Photo by Steven
New mural on St. Mark's Place, south side between Avenue A and First Avenue — "Punk Is Not Dead" by Miki Mu...
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Lean on me
We are trying to remember seeing any other leaning bars around the neighborhood. (They were promised with the new M14 SBS service.)
As Bloomberg noted in 2017 when they arrived at a few subway stations: "some New Yorkers saw the bar as the latest salvo in what could be called the 'War on Sitting.'"
An appeal to help a longtime East Village resident
Photos by Daniel Efram
Updated 2/9
Dan posted an update to the GoFundMe... thanking everyone for their generous support. Also:
WE NEED: General builders / handy people / painters / wall scrapers / flooring specialists for possible emergency work in the apartment possibly this weekend or next week.
See the comments below or the campaign for more info.
-----
EVG regular Daniel Efram is helping a neighbor, Ginette Schenck, an 87-year-old resident who has lived in a studio on 12th Street and Avenue A for decades, improve her current living conditions.
Per his crowdfunding appeal:
Ginette's health and apartment have seen better days. Funds raised will go toward a deep cleaning (of the apartment), apartment replacement items, new clothing, bedding, towels, etc... which will allow her to heal in a clean and less germ-friendly environment.
Her health has taken a huge dip in the last couple of months, certainly in no small part due to her horrendous living quarters. It needs a DEEP clean asap, and she will need new everything (clothing, bedding, paint. etc.) to survive. She has been bedridden for months and needs daily help. Her numerous ailments, including painful shingles, neuropathy made worse undoubtedly by her filthy, vermin-ridden studio apartment.Though we have been able to get her some aid through the city, she needs much more and any progress seems destined to be stymied by bad fortune and a lack of family nearby to help her make decisions ...
The way she has been left to die on her own, trying to navigate a health care system designed to punish those without extreme financial affluence, family or regular guidance, is a tragedy.
Work on the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park expected to start in September
The Parks Department has also offered a more specific timeline for the pavement reconstruction of the multipurpose courts (seen above) along Avenue A and 10th Street.
That work is expected to start in September ... with an anticipated completion in June 2024... (a city official previously said this work would only take three months...)
We covered the city's presentation to Community Board 3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee back in September. Find that recap, which includes schematics, here.
The Parks Department will reconstruct the multipurpose courts, adding various amenities, including a two-lane seal-coated walking loop, and new asphalt.
According to Max Goodstein, a landscape architect with the Parks Department, there's a lot of "asphalt structural damage," and it "needs to be replaced and repaired. And the only way to do that is to take all the asphalt down to the sub base and put new asphalt down."
Other additions: new benches, a kickball court, a high-low fountain that kids and adults can use simultaneously, and three new basketball backstops at the eastern end, replacing the ones that always seem to be damaged.
So what does this mean for the skaters on the lot (aka TF), hallowed ground where generations have used this space dating to the 1980s? (It has been called "the last great meet-up spot for skateboarders and their friends in New York.")
Skaters are worried the new asphalt will be either too soft or hard for skating, turning this into a useless spot.
As you may recall, in September 2019, the skateboarding community came together via a petition started by Adam Zhu and signed by 33,000-plus people to show their support for keeping the multipurpose courts free of synthetic turf... plans apparently only known to residents who attended a Community Board 3 committee meeting in May 2019.
However, less than 24 hours before a much-publicized rally was to take place, the city announced that it would no longer cover the space in turf, originally proposed to make up for the amenities lost during the years-long gutting of East River Park.
"Tompkins Square Park has served as the epicenter of NYC skateboard culture for decades. As such, we have decided to leave the area previously proposed for synthetic in the park as is and will not move forward with creating a synthetic turf area there," Parks Department spokesperson Crystal Howard said in a statement to Patch at the time.
And as we've noted previously, the reconstructed layout of the space may make this the end of the epicenter of NYC skateboard culture.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Tuesday's parting shot
Photo by Steven
The latest mural, courtesy of Steve the Bum, outside the Second Avenue F stop at Houston...
Noted
As previously reported, a large rent hike forced the closure of Café Cortadito on Third Street just east of Avenue B. (The owners are hoping to reopen in a new space nearby.)
Meanwhile, someone left an In Memoriam behind on the front gate...
