40 years gone! Revisiting a classic New York magazine cover story from 1984

If you had a copy of New York magazine this week in 1984, you likely read Craig Unger's cover story, "The Lower East Side: There Goes the Neighborhood." 

Generations have said, "There goes the neighborhood," or various variations, like "The East Village is dead," and even more specifically, as Ada Calhoun has documented, "St. Marks is dead."

I first mentioned this piece on June 6, 2008, roughly seven months into EVG's existence. (It was the first EVG post that attracted much attention outside some amazing die-hards.) 

The copy below is from the 2008 EVG post. You can read the full article via Curbed here.

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The piece begins in the early 1980s with the rotting hulk of the Christodora House on Avenue B at Ninth Street and the young man eager to own it, Harry Skydell. 

Skydell's enthusiasm was indeed mysterious. The sixteen-story building he wanted to buy, on Avenue B facing Tompkins Square Park, was surrounded by burned-out buildings that crawled with pushers and junkies. It was boarded up, ripped out, and flooded...Early in the seventies, the city had put up the Christodora up for auction and nobody bid. 

The building was eventually sold in 1975 for $62,500. (Last I saw, two-bedroom units there—roughly 1,100 square feet—averaged $1.6 million or so.) 

The article discusses the influx of chain stores, art galleries and "chic cafes."

"And real-estate values are exploding" as a result. Said one longtime resident on the changes: "I've lived in my rent-controlled apartment for years and pay $115 a month. I live on the Lower East Side. The young kids who just moved in upstairs and pay $700 a month for the same space — they live in the East Village."

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Here are a few images/pages from the cover story... the photo below is on 10th Street, steps west of Avenue B... 

From parked cars to luxury condos on 9th Street

Plans are now on file to convert the former Little Man Parking garage (aka LaSalle Parking) into a six-story residential building on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

According to the permits filed last week, the proposed development will feature 31,231 square feet of residential space for 18 units. (Per NY Yimby, that puts the average residence at 1,735 square feet — likely condos.) The newly created complex will also feature a rear yard and 10 enclosed parking spaces.)

Arcus Development purchased the space earlier this spring for $14 million. (Check out their luxury conversions here.)

There is also a new partial demoliton permit —"down to the first floor" — on file with the DOB.

The garage has been closed since late April 2023 after the Department of Buildings issued a vacate order on the property following the deadly collapse on April 18, 2023, at the Little Man garage on Ann Street in the Financial District.

Per the DOB vacate order: "The occupied parking structure with concrete framing observed to be in a state of disrepair at several locations in cellar level... crushed column base observed at several locations in cellar level ... vertical cracks observed inside elevator shaft and on masonry walls."

The address was offered as a "redevelopment project" last August. 

Budget Car Rental and Tori-Bien, a restaurant that specialized in Japanese fried chicken, were also forced to leave their retail spaces at this address due to the vacate order.

Garage Sale Vintage bringing its nostalgic vibes to the Bowery

Photo from November 2022

The East Village is getting another vintage clothing option — and one with beer and wine.

The owners of the chainlet Garage Sale Vintage have plans for a new outpost at 302 Bowery between Bleecker and Houston.

Per its website:

Garage Sale Vintage was founded on a passion for nostalgia. You'll discover curated items from vintage vendors across the US — from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and Y2K era. You can shop from an unbelievable selection of vintage records and vinyl.

There are also locations in Denver, Boulder and Nashville. (The above photo is from the store in East Nashville.)

While the other shops offer a full bar (margaritas being a specialty), the Bowery space seeks a beer-wine license. They'll appear before Community Board 2 tomorrow.

According to the application (PDF here), the store's cafe area will have four tables seating eight people and a 10-seat bar.

No. 302 previously housed Olde Good Things. This outpost of the architectural artifact dealer specializing in reclaimed building materials and antiques arrived here in 2013 and left in early January 2023. Lines New York, a "tattoo atelier," currently leases the space. 

Storefront renovations commence on the SW corner of the Bowery and Houston

Renovations are underway on the SW corner of the Bowery and Houston. Plywood arrived last week outside the long-vacant spaces at a building with multiple addresses (282-284 Bowery plus 87-91 E. Houston St.).

We don't know anything at the moment about what might be next here.

