Felton Davis of the Second Avenue Star Watchers shared this dispatch from last night...
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Midnight moon over 2nd Avenue
East Village Loves NYC aids asylum seekers in Midtown during Saturday's heatwave
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
On Saturday morning, a reporter covering the humanitarian crisis at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown asked me if anyone in the neighborhood did emergency aid crisis response.
She mentioned witnessing hundreds of people on the sidewalk, with the heat index hovering around 100, without food or water while they waited for a spot to open up at the intake center. (All arriving asylum seekers are now processed through a centralized system, but they are no spaces available, so long lines have formed while people wait — up to several days — for a chance to get inside.)
I contacted some mutual aid groups I'd worked with in the past, including East Village Loves NYC, and we set up a plan to provide 250 meals to people midday after being told they'd only had a "block of cheese" and a bottle of water the night before.
In less than four hours, the volunteers with EVLovesNYC prepared hundreds of meals (beef and vegan options) at their home base, the Sixth Street Community Center, and had them ready to go...
We arrived at the city's intake center at the hotel on East 45th Street. We received assistance from DocGo (the subcontractor managing the site) to hand out the halal meals, watermelon slices, chocolate croissants (courtesy of C&B Cafe on Seventh Street) and bottles of water.
With so many people waiting (some transported to area hospitals), the city was scrambling for places to put them. The Mayor's office hoped to move people to the Port Authority while waiting for space to open up. MTA buses were brought in as emergency mobile cooling centers.
The situation at the center was tense, and later that night, after we left, people tried to break the barrier to get inside. There isn't an end in sight, and the city repeatedly has stated they have no more room to house the influx. (City and state officials also continue to ask for assistance from the federal government.)
For information on volunteering with or donating to EVLovesNYC, visit this site.
Local 92 has closed on 2nd Avenue
There aren't any messages on the restaurant's website or social media about a closure... Google lists the Local 92 address as on Mulberry between Prince and Spring. No one answered the phone listed for this Mulberry address on Sunday or last evening.
Local 92, which served a variety of Middle Eastern cuisine and was a popular brunch spot, first opened here in 2013.
In 2021, three former employees claimed that Marcello Assante, the restaurateur behind Local 92 as well as the now-closed Bella Ciao in Little Italy, "refused to pay his employees overtime; ignored coronavirus health requirements issued by city and state officials; and referred to former employees as 'princesses' after they raised concerns about the alleged incidents," Eater reported. There were also allegations levied against Local 92 chef and co-owner Shai Zvibak. They denied the accusations.
And Local 92 is the latest closure along this corridor in the past two years... other closings on Second Avenue between Fourth Street and Sixth Street include the Mermaid Inn, Eros, Mighty Quinn's BBQ, Wild Mirrors, Sauced Up!, Calexico and Sestina.
Monday, July 31, 2023
6 posts from July
• First look inside the Astor Place Wegmans, set to open on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. (July 27)
• When a young red-tailed hawk gets stuck in the airshaft outside your kitchen window (July 21)
• RIP Big Lee (July 18)
• Late night at Key Food (July 14)
• The last day for East Village mainstay Ink on Avenue A (July 9)
• Angelina Jolie is creating a collaborative space for designers and artisans in Basquiat's former studio on Great Jones Street (July 8)
Noted
Details about the NYPD's Night Out Against Crime
Photo by Stacie Joy
In the East Village, the community-building event takes place outside the 9th Precinct from 4-8 p.m. There's free food (BBQ!) and other treats for attendees... as well as some kid-friendly entertainment. It's also an opportunity to meet staff from the 9th Precinct.
The Precinct house is at 321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
July 31
Photo by Steven
OK, so not a real tree... still, we can dream of a _ _ _ _ _ Christmas here on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.
Something to frown about at Smileys
Photos by Steven
An array of legal notices are affixed to the storefront (and semi-obscured by the rolldown gate) here between 12th Street and 13th Street...
Smileys, which opened at the start of the year and describes itself as a "wellness shop," remained closed over the weekend.
As we've seen, shops that have been raided-fined have eventually resumed operations, new shops have risen from the ashes of shuttered venues, or new businesses with increasingly cutesy names arrive down the block.
Meanwhile, to avoid detection, several readers have noted at least two shops have removed their signage and only open in the evenings when a coordinated raid is less likely.
With a new law in place late in the spring, New York State — via the Office of Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance — ramped up efforts to shut down businesses selling cannabis without a license.
However, as NY1 pointed out on July 14, of "the 22 stores that were issued violations in the city, only six have closed down. Most reopened for business and continue to openly sell cannabis in violation of the law." Gothamist has more on the enforcement success here.
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The City recently published a piece titled, Your Guide to Legal Cannabis in New York City.
CineKink is back with its 20th anniversary film festival
This year's festival, which marks its 20th anniversary, includes filmmaker Q&As, a "Bring It!"-style adult entertainment showdown and a screening of a 50th-anniversary restored print of "Deep Throat."
Via the EVG inbox: "Works featured at CineKink NYC will range from documentary to drama, comedy to experimental, mildly spicy to quite explicit — and everything in between."
"We're delighted to return to the East Village for our in-person come-back," co-founder and director Lisa Vandever told EVG contributor Stacie Joy. "It's a place that has always welcomed artistic self-expression, and we really feel at home there."
The screenings and related events happen at The Wild Project, 195 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
The kick-off party for CineKink members, filmmakers and all-access package holders takes place on Wednesday. Screenings are scheduled Thursday through Sunday.
Find all the programming details and ticket info here.
