Saturday, July 27, 2024
Here's a chance to see vintage East Village band Disturbed Furniture perform live
In the early 1980s, the art-rock band Disturbed Furniture made an impact on New York's downtown club scene at storied venues such as Club 57, Mudd Club and Peppermint Lounge. They shared stages with the likes of the Psychedelic Furs, Stranglers, The Waitresses, and The Go-Go's, toured regionally, and released well-received music and videos.
Their sound was born from the noir cabaret vibe of the East Village scene and the sensuality of contemporary urban sounds, merging the art world and punk sensibilities with grittier dance aesthetics.
They are back in the East Village for one of their rare shows at 8:45 p.m. on July 30 at the Parkside Lounge, 317 E. Houston St. at Attorney. Doors open at 7 p.m. The free show includes sets by Jennifer Blowdryer and The Bad Flowers, featuring Billy Ficca of Television.
Disturbed Furniture reunited in 2019 to record new music and perform several annual shows. The impetus to reactivate Disturbed Furniture came
from MoMA’s major 2017 retrospective, which documented the band's old stomping ground, "Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983."
After meeting with the curators, lead singer Alexa Hunter agreed to contribute the group's music videos and their single cover art to the exhibition and appear in the accompanying catalog. MoMA not only acquired Disturbed Furniture's music videos proper but also a series of Hunter's super-8 films and other footage shot in 1979. Their 7-inch 45rpm record, Information/Alors Allez, is now sought after by record collectors. It was produced, engineered and mixed by Grammy winner Steve Remote, who runs Aura Sonic Ltd.
"I can't believe we’ve received big offers from collectors for an original pressing of our single of "Information/Alors Allez" in mint condition,” said Hunter, "and that was before it became part of MoMA's permanent collection. The cover photo was taken in my tiny East Village tenement two buildings down from the Hells Angels clubhouse."
Galvanized by the MoMA show, Hunter began tracking down band members still living in NYC and assembled a core line-up of original members featuring guitarist Jorge Arévalo Mateus, now in Brooklyn, and drummer Mick Oakleaf, who is still an East Village resident. Guest bass players include Shin Sakaino, Felice Rosser and Juan Sebastian Monsalve.
In 2019, Disturbed Furniture released a new five-song EP, Continuous Pleasures, on Arevarc Records. Produced by the core group of Mateus, Hunter and Oakleaf, it was recorded at Mighty Toad Recording and The Honey Jar in Brooklyn, with additional tracks done at Blighty Music Studios in Los Angeles. Continuous Pleasures features new recordings of some of the group's 1980s material and several new songs. The cover art is by Hunter's friend, Kenny Scharf.
This year, German label Mad Butcher Classics reissued the single "Information/Alors Allez" using a reproduction of the original cover art. The band is currently recording new songs for future release.
"Hit or Miss" is a 2019 single from 2019 that features footage from 1979...
Sunflowers beam
Friday, July 26, 2024
Feeling 'Blue'
The local band Homade released its first music video this past week... check out the punky twang of "Blue Fish" above... and follow @homade.nyc for updates about live shows, etc.
Saturday in the Park
The lineup features:
• Consumables — "Angular post-punk"
• Aux Blood — "Brooklyn-based post-hardcore noize"
• Clone — Their new album "embodies a raw and energetic punk ethos."
Updated: Suburban Speed has been added to the bill. They lead off at 2 p.m.
Up next: Puke Island Part 12 from Iconicide on Sunday... and the 36th annual Tompkins Square Riot Reunion via The Shadow on Aug. 3-4.
Who wants to live in the East Village (of Downingtown, Pa.)?
The East Village Home Collection includes The Tompkins. (This is a carriage home?...)
There is no mention of amenities that might include a dog run, out-of-order restrooms, a hidden mini pool, and intermittent police presence.
And a map... (Not sure how they pronounce their Houston Street)...
Said the reader, who, like Miles Teller, originally hails from Downingtown: "Because nothing evokes EV history like a two-car garage carriage home."
Here's what's coming next to the Orpheum Theatre on 2nd Avenue
Tickets have been on sale since the spring... the marquee just hasn't been changed yet. Previews start Sept. 14 ... with an Oct. 1 opening day and a Jan. 19 close.
The synopsis!
