Monday, August 19, 2024

9th Precinct issues headphone-theft warning

Photo via @NYPD9Pct

Auxiliary officers from the 9th Precinct distributed flyers last week reminding residents to remain aware of their surroundings while out walking. 

Per the 9th Precinct in an X post: "Recent thefts on 1st and 2nd Avenues involve thieves snatching pricey headphones. Keep an eye on your belongings." 

The 9th answered a resident's follow-up question by stating that the suspects were riding bikes and ripping off pedestrians' over-the-ear headphones. 

Perhaps headphone thefts will be a topic of conversation on Aug. 29 (4 p.m.) during the Build the Block community meeting for Sector D at the Third Street Music School, 235 E. 11th St., between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Sector D encompasses the north side of Seventh Street to the south side of 14th Street from the west side of First Avenue to the east side of Broadway. (Find your sector here.)

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Sunday's parting shot

St. Mark's Place at Avenue A right before this evening's downpour... the metropolitan area is in a Flash Flood Warning until 10:15 p.m.

Why you'll be shopping at Key Food on Avenue A without hearing a random song from the 1980s

EVG archival photo 
Reporting and videos by Stacie Joy

Shopping at Key Food has changed this past week since The Day the Music Died on Aug. 12. 

The PA system at the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street is out of order. 

For shoppers, you won't hear the store's playlist heavy on fringe-y late 1980s alternative hits and some other 1990s chestnuts. (I hear you, Paula Cole — and I Don't Want to Wait!

Aside from the music, the in-house intercom system is also down. So, you won't be interrupted by commands from above for Richie to pick up line 2 or calls about a delivery for the meat department.

Co-manager Dennis Acuna explained that technicians came to fix the intercom and music box (one controller unit for both systems) and found they needed to order a part for the repair. They hope the replacement part arrives soon so the system can be pumping out Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" and Stevie Nicks' "Rooms on Fire" SOON.

In the meantime, there is just deafening silence in the aisles.

   

"Imagine, you are [in the grocery] only for a little time," Acuna said. "We are here all the time — we miss it too." 

I spoke with a few staffers, some of whom were relieved the music was off temporarily, "It's kind of a relief; it's not as intense in here," said one cashier. Another employee said he missed stocking the shelves to music. 

For now, the only sounds are the moans of the Key Food ghosts, the relentless "please place the last scanned item on the scale" message at the self-checkouts, and the echoes of cases of White Claw being boosted.

 

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a tense moment 😾 outside Casey Rubber Stamps on 11th Street)

• The 4-year-old East Village Neighbors Community Fridge will no longer be in service on 12th Street and 1st Avenue (Friday

• Report of a DOA in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday

• Former research scientist tells all in solo comedy show at Under St Marks Theater (Thursday

• East Village musician Jesse Malin provides an update on his spinal stroke and thanks everyone for their ongoing support (Saturday

• 'Make Me Famous' receives an encore presentation at the Village East by Angelika (Tuesday)

• 50 years of the Ramones (Friday

• Waiting on the Hard Quartet video on St. Mark's Place and 1st Avenue (Monday

• A Bronx Brewery cheer for miniatures artist Danny Cortes on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday

• 'Street Leather,' the rat zine of your dreams, is now available (Tuesday

• Demolition watch: 50-64 Third Ave. (Monday

• Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the local Blink Fitness outposts will remain open (Thursday

• A look at the ongoing renovations at First Houses (Wednesday

• Reader report: the sloppy Joe from the Slopey Joe truck on 14th Street (Monday

• 'The Big Gay Jamboree' announces itself on the classic Orpheum marquee on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

• Building the ramp to the new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge (Thursday

• Tree down on 14th Street (Saturday

• Hoarding in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday

• More unlicensed weed shops shuttered, and one return (Monday)

• First sign of Ishq, a new Indian restaurant on Avenue A (Monday)

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

• The long-ass line this morning in the East Village for those viral chocolate muffins from the Olympic Village (Saturday

... and an X post about viral chocolate muffins goes viral...
Sunday has seen us enter the mock Americans phase...

Here's a look at the 12C Outdoor Gallery, now with a full slate of murals

The 12C Outdoor Gallery now stands complete. 

The final recent addition was created by Brandon Sines, who added his Frank Ape character to the mural lineup on the SW corner of 12th Street and Avenue C...
This link has more about the other recent murals here at the recently renovated 656 E. 12th St.
Robert Galinsky serves as 12C's curator.

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Saturday's parting shot

Early evening view from Avenue A and Houston...

A pop-up plant sale on 10th and A THIS afternoon

From the EVG inbox... 
There's a pop-up plant sale by longtime East Village fixture Peter Martin ... he will be offloading tropical tree-like plants, orchids, and more out of his van at hugely discounted prices. Today only on the NW corner of 10th Street and Avenue A until 6 p.m.

The long-ass line this morning in the East Village for those viral chocolate muffins from the Olympic Village

Photos by Steven 

"Muffin Mania" has descended upon the East Village. 

This morning, Isshiki Matcha at 138 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street is (was!) serving up the fudge-centered chocolate muffins that became a thing during the Paris Games. It started when Norwegian distance swimmer Henrik Christiansen posted some TikTok videos raving about the creations served at the Olympic Village. You know the rest!

So Isshiki Matcha said they "imported 300 muffins from Coup de Pates France, the actual supplier of the Olympic Village muffin."
The line started about 100 feet east on Saint Mark's, split into at least two lines on Second Avenue, and wrapped around Ninth Street.
An RSVP was required, by the way.

No word of any selfie-related injuries while posting photos and videos of the muffins.

East Village musician Jesse Malin provides an update on his spinal stroke and thanks everyone for their ongoing support

Image via Instagram 

East Village singer-songwriter Jesse Malin is making progress in his recovery from a rare spinal stroke that he suffered in May 2023. 

Malin provided an update in a short video, where he's standing with the assistance of a walker, posted to Instagram on Thursday. 

"[T]hey got me out of the chair a lot of the day, out of the wheelchair and up on the walker, and it feels good to be up," he said. "I can't feel below my upper thighs, still ... I'm working at it. But, you know, it's weird walking without any feeling. I have these braces on below my knees, and that helps me get around doing this a few times a day. So it's getting a little better. I'm on it — just working it." 

Malin, a Queens native and longtime East Village resident, has been receiving treatment with a physical therapist since undergoing intense physical therapy and stem-cell treatments at a clinic in Buenos Aires, Argentina, starting last fall. 

"I have really good people who come and help me out, and real good instructors," Malin said. "I just wanted to say thank you. You know, for everything, all the support ... the letters and the notes and the love and the support of my music." 

Malin, a partner in several local establishments, including Niagara, 96 Tears and the Bowery Electric, plans to return to the stage for the first time since early 2023 on Dec. 1-2 at the Beacon Theater, billed as "the largest hometown show of his career." 

He will perform a set with his band, and then special guests, among others, Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones, Jakob Dylan, Butch Walker, J Mascis, Adam Duritz and David Immergluck of Counting Crows, will join him on stage. Michael Imperioli and Mary Louise-Parker are serving as the hosts.

"I can't wait for the Beacon Theater shows to play again, live with the band, and get up there. It gives me something to look forward to, to live for and work toward," he said. "So I hope you guys have a great, great, great, rest of the summer." 

You can find ticket info here. (Photo below from outside 2A on Avenue A and Second Street.)
You can watch the full Instagram clip below...

Tree down on 14th Street

The driver of a Penske box truck collided with a tree on the south side of 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B last night, according to witnesses. 

The collision occurred about 8:40 p.m. A witness alleged that the driver claimed to have only "bumped" the tree with the passenger side mirror. 

Helluva bump...
The driver left, the police were called... and someone captured the aftermath on the Citizen app...

 

Vehicle Crash Into Tree @CitizenApp

538 E 14th St Yesterday 8:46:42 PM EDT

Friday, August 16, 2024

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Lola Sáenz 

As seen on 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue today...

50 years of the Ramones

 

Today (Aug. 16!) marks the 50th anniversary of the first show by the Ramones at CBGB. (Anyone take a ferry ride to Rockaway Beach?)

Fast-forward three short years to the above footage from the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, on Dec. 31, 1977.

The 4-year-old East Village Neighbors Community Fridge will no longer be in service on 12th Street and 1st Avenue

Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Sunday is the last day for the East Village Neighbors Community Fridge and Pantry on the NW corner of 12th Street and First Avenue. 

For the past four years, the fridge and pantry have been stationed outside S'MAC, where owners Sarita and Caesar Ekya, along with East Village Neighbors, a local volunteer group, helped provide food for people in need. 

Sarita said that her landlord, with whom she has a great relationship — she says he's "one of the good guys" — has been fielding calls and complaints from tenants and neighboring businesses about the fridge and pantry for months. (Complaints range from people blocking the street to fighting among those seeking food.)
 
During a phone call, Sarita said that she has been unable to secure another business to take this operation over and was hoping to find a religious or community-based spot, but that has also been proving difficult. So Sunday is the last day for the fridge and pantry; on Monday morning, both will be recycled.

In the interim, starting Monday, donated food will be brought to the Chelsea Fridge or the Loisaida Community Fridge on Ninth Street and Avenue B. 

"Hosting the East Village Neighbors Fridge at S’MAC the last four years has made us feel all the feels. We've met so many incredible people and have had a village help keep it going this entire time," Sarita said. "The amount of food being rescued daily and the amount of meals provided to our neighbors by such a strong community who cares has been heartwarming. We know the fridge will be a loss to the community, but we hope to find a new home soon." 

She expressed concern for all the daily regulars who depend on the food, meals and supplies.

The fridge debuted on Oct. 7, 2020. Their first attempt was knocked over and KO’d after only three days. The refrigerator was vandalized again in August 2021

Previously on EV Grieve
• A Visit to the East Village Community Fridge and Food Pantry (October 2020

• East Village Community Fridge providing free food outside S'MAC on 1st Avenue; donations welcome (October 2020

• A Thanksgiving feast for neighbors in need at the East Village Community Fridge (November 2020

• A new look (and name!) for the East Village Neighbors Fridge (December 2020

• The East Village Neighbors Community Fridge is up and running again after vandal strikes (August 2021)

Details about Ramones-themed rides to Rockaway Beach today and tomorrow

Also, tonight, you can catch a screening of "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones" with a post-film Q&A in Queens. Details here.

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Hoarding in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Donald Davis 

This spread arrived overnight In Tompkins Square Park... inside the mid-block entrance on Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...
... and we understand that the Parks employee doing cleanup knows who may have left this...

Former research scientist tells all in solo comedy show at Under St Marks Theater

Another day, another former reproductive health research scientist turned comedian taking the stage. 

Sarah Adelman is a native New Yorker who started her professional career working in a lab (a sperm bank, to be specific) before moving full-time into stand-up comedy.

With a background in science, Adelman has taken the analytical mind of a researcher and combined it with sharp wit in her solo show, "EGG," which plays for a three-night run (Aug. 22-24) at Under St Marks Theater, 94 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

"EGG" is about Adelman's path to becoming a researcher, the hijinks involved with running clinical trials, and the intersection between science and art. You can find ticket info here, including details on a sliding admission-price scale.

In this Q&A with EVG, she discusses the transition from the lab to the stage and the role of humor in science. 

Growing up, were you a class-clown type or more of a laid-back observer with a knack for a well-placed zinger? Or maybe none of the above! 

None of the above. I was an enormous goody-two-shoes growing up. I was the kind of kid who attended my own parent-teacher conferences instead of taking the day off because I wanted to hear the compliments, which, in retrospect, was psychotic. 

I liked to invent my own holidays and would call my classmates on their landlines and ask them to dress up for me, which they usually did not. But I would be funny in my own way — aka in a controlled setting, like at a talent show — and I wish I'd seen as a kid that being funny and easygoing and getting good grades were not mutually exclusive! 

So, how did you first come to use humor to enhance your work as a research scientist? 

Humor is the easiest way to get people to like you, and I figured that out at a young age. 

