Tuesday, July 4, 2023
[Updated] TODAY is the last day in business on 1st Avenue for East Village staple New Double Dragon
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Updated 7/5: The restaurant was able to stay open for a little longer... through Friday, July 7. There is a limited selection of menu items available. You can call (212) 598-0730.
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Today (July 4) is the last day in business for New Double Dragon, the inexpensive and reliable quick-serve Chinese restaurant at 37 First Ave. between Second Street and Third Street.
We first reported on this pending closure in February, when there were rumors that the building's landlord was planning to either renovate or demolish the building and the two properties to the south.
According to the Department of Buildings, the landlord is going the demolition route, as permits are on file for the three buildings — 33-37 First Ave.
We'll have more about the demolition and what might be next at another time.
Meanwhile, owner Shawn Lin said he has restaurant items available to sell and give away.
Among the items for sale: large woks, fridges, fryers, a freezer. And the freebies include large rice warmers, prep tables and kitchen supplies. You can take a look today and pick up items tomorrow or Thursday.
Shawn says he has been looking for another space but has not found one. (He'd like the opportunity to lease a space someday in the new development here but realizes he likely couldn't afford the new rent.)
In the interim, he hopes he and everyone else at New Double Dragon can get short-term jobs. If an employment opportunity doesn't work out for him in the weeks ahead, he may visit his extended family in China.
While bagging up some orders, Shawn reiterated a message on the flyers: He was grateful for all the patronage through the years and looked forward to seeing everyone again some day at New Double Dragon — here or elsewhere.
Previously on EV Grieve:
B&H Dairy is on a summer break
Photos by Steven
In case B&H Dairy was in your future dining plans... the classic lunch counter at 127 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place is taking its usual summer break... and will be back in action with the borscht and blintzes on Tuesday, July 18...
Monday, July 3, 2023
PSA: In case you planned on going to the Astor Place Greenmarket tomorrow
Back at it on July 11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
H/T Steven!
The Upright Citizens Brigade is returning to NYC — and the East Village — with a new theater
According to the UCB announcement, the two-level space will house "a fully-accessible 130-seat theater with a spacious bar and lounge." (Haven't seen this liquor-license application just yet.) The social media post states that "performances will kick off this fall."
Insiders alleged that UCBers were leaving the defaming comments back in 2009 about people who wear cargo shorts and sandals ... people who also like comedy troupes like UCB!
This marks a dual homecoming of sorts for the comedy brand.
The UCB's East Village outpost, UCBeast, wrapped up its eight-plus year run on Avenue A and Third Street in February 2019. At the time, UCB officials blamed the "extreme costs" of operating in the space as a factor in its closing. UCB then presented three nights of programing at SubCulture, a 130-seat venue on Bleecker Street.
Eventually the whole empire — where Kate McKinnon, Donald Glover, Aubrey Plaza, and Broad City's Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, among many others — got their start, shut down. Amid ongoing financial difficulties made worse by the start of the pandemic, UCB closed all its remaining NYC locations in April 2020... and then in Los Angeles in December 2020.
A comeback was underway starting in March 2022 when longtime talent manager Jimmy Miller and former CEO/Owner of The Onion Mike McAvoy reportedly bought the brand.
As for its EV history...the venue on Avenue A and Third Street opened in September 2011 ... after so much drama (Hot Chicks Room! New Jack Cornballs!) for a comedy club.
Fourteen years later, will there still be outrage over cargo-short-wearing cornballs clogging the sidewalks for comedy shows? (We hope so!)
Meanwhile, here's background via Deadline about how the UCB came to be...
The esteemed comedy theater, which was launched in 1999 in New York by Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh, came at a time when the foursome were exploding with their hit Comedy Central sketch series, Upright Citizens Brigade, which ran for three seasons from 1998-2000. While the four separately burned their own comedy paths in showbiz after the Comedy Central show, UCB Theatre and school became its own animal, quickly becoming an incubator for film and TV comedic talent, with a Los Angeles theater and improv/sketch writing school opening in 2005...
The new UCB space has been various gyms through the years, most recently IG-Fit, which closed at the end of 2022 without any warning to members.
High Vibe looking for some help to continue spreading the love
Photos by Stacie Joy
Robert “Bobby” Dagger, owner of the health/natural foods and goods store High Vibe, recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to help keep the 30-year-old East Village shop at 138 E. Third St. Street between Avenue A and First Avenue in business for years to come...
Here's part of the appeal:
...the pandemic, coupled with the shift to online sales and people moving away from the city, has left us facing financial hardship. We find ourselves in need of assistance to cover bills and back rent, so we can continue serving our community and spreading love to people, dogs, and kids for another 30 years.
You can find the GoFundMe at this link.
High Vibe is open daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Find the store's website here. And if you're on Instagram, they have an account at this link.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Eros is still 'temporarily closed,' and now fully empty
The curious saga of Eros continues... the Greek restaurant has been closed since early last August on the NE corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street.
