EV Grieve

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Ben's Deli is temporarily closed for renovations

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Ben's Deli is now temporarily closed for renovations here at 32 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street.

This was expected after longtime owner Ben Gibran sold the business earlier this year to a cousin, Sammy Ksem.

The shop, expected to be closed for two to three months, will still go by Ben's Deli.

Here's a look at the last night... as the shelves were thinned out ...

You can also expect the return of the excellent in-store vendor Los Tacos Poca Madre...

On the last night, Haas was behind the counter...

... as well as Ben, making a rare return to this spot where he greeted generations of customers...

We still hope to see Ben on the block from time to time...

Check out the former Salvation Army Family Store on 4th Avenue

The plywood recently came down at the under-renovation storefront at 112 Fourth Ave. near 12th Street.

You'd never know that this was, un til October 2019, the longtime home of the Salvation Army Family Store. SA reps told us at the time that the landlord had terminated their lease.

The storefront is now being pitched for restaurant usage — or anyone else who can afford the monthly asking rent of $38,000. (Listing here.) The space has three levels, with 2,400 square feet on the ground floor.

B-Side will not reopen at 204 Avenue B

B-Side will not return to 204 Avenue B, which has been closed since a fire this past June 30.

As previously reported, Sabina Brunetti, the co-owner of B-Side, the bar in the building's retail space, said they were having a new air conditioner installed. A worker was using a torch for welding, and the insulation went up in flames. The fire marshal deemed the blaze accidental.

The fire badly damaged the bar and the apartments of the three tenants who lived on the upper floors, including the unit of the building's owner. The tenants (plus a dog) got out safely. The building here between 12th Street and 13th Street remains under a full vacate order.

In a series of messages on Instagram (and Facebook) last week, B-Side announced:

"The ownership and managing party for the building have expressed that it's in their family's best interest to sever ties and by exercising a clause in our lease, thereby terminating it."

"Ownership of 204 Avenue B is well within their right, and we respect their decision. We'd like to take the opportunity to apologize to Sandy [the landlord who lived upstairs], her tenants, and our employees for the resulting displacement due to this fire."

The bar hopes to reopen in a new location in the future. In the interim, they will host parties and events at Revision Lounge and Gallery at 219 Avenue B.

B-Side had been closed for the first three months of 2023 for renovation.

Monday, September 18, 2023

Monday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy

A view of this evening's rainbow... and the second consecutive Monday with rainbow action...

Target sets opening-day bullseye on Oct. 22

The Target at 10 Union Square East in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers will debut on Oct. 22, the company announced. (PIX 11 first noted it.)

"As we get closer to opening the store, we'll have more specific details to share – including how the shopping experience will be tailored to serve local guests," a Target spokesperson said.  

This outpost has been in the making for three-plus years.

In February 2020, news broke (via the Post) that Target had signed a lease for a 33,000-square-foot store here. The current tenant, Food Emporium, had a lease until April 2023. Ultimately, the grocer shut down early — in May 2021.

As previously noted, the space that was once pub-crawl hotspot SideBar on the SW corner of 15th Street and Irving Place is now part of the retailer's footprint.

The 27,000-square-foot Target, a few blocks to the east on 14th Street and Avenue A, opened in July 2018.

And the Oct. 22 Target launch comes four days after the expected debut of Wegmans on Astor Place.

The owners of Unregular Pizza unveil the Unregular Bakery on 4th Avenue

EVG reader pic!

The Unregular Pizza team is keeping it irregular.

Owners Gabriele Lamonaca and Paola Sinisgalli recently (Sept. 8!) opened Unregular Bakery a block south of their Fourth Avenue pizzeria.

Unregular Bakery, 124 Fourth Ave., just south of 13th Street, features a bomboloni (Italian doughnuts) and croissant menu overseen by Chef Warren Rojas. The draw here is the "Bombolone di grano arso" (burnt wheat bombolone) filled with stracciatella, capicollo and sundried tomato paste.

And per Unregular reps:

The bakery, just like the pizzerias, will offer a barter system: by signing up online, New Yorkers and visitors will be able to exchange other foods, drinks, experiences and/or art for the items mentioned above.

And!

The bakery is planning to launch the first-ever BomboFest (a bombolone festival) in New York City in November, inviting home-based bomboloni chefs to present their creations with the aim of displaying it at the bakery for a limited amount of time. The objective is to honor the fact that the owners' first business was born at home.

