Monday, August 17, 2020

Ravi DeRossi plans vegan Mexican restaurant for former Violet space on 5th Street


[Photo from July 30]

East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi has plans for a vegan Mexican restaurant at 511 E. Fifth St., the former Violet space between Avenue A and Avenue B.

DeRossi is on tonight's virtual CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license for the address. According to the questionnaire for public viewing at the CB3 website, the working name is Spider in the Garden. (The space has a garden in the back, which a previous tenant, GG's, would use to harvest several ingredients.)

The proposed hours are 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, with a 1 a.m. close on Friday. Proposed weekend hours: Noon to 2 a.m. on Saturday and noon to midnight on Sunday.

Reps for DeRossi did not respond to an email seeking more information about this venture.

DeRossi's other EV establishments include Avant Garden, Ladybird and Amor y Amargo.

Violet, the restaurant by the Pizza Loves Emily Group and chef/owner Matt Hyland, did not reopen after the COVID-19 PAUSE.

The address has been home to several restaurants since Le Tableau closed in December 2007. Before Violet, there was Goat Town, Seymour Burton, Butcher Bay and GG's.

Sanshi Rice Noodle coming to 2nd Avenue and 7th Street



There's a new restaurant tenant for the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street... signage arrived on Friday for Sanshi Rice Noodle...



We don't have any information about the restaurant at the moment.

This prime corner space has been vacant since Bar Virage closed in December 2018 after 20-plus years in business. Ravi DeRossi had designs on a vegan diner here, though those plans didn't get past the Community Board stage.

SLA temporarily suspends the liquor license at St. Dymphna's on Avenue A


[Photos by Stacie Joy]

Updated 10/14: St. Dymphna's has reopened.

St. Dymphna's is temporarily closed now on Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

According to the paperwork from the State Liquor Authority posted on the front windows, the Irish-style pub had previously been warned — on June 18 and Aug. 5 — for patrons "lingering and/or congregating" outside the establishment.

The paperwork also states that on Aug. 11, an SLA agent saw patrons drinking "without accompanying appropriate food orders" ... and that "the licensee was unable to produce any receipts for food to comply with the requirement that the licensee serve food with any alcoholic beverage purchase."







Co-owner Brendan McElroy addressed the closure in an Instagram post yesterday:

With a heavy heart, I have to announce to you all that St Dymphna’s will be closed, pending a hearing for our liquor license suspension. We were unfairly targeted by the state liquor authority, and issued baseless citations — similar to what has happened to several other bars in the neighborhood. Our attorney is on the case and we will fight this. Looking forward to the day we when we reopen and hang out in our new backyard space...

St. Dymphna's opened here last August, relocating from its home of 24 years on St. Mark's Place.

Several other East Village establishments, including Lucky, the Hairy Lemon, Maiden Lane and the Wayland, had had their liquor licenses temporarily suspended in recent weeks.

Lucky owner Abby Ehmann had started a petition calling for Gov. Cuomo to reverse the state's new mandate that bars must serve substantial amounts of food with any alcohol purchase.

Updated 5:30 p.m.

The SLA posted this about their actions at St. Dymphna's:

On August 11th, investigators with the state's multi-agency task force observed numerous patrons standing, drinking, and ignoring social distancing guidelines outside the premises, with multiple customers observed ordering beverages from a takeout window. Investigators checking sales receipts found that practically no food was purchased with orders that evening, in violation of the Governor's Executive Orders. This was the third strike for this business, a repeat offender that the SLA had charged for violating the Governor's Executive Orders on June 26th and on August 10th.

The Horsebox closes on Avenue A



A for lease sign is now draped across the front of 218 Avenue A here between 13th Street and 14th Street (the listing via Meridian Retail Leasing is not yet online).

The signage officially marks the end of the Horsebox, the sports bar that opened in the spring of 2010 ... and that celebrated its one-year anniversary with a toga party.

The bar had been closed since the PAUSE went into effect in March. This also makes the third consecutive storefront for lease on the east side of A between 13th Street and 14th Street...

