Heat Dome watch now in effect

Photo from Houston at Allen/First Avenue

The Heat Dome is upon us. 

NYC has activated its Heat Emergency Plan for the first time this year as NYC and other parts of the northeast may see record-setting temps in the days ahead as the heat index will top 100°F. 

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather advisory for the area.

🌞Did you know a heat wave is defined as 3 or more consecutive days of 90°F or higher. (heat index not factored in).
🌞 Last NYC heat wave: Sep 5-8, 2023
🌞The longest NYC heat wave occurred Aug 24-Sep 4, 1953
🌞There has never been a recorded 6+ day heat wave in NYC in June. pic.twitter.com/Q6k6blnu8G

— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) June 17, 2024

Per the city: 

High heat is a silent killer, posing a disproportionate threat to our most vulnerable residents: adults aged 60 and older, young children, and those with pre-existing health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions, or cognitive impairment. Air conditioning is the best way to stay safe and healthy when it is hot outside, but some people at risk of heat illness do not have or do not turn on an air conditioner. 

The city has a map of outdoor cooling options (including spray showers and drinking fountains) at Cool It! NYC and a Cool Options map. (The cooling centers are open as of today.)

There are just a few local cooling center options, including (the Tompkins Square and Ottendorfer library branches are also options)...

• Polish and Slavic Center, Inc. Older Adult Center 

103 E. Seventh St. 

9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday

• Meltzer Social Club, Older Adult Center

94 E. First St. 

8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday

 

• Educational Alliance Sirovich, Older Adult Center

331 E. 12th St. 

8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday

Asian Taste is back open on Avenue B and 3rd Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Asian Taste returned to service on Friday after a nearly nine-month closure due to a gas problem in the building on the NW corner of Avenue B and Third Street...

In late September,. During an inspection of 199 E. Third St., Con Ed found multiple leaks and shut off the gas to the entire Steve Croman-owned building, including the businesses.

The owners had been waiting patiently for the city-ConEd-FDNY approvals to reopen...

Asian Taste is open Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 10: p.m.

With the return of Asian Taste and A&C Kitchen on Avenue C back in March, we can update our round-up of the old-school Chinese restaurants in the East Village.

A look at Partea 1 year in

Photos by Stacie Joy

Partea has been open for a year now at 220 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

This is Partea's second location, following its original outpost in Flushing. (An LA Partea is in the works.) The concept is "Street eats, bubble tea, and games in an energetic restaurant inspired by Taiwanese night markets." 

We hadn't visited the space yet and were curious, so we ducked inside as the business opened for the day.

Stepping inside, you find yourself in a lively environment, quite different from the somewhat dull surroundings of this stretch of 14th Street. Rows of anime-themed toys and games of chance, like the claw machine for plushie toys, await. You can purchase tokens for these machines using cash or credit ($1 per token) ...

Partea also offers fruit teas, and this month, they received conditional approval from Community Board 3 for a beer-wine license. The menu includes a variety of snacks, such as popcorn chicken, fried pork ribs, and Taiwanese fried tempura.

While Partea isn't likely for everyone (beware, migraine sufferers! There are so many triggers!), it undeniably has its unique charms.

The space is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. ... with a midnight close on Friday and Saturday (and a 2:30 p.m. start on Sundays).

Monday's parting shot

ICYMI: First Street Green Art Park is celebrating the legacy of the late gallery owner Patti Astor.

Starting on Saturday, a handful of artist came together to honor the co-founder of Fun Gallery on 10th Street, which showcased artists like Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 1980s. 

There's still a large mural in progress... we'll post more photos when the work is complete. 

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

At the 4th annual East Village Zine Fair on St. Mark's Place

Photos by Stacie Joy 

There was an excellent turnout for the fourth annual East Village Zine Fair, which occurred on a near-perfect weather day on Saturday along St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue ...

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community co-presented the event, celebrating "the neighborhood’s history of underground print culture past and present." 

This year's event included over 120 vendors, a significant increase from the 40 that participated in Year 1 in 2021.

Here are a few scenes from along St. Mark's Place... 

Father Seán is leaving the East Village

Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy

After three years in the East Village, Father Seán Connolly is moving to a new parish.

During his time here, he served both St. Brigid-St. Emeric on Avenue B at Eighth Street and Most Holy Redeemer-Nativity on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

"These parishes have become a true spiritual family, and I am proud of what we have accomplished together in both uniting and growing these two communities," he wrote in a recent church bulletin. "Yet, the needs of the Church extend beyond the limits of our neighborhood, and our archbishop, Cardinal Dolan, along with his priest personnel board, must look for new and creative ways to meet the needs of the faithful with fewer priests able to serve."

