Terra Thai is closing this month for a revamp with a March return

Terra Thai closed after service last night for a month-long revamp. 

Owners Karuna Wiwattanakantang and Norawat Margsiri emailed us with the news about the restaurant at 518 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

"We plan to reorganize the store to make it fit for the current economic situation," they said. "We'll be back in March at the same location and look forward to serving you and the community again." 

The owners previously operated Terra Thai in Boulder, Colo., for six years before deciding to move to NYC and signing a lease — weeks before the pandemic PAUSE of March 2020.

They could offer a more limited menu of Bangkok-style street food starting in May 2020. Since then, they've expanded the menu (our go-to is basil tofu over rice or the sen yai drunken noodles). 

With lush plants, a working turntable, and rows of LPs, dining at one of the two tables feels like enjoying a meal at a friend’s home. 

Highly recommended if you haven't tried it. Mark it in your calendar for March.

The former Brick Lane Curry House space is for rent on 2nd Avenue

If Brick Lane Curry House is opening a new concept, it won't be from its former outpost at 79 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

The modestly priced British-style curry spot shuttered in December. In a closing announcement on Instagram, ownership wrote, "Stay tuned for Brick Lane 2.0. A new chapter is coming, and we can't wait." 

There's now a for-rent sign on the storefront. We contacted Brick Curry to see if they are opening at another location in the neighborhood. We'll update this post if they respond.

Brick Lane has operated for 23 years from several East Village storefronts, including 308 E. Sixth St. and 99 Second Ave. 

You'll need to go to Jersey City for the Brick House heat.

Signage alert: Kobano on the Bowery

Signage is up now for Kobano at 299 Bowery between Houston and First Street.

The Japanese-Brazilian restaurant is set to debut on Feb. 13, per an Instagram announcement. 

As previously reported, the owners of Íxta, which served southern Mexican and Oaxacan dishes, decided to revamp the space after two-plus years in service. 

You can find the Kobano website here.

Week in Grieview

Photos this past week include (with a photo from Sixth Street) ... 

• D.A. Bragg announces sentencing of shooter in gang-related murder on 3rd Street and Avenue D (Monday) 

• The former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center has a new project name (Tuesday)

• The building that houses East Village institution John's of 12th Street is for sale (Wednesday) 

• Where does the East Village rate in the list of NYC's noisiest neighborhoods? (Friday) 

• The incoming Whole Foods Market Daily Shop shapes up in StuyTown (Thursday) 

• Pink Olive is returning to the East Village (Wednesday) 

• A moment with Marianne Faithfull on St. Mark's Place in 1992 (Friday) 

• Anthology Film Archives hosting an epic Willem Dafoe movie series (Saturday) ... Films we want to see: 'Peter Hujar's Day' (Tuesday) 

• Soda Club is moving from Avenue B to Avenue A (Thursday)

• Signage alert: Win Son Bakery on 2nd Avenue (Friday) 

• Some Downtown Funk and Junk coming to 9th Street (Thursday) 

• The T Mobile shop that always looked closed on 14th Street and 1st Avenue has closed (Thursday) 

• Madonna endorses Baz Luhrmann's new East Village bar Monsieur on 4th Street (Monday)

• After 10 years on 1st Avenue, SenYa has closed (Friday) 

• Schmackary’s coming back (Monday) 

• Together again at Katz's, now with mayo (Wednesday) 

... and we had queries about velvet rope and disco balls at La La Laundry on Avenue B and 11th Street on Thursday evening (thanks to the reader for the photo!)...

It was a launch party for Hampton Water Bubbly, from Hampton Water Wine Co., in partnership with Gérard Bertrand, Jon Bon Jovi, and his son Jesse Bongiovi. And Jon and Jesse were at the party.

Report of a fatal fire at 65 2nd Ave. between 3rd Street and 4th Street

Top photo via a reader; other photos by Steven 

Updated 2/3: There is a crowdfunding campaign to care for the victim's dog, Bella.

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A fire broke out this morning around 10:30 on the second floor of 65 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street. There is an unconfirmed report that a resident died from the fire in the six-story building on the west side of the avenue.

The Citizen app reports the fatality as well as two minor injuries. Updated: FDNY sources confirmed the death of a 75-year-old man inside the building, per the Daily News.

According to witnesses, the FDNY responded quickly and had the fire under control before 11 a.m.

As of noon, Second Avenue is closed at Fourth Street.