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Week in Grieview


[Avenue A at 9th Street]

Posts this past week included...

• Checking in with Chico (Monday)

• East Village Loves Queens expands: Meet East Village Loves NYC (Monday)

• GrowNYC opens a new greenmarket at Astor Place on Tuesdays through November (Tuesday)

• Masking the East Village (Wednesday)

• A visit to East Village Acupuncture & Massage (Friday)

• A visit to East Side Ink (Thursday)

• A hopeful sign at the future (and former) ABC No Rio on Rivington Street (Monday)

• Lhasa, the celebrated Tibetan restaurant in Queens, opens an East Village outpost (Monday)

• Renovations at the former Provident Loan Society building (Wednesday)

• Bleecker Street Bar closing on Aug. 30 (Friday)

• Man randomly damages front window at Azaleas on 2nd Avenue; 'Might be the last straw for me' (Wednesday)

• SLA suspends the liquor licenses at the Hairy Lemon, Cloister Cafe and the Wayland (Wednesday) SLA suspends Maiden Lane's liquor license (Monday)

• 'Public Art as Protest' debuts at Howl! Happening (Thursday ... Saturday)

• New barricade placement along the Open Streets of Avenue B (Wednesday)

• Petit Chou opens on 1st Avenue (Monday)

• This week's NY See (Thursday)

• Zero Irving getting closer to the top; first sign of the glassy exterior (Monday)

• The Athenian will not be reopening on 10th Street (Tuesday)

• ATM swiped from outside Yankee Deli on Avenue C at 11th Street (Friday)

• Good news if you're done with summer (Tuesday)

• Workers removing damaged Elm tree in Tompkins Square Park (Friday)


[Avenue B at 9th Street]

---

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


Minca Ramen Factory is back open on 5th Street



And a reopening from this past week to note: Minca Ramen Factory returned to service at 536 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... they're offering takeout and delivery ... as well as curbside dining.

Minca, which has been here since 2004, was open briefly for takeout and delivery in the spring, then closed up again until Thursday. You may want to call ahead — (212) 505-8001 — for hours.

Compost collection returns to the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket



The Lower East Side Ecology Center has returned — as of last Sunday — to accept kitchen scraps for composting at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket...





EVG reader Bobby G. also notes that they are selling potting soil ...



Find more info at the LES Ecology Center website.

Thanks to Steven for the top three photos!

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Saturday's parting shot



Sunroof scene today on Second Avenue via Derek Berg...

More love from Webster Hall



There's a new message on the marquee at Webster Hall: "New York isn’t New York without you, love." (A St. Vincent lyric.)

This replaces the previous COVID-era message here on 11th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...



Meanwhile, concert venues around the city remain shuttered during the pandemic, with no timeline for a return.

More than 100 independent music venues in the city have come together to lobby Congress for help as the COVID-19 crisis. (Webster Hall isn't in this category, as its owned by BSE Global and The Bowery Presents, AEG Presents’ regional partner, who acquired the operating rights and assets to Webster Hall in February 2017.)

As Gothamist recently reported:

The group is called New York Independent Venue Association (NYIVA), and is working in affiliation with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), which formed toward the beginning of the pandemic. They are trying to get politicians to vote for in favor of the Save Our Stages and Restart bills, which were introduced last month in the Senate. Those bills would provide much-needed support and sustain venues during this period when most are completely shut down.

"These entertainment hubs are critical to their local economies and tax bases as employers, tourism destinations, and revenue generators for neighboring businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and retail," the group said in a statement. "Independent venues exist in every state across the country; they were the first to be closed, they will be the last to open. The economic recovery process will extend past just reopening the front doors, requiring solutions unique to the industry."

Local music venues taking part include Berlin Under A, Bowery Ballroom, Bowery Electric, Drom, Lola, Mercury Lounge, Nublu and Nuyorican Poets Cafe. This link has more about the campaign, and what you can do to help.

