Saturday's parting shot

The Tribute in Light tonight as seen from St. Mark's Place and First Avenue ... thanks to @madisonulczak for sharing the photo ...

Sept. 11, 2021

Preparing for 9/11 ceremonies outside Engine Company 5 on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue this morning.

Twenty years ago today,  the Company lost Manny DelValle Jr., a 7-year FDNY veteran who grew up in the Bronx. He was 32. (Here's more about him from his obituary in The New York Times.)

According to previous reports, 26 firefighters from the neighborhood's four stations died on 9/11.  

9/11 and beyond on the Bowery

Adrian Wilson (@planndalism) created this mural earlier in the week on the gate at 262 Bowery near Stanton Street. 

He invited members of FDNY Ladder 20/Division 1 on Lafayette Street to add finishing touches to the mural. This Instagram post has more background. 

Mural space curated by the East Village-based Lisa Project.

Friday's parting shot

Thak you to Deb Kadetsky for this photo tonight...

'Hertz' so good

 

The video for "Hertz," the latest single by Amyl and the Sniffers, dropped a few days back... the Australian band just released their latest record, Comfort to Me.

Tompkins Square Library screening Luigi Cazzaniga's '9/11: What I Saw'

The Tompkins Square Library is screening Luigi Cazzaniga's documentary "9/11: What I Saw" tomorrow afternoon at the branch on 10th Street. 

Here's more about the premiere of this film via the library's invite: 

A documentary masterpiece featuring rare footage shot on the morning of 9/11 by Italian artist Luigi Cazzaniga... While some of Cazzaniga’s now-historic footage of 9/11 has been shown on CNN, HBO, RAI, and other television networks around the world as well as the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan, Cazzaniga had never edited it into a film of his own. Until now. 

It was during the pandemic when Cazzaniga, a longtime correspondent for Italian television, was able to sit down with this heartbreaking footage and reckon with what he saw that day. With editorial help from Hernan Valle and producers Ilka Scobie and Exquisite Pandemic editor Rick Whitaker, Cazzaniga was able to actualize his vision for this nearly hour-long film in time for the 20th anniversary of that tragic event with so many global consequences. 

The in-person screening takes place tomorrow afternoon at 3. You can register to attend at this link. Masks are required at the branch, 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The 10th Street block party is happening tomorrow (on 10th Street)

The 10th Street block party returns tomorrow (Saturday!) to that lovely tree-lined stretch between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., you can find antiques, collectibles, vintage clothing (no tube socks or tube steaks!) and music, featuring Michael Lydon and Ellen Mandel. Veselka will also be offering up some pierogi. And we're told that St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery is serving as the sponsor. 

Last year's event was cancelled due to the pandemic. And if our math is accurate this would be No. 50 for the block party!

Thanks to Doug for the pic!

Albert's Garden celebrating 50 years on 2nd Street this Sunday

Albert's Garden is celebrating its 50th year coming up on Sunday... when you can stop by the space at 16-18 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery between noon and 5 p.m. for some music and refreshments...

And it's a chance to check out the variety of plants, flowers and ferns... not to mention a redbud tree and a small pond with several goldfish (no fishing please) and the bird mural by Belgian artist ROA.

Per the garden's website:

Help us celebrate fifty years of serving the community and welcoming strangers to our small miracle: a picturesque garden that grew from rubble. Sit on welcoming benches, stroll on meandering paths, enjoy the tall trees, rustic walls, and shrubbery, and delight, as many birds do, in this small spot of nature we all need and love.

And as Ramones fans likely know... East Village-based photographer Roberta Bayley shot the Ramones here for PUNK magazine... an iconic image used for their debut record in 1976.

Find more garden history here.

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Metrograph sets Oct. 1 reopening date

The Metrograph returns to in-person screenings on Oct. 1, management of the independent two-screen movie theater on the Lower East Side announced yesterday. 

This marks the last theater in the area to reopen its auditoriums to moviegoers since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Like other theaters, proof of vaccination and masks are required for entry. 

The Metrograph, which has been streaming an array of interesting films (not to mention the Metrograph TV App), will reopen with a new 4K restoration of Andrzej Żuławski's horror cult classic "Possession." (But Sam Neill was so nice in the "Jurassic Park" films!) 

The Commissary at Metrograph will reopen this fall too. The restaurant is currently hiring. 

Find the theater down at 7 Ludlow St. between Hester and Canal.

Image via @MetrographNYC

Plywood comes down to reveal Xing Fu Tang on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Workers removed the plywood yesterday from the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place ... providing a FULL reveal of the new tenant, the Taiwan-based Xing Fu Tang, a bubble tea chain specializing in brown sugar boba... (thanks to Steven for the photos!)

No word on an opening date... they are currently hiring...

As noted, bubble tea is rather plentiful already along this corridor. Gong Cha, which describes itself as "one of the most recognized bubble tea brands around the world," recently opened an outpost at 27 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Nothing has been able to stick in this corner space in recent years. Nobletree Coffee closed here in May 2019 after just five months in business. This storefront previously sat empty for three years — ever since DF Mavens closed in January 2016 ... after a Dec. 26, 2014 debut. (It took the Mavens 14 months to open the space.) Other past tenants 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.

At the debut of O’Flaherty’s on Avenue C

O'Flaherty's made its debut last evening at 55 Avenue C... and EVG contributor Stacie Joy was on hand... 

This is the first gallery by artist-curator Jamian Juliano-Villani, who opened the space with a show titled "Dingle does O'Flaherty's" ... which featured the work of the L.A.-based Dingle (seen below in a quiet moment with Juliano-Villani)...

The show, up through December, spans 50 years of Dingle's career... including these "psycho-tods," which the gallery described as "a fucked up form of anti-everything nihilism or something along those lines."

... and the crowd...

The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m.

Looking for 1,000 people to stand with the 1,000 trees to be cut down in East River Park

On Saturday morning, opponents of the city's current plan to bulldoze East River Park as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project are hosting an action in the amphitheater to help raise awareness of what they say is a flawed plan to protect the area from future flooding. 

Here's more about the event, which starts Saturday at 11 a.m. via East River Park Action, one of the organizers:

We are calling for New Yorkers to show up on September 11th with our bodies to oppose the city’s destruction of East River Park — a preventable health hazard and an ecological disaster and to demand flood protection that does not strip this environmental justice neighborhood of its greenspace. 

We need a truly resilient plan that addresses root causes of climate change instead of prioritizing traffic flow on the FDR. Heat is our city's number one weather-related killer. Trees reduce heat. 

After September 11, 2001, the shabby, fenced-off amphitheater in East River Park was rebuilt by the city. Companies all over America contributed materials to repair it. The new amphitheater was dedicated to the children whose parents died when the twin towers collapsed. 

Now in total disregard of history, the will of the neighborhood and the more than 100,000 New Yorkers from all boroughs who use the park, the city is planning to demolish East River Park and clear cut 1,000 trees for the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, Comptroller Scott Stringer's office reviewed the $1.2 billion contract from IPC Resiliency Partners. 

Stringer subsequently sent the contract back to the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) for more information, including "how the project's lead contractors plan to meet the legal standard that minority/women-owned business enterprises receive 30 percent of the work," as The Indypendent reported. 

However, Mayor de Blasio reportedly "overruled" Stringer's office and asked that he register the low bidder's contract for the massive floodproofing project. 

Through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, East River Park Action obtained a copy of Stringer's report. (You can find a PDF of it here.)

According to Jack L. Lester, an attorney for East River Park Action: "The Comptroller's report highlights the deficiencies and inadequacies of the qualifications presented by this private company slated to receive a huge amount of taxpayer money. We want the new Mayor and City Council to investigate and follow up with the questions raised by this disclosure."

To date, Council Speaker Corey Johnson has refused to hold an emergency hearing on the matter and has not provided any comments as to why. 

This fall, workers are expected to start razing the 57.5-acre plot of land, cutting down the 1,000 mature trees and eventually rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill.

East River Park Action and other advocates say there are better ways to preserve the park and provide flood protection, such as the one mapped out in the years after Sandy. In late 2018, the city surprised community stakeholders by announcing a complete overhaul of a plan discussed over four years of local meetings.

