity and frequency has been noticeably greater in 2020, with many of the late-night displays appearing strangely professional.

And via NBC 4 on Wednesday:

Now, people in the city that never sleeps have a new audio accompaniment to their surreal spring: Booming, amateur fireworks displays that start at sundown and continue deep into the night.

Illicit bursts of fireworks from street corners and rooftops aren’t uncommon in the city’s neighborhoods in the days before the Fourth of July, but the past few weeks has seen an extraordinary surge in such displays.

In the first half of June, there were 80 times as many #nycfireworks complaints compared to the same period last year. Fireworks usually start late June. This year it’s earlier, longer and bigger. Who’s supplying all these professional-grade fireworks? https://t.co/NwoVJI7RQg

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 21, 2020

In the East Village, there have been reports of fireworks on multiple side streets and Avenues... and a lot of terrified dogs in apartments.

Previously.

Report: Man dies after gun accidentally discharges in waistband inside Campos Plaza

A 36-year-old man died last night after the gun he was carrying accidentally discharged in his waistband while in the lobby of Campos Plaza on 12th Street and Avenue C, according to published reports. (PIX11 and the Post.)

The man was reportedly adjusting his pants inside the apartment building at 635 E. 12th St. when the gun fired, striking him in his upper left thigh around 7:30 p.m. He died later at Bellevue.

Screengrab outside Campos Plaza via the Citizen app

The playgrounds are back open in Tompkins Square Park

The ballfield/TF and playgrounds in Tompkins Square Park are back open. Workers unlocked them on Friday morning, then locked them up again later in the day. Signage then arrived stating the areas would be closed until today for painting and cleaning.





Meanwhile, the playgrounds are open... and signage points out that the city is not sterilizing the equipment...


[Photo by Steven]

Also, the basketball courts are open, though the rims are still MIA. The dog run remains closed.

[Updated] Police barricades continue sad existence on Avenue B Open Streets

Readers continue to note the sad state of the Open Street concept on Avenue B between Sixth Street and 14th Street. Since the last post on Friday, the police barricades meant to block off the Avenue to through traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. aren't faring so well.

The barricade was smashed and discarded on Ninth and B. The one at Eighth Street is hanging on...



The one at Seventh Street was clipped by a fire truck this weekend...





And someone dragged one of the pieces about 50 yards to the east on Seventh Street...



And at Sixth Street...



The city announced the Open Street plan in late May to help residents safely get some fresh air while social distancing.

Updated 1 p.m.

Via the 9th Precinct...

Thanks for the calls and messages regarding the barriers on Avenue B needing to be replaced to ensure safety while the open space is being utilized. The replacement should be up today. Thanks for your patience!#EastVillage #NYC pic.twitter.com/08NKtxE3QK

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 21, 2020

Scooter LaForge's Love Power on the Bowery

East Village-based artist Scooter LaForge, working with Hitomi Nakamura and James Rubio, created this Love Power mural on the Bowery between Great Jones and Fourth Street earlier this week.

This was part of a larger effort organized by Bowery artist Sono Kuwayama. (Read about it here.) She received permission from store owners to paint on the plywood of the boarded-up businesses along this stretch of the Bowery. She then reached out to some local artists to have them create murals ...







And what will happen to the plywood when the businesses reopen?

Per Reuters: "When the boards eventually come down, Kuwayama’s plan is to store the art in a gallery, and later sell it, donating the proceeds to local homeless shelters."

As a P.S.

While we're on the Bowery and Fourth Street... Phebe's reopened yesterday for to-go food... they are open from 4-9 p.m. during the week and 2-9 p.m. today...

On 2nd thought

After reopening the playgrounds and the ballfield/TF in Tompkins Square Park yesterday... workers locked them up again later in the day... there was some mixed messaging, as workers said they'd be back open Monday... with signage pointing to a reopening tomorrow (Sunday!) after a cleaning...

Making their mark on St. Mark's Place

A look at the new murals that went up Thursday on the north side of St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue...


[@dos_wallnuts]


[@jillyballistic]


[@sacsix]


[@robotswillkill, @chrisrwk & @zeroproductivity]




[@albert_diaz1]


[@reggiewarlock]

Friday's parting shot

A moment on Eighth Street via Dave on 7th Street...

Unsilent night

Christmas 1982 with Bad Brains at CBGB. The video is for "Big Takeover."

At the Juneteenth protest on Astor Place

Peaceful protestors gathered early this Juneteenth afternoon at the Alamo on Astor Place for what was billed as a "Defund the NYPD March" ... with a final destination of City Hall Park. (This was one of more than a dozen protests today just in Manhattan.)

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos ...