Photo by Steven
The last straw on Ninth Street and First Avenue...
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Community-focused COZMOS calls it a day on 10th Street
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
After one year, COZMOS has come down to Earth and closed at 280 E. 10th St.
The shop-gallery-performance space just west of Avenue A was the brainchild of longtime friends Anton Relin (below left) and Vlad Makarkin, who aspired to showcase the offbeat and creative East Village spirit of yore.
There were art shows, sessions on tarot for beginners, Mongolian wellness, and a musical event with improvisational dance and an oboe recital, to name just a few of the events in recent months.
"I'm not sure there's much to say about the closure," Relin told us. "Vlad and I dreamt of having COZMOS neighborhood spaces in every community. Perhaps that will happen one day. As of now, we let the lease expire."
He added: "Personally, I plan to remain in the neighborhood. There are at least a few events that I'd still like to organize, perhaps under the COZMOS name. I'll continue to engage with the community as I can. I want to express how thankful I am to the community for filling the space with life."
He named locals such as Dan and Rina Root, Edgar Oliver, Steven Hirsch, Jason Trucco, Bob Holman, Sara Galassini, and others who "filled our space with life and love."
"Contrary to what some may think, the artistic soul of the East Village is certainly still alive," Relin said. "I'm just hoping it will be healthy and happy for many years."
Makarkin echoed his business partner's sentiments.
"I 100% agree with Anton’s responses. Had we not opened COZMOS, we would've never gotten this glimpse of a very different, much more real, life," he said. "If there is anyone out there thinking about doing something like this, I can only say it was 100% worth it. I hope the COZMOS mission lives on."
Relin said he may continue to do pop-up events locally. You can keep an eye on the website or social media for updates.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Inside the paint: A look at the color-coded multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park
Photos by Stacie Joy (top one via EVG)
Updated 6 p.m. Still closed.
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Workers were racing to wrap up painting the multipurpose courts/TF in Tompkins Square Park last evening.
One of the workers said they thought they'd be ready to unveil today, though it could have to wait until tomorrow.
This space along Avenue A and 10th Street has been closed for repainting since Aug. 26. After the resurfacing last fall, the Parks Department added color to the asphalt, including a walking track on the perimeter and markings for the basketball hoops...
As previously noted, we'll see how everyone co-exists in this new configuration. The court has been a skating hotspot for decades.
Closings: Kuppi Coffee Company on St. Mark's Place
A small note on the door stated that Aug. 31 was their last day in service, and it thanked patrons.
This was the second outpost for the Edgewater, N.J.-based Kuppi Coffee Company. (In 2018, Architectural Digest named Kuppi the "Most Beautiful Coffee Shop" in New Jersey, noting: "White-washed exposed-brick walls and hung flower boxes — brimming with greenery — bring the outdoors in at Kuppi Coffee Company ...")
People seemed to like Kuppi here, though there are many nearby well-established coffee choices... including (but not limited to!) Porto Rico Importing Co., Abraço and Mud... plus 787 Coffee, Poetica Coffee, et al.
The previous tenant at the address, AO Bowl, closed in August 2022 after an off-and-on 18 months in business ... and blaming Sen. Schumer.
In 2019, workers gutted this single-level structure on this corner ... and divided the storefront into several retail spaces. The other tenant here is the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop.
The former occupant, Foot Gear Plus, closed in July 2018 after nearly 40 years in business.
A coffee window at Café Maud on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue
They're serving coffee and espresso via LDV Imports
starting at 8 a.m.
The all-day cafe opened in June in a space that housed Dallas BBQ for several decades at 132 Second Ave.
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Tuesday's parting shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
Today, volunteers from the mutual aid group EVLovesNYC filled 300 backpacks with back-to-school supplies in the basement of the Elim House Of Worship on Avenue B and 12th Street.
Tomorrow, they'll distribute the backpacks containing crayons, markers, paper, sticky notes, notebooks, etc., to families with school-aged kids in the NYC shelter system.
