Openings: Instant Noodle Factory on 7th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Instant Noodle Factory Downtown is now open at 130 E. Seventh St., just west of Avenue A. (First reported here.)

This is the second outpost for the husband-and-wife team of Tat Lee and Cierra Beck ...

The first Instant Noodle Factory is located close to where the couple lives in Long Island City. Both have resided in the East Village at some point and have a strong connection with the neighborhood. 

The two looked at several East Village storefronts before selecting the former Avant Garden space (AG moved around the corner to Sixth and A) for its layout and location.

Shop specialties include the beef birria noodle bowl and two new flavors: sweet-and-sour pork and ginger-scallion chicken. There are also vegetarian and vegan options.

The base price is $10.50, and it includes a noodle package, premium, classic toppings, and protein that you select. (The price goes up for additional proteins or harder-to-find noodles.) The team then prepares the bowl for you on the custom induction cookers and conveyance system. 

The two say they can make up to six bowls at a time. This differs from their largely automated system in the first location.

Lee speaks of the "infinite possibilities, so many noodles and options," with almost 90 noodles to select from currently, with more on the way. 

Many of the noodles are imported, and a new batch is en route from Korea. "We're always on the hunt for the best noodle, which is sometimes hard to procure," says Lee.

CB3 approved a beer and wine license for Instant Noodle Factory, and they plan to serve Japanese beer, soju, and sake cocktails.

The current daily hours are Thursday through Saturday, noon to midnight, and Sunday through Wednesday until 10 p.m. 

You can keep up with them on Instagram here. 

A look at the new home of 55 Express Tailor Repair on 4th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

We've been meaning to stop by the new home of 55 Express Tailor Repair at 246 E. Fourth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

The tailoring and dry cleaning business relocated here earlier in the fall from 55 Clinton St. between Stanton and Rivington.

I talked with Rafael, the longtime manager of the shop.

"We service clothes for men, women, kids — everybody. Alterations, tailoring, everything." 

The shop is open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ... and it's cash only. (There is an ATM outside in case you arrive without any.)

And as the name implies, express tailoring is available while you wait. 

You can call (212) 228-8909 or email Rafaelexpresstailor [at] gmail.com with questions.

Suds Buds is the name of the rebranded Wash 'N Clean Laundromat on 14th Street

Photo by East Village Tours 

Those Wash 'N Clean Laundromat bags are now collector's items. 

The business at 540 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B changed names to... Suds Buds, which gives off that weed-beer shop vibe. 

However, it's still a laundromat with the same owners, as we understand it... it's also wackiest-name competition for the Bubbles N Go Laundromat on Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Wednesday's parting shots

With Clint Mario as Scrooge on Grand and Ludlow... a Merry Clintmas to all!

Crowdfunding help for the residents displaced by Madison Reality Capital construction on 14th Street

The Cooper Square Committee helped establish a GoFundMe campaign for the tenants displaced from 642 E. 14th St. by a vacate order. 

On Nov. 28, as we first reported, the residents — most of them in rent-stabilized units — were abruptly vacated after ongoing excavation on a Madison Reality Capital-owned 24-story development next door on the SW corner of Avenue C destabilized the five-story building. 

The city gave tenants a short time on Nov. 28 to leave the premises. The Red Cross put up the residents in a Chinatown hotel through Dec. 3. During a rally on Dec. 14, several residents discussed their makeshift living situations, from the apartments of friends to shelters. 

The residents, local advocates, and elected officials have called on Madison Realty Capital to provide accommodations for the displaced residents from the firm's extensive LES portfolio. 

So far, according to the GoFundMe campaign: "Madison Realty Capital has offered up to 10 apartments, all one-bedrooms, but at rents that most of these modest income tenants cannot afford. Several households are families that need 2 bedroom apartments, which MRC says it can't accommodate." 

Here's more from the campaign:

Cooper Square Committee, local elected officials, and legal service organizations are assisting the tenants in their efforts to find affordable relocation housing as soon as possible and to get Madison Realty Capital and their landlord, Jack Lebewohl, to make repairs to their building so that they can return to their apartments at some point in 2024. 

With your help, the tenants can access housing they can afford while they temporarily relocate. We estimate it will cost about $95,000 to help the tenants cover the difference in rent at new apartments in NYC and to cover the cost of food since they can't cook in the shelter, and they have had to buy new clothes since they can't access their apartments. They will need to buy furniture for their relocation apartments as well. 

And from residents...

