Sunday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Delivery services expanding their offerings?

Week in Grieview

Posts that past week included (with a photo from 2nd and B by Stacie Joy)... 

• East Village mainstay Katinka is closing after 45 years on 9th Street (Monday) 

• Scoop: After nearly 30 years, Starbucks is closing its Astor Place location (Sunday) 

• Death of developer sheds light on status of new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue; 'The project is entirely on spec' (Tuesday) 

• 'Make Me Famous,' a documentary on 1980s-era East Village-based painter Edward Brezinski, finally gets an East Village screening (Wednesday) 

• A world premiere for the documentary on pioneering LES performance artist Arleen Schloss (Tuesday)

• East Village favorite International Bar is reopening (Tuesday) 

• Here's a chance to see vintage East Village band Disturbed Furniture perform live (Saturday) 

• Who wants to live in the East Village (of Downingtown, Pa.)? (Friday) ... Meanwhile, at a Forever 21 in San Diego (Thursday) 

• Openings: Crepe City on Avenue A (Wednesday) ... G's Cheesesteaks on Houston and Avenue B (Monday) 

• Bands we like: Francie Moon (Sunday) 

• Someone wrapped this tree on 14th Street in lights — and no one knows who or why (Tuesday) 

• Amid pending litigation, Memphis Seoul closes its outpost on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) ... Boulton & Watt has closed (Monday) 

• Here's what's coming next to the Orpheum Theatre on 2nd Avenue (Friday) 

• A new taqueria for 221 2nd Ave. (Monday)

• Hottie Lash checks into 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Friday) 

• Indian restaurant up next for 202 Avenue A (Friday) 

• Signage alert: Loong Noodles on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• Openings: Saperavi on 14th Street (Friday) 

• First sign of Moody Tongue on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

... in our Boulton & Watt post this week, we noted that the brand is opening an outpost in Terminal 4 at JFK... EVG reader Joe noted later that the Brindle Room (11th and C) has a spot in Terminal 7...

Scoop: After nearly 30 years, Starbucks is closing its Astor Place location

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Photos from yesterday

Updated 7/29: See the end of the post for a statement from Starbucks HQ. The SB sign has also been removed from the retail space. Photo here.

Updated: Through a spokesperson, ASG Equities, the landlord at 21 Astor, said that they offered Starbucks a lease extension at exactly the same rent:

“ASG is appreciative of Starbucks’ decades-long tenancy at 21 Astor.  We are sad they chose to leave, even as we offered a lease extension that would have allowed them to remain in their existing space at the exact same rent. This corner on top of the Astor Place subway has extensive glass frontage, tremendous signage, and incredible foot traffic. We are quite confident that this space will be of interest to a wide range of community-oriented retailers.”

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Starbucks on Astor Place will close its doors for good after service today, ending nearly 30 years here outside the entrance to the downtown 6 at Lafayette. (H/T to the tipster who first shared this development.)

According to management, "the landlords jacked up the rent so astronomically high that even corporate Starbucks couldn't pay it." The manager said that all employees were offered relocation options with other Starbucks. (We also contacted the Starbucks HQ in Seattle for comment.)

The manager went on to say that he would miss this location's regulars and being part of their day. 

As of yesterday, the Astor Place shop had already scrubbed the brand's NYC location map...

This outpost was the 11th Starbucks to open in the city. The spacious 4,000-square-foot SB debuted on March 30, 1995 — a year before the Kmart arrived across Eighth Street. Other key dates in this SB's history: it underwent a major renovation in 2018 ... and unionized in 2022.

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--Updated--

Starbucks closed its unionized location on North 7th Street location in Williamsburg on June 30, per Greenpointers.

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With its floor-to-ceiling windows lined with high stools, the outpost was popular for its ample people-watching opportunities ... as well as convenient public restrooms. (Before the 2018 renovations, a one-star Yelp review from here noted: "The bathrooms look like they run a cockfighting ring out of them.")

Despite this closure, Starbucks still has smaller outlets on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place, First Avenue at Third Street, and First Avenue at 13th Street (not to mention locations on Union Square and University Place). 

