Sunday, December 18, 2022

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a reader-submitted photo from the Ninth Street Community Garden & Park) ...

• Here's the new, larger residential building planned for 280 E. Houston St. (Monday

• The 'Daze' of our lives: Adam Zhu's new photo book chronicles today's downtown youth culture (Wednesday

• Renovations underway at the former Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery (Tuesday

• At the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree lighting (Monday) ... Seeing the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree in a whole new light (Saturday

• The Gallery Watch Q&A: Harvey L. Silver's 'Changin' Times' (Friday

• Bad Brains on the Bowery with Shepard Fairey and Glen E. Friedman (Thursday

• The New Museum is collecting coats for the Bowery Mission (Tuesday

• Cautionary tales: A song inspired by an East Village move (Friday

• On the CB3-SLA docket: The Commodore aims for Avenue C; an all-day Italian cafe for 12th Street (Monday

• The Zero Irving food hall is now OPEN (Thursday

• Memphis Seoul announces itself on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• Before Dallas BBQ (Tuesday ... Wednesday ... Thursday

• Crab Du Jour sleeps with the fishes on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• Gen Korean BBQ House drops the plywood for a full reveal on 14th Street and 3rd Avenue (Thursday

• Pizza for the former Subway (sandwich shop) on Avenue B (Thursday)

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Sunday's opening shot

On 14th Street (just east of Second Avenue), someone looks to be rooting for France today over Argentina in the World Cup final... or maybe just excited for the season 3 premiere of "Emily in Paris." ðŸ˜¬

Saturday, December 17, 2022

At the 9th Precinct today

Photos by Derek Berg 

The 9th Precinct's annual holiday party took place this morning on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

The event included a toy giveaway to every child 12 years old and younger in attendance...

Seeing the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree in a whole new light

The Tompkins Square Park holiday tree is officially lit for the season. Again!

After last Sunday's festive ceremony, the tree was dark on Monday night, and it stayed that way until last night. 

Leadership at the Parks Department told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that there were "ongoing circuit issues" that required several requests for repairs. 

So all good for now. "We are pleased the lights are on," per the official.

Details about an art show to benefit Ukraine this weekend at C-Squat

This weekend, Seth Tobocman and Tamara Wyndham are hosting a benefit titled "STOP THE INVASION! An Exhibit of Artists Protesting the Russian Invasion of Ukraine" at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space/C-Squat on Avenue C.

Here's more about it via Facebook:
This is a traveling exhibit, which was first shown in New York at the First Presbyterian Church on 12th Street and then again at the Unitarian Church of Staten Island. The show is now making its way to the Lower East Side.
This art show includes artists holding many different political and philosophical beliefs, working in different styles, from graphic novels to photojournalism, from Fusionism to fashion design, and more abstract pieces. The artists come from many different countries including Ukraine, Russia, Italy, France, the UK, the USA, Israel, and Palestine.

All are united on one point: The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a catastrophe with repercussions felt far outside of Ukraine. The only resolution is for the Russian military to leave Ukraine completely, to return illegally occupied territories, answer for crimes they continue to commit, and pay reparations for the damage they continue to cause. This — and only this — will end the violence and suffering.

The purpose of the show is to demonstrate that all over the world, people of good conscience condemn this invasion.
Attendees can find a variety of items for sale, including zines, cassettes (Band Together donated a collection) and some rare World/Inferno Friendship Society vinyl records. All proceeds are going to benefit Razom for Ukraine.

The space is open from 2-8 p.m. this weekend. You can access the free show via MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.  

Saturday's opening shot

Sunrise from Tompkins Square Park 12/17 ...

Friday, December 16, 2022

Friday's parting shot

Rainy days and Seventh Street... photo today by Derek Berg...

'Beat' surrender

 

In this season of the listicle... a top-20 record contender — Excess, the second release from the Los Angeles-based trio Automatic. The video here is for "Teen Beat."

Cautionary tales: A song inspired by an East Village move

David Farrow, the musician behind the East Village project Certain Lives, shared this recently released video. 

He explains the story behind the track: 
This song was written while I lived on 13th Street between A and B, and tells the story of moving from Ninth street to 13th Street. Foolishly, I thought I didn't need to rent a U-Haul, but could instead carry all of my stuff over the course of a week from 9th to 13th. 

As the distance added up and I started to lose my mind, I fell for a scam buyer on Craigslist while trying to sell my bed frame. 

The song is a cautionary tale, but also an embrace of the naivety that comes from letting yourself trust someone else. 
Check Out "Craigslist Scammer" below...

   

The Gallery Watch Q&A: Harvey L. Silver's 'Changin' Times'

Interview by Clare Gemima 
Top photo by Daryl-Ann Saunders; the rest courtesy of Harvey L. Silver

EV Gallery presents Harvey L. Silver's first solo show in New York City, "Changin' Times."

