From Brix to Brick on Clinton

Back in October, we noted the signage arrival of Brix Wine Bar at 19-21 Clinton St. between Stanton and Houston. 

At the time, we figured it might be from the folks running Brix Wine Shop on Avenue B. However, owner Beatriz Gutierrez told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that she was not behind this Brix.

Perhaps other people had the same thought. There's new signage now for Brick Wine Bar. (Thanks to EVG reader Fiona for the pic!)

Brick Wine Bar owner George Mercardo previously operated Barbarrio (2017-2019) on Lexington Avenue in East Harlem. 

Brix/Brick takes the space from Oh La La Cafe, which closed last summer... and, previously, Cocoa Bar. 

A recent post from the Brick Instagram account notes that they are opening "real soon." 

Noted (again)

Top photo by Concerned Citizen; 2nd pic by Stacie Joy 

Over the weekend, a smoke shop debuted at 199 E. Third St. just west of Avenue B... (not sure of the name, maybe Grand Opening? JK!) 

So this block now has a place for the usual variety of edibles, exotic snacks, etc. Not to mention festive balloonage for the debut...

This space was New Swan Cleaners until March 2022 ... the lease was up, and the owner decided to retire.

Sunday's parting shots

Yesterday, workers removed most of the remaining sidewalk bridge on First Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street along Village View...

Now just a small section on the interior property along the Fifth Street walkway between Avenue A and First Avenue remains... the extensive sidewalk bridges that weaved around the buildings on the Village View property arrived in April 2019. 

Thanks to Steven and Vinny & O for sharing photos this weekend...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo Tuesday on Astor Place by Derek Berg)... 

• Hold it now: No porta potties for Tompkins Square Park during the 18-month field-house renovation (Tuesday ... Saturday) 

• Let's dance: The Joyce Theater is the new tenant for the former Boys' Club on 10th and A (Thursday) 

• Site cleanup needed before development can begin on this long-empty corner on 14th and C (Monday) 

• A Visit to the East Village NYC Book Club (Thursday) 

• An appearance on GMA leads to an attack at Unregular Pizza on 4th Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Opening night at O'Flaherty's (Friday) 

• 444 E. 13th St. is on the auction block (Wednesday) 

• Coming attractions: 'Make Me Famous' (Friday) 

• A Commodities post-mortem (Sunday) 

• East Village Buyers moving from 3rd Street to Avenue A (Wednesday) 

• Ashes to go this Ash Wednesday (Wednesday) 

• Fat Tuesday! (Tuesday) 

• Renovations at Prune (Tuesday)

• More details about Balkan StrEAT, opening this spring on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Jewelry brand opening an outpost on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Downtown Bakery is closed for now (Friday) 

• Decision 2023: What screening of 'Cocaine Bear' are you attending? (Monday) 

• Signage alert: Gotham Burger Social Club on Essex Street (Thursday)

• Incoming 99-cent pizza shop now with 99-cent pizza signage (Tuesday) 

• Smoke shop (Thursday)

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Memories of Christo, Dora and Nora/Not-Dora in Tompkins Square Park

Photo this month by Steven

The Guardian this past week had a piece about Gacek, a plump black-and-white cat who is said to be the top tourist attraction in Szczecin, Poland. 

Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi wrote that "there's no better way to experience a new city than seeking out its Gacek-equivalent: the weird landmark that embodies the soul of a place far better than the more traditional sights." 

She then highlights our resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park — at least the tawdry love triangle involving Christo, Dora and Nora/Not-Dora that made worldwide headlines in 2018. (You can read The Guardian article here.) 

Meanwhile, you may catch a glimpse of Christo and Amelia (on the scene since April 2018) in and around the Park... and it is officially mating season, as Goggla explains here.

Thanks to Derek Berg for sharing the Guardian article!

Saturday's parting shot

At the Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street ... previously ...

About the Art Show at Village Works

Village Works, the gallery space and book store specializing in NYC culture at 90 E. Third St. just west of First Avenue, is hosting a group art show tomorrow (Sunday!) evening from 5-11. 

The event is also serving as a fundraiser for the 2-year-old Village Works, which needs to secure a new space after the landlord "dramatically raised" the rent here.

More about 18 months without public restrooms in Tompkins Square Park

As we first reported this past Tuesday, the city will not be providing any portable toilets for public use when reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house starts next month. 

The Post picked up our scoop, putting two reporters on the story... and noting in the lead: "Number 2 may soon be the number one problem for neighbors of Tompkins Square Park." The piece includes quotes from EV residents about the uptick in fecal matter spotted in and around the park since the restrooms closed in November. 