Block R.I.P. Cortadito but don't fret!! Coming soon.... BLANK ST COFFEE the hedge-fund sponsored Starbuck's in sheep's clothing where the coffee, atmosphere and philosophy is blah, blah, blah, contributing to the Death of the NYC Mom & Pop...
For starters, there isn't any truth to a Blank Street opening an outpost in this space.
Blank Street, which some residents presume is a mom-and-pop enterprise, the brand raised $67 million in 2021 thanks to high-profile venture capital funds like General Catalyst and Tiger Global, the founders of Allbirds and Warby Parker, and real-estate titan Tishman Speyer, as The New York Times reported this past September.
Thanks to E3CD for the photo!
A timeline of events after the assault outside Ray's Candy Store
EVG was the first media outlet to report on the assault, and since then, the story has made headlines in the U.S. (via CNN) and the UK. Some of the following details have been linked to or reported on in previous posts... putting it all in one place here:
• Tuesday, Jan. 31
Ray Alvarez and his employee Gabe Thorne were attacked outside Ray's Candy Store around 3 a.m. when the pair went outside for some fresh air. A man, who police later identified as Luis Peroza, struck Ray with a belt with a rock attached, causing a black eye and gash on Ray’s temple. Gabe was hit across the chest.
The suspect threatened to kill Ray, per the police report. All this apparently happened because Ray and Gabe declined an offer to buy seltzer water from Peroza and his accomplice.
• Wednesday, Feb. 1
Around 8:30 p.m., Ray officially filed a police report. Officers from the 9th Precinct visited the shop. Police checked out local security cameras and later released a surveillance image of the suspect.
Sometime that night, police arrested Peroza's alleged accomplice, 55-year-old Gerald Barth, though this news wasn't released until Feb. 5.
• Thursday, Feb. 2
Ray initially declined to seek any medical treatment and continued to work as he has here since opening in 1974.
On this night, a nurse finally convinced Ray to go to Beth Israel, where a CT scan revealed three broken bones in his face and a dislocated jaw. The doctor put Ray on antibiotics and told him to rest.
• Saturday, Feb. 4
Police announced that they arrested Peroza, later described as "a career criminal," with 10 prior arrests dating to 2001 for robberies, assaults, criminal mischief and petit larceny, according to The Daily Mail.
The Daily News reported that Peroza served five years in prison after he was convicted for an assault in the Bronx in 2003. A source told the News that the suspect is "next-level crazy."
• Sunday, Feb. 5
Peroza appeared before a judge at Manhattan Criminal Court, The Daily Mail reported.
Luis Peroza, 39, covered his face with a mask and looked glum ...He spoke to confirm his name and told the hearing that he was homeless and lives in a shelter on the east side of Manhattan.
According to the NYPD and media reports, after the assault at Ray's, Peroza and Barth showed up outside a deli on Avenue C, where they allegedly attacked a second victim. Per the Post:
They blocked their second victim's path and demanded, "Give me your money!" authorities said.That's when Peroza hit the victim with "an unknown object, causing a deep, bleeding laceration" to his head and "a broken orbital bone, and substantial pain," according to the complaint filed by Manhattan prosecutors Saturday.
What's next
Peroza was charged with first- and second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree robbery, and two counts of first-degree attempted robbery.
During the hearing, his bail was set at $200,000, and he was given the alternative of a $250,000 bond. Peroza remains in the Eric M. Taylor Center at Rikers until his next hearing on Thursday.
Barth, whose erratic past behavior earned him the nickname "Insanity Claus" in Tompkins Square Park after donning a discarded SantaCon suit, was charged with first-degree assault and two counts each of first-degree robbery and first-degree attempted robbery.
Prosecutors ordered him held on $3,000 cash or a $5,000 bond. He's currently at the Eric M. Taylor Center and is scheduled to appear in court today.
According to the Post: "Barth allegedly pointed a finger at Peroza as the muscle in the unhinged incidents..."
Updated 2/8: Barth remains in custody. His next court date is now set for March 1.
Reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house expected to start next month
According to a Parks presentation (PDF here) to Community Board 3 in March 2020, the goals are to:
• Upgrade existing restrooms to code.
• Upgrade Parks and maintenance and operations space.
• Add First Aid, Lifeguard locker room spaces in the building.
