At the incoming Panda Express, the lights are on but there's no Orange Chicken

Updated 4/5: June is the new target date for the opening.

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The Panda Express Watch continues on the SW corner of First Avenue and 14th Street. 

The latest development: THE LIGHTS ARE ON...

This comes two weeks after a ladder inside the quick-serve chain's space moved from one spot to another.

We're 16 months into the first report of the PE opening on this corner. 

As previously noted late last summer, there were issues with permits — as in waiting for the city, Con Ed, etc., to approve them. A PE rep told The Village Sun that this outpost wouldn't open until the first quarter of 2023. (One tipster told us that management here was very late in turning in the necessary paperwork for the various licenses, etc.)

Anyway, we're now at the start of the second quarter of 2023. We reached out to PE for an update on the opening status.

In any event, the PE still looks ready for Orange Chicken action ... though this location hasn't appeared on the PE website.  

Panda Express launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today, including a handful around NYC.  

H/T Steven

[Updated] Expired health permit temporarily sidelines Joey Bats Café

Photos by Stacie Joy

Updated 4/4: Joey Bats reopened today after paying the fines.

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Joey Bats Café is temporarily closed at 129 Allen St. 

A posted notice from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene noted that the business was operating without a permit.

Owner  Joey Batista (aka Bats) responded with a message for patrons:

"I forgot to renew the health permit and it expired (Doh)! This means that despite my 'A' rating, I have to stay closed until Monday when the fine can be paid..."

We've seen similar DOH notices at Downtown Bakery on First Avenue (dated Feb. 21) and Mochinut on Second Avenue (dated March 21). Both of those businesses remain closed ... apparently, the city isn't able to expedite these permits any more quickly than five-plus weeks. 

On Avenue A, Two Hands turns over to Korean Street Foods

Signage is up now at 147 Avenue A for Korean Street Foods, which is apparently serving as both the business name and a description of the food likely to be found here in the future. 

Details are scarce about the establishment between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

The new signage arrival comes on the heels of the closure of Two Hands in recent weeks. (A note on the door pointed to a "technical issue" for what was to be a temporary situation.) The Korean corn dog specialists — part of an expanding chain — opened in April 2021. Their other NYC outposts remain in service.

Sunday's parting shot

A morning view from Tompkins Square Park...

A Spring Sunday with Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

A dispatch from Second Street... 

Miss Kita the Wonder Dog availing herself of the warmish weather and the amazing crispy eggs at Supper. Happy Spring everyone.

April 2

Spotted today on 11th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... someone making space for Palm Sunday palms? 

Thanks to Erin Mumford for the photo!

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo from 3rd and B by Stacie Joy) 

• First look at the all-new Superiority Burger, now open on Avenue A (Sunday) 

• RIP Joseph Bellaflores (Wednesday) 

• The 2nd Avenue gas explosion — 8 years later (Monday) 

• More about the return of Bereket to the Lower East Side (Tuesday)

• At the rally to save Theatre 80 (Saturday) 

• You can vote on what neighborhood projects receive capital funding from City Council (Monday) 

• The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black headlines celebration for the East Village Eye (Monday) 

• There she goes again: Tammy Faye Starlite returns as Nico at Joe's Pub (Thursday)

• Thanks to Rihanna, this East Village deli has become a go-to spot for streetwear events (Thursday) 

• Village Works is moving to St. Mark's Place (Wednesday) 

• Tompkins Square Bagels debuts on Union Square (Thursday) 

• Kinka bringing art, food and plants to 7th Street (Wednesday)

• Green days: About the GetLocalEV small business sustainability campaign this April (Friday) 

• Board report: Former Dallas BBQ prepped for renovations (Wednesday) 

• Thursday's parting movie recommendation (Thursday) 

• What's up with Two Hands? (Tuesday) 

• The cheese slice is $1 at the just-opened 99¢ Pizza (Monday)

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First look at the all-new Superiority Burger, now open on Avenue A

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Superiority Burger rather quietly — and officially! — debuted for a few hours last night in its new home at 119 Avenue A. 

The restaurant — "the theoretical vegetable restaurant," per its Instagram account — recently passed all its city inspections and got the gas turned on after 20 long months of city bureaucracy... not to mention planning and renovations here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Before last night's opening, East Village resident Brooks Headley and his team had been hosting weekend dinners to train staff ... and develop/test out menu items...

For starters, anyone who visited SB's popular previous location, a mostly to-go operation with six seats around the corner on Ninth Street (b. 2015), will be pleased to see that there is ample room inside for dining... and the space looks very similar to the previous tenant — Odessa Restaurant (1995-2020) right down to the tables, chairs, cash register station and soda counter. (The owners of Odessa remain the landlords of 119 Avenue A.)

The new SB has a classic diner look and feel, though, with the Jam, Slant 6 and the Fall on the soundtrack. (Headley played drums in several punk-hardcore bands and seems pleased by the often-obscure playlist not above dropping in a deep cut from A Flock of Seagulls.)