A look at 'Bringing Back Bowery' at Howl! Happening



Howl! Happening reopened Thursday with a special exhibit titled "Bringing Back Bowery: Public Art as Protest."

The group show is an outgrowth of an effort organized by Bowery artist Sono Kuwayama in June. She received permission from store owners to paint on the plywood of the boarded-up businesses along the Bowery. She then reached out to some local artists to have them create murals.

These works have been preserved and are now on display at Howl! EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by Thursday for a look...






[Scooter LaForge's "People Have the Power"]


[Izhar Patkin's "Aria: After the Black Paintings"]


[Sono Kuwayama in front of her work "Look Up"]


["Little Boy Blue" by Catt Caulley, Grace H. Gutekanst & Robert Blodgett]


["Black Trans Lives Matter" by Maya Edelman, Scooter LaForge & Sono Kuwayama]


[Sono Kuwayama, Scooter LaForge, Hitomi Nakamura & James Rubio]

Howl! Happening, 6 E. First St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery, is open Thursday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The show ends on Aug. 23.

The gallery is limiting the number of visitors at any one time, and will require masks for everyone. Guests must also register upon entering and have their temperature taken. Find more details about the artists at this link.

Friday, August 14, 2020

In your right 'Mind'



Here's a track from the well-reviewed new (as of July 31) record by Fontaines D.C., the Dublin-based post-punk band... this is "Televised Mind."

Workers removing damaged Elm tree in Tompkins Square Park



A crew was out early this morning in Tompkins Square Park... cutting up parts of the majestic Elm tree that came down on the southeast corner at the entrance on Seventh Street and Avenue B on Aug. 3 during Tropical Storm Isaias ... Goggla shared these photos...



Unfortunately, the rest of the tree must be removed — workers said that the Elm has tree rot...

Updated 12:45 p.m.

A reader shared this photo...



Per the reader: "Sad we're losing another one. But it will be a sunnier corner now. Maybe more flowers..."

Updated 3 p.m.




[Updated] ATM swiped from outside Yankee Deli on Avenue C at 11th Street



There was an early morning report of a stolen ATM from outside Yankee Deli on Avenue C at 11th Street... the thieves ripped down part of the shop's rolldown gate in the process, as these photos via Vinny & O show ...





Police and reporters are on the scene...



Updated:

Apparently Yankee Deli recently refurbished the front of the storefront.

A longtime reader shared this photo...



Updated 9 p.m.

Owner Jose Collado tells CBS 2 that the robbery caused $10,000 in damage to the deli. The station also has the surveillance video of a van pulling the ATM from the storefront.

A visit to East Village Acupuncture & Massage



Text and photos by Stacie Joy

As part of our ongoing look at personal-care service spots reopening under Phase 3 of the PAUSE order, I’m meeting longtime East Village resident Donna Nield, L.Ac., MSTOM, owner of East Village Acupuncture & Massage, located at 155 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (This location opened in the spring of 2016.)



She and two of her afternoon’s clients, Susan Bing and her daughter, Magnolia “Maggie” Bing-Edwards, have agreed to allow me to observe and photograph a session, and to ask questions, which I do, after the acupuncture treatment is over.



Strict COVID-19-related guidelines are observed. There's a forehead-scan temperature check at the door and COVID waivers to sign as well as antibacterial sanitizers and hand-washing instructions — all the while HEPA air filters are continuously running.



There's mandatory mask wearing for everyone — the only exception being when Donna briefly checked the tongue (a common Eastern medicine diagnostic tool) of Maggie.



I witness and learn about health and wellness through acupuncture, cupping, electric stimulation and herbal oil treatments, and ask about what is has taken to reopen the studio.

Acupuncture is considered an essential service, so were you at any point closed for COVID-19 PAUSE orders?

Yes, we closed our clinic on March 16 just before the PAUSE orders — we saw it coming and wanted to be safe. It was a few months into the shutdown that acupuncture was deemed an essential service in NY State. We opened back up again on June 15.

