PUNK Magazine is back with a new issue and a battle of the bands in Tompkins Square Park

East Village resident John Holmstrom, the co-founder, editor, and illustrator of PUNK Magazine, is ready to release a new issue (Punk #23) with a free show in Tompkins Square Park. 

On Saturday from 2-6 p.m., Holmstrom (with some help from The Shadow) is hosting a Battle of the Bands. 

Here's more info from Holmstrom's Newsletter:

It’s happening! We will be printing a new issue of PUNK Magazine in time for the Sept. 28 Battle of the Bands at Tompkins Square Park. This will be the first new issue since ... 2023! 

It will be printed in the same format as PUNK #1: Reverse quarter fold, 24 pages, only on newsprint instead of offset paper. This issue is meant to be a "Temporary Thing" (as Lou Reed said in a great song). 

Despite many efforts to revive PUNK Magazine over the years, I've been unable to get back on our feet. BUT! It looks like this one just might be successful. I still believe that the print medium is better than the internet: It lasts longer. It doesn't keep track of who reads it, doesn't spy on everything you do. And it's so much fun to work with people to put together a magazine! Web stuff is too often a solo project… 

So here we are: A new issue of PUNK Magazine is on the way. This issue is devoted to the upcoming Sept. 28 event at Tompkins. I'm not expecting to get rich, just want to promote a few bands I like. Which was my intent back in 1975, when I discovered the CBGB scene.

Free copies of the new PUNK will be distributed during Saturday's show. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Q-and-A with John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk Magazine 

San Loco is closing its Lower East Side location

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After 22 years at 111 Stanton St., San Loco is closing its location here between Ludlow and Essex. 

The lease is up, and according to owners Jill and Kimo Hing, they are at an impasse with the landlord.

"It's time to move on," says Jill. 

Kimo adds, "The pandemic changed the business, the neighborhood has changed, and our customers have changed. The cost of business has increased, with inflation and product costs rising." 

Monday is the last day for business on Stanton Street. 

San Loco's outpost on Avenue C will remain in service. 

"We're trying to look at the positive; we'll be here at Avenue C, and we're now able to expand our menu," Jill says. "Kimo and I will be back in the kitchen." 

The family-run business will keep the same delivery range, down to Grand Street (FDR to Third Avenue and up to Stuy Town). They hope their customers will show up to support the business before it closes and to say goodbye. They mention having final bills to pay and wanting to see their longtime customers. And for those who want to help: "If you know of a place in the neighborhood with affordable and reasonable rent, let us know!"

San Loco has a longtime presence in the East Village, starting in 1986 on Second Avenue before later moving across the street to 124 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. That outpost closed in June 2017 due to a rent increase that was unsustainable. The Avenue A San Loco closed in 2014 after 15 years in business.

LÀ LÁ Bakeshop bringing Vietnamese desserts to 2nd Avenue

Photos by Steven 

LÀ LÁ Bakeshop, a Toronto-based Vietnamese bakery, is opening its first NYC outpost at 73 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

We spotted a small sign on the door and tracked down the owners, who confirmed the arrival later this fall.

The Bakeshop, described as "a modern Vietnamese bakery for all," specializes in "nostalgic Asian desserts." 

Per its website:

We're coming to the East Village this Fall ... And we can't wait to introduce you to the Salted Egg Pork Floss Cake — the best cake you've never heard of. (Somehow, the Vietnamese have managed to keep it a secret for this long.) We know, we know, it sounds bizarre, but you might just love it. 

You can follow the opening news via Instagram. 

The cafe-bakery Cinnamon Girl quietly closed here last year after 18 months.

Checking in at No Fork on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated 10/12 — now open!

As we noted earlier this month, No Fork, a quick-serve sandwich shop in the Bronx's Little Italy, is opening an East Village outpost. 