During two recent EVG visits, Headley (below) seemed to be in constant motion, bussing tables, chatting with customers, fiddling with the PA's volume (it's no Key Food, he admitted of the sound system) and inspecting plates of food from the kitchen...

First, a look at some of the menu items... like the Superiority Burger ("Megamouth" size, pickles, muenster cheese, mustard, roast tomato, iceberg, mayo)...

... the Collard Greens Sandwich (slow-braised collards, Cooper sharp cheese, housemade focaccia) ...

... Yuba-Verde (Hodo City yuba, sausaged ceci, broccoli rabe, Matouk's mayo on a roll)...

... twice-baked potato ...

... burnt broccoli salad...

... and there are a lot of desserts... (check the pastry case!) and ample gelato and sorbet...

SB also has a bar — the exact one from Odessa previously — and a bar area for drinks ...

... featuring homemade bar snacks (if you have a quarter)...

Headley is particularly proud of his hard-to-get Suntory Toki highball machine that dispenses super cold and extra fizzy seltzer water — billed on the menu as Best Seltzer Ever ... (and you never know who might be serving it from the bar area)...

The restaurant has many nice touches... from the placemats featuring local businesses...

... and the menu cover that quotes reviews of the first two Ramones records, as seen in a Rolling Stone ad — "Ramones get noticed..." from March 1977 (Headley found the advertisement in a shop in Japan).

Tamara Shopsin and her husband Jason Fulford designed both the placements and the menus...
 

... to some EV ephemera on the walls... like an ad for See Hear on Seventh Street ... and a photo outside Dojo Restaurant on St. Mark's Place...

For now, SB is open from 5 p.m. to midnight, Thursday through Monday. 

Headley said they would add lunch and eventually a breakfast menu later. Oh, and no reservations.

Noting, part 2

Weather watch continues...

Noting

Checking in again on the weather forecast... a sky check from 10th and B this afternoon. 

Weatherman said rain. If you could get paid that kind of money for being wrong 60% of the time, it'd beat working. — Dale Cooper

EVG Etc.: Tenants speak out against new landlord; residents don't pick up after their dogs

Spring view of Cooper Triangle 

• These East Village tenants say their new landlord is pushing them out (THE CITY... Fox 5 ... Brian Kavanaugh's office ... previously on EVG) 

• Indictments obtained in drugging deaths of two men in New York City; other victims in the string of robberies were found in the East Village/LES (ABC News ... CBS News) 

• Ex-homeless tenants face mass eviction by Lower East Side landlord (Gothamist) 

• Profit on rent-stabilized buildings dropped a record 9.1% due to the pandemic, Rent Guidelines Board findings reveal (The Post) 

• NYC's pooper scooper law isn't really working (Gothamist) 

• Restaurants that "define" the East Village (Eater) 

• New photo book captures the diversity of the 1980s Lower East Side (Creative Review) 

• A retrospective of director Joe Dante, starting with the "masterwork of pop-cultural excavation," "The Movie Orgy" (Anthology Film Archives) 

• The return of "The Old School Kung Fu Fest" (Metrograph)

At the rally to save Theatre 80

Supporters of Theatre 80 gathered outside City Hall on Thursday afternoon to bring attention to the dire financial situation at the iconic East Village venue. 

Organizers said the rally also served to thank the office of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner, Laurie Cumbo, for expediting the granting of Not-For-Profit Tax Exempt status for Theatre 80.

Organizers also said that the Department of Cultural Affairs is seeking to raise the funding needed to stop the auctioning of the building at 78-80 St. Mark's Place between First and Second Avenue.

As previously reported, owners Lorcan and Genie Otway, who also live in a residence above the theater, have been ordered to vacate the property this coming week.

They've been battling in recent years to save the space, which houses a theater, the William Barnacle Tavern and the Museum of the American Gangster. Per this 2022 story in The New York Times, Lorcan said that the theater, which his father bought in 1964, and its companion businesses were in good financial health until March 2020 and the start of NY State's PAUSE.

More background from the Times:

Shortly before then, he had taken out a $6.1 million mortgage against the properties to settle an inheritance dispute, pay legal fees and finance needed renovations.

With the pandemic lockdown and a precipitous decline in revenue, that loan went into default and was purchased by Maverick Real Estate Partners about a year ago. The firm, according to court documents, has closed over 130 distressed debt transactions, with a total value of over $300 million.

The Times reported that the original lender later sold the debt to Maverick, which raised the interest rate from 10% to 24% without Lorcan's knowledge. 

On Thursday, attendees were encouraged to "come dressed as your favorite character from a great drama." 

"Without Theatre 80, without arts and culture, St Mark's Place may as well be another outdoor strip mall," said East Village activist and organizer Kenny Toglia, dressed as Brutus from Julius Caesar. "New York City will become the Big Applebee's."

PIX 11 covered the event: 

New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs has been supportive of the theater's efforts to survive. In a statement to PIX 11 News, it noted that so many groups have been devastated by the pandemic and added, "We've been working closely with Theatre 80 to explore their options and support their efforts to stay open." 