That's when a "temporarily closed" sign has been on the front door. The Greek restaurant's website still notes that this location is "closed for renovations. Reopening TBA."
The city removed the lengthy curbside dining structure from Fifth Street — after multiple warnings — in January.
Most everything from the interior has either been removed (as of last week) or shoved against the windows along the Fifth Street side of the space...
Eros took over for the diner the Kitchen Sink in September 2021 (same owners) ... management previously changed names from Moonstruck to the Kitchen Sink in the fall of 2015.
We've talked to several nearby residents who said they'd welcome the return of a more diner-y-type establishment like the Kitchen Sink.
Sunday, July 2, 2023
Week in Grieview
• Ink on A can use some help (Monday)
• About the fire at 204 Avenue B (Friday)
• The latest distribution for asylum seekers took place this past week (Tuesday)
• On St. Mark's Place, Funzi's Pizzeria is a throwback modeled after grandmother's house (Tuesday)
• Farewell to the Champagne's of storefront signs in the East Village (Friday)
• Last summer for the current configuration of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday)
• Weeping for this lost tree on Avenue A (Tuesday)
• Khiladi NYC is closing on Avenue B (Sunday)
• Six Feet Under Sound with The Acute (Thursday)
• The incoming Shake Shack on the Lower East Side owes nearly $200k back rent: legal notice (Monday)
• At 2nd and 2nd, a change in plans (Monday)
• Is 334 Bowery now officially a doomed location for restaurants? (Thursday)
• For those who rocked: Legendary East Village venue Fillmore East closed on this date in 1971 (Tuesday)
• City pools open (but not the Tompkins Square Park mini pool) (Thursday)
• Do you remember the Unicorn Frame Shop? (Wednesday)
• Retail moves: Westerlind relocates to East Houston Street (Wednesday)
• Roasted NYC slated for this 2nd Avenue storefront (Wednesday)
... and a surprising number of people have asked about the status of Healthy Choice, the deli-market on the SW corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street. Temp signage for My Deli 3 Corp. arrived on June 23. Same ownership and management here... an employee told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that the sign is temporary and relates to their beer license renewal...
On 7th Street, the Clyde Romero Memorial Garden celebrates a longtime garden activist
Photo by Dave on 7th
The Lower East Side Ecology Center Garden on Seventh Street has been rededicated in honor of its late co-founder.
Moving forward, the green space on Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C will be known as the Clyde Romero Memorial Garden.
Romero, a longtime East Village resident, was co-founder of the LES Ecology Center. He died in January 2022 at age 84.
During a ceremony this past Thursday, Romero was celebrated "as an artist, community and environmental activist, a dear friend to many."
EVG Etc.: Superiority Burger's 3 stars; Red Gate Bakery's birthday cake
Photo from Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg
• Carlina Rivera wins the June 27 Democratic primary with 61% of the vote (Our Town ... The Village Sun)
• A look at a former synagogue on Sixth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue that several artists bought in 1982... two of the units are now for sale (Curbed... previously on EVG)
• Lifeguard shortage means no adult lap swim at NYC pools (Gothamist)
• About those winged bugs around NYC (The City)
• Pete Wells drops three (out of four) stars on Superiority Burger (The New York Times ... previously on EVG)
• Red Gate Bakery on First Street just may make the best birthday cake in NYC (Eater)
• The Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledglings are having some summer fun (Laura Goggin Photography)
• July 4-related street closures and where to watch the Macy's-related fireworks (Gothamist)
• A look at Whim Golf's new pop-up store on Avenue A (Hypebeast ... previously on EVG)
• East Village resident Graham Nash discusses his latest record (Relix)
• An oral history of Paper, now with a new owner (The New York Times ... Study Hall)
• Henry Street gallery owners discuss the current economic client (Artnet News)
• D.A. Pennebaker's "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" gets a 50th-anniversary screening on July 9-10 at Village East by Angelika (Official Site)
• Check out the upcoming screenings in the Essential Cinema Repertory collection at Film Anthology Archives on Second Street and Second Avenue (Official site)
Saturday, July 1, 2023
Updated: Just a few more chances to see 1980s East Village art-scene documentary 'Make Me Famous'
Updated July 6: See below for more screening dates.
There are a few more screenings in NYC (and it is well worth your time and the effort to go to one of these theaters...)
• July 2, 8 p.m., at Roxy Cinema, 2 Avenue of the Americas, Cellar Level
• July 2, 2:45 p.m., and July 3, 7 p.m., at New Plaza Cinema, 35 W. 67th St.
Follow the film's Instagram account for updates.
And read an interview with director Brian Vincent and producer Heather Spore Kelly, at The Moveable Feast. Here's another piece via The Village Voice.
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NEW dates!
New Plaza Cinema
35 W. 67th St.
Friday, July 7, 8:45 p.m. Filmmakers Q and A
Sunday July 9, 7 p.m.
