Sammy's Halal reopens on 1st Avenue

Photos by Steven 

We thought Sammy was a goner. 

Sammy's Halal looked all but closed in the spring, with boxes stacked inside the front window. The space was dark for weeks. 

And then we saw some activity this month ... then Sammy's Halal reopened last week at 109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street with new signage and interior design. 

The counter in the previous space was in the back, and it didn't look inviting to enter. Now, you can order right inside the front door. There are also a few seats for dining.

You can check out the Sammy's menu here. 

The Sammy's signage first arrived in January 2018... taking over the address from Polish G. I. Delicatessen, the Eastern European specialty foods shop that closed in July 2017 after 21 years in business.

Monday's parting shot

As seen on the steps of Sara D. Roosevelt Park along Houston at Chrystie. We're not sure what this performance art piece — featuring a naked man and woman, who was wrapped in barbed wire — was about. Richard Megna shared the photo, noting the two were standing in silence.

Farewell to the Astor Place Starbucks, now officially closed

Updated with a comment from Starbucks HQ below...

Updated 4:30 p.m.: Through a spokesperson, ASG Equities, the landlord at 21 Astor, said that they offered Starbucks a lease extension at exactly the same rent:

ASG is appreciative of Starbucks' decades-long tenancy at 21 Astor.  We are sad they chose to leave, even as we offered a lease extension that would have allowed them to remain in their existing space at the exact same rent. This corner on top of the Astor Place subway has extensive glass frontage, tremendous signage, and incredible foot traffic. We are quite confident that this space will be of interest to a wide range of community-oriented retailers.

-----

In case you missed our scoop from yesterday... the Starbucks on Astor Place closed after service last evening.

By early this morning, workers had removed the Starbucks signage and papered over the windows of this retail space they've been in for nearly 30 years. 

As of 7 a.m., there was no note to potential patrons about a closure or where to find the nearest Starbucks. 

On Saturday, a manager told EVG's Stacie Joy that "the landlords jacked up the rent so astronomically high that even corporate Starbucks couldn't pay it." The manager said that all employees were offered relocation options with other Starbucks. (We also contacted the Starbucks HQ in Seattle for comment.)

This outpost was the 11th Starbucks to open in the city. The spacious 4,000-square-foot SB debuted on March 30, 1995 — a year before the Kmart arrived across Eighth Street. Other key dates in this SB's history: it underwent a major renovation in 2018 ... and unionized in 2022. (The North 7th Street unionized location in Williamsburg closed earlier this summer. We contacted the Starbucks Workers United union as well.)

Regardless of your thoughts about the brand, many people seemed to have a story about this prime people-watching outpost.

While there are ample available storefronts in the immediate area, we'd think that a brand entering the NYC market would want to snap up this high-profile location ... like Raising Cane's, which looks to be doing well since opening last September in the former Walgreens on the opposite corner. 

Updated 11:15 a.m. 

A statement from a spokesperson at Starbucks:

Effective July 29, 2024, our Lafayette & 8th St store, also known as Astor Place, in Manhattan will close permanently. We have engaged Workers United to collaborate on the next steps, including transfer options, for the 17 partners currently employed at this location.​

As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate our store portfolio, using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers. We do not take the decision to close stores lightly. Our relationship with our customers is deeply personal, and we are honored to have been on Astor Place. ​

We hope our customers will use the Starbucks Store Locator to find other nearby locations. 

The closest stores include​: 

• Broadway & Bond – 665 Broadway 

• ​ NYU 4th & Washington Sq E – 45 West 4th St.

•​ 15th & 3rd – 145 3rd Ave.

ICYMI: Mount Sinai receives conditional approval from the state to close Beth Israel

This past Thursday, the New York State Department of Health conditionally approved Mount Sinai's quest to close Beth Israel. 

