d.b.a. reopens today on 1st Avenue

d.b.a. is back in action today starting at noon here at 41 First Ave. between Second Street and Third Street.

This is the first day back for the 27-year-old bar since March 2020.

The same ownership team is also behind Milano's, which recently reopened on East Houston, as well as two other bars expected to be back soon — the Library (7 Avenue A)  and Doc Holliday's (141 Avenue A). 

EVG photo from April 

A smoke shop for 9th Street at Avenue A

Signage is up now for Villager Smoke Shop at one of the storefronts along 441-445 E. Ninth St. (aka 145 Avenue A). 

With this arrival, all six retail spaces here on Ninth Street are occupied... (Anine, which offers eyelash extensions, is the other most recent leaseholder) ... Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream is in the Avenue A-facing storefront...

The previous newish retail tenants mostly vacated in 2019 in this Icon Realty-owned building.

H/T Steven!

Sunday's parting shots

A new era for table tennis with the frying-pan paddles... photos today by Steven...

[Updated] Today's show in Tompkins Square Park was canceled

This afternoon's free concert in Tompkins Square Park, featuring headliners the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, has been canceled. 

The organizers – The Shadow — had their previously approved permit revoked by the Parks Department after the April 24 show. A lawyer for the organizers had been negotiating the return of the permits. 

And the NYPD and the Parks Enforcement Patrol were there to make sure the show didn't go on.

Stay tuned for an alternate date and further details. 

The screening of Rachel Amodeo's 1993 film "What About Me" was expected to still happen at sundown.

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Updated 4 p.m. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was in the Park and photographed a few of the bands set to play. Today was to be the debut of Girl Dick...

Hello Mary was set to open the show...

Both bands are now on a bill in Greenpoint at 113 Franklin St. starting at 8 p.m. ($5 cover!). 

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As a PS... There was a musician playing with a small amp in the center of the Park just after noon. He was not part of the scheduled show... and the Parks Enforcement Patrol on duty allowed him to play...

Photo by Steven

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included... (with a heatwave pic on Avenue A by Derek Berg)... 

• East Village Loves NYC issues a fundraising appeal to help continue feeding New Yorkers in need (Wednesday) 

• Remembering Penny Rand (Friday) 

• Portraits from the Park Prom (Wednesday) 

• Unofficial-looking signs now note a 10 p.m. curfew in Tompkins Square Park (Saturday) 

• Hot in the city: Pinc Louds bring the (pre) summertime fun to La Plaza Cultural (Monday) 

• Avenue C stalwart A & C Kitchen is back open (Thursday) 

• A Saturday walk through the East Village (Monday) 

• Openings: Cafe Sandra on First Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Openings: 7th Street Burger on 7th Street (Monday) 

• The Astor Place Greenmarket returns (Tuesday) 

• Happy Record Store Day (and Always Support Your Local Record Store Day) (Saturday) 

• The return of Stomp (Monday)

• New deli to be the toast of 9th Street? (Monday) 

• All along 1st Avenue with Neil Goldberg (Thursday) 

• New music now (1980-1986 edition) at the Museum of the City of New York (Friday)

• 8 a.m. old-timer Milano's returns to service on East Houston (Thursday)

• The Brindle Room is on the hunt for a new home (Wednesday) 

 

• Openings: Marinara Pizza debuts on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

• 787 Coffee makes it official at 159 2nd Ave. (Monday) 

• Here's the Vin Sur Vingt Wine Bar signage on 2nd Avenue and 11th Street (Wednesday) 

• Mocha Red promises a 'Tulum Meets Wynwood Experience' on 4th Avenue (Monday) 

• First sign of Yoshino New York on the Bowery (Monday) 

• Lucky Star is a 1950s-style ice cream shop opening 3 downtown locations this summer (Tuesday) 

 ... and thanks to EVG reader Eliah ... who captured this (partial) rainbow shot after Tuesday's storm...

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

Last day for Public Access on St. Mark's Place

Today is the last day for Public Access, the subterranean gallery at 8 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Leo Fitzpatrick, a local resident and former director at the now-closed Marlborough Gallery, has been running the space since September. He announced the end of Public Access at this location in an Instagram post:

[I]t hasn’t always been easy but I enjoyed it immensely and intensely so thank you ... and to all the other gallery's out there THANK YOU ... unless you've opened your own you don't realize all the blood, sweat, tears and effort that goes into making it look easy. Until next time...

