Mass e-bike seizure sparks tensions and debate on 11th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

In a coordinated enforcement effort yesterday afternoon, NYPD officers and Sanitation workers impounded dozens of e-bikes, mopeds, and bicycles from 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The action, which began around noon and wrapped up by 3 p.m., took place on a day when the heat index hit 100 degrees and came amid mounting tensions over how public space is shared along this corridor.

Bikes locked to poles and scaffolding were cut free with power tools and loaded into NYPD vehicles. Personal items — including food delivery bags, folding chairs, and other belongings — were discarded.

 

The block was closed to vehicle traffic for the duration of the operation.

Nearby, the longtime food truck stationed at the southeast corner of 11th Street and First Avenue was asked to relocate. It moved across the avenue, and the corner space will now be used as a designated corral for legal bike parking.

A surge in complaints

The sweep followed a stretch of recent signage posted along the block announcing the scheduled "cleanup," part of a joint initiative by the 9th Precinct and the Department of Sanitation. 

Officials said the enforcement is a response to a surge in community complaints about noise, congestion, and food waste stemming from the block's unofficial use as a waiting and staging area for e-bike delivery workers (aka, deliveristas). Quality-of-life issues have been regularly mentioned at 9th Precinct Community Council meetings.

The area, particularly the sidewalk in front of the under-renovation Madina Masjid Islamic Council of America on the northeast corner, one of the city's oldest mosques, has become a gathering spot for the workers due to its central location and availability of curb space. 

Hector, a building super on the block, said the bikes often block access to trash bins and attract rats due to leftover food containers. 

"We can't get through some days," he said.

A mixed reaction

The enforcement action drew sharply mixed reactions. Some neighbors expressed gratitude to the police for "cleaning up the block." Others shouted at officers and tried to stop the bikes from being taken. 

A few residents translated information into French for West African delivery workers, many of whom were caught off guard. (The NYPD posted multiple flyers along here on Friday.)

"We don't sell drugs — we deliver food," said one delivery worker, declining to give his name. "We work hard. We buy a $2,000 bike, and they take it from us. How do we work now?" 

Said one officer: "We spoke to the community, we spoke to Joco [which provides e-bikes to delivery workers], we spoke directly to the delivery workers. We put up signs in multiple languages. This is community policing. This is not just us being the big, bad police." 

Tensions boiled over at times, with some skirmishes occurring among residents, law enforcement, sanitation, and the bike owners. 

One woman walking by screamed at the police, "Why?! Why are you harming them? Why are you taking their means for work?"

One sanitation worker looked at me ruefully and said, "This is the worst part of the job."

Police confirmed that no criminal summonses were issued, though some sanitation code violations may be forthcoming. 

All bikes were tagged and vouchered and are being held at the 9th Precinct for 30 days. A receipt or other proof of ownership is required to reclaim a bike. Officers stressed that no immigration documents are needed and that immigration status is not being checked.

Delivery workers insist they've taken steps to keep the area clean and orderly, but say they need somewhere to rest between jobs. Police maintain the broader goal is to balance the needs of workers, residents, and businesses in an increasingly crowded corridor. 

"This is not a one-time sweep," said one law enforcement source. "We'll continue to assess and enforce as needed. We're looking for a lasting solution."

All sides seemed to agree on one thing: This is a problem without a clear-cut solution.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Cleanup planned for E-bike hub on 11th Street following spike in complaints

Wednesday's parting shot

The Tompkins Square Park Poool is pretty coool. 

Coool Dad (and Ross Hater) created the illustration and had a T-shirt made via Zazzle. You can order one if you'd like here. (Only Zazzle is making $$$ on this.)

A look at Monday afternoon’s rooftop fire on 2nd Street

We received several reader reports of a dramatic-looking rooftop fire on Monday afternoon at 252 E. Second St. near Avenue C. 

EVG reader P. Skiff shared these top three photos... as the FDNY quickly arrived on the scene...

EVG's Stacie Joy was there after firefighters had extinguished the flames...

One firefighter sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. 

There wasn't any immediate word on the cause or extent of the damage. The FDNY quickly had it extinguished. 

Thankfully, it looked a lot worse than it was...

[Updated] These are the movies screening in Tompkins Square Park this summer

The Lower East Side Film Festival is bringing its free summer screening series back to Tompkins Square Park.

Here's what is on the docket: 

• Aug. 14 — "Mistress America" 

• Aug. 27 — "Summer of Soul" 

• Sept. 19 — "Birdman" 

Each screening (roughly at 8:30 p.m.) begins with a short film by a LESFF alum, followed by the feature presentation. The screenings take place in the center of the park where the bands usually perform on weekends.

The invite promises "complimentary refreshments and surprises throughout the night." 

NOTE: The screening of "Mistress America" scheduled for tomorrow night has been moved to Aug. 14 due to the expected rain in NYC.

The series is in partnership with presenting sponsor Searchlight Pictures and local Assemblymember Harvey Epstein ...with community support from East Village Community Coalition, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), and Loisaida Inc. Center. 