According to Health Department officials, Mount Sinai must operate a new 24/7 urgent care center near the hospital on First Avenue at 16th Street for at least three months and reach an agreement with New York City Health + Hospitals to invest in expanding Bellevue Hospital's emergency room and psychiatric emergency department. 

Politico's Maya Kaufman first reported on the latest development here: 

"The conditional approval of the closure plan submitted by Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital is based on careful and extensive review of the plan and delineates several conditions to help ensure that patients receive quality care at nearby hospitals and other primary care providers," Department of Health spokesperson Erin Clary said in a statement to Politico. 

A Mount Sinai spokesperson did not provide a new tentative closure date for Beth Israel, saying the hospital will "remain open and accepting patients" for the time being, per NY1. 

Mount Sinai's plan to close on July 12 was previously postponed. 

The Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary's lawsuit is still pending. A Mount Sinai spokesperson said they hope for an expedited review of the case. 

Crain's reported that Mount Sinai "has spent at least $72,000 in the last year to lobby state health officials about its plans" to shutter the facility.

Community activists pointed to the lobbying behind Mount Sinai's closing push in a statement. 

We are shocked and deeply dismayed that New York State Health Commissioner James McDonald has succumbed to a high-pressure lobby campaign by Mount Sinai Health System to approve the closure of Beth Israel Medical Center without even agreeing to meet with community leaders and members and our local elected public officials, despite long-standing requests. 

Commissioner McDonald's action will now turn much of Lower Manhattan into yet another hospital desert in our city, leaving tens of thousands of people without access to hospital care. We call on him to immediately rescind and reconsider his decision and then sit down with us to hear our concerns, something he has so far refused to do. 

The "conditions" Commissioner McDonald has attached to his approval provide meaningless protections for Lower Manhattan residents and workers — they would be laughable were the results not so serious. 

Meanwhile, on Friday evening, local elected officials spoke out about the decision to allow Beth Israel to close, saying the conditions fall well short of providing the assurances "our communities need and deserve"...

My colleagues and I reviewed the State Department of Health's conditional approval of the Mount Sinai Beth Israel closure. Here is our statement on the Department's decision: pic.twitter.com/XtcpGsraTU

— NYS Senator Brian Kavanagh 卡范納 (@BrianKavanaghNY) July 26, 2024

In the spring, The New York Times reported that patient care was suffering at Beth Israel, where cuts have meant the hospital can't care for critically ill new arrivals. 

Mount Sinai officials have previously said Beth Israel lost $1 billion in the last decade, and only $29 million remains in cash reserves. 

Beth Israel was founded 143 years ago on the Lower East Side and moved to its current location in 1929.

Report: Whole Foods leasing the former Associated space on 14th Street in Stuy Town

Another grocery option is coming to 14th Street. 

According to the Post, Whole Foods signed a lease for a new store at the former Associated Supermarket space on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The tabloid did not know what type of market this might be for the 20,000-square-foot space, where renovations have been taking place in recent months. There's the usual Whole Foods as seen west on 14th Street, or one of its smaller-format Whole Foods Market Daily Shops set to arrive in NYC later this year. 

As you may recall, in February 2021, Stuy Town management informed residents that Chef's Local Harvest, a 10,000-square-foot grocery store, would open in this space ... from the father-son duo Paul and Aaron Fernandez, who helped create the Union Market chainlet (as seen on Avenue A and Houston) and Ideal Marketplace in Chelsea. 

Associated closed in December 2019. Joseph Falzon, the store's owner, previously told Crain's that a confluence of factors had cut business nearly in half. For starters, construction on 14th Street for the L train obscured the supermarket with a 12-foot fence for nearly two years. 

This block of 14th Street is a chain-friendly corridor (despite the ongoing quality-of-life issues) with a Wingstop, European Wax Center. Domino's, Trader Joe's, Popeyes and Target. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• No new grocery now for the former Associated space on 14th Street in Stuy Town

The J. Crew-Jack's Coffee combo has opened in NoHo

Multiple readers pointed out that the J. Crew opened this past Thursday on the SE corner of Lafayette and Bond. (We first noted the signage alert in May 2023.) 