 The No Fork team (from left): Ilir, the general manager; Veton, a partner/owner; and Domenik, a manager (Artir, another partner, had just left), have been working on the space at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

No Fork serves sandwiches, pizza and Balkan-inspired dishes. The house specialty is the "Famous No Fork Sandwich," which features layers of prosciutto, melted mozzarella and house-made sauce. Find a menu here. 

You can follow the No Fork account for updates if you're on Instagram.

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by William Klayer 

Today, Whitmans on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue removed its curbside dining structure.

And before workers had removed everything from the roadway, cars lined up to wait for the newly available spaces (since the pandemic's start)...

Kim's Video is the latest of the departed Avenue A businesses to return for a set piece

MORE of the set dressing along Avenue A today ... thanks to JackflashNYC for this shot of the old Kim's Video signage. 

After opening his laundromat at 99 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street in 1987, Yongman Kim launched his (now-departed) Kim's Video empire from here. He eventually moved the video business a few storefronts to the south to 85 Avenue (now Somtum Der), which enjoyed its reign of terror until the summer of 2004. 

Expect to see the Pyramid Club signage too. (And we've heard rumors of a Mars Bar comeback, too, for the filming.)

As we've noted, the Darren Aronofsky-helmed crime thriller "Caught Stealing," starring Austin Butler (Oscar nominee for 2022's "Elvis"), has been giving parts of Avenue A a 1990s look during the shoot, which is expected to last through Friday

A double feature tonight in Tompkins Square Park

The mini summer film series ends in Tompkins Square Park this evening with a double feature — "Encanto" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once." (The previous screening of "Encanto" was rained out.) 

"Encanto" will begin at 5 p.m. in the center of the Park, followed by poetry from Nuyorican Poets Cafe and pizza from Two Boots. "Everything," which won seven Oscars last year, starts at sunset. 

Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, the Loisaida Center, the Lower East Side Film Festival, Rooftop Films and Two Boots Pizza sponsored this summer series.

Buy a t-shirt to help power Flower Power on 9th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy 

To help it grow into another decade in business, Flower Power Herbs and Roots has launched a t-shirt pre-sale fundraiser as they "work through the challenges of post-pandemic recovery." 

The cozy shop on Ninth Street sells herbs, medicinal plants, tinctures, salves, and essential oils, among other items, for various uses (culinary, medicinal, and beauty).

Here’s how you can help: 

We need to pre-sell 460 t-shirts by Nov. 1 to meet our goal. By pre-ordering your shirt, you're making it possible for us to fund the production and have them ready for you by Nov. 7. 

Pricing:

• 1 t-shirt for $26.60 

• 4 t-shirts for $103  

Notes: 

• T-shirts will be available for pick-up after Nov. 7 at the shop. 

• If you opt for shipping, your shirt will be sent out after Nov. 7. 

You can pre-order shirts at this link.

Flower Power Herbs & Roots, now in its 30th year, is at 406 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

They are open daily from noon to 7 p.m.

A moment on Avenue A in 1995

Top photo by Stacie Joy 

We've noted some of the 1990s storefront transformation along parts of Avenue A for the Darren Aronofsky-directed crime thriller "Caught Stealing" starring Austin Butler (here ... here... and here). 

The top pic shows Conor's Goat going as (the fictitious) Therline's Coffee Shop at 23 Avenue A at Second Street.

Meanwhile, here's a photo from May 1995 when Margaret's Coffee Shop was the tenant... (photo by Dyske Suematsu)...

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Let's take a walk along Avenue A in the East Village in 1997

Tuesday's parting shot

Early signs of fall along Avenue A...

On Avenue A, Benny's Burritos returns for the movies

Now, if they would just bring back the Bay Burrito, too. 

Through the magic of filmmaking, the market on the SW corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street has been dressed to look like a former tenant — Benny's Burritos.

As EVG regular Creature notes, the details include the door sticker address...

As we've noted, the Darren Aronofsky-helmed crime thriller "Caught Stealing," starring Austin Butler, has been giving parts of Avenue A a 1990s look during the shoot, which is expected to last through Friday.

