However, there's a large BUT...
"Missing filter.
Cleaned out of roaches but take at your own risk."
Monday, August 29, 2022
There's always a catch
The Boys' Club has moved out of its longtime home on 10th Street and Avenue A
A spokesperson confirmed that the nonprofit was leaving the Harriman Clubhouse this summer and that they'd continue to support the LES community with after-school and weekend programming, though they didn't offer specifics.
The spokesperson and other BCNY officials did not respond to follow-up queries about the timing of the departure and its future in the neighborhood.
This past week, workers were spotted removing shelves, tables and other office equipment from the facility, where the gate was down on the front entrance...
One former volunteer said the last day here was on June 30.
As we first reported in June 2018, the Boys' Club put the 7-story building on the sales market. At the time, Stephen Tosh, BCNY's executive director and CEO, said the sale of the East Village building would allow the organization the opportunity to start new programs in other neighborhoods in need of its services. (To be clear, the Boys' Club decided to sell their building — they were not forced out. The building was pitched for educational purposes as well as residential conversion.)
In August 2019, Crain's first reported that Aaron Sosnick, an East Village resident and founder of the investment fund A.R.T. Advisors LLC, was the new owner of the Harriman Clubhouse. He bought it for $31.725 million and reportedly planned to sell the property, "potentially at a substantial loss," to a nonprofit that would maintain its civic use.
It's not known at the moment what might be next now that the Boys' Club has officially left the facility.
The Boys' Club originally planned to vacate the building after the 2019-2020 school year, though the pandemic likely changed that timing. In a press release at the time, Tosh stated: "This will allow time for BCNY to secure a smaller permanent space in the neighborhood to provide programming."
E.H. Harriman founded the Boy's Club in 1876. The Harriman Clubhouse on 10th Street and Avenue A opened in 1901...
... and how it looked in 1908...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Local elected officials urge Boys' Club officials to postpone sale of the Harriman Clubhouse
Boys' Club of New York selling East Village building; will remain open through June 2019
During noon rally today, local elected officials will seek postponement of Boys' Club building sale
[Updated] Exclusive: The Boys' Club of New York puts the Harriman Clubhouse on the sales market for $32 million
Boys' Club fast tracks sale of East Village clubhouse as final bids are due Oct. 30
RUMOR: The Boys' Club building on 10th and A has a new owner; will remain in use as a nonprofit
Boys' Club of New York selling East Village building; will remain open through June 2019
During noon rally today, local elected officials will seek postponement of Boys' Club building sale
[Updated] Exclusive: The Boys' Club of New York puts the Harriman Clubhouse on the sales market for $32 million
Boys' Club fast tracks sale of East Village clubhouse as final bids are due Oct. 30
RUMOR: The Boys' Club building on 10th and A has a new owner; will remain in use as a nonprofit
[Updated] The Green Bench is stolen from the TF in Tompkins Square Park; 'this shit is an act of WAR'
Photo from October 2021 by Stacie Joy
Updated
Since our original post, several other media outlets jumped on the story. (A solid piece from Vice here.) There's now an AVE Bench Instagram account (and several copycats). As for the bench, after the excursion to Philadelphia, it was last spotted in Richmond, Va. Then, on Sept. 25, pro skater Mark Appleyard posted a clip with it from an unknown location... with a RUMOR that it crossed the border to Canada.
-----
Tensions are mounting in a cross-border conflict following the brazen theft of the green bench (aka AVE bench) from the TF in Tompkins Square Park last week.
The bench was last seen Wednesday night... as the @tf_report account reported...
"Some reports have said the green bench was stolen from Tompkins around 2am on early Thursday morning, to which it was carried into a van by several unidentified men and transported across state lines to Philadelphia, PA."
Follow-up clips in the @tf_report Stories noted brazen activity in and around Philadelphia...
No word yet on the next move.
The bench first arrived in Tompkins last October... coinciding with the grand opening of FA — better-known as Fucking Awesome World Entertainment — at 420 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. The skateboard company and streetwear brand is co-owned by pro skaters Jason Dill and AVE (aka Anthony Van Engelen).
Here's more about it via Curbed:
If you're a skateboarder — or a former skateboarder, or at least somewhat skateboarding-adjacent — and live in New York City, that sentence cannot be read without an exclamation point. The green bench! That's because this particular 300-pound piece of steel street furniture has become one of the most storied objects to skate around and on, and its arrival on the East Coast adds a coda to a two-decade saga of discovery, theft, loss, reconstruction, and a particularly hard-won switch backside noseblunt slide across its 13-foot arc.
