Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Brindle Room is making an East Village return this spring in new 11th Street home

The Brindle Room has a new East Village home. 

Owner Jeremy Spector confirmed that his restaurant, known for some pretty tasty burgers, will reopen this spring at 647 E. 11th St. just west of Avenue C. 

Spector is on this month's CB3-SLA docket (Feb. 16) for a liquor license for the address, the former Virginia's. (Their lease was up on Dec. 31 at the address and Virginia's ownership decided to look elsewhere for a larger space.) 

The Brindle Room spent 11 years at 277 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. The restaurant was open for takeout during the early days of the pandemic but stayed shut after the spring of 2020.

Spector vowed to find a new home for The Brindle Room. And he likes what he will have at No. 647.

"The place has really cool ceilings, and it's bigger and nicer than my old spot," he said in an email yesterday. "But most important to me is that it's in the same neighborhood. I'm pretty fired up — it's been two long years." 

He also shared a clip about with a reopening announcement...

 

Local photographer opens door of former Tut at 189 E. 3rd St.

Photos by Stacie Joy

Seems like the storefront at 189 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B has been empty for eons.

In this case, eons = six years. As some neighbors may happily remember, the Marshal seized the hookah bar-restaurant Tut here at the end of January 2016.

The space was home for short stints to Lumiere and Casablanca in the previous two years.  

A hookah bar-cafe from the Tut team called Fire and Ice was in the works here later in 2016, but CB3 doused those plans.

Anyway! The other day, EVG contributor Stacie Joy got a look inside the tomb-like former Tut's... frozen in hookah time...
Not sure why this space hasn't attracted some sort of business (is it the doors?). It's an excellent retail block with Jane's Exchange, 3rd & B'zaar and Book Club steps away.

Now Yoga moving to online-only classes next month

Photo from March 2019 by Stacie Joy

Now Yoga is closing its Fourth Avenue studio at the end of the month, transitioning to virtual-only classes starting on March 1. 

Here's part of owner Renata Di Biase's statement:
This decision has not been easy to make, and it’s one I’ve only been able to fully arrive at after several months of being back in-person and entertaining various solutions for making our brick-and-mortar sustainable. 
For a confluence of reasons, including the inherent challenges within the yoga industry as it is (which existed long before Covid and about which I wrote a few months ago), the ongoing reality of Covid-related interruptions to in-person business, and my own personal need to move on from a full-time directorship role, closing our physical studio makes the most sense at this time. 
Of course leaving our beloved Astor Place home is heartbreaking. And yet the vibrancy of our online community has been a bright spot over the last couple of years, and the continuation of our virtual programming is a comfort in the absence of a physical studio.
You can read here full statement here

The studio has been at 61 Fourth Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street for 3.5 years. 

However, the third-floor space won't be empty long come March. Di Biase reports that SaltDrop — "a beat-driven, mat-based celebration of movement" — will be opening in this studio. 

Previously on EV Grieve

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Tuesday's parting shot

Moving day on Seventh Street ... photo by Derek Berg...

Gallery Watch: 'Falling Through Flatland' by Chris Hood at Lyles & King

 
Text by Clare Gemima
Images by Charles Benton (please see below for descriptions)

“Falling Through Flatland” by Chris Hood
Lyles & King, 21 Catherine St.

Lyles & King showcases 12 explosively colorful paintings in its current solo show, “Falling Through Flatland.” The gallery kindly facilitated an interview with myself and artist Chris Hood, who answered a series of questions relating to his unique process, intentions for the show and overall painting practice. 

How long did it take you to create the body of work exhibited in Falling through Flatland?

Though I work consistently most every day, the exhibitions tend to come together in moments of intense focus and creation. This body of work took around 5-6 months of painting time to create. It is both a culmination and lasering-in on efforts that span a few years.

Can you describe what your medium is and how you use it?

I use alkyd paint, which is not very common and quite difficult to work with. It is resin-based and therefore has a very organic and distinct materiality. Thick like honey in its natural state, but possible to thin and stain like watercolor. I came to this medium through my process of painting, which involves soaking through the fabric of the canvas with paint, as opposed to having it sit on the surface. 

