Ad week in review

This past Thursday, workers removed the new floors-tall Peter Jarema Funeral Home from the north-facing wall at 108 Avenue B and Seventh Street... prompting several reader emails and photos...

This removal came after a new ad appeared here on Feb. 9. (Back story: During exterior renovations last June, workers sandblasted away the 60-year-old ad for the funeral home that's on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.)

While speculating why workers took down the ad (did they read EVG reader comments about the font?), it went right back up...

And later on Thursday...

Anyway, as you all were! 

Photos 1, 2 — Salim 

Photo 3 — Robert Miner 

Photo 4 — Stacie Joy

HBD Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin's double studio album Physical Graffiti was released 49 years ago today — Feb. 24, 1975. 

Some details via Village Preservation: 

Led Zeppelin immortalized the twin tenements at 96 and 98 St. Mark’s Place between First Avenue and Avenue A on the Physical Graffiti album cover. The award-winning design featured the two buildings (with the fourth floors removed to make them fit the square shape of the album cover) with the windows cut out to reveal the letters of the album title printed on the inner sleeve, or, if the sleeve was reversed, a series of images of different characters seeming to occupy the building, including lead-singer Robert Plant in drag. 

The building's rock history also includes the stoop at No. 96 ... where Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met up at the start of the 1981 video by the Rolling Stones for "Waiting on a Friend." 

The building is also home to the basement tea shop Physical GraffiTea ... owner Ilana Malka previously ran the vintage clothing boutique Physical Graffiti here until January 2011.

EVG Etc.: Fighting to preserve and protect the Merchant's House Museum; mapping out the Lunar New Year Parade

• A look at the fight to preserve and protect the Merchant's House Museum on Fourth Street from new development next door (The New York Times ...official website... previously on EVG)

• Osakana on St. Mark's Place sues Wegmans over a "confusingly similar" fish market on Astor Place (Supermarket News) 

• The state has levied more than $25 million in fines against unlicensed smoke shops — but barely collected any of it (The City) 

• Tom and Jason Birchard talk about Veselka ... and the new documentary about the East Village staple (WNYC) 

• Man caught sleeping inside Immaculate Conception Church on 14th Street vandalizes statue of Jesus (The Post) 

• Police arrest the public urinator who allegedly slashed the throat of caretaker at Immaculate Conception Church last month (1010 WINS ... previously on EV Grieve)

• The authentic Pakistani rolls at Kolachi on First Avenue (ABC 7 ... previously on EVG)

• The 2024 Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade is Sunday (tomorrow!) (Gothamist) 

• A new documentary, "Ken Jacobs - From Orchard Street to The Museum of Modern Art," puts the spotlight on "one of the titans of American experimental cinema" (Anthology Film Archives) 

• What's up with Swedish candy? (Eater)

And tomorrow (Sunday) at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery...

Info via the EVG inbox... 

Tribecart's Black Voices Concert, Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery (131 E. 10th St. at Second Ave.) 

Join us for a live production of Black Voices, featuring singer/pianist and St. Mark’s Music Director Jeannine Otis, Larry Luger on guitar, Bim Strasberg on bass, Yuki Koike on sax and flute, plus baritone Dorian Lake and soprano Chelsi Clarke. The music performed will include traditional spirituals, classic rhythm and blues songs and jazz focused on the works of Duke Ellington. A suggested donation of $20 at the door is welcome, students and children are admitted for FREE.

RIP Flaco

Photo from November on the LES by @Vinweasel_

Sad news from the Upper West Side last evening.

To the Associated Press:

Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from New York City's Central Park Zoo and became one of the city's most beloved celebrities as he flew around Manhattan, has died, zoo officials announced Friday. 

A little over one year after he was freed from his cage at the zoo in a criminal act that has yet to be solved, Flaco appears to have collided with an Upper West Side building, the zoo said in a statement. 

Flaco was 13.

This past November, Flaco — the only Eurasian eagle-owl in the wild in North America — spent eight days in the East Village and Lower East Side.