Find more info here. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• About the Lower East Side Film Festival: 15 years of keeping it reel

Please don't pick the flowers

The pedestrian safety island garden on the northwest corner of First Avenue and Seventh Street, just outside Tile Bar, has been lovingly maintained by volunteers for years (20!) — and it shows. 

Their care and consistency have kept the spot vibrant and green, season after season. (We've given it a shout-out every so often.)

Unfortunately, a sunflower was recently snipped from the plot on Monday ... a disheartening act for those who work hard to keep this corner blooming. (The young man was caught in the act, and he was very apologetic, we're told.)

Urban gardening is challenging enough without losing flowers to passersby (as we've seen on Second Street).

Supporters of this plot shared a message with EVG: If you're walking by, admire the garden — but please, let the blooms be...

Details about the 9th annual East Village Queer Film Festival next month at wild project

Wild Project's ninth annual East Village Queer Film Festival is set for Aug. 21-24. 

The festival "embraces an inclusive Queer identity, featuring films that entertain, explore, and promote queer-themed issues, work by and featuring LGBTQIA+ artists, as well as work inspired by the expanded innovative and audacious downtown Queer avant-garde." 

Check out the roster of films (and buy tickets) here. 

The venue is at 195 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Scenes of a Summer Celebration on 12th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

Heading back to Saturday afternoon for scenes from a Summer Celebration sidewalk block party on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue... organized by (above) Maegan and Alex, the co-owners of the East Village Vintage Collective. 

The afternoon featured various vendors...

... and several of the block's food establishments, including House of Pasta, Poppy, The Community Boutique & Café and The Pastry Box...

You can follow the East Village Vintage Collective Instagram account for updates on other upcoming events...

On Avenue A, Heaven Can Wait morphs into Lucinda’s Honky Tonk + Juke Joint

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Signage arrived yesterday for Lucinda's Honky Tonk + Juke Joint at 169 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The venue is described as a "Soulful Southern Honky Tonk" on Instagram.

The ownership is said to be Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, Brownies and Lakeside Lounge co-founder Laura McCarthy, and songwriter and manager Kelley Swindall.

Tonight, Williams will break in the stage with a private show for SiriusXM Outlaw Country. 

 

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A post shared by Stevie Van Zandt (@stevievanzandt)

Moving forward, Lucinda's will host live country music on Friday nights, live-band karaoke on Saturdays and a jukebox "stacked with country faves through the ages." 

Lucinda's is hosting a test run this weekend (details here).  

Here's a first look inside Lucinda's, where crews were busy setting up the stage and adding more framed photos, including some by Danny Clinch, to the walls

The space was most recently occupied by Heaven Can Wait (b. 2022), which went dark earlier this year. 

The lounge/small music venue has seen several concepts in recent years, including Coney Island Baby, Lola and East Berlin. The address was previously EVG favorites HiFi (2002-2017) and the indie live music venue Brownies (1989-2002).

Say cheese: S'MAC celebrates 19 years in business

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

S'MAC (aka Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese) celebrated its 19th birthday over the weekend at its NW corner space on First Avenue and 12th Street. 

Owners — and longtime East Village residents — Sarita and Caesar Ekya, both trained engineers, opened the restaurant in the summer of 2006 with a creative twist on the classic comfort food. 

Originally located at 345 E. 12th St., S'MAC moved to its current spot in 2017. 

In addition to serving up cheesy concoctions (we mean that in a good way), S'MAC has also been a generous neighbor. For several years, the Ekyas partnered with East Village Neighbors, a local volunteer group, to provide meals for community members in need through a fridge and pantry outside the restaurant. (The initiative ended after tenant complaints led the landlord to ask for its removal.) 

Nearly two decades in, S'MAC remains a comforting constant in a neighborhood that seems to be constantly changing.

Signage alert: Spirals bringing the cinnamon rolls to 1st Avenue

Photo by Danimal 

Sigange went up last week at 137 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street for Spirals, a bakery specializing in cinnamon rolls. 

According to the business website: "After two years in the making, fresh, delicious cinnamon rolls are coming very soon to the East Village!" 

Cinnamon rolls have proven to be popular around here, given the lines we've seen for Sunday Morning, which opened in January on Avenue B. 

If you're on Instagram, you can follow Spirals here for updates. 

This retail space was previously occupied by Davey's Ice Cream, which relocated around the corner to Ninth Street in 2022.

Remembering Jason Goodrow

Photos courtesy of Satoko Goodrow 

Friends and family gathered yesterday in La Plaza Cultural on Ninth Street and Avenue C to celebrate the life of longtime neighbor Jason Goodrow, a beloved local musician who passed away in May. 

Attendees remembered Goodrow with songs and stories, honoring his decades-long presence in the neighborhood music scene. A talented performer, mixer, and producer, he played in numerous bands over the years and left a lasting impression on those who knew him.

Tomorrow night, the music continues with a "Life Celebration Jam" at ReVision Lounge and Gallery (219 Avenue B, between 13th and 14th Streets). The event begins at 7 p.m. Find details here.

