Thursday, November 26, 2020
A Thanksgiving feast for neighbors in need at the East Village Community Fridge
ABC Special: Pinc Louds edition
"[Pinc Louds] pretty much saved the summer in downtown Manhattan by playing in Tompkins Square Park two or three times a week. They were probably the first. Their music is energizing. It was exciting and for anybody who passed through the park, it was just the most wonderful experience to hear live music again."
"You got all the weird, crazy people, and you got familie. It's just like a wonderful mix of people, all kinda getting by, you know? Sometimes with a little bit of friction — but it's that friction that makes life more special right? And it makes it more New York."
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Gallery Watch: NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown at Derek Eller Gallery
Melissa Brown's work is an equally refreshing and dystopian take on the year of severe global chaos.
Zoom, New York’s subway system and famous art museums are subjects shown glorified throughout Derek Eller Gallery’s latest show. It was the first space I had visited that had more than two people in it. All wearing masks of course, but the irony of the work's commentary rang true during my physical encounter at the gallery.
How do we safely look at art anymore? Especially when these seemingly cheerful paintings take a while to figure out.
Brown’s distortional collages are created with layers of oil paint, stencil, airbrush and screen printed digital photography that undulate with reflective mark makings and contrasting textures. Brown’s use of light is also unique as it ranges from natural to digital, illustrating how ubiquitous the glare of a screen has become for us as our world turns increasingly virtual.
Another interesting feature of the work is that it occasionally involves a human hand, suggesting that this work is in fact about us. Our consumption, our surveillance, our addiction to our cellular devices. The world is still in our hands during this pandemic, but the way in which we see and control it will be altered tremendously ... and forever.
This show is so uncomfortably relevant that it is almost scary to think how else 2020 in New York City will be depicted in the future. Melissa Brown’s work forces you to slow down, to stop and think about this year and to understand our home with an entirely different appreciation.
NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown is showing at Derek Eller Gallery until Dec. 19
Giving thanks at the Mariana Bracetti Plaza
The brothers, along with local entrepreneur Freaky Frige, donated more than 20 turkeys to the residents here on Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.
The Apontes, who grew up in the Vladek Houses, were planning do to several other surprise turkey drop-offs in other public housing complexes on the LES.
"It feels good to give back to people in need from my neighborhood, the Lower East Side," Frige told EVG contributor Stacie Joy, who shared these photos. "I love my hood."
Max Fish says farewell to 120 Orchard St.; new outpost planned
This is not the end of Max Fish by any means. In the meantime while we look for a new location we will be working on our webstore, collaborations, and participating in pop up events. We look forward to seeing you at our new location in better times!
Thank you all for your love and support. We’d also like to shout out bar and service family and friends throughout the city, best wishes to everyone, please stay safe. These have been hard times for all of us. Hopefully we’ll see all of you sooner than later!
From The Max Fish Family
This was the second iteration of Max Fish, the second on the Lower East Side. The bar opened here in August 2014... this after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St.
Higher rents caused them to move out to Williamsburg after the Ludlow Street original closed in July 2013. However, those plans for a bar in Brooklyn never materialized.
A Thanksgiving without Odessa
Previously on EV Grieve:
• Odessa breaks out the Thanksgiving Special signage
• It now seems like Thanksgiving with the Thanksgiving Special at the Odessa
• Odessa unveils Thanksgiving Special; complete dinner still $18.95
• Thanksgiving at Odessa
• Still the best Thanksgiving deal around
• 1 idea for a last-minute Thanksgiving meal
• A tradition almost as traditional as Thanksgiving itself
Tree Riders pulling onto 2nd Avenue
Greenwich Marketplace coming to this 4th Avenue storefront
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
A break in at B&H Dairy
With gas shut off, Tompkins Square Bagels owner wonders why the city isn't helping small businesses during pandemic
On Nov. 13, we told you that ConEd shut off the gas at the Avenue A location of Tompkins Square Bagels.
It has been an incredible struggle to keep the doors open at the Avenue A location. We are basically working around the clock at [the Second Avenue location] to feed Avenue A. My staff, guys who have been fighting and pushing with me since April, are absolutely shot.
The cost of running an entire store on electricity as opposed to gas is also extremely costly. I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up. At the same time, I have 15 full-timers and 10 part-timers who depend on their jobs to feed their families, pay rent or get through school.
There is no end in sight and this is all extremely frustrating especially since the original issue was not gas related. Somehow, I've still had to file permits with the DOB, amendments with the DOB, and apply for gas with ConEd as if I were a brand new operation. I've heard stories of similar issues from other shop owners who waited months or even a year to have their gas restored.
It makes no sense and seems incredibly unjust. Small businesses who have already jumped through the hoops and paid filing fees shouldn't be forced to start from scratch when a gas issue arises. Further, I believe we should be given some sort of expedited preference as our livelihood, and the livelihood of our employees depend on keeping the doors open.
