Renovations will close the Tompkins Square Library branch for 3 months

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Beginning on April 24, the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B will close for renovations. 

According to an email to patrons, the closure, expected to last three months, will "facilitate improvements to the building, including preliminary work on a new Teen Center at the library, as well as replacing the branch's flooring and a fresh coat of paint." 

During this temporary closure, patrons are encouraged to use the following nearby branches: 

• Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. 

• Hamilton Fish Park Library, 415 E. Houston St. 

• Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Ave. 

Also!: "All items on hold after April 24 may be picked up at Ottendorfer Library. Future holds can be sent to an alternative location selected by patrons using their account at The New York Public Library website."

... and thanks to all the readers who shared this news!

The Village Works Yard Sale continues on St. Mark's Place

Village Works, the gallery, bookstore and artist space, is opening at 12 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue a little later this spring, as previously reported.

While prepping for the grand opening, Village Works has been holding a yard (sidewalk!) sale, offering various items of interest. And they are accepting donations of books here. (Thanks to 

@unitof

 for the photos!)

Founder Joseph Sheridan was previously set up at 90 E. Third St., just west of First Avenue. However, he needed to find a new storefront after he lost the lease with a rent increase.

The new Village Works will also include a café service. You can read more about it here.

Tuesday's parting Instagram post

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by gailbutensky (@gailwithacamera)

The folks at B&H Dairy on Second Avenue reposted the above shot today... Santiago Durango and Steve Albini of Big Black eating at B&H in July 1986... © photo by Gail Butensky. Find more of her work here.

April 11

As seen today on Avenue C between 10th Street and 11th Street... thanks to Louise & Danny for the find!

What you need to know about the 17th edition of the Dance Parade, happening on May 20

Organizers of the annual Dance Parade, one of the more (most?) festive East Village events of the year, released details about the 2023 edition happening on Saturday, May 20.

This year's grand marshals, Ronald K. Brown, Natasha Diggs and Elizbeth Streb, will kick off the event at 11:45 a.m. from a new starting location — 17th Street and Sixth Avenue (it was on Broadway and 20th last year). 

And more details via the EVG inbox:

At this year's parade and festival, Dance Parade will celebrate its 17th year under the theme "Beyond the Zone" with 10,000 dancers from 160+ dance organizations who will present over 100 unique styles of dance down Avenue of Americas, parade across West 8th Street, perform before the Grand Stand at St. Mark's Place before reaching Tompkins Square Park [for DanceFest]. 

If you want to dance in the parade or get involved and volunteer with Dance Parade, please register here.

You can relive part of last year's Dance Parade and DanceFest at this EVG link.

The historic 64 E. 7th St. is for sale

As we mentioned the other day, the Greek Revival brownstone — now a single-family residence — at 64 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue is getting some attention thanks to David Hajdu, a cultural historian, critic and educator.

He wrote about the circa-1840 building in a widely-shared piece in the Times. There's now a separate article about No. 64 at Places, the journal of public scholarship on the built environment.

Past lives include serving as the parsonage for St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, the newspaper Russky Golos, the Les Deux Megots coffeehouse, the Paradox (a macrobiotic restaurant where Yoko Ono once worked) and Books 'N Things. 

Turns out the place is also for sale. 

Bill Joy, a founder of Sun Microsystems, bought the townhouse in 2019. And, according to The Wall Street Journal, he put it up for sale last month. Asking price: $13.5 million.

Here's what you get via Corcoran, the broker:

Historic elegance meets modern sophistication in this magnificent, impeccably gut-renovated 25-foot wide, 5-story mansion ...

More recently, the 7,500 square-foot jewel was meticulously restored and transformed into a prized single-family residence with 5 stories of stunning living space connected by stairs and an elevator, a full basement, and generous outdoor space with a parlor floor terrace, a third-floor balcony, remarkable rooftop terrace and a sunny south-facing garden.

