Celebrating the life and work of longtime East Village artist Anton van Dalen

Anton van Dalen with his pigeons from the documentary "Anton: Circling Home." 

 Photo by Anthony Lindsey. 

Longtime East Village-based artist Anton van Dalen died in his home on June 25. He was 86.

P·P·O·W, the gallery that represented him over the years, is hosting a celebration of his life and work this Saturday afternoon from 2-4 at the SVA Theatre, 333 W. 23rd St., between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue.

Organizers encourage folks to RSVP, which you can do via this link. 

As P·P·O·W stated: 

Immigrant, humanist, artist, activist, educator, and lifelong pigeon keeper, Anton van Dalen dedicated his life to documenting the Lower East Side's evolution from dilapidation to gentrification in paintings, drawings and sculptures that, as the critic and poet John Yau states, "arose out of a meticulous draftsmanship in service of an idiosyncratic imagination merged with civic-mindedness."

Cyber Cafe joins Kim's Video and Benny's Burritos in 1990s throwback for 'Caught Stealing'

Photos by Stacie Joy 

A late-1990s-looking Avenue A and Sixth Street will be the epicenter of filming this week for the Darren Aronofsky-helmed crime thriller "Caught Stealing." 

Filming is expected to continue here tomorrow through Friday. 

Yesterday saw the arrival of the Cyber Cafe signage on A to go next to Kim's Video (RIP 2004).

... and the prop folks added more details to the resurrected Benny's Burritos (RIP 2014) on the corner...

The crew also continues to work on the Nenos Pizza set on the Sixth Street side at A (Amor Y Amargo). It's not quite our Nino's from Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

Also spotted on Sixth Street for the shoot... a REVS COST tag... (we already noted the Obey Giant wheat pastes on Sixth).

The film stars Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Bad Bunny and, most recently, Action Bronson. 

The plot, based on Charlie Huston's novel, per IMDB: 

Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson (Butler) unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Kim's Video is the latest of the departed Avenue A businesses to return for a set piece

• On Avenue A, Benny's Burritos returns for the movies 

• Dressing up Avenue A for a 1990s crime thriller

Lights, camera, nostalgia: Orchard Street goes back to the 1950s for Timothée Chalamet film

While Avenue A is getting a late 1990s look for Darren Aronofsky's "Caught Stealing," parts of the Lower East Side are returning to the '50s. 

Longtime EVG reader Matt Geo LES shared these photos from Orchard Street between Rivington and Delancey...

The storefronts are the backdrop for Josh Safdie's film "Marty Supreme," which stars Timothée Chalamet as American table tennis champion Marty Reisman. 

The eclectic cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler the Creator, Abel Ferrara and Penn Jillette. 

And the plot, per Deadline: 

While details of the film are being kept under wraps, it will be based loosely on Reisman's life. Known for his unconventional style, he won two U.S. Men's Singles Championships in 1958 and 1960 and more than 20 international and national titles.

6 posts from September

Dusty Childers, aka Shoulders, making his Joe's Pub on-stage debut on Sept. 13 

Photo by Stacie Joy 

A mini month in review...

• Dimmed lights on 1st Avenue: Only 1 Indian restaurant remains at Instagram-friendly address (Sept. 23) 

• Dressing up Avenue A for a 1990s crime thriller (Sept. 17) 

• More details emerge about the new Whole Foods Market StuyTown on 14th Street (Sept. 16) 

• 2 men indicted for fatal Tompkins Square Park shooting (Sept. 13) 

• Inside a historic Stuyvesant Street home for sale (Sept. 12) 

• A walk across the new Delancey Street pedestrian bridge (Sept. 3)

Excavator spotted at 1st Avenue site as plans for 7-story residential building await city approval

Photos by Steven 

On Friday, we spotted a lone excavator in the pit where three buildings — 33-37 First Ave. — once stood on this NW corner of Second Street. 

This is the first notable activity we've seen here since workers removed the sidewalk bridge in late June. 

To update on the situation here, a 7-story residential building with ground-floor retail is still awaiting city approval for its new address, 88 E. Second St. 

According to DOB paperwork, the proposed building will be 19,278 square feet, with 2,994 square feet designated for commercial space. Plans call for 22 residential units, which would likely be rentals given the square footage.

Read our previous posts for more about the project and prior businesses at 33-37 First Ave.

Caravan of Dreams launches crowdfunding campaign to secure future

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Caravan of Dreams, now in its 33rd year of serving organic/vegan food in the East Village, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to ensure its survival.

Manager Abe Gross (below right with owner Angel Moreno) said the restaurant on Sixth Street "had a slow summer," and he was "hoping for a stronger September." They need the money for "sustainability."

Moreno, who started the restaurant in 1991, said, "When we want to serve others, it comes back to us. It's about being grateful. There is no place for complaining, bad emotions or energy. Just be grateful!"

You can find the GoFundMe page here. 