Benny's shut down here on Nov. 29, 2014, after 27 years in business. The Benny's to-go spot next door closed in February 2015. (The Benny's signage stayed on the vacant space for years after the closure.)

 P.S. 

Across Sixth Street, the set dressers have added some Shepard Fairey Obey Giant art to the wall.

P.S.S. 

We also have a Nenos Pizza on the Sixth Street side at A (Amor Y Amargo)... not quite our Nino's from Avenue A and St. Mark's Place...

I need More: Here are J. Kathleen White's 2024 dioramas on 9th Street and Avenue C

Photos by Stacie Joy 

It's officially fall, and it's also diorama season here on the northeast corner of Avenue C outside the Ninth Street Community Garden & Park. 

East Village-based artist J. Kathleen White's 2024 peephole collection is titled "More."

Take a look...

This year's collection includes some accompanying text (tap the photo for a larger view) to go with each diorama (we only included two here) ...

The dioramas should be up until early November. We highly recommend that you check them out in person. 

White started creating and sharing the dioramas in 2005. Revisit the early editions at this link.

Looking at the new 14th Street skyline near Avenue C

We continue to keep an eye on the new 24-floor residential building ascending the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue C.

We estimate that workers have reached the 12th floor... so they are halfway there...

The plywood rendering lists a February 2026 completion date. 

Please check some of our previous posts (here and here) for more about this project and its impact on the immediate neighborhood.

Blazing the trail: A map to all the high points of legal cannabis dispensaries

For anyone confused about which storefronts are licensed, the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has launched a new map to help.

Behold the Legal Online Cannabis Activities Locator (LOCAL) map — "a tool designed to make the application process more efficient, transparent, and affordable."

The map features the following: 

The first is an industry-focused map tailored for applicants, licensees, and stakeholders, featuring advanced capabilities such as generating proximity reports, searching licenses, exporting data, and navigating multiple data layers.

And!

The second tool ... is a consumer-focused dispensary map allowing New Yorkers to easily locate the nearest legal dispensary, ensuring access to safe, regulated cannabis products. 

The consumer portion includes coming-soon legal operations. A search under zip 10009 reveals that Avenue B will soon have two legal dispensaries at Nos. 15 and 229.

The LOCAL Map Application Tool can be accessed by visiting the website here. 

There are currently 197 adult-use dispensaries open for business across New York state. Find a complete list of dispensaries here.

Meanwhile, law enforcement continues to crack down on unlicensed cannabis shops throughout NYC. Elected officials have said these businesses do not comply with regulations meant to protect our health, and some have been found to sell to minors.

Monday's parting shot

On the horizon from Houston near Ludlow this early morning...

Today in Libra birthdays: Happy No. 130 to Veniero's Pasticceria!

EVG photo from April

Veniero's Pasticceria opened on this day in 1894 on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

They are open until 10 p.m. if you want to celebrate with them.

You can check out a comprehensive history of the business via Village Preservation. 

Dimmed lights on 1st Avenue: Only 1 Indian restaurant remains at Instagram-friendly address

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

And then there was one. 

After decades of aggressive hosts trying to entice diners into their establishments with twinkling Christmas and chili pepper lights and promises of superior food, the upstairs-downstairs block of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants at 93 First Ave. is down to one.

While Milon closed in December 2020 after nearly 40 years in business, next-door neighbor Panna II Garden took over the space in early 2021 (see below) without switching the previous tenant's sign.

It was business as usual, with groups coming in for various celebrations amid the lights and over-the-top decor (this with some pretty mediocre-to-average food and spotty service).

The Panna II maître d' on duty Friday evening told us they stopped using the adjacent dining room last month.

"No business," he said.

The Milon space has been gutted (thanks to Blake Farber for the following two pics) ...

... and workers bagged up the lights that had lit up thousands of Instagram posts to throw away...