A Parks spokesperson told the paper ....

Judging by past experience, officials did not see portable toilets as a short-term solution, because they were "very difficult to clean and maintain, and have frequently been the targets of vandalism." 

(Are portable toilets more difficult to clean and maintain than a 10.5-acre park?)

The city's relief solution is for parkgoers to walk five minutes (one way) to use the restrooms at the McKinley Playground on Fourth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue adjacent to P.S. 63/the Neighborhood School. 

An EVG reader, who shared the Post link, said in an email: "The city and elected officials really don't give a shit, so to speak, about our park."

P.S. 

Looking forward to following these filed-under tags...

9th Precinct teams up to host a blood drive

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The New York Blood Center's mobile unit was outside the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue on Thursday afternoon... where community members and officers from the NYPD alike donated blood.

The law enforcement officials who donated told EVG correspondent Stacie Joy that they were doing so to help save lives...

You can visit the Blood Center's website for information about donating.

Saturday's opening shot

The colder temps have provided an icy cover for the reflective pool on Avenue A near Ninth Street ... meanwhile, snow showers are possible today with a few areas seeing a coating [of snow], per this tweet.

Some like it 'Hot'

 

Pure Adult, the Brooklyn-based duo of Jeremy Snyder and Bianca Abarca, is on a bill this March 12 for the New Colossus Festival grand finale at the Bowery Ballroom. (Tix here.) 

The video is for "Hot Crusade."

Ukraine, 1 year on

Photo last spring from 2nd Street and Avenue C

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine one year ago today.

Here's a look back at a few of the EVG posts highlighting the war's impact on the local community...as NYC is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the United States... 

• A visit to Arka, the 71-year-old Ukrainian gift shop on 2nd Street 

• Two Boots supporting Ukraine with 2 new pizzas, including the Mr. Ze 

• 9th Precinct collecting medical supplies for Ukraine humanitarian relief 

• One East Village family's protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine 

• Another visit to Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen 

• How Veselka is helping with Ukraine relief efforts 

 • A look at the just-finished mural 'Ukraine: A History in Solidarity' 

• New York magazine pays homage to the East Village with 'Tales From Little Ukraine' 

• Getting ready for the St. George Ukrainian Festival

Opening night at O'Flaherty's

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Feb. 16 saw the debut of O'Flaherty's, the new gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A at Third Street. (We first reported on this here.)

And what an opening it was: An enthusiastic crowd packed into the theater space to take in the first performance in a series titled "O'Flaherty's gelitin O'Flattering" featuring the Vienna-based performance group gelitin. 

The four members, all in their 50s, painstakingly created a live sculpture based on the statue "Laocoön and His Sons."

Presiding over the festivities was artist, curator and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani ...

The group members, wearing flesh-colored stockings, smeared themselves with petroleum jelly before slathering their bodies in plaster ...

... throughout the spectacle, Juliano-Villani's friend and business associate Ruby Zarsky strummed a guitar from an elevated position in the back of the theater, the former UCBEast (and Pioneer)... 

Afterward, the crowd snapped up the merch...

O'Flaherty's is hosting three more performances by gelitin — all different, and on Feb. 25, March 2 and March 4 — and screening the U.S. premiere of the group's film, "Stinking Dawn." Go here for details and showtimes. 

As previously reported, O'Flaherty's had a year-long run at 55 Avenue C at Fourth Street (we covered the opening here), culminating with a GRAND finale late this past summer. 

Upright Citizens Brigade Theater closed UCBeast in February 2019. The comedy venue opened in September 2011, and UCB took over part of the expanded Two Boots empire — the video store on Avenue A and the Pioneer Theater around the corner on Third Street.

Coming attractions: 'Make Me Famous'

"Make Me Famous," a documentary on 1980s-era East Village-based painter Edward Brezinski, premiered last weekend in London... garnering some feature stories (The Guardian ... AnotherMag) in the process.

Here's a description of the film: 

Edward Brezinski worked alongside Keith Haring, David Wojnarowicz, and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the Lower East Side art scene, but never reached the same level of success as his contemporaries. "Make Me Famous" uncovers why such a well-connected yet peculiar painter never made it, despite being so maniacally focused in his quest for fame. 

What begins as an investigation into Brezinski's legacy and mysterious disappearance becomes a sharp, witty portrait of NYC's 1980s downtown art scene. Gallery owners and fellow artists dish on insider gossip, name drop, and contradict each other in telling the story, resulting in an irresistible snapshot of an unknown artist that captures the spirit of an iconic era. 