The volunteer-run group's modest origins date back to spring 2020 when a handful of friends got together to prepare meals for neighbors from a small East Village apartment kitchen. Since then, they've prepared more than 500,000 meals for New Yorkers in need across the city.
huupe dreams
Photo by Stacie Joy
The "smart basketball hoop" installed last Thursday in Tompkins Square Park is currently out of commission.
"It's not broken. It needs to be hard-wired into the city's system," said a technician on the scene. "[It] may be back online tomorrow sometime and will then be good for 24/7."
A company called huupe is behind the technology that provides feedback on your game. Per the city: "Its waterproof backboard functions as a video screen, delivering expert training content, live TV, and interactive elements to enrich the playing experience."
The high-tech hoop will be here until early October.
King Geronimo and his queen at Ruby/Dakota
Photos by Stacie Joy
On Friday evening, King Geronimo and his queen stopped by Ruby/Dakota on Second Street to check out "East Village Date Night."
The painting by Lee Smith depicts the couple familiar to anyone who passes by Avenue A and Sixth Street on a weekend night.
The two spent time hanging out with gallery owner Hannah Studnick...
"East Village Date Night" is part of Ruby/Dakota's inaugural show, "Home is You, Right Now," which closes Friday.
You can check out the show that has caught the attention of New York's Jerry Saltz through Friday, when there's a closing reception Friday evening from 6-8.
Previously on EV Grieve:
A walk across the new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge
So we decided to walk across the steel-tied arch bridge spanning a length of 209 feet over the FDR...
The bridge was manufactured in Italy, assembled at the project site, and then installed by crane in June.
After crossing the FDR, you continue down a long, winding walkway with high covered fencing on both sides... 
Finally you arrive at the new Ballfields 1 and 2, complete with a baseball-softball diamond and a soccer pitch all with permeable turf.
Aside from the fields, there is no way out here — you need to go back the way you came.
Here's a diagram via the City Department of Design and Construction...
The bridge is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (So no night games!). Also, the new ballfields do not have any drinking fountains yet, so it's BYOW. There are several porta-potties nearby.
The bridge does offer a glimpse of ongoing the billion-dollar-plus East Side Coastal Resiliency project. Workers are elevating the land 8 to 10 feet above sea level to protect the area from future storm surges, a project the city says will be completed by the end of 2026.
Good heavens! A corner-market closure on 3rd Avenue
EVG reader Seth Treiman, who shared these photos, noted that management had recently removed equipment, leaving some on the curb and putting some in a truck...
Yelp confirms a permanent closure, and a look inside also offers some proof...
Ownership has reportedly opened Yorkville Market on York Avenue and East 88th Street.
Heavenly Market & Deli opened in 2014 here in the retail space of NYU's Third Avenue North Dorm, taking over the storefront that housed Fern Cliff Deli.
Café at Atelier Jolie on Great Jones Street seeks beer-wine license
The café, open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., serves coffee, pastries, and lighter fare. The organization, which hires refugees from around the globe, also has a Chelsea Market outpost.
Eat Offbeat debuted in early December, right when we took these photos (they've added a table that seats 5-6 since these pics)...
We had a choice cup of Turkish coffee and a piece of baklava. The space is nice, though it's not designed for people to sit around for hours. We returned around the December holidays for another cup of Turkish coffee, and the café was full as word spread about its existence.
The back of the ground-floor space was previously home to Bohemian, an invite-only Japanese restaurant that provided some snobby intrigue for food writers 10-plus years ago.
Angelina Jolie opened Atelier Jolie here last December. The creative collective offers a platform for customers to collaborate with tailors, artisans, and designers. The two-level building has an atelier on the second floor and a retail outlet on the ground floor.
The building is an art-world landmark that attracts new wheat pastes and stickers daily. Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked in the upper level of the carriage house from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988. Andy Warhol was a previous owner.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Monday, September 2, 2024
Monday's parting shot
The new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge reopens today
Photo last week by William Klayer
The new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge is back in service starting today. [Updated: We walked across it. Photos here.]
