• TLK by Tigerlily Kitchen closing as demolition looms on 3rd Avenue (Saturday)
• 2 members of Team USA are featured in this local band's new music video (Tuesday)
• About the Show Brain Festival 2024 in Tompkins Square Park (Friday)
• Have you been to the new location of Sammy's Roumanian Steak House? (Thursday)
• Elisa's Love Bites closes its 9th Street storefront (Wednesday)
• The summer of stolen plaques continues with thefts at New York Marble Cemetery, the former Club 57 (Tuesday) ... The plague of plaque thefts (Thursday)
• Manhattan's first medicinal marijuana dispensary is now for lease on 14th Street (Monday)
• Coming attractions: Korean rice bowls for 309 E. Houston St. (Tuesday)
• Grand openings: G's Cheesesteaks on Avenue B at Houston (Monday)
• 14th Street's twinkling lights tree returns to its roots (Tuesday)
• Sidewalk bridge removal reveals a business closure on 1st Avenue (Monday)
... and the National Night Out Against Crime took place this past Tuesday. Here are a few scenes from the annual community-building campaign at the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street (photos by Stacie Joy).
The closing arrives as demolition looms for six buildings on the west side of the avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street.
Despite being on a desolate-looking stretch of Third Avenue with neighboring boarded-up retail spaces, TLK cheerfully remained in service this year mid-block, offering solid, veggie-friendly cuisine.
Owner Michelle Morgan's menu draws inspiration from her mother, who was born in Hong Kong, and her travels throughout Asia.
In announcing the closing date on Instagram, TLK also reported that they will continue with delivery and catering along with a pop-up dinner residency this fall on the Lower East Side (you can follow their Instagram account for updates)...
TLK opens today and tomorrow at 2 p.m. (Reservations here.)
As we first reported, a residential complex is expected to rise along this parcel — 50-64 Third Ave.
Only one building will remain on the block after the demolition — 48 Third Ave., the 5-story property owned by Isfahany Realty Corp. on the northwest corner of 10th Street with Healthy Greens Gourmet in the retail space.
Downed tree this afternoon on First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street — photo via EVG reader Danimal... was it a victim of today's high winds ... or a car/truck...?
Photo from last week on 14th Street looking west from Avenue A
Mayor Adams yesterday unveiled the 14th Street Community Improvement Coalition, a multi-city-agency approach to address the quality-of-life issues along the problematic corridor between Avenue A and First Avenue and surrounding streets.
A centerpiece of the plan includes the previously announced $1 million investment in a new Mobile Command Center, which will soon arrive on 14th Street. (The mayor said the command center will not be permanent.)
Adams made the announcement while flanked by a host of city administrators representing the NYPD, the FDNY, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), and the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene (DOHMH), and local elected officials. (You can watch the entire press conference below.)
"When we came into office, we had a clear mission: protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make our city more affordable and livable, and the '14th Street Community Improvement Coalition' precisely addresses these concerns — enhancing quality of life and making the East Village safer," Adams said at a press conference inside the 14th Street Y. "Our administration does not and will not tolerate an atmosphere where anything goes."
Since the stabbings, the NYPD has been a regular presence on the block, both on foot patrols and in patrol cars.
The NYPD also installed three light towers south of 14th Street between A and First. Residents have said they've seen improvements along the block.
Per Adams, the city formed the multi-agency coalition to tackle the complicated convergence of public safety issues, including illegal vending, retail theft, substance use and sales, the mental health crisis, and unlicensed cannabis shops.
In recent weeks, teams from various city agencies have conducted walkthroughs to observe these issues firsthand and engage with local community members and businesses. They have also identified individuals needing services, such as housing or medical care, and referred them to the appropriate city agencies.
To further enhance communication, the 9th and 13th Precincts have launched a WhatsApp chat with business owners along the East 14th Street corridor. The chat allows for real-time identification and resolution of concerns.
Adams outlined the following actions:
Conducting weekly NYPD operations to address homeless encampments, vendors, and persons needing assistance.
Assigning a dedicated NYPD foot post to address quality-of-life issues and maintain a visible presence along the commercial corridor of 14th
Affixing mobile light fixtures to sustain visibility.
Servicing litter baskets daily on all three DSNY shifts and addressing homeless encampments.
Deploying DSNY graffiti clean-up crews to remove graffiti on private property.
Ensuring availability of mental health units and homeless services outreach teams to support people in need of mental health support through DOHMH and DHS.
"This is not a problem that's going to come back to this area," Adams said emphatically. "What we saw here is not acceptable. This is not the city that we deserve. We deserve better, we're going to get better, but we're clear on the complexities of the problems that we're facing."