Stacey wakes up after a night of heavy drinking and finds herself trapped in an Off-Broadway Golden Age musical. Forced to put her musical theatre degree in action, Stacey has to figure out how to escape this singing and dancing prison in front of a live audience.
"Stomp" ended its 29-year reign at the Orpheum in January 2023. The most recent shows by Rachel Bloom and Eddie Izzard saw the Orpheum return to its roots in the 1980s and early 1990s when it hosted Off-Broadway productions like Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing," Eric Bogosian's "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll" and John Leguizamo's "Mambo Mouth."
Indian restaurant up next for 202 Avenue A
202 Avenue A photo from May
The East Village will soon be home to another Indian dining option.
The owners of Gazab on Essex Street (just south of Houston) are opening a new venture called Jhakaas at 202 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.
According to the Commercial Observer, Gazab Executive Chef and founder Vamshi Adi will also be running Jhakaas.
The 3,000-square-foot space hadn't been on the market for very long: Kōbo by Nai quietly closed in the spring after arriving in late 2022.
The address, 202 Avenue A, which has a tragic past, received a horizontal and vertical enlargement several years back, adding two floors to the building.
Hottie Lash checks into 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
While it sounds like a solid roller derby name, this is a salon for eyelash extensions, which takes over the address from Taiji Body Work.
Previously, 8-Bit and Up, the retro video shop, was upstairs before moving to Third Street in the fall of 2013.
And as we've posted before... this 1990s upstairs-downstairs combo...
The above photo is by Barry Joseph and was published in Ada Calhoun's book "St. Marks Is Dead."
P.S.
The Gap was on the ground floor from 1988 to 2001.
Openings: Saperavi on 14th Street
The new signage better showcases what's available — a "Georgian eatery and wine bar." (From the outside, Mealz had more of a generic cafe vibe, and the quality took some people by surprise.)
Like Mealz, Saperavi has an all-day cafe menu featuring several Georgian entrees. Hours: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Mealz debuted in October 2022.
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
A postponement for tonight's screening of 'Little Fugitive' in Tompkins Square Park
Read more about the film series here.RESCHEDULED! Due to inclement weather, we have rescheduled our showing of the Little Fugitive for August 5th at 8:00 PM. See you there! pic.twitter.com/3FDXvMQONE
— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) July 23, 2024
'Make Me Famous,' a documentary on 1980s-era East Village-based painter Edward Brezinski, finally gets an East Village screening
Starting on Saturday, Village East by Angelika will screen the film three times at the theater on Second Avenue and 12th Street.
"Make Me Famous" is:
... a madcap romp through the 1980s NYC art scene amid the colorful career of painter, Edward Brezinski, hell-bent on making it. What begins as an investigation into Brezinski's legacy and mysterious disappearance becomes a sharp, witty portrait of NYC’s 1980s downtown art scene resulting in an irresistible snapshot of an unknown artist who captures the spirit of an iconic era.
Director Brian Vincent and Producer Heather Spore will be at the following screenings with these special guests:
• July 27, 5 p.m.
Photographer Marcia Resnick, photographer Josef Astor, archival cinematographer Jim C
• July 31, 7 p.m.
Filmmaker and photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and curator and archivist Sur Rodney (Sur)
• Aug. 1, 7 p.m.
Artist Peter McGough and Basquiat's first gallerist Annina Nosei
Find ticket information here.
Brezinski and CLICK models for NY TALK Magazine, 1984, photo by Jonathan Postal
From 543 E. Sixth St.: B-Side Gallery Opening, 1984, photo by Gary Azon
In the past year, I've been in touch with Spore and Vincent (past posts here). I asked them both to comment on the film's EV premiere.
Heather
Our dream was to open in the neighborhood, but when you do your own theatrical run with no help from a distributor, you have to roll with the punches. Our indie documentary has had an incredible yet unprecedented run in theaters going now for over a year.
Back in the 1980s, indie cinemas were more likely to take chances on local filmmakers, and films often had long runs. Does anybody remember "Basket Case"? First-time director Frank Henenlotter shot it locally in 1982 and ran for several years at the Waverly Cinema (now IFC).
"Make Me Famous" has defied the odds in this current film landscape and maintained a presence in New York City for over a year. We might very well be the most successful film you have never heard of! I can't believe it took us a whole year to screen in the neighborhood we dreamed of starting at!