Can you elaborate on your painting process? Is it specific to Falling through Flatland or signature to your overall practice? 

I build up layers of paint that push through the canvas from the back. It is a process that is unique but typical of all my work. The various strokes and washes prevent or collide with successive layers of paint enmeshing into the weft and producing a surface that appears literally from within the canvas. It can visually invoke sensations of memory and challenge what is in front and what is behind. It is a method that extends the paint and imagery into territories they would normally not tend to.

Of the show, what piece challenges you the most and why? 

I hope to thread the viewer through variation and surprise within each piece and amongst the exhibition as a whole. This can be challenging enough for a viewer wanting a quick read. But one painting, in particular, All Futures (2021), is both visually distinct and acts as a kind of protagonist in the show at large. It presents a scrambled figure that seems to be either emerging or fading into a darkened space. Punctuated by flashes of light and black holes, the figure meets the viewer in between coming and going, like turning a corner on the street and running into someone you used to know.

Of the show, what piece do you feel most accomplished or satisfied in and why?

I am most satisfied with the paintings that are formally inventive and challenging. Some works cue your next steps, and you can see pathways open up. That is exciting.

Collecting imagery is clearly part of your process. How do you source it?

A landscape, for instance, might be depicted in three ways: sourced from a personal photograph, an appropriated digital landscape from a video game, and from a drawing or topographical rendering. I am interested in the vernacular narratives that come from these types of spaces, rather than the specific image itself, and aim to bring the subtle feelings of those spaces into the meaning of the work. There is often an art historical or traditional theme that I extend into contemporary and personal contexts. Everything is available.

At the opening, you spoke about how you operate mostly in an analog manner. If that is the case, how are you feeling about fine arts ascent into virtual spaces that are almost entirely hands-off?

Good art is transformative beyond the tools used to make it and I am mostly skeptical of virtual art for its reliance on staying within its algorithms. The hands-off nature of creating in virtual spaces eliminates most of the physical facilities for using a tool or rather misusing it (the once-radical developments in painting from brush to scraping, to pouring, to roller, to screenprint, etc.), and so the tool stays bound in its intention.  

What is worse is the insistence of virtual art maintaining its ‘portrayal’ of art-ness. It is always the virtual thing as painting or as sculpture without speaking much to either direction. As always, the issue at hand is the soul.

You also mentioned to me at the opening of Falling Through Flatland that you were not a “conceptual painter.” What does that mean to you?

I was clarifying the importance of the subjective and individual experience. Although there are concepts that feed the work, how the painting exists as material in space is also important. Surprise and risk are crucial.

What are your upcoming plans for these paintings? Any shows on the horizon?

I plan to continue expanding this body of work for an upcoming Los Angeles art fair and Tokyo-based group show. I am also organizing several shows in Europe, which will take place later in the year. 

Falling through Flatland will be on view at Lyles & King’s Catherine Street location through Feb. 5. Hours: Tuesday — Saturday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Top photo: Phantom Limb, 2021
Alkyd on canvas 
Image Credit: Charles Benton

Below: Hypnotic Portrait 1, 2021
Alkyd on canvas 
Image Credit: Charles Benton

All Futures, 2021
Alkyd on canvas 
Image Credit: Charles Benton

~~~~~~

Clare Gemima is a visual artist and arts writer from New Zealand, now based in the East Village of New York. You can find her work here: claregemima.com

Notorious East Village landlord Raphael Toledano faces 5-year real-estate ban

[5th Street buildings that were part of Raphael Toledano's portfolio

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a court victory yesterday against notorious East Village landlord Raphael Toledano. 

An order by the New York Supreme Court bars Toledano from engaging in any New York real-estate business activity for at least five years, at which point he can petition the court for re-entrance.

Per a release from the AG's office:
This decision comes after Toledano repeatedly violated a 2019 agreement with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) that required him to stop harassing New York City tenants and stop engaging in illegal and predatory real-estate practices. 
"New York tenants can breathe more easily knowing that Rafi Toledano is no longer in the real estate business," said James. "Through his deceptive and illegal actions, Toledano caused incredible pain and suffering to hundreds of vulnerable families, who are still feeling the effects of his harassment today. Every New Yorker deserves to live in a safe, decent home free of abuse and fear."
Here's some of what James found from her previous investigation:
" ... established that Toledano engaged in a pattern of fraudulent and illegal conduct throughout his work as a landlord and real estate developer. Toledano harassed tenants in the East Village through coercive buyouts and illegal construction practices, and failed to provide his rent-regulated tenants with utilities, repairs, and other necessary services. 
Toledano also engaged in deceptive business practices in his real-estate transactions, including repeatedly and persistently misrepresenting himself as a lawyer and advertising apartments with three or four bedrooms, when legally the apartment could have one or two bedrooms only."
The AG's office outlined how Toledano violated his 2019 agreement: 
  • Failing to disclose his real-estate business activities to the independent monitor or to get the monitor's approval for further deals 
  • Diverting funds from a reserve account established by the agreement 
  • Failing to make penalty payments (other than initial payments totaling $520,000) 
  • Failing to maintain his properties in a manner that complied with applicable laws and protected tenants' rights, health, and safety.
It's not immediately clear how many properties Toledano still owns. 

Last May, Madison Realty Capital (MRC) closed on Toledano's bankrupt East Village portfolio. Toledano had received $124 million in cash and lines of credit from MRC to finance his $97 million purchase of the buildings. 

Toledano purchased 28 buildings in two separate portfolios from the Tabak family for a total of $140 million in 2015. Experienced real-estate players raised red flags about Toledano's heavy reliance on debt.  

In an interview with The Real Deal in June 2016, Toledano, then 26, made "frat-tastic boasts about his wealth," including: "I'm worth a fuckload of money, bro."

Enchantments is ready to cast a spell in new home on Avenue B

Enchantments is expected to open this week in its new home at 165 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. (Thanks to Salim for the photo last week!

The longtime (nearly 40 years!) occult-themed shop that sells custom-carved candles, incense and books, among other items, left its previous home at 424 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue last month. 

You can check out the Enchanments website and/or Instagram account for exact opening times this week. 

The new outpost is conveniently located next door to the just-opened Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge

Glad to see someone finally settling into 165 Avenue B... the last full-time retail tenant here was the excellent junk-thrift shop Waldorf Hysteria, which closed some 15 years ago.

A reminder to keep Two Bridge's Diner in your dining plans

Several LES residents (and EVG diner aficionados) are spreading the word to keep Two Bridge's Diner on Canal Street in your dining plans. 

Teddy Vasilopoulos, whose family has operated diners down here dating to the early 1970s (Landmark Diner, Cup & Saucer, Everest Diner), is currently on the injured list. 

The folks at the family-run tofu shop Fong On shared this via Instagram:
He’s currently ... recovering from an accident when he was pinned by his own food truck outside of Two Bridges. 
Now his brother is helping and covering for him until he gets better, which maybe a while. So please go support his business so that he’s got something to come back to.
Two Bridge's Diner is at 89 Canal St. just west of Eldridge ... and just west of the Cup & Saucer, which Teddy's brother John operated for 30-plus years before its rent-hike-induced closure in 2017. John and Teddy opened Two Bridge's in June 2019 (after a brief stint as the Greek Shack). 

Find the Two Bridge's menu here. The phone: (212) 925-2963

Astor Place Wegmans watch, automatic sliding doors edition

The buildout for Wegmans at 770 Broadway on Astor Place has entered a new phase.

Today, reps for the grocer will appear virtually in a public hearing before the Landmarks Preservation Commission about a façade improvement at the landmarked building. (Thanks to Upper West Sider for the tip!)

Wegmans plans to ad automatic sliding doors — similar to the ones you'd find across the way at CVS or at Whole Foods on Union Square — to what will be a new entrance on Fourth Avenue.

Sliding-door fans can check out the detailed proposal here. (That link also includes info about the Zoom call.)

Receiving approval for sliding-glass doors might be one reason that this Wegmans outpost isn't scheduled to open until the second half of 2023.

As previously reported, Wegmans signed a 30-year lease last July for what will be the grocer's first Manhattan outpost. 

Kmart closed in this space after 25 years on July 11. Wegmans had agreed to buy out Kmart's lease to make this deal possible.

Previously on EV Grieve:

Monday, January 31, 2022

Monday's parting shot

Thanks to Ted Phillips for this photo at La Plaza Cultural community garden on Ninth Street and Avenue C yestersay. (Some more kids were there today.) Some local residents built the ramp Saturday by packing snow on the amphitheater seats.

6 posts from January

A mini month in review... with a cold-morning photo from 14th Street. 

• Behold the 21-floor office building that's replacing the B Bar & Grill on the Bowery (Jan. 25

• RIP Billy the Artist (Jan. 23

• Officials: Police arrest teen accused of starting the fire that destroyed the Essex Card Shop (Jan. 20

• A visit to Via Della Scrofa (Jan. 20

• A look inside the new Empire Cannabis Clubs on the Lower East Side (Jan. 19

• The March Hare is closing so the owners can focus on health and family (Jan. 14)

A benefit for the Essex Card Shop

Art of the old Essex Card Shop storefront by Leah Tinari 

Goodnight Sonny is hosting a benefit tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 1) evening from 5-8 for the fire-damaged Essex Card Shop, 47 Avenue A. 

Local artist Leah Tinari is organizing the event. All proceeds (plus tips)  from the three hours will help rebuild the longtime Card Shop, which was destroyed in a fire on Jan. 10. (There is also a GoFundMe campaign to support the family-owned shop cover expenses and lost income.) 

As previously reported, a 13-year-old boy had been charged with second-degree arson. 

Goodnight Sonny is at 134 First Ave. on the NE corner at St. Mark's Place.

Thayer is opening a bookstore and cafe at 99 Avenue B

This spring, Thayer, an independent press, is opening a bookstore-cafe at 99 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

Thayer founder Matt Lally confirmed the arrival in an email, noting the space will serve as its HQ along with a storefront offering books, coffee and pastries as well as beer and wine in the evenings. (They are on this month's CB3-SLA docket for the beer-wine license, though, having received administrative approval, they will not appear before the committee.) 

Thayer currently publishes a biennial magazine of short fiction, poetry and photography ... with plans for a debut novel this spring. 

No. 99 was previously Manitoba's, Handsome Dick Manitoba's namesake bar, which closed in June 2019 after 20 years in service.

Lally, who described himself as a punk rock kid in his youth, said that he wanted "to do right by the legacy of the space." 

You can keep tabs on Thayer via Instagram.

H/T Stacie Joy!

[Updated] Pizza Girls coming soon to Avenue B

Coming soon signage arrived late last week on the SE corner of Avenue B and Second Street for Pizza Girls (thanks to Salim for the pics!)
We don't know anything just yet about the incoming business (other than the name!). Checking for more info. Update! "Pizza Girls" is a reality TV series about women in the pizza business in Italy. A new season will apparently be filmed here. Follow them on Instagram for more. Filming is expected to start this spring. (Thanks to Matt for the tip.) 

Here's more via an interview with series director Carlo Fumo (this Q&A is from a year ago, and some of the info may be outdated now):
You told me the tv format is also destined for a foreign market: you mentioned the United States, where you regularly go for the movie festival you organize. What kind of interest are you expecting abroad?

We’ll probably see a Pizza Girls USA already in 2021. And we will shoot it on location, in a pizzeria in the heart of Manhattan that will be named after the show. It is a topic of interest for other countries: pizza is a universal brand, earning large profits around the world. It's a wonderful thing, the same way, I always say, women are the wonder of our world: these two things together guarantee a powerful project. That's why we wanted to talk with the foreign market from the beginning. The format will be the same, of course, it will adapt to the country, based on the audience's taste in terms of TV and pizza.
This corner space was home to the Wafels & Dinges cafe (and corporate office) for nearly eight years. W&D, which still operates from kiosks and food trucks around the city, moved out last March.

Openings: A trio of quick-serve vegan options

Three new vegan options opened around the neighborhood last week. (H/T to Matt @vegan.nyx)

A quick recap: 

• PLNT Burger's first NYC outpost opened last Monday at 139 Fourth Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. (Previously on EVG.) 

The Virginia-based chain, started by celebrity chef-Food Network star Spike Mendelsohn, has multiple locations in the mid-Atlantic region. You can find the PLNT menu here

The space, with room for several diners, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

• Raíz Modern Mexican is up and running at 120 First Ave. (not 120A and 120 1/2!) between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

As previously noted, Raíz is a plant-based, fast-casual restaurant featuring burritos, tacos, salads and bowls. You can find a menu here. 

They are open Tuesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. 

• Vegan Grill, a quick-serve, plant-based restaurant, debuted Thursday at 58 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (First reported in October.) 

The business got its start in late 2019 on Castle Hill Avenue in the Bronx; this will be its third outpost after a grand opening in Williamsburg earlier this month. 

You can find a menu here and some food pics on Instagram

Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Top pic via Instagram

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Noted

As seen today on the NE corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place... thanks to @unitof for the photo. 

Annnnd some background here.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with takeout for two via Derek Berg) ... 

• RIP Billy the Artist (Sunday

• More details about the fire that destroyed the Essex Card Shop (Wednesday

• Behold the 21-floor office building that's replacing the B Bar & Grill on the Bowery (Tuesday

• RIP David Simon (Wednesday

• Report: Madison Realty Capital can proceed with takeover of long-empty P.S. 64 (Wednesday

• Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge debuts on Avenue B (Thursday

• Last weekend in business for Dress Shoppe II (Friday

• Oddly configured Walgreens is closing on Union Square (Monday

• Nai Tapas Bar set to open in new 2nd Avenue home (Monday

• The latest at East River Park: night work at Delancey; passive lawn set to debut (Monday) ... Reader report: The new passive lawn in East River Park is a 'sodden mess' (Tuesday

• [plant-baked] returns today with limited hours (Friday

• A new broker for 20 St. Mark's Place (Wednesday

• The Bronx Brewery announces itself on 2nd Avenue (Thursday

• Openings: TLK on 3rd Avenue (Friday

• TD Bank is shrinking on 3rd Avenue (Thursday

• Another taker for 179 Essex St. (Monday)

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

Sunday's opening shot

View from Tompkins Square Park this morning... and several vendors are setting up for the Greenmarket today on A and Seventh ...

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Snow day

Here are some scenes from today... whatever this was — nor-easter! blizzard! bomb cyclone! winter storm Kenan! ... that left a reported 7.5 inches of snow in Manhattan... thanks to Derek Berg for the pics!

EVG Etc.: Nor'easter updates; red-tailed hawk archives

Photo yesterday by Derek Berg

• Nor'easter updates (Gothamist)

• Marking the 50th anniverisary of the murders of rookie officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie, who were gunned down on Avenue B and 11th Street while on foot patrol (Daily News

• NY mask mandate extended to Feb. 10 (NBC 4)

• NYCHA's shift to private management may drive evictions (City Limits

• Chef Jae Lee of Nowon on Sixth Street talks about the decision to give up drinking (Eater

• Goggla has an archive page dedicated to the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park dating to 2013 (Laura Goggin Photography

• Check out some Essential Cinema at Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue and Second Street (Official site)

• More about Empire Cannabis Clubs, which recently expanded to the LES (NY1 ... previously on EVG

• More about the Kim's Video series at Metrograph (WNYC ... previously on EVG

• Hannah Traore Gallery debuts on Orchard Street (Hypebeast

• Reviews/thoughs on the "Meet Me in the Bathroom" documentary (Pitchfork ... Variety ... Brooklyn Vegan)