• Reconstruct interiors.
• Clean and partially repoint exterior brick
• New windows and doors
• New utilities, including oil-to-gas conversion
Work is expected to last 18 months, with a projected reopening date of September 2024. This also means that the Tompkins Square mini pool will be closed for two consecutive summers.
With the renovations looming, some residents figured the city wouldn't make any temporary restroom repairs here. And they were right.
Sunny's Florist returns after winter break
Photo by Steven
The fine folks at Sunny's Florist — with arguably the best flowers in NYC — are back after a January hiatus here on the SE corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street. (They returned last Thursday, though they stayed closed on Friday and Saturday with the frigid temps.)
Given that Valentine's Day is on a Tuesday this year, the sliver of a storefront — in business for 32 years — will be open for more than the normal Wednesday-Sunday schedule (The shop may close early if she sells out of flowers.)
Phone: (212) 473-0185.
Monday, February 6, 2023
Noted
Reposting: A GoFundMe campaign launched ahead of Ray's 90th birthday at Ray's Candy Store
Ahead of Ray's 90th birthday last month, the shop, which opened in 1974 here at 113 Avenue A just north of Seventh Street, hosted a GoFundMe "to help ensure he can keep his bills paid and his doors open for as long as he wants!"
February is typically one of the slowest months for Ray ... and given that he may be out of commission while mending the three broken bones in his face and a dislocated jaw, some Ray's fans have been donating to the campaign.
Meanwhile, we're told that Ray is resting and eating a lot of blended soups.
The crowdfunding link is right here.
The former Commodities space is now for rent on 1st Avenue
Photo by Steven
A for-lease sign now hangs in the front window of the former Commodities.
On Jan. 12, the landlord took legal possession of 165 First Ave. just north of 10th Street — which had been home to Commodities for 30 years.
There was hope for a reprieve, though that didn't happen here. Workers were spotted dismantling fixtures the following week... now comes the leasing notice. (Per the listing, the rent is available upon request for the ground floor, which measures 2,100 square feet... plus a similar-sized basement.)
New owners took over the business in January 2019 and changed the name to Commodities Health Foods from Commodities Natural Market.
Michael Hughes opened Commodities here in 1993. Hughes and his wife Audra opened an outpost in Vermont in 2015.
Owner of the fire-damaged Gjelina seeking jobs for its staff
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the vegetable-centric restaurant will be able to open anytime soon.
On Friday, Gjelina Group CEO Shelley Kleyn Armistead posted an appeal on Instagram to help find positions for her staff.
Her letter reads in part:
To have persisted for 6 and a half years to open Gjelina NY on Bond Street, and to have experienced a fire 1 day short of our one month anniversary — the only feelings right now are heartbreak. For every human who put so much into creating this restaurant. And it was them that created it — make no mistake.This team are like no other that I have had the privilege to work with. Every single one of them made Gjelina what she was. Every single one of them deserve the most outstanding work opportunity.We have no timeline for rebuilding and reopening. Thus I am asking, please, if you have any positions — please email me and I will pass it onto them ...
Shelley@gjelinagroup.com
Retail options on the Bowery
For-rent signage is up now at 32 E. First St. at the Bowery... where Blue & Cream moved out to a new location (on Bleecker Street) at the end of 2022. (First reported here.)
The retailer arrived at Avalon Bowery Place in 2007.
Not much info as the JLL listing, except that "restaurant use not permitted" and "logical divisions considered."
Meanwhile, across the Bowery, Olde Good Things is now gone (this happened on Jan. 24; we reported on this pending departure in early November).