Caravan of Dreams is at 405 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

That's Mr. KEKE Ramen to you on Cooper Square

Photo by Jacob Ford 

Mr. KEKE Ramen is set to open at 63 Cooper Square between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

According to the website: "Our mission at Mr. KEKE is to redefine the Asian fast-food landscape ... by seamlessly blending tradition with innovation, ensuring an exhilarating culinary journey." 

This is the brand's first Manhattan outpost, serving various ramen dishes, hot pot and dim sum. The menu is available here. 

The business started in the late 1990s and has locations in Glen Cove, Great Neck, and Flushing.

This space was previously home to Ise, a Japanese restaurant that closed in June after 36 years in NYC service.

Openings: Yawning Cobra, Potbelly, Love Mi

A few recent openings from the past month or so to note...

Yawning Cobra is now open downstairs at 356 Bowery between Bond and Great Jones.

The cocktail lounge (enter via a serpent-shaped door knob) is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., with a midnight close on Sundays.

King's Cross was the last tenant in the subterranean space.

A Potbelly Sandwich Shop opened last Tuesday at 740 Broadway at Astor Place... in a storefront that was previously a &pizza outpost...

Since last month, on the SE corner of Fourth Avenue and 13th Street, Love Mi has been selling bubble tea, fruit tea, and various yogurt drinks... in the former Liquiteria space.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with someone having a cow on 14th Street by Derek Berg)...

• Dimmed lights on 1st Avenue: Only 1 Indian restaurant remains at Instagram-friendly address (Monday) 

• I need More: Here are J. Kathleen White's 2024 dioramas on 9th Street and Avenue C (Tuesday) 

• San Loco is closing its Lower East Side location (Thursday) 

• Buy a t-shirt to help power Flower Power on 9th Street (Wednesday) 

• "SCUMB Flowers" at Dashwood Projects (Friday) 

• At the 18th annual Anarchist Bookfair (Sunday) 

• Happy No. 130 to Veniero's Pasticceria! (Monday) 

• On Avenue A, Benny's Burritos returns for the movies (Tuesday) ... Kim's Video is the latest of the departed Avenue A businesses to return for a set piece (Thursday) 

• A moment on Avenue A in 1995 (Wednesday) 

• Façade exploration work continues at the former P.S. 64 (Monday)

• PUNK Magazine is back with a new issue and a battle of the bands in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) ... PUNK in the rain (Saturday) 

• LÀ LÁ Bakeshop bringing Vietnamese desserts to 2nd Avenue (Thursday) 

• Holy Cow announces itself on 14th and B (Monday) 

• Checking in at No Fork on Avenue A (Thursday) 

• Signage alerts: St. Mark's Burgers & Dogs, Kamisama, Alphabet City Gourmet Deli (Monday) 

• Blazing the trail: A map to all the high points of legal cannabis dispensaries (Tuesday) 

• Closings: Pizza Pazzo on 1st Street (Monday) 

This past Tuesday evening, the Francis Kite Club celebrated Sunaura Taylor's new book "Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert." Below is Sunaura (on the right) with her sister and fellow author Astra Taylor (photo by Daniel Efram)...

Francis Kite Club, 40 Avenue C between Third Street and Fourth Street, hosts many interesting events, workshops and programs. Check out their calendar here.

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

On Second Avenue, braving the rain to make sure movie night is a popping success! (Sorry, slinking away...)

PUNK in the rain

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Despite the crummy weather, the show went on today in Tompkins Square Park... as longtime East Village resident John Holmstrom, the co-founder, editor, and illustrator of PUNK Magazine, celebrated the release of his latest issue with a Battle of the Bands. 

We were there to see the 50s-rock twang of Labretta Suede & The Motel 6 ...

The new issue is available at several local businesses, including Trash & Vaudeville on Seventh Street and East Village Vintage Collective on 12th Street as well as a paper box on St. Mark's and A...

EVG Etc.: The possible future of Mayor Adams; the effect of unlicensed weed shops

Tompkins Square Park photo shoot via Derek Berg

• Insiders talk about what might be next for Mayor Adams (Politico) ... Inside the mayor's "clumsy" attempt to hinder foreign bribery probe (NBC News) 

• A State Supreme Court judge refused to toss two lawsuits seeking to overturn Gov. Hochul's congestion pricing pause (Streetsblog) 

• The enforcement of illegal weed shops has left the LES and East Village with dozens of empty storefronts for the foreseeable future (Gothamist)

• A feature on East Village musician Jesse Malin's recovery from a spinal stroke — with some help from friends (CBS News) 

• An interview with EV native Kyota Umeki, who now runs the skateboard-friendly Star Shop on Ninth Street (Office Magazine) 

• About "Dickhead," now playing at Theater for the New City (Our Town) 

• Mapping the city's best slices (Eater) 

• "The Substance" is a reminder of all the films Demi Moore has made, and don't sleep on "Margin Call" (Metrograph) 

And this weekend at Cooper Union (info here): 

Hello From The Data Vandals (or free as air and water, or whatsoever things are true) is the premiere exhibition by the New York City data-activist collective known as the Data Vandals (artist Jen Ray and data visualization expert Jason Forrest). 

