The new location of FlyeLyfe opens today on 1st Avenue

Photo from Wednesday by Stacie Joy

The new location of FlyeLyfe has its grand opening today at noon at 215 First Ave. just south of 13th Street.

This is a big move for East Village-based artist and entrepreneur P.J. O’Rourke, who had been selling his original design T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, masks, prints, patches, bags, magnets and caps from a small storefront on 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

O’Rourke first started selling his creations on the L train via a mobile art cart in September 2012.

And now he's set up in a two-level space that was previously occupied by a Dunkin' Donuts. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

A visit to FlyeLyfe on 11th Street

Yes, Sophie's is reopening today

There has been activity in recent days at Sophie's, the bar that someone once started a blog about here at 507 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

This photo from yesterday shows a beer delivery ahead of its reopening this afternoon. 

Sophie's along with its sister bars Josie's on Sixth Street and Mona's on Avenue B return after closing in December when Gov. Cuomo did away with indoor dining at bars and restaurants. (Indoor capacity in NYC is at 50 percent as of today.) 

There was never any doubt that these neighborhood bars would reopen at some point. 

Still, there were some freakout moments in recent weeks ... like when Google temporarily listed Sophie's as "permanently closed" ... 😱🤯

Stanton Street CSA accepting sign ups for the 2021 summer season

The Stanton Street CSA has opened up enrollment for the upcoming summer season that begins on June 10. 

Per CSA organizers: "We're proud to announce that this summer will be our 17th year offering organic, local, seasonal produce to residents of the East Village and LES — though of course, anyone can join, not just those who live right nearby." 

And they're offering the following summer shares: veggies, fruit, eggs, maple, and maybe mushrooms (the mushroom share would be new and they're still sorting details). The veggie season lasts 22 weeks starting on June 10. 

Their distributions take place rain or shine on Thursdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the M'Finda Kalunga Garden on Rivington and Forsyth. 

You can sign up online here. And you can find the Stanton Street CSA website here. If you have questions, then there's a Zoom session coming up on Saturday, March 27 for prospective members who have questions about their offerings, want to know how to qualify for a subsidized share or have bad veggie puns for the group.

Signage arrives for Luna Cafe Lounge on 2nd Avenue

A few weeks back we noted that a new restaurant was in the works for 166 Second Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

And here's the first sign of, uh, the signage for Luna Cafe Lounge. (Thanks to Steven for the photo yesterday afternoon.) 

Not sure what all this will be about (a cafe by day and lounge by night? A cafe and lounge by day and night?). 

Nothing has had much staying power here since the Dunkin' Donuts closed in early 2010 ... we've had Meyhane, Medina's Turkish Kitchen, Entrez Bar & Grill, Farfasha, Dinah and Pomodora.

Thursday's parting shot

A new wheatpaste by @SacSix as seen on Fourth Street and Avenue A... photo by Stacie Joy!

Free groceries and milk tomorrow at the Most Holy Redeemer Nativity Church

The folks at the Most Holy Redeemer Nativity Church on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B shared this information about a free food and milk pantry tomorrow (March 19) from 10 a.m. to noon ...

Three trucks will provide FREE a grocery box, a produce box and the third truck will provide a gallon of fortifying milk. Distribution will be in front of Most Holy Redeemer Church ... on a first come, first served basis, while supplies last. No pre-registration is required. 

Please observe social distancing and wear a face covering. We're looking forward to seeing our neighbors!

Plywood report at the former P.S. 64

On Monday, we noted that the high winds over the weekend took out a window atop the former (and long-empty) P.S. 64 building — on the 10th Street side between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

Now, a reader today points out another opening: on the plywood on the Ninth Street side. There have been reader reports of kids breaking the windows from inside the plywood perimeter...

And 20-plus years of history in two paragraphs:

Developer Gregg Singer, who bought the property from the city during an auction in 1998, has wanted to turn the building into a dorm called University Square. The DOB continues to maintain a Stop Work Order — dating to August 2015 — on the property. 