This outpost of the architectural artifact dealer specializing in reclaimed building materials and antiques opened here in 2013.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Week in Grieview
• First on EVG: Early morning assault outside Ray's Candy Store leaves Ray with a black eye and facial wounds (Thursday) ... An update on Ray (Friday) ... Suspect who allegedly assaulted Ray has been arrested (Saturday)
• Report: The former Charas/P.S. 64 is headed to auction this March (Tuesday)
• Fire shutters the recently opened Gjelina on Bond Street (Tuesday)
• Det. Jamie Hernandez honored after 34 years with the 9th Precinct (Thursday)
• A youthful exchange of ideas with Dr. Cornel West at Performance Space New York (Monday)
• Signage alert: O'Flaherty's on Avenue A (Monday)
• Why this East Village writer is on an apology tour (Friday)
• Packing up Café Cortadito (Wednesday)
• 280 E. Houston St. prepped for new building construction (Wednesday)
• Openings: Bobby’s Night Out on Avenue C (Wednesday) ... Gen Korean BBQ House on 14th Street (Monday)
• Essex Squeeze has closed its 5th Street outpost (Monday)
• Signage alert: Saint Pizza on Avenue B (Tuesday)
• The return of 99-cent pizza?! (Monday)
• What's going on with Pop's Eat-Rite on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)
• City removes curbside dining structure from outside AO Bowl on St. Mark's Place (Friday)
This is a public service announcement: International Clash Day is Tuesday
The KEXP holiday's 11th annual celebration will be a day of on-air programming all about The Clash, with an exploration of present-day human rights issues that underscore the seminal track's ["Know Your Rights"] relevance over 40 years later.
You can tune in to the station here from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. All sessions are archived for two weeks here.
Top photo from 2009 shows Ezo's Clash-inspired (and long-gone) mural on Third Street between Avenue B. It was on the wall outside the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.
ATM FYI
Photo by Stacie Joy
From earlier this week... DOT reps placed these ATM flyers around (seen above on Avenue B)... reminding merchants/landlords that ATMs are not permitted on NYC sidewalks.
Per the signage, ATM fines are $2,500, as of 2011... and now, property owners "may be charged an additional $5,000 for every five-day period that the property owner remains in violation."
Saturday, February 4, 2023
A lost and found rummage sale at the Parkside Lounge tomorrow (Sunday!)
The sale will also feature some local merchants, such as the East Village Vintage Collective.
The event is serving as a fundraiser for the New York Transgender Advocacy Group.
You can check out the sale from 4-8 p.m. at the Parkside, 317 E. Houston St. at Attorney.
[Updated] Suspect who allegedly assaulted Ray outside Ray's Candy Story has been arrested
Updated 7 p.m.
A second man, ID'd as 55-year-old Gerald Barth, was also arrested. Luis Peroza and Barth are suspected of several assaults, per published reports. According to the Post: "Barth allegedly pointed a finger at Peroza as the muscle in the unhinged incidents..."
Several EVG readers have emailed us about Barth, and that he is well-known in Tompkins Square Park
-----
Today we informed Ray that we identified and apprehended the perpetrator responsible for this heinous crime.
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) February 4, 2023
Special thanks to Warrants Section, 9th Detective Squad, and Intelligent Division. pic.twitter.com/QM9H2DKwaT
[Updated noon] NY1 reported (and amNY) that police arrested Luis Peroza, a 39-year-old East Village resident.
As EVG first reported, Ray and his employee Gabe were attacked outside Ray's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A, early Tuesday morning.
A man struck Ray with what was described as a belt with a rock attached to it… causing a black eye and gash on Ray’s temple. Gabe was hit across the chest.
The suspect reportedly threatened to kill Ray, per the police report. All this apparently happened because Ray turned down an offer to buy seltzer water from the man and his accomplice.
On Thursday night, a nurse finally convinced Ray to go to Beth Israel. We're told that a CT scan revealed three broken bones in his face and a dislocated jaw. The doctor put Ray on antibiotics and told him to go rest. Perhaps he will rest easier knowing that the police arrested the suspect.
P.S. Ray's 90th birthday crowdfunding campaign continues here.
Updated 3:30 p.m.
Mayor Adams thanked the NYPD in a tweet, linking to the Post's coverage this afternoon...
1010 WINS posted this perp-walk footage from today outside the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street...New York’s Finest never rests.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) February 4, 2023
Thank you to the NYPD for their quick work in bringing the suspect behind the attack on the legendary Ray’s Candy Store to justice. https://t.co/QRBlX2g859
Suspect Luis Peroza is walked out of the 9 Pct station house to face arraignment on assault charges for allegedly striking 90 year old candy store owner Ray Alvarez. Alvarez is resting at home. He has 3 broken facial bones. He plans to return to his store to work #1010wins pic.twitter.com/LDgCiDSWHk
— Carol D'Auria (@CarolDAuria) February 4, 2023
H/T Stacie Joy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)