Marufuku Ramen closes on 2nd Avenue

Updated 10/21: A new ramen joint is on the way.

As multiple EVG readers noted, Marufuku Ramen closed last week at 92 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street...

The restaurant, which has multiple U.S. outposts and serves Hakata-style Tonkotsu ramen, opened here in July 2021. 

The previous tenant, Sanpoutei Gyoza & Ramen, debuted in January 2020 and never reopened after the PAUSE of March 2020. 

Some EVG readers may recall that Kabin Bar & Lounge was here until March 2015... and some will remember when it was the 24/7 Night Birds Bar & Restaurant in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Signage alert: Coffee Roastery + Workshop on 14th Street

Signage recently arrived for a coffee bar and micro roastery at 319 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

A Google search for the address turns up Ioannis Coffee Chef, a Brooklyn-based "farm to cup coffee company." 

And per Google:

A vibrant addition to the East Village, Ioannis Coffee Chef offers a unique and immersive coffee experience. Stepping inside this new Manhattan location, you'll discover a distinctive micro-roastery and coffee bar where the art of coffee is celebrated. 

Upperz Cafe and Bar was the last tenant here, closing after six-plus months in May. Previously, 787 Coffee spent a few years here before shutting down in June 2023 due to multiple break-ins and deteriorating quality-of-life issues along the corridor.

Sunday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Dog tired at the end of the 35th edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade today... more photos from along the parade route on Avenue B and from inside Tompkins Square Park coming soon...

Photos along 14th Street from yesterday's 'No Kings' protest

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully along Seventh Avenue from 47th Street to 14th Street yesterday as part of the nationwide "No Kings" rallies protesting President Trump's policies and agenda. 

EVG's Stacie Joy took these photos along 14th Street, from Seventh Street to between Avenue A and Avenue B, where the NYPD had a large staging area for mass arrests that never occurred. An NYPD official told us there weren't any protest-related arrests, which the NYPD News account confirmed this in a post. 

The NYPD also estimated the march size at 100,000 people... here are a few of the participants...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with an early am view along 10th Street and Tompkins)... 

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• Work stops, plans change for new building on 1st Avenue and 2nd Street (Monday, Oct. 13) 

• Stepping into her power: East Village native Laurice Fox brings Big Foot Energy home (Thursday, Oct. 16) 

• Owner of former P.S. 64 shares first public comments on building's future (Wednesday, Oct. 15) 

• Revisiting Britain's late-night weirdness at Various/Artists on the Lower East Side (Tuesday, Oct. 14) 

• CB3 to consider street co-namings honoring Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Jack Kirby (Tuesday, Oct. 14) 

• The last of the East Village Juice Press outposts has closed (Monday, Oct. 13) 

• These East Village streets will be closed Sunday for the Halloween Dog Parade (Friday, Oct. 17)

• Openings: Shifka on the Bowery (Tuesday, Oct. 14) … Zesty Tabbouleh on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday, Oct. 14) 

• ICYMI: Time Out Market debuts on 14th Street (Sunday, Oct. 12)

• On the CB3 SLA docket in October: A country buffet from the C as in Charlie and Kisa team (Wednesday, Oct. 15) … Former Good Beer space on 9th Street may yield a cafe-bar (Monday, Oct. 13) 

• The Sabieng Thai won't be reopening; Nounou Noodle Bar on the way (Thursday, Oct. 17) 

• Cue the next track: Hi-Note bids farewell (for now) on Avenue B (Wednesday, Oct. 15) 

• The Bowery gears up for more core work (Thursday, Oct. 17) 

• Signage alert: QQ Nails & Spa on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday, Oct. 15) 

... and crews for the Baquiat biopic "Samo Lives" will try again tomorrow after last Monday's rainout (post here). Tomorrow's weather doesn't look much more promising than Oct. 13...

About a new art show — at a laundromat on 5th Street

Desnivel Gallery opens its latest show this afternoon with "Service," an exhibition by Gloria Maximo taking place at JJ Cleaners & Laundromat on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Per the exhibition text: 

Gloria Maximo's paintings depict an economy of care, challenging our threshold of visibility as a way of drawing attention to the support networks all around us. They adjust our perception to the reality of need—the need for services, the need for employment, even the need for a place to be, how we position ourselves in a world which contains both desire and desperation. 