The major New York press turned their backs on us because we had an unconventional run. This was surprising to us, considering this really is a love letter to the creativity that burst out of the Lower East Side in the 1980s. Although it would have been nice to be in The New York Times — we made it without them.
I feel like our journey of DIY distribution has been very apropos, considering the artists of 1980s East Village followed the same path, really. They did it themselves, and look at what they accomplished!
Brian
I am a Juilliard-trained actor who was too young to experience the 1980s scene. I discovered it through books like Cynthia Carr's "Fire in the Belly" about David Wojnarowicz. So, I looked for a story that explores this era, when young people made their own scene after being rejected by the mainstream.
In the 1980s, NYC was broke, rent was dirt cheap, and anyone could act out their bohemian fantasies — and they did by the hundreds! As actor Eric Bogosian recalls, "The premium was on who could do the most creative things."
In "Make Me Famous," thanks to the artists and gallerists who lived it, we return to "the scene of the crime," as the artists like to call it. And thanks to their fantastic video/artwork and photographs, the audience is immersed in the gritty action. Only we take an unusual path. Instead of documenting the famous artists for the millionth time, our story revolves around an obscure, mysterious, and charismatic painter from the scene, Edward Brezinski, whose career, in many ways, parallels the rise and fall of the scene.
The doc is not intended to be a promo but rather an opportunity to experience what it was like to be a striving artist back then. It was a NYC moment that captured the world's attention, produced some of its biggest stars, and then exploded into history like a supernova.
And the official trailer...
Openings: Crepe City on Avenue A
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Crepe City debuted at 199 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street earlier this month.
I stopped by for a friends and family soft opening, and met owner Abdulnaser Alzokari (pictured below in the tie with staff).
After operating most recently as an unlicensed weed shop, this storefront was home to the first outpost of Mikey Likes It Ice Cream from 2013 to 2022.
We spotted Mikey here this past Sunday handing out free scoops for National Ice Cream Day.
Amid pending litigation, Memphis Seoul closes its outpost on 1st Avenue
Photos last Thursday by Steven
Memphis Seoul has closed its East Village location at 123 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place after 11 months.
An Instagram post from last week alleges the "gross negligence" of co-landlord J&M Realty Services for the loss of gas service (which has yet to be restored) two days into the shop's renovation last year.
The post says that Memphis Seoul has pending litigation against the landlord.
In April, Memphis Seoul (founded by former New York Post sportswriter Bart Hubbuch) filed a $500,000 lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court for alleged breach of contract, tenant harassment, fraud and misrepresentation against the building's landlord, Lunar Estates, LLC d/b/a Lunar Estates.
Public records show that Lunar Estates, LLC, bought the property in early 2022 for $4.3 million. (Public records show that the listed owner of Lunar Estates LLC is Won Moon, an orthodontist based in Orange County, California.)
Meanwhile, this past Thursday, a marshal also posted a notice on the storefront stating that the landlord has legal possession of the premises.
The quick-serve establishment serves "Southern cookin' with a Korean kick!" ... offering the comfort food of the South with the spices and sauces familiar to Korean food.
The original Memphis Seoul remains in service in Crown Heights. According to the Instagram post from last week, a new Lower East Side outpost is in the works.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Tuesday's parting shot
A world premiere for the documentary on pioneering LES performance artist Arleen Schloss
Stuart Ginsberg, director and producer, shared information about the screening, which will take place at the 12th annual NYC Chain Film Festival on Friday at 8 p.m. Location: 312 W. 36th St. between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Find ticket info here.
And bout the film:
"It's A to Z: The Art of Arleen Schloss" delves into the life and work of Arleen Schloss, a pioneering artist who heavily influenced the Downtown New York art scene. Known for her innovative work, Schloss has been a vital part of the avant-garde movement since the 1970s. The documentary features interviews with notable musicians, artists, and curators such as Alan Vega of Suicide, Eric Bogosian, Elodie Lauten, Phoebe, Legere, and Gracie Mansion, (Sur) Rodney Sur, as well as archival interviews with John Cage, Timothy Leary, and Glenn Branca.Schloss was one of the first performance artists to perform at the Museum of Modern Art and made experimental sound and video work throughout her art career. She is known in the New York Art Loft scene for A's, Schloss's iconic loft space that became a hub for the New York City underground and avant-garde scenes. A's was a breeding ground for creativity and experimentation, where artists from various disciplines came together to push the boundaries of art, music, and performance."I became intrigued by Arleen Schloss' story and about how hundreds, if not thousands, of artists in various disciplines owed their success, in part, to Arleen," Ginsberg said. "She typically embraced emerging forms and processes before they fully broke through, including performance art, spoken word art, video art, mail art, cyber art, lasers, and virtually any kind of technology that generated new possibilities."
