EV Grieve

Monday, June 13, 2022

The all-new 360 Bowery is in the piledriving and jackhammering phase

Foundation work is underway on the 21-floor office building coming to 360 Bowery at Fourth Street.

This means, in recent days, that workers are jackhammering away at the base of the previous tenant, B Bar & Grill... there's some piledriving happening too...

The B Bar (b 1994) never reopened after the PAUSE in March 2020. Our previous posts have more background on this Midtown-friendly development via Bowery Hotel owner Eric Goode.

New signage era for Temakase on 2nd Avenue

Saturday saw the arrival of new signage at Temakase, the Japanese restaurant specializing in handrolls at 157 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. (Thanks to Steven for the photos!)

Gone is the more minimalist storefront... and in — a colorful red and yellow crab...

Temakase opened in the summer of 2020. Haven't heard any reader reports on this place since then.

Team behind Ichibantei eyeing 100 3rd Ave.

CB3's SLA committee meets tonight at 6:30. (Find the Zoom link here.)

There are just a handful of applicants this month, including MayRee on First Street and Gen Korean BBQ House on 14th Street and Third Avenue.

Here's another item of interest. The team behind the 12-year-old Ichibantei on 13th Street is looking to open a bar-restaurant serving Japanese cuisine at 100 Third Ave.

The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website shows the still-unnamed concept would feature room for 24 tables/98 seats spread over two floors... with proposed hours of 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. during the week; a 4 a.m. close Thursday through Saturday. (The 69-page questionnaire also includes a sample menu.)

No. 100 between 12th Street and 13th Street last housed the vowel-deficient club VNYL, which shut down at some point during the pandemic. Until September 2015, the renovated building featured the second iteration of Nevada Smiths.

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Flashback to 2 years ago today: June 12, 2020

This video clip via the EVG Twitter account is from early Friday evening on June 12, 2020... on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue...

Friday night (6/12), St. Mark’s Place pic.twitter.com/hujW2ZFFrY
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) June 13, 2020

People viewed the clip more than 5 million times... with news outlets in the U.K., France and Japan asking permission to post the video.

And among the retweets...

Don't make me come down there... https://t.co/OeVGMW7LEO
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 13, 2020

Earlier this week in June 2020, NYC reopened for the first time with workers in construction, manufacturing and retail being allowed to return — this after a nearly three-month lockdown, giving reason for some hope.

Many Twitter users condemned the actions of the partygoers on the street, many of whom were not wearing masks... and at a time when some residents were still wiping down canned goods purchased at the grocery.

In June 2020, bars and restaurants were still barred from allowing patrons inside but were OK'd to dispense to-go drinks. Eight days later, on June 20, NYC launched its Open Restaurants program, allowing restaurants to expand to sidewalks, curbside spaces and backyards.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a celebration of Hare Krishna Friday in Tompkins Square Park — photo by Stacie Joy) ...

• Questions and concerns remain over private security detail outside the former P.S. 64 (Tuesday)

• Gaia Italian Café set to debut on 3rd Street (Monday)

• RIP Bobbie Hondo (Monday)

• Come, let's drive along some side streets between Avenue C and Avenue D in 1987 (Friday)

• A look inside Globe Slicers, one of the most unique storefronts on the Bowery (Thursday)

• Ray's is ready to crank out the ice cream all summer long (Friday)

• 'Happy 35th Gay Anniversary' to Linda Simpson and My Comrade at Howl! Happening (Saturday)

• Astor Place Greenmarket returns (Tuesday)

• First red-tailed chick takes maiden voyage (Tuesday)

• At the last day of self-defense class (Wednesday)

• State of the art: Blick is now open in new 4th Avenue home (Monday)

• Best wishes to John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants (Saturday)

• 'Room With Stars' at Theater for the New City (Wednesday)

• Demolition complete on the NE corner of 2nd Avenue and 2nd Street (Wednesday)

• Gen Korean BBQ House next for 14th Street and 3rd Avenue (Monday)

• Openings: Emilia by Nai (Wednesday)

• Chick-In to bring Korean-style chicken to Allen Street (Monday)

