EVG Etc.: Veselka expanding to Brooklyn, Boris & Horton too

• Starting April 1, enforcement of street vending in NYC will soon be handled by the sanitation department; enforcing vendor rules currently belongs to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (Gothamist) 

• NYC sheriff deputies question the legality of their pot shop busts (The City... previously on EVG) 

• Chinatown 3 years after the start of the pandemic (Eater) 

• 6 lessons from NYC's first nightlife mayor (The New York Times) 

• Veselka is planning to open an outpost in Williamsburg and a kiosk at Grand Central (The Post) 

• Boris & Horton on Avenue A expanding to Brooklyn (Greenpointers)

• An interview with Chris Spencer of the noise-rock trio Unsane, formed on the LES in the late 1980s (The Big Takeover)

• Hip-hop film classic "Wild Style" turns 40 (The Source) 

• ANOHNI discusses the new photo book on the EV art gang, "Blacklips: Her Life and Her Many, Many Deaths" (DAZED) 

• Check out some essential cinema from the archives of the Anthology Film Archives, including screenings for films by Robert Bresson over the next few days (Official site) 

• And a very strange commercial for German sink brand Schock starring Iggy Pop (The Drum)

Friday's parting shot

A St. Patrick's Day moment along St. Mark's Place today... photo by Derek Berg...

Sweet 'Sixteen'

 

Out now (as of March 10): Love As Projection, the latest solo album from New York-based singer-songwriter Frankie Rose ... formerly of Vivian Girls/Crystal Stilts/Dum Dum Girls. 

The video is for the track "Sixteen Ways."

Revisiting a transformative Sunday on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy

Last weekend, Con Ed and its contractors — Bay Crane, Five Boroughs Flagging Corp. — closed off parts of Avenue A to install a new transformer at the substation between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

It was an elaborate operation to hoist the 188,000-pound (!!!) transformer and its components, such as a radiator, from flatbeds on Avenue A and across the substation to its position in the back. EVG contributor Stacie Joy donned a hard hat to document the special delivery...

Here's a look at the newly in-place transformer in the alleyway/driveway behind the substation between Fifth Street and Sixth Street (which people always stare into while on a smoke break outside Sophie's) ...

No word yet when Con Ed will wrap up this work. Crews are still working behind the scene. In one development, one of the three porta potties was removed from the Fifth Street side (maybe drop it off at Tompkins?).

Meanwhile, there's word this process will happen all over again with another transformer delivery this fall. 

Report: The Astor Place cube will be ready for a spin once more this summer

The Astor Place cube (aka Alamo), out of commission with structural damage since late 2021 (first noted here), will reportedly by spin-worthy again by July 17.

According to The City, there's a proposal from the Department of Transportation in the works.

The plan, which is slated to go before the city's Public Design Commission on Monday for approval, would see the 1,800-pound cube temporarily removed next month and shipped to Bethany, Conn., for restoration by Versteeg Art Fabricators — a firm that also did restorative work to the cube in 2005.

Their proposal calls for fixing the spinning mechanism and reinforcing and repairing the base of the East Village piece by early July.

The barricades first arrived around the cube in December 2021, before the city removed them in late April 2022. At the time, we were told that the spinning mechanism for the cube, which manually rotates around a pole hidden in its center, was not working. A DOT spokesperson previously told us that they didn't have a timeline for repairing the spinning component.

Tony Rosenthal's sculpture first arrived here in November 1967. 

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Alamo returns to Astor Place this Halloween

Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

This is what it might be like living inside the Alamo on Astor Place

RIP Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor who created the Astor Place cube

Friday's opening shot (so to speak)

Photo by Steven 

A look-in at McSorley's on Seventh Street around 8 a.m. on this St. Patrick's Day... we were told that some folks started lining up at 6 a.m.

Thursday's parting shot

No strings attached, as seen on Second Avenue today via Derek Berg...

May the farce be with you: 'The Empire Strips Back' is next up at the Orpheum Theatre

A burlesque version of "Star Wars" is next up for the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue — the first production to play here after the 29-year run of "Stomp." 

