Saturday's parting shot

Sunset shot courtesy of @cecilscheib...

'Summer in the City' with East Village writer Jennie Willink

Photos by Stacie Joy

Longtime East Village resident Jennie Willink, pictured above with her "muse and canine inspiration," Cosmo, is now a first-time middle grade novelist. 

Her book, "The Peonies: Summer in the City" (with Alix Sloane) was released earlier this month by DiAngelo Publications.

"The book all takes place in and around the East Village and celebrates our neighborhood, friendship and community with honesty, humor and lots of dogs," she told us.

And the plot:

The novel follows the story of Poppy and Esme (aka The Peonies) two 11-year-old best friends who live in the same apartment building in New York City’s East Village where they share a lively, non-traditional "friend-family" and are practically inseparable. But on the last day of fifth grade, the girls’ parents drop a bomb: Esme and her family are moving to California. 

After the shock wears off, the tweens set out to earn enough money to purchase two very special, very expensive, matching friendship necklaces. They start a dog walking business, Peony's Prancing Pups, and the adventure begins.

And, importantly, she noted that a neighborhood blog, "East Village Update," plays a major role in the success of the young protagonists. 

Today (Saturday) from 6-8 p.m. marks the official launch at Boris & Horton, the dog cafe on Avenue A at 12th Street. On July 12, she's also doing an event at P&T Knitwear on Orchard Street.

A Summer Kick-Off Block Party on 4th Street today

Cooper Square MHA II is hosting a summer kick-off block party today from noon to 6 p.m. on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery. 

Via the EVG inbox... 

Join us for a fun-filled day with Cooper Square MHA II as we host our first summer block party! Food, raffles, resident flea market, magic show, face painting, a bouncy house and performances by DJ Tony Bonilla, Sonido Costeño (live salsa), Rod Rogers Dance, 4th St. freestyle battle and more!

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

Today (Saturday, June 18!) is part 2 of Record Store Day 2022... the pandemic and vinyl supply-chain issues caused some titles to be pushed back from their original release date. 

So here we are. There are new titles out today. Not sure how each of our local shops might be celebrating the day. Limited to One at 221 E. 10th St. will have some crate-digging opps with a handful of rare and out-of-print vinyl as well as some ticket giveaways "and who knows what else." (!!!) The shop opens at 11 a.m.

Here's a list of EV record stores...

• A-1 Record Shop 

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

• Academy Records 

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

• Ergot Records 

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

• Limited to One Records 

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

• Manhattan45 

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

• Stranded Records 

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

June 17

OK! So they are artificial... why discard them now when you need to put them up again in early August? 

Second Avenue at Fifth Street today by Carol from East 5th Street...

Broadcast news

 

Broadcast, the English pop-psych band, recently released The Maida Vale Sessions, a rarities collection "charting the band from their first year together to near-international recognition as their sound continued mutating." 

Sadly, lead singer Trish Keenan died from pneumonia in 2011 at age 42. 

The video here is for one of my favorite songs, "Come On Let's Go" from 2000.

At the book party for Ada Calhoun's 'Also a Poet'

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Above: Ada Calhoun with her father Peter Schjeldahl

On Tuesday night, East Village native Ada Calhoun celebrated the release of her latest memoir, "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me." 

The festivities occurred in the garden at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue. Calhoun grew up two-plus blocks from here on St. Mark's Place with her father, New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl, and mother, actress Brooke Alderson (seen below with longtime neighbor Phillip Giambri).

The book's premise sounds pretty straightforward: In the basement of her parent's apartment building on St. Mark's Place, Calhoun came across some old cassette tapes of interviews her father had conducted for his never-completed biography of poet Frank O'Hara.

So Calhoun, whose credits include "St. Marks Is Dead," decided to finish the book her father started 40 years earlier.

The result, as Alexandra Jacobs put it in a review at the Times this week:

"Also a Poet" began as Calhoun's attempt to finish what her dazzling, absent-minded father couldn't: "to do something noble and to win." But it turned into something much less dutiful, and more interesting, a story about both the impossibility of reconstructing another person's life and the importance of trying — and an investigation of the strained, complicated relationship between a creative father and daughter.

You can read more about the project in this feature in the Times.

Back at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, there was a short program, MC'd by Calhoun's husband, Neal Medlyn (aka Champagne Jerry).