In years past several local elected officials, community activists and residents have asked for the return of the building for community use. The building became the Charas/El Bohio Community Center after the school left in 1977. The group was eventually evicted when Singer took over as the landlord. It has sat empty these past 20-plus years, causing locals to be concerned about its crumbling façade. 

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 ...  

Checking in on Standings (March Madness edition)

Standings is a small sports bar at 43 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square... where, since owner Gary Gillis opened the place in 2005, civil fans gather to actually watch a game and not use it as an excuse to, say, drink 300 gallons of beer.

Ahead of the start of March Madness today, one of the biggest events of the year for sports-bar owners, Gillis — a New York Mets fan — answered a few questions via email about the challenging past year and making it work with a few curbside seats.

After a four-month closure, you reopened with curbside service last summer, playing radio broadcasts before switching to TVs in August. How have you been able to make it work given the myriad restrictions (curfews, winter storms that forced a city-mandated closure on Super Bowl Sunday) that are out of your control?

We reopened on July 22 with a Best Buy radio as a substitute for TVs. Best Buy had one type of radio in stock and it was perfect — Howie Rose never sounded so good to me! 

We put TVs up in August in time for football and had good (well... good for a pandemic) crowds. Things were good when the weather was good — I lost a TV due to rain damage during a storm. 

After Thanksgiving was when business slowed due to the chilly weather. We have a few electric heaters but they don't do much when it's 20 degrees and windy. In fact, we were closed roughly the same number of days 

We were open in January and February. The 50-mph wind days were especially memorable! The 11 p.m. curfew stinks but to be honest we consider ourselves lucky to still be around given all the closures in the East Village and the overall horrendous impact of COVID on so many lives.

What has been the most challenging part of operating your business this past year?

The most challenging part of running the business in the past year is that COVID took away our main reason for being — talking/arguing about sports in close proximity with other fanatics. 

Standings has very loyal fans. What do you have to say about their support?

I can't say enough about the support of our loyal customers. Sun, rain, 80 degrees or 20 degrees they showed up. We had to close for the Super Bowl due to the "snowstorm" and they organized a Super Bowl Squares fundraiser for the bar. I get emotional just typing about it.

The NCAA canceled March Madness in 2020. What are your expectations for March Madness this year — from a bar owner's perspective? 

I expect much interest seeing as it was canceled last year. Due to our limited capacity with the pandemic restrictions, I anticipate we’ll have to turn some people away.

Any final 4 picks to share?

Final 4: Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, Connecticut.

And spring training continues. Anything to say about the Mets this 2021 season?

The Mets are going to finish 97-65 — mark it down.

Gillis is working on introducing limited seating inside Standings in the weeks ahead. Gillis also owns Burp Castle, the Belgian beer bar next door where patrons must keep their voices down. (No wooing!) Gillis also hopes to reopen with limited indoor seating there soon. 

All photos via @StandingsNYC

New Lower East Side creative space debuts 'Group Sex' today

The East Village-based Ed. Varie is behind a new collaborative space located in Two Bridges at 49 Monroe St. (across the street from Coleman Skatepark in the Full Tank Moto Cafe). And tonight marks the debut here with the inaugural show, "Group Sex." 

Here's more on what to expect via the Ed. Varie Instagram:

Tapping into some of the absurdities of the pandemic, this quote from the NYC Gov website provides some inspiration for our inaugural exhibition in this new space, "The New York City guidelines discourage group sex, but give advice for those who do “decide to find a crowd.” “Pick larger, more open, ventilated spaces" ... 

Group Sex as a title is not a literal interpretation for the curation, but with a goal to create a joyful, fantasy filled visceral exhibition and experience that we have all been missing.

The 11 artists who are christening this new space: Cavier Coleman, Colleen Herman, Esteban Ocampo Giraldo, Giorgio Handman, Ivy Campbell, Leticia Infante, Moises Salazar, Nina Glikshtern, Sarah Hombach, Scout Zabinski and Ted McGrath. 