  

... The handsome brick building also boasts a planted forecourt, brownstone base, and exquisite cornice heightening curb appeal. Here you'll enjoy the ultimate in downtown luxury living, in one of NYC's most dynamic neighborhoods. Interiors are finely finished and tastefully designed, featuring striking elements throughout like gorgeous wood beamed ceilings, rich wood floors, oversized windows bathing rooms in floor-through natural light, warm exposed brick, 7 fireplaces, tasteful built-ins, and fabulous moldings and millwork.

  

The ground floor, with its own front entrance, is an exceptional space that's beautiful and multifunctional. The front portion features a lounge with a television and ample seating, a wood-burning fireplace divides that space from the open dining area and a well-appointed chef's kitchen that overlooks the garden, perfect for hosting casual get-togethers and movie nights. A wall of glass with glass-paneled doors with screens brings the outdoors in and leads to a wonderful south-facing patio garden for lounging and alfresco dining. 

  

Up the inviting front stoop awaits the grand parlor level for more upscale entertaining. Formal living and dining rooms afford an ideal backdrop for the host and can remain open or privatized by pocket doors. The living room has a state-of-the-art projection TV hidden in the ceiling. A catering kitchen with dishwasher sits nearby for easy serving, and French doors from the dining room open to a lovely terrace with stairs to the garden.

And we still have two floors and the basement to go!

Back on Friday, Hajdu released The Parsonage, a recorded album about the history of 64 E. Seventh St. Hadju and a group of musicians will perform live on April 27 at the Museum of the City of New York. 

Image via Corcoran

Hospitality vet Curt Huegel appears to be taking the former Dallas BBQ space on 2nd Avenue

Workers put up the plywood on the NE corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place in late March as gut renovations continue at the former Dallas BBQ.

There is now a posted notice about a pending on-premises liquor license here...

The LLC listed is affiliated with hospitality vet Curt Huegel, whose portfolio includes concepts such as Bill's Townhouse, Campagnola, Printers Alley and, closer to home, Jackdaw on Second Avenue at 13th Street.

Huegel appeared before Community Board 3 in June 2022 and received approval for the unnamed establishment. There was some debate over closing time, and the committee wouldn't approve a 4 a.m. close (midnight during the week and 2 a.m. on weekends). Huegel didn't respond to our previous request for comment about what's in store for this space.

Dallas BBQ closed this past December after anchoring the corner since the mid-1980s. Staff said the building's landlord would not renew the chainlet's lease.

This is the way

Here's a follow-up to last week's post and a look at the final "Mandalorian"-related mural by local artist-illustrator Rich Miller on the NE corner of Seventh Street and Avenue C. 

P.S.

This April 2012 EVG post has more history about the address, 106 Avenue C.

P.S.S.

A headline explanation.  

Hemingway, the sleepy window kitty of 3rd Street, has been priced out of the East Village

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Hemingway, the sanguine feline window-perch presence on Third Street, has been priced out of the neighborhood along with Alex, his human companion. (Read our previous post on Hemingway here.)

The landlord raised the rent by more than $1,200 for the market-rate apartment between Avenue B and Avenue C and would not negotiate the lease renewal. 

Hemingway and his mom, Alex, will be leaving for Crown Heights tomorrow (April 11), where Hemingway will take up residence on the 4th floor of a building — his new unit has four windows, one of which will house his perch. He will have bird feeders to enjoy (and, presumably, birds) to keep him occupied, but the residents and passersby on this block will miss his friendly presence. 

Alex and Hemingway promise to keep in touch, and we wish them luck at their new home. (You can follow Hemingway on Instagram here.)

Mighty Quinn's has closed its East Village outpost

After 10-plus years on the NW corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street, Mighty Quinn's has closed its first restaurant. 

Yesterday marked its last day in business in the East Village. 

The news first came via an EVG reader, who unsuccessfully tried to order catering online this past week. The reader then stopped by the EV Mighty Quinn's, "and the counter server told me they were shutting down and moving employees to the West Village location."