The last tenant at 284 Bowery was Cherche Midi, Keith McNally's French brasserie that closed in June 2018. (Before this, McNaly had unleased Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria.)

A for-lease sign arrived on the building in March 2023, only the second time we recall this space on the market in the past six years.  

This corner has also been a hot spot for street art these past six years. The construction plywood now covers the storefronts, obscuring murals that include the George Floyd tribute by @fumeroism that arrived in early June 2020.

There was also the recent arrival of this Marvin Gaye wheatpaste by @stikki_peaches...

Friday night with The Damned at Hammerstein Ballroom

Photos by Stacie Joy

On Friday night, The Damned returned to NYC to play a show billed as the Black Strawberry Ball at Hammerstein Ballroom.

With Rat Scabies back behind the drums, this version of the band who has seen many lineup changes through the years — David Vanian, Captain Sensible, Paul Gray (and joined by 1999-era recruit Monty Oxymoron on keyboards) — performed together for the first time since 1989. 

The setlist was heavy from the 1980s albums this core group helped create, including "Ignite" (Strawberries), "The History of the World (Part 1)" (The Black Album) and an EVG favorite, "Life Goes On" (Strawberries). Their familiar singles — "I Just Can't Be Happy Today," Neat Neat Neat," and "Smash It Up" came in loud and fast near the end of the two-hour set in front of an appreciative crowd. (The encore included "New Rose" and an MC5 cover, "Looking at You.")

As our friends at Academy Records on 12th Street noted in an Instagram post: 

Of course, we're all about recorded music on round pieces of plastic but please don't sleep on all the great live music that is out there. Like the Damned, who are still kicking ass after 48 years together and back with original drummer Rat Scabies! Living in NYC can be a real grind but then you get to experience things like this. 

At this point, there isn't a lot left for The Damned to prove (honors include being the first UK punk band to release an album, Damned Damned Damned, in 1977), and it would have been easy to lean on the hits and get back on the bus for the next stop. 

However, this show rolled merrily along, energetically propelled by the return of Rat Scabies, and the band sounded as energized as we've seen them on several tours. 

 A few scenes from upfront... starting with lead singer David Vanian...

... Captain Sensible...

... bassist Paul Gray ...

... Rat Scabies...

... and keyboardist Monty Oxymoron...

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• The Damned's Captain Sensible on the return of drummer Rat Scabies, the importance of the Ramones and the legend of CBGB

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week include (with a photo from St. Mark's Place on Friday evening) ...

• St. George Church reopens a refurbished Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on 7th Street (Friday) 

• Mount Sinai submits updated plan to close Beth Israel on July 12 (Wednesday) 

• Block Association asking for removal of the 32-foot tall 5G tower at 129 Avenue C (Thursday) 

• At the annual Loisaida Festival (Monday) 

• 37 1st Ave., once home to some East Village music history, is now rubble (Monday) • The East Village, full of bars, gets an anti bar (Thursday)

• Hit play 'Job' heads from the East Village's Connelly Theater to Broadway (Wednesday)

• Openings: Sunday Dreamin on 2nd Avenue (Thursday) 

• Soft openings: Sip + Co. on 9th Street (Tuesday)

• IHOP lops off its sidewalk dining shed (Thursday) 

• Dear Rufino has apparently moved on from 2nd Avenue (Thursday)

• Closings: Yakiniku West on 9th Street (Tuesday) 

• Reaching the top at the all-new 12-story building at 280 E. Houston St. (Tuesday) 

• A Williamsburg view of Manhattanhenge (Wednesday) ... and from Union Square (Tuesday) 

• Café Maud is the name of the new establishment in the former Dallas BBQ space (Wednesday) 

• Times Square-friendly business is now up and running on Union Square (Wednesday) 

• Budding Ninth Street sinkhole is now Citizen app famous (Tuesday)

Speaking of the Ninth Street sinkhole, it is showing some sedimentary layers. (This will be a great class field trip!) Thanks to Steven for the photo.    

Plant Bandit ON THE LOOSE

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Noting this urban etiquette signage on Houston at Attorney: 

Plant bandit spotted in the LES Lock up your dalphyniums [sic], your hyacinths and your lantanas! Bring your mint, basil and oregano in every evening...who knows what beautiful greenery he is going to take next?? 

May need to add herb and spice bandit to the description...