Starting on May 10, "The Empire Strips Back" begins a limited run at the theater between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Per the official description: "The classic 'Star Wars' characters are dropped into the world of burlesque. Comedy and striptease, loving detail and hilarious parody… Let us deliver you to the dark side."

Originally from Australia, this "Empire" has been touring around the globe since it first opened in 2011

Tickets go on sale Tuesday at noon. Sign up for info here.

"Stomp" ended its 29-year run at the Orpheum in early January. 

According to Cinema Treasures: "The site on which the Orpheum stands is alleged to have been a concert garden as early as the 1880s and, as such, to be one of the oldest continuously operating places of gathering for entertainment events in New York City." 

In the 1980s, the Orpheum was well-known for Off-Broadway productions such as "Little Shop of Horrors" in 1982, Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing" in 1988, Eric Bogosian's "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll" in 1990, John Leguizamo's "Mambo Mouth" in 1991, and David Mamet's "Oleanna" in 1992.

Jabba pic via the "The Empire Strips Back" site

First sign of Raising Cane's on Astor Place

Photo by Steven 

Signage arrived this week for Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers at 10 Astor Place at Lafayette Street. 

As reported in April 2022, the Louisiana-based company signed a 20-year lease for 4,300 square feet of space on the ground floor.

The quick-serve Raising Cane's has more than 600 restaurants in 32 states.

No. 10 was, until August 2020, a Walgreens.

Wednesday's parting shot

A walk along Astor Place today... photo by Derek Berg...

Ghost signage on 7th Street

Photo by Steven 

A crew today removed the signage and added a new rolldown gate on the western storefront at 120 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, where the barber shop the Cut had been... in the process, the workers uncovered some ghost signage for piljo, which I'm sure some people on the block will recall. (Please tell!)

The barber shop has been here since around 2012, and it had been Medusa Tattoo before...

CM Rivera addresses 'operations improvements' for Tompkins Square Park

In the past few years, there has been a spate of complaints and concerns about the state of Tompkins Square Park, including quality-of-life issues ranging from increased drug use and crime to a reduced Parks workforce that resulted in more litter and weed-filled gardens. 

In addition, the public restrooms had been shuttered for four months due to a malfunctioning boiler and a broken pipe in the basement of the field house. To some surprise, the restrooms reopened in early March ... only to close and reopen in the following days.

Reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house is expected to start soon. During the 18-month project, parkgoers are instructed to use restrooms at the McKinley Playground on Fourth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue adjacent to P.S. 63/the Neighborhood School. (Tomorrow night, March 16, CB3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee will hear an update on the renovation project. Join via Zoom here.)

Against this backdrop, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera released this statement yesterday, titled "Tompkins Square Park Operations Improvements" ...

Our public spaces are precious to New Yorkers. They are a respite from the busy life of the city, a meeting place for friends, an adventure for children, and beloved by all. It takes a village to care for them, and District 2 is full of beautiful, active spaces that inspire neighbors and bring the community together. 

Over the past several months, my office has been working to improve our parks by building a coalition with community members, service providers, local police precincts, community boards, colleagues in elected office, and other stakeholders to address public safety, park maintenance, and sanitation concerns at all our parks, with an operational model tailored specifically for Tompkins Square Park. With spring around the corner, this is a great time to value these neighborhood gems and maintain them together. 

Our work at Tompkins is part of a greater, funded revitalization effort that I have been working on throughout my tenure. Construction on a number of capital projects in Tompkins Square Park will start this year beginning with reconstruction of the Field House and its public restrooms that will see these structures finally meet standards for accessibility. The end of the year we will see the renovation of the multi-purpose court replacing the existing asphalt, basketball backstops, benches, drinking fountains, and other improvements.

For our daily uses at Tompkins, I have secured resources and allocated $20,000 in additional funding to bring on more dedicated staff members to improve maintenance and increase cleanup in the park, with a priority on playgrounds and pathways. I have also allocated more funding to ACE Programs to provide additional sanitation services around the perimeter of the park and the surrounding blocks on weekend mornings. ACE is a job training and employment services organization that works with homeless and formerly homeless individuals to get good jobs and help improve neighborhoods. 