During the Q&A period with reporters, District 2 City Councilmember Carlina Rivera fielded a question about the weekend flea market at Immaculate Conception on 14th Street at First Avenue, which some residents said contributes to the quality-of-life issues.
The flea market moved to 14th Street in the fall of 2012 when the Mary Help of Christians property on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street turned into luxury housing courtesy of Douglas Steiner.
As Rivera explained, the market wasn't a good fit for the space that Immaculate Conception had available.
"It was already too large for this space, so that market spilled onto the street, and people started attaching themselves to [it], saying they were affiliated with it when they were not. So it quickly did get out of control," she said.
Rivera said officials have talked with church leaders and the Archdiocese of New York, though no action has been taken on their behalf.
"They are relying on the revenue from that market to help sustain them," Rivera said. "So while the flea market continues, we are looking toward maybe suspending it, finding a different location, or using other means for the church to [generate] revenue. Because it's not working.
"We brought in the Street Vendor Project to try to organize the vendors. That has not worked. We've brought in faith-based institutions and clergy to speak to people," she continued. "So we've tried so many different approaches and perspectives, but really ... the corridor is just way too busy and there are too many things happening on it for us to have that market continue in the capacity that it is."
The press portion of yesterday's presentation begins at the 37-minute mark...
H/T Edmund John Dunn!
Previously on EV Grieve:
• A look at 14th Street this morning after the triple stabbing and homicide (June 24)
• NYPD light tower arrives on a cleaned-up SE corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue (June 27)
• A look at 14th Street and 1st Avenue — 'a New York Block No One Can Fix' (July 10)
• From the archives: A documentary short about the intersection of 14th Street and 1st Avenue (July 11)
Ruby/Dakota debuted late last month at 155 E. Second St., just east of Avenue A.
Hannah Studnick operates the gallery and performance space.
"It has been a lifelong dream of mine to open a gallery in Alphabet City, the neighborhood my maternal grandfather was born in, the same place where my first cousin returned many years later and founded C-Squat," Studnick told EVG. "After my twin sister Emma's untimely passing in 2018, my whole world broke open. I slowly started moving toward this physical and emotional space of 'Gallerist.'"
The retail space, whose tenants have included the previous home of School for the Dogs, was the lone storefront that Studnick saw on her EV retail tour.
"In the end, the gallery found me. It was the only space I looked at," she said. "I knew from the moment I walked in this was Ruby/Dakota, a name that manifested from a distant memory — the names my mother would have given us if she had chosen more wisely."
Featured works include "East Village Date Night" by Lee Smith...
Other artists in the show include Kate Awalt-Conley ...
... Sacha Alexandra ...
... and Julia Justo ...
Ruby/Dakota is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays and Mondays are by appointment. The gallery's website has contact information and details on other events in the space. (If you're on Instagram, you can find updates here.)
"I do this for my twin sister Emma, my family, myself, and most importantly, the living artists of New York City, who do deserve our support, who make this place alive, and the greatest city on earth, naturally," Studnick said. "Through this room of my own, I am able to tell the truth as I see it and allow so many wonderful artists to share theirs, too. It is an honor and a privilege. I am so grateful to be here. "
We've always appreciated the no-frills, old-school dining experience at Little Poland, located at 200 Second Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street.
Little Poland, around since 1985, is the last of its kind in this neighborhood. Its longevity is a testament to its quality and reliability. (Remedy Diner is fine, but it's no Little Poland.)
We stopped by between the lunch and dinner shifts on a recent summer day. There were a few people at tables by the front windows (and eventually, two brave souls sat outside in the heat).
There's quick and efficient table service, decent prices and breakfast specials until noon (well, 11:59 a.m.) And, per the menu: "The food we serve is as good, as music of Chopin." (We know that extra comma.)
Next year marks the diner's 40th anniversary. We need more places like Little Poland, and we hope that it can celebrate many more anniversaries here.
Little Poland is open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Get them a call: (212) 777-9728.
However, since opening at its new home, 112 Stanton St., between Essex and Ludlow, we haven't heard too much (where are the reader reports?) about the NYC institution that spent 47 years through the start of the pandemic serving up ice-encased vodka, smeared pitchers of schmaltz and enormous platters of meat from the lower level at 151 Chrystie St.
Sammy's announced its closure in January 2021, vowing to return to the neighborhood.
In June, Matthew Schneier, chief restaurant critic at New York Magazine,wrote that "things are as they ever were."
These photos are from before Sammy's opened for service for the evening—even before the bottles of schmaltz were placed on all the tables and Dani Luv fired up the keyboards.
It's hard to replicate a classic, as Schneier noted.
