Desi Shack signage arrives on Fourth Avenue

The second Manhattan location of Desi Shack is coming soon to Fourth Avenue at East 13th Street. The signage appeared late last week.

Here's their description: "Desi Shack is a casual restaurant that offers New Yorkers a new take on Indian and Pakistani food. Our simple menu offers endless choices. We serve fresh grilled food, giving you the option to customize your meal the way you want it."

And here's what New York magazine had to say about Desi Shack after its Lexington Avenue shop opened in the fall of 2011: "Truly authentic it’s not, but quick, satisfying, and cheap is good enough."

The Shack is located next to the incoming Liquiteria…



The spaces previously housed a Blimpie and Young Chow.

H/T Andrew Fine!

Miss Lily's 7A Cafe is open

Although tomorrow night is the official opening for Miss Lily's 7A Cafe on Avenue A and East Seventh Street… several EVG readers have noted that the restaurant is (softly?) open tonight for business… EVG reader Darbi Worley notes that the hostesses are inviting passersby in for dinner or drinks…



If you go, then please let us know how it was/is …

Updated 4:09 p.m.

Here is the menu via Eater... who has a preview of the interior here.

Lily 7a Menu

Miss Lily's opens tonight at 6.

Report of a falling air conditioner on East 13th Street

Just watched a massive AC fall out of a window and nearly kill a guy. Fuck. @evgrieve

— David Fitzgerald (@david_fitz) May 18, 2014

he dodged it but it was a close call. @evgrieve

— David Fitzgerald (@david_fitz) May 18, 2014

And afterwards… no one was around to claim responsibility for it…



This occurred on East 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue … mid-block on the south side of the street…

Previously

Week in Grieview

[Avenue A the other day]

An arrest in the deadly attack of Ruan Wen Hui (Thursday)

Exclusive: East Village Radio is signing off after 11 years (Wednesday)

Rumors: The Brant Foundation is buying Walter De Maria's workshop-home on East Sixth Street (Tuesday)

Baby hawks! (Friday)

CB3 says no to Friedman-Bloomfield cafe concept (Monday)

El Sombrero closes for renovations (Monday)

St. Mark's Bookshop signs a lease for a new home on East Third Street (Wednesday)

6-floor building in the works for former LaVie space (Monday)

A Dunkin' Donuts is taking the former Norman's Sound & Vision space (Friday)

Listing for Kim's Video says location is good for a bank, Starbucks or 7-Eleven (Friday)

Miss Lily's 7A Cafe opens Monday (Thursday)

Basic Plus moving into the Surprise! Surprise! storefront? (Thursday)

Lebrini's Pizzeria has been sold (Monday)

Matiell Consignment Shop leaving the East Village (Thursday)

Empire Biscuit had to be closed on National Biscuit Day (Wednesday)

Out and About with Alan Lefkowitz (Wednesday)

Westside Market revealed on Third Avenue (Tuesday)

Plantworks is closing after 40 years (Tuesday)

The Mars Bar 2.0 = The Pink Elephant (Monday)

Mother's Day on Avenue A (Sunday)

118 E. First St. is on the market with air rights (Wednesday)

When the moon showed off (Monday)

Merry May 12 Christmas! (Monday)

Waiting for the bike lanes to reappear on East Ninth Street and East 10th Street (Tuesday)

East 14th Street demolition getting serious (Wednesday)

[Updated] Something is happening at 2 Bros. Pizza

The $1 sliceria at 32 St. Mark's Place is currently closed. Bill the Libertarian Anarchist passes along word that workers are tearing up the floor preparing to close the shop … this according to one of the workers doing the floor tearing up.

The 2 Bros. at 36 St. Mark's Place (with the upscale $1.50 SUPREME slice!) is open a few storefronts to the east with all the $1 slice signage.

However, one worker at No. 36 said the shop at No. 32 will reopen later this week, though he initially tried to avoid the question…



So there you have it, kind of. Closed for good or reopening Thursday! To be continued…

Updated 5:31 p.m.

The $1 2 Bros. is back open today with a new floor… so much for our info!

The fucking TD Bank branch is now open on Second Avenue

Hey, that TD Bank branch anchoring the Jupiter 21 building on Second Avenue at East First Street officially opened yesterday. We walked by and were greeted by no fewer than 14 TD employees on the sidewalk offering free coffee and pastries or something pastry like. They were friendly! (But we missed the TD mascot!)

Did anyone go in to be among the first 100 visitors to receive a free gift? If so, then please let us know what the gift was!

And, as you know, the corner space was home to the Mars Bar until 2011… And, well, what the hell…


[Photo from 2006 by Ixtayul Martinez]

Meanwhile, some WTF variation of the Mars Bar is returning to East First Street … in a cafe-restaurant-club combo that will feature a juice bar and quinoa bowls.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The former Mars Bar is becoming a fucking bank branch

So where's that fucking bank branch that's taking the former Mars Bar space?

