Reader report: Alphabet Grocery hasn't been open lately

The gates have been down at Alphabet Grocery on the NW corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street for the past week. 

An EVG reader noted that the corner market changed a few weeks back and "looked more like a grocery store." They also stopped selling lottery tickets. 

There isn't any signage about a kind of closure, temporary or otherwise.

The shop is in a building owned by the NYCHA.

Honoring the late downtown legend Patti Astor at Astor Place

The downtown 6 stop at Astor Place is now full of tributes to the late Patti Astor, as these photos via an EVG readers show ...

The tribute is courtesy the East Village-based The Lisa Project. 

Astor died on April 9 at her home in Hermosa Beach, Calif. She was 74.

Per The New York Times:

Patti Astor, the downtown Manhattan "It" girl, indie film star and co-founder of Fun Gallery, the scruffy East Village storefront space that in the early 1980s nurtured young graffiti artists like Futura2000, Zephyr, Lee Quinones, Lady Pink and Fab 5 Freddy, as well as showcasing artists like Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat...

Openings: Pimbeche Vintage on 3rd Street

Pimbeche Vintage, which offers a variety of clothing and accessories, debuted earlier this month at 90 E. Third St., just west of First Avenue.

This is the second location for owner Lisa Ferrari-Sullivan, who debuted her first shop in Astoria two years ago.

Ferrari-Sullivan, who started her career in the fashion industry working in wholesale for luxury brands, grew up going to estate sales with her mother ... and always had respect for "all things preloved."

Her daughters Ava and Frankie are active in the shop, which is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. (with a 6 p.m. close on Sunday). 

You can follow Pimbeche Vintage on Instagram here.

Construction watch: 280 E. Houston St.

Here's another in-progress look at 280 E. Houston St., the 12-story mixed-used building growing quickly between Avenue A and Avenue B. (Thanks to Pinch for the heads-up on 280's growth spurt.)

... and here's a look at the most recent rendering...

As we've noted, the new building encompasses 224,809 square feet of space — for residential, commercial and community use. The residential portion will total 211,028 square feet for 157 apartments, per DOB records. The retail section will feature 12,000 square feet, while the community facility is 1,300 square feet.

Previously.

Signage alert: The Onion Tree Pizza Co. on 1st Avenue

Photo by William Klayer 

Workers yesterday installed signage for The Onion Tree Pizza Co. on the SE corner of First Avenue and 13th Street. 

The husband-wife team of Jay and Raquel Jadeja plans to debut an EV outpost of their Long Island-based restaurant later this spring. (They received administrative approval for a new beer-wine license this month via Community Board 3.)

The restaurant in Sea Cliff on the North Shore serves traditional (and not-so-traditional) pizzas, including a chicken tikka masala. The menu is available here.

No word on an opening date here.

Tuesday's parting shot

Today, outside the Con Ed substation on Fifth Street and Avenue A, there were unconfirmed reports of angels singing. 

For today, after nearly seven months, the last of the street barricades and assorted equipment (the cherry picker moved on yesterday) were removed... and the work on the new transformer has come to a welcome conclusion. (The Sixth Street side was cleared last week.)

Goodbye to the curt security guards who sat in idling vehicles watching parking spaces 24/7, the oil-processing trucks and the random holiday morning buzzsawing. 

And we do not know if the CitiBike docking station will return to the south side of Fifth Street outside the Untitled building.

Blossom bonanza: Cherry trees paint TSP pink

The cherry blossoms are really popping these days in and around Tompkins Square Park...

... with at least one exception. An EVG reader notes the cherry tree on the north side of the Eighth Street entrance along Avenue B isn't looking so good...

Per the reader, "The cherry tree on the south side of the Eighth Street entrance is in bloom, and I remember years of walking through the entrance flanked by the two lovely cherry blossom trees. Now, the north side tree is bare. I tried to find a parks employee to ask, but I wasn’t able to find anyone."

Celebrating 30Palooza at The Children's Workshop School

The Children's Workshop School is celebrating 30 years at 610 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

And if you're looking for some last-minute plans... the school is celebrating with a 30Palooza tomorrow (Wednesday!) evening from 6-10. The invite promises a night of food, dancing and celebration with a very special performance by Lisa Lisa!" (Lisa Velez, the vocalist of the late '80s chart toppers, is the sister of principal and founder Maria Velez-Clarke.) 

Find ticket — and donation — info here.

D.A. Bragg announces indictment of suspect in 2 March shootings In Tompkins Square Park

Photos from March 21 by Stacie Joy 

Manhattan D.A. Bragg yesterday announced the indictment of a suspect for two shootings in Tompkins Square Park last month. 