The exhibit opens today with hours of noon to 9 p.m. (as part of LES Third Thursdays) ... and will remain up through April 18. Gallery hours are Thursday to Sunday, 12–6 p.m. No appointment necessary, masks and social distancing required. 

Ed. Varie (short for Edition Varie), a creative space that has hosted exhibits, book openings and other special events, opened in 2009 at 184 E. Seventh St. at Avenue B.

Raising the Two Hands signage on Avenue A

The Two Hands signage arrived yesterday at 147 Avenue A at Ninth Street... as we noted on Monday, this space will serve "Seoul fresh corn dogs." 

This will be the first NYC location for the expanding company that has franchises in California, Arizona and Nevada. 

With the arrival next to Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream ... there's a bit of a boardwalk vibe here now along Avenue A ...

Thanks to Steven for the photos!

Juice Press founder bringing goodsugar to 1st Street

Marcus Antebi, the founder of Juice Press, is debuting a new pop-up concept called goodsugar™at 21 E. First St.

The plant-based, wellness cafe is now part of the Kollectiv space here between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Here's more about the concept via a goodsugar rep:

• Moving beyond Juice Press, goodsugar will concentrate on eliminating single-use plastic. Products will be sold in reusable containers that can be returned for loyalty points, creating a closed-loop system we hope to see replicated by every cafe, restaurant, and juice bar in the world.

• Cold-pressed juice will be the freshest available anywhere, mixed and served on-demand rather than being stored for days in a fridge or HPP'd to extend shelf life for 3 months. 

• goodsugar offers organic vegan cooked foods, hot soups, fresh salads, and baked goods (free of gluten and refined sugars).

Kollectiv is "an urban retreat center" that features an herbal pharmacy and spa. Several juice cafes have given this space a shot dating to 2015, including NatureEs and the Alchemist's Kitchen. Kollectiv resides in the retail portion of Jupiter 21, the residential building that rose in 2012-2013 on the property that once housed Mars Bar and several other businesses.

Antebi opened the very first Juice Press one block to the east on First Street near First Avenue in 2010. While that location has closed, there are more than two dozen in the city. Antebi, who also has a goodsugar book and podcast, left Juice Press in 2019. 

Hours for goodsugar: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Find the menu here. 

A St. Patrick's Day moment at Mary O's

Mary O's, the 11-year-old Irish pub at 32 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street, is a good spot for St. Patrick's Day... EVG contributor Stacie Joy spotted proprietor Mary O'Halloran in the kitchen prepping for the day...

... and a few MO fans outside...

Mary suggests calling ahead today for any pick-up orders: (212) 505-5610. 

This post from January has more information about her Soda Bread Shop ... as well as the shepherd's pies that she makes for city agencies to share with residents in need.

Gallery Watch: 'Once, Twice' and 'Memories are Weapons' at the Hole

Text and photos by Clare Gemima 

Once, Twice, Hanna Hansdotter and Ry David Bradley

Memories are Weapons, Kevin Christy

The Hole, 312 Bowery

 

The Hole, once again, presents a fresh, new and cutting-edge show. The three artists in the space work across multi-disciplinary arenas that include glass blowing, tapestry making and painting. 

While the art world begins to go absolutely crazy for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as the newest cryptocurrency darling in the blockchain, (a .jpg made by Beeple just sold for nearly $70 million at an auction), it is fascinating to understand that Ry David Bradley's tapestries in Once Twice will be available for purchase both in-person and online, in USD and in Ethereum. 

This may all sound way too confusing, but the Hole is jumping on the bandwagon proudly here, along with some other galleries in the East Village who are preparing to embrace this super bizarre digital market. Smart. 

Bradley's tapestries are created in rebuttal to the contemporary notion of visibility and surveillance, forming unique bio-morphic bodies and faces that are flat, and thus, unidentifiable through the use of woven thread. 

The work is created digitally in grayscale but physically created in the color mode of RGB, this only became apparent when you are up close to the pieces. The interaction with the work and the methodology incorporated by that of the artist presents a body of work that is literally Once Twice, existing both as tokens and as real-life objects. 