There are specific mental health and substance use-related challenges at Tompkins that require community-based engagement and we are addressing these concerns with pioneering organizations Goddard Riverside and Housing Works, doing in-person engagement, and needle pickup and needle disposal kiosk maintenance, respectively. 

With all nonprofits we call partners, information and connections housing and social services are available. Along with the 9th Precinct, appropriate local concerns are responded to by NYPD's Special Enforcement Unit, and the park is closed every night in accordance with posted hours.

To see our coalition in action, please check out our video below. And as always, I encourage neighbors to stay in touch with my office with concerns and conditions of the park. I am grateful to community members for their sustained advocacy and for working to make our neighborhood a better place to live and work.

3rd & B'zaar's new market will feature the work of women-owned businesses

Photo by Stacie Joy 

After two-and-a-half years of hosting seasonal markets, art shows and other special events, the folks at 3rd & B'zaar are introducing a more long-term concept. 

Based on customer feedback, organizers Maegan Hayward, Sara Ann Rutherford and Delphine Le Goff will host — starting today — the next market for an entire year at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Here's more: 

Everyone loves our vintage and locally designed clothing options, along with our funky art and accessories. We've hand-selected some of our favorite vendors to keep us stocked with all these goodies year-round. And guess what? All of our vendors are women-owned businesses. What a great way to kick off the year and celebrate Women's History Month. 

In the photo above (from the left): Selina Gladys (Everything's Fine Vintage), Stephanie Fleck (Grandmother Goods), Rutherford, Marie Suchan (Miss Frizz Dazzle Vintage), Hayward (East Village Vintage Collective), Le Goff (Display by Delphine) and Jaclyn Snook (Rat Resale Clothing). 

And the complete list of participating vendors/businesses (in alphabetical order):

• Autumn's Fun House @autumnsfunhouse 

• The Champagne Diet @thechampagnediet 

• Cira Vintage Finds @ciravintagefinds 

• Delphine Le Goff @displaybydelphine 

• East Village Vintage Collective @evvintagecollective 

• Everything's Fine Vintage @everythingsfinevintage 

• Grandmother Goods @grandmothergoods 

• Greenwell Goods @greenwellgoods 

• Lui & Lui @luiandluinyc 

• Messy Jessy Vintage @messyjessyvtg 

• Miss Frizz Dazzle Vintage @missfrizzdazzlevintage 

• New Lines @newlinesny 

• Rat Resale @ratresaleclothing 

• Star 666tyseven @star666tyseven 

• Taracotta Vintage @taracottavintage 

The market is open Wednesday-Friday from 1-7 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. Keep up to date via Instagram.

3rd & B'Zaar debuted in late 2020 with a month-long Holiday Market.

On the rental market: 118 St. Mark's Place

A for-lease banner now hangs outside 118 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue ... bringing an official end to the previous tenant at this location — the cannabis lifestyle brand CannaCulture NYC.

The shop, which opened last July, was dark in recent weeks... though there was some thought this was a temporary closure.

This outfit had not been a target of Mayor Adams and Manhattan DA Bragg, who earlier this year announced that they had joined forces, cracking down on illegal storefront operations by going after the landlords.

One of those businesses, Runtz at 14 First Ave. between First Street and Second Street, looks officially closed.

Other recent cannabis-related closures include The Main Event at 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street on New Year's Eve. That shop, open for 15 months, also sold vinyl, clothing, art and music ephemera. It's not known why they shuttered. 

As for 118 St. Mark's Place, this space was previously home to St. Dymphna's, which closed in October 2018 after 24 years in business. The tavern later reopened at 117 Avenue A. 

The new listing for the storefront is not yet online. 

Tuesday's parting shots

Here's the new-look exterior at B Cup Cafe on the SW corner of Avenue B and 13th Street... the murals and signage by FUNQEST...

Reminders: A rally at City Hall for the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center

ICYMI: Residents and supporters of the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center at 609 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C have organized a rally at City Hall for tomorrow, March 15. 

Per the invite, attendees will "demand the city right the wrongs of the past and return our community center."

The crowd will deliver a letter from local elected officials, including Councilmember Carlina Rivera, Congressman Dan Goldman, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, and State Sen, Brian Kavanagh to City Hall requesting a meeting as soon as possible.

