That's all for the Dunkin' at 100 1st Ave.

Photo by Salim 

The Dunkin'-Baskin-Robbins combo on the NE corner of First Avenue and Sixth Street has closed.

Yesterday was the last day in business. The closure notice on the door directs patrons to other local Dunkin' outposts. 

The closure isn't a surprise, as the storefront appeared in a for-rent listing in April 2024. A tipster initially told us the Dunkin' was closing this past Dec. 31.

'Fun' was the plan

 

The debut record from Brooklyn’s queer femme punk band SHAGGO has a June 6 release date. (The record-release show is June 12 at Trans-Pecos in Ridgewood.) 

Tbe above video is for the band's single "I Wanted Fun."

Featured today on Wikipedia: The Merchant’s House Museum

An EVG reader let us know that the Merchant's House Museum is the featured article for today (May 15!) on the English edition of Wikipedia. 

The family home built in 1832 is at 29 E. Fourth St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. As we've been reporting in recent years, there are concerns about the Merchant's House Museum's future with a new development being greenlit next door. 

H/T Stockholm Turtle

The 2025 edition of the Ukrainian Festival is this weekend on 7th Street

The annual St. George Ukrainian Festival takes place on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square this coming weekend (May 16-18!) 

The festivities start at 5 p.m. Friday and last through Sunday afternoon, as the organizers said in a statement: "until all 30,000-plus pierogies have sold out." 

The three-day festival — one of the best neighborhood events — celebrates Ukrainian culture, music, and food with various performances and vendors selling traditional arts and crafts. 

We haven't seen the scheduled times for the outdoor performances just yet — they're usually on Saturday afternoon and evening and again on Sunday. There is a Facebook page for the event here. 

Back to the organizers: "Come out and support our talented artists who dedicate every week to keeping Ukrainian traditions alive."

New photo book captures life inside Ray’s Candy Store

Photographer Whitney Browne is releasing her first book, "Candy Store," a years-in-the-making photo documentary centered entirely on Ray's Candy Store — the Avenue A mainstay since 1974. 

Browne, who first wandered into Ray's during late-night walks nearly two decades ago, spent years behind the counter, helping out and snapping photos. She became part of the place — trading stories with regulars, giving Ray breaks, and quietly documenting the rhythms of this East Village institution. All of it shot on film. 

Between 2012 and 2017, she kept her camera close, capturing what she describes as a "refuge" during her early years in New York — a place that offered both comfort and community during bouts of insomnia and uncertainty. 

The resulting book, "Candy Store," is less a glossy tribute and more a lived-in portrait — full of grain, charm, and quiet moments that feel like Ray's itself. 

To mark the release, there's a launch event at Ray's this Saturday (May 17!) from 5-8 p.m. Expect copies of the book, a DJ set by Lower East Sider Record Club, and the usual Ray's menu. Ray will be there, of course. 

The books are available for purchase on her website and in select bookstores.

And Ray's is at 113 Avenue A, just north of Seventh Street.

A soggy day for new sod

Photos by Steven 

If you were in Tompkins Square Park earlier today, you likely noticed the stacks of sod near the field house. (Thanks to everyone who emailed about this.)

Apparently, some of the sod didn't grow in behind the renovated building, so the reinforcements have arrived...

Updated: Looks like Park workers will be putting sod on the main lawn too (though maybe they should wait until after DanceFest on Saturday).

First look at the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, which debuts this morning on 14th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The Whole Foods Market Daily Shop debuts this morning at 409 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. Doors open at 8 a.m. 

I received a sneak preview yesterday...

I met with local Forager John Lawson (below with, from left, Kristina Sosa and Veronica Delia), who used to work at 4th Street Food Co-Op many years ago.

He showed me around the store and pointed out the shop's local products, including Divya's, Mimi Cheng's and Genio by Una Pizza Napoletana. Lawson says 10 to 20% of the items in the shop, or over 400 products, are local.

The Whole Foods Market Daily Shop differs from the larger-footprint WF stores in that it has no butcher, seafood or cheese counter ... not to mention bulk foods or gallons of water for sale. 

There's a beer section, a grab-and-go/heat-and-eat, produce, and plentiful meal prep options.

Here's a look around...

There is also a Juice & Java counter...

During the tour, I noticed nothing was under lock and key, including the Manuka honey, which is locked up at other Whole Foods locations. What is the most stolen item, according to loss prevention teams? Frozen shrimp!