The fucking TD Bank signage arrives at the former home of the Mars Bar

The 8th annual Anarchist Film Festival is today

From the Festival's description:

The AFF will be screening a variety of short films that celebrate the spirit of resistance and liberation amid the increasing criminalization of dissent around the world. The AFF, is a participatory event where the screenings spark vigorous discussion about the possibilities of political change and cultural transformation.

Find more info about the program here. Theatre 80 is at 80 St. Mark's Place just west of First Avenue.

Get good stuff today

DanceFest 2014

[Photo by Bobby Williams]


[BW]

So the Dance Parade came on down into Tompkins Square Park today… here are just a few of the photos of the participants in the DanceFest via EVG contributor Stacie Joy …

Solving the woman with the jellyfish mystery that wasn't really all that mysterious after all

Several people have been asking what that mural/ad/banner thing is at the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 10th Street.

Turns out the answer is right up Fourth Avenue … It's a public art installation that coincides with an exhibit from model-photographer Amber Arbucci in the former Dryden Gallery Space at 129 Fourth Ave. near East 13th Street…



There are nude self-portraits … showing Arbucci swimming with five million jellyfish …



Here's an interview with Arbucci about what this is all about …

The exhibit opened yesterday … not sure how long it will be here…

Reminders today: Dance Parade, DanceFest and the Ukrainian Festival

Just taking an early morning look at the set up for the Dance Parade 2014 on St. Mark's Place … where it will end in Tompkins Square Park for the DanceFest from 3-7 today.



And it looks like the Delta Tau Chi float still needs work…



… and on East Seventh Street between Cooper Square and Second Avenue… prepping for the 38th annual Ukrainian Festival…

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Phew! Just when you thought that you HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO TODAY. Here we have the Two Bridges/Third Avenue Street Fair from East 14th Street to East Sixth Street.

We were out so stupidly early, we were on the scene before the Italian Sausage People. So, sorry — no photos of cartoon pigs holding entrails sausages.



Anyway! Good day for traffic. With the Dance Parade going along St. Mark's Place and part of East Seventh Street closed for the Ukrainian Festival.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Up Up and away...

Here is "Up Is Up (But So Is Down)," the new single from Haunted Hearts (aka, DeeDee Penny of Dum Dum Girls and her husband Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles). Their debut album, "Initiation," is out May 26 on their Zoo Music label.

MoRUS announces 'Women of the Lower East Side' theme for 2nd annual Film Fest this August

The Museum has added an amateur film competition as well... details via the EVG inbox...

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) will present for its Second Annual Film Fest a selection of films by and about women who have shaped the history of the Lower East Side.

An eight-day event that will take place at a variety of East Village venues including theaters, community gardens and MoRUS, “Women of the Lower East Side” will kick-off Friday, Aug. 1 and run through Saturday, Aug. 9. Tickets go on sale June 15 at morusfilmfest.eventbrite.com or by visiting MoRUS during hours of operation.

To make this cinematic exploration of women making and remaking the Lower East Side more accessible to the community, MoRUS is calling for amateur filmmakers to compete for a spot in the festival. Submissions must tie into the “Women of the Lower East Side” theme and can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes duration.

The competition is open to filmmakers of any gender, any age and at any experience level who submit either a link to their film or a DVD copy of the film along with a brief artist’s statement and $10 entry fee to morusfilmfest@morusnyc.org or mail to MoRUS Film Fest, Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, 155 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 18 at 5 PM ET. A jury comprised of local business owners, artists, activists and MoRUS volunteers will determine which films will be publicly screened on Friday, Aug. 8 at a venue to be determined. First, Second, and Third-Place Winners will be selected by the audience and awarded monetary/in-kind prizes. In addition, one film will receive the MoRUS Choice Award.

Further details regarding “Women of the Lower East Side,” including film line-ups, venues and collateral events will be updated as available here.

The First Annual MoRUS Film Fest was themed “Reclaimed Space” and drew more than 600 attendees over its seven-day run in August 2013.

But of course!: Former Norman's Sound & Vision space becoming a Dunkin' Donuts

[EVG file photo from August 2012]

After 22 years, Norman's Sound & Vision closed at 67 Cooper Square near East Seventh Street back in August 2012.

Now comes word via EVG Facebook friend Michael Hirsch that the space will become a — ding, ding! — Dunkin' Donuts.

Sure enough!

The DOB permits approved on Tuesday show work for a DD in this space...



Meanwhile, just give us a kick down here on the floor when a Starbucks or bank or 7-Eleven moves into the Kim's space.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Crossing 2nd Ave. the other day via Derek Berg]

Second Avenue and East 7th Street in 1981 (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

One reason why Crunch is moving to the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

How to find out if you live in a landmarked building (Off the Grid)

At Rikers with Cecily McMillan (Runnin' Scared)

Hester Street Fair expanding to Seward Park (The Lo-Down)

The filming locations of "The French Connection," now and then (Scouting NY)

Ephemeral New York in book form! (Ephemeral New York)

And here's another exhibit as part of Lower East Side History Month — Vanished Spaces.


[Image via Julius Klein]

From the EVG inbox...