Once upon a time, there were two Starbucks on Astor Place (plus one at Broadway and Ninth Street that shuttered in 2019)... the one at 51 Astor Place closed in 2009 and was replaced by the New York Film Academy Café. That iteration of the address was demolished in 2011 to make way for the Death Star.

Updated 7/29

A statement from a spokesperson at Starbucks:

Effective July 29, 2024, our Lafayette & 8th St store, also known as Astor Place, in Manhattan will close permanently. We have engaged Workers United to collaborate on the next steps, including transfer options, for the 17 partners currently employed at this location.​

As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate our store portfolio, using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers. We do not take the decision to close stores lightly. Our relationship with our customers is deeply personal, and we are honored to have been on Astor Place. ​

We hope our customers will use the Starbucks Store Locator to find other nearby locations. 

The closest stores include​: 

• Broadway & Bond – 665 Broadway 

• ​NYU 4th & Washington Sq E – 45 West 4th St.

•​15th & 3rd – 145 3rd Ave.

Saturday's parting shot

As seen on Fourth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Here's a chance to see vintage East Village band Disturbed Furniture perform live

Longtime East Village resident (and EVG reader) Sue Lashley shared information for the following post. Disclosure: She is married to Disturbed Furniture drummer Mick Oakleaf.

In the early 1980s, the art-rock band Disturbed Furniture made an impact on New York's downtown club scene at storied venues such as Club 57, Mudd Club and Peppermint Lounge. They shared stages with the likes of the Psychedelic Furs, Stranglers, The Waitresses, and The Go-Go's, toured regionally, and released well-received music and videos. 

Their sound was born from the noir cabaret vibe of the East Village scene and the sensuality of contemporary urban sounds, merging the art world and punk sensibilities with grittier dance aesthetics. 

They are back in the East Village for one of their rare shows at 8:45 p.m. on July 30 at the Parkside Lounge, 317 E. Houston St. at Attorney. Doors open at 7 p.m. The free show includes sets by Jennifer Blowdryer and The Bad Flowers, featuring Billy Ficca of Television.

Disturbed Furniture reunited in 2019 to record new music and perform several annual shows. The impetus to reactivate Disturbed Furniture came from MoMA’s major 2017 retrospective, which documented the band's old stomping ground, "Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983." 

After meeting with the curators, lead singer Alexa Hunter agreed to contribute the group's music videos and their single cover art to the exhibition and appear in the accompanying catalog. MoMA not only acquired Disturbed Furniture's music videos proper but also a series of Hunter's super-8 films and other footage shot in 1979. Their 7-inch 45rpm record, Information/Alors Allez, is now sought after by record collectors. It was produced, engineered and mixed by Grammy winner Steve Remote, who runs Aura Sonic Ltd. 

"I can't believe we’ve received big offers from collectors for an original pressing of our single of "Information/Alors Allez" in mint condition,” said Hunter, "and that was before it became part of MoMA's permanent collection. The cover photo was taken in my tiny East Village tenement two buildings down from the Hells Angels clubhouse."

   

Galvanized by the MoMA show, Hunter began tracking down band members still living in NYC and assembled a core line-up of original members featuring guitarist Jorge Arévalo Mateus, now in Brooklyn, and drummer Mick Oakleaf, who is still an East Village resident. Guest bass players include Shin Sakaino, Felice Rosser and Juan Sebastian Monsalve. 

In 2019, Disturbed Furniture released a new five-song EP, Continuous Pleasures, on Arevarc Records. Produced by the core group of Mateus, Hunter and Oakleaf, it was recorded at Mighty Toad Recording and The Honey Jar in Brooklyn, with additional tracks done at Blighty Music Studios in Los Angeles. Continuous Pleasures features new recordings of some of the group's 1980s material and several new songs. The cover art is by Hunter's friend, Kenny Scharf. 

This year, German label Mad Butcher Classics reissued the single "Information/Alors Allez" using a reproduction of the original cover art. The band is currently recording new songs for future release.

"Hit or Miss" is a 2019 single from 2019 that features footage from 1979...