There isn't an Amazon return counter, although that might change if the neighborhood requests one.

Store employees told me, "There's no Amazon counter — yet, sometimes stores wait to put one in until the store's settled, and it is possible in the future."

Two staffed registers accept cash; all other registers are credit/debit/EBT card only and self-checkout. 

The self-checkout lanes are also palm-equipped for biometric data if you want to use a palm scanner.

The Daily Market concept is "to come in every day and pick up what you need for grab-and-go, and do your full shopping at Bowery or Union Square Whole Foods," a rep tells me. 

And what about the decision to open a Whole Foods across the street from Trader Joe's? 

"We feel there is an audience for both," says Veronica Delia from Whole Foods corporate communications team. "A lot of customers will cherry-pick," and "We're very competitive in the market." 

Adds John Lawson, "We think we offer a better shop than Trader Joe's." [Shots fired!]

Meanwhile, opening day festivities include... for anyone waiting in line at 7 a.m. (the usual opening time), there will be free Abe's mini muffins and Nguyen coffee. And for the first 300 people in the door, there is a free Whole Foods Stuytown tote.

Shop hours after opening day? Daily from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. 

This is the second Whole Foods Market Daily Shop to open in Manhattan (the UES debuted last fall). Another location will open on June 4 in Hell's Kitchen.

 Previously on EV Grieve: 

• This is when the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop will debut in the East Village next month

Signage alert: Lil Sweet Treat on 2nd Avenue

Photo by Steven 

Signage went up yesterday on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street for the latest outpost of Lil Sweet Treat. 

The brand, one of the, per Eater, "new-school, social media-ready candy shops" in NYC, opened its first store in the West Village last fall. 

The shop features pick-and-mix candy sourced from around the world. (And more than just the ol' Swedish fish.) 

We hear this outpost may be open by the end of the month. 

Lil Sweet Treat replaces Vape N Smoke ... so now the only buzz will come from a sugar high. (Sorry!)

Tuesday's parting shot

The Village Alliance BID celebrated the unveiling of a new public artwork by Juliana Woods, a first-year student at The Cooper Union, during an event earlier today on Astor Place. 

You can find background here.

Photo courtesy of Village Alliance (Ryan Muir).

Bands we like: Pop Music Fever Dream (PMFD)

Photos by Stacie Joy 

We’ve seen Pop Music Fever Dream (PMFD) several times, including last August as part of a Show Brain bill in Tompkins Square Park. 

And each time, we weren't sure what we might be in for. This held true again on April 25 at Night Club 101 on Avenue A, where PMFD opened the night as part of the record release show for Um, Jennifer? 

PMFD — vocalist-guitarist Tim Seeberger, guitarist Nicole Harwayne, bassist Carmen Castillo and drummer Violette Grim — took the stage in full clownface, a tribute to horrorcore rap duo Insane Clown Posse and Juggalo culture. The night was intended as an homage, complete with the spirit — if not the presence — of Faygo, the soda closely associated with ICP performances. 

When asked about the missing Faygo, the band explained they couldn't find any but assured that "the Faygo was there in spirit."

The sold-out crowd was then swept into PMFD's unrelenting punk fury and no-wave dissonance.

PMFD's last show until July is Saturday night at The Broadway as part of a 10-year-anniversary show for Radio Free Brooklyn. Find ticket info here. 

We'll leave you with the band's most recent video, "Elegy for a Memory."

 

Step by step: Dance Parade returns this Saturday

More than 10,000 dancers are expected to participate in the 19th Annual Dance Parade and Festival on Saturday. 

The event will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. at West 17th Street and Sixth Avenue. Grand Marshals Danny Tenaglia, Mercedes Ellington, Funmilayo Chesney, and David Parsons will be recognized for their contributions to dance. 

The parade, featuring 150 dance groups representing a range of styles, starts at noon ... and makes its way across Eighth Street to Astor Place, where there's a grandstand at St. Mark's Place. The festivities end at Tompkins Square Park ... when the DanceFest is on tap from 3-7 p.m. 

Via the EVG inbox: 

At the conclusion of the parade in Tompkins Square Park, the public can enjoy a festival featuring performances on two stages, a teaching stage, site-specific works, and a dedicated dance party area with DJs spinning an eclectic mix of genres. 

Five dedicated dance studios will offer free dance classes from some of New York's most esteemed instructors. The festival is designed to be an immersive and participatory celebration of dance.