"This last month has been met with the most traumatic uncertainty for my neighbors and me, and while we should be celebrating the holidays or looking forward to the new year, we're instead couch hopping or living in shelters. We are exhausted and broken, and after almost 4 weeks, we're still left in the dark about what comes next." — Lindsey, Apt. 7 

 "I have four young children who miss their neighborhood, who miss their school, who miss our friends. I wish nobody would go through this, what we experienced in the last couple of weeks." — Mohamed, Apt. 13 

"We got kicked out of our home in the cold winter. We are homeless, and we are in pain. We need justice! Major Eric Adams and fellow New Yorkers, Please, Please stand with us. Josh Zegen of Madison Realty Capital and our landlord Jack Lebewohl are NOT getting away with this. " — Lin. Apt. 17 

"Please help us — we are homeless, in shelters, or staying on friends' couches. Neither our landlord nor Madison Realty Capital have yet to offer affordable long-term housing." — Susan, Apt 6 

You can find the campaign here. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Residents ordered to vacate after excavation next door destabilized this 14th Street building 

• Displaced 14th Street tenants seek support after city orders them to vacate their building

Archie's Press is on the move (across 10th Street)

Photo from 2022 by Stacie Joy 

After nearly two years at 219 E. 10th St., Archie's Press is moving to a new space — directly across the street from its current home between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Ahead of the move to 220 E. 10th St. (the storefront to the right of the building's front door), the letterpress-printed retail art and map shop will be holding a sale — "including some from Archie's own personal poster collection, never before seen in the shop!" 

The sale is today through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. You can monitor the Archie's Press Instagram account for updates. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• A visit to Archie's Press on 10th Street

Tuesday's parting shot

The moon over the Christodora House on Avenue B early this evening...

Now that it's Dec. 26...

Photo by Steven 

The city can cut back on the electric bill by only lighting two-thirds or so of the holiday tree in Tompkins Square Park...

East Village classic B&H Dairy is getting a refreshed storefront (don't worry)

B&H Dairy will be closed today and tomorrow (Dec. 26-27) for (gulp!) a storefront renovation. 

Owners Fawzy and Ola explain in an Instagram post: 

The new restoration is happening thanks to a Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant from American Express together with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. B&H is one of 25 restaurants in the entire U.S. — and the ONLY restaurant in NYC — to get the grant. 

New storefront, yes, BUT in line with our look historically; we are working with plans approved by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

We got the grant in June 2022, but it took us until just last Friday to get the work permits! (Long story, we'll tell you over a blintz someday.) 

The lunch counter has had a few different looks since it opened between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place in 1938... seen below in the 1980s...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by B&H Dairy Kosher Restaurant (@bandhdairy)

A super soft opening at Barnyard Cheese Shop, back in biz on B

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

In recent days and weeks, Beatriz Gutierrez has been getting the next iteration of the Barnyard Cheese Shop ready at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. (We first reported on her return in August.)

"We're having a super-soft opening, an ultra-soft opening," Gutierrez said of her meat, cheese and fine foods shop and quick-serve restaurant next door to her Brix Wines. "We quietly opened our doors to test some things out, and we did six sandwiches the first day, 16 the next, then 35, and then 50, and it was too fast for us." 

They took a few days off to reset, and for Beatriz to visit her mother on her 80th birthday before reopening on Dec. 21, the day I paid a visit...

Returning sandwiches include the Figgy Piggy, prosciutto, fig jam, and goat cheese on flauta creation... and the Barnyard Classic (below) with eggs, thick-cut bacon and cheddar cheese...

And here's a look around...

We found Luke behind the counter...

There are several seats for dining inside Barnyard...

Hours right now are flexible. Ideally, Barnyard will be open Monday-Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until 6 or 7 p.m. The shop is cash or Venmo only until their point-of-sale system is running.

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.) Like other food service establishments at the time, Gutierrez said she was having difficulty finding kitchen help. Victor, her longtime cook, lost his brother during the pandemic ... and he returned home to be with family in Mexico. 

Gutierrez gave this current Barnyard Express concept a test run for several months in a limited capacity on weekends starting in December 2021.

Petopia reopens today (Tuesday!)

Photos by Stacie Joy

Petopia reopens today (11 a.m.!) at 29 Avenue A at Second Street ... 

The shop had been closed since late summer after work on the building caused a ceiling collapse.

Workers have been doing roofing and façade-repair work in the NYCHA-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

Monday's parting shot

A look to the east earlier today as the sun was breaking through the clouds-fog (and a view of the Williamsburg Bridge toward the bottom of the image)...