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 for use. It is projected to be completed in 2025, a timetable opponents say will never be met.

Tonight at 6:30, city officials will provide CB3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee with an update on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. Find the Zoom link here. 

Updated: For reference, find the report from independent consultant Hans Gehrels of the Dutch environmental group Deltares at this link.

Beloved Cafe shapes up on the LES

Updated: The cafe opened on Sept. 30

The new LES home of Beloved Cafe is shaping up at 196 Allen St. just south of Houston.

As the Commercial Observer first reported back in March, the San Francisco-based, health-focused cafe is bringing its organic juices, teas, smoothies, salads and plant-based bowls to its first East Coast outpost.

A recent Instagram post offered more details on what to expect (orgasmic sourdough donuts!) when the cafe debuts this fall...

 

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The original location opened in San Francisco's Mission District in 2017. 

Part of this Allen Street storefront previously housed Palà, the pizzeria that closed in May 2017 after 11 years in business.

New awning alert at Via Della Pace's new 4th Street home

Photo by Derek Berg

ICYMI: Via Della Pace is reopening in a new space at 87 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. And now the awning is in place.

As we noted in January, the owners were on the CB3-SLA docket for a new liquor license for this space.

The 17-year-old Italian restaurant lost its home during the devastating fire on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street in December 2020.

Via Della Pace had been closed since the previous fire on Feb. 10, 2020. At the time, the owners were unsure if they would ever reopen on Seventh Street. The fire last Dec. 5 took care of that, as workers had to demolish the five-floor building. (Giovanni Bartocci, the restaurant's co-owner and chef, was able to salvage the Via Della Pace sign, per an Instagram post.)

No word on an opening date.

This part of the storefront at 87 E. Fourth St. has been vacant since Cucina di Pesce closed in September 2018.

Beard Papa's still bringing the cream puffs to St. Mark's Place

Coming-soon signage for Beard Papa's is now up in the window on the second floor of 11 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Last fall, public records showed that Beard Papa's — a 2000s-era chain that sells cream puffs — would be the new tenant across the street at 16 St. Mark's Place, the former St. Marks Babrshop that moved around the corner (and changed names). No. 16 is now the Home Town Village Convenience Store, which moved here from next door. (All this will be on the midterm.) 

Anyway!

Beard Papa's got its start in Japan in 1999, and now has 400 locations in 15 countries... and there are already several outposts in NYC. Look for a fall 2021 opening here.

Coming soon: City Clouds, Kumon, GlossLab

A few new coming-soon businesses to note... 

• City Clouds, 120 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

A convenience store/smoke shop is in the works for this long-vacant space. Turntable Lab, who moved away from here in November 2016, was the last tenant.

• Kumon, 99 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street 

This will be the latest NYC location for the educational center that offers afterschool math and reading programs. East Side Ink moved from this space one storefront to the south in early 2017.

• GlossLab, 68 Bleecker St. between Broadway and Crosby

The fast-growing membership-based nail studio is opening in the former Café Angelique space.

The Brant Foundation debuts its next show, Julian Schnabel's 'Self-Portraits of Others'

Starting tomorrow, the Brant Foundation debuts its next show, "Self-Portraits of Others," a solo exhibition of new works by Julian Schnabel. 

Per the Brant website:

Created between 2018 – 2020, this series explores the evolution of Schnabel's artistic practice while making "At Eternity's Gate," a film about the life of Vincent van Gogh. The exhibition features 25 plate paintings that examine the theme of portraiture throughout art history.

Some details... the exhibit is open to visitors, free of charge. Advance tickets will not be required and walk-ins are welcome during open hours:

Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Thursday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Friday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Proof of a COVID-19 vaccination is required to enter.

"Self-Portraits of Others," up through December, is the third exhibition to be held at the Brant Foundation 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

In its first, from March to May 2019, the Brant Foundation featured an exhibit by Jean-Michel Basquiat, some 70 works collectively valued at $1 billion. Brant later extended the show by a few weeks.

