What to know about the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade tomorrow

Photos by Stacie Joy

The 33rd edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade takes place tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 21. (Yes, the event was canceled this year, then revived via sponsor Get Joy, a Connecticut-based dog wellness company. Details here.) 

Given that a sizable portion of Tompkins Square Park is closed for construction (here and here), the city has OK'd extending the event onto parts of Avenue B and Seventh Street. 

The info here comes from the Dog Parade website: 

The day consists of a walking parade down Avenue B (free and open to all) and an exclusive costume competition in the park (also free, but limited space and wristbands available. Wristbands are available the day of the event, first come, first serve). 

To join the parade in your costumes, meet at 13th Street & Avenue B. (Do not meet in Tompkins Square Park!) Spectators can watch the parade on Avenue B from 12th Street to 7th Street. The parade is rain or shine and begins at 1 p.m. There is no registration to walk in the parade. 

To have a chance to compete in the exclusive costume competition (or score a free wristband to watch), arrive at 12th Street and Avenue B no later than 12:30 p.m. The waiting area for the parade opens at 12 p.m. Judges will be selecting their favorite costumes to compete in the competition from 12-1:30 p.m. 

The map (via the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade Instagram account) shows the parade route, which starts at 12th Street and Avenue B... heads south to Seventh Street, where the parade turns right and enters Tompkins at the entrance mid-block...

Some specifics about timing: 

1 p.m.: Parade kick-off 

1:45 p.m.: Interview finalists 

2 p.m.: Best in Show begins 

2:30 p.m.: Best in Show winners are crowned 

And for the bullet-point crowd:

• This event is open to all, and attendance is free 

• The first 600 paradegoers will receive wristbands, giving them access to march in the parade and access the park/contest stage and Seventh Street (first-come, first-serve basis) 

• Event is rain or shine 

• During the parade, a panel of judges will select canines and their humans to advance to an exclusive costume competition on the park stage

And what about parking in the area? Like, if you live here and have a car that might typically be parked along Avenue B or Seventh Street... this info comes via the 9th Precinct:

No parking on both sides of the street on Avenue B from 14th Street to Seventh Street, and no parking on Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B (both sides of the street). Starts Friday at midnight, ends Saturday at 9 p.m.  

Per a spokesperson at the 9th: "Tow trucks will be towing people, but we'd rather get the word out to the community ahead of time."

Otherwise, enjoy!

An open house at the George Jackson Academy on St. Mark's Place

Sharing some info from the George Jackson Academy, 104 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The middle school for boys is hosting an in-person open house this Saturday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon ... and again on Nov. 8 from 5:30-7 p.m.

Please register to attend using this link: GJA Open House Registration. 

About the Earth School's Fall Fair on Nov. 4

Updated 10/20 to reflect the rain date — Nov. 4!

The Earth School (PS 364) is hosting its annual fall fair on Nov. 4 from 12:30-4:30 p.m. 

You can find all the activities in the schoolyard on Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

Per the EVG inbox... 

Open to all families! Come join our community and enjoy: 

• A bouncy house
• Music with a live D.J.
• Arts & crafts, including slime making, beading... 
• Affordable food, homemade and from local restaurants
• Games — mini-golf, bean bag toss, basketball and more 
• Rummage sale (child & adult clothing) 
• And more family fun! 

Admission is free; tickets are $1 each and most activities and food cost 2-3 tickets. All proceeds from the Fall Fair are used to fund enrichment classes, supplies, and more for the students of the Earth School. 

Thank you to the following for the generous donations: Bibi's, Gemma, Iggy's Pizza, Peter Pan Doughnuts, Veniero's, Trader Joe’s, Key Food, Guitar Center...  

On Union Square, Target debuts ahead of its announced opening day

Photos by Steven

 

The Target at 10 Union Square East opened its doors on Tuesday night... five days before its announced Oct. 22 debut (and 15 hours before the Wegmans grand opening on Astor Place).