Sunflowers beam

Annual appreciation to the community gardeners (and Tile Bar regulars) who keep this pedestrian safety island garden looking so good here on First Avenue at Seventh Street...

Feeling 'Blue'

 

The local band Homade released its first music video this past week... check out the punky twang of "Blue Fish" above... and follow @homade.nyc for updates about live shows, etc.

Saturday in the Park

A four-band bill is slated for tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... via Show Brain and starting at 2 p.m. 

The lineup features:

• Skortz (we wrote about them here) 

• Consumables — "Angular post-punk" 

• Aux Blood — "Brooklyn-based post-hardcore noize" 

• Clone — Their new album "embodies a raw and energetic punk ethos." 

Updated: Suburban Speed has been added to the bill. They lead off at 2 p.m.

Up next: Puke Island Part 12 from Iconicide on Sunday... and the 36th annual Tompkins Square Riot Reunion via The Shadow on Aug. 3-4.

Who wants to live in the East Village (of Downingtown, Pa.)?

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about the East Village NYC t-shirts at a Forever 21 in San Diego... an EVG reader ups the stakes with this entire community development named East Village in bucolic Downingtown, Pa. 

The East Village Home Collection includes The Tompkins. (This is a carriage home?...)

There is no mention of amenities that might include a dog run, out-of-order restrooms, a hidden mini pool, and intermittent police presence. 

And a map... (Not sure how they pronounce their Houston Street)...

Said the reader, who, like Miles Teller, originally hails from Downingtown: "Because nothing evokes EV history like a two-car garage carriage home."

Here's what's coming next to the Orpheum Theatre on 2nd Avenue

"The Big Gay Jamboree," described as "a new comedy trapped inside of a musical," is up next at the classic Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. (H/T Steven!)

Tickets have been on sale since the spring... the marquee just hasn't been changed yet. Previews start Sept. 14 ... with an Oct. 1 opening day and a Jan. 19 close.

The synopsis!

Stacey wakes up after a night of heavy drinking and finds herself trapped in an Off-Broadway Golden Age musical. Forced to put her musical theatre degree in action, Stacey has to figure out how to escape this singing and dancing prison in front of a live audience. 

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A post shared by Big Gay Jamboree (@biggayjamboree)

"Stomp" ended its 29-year reign at the Orpheum in January 2023. The most recent shows by Rachel Bloom and Eddie Izzard saw the Orpheum return to its roots in the 1980s and early 1990s when it hosted Off-Broadway productions like Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing," Eric Bogosian's "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll" and John Leguizamo's "Mambo Mouth."

Indian restaurant up next for 202 Avenue A

202 Avenue A photo from May 

The East Village will soon be home to another Indian dining option.

The owners of Gazab on Essex Street (just south of Houston) are opening a new venture called Jhakaas at 202 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

According to the Commercial Observer, Gazab Executive Chef and founder Vamshi Adi will also be running Jhakaas. 

The 3,000-square-foot space hadn't been on the market for very long: Kōbo by Nai quietly closed in the spring after arriving in late 2022. 

The address, 202 Avenue A, which has a tragic past, received a horizontal and vertical enlargement several years back, adding two floors to the building.

Hottie Lash checks into 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Hottie Lash is the new tenant for the second-level retail space on the northwest corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue (133 Second Ave., aka 37 St. Mark's Place). 

While it sounds like a solid roller derby name, this is a salon for eyelash extensions, which takes over the address from Taiji Body Work. 

Previously, 8-Bit and Up, the retro video shop, was upstairs before moving to Third Street in the fall of 2013. 

And as we've posted before... this 1990s upstairs-downstairs combo...

The above photo is by Barry Joseph and was published in Ada Calhoun's book "St. Marks Is Dead."

P.S. 

The Gap was on the ground floor from 1988 to 2001.

Openings: Saperavi on 14th Street

There's a recent name change at 245 E. 14th St., where Mealz is now going as Saperavi here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to the EVG readers who shared this.) 

The new signage better showcases what's available — a "Georgian eatery and wine bar." (From the outside, Mealz had more of a generic cafe vibe, and the quality took some people by surprise.) 