Singer-songwriter Lindsay Ellyn, who became friends with Calhoun after discovering "St. Marks Is Dead," played a song on her acoustic guitar. Schjeldahl read the last poem that he wrote. Actress Lili Taylor recited Frank O'Hara's "To the Harbormaster." 

Calhoun then read an excerpt from the book, about the time her father, on his wife's encouragement, decided to buy something for his daughter. He returned from the Strand with two books, one by W. H. Auden and the other a copy of "Lunch Poems" by Frank O'Hara. She was 9 at the time.

Here's a look at some attendees who came out for the "Also a Poet" celebration... 

... and Calhoun with her son Oliver and her father...

On July 17, Calhoun will be appearing at the Jefferson Market Library on Sixth Avenue (the library reopens on July 14 after a $10-million renovation). Find details here.

Remembering Maximiliano Contreras at the Parkside Lounge

Photo by Stacie Joy 

There's a memorial at the Parkside Lounge in honor of Maximiliano Contreras, a bartender here who died in a fall at the Delancey-Essex station early Sunday morning. Contreras was 24. 

Parkside ownership said they are gutted by the loss. In an Instagram post, they described Contreras this way: "He was such a bright light, kind person and utterly unique." 

At the bar on Wednesday, staff and patrons shared remembrances, including how funny Contreras was with snappy lines, how he handled patrons at the bar (a friend to everyone) and how universally adored he was. 

Contreras, who lived in Ridgewood, was born in Mexico, where his family remains. His friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help his family pay for funeral expenses. 

According to published reports, Contreras died after hitting his head in a fall onto the J train tracks at 1:45 a.m. Sunday. Police believe he may have been drunk and lost his balance. 

"There are very few people I look forward to knowing the rest of my life, and he was one of them," his longtime friend Angus Baigrie told the Daily News. "He was incredibly funny. Just a gorgeous human being who had this hilariously acidic tongue that was rarely unkind."

Proletariat opens today in new 7th Street home

Proletariat opens today in its new home at 21 E. Seventh St.

As we first reported in April, the craft beer bar was relocating here between Second Avenue and Cooper Square from 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The larger Proletariat space will feature "a huge staple of rarely-seen beers in cans, large format bottles, and via a rotating tap selection from some of the most boutique breweries and brewers around the world." 

There will also be a menu of plant-based English pub fare via Chef Ben Dawson. 

You can follow @proletariatny on Instagram for updates. Opening hours: 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

No. 21 was previously Porsena.

Image via Proletariat

A solar pavilion fundraiser at La Plaza Cultural on Sunday

La Plaza Cultural is hosting a fundraiser on Sunday for its proposed solar pavilion here in the community garden on the SW corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C. 

The festivities include a performance by Claudi and Marc from Pinc Louds... there's also a variety of food, drinks, etc., from 3-9 p.m. There's a $10 donation for entry. 

As for what the fundraiser is about: 

We are raising money to install solar panels to power the garden and take us off-grid. The pavilion will also serve as a four-season classroom offering workshops for the community.

Checking in on the Bowery Mural Wall 'on pause'

Here's a look at the Bowery Mural Wall at Houston this evening.

As previously noted, people have been tagging the motorcycle mural by David Flores, the last commissioned art for the space. At one point it was completely covered.

This prompted Jessica Goldman Srebnick, co-chair of Goldman Properties and curator of this wall, to issue a statement on Instagram in late May:

The creative process is an utter joy to watch. Filling a fire extinguisher with paint and spraying to destroy a work of art is not talent. It is sad and not only ruins the opportunity for countless artists, it ruins the opportunity for a neighborhood to live with glorious world-class art. The Houston Bowery wall could be just another advertising wall, but we’d prefer it to be a powerful beacon of the best of a movement.

For now, we don’t wish to wipe away what’s been done, we are simply taking a break...

Also on the wall now: A wheatpaste of Goldman Srebnick holding a fire extinguisher, courtesy of @DeGruppo...

City once again closes the area around the chess tables in Tompkins Square Park

City officials today have placed barricades around the chess tables, blocking access to this populated area at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park at Seventh Street and Avenue A. 

One member of the Parks Enforcement Patrol told EVG correspondent Steven that this section of the Park is "problematic." 

An assortment of blankets, personal belongings, and at least one Citi Bike, remain inside the barricades. 

The city has blocked off this area several times during the past two summers. 

Last summer, residents complained about the activity around the chess tables, including drug use, stolen goods and knife fights.