The city also announced that East River Park Ballfields 1 and 2 are now available for "permitted and open play."
Also, notably: "The bridge will provide access to Ballfields 1 & 2 only, with no outlet to other areas of the park. Please note there is no water service on-site, so plan accordingly to bring your own supply."
The bridge is also only open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., so there are no night games on those fields, which are surrounded by an active construction zone, as the map on the Community advisory below shows...
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 the City Department of Design and Construction, the 215-foot-long bridge weighs 125 tons (much larger than the previous one) and is fully ADA-accessible.
It's nice to see a little progress, as nearly three years in, much of the 57.5-acre park looks like a barren wasteland — especially below the Williamsburg Bridge.
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 more updates and construction notices at this link.
An end-of-summer appreciation
Per Tulsi:
There are tomatoes growing in this garden, and so far they have managed to survive squirrels, rats, birds, and humans. There are a group of very silly/pretty tree gardens in this corner. They were delightfully decorated with aluminum foil, plastic forks, and rocks earlier in the summer, and they are full of very healthy plants now. Cheers to the health of these tomatoes and to the gardeners — I hope they reap ripe rewards.
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Sunday's parting shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
Winter Wolf waiting to play late this afternoon in a Show Brain-promoted concert at Tompkins Square Park...
Week in Grieview
• The Loisaida CommUnity Fridge on 9th and B needs a new home — here's why (Monday)
• RIP Hettie Jones (Tuesday)
• A happy retirement to Jane and Billy, closing Katinka after 45 years in the East Village (Wednesday)
• Printed Matter/St. Marks is leaving St. Mark's Place (Thursday)
• Gov. Hochul makes a splash with funding for new in-ground swimming pool at Tompkins Square Park (Friday)
• German supermarket powerhouse Lidl is opening an outpost on the Lower East Side (Monday)
• The multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park are closed for painting (Monday) ... Painting it black on the TF in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday)
• NYU buys dorm on Cooper Square that everyone already thought was an NYU dorm (Tuesday)
• Renovating 82 2nd Ave. for the arrival of Kebabwala from the Unapologetic Foods team (Tuesday)
• At a 6th & B Garden Variety performance with Angela Di Carlo and Dirty Martini (Thursday)
• A look inside Castellano Electric Motors on the Lower East Side (Thursday)
• A late summer refresh for Bin 141 (Wednesday)
• A signage setback at Ben's Deli (Wednesday)
• A lot of hoop-la for this high-tech basketball backboard in Tompkins Square Park (Friday)
• '24 comeback for Elvis on Great Jones (Monday)
• UWS hotspot Bánh Vietnamese Shop House opening a new restaurant in the East Village (Monday)
• A quartet of murals for 2nd and A (Wednesday)
• Summer ends on a positive note as the shopping soundtrack of our lives returns to Key Food (Friday)
... and a reader shared this photo of some comfy new seats to wait for the M9 on Avenue C...
A repainted multipurpose court comes into view in Tompkins Square Park
Photos by Stacie Joy
The multi-purpose courts/TF will reopen on Tuesday... after workers complete repainting the surface of the space along Avenue A and 10th Street.
The crew will apparently be working on Labor Day to get this done.
Here's how it's looking now...
The walking track around the perimeter seems to be taking shape. (Does anyone with an aerial view of the courts along 10th Street have any photos to share?)
The asphalt was just getting broken in again after renovations from Oct. 16 to Dec. 1. In addition to new asphalt, Parks added benches, fountains and three basketball backstops.
We'll see how everyone co-exists in this new configuration. The court has been a skating hotspot for decades.
So far, "suburban" is the word we're hearing about the new look.
As Quartersnacks noted in June 2023 about the repainted surface: "It will be a shock to the system in terms of the park's Feng Shui, but skateboarders have adjusted to way worse changes."
Sunday's opening shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
The Labor Day weekend move-in/out and capturing all the feelings on Fourth Street and Avenue B...
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