Monday, April 25, 2022

Coming soon: Rake Wine Bar on 3rd Street

Signage is up for Rake Wine Bar, coming soon to the SW corner of First Avenue and Third Street.

As we mentioned back in December, Urban Wine & Spirits was opening a small wine bar — via a separate entrance on Third Street — in the shop's new corner space...
Rake has a space on the Urban Wine & Spirits website for future updates.

Jorge Arias, a partner in The Sampler in Bushwick, opened Urban Wine & Spirits on First Avenue in March 2014. 

The shop debuted in the corner space in late December, a few steps north of the previous spot.

What you knead to know about Librae Bakery

If you missed our post from last week, Librae Bakery is opening soon at 35 Cooper Square at Sixth Street. 

Since that last post, help-wanted signage has gone up in the windows (in case you knead a job — we'll run that joke into the ground!) ... and there's BREAD pictured on that sign...
Mentioning the bread because whenever a bakery opens and just sells cookies and cakes and desserts, people are like, What about a bakery with bread? 

The Librae Facebook page describes the business like this: "Third culture bakery with Middle Eastern roots and Danish technique." 

Anyway, it's shaping up inside to be a nice-looking space.

Librae takes over the storefront from Schmackary's, a bakery that sold cookies and other desserts (but not bread, see?).  Schmackary's didn't reopen following the PAUSE of March 2020. Their original outpost remains open on West 45th Street.

Openings: Lot Stop on 1st Avenue

Lot Stop is now open at 245 First Ave., just a smidge past 14th Street (previously mentioned here) ... this is the latest tri-state location for the family-owned biz that debuted in 2011.

Here's more about Lot Stop via the chainlet's website:
We pride ourselves on offering name brands at the lowest price possible. Our close-out buying team sources deals nationally every week enabling us to provide incredible bargains. 
As the world was transitioning to online shopping, we did not want our neighborhoods to lose the convenience and feeling of connection that comes with a "brick-and-mortar" shopping experience. We study trends, popular name brand items, and necessities to provide the same merchandise as superstores and online giants, at better prices. We take pride in carefully choosing our locations to create an asset to the community through stellar employees and developing lasting relationships with the many who shop here. 
We did a little pre-opening window shopping and noted a large variety of hand soap, mouthwash, dishwashing liquid... not to mention Valentine's Day gifts and Glade Air Freshener Spray — Ginger Spice Oh So Nice (8 ounces for 99 cents)...
The Duane Reade closed here in November 2019

Lot Stop is the second discount shop to open in the EV this spring... joining USA Super Stores in the former Duane Reade on Third Avenue and 10th Street.

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Sunday's parting shot

A head-on collison this evening reported around 6:15 on Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street... no reports of injuries... and no idea how this happened... thanks to the longtime reader for the photo...

April 24

Avenue B is the place to be for discarded Christmas trees today... Salim hit the daily double jackpot ... at Sixth Street (above!) ... then Seventh Street...
Dave on 7th also spotted the tree on B and Seventh...
And just 244 days to Christmas Eve!

Week in Grieview

Posts this last week included (with a photo from Avenue B yesterday by Stacie Joy) ... 

• 2 arrested in latest East Village encampment sweep (Wednesday

• Closing day at Panya on Stuyvesant Street (Monday

• Report of a stabbing on Avenue A near 10th Street (Monday

• A visit to Spooksvilla + Friends on 9th Street (Thursday

• Farewells: Rev. Anne Sawyer has left St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery (Tuesday

• City honors Saifee Hardware manager Francisco Puebla for role in nabbing alleged subway shooter (Friday

• Big Ash brings the vintage gems to Delancey (Friday

• The cowboy way at Key Food (Friday

• Breaking bread: Librae Bakery coming to Cooper Square (Monday

• That 99-cent slice of pizza will now cost you $1.50 (Wednesday)

• 'Low Fidelity' features the iconic photos from Bobby Grossman's downtown milieu (Wednesday

• A chance to see the 1956 film classic 'On the Bowery' on a big screen (Friday

• Former B Bar & Grill cleared from the Bowery (Monday

• Don't be blue! The window displays will return to Blue Door Video on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• Root & Bone shutters after 8 years in the East Village (Tuesday