According to WWD, this JC is "primarily focused on the brand's men’s collection but with some space for select women's items." This outpost includes a Jack's Coffee branch.

This debut comes after the bespoke J. Crew men's shop with a coffee shop on the SW corner of the Bowery and Bleecker closed at the end of 2023 after 15 months. 

Back to WWD: 

Over the last several years J. Crew, amid difficult sales trends, cut its store count almost in half, from more than 200 to about 112. But in a December 2023 interview with WWD, J. Crew Group chief executive officer Libby Wadle underscored the importance of brick-and-mortar stores, saying, "The best representation of the brand needs to be in the stores. It's how we are merchandising the stores today. It’s how we are thinking about investment in our stores. We have a smaller footprint, but these stores are in our best markets. We will invest in them to make sure they feel really fresh."

Aoi Kitchen closes on 6th Street; owners announce new concept for the space

Aoi Kitchen wrapped up nearly five years of service at 320 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue last night. 

In an Instagram post about the closure, the owners of the Japanese Yoshoku restaurant announced a new concept: 

... as one chapter ends, another begins. We are thrilled to share that we will be reopening as a wine bar (aiming to open in the middle of August). Our new venture will allow us to continue our passion for hospitality in a fresh and exciting way. We invite you to join us in this new journey, where we will offer a carefully curated selection of fine wines and a warm, inviting atmosphere. 

Eater's Robert Sietsema gave Aoi high marks ... and it brought stability to an address that had seen a whirlwind of restaurants in a short time, including 'Merica.

Sunday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Delivery services expanding their offerings?

Week in Grieview

Posts that past week included (with a photo from 2nd and B by Stacie Joy)... 

• East Village mainstay Katinka is closing after 45 years on 9th Street (Monday) 

• Scoop: After nearly 30 years, Starbucks is closing its Astor Place location (Sunday) 

• 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' (Tuesday) 

• 'Make Me Famous,' a documentary on 1980s-era East Village-based painter Edward Brezinski, finally gets an East Village screening (Wednesday) 

• A world premiere for the documentary on pioneering LES performance artist Arleen Schloss (Tuesday)

• East Village favorite International Bar is reopening (Tuesday) 

• Here's a chance to see vintage East Village band Disturbed Furniture perform live (Saturday) 

• Who wants to live in the East Village (of Downingtown, Pa.)? (Friday) ... Meanwhile, at a Forever 21 in San Diego (Thursday) 

• Openings: Crepe City on Avenue A (Wednesday) ... G's Cheesesteaks on Houston and Avenue B (Monday) 

• Bands we like: Francie Moon (Sunday) 

• Someone wrapped this tree on 14th Street in lights — and no one knows who or why (Tuesday) 

• Amid pending litigation, Memphis Seoul closes its outpost on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) ... Boulton & Watt has closed (Monday) 

• Here's what's coming next to the Orpheum Theatre on 2nd Avenue (Friday) 

• A new taqueria for 221 2nd Ave. (Monday)

• Hottie Lash checks into 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Friday) 

• Indian restaurant up next for 202 Avenue A (Friday) 

• Signage alert: Loong Noodles on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• Openings: Saperavi on 14th Street (Friday) 

• First sign of Moody Tongue on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

... in our Boulton & Watt post this week, we noted that the brand is opening an outpost in Terminal 4 at JFK... EVG reader Joe noted later that the Brindle Room (11th and C) has a spot in Terminal 7...

Scoop: After nearly 30 years, Starbucks is closing its Astor Place location

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Photos from yesterday

Updated 7/29: See the end of the post for a statement from Starbucks HQ. The SB sign has also been removed from the retail space. Photo here.