A photographic time-capsule of America, which Silver started back in the late 1960s, "Changin' Times" showcases the photographer's kind, observational, and often voyeuristic image-building through photographs of musicians, hippies, artists, activists, strangers, and protesters, all photographed during a time of unprecedented historical change and civil unrest. 

Through his subject’s expressions, and the macabre candidness captured in other arbitrary moments, like in some of his street photography, it is clear that Silver is a documenter, or maybe some sort of archivist, but most focally — an authentic and curious photographer. 

I talked with Silver about his exhibition, which runs until Jan. 14, 2023. 

Congratulations on your first photo exhibit in New York City, "Changin’ Times." What does it feel like to see your images in the gallery? 

I grew up in New York City, so having a solo show in the East Village at the EV Gallery is thrilling. Even though my family lived in Queens — my father managed a professional camera store in Manhattan at 245 Seventh Ave., and I spent many teenage years wandering around the Village — it’s a homecoming. 

Your work was shot in the 1960s and 70s. Why is it important to you as an artist to show it today? 

In 1967, I started taking photographs seriously — working primarily in 35mm black and white, as well as color slides. I was able to chronicle a very historical period — music, counterculture, the anti-war and civil rights movements. I built my early portfolio in the late 1960s and 70s, and it was those photos of that unique period that Getty Images was interested in taking into their collection.
Why is the show hung in salon fashion?  

It's a modified salon — especially if you view floor-to-ceiling salons from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. For me, it was the best way to showcase a good number of framed prints in a relatively small space.
What is the most successful photograph in the show? 

People are very interested in the images of period folk and rock icons (Gram Parsons, Buddy Guy, Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt). Still, most are drawn to the street photography — for example, the 1968 photo of the young child looking at a framed photograph of Robert Kennedy in a Fifth Avenue department store window as his funeral is going on nearby at St. Patrick's.
Which image holds the most sentimental value to you, and why? 

Among the photographs are several of my family taken in the 1970s, such as portraits of my wife, Cindy, or several of my older son, Eric. These images are artful but also very personal.
Who is your idol portrait photographer?

I have always admired Edward S. Curtis and his photographs of North American Native Americans taken in the early 20th Century. 

What are your plans after "Changin’ Times"?   

I will be part of a group show at Gallery 40 in Poughkeepsie in February (near where I live in Rhinebeck) — and I am always mining my archives of negatives and slides for inclusion in Getty Images.
"Changin’ Times" runs through Jan. 14 at EV Gallery, 621 E, 11th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. The space is open Saturday from 1-5 p.m. and by appointment (info@evgallery.art, 978-799-9014). 

You can find Harvey's portfolio here.

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Clare Gemima is a visual artist and arts writer from New Zealand, now based in the East Village of New York. You can find her work here: claregemima.com.

Holiday wishes for the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center

Two community events are taking place this weekend at the former P.S. 64 at 605 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. (The above photo was taken from the 10th Street side a few weeks ago.)

Tomorrow (Saturday) at noon, local elected officials, residents and supporters are coming together for a rally to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the eviction of the Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center here. 

The assembled speakers will be asking "the mayor to make our holiday wish come true and return our community center."
This evening starting at 5:30, the activist group Loisaida Guardians is hosting a holiday dinner on the Ninth Street side of the property "to share gifts and food in the spirit of the holidays and work together to reopen Charas for the community of the people of New York City." 

We're told that Two Boots will be providing some pizzas. Find more details on the Facebook event page.

The long-vacant building, owned by Gregg Singer since 1998, fell into foreclosure earlier this year and is reportedly in the hands of lender Madison Realty Capital. 

The five-floor building is being offered for use as medical space or educational-related purposes. Meanwhile, some residents want to see the space used as a community center, as it was during its time as Charas/El Bohio Community Center. Singer evicted the group on Dec. 27, 2001. 

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Thursday's parting shot

Beware! As seen on Seventh Street and Second Avenue... pic by Derek Berg.

Before Dallas BBQ, part 3 (the end, maybe)

If you've been following along this week, then you may know there were some queries about what was on the NE corner of St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue before the closing-soon Dallas BBQ. (See here and here.) 

A reader shared this 1940s-era photo from the Municipal Archives... when it was still the decades-spanning Estroff Pharmacy...

Bad Brains on the Bowery with Shepard Fairey and Glen E. Friedman

Photos and reporting by Daniel Efram

Five-plus years after debuting the Blondie mural on Bleecker Street, Shepard Fairey, in collaboration with the Lisa Project NYC and Glen E. Friedman (below right), has completed a new mural in tribute to Bad Brains.
The mural, located directly across the street from CBGB at the Bowery and Bleecker, honors the D.C. band that broke new ground during the 1970s and 80s with its hard prototypical reggae-punk. 

