Owners of Joyface to debut HiLot this week on Avenue C

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The team behind Joyface is opening a new lounge-restaurant this week at 102 Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

HiLot is the name of the cozy and well-appointed space that will serve various drinks and shareable plates (the cold spinach dip in a pumpernickel bread bowl is said to be quite good). 

The place is named for Joyface co-owner Jennifer Shorr’s uncle, a prominent figure in the San Fransisco Jewish gay liberation movement of the 1960s through the 80s. His drag name was Lottie, and his nickname was HiLot, short for HI LOTTIE!, which his friends would yell when he walked into a room. 

The HiLot team includes (from left) Shorr, bartender Carter Wilsford and Joyface co-owner Brian Powell ...

Like Joyface next door, Elizabeth Ingram designed this provocative and moody space...  

... which includes a clawfoot bathtub in the bathroom... 

... and space in the back currently going as "the cuddle pit" ... 

HiLot officially opens on Friday, though some friends-family events are ahead. Moving forward, the hours are Tuesday-Sunday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. You can find updates @hilotnyc.

HiLot takes over from the rather generic Avenue C Restaurant, which went dark in late 2019. Joyface, with the 1970s vintage decor on the SE corner of Avenue C and Seventh Street, opened in December 2018.

A fundraising raffle to help Lower East Side families this Thanksgiving

The second-annual Thanksgiving Fundraiser Raffle is underway... a partnership among Loisaida Inc., the East Village Merchants Association (EVIMA) and Cooper Square Committee. 

Organizers say their goal is to raise $4,000 for Thanksgiving food for Lower East Side-based families.

Via the EVG inbox: 

The funds raised from this online event will go directly toward purchasing Thanksgiving food for the Loisaida Inc. Center's annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, which will take place this year on Nov. 21. During last year's fundraiser, we raised $1,541. We were able to provide 500 turkeys to members in need in our community. 

This year, with food costs rising, we want to give even more and have a goal of $4,000! Nov. 1 through Nov. 15, raffle tickets starting from $1-$20 will be on sale. You can purchase tickets to win any of the 40-plus prizes, which total nearly $5,000 in value! Raffle prizes include items and gift cards from local small businesses in the Lower East Side/East Village. 

You can buy raffle tickets or make a donation here. You can also find a list of the raffle prizes at this link.

The former Nomad space is for rent on 2nd Avenue

A small for-rent sign now hangs on the storefront at 78 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

Last month, owner Mehenni Zebentout announced that he was closing Nomad, his low-key Mediterranean and North African restaurant to take a much-needed break. 

As he wrote on Instagram: "This is not goodbye; more like stay tuned for what's next." 

Whatever he does next won't be from this space. The closing announcement also coincided with a notice that the landlord was now in legal possession of the premises (photo by Stacie Joy) ...

Halloween's parting shot

Photo on Second Avenue by Derek Berg...

6 posts from October

A mini month in review (with a photo from 1st Avenue at 13th Street) ... 

• A look at Thayer, a new cafe-bookstore opening soon on Avenue B (Oct. 27) 

• Unveiling Donald Suggs Jr. Way on 6th Street and Avenue B (Oct. 18) 

• About those fireworks last night on the East River (Oct. 13) 

• Remembering Manny the Peddler (Oct. 12) 

• Long-vacant P.S. 64 now being pitched for medical use, educational purposes (Oct. 5) 

• Exclusive: This is the new tenant for the former Gem Spa space (Oct. 3)

[Updated] At the last night of the Pyramid Club on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated 11/28

On Nov. 22, Nick Bodor (the Library, Cake Shop, etc.) shared with us his plans for Baker Falls at 101 Avenue A. The old Pyramid will also feature a collaboration with the Knitting Factory. 

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The Pyramid Club ended its decades-long run on Saturday night with a Halloween Dance Party Spooktacular.

On Oct. 19, management announced via Instagram that the iconic venue at 101 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street would be closing at the end of this month. 

The club had been dark since March 7, 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. In the spring of 2021, the Pyramid announced that it would not be reopening ... before making a comeback at the end of July 2021, opening on weekend nights in subsequent months. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the two-level space early on Saturday as revelers were starting to arrive and choosing between the 80s Night Dance Party on the main floor or an industrial Halloween with Defcon downstairs.

... by 10:30, the line for entry was a block long...

Overall, the mood was pretty upbeat for the last night at the Pyramid. People were alternately crying and laughing/dancing. 

Meanwhile, there are ample rumors that this won't be the end of the address as an entertainment venue.

Opening in 1979, the Pyramid ushered in an era of "socially-conscious drag performance, led by the likes of the Lady Bunny, Lypsinka and RuPaul," as Village Preservation once put it. In an oral history of the space, Tricia Romano noted: "[The Pyramid] served as a safe haven for freaks, geeks, weirdos, queers, and dreamers to come together and create. Sometimes it was bad; sometimes it was beautiful. But it was never boring."