He said that he has been tasked with a new mission to be the pastor at the Parish of St. Margaret of Cortona – St. Gabriel in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. Wednesday is his last day here.

Msgr. Kevin Nelan, the pastor of Immaculate Conception on 14th Street at First Avenue, will become the administrator of St. Brigid-St. Emeric and Most Holy Redeemer-Nativity, "taking on the responsibility of providing priests to serve the sacramental needs of these two parish communities."

I appreciated Father Seán's kind, thoughtful presence in the neighborhood. He did what he could to help cut through the city's endless maddening bureaucracy at the former St. Brigid School on Avenue B and Seventh Street, which NYC has been leasing from the Archdiocese of New York for incoming asylum seekers. 

In a most memorable adventure last fall, Father Seán took me on a tour of Most Holy Redeemer's 232-foot tower, up a steep spiral staircase to see the restoration work of the clocks.

Father Seán will be missed here.

In his letter in the church bulletin, he said the feeling is mutual.

"I wish to thank all of you for your kindness to me ... I will miss you."

A timeline for the reopening of the Tompkins Square basketball courts

Photos by Stuart Leung 

Here's a little more information about the Tompkins Square Park basketball courts, which have been closed since June 5. 

According to workers, in addition to painting the mural titled "Gaze" by Na Chainkua Reindorf, they are replacing the rims on the full court closest to 10th Street and replacing both backboards and rims on the interior full court. 

They are targeting completion on Monday, June 24, ahead of the last day for NYC public school students on June 26.

Sunday's parting shot

Another Father's Day in the books... photo from Exit9 on Avenue A...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a late-afternoon photo from Tompkins Square Park)... 

• Community Board 3 adds a special meeting on congestion pricing to June's agenda (Tuesday) 

• Take a look at the all-new Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge (Wednesday) 

• Nearly 3 years later, city is finishing the Avenue C bike lanes (Tuesday) 

• The ongoing efforts to shutter unlicensed weed shops (Monday)

• A summer movie series is returning to Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) 

• A taco test run at Carnitas Ramirez, opening June 21 in the East Village (Wednesday) 

• Reports of a passenger struck by a downtown 6 at Astor Place (Tuesday) 

• A new era for teen spirit at the Tompkins Square Library branch (Tuesday)

• That's all, folks: Tacos El Porky closes on Avenue A after 3-plus months (Monday) 

• The Marshal takes legal possession of Ace's on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Check out the new single by Hello Mary (Friday) 

• What might be next for this 2nd Avenue storefront? (Monday) 

• The juvenile red-tailed hawks are already huge and getting into staring contests with squirrels in Tompkins Square Park (Friday) 

• Openings: Cafe 2BY2 on 10th Street (Monday) 

• Extra Place may not be such a quiet place too much longer (Thursday)

Sunday's opening shots

Photos by Derek Berg 

As we mentioned on Friday, the young red-tailed hawks will be quite active in Tompkins Square Park in the weeks ahead as they learn do all things red-tailed hawk...

As Goggla shared: "Look out for them and be sure to give them space, especially if they come to the ground. They are just going about their business, exploring their new world."

Reminders: the East Village Zine Fair is TODAY on St. Mark's Place

Flyer by Heather Benjamin 

ICYMI: More than 120 DIY artists and publishers are participating in the fourth annual East Village Zine Fair TODAY (Saturday).

Printed Matter/St. Mark's and 8-Ball Community co-present the event, celebrating "the neighborhood’s history of underground print culture past and present."

The one-day outdoor fair takes place along St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (The street is closed to through traffic.) 

In addition, there's the East Village Zine Fair community garden programming at La Plaza Cultural on the SW corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street, where there's a full day of workshops and performances.

There's also a curated selection of garden-related zines from 8-Ball's Zine Library...

A grand opening pop up at Cakes by Klein on St. Mark's Place

Photos by Steven

Cakes by Klein is hosting a grand opening pop up today (Saturday!) at 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., owner-baker Hanna Klein will be offering a variety of her concoctions (chocolate chip espresso cookie sammies, for instance) and coffee...

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

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

You can follow Cakes by Klein on Instagram. 

Circus Amok before the downpour

Photos by Stacie Joy

Circus Amok got about 15 minutes into their summer 2024 production of "THE DOUBLE, or, The Wisdom of the Owl" last evening in Tompkins Square Park before the rain and wind swept through the metropolitan area. 

As the saying goes, the downtown theater was fun while it lasted...

Saturday's opening shot

Thanks to EVG reader Rob D. for this photo of last last night's post-rainstorm sunset... click on the image for a bigger view.