Bakery hours: Daily from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Unregular Pizza opened in May 2021 at 135 Fourth Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. Before this, Lamonaca, who previously worked at EV restaurants Huertas and Cacio e Vino, made headlines for his bartering system. Lamonaca started experimenting with his pizza-making skills during the pandemic. From his Harlem apartment, he whipped up a handful of pies every week and made them available via barter.

There are now three NYC outposts of the pizzeria.

Brix Wine Shop is now open in its new space right next door on Avenue B

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Brix Wine Shop swapped storefront spaces last week at 170 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The business is now in the building's south storefront. Take a quick look!

The move took place to facilitate the encore presentation of Barnyard Cheese Shop.

As we first reported on Aug. 23, owner Beatriz Gutierrez is opening Barnyard Express in the north space at 170 Avenue B, featuring a full menu of her best-selling sandwiches and other items. (The two storefronts will connect via a passthrough.)

The original Barnyard Cheese Shop closed in October 2021 at 168 Avenue B. (The business dates to 2008 on Ninth and C, with a 2016 opening on Avenue B.)

Gutierrez has not yet set an opening date for Barnyard Express.

As for Brix, they open daily at noon.

Hello Lollo: Pizzeria signage alert at 27 Avenue B

Photo by Stacie Joy

Signage went up late last week for Lollo, the incoming restaurant-pizzeria at 27 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street.

As we first reported in April, a group of partners originally from Northern Italy are behind the new establishment, serving a variety of pasta dishes as well as brick-oven pizzas. (BTW: Lollo is short for Lorenzo, the chef and one of the partners.)

No word just yet on an opening date. If you're on Instagram, they have a placeholder account here.

The space was previously home to Solo Pizza, which closed following a rent hike in September 2022 after 15 years in business.

As multiple readers have pointed out, this is a pretty pizza-heavy corridor now between Third Street and down Clinton... last week, we first reported about the new venture from Luigi Iasilli, owner of the well-liked Max restaurant, who's opening Potenza Centrale at 38 Avenue B... and Luzzo's made a May 2022 debut at 15 Avenue B.

On Houston, a bank branch replaces a nail salon, and it feels like 2010

The Think Pink Nail & Spa outpost at 215 E. Houston St. closed sometime (last year?) here between Essex and Ludlow.

And taking its place... a new branch of Popular Bank... per the new coming-soon window signage...

This arrival comes at a time when more and more banks are shutting down neighborhood branches nationwide.

Per The Street:

According to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Bureau (FDIC), large commercial U.S. banking locations have fallen from 8,000 in 2000 to 4,236 by 2021 and 4,194 by 2022. The spider web of U.S. branch bank offices tied to big banks has slid significantly, as well.

As for the 2010 reference, that seemed like a time when any empty storefront would become a bank branch, nail salon or psychic adviser.

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Reports: Mount Sinai will phase out Beth Israel on 1st Avenue and 16th Street

Photo by Stacie Joy

ICYMI: Last Thursday, citing ongoing financial difficulties, including an expected $150-million loss this year, Mount Sinai announced that it will phase out its Beth Israel facility on 16th Street and First Avenue.

Hospital officials said this in a statement: "This decision comes after recent financial changes, including significant increases in labor and supply costs, and years of decreasing inpatient census as care continues to move to outpatient and non-hospital settings."

Officials did not provide a timeline for the closure, stating that the emergency department will still receive patients.

There's speculation that Mount Sinai Beth Israel, the parent corporation of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, might try to sell the property it owns on 14th Street and Second Avenue, 13th Street and Second Avenue, and 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue — which "could fetch up to $70 million if sold for apartment-building construction," per the Post back in February.

Following the news of the closure, local elected officials released this statement...

Read our joint statement on @MountSinaiNYC’s planned closure of Beth Israel. @DeborahJGlick @JerryNadler @Gonzalez4NY @MBPMarkLevine @CMCarlinaRivera @KeithPowersNYC pic.twitter.com/P9HGF2Yd5c
— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) September 14, 2023

Find more coverage here:

• CBS 2

• NY1

• Bloomberg

• Our Town

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel decides against plans to relocate and downsize

• Raising awareness of Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s proposed merger with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo by Derek Berg from outside an NYFW show — Wiederhoeft — at LaMama on Fourth Street) ...