And here's AVE's thoughts on its arrival here last fall:
"I hope it stays at Tompkins forever," he told Curbed. You might think (as the guys I talked to at FA did) that with the bench's history, there would be a serious security apparatus surrounding it at night. But according to AVE, the bench's future at Tompkins is being left to fate: It's just sitting out there for everyone to skate.
And steal.
City removes Poco's outdoor dining structures
Top 3 photos by Salim; additional reporting and photos by Stacie Joy
On Friday morning, more than a dozen Department of Sanitation and NYPD members closed the block of Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C to dismantle Poco’s outdoor dining structures on the SE corner of Third and B...
... the view to the west from Avenue C...
Sources on the block said that Poco, known for their crowded boozy brunches, had accrued too many violations and did not have permits for their outdoor structures — one on Third Street and three huts attached to the restaurant's north-facing wall.
According to a local building superintendent, "they are very noisy; they make too much speaker noise."
A local resident on the block witnessed the dismantling: "DoS came with sawzalls and tore it down. They have been piling up violations since Covid. We called it the 'Covid Corner.'"
A Poco employee, who declined to give her name, said the owners decided to take down the structures. So why were the police and the Department of Sanitation there? "I don't know." The employee also said she didn't know if any citations were issued on the structures.
Here's how Poco looked after city workers left as staff members set up for Friday's brunch service...
The lack of outdoor dining structures didn't seem to dent Poco's brunch business on Saturday afternoon...
Poco's website advertises its "legendary brunch," where $47 gets unlimited mimosas, Bloody Marys, red or white sangria, and an entrĂ©e. Thursday through Sunday nights, Poco offers a "Bottomless Dinner" — $65 per person plus tax and tip for two hours of unlimited well drinks, wine and/or beer.
The city recently began cracking down on repeat offenders and abandoned curbside-dining structures through the Open Restaurants program.
Per the city:
Having removed the initial 24 abandoned sheds, the task force has begun identifying and removing additional sheds, investigating another 37 sheds identified as egregious violators of Open Restaurants program guidelines, and reviewing complaints and summons data to identify and remove other abandoned sheds throughout the five boroughs. Sheds reported to be abandoned will be verified as abandoned two separate times before receiving a termination letter, followed by removal and disposal of the shed.The task force will also review sheds that, while potentially active, are particularly egregious violators of Open Restaurants program guidelines. In these cases, sheds will be inspected three separate times before action is taken.
After each of the first two failed inspections, DOT will issue notices instructing the restaurant owner to correct the outstanding issues; after the third visit, DOT will issue a termination letter and allow 48 hours before issuing a removal notice. DOT will then remove the structure and store it for 90 days — if the owner does not reclaim it in that period, DOT will dispose of the structure.
What's going in at the renovated 316 Bowery?
Photos by Stacie Joy
EVG contributor Stacie Joy received a tour of the interior on Saturday. Oddly enough, the contractors and security officers here did not know who the new retail tenant was... only that they'd be open in a week or so... 
A source told Bowery Boogie last week that a J Crew was setting up shop here. This space is a retail conversion, ending the run of bar-restaurants here in recent years.
Inside are fitting rooms, merch shelves and sporting decor (Merrimack canoes hanging from the ceiling). 
There's nothing inside the storefront with the J Crew branding (and is this JC's store color palette?) ... though J Crew does have a Merrimack canoe line of items.
There also weren't any posted work permits. (The approved work permits also don't mention the new tenant, just the scope of the work.) So far, a coming-soon notice hasn't been posted to the J Crew website... or even its Madewell brand.
Anyway, it would make sense for a J Crew to open here — they introduced the Bowery pants and the Ludlow suit to the world in 2010.