Updated: Through a spokesperson, ASG Equities, the landlord at 21 Astor, said that they offered Starbucks a lease extension at exactly the same rent:

“ASG is appreciative of Starbucks’ decades-long tenancy at 21 Astor.  We are sad they chose to leave, even as we offered a lease extension that would have allowed them to remain in their existing space at the exact same rent. This corner on top of the Astor Place subway has extensive glass frontage, tremendous signage, and incredible foot traffic. We are quite confident that this space will be of interest to a wide range of community-oriented retailers.”

-----

Starbucks on Astor Place will close its doors for good after service today, ending nearly 30 years here outside the entrance to the downtown 6 at Lafayette. (H/T to the tipster who first shared this development.)

According to management, "the landlords jacked up the rent so astronomically high that even corporate Starbucks couldn't pay it." The manager said that all employees were offered relocation options with other Starbucks. (We also contacted the Starbucks HQ in Seattle for comment.)

The manager went on to say that he would miss this location's regulars and being part of their day. 

As of yesterday, the Astor Place shop had already scrubbed the brand's NYC location map...

This outpost was the 11th Starbucks to open in the city. The spacious 4,000-square-foot SB debuted on March 30, 1995 — a year before the Kmart arrived across Eighth Street. Other key dates in this SB's history: it underwent a major renovation in 2018 ... and unionized in 2022.

-----

--Updated--

Starbucks closed its unionized location on North 7th Street location in Williamsburg on June 30, per Greenpointers.

-----

With its floor-to-ceiling windows lined with high stools, the outpost was popular for its ample people-watching opportunities ... as well as convenient public restrooms. (Before the 2018 renovations, a one-star Yelp review from here noted: "The bathrooms look like they run a cockfighting ring out of them.")

Despite this closure, Starbucks still has smaller outlets on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place, First Avenue at Third Street, and First Avenue at 13th Street (not to mention locations on Union Square and University Place). 

Once upon a time, there were two Starbucks on Astor Place (plus one at Broadway and Ninth Street that shuttered in 2019)... the one at 51 Astor Place closed in 2009 and was replaced by the New York Film Academy Café. That iteration of the address was demolished in 2011 to make way for the Death Star.

Updated 7/29

A statement from a spokesperson at Starbucks:

Effective July 29, 2024, our Lafayette & 8th St store, also known as Astor Place, in Manhattan will close permanently. We have engaged Workers United to collaborate on the next steps, including transfer options, for the 17 partners currently employed at this location.​

As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate our store portfolio, using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers. We do not take the decision to close stores lightly. Our relationship with our customers is deeply personal, and we are honored to have been on Astor Place. ​

We hope our customers will use the Starbucks Store Locator to find other nearby locations. 

The closest stores include​: 

• Broadway & Bond – 665 Broadway 

• ​NYU 4th & Washington Sq E – 45 West 4th St.

•​15th & 3rd – 145 3rd Ave.

Saturday's parting shot

As seen on Fourth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Here's a chance to see vintage East Village band Disturbed Furniture perform live

Longtime East Village resident (and EVG reader) Sue Lashley shared information for the following post. Disclosure: She is married to Disturbed Furniture drummer Mick Oakleaf.

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

Annual appreciation to the community gardeners (and Tile Bar regulars) who keep this pedestrian safety island garden looking so good here on First Avenue at Seventh Street...

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

A four-band bill is slated for tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... via Show Brain and starting at 2 p.m. 

The lineup features:

• Skortz (we wrote about them here) 

• 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.)?

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about the East Village NYC t-shirts at a Forever 21 in San Diego... an EVG reader ups the stakes with this entire community development named East Village in bucolic 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

"The Big Gay Jamboree," described as "a new comedy trapped inside of a musical," is up next at the classic Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. (H/T Steven!)

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. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Big Gay Jamboree (@biggayjamboree)

"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

Hottie Lash is the new tenant for the second-level retail space on the northwest corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue (133 Second Ave., aka 37 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

There's a recent name change at 245 E. 14th St., where Mealz is now going as Saperavi here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to the EVG readers who shared this.) 

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.