Expect some street closures for all this on Saturday, including Astor Place between Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue, St Mark's Place between 3rd Avenue /Astor Place and Avenue A, and Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and 10th Street. 

Relive last year's event in photos here.

The retail spaces for rent in the Untitled building on Avenue A

For-lease signs went up last week in four of the five vacant retail spaces at 58-72 Avenue A, the block-long building that sold in the fall of 2022 between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

The newish owners named the building Untitled.

The listings are on LoopNet for the spaces that range from 368 square feet to 1,105. 

Three storefronts were operated by Angel Ramirez — Angels on A, Angels Boutique and Café Social 68/Viva! Café. He cited rising rents and real estate taxes as the primary reasons for the closures.

Another space was the longtime home of Ink, which closed here in July 2023 after 30-plus years in business. Owner Ben "Benny" Dahud had been in a legal tussle (some of this was his own fault, he admitted) with the private equity firm that bought the building in the fall of 2022 for $64 million. 

In the end, Benny decided to retire and close the newsstand. 

We're curious about what might be joining the other tenants — Mast Books, March Gallery and the liquor store.

The second photo by Stacie Joy

Day-long CBGB Festival in Brooklyn this September to feature Iggy Pop, Jack White

Today, the CBGB brand announced the CBGB Festival, set for Sept. 27 at Under the K Bridge Park in Brooklyn. Presented with The Bowery Presents, the one-day festival will feature 21 bands, including headliners Iggy Pop and Jack White. 

The lineup playing on three stages includes artists from multiple eras, such as Sex Pistols, Johnny Marr, Lunachicks, Marky Ramone, The Damned, and Melvins. Bands associated with the original CBGB hardcore scene — Gorilla Biscuits, Murphy's Law, and Cro-Mags — will also perform, along with newer acts like The Linda Lindas, Lambrini Girls, Destroy Boys, Angel Du$t, Scowl, Pinkshift, Teen Mortgage, YHWH Nailgun, Soul Glo, and Lip Critic. 

Presale registration is open now at CBGBFEST.COM. Presale begins Thursday at 10 a.m.; general ticket sales start Friday at 10 a.m. 

General admission tickets start at $149. There is a "Young Punks" ticket option ($73) for concertgoers under 24 years old. Those tickets will be available in person only on Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at the Bowery Presents box office at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. 6th St.

This is not the CBGB brand's first foray into festival territory. You may recall the CBGB Music & Film Festival from 2012-2014. 

CBGB closed at 315 Bowery in October 2006.

Friends and 'Neighbors'

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Two East Village artists, hmac and Peter Arkle, joined forces for a quick show at 616 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

"Neighbors" opened with a Thursday evening reception, followed by a Friday afternoon viewing — offering a chance to explore the contrasting styles of these friends and neighbors. (They live on the top floor of the same East Village building, which Peter moved into when hmac was 1, he noted.)

For Arkle, this was also a way to create something different from the illustrations he's known for in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and New York. (He also drew the neighborhood map at the Avenue A Trader Joe's.)

A zine released for the show includes a Q&A with hmac and Arkle. (Arkle's spouse, Amy Goldwasser, conducted the interview.)

An excerpt: 

How does the neighborhood inform your work? 

hmac: I love how accessible everything is in the radius that we have. I was from Montana, which was very quiet and a one high school town. But it's neighborly and community-based in a similar way that I get in the East Village. I can go to get spraypaint in 15 minutes. I can go to the park. I can ride my bike around. It gives a playground to me, like I'm rerooting my roots. 

Peter: If I were sitting at my desk trying to make up characters, I'd be struggling. But I love being able to walk everywhere, the density of this place, and you cannot walk a block without seeing interesting people doing interesting things. 

And the building?

hmac: Working on the roof adds much more breathing room to explore what I soak up out there. Then I'm able to paint but also look down from our building and see people fighting with 2x4s. I need ventilation. I sprawl. And it's the one place I can leave things to dry. 

Peter: The roof's an extreme place. Say you're just a beginner at spraypainting; there's a lot of paint that's not even going on the canvas. It's just sort of around. 

hmac: The wind picks up your paint and throws it. Then it dries in the air and flings onto your work. 

Peter: There's something about the roof that makes you be more big. The elements are in there. You can look at that painting and know forever you were in this crazy place when you made it.

We look forward to more from these two...