And a scene from the last in-person CineKink from 2019 (photo by Stacie Joy) ...
Openings: Dora's Restaurant on Avenue B; Rynn's on 5th Street
Top photo by Stacie Joy
Dora's Restaurant debuted on Friday at 40 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.
Siblings Dora and Oskar Morales are behind this establishment. (Their mother is also named Dora.)
They serve 10 kinds of ceviche, plus wine, beer and sangria.
No sign of a website or social media just yet.
Hours: Daily from 3-11 p.m.
Rynn recently debuted at 309 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
The restaurant offers a variety of Thai dishes, from starters (the crispy lotus root looks solid) to main courses. Rynn doesn't have a liquor license, so they offer free spirit-free concoctions and Thai iced tea and coffee.
Like Dora's, they don't have a website or social media. (They are on Yelp.) Hours: Daily from 4-10 p.m.
Let us know if you try either place!
Sunday, July 30, 2023
Sunday's parting shot
Raising awareness of Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s proposed merger with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
The assembled group, including several local elected officials, health-care advocates and Local 1199 workers, will discuss the Department of Health's requirements for approval of Mount Sinai Beth-Israel's merger with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYE&EI).
Here's some background via organizers:
In late 2022, Mount Sinai Beth-Israel (MSBI), the parent corporation of the 200-year-old New York Eye and Ear Infirmary that serves people with hearing and vision disabilities, applied before the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) to merge operating certificates with the Infirmary — a tactic that would enable MSBI to more easily move services out of the site and around the city, paving the way for a sale of the historic Infirmary.
Last month, the Department of Health released a letter stating its approval of the merger "would be subject to a number of contingencies and conditions, including community engagement and a commitment by MSBI to not close any NYE&EI clinical programs, change access to clinical services, or close inpatient beds."
Organizers want to raise awareness of the situation and "hold the hospital giant accountable to the necessary stakeholder engagement and community engagement plan contingencies stipulated by the DOH."
The rally starts at 11:30 a.m. Speakers are said to include Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and Congressman Jerry Nadler.
The Infirmary owns two buildings here — 14th Street and Second Avenue and 13th Street and Second Avenue (pictured above) — and the vacant lot on 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
Sources told the Post in February that the parcel "could fetch up to $70 million if sold for apartment-building construction."
Meanwhile, Mount Sinai Beth Israel is selling several properties on 17th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue that were used for offices and medical residences. Local elected officials are demanding that affordable housing be part of any deal.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Week in Grieview
Posts from this past week included... (with a random LES street scene)
• City issues RFP for the renovation and operation of the snack bar at First Park (Tuesday)
• Asbestos abatement ahead of demolition at the NW corner of 1st Avenue and 2nd Street (Tuesday)
• The great New Double Dragon signage shines brightly again, now on the Lower East Side (Wednesday)
• Happy 40th anniversary to The Sock Man! (Friday)
• A tribute to Sinéad O'Connor on Great Jones (Thursday)
• Kuppi Coffee in soft-opening mode on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)
• Sami & Susu bring you the Pita Shop by day on Orchard Street (Wednesday)
• Summer scheduling: Lucy's returns after Aug. 10 (Monday)
• The arrival (Tuesday)
• RIP to the 'RIP ST MARKS' tag (Monday)
• Proto's Pizza is closed for remodeling, and now under new management (Thursday)
• Check out a new track/video from local band Rebounder (Friday)
• A return to 'Alphabet City' at Metrograph (Tuesday)
• Pizza signage update on 9th Street (Monday)
Sunday's opening shot
And who has seen "Talk to Me"?
Thanks to Michelle Roelofs for the photo!
Saturday, July 29, 2023
EVG Etc.: A street co-naming for Economy Candy; new food options on St. Mark's Place
Second Avenue at 12th Street
Added several new posts...
• Woman struck in the left arm by a stray bullet last evening while sitting in a car on Orchard between Houston and Stanton (ABC 7)
• Police arrest man accused of harassing women along Second Avenue and Fifth Street (The Post)
• As NYC limits access to migrants and asylum seekers, many are left homeless (NPR)
• The corner of Rivington and Essex will now bear the name "Morris 'Moishe' Cohen Way" in honor of Economy Candy's founder (Time Out)
• Why more deliveristas are turning to gas-powered mopeds (Streetsblog)
• 3 newish places to eat on this block of St. Mark's Place (Eater ... previously on EVG)
• 2 EV spaces in this listicle of essential NYC coffee shops (Eater)
• About Avenue A's Foxface Natural — "NYC's most original new restaurant" (Grub Street)
• The new Bush Tetras record is now out (Wharf Cat Records ... previously on EVG)
• A few more chances to see "Make Me Famous" — a documentary on 1980s-era East Village-based painter Edward Brezinski — on a big screen in the next few days (Official site... previously on EVG)
• About Essx, a new retail concept on Essex Street (Wallpaper*)
About tomorrow's free show in Tompkins Square Park
On the bill:
• Tetchy
The show is also serving as a benefit to help Leesa Harrington-Squyres, the drummer for Lez Zeppelin and Sabbath Warlock, cover some medical expenses for an upcoming surgery.
Show Brain is the show's promoter. Show times: 1:30-6 p.m.
Saturday's opening shot
Friday, July 28, 2023
Love and basketball
Local band Rebounder released a new song/video this past week... ahead of their forthcoming record, Sundress Songs.
This is "Library," said to be about "a dissolving relationship" ... and featuring additional vocals by Eliza Callahan of Purr.
Meanwhile, Rebounder is headlining Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night.
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