The tapestries are complemented by the show's collaborator Hanna Hansdotter and her incredibly sensual and erotic hand-blown sculptures. Screaming with highly saturated hues and reflective tones, the five works of hers test your eyes' ability to process color, as you look across fine threads on the wall,  to curvaceous, mirror-plated glass glorified on pink-painted plinths. I haven't been able to stop looking at photos of new works Quilted, Tiffany, Baby Baroque, Incommodious and Kiss My Lips.

__________________________________________________________________________

The solo-show in the back room of the Hole features 19 new oil paintings by one of my new favorite artists, Kevin Christy. His paintings are dark and haunting, grappling with ideas of memory and how details diminish over time in our ability to recall events and happenings as a symptom of the human experience. 

The paintings echo isolated memories that the artist has visually recalled during the beginnings of the pandemic — dream-like and vague while being intricately and laboriously detailed. His tenacious survey in Memories are Weapons has produced recurring motifs, beautifully painted hands and a stunning technical take on surrealism. 

Both Once Twice and Memories are Weapons will be on view until March 28. 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ 

Clare Gemima is a visual artist from New Zealand. New-ish to the East Village, she spends her time as an artist assistant and gallery go-er, hungry to explore what's happening in her local art world. You can find her work here: claregemima.com 

Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget

The lowest construction bids for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) will cost $73 million more than the $1.45 billion budget — and they’ve barely started, according to the latest mailing from advocacy group East River Park Action. 

The group breaks down the bids, which they say doesn't include the new "parallel conveyance" for the enhanced sewer system, or other major components of the plan: 

• Project Area 1 (PA1). It includes East River Park, below 14th Street. This is the section that the city intends to raze and then bury under eight feet of fill. There were only two construction bids for this massive, presumably lucrative, job. Both bids exceeded the city’s estimate. The contract has not yet been awarded, but the low bid, from IPC Resiliency Partners, is $1.272 billion. 

• Project Area 2 (PA2), the waterfront area from 14th Street to 25th Street. The low bid for this section was over $163 million, and the contract was awarded to Perfetto Contracting Company. Work is already underway. Asser Levy Park is being torn up and trees have been removed. The Northern section of the greenway has been closed, leaving cyclists and runners without a safe alternative. 

The bids for PA1 and PA2 total $1,435,287,143. In addition, the city has already spent more than $90 million in "planning." That comes to $1,525,287,143, which is $73 million over budget and doesn't include key components. 

As East River Park Action points out, the ESCR plan was scheduled to start in the spring of 2020. The bid deadlines for PA1 were extended six times. Questions remain: Why? What are the problems? Where will the city find these additional funds, and how will the growing price tag affect NYC’s other coastal neighborhoods?

Per the group: "The wildly unrealistic budget is just one of the reasons we argue that the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan is not workable in its present form."

As previously reported, the group's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request and an appeal finally unearthed the three-year-old value engineering study. However, the study — the oft-cited factor behind the city's change of plans in September 2018 to bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet — is heavily redacted. 

On March 2, the group's attorney, Jack L. Lester, appealed to the Department of Design and Construction, the Office of Management and Budget and NYC Parks to see the entire value engineering study, not the mostly blacked-out version.

The city's current plan, which has been met with outrage by community members, will raze the 57.5-acre East River Park, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill meant to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be complete in 2025. 

The start of the long-delayed construction is slated to commence this spring, according to a recent presentation the city made.

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You can donate to the East River Park Action legal fund here.

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For further reading: East Village-based musician Matt Sweeney wrote an essay on Medium. "I wrote this in the hopes that NYC journalists will investigate the proposed plan to destroy NYC’s best park." You can read the piece at this link. 

[Updated] Reopenings: Ladybird, Lucy's, Phebe's; Josie's, Mona's and Sophie's return on Friday

This is an update to a post that we first published on March 7.

Several more bars-restaurants have reopened after a winter break ... several of the places closed in December when Gov. Cuomo ended indoor dining (at 25 percent) on Dec. 13. Indoor capacity will move to 50 percent on Friday.