35 W. 67th St.
Friday, July 7, 8:45 p.m. Filmmakers Q and A
Sunday July 9, 7 p.m.
Roxy Cinema
2 Avenue of the Americas
Saturday July 15, 3 p.m.
Sunday July 16, 3 p.m.
Monday July 17, 9 p.m.
(all screenings with filmmaker Q and As)
2 Avenue of the Americas
Saturday July 15, 3 p.m.
Sunday July 16, 3 p.m.
Monday July 17, 9 p.m.
(all screenings with filmmaker Q and As)
Breakfast
Breakfast
By Donald Davis
The gulls were flying over the avenue
Squawking their squawk at us
Right at dawn today
So I figured it must have been dark
At muster time
Or even earlier
When they glided in from the coastal waters.
Maybe the pack had flown about all night
Thinking of french fries
Of which there were a lot,
As yesterday was the coronation
They surely heard the commotion.
The poem by Donald Davis is from the East Village Books poetry window.
Photo on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street by the author.
Saturday's opening shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
Pausing the C&B Cafe staff meeting yesterday for a photo!
C&B is at 178 E. Seventh St. just west of Avenue B.
Friday, June 30, 2023
Fire damages B-Side bar on Avenue B
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Updated July 3: There's now a GoFundMe for bar employees here.
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The FDNY responded to a report of a fire just before 1 p.m. today at 204 Avenue B between 12th Street and 13th Street.
The department's Twitter account deemed the fire under control in 45 minutes.
Sabina Brunetti, the co-owner of B-Side, the bar in the building's retail space, said they had a new air conditioner installed. A worker was using a torch for welding, and the insulation went up in flames. B-Side was not open at the time.
The fire marshal deemed the blaze accidental.
The four-story, three-unit building is now under a full vacate order. There weren't any injuries, thankfully, and all the tenants (plus a dog) got out safely. For now, the residents have a place to stay, but there isn't an estimate to how long repairs will take. The apartments were said to be badly damaged.
Meanwhile, the bar will also be out of commission for an unknown amount of time.
B-Side was closed at the start of the year for an extensive deep clean and renovations, including a new ceiling.
"We put so much blood sweat and tears into the space — it's really emotional. Our regulars are like family," a visibly upset Brunetti said.
She was especially concerned for her staff, some of whom do not have other jobs. She also is worried about the tenants whose homes were damaged, including the landlord who lives right above the bar.
Despite the setback, she vowed to return.
"We absolutely plan to rebuild," Brunetti said. "Again and again."
6 posts from June
• Ink on A can use some help (June 26)
• Iconic gay dive bar the Boiler Room is closing later this year ahead of a move to a new East Village space (June 20)
• Police: Woman dies after jumping from 3rd Street residential building (June 18)
• Despite the city's endless bureaucracy, East Village residents continue to aid asylum seekers at the former St. Brigid School (June 8)
• Decades-spanning ghost signage disappears from this East Village building (June 5)
• Why 787 Coffee decided to close its 14th Street outpost (June 2)
Revisiting a classic 'New Amsterdam'
Something different for this Friday-at-5 segment.
This video premiered on June 23 ... "New Amsterdam" composed by Moondog and performed by Calefax Reed Quintet... and filmed and edited by East Village resident H. Paul Moon.
You can read more about the making of the video here.
As you'll see, the East Village has a supporting role, including St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, First Park and First Street Art Park.
In addition, there's a scene where Moondog biographer Robert Scotto — a West Village resident — sits on the stoop of the composer's former address at 179 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
This piece from Untapped Cities has more about Moondog, born Louis Hardin in 1916 ... aka "the Viking of Sixth Avenue" ...
Moondog was a fixture of two different worlds in New York City. He was both a respected musician who worked with big names in genres ranging from classical to jazz to rock music, as well as an enigmatic street performer.
This morning in lending a hand
Photo by Derek Berg
Wash day for the Samuel S. Cox statue at the Seventh and A entrance to Tompkins Square Park...
Sunday is the last day for Khiladi NYC on Avenue B
Owner Sruthi Chowdary made the announcement on Instagram yesterday afternoon ...
July 2nd will be our last service, please come join us in bidding a farewell to this beautiful/challenging journey of ours. It hasn’t been an easy 4 years, COVID threw the world in a chaotic mode and our journey was definitely influenced by it! The most beautiful part of it all is how we were able to build a community around it and how that community came through during the thick of it!People, food and music will always be the core of our being, but sometimes good things have to come to an end too. Stay tuned to see what the future holds for us!
The restaurant, which served Southern Indian fare, debuted in August 2019 to positive reviews.
It wasn't always easy here. Someone broke into the restaurant, which had been helping feed area families as part of the Neighborhood Food Swap during the COVID-19 crisis, in late May 2020.
This past March, a neighbor accidentally drove into Khiladi's curbside dining structure ... in the morning before the restaurant was open for the day... and destroyed the seating area...
The space is now on the rental market via KSR.
Top photo via the EVG archives
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