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Monday, March 1, 2021
New signage for the incoming Greenwich Marketplace on 4th Avenue
Openings: Mi Salsa Kitchen on Allen and Houston; Davidovich Bagels on Avenue A
Mi Salsa Kitchen opened back on Friday here on the southwest corner of Allen and Houston.
As previously reported, the restaurant serves Cuban cuisine via chef Mikel Presa ... and offers a modestly priced menu... with meat and chicken dishes, served with two sides and a salad, starting at $11.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Find them on Instagram here ... or at the other of a phone: (646) 649-4929.
Also... ICYMI from Friday ... Davidovich Bagels is now in soft-open mode at 36 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street...
Sunday, February 28, 2021
When Charles the dog blasted Daft Punk on 2nd Avenue in a video directed by Spike Jonze
EVG reader David reminds us of the 1996 video for the band's "Da Funk" release ... Spike Jonze directed the 5-minute clip, titled "Big City Nights," which follows Charles, an anthropomorphic dog with a boombox (with a broken volume knob) playing Daft Punk's "Da Funk" as he hobbles along Second Avenue.
The video concludes outside the now-closed Nightengale Lounge on Second Avenue at 13th Street. You might spot a few more familiar locales along the way...
6 Posts from February
• City releases COVID-19 vaccine data by ZIP code; where do local neighborhoods rank? (Feb. 17)
• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get a firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza (Feb. 9)
• City's first plant-based community fridge is up and running outside Overthrow on Bleecker Street (Feb. 8)
• Ray's 88th birthday at Ray's Candy Store goes global with virtual greetings (Feb. 6)
• About that rolled-up carpet in the crosswalk (Feb. 5)
• The Marshal seizes the Lower East Side Coffee Shop on 14th Street (Feb. 5)
Week in Grieview
Posts from the past week included ... (with a photo on Seventh Street by Derek Berg) ...
• East Village Neighbors offering help scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments (Tuesday)
• A grocery store is coming to the former Associated space on 14th Street (Wednesday)
• FlyeLyfe on the move to 1st Avenue (Monday)
• Sen. Hoylman honors local businesses for service during the pandemic, including Mikey Likes It (Wednesday)
• The March Hare debuts a Charity Chest on 9th Street for families in need (Tuesday)
• Barnyard Cheese Shop is closed until further notice on Avenue B (Monday)
• Davidovich Bakery softly rolls out the bagels on Avenue A (Friday)
• Hub Thai relocating to a larger space on Avenue A (Monday)
• This week's NY See finds a mask-wearing quandry in the middle of the woods (Thursday)
• Gallery Watch goes to Canada on Lispenard Street (Wedensday)
• Meyhane has closed on 2nd Avenue (Wedensday)
• Report: Someone stole the entire $300,000 inventory from Taste Wine Co. on 3rd Avenue (Thursday)
• NYC movie theaters to reopen at 25% capacity on March 5 (Tuesday)
• Invasion planned for Planet Taco (Wednesday)
• A touch of spring on 10th Street thanks to "Pose" (Tuesday)
• Ralph's returns after a winter break (Thursday)
• About Keith Forever (Sunday)
• Cycle of change on Astor Place with a new tenant for the Flywheel Sports studio (Thursday)
• A sweet-and-sour new business for 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)
• Four Four South Village bringing Taiwanese beef noodles (and curbside dining) to 7th Street (Monday)
... and @stoopingeastvillage is a new neighborhood Instagram account with this goal: "Sharing/re-sharing sidewalk finds you can actually run to!"
And my photo contribution ...
Mil Mundos Books will continue on at Essex Market
Photos by Stacie Joy
So we were pleasantly surprised to see the bookshop still up and running back on Friday...
The folks at Mil Mundos confirmed that they will be here "until further notice."
The bilingual bookstore, which "curates to celebrate Black, Latinx and Indigenous heritage," is open Friday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Their stall is on the northwest entrance ... on Delancey at Essex. Follow them on Instagram here.
Citi Bike's EV expansion
Oh, and speaking of the new docking station on First Street... a reader asked about what happened here the other day...
It looks as if a vehicle smashed through a few docks and plowed into the fence at First Park... 
Friday, February 26, 2021
Friday's parting shot
Davidovich Bakery softly rolls out the bagels on Avenue A
The 23-year-old business opened its first non-Market space at 77 Clinton St. late last fall.
Until this past September, this storefront was home to Native Bean. The cafe was here since January 2015, having moved one block from 50 Avenue A.