The Brant Foundation features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors. Brant bought the building — a former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio — for $27 million in August 2014.

Brant had said the space would host two exhibitions open to the public each year. 

[Updated] Jackhammers in tow, city workers investigate the Mystery Puddle of Avenue A

Uh-oh! There just might be something to that Mystery Puddle in the southbound lane of Avenue A at Sixth Street. 

Goggla reports that jackhammer-toting city crews are currently on the scene digging a hole under the East Spillage. (H/T Ade!) 

Hopefully, whatever the workers find won't lead to months of excavation and metal street plates like we've seen on Seventh Street and First Avenue. 

For now, though (brace), we may have seen the last of the Sixth Street Seaport. (H/T Molly!)

Updated 6 p.m. 

Work appears to be done for the day...

Should only have about another 4-5 months of work left here!

The 9th annual MoRUS Film Festival arrives in community gardens tomorrow evening

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) on Avenue C is once again hosting its end-of-summer tradition — its annual film fest, a four-evening event titled "Steal This City: NYC Urban Occupations on Film" that starts tomorrow evening in local community gardens.

For its ninth iteration, MoRUS teamed up with the Loisaida Center, with additional support from ABC No Rio, to present the curated collection of films and guest speakers that will examine "how in a city where real estate dominates spatial reality, activist-driven occupations show how another world is possible."

Here are highlights for tomorrow night:

Thursday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.

"Steal These Walls: Graffiti and the Fight for Free Expression"

Green Oasis/Gilbert’s Community Garden, 370 E. Eighth St. b/t Avenue C and Avenue D

This night explores the cultural complexities of graffiti and the use or occupation of public walls, spaces and structures to create a space for alternative communities and foster the rise of new art forms, from graffiti to murals to hip-hop.  

• "Graffiti/Post-Graffiti" (1985, 30 minutes). Directors: Marc Miller and Paul Tschinkel 

This documentary captures a key moment in the evolution of graffiti from illegal street art to rarified commodity exhibited in high-profile galleries.  

• "Girl Power" (2016, 92 minutes). Directors: Sany and Jan Zajíček

Following female graffiti writers from 15 cities — from New York to Prague to Cape Town and all the way back to New York, the documentary illuminates their paths as they navigate this predominantly male world where men often share the view that graffiti is not for girls. 

Just added! "We have the honor to host the esteemed "first lady of graffiti," Lady Pink, and SoHo Renaissance Factory co-founder Konstance Patton in a panel for our opening night." (Thursday's rain date: MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.)

You can find more details on the festival right here. Advance tix are available at Eventbrite. You can also buy tickets on the evenings of the screenings in the garden venues. (They offer sliding-scale pricing.)

Inaugural show for O’Flaherty’s debuts tonight at 55 Avenue C

O'Flaherty's makes its debut tonight at 55 Avenue C.

No, it's not a bar, but rather a new art gallery via artist-curator Jamian Juliano-Villani here at Fourth Street. (The gallery is said to be an homage to Irish pubs and Juliano-Villani's own drinking habits.) 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy took these photos the other week as Juliano-Villani prepped the space for the first show.

First, about the show, titled "Dingle does O'Flaherty's" ...

Dingle is a 70-year-old freak living in LA. The work in this show spans 50 years, the photos are from 1974, the sculptures are from 1994. These figures are 27 years old; however…Don't call them dolls, she'll be pissed. These are "psycho-tods," a fucked up form of anti-everything nihilism or something along those lines. These are babies with intention, hating the world and ready to destroy shit. 

Now about the gallery... this via Artnet News...

[I]n an effort to rebrand herself "beyond my stupid, cheeseball paintings," as she put it, she's opening her own gallery ...

"I've been wanting to do this for a while," Juliano-Villani told Artnet News. "My work is a combination of references anyway, but there's only so much I can do with painting, and I enjoy ideas way more."

While the space will function as a commercial gallery, she also sees it as something of a performance in disguise. "I'm going to start wearing black, really cool fake Prada suits," she said.

The gallery is open tonight from 7-9. (Checking on hours after tonight.)

And the flyswatter in the above pic will be available in the gallery's gift shop.