According to the D.A.'s office, the accused, 38-year-old Waldemar Alverio, faces multiple charges, including three counts of An Attempt to Commit the Crime of Murder in the Second Degree and two counts of Assault in the First Degree. 

On March 16 at 12:45 p.m., two men allegedly chased, punched and kicked Alverio. As they ran off, Alverio unzipped his bag and pulled out a gun, firing at them five times, per court documents. 

Alverio struck one of the two men in the buttocks, fracturing his pelvis and lodging a bullet in his hip. Alverio also shot a bystander, a 53-year-old tourist, fracturing her right hip, which had to be surgically replaced. Per the D.A.'s office, "she will require months of physical therapy as she learns how to walk again." 

Five days later, on March 21, Alverio allegedly returned to Tompkins Square Park just after noon, approached a group in the park, and shot at them five times. 

While Alverio did not strike anyone on that day, one bullet smashed through a window into a bedroom in an apartment building across Seventh Street, and another bullet smashed through a window and lodged in a stairwell in a second building on Seventh Street. 

"Our parks should be a place where New Yorkers and tourists can relax without fearing for their safety," Bragg said in a statement. "Combatting gun violence remains my top priority, and my Office will hold those who commit these serious acts of violence accountable. I hope the victims continue to heal from their wounds." 

On March 26, officers from the 7th Precinct, who recognized Alverio from a wanted flyer, arrested him on Delancey Street. 

The charges against Alverio:

• An Attempt to Commit the Crime of Murder in the Second Degree, a class B felony, three counts 

• Assault in the First Degree, a class B felony, two counts 

• An Attempt to Commit the Crime of Assault in the First Degree, a class C felony, one count 

• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class C felony, two counts 

Yesterday, in the New York Supreme Criminal Court, Judge Laura A. Ward ordered Alverio, who pleaded not guilty, held without bail. According to public records, his next court date is June 24.

La La Laundry looking for some help after 3 weeks without gas

Multiple EVG readers have reported that La La Laundry — and the whole building on the NW corner of 11th Street and Avenue B — has been without gas for their dryers since March 26. 

Management explained what happened: 

[O]n March 26th, a routine maintenance task took a harrowing turn. An elderly mechanic, entrusted with welding duties in our boiler room, suddenly felt unwell, prompting a call to 911. Responders, fearing a gas leak, urged the shutdown of the boiler's gas supply. 

However, a fateful misstep by a Con Ed worker resulted in the cessation of gas to the entire building, despite NO leak being found within our premises. 

What ensued was a three-week ordeal, a labyrinth of bureaucratic red tape and financial strain. We, the stalwart team of La La Laundry, found ourselves thrust into a whirlwind of regulations and demands with NO support from our building management. Every resource was poured into compliance efforts, draining our coffers and leaving other bills in limbo. 

They hope a Department of Buildings inspection today will result in a Revised Gas Certificate (aka, Blue Card) for service restoration. 

Back to management: 

But even as we prepare to reopen, a new challenge looms large: the daunting specter of financial recovery.  

We had envisioned La La Laundromat not merely as a business but as a sanctuary — a place of solace and community spirit. Yet, the road ahead is fraught with uncertainty. It is with humility and gratitude that we turn to you, our cherished patrons, for support in our time of need.

La La Laundry, a business that includes a plant store and a cleaning service, launched a GoFundMe on Sunday. You can find the link here.

Something for Joey

This morning from the Bowery and Second Street — aka, Joey Ramone Place.

Ramone, an East Village resident, died on this day (April 15) of lymphoma in 2001. He was 49. 

And from 1996, Joey and Marky announce on the Howard Stern Show that the Ramones have retired...

 

At the march to Save Beth Israel

Photos by Daniel Efram 

On a windy and overcast Saturday afternoon, a united and determined group of some 75 people gathered to march, demonstrating their commitment to restore services at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. 

The hospital has reportedly been suspending services and moving staff out of the facility on 16th Street and First Avenue without proper approval from the New York State Department of Health.

According to Politico, hospital officials were "increasingly transferring seriously ill patients suffering potentially life-threatening emergencies to other hospitals in the city because they need procedures that are no longer being made available at Beth Israel." 

Earlier this month, the NY State DOH said the closing plans were "incomplete" — "sending hospital leaders back to the drawing board," per Gothamist. 

Friends and supporters of Beth Israel met at Abe Lebewohl Park on 10th Street and Second Avenue and marched to the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on 14th Street and Second Avenue, where services have also reportedly been slashed.

The Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, which organized the march, are asking that Mount Sinai leadership meet with elected officials and other community leaders to craft a plan to preserve hospital care for the 300,000-plus residents who live and work in Lower Manhattan.