Oh, and the mayor was in on the scoop...

Union Square is getting a Target!

This unveiling symbolizes a key trend in our city’s economy. We're not coming back — we ARE back. This convenient location is going to bring jobs, foot traffic, and revenue to one of New York City’s most iconic areas. pic.twitter.com/f58f1eForI

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 17, 2023

Target did the same opening-before-the-expected date back in July 2018 on Avenue A and 14th Street. 

The 33,000-square-foot store (the EV location is 27,000 square feet, FYI) includes a CVS pharmacy and all the other stuff you'd expect to find at Target. Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

Anyway! To recap the Union Square story...This outpost in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers has been in the making for nearly four years.

In February 2020, news broke (via the Post) that Target had signed a lease for space that the Food Emporium had... the grocer shut down 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. 

This opening comes several days before the East Harlem location closes because of reports of thefts and organized retail crime threatening the safety of employees and customers. 

The Dash Snow tribute has been painted over on the Lower East Side

Top photo by Gabriel Sommer 

After 14-plus years on a north-facing wall of 205 Allen St. at Houston, someone has painted over the tribute to artist Dash Snow. 

The portrait arrived about a month after Snow was found dead in July 2009 at the Lafayette House on Fourth Street. He was 27. 

Graffiti writer SEEDR was credited with the work, one of many that popped up around downtown at the time. 

As far as we know, this was the last of the portraits still in existence...

Above photo from August 2009 by Salim

What's happening at the former Trader Joe's Wine Shop on 14th Street?

Multiple EVG tipsters have pointed out the arrival of some (somewhat generic) Trader Joe's signage outside the former Trader Joe's Wine Shop at 138 E. 14th St. near Irving Place. 

One EVG commenter said the Wine Shop is reopening... the signage could also be to spruce up the bare storefront. Anyway, we haven't gotten anyone to confirm what's happening here. The signage simply lists the Trader Joe's website. We contacted the TJ's home office for comment about the space. So, chalk this up to a RUMOR at the moment.

The shop, representing the brand's only liquor license in New York State, abruptly closed on Aug. 11, 2022, after 15-plus years in business. Workers here reportedly planned to unionize when the company announced the closure.

Since the shop closed, Trader Joe's had held onto the space for storage here in the base of NYU's Palladium Hall. At the time, the company announced that the "space currently used for the wine shop will be used to improve the overall operations of store 540, our grocery store in Union Square." 

In a statement to Gothamist, a company spokesperson said that its decision to close the store had nothing to do with the unionizing efforts ... calling the outpost an "underperforming wine shop." To which anyone who saw the lines out the door disagreed with.

This past April, Trader Joe's workers at Essex Crossing narrowly voted not to join Trader Joe's United... this followed a vote against unionizing by workers at a store in Brooklyn in October 2022.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Here's the midnight email that employees of the Trader Joe's Wine Shop received about the closing on Union Square (Aug. 12, 2022)

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

A scene from the opening day at Wegmans on Astor Place... the grocer's first Manhattan outpost. (More background here and here.) 

The store opened at 9 a.m. Per EVG reader Jeanne Krier: "The line, at 8:30, snaked up the block, around the corner and halfway down 9th. There was cheering, applause, selfies, videos, smiles all around."

Last nights (for now) for Robert Leslie in Tompkins Square Park

Photo from Sunday in Tompkins with Robert Leslie in the background 

by Derek Berg 

EVG reader cs on b shares this info... Robert Leslie, a local busker who's been playing around these parts for the last 10 years before moving to Seattle this past summer, is back in town for the week... and is playing tonight and tomorrow night in Tompkins Square Park, his favorite spot to play, for the last time for the foreseeable future. 

He's usually by the Temperance Fountain. You can catch him before the sun goes down, 5:30 tonight and around 5 tomorrow until around 7-7:30. He'll be back in town every now and again, but now's a good time to see him!