Here's a statement from the Mighty Quinn's founders via Facebook:

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we opened the first Mighty Quinn's in the East Village. We rolled a 6,000-pound smoker through our new dining room and parked it next to our cutting board, where it remains today. We all knew the adventure was going to be a wild ride and we feel blessed to have been able to serve so many from this restaurant. It is with a heavy heart that we have decided not to renew our lease at this location. 

While we wish to have been able to just keep our first restaurant in the system forever, many realities have made that path impractical. 

We hope that all our local guests will make the short trip over to our West Village location at 75 Greenwich Ave. after we close the East Village restaurant on April 9. We still offer delivery to every address in the East Village (and the surrounding areas) from our other locations. 

We’re excited about the future, with seven new restaurants in the pipeline, but will forever cherish our original home.

Thank you to our team, our guests and the entire East Village neighborhood.

Mighty Quinn's started as a stall at Smorgasburg in 2011, later opening its first brick-and-mortar location here in December 2012. There are now multiple corporate locations in the NYC metro area, and ownership has been franchising, with restaurants in New Jersey, Maryland and Florida... and in Dubai.

Shortly after Mighty Quinn's opened here, we heard from some anonymous upstairs neighbors about the smell coming from the popular BBQ joint. One resident told us: "[O]ur apartments & hallways reek of barbecue, all the way to the top floor — it's coming up through the radiators, walls and floors." An exhaust duct was later added to the building.  

Although their styles differed, this is the second barbecue restaurant to close within two blocks in recent months: Dallas BBQ shut down at the end of 2022. 

Spicy Moon preps new Bowery space with some hot pink

The owners of Spicy Moon, the vegan Szechuan restaurant with outposts in both the East Village and West Village, are opening a new space at 265-267 Bowery just south of Houston. (The owners also operate the three locations of Han Dynasty.) 

In February, they received approval from Community Board 3 for a liquor license for the ambitious-sounding new project. The owners plan to use the brewing equipment left behind by the former two tenants — Belse (closed in late 2022) and Paulaner (closed in early 2018). 

According to their application (PDF here), this Spicy Moon will feature 41 tables with 170 seats and a 16-seat bar. They are also planning on a breakfast service (no alcohol served for the morning hours). 

No word yet on an opening date... the interior is shaping up rather quickly, though. The exterior is also changing as workers painted the storefront pink as a base this past week ahead of any Spicy Moon signage. 

City issues curbside dining structure removal to Theatre 80 2 days after its owners were forced from the property

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On Friday, the Department of Transportation issued a "Termination" notice for the curbside dining structure outside Theatre 80/William Barnacle Tavern on St. Mark's Place — just two days after a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee locked the longtime owners out of the premises. 

The flyer states that this is the third Notice to Correct. The owners have 48 hours to remove the structure and the tables and chairs, or the city will do it and charge the business...

Several readers-residents shared the above notice, pointing out that it seemed cruel to issue this two days after the court-sanctioned removal of owners Lorcan and Genie Otway. It also showed a remarkable steely precision by the DOT, not known for staying on top of the multiple unused or abandoned streeteries around the neighborhood.

As previously reported, the Otways have been battling in recent years to save the space, which houses Theatre 80, a 199-seat theater, the William Barnacle Tavern and the Museum of the American Gangster.

The two-building property is set to be sold off to satisfy a $12 million loan that is in default via Maverick Real Estate Partners. As The Real Deal reported: "New York-based Maverick, led by David Aviram, has a reputation for aggressively buying up the troubled debt of real estate landlords — big and small — before raising interest rates to as high as 24%," which happened here.

The Otways have a three-week window to raise the rest of the money owed (some $6 million) ... and hope for an angel investor. 

New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs has also reportedly supported the theater's survival efforts. The office has already expedited granting a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status to Historic 80 Saint Marks Inc., opening them up to various grants.

More than 7,000 people have signed a petition to save the historical space between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Updated: There is a GoFundMe here.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo from Tompkins Square Park at 7th and A...) 