Her work induces us to cross this threshold and see things anew. 
Here, her work will sit amongst many signs. OUT OF ORDER, NO SMOKING, HOURS OF OPERATION, NOT WORK on the change machine. These are meant to be read in a split second. Some customers may at first mistake Gloria’s work for a sign, newly added since their last wash visit, or effaced with the years. They may expect to read it in an instant, and discover that this sign withholds. It complicates the ecology, maybe even confuses. 

The opening today is from 3-6 p.m. 

Desnivel Gallery, founded by Maria De Victoria, moved from the basement of her home to East Village storefronts as a way to highlight the financial challenges of running an art space while also making art more accessible to the public.

By placing art in places like a laundromat, hardware store or corner market, De Victoria says the gallery aims to integrate art into daily life, much like the neighborhood's experimental art scene of the 1980s.

Inspiration from a former 7-Eleven storefront

As seen on the for-rent 170 Avenue A at 11th Street: "Try new shit."

Sunday's opening shot

Artist BKFoxx wrapped up the new mural outside the Second Avenue F stop this past week... a homage to John Carpenter's 1988 cult classic "They Live."

A day of Honk NYC at La Plaza Cultural

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La Plaza is on the SW corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street...

Saturday's opening shot

Sunrise from St. Mark's Place... the weather forecasting folks say more clouds than sun today with a high of 64.

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

IT has begun... Fourth and A...

Pour some Sugar on me

 

Going back to January 1993 for this video of "If I Can't Change Your Mind" from Sugar's debut album, Copper Blue. 

If you are a fan of Sugar and Bob (Hüsker Dü) Mould, then you'll likely have heard about the 2026 reunion... Sugar will play two nights at Webster Hall on 11th Street in May.

About the Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House tomorrow

This is happening tomorrow (Saturday)... 

Organized by Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) the Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House is now in its third year, welcoming folks into cultural spaces without a ticket to a show or the cost of admission. All organizations will have staff available to greet you & answer questions about their programs! 

On East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery, you can grab maps & plan your route — and meet folks from 16 different organizations tabling on the block! 

Check out live music, poetry and theater performances on our stage, plus hands-on arts activities good for all ages. Then, with a map in hand, you can venture out into the historic Lower East Side to visit 13 more organizations that are opening their doors for you to explore exhibits, artist studios, theaters, a zine library, and more! 

Check out this link for more details and times.

These East Village streets will be closed Sunday for the Halloween Dog Parade

As a reminder... The 35th edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is this Sunday, Oct. 19, from 1–4 p.m. 

This year's event features a parade along Avenue B and a limited-entry costume competition. (Registration is closed.) There is also a festival block for participants on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

The above map (info via Loisaida Open Streets) shows the closures during the parade: 

• Avenue B: Seventh Street to 13th Street 

• Seventh, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets between Avenue A and Avenue B 

• Sixth, Seventh, 11th and 12th Streets between Avenue B and Avenue C 

For updates or FAQs, visit nydogparade.org or follow @nydogparade on Instagram.

Thursday's parting shot

Still life on First Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street...

RIP Spaceman

 

RIP Kiss guitarist and founding member Ace Frehley, who died today at age 74. 

The video here shows the Bronx native singing "New York Groove" during a 1996 performance with Kiss at the Brooklyn Bridge for the MTV Video Music Awards.

Stepping into her power: East Village native Laurice Fox brings Big Foot Energy home

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy 

At the Art Bodega pop-up inside the CLLCTV space on Third Street near Avenue B, Laurice Fox is surrounded by shoes that are equal parts sculpture and statement. 

The East Village native, who now splits her time between the neighborhood and Mexico, created her brand Big Foot Energy for people with larger feet — and to challenge an industry that often overlooks them. 

Here, Fox talks about growing up in the neighborhood, finding confidence through creativity, and turning what once felt like a frustration into power. 

As someone who grew up here, how has the neighborhood shaped your artistic perspective?

I was born and raised in Stuyvesant Town and grew up between the East Village and Alphabet City in the 1990s and early 2000s. It was such a mix of grit and creativity — you had drag queens, punks, club kids, finance guys, and artists all existing side by side. 