• Modern Asian restaurant slated for 334 Bowery (Monday

• Wyatt will pay you to move your car on 9th Street (Friday

• Openings: Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) ... Viva Cucina on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday

• Checking in on the incoming Chicken & the Egg on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday

• Bagel Boss has closed on 14th Street (Saturday

• A new wrinkle for art installations on Astor Place (Thursday

• Meta deal: Facebook takes up more of 770 Broadway (Tuesday

... and thanks to Salim for sharing this find from outside the Duane Reade (2nd and B) on 4/20...
Another reader shared a discarded tree shot from the day before on Second Street and Avenue A... didn't quite have as much green left!

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4/20 in review

A few photos from this past Wednesday — 4/20 — around the East Village and Lower East Side courtesy of EVG contributor Stacie Joy... some people were celebrating the day, others just enjoying the spring day...

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Photos by Steven 

In case you had forgotten! The first Street Fair in two years is now underway on Second Avenue...
EVG reader Terry Howell provided a quickie assessment: 
The Second Avenue Street Fair extends from Seventh Street to 11th Street, unless there's an afternoon shift later. Mainly the same traveling band of commercial sellers with stuff and tchotchkes (crystals, bonsai, baskets, bowls, rugs, jewelry, etc.) that clogged the former street fairs. If you're looking for new food experiences or any local vendors, you will be disappointed, as was I. I searched in vain for "The Pickle Guy." Sad, but it's a start. 
Yes! Welcome back... and maybe THIS will be the year you buy the "Scarface" poster you've been eyeing for the past 15 years...

A water main break on 7th Street at Avenue C

City crews continue work on Seventh Street just west of Avenue C... there was a report of a "water condition" here at 1:13 a.m. ... (A reader told us it was a water main break...) Seventh Street is closed to through traffic between Avenue B and C.

Another reader reported that the city has shut down the water to the block. (This after low water pressure last night.) 

Hopefully, this is something that can be repaired quickly...

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Saturday's parting shot

A scene from the Car Free Earth Day activities on Avenue B today... photo by Derek Berg...

It's Record Store Day (and record store appreciation day always)

Today is Record Store Day nationwide (details on new/special releases here) ... here's a shout-out to the EV record shops making it work day in/out... a few of the shops will have some RSD titles in stock... 

439 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue 

415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

32 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery 

221 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue 

220 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue 

218 E. Fifth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square

Sunday and the street meat will be sizzlin': 1st street fair since 2019 slated for 2nd Avenue

Photo by Steven

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, a street fair is returning to our local, um, streets ... Sunday (tomorrow!) sees the Second Avenue "EV" Festival between Fourth Street and 14th Street... and it's an opportunity to make up for lost time by buying a lot of tube socks, fake pashminas, NY ❤️ me tank tops, funnel cakes, turkey drumsticks, corn dogs, Italian sausage and ... 

Friday, April 22, 2022

Friday's parting shots

Earth Day scenes from the former amphitheater at East River Park (above) ... and the former cherry tree grove in Corlears Hook Park...
Activists at the scene today said that workers yelled "Happy Earth Day" to them between cutting down more trees.
The trees are coming down as part of the ongoing $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency project.

'Eye' contact

 

Surfbort released a new video today for "Open Your Eyes," from the band's Keep on Truckin' release ... and recruited skate legend Tony Hawk to take part... see what goes down. Or up.

City honors Saifee Hardware manager Francisco Puebla for role in nabbing alleged subway shooter

Francisco "Frank" Puebla, the longtime manager at Saifee Hardware & Garden on First Avenue and Seventh Street, was one of five people honored by the city on Wednesday for their role in helping catch the alleged Sunset Park subway shooter. 

As Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during the ceremony at the Police Department HQ: "Each of these individuals exemplifies the determination and courage that makes us all proud to be New Yorkers. Their actions remind us every day, in every corner of our city, we are surrounded by heroes." 

The five will split a $50,000 reward. (This piece from the Times has more on this ceremony.) 