Like Mealz, Saperavi has an all-day cafe menu featuring several Georgian entrees. Hours: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

Mealz debuted in October 2022.

Meanwhile, at a Forever 21 in San Diego

Thanks to the EVG San Diego Bureau Chief for this photo...

A postponement for tonight's screening of 'Little Fugitive' in Tompkins Square Park

ICYMI: Given the chance of rain tonight, the free screening of "Little Fugitive" in Tompkins Square Park has been rescheduled... to Aug. 5 at 8 p.m.

RESCHEDULED! Due to inclement weather, we have rescheduled our showing of the Little Fugitive for August 5th at 8:00 PM. See you there! pic.twitter.com/3FDXvMQONE

— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) July 23, 2024

Read more about the film series here.

'Make Me Famous,' a documentary on 1980s-era East Village-based painter Edward Brezinski, finally gets an East Village screening

After screenings in NYC and elsewhere over the past year, "Make Me Famous" is finally playing in the neighborhood where the documentary is set — the East Village.

Starting on Saturday, Village East by Angelika will screen the film three times at the theater on Second Avenue and 12th Street.

"Make Me Famous" is: 

... a madcap romp through the 1980s NYC art scene amid the colorful career of painter, Edward Brezinski, hell-bent on making it. What begins as an investigation into Brezinski's legacy and mysterious disappearance becomes a sharp, witty portrait of NYC’s 1980s downtown art scene resulting in an irresistible snapshot of an unknown artist who captures the spirit of an iconic era. 

Director Brian Vincent and Producer Heather Spore will be at the following screenings with these special guests: 

• July 27, 5 p.m. 

Photographer Marcia Resnick, photographer Josef Astor, archival cinematographer Jim C 

• July 31, 7 p.m. Filmmaker and photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and curator and archivist Sur Rodney (Sur)

• Aug. 1, 7 p.m. Artist Peter McGough and Basquiat's first gallerist Annina Nosei 

Find ticket information here.

Brezinski and CLICK models for NY TALK Magazine, 1984, photo by Jonathan Postal

From 543 E. Sixth St.: B-Side Gallery Opening, 1984, photo by Gary Azon 

In the past year, I've been in touch with Spore and Vincent (past posts here). I asked them both to comment on the film's EV premiere. 

Heather 

Our dream was to open in the neighborhood, but when you do your own theatrical run with no help from a distributor, you have to roll with the punches. Our indie documentary has had an incredible yet unprecedented run in theaters going now for over a year.

Back in the 1980s, indie cinemas were more likely to take chances on local filmmakers, and films often had long runs. Does anybody remember "Basket Case"? First-time director Frank Henenlotter shot it locally in 1982 and ran for several years at the Waverly Cinema (now IFC). 

"Make Me Famous" has defied the odds in this current film landscape and maintained a presence in New York City for over a year. We might very well be the most successful film you have never heard of! I can't believe it took us a whole year to screen in the neighborhood we dreamed of starting at! 

The major New York press turned their backs on us because we had an unconventional run. This was surprising to us, considering this really is a love letter to the creativity that burst out of the Lower East Side in the 1980s. Although it would have been nice to be in The New York Times — we made it without them.

I feel like our journey of DIY distribution has been very apropos, considering the artists of 1980s East Village followed the same path, really. They did it themselves, and look at what they accomplished!

Brian

I am a Juilliard-trained actor who was too young to experience the 1980s scene. I discovered it through books like Cynthia Carr's "Fire in the Belly" about David Wojnarowicz. So, I looked for a story that explores this era, when young people made their own scene after being rejected by the mainstream.

In the 1980s, NYC was broke, rent was dirt cheap, and anyone could act out their bohemian fantasies — and they did by the hundreds! As actor Eric Bogosian recalls, "The premium was on who could do the most creative things."

In "Make Me Famous," thanks to the artists and gallerists who lived it, we return to "the scene of the crime," as the artists like to call it. And thanks to their fantastic video/artwork and photographs, the audience is immersed in the gritty action. Only we take an unusual path. Instead of documenting the famous artists for the millionth time, our story revolves around an obscure, mysterious, and charismatic painter from the scene, Edward Brezinski, whose career, in many ways, parallels the rise and fall of the scene. 

