After 20-plus years on 13th Street, Keybar is relocating to Bushwick

After 20-plus years at 432 E. 13th St., Keybar is wrapping up its last month on the block between Avenue A and First Avenue before relocating to Bushwick. 

Ownership made the announcement on Instagram...

Ownership said that a rent hike courtesy of landlord Steve Croman is behind the relocation.

In May 2022, Keybar looked to relocate to a larger space nearby ... reps appeared before Community Board 3 to seek a license for the more high-profile SE corner of Avenue A and 13th Street (the former Caffè Bene and previously a dry cleaners). 

However, CB3 voted to deny the application "because it does not show public interest and seeks a full on-premises license in a location that has never been licensed for a full on-premises liquor license in a saturated area with a history of quality of life issues on upper Avenue A."

On July 12, we'll know more about the future of East Village newsstand Ink

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Updated July 11. The shop has closed.

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Here's the latest from Ink, the 33-year-old newsstand that's fighting for its survival on Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. (Find more background here.)

After going back to court, the judge denied owner Ben "Benny" Dahud's Order to Show Cause, citing the stipulation he previously signed without legal counsel. The judge scheduled a Marshal's eviction for July 12. 

Benny said that he had already placed all the owed money — rent and real-estate taxes — in an escrow account. Now, the landlord can either accept the money and Benny can stay at least until the end of his lease (in about a year and half to two years), or they can choose not to accept the payment, in which case the Marshal will padlock the space on July 12. 

Benny says if the landlord chooses not to accept the payment, he will close the store and retire. He is at peace with the decision, saying that his "kids are grown up and have completed their education, and this is the perfect time to retire."

To the community, Benny says, "Thank you very much for supporting me all these years! If it wasn't for your help, I wouldn't have made it." 

If the eviction goes through, Benny will be having a liquidation sale — everything will be available at a discount.

To recap our last post:

A private equity firm bought this block-long residential building and strip of retail last September for a reported $64 million. On the way out last fall, the building's previous landlord, who had run the place since the 1980s, informed Benny that he owed three years of real estate taxes, about $20,000. 

The new landlord, reportedly Derby Copeland Capital, through the entity Derby Alphabet Blues 5872, LLC, later took Benny to court. 

"And they didn't cash three of my rent checks," Benny said. "They disputed the checks — one was undated, one was incorrect, and whatever. They won in court. They won the judgment in a lump sum — three months' rent plus the real estate taxes. So more than $50,000 I owed right away. I didn't have a lawyer, so I signed the stipulation, a legal agreement. I paid 80% but hadn't paid the last 20%, and they took me back to court." 

There has been an outpouring of support for the shop since our original story on June 26, Benny said.  If only the landlord knew how much Ink meant to residents.

The East Village Fine Wine & Champagne's sign has a new home

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The (iconic? beloved? confusing?) Fine Wine & Champagne's signage that anchored the NE corner of Avenue A and Fourth Street for decades has a new home. 

As reported last week, workers removed the sign from outside the former Nizga Liquors, now under new ownership and going as LES Fine Wines & Spirits. 

Understanding how much people like the signs (unnecessary apostrophe lovers unite!) management there announced they two signs were for sale.

Irena Lasenby, a former East Village resident who now lives in Bushwick, is the proud new owner of the smaller of the two signs, the (iconic? beloved? confusing?) apostrophe one.

"I bought it because I love old signs, and it triggers nostalgia," she said. 

Priced at around $500, the sign is en route to its new home in Irena's garden space.

The other signs is still available, as per Rich, manager of LES Fine Wines & Spirits. If you are interested you can stop by the store or message him via Instagram. 

Universal signage for all the businesses on this block is on the way, a directive from the new landlord who bought 58-72 Avenue A last fall for a reported $64 million.

Mystery solved? Avenue A residents track down source of the incessant 'loud mechanical sound'

Updated 8:45 a.m.: The original resident who reached out about the noise last month said that this is "clearly not the issue we are dealing with." And: "We are fairly certain it's coming from mechanical equipment in the rear of the business at 171 Avenue A. We are in contact with them to hopefully get it resolved. Anyone else experiencing this can reach out at LongtimeLesRes@gmail.com.

Also: The sleuths do NOT live on Avenue A as previously reported.

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Late last month, a longtime East Village resident wrote in about "a loud mechanical sound" that has been driving residents along Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street a little bonkers. 

To recap the sound situation: 

Unlike most commercial AC units that cycle on and off, this sound is incessant, and it sounds like a cross between an AC unit and a refrigerator. Occasionally there is a mechanical grinding noise as well. The noise doesn't stop, is loud, and is making it impossible for us to have our windows open and is making it difficult to sleep. 

Over the weekend, some local residents who read the previous post believed that have tracked down the source of the noise — from atop 118 Avenue D in the Jacob Riis Houses at Ninth Street.

So the noise was coming from three avenues away? 

"Yes, it's crazy how this sound carries all the way over to Avenue A," one of the residents told us. 

Now to the sleuthing: 

We just kept circling around trying to find the source. We initially thought it could be coming from the East River Park construction area but when we went there, we heard it coming from inland and we just circled around, closer and closer until we found it. 

We were able to access the roof of 100 Avenue D thinking it came from there and that's where we saw the actual source — the rooftop of 118 Avenue D.

   

Now what?

"We're just not sure how to get the NYCHA to address the issue," the resident said. "We didn't contact anyone about it." (Yet!)

Given the distance from 118 Avenue D to Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street, certainly other residents must be experiencing sound issues as well — especially those who live near the Riis Houses.

Tuesday's parting shot

Happy 4th! Hope your dogs are less traumatized (except for the 500 people lighting fireworks on the block). 

Back later with a round-by-round analysis with letter grades!

Afternoon cloud break

The #NoFilter sky view from Avenue A and Fourth Street this afternoon...

[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.

Public records list R.M.H. Estates as the landlord of both properties ... with ownership of No. 33 and 35 dating to 1984... they also own 37 First Ave. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Goodbye for now to HaveAHeart Studio, the rehearsal space below New Double Dragon

• On 1st Avenue, New Double Dragon is closing, and maybe reopening

• First Avenue Laundry Center is closed for now

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's parting shot

Good day for cloud watching... and taking photos of clouds.

PSA: In case you planned on going to the Astor Place Greenmarket tomorrow

You know, pick up some corn on the cob, etc., for the holiday. Anyway, the Astor Place Greenmarket is closed tomorrow (Tuesday, July 4). 

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

Signage is up for the new home of the Upright Citizens Brigade at 242 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, a short walk across the street from IHOP.

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."

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.

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!

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:

• A visit to High Vibe on 3rd Street

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's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Waiting out the downpour late this afternoon on Fourth Street...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with more air-quality alerts from the Canadian wildfires)...

• 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...

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

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)

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.

We've mentioned "Make Me Famous" several times (like here and here) ... the documentary tells the story of the 1980s downtown art scene through the lens of painter Edward Brezinski.

   

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.

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)

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.