• Akina Sushi has not been open lately (Thursday)

• Milk Burger signage arrives on Houston (Wednesday)

• The Nook NYC announces itself on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

• Your first look inside the new East Village Taco Bell, opening NEXT WEEK on 3rd Avenue (Friday)

• El Churro for Allen and Houston? (Thursday)

• Wood you believe another smoke shop is opening (Tuesday) ... New smoke shop called Smoke Shop debuts on 3rd Avenue (Monday)

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

At the East Village Queer Market

Photos by Stacie Joy

Local vendors took part yesterday at the East Village Queer Market, a special Pride event "spotlighting queer makers and gay-owned businesses producing consumer goods."

Milk Money Kitchens, 50 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street, hosted the Market. The sponsors were the East Village Independent Merchants Association, 3rd and B'zaar and Exit9.

While this was a one-day event, there is an online shop here for more Pride-related items.

EVG contributor Stacie oy stopped by for part of the afternoon...

Sunday's opening shot

Prepping for the Puerto Rican Day Parade today... photo from Third Street yesterday by Stacie Joy...

EVG Etc.: A post with links to stories about Lou Reed, Henry Winkler; more!

Midtown view Friday evening

• 19-year-old woman was attacked and stabbed early Friday morning at the Delancey Street subway stop (CBS 2) ... Police released video footage of the suspect (ABC 7)

• A year after state lawmakers established the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA), not a single hotel has been converted to housing in New York City (City Limits)

• A tour of the "stunning" Lou Reed exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (Variety)

• A memorial show for the late Howie Pyro at the Bowery Ballroom on July 23 (Official site)

• Court tosses the new Assembly district maps, though it won't impact this year's races (Gothamist)

• More on Carlina Rivera's Congressional bid (Gotham Gazette)

• Spectacular pics of the red-tailed hawklets in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)

• The team behind the 11th Street Bar is reopening Mugs in Williamsburg (Greenpointers)

• The unlikely success story of Manhattan's only Burmese restaurant — Little Myanmar on Second Street (Saveur ... previously on EVG)

• Let's check out the East Village closet of Sunflower Bean's Julia Cumming (Coveteur ... previously on EVG)

• NYC's burger shops are weighing how to respond to calls to boycott the company behind Martin's Potato Rolls (Eater)

• The "intrepid playfulness" at Nudibranch on First Avenue (The New Yorker)

• Henry Winkler meets fans while dining at Katz's (Thrillist)

• A look at the new hotel Nine Orchard on the Lower East Side (Vogue)

... and a video making the rounds this weekend ... riding into Williamsburg on a J/M/Z train...

Yo WTF!? These people just came over the Williamsburg bridge on top of the train. pic.twitter.com/osEtX4a0cp
— GOOSE (@GooseyMane) June 11, 2022

Saturday, June 11, 2022

Saturday's parting shot

Amsterdam views today on Zesde Straat by Derek Berg...

Previously

'Happy 35th Gay Anniversary' to Linda Simpson and My Comrade at Howl! Happening

Photos by Stacie Joy

This summer, Howl! Happening is celebrating Linda Simpson's photographs and her groundbreaking magazine, My Comrade.

Here's more about "My Comrade Magazine: Happy 35th Gay Anniversary" at the space, 6 E. First St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery:

My Comrade magazine was founded by drag queen Linda Simpson in 1987 during the dark era of the AIDS crisis and served as a symbol of hope and frivolity to the East Village gay scene and beyond. Armed with a tongue-in-cheek "revolutionary" agenda, the magazine glorified heroic drag queens and sexy guys in a cut-and-paste mishmash of articles and photo spreads. Lesbians got their due when the flip side became Sister! The sporadic publishing schedule produced a total of 11 issues until 1994. It was revived in 2004 for two more.

The exhibit features reproductions and enlargements of My Comrade's black-and-white pages. Notable contributors to the magazine included photographers Jack Pierson and David Armstrong, painter Stephen Tashjian a.k.a. Tabboo!, and drag stars RuPaul and Lady Bunny. The exhibit also features Simpson's color photos of the era from her acclaimed 2021 photo book, "The Drag Explosion," published by Domain.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy went to the opening last weekend, where she took these photos... including of Linda...