Films we want to see: 'Robot Dreams' with a story of friendship in the 1980s East Village

Image via NEON

"Robot Dreams," a dialogue-free animated feature, opened on Friday at the Film Forum. (Showtimes here.) 

We've seen the trailer (below!), though not the film... and are looking forward to it. 

The synopsis: 

New York City, 1980s. Dog lives an unassuming life among the bustle of the East Village. Feeling lonely, he orders Robot from a TV ad. Once assembled, Robot instantly becomes Dog's most steadfast friend. Together, they explore the city, rollerskating and roaming to a near-constant thrum of Earth, Wind, & Fire's "September."

The film by Pablo Berger (from the graphic novel by Sara Varon) scored 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. 

Berger previously lived in the East Village, noting to an interviewer: "The apartment where Dog lives has the same floorplan as my first apartment." (His apartment includes a video rental from Kim's and a trip to the Strand.) 

A few headlines about the film: "'Robot Dreams' Is a Radiant Ode to Friendship and 1980s New York" (TIME) ... "Animated ‘Robot Dreams’ captures feelings of love and loss in 1980s East Village" (Gay City News)

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Saturday's parting shot

A view of 66 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... the longtime home of Abetta Boiler & Welding Service ... and a surviving single-level structure in the East Village (complete with signage with an old Manhattan phone exchange)... 

About the first LES Puerto Rican Parade & Festival

The first LES Puerto Rican Parade & Festival takes place today (Saturday, June 1). 

Here's more about the event, presented by El Grito:

This community pride event contributes to highlighting the visibility and contributions of the Puerto Rican community and breathes new life into our cultural traditions. Join us as we come together to celebrate!

The parade starts at 4:30 on Columbia and Rivington... and the festival gets underway at 5:30 on 12th Street and Avenue D.

First class: Time for the annual Arts & Science Fair at The Children’s Workshop School

The Children’s Workshop School is hosting its annual Arts & Science Fair tomorrow (Sunday!).

The poster promises arts, crafts, science, experiments, food and family fun. 

The fundraiser will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 610 E. 12th St., between Avenue B and Avenue C.

A vintage day on 12th Street

Today, the East Village Vintage Collective and SLCT Stock NYC are hosting a summer kick-off sidewalk sale on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... from noon to 6 p.m., you'll find a dozen or so vintage-thrift vendors...

June's opening shot

First Park... first day of June... happy June... Happy Pride Month...

The 'Shadow' returns

 

It's The Damned from 1985 with "Shadow Of Love." 

And tonight, the Hammerstein Ballroom hosts The Damned's Black Strawberry Ball, which reunites the UK band's iconic 1980s lineup for the first time since 1989. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• The Damned's Captain Sensible on the return of drummer Rat Scabies, the importance of the Ramones and the legend of CBGB

6 posts from May

A mini month in review... with a photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg 

 • These East Village residents are still cooking up a unique book of recipes (May 20) 

• After a fire upstairs, a gutted TabeTomo hopes to reopen on Avenue A in August (May 17) 

• Don Juan's Barber Shop closing after 25 Years following rent hike (May 13) 

• Coming together in Tompkins Square Park to remember Al 'Hammerbrain' Landess (May 12) 

• Bella McFadden's iGirl storefront opens Saturday on 3rd Street (May 9) 

• When a Dodge Charger drove down the sidewalk on 2nd Street during a high-speed chase (May 4)

St. George Church reopens a refurbished Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on 7th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen reopens this morning in the basement space it has used for the past 50 years at 33 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. 

The kitchen, which serves as a fundraising arm of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church on the block, will now be run by a new team of parish volunteers. The space will continue to offer a variety of traditional Ukrainian cuisine as well as coffee and tea.

Yesterday, I met with Rev. Father Johan Lubiv, OSBM, the administrator of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church for the past four years, to discuss Streecha and what has transpired here recently.

Last week, Dima Kovalenko, who the church hired to be its chef and run the kitchen nine years ago, announced on Instagram that Streecha had closed and that the "property owner" had other plans for the basement space. (Kovalenko, meanwhile, found a backer and will be opening a pop-up space under a new name nearby offering a similar fare.) 

Father Johan explained some of the misunderstandings. "I said to Dima to say, 'I am not working at Streecha, but Streecha continues to function.' This is misleading information that Streecha is closed," Father Johan said. "The name belongs to the parish and the community. Streecha means 'people's meeting place.'" 