 

An overhead view of Tompkins Square Park when the lights are off

Multiple residents have pointed out that the lights in Tompkins Square Park have been off for several nights.

An EVG reader shared these photos Monday night from the Christodora House on Avenue B, which overlooks Tompkins.... providing an aerial view of the darkness ...

This happened in the summer, too... with the lights staying off for multiple nights. According to Parks employees at the time, the timer on the lights was set incorrectly. They were supposed to come on at 7 p.m.; instead, they switched on at 7 a.m. and off at 7 p.m.

No word on what the problem is this time. Several residents said they contacted 311.

Per one reader: "So ridiculously unsafe."

Last night, a reader reported that the lights were working along the east side of the Park... but remained off around the main lawn and in the areas under construction...

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Midtown views from the East Village today...

RIP Maryanne Byington

Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) shared the following information about longtime East Village resident Maryanne Byington... 

Maryanne left us Friday, Oct. 13, after a long battle with a pulmonary illness. 

Maryanne was a resident of East Eighth Street since 1982 and an integral part of Green Oasis and Gilbert's Sculpture Garden. She was one of the founders of LUNGS and served as Vice President from 2011 to 2020. 

Maryanne was a trophy-winning professional ballroom dancer. She was Emeritus Dean of High Heels at Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls, where she offered students expert instruction in the arts of dressing up, making up, going out, and acting like a lady. Maryanne said, " Do you enjoy wearing high heels? Sometimes, the technique of rumba will create just the right walk for the right situation." 

Maryanne loved to dance and dress in Oscar de la Renta's most colorful Latin-influenced festive party gowns. She also loved to sit in her garden, watch children carve pumpkins, and listen to the birds sing. She was partial to shrimp cocktails, grilled cheese sandwiches and chilled Negronis served in a pretty cocktail glass. 

Maryanne's graciousness, sense of humor and beautiful smile are already greatly missed.

The milling of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park is underway

Photos by Steven 

Workers arrived this morning around 8 and began milling the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park...

As we've been reporting for the past 13 months, the Parks Department will reconstruct these multipurpose courts along 10th Street and Avenue A, 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." 

Posted signage states the work will occur between Oct. 16 and Dec. 1.

This spot (aka TF) is considered hallowed ground for skaters, where generations have used this space since the 1980s. (It has been called "the last great meet-up spot for skateboarders and their friends in New York.") 

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

This is the second significant reconstruction currently underway in Tompkins Square Park. Work on renovating the field house began in May... with a September 2024 completion date.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Big changes are coming to the iconic skate spot in Tompkins Square Park

Monday's parting shot

FYI: In case you are considering borrowing the rolling trash can from outside the Double Down Saloon on Avenue A: "If stolen you will be cursed." 

Thanks to Sonya for the photo!

Capturing Monday's rainbow action

Thank you to everyone who shared rainbow pics today... including (above) Daniel Root... and (below) Stacie Joy...

... and Derek Berg...

And we have many more... will try to post a few more later... On Houston and the Bowery via Garth Johnston...

... and from Ms. Wildflower...

A last look inside Wegmans before its grand opening on Astor Place this Wednesday

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Wegmans makes its Manhattan debut this Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. on Astor Place. 

Ahead of the big day, Wegmans officials invited me inside for another look as the 87,500-square-foot space comes together for opening day at the landmarked 770 Broadway...

As previously noted, the ground floor will feature the prepared foods ready to eat or heat, and a market offering in-store-made soups, salads, pizza, a mezze station, sandwiches, an Asian foods station with woks and chefs, a bakery, and a flower shop...

There is even a misting cheese cave area. (MISTING CHEESE!)

This past Thursday, the two-level space was teeming with new employees going through a test run... with staff sampling some of the offerings that Wegmans has...

The ground-floor showstopper might be the Japanese sakanaya (fish market), featuring twice-weekly deliveries from Japan.

Wegmans staffer Adrian shows the variety of cuts that Wegmans will offer...

The lower level features the vast grocery aisles ...