When I was working as a research scientist at a sperm bank, I felt like a lot of the participants felt extremely awkward about having to interact with me before and after, which is very fair. Humor was the easiest way to make them feel at ease and make my own job easier. I found that it also helped me connect with coworkers and supervisors and get people to help me out like it would in any job! 

As an undergrad and grad student, I also had many times when I had to recruit people to a study or try to speak with people for interviews for reports, and humor was always the fastest way to earn trust. Scientists aren't really known for their humor, so it was relatively easy to become the "funny" one at the lab. I actually wrote a little article about this topic here

Was there a specific moment or situation where you realized humor could play a role in your scientific work? 

I remember during one of my first clinical visits with a sperm bank participant, he was concerned that the female scientists were going to use his sperm to bear his offspring without his knowledge. Usually, I'd give a long speech about medical ethics and why that would be illegal, but this tended to confuse everyone more. One day, I just said, "Don't flatter yourself," and I got a huge laugh, and the matter was settled. So I gave myself to try jokes from there on out. 

Were you concerned that using humor in that role could diminish your credibility as a researcher? 

I think there's always the concern that anything lighthearted could take away from the seriousness of a topic. But just like in stand-up, it's all about knowing your audience. 

For example, when publishing in peer-reviewed journals or giving a presentation to the head of a lab department, I kept everything super professional. But if I got to speak in front of just my coworkers or was interviewed for a non-academic publication, I let myself loosen up. It's the same with comedy — I take an audit of the crowd when I first get on stage; are they young? Old? Locals? Tourists? Parents? And then I try to tailor the material to what I think they'll like, and I'm always ready with other jokes in case what I'm giving them isn't landing. So, I think it's just about knowing your audience! 

Was there a particular event or realization that made you make the leap into comedy full-time? 

Let's just say it wasn't totally my choice, and you'll have to come to "EGG" to see why I'm not a scientist anymore. 

But generally speaking, I just felt like all my life, I secretly wanted to be a comedian. I remember so clearly in high school, someone asking me what I wanted to do after graduation, and I said, "Well, if I could be ANYTHING, I'd be a comedian, but I'm going to college to become a medical researcher." It felt so natural to say that, like, Yes, duh, I want to be a comedian, but I assumed that it would be a thing I always yearned for from a distance, like the way people dream about going to outer space. 

It wasn't until I got older that I realized 1) not everyone secretly wishes they were a stand-up comedian; in fact, that sounds like a nightmare to most people, and 2) you can break into it just like you can at any job, I just didn't know how. 

So once I did my first open mic, when I'd already finished my masters and was starting at my lab, I was like, WHOA, I didn't know life could feel like that. It felt like all my nerve endings were exposed for the first time. And then I just became totally addicted, and I've been doing comedy every single day since then. It's all I think about. 

As I got deeper and deeper into the comedy scene in NYC, the more I felt like that was the "true" me and that the Sarah at work was a muted version. It feels so amazing to just be fully myself all the time now. 

Stand-up also gave me a chance to really stand on my own two legs, not hide behind a fancy university or hospital, but just be rawly myself, share my thoughts with the world, and make people laugh. 

I'll never get sick of that feeling. I feel like I'm now squeezing every drop out of life. This isn't to say that I don't love/miss science; that's why I'm so happy I have this show! "EGG" allows me to combine my love of writing and performance with scientific exploration. 

Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the local Blink Fitness outposts will remain open

After filing for bankruptcy on Monday, Blink Fitness said it may close an unspecified number of its 101 clubs. 

However, according to a report in Our Town, the 11 NYC locations, including on Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street and the NoHo outpost on Lafayette and Fourth Street, will remain open.

Equinox Group, Blink's parent company, is not filing for bankruptcy protection, per published reports.

Reported ABC 7
Around 25% of US gyms and studios permanently closed during the COVID-19 pandemic — roughly 10,000 facilities, according to the Health & Fitness Association, an industry trade group. Several major chains, including 24 Hour Fitness and Gold's Gym, filed for bankruptcy. 

