Monday, April 8, 2024
Today's solar eclipse with the Second Avenue Star Watchers
Eclipse in progress on St. Mark's Place
Photos by Donald Davis
The scene along St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue this afternoon ... with Mark Meretzky at the telescope (safely) projecting images...
As noted, the best time to watch the total solar eclipse in NYC is between 2:45 and 3:30.
Updated:
Moving to First Avenue as the sun faded behind the buildings...
Reminders: People will be saying things like 'path of totality' today
First, an explainer via NASA:
A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. People located in the center of the Moon's shadow when it hits Earth will experience a total eclipse. The sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk. Weather permitting, people in the path of a total solar eclipse can see the Sun's corona, the outer atmosphere, which is otherwise usually obscured by the bright face of the Sun. A total solar eclipse is the only type of solar eclipse where viewers can momentarily remove their eclipse glasses (which are not the same as regular sunglasses) for the brief period of time when the Moon is completely blocking the Sun.
As the above map shows, the East Village is NOT in the path of totality. Still, we (and other NYC residents!) will get 90% coverage.
Here are a few details from Curbed's eclipse explainer:
What time is it happening?In New York City, the eclipse will begin just after 2 p.m. and finish at around 4:36 p.m. But the best time to watch will be between 2:45 and 3:30.Where can I get eclipse glasses?You can pick them up first come, first served at your local public library branch (check to see when and where) and the MTA Long Island Rail Road ticket windows at Moynihan Train Hall. Warby Parker is also giving them away at all its stores. (Everything is going fast, so we suggest calling in advance to see if there are glasses left or getting to any giveaway events early.) Or you can buy glasses that have an ISO rating from the certified vendors listed by the American Astronomical Society. But beware: The counterfeit-eclipse-glasses market is a real thing. (Actually use them. Every time an eclipse happens, people have looked straight into the sun to their own demise...)
Re: Eclipse glasses — the Tompkins Square Library branch is out... and Ottendorfer just had a few left as of Saturday.
The weather plays a significant role in all this. Good news here, via CBS News:
Luckily, the weather forecast is on our side. High pressure is forecast to bring us a dry day with temperatures in the 60s. A few high clouds may drift by, but we are rain-free. We can expect mostly sunny skies, with a high around 64.
We have not heard about any official viewing parties in the East Village (there are official city parks viewing events, though they promise to be well-attended) ... you'll likely run into some people out in open spaces (along Houston at First Avenue by Peretz Square?) with unobstructed views.
The NYC 311 site has some more info, too.
First sign of Wonder on Stuyvesant Street
Wonder currently operates 10 locations throughout New York City and New Jersey, offering pick-up, delivery, and dine-in (ordered via touch screens) from a collection of chefs that include Bobby Flay, Marc Murphy, Jose Andres, Nancy Silverton and Marcus Samuelsson ... and restaurants such as Tejas Barbeque, Di Fara Pizza and Barrio Cafe.
While this is primarily a delivery and to-go business, this outpost will include a dine-in option.
A Wonder spokesperson said they are targeting a spring opening.
As previously reported, Village Yokocho, Angel's Share and Panya closed in these spaces in April 2022. Another restaurant, Sharaku, in the corner space at 14 Stuyvesant St., shuttered earlier in the pandemic. (Sunrise Mart in a separate building next door on the second floor also shut down.)
Cooper Union, which leased the buildings from their owners and had subleased them to the Yoshida Restaurant Group for more than 25 years, said it was the tenants' decision to move on. (This post has more background. Yoshida had not paid rent since 2020.)
Demolition watch: The NW corner of 1st Avenue and 2nd Street
Top photo from Friday by Steven; others from Saturday
Demo crews have made pretty quick work of the two two-level structures at 33 and 35 First Ave. at Second Street (33 housed First Avenue Laundry Center on the main level and Serenity Spa upstairs) ...
As previously reported, a 7-floor residential building with ground-floor retail is now slated for 33-37 First Ave., the vacant three-building assemblage between Second Street and Third Street.