The recent reopenings include: 

• The Ainsworth, 64 Third Ave. 

• Avant Garden, 130 E. Seventh St. 

• Barcade, 6 St. Mark's Place

• Cherry Tavern,  441 E. Sixth St.

• Empellón Al Pastor, 132 St. Mark's Place at Avenue A 

• Huertas, 107 First Ave.

• KGB Bar,  85 E. Fourth St.

• Ladybird, 111 E. Seventh St.

• Lucky, 168 Avenue B

• Lucy's, 135 Avenue A (photo of Lucy below by Lola Saénz)

• Mary O's, 32 Avenue A (open for a traditional St. Patrick's Day feast)

• The Penny Farthing, 103 Third Ave.

• Phebe's, 361 Bowery at Fourth Street

• Proletariat, 102 St. Mark's Place

• Ruffian, 125 E. Seventh St.

• San Marzano, 117 Second Ave.

• Saramsam, 111 E. Seventh St. 

• Superiority Burger, 430 E. Ninth St.

• Tarallucci e Vino, 163 First Ave.

• Tile Bar, 115 First Ave.

... and upcoming: 

• Indochine, 430 Lafayette — March 30

• Josie's, 520 E. Sixth St. — March 19

• Kindred, 642 E. Sixth St. — April 7

• Mister Paradise,  105 First Ave. — March 18

• Mona's, 224 Avenue B — March 19

• Sophies, 507 E. Fifth St. — March 19

• Van Da, 234 E. Fourth St. — April 1

... and San Loco just debuted new socially distant outdoor seating over at 111 Avenue C at Seventh Street...

Pitch in for this community cleanup on Saturday

A community cleanup is on the books for this Saturday (March 20!) from noon to 2 p.m. 

Per the flyer, residents will be focusing on Avenue B and Tompkins Square Park. 

Interested participants (RSVP to lucy@goles.org) are meeting at 171 Avenue B outside GOLES at 11th Street. Organizers are providing gloves, masks, sanitizer... and free coffee from sponsor The Roost.

Sisterly Love in Tompkins Square Park

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Billed as Sisterly Love, a "ritual to promote community, togetherness, and self-love" to "fight the isolation and bitterness of winter" and "rekindle the flames of love, self-worth, belonging and inner warmth," the NYC (dis)Order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence hosted a gathering this past Sunday in Tompkins Square Park. 

Abbess Sister Jewdi Clench officiated at the ceremony that ordained a novice Sister, welcomed spring and sprinkled glitter in an aspersion blessing.

I spoke with organizer Sister Gladiola Gladrags (top photo) who said, "Our mission as Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt. We spread that message by 'manifesting' (appearing in habit) in our community, and holding various kinds of events, fundraisers, protests, rituals, etc. to raise awareness and help where it’s needed."

And why Tompkins Square Park as the site for this ritual event?

We have a long "sistory" with the community, especially the annual Drag March that begins in Tompkins. Along with the Church Ladies for Choice, we have been organizing, facilitating, and participating in the march since its inception during Stonewall 25 in 1994. So, it's natural that we would hold this ritual here. Many people in our community have been suffering so much pain and strife in the last year, we feel that by bringing people together, even if at a social distance, it will help and give hope to those needing it.

A sign of spring in Tompkins Square Park

While it may not feel like spring out there today... there are some signs of warmer weather ahead... Goggla shares these photos from Tompkins Square Park... showing the arrival of crocuses (above!) ... and irises ...

Zooming in on the iconic work of East Village-based photographer Roberta Bayley

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East Village-based photographer Roberta Bayley is the guest tomorrow night (March 17!) for the Coney Island Museum's Ask The Experts on Zoom series.

The evening includes a screening of the 33-minute documentary "Roberta Bayley: She Just Takes Pictures," which highlights her iconic punk-era photography from 1975 to 1986 (like the shot of Debbie Harry above!) ... and a Q&A session with Bayley and Beth Lasch, the film's director. 

Tickets are $5 and support the Museum and its arts programming. The session starts at 7 p.m. Find viewing details here.