As previously reported, Frank James reportedly shot 10 people on a subway train in Sunset Park on April 12. In total, 29 people were wounded in the aftermath on the train and platform. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said James was charged with one count of violating a law prohibiting terrorist and other violent attacks against mass transit systems. James could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Police arrested James on April 13 on the NE corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place... aided by the actions of Puebla and the other tipsters, Mohamad Cheikh, Zack Tahhan and Jack Griffin. (The fifth tipster asked to remain anonymous.)

You can read our previous posts for more background. 

• Suspect in Sunset Park subway shooting arrested in the East Village (April 13

• Videos: Witnesses describe spotting alleged subway shooter Frank James before his arrest in the East Village (April 13

• 5 people are splitting the $50,000 Crime Stoppers reward for Frank James tip (April 16

Image via @saifeehardware

The cowboy way at Key Food

A video of surveillance footage had been making the rounds on Reddit titled "Trying to shoplift when the owner is there get's you instant karma." (Update: The video has been removed. And thanks to the EVG readers who shared the link in recent weeks.)

In the 25-second clip dated from March 24 at 7:26 a.m., a man wearing a cowboy hat and a hoodie reading "Players only love you when they're playing" is seen grabbing a man trying to leave Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street without (presumably) paying for several 6-packs of White Claw.
The cowboy grabs the would-be thief and slams him against the exit wall... the man drops the White Claw in the process... and the cowboy chases him away ... and the cowboy impressively never loses his hat in the process...
Key sources tell us that the man regularly (and allegedly) shoplifts White Claw and other items and is well-known to employees. (Earlier this year EVG contributor Stacie Joy witnessed a man walk out of the store with the hard seltzer ... and employees didn't attempt to stop him. It's not clear if the person in the video is the same person Stacie saw.)

There was speculation about the identity of the White Claw Vigilante. Web sleuths are curious about who uploaded the video to Reddit — and why. To send a message to any future Key Food shoplifters? A Reddit user named "scottonaharley" is listed as the uploader.

A Key source said the video surveillance system is in a manager's office, which is locked downstairs; few people have access to this space.

We're told the man in the hat is Scott Schubert, who has a management role within the Key Food family. He happened to be at the supermarket on this day. Schubert saw the White Claw thief shoving longtime employee Utpola as he headed for the exit.

Stacie reached out to Schubert as well as Ben Mandel at Key Food parent company MAN-Dell Food Stores, Inc. for comment. 

A chance to see the 1956 film classic 'On the Bowery' on a big screen

If you haven't seen it... or want to watch it again... Lionel Rogosin's 1956 documentary "On the Bowery" is screening over the next few days at Metrograph

Here's what Criterion has to say about the 65-minute film:
Lionel Rogosin's landmark of American neorealism chronicles three days in the drinking life of Ray Salyer, a part-time railroad worker adrift on New York's skid row, the Bowery. When the film first opened in 1956, it exploded onto the screen, burning away years of Hollywood artifice, jump-starting America’s postwar independent-film scene ... 
Developed in close collaboration with the men Rogosin met while spending months hanging out in neighborhood bars, "On the Bowery" is both an indispensable document of a bygone Manhattan and a vivid and devastating portrait of addiction.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1957. 

Check out the trailer here...

   

Metrograph is at 7 Ludlow St. just north of Canal. Find the movie times here.

And this screening is part of a larger Rogosin retrospective at the theater.

Big Ash brings the vintage gems to Delancey

Big Ash debuted on Delancey Street late last week ... here's more about the shop via NYC Vintage Map:
Carefully curated vintage gems by the owner Ash Williams, from '70s crochet tops to early 2000s sexy slip dresses. Very cool! 
Big Ash is open daily from noon to 7 p.m. at 47 Delancey St. between Forsythe and Eldridge. Find updates on what's in stock (and who's in the store) @bigashnyc

Wyatt will pay you to move your car on 9th Street

Photos by Steven 

There are posted film notices for tomorrow on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue for something titled "Zoo." 

Later, on the south side of the street, someone (Wyatt? Wyatt's assistant?) placed flyers on several cars...
... offering the owners 60 bucks if they move their cars by 5 a.m. tomorrow...
How about it?

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Thursday's parting shot

Entering the Evflorist corridor on 10th Street just east of First Avenue...