According to DOB paperwork, the proposed building — using the address 88 E. Second St. — will be 19,278 square feet, with 2,994 square feet designated for commercial space. Plans call for 22 residential units, likely rentals, given the square footage.
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Week in Grieview
Posts this past week included (with a photo of the roomy new porta-potties in Tompkins by Derek Berg)...
• Lower East Side legend Sammy's Roumanian Steak House announces its reopening dates (Tuesday)
• Essex Card Shop robbed on Avenue A (Saturday)
• Turn it up: East Village Radio returns this spring (Monday)
• The porta-potties of Tompkins Square Park now have hours of operation (Saturday)
• Why the International Bar has been closed (Tuesday)
• On the April CB3-SLA docket: a Rice Thief outpost for the East Village (Monday) ... The Onion Tree Pizza Co. (Wednesday)
• Vacated 9th Street parking garage fetches $14 million for likely residential conversion (Tuesday)
• The $24 million renovation of the Nuyorican Poets Café is officially underway (Thursday)
• At Tabby Twitch's 'Prime' (Wednesday)
• Weekday lunch service begins at Superiority Burger on Avenue A (Monday)
• After 8 years in the East Village, Fortnight Institute has closed its doors (Thursday)
• Mr. Throwback gets a spin-off on 9th Street (Wednesday)
• The 'Kim's Video' documentary unreels at the Quad; Alamo Drafthouse next (Friday)
• On Avenue B, damaged façade shutters Gruppo (Thursday)
• A new pizzeria for the former pizzeria at 36 St. Mark's Place (Monday)
• A new awning for East Village classic Veniero's (Thursday)
• Openings: Yokox Omakase on Avenue B (Wednesday)
• Let's look inside the Five Guys slated for 2nd Avenue and 12th Street (Thursday)
• Signage alert: Lilly's Shakes & Crepes on 1st Avenue (Monday)
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Observing Ramadan with East Village Loves NYC
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
During the holy month of Ramadan, East Village Loves NYC, the volunteer group that provides meals to people in need, invited a group of chefs into their kitchen at the Sixth Street Community Center.
The chefs from Guinea created West African dishes to cook a series of iftars (the evening communal meal during Ramadan) alongside EV Love NYC volunteers. The chefs included Asmiou Sidibé, Alpha Orimar Barry, Ibrahim Diamy Bah, Amadou Konka Sow and Ismaila Barry.
The group also provided Ramadan to-go packs with pears, dates, walnuts, water and electrolytes, plus naan or pita bread.
Read more about how you can help East Village Loves NYC here.
Help for longtime LES photographer Marlis Momber
Image via GoFundMe
Friends of longtime Lower East Side documentarian and activist Marlis Momber are raising funds as she continues to recover from cancer. You can read more about the campaign and her work at this GoFundMe link.
Below is her 1978 documentary "that depicts the 'before gentrification occurrences' in the Lower East Side in the fall of October 1978 with Chino Garcia & Bimbo Rivas" ...
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Today in giant Inflatables of Ice Spice on Astor Place
Photo by Derek Berg
ICYMI: A super-sized replica of Ice Spice on Astor Place today to promote the rapper's Alexander Wang collection.
Essex Card Shop robbed on Avenue A
Photo by Salim
On Thursday afternoon around 3, a man walked into Essex Card Shop, 47 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street, pulled a gun, and demanded the money from the register, according to owner Muhammad Aslam.
Aslam, who was not in the shop then, said the man left with $300.
Police cordoned off the storefront for several hours and took possession of the shop's surveillance footage of the robbery.
Sources tell us that the suspect has pulled similar jobs in the neighborhood. An official description of the suspect has not been released.
If you're a fan of Essex Card Shop, consider stopping by over the weekend. They could use the business (the T-shirts are cool) and moral support.
The porta-potties of Tompkins Square Park now have hours of operation
Photos by Steven
Heads up: If you need to use the facilities in Tompkins Square Park today, you must do it by 3:30 p.m.
Today, signs on the toilet triplex note a 3:30 p.m. closing time (with an apology)...
We do not know if this is just for today or every day moving forward.