Noted

Photo by Steven 

In case you wanted to be first with dropping off your Christmas tree today ... we had the first arrival early this afternoon at the site of the MulchFest signage in the center of Tompkins Square Park. 

MulchFest is coming up on Jan. 6-7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Monday's opening shot

Tompkins Square Park this morning...

Christmas Eve's parting shot

Amanda from Stuytown shared this photo of a sad-looking tree today... and asked: "This year's tree gone wrong? Last year's? 1987?"

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a classic holiday window at Russo's on 11th Street)... 

 

• New Yorkers Foodmarket is closing soon on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Displaced 14th Street tenants seek support after city orders them to vacate their building (Monday) 

• EV Loves NYC looks for support and a partnership with the city to aid in feeding asylum seekers (Tuesday) 

• Home for the holidays: The East Village Community Cookbook is ready for pre-order (Thursday) 

• End of days for High Vibe on 3rd Street; 'I would like to stay open!' (Friday) 

• A new name and expanded space for Downtown Threads on Avenue A (Wednesday)

• Reports: State directs Mount Sinai to stop its closure of Beth Israel (Saturday)

• Instant Noodle Factory ready to punch the ramen clock on 7th Street (Monday) 

• Petopia close to reopening on Avenue A (Wednesday) 

• The former Gaia Italian Café is for rent on 3rd Street (Monday) 

• Openings: Chick-N-Smash on 1st Avenue (Thursday) 

• ICYMI: Cacio e Vino has closed on 2nd Ave.; new cafe on the way (Tuesday) 

• Closings: Mi Salsa Kitchen on Houston and Allen (Monday)

• No more love for Cinnamon Girl on 2nd Avenue (Thursday) 

• The new smoke shops of lower Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• EVG turns 16 (Thursday) 

... and on Second Street, a Bad Santa for the holidays...

When it was time to light up the clocks on the bell tower at Most Holy Redeemer

Photos and video by Stacie Joy

Last evening, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, presided over a mass and ceremony to dedicate the newly restored bell tower at Most Holy Redeemer/Nativity Parish on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

The four clocks on the tower that reaches 232 feet have been in disrepair for the past two-plus decades.

Outside, parishioners and residents gathered as Cardinal Dolan blessed the bell tower ... and the clocks were to be illuminated for the first time.

There was a countdown to the big moment... then an awkward pause and some chuckles as it took a moment for the lights to come on...

   

The four clock faces on the circa-1851 church will now be illuminated...

You can read more about the church's history and the restoration project in the links below...

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Up in the under-restoration bell tower at Most Holy Redeemer

• It's time for new clocks on the Most Holy Redeemer bell tower on 3rd Street 

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Lola Sáenz 

Happy holidays from Pompeyo at the great Zaragoza Mexican Deli & Grocery, 215 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street...

Something to strive for this holiday season

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Seen at the Union Square Greenmarket today...

Reports: State directs Mount Sinai to stop its closure of Beth Israel

ICYMI: The New York State Department of Health has ordered Mount Sinai to "immediately stop" the closure of its Beth Israel campus on First Avenue at 16th Street. 

Per Gothamist:

"Continuing to close beds without approval is unlawful and may result in civil penalties of $2,000 per day for each day that the beds or services are closed without approval," wrote Stephanie Shulman, director of the Division of Hospitals and Diagnostic and Treatment Centers at the health department, to Elizabeth Sellman, Beth Israel’s president and CEO. 

The letter also said the department would pursue other remedies, such as a court order, if the closures don't stop.

Background: 

Mount Sinai submitted a proposal to the state health department in October to close Beth Israel by July 2024. The health system then submitted an addendum last month saying it would be necessary to close some services before the end of the year because of an exodus of doctors and decreased patient volume, which it said put patient safety at risk. 

Reaction:

📢Our statement on @HealthNYGov issuing a cease & desist to @MountSinaiNYC Beth Israel Hospital. 📢 pic.twitter.com/so1AHIrkdL

— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) December 21, 2023

We have received word from the NYS Dept. of Health that they have issued a cease and desist directing Mount Sinai Beth Israel to stop closing beds and services without prior approval. This is big news and more to come #SaveBethIsrael

— Carlina Rivera (@CarlinaRivera) December 21, 2023

There is also a survey for community members to let the New York State Department of Health know how important the community hospital is... and why Beth Israel needs to be be saved. Find the survey here.