East Village favorite International Bar reopens on Monday
Photo yesterday by Stacie Joy
The bar's Instagram account posted the reopening date yesterday (see below).
Back in the spring, the iBar folks told us that paperwork snafu was behind the closure, which seemed to last longer than some regulars expected.
In any event, it's a most welcomed return.
The hours after the reopening will remain the same: 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily.
Death of developer sheds light on status of new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue; 'The project is entirely on spec'
The story of NYC developer Brandon Miller, who died after being found unconscious in the garage of his $8 million Water Mill home, has become tabloid fodder in recent weeks. (A cause of not has not ben made public.)
Many of the stories focused on the lavish lifestyle that the 43-year-old Miller led with his wife, Candice Miller, a blogger and Instagram influencer, and two children who shuttled between their $50,000-per-month Upper East Side rental apartment and a Hamptons home in Water Mill with a collection of classic cars.Brandon Miller loved the high life. A Park Avenue home. An influencer wife. Vacations in Paris. A real estate inheritance. Then he was found dead.https://t.co/P8k5Hqokag
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 13, 2024
There is a local real-estate angle in the story.
According to The Real Deal, Miller inherited the commercial and residential real estate firm Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) from his father, shopping mall tycoon Michael Miller, who died in 2016. (The younger Miller joined the firm in 2004)
Per TRD: "It came out after the elder Miller’s death that he had allegedly told his assistant to forge Brandon's signature on loan documents related to a condo project, according to court records."
The many REEC investments under Brandon Miller's watch weren't paying off either. He was reportedly $17 million in debt to friends and facing several lawsuits when he died, according to published reports.
In November 2017, REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the assemblage on the NW corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue for nearly $150 million. The Gabay family had owned the buildings for generations. (There were other suitors for the property.)
The previous buildings here, which included retail tenants such as Korilla BBQ, the Continental and McDonald's, were demolished in the summer of 2019 to make way for an office building.
There was a lot of drama surrounding the size of the building (flashback), and work was stopped for 10 months as Madison Capital Realty tried foreclosing on the property in 2021. Foundation work finally started in late August 2022 — this after crews and equipment were assembled here in the summer of 2020.
From the story last Thursday at TRD about 1-3 St. Mark's Place:
...but progress was slow. Before foundations were even dug, Madison Capital Realty tried foreclosing on the property in 2021. Parkview Financial rescued the project with a $70 million refinance the following year.
Only the third and final tier of the nine-story building is still under construction. But as the building nears completion, 24 percent of Manhattan offices remain vacant, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report, and for the first time since 2021, no new construction or full renovations of offices were completed last quarter.
REEC recently fell behind on loan payments at the project, Parkview Financial CEO Paul Rahimian told TRD, and there are not yet tenants for the building's retail or office space. "The project is entirely on spec," Rahimian said.Elsewhere on the Lower East Side, REEC took over the leasehold at 156-166 Bowery, a 15,000-square-foot assemblage just south of Delancey, in a deal valued at $50 million.
Per TRD:
In 2022, the firm filed plans for a 73,000-square-foot mixed-use commercial building and landed a $60.5 million loan from Raven Capital Management, according to property records.
But progress at that property appears to have stalled.
Said Parkview's Rahimian: "We think there will be demand for new offices in such a popular neighborhood, and we were surprised like everyone else to learn about what had happened [with Miller]."
Someone wrapped this tree on 14th Street in lights — and no one knows who or why
Beauty Bar bartender Brock Michael Napoli said the lighting happened sometime after his shift this past Sunday at 3 a.m.
"Nobody knows who did it," he told us. "All we saw on our security cams was a person in a box truck thingy with a lift."
For now it's a mystery... so might as well enjoy it...
Top photo via Brock Michael Napoli
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