He said St. George hired Kovalenko to run Streecha, though he claims he had "turned it into a private business, and that is not what this space is for."

Father Johan talked about his time in the East Village, where he made some changes to St. George Academy, also known as St. George's Ukrainian Catholic School. He also said he is especially interested in helping people from Ukraine who have psychological issues stemming from PTSD from the Russian invasion. 

As for Streecha, he said he wanted to refurbish the community spot on Seventh Street. 

"We received many propositions about how to renovate. We needed renovations," he said. "Last year, I started cleaning, and I have been thinking about these changes for more than a year. I am happy to see the space clean." 

The newly reopened Streecha will be run by three volunteers — women parishioners from the church. It will feature the same menu items and prices, with funds going to St. George.

Father Johan and Deacon Methodius Soroka provided a tour of Streecha yesterday. 

"It took 20 volunteers three days to clean the space," Father Johan said. There are new lights, paint, and equipment with newly arranged tables and chairs.

Streecha will be open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

As in the past 50 years in the East Village, Father Johan said, "We welcome all people."

You can follow Streecha on Instagram here ... or Facebook here.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo of tonight's sunset overlooking Tompkins Square Park courtesy Cecil Scheib...

Block Association asking for removal of the 32-foot tall 5G tower at 129 Avenue C

Photo from April 27

The Avenue C Block Association is urging the city to remove the 32-foot tall 5G tower that arrived in late April at 129 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. 

According to the group's recently launched petition: 

This tower is unnecessarily large and obtrusive and presents a jarring contrast with the low-rise tenement streetscape of the neighborhood. Avenue C has a narrow sidewalk, which is already crowded with pedestrian traffic, strollers, wheelchairs, trash cans, and numerous sidewalk cafes. The tower was installed only twelve feet away from the residential apartment building directly behind it, and negatively impacts the view of the street, and the historic urban landscape of the East Village. There has to be a better way to deliver technology in Manhattan that is less brutal in design. 

The group also points out the "potential adverse or long-term health effects of living or working in close proximity to these towers." 

Find the petition to city officials here. 

As amNY reported in 2022: 

The new structures are operated as a public-private partnership by consortium CityBridge, and are a revamp of the old 10-foot kiosks the firm set up under former Mayor Bill de Blasio starting in 2015 with free Wi-Fi, USB charging ports, a tablet, a 911 button, and calling capabilities. 

The first 32-foot tower arrived in the East Village in August 2022 on Second Avenue at First Street ... then another on Avenue A at 12th Street. One was in the works for outside 184 E. Seventh St. at Avenue B, though there has been opposition to this one. 

There has been political opposition to the 5G towers... read more about the advocacy that Village Preservation is doing here.

The East Village, full of bars, gets an anti bar

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Don't expect to find a list of mocktails at Kosmic Community Anti Bar, now in soft-open mode at 115 Avenue C between Seventh Street and Eighth Street.

Owner and East Village resident James Lockwood (below middle with business partners Tyler Garrett and Apostolos Filippas) said they are "not big on mocktails," instead opting for a full coffee bar with drink specials including Italian sodas, hibiscus vanilla teas, yerba mate, fruit presses and juice options.

We spotted the Kosmic Community sign going up last Friday, and Lockwood gave us a tour of the space (the former Mug & Cup). It includes a retro sitting area complete with a phone booth and back garden...

In the future, Lockwood plans to offer some live music ... and possibly a food menu.

But first things first: The official grand opening is coming in about a month. 

For now, the daily hours are 10 a.m. to midnight, possibly later on weekends "if people want to stay." 

Dear Rufino has apparently moved on from 2nd Avenue

Dear Rufino has closed after several months of operating in the front retail section of 221 Second Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street.

The space has been empty for the past two weeks... and mentions of the EV location have been scrubbed from the taqueria's Instagram account. Meanwhile, the quick-serve restaurant opened a new outpost at the Worldwide Plaza on West 50th Street.

Dear Rufino, a venture from the same owners as Zona Rosa located on Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue, made its debut in the EV earlier this year, taking over the food operation from Chicken & the Egg.

Sincerely, Ophelia, the speakeasy in the back of the address remains in operation.