ABC NO RIO presents “Vanished Spaces,” an exhibition of artist run gallery and performance spaces that no longer exist.
Featured spaces include, among others: Julius Klein’s XOXO, which ran from 1990-1997 on Second Avenue by, among a long list: Taylor Meade, Rockets Red Glare, Amos Poe, Tom Murrin (The Alien Comic), Edgar Oliver, Tony Millionaire and Wendy Wild.

Exhibition opens tonight (7-9) and runs through June 15

ABC NO RIO is at 156 Rivington St.

For gallery hours and more info., hit the ABC NO RIO website here.

OMG baby hawks! (UPDATED WITH VIDEO!)

[Photo by Francois Portmann]

Here are a few of the latest incredible photos that Francois Portmann has posted from the nest cam up on the Christodora House … where Christo and Dora's chicks hatched this past week.

The red-tailed hawk parents have also assembled quite a feast for the family — there are at least four dead rats stored in the nest. (Shouldn't that be refrigerated?)


[FP]


[FP]

Thank you to Goggla, who has been chronicling the activity here from Day 1. Head over there to find out where exactly the hawks have been discarding the rat carcasses ... as well as other habits of the new parents.

And find more hawk photos at Francois's photography site here.

Also, check out these hawk photos and video from the Christodora at the Urban Hawks website.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red-tailed hawks nest on the Christodora House

The hawks of Tompkins Square Park have laid an egg at the Christodora House

More eggsciting hawk news from the Christodora House

Breaking (heh) news: The hawks of Tompkins Square Park are officially parents

P.S.

The baby hawks are becoming quite an attraction... here's a fellow Christodora House resident checking out the action...


[Photo Saturday by Bobby Williams]

Updated 11:16 a.m.

Francois has posted this video!

Listing for Kim's Video says space is 'ideal for Bank, 711, Starbucks'

[Photo from April 21 by Williams Klayer]

Oh, really?

The listing for Kim's arrived at Streeteasy yesterday... and it's doozy:

124 First Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets Store 1820 SF approximately- plus basement storage / office East side of 1st Avenue Ideal for Bank, 711, Starbucks, Cafe, Deli, Bakery ASKING $16,500 month Security 4 months Lease term 5 to 10 years.

As we first reported on April 21, Kim's Video and Music is closing.

In a letter to Kim's patrons, management wrote:

The point is, and you should be aware, that we are NOT closing because record stores are dying, business is bad, it's not like it used to be and oh terrible world. Not at all. The actual reason for our closing is that the lease is up in July and the rent is being raised to an amount we simply can't work with.

The space was previously home to the great Kurowycky Meat Products, which closed in the summer of 2007. The Kurowycky family still owns the building... and a reliable source tells us that a family member who now lives in the South is calling the shots on the rent.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] A really bad sign outside Kim's Video & Music on First Avenue (31 comments)

Source: Kim's staff looking for ways to save their store

More about the closure of Kim's: 'We are NOT closing because record stores are dying'

After 5 years, the Michael Mut Gallery closes on Avenue C

Michael Mut, proprietor of the eponymous gallery, let us know that he has closed down the space at 97 Avenue C near East Seventh Street.

In the past five years, the sliver of a gallery has offered 47 exhibitions and, as he put it, "some amazing collaborations with talented artists and curators."

In addition to his gallery work in recent years, Mut founded the nonprofit organization called The Love Yourself Project in 2010. Its mission: "Celebrating and empowering communities around the world, spreading a message of unconditional self-love."

The organization, he said, will need all his time and dedication moving forward. "I have made so many valued friends along the way and I am truly grateful for those friendships as well as the many volunteers and interns who have supported the gallery and its mission," he said.

Wednesday was the gallery's last day. The space is in a building owned by the NYCHA.

Important questions: What the hell is that?

Several people have asked us about the new ad or whatever that arrived on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 10th Street this week. Like, what is it for?

We have no idea!

But people seem to be noticing it. We spotted five different people taking a photo of the ad while we were standing there yesterday for a minute.

Anyway, just enjoy it! One of these days, something tall and glassy will likely be standing on this corner.

Updated:

Mystery solved here.

Dance Parade 2014! When 10,000 dancers descend upon Tompkins Square Park

[A scene from the 2013 Dance Parade via Bobby Williams]

Hey, it's time for the annual Dance Parade tomorrow. Here's part of the news release:

Over 10,000 dancers will participate in the Eighth Annual Dance Parade and Festival in New York City on Saturday May 17th 2014, starting at 1 pm. Tony Award Winner, tap dancer marvel and choreographer Savion Glover and Bessie-winning founder and artistic director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women will serve as Grand Marshals.

Over 150 dance groups will showcase 75 dance styles and cultures down Broadway in a multi-cultural, rhythm-infused, magical display of movement, art and color. The parade unfolds as a vibrant procession of pageantry and movement embodying the cultural richness that New York reflects as a global dance city. Ancient dance styles from Africa, South America, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Far East Asia are performed side by side with modