Photos by Steven
You've likely noticed the camper that has been parked on 10th Street just east of First Avenue.
Apparently, people who live nearby have had about enough of the camper. Some messages have arrived outside (H/T simcitymayor!) ...
Friday, February 11, 2022
You may now open a business in the former NYC HQ of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club
Photos by Steven
Yesterday saw the arrival of a for-lease sign outside 77 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue — aka the former NYC HQ of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
Said one nearby resident who lived across the street from the property, "Never thought I’d see a sign like this!"
There are two retail spaces available here... in space where the fellows had their bar and entertainment area and storage space... 
There's not much info on the KSR listing ("located in the Bowery district") ... there isn't any mention of the former occupants (though there is an older street view showing the HA logo and painting of the motorcycle-helmeted skeleton atop the flaming skulls).
There's also a very un-Hells-Angels-esque conceptual rendering of the spaces...
The plaque near the entrance that read "In memory of Big Vinny 1948-1979: 'When in doubt, knock 'em out'" left with the remaining members in 2019. (Vincent "Big Vinny" Gerolamo was the Chapter president who allegedly pushed his girlfriend to her death from the roof here in 1978. He died the next year from injuries suffered in a fight with an Angel in Oakland, Calif.)
Anyway, as we've been reporting, the 6-story building underwent a gut renovation in the past 20 months. In total, there are now 22 residential units here. (The available apartments have a monthly ask in the $4k range — that's for a studio, per the listings at Better Living Properties.)
In June 2019, real-estate investor Nathan Blatter — the new owner of the building — had some ideas for the storefronts here. As he told the Post: "Blatter said he has been contacted by someone curating a Hells Angels museum, and another about a barbershop." He later flipped the building to Better Living Properties.
The last of the members and/or their entourage moved out of No. 77 at the end of March 2019 from the clubhouse that the Hells Angels had in their possession since 1969. They reportedly ended up in Throggs Neck in the Bronx.
Previously on EV Grieve:
A memory of Love Saves the Day
Per the street art here...
"This used to be Love Saves the Day. I used to come in as a kid and get sparklers and sneak peaks at the vintage Playboys."
The East Village Love Saves the Day closed on Jan. 18, 2009. Word was their rent tripled.
The deadly Second Avenue gas explosion in March 2015 destroyed three buildings here, including the space (119 Second Ave.) that housed the shop for 43 years.
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Real-life 'Law & Order' in Tompkins Square Park
Workers were seen discarding the contents in and around the tent. Witnesses said that one of the occupants was arrested after the NYPD said that he could leave, and he refused, per witnesses. The tent was also removed.
This action comes two days after crews for "Law & Order" erected a fake tent city nearby that served as a backdrop to a scene with Anthony Anderson's Det. Bernard and newcomer Jeffrey Donovan as Det. Frank Cosgrove.
Thanks to Steven for the photo.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Showing the former P.S. 64 some love during rally and press conference this Sunday
Photo from last month by Stacie Joy
With the fate of the long-vacant former P.S. 64 at 605 E. Ninth St. up in the air, a group of locals is hosting a rally and press conference here on Sunday afternoon between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Last month, Supreme Court Justice Melissa Crane ruled that Madison Realty Capital can move forward with a foreclosure against building landlord Gregg Singer after years of delay.
When news circulated that the forclosure could move forward, several sources EVG spoke with said that the news was not unexpected. However, at this point, sources said, what happens next, or what this means for the future of the building, is anyone's guess.
Here's more about the rally Sunday afternoon via the EVG inbox:
Join SOCCC-64, elected officials, community orgs, artists and activists this Valentine's Day eve to ask the City to return our beloved community and cultural center, CHARAS / El Bohio.This is an urgent call, as developer Gregg Singer, who purchased the building that housed CHARAS, former P.S. 64 at public auction in 2001, is now in default of his mortgage and is in foreclosure!We are rallying to urge the City to work with us to return our center, and we need everyone's help to make it a reality.
The rally starts at 1 p.m.
Some history. The building became the Charas/El Bohio Community Center after the school left in 1977. The group was eventually evicted in December 2001 when Singer took over as the landlord.
Singer, who bought the property from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.15 million, has wanted to turn the building into a dorm. (The DOB maintains a Stop Work Order on the property.)
There has been a call to return the building for community use in years past. Given this movement some hope: then-Mayor de Blasio's statement at a Town Hall on Oct. 12, 2017, that the city would take steps to reacquire the building. According to published reports, the Mayor said he'd work to "right the wrongs of the past."
Those plans have never materialized, and it has sat empty these past 20-plus years.
A new 10-year lease for Astor Place Hairstylists
Photo yesterday by Steven
Astor Place Hairstylists was set to close in late 2020 after business plummeted by nearly 90 percent during the pandemic.
However, as announced in November 2020, a group of investors featuring financier Jonathan Trichter, former Hillary Clinton aide Howard Wolfson, pollster Jefrey Pollock and gaming mogul Jeffrey Gural, who's also the landlord at the address, put in the money to keep the shop afloat. (Gural was also said to reduce rent at the time.)
Yesterday, details about a new 10-year lease for the subterranean shop that dates to 1947 at 2 Astor Place (aka 740 Broadway) were announced.
"Astor Place Hairstylists is a New York institution," said Gural, chairman and principal of GFP Real Estate. "As a long-time client I am delighted to see that the business has not only pulled through the worst of the pandemic but is able remain in the same location they've occupied for more than 75 years. They are an important tenant, and we look forward to their continued success."
According to the release, Michael "Big Mike" Saviello, the longtime manager, is now one of the owners.
Previous co-owners John and Paul Vezza retired at the end of 2021, making it the first time since the opening that a Vezza family won't be involved with the shop.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The remains of the Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge
Here's a look at what's left... the Park and neighborhood sides have been KO'd...
... just the section over the FDR remains ... (now how will they remove this without interrupting traffic on the beloved FDR?) ...
Also, according to the Weekly Construction Bulletin: "Construction activities will necessitate the closure of the sidewalk at Delancey Street between FDR Drive and Baruch Drive."
Park entry remains at Houston, Sixth Street and 10th Street. Everything below Stanton Street is closed and demolished (save for the new passive lawn).
For further reading, the February issue of The Brooklyn Rail has a piece on the $1.45-billion East Side Coastal Resiliency Project titled "Land Grab."
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Give my regards to...
Steak out: Man reportedly walks out of Trader Joe's with 10 packs of meat
East Village resident Steven Hirsch, a photographer who contributes to the Post, happened to be in the store at the time.
Per the Post article:
Two helpless Trader Joe's staffers had followed the man up an escalator leading to the store's exit but only stopped him from taking a shopping basket outside — not the meat, the video shows.
"They basically just tell us not to do anything, just let them go," a Trader Joe's worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, later explained to The Post.
"We get in trouble if we do anything … It don't bother me, I've been working here for two years, I see it happen every day. After a while, you just don't care."The man initially told Hirsch that he paid for the items, but then "claimed that he was homeless and had stolen the food to eat."
"I'm gonna eat it," the man says in the video. "I'm f–king hungry."
The incident made the cover of the Post under the headline "Hamburglar," part of a larger package on how CRIME is UP throughout the city.
Where are they now? Catching up with Willie from Odessa
Text and photos by Stacie Joy
After Odessa’s closed in July 2020 at 119 Avenue A, several EVG readers wrote in asking about longtime waiter Willie Forero.
Thanks to a tip from Bobby Lesko, we found him working at old-school diner Zafi’s Luncheonette at 500 Grand St. (between Willett and Columbia) on the Lower East Side.
I recently dropped by to see how he’s doing, and I’m greeted like family at the unpretentious no-frills luncheonette. Zafi’s is owned by brothers Mike and Gerry Kekatos ... and today I find Mike behind the counter of the 46-year-old business.
He recommends the “grilled chicken con mayo” and confides he tries something different on the menu each day.
If you’d like to drop by and say hi, he works every day except Tuesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. He says he’s happy to see regulars and meet new regulars too!
A groovy kind of love: 3rd and B'zaar back with a Valentine's Market this weekend
The mixed-vendor market and event space at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B will host a variety of local designers, artists, merchants and vintage sellers for this Valentine's weekend.
The Valentine's Market runs Friday-Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.
In a photoshoot with Stacie Joy, organizers (from left) Maegan Hayward, Sara Ann Rutherford and Delphine Le Goff paid homage to some 1980s excess and indulgence ...
You can follow them on Instagram for more info about vendors.
Le Phin debuts on 10th Street
An EVG reader shared the tip about the (soft) opening, noting: "Very calm, bright little shop. Got a nice Americano this morning. And more important: glad to have an empty storefront filled!"
They are open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. You can find Le Phin on Instagram here.
Thanks to Steven for the photo!
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Last looks at today's 'Law & Order' shoot
Photos by Derek Berg
As we've been mentioning (here and here and here), "Law & Order" is back with new episodes after a 10-plus year absence from NBC (obvi reruns play every few minutes on cable).
Anyway! Today's filming action along Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B saw the return of Anthony Anderson's Det. Bernard and newcomer Jeffrey Donovan as Det. Frank Cosgrove ...
The two were seen checking out a crime scene in a van...
"Law & Order" returns with its first episode on Feb. 24.
'Law & Order' prep walk
As noted yesterday, crews erected a tent city ahead of filming in Tompkins Square Park, not all that different from the actual tent city the city discarded in the same area this past November.
EVG correspondent Steven shared these pics from earlier today... as some film vehicles were put into place on Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... (maybe this will be an episode about illegal van AirBnBs?) ...
... of course, we weren't the only media outlet here... those pesky SOBs from WXDV were on hand along with a crew from 1NYC...
... a crew member also created a makeshift memorial inside Tompkins Square Park for a scene...
The original "Law & Order" debuts on NBC on Feb. 24. No word when this episode will air.
This 21st season will once again feature Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy ... new cast members include Odelya Halevi as ADA Samantha Maroun, Jeffrey Donovan as Det. Frank Cosgrove and Hugh Dancy as senior prosecutorial assistant Nathan Price.
The Emmy-winning series originally ran for 20 seasons on NBC, from 1990 to 2010, with 456 episodes. The franchise has been a regular presence on EV streets during its run.
Stay tuned for a few more pics!
City Council hosting public hearing on permanent outdoor dining legislation today
Top photo from Washington Square Park Saturday by Jeremiah Moss
Updated 2/9
Per the Post: Julie Schipper, head of the city Department of Transportation's Open Restaurants Program, told City Council yesterday that the dining structures that popped up in the summer of 2020 won't be allowed to remain standing after the COVID-19 pandemic eases.
"We don't envision sheds in the permanent program. We are not planning for that," she said. "What would be in the roadway [are] barriers and tents or umbrellas, but not these full houses that you're seeing in the street."
----
City Council will hold its lone (remote) public hearing today on the city's Open Restaurants program.
City officials are looking to make then-Mayor Blasio's no-fee emergency measure launched in June 2020 when indoor dining was prohibited a permanent part of the dining landscape. The Department of Transportation (DOT) would oversee the new program with updated policies and procedures for sidewalk and curbside service. (The Open Restaurants text amendment entered a public review last June.)
Per an article on the hearing via the Post:
According to various estimates in media accounts, the city claims about 100,000 jobs were saved through outdoor dining allowances during the pandemic.
Under the current proposal, eateries seeking licenses to operate outdoor dining would have to shell out $1,050 each and then pay a $525 renewal fee following a yet-to-be-determined time period. It also sets up various safety measures and other restrictions for the pop-up, al fresco dining spots to follow, including prohibiting use of advertising signage.
A permanent outdoor dining program drafted by the de Blasio administration was approved by the Planning Commission last November, but it never reached the Council for a vote before the term-limited mayor left office at year's end.
Streetsblog has a comprehensive preview of the hearing at this link.
City Council will hold a final vote on the measure at an unspecified date later this year.
Meanwhile, there is opposition to these plans. This past Saturday, the Coalition United for Equitable Urban Policy (CUEUP) — an alliance of neighborhood and block associations, including several in the East Village — held a march and rally called "Chuck the Sheds" in the West Village to speak out against making the Open Restaurants program permanent.
In the invite for Saturday's rally, the group noted:
Open Restaurants ... serves us noise, mounds of trash, rats, fire hazards, blocked sidewalks. Ambulances and fire trucks can't access our homes from these narrow and cluttered, impassable streets. The problems were there from the beginning for all to see, yet the Mayor and the City Council chose not to look or listen.
And from the group's website:
CUEUP supports our neighborhood restaurants, and wants them to not only survive, but thrive. However, we oppose making permanent the Open Restaurants and Bars program. Policies regarding the future of restaurants also directly impact the lives of residents and small shops, who must be part of the decision-making process. The top-down process that created the permanent program was unjust and undemocratic.Nearly 100 people, including several local elected officials, such as District 1 City Councilmember Christopher Marte, attended the rally. You can find coverage at the Post ... Village Sun... and Bowery Boogie.
As part of the public review process, the DOT presented its proposed plan to all 59 Community Boards last year. (Find reaction from CB3's meeting from July here.) As Streetsblog pointed out: "The city's zoning dashboard makes it clear that there’s a lot of controversy. About 30 community boards rejected the city’s proposal; about 22 supported it or at least did not oppose it."
Meanwhile, we continue to hear complaints about the abandoned dining structure on Sixth Street at Avenue A. (Previously here and here.) This structure belonged to August Laura, which officially closed in mid-December. Neighbors say the space has become "a 24-hour shooting gallery."
We've had discussions with other residents about the street eateries that belonged to restaurants that either closed or moved away, such as Ahimsa Garden on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. The Indian restaurant decamped for Midtown East in November. Their former outdoor space remains boarded up on the street... a for rent sign is on the empty storefront...
Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at '340 E. 9th Street' on 2nd Avenue
At first glance, we figured it would be some sort of ad.
However, this turns out to be the first commission of this space by the Swiss Institute next door at 38 St. Mark's Place ...
The work is titled "340 E. 9th Street" by East Village-based artist Megan Marrin.
Here's more via the Swiss Institute:
"340 E. 9th Street" is a painting of a photograph that accompanies an article published in the April 29, 1968 issue of New York magazine about the spread of public art across New York City. In the image, the building located at the titular address is shown in profile, adorned on its windowless side with a mural by pop-surrealist Allan D'Arcangelo (1930-1998). D'Arcangelo's untitled mural, completed in 1967, precipitated the formation of City Walls: a nonprofit, artist-led, city-spanning public arts initiative established in New York later that year.Facilitated by urban planner David Bromberg, City Walls murals came to fruition through direct conversations with building owners, who supplied participating artists with paint and access to walls.
The resultant murals, made by artists including Richard Anuszkiewicz, Tania, Jason Crum and Knox Martin, in addition to D'Arcangelo and several others, share a vibrant color palette across playful, occasionally psychedelic, abstractions. As of January 2022, one mural produced by City Walls remains intact [on West Third Street W. between Mercer and Broadway].Marrin is interested in the shifting intentions behind public murals in New York City, often questioning for whom these images and messages are created. D'Arcangelo's 1967 commission, a vertical roadway featuring plants, clouds and directional signage, is a quiet yet consequential entry into this history of public art.
In 340 E. 9th Street, Marrin resurrects and recasts D'Arcangelo's work as a hybrid of what she considers the two predominant modes of contemporary mural making to now be: memorials and advertisements.
The mural will be on display here until Sept. 1.
Top photo via the Swiss Institute. Allan D'Arcangelo’s 1967 mural appears courtesy of the Estate of Allan D'Arcangelo, licensed by VAGA and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.
Monday, February 7, 2022
'Law & Order' creates a new tent city for Tompkins Square Park
Photos by Steven
As previously mentioned, crews for "Law & Order" will be filming along Avenue A and in and around Tompkins Square Park tomorrow.
Ahead of that, a handful of tents were erected along the Park's Seventh Street entrance between Avenue A and Avenue B ...
The long-running show seems to be keeping with the "ripped from the headlines" approach to the plot... late last summer, a dozen makeshift tent encampments arrived in this same general vicinity... a Department of Homeless Services-led entourage, featuring the Department of Sanitation, the Parks Enforcement Patrol and the NYPD, conducted a "clean-up" in and along Tompkins Square Park in early November.
Several unhoused people are still sleeping in tents in portions of the Park... not too far away from where the filming will take place... 
And this isn't the first time a film crew has recreated a tent city in Tompkins.
East Village artist Tom Manco opens a gallery-studio on Avenue B
Inside, you'll find custom artwork and hand-painted sneakers, among other items...
In December, he had a "Sneakers and Swag" art show in the space.
The hours are a little varied — especially this week, where a work commitment will keep him away... he expects to be in the gallery for several hours after 4 p.m. For the week of Feb. 14, he hopes to be there daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
You can follow him on Instagram for updates... as well as details on some upcoming Thursday-evening art openings.
Last year, Manco unveiled several upcycled cardboard creations in Tompkins Square Park.
Images via @mancostudio
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