Blink's bankruptcy shows the lingering impact of the pandemic on the fitness industry. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Blink temporarily closed all of its clubs, leaving it without revenue to fund operations. Blink said in its bankruptcy filing that it is still financially constrained by rent payments it had put off and was still trying to catch up on from the pandemic. 
The 98 Avenue A Blink location opened in October 2017 in the retail space of Ben Shaoul's luxury condoplex

Before the demolition, the vast retail space was East Village Farms. That building opened as the Avenue A Theatre in 1926. RKO operated it, followed by Loew's, and it closed in 1959. 

Building the ramp to the new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge

EVG regular William Klater shared this photo from yesterday morning, which shows the ramp to the new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge under construction.

Crews installed the new bridge, one of the new access points for East River Park, overnight on June 8. (The previous bridge was removed in early 2022.) 

According to a City Department of Design and Construction spokesperson, the 215-foot-long bridge weighs 125 tons (much larger than the previous one) and is fully ADA-accessible. 

There's a partial-lane closure this week on the FDR from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. while work continues. It is expected to be ready for pedestrians early next month. 

Here's a video from June showing workers assembling the new bridge...

  

The "phased work operations" in East River Park began in November 2021 in Project Area 1 between Montgomery Street and 15th Street. As part of the billion-dollar-plus East Side Coastal Resiliency project, workers have been burying the 57.5-acre park under fill and cutting down many trees. They are elevating the land 8 to 10 feet above sea level to protect the area from future storm surges. 

The city has said it will maintain public access to at least 42% of the park throughout construction, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. 

You can find the latest updates and notifications at this link.

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Report of a DOA in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Police and EMTs responded to a report of a body found outside the porta-potties in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon just after 3. (The temporary toilets are positioned on the walkway between the main lawn and Sandra Turner Garden.)

Sources on the scene say this is a suspected OD, though there wasn't any official confirmation. 

The deceased is a 35-year-old male, police said. His name has not been released pending family notification.

A look at the ongoing renovations at First Houses

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

We've fielded several queries about the extensive renovations at the city-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street, both in the residences and above the strip of retail spaces.
For starters, a little history of the eight four-story and five-story buildings with the residential entrances on the south side of Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. First Houses was the first publicly funded low-income housing project in the U.S., opening in December 1935 under the auspices of the just-created New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). 

First Houses was originally planned to house 120 to 122 families, and all apartments had steam heat, hot water and were equipped with the modern amenities typically found in middle-class housing. Within two months of opening a rental office for the project, the Housing Authority received between 3,000 and 4,000 applications. Prospective tenants were carefully selected by a team of social workers, with preference given to the inhabitants of the worst slums and relatively small families. All but one of the families chosen were residents of the Lower East Side. 

First Houses became a NYC Landmark in 1974. 
In recent decades, the buildings have shown their age, revealing ongoing bureaucracy issues plaguing the NYCHA.

In 2011, City Limits documented many of the residents' issues here. There were stories of mice eating their way through the worn floorboards and a resident battling the NYCHA for 15 years over a persistent leak. 

Fast forward to the start of the renovations last year. According to an architect working on the $24.8-million roofing replacement and exterior restoration:
[The] project is for restorative work throughout all of the facades of buildings within the complex, including rebuilding brick parapets in kind, repointing masonry and replacing brickwork, precast coping stones and metal lintels. 

Entrance porticos will be temporarily removed to allow for the replacement or restoration of green-painted cast iron columns and railings. Work on porticos includes the replacement of portico copper roofs, copper cornices, new concrete entrance stairs, landings, and footings, and replacement of nearby concrete or asphalt pavers pathways. Roofs of all buildings will be replaced with new liquid-applied roofing membrane over new insulation. 
In addition, the construction site manager told us: "We are replacing the roof and doing masonry restoration. We've also started on the interior work, which includes drywalling and lead and asbestos removal." 

Here's a look around the complex earlier this summer...
As you may have noticed, many tenants have moved out, including the local folk hero known as The Chillmaster, known for blasting classic R&B from his open window (year-round).

Local Assemblymember Harvey Epstein told us that tenants were temporarily relocated to other complexes, including the Jacob Riis Houses and the Wald Houses, and some public housing further away from the Lower East Side. 

Epstein said that all tenants can return to the First Houses upon completion of the work, set for 2025, per the posted signage.