... there also looks to be a solid beer selection...

... including an only-at-this-location Astor Place IPA...

See you Wednesday...

Our previous post (see link below) has more details on the space, the home of Kmart for 25 years until July 2021. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• First look inside the Astor Place Wegmans, set to open on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. (July 27)

This nearly block-long parcel on 2nd Avenue is now for sale

The empty lot along the east side of Second Avenue between Second Street and Third Street, the site of an abandoned development project, is now on the market.

Avison Young has the listing for the lot — billed as a "redevelopment property" for "multifamily development." 

Per Avison Young: 

The Property currently exists as a vacant lot and owners have purchased offsite inclusionary air rights for the proposed construction of 136,199 gross square feet, including 13,750 square feet below grade. The Property features a curb cut on East 2nd Avenue for on-site parking. 

The resulting above-grade gross square footage reconciles to 122,449 square feet. The Property is planned to feature a rooftop deck and units with sweeping views of Manhattan and the Hudson River, ~10-foot ceilings throughout and abundant light and air on all four sides due to its corner location joined at the junction of East Second Street and Second Avenue. 

42 Second Avenue presents a true, expansive development opportunity with a prime NoHo / East Village address. The scale and location of the Property offer the blank canvas for a premier mixed-use, commercial or residential condo project.

The listing, which does not mention the asking price, includes this rendering showing the potential ...

As previously reported (first here), there were approved work permits for an 11-floor mixed-use building on the site of a former three-building parcel.

Gemini Rosemont Development was behind this 100,568-square-foot new building ... the development, using 42 E. Second St. for its address, included 88 residential units and 9,600 square feet for retail.

However, those plans are obviously officially dead as the city moved to revoke the permits. In August, The Real Deal took a deep dive into what happened:

All that stood in Gemini's way was a small-time landlord next door. Robert Proto, however, proved to be a big-time problem.

Proto made unceasing calls to officials for weeks, triggering an audit by the Department of Buildings that found code and zoning issues that had initially slipped past the agency.

In 2020, Gemini Rosemont spent more than $50 million to assemble the development ... buying the former La Salle annex at 38 Second Ave. and Second Street. The $14.5 million purchase of the four-story building was the third of three contiguous plots they acquired. The Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment company closed on 42-44 Second Ave. and 46-48 Second Ave. (the former Church of the Nativity) in March 2020 for $40 million. 

The new owners may want to consult with Robert Proto on the project.

On the CB3-SLA docket: A new home for Han Dynasty on 3rd Avenue; a Sunflower for 2nd Avenue

Here's a look at two of the applicants who will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee this evening. (See below for info on watching online — or in person.) 

• Han Dynasty (Han Dynasty East Village Corp), 98 3rd Ave (op) 

Han Dynasty has enjoyed a successful run at 90 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street for the past 10 years.

The restaurant's ownership is on the agenda tonight (questionnaire here) for a new liquor license for a space several storefronts to the north at 98 Third Ave. — the formal Bar None...

The application on file at the CB3 website doesn't mention whether this is a move or, perhaps, a second location. Ownership did not respond to an email seeking clarification.

We assume the lease is up at 90 Third Ave., and they are moving nearby. (They did something similar at a Han Dynasty in Philadelphia.)

Bar None closed in the spring of 2022 after nearly 17 years in service.

• Sunflower East Village (RJM Hospitality LLC), 88 2nd Ave (op)

The NE corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street will be home to another location of Sunflower, a cafe serving breakfast-brunch on Third Avenue between 25th Street and 26th Street.

The EV location looks to have the same menu/vibe, though with dinner service. Find the questionnaire here. (Note: There will only be a service bar here — no bar seating.)

Sunflower is owned and operated by the same folks as the previous tenant here, Eros, the Greek restaurant that quietly closed in August 2022 when a "temporarily closed" sign arrived on the front door. Eros took over for their diner concept, The Kitchen Sink, in September 2021.

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here. This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.