There's a petition to save Beth Israel at this link.

Mount Sinai Beth Israel executives have stated that the closure is an unfortunate necessity due to the system's staggering financial losses, which have exceeded $1 billion in recent years. 

As previously reported, the 799-bed teaching hospital was proposed to close on July 12, 2024. 

The Marshal has seized Atomic Wings on 1st Avenue

Photos by William Klayer 

The Marshal has taken possession of the retail space at 184 First Ave., home of Atomic Wings here between 11th Street and 12th Street. 

The legal notice, dated April 9, states that the landlord is now in possession of the storefront...

As always, this doesn't mean the end for the business.  

While the phone is no longer in service, the EV location is still accepting orders via its website (which prompted a few recent 1-star reviews from diners who never received their wings).

And as noted, there are plenty of wing options on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and 14th Street (Dan and John's and Buffalo Wild Wings remain after Koko Wings closed ... plus, there's Wingstop around the corner on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.)

Openings: Gnocchi on 9th (on 9th)

Photos by Steven 

Gnocchi on 9th debuted on Saturday at 315 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue (the former Verameat boutique space). 

We haven't had a chance to check out the to-go (no dining in) goods and varieties of gnocchi just yet...

Daily hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

You can follow the shop on Instagram here.

Cakes by Klein takes 102 St. Mark's Place

Photo by Steven

Window signage has arrived for Cakes by Klein, the new tenant for 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

In 2021, Hanna Klein quit her job as director of packaging design at e.l.f. Cosmetics to launch her own custom cakes and cookies business (moving up from more of a side hustle). 

Klein relocated here from a previous space down on Cherry Street.

According to an Instagram post, the EV shop will open in early June — after Klein gets married. (Is she designing her own cake? Not sure!) 

You can follow the shop on Instagram here for updates. 

The Avenue Cafe closed at this address last month after a five-month run.

Today in awkwardly phrased crime alerts on the Citizen app

This aftenoon on Third and The Bowery, per Citizen.

Week In Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on 2nd Street near the Bowery)...

• RIP Debby Lee Cohen (Wednesday) and Patti Astor (Friday) 

• Today's solar eclipse with the Second Avenue Star Watchers (Monday) ... Watching the eclipse from 6th and B (Monday) ... Eclipse in progress on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• East Village tenants speak out against rollbacks to potential rent-stabilization laws (Tuesday) 

• East Village native Anna Colombia on pursuing photography and growing up in the neighborhood (Thursday) 

• The Lazy Llama Coffee Bar is opening 2 new outposts, including on 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• First sign of Wonder on Stuyvesant Street (Monday) 

 

• The renovation and expansion of 188 1st Ave. (Thursday)

• Dead again: Peter Jarema Funeral Home ad replaced by the Marvel Universe on 7th and B (Wednesday) 

• Protection for a tree garden on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• Demolition watch: The NW corner of 1st Avenue and 2nd Street (Monday) 

• Openings: Crispy Burger on 1st Avenue (Friday) 

• Pasta for the former Koko Wings on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• On 2nd Avenue, Sunday Dreamin' on such a spring day (Tuesday)

... and here's a look at that freshly paved roadway on Avenue A (so far, the work has just been between Houston and Fourth) ...

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

Comings and goings at 3rd & B'zaar

Today (Sunday!) is the last day to shop the current iteration of 3rd & B'zaar at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

The retail space has been highlighting an array of local vintage sellers, designers and other indie merchants for the last year-plus here. 

Hours today: noon to 7 p.m., with a "shop-n-sip" scheduled from 5-7 p.m.

Stay tuned for info on the next vendors here, Lui & Lui.

Noted

Photo by Derek Berg 

As seen on Second Avenue and Sixth Street this morning... a Cyclomedia car with camera equipment.

A moment on Google reveals that the company provides Road Surface Analysis (as of last March):

Created in collaboration with Arcadis, Cyclomedia combined their high-resolution street-level panorama images and dense LiDAR point clouds with Arcadis' artificial intelligence algorithm. The unique collaboration resulted in a revolutionary new technology that can assess road surface damage by leveraging AI to recognize and provide the severity, extent, and classification of each individual road defect as well as a rapid ASTM-based Pavement Condition Index (PCI) and Overall Condition Index (OCI) score — all automated from behind a workstation. 

Hopefully, our scores will be high enough to take us to the next level...

Flipped out in Stuy Town

A flipped vehicle was reported early this morning on the Stuyvesant Town service road at the top of Avenue B. 

The Citizen app reported a person trapped inside. No other information was available. 

Daniel Root, who took the photo above at 5 a.m., noted that it's pretty wild anyone could get that much speed on that narrow roadway to flip a car like that...