Community Board 3 joins call for urgent safety measures at Manhattan Bridge-Canal Street intersection

Photo via @andrea_gordillo

Community leaders, local elected officials, and safe-street advocates are renewing calls for urgent changes to the dangerous Manhattan Bridge exit at Canal Street and the Bowery after two people were killed by a speeding driver early on July 19. 

At a vigil held July 23 at the foot of the bridge, Community Board 3 Chair Andrea Gordillo said the deaths of May Kwok, 63, and Kevin Cruikshank, 55, were "preventable" and demanded immediate safety upgrades.

 

Here's part of a statement that Gordillo shared on Instagram on July 24:

We gathered last night in heartbreak and fury for May Kwok and Kevin Cruikshank, two lives stolen in crashes this weekend that we've long warned were preventable. As Chair of Community Board 3, I've joined community leaders in calling on @nyc_dot to fix Canal Street and make room for the people and small businesses who give this corridor life for years now. 

We're past the deadline. DOT promised a redesign plan by Fall 2024. Two more lives are now gone, and we've seen no action. 

We need immediate safety changes — and we must rethink the Manhattan Bridge Plaza as a true public space: for walking, biking, gathering, and grieving. 

Despite years of community pressure and city studies, the Department of Transportation has yet to unveil a redesign. The agency says it plans to update the public on proposed safety improvements this fall. Advocates are pushing for measures like bollards or concrete barriers, as well as a broader reimagining of the Manhattan Bridge plaza.

"DOT has plans and they sit on shelves, people die, people are seriously injured in the meantime," Kate Brockwehl, an advocate with the organization Families for Safe Streets, said during the rally, as reported by Streetsblog. "Why play politics and delay, and delay, and delay, when you know that Canal Street in its current design is a public health emergency?" 

A DOT spokesperson told ABC 7, "This driver should not have been on our streets and, as we work to develop safety improvements along Canal, we will continue our advocacy at the state level for legislation to address the most dangerous recidivist drivers who pose an outsized risk to all New Yorkers."

There are currently five inbound lanes of traffic entering the Bowery and Canal from the bridge, which may be an unnecessary number, given that traffic across the bridge has dropped 19% since congestion pricing took effect, as Streetsblog reported. 

The driver of the stolen car (a rental that had not been returned), Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, 23, was charged on July 21 with murder, manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, criminal possession of a weapon, leaving the scene of an accident and criminal possession of stolen property. 

Her passenger, Kennedy Lecraft, 22, was reportedly charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

After the deadly collision in which the speeding car jumped the curb, striking the victims on the sidewalk before destroying an unoccupied police van, the two tried to flee the scene. NYPD investigators said they found an open bottle of tequila in the front of the car and two semi-automatic weapons in the trunk.

Romero was out on bail for a Brooklyn collision that seriously injured a 22-year-old woman in April.

Twenty-four hours after the deadly crash, a driver lost control of his car on Sunday morning and drove into a food truck and TD Bank at the same intersection. There were no reported injuries.

At this link, Streetsblog has a history of this dangerous intersection and the potential fixes required to improve the safety for pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists.

Below is a copy of the letter that local elected officials and Community Boards sent to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez last week.

Homecomings: La Salle Academy prepares to return to original East Village campus

Renovations continue on Second Street near Second Avenue as La Salle Academy readies its longtime East Village building for the 2025–26 school year. 

The move marks a homecoming for one of New York City's oldest all-male Catholic high schools, which had operated out of nearby St. George Academy on Sixth Street since 2010. (The school opened on Second Street in 1856.)

The Nord Anglia International School New York, which leased the building, relocated to Gramercy Park for the fall.

The decision to return follows years of financial restructuring after the 2008 economic downturn, when La Salle began sharing facilities with St. George while maintaining its own identity. At the same time, leasing its East Village property helped the school stabilize and retire debt, school officials have said.

La Salle also sold its annex at Second Avenue and Second Street in 2020 for $14.5 million. The site, which included several other parcels, remains undeveloped.

The school announced its return to Second Street in March 2024.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• School shuffle: La Salle Returning to 2nd Street as St. George seeks new tenants

Krave It has not been open lately on 2nd Avenue

Krave It has been closed during its announced business hours in recent weeks.

Google still shows the outpost as open on Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

We reached out about he status of this location, which just opened in March.

This was the brand's first Manhattan location. It was founded in 2015 in Queens by husband and wife (and high school sweethearts) Vishee and Jenna Mandahar. Krave It also has several locations in the metropolitan area, including Bayside, Huntington and Astoria. A Krave It just opened in Denver.

Krave It specializes in "creative, out-of-the-box sandwich and pizza options," such as the birria pizza, ramyun pizza, Hot Cheetos pizza, Biggie Mac pizza, and more.

The space was, until March 2024, Planet Taco. Recent past lives include Otto's Tacos for seven years. Before that, many things came and went here, such as Good Guys, a Subway (sandwich shop), part of a Max Brenner outpost, and Burritoville.

H/T Steven!