Before the pandemic, the Village East Cinema showed movies that originally opened at the Angelika Film Center. Plus, the Village East Cinema is owned by City Cinemas, a branch of Reading International. The Angelika is also under the Reading International umbrella. So they're keeping it all in the Reading family.We’re reopening Friday March 5, and we are excited to welcome @CityCinemasNYC to the Angelika Film Center family, as Village East by Angelika and Cinema 123 by Angelika!
— Angelika Film Center (@AngelikaFilmNY) February 26, 2021
For more information, visit us at https://t.co/K3mu1MJiw8.
See you at the movies! pic.twitter.com/T1W311Xu6p
Thursday, March 4, 2021
It's nearly show time as NYC theaters prep for reopening
Hub Thai debuts new Avenue A space
A Downtown State of Mind Saturday courtesy of the Tompkins Square Library branch
Catch a wave at this incoming Asian restaurant on 6th Street
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
The first opossum sighting of 2021 in Tompkins Square Park
A much-needed beach day for Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street
Like many of us perhaps, Miss Kita the Wonder Dog seems to be hitting a wall in terms of social distancing and pandemicness generally. She particularly misses our rich neighborhood nightlife. When we woke up this morning Miss Kita declared Tompkins Square Park insufficient for her needs and demanded a beach day. It's still a bit windy out here and she says it's not yet prime seagull chasing season but a quick trip out of town to catch some fresh sea air was just what the doctor ordered.
Gallery Watch: 'Last Supper' at LatchKey Gallery
LatchKey Gallery offers a refreshing respite to this, an incredibly large and open space with a dedicated ethos toward advocating overlooked artists. In this week’s Gallery Watch, I am excited to provide insight into this nomadic contemporary art space that is challenging the status-quo on several different levels.
The powerhouses behind LatchKey Gallery are Natalie Kates and Amanda Uribe. I was lucky enough to meet Natalie at Silo6776 in New Hope at Scooter LaForge’s exhibition Beef Jerky late last year. I could tell Natalie was an enthusiastic and passionate art lover, but it wasn’t until I had come to learn about her Artist Residency Program that she spearheaded with her husband Fabrizio Ferri that I really got the gist of her dedication to emerging artists.
The show, curated by Tamecca Seril showcases the works of 12 Black female artists, referencing the significant event of the show’s title where Jesus and his apostles gather and consecrate around a banquet feast. The classic, white-washed representation is (and forever will be) a staple in art history, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be challenged. Last Supper at LatchKey Gallery builds a new table that lifts and honors voices that art history seems to leave out of its canon — those that belong to Black women.
Last Supper celebrates fellowship and organized radical thinking amongst the curated group of artists. The show positions their work within a contemporary context, in turn creating a discourse around what it means to be Black, female and creative while inevitably disrupting the art world’s tiresome and often gross institutionalized normality.
Last Supper showcases the works of Shervone Neckles, Ify Chiejina, Turiya Magadlela, LaToya Hobbs, Kimberly Becoat, Nkechi Ebubedike, Josie Love Roebuck, Jennifer Mack Watkins, Dana Robinson, Dominique Duroseau, Ariel Danielle and Ashante Kindle.
The pieces by Shervone Neckles are photographic and hanging from the ceiling, offering something I have never seen before in a gallery space. History, time and torture are suspended in her golden-framed objects and these works were definitely what excited me the most.
The divide from gallery to artist studio space was raw and generous for the average gallery-goer. Once stepping inside the residency quarters, I was enthralled by another young maker’s world. February’s artist in residence was the beautifully spoken and gifted Eric Manuel Santoscoy-Mckillip, who has filled the space with painted sculptures, freshly designed rugs and a working studio that I was delighted to receive an invitation to tour.
Born in El Paso, Texas, Eric plays with ideas of overlapping and blurring — subjects that seek to reflect the in-between space of the U.S. and Mexico border. His work is rich in color, crazy with texture and so bold and confident to the point of intimidating.
Last Supper will be showing at LatchKey’s Canal Street and Industry City locations until March 20. To book an appointment, please visit their website. A special thanks to Eric and Amanda for having me.
Checking in on Meat + Bread on Allen Street
"We definitely knew it would be a challenge opening during the pandemic, but we also saw opportunity and potential," Azi said. "So far we have seen an incline from week to week in sales, repeat customers and also excellent feedback from the community. We do our best in minimizing wastage and reusing our inventory. Things can only get better."
This is also a homecoming for the brothers, who were born, raised and educated on the Lower East Side. These days they are residing in Queens.
"The best part of it all is coming back and opening a business in the neighborhood we grew up in," Azi said. "It's great when friends and family stop in — those who still live in the area. Overall, it has been a good experience so far and hopefully a better one going forward."
Meat + Bread is open daily from noon to 9 p.m. Phone: (607) 228-3441. You can find their menu here. And on Instagram here.This is the new tenant for the NW corner of 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
Leasing underway at Stella LES on Avenue C and Houston (and 2nd Street)
Set within a unique triangular plot, Stella's architectural footprint offers studio-to-two bedroom residences with sunlit spaces and multiple exposures. Public areas are equipped with ultraviolet LED in-duct air purification systems proactively treating the air and reducing airborne and surface contaminants. With amenities such as a fitness center, roof deck and resident’s lounge, discover unmatched conveniences in a haven for Lower East Side living.
Inspired by outspoken theater pioneer and Lower East Side native Stella Adler, Stella LES is a boutique 45 unit development that reflects her wildly independent spirit, her iconic status, and her fierce commitment to furthering her craft.
Report: The Knickerbocker Bar & Grill will be reopening soon on University Place
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Police make arrest in fatal punch on 1st Avenue and 11th Street
According to published reports (amNY, the Post), Anthony Fabriani, 60, was arguing with Anthony Larocca, 19, when the teen punched him in the left eye, knocking him to the ground.Thanks to the publics assistance and the great work of our @NYPDDetectives this individual has been apprehended. https://t.co/y456qe46Q1
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) March 2, 2021
Meanwhile, on the 6 train
East River community group gets action on release of (heavily redacted) value engineering study
We need to see an un-redacted report. We also strongly support the NYC Group of the Sierra Club, which "calls upon the City Council's Committees on Environmental Protection and the Council's Parks and Recreation Committee to hold a joint oversight hearing on the East River Coastal Resiliency Project or ESCR" to get to the bottom of the “secrecy, inadequacy, and sequence of events and information releases [that] have left many perplexed and disturbed.”
Our many ACTIONeers have pored over the plans and have found fatal flaws that will damage our neighborhood's well being for years to come. We must have transparency, accountability, and community involvement in a revised plan.
What might be next for the NW corner of 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place?
Nobletree Coffee closed here in May 2019 after just five months in business. A sign on the door for Nobletree's "beloved customers" offered thanks ... along with a reason for the closure: "Because of the slow foot traffic at this location we were forced to close."
The listing at Winick noted that this is the "busiest intersection in the East Village."
Other tenants in recent years include Eastside Bakery (.net?) and Roastown Coffee.
And the only business to last here in the past 30 years: the Gap, from 1988 to 2001... (photo by Barry Joseph!)
347 E. 4th St. sells; conversion to residential use is in the works
Construction watch: 799 Broadway
Monday, March 1, 2021
Free TV pitch (Martha Hanson edition)
This TV works!!!
Although it's not smart......
I did watch "The Americans" on it. (On FX.)
Felt bad for Martha, but she's on "Snowpiercer" now!
GFJ Martha!Thanks Jason Corey for the photo!