Yesterday!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ueZ8gk-WPSevO4vpoDGWU_AEjCoTwXbSeTCce0urjRe1tlOrAGdkAXfmtUIz8uU-BYHlDdqJtt7oYM_uXX0jVk7XohU6Tlbg7Qq2uuAg5x0mYFqaV4jAffxqYUx4YwU9alg0djlvZRA/s400/-1.jpg)
And a reader asked if this was peckerwood. Boo!
Previously on EV Grieve:
At the Shepard Fairey mural: Talk about plywood!
[Bottom photo credit: DNAinfo]
Come August, one of the last of the East Village's family-owned fabric stores, Village Fabrics, will close its doors for good.
With little more than a month before it shutters, the store is hosting a liquidation sale to clear out the rest of its inventory. Owner Stephen Katz expressed sadness and frustration over the futility of working to save the business his parents started 20 years ago. He anticipates the store will last until August, despite his persistent attempts to petition the city council and negotiate with landlords.
At this point, Katz is unsure of what the future will bring for his family's business, and for the industry as a whole. After a long time bailing out a sinking ship, he's understandably exhausted and can only take it day by day. However, with a small business like Village Fabric, they became what they did based on a sense of resourcefulness and creativity this city is famous for. That said, we can only be optimistic for the next generation of garment industry scions to help foster and cultivate fledgling design talent (and service the sewing needs of the rest of us).
Alex Duff
Sr. Associate – Restaurant/Hotel/Bars Division
Alexander Duff, a native New Yorker, in 2002 began his real estate career specializing buying and selling restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Some of Alex’s most notable deal include: Mokai Lounge/ Mama Vieja; Halo/ Hemisphere; Indomania/ Siembra; Tunelli/ Oasis; Hakan/ Dab Haus; Amendment 21/ Gigi Bistro; Fiore Pizza/ Pizza Power; Scrapbar/ Gil’s Café; Rabbit’s foot/ Loading Zone; and the restaurant at the Tudor Hotel. Alex also works as a restaurant consultant, focusing on improving existing business practices and fabricating new concepts.
So I was living in that building when they put up the banner. Actually, I was lying in my underwear in bed when the guys putting it up drilled it into the wall directly outside my window (the one next to the bottom left hand corner of the banner).
I took it as one more sign that the East Village has become one big Starbucks -- a pantheon of ads and corporate chains. Solution?: I moved to Brooklyn.
We feel so very lucky to have only water damage and smoke odor.
We must have dumped over 300 gallons of water between last night and this afternoon -- I've never been so happy about a leaking ceiling in all my life!
We've still got a lot of electrical work to straighten out, but we reopened at 5:30 tonight (Friday).
Best of luck to our displaced friends and neighbors and a big thank you to the firefighters who saved lives last night.