• RIP Leonard Abrams (Tuesday) 

• A look at Theatre 80 last night before marshals seize the historic East Village venue (Wednesday) ... Theatre 80 is closed up for now (Thursday) 

• A visit with Chris Santana, the bookseller of Astor Place (Friday) 

• 'Around the Corner' with Bill Rice at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects (Thursday) 

• Food City coming to Avenue D (Tuesday) 

• This is the new projected opening date for Panda Express (Wednesday) 

• A sidewalk bridge for the vacant storefronts along Stuyvesant Street (Thursday) 

• Paper trail: Yaeji at Astor Place (Wednesday) 

• A new corner of the 'Star Wars' galaxy (Tuesday) 

• Funzi's Pizzeria next for 36 St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• ICYMI: Superiority Burger debuts in new East Village home (Monday) 

• Memphis Seoul unveils signage, storefront (Wednesday) 

• Report: Jimmy McMillan is back in his East Village apartment (Friday) 

• Captain Cookie takes a break on Astor Place (Tuesday) 

• About 325 E. 14th St., now on the sales market (Thursday)

• On Avenue A, Two Hands turns over to Korean Street Foods (Monday) 

... and a Holy Week discard on 13th Street at Second Avenue (thanks, Uncle Pete!) ...

-----

Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery highlights gun violence this Holy Week

Once again this Holy Week, St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery installed an Anti-Gun Violence Memorial in the East Yard here along Second Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

An EVG reader shared these photos from this past week.

Per the signage: 

Our commemoration this year is represented by the deaths of Women of Color who encountered violent and fateful interactions with law enforcement, and gun violence in general...

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Today in Tompkins Square Park...

Good Friday at St. Brigid-St. Emeric

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Parishioners from St. Brigid-St. Emeric on Avenue B observed Good Friday yesterday with a Stations of the Cross processional that started outside the church...

... and the Way of the Cross procession continued on Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...

... the procession continued along Avenue C and then on Seventh Street...

... before a return inside St. Brigid-St. Emeric...

The many lives of 64 E. 7th St.

The Greek Revival brownstone — now a single-family residence — at 64 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue has long captured the attention of David Hajdu, a cultural historian, critic and educator (and the staff music critic for The Nation). 

He wrote about the circa-1840 building in a widely-shared piece in the Times. There's now a separate article about No. 64 at Places, the journal of public scholarship on the built environment. 

Hajdu writes: 

From the first wave of immigration from Europe to lower Manhattan, through the rise of the Beats and avant-garde performance art in the mid-20th century, to the gentrification of recent years, the same building on East 7th Street has encapsulated one era after another after another. 

Past occupants of 64 E. Seventh St. include: 

• The parsonage for St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church

• The newspaper Russky Golos ("Russian Voice") 

• The Les Deux Megots coffeehouse, whose readings featured Allen Ginsberg, Paul Blackburn and Carol Berge 

• The Paradox, taking claim to be the world's first macrobiotic restaurant where both Yoko Ono and folksinger Loudon Wainwright III worked 

• Books 'N Things 

• Tokio 7 (moved across the street)

Both articles are related to the world premiere of The Parsonage, a recorded album about the history of 64 E. Seventh St. Hadju and a group of musicians will perform live on April 27 at the Museum of the City of New York. 

Per the MCNY site: 

The Parsonage, which takes from the worlds of jazz, classical, and "post-classical" music, makes its debut on April 7 from Sunnyside Records. The song cycle features libretto by cultural historian David Hajdu and music by eight composers: Darcy James Argue, Theo Bleckmann, Regina Carter, Ted Hearne, Kirk Nurock, Renee Rosnes, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Dan Tepfer.

Saturday's opening shot

Morning view along First Park on First Street...

Friday's parting shot

Thanks to Cecil Scheib for this sunset shot tonight...

The power of the dog

 

Last night, Australian sax/drums duo Party Dozen made their first (noisy!) NYC appearance... opening for Algiers at Racket. 

Looking forward to hearing more from them. 

The video here is for "Macca The Mutt," featuring Nick Cave. (Sadly, Nick was not at Racket last night!)