With a deadline rapidly approaching, the theater owners are hopeful some well-heeled lover of the arts will come forward with funds to save the theater. If not, federal marshals will take center stage next Wednesday to evict the owners and close the final curtain on the legendary theater with so much history.

There is a petition to save Theatre 80 here.

The first and last photos were by Peter Brownscombe; the other by Jah Spooky

Saturday's opening shot

Foggy-cloudy Midtown views this morning. 

Speaking of clouds: Per the city's Severe Weather site... 

Rain expected 4/1 - 4/2 ; Severe thunderstorms possible on Saturday night (4/1) 

This is not an April Fools' joke! Half an inch of rain is expected from around 2 a.m. Saturday, April 1, to around 2 a.m. Sunday, April 2. Flooding is not expected at this time. There is also a chance for severe thunderstorms Saturday between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Ready for Passover at Key Food...

A world of dreams

 

Local band Rebounder (NYC native Dylan Chenfeld and friends) has a new single-video out this week... shot along (or behind!) St. Mark's Place. This is "Dreamland," an inviting pop song.

6 posts from March

A mini month in review (with a farewell shot from Ben's Deli by Stacie Joy) 

• More about the return of Bereket to the Lower East Side (March 28)

• Ben’s Deli moving on without Ben on Avenue B (March 22) 

• Time passages: Check out the interior of the long-empty Mom's Liquor Store on Avenue B (March 21)

• May the farce be with you: "The Empire Strips Back" is next up at the Orpheum Theatre (March 16) 

• The owner of A&C Kitchen on Avenue C would like to reopen his business now (March 10)

Learn the art of decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs

Tomorrow (Saturday, April 1), from noon to 5 p.m., the Ukrainian American Youth Association is hosting its annual event for decorating pysanky — Ukrainian Easter eggs. Attendees use dyes, beeswax and a stylus (all provided) to decorate the eggs with traditional Ukrainian designs. You can take what you make home with you. 

There will also be food for sale from Ukrainian East Village Restaurant. The event occurs at the Ukrainian National Home, second floor, 140 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. Details are on the above flyer. All the proceeds will go toward humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

Green days: About the GetLocalEV small business sustainability campaign this April

Via the EVG inbox... 

Want to shop sustainably but don't know where to look? Check out the East Village Small Business Sustainability campaign starting April 1! The campaign will feature content on small businesses that are creating positive environmental impacts in our local community. 

Follow the @getlocalev Instagram account to stay up-to-date on information about green markets, upcycled fashion stores, zero waste shops, and more! 

You can check out the Get Local website here... Get Local East Village is an initiative of the East Village Community Coalition.

Thursday's parting movie recommendation

"Enys Men" officially opens tomorrow at Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street ... and the Regal Union Square. 

We caught an early screening this week ... and used these emojis to describe it on social media 🤯 and! 😳. (What are words for?) 

The official description: 

A wildlife volunteer on an uninhabited island off the British coast descends into a terrifying madness that challenges her grip on reality and pushes her into a living nightmare. Evoking the feeling of discovering a reel of never-before-seen celluloid unspooling in a haunted movie palace, this provocative and masterful vision of horror asserts Mark Jenkin as one of the U.K.'s most exciting and singular filmmakers.

[Side note: Jenkin's 2019 film "Bait" is also now playing at the Village East.] 

If you like low-budget experimental folk horror films shot on 16mm... "Enys Men" is for you!

There she goes again: Tammy Faye Starlite returns as Nico at Joe's Pub

Text and photos by Daniel Efram

This past Friday, Tammy Faye Starlite and her accomplished group of musicians brought her portrayal of Nico to life once again at Joe's Pub. 

Nico, whose real name was Christine Paffagen, gained fame as the lead vocalist for the Velvet Underground's first album and struggled with drug addiction and other personal demons throughout her life as she tried to establish herself as a solo artist. (She also once lived at 101 Avenue A.) 

In this reprise performance, "Nico: Underground," Starlite reimagines a pivotal interview that Nico gave in 1986, just two years before her death. Starlite embodied the complex and enigmatic character of Nico, shedding new light on the legacy of this remarkable artist, along with interviewer Jeff Ward, Keith Hartel on bass and acoustic guitar, David Nagler on keyboards, Eszter Balint on violin, Richard Feridun on electric guitar, Ron Metz on drums, and Craig Hoek on sax and on the story's pivotal flute. 

Her Nico performance started in 2010 at Joe's Pub, before the Duplex in the West Village, then The Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. The official run at Theater For the New City began in 2014. 

"I love pretending to be her — her innate contradictions, the dialectic within, her inherent nihilism, her somewhat subversive nature, are all so fascinating to me," Tammy Lang, known on stage as Tammy Faye Starlite, told me.

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Cafe Carlyle would be lucky to have this production. 

"Nico: Underground" returns to Joe’s Pub on July 24. Find tickets here.