At the first Show Brain show of 2024 in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The weather held out on Sunday afternoon for Mother's Day — and the season's first show by Show Brain, which has been bringing live music to city parks the past few years. 

Here is Ozzie Silva of Show Brain with East Village-based singer-songwriter-composer Franzi Szymkowiak of Lukka (her band was not on the bill this day)...

The lineup included the gloom punk of Desert Sharks...

... and the high-spirited eclectic punk fusion of headliners Pinc Louds...

And taking in the bands...

The next Show Brain production in Tompkins Square Park is on June 30. (Keep tabs via the SB Instagram account.) 

The next concert promoted by Chris Flash of The Shadow is on May 25. Follow these shows on Facebook.

The annual Ukrainian Festival is this weekend

The St. George Ukrainian Festival takes place on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square this coming weekend. 

The three-day festival — one of the best neighborhood events — celebrates Ukrainian culture, music, and food with various performances and vendors selling traditional arts and crafts. 

The Festival kicks off on Friday evening, May 17, and continues through Sunday late afternoon, May 19. 

We haven't seen the schedule times for the outdoor performances just yet — they're usually on Saturday afternoon and evening and again on Sunday. We'll update you when we hear more about them.

Heading back to Downtown Beirut

Photo by David Vega via Flaming Pablum 

On Friday evening, you can revisit a celebrated and long-gone East Village bar (RIP 1994).

Lucky on B plays host to two shorts filmed at Downtown Beirut, 158 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street...

A description: 

Join Lucky for a little trip down memory lane with the premiere of two classic videos torn from the East Village's storied past: "The Look of Love" and "Night at Downtown Beirut." 

Created by Mike Enright, who has also contributed a bunch of CDs to our eclectic jukebox, these shorts were shot at the old Downtown Beirut, one of the best bars in history! We'll let people gather for a few drinks between 6 and 6:30, screen one film, take another drink break, and then screen the second film. They're each about a half hour long, and while everyone's drinking, Mike will be showing some of this other video art. 

Lucky on B is at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

This screening is part of Lower East Side History Month. 

P.S. There was also Downtown Beirut II at 157 E. Houston St. near Allen. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Mourning lost bars; early morning at Downtown Beirut

• Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m. 

Alex has more on DB at Flaming Pablum.

Tuesday's parting urban etiquette note

Photos by Stacie Joy 

As seen on 10th Street between Avenue C and Avenue D... 

Please have your alarm checked. It is going off and disturbing the community!

Fresh compost for Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven 

Tompkins Square Park received a fresh compost mound today via the LES Ecology Center...

The compost came from Governors Island, where Earth Matter runs a small farm. 

The LES Ecology Center has been without a permanent home since having to vacate East River Park in 2021 for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. 

This article from March at The City has updates on the uncertain future of NYC's composting program. Like many other critical city programs, composting faces severe threats due to city budget cuts. 

In a positive sign, during International Compost Awareness Week last week, the LES Ecology Center raised $27,000 to sustain their programs in the months ahead.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LES ECOLOGY CENTER (@lesecologyctr)

Citi Bike dock swap along Avenue A

EVG reader Newman points out that Citi Bike crews have removed the docking station on Third Street at Avenue A ... and relocated it to Fifth Street at Avenue A...

The Third Street dock arrived in February, and a Citi Bike rep told us that it was permanent. Citi removed the docking station on Fifth Street last fall to accommodate the (recently completed) Con Ed transformer work. 

We reached out to Citi/Lyft to learn more about this As the Docking Stations Move. 

Angels Boutique gets its wings on Avenue A

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Vintage-designer purveyors Angels on A has debuted its sister shop a few storefronts away here on Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

Angels Boutique is in soft-open mode at 70 Avenue A (the former Halloween pop-up space) ... with a May 23 grand opening on the books. 

I caught up with owner Angel Ramirez and store manager Jess Parsons the other day...

"The store sells vintage designer collectible novelty fashion items," Parsons said of Angels Boutique. "They don't have to be luxury; they do have to have personality."

Daily hours: Noon to 8 p.m. 

You can follow Angels Boutique on Instagram here.

Planet Taco exits East Village orbit

Photos by Steven 

Planet Taco shut down its East Village operations on Sunday, bringing an end to the shop's three-plus-year run at 141 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

In a note to patrons, ownership blamed "rising costs" for the closure...

The Planet Taco on Ninth Avenue remains open.

Planet Taco opened in March 2021 and received generally positive reviews from readers and critics. 

The address previously housed Otto's Tacos for seven years. Before that, many things came and went here, such as Good Guys, a Subway (sandwich shop), part of a Max Brenner outpost and Burritoville (!!!).

Noted (sidewalk bridge edition)

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As previously reported, G's Cheesesteaks is the new tenant for 6 Avenue B at Houston Street — the first in 15 years. 

The gut renovations of the long-vacant residential portion are also complete. The building — now going as The B (!) — is currently leasing.

G's owner, Giacomo Pisano, apparently tried to get the sidewalk bridge hauled away. Good luck! 

So there's now a G' s-branded sign on the bridge with the message, "We tried to get this scaffolding removed ... But this is NYC."

Pisano, whose family has been in the restaurant business for several generations, founded G's in Staten Island in 2015 at age 20. 

The opening date for the EV outpost is expected soon.

Some Cool pizza street art

As seen along St. Mark's Place.

Revisit our Cool archives here. 

Thanks to Eden for the photo!

Don Juan's Barber Shop closing after 25 Years following rent hike

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After 25 years at 303 E. Fourth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D, Juan Rosado is closing his Don Juan's Barber Shop. 