Flaco was first spotted in the East Village on Nov. 6 at the Kenkeleba House Garden off Avenue B and Third Street. He was seen multiple times over the next few days here and on the Lower East Side... inspiring some we've-been-there-too poetry and silly headlines.

And among the many remembrances on X...

As you may have already seen, Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl has passed away. I am sad beyond words. Flaco defied the odds and made quite a life for himself in the city over the past year. Along the way he came to mean so much to so many, including me. ❤️🦉 pic.twitter.com/gJnby3TtvB

— David Lei (@davidlei) February 24, 2024

Thank you for visiting us and for connecting us to something bigger. Rest easy, Flaco 💔 #flaco #birdcpp @BirdCentralPark @davidlei pic.twitter.com/vxgeasUvtP

— RHP (@RobinHerbstPapa) February 24, 2024

I am heartbroken tonight as I know so many of you are. I took this video of Flaco one week ago today, which was the last time I saw him. Hearing him hoot brings me comfort, and I hope it brings you some comfort too.💕🦉

We will never forget you, Flaco. pic.twitter.com/VvAOyYaupf

— JacquelineUWS (@jacquelineUWS) February 24, 2024

Say cheese: chizza pop-up continues to rule the roost at the East Village KFC

Today is Day 2 of the two-day "Chizzeria" pop-up at KFC on the SW corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue to promote the U.S. release of its chizza, the brand's chicken-pizza hybrid.

Some chizza history per Food & Wine: 

The chizza, a mashup of fried chicken and pizza, has been on menus in the Philippines since 2015 and has regularly featured at KFC locations in Germany, India, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Taiwan, and Thailand since then, but it’s never appeared anywhere between our shining seas. 

Today (Saturday) from 1-9 p.m., KFC offers one free chizza per customer (pronounced cheet-za — that second z is silent). 

As we noted on Tuesday, the KFC outpost was getting a makeover... with the east-facing wall adorned with the rather terrifying hey-I'm-pulling-my-face-apart ("Poltergeist" flashback!) Chizza mascot... if SpongeBob SquarePants was spliced with Freddy Krueger...

The KFC returns tomorrow... and the chizza will be on menus nationwide starting Monday.

'Rat' trap

 

Brooklyn's Nara's Room is one of the many bands you'll see during the New Colossus Festival, taking place in LES/EV venues from March 6-10. 

The video here is for "Rat." 

Nara's Room is at the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls on Avenue A on March 8 (7 p.m.!). Find the full schedule here.

Boris & Horton hopes to raise money through subscription boxes and crowdfunding to stay open

Photo and text by Stacie Joy 

Updated 2/28: The cafe will remain open. Read more about it here.

-----

The owners of Boris & Horton have put in motion an ambitious crowdfunding and subscription plan to help keep the city's first dog-friendly cafe open.

On Feb. 16, daughter-father co-owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman announced that the cafe was closing this coming Monday after six years of anchoring the NW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street. The new Williamsburg outpost was also shutting down.

Bottom line: They weren't making enough money, and as Holzman told NY1, "it's expensive to maintain top safety measures for a dog-friendly restaurant required by the Department of Health." 

However, the cafe's fans rallied with ideas to help the business remain open, including selling various subscription boxes featuring dog treats as well as items from Boris & Horton's line of toys, mugs, t-shirts, baseball caps, hoodies and stickers. 

Starting today, there's a crowdfunding campaign (info here) ... and a subscription box offered at different tiers to help raise $250,000... which needs to happen by Monday.

Here's more...

 

"We're hoping to generate some recurring revenue, which will allow us to keep the cafes up and running," Holzman told me last night. "We have a short amount of time to pull this off, and we're looking to the community to help amplify this effort. We're humbled by the outpouring of support so far, and we feel energized and excited about keeping the cafes open." 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• 'Something big is happening' at Boris & Horton, the dog cafe set to close next week

Starting today, Village East by Angelika is serving up the Veselka documentary

"Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World," the documentary on the iconic Ukrainian diner on the corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street, makes its commercial theatrical debut today at the Village East by Angelika.