Royal Bangladesh, which opened on the lower level in 1978, closed in the late spring of 2022. An unlicensed smoke shop briefly occupied one of the storefronts on the lower level. 

While Milon and Panna II had been catering to the Instagram crowd in recent years, some locals still found the BYOB restaurants a familiar comfort on evenings away from the weekends. 

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This article at 6sqft has a nice recap of the restaurants here; Eater, too. (A photo of the glory days is below via 6sqft.)

The number of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants along the so-called Curry Row or Little India here and around the corner on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has been dwindling in recent years. As many as 27 establishments were clustered on the block in the 1990s; today, there are two on Sixth Street.

Economics and competition certainly played a part ... and, in recent years, we've seen new buzzy options, such as from the Unapologetic Foods team (Rowdy Rooster and Dhamaka, with two more concepts on the way)... and higher-end experiences like Bungalow at 24 First Ave., which opened in March and recently received three stars from the Times, and Jazba on Second Avenue and 13th Street.

On Friday night at Panna II, the lone maître d' said business has been slow.

Façade exploration work continues at the former P.S. 64

Yesterday, workers in a hydraulic lift continued their exploration work on the former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center. 

Last week, workers focused on the Ninth Street side between Avenue B and Avenue C. Crews were on 10th Street this time.

Here's what's happening at the long-vacant, landmarked building, according to an email from the East Village Community Coalition: 

As part of ongoing building stabilization and preservation efforts, a bucket lift will be on site as per the schedule below so that preservation architects and engineers can assess existing conditions by gently tapping (sounding) the façade elements with a rubber mallet. This sounding exercise is intended to ensure that the terracotta elements of the façade are safely tied into the building structure and are not in danger of falling. 

Elements that are not safely secured to the building may be removed for public safety purposes, and retained for replication or reinstallation. We have been assured that this work was planned in conversation with the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and Landmarks Conservancy, and that the building is not being demolished or harmed in any way. 

In a transaction filed on Jan. 9, an entity going as 605 East 9th Community Holdings LLC bought the property from longtime owner Gregg Singer for $57,267,453, per public records. 

The LLC reportedly (per The Real Deal) has ties to Aaron Sosnick, a billionaire hedge fund manager who lives next door in the Christodora House. Denham Wolf Real Estate Services stated that the LLC is "a philanthropic entity with the purpose of returning the property to community use."

Singer, who bought the building from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.1 million, has wanted to turn the one-time P.S. 64 into a dorm, though those plans never materialized, and the building has sat in disrepair. The 135,000-square-foot building is zoned for “community facility use,” and any conversion to residential housing would require a zoning variance. 

Work on 10th Street occurs again on Sunday between 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Holy Cow announces itself on 14th and B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The Holy Cow signage rolled up on Thursday on the SE corner of Avenue B and 14th Street. (H/T Maegan Hayward!) 

As we previously reported, the burger joint that started on the Lower East Side in 2018 is taking over this space. (A few readers were hoping for a diner-type spot here, but...)

The expanding chainlet, with over a dozen locations around the five boroughs and on Long Island, offers several vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. The menu can be found here. 

The business takes over the corner space from M & J Asian Cuisine, which quietly closed earlier in the summer after 10 years. Fans can find (and order from) the New M&J on West 29th Street.

Signage alerts: St. Mark's Burgers & Dogs, Kamisama, Alphabet City Gourmet Deli

Recent new signage includes St. Mark's Burgers & Dogs, which will soon be located at 34 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

The space was last very briefly home to Glizzy's.

Meanwhile, we have a coming-soon banner for Kamisama, a ramen restaurant at 230 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... 

The space was home to the Nugget Spot and Mad For Chicken in recent years.

And on the NW corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street, a new market is in the works... the awning is up for Alphabet City Gourmet Deli...

Alphabet Grocery went dark here in the spring. We don't know if the same owners are behind the new name-brand.

Top photo: Steven

2nd photo: Brian Carroll

3rd photo: EVG tipster