Updated:

Residents were able to return to the building around 3 p.m.

We'll update the story when more information becomes available. 

Updated 7:45 p.m. 

Here's a look at the building this evening... the fire started in the second-floor unit above the now-closed former home of Double Zero in the north storefront...

EVG Etc.: Street vendors fear deporation; Con Ed considers double-digit rate hikes

Sunrise from 3rd Street 

Local stories of interest from other sources this past week include... 

• The Trump administration's move to re-examine federal funding could have a significant impact on NYC's public housing (The City) 

• Trump threatens to kill congestion pricing (City & State) ... though he'd need to break the law to do so (Streetsblog) 

• Cart vendors worry about being a target in ICE sweeps (Eater ... CBS News) ... What mass deportations would do to NYC's economy (The New York Times) 

• Con Ed is looking to increase customers' electric bills by an average of 11.4% and gas bills by 13.3% starting on Jan. 1, 2026 (Gothamist) 

• Cops searching for suspect who smashed man's face with a glass outside Phebe's on Fourth Street and the Bowery (amNY) 

• A visit to City Lore on First Street — "A hidden New York gem curates culture that might otherwise be lost" (ABC 7) 

• Hawk season 2025 is in full swing (Laura Goggin Photography) 

• Honoring Flaco Eurasian eagle-owl with a new book and exhibit (West Side Rag ... previously on EVG)

• And a diversion from The Hollywood Reporter's cover story on "Babygirl"'s Harris Dickinson, an East London native, who stayed here during the filming: 

He lived in the East Village, right on Houston Street, and though he took constant advantage of the proximity to Katz's Deli (and its world-famous Reuben), he couldn't handle the neighborhood's frenetic energy. "People were accidentally ringing my buzzer at night, and I was in a constant state of stress," he says. "My cortisol was so high that I felt like I was going to explode." 

"Babygirl" screens locally at Village East by Angelika, Regal Union Square and Regal Essex Crossing.

Friday night lights

We've heard reports of a Mustang adorned with Christmas lights in the neighborhood. 

We finally got a nighttime shot from an EVG reader (thank you!). showing the car Friday evening on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

This makes us nostalgic for the "In the Air Tonight" car!

Sunday's opening shot

The Blue Man Group's final NYC performances are at the Astor Place Theatre today. (Tix on StubHub were $550 each for the 2 p.m. show and $279 for the 5 p.m. set.) It will conclude a 34-year run with 17,800 shows and 82,150 gallons of paint. 

We never saw the show (and we didn't do a last-week visit like with "Stomp"). 

But there are still chances! Productions of Blue Man Group will continue in Berlin, Boston, Las Vegas and Orlando. 

In 1987, a trio of Lower East Side artists — Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink — started what would "arguably become the most financially lucrative performance art troupe in the world." Cirque du Soleil bought the show in 2017. 

Before taking up residency on Astor Place on Nov. 17, 1991, the group played out and about at various local venues, including King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Avenue A at Seventh Street (where Niagara is now).

Saturday's parting shot

Happy 26th anniversary to Lavagna, an EVG favorite East Village restaurant at 545 E. Fifth St., just west of Avenue B. 

Visit the Tuscan restaurant from 5 to 10 p.m. daily, with a 1 p.m. start on Saturdays and Sundays.

Hellmouth strikes again

 

EVG reader TechSquared shared this quick clip from last night on Avenue C between Second Street and Third Street... we always enjoy a bubbling hole in the street!

Speaking of Avenue C, did anyone catch this geyser during the middle of last month between Seventh Street and Eighth Street...?

 

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Anthology Film Archives hosting an epic Willem Dafoe movie series

The Anthology Film Archives is paying tribute to the always-seems-to-be-working Willem Dafoe. 

The actor has worked with directors such as Abel Ferrara, Martin Scorsese, Kathryn Bigelow, David Lynch, Paul Schrader, Lars von Trier, John Waters, Wim Wenders, David Cronenberg, Sam Raimi, Wes Anderson, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog, and Sean Baker, among many others. 

The expansive "Wild at Heart: Willem Dafoe" series will feature several of these collaborations. The series runs from Feb. 7 to 26, and Dafoe will appear for a Q&A following a few screenings. (And both "Wild at Heart" screenings are already sold out.)

 More details and ticket info here. The Anthology is on Second Avenue and Second Street. 

Dafoe lived for a time in the East Village after moving to NYC in the 1970s.