At the very least, in their own self-interest, the city should be wise enough to help the few small businesses left who are still creating jobs, paying sales, state and other taxes, and keeping neighborhoods vibrant and alive. It almost seems like they don't want us around and I just don't get any of it.I'm hoping someone out there with enough power might be interested ... to help us, and make it so others don't have to go through the same ordeal. I know I'm one of the lucky ones. Many were not able to recover and lost their businesses. It has to stop.
A good hair day: Investors pitch in to save Astor Place Hairstylists from closure
A group of wealthy investors has come together to save the Astor Place Hairstylists. The nearly 75-year-old NYC institution was set to close this week after business dropped by 90 percent during the pandemic.
Gural told the Post that both Trichter and Mayor de Blasio separately reached out to him to see if he could help stop the store’s shut-down — and it was a no-brainer for him."Nobody wanted to see it closed," Gural said. “They’ve been a great tenant."
Today is the last greenmarket at Astor Place this season

The Astor Place Greenmarket wraps up its inaugural year today... the market, done in conjunction between GrowNYC and the Village Alliance, arrived back in August on the south plaza at Astor Place (Eighth Street-Lafayette).
The hours today: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
By all accounts, people seemed to like this greenmarket, especially among the residents who miss the greenmarket at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery. That 26-year-old market did not return after the 2016 season.
Photo from August by Steven
It's virtual gala time for the Cooper Square Committee
Monday, November 23, 2020
Reader reports: Package theft season is upon us
We're hearing from several readers about a rash of package thefts of late — even with more people working from home and being there for a delivery.
For instance, someone placed the above flyers along Avenue B showing a video-surveillance pic of an alleged thief residents say is "looting delivery packages" at several EV buildings.
One reader shares the text of a flyer from a building along Seventh Street:
I had 2 Amazon boxes opened and contents stolen yesterday. (In fact, all boxes in the lobby were opened, some with unwanted contents left on top of the boxes.)
My Amazon delivery notice stated, "Your package was delivered. It was handed directly to a resident." (Never seen that on a delivery notice.) That "resident" was not me. I never even spoke to Amazon.
So either we have a thief in the building or, more likely, some fool buzzed in someone they did not know, who stole our stuff.
Whoever stole the contents of these packages opened them in the lobby. Did no one hear?
Please watch out for your neighbors. If you are feeling particularly kind, consider dropping the package at their door on the way up to your apt.
Otherwise, only buzz in people you know.
Groups petition city officials to protect NYC's community gardens
Here's more about the campaign via the EVG inbox...
To preserve and protect community gardens, Petitioners are requesting that New York City agencies designate City-owned community gardens as Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Currently, there is only one CEA in New York City: Jamaica Bay in Queens.
CEA designation will help to ensure that projects and activities likely to affect community gardens are subject to consistent and rigorous environmental review that accounts for their exceptional characteristics and provides ample opportunities for public participation. CEA designation of community gardens represents a significant step toward recognizing and preserving community gardens as critical parts of the City's landscape.
Equally important, by designating gardens as CEAs, the City would acknowledge community gardeners as stewards of sustainability and resilience and ensure that they have a meaningful — and necessary — voice in any future decision-making processes that could affect community gardens.
The Petition makes the following three legal requests:
- First, City agencies with jurisdiction over 40 community gardens identified in the Petition designate those City-owned gardens as CEAs under SEQRA within six months following the submission of the Petition, or by May 18, 2021;
- Second, Within 12 months following the submission of the Petition, or by Nov. 18, 2021, the Department of Parks and Recreation's GreenThumb Program conduct an assessment of all remaining community gardens on City-owned land and confirm, in consultation with community gardeners, that these gardens meet the regulatory criteria for CEA designation; and
- Third, Within 12 months following the submission of the Petition, or by Nov. 18, 2021, City agencies designate as CEAs all gardens within their respective jurisdictions that meet the regulatory criteria for CEA designation, based on GreenThumb's assessment, in consultation and coordination with community gardeners.
Toy story: The March Hare debuts today on 9th Street
Here then, the full reveal at the explosion site condoplex
The Blind Pig's conversion into Coyote Ugly continues
In announcing the closure, Lovell had this to say in a video clip: "After sitting closed for six months due to COVID restrictions, we simply can't afford to pay the rent." This was the very first of the Coyote Ugly saloons — featuring bartop dancing and body shots. There are now more than two-dozen global outposts.
The Blind Pig, the sports bar/pub (home to Arsenal supporters in the English Premier League), closed after service in June 2019. At the time, the owners of the 13-year-old Blind Pig said they were hit with an untenable 50-percent rent increase.