EVG Etc.: Raising awareness against anti-Asian hate crimes; Putting Blondie in a graphic novel
• Chi Sum Ngai and Kaleena Teoh, who own Coffee Project on Fifth Street (and in other neighborhoods), launch a scholarship program for Black baristas (Daily Coffee News)
• How the pandemic has gutted the city's arts and entertainment business (Gothamist)
• The Emergency Eviction Act pause ends today — now what? (The City)
• What's happening with the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad moving to the Department of Transportation? (Streetsblog)
• An interview with Leo Fitzpatrick about his gallery Public Access on St. Mark's Place (B+B ... previously on EVG)
• A look back at Jackie Curtis — "East Village Superstar" (Off the Grid)
• Blondie to receive the graphic novel treatment (Rolling Stone)
• Diversions: The "Avocado Guy" of NYC (Eater)
... and questions to ponder...
Does anyone else wonder why the ice cream truck is driving around the East village at 10:45 on a 40 degree night? @evgrieve
— theenemieslist19 (@theenemieslist1) February 26, 2021
Community groups and small businesses rally for commercial rent relief
Photos by Stacie Joy
The event took place outside Michelle Dry Cleaners & Laundry, 169 Avenue C between 10th Street and 11th Street... 
Organizers, which included the Cooper Square Committee, East Village Community Coalition, Village Preservation and the East Village Independent Merchants Association, said that they have been hearing from many business owners who continue to struggle to pay rent during the pandemic ... all in the face of drastic declines in their revenues.
In addition, according to the organizers, immigrant and business owners of color say they have been disappointed by the lack of outreach and assistance in securing working capital to stay afloat.
In turn, several of the small businesses were placing "Permanently Closed" signs on their storefronts to visualize their struggle and what is at stake if the state does not take action. They are asking state legislators to support Senate Bill 3349/Assembly Bill 3190, which would help cover the cost of rent for businesses and nonprofits who lost income due to COVID-19.
Under the bill, the commercial tenant, property owner and state government would share the burden of the rent shortfall. Certified COVID-19-affected commercial tenants would have to pay the lesser of 20 percent of their actual income or one-third of their rent, property owners would have to forgive 20 percent of the rent, and the state would pay the remainder.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
'FBI' alert for filming CBS series on Friday (tomorrow!)
The posted notices highlight the crew's footprint tomorrow, with parts of Seventh Street, Second Street and Third Street seeing some "FBI" action.
The fleet of fake NYPD cruisers is currently parked along Second Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...
"FBI" is the third TV show to film around here this year ... following "New Amsterdam" and "Pose" (and "Hawkeye" this past December).
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 NYC ... and in the case of today's panel, Upstate New York...
Report: Someone stole the entire $300,000 inventory from Taste Wine Co. on 3rd Avenue
This apparent closure came just two months after the wine shop reopened under new ownership. By early February, the retail listing was online at RIPCO.
Per the story in the Post, which came from an anonymous police source, the owner was last inside the shop on Jan. 8, and he filed the police report this week.
The owner told police Tuesday night that when he was last at the Taste Wine Co. ... on Jan. 8 all of the inventory was in place.Prior to that date, the business had been closed for several months, he told authorities.Stolen were 1,000 bottles of wine, 1,000 bottles of liquor and 125 wine dispensers, machines designed to serve and preserve wines at the right temperatures, the source said.
The total value was estimated at $300,000.
Last spring, previous owner Gary Landsman was hoping to sell the 5-year-old business as he continued to help raise awareness of Canavan, the fatal genetic disease that his two young sons have.
He closed the shop in May ... he and his family were expected to travel to Dayton Children's Hospital in Ohio later in 2020.
It is not immediately known who took over the business.
Ralph's returns after a winter break
They'll be open daily for now from 2-10 p.m.
This location, the third in Manhattan, opened back in September.
As previously noted, the business dates to 1928 when Ralph Silvestro started selling Italian ice (or water ice) from his truck around Staten Island. The first retail store opened in 1949 on Port Richmond Avenue in Staten Island.
In recent years the company has franchised out, expanding to other parts of NYC as well as Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester County.
Photo yesterday by Steven
Cycle of change on Astor Place with a new tenant for the Flywheel Sports studio
Flywheel Sports, which featured a stadium-seating studio with more than 70 bikes, will not be reopening at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star.
The cycling-studio brand is going through bankruptcy right now. However, the space won't be void of sweat for too long: the like-minded CycleBar has signed a lease here. (First reported by New York Business Journal.)
Flywheel opened here in March 2016.
H/T Upper West Sider!
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Wednesday's parting shot
Like a fine wine, this corner gets better with filming
And as the top photo shows, it appears that Discount Fine Wine & Champagne’s (someone previously did make an effort to paint over the errant apostrophe) will be making another cameo on the southeast corner of Fourth Street... just like back in December when "Hawkeye" was in town...
"Hawkeye" pic by Stacie Joy!
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