The rally starts at 11 a.m. on the south plaza outside City Hall.

The action comes before the landmarked building heads to a foreclosure auction next Wednesday, March 22, at the Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Avenue. (There is a Facebook invite to "Stop the Auction.")

The property that developer Gregg Singer purchased during a city auction in 1998 for $3.15 million fell into foreclosure last year. Through the years, Singer wanted to turn the one-time P.S. 64 into a dorm (more here), though those plans never materialized. Some residents want to see the space used again as a community center, as it was during its time as Charas/El Bohio Community Center. Singer evicted the group on Dec. 27, 2001.  

Meanwhile, there's a petition in circulation titled, "Save Charas Community Center! Stop the Private Auction!" Per the petition, which states, "Demand Mayor Adams use eminent domain to return the center to the people!" You can find the petition here.

There's also a very detailed Charas model by Tom Manco on display in the window of the UltraViolet Visual Studio on Avenue B at 13th Street... (thanks to @jushotei for the photo)...

And another look...

 

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A post shared by Tom Manco (@mancostudio)

A new era for the old Bad Pussies wall on 3rd Street and Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On Saturday, Italian muralists Jorit and Tukios started a new project on the SW corner of Third Street and Avenue B — outside Mama's Bar...

Here's a look yesterday at the final mural of Talib Kweli and Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) — aka Black Star...

The two had permission from the building's owner to do this mural (it was not commissioned) ... which replaces the longstanding Bad Pussies mural that had been nearly tagged out of existence. 

While visiting NYC, Jorit and Tukios have kept busy, creating murals of KRS-One on Second Street at First Avenue and Malcolm X in First Street Green Art Park ... as well as Muhammad Ali on Sixth Street at First Avenue...

Openings: The York on Avenue B

The York debuted at the start of the month (March 3) at 186 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street, and we've heard good things about it to date. 

The bar-restaurant from hospitality vets James Hurst and Hayden Tobin is open daily from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., with a Monday-Friday happy hour that features a smash burger, fries and a beer for $12 (among other deals). 

You can find updates on the York's Instagram account. 

Previously

Corner spaces for lease along Houston at Elizabeth and the Bowery

Been meaning to note: A for-lease sign is on the vacant storefront at 73 E. Houston St. at Elizabeth... the former home of Rag & Bone. 

The retailer quietly closed at the start of the year; the men's shop next door on Houston is also shuttered. (This is one of several R&Bs that shut down this year.) 

R&B had been here since 2010... replacing neighborhood favorite Cafe Colonial, whose owner reportedly saw her rent triple following the arrival of nearby neighbor Keith McNally's Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria on the SW corner of Houston and the Bowery. (Part of the feared "McNallification" of the neighborhood.)

Pulino's eventually closed in 2013 ... to make way for McNally's concept Cherche Midi, a French brasserie. That spot ultimately folded in 2018... and the corner has been vacant for nearly five years.

A for-rent sign is now on that space, too (as of a few weeks ago)... only the second time that we recall a listing for the address.

This corridor of the Bowery has been challenging for retail and restaurants... we've seen many concepts come and go quickly... and even name restaurateurs like McNally and Daniel (DBGB!) Boulud haven't had a lasting impact.

What's happening on this block of 5th Street?

There are barricades and cones via Con Edison on this block of Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, which have been in place since May 2022.

According to sources on the block, Madison Realty Capital, via property manager Silverstone Property Group shut off the gas to the building at 231 and 235 E. Fifth St. and installed electric stoves. We're told this was done with tenant permission and in accordance with the law. 

However, new electric lines for the 220V stoves were needed. Madison Realty Capital had them installed temporarily, routing the wires on the sidewalk to the basement from a manhole near each building. Now work remains at a standstill nearly 10 months later, which has made some residents unhappy (photo below via the East Fifth Street Block Association).

One resident told us that the combination of three outdoor dining structures, poor garbage maintenance and open manholes have made parts of this block a mecca for rats. "It's nasty," the resident said.

Elsewhere, we've heard grumbles about the ongoing Con Ed presence on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue... which starts roughly outside the back entrance to the Brant Foundation...

... and ends with a garbage dump of a dormant Con Ed work site.