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Week in Grieview
• The next iteration of the Knitting Factory coming to the East Village (Wednesday)
• A liquidation sale at La Sirena on 3rd Street (Thursday)
• A 'retail opportunity' at the former Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery (Monday)
• Delicore: The line to see Diplo at Katz's After Dark Sunday night (Monday)
• Here's the first look at the new residential building coming to 2nd Avenue and 2nd Street (Monday)
• Keyapalooza! Key Food is hosting a 6-day 'RE-GRAND Opening' next month (Friday)
• Asbestos abatement to begin at the former East River Park amphitheater — 9 months after it was demolished (Monday)
• The Li'l Park Drag Show takes the stage at La Plaza Cultural (Tuesday)
• A retail wine and spirits store is in the works for the former Black & White space on 10th Street (Wednesday)
• City removes several abandoned curbside dining structures in the East Village (Tuesday)
• Reports: Dan Goldman is the Democratic nominee for the 10th Congressional District (Wednesday)
• Lucky No. 77: Victory Tattoo NYC opens in the former Hells Angels HQ on 3rd Street (Thursday)
• Here's more about Rabbit and the Fragile Flour, opening next month on 7th Street (Wednesday)
• Wegmans is hiring on Astor Place (Monday)
• The ever-changing East Village skyline's newest addition is a 32-foot-tall Link5G tower (Friday)
• Dunkin' to make triumphant return to 250 E. Houston St. (Monday)
• Signage alert: Pizza Loves Sauce coming to East Houston (Thursday)
• At the Nuyorican Poets CafĂ©'s annual block party (Sunday)
• Signs of dinner life at Prune (Tuesday)
• First sign of the new gallery opening in September at 313 Bowery (Monday)
• People keep stealing catalytic converters (Friday)
• Thoughts on a new tenant for a former laundromat (Tuesday)
• Report: Trader Joe's closed the Union Square wine shop after learning of plans to unionize (Monday)
• Senses working overtime: The former Taj Mahal is now home to a psychic on 6th Street (Thursday)
[Updated] Police investigation in Tompkins Square Park as workers prep for the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
Updated below.
Nearby this morning, police had taped off part of the benches in the center of the Park. A man's body, partially covered by a white sheet, was slumped on a bench. Witnesses said this was likely an overdose. No other information was available at the moment.
Updated:
Per amNY: "There were no apparent signs of foul play, and police sources indicated it's believed the individual may have suffered from a drug overdose."
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Saturday's parting shot
Questions about the Mo' Eats truck
First question via the EVG inbox.
1. Have you tried Mo' Eats?
No! (Have you?)
2. Is it legal to just pull up a food operation for a month with expired New Jersey tags?
Probably worth a ticket ... or boot!
Saturday's opening shots
Friday, August 26, 2022
Keyapalooza! Key Food is hosting a 6-day 'RE-GRAND Opening' next month
Photo by Stacie Joy
After nearly a year of renovations and some changes, some subtle (the non-dairy milk brands moved across aisle 2) and not-so-subtle (we still can't find the bacon), Key Food is hosting a "RE-GRAND Opening" during the first two weekends of September.
That's six days to celebrate Keychella and the upgrades (we haven't even posted about the new lights, which are pleasantly soft and don't cause seizures, as far as we know).
At this moment, we don't know what to expect over these six days other than to celebrate our appreciation of the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street.
We will see you there for all six days of this Keyapalooza.
P.S.
Yes, we have never heard of a "RE-GRAND Opening" and don't know if this is some kind of transpose glitch. (If so, collector's item!)
P.S.S.
Key was never actually closed during any of the renovations, other than shaving a few hours off the open and close times. We love you Key.
The replacements
A new single/video dropped today via local musician-artist Ruby Trademark (aka Ruby Aldridge) ... enjoy the noirish noise-pop of "My Replacement."
The ever-changing East Village skyline's newest addition is a 32-foot-tall Link5G tower
So what the *(*&#^%%$$@@ are these?
Per amNY:
The new structures are operated as a public-private partnership by consortium CityBridge, and are a revamp of the old 10-foot kiosks the firm set up under former Mayor Bill de Blasio starting in 2015 with free Wi-Fi, USB charging ports, a tablet, a 911 button, and calling capabilities.
We remember!
The old ones were supposed to be funded by digital ad displays on the side and the city originally hoped to build 10,000 of them, but the screens did not bring in the promised revenue, which brought the program to a halt with some 1,800 units built largely in Manhattan.
Read more about the supersize LinkNYC and the plans to revive the broken promise to bridge the digital divide in NYC at The City.
Currently accepting nicknames for the Link5G towers in the comments.
People keep stealing catalytic converters
Top photo from 6th Street
Catalytic converters remain a hot property. (Background)
Meanhile, the 9th Precinct tweeted this back on Saturday morning...