A description: 

New York City's beloved Ukrainian restaurant, Veselka, is best known for its borscht and varenyky, but it has become a beacon of hope for Ukraine. As the second-generation owner Tom Birchard reluctantly retires after 54 years, his son Jason faces the pressures of stepping into his father's shoes as the war in Ukraine impacts his family and staff. 

And the trailer...

 

The film, directed by Michael Fiore, is narrated by David Duchovny, who grew up nearby. 

Find showtimes and tickets here. And if you need a recommendation for a place to eat before or after the movie...

Openings: Tacos El Porky on Avenue A

Photos and reporting on Wednesday by Stacie Joy 

Tacos El Porky is set to debut today (Friday) at 151 Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

As we first reported last month, the Miami-based El Primo Red Tacos was changing over to another restaurant in its family, Tacos El Porky. 

Owner Frank Neri (on the right below with his team), said they just couldn't make enough money with the limited beef birria menu previously. (El Primo Red Tacos opened this past September.)

So there are more menu offerings...

... and today's grand opening will include T-shirt giveaways and some specials...

Hours: Daily noon to 10 p.m., with a 1 a.m. close on Fridays and Saturday...

In case you want to go to this Stop 'N' Swap Saturday

GrowNYC is hosting one of its Stop 'N' Swaps near Union Square on Saturday afternoon.

Info! 

GrowNYC's Stop 'N' Swaps are our free Community Reuse events that invite the public to take home something new to you or add items to the swap for others! You don't have to bring something to take something! There is no limit to how much you can bring or take home, but please leave enough for your neighbors! 

Swappable Items: Clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, housewares, electronics, books, and toys. 

Unacceptable Items: Furniture, large items, expired or open food, unsealed personal care products, child car seats, strollers, medicine, dirty or ripped clothing, fabric scraps, incomplete toys and games, encyclopedias, textbooks, non-working electronics, tube TVs, magazines, or sharp objects. 

This happens Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Project Farmhouse, the event space by the Hyatt Union Square ... at 76 E. 13th St. between Fourth Avenue and Broadway. More details here.

Addressing the asylum seeker crisis; city to update Community Board 3 next week

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

On Feb. 9, a few dozen city administrators, local elected officials and community leaders came together for a 90-minute meeting to discuss the ongoing crisis of serving asylum seekers at the former St. Brigid School.

The gathering occurred before a public meeting that Community Board 3 is hosting this Tuesday evening, Feb. 27. More about that session is below.

Dustin Ridener, special projects administrator for NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM), described the Feb. 9 get-together as a "small, focused gathering of invited advocates and stakeholders [that] aims to explore collaborative strategies with the community to enhance the support provided to asylum seekers, [to] find more effective and meaningful ways to assist New York City's newest arrivals." 

There were few clear takeaways in the end, though many of the invited had opinions on what has been taking place the last nine months on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue B and the immediate area. St. Brigid served as a respite center for asylum seekers for several months last year. Starting in October, the facility has been used as a reticketing center — the only one in the city. 

Since then, the situation here is only getting worse,  as more and more asylum seekers are reaching their 30-day limits at shelters across New York City, and they line up in the cold outside St. Brigid so they can be placed back into new shelters. (We outlined the challenges here.)

NYCEM Commissioner (and East Village resident) Zach Iscol stated that they want to change the narrative "from people in need to people we need." 

"What can be done in the East Village [can] provide a model on how things are done," he said.

Mammad Mahmoodi, co-founder of East Village Loves NYC, the nonprofit that provides food and resources to people in need, including asylum seekers, suggested a name change from a reticketing center, "as it does everything except reticket."

He said EV Loves NYC has been providing 2,000 meals three times a week to asylum seekers, and that Trinity Lower East Side on Ninth Street and Avenue B has been providing 600 meals every weekday — and that no one has received funding.

EV Loves NYC co-founder Sasha Allenby brought up clothing and warming centers, especially for female asylum seekers with no hats, gloves, shoes, or warm clothing. She asked about attention for at-risk populations, people who are "literally freezing." 

The group discussed putting a system in place to identify needs and supply specific items to those folks, but no concrete plans were made.