Bad Brains also helped pay tribute to the club that championed its unique sounds by performing a trio of goodbye shows in 2006. Additionally, the location is special to Fairey as his first NYC solo art shows took place at the CBGB 313 Gallery, then curated by Jonathan Levine.

Friedman, the acclaimed East Village-based photographer known for his work with cultural icons, skaters and musicians, including some of Fairey's favorite artists, such as Public Enemy and Run-DMC, provided the photographs that Fairey compiled for the large-format piece.

"All of the photos in the collage were made at CBGB during the holidays in 1981 or 1982," Friedman says. "The Bad Brains annual Xmas matinees became a great thing for all us punks who didn't care or didn't have a place to be during the holidays. We'd all go and congregate there and see some of the best shows of our lives."

The mural's location was secured by the Lisa Project, a program dedicated to beautifying the community via mural art. Several members of the public had grown attached to the Blondie mural and wondered why it was being replaced. According to sources on the scene, the wall is supposed to be refreshed every three years but was delayed due to the COVID pandemic.

"After the Bad Brains left Washington, D.C., they moved to New York and were living here on the Lower East Side. They played CBGB a lot. In fact, their music came into its ultimate highest power when they were living and playing here," Fairey tells me about the project's roots in the East Village and Lower East Side community. 

"[They were] a defining band in terms of the sound of hardcore but a unique band in that they were all Black in a white genre," Fairey continues. "It's incredible to have Bad Brains get some love here because they have such a strong connection to NYC and CBGB. They recorded their first album at 171-A in Alphabet City." 

The four-person crew — (from the left) Fairey, Rob Zagula, Praxis and Osk — installed the mural on Monday and Tuesday ...
Here's a look at the elaborate work that took place this past week...
Daniel Efram is an East Village-based photographer-curator. He is the producer of "The Steve Keene Art Book."

Gen Korean BBQ House drops the plywood for a full reveal on 14th Street and 3rd Avenue

Workers have removed the double-decker plywood from the SW corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue (thanks Allie C. for the photo!)... revealing the new tenant: Gen Korean BBQ House.

As we've been reporting... the brand — known for its all-you-can-eat specials — has 18 locations in California, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and Texas ... with a handful more in the works. 

Community Board 3 OK'd a beer-wine license for the address back in July. (The previous tenant, 5 Napkin Burger, had a full liquor license.) Alcohol is only part of table service — there won't be any bar seating, per CB3 minutes.

The restaurant is taking the former 5 Napkin Burger space as well as the storefront next door that served as the 5 Napkin Express, then Taman Falafel. Those businesses closed at the start of the year

Pizza for the former Subway (sandwich shop) on Avenue B

The former Subway (sandwich shop) at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street has a new tenant.

A worker helping renovate the storefront told EVG correspondent Stacie Joy that a pizzeria is coming soon here... 
Not sure at the moment what kind of pizza we're talking about... more upscale pies and slices or the ubiquitous 99-cent $1.50 variety.

The Subway outpost was here for nearly nine years before going dark in 2020.

The Zero Irving food hall is now OPEN

Photo courtesy of @GramercyLocal 

Everyone's favorite new food hall debuted yesterday on the ground floor of Zero Irving, the recently erected 21-floor building at 124 E. 14th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. 

Most of the 13 vendors were up and running (a few weren't ready just yet, such as the bottle shop Top Hops Beer). 

You can go to the UrbanSpace website for a list of the vendors, six of whom are reportedly first-time entrepreneurs or start-up companies... not to mention EV vets Wafles & Dinges and Bobwhite Counter. (Bobwhite doesn't appear on the website, though their name is on the entrance and they have arguably the most high-profile space inside.)

The Zero Irving food hall is open Monday-Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., with Saturday hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The space has WiFi and outdoor seating in the rear of the complex. (So you're not sitting on 14th Street.)

This link has more background on Zero Irving.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Candlelight carols this Sunday at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer

This Sunday (Dec. 18!), the Most Holy Redeemer/Nativity Parish on Third Street is hosting candlelight carols in celebration of the season.

The event, free and open to the public, starts at 4 p.m. at the church, 173 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Noted

On Monday night, an EVG reader told us that the lights were off on the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree — 24 hours after the official and festive lighting ceremony. 

They remain off this evening for unknown reasons...

Before Dallas BBQ, part 2 (and yes — there will be a part 3)

Top photo by Stacie Joy 

The interest in the pre-Dallas BBQ status of the NE corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue shows no sign of abating! 

Yesterday, we posted the photo via Godlis showing the early 1980s corner and its occupant, Estroff Pharmacy. 

Steve Butcher shares this shot of the corner, including Estroff's next-door neighbor — East Village Stationery circa 1982.

Oh, and never mind that random dumpster fire!