The First Street gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. "My Comrade Magazine: Happy 35th Gay Anniversary" will be up through July 17.

You can check out this feature at Dazed for more history.

The bands playing in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon

There's a slate of bands on tap this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... headlined by the high-energy rock of InCircles — one of the show's organizers.

Other bands: 95 Bulls ... The Vansaders ... No Grudges ... and (get there early for) Jade Tourniquet.

The show is expected to run from 1:45 to 6 p.m.

Best wishes to John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants

ICYMI... John Flansburgh (above left), one-half of They Might Be Giants along with John Linnell, was seriously injured in a car crash early Thursday morning coming home from a show at the Bowery Ballroom.

According to the Daily News: "Flansburgh, 62, was taking a car service back to his Upper East Side home after the band had a show at the Bowery Ballroom at about 12:45 a.m. Thursday when the Ford he was riding in was T-Boned by a 2016 Honda near the corner of Park Avenue and East 102nd Street."

Flansburgh and the 32-year-old livery driver were taken to Cornell Hospital. The guitarist broke seven ribs. (The driver's condition is not known.)

Per reports, 26-year-old Bronx resident William Mota was charged with drunk driving, resisting arrest and refusing to take a Breathalyzer test. Police told the Associated Press that Mota ran a red light, jumped a curb and plowed into the gate of a housing complex, hitting two cars along the way.

Flansburgh wrote about the collision in a lengthy Instagram post...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by John Flansburgh (@flansyflans)

The collision occured after the first night of TMBG's pandemic-delayed tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of Flood (a great record BTW). The shows will likely start up again later this summer.

While Flansburgh diffused the situation with some humor, Streetsblog pointed out that through June 5, "there have been 41,772 reported crashes (roughly 270 per day), injuring 1,542 cyclists, 3,495 pedestrians and 13,644 motorists" in NYC.

They Might Be Giants were regulars in the East Village in the 1980s... you can read our interview with the band's other John, John Linnell, right here.

And while were here...

Friday, June 10, 2022

Friday's parting shot

Eiffel Tower views on Place Saint-Marc today... photo by Derek Berg ...

Details about a LES Pride Book Crawl tomorrow (Saturday!)

Details via the EVG inbox...

Several bookstores of the LES and East Village are participating in a bookstore crawl, the focus of which is Pride Month.

The crawl starts at noon on Saturday, June 11, and each store is offering giveaways and prizes.

Participating stores:
• Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore at 116 Suffolk St.
• Book Club Bar at 197 E 3rd St.
• Sweet Pickle Books at 47 Orchard St.
• Yu & Me Books at 44 Mulberry St.
• McNally Jackson at 52 Prince St.
• Pillow-Cat Books at 328 E 9th St.

'Cheap' thrills

There's a new video out today via Surfbort, hanging here in Times Square. "Cheap Glue" is off the band's Keep on Truckin' release.

Details about the East Village Queer Market on Avenue A tomorrow

Photos by Stacie Joy

Look for a special Pride event tomorrow (Saturday!) at the East Village Queer Market, an event spotlighting queer makers and gay-owned businesses producing consumer goods.

A handful of local vendors will be participating tomorrow in this "celebration of Queer Makers" from noon to 6 p.m. at 50 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street. Find more details here. You can also shop online here.

The sponsors are the East Village Independent Merchants Association, 3rd and B'zaar and Exit9, with co-owner Charles Branstool pictured below.

Come, let's drive along some side streets between Avenue C and Avenue D in 1987

A version of this 3-minute video via the Kinolibrary Archive Film Collections titled "Drive Through the Lower East Side, New York in 1987" has been floating around the Internet for nearly 10 years...

A reader shared a more-recent version that looks a little more high-quality.

In the silent clip, the driver/film crew start on Houston and turn onto Avenue D... and from here the car drives up and down some desolate side streets between Avenue C and Avenue D... you may recognize a few things ...