Exhibits have included works by pioneering skateboarder (and artist) Mark Gonzales and underground zine maker Weirdo Dave. (We particularly liked the "Dress Up My Lindsay" show.)

The gallery opened in January 2020 as JUICE before Fitzpatrick took over in the aftermath of the COVID-19 PAUSE. 

The gallery is open today from 2-7 p.m. The final show features work by local photographer-documentarian Clayton Patterson.

The Spring Zine Fair is underway on St. Mark's Place, and in community gardens

The Spring Zine Fair is underway now on St Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... happening until 7 p.m. (Thanks to Steven for the photo!)

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community teamed up for this event.

Also! Don't sleep on the collaborative events at these neighborhood community gardens...   

Unofficial-looking signs now note a 10 p.m. curfew in Tompkins Square Park

Updated 6/13: There wasn't any curfew on Saturday night, and the Park remained open...

These homemade signs about a 10 p.m. curfew are now posted at entrances around Tompkins Square Park.

Last Saturday, the Park suddenly had a 10 p.m. curfew (instead of the usual and unofficial midnight). As Gothamist reported, the NYPD had at least two officers stationed at all nine entrances to Tompkins. Importantly: "The decision was made without any notice to the Mayor's Office, the local Council Member, or the public."

This came on the same night as riot-gear-clad NYPD officers clashed with park-goers in Washington Square Park over enforcement of a 10 p.m. curfew there. Union Square Park was also shut down at 10 p.m. last Saturday.

While there's now apparently a 10 p.m. weekend curfew in Tompkins Square Park, the one for Washington Square Park has been suspended, NY1 reported this morning. 

Meanwhile, it is not immediately clear who placed these unofficial-looking signs around the Park. (And one reader thought that "Park closes at 10 p.m." would be better than "Park closed at 10 p.m.")

This is the latest effort by the NYPD to crack down on everything in the Park from amplified music to zine sales.

Happy Record Store Day (and Always Support Your Local Record Store Day)

Today is the first of two Record Store Days set for this summer (the other being on July 17). 

You can find some RSD titles at a few of the local shops ... or you can pay them a visit anyway at your leisure... 

• A-1 Record Shop — 439 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

• Academy Records — 415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

• Limited to One Records — 221 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue

• Manhattan45 — 220 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue

• Stranded Records — 218 E. Fifth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square

And a special shout-out to Downtown Music Gallery, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last month. The shop got its start in the East Village, first on Fifth Street then the Bowery. Find them now at 13 Monroe St. in Chinatown.  

Free COVID-19 vaccines in Tompkins Square Park this weekend

The city is setting up a free COVID-19 vaccination center this weekend in Tompkins Square Park... no appointements needed today or tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ...

Thanks to @EastVillageNY for the info!

Capitol gains

 

Putting this up in honor of the new exhibit that opened today at the Museum of the City of New York.

"New York, New Music: 1980-1986" features groups-musicians including DNA, Arthur Russell, the Cramps, 3 Teens Kill 4, Bush Tetras and the band seen here — Bad Brains, with a live clip for "Banned in D.C." from CBGB in 1982...

Remembering Penny Rand

Friends of Penny Rand gathered early last evening at the Tompkins Square Park dog run to celebrate the life of the longtime East Village resident.

Rand passed away suddenly on May 12. She was 71. 

Rand was a regular in the dog run with Leeluu, who's now staying with a relative.

Photo by Stacie Joy

A zine fair on St. Mark's Place and in community gardens tomorrow

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community are teaming up for a Spring Zine Fair taking place tomorrow (Saturday!) on St Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

In addition, there'll be a series of collaborative events at community gardens throughout the neighborhood. 

Some details via the EVG inbox...

Join us as we come together after many months apart and gather local independent publishers and zine makers to honor the East Village's rich DIY and countercultural history.

Engage with the 40-plus New York-based exhibitors who will be tabling at the fair and browse an exceptional array of creative and experimental artists' zines and publications. Throughout the day, nearby community gardens will be hosting various programs, including composting workshops, poetry readings, concerts, leaf pressings and more! 

As we celebrate the East Village's artistic past and present, we're so excited to collaborate with local community gardens in acknowledgment of the grassroots reclamation of the Lower East Side’s unused space by gardeners, squatters and artists. Our fair guide will be in the form of an East Village Fanzine spotlighting local businesses, organizations and stories.

This link has many more details. 

And in the gardens...

New music now (1980-1986 edition) at the Museum of the City of New York

An EVG reader shares this about a new exhibit opening today up at the Museum of the City of New York titled "New York, New Music:1980-1986" ...

