At the 35th edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade returned in full force yesterday afternoon, with hundreds of costumed pups and their humans marching along Avenue B before a festive crowd.

Pop culture ruled the afternoon, with nods to "Wicked," "Alien," (below) "Midsommar" and Jinu from "KPop Demon Hunters," among many others.

Four dogs from Pup Starz, Social Tees and the ASPCA served as Parade Grand Marshals, spotlighting the importance of adoption.

This 35th edition of the Dog Parade also included a festival block for participants on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, where sponsor Stella & Chewy's handed out treats for four-legged guests. 

Dan Schachner from the Puppy Bowl emceed once again, this time channeling Bob Barker (below with organizer Fern Watt), as a panel of judges reviewed 20 finalists on a stage set up in the middle of Tompkins Square Park.

In the end, top honors went to Charlie, Emily and Zoey, a trio who transformed Tompkins Square Park into a “cereal killer” crime scene — complete with a human Snap, Crackle and Pop. Their clever concept earned their pups the grand prize: a year's supply of free dog food.

Here are more scenes from the afternoon...

After 16 years, Poco is closing on Avenue B and 3rd Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Poco, the longtime brunch hotspot and bar on the SE corner of Avenue B and Third Street, will close next month after 16 years in business. 

Owner Sara Grizzle (pictured below) confirmed the news, telling EVG that after more than a decade and a half in the East Village, "it's time." 

She plans to relocate to Cape Cod, where she also owns another restaurant (currently closed for the season), and said the decision to move on feels right.

The last day for Poco will be on or before Nov. 23. Grizzle said there may be a closing party and other celebrations before the restaurant shutters for good. 

Poco, which opened in 2009, built a devoted following for its boozy weekend brunches and lively crowds that often spilled onto the corner of 3rd and B. 

No word yet on what's next for the space.

‘Jean-Michel Basquiat Way’ to be unveiled on Great Jones Street

Tomorrow (Tuesday), city officials, members of the Basquiat family and community representatives will gather to unveil "Jean-Michel Basquiat Way," the stretch of Great Jones Street between the Bowery and Lafayette. 

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. from 1983 until his death in 1988. Officials say the co-naming recognizes his lasting influence on New York City's art and cultural landscape.

The ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will include a presentation of a proclamation honoring the artist to Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, his sisters. 

No. 57 is now home to Atelier Jolie.

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.