Mike's Cleaners is closing on Avenue A

Mike's Cleaners is closing up shop on Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. (Thank you to Stacie Joy for the photos.)

The note on the gate blames the closure on the "current situation." 

Across the country dry cleaners have been hard hit during the pandemic...  as more people are working from home and not wearing business attire, and fewer people are going to events where they need to dress up. So no need to take things in to a dry cleaners.

According to the National Cleaners Association, one in six dry cleaners have closed or gone bankrupt in the United States during the pandemic.

The numbers seem higher here. By my count, 10 dry cleaners have closed in the East Village since the start of the pandemic... Dion Cleaners on 14th Street, Amy's aka C & C on Seventh Street, LT Baron's on 11th Street, Sun's Laundry on 14th Street, Best Ave. B Dry Cleaners on Avenue B,  AAA Cleaners on Avenue A, Exquisite Cleaners on First Avenue, Sunrise Cleaners on Third Street and Danny Cleaner's on 10th Street (they merged with Lois Cleaners on the southeast corner of 10th Street and Third Avenue).

Back on Thursday, local community groups gathered outside outside Michelle Dry Cleaners & Laundry on Avenue C to call on state legislators to support commercial rent relief for small businesses. 

A new pizzeria for the former Muzzarella Pizza space on Avenue A

A new pizzeria is coming soon to 221 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street. Signage arrived on Friday for Burrata Pizza 

With Burrata's arrival, this officially marks the end of Muzzarella Pizza, which quietly closed early last summer.

Muzzarella, which opened here in 1991, had many fans who appreciated their low-key, unpretentious vibe and solid slices and menu offerings like the meatball hero.

New signage for the incoming Greenwich Marketplace on 4th Avenue

We have a changing of the awning here on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 12th Street ... the top pic shows the new look... and this photo via EVG reader Doug offers the now-replaced late-December version...

Liking the new version much better. You?

The market has been in the works for several months now... when they do open, they'll be serving up a variety of house-made sandwiches and juices ... as well as some grocery fare that you'd expect to find at a corner market. 

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...

Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Website here. Phone here: (646) 559-2553.

When Charles the dog blasted Daft Punk on 2nd Avenue in a video directed by Spike Jonze

Earlier this week, the French electronic duo Daft Punk announced that they were calling it quits after 28 years of creating music together. 

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

A mini month in review... with an armless mannequin on St. Mark's Place...

• 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) ...

• Community groups and small businesses rally for commercial rent relief (Friday) 

• 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 ...

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

Mil Mundos Books will continue on at Essex Market

Photos by Stacie Joy

Back in October, the Bushwick-based Mil Mundos Books opened a stall on Fridays and weekends inside Essex Market... it was to be up through just the end of 2020. 

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

New Citi Bike docking stations arrived the week of Feb. 15 on First Street just west of First Avenue (above) ... and on Fifth Street at Cooper Square ...

Signage is also up for a new docking station on Third Street west of First Avenue (wasn't there one here originally?)...

I believe there are other new docking stations in the neighborhood (behind on my expansion updates). 

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's parting shot

A moment from the "FBI" shoot today along Avenue A at Third Street ... photo by Stacie Joy...

The 'Mouse' that roared

 

The Acute, the East Village-based duo, released a new video earlier this month... check out "La Souris Politique (The Political Mouse)" above... and you can find the band on Instagram here ... and Bandcamp here.

Today in winter wonderlands

As seen on Broadway and Houston... photo by Robert Miner

Davidovich Bakery softly rolls out the bagels on Avenue A

From the EVG tipline... the Avenue A outpost of Essex Market regulars Davidovich Bakery is now in soft-open mode here between Third Street and Second Street (first reported here) ... per the door signage, this is going as Davidovich Bagels...

And they're offering a free cup of coffee (with any purchase) during this time.

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

• More about Chef Eric Sze, of 886 on St. Mark's Place, and his efforts to raise awareness against anti-Asian hate crimes (NY1) 

• 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

Local community groups gathered yesterday morning to call on state legislators to support commercial rent relief for small businesses. 

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. 

'FBI' alert for filming CBS series on Friday (tomorrow!)

The CBS crime drama "FBI" is the latest television program to film along Avenue A and other parts of the neighborhood. 

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

Back on Jan. 19, we noted that Taste Wine at 50 Third Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street looked closed (photo by Steven from Jan. 16). The windows were papered up and the inside appeared to be empty.

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.

Now comes word, via the Post, that someone made off with the shop's entire inventory.

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

Perhaps as a sign of the approaching spring (wishful thinking!), the EV outpost of Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream has reopened — as of yesterday — at 145 Avenue A at Ninth Street after a short 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!