All is not identical. Sammy's now finds itself at street level, though it approximates the cave quality of the original by covering its front windows. The room is long, narrow, and black, like a high-school black-box theater, albeit with some of the worst acoustics I have ever experienced in a restaurant. It was so hard to hear that everyone at my table spent the entire meal screaming in vain at one another, in the great Jewish tradition.
Still: "Forty-nine years after its founding, Sammy's is a tradition unto itself."
Sammy's expanded the hours of service earlier in the summer.
The listed hours are Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 4-11 p.m., with an 11:30 p.m. close on Fridays and Saturdays.
Sammy's does reservations (recommended) the old-fashioned way: 1-646-410-2427 or sammys157@yahoo.com
The New York Timeshad more details on the noon-time theft of the marker outside the historic New York Marble Cemetery on Second Avenue.
"The heist took 13 minutes 58 seconds, from the moment the man in the gray T-shirt appeared to the moment when he walked away, having slipped the loot into a backpack he slung over his shoulder."
We posted a photo of the alleged suspect captured on surveillance video here.
(Thanks to the Times for linking to our coverage of previous plaque thefts. It's nice to see, as too many local news sites pretend they were the first to report on a story. Also, H/T Bayou.)
The Associated Press also has a piece specifically on Village Preservation-placed markers, the one outside the one-time home of the Fillmore East that we first reported on ... and one on 13th Street for Anaïs Nin.
Another honoring Elizabeth Blackwell at the former home of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children at 58 Bleecker St. was removed but left on the sidewalk for whatever reason.
As you likely guessed, there is a market for scrap metal, "part of a disturbing trend that includes the theft of a statue of Jackie Robinson from a park in Kansas," according to the AP.
Meanwhile, in the comments on Tuesday, an EVG reader noted the double plaque theft from outside the accounting-legal office at 55 Avenue A (see photo above).
As the prospering pothole enters another month (flashback) on Second Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, attempts to warn incoming traffic continue in earnest.
First, there was a trash receptacle, then an orange reflective traffic cone, and then someone added some wood pallets. After a vehicle crushed part of a pallet, there's now an orange barrier.
You can't miss the brightly painted, all-green slender storefront at 89 Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.
I paused to admire the façade before heading inside to talk to musician and songwriter Rob Taube, owner of community music studio Groove Garden.
He's surrounded by kids, all participating in the Song Camp program. Some are tucked into the sound booth, a couple at the drum kits, and even more crowded around a mic.
It's a hot, swampy summer day, but the energy in the small space is contagious. I took a few photos and waited until the recording session ended before chatting with Rob about what brought him to this location, his passion for music, and why he loves the neighborhood.
On his start as a music teacher:
Somewhere in the 2010s, I decided to take on a few music students and produce some recordings to help make ends meet. I had no idea what the resulting influx would be, and soon, I had more students and musical clients than I could handle in our tiny apartment, which was now constantly overflowing with players and singers.
On finding a home for Groove Garden:
Funds were tight, but the NYCHA rental guy guided me to this small space tucked between two brick buildings on Avenue C. It was naturally soundproofed due to the bricks, and it had an old closet space in the back with some odd pieces of wood and junk in it, which I immediately saw as a potential sound booth. It was kind of an "if you build it, they will come" moment.
And over the last seven years, they have come to take music lessons, write and record songs, rap, and jam — so much so that it's hard to keep up. I'm not here 24/7, but I am more like 12/7, teaching them, recording them, and performing with them live and on their tracks.
On spreading the word about his business:
100% of my business comes from word-of-mouth or from people who walk by and say, "What is this place?" So often, they are creative artists who need a place to create, and the fact that I'm right here in a storefront makes the whole process so accessible they actually can wind up with their stuff out there in the world when otherwise it would have died in the vine as they went about their lives.
On being in this neighborhood:
For me, this could only happen in the East Village, where there is such a crazy quilt of businesses and characters that someone like me, who has lived as an outsider, can thrive.
Even when I lived elsewhere, I loved this neighborhood for its eccentric characters, and now I'm one of them — how amazing is that?
You can hear some of the finished products from the studio at this link... and this link.
Several readers have noted the for-lease sign hanging in the window at Elisa's Love Bites, the gluten-free dessert shop at 441 E. Ninth St. just west of Avenue A.
The storefront is now closed... though, based on a recent Instagram post (see below), we're guessing that the business will continue in service online at the very least.
After nearly four years in Brooklyn, owner-pastry Elisa Lyew moved to this storefront in March 2020. Elisa's Love Bites had its fans (the imported coffee from Panama was a hit).
And were were just at Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street where they played a solid pre-storm set featuring Eddie Grant, Fleetwood Mac and Irene Cara. What a feeling!