It will be on view in Cooper's Civic Projects Lab at 41 Cooper Square. The Data Vandals' art focuses on starting conversations on universal issues through data visualization. Using sculpture, performance, music, and bold designs, the Data Vandals create dialogues that are relatable, accessible, and dynamic.

The exhibition will be a fun look at the East Village through data past and present, filling the Civic Projects Lab with large data visualization paintings and sculptures, workshops, lectures, and a movie night.

The Clemente Center kicks off its Historias initiative with a block party on the LES

Later today, the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center will hold a block party to kick off Historias, a $2.5 million three-year initiative to tell Latinx stories in NYC. 

Read more about the Historias project here and here. 

The event will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. on Suffolk Street outside of the Clemente at Rivington. (Organizers confirm the festivities will proceed regardless of rain later today.) This link includes the full rundown of the block party events. 

The Clemente, a 30-year-old Puerto Rican and Latinx cultural space, is currently undergoing renovations.

Friday's parting shot

There was a report of a fire at 50 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street late this afternoon ... the FDNY sent four trucks, and, thankfully, there didn't seem to be any sign of a fire.

Thanks to Joshua Cohen for the photo.

'Mad' world

 

Going with some New York noise-rock legends Live Skull here — "Mad Kingship," from the band's most recent release, 2023's Party Zero. 

Live Skull is headlining a loft show tonight (late) at Pretty Garden Club, 55 Canal St. at Orchard.

'SCUMB Flowers' at Dashwood Projects

Photos and text by Tia Jonsson 

Wednesday night marked the opening of Justine Kurland's "SCUMB Flowers" at Dashwood Projects, an offshoot of Dashwood Books. 

The exhibition showcases a selection of Kurland's collages, which she made from fragments of photo books by men. It's part of a larger project Kurland calls "SCUMB Manifesto," inspired by Valerie Solanas' 1967 text with the same name. Kurland adds a 'B' — "Society for Cutting Up Men's Books."

Kurland also collaborated with poet Ariana Reines on a zine titled "Ariana and SCUMB Flowers" that mixes the collages with Reines' poetry. (Below, from left: Reines and Kurland.)

The show will be up until Nov. 11, and a poetry reading with Reines will be held on Oct. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Dashwood Projects, which debuted in this space last March, is located at 63 E. Fourth St., between the Bowery and Second Avenue. The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m.

 Tia Jonsson is an East Village resident and former student of Justine Kurland.

President Zelensky visits the Ukrainian Museum

Top photo: Office of the President of Ukraine via @ukrainianmuseum 

2nd photo: Adriana Leshko 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska visited the Ukrainian Museum in the East Village on Monday. 

The President and First Lady officially opened the Museum's new exhibit, "Alexandra Exter: The Stage is a World," on Sixth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. 

Ukrainian Museum Director Peter Doroshenko gave the two a tour of the exhibit. Zelensky then sat down for a meeting and discussion with members of the Ukrainian community, moderated by Oksana Markarova, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.

The Art Newspaper has more about the presidential visit here. 

Zelenskyy is in the U.S. this week to attend the UN General Assembly. 

The Exeter show opens today. Per the Museum: 

Marking the first solo showcase of her work in North America, it offers a comprehensive exploration of Exter's pioneering career from 1913 to 1934. Featuring over thirty paintings and works on paper, the exhibition highlights her early abstractions and avant-garde theater contributions. Through collaboration with Ukrainian and U.S. museums, as well as international private collectors, this survey delves into Exter's influential contributions to theater and cinema, presenting both rare and iconic pieces beloved by art lovers around the world. 

The exhibit will be on display through Jan. 19. The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. 

BTW, a membership to The Ukrainian Museum makes for a nice gift.

The 13th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival continues through Sunday

Here's a reminder that the 13th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival continues through Sunday at dozens of East Village/LES community gardens.

Check the LUNGS website here for the day-by-day, garden-by-garden schedule. 

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Today's Pigeon Bird on a Bagel on 7th Street...

An Eric Adams reader

Photo from Tompkins Square Park in May 2023 by Stacie Joy

It's the story dominating headlines today here and across the country: Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal public corruption charges, including bribery and wire fraud — the first for a sitting New York City mayor. 

He defiantly said today he will fight the charges... and has no plans to resign as he faces these criminal charges.

Here's his press conference today, where he was initially drowned out by protestors (The City)... 

Live Now: https://t.co/dBj6PRBsIg

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) September 26, 2024

Here's a collection of headlines about this ongoing story... 

• What we know about the investigations surrounding Adams (The Associated Press with live updates) 

• Read the Adams indictment (NBC 4) 

• Investigations, resignations, indictment: A timeline of Mayor Adams' troubles (Gothamist) 

• Live ongoing coverage at NBC News here. 

• Eric Adams promised to be a mayor unlike any New Yorkers had ever seen. Much about him remains head-scratching. (The New York Times) 

• Who is Jumaane Williams? If Eric Adams resigns, the NYC public advocate becomes mayor. (CBS News)