Key Food is back to 24/7

Photos by Stacie Joy

For the first time since March 2020, Key Food is open once again 24/7 at the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street.

The new hours went into effect yesterday...

During the worst days of the pandemic in 2020, the store reduced its hours... and later kept a modified schedule due to challenges in hiring enough employees to fill the shifts ... as well as security (shoplifting) issues. 

No word yet on what to expect from the overnight playlist. 

A busy week for milling in the East Village

The neighborhood will be experiencing a lot of late-night milling — the removal of the top layer of a street's asphalt surface — in the week ahead.

According to the city schedule here (H/T Peter Feld!): 

On Monday (Happy Halloween!) and Tuesday, there's nighttime milling scheduled for Ninth Street between Avenue A and Fourth Avenue.

Then Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the milling happens on Sixth Street from Cooper Square to Avenue A ... and on Fifth Street from Cooper Square to First Avenue. 

And Wednesday-Thursday: Fourth Street from Avenue A to Avenue D; Second Street from Bond Street to First Avenue.

And, as these photos via Steven show, it appears workers will be using the reliable RX-900e, one of the most productive cold planers available (and more free RX-900e storage on First Avenue!) ... 

Sources say that "power and heavy-duty construction make the RX-900 the tool to own for high-productivity, half-lane, or full-lane milling."

Meanwhile, expect several weeks to pass before these milled streets are repaved. 

SantaCon 2022 is now on the clock

Something truly terrifying for your Halloween: SantaCon NYC 2022 is on the clock. 

SantaCon returns for in-person binging and bar crawling on Saturday, Dec. 10. 

No word yet on the route, participating bars, etc. — all that will arrive in the days leading up to Dec. 10. So you have time to make plans to be far, far away. 

H/T Steven!

Double-decker plywood report

A quick trip to the SW corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue... where Pinch points out there's now double-decker plywood surrounding the single-level storefront... it looks as if workers are trying to replicate the Green Monster at Fenway Park...

As previously reported, workers are renovating the space for an outpost of the Gen Korean BBQ House chain.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with an ad for "Halloween Ends" at the 2nd Avenue F stop) ... 

• RIP Peter Schjeldahl (Wednesday) 

• Deadly shooting reported at Campos Plaza (Thursday) 

• El Rinconcito closer to opening on Avenue C (Tuesday) 

• A look at Thayer, a new cafe-bookstore opening soon on Avenue B (Thursday) 

• At the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival (Monday) 

• An early morning robbery at Desi Galli (Friday) 

• The city removes the curbside structure from outside Pinky's Space on 1st Street (Friday)

• The East Village Mermaid Inn is now closed until the spring (Friday)

• Pruning day for the great wisteria of Stuyvesant Street (Monday) 

• After nearly 30 years, Meg has left the East Village (Monday)

• Memphis Seoul coming to 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Looking at the past, present and future of curbside dining (Wednesday)

• Village Grannies is closing on 9th Street (Thursday)

• Plywood arrives ahead of Gen Korean BBQ House on 14th Street and 3rd Avenue (Monday)

• Kōbo by Nai watch on Avenue A (Thursday)

• Mealz debuts on 14th Street (Monday) 

• Openings: Sushi Mumi on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday) 

• About Brix Wine Bar, coming soon to Clinton Street (Wednesday) 

... and thanks to Richard Megna for sharing this photo from Sara D. Roosevelt Park... where the bench is either very uncomfortable or someone has really tight hamstrings...

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

Skeleton crew at work on 7th Street

Photo by Derek Berg

Set up is underway for the 3rd annual Halloween Mask-Querade today on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.
 

East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi's Overthrow Hospitality group is once again hosting a Trick-or-Treat Halloween festival for children ages 12 and under from 1-3 p.m.

More details here.

An appreciation: J. Kathleen White's dioramas at Ninth Street Community Garden & Park

If you've been by the Ninth Street Community Garden & Park in recent weeks, then you'll know that it's diorama season here on the northeast corner of Avenue C.

East Village artist J. Kathleen White's 2022 collection is titled "Spheres" ...

In order below are Hawk, Cat, Dragon and Corn... 

They'll only be up until early in November (we usually post these much sooner in the season).

White started creating and sharing the dioramas in 2005. Here's her work from 2021 ... 2020 ... 2019 ... 2018 ... 2017 ... 2016 ... 2015 ... 2014 ... 2013 ... 2012 ... and 2011.

Noted

A 30-second video clip showing a couple having sex in an East Village outdoor dining structure is — not surprisingly — going viral. (Thank you to the many readers who tagged EVG or sent the link.)

It happened this past Thursday night around 9:30 outside One and One on First Avenue and First Street. Twitter user @layajospe wrote: "Just witnessed a lovely couple fucking in an outdoor dining hut on 1st ave." 

The clip, now viewed more than 4.5 million times, shows some pedestrians passing by not paying any attention... while a few others seem to be aware of what's happening here at the nexus of the universe. 

You can watch the clip here.

Sunday's opening shot

Near peak fall at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue and 10th Street...