The exhibit features rare videos of several bands and musical groups including KONK and Bellhead at the Tompkins Square Park band shell, DNA, Arthur Russell, the Cramps, Tish & Snooky, Kid Creole, Richard Hell, the Del-Byzanteens, Bad Brains, 3 Teens Kill 4, Bush Tetras, James White, John Zorn ... and tons of ephemera and photographs. 

Yes! Road trip to Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street! Read more about it at this link.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Monday (though today the doors open at noon).

H/T Mr. Baggs! Image via Museum of the City of New York

Catch the latest video premiere from Pinc Louds tonight at La Plaza Cultural

Pinc Louds, fresh off a rousing set at La Plaza Cultural on Saturday evening, returns to the community garden on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street for a video-viewing party tonight of the band's new single.

"Aire Acondicionado" officially drops tomorrow, but you can check it out tonight. The screening starts at sundown, though the gates will be open earlier.  

Photo Saturday by Stacie Joy!

Updated 6/11:

Check out the new video below...

 

All along 1st Avenue with Neil Goldberg

Text and photos by Stacie Joy 

Like so many New Yorkers, especially those of us who live in the East Village, I was deeply moved by local resident Neil Goldberg's op-ed piece "Hallelujah Anyway, Anyway" in The New York Times earlier this spring.

A video piece that speaks of his experiences watching shopkeepers all along First Avenue rolling up their gates each morning, and how the city and our neighborhood have changed since he first started videotaping merchants in the early 1990s. A meditative piece dealing with twin viruses, first AIDS and now COVID, Neil reflects on change, impermanence, resiliency and hope. 

I recently met up with the artist and we walked along First Avenue from Houston to 14th Street on both sides and revisited some of the storefronts featured in his story. We even visited his former apartment building, where his name remains on the buzzer. 

We chatted about old favorites long gone like Baby Jake's, Black Forest Pastry Shop and Foot Gear Plus, and marveled at places that are (thankfully!) still here, such as Speedy Lock & Door, Gizmo and Cosmo's Launderama ...

You can keep up with Neil here ... and tune into his podcast, "She's A Talker."

8 a.m. old-timer Milano's returns to service on East Houston

Longtime (circa the 1880s!) daytime-drinking favorite Milano's reopened this week over at 51 E. Houston St. between Mott and Mulberry. 

Milano's had been closed since the PAUSE of March 2020. And now they're back to their longtime 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. hours. 

The same ownership also operates the Library (7 Avenue A), Doc Holliday's (141 Avenue A) and d.b.a. (41 First Ave.) — expect those bars to also reopen soon. 

Thanks to Martin Mahoney for the pic yesterday!

Avenue C stalwart A & C Kitchen is back open

A & C Kitchen, the affordable and reliable quick-serve Chinese restaurant these past nearly 30 years, is back open at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. (Thank you Eden for the tip!) 

A&C had been closed throughout the pandemic, and people wondered if the place was done for good. Yelpers thought so.

They will be expanding their hours and menu items as business returns. 

EVG file photo

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Revisiting A & C Kitchen on Avenue C

Wednesday's parting shots

Christo, one of the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, was up to something today... or maybe on to something. 

Steven saw big daddy swoop onto the side of a building on Ninth Street near Avenue A... intent on whatever was inside this hole in the wall ...

Read this if you parked along Avenue C right now

An EVG reader shared this following... 

We parked our car on Avenue C between Fourth and Fifth this weekend. We should not have had to move it until street cleaning on Friday. We are vigilant about checking for parking signs and warnings, hate tickets. We were good to go. 

Yesterday afternoon I even went to the car to grab something — everything still fine. Last night around 10 I went to walk the dog and saw massive road work being done all along Avenue C. They were towing cars out like it was a parade. I managed to run home and grab my keys to move my car JUST in time. 

Usually, when this happens, [the city] places signs up at least a day before to warn people. But for last night's work, this was not the case. Here's a pic [above!] of a paper sign closest to my car — it's still crisp and dry meaning it wasn’t put up until AFTER the rain late yesterday afternoon. 

How does the city get away with acting like this? I can’t imagine how many poor people came out to their cars this morning to find them missing. There were SO many cars to be towed because NO ONE had any idea because the city gave NO notice this would happen. Outrageous. 

And the work is set to happen again tonight.

But today the signs were all ripped down again. So people may have parked there today and will be towed tonight. Would be great to warn them.