Another point of conversation: porta potties.

As we first reported on Jan. 9, the city removed the three portable toilets from Tompkins Square Park. The porta potties were in poor shape and had been vandalized, and officials figured the same thing would happen to any replacements.

For the last month and a half, anyone who needs to use a restroom while in Tompkins has been relieving themselves in and around the park.

Paul D'Amore, chief of operations of the Department of Parks & Recreation in Manhattan, told the group that "no decision on porta potties will be made until the spring." Several people made clear there was a need for them, prompting D'Amore and Deputy Chief of Operations Ralph Musolino to agree to discuss the issue and get back to the group. 

The NYCEM pointed out that seven additional portable toilets were brought into the courtyard behind St. Brigid's and that any asylum seeker with a wristband can use them if accompanied to the area by a security escort from the facility. (We checked in with people in line at St. Brigid on the way home from the meeting and learned there were mixed messages about these toilets. Some people reported being able to access the facilities, while others said they could not.) 

The meeting concluded with a plan to reconvene to discuss the next steps. 

Afterward, EV Loves NYC's Sasha Allenby told us, "It was good to highlight the issues, but we really need to focus more on the solutions to them."

She continued: "An easy starting point would be the porta potties in the park. These are a legal requirement and should be an easily solvable issue. We also need real action on the vulnerability of the single women who are arriving."

NYCEM to address Community Board 3 

On Tuesday evening, NYCEM's Commissioner Zach Iscol "will update the community on the agency's asylum-seeker operations and community engagement efforts within the confines of CB3," per the meeting invite.

Iscol is expected to speak at 7 p.m. Only board members can ask questions at the meeting, but residents may submit questions via email by tomorrow (Feb. 23) for Iscol to address. 

The meeting will be in person at PS 20, 166 Essex St. at Houston, and streamed on YouTube here.  

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Observations on the growing humanitarian crisis with asylum seekers in the East Village

'Something big is happening' at Boris & Horton, the dog cafe set to close next week

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Updated 2/28: The cafe will remain open. Read more about it here.

------

It has been a week of lows and highs at Boris & Horton.

Last Thursday, the city's first dog-friendly cafe announced that it was closing on Feb. 26 after six years of anchoring the NW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street. The newer Williamsburg outpost was also shutting down. 

The announcement from daughter-father co-owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman shocked regulars, more than 1,800 of them leaving comments on the Instagram post that broke the news.

Holzman was candid in interviews, saying they simply weren't making money. Boris & Horton fans had something to say about that and have "rallied around them with ideas that could help the business remain open," as NY1 first put it. 

"Logan and I are humbled," Holtzman told me yesterday from inside the crowded cafe. "We received lots of input and lots of love. We always tried to be a happy and joyful place, and dogs are a catalyst for conversation among our community of wonderful folks."

They plan on making an announcement very soon about the future of the cafes. When asked for more details (throw us a bone here!), Holtzman would only offer "something big is happening." 

Meanwhile, around the cafe (dogs are only allowed with their humans in one closed-off area of the storefront, per Department of Health rules), everyone I spoke to was sad about the possibility of a closure... 

A moment with mighty Christo, 1 of the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park

Photos today by Derek Berg 

😍 😍 😍 😍

And be sure to read Goggla's site for the latest on Christo and Amelia and other urban wildlife...

A visit to the new home of Archie's Press on 10th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Archie's Press is settling into its new home at 220 E. 10th St. — directly across the street from the previous location of nearly two years at No. 219. 

According to founder Archie Archambault, the rent doubled at the former space for his letterpress-printed retail art and map shop.

"The rent went up, so instead of shuttering, the universe presented me with the opportunity to move right across the street," he said. "The space is a little smaller, but I can keep the customer base since it's so close.

"The new building is a co-op with many longtime East Village residents, who are really supportive," Archambault continued. "I am so thankful for a positive landlord-tenant relationship; it is the most stressful part of running a little retail business."

Archambault also said he had no intention of leaving the East Village, where he's also a resident.