The portable pots arrived here on Monday, providing the first makeshift, non-open-air toilet opp since the city carted off the previous commodes.
Over the past week, it's been a challenge to predict when the facilities might be accessible. For instance, a few days ago, the water closets were locked at 5 p.m. Yesterday, they remained closed all day due to the absence of the key holder, as confirmed by a Parks worker.
Dragon Fest is coming to a street near you, starting today
Per the EVG inbox:
This year, visitors can expect over 100 varieties of traditional, popular, and rare Chinese foods, including soup dumplings, dragon's beard candy, lotus root sandwiches, sugar-coated chestnuts, grilled cold noodles, iron plate tofu, fried skewers, milk cap tea, among others.
The local lineup includes:
• April 6 — Broadway, 12th-13th Street
• April 21 — Second Avenue, 9th-10th Street
• May 25 — Astor Place
Saturday's opening shot
Mural by Mort and Paolo Tolentino.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Friday's parting shot
Sound the 'Alarms'
Photo from 2022 by Stacie Joy
The Acute, the East Village-based duo of Viveca Butler and Stephen Cacouris, have just released a new single, "Year Old Alarms."
Find the Acute's music on Bandcamp (and today is Bandcamp Friday!) ... and check out the new track below featuring artwork by EV resident Kenny Ray...
Today in earthquakes
A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit west of Manhattan and has been felt throughout New York.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) April 5, 2024
My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day.
Head to the U.S. Geological Survey for credible information.New York City just felt the impacts of a 4.8 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter of Lebanon, New Jersey. @NYCMayor is being briefed. While we do not have any reports of major impacts at this time, we’re still assessing the impact.
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) April 5, 2024
I hope everyone is OK, especially our readers "west of Manhattan." The shaking seemed to last about 30-40 seconds at the EVG HQ.
Updated noon:
Pulling this from NBC News...
This morning's earthquake occurred on a shallow fault system in New Jersey and shook for about 35 seconds, a Princeton seismologist said.“The shallower or the closer it is, the more we feel it as humans,” said Frederik J. Simons, a professor of geosciences at Princeton University.The quake originated at a depth of less than 3 miles, according to USGS.Earthquakes on the East Coast can be felt at a great distance and can cause more pronounced shaking in comparison to those on the West Coast because rocks in the region are often older, harder and more dense.
Updated 4/6
A 3.8 magnitude aftershock hit 37 miles west of Manhattan near Gladstone, N.J., around 6 last night
The USGS has information here about the possibility of more aftershocks. According to the USGS, there is a 74% chance of a 3.0 magnitude or greater aftershock over the next week. The agency also offers advice on what to do during an earthquake.
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Flashback to Aug. 23, 2011.
The 'Kim's Video' documentary unreels today at the Quad; Alamo Drafthouse next
The plot!
...an elegiac tribute to the iconic video store in [the East Village!] that inspired a generation of cinephiles before it mysteriously closed its doors and sent its legendary film archive to a small and slightly dubious Sicilian village for "safekeeping." But what starts as an homage to cinema quickly becomes a rescue mission to ensure the eternal preservation of the beloved video collection.
The Quad will also host post-screening Q&As with Yongman Kim, the man, the myth, and the legend behind the business. (Details here.) The documentary is up next Friday (April 12!) at the Alamo Drafthouse in the Financial District.
After Sundance last year, Deadline called the doc "a playful and intelligent film" ... while Variety said it's "a flaked-out, one-of-a-kind story of film obsession." On the other hand, IndieWire graded it a C+.
The video empire had a modest start in Kim's dry-cleaning business at 99 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street in 1986 ... there were also two locations at different points on St. Mark's Place, including the Mondo Kim's at 6 St. Mark's Place. The last Kim's Video & Music (on First Avenue) closed in 2014.
And ICYMI: Kim's massive collection of DVDs and videos is now available to rent from the Alamo Drafthouse downtown. (Background on all this here.) It's not the same, but rooting through the titles is still fun.
Leaving you with the trailer...
Thursday, April 4, 2024
On Avenue B, damaged façade shutters Gruppo
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