The doc is not intended to be a promo but rather an opportunity to experience what it was like to be a striving artist back then. It was a NYC moment that captured the world's attention, produced some of its biggest stars, and then exploded into history like a supernova. 

 And the official trailer...

Openings: Crepe City on Avenue A

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Crepe City debuted at 199 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street earlier this month.

I stopped by for a friends and family soft opening, and met owner Abdulnaser Alzokari (pictured below in the tie with staff). 

Specialties here include crepes, waffles (creatively spelled whaffles!), ice cream and bubble tea.

Crepe City is open daily from noon to 4 a.m. You can follow them on Instagram here. 

After operating most recently as an unlicensed weed shop, this storefront was home to the first outpost of Mikey Likes It Ice Cream from 2013 to 2022. 

We spotted Mikey here this past Sunday handing out free scoops for National Ice Cream Day.

Amid pending litigation, Memphis Seoul closes its outpost on 1st Avenue

Photos last Thursday by Steven

Memphis Seoul has closed its East Village location at 123 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place after 11 months.

An Instagram post from last week alleges the "gross negligence" of co-landlord J&M Realty Services for the loss of gas service (which has yet to be restored) two days into the shop's renovation last year. 

The post says that Memphis Seoul has pending litigation against the landlord.

In April, Memphis Seoul (founded by former New York Post sportswriter Bart Hubbuch) filed a $500,000 lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court for alleged breach of contract, tenant harassment, fraud and misrepresentation against the building's landlord, Lunar Estates, LLC d/b/a Lunar Estates. 

Public records show that Lunar Estates, LLC, bought the property in early 2022 for $4.3 million. (Public records show that the listed owner of Lunar Estates LLC is Won Moon, an orthodontist based in Orange County, California.) 

Meanwhile, this past Thursday, a marshal also posted a notice on the storefront stating that the landlord has legal possession of the premises.

The quick-serve establishment serves "Southern cookin' with a Korean kick!" ... offering the comfort food of the South with the spices and sauces familiar to Korean food. 

The original Memphis Seoul remains in service in Crown Heights. According to the Instagram post from last week, a new Lower East Side outpost is in the works.

Tuesday's parting shot

A reader-submitted photo from Sixth Street and Avenue B today... Art project? Social commentary? We don't know exactly the intentions of the mystery flagger...

A world premiere for the documentary on pioneering LES performance artist Arleen Schloss

"It's A to Z: The Art of Arleen Schloss," a documentary that will be of particular interest to East Village/LES residents, is making its world premiere this Friday evening. 

Stuart Ginsberg, director and producer, shared information about the screening, which will take place at the 12th annual NYC Chain Film Festival on Friday at 8 p.m. Location: 312 W. 36th St. between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Find ticket info here. 

And bout the film: 

"It's A to Z: The Art of Arleen Schloss" delves into the life and work of Arleen Schloss, a pioneering artist who heavily influenced the Downtown New York art scene. Known for her innovative work, Schloss has been a vital part of the avant-garde movement since the 1970s. The documentary features interviews with notable musicians, artists, and curators such as Alan Vega of Suicide, Eric Bogosian, Elodie Lauten, Phoebe, Legere, and Gracie Mansion, (Sur) Rodney Sur, as well as archival interviews with John Cage, Timothy Leary, and Glenn Branca. 

Schloss was one of the first performance artists to perform at the Museum of Modern Art and made experimental sound and video work throughout her art career. She is known in the New York Art Loft scene for A's, Schloss's iconic loft space that became a hub for the New York City underground and avant-garde scenes. A's was a breeding ground for creativity and experimentation, where artists from various disciplines came together to push the boundaries of art, music, and performance.

"I became intrigued by Arleen Schloss' story and about how hundreds, if not thousands, of artists in various disciplines owed their success, in part, to Arleen," Ginsberg said. "She typically embraced emerging forms and processes before they fully broke through, including performance art, spoken word art, video art, mail art, cyber art, lasers, and virtually any kind of technology that generated new possibilities." 

Find more info about the film on Instagram or Facebook.