Were there any ownership or staff worries or concerns about treating clients during a global pandemic?

I made sure that I was well informed and got the proper training and supplies before re-opening. I attended webinars that were organized by the NCCAOM (The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine). They gave us excellent guidance on how to keep our patients and staff safe.

We reorganized the clinic with fewer massage tables with more space and wider curtains separating them. We have always had HEPA air filters and hospital-grade cleaner, and now require everyone to wear a mask at all times in the clinic. We feel very confident that we are able to keep everyone safe.

What has the reaction been from regulars — and potential new clients — about receiving treatment?

I imagine that there may be some patients who are still not comfortable coming to the clinic — or anywhere for that matter. The patients who are coming in — both new and returning — seem very relaxed and have a lot of confidence in us.

We have posted all of our safety protocols on our website. Many patients tell us that our clinic was the first place they had been since the quarantine began, they seem very happy that we are open again and I am so grateful for their trust in us.

I watched you do some cupping, electric stimulation, and herbal/oil treatments on patients during my visit, what other treatments do you/can you provide to clients?

Our regular acupuncture sessions consist of an intake and treatment with acupuncture needles. If patients want something extra, they book an extended session, which allows for more time to add the modalities that you listed above. We also do trigger point and motor point sessions, which are orthopedic treatments.











You mentioned that you are currently offering acupuncture but not massage. What needs to happen for you to feel comfortable offering that medical service? Are there any other services that you have suspended?

At the moment we are using all the space that we have — including our massage room — to distance our acupuncture patients from each other.

Massage involves a lot of one-on-one contact, and some of our massage therapists were not comfortable. I agreed with them that it was better to err on the side of caution — I am not sure if we will need to find a larger space, or maybe we will wait for the vaccine before we bring back massage. Many patients who were partial to massage have begun to try acupuncture and cupping to help with muscle tightness.

We have also suspended facial rejuvenation acupuncture treatments. Facial rejuvenation is a cosmetic treatment that targets the muscles of the face, it requires more time to needle and also involves a facial massage. Our staff decided together that it was best to hold off on this and focus on our patients who are coming in for medical rather than cosmetic concerns.

What’s next for East Village Acupuncture & Massage; what are your plans moving forward?

Like most small business owners, we are just trying to keep the business going. We are very fortunate to have understanding landlords, an extremely dedicated staff, and a really diverse and committed community that depends on us. I think it will be a long time before we get our clinic back to where it was in early March but we are flexible, creative, and committed. We are confident that we will get there.



You can keep up with Donna and the team at East Village Acupuncture & Massage on Instagram. They also have remote resources available via a new You Tube channel.

Bleecker Street Bar closing on Aug. 30



Bleecker Street Bar's 30-year tenure on the corner of Bleecker and Crosby is coming to an end this month.

Yesterday, owners of the neighborhood bar announced a permanent closure at this location after service on Aug. 30. Apparently the landlord wasn't interested in a lease extension.

On the positive side, they did leave open the possibility of a return in another location. Here's part of the announcement via Instagram:

It is with a very heavy heart that we are here to announce we will be closing our doors here at 56 Bleecker Street end of day, August 30th. All of our efforts to negotiate a reasonable lease extension with our landlord have failed.

We will be looking into some possible future incarnation of Bleecker Street Bar, and we will keep fighting the good fight, but the one thing we know for sure is that our industry has taken some fatal blows, and the future is very uncertain. We have loved being a part of NoHo, watching the many incarnations over the years, even though it's painful to feel there are less and less neighborhoods for places like us to exist anymore.

But onward we go...Now we especially would like to thank the many many people who have made our bar so special over the last 30 years. It's true that the people make a place, and we have been incredibly fortunate to have the best customers, and far and away the best staff since we opened our doors in 1990. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. So come on by in the next few weeks, enjoy some outside seating, some dumplings, and raise a glass.

With love and a broken heart,
-The Owners, Managers, and Staff of Bleecker Street Bar.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

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, hears or dreams around the neighborhood and NYC.