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Saturday's opening shot

Early morning view from 14th Street and Avenue A... the photogenic clouds will allegedly give way to sunny skies later today, per the Weather Channel.

Friday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Happy 10th anniversary to C&B Café owner Ali Sahin and his team at 178 E. Seventh St., between Avenue A and Avenue B.

C&B opened in January 2015, and they've been great neighbors ever since. They sponsored the tree lighting in Tompkins Square Park, provided kitchen space to the volunteers who went on to form EVLovesNY, fed unhoused neighbors, provided Thanksgiving meals at Graffiti Church, refilled the community fridge, and taught kids from the Amsterdam School how to make cookies for free. The list goes on.

'Kiss' them for me

 

Over the next few weeks, we'll highlight indie acts performing at this year's New Colossus Festival, which will take place in East Village and LES venues from March 4 to 9. 

Here's dark-wave Canadian artist Frankie Flowers with "Kiss Me Like the World Is Ending." 

Find Festival info here.

6 posts from January 2025

Photo on 2nd Avenue by Asha Schechter 

A mini month in review... 

• Taking a look at the all-new Baker Falls, now in soft-open mode on the Lower East Side (Jan. 22) 

• A visit with Anne DeVita (Jan. 22) 

• Why School for the Dogs abruptly closed in the East Village (Jan. 7)

• Reader report: Car crashes into Blink Fitness on Avenue A; driver flees (Jan. 6) 

• Tompkins Square Park upgrades: When will the field house and restrooms reopen? (Jan. 6) 

• When we found out about a mysterious early-morning transport on 2nd Avenue (Jan. 3)

A moment with Marianne Faithfull on St. Mark's Place in 1992

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Marianne Faithfull with her longtime accompanist Barry Reynolds at Sin-é, the legendary music cafe at 122 St Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue in June 1992. Photo by Allen Ginsberg. 

Faithfull died yesterday. She was 78.

Where does the East Village rate in the list of NYC's noisiest neighborhoods?

We're No. 7! We're No. 7! 

The New York Times did a deep dive on a favorite topic: Noise. 

Here's what a search of the city's 311 logs revealed:

Using 311, New Yorkers can file noise complaints and report violations of the noise code to the appropriate agencies. (Categories include loud neighbors, construction noise, street music, and “aircraft and boats.”) The 311 logs are publicly available via NYC Open Data and include location information, allowing us to determine which of New York City’s 59 community districts were the noisiest last year. In 2024, New Yorkers called in a total of 753,222 noise complaints. 

Incredibly, almost 10 percent of them came from residents of Bronx Community District 12, which encompasses several neighborhoods including Williamsbridge and Baychester.

Manhattan District 3, which includes the East Village, Lower East Side, Chinatown and Two Bridges, finished a distant seventh with 19,588 noise complaints via 311 last year.

Read the full piece at the Times here. 

This is a good time to revisit this June 2024 EVG post: What's the 311? How East Village residents can effectively file complaints.

Signage alert: Win Son Bakery on 2nd Avenue

Signage is up for Win Son Bakery at 23 Second Ave. between First Street and Second Street. (Thanks to the EVG reader for the pic!)

It has been almost a year since we first mentioned that the popular Taiwanese-American Win Son Bakery in East Williamsburg would open a place in this neighborhood. 

Like the Brooklyn outpost, the EV location will serve as a café, bakery and restaurant. 

The bakery opened in September 2019 at 164 Graham Ave. at Montrose Avenue, several years after the Win Son restaurant debuted. Many of its goods have been celebrated, like the mochi millet doughnuts. The New Yorker once called its Mortadella Pancake a perfect breakfast sandwich. You can check out the Win Son Bakery menu here. 

No word about an opening just yet. 

The previous tenant, the dance studio Exile Professional Gym (EXPG), never reopened after the March 2020 PAUSE.

After 10 years on 1st Avenue, SenYa has closed

Photos by Steven 

A pizzeria is taking over the SenYa space at 109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

There's now a rather generic-looking sign up on the gate of the former Japanese restaurant with the coming-soon info. 

SenYa debuted here in the spring of 2015. 

On the topic of pizza... a few blocks to the south between Third and Fourth, we have a cheap-slice switcheroo, with Basilic Pizzeria taking over for the short-lived Halal Bites Pizza...

Thursday's parting shot

An EV resident shared this photo today... when a juvenile red-tailed hawk paid a visit and got the cat's attention. 

H/T Steven!