You've heard this story before: The lease is up, and Rosado said the new rent is too much for him. 

"We had a good run, I can't complain," he said. "I raised my son here."

Rosado, an East Village native who grew up around the corner, started cutting hair by setting up in the empty lot next to the post office branch on Third Street and ran an extension cord to give $5 haircuts to the neighborhood. (An aside: He's also an excellent photographer.)

Since opening Don Juan's, the shop has become a thriving family-friendly business and a local hangout that provides a much-welcomed community spirit.

Thankfully, Rosado isn't going too far: He'll have a chair at Jay Joe's Classic Cuts at 256 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

And this, he hopes, is an interim situation. Rosado plans to open a mobile barber shop in the future. 

"My power move," he said.

June 23 is the shop's last date...

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• A Visit to Don Juan’s Barber Shop on 4th Street

Xi’an Famous Foods opens an outpost on 4th Avenue

Xi’an Famous Foods has opened an outpost at 139 Fourth Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street...(Thanks to Jeannie Krier for the photos!)

The chainlet of quick-serve hand-pulled noodle shops has expansion plans after closing several locations during the pandemic. (The St. Mark's Place spot closed in early March 2020 when the lease came up for renewal.)

Company CEO Jason Wang's father David Shi got his start in a small food stall in Flushing, a business popularized after an Anthony Bourdain endorsement. 

No. 139 on Fourth Avenue was most recently PLNT Burger.

After 17 years of not being open on Mondays, Abraço is now open on Mondays

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Starting today (Monday—hi!), Abraço will be open on Mondays, a first in the cafe's 17-year history.

The summer hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (By the way, Abraço serves cocktails in the evening.) 

And FYI: No laptops are allowed here (and no outside food or drinks, in case you need to be reminded of this here or anywhere else). And no barking dogs!

Abraço is at 81 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Former Walgreens space on Union Square to be home to a Times Square-friendly business

The SE corner of 14th Street and Fourth Avenue will soon be home to a Times Square-friendly biz called NYC Convenience Gifts. 

The signage promises items ranging from souvenirs (FDNY and NYPD branded) to luggage, watches and ice cream. 

The EVG reader who shared these photos called the new business an "eyesore." Sure, but it's handy if you need a suitcase and an ice cream cone in a hurry... 

The oddly configured Walgreens closed here in February 2022. 

It's a huge space, and we wondered what might eventually move in... the Walgreens was renovated and expanded into the space above the quick-serve restaurants on Fourth Avenue back in 2010... (this far-flung layout is what we meant by "oddly configured.") 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Union Square Walgreens not being intimidated by world's largest Duane Reade

May 12

As seen today on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place. Happy Mother's Day! 

Thanks to Shannon for this photo... and to Bayou and Derek Berg for sending pics as well...

Coming together in Tompkins Square Park to remember Al 'Hammerbrain' Landess

Photos by Stacie Joy

Friends and loved ones of Al "Hammerbrain" Landess came together yesterday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park for a memorial concert in honor of the local resident and veteran of the NYC hardcore who died in February 2022 of cancer. 

EVG's Stacie Joy stopped by as the show was getting underway (that's Skum City in the top pic). 

Among those in attendance were Al's longtime partner, Joanie Koveleskie, with their Siberian Husky Augustus Gloop...

Previously on EV Grieve:

• RIP Al Landess

Week in Grieview

Photos this past week included ... with a porta-potty update from Tompkins Square Park via Steven (the chains are now there overnight)... 

• Remembering Frank Stella (Wednesday) 

• Paying tribute to legendary photographer Saul Leiter on 10th Street (Monday) 

• New applicants for Lucy's withdraw for this month (Tuesday) 

• Bella McFadden's iGirl storefront opens Saturday on 3rd Street (Friday) 

• A look at Christo and Amelia's 2024 offspring in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

• Family sells eight East Village buildings for $38 million after decades of ownership (Thursday) 

• A moment on Eighth Street in 1983 (Wednesday) 

• Lui & Lui takes center stage at the next incarnation of 3rd & B'zaar (Wednesday) 

• Fabano Florals returns to Avenue B, this time as a full-time shop (Tuesday) 

• Reader report: Why were our new trees canceled? (Tuesday) 

• An East Village tribute to Flaco (Tuesday)

• 'Stayin' True' with Toofly at CLLCTV NYC (Saturday)

• Joe's Wine Co. (NOT Trader Joe's) coming to 3rd Avenue (Monday) 

• On 3rd Avenue, Cutlets and the world's narrowest weed shop have closed (Tuesday) 

• A look inside the former Dallas BBQ on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

• What's next for the Roost space on Avenue B (Monday) 

• Closings: Viva Cucina on 2nd Avenue; Da Radda on 7th Street (Thursday) 

• GrowNYC's Greenmarket returns to Stuy Town on Sundays (Saturday) 

... and a moment with some of the cast and crew of C&B Cafe on Seventh Street... (photo by Stacie Joy)...

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

Sunday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

On Avenue A, Exit9 co-owners Charles Branstool and Christy Davis with their daughter Stella Wave (who's also the drummer of EVG fave Hello Mary). 

And a Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere!

'Stayin' True' with Toofly at CLLCTV NYC

Photo Thursday by Stacie Joy 

Multidisciplinary artist Toofly is showing new and existing work titled "Stayin' True" at CLLCTV NYC. 

The exhibit of paintings, photos and video is up through May 23 at the gallery and event space at 209 E. Third St. just east of Avenue B. Hours: Noon to TBD. 

You can learn more about Toofly, aka Maria Castillo, and her roots in graffiti art in this WNYC interview from last summer.