• The former P.S. 64/Charas is now headed to a bankruptcy sale (Wednesday)

• Here's the first look at the new building slated for 50-64 Third Ave. (Friday)

• The owner of Max restaurant is returning to Avenue B with a new pizzeria (Thursday)

• Report: Early morning stabbing on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

• Welcoming Beastie Boys Square to the Lower East Side (Monday)

• At Fucking Awesome with Chloë Sevigny (Wednesday)

• Kyp Malone's 'Dream Articulations' at Snow Gallery (Saturday)

• Openings: Cantina Cubana on Avenue B (Friday) ... Motel No Tell on Avenue A (Thursday) ... EVC Caffé on 5th Street (Wednesday)

• Friday night with Crackhead Barney and Friends at Grace Exhibition Space on Avenue C (Thursday)

• Dim Sum Go Go's East Village outpost set for a soft opening (Thursday)

• Report of a fire at 91 E. 3rd St. (Wednesday)

• Doja Cat's "Scarlet" alter ego spotted in Tompkins (Tuesday)

• Double rainbows on 9/11 (Monday)

• Signage time for Seasoned Vegan (Monday)

• The case of the missing East Village Mini Market signage (Thursday)

• A look inside the incoming Popeyes on 14th Street (Monday)

• Mr. Kim arrives on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

• About Schmuck on 1st Avenue (Monday)

• 5 weeks (or so) until the Wegmans at Astor Place opens (Tuesday)

... speaking of Wegmans, reps were handing out freebies in Tompkins Square Park yesterday ahead of the grand opening on Oct. 18 (photo by Stacie Joy)...

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

Skating goals in Tompkins Square Park

The top photo by EVG; the rest by Stacie Joy

Late Friday afternoon, skateboarders filled the multipurpose courts (TF!) in Tompkins Square Park ... taking part in a hockey skate jam via Fucking Awesome on Ninth Street.

The hockey goal was a popular obstacle to take on...

As we've been reporting, the city is expected to start the pavement reconstruction here this month.

The Parks Department will reconstruct the multipurpose courts, adding various amenities, including a two-lane seal-coated walking loop and new asphalt.

According to a landscape architect with the Parks Department (from a presentation in February), there's a lot of "asphalt structural damage," and it "needs to be replaced and repaired. And the only way to do that is to take all the asphalt down to the sub base and put new asphalt down."

Other additions: new benches, a kickball court, a high-low fountain that kids and adults can use simultaneously, and three new basketball backstops at the eastern end.

Skaters are worried the new asphalt will be either too soft or hard for skating, turning this decades-long hotspot into a useless spot.

If there were any concerns about the future here, it didn't show on Friday with an upbeat, endless summer vibe.

A 'Moment' at Café Chrystie

Photo on Sept 8 by Stacie Joy

Last month, we noted that East Village resident Pep Kim debuted a new café-boutique concept at 184 E. Seventh St. at Avenue B (SE corner)... the storefront houses Café Chrystie and his Chrystie NYC clothing brand.

Kim said that he planned to host the occasional photo show and other art events here.

The shop has hosted two to date ... Sept. 8 saw the opening of "Give Me a Moment," a zine release event/photo exhibit featuring the work of stylist Mustafa Yanaz (above left) ... the work will be here through Sept. 28...

Sunday's opening shot

Morning shadows in the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy

A scene from the 17th annual Anarchist Bookfair today (mentioned here) at La Plaza Cultural on the southwest corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C.

Tompkins Square Park is the last stop for this Theater for the New City production

The 2023 edition of the five-borough tour for the Theater for the New City's Street Theater Company ends tomorrow (Sunday!) afternoon in Tompkins Square Park.

Crystal Field, executive director at Theater for the New City, wrote and directed "Life on the Third Rail, or A Subway Delay to the Future," this musical that "tells a story in which a violent hurricane floods the subways, sending a heroic subway crew into a new world."

The free show starts at 2 p.m. Read more about the production here.

H/T Steven!

Kyp Malone's 'Dream Articulations' at Snow Gallery

Photos and text by Daniel Efram

"Dream Articulations," multimedia artist Kyp Malone's first solo show, opened Thursday evening at Snow Gallery, 129 Eldridge St. between Delancey and Broome on the Lower East Side.

Though Malone is known by many for his musical contributions to Rain Machine and previously, in large measure to TV on the Radio, he has been painting seriously since a young age.

"Dream Articulations" is a colorful and absurdist take on "a detailed imaginary world thought to originate in childhood." Malone grew up being deeply informed by the Jehovah's Witness; however, as he grew older, his track led away from the church's teachings, leading him to describe his art as "redecorating the architecture from cult indoctrinations."