That raw, eclectic energy definitely shaped me. It taught me that style is about individuality and expression, not rules. That influence is at the core of my design choices: shoes that are bold, unapologetic, and powerful, but still wearable for real life. 

How did Big Foot Energy come to be? What's its origin story? 

LAURICE FOX is my brand name, and Big Foot Energy is my tagline. It is a play on BDE/Big Dick Energy, which is a term generally referencing men who carry themselves/act like "they're packing," and therefore move on confidence. 

The term can apply to anyone, really. I reappropriated the term for people with big feet to own their power, despite being neglected by the footwear industry. I started my brand as a personal frustration: I wear a size 12, and for years I struggled to find shoes that were stylish, high-quality, and made to fit properly. The options were either nonexistent or felt like an afterthought. 

I realized that women and gender-expansive people with larger feet deserved more — shoes that made them feel confident, sexy, and seen. So I created the brand around that idea, turning what used to feel like a "problem" into power. Big Foot Energy is about reclaiming space, not shrinking yourself. 

What challenges do you face designing and creating shoes for larger feet? 

The biggest challenge is scale — literally. Most footwear is designed around a standard sample size, usually a 6 or 7, and then scaled up. But that doesn't work for larger feet. Proportions, balance, and structure all change, and if you don't design intentionally, the shoe won't look or feel right. 

I work closely with my manufacturer to make sure the last [the mold the shoe is built around] is created specifically for extended sizes. It takes more time and resources, but the result is a shoe that actually flatters and supports larger feet.

Who is the typical Big Foot Energy customer? 

My customer is someone who's bold, self-assured, and not afraid to stand out. They range from women who've never had access to luxury shoes in their size to gender-fluid and nonbinary individuals who want pieces that affirm their style. What they all have in common is a desire to express themselves fully — they're not settling for "good enough," they want shoes that match their energy.

What's next for you and the brand? 

Right now, my shoes are available through my website, and I occasionally do pop-ups around New York. 

What's next is growth: expanding the collection, collaborating with artists and creatives who embody Big Foot Energy, and continuing to push representation forward in fashion. My goal is to make it so that when someone with a size-12, -13, -14, or -15 foot wants luxury shoes, they don't have to compromise — they know exactly where to go.

The Sabieng Thai won't be reopening; Nounou Noodle Bar on the way

Early last month, we spotted a "temporarily closed for renovations" sign on the door at The Sabieng Thai on First Avenue. 

The windows were also papered over, but we did see several contractors inside the space between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, so it seemed to be a genuine renovation, not a stealth shutdown. 

Soon enough, Community Board 3 notices arrived — a new Thai restaurant is in the works here called Nounou Noodle bar. 

The applicants are on this month's CB3 SLA docket, though they've already received administrative approval based on their method of operation (beer-wine, early close, etc.). 

Here's more about what to expect via the Nounou website: 

At Nounou, every bowl starts with care and craft. Our noodles are made in-house each day—rolled, cut, and shaped by hand—because we believe they should be as fresh and full of character as the city we serve. Chef Kim Chaimongkolchai brings his Thai roots and years of kitchen experience to the table. 

Growing up in Thailand, bold flavors left a lasting mark on him. Later, in New York at the Institute of Culinary Education, he sharpened his skills in both Asian and Western cooking. With more than a decade in the industry, Chef Kim now blends tradition with creativity, giving noodles a playful modern twist. 

Chef Kim has most recently worked at Plue Thai Kitchen on Lexington Avenue in East Harlem. 

We liked The Sabieng Thai, which opened in the fall of 2016... taking over from Spice. (Another Thai spot, Pukk, was here until 2015.)

The Bowery gears up for more core work

Expect to see more athleisure wear soon on the Bowery. 

Signage arrived this week for Jetset Pilates at 303 Bowery between First Street and Houston. The quickly growing brand has 30-plus locations in the United States (22 in Florida), including several in NYC.

As for the above athleisure wear line... there's a New York Pilates branch on the Bowery just south of Houston... as well as a few yoga options and other fitness options in the immediate area. 

No. 303 in the base of the Avalon Bowery complex was previously home to Trek.

Wednesday's parting shot

A view today from Stuyvesant Street at 10th Street...