There is a big market for catalytic converters and these thieves know that. Great Police work by Officer Ramos and Officer Foster. They responded to a 911 call of a man stealing a catalytic converter from a car and after a brief foot chase the individual was arrested. pic.twitter.com/o8IH7zYQqT
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) August 20, 2022
Reminders! The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is back in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday
The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is taking place this weekend... with a return to Tompkins Square Park from 3-7 p.m. on Sunday.
An abbreviated version of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival took place last year in Harlem; the 2020 slate was canceled with the pandemic.
Here's what to expect here via the SummerStage 2022 program:
Archie Shepp and Jason Moran are two avant-garde jazz musicians from different generations that nonetheless share a penchant for pushing the envelope. Shepp is a veteran saxophonist who has been called both a musical firebrand and a cultural radical, standing out even amongst myriad talents in the free jazz generation. Moran is pianist 37 years Shepp’s junior, with an equal respect for tradition and trailblazing. Their 2021 collaboration Let My People Go is a warm and intimate collection of duets recorded live in 2017-2018, a pristine portrait of two masters at work.The bill also includes the Grammy-nominated Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, who plays with a ferocious energy and deft musicality; Bria Skonberg, a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader once described by The Wall Street Journal as one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation; and Pasquale Grasso, a master be-bop guitarist known for elevating the instrument through his pianistic approach, showing the influence of Bud Powell and Art Tatum in a revolutionary hard-swinging way.
The festival started in Tompkins Square Park in 1993 ... taking place near or on Parker's birthday on Aug. 29. Additional dates were added in Harlem in 2000.
Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived at 151 Avenue B from 1950-1954. That residential building between Ninth Street and 10th Street is landmarked.
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Thursday's parting shot
The ABC mural is the work of Brooklyn-based artists The Yok and Sheryo. And there was a little bit of controversy when this mural first arrived.
A liquidation sale at La Sirena on 3rd Street
Photos by Stacie Joy
A liquidation sale continues at La Sirena, the longtime Mexican artisan shop at 27 E. Third St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.
In an email about the in-shop-only sale, owner Dina Leor said: "Long story short, we have enough for four stores, and we want to empty. We'd rather you enjoy it than have it saved."
Here's more:
Everything is handmade by artisans from many regions of Mexico. Our mission has always been to help and support artisans and craft traditions.We have a lot of embroidered clothes, textiles, ceramics, hand-carved wooden masks, jewelry (handmade silver earrings and others too), Talavera ceramics, Gorky Gonzales ceramics, home decor, wall art, tin art, leather and fabric wallets and purses, Halloween art, sombreros, good luck charms, statues of saints, Mexican wrestling masks and souvenirs, baskets, market bags, hand woven blankets, paper flowers and much more.
She said the liquidation runs through Aug. 31.
Asked on Instagram if she was closing the shop, she wrote: "First liquidating storage and then we'll see. I believe in miracles."
Lucky No. 77: Victory Tattoo NYC opens in the former Hells Angels HQ on 3rd Street
Images and reporting by Stacie Joy
The last of the members and/or their entourage moved out of No. 77 between First Avenue and Second Avenue at the end of March 2019. Until then, the Hells Angels had the clubhouse in their possession since 1969.
The two retail spaces, where the Angels once had their bar, entertainment area and storage space, became available in February after the building underwent extensive renovations. (Several pop-up concepts have leased the other storefront.)
Vic Tamian (below), a tattoo artist and entrepreneur, owns Victory Art and Tattoo in Little Falls, N.J. On the shop's fifth anniversary, Tamian decided to expand and open Victory Tattoo NYC.
Tamian liked the location because of the No. 77 address, "which is a lucky number."
They were also aware of the building's history, which "only adds to the appeal that a tattoo shop already has."
Tamian said they messaged the Hells Angels to get their blessing. They got a "hells yeah" in response.
The shop features apprentice Katie Lau (right, below) and piercer Strawberry Reynolds (left).
Senses working overtime: The former Taj Mahal is now home to a psychic on 6th Street
The awnings and signage were covered in blue this week... a small "psychic readings — $5 special" is on the front window. Not open just yet.
In keeping up with the Mahals... Raj Mahal is still open a few storefronts to the east for some live sitar music and reasonably priced food ...
... one of two Indian restaurants left on the block (along with Malai Marke) ...
Signage alert: Pizza Loves Sauce coming to East Houston
Not sure who's behind the pizzeria at the moment. The shop's website describes it as "a New York Style Pizzeria." There's an Instagram account here for updates.
The space (once part of Lucky's Famous Burgers!) was previously an outpost of Il Mattone.
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