"I can’t imagine another neighborhood for my store. The East Village has the perfect vibe. Even though it's gotten more expensive here, I think there's still a punk/DIY/independent vibe that pairs nicely with our brand," he said. "We sell affordable artwork from small designers and artists, and I think it's the only neighborhood that makes sense. There are so many tiny storefronts with many small retail businesses, which attract people from all over the city. We’re the kind of shop they expect to stumble upon."

For the time being, Archie's Press is only open on weekends, noon to 6 p.m., though items are available online (and you can stop by in person to pick up the purchases).

You can keep tabs on updates via the Archie's Press Instagram account.  

For sale: the all-new 180 2nd Ave., where a restaurant is in the works

Yesterday, at long last, workers removed the remaining scaffolding, plywood, and sidewalk obstructions at 180 Second Ave., where a mixed-used residential building has been in the works for the past seven years here between 11th Street and 12th Street. (H/T Tyler!)

A few items to note here.

For starters, the bike lane is open again for the first time since — anyone? — 2017?

Also! The building is on the sales market for $12.5 million.

Here's more via the listing at Sotheby's:

180 Second Avenue presents a compelling opportunity with three potential end uses:

• All or part of the residential portion of the building could be owner-occupied, with the remainder rented for income;

• As an attractive income-generating asset, by renting out the entire building;

• As a development project, by filing for conversion to a mixed-use condominium with commercial on the ground floor and 6 residential units above (subject to the necessary approvals)...

Meanwhile, before the plywood came down, EVG reader Choresh Wald noticed the other day that the retail space displays "LaCantina" branding on the windows...

We haven't heard anything yet about a restaurant opening here. The Compass listing notes that the retail space "is under lease to an established restaurant/bar operator, expected to take possession in 2024."

So stay tuned for more about LaCantina. [Updated: Ah, so LaCantina is the door-window brand! 😂😂Thanks to the commenters for that!]

The Ninth Ward was the pre-gut renovation/extension tenant. That New Orleans-themed bar closed in February 2016. The Ninth Ward was said to return to this space after the gut renovations, but that was in mid-2017.

The Chicago-based Polish National Alliance was the previous owner of No. 180. The building housed the Józef Pilsudski Institute of America, the largest Polish-American research institution specializing in the recent history of Poland and Central Eastern Europe. (They found a new home in Greenpoint.) According to public records, an LLC bought the building for $6.75 million in June 2014. City Realty listed the new owner as Robert Stern.

Approved work permits show that workers are converting the building to residential use and adding two floors — from five to seven — in the process ... with one residential unit on each floor.  

Per the listing: "The building's design reflects a commitment to sustainability, and each of the residences is constructed to conform to Passive House standards, while the bulkhead is designed to accept solar panels for water heating."

Renovation watch: 175 E. Houston St., soon to be home to a retro space via team MáLà Project

Thanks to the readers who wrote in about 175 E. Houston St. (aka 200 Allen St.) ... where the formerly papered-over windows now reveal the under-renovation interior of the next tenant, Only Love Strangers... a retro concept featuring Mediterranean cuisine and live jazz...

... and the Allen Street side...

The team at the MáLà Project at 122 First Ave. (now with two locations in Midtown) is behind this project. They appeared before Community Board 3 back in December 2022. (The PDF of their questionnaire is here.) 

You can find the placeholder website here... and an Instagram account here.

Several applicants have kicked the tires on this space through the years to no avail. As far as we can recall, the place has been empty since Preserve 24's eviction in 2014.

KFC lost its stripes (and it's NOT closing)

Above photo yesterday by William Klayer 

A fair number of people pointed out the paint job in progress on the SW corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue, home to KFC.

The red-and-white stripes on the Second Avenue side were painted over to make way for an ad for — per KFC insiders — the return of the brand's Chizza. ("The all-chicken, no crust Chizza consists of two zinger fillets of crispy chicken, topped with delectable pizza sauce, molten cheese, a smattering of onions and mixed peppers, finished with an herb sprinkle.") 

Anyway, scenes of the paint-over prompted some speculation that the place was closing... that is not true.