Check out the trailer...

 

You can catch a screening at the Museum of the City of New York on April 18. (Details here.)

Downtown Bakery is closed for now

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The great Downtown Bakery is temporarily closed on First Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

A DOH notice dated Tuesday states that the quick-serve Mexican restaurant was "operating without a permit."

A follow-up handwritten note states they "will resume working as soon as we resolve this issue."

A neighbor noted, "City government just wants their money and to punish small businesses." 

Come back soon!

Thursday's parting shot

A springtime scene today on this Feb. 23... an EVG reader shared this from Stuy Town...

A Visit to the East Village NYC Book Club

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The February meetup of the East Village NYC Book Club is reading a recent EV classic: Ada Calhoun's "St. Marks Is Dead." A group of Club members is setting up at Hekate on Avenue B to discuss the book over non-alcoholic beverages. 

After the event, I talked with founder Sunny Cervantes about why she started the book club, how it works, and what's up next. 

On the origins:

The book club started with a post on the East Village Neighbors NYC Facebook page. Someone had posted asking about a local neighborhood book club. The post eventually became a long thread with many people asking about the same thing: if anyone had leads. 

I got tired of waiting, so I created a book club for the East Village. Jenny Allen told me to open a page on Bookclubs.com, and from there, we had our first meeting last year [on March 9]. 

The book club didn't have a space when I created it. Then, I remembered that Abby Ehmann had just opened Hekate Cafe and Elixir Lounge, and I asked her if I could have the book club there, and we’ve been there ever since.

On the club's goal:

The goal of the book club is not only to encourage and foster a love of reading but also so neighbors can meet each other and develop a relationship to strengthen the community. We now have members from Chelsea, the Lower East Side and even the Upper East Side. We currently have 328 members! 

We meet on the first Monday of every month. Usually, eight to 12 members join the monthly meetings, depending on the book we discuss. We don't have virtual events; we prefer them to be in person so that we can meet our neighbors. 

We also plan to include other activities outside our monthly meetings, like an author’s night to highlight local writers and a summer picnic in our local community gardens.

On the next chapter:

Our next book for the March 6 meetup is "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast. I don't choose the books; members recommend them and then vote. The only one I've chosen personally was our first book, John Carreyrou's "Bad Blood," the story of Elizabeth Holmes. After that, the members decided on every book that we discussed. 

You can join the book club here.

Let's dance: The Joyce Theater is the new tenant for the former Boys' Club on 10th and A

You could lay to rest for now any concerns that the former Boys' Club of New York will become condos. 

As The New York Times first reported, the Joyce Theater, which debuted in 1982, has signed a lease with plans to purchase the 7-story building at 287 E. 10th St. and Avenue A. 

Per the Times:

The sale is contingent upon the Joyce being able to raise the $21 million needed to secure funding for the first phase of the renovation. A renovation is projected to cost from $50 million to $55 million and to take about three years to complete.

Officials from the Joyce Foundation posted this statement on Instagram: 

We hope the acquisition of this space will forward our commitment to artists, beyond the work taking place on our Chelsea stage. In our mission to serve the dance community, we envision this new building will offer essential studio space, fostering ideation and the creation of movement. 

Our plans for the 58,000-square-foot (and column-free!) building include rehearsal studios and small-scale performance spaces. 

Officials said that they will also rent out space to other dance-theater companies. 

After 121 years on the corner, the Boys' Club moved out of the Harriman Clubhouse this past summer.

As we first reported in June 2018, the Boys' Club put the 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.

E.H. Harriman founded the Boy's Club in 1876. The Harriman Clubhouse on 10th Street and Avenue A opened in 1901.

Noted

It looks like the latest unlicensed weed shop is going by Green Dispensary here on the SE corner of First Avenue and 10th Street. (Thanks to Steven for the photo!)

More retail spaces are arriving even as Mayor Adams and DA Bragg are cracking down on illegal storefront operations by targeting the landlords. 

The previous tenant on this corner, the E. 10th St. Finest Deli, closed in December 2020. 

Signage alert: Gotham Burger Social Club on Essex Street

Signage went up Tuesday on the recently renovated building on the NW corner of Essex and Rivington for Gotham Burger Social Club...

This is the first permnant space for owner Mike Puma, who has been operating in recent years as a pop-up from places like Ray's on Chrystie Street. Signage points to a spring opening.