Zine Fair returns to St. Mark's Place this Saturday

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community are teaming up once again for a Zine Fair featuring more than 70 exhibitors this Saturday on St Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Here's more info via the EVG inbox:

Last year's event was a wonderful celebration of independent publishers, zine makers, and East Village DIY culture and history. Join us as we come together once again for this new zine fair tradition on St. Mark's Place. Free and open to the public. 

Like the 2021 edition (relive it here!), there will be corresponding events in several neighborhood community gardens...

Find more details here. 

Suki Japanese Kitchen expands in East Village relocation

Suki Japanese Kitchen is on the move again in the East Village. 

The well-regarded curry shop is opening an outpost at 32 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Workers were spotted working on the space this week (thanks to Steven for the photos)...

The move here to this (slightly larger) space means that Suki chef Kelly Cho's spinoff at the address, MIN Sushi, which opened in late 2020, has apparently ended. (We reached out for more details.) 

With this relocation, Suki's outpost at 111 First Ave. near Seventh Street has closed...

Cho opened Suki in July 2018 in a six-seat space at 86 E. Seventh St. and received favorable notices in the Times and via Michelin.

Suki moved around the corner to No. 111 in the summer of 2020.

You can follow Suki's Instagram account for opening details on St. Mark's Place. 

Sales underway at the 'bespoke' La Botanica on 6th Street

Sales have commenced at La Botanica at 619 E. Sixth St., described online as "five bespoke residences overlooking a botanical garden." 

The new building, six-plus years in the making, is across from the 6BC Botanical Garden between Avenue B and Avenue C ... which was apparently the inspiration for the name. 

We first heard about this project in January 2016. The end result is five units, priced from $2.95 million to the two-level penthouse, which has a $6.995 million ask.

Per the Streeteasy description: "La Botanica's biophilic design philosophy brings the outdoors inside while maximizing light, fresh air, and intimate streetscape views."

And here's one graph from the PH description:

The penthouse soaks in the East Village streetscape through its two-story-high, 23-foot-wide, black steel-framed glass wall that opens to a pair of Juliet balconies. The soaring, double-height living room overlooks the garden across the street. Looking south, this glorious vista includes the stepping roof gable and ivy-covered brick and terracotta facades of the Calvert Vaux-designed former school building across the street.

The previous one-story structure (housing a furniture designer) at 619 E. Sixth St. hit the market for $5.4 million in November 2013 before selling for $4.3 million.

You can read our previous posts about what has transpired here to date. 

Wednesday's parting shot

Upscaling, 11th Street near Avenue A. Photo by Steven.

Noted

Rendering commentary at the site of an incoming 6-floor residential building at 280 E. Houston St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

"Yet another over-priced yuppie ghetto housing project."

'Alien' nation: East Village duo the Acute release debut full-length record

Photos by Stacie Joy

The Acute, the East Village-based duo of Viveca Butler and Stephen Cacouris, have just released their debut full-length release, Alien Théâtre. 

For now, you can find the smashing record on Bandcamp ... as well as on streaming services, including Spotify and Apple. (A vinyl release is forthcoming.)

On this occasion, EVG contributor Stacie Joy tagged along with the two, who are also a couple outside the band, as they shopped for records in the East Village ...

Keep tabs on the band via Instagram. And catch the lo-fi noisemakers on June 25 at Heaven Can Wait on Avenue A.

You can read our band Q&A from December right here.

-----

Thanks to (in order of appearance): 

• A-1 Record Shop, 439 E. Sixth St.

• Jay's record table, sidewalk near 97-99 Avenue A 

• Ergot Records, 32 E. Second St.

Wash day for Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park

Photo this morning by Steven. 

As EVG first reported at the time, the fountain arrived here in August 1891, when people were squandering their money on 5-cent cups of coffee. 

Read about the history of the fountain here.

Desert Rose Café has apparently closed on 9th Street

Photos by Steven 

Workers were spotted clearing out Desert Rose Café the other day at 350 E. Ninth St. just west of First Avenue. 

Google lists the Café as "permanently closed" now... though there isn't any mention of a closure on its social media properties...

The Café, which offered a vareity of breakfast and lunch options, including crêpes, wraps and salads, just opened last July.

This space was last very briefly O Ramen Dim Sum M, which tried to open during the pandemic without success. And previously: beQu Juice was here until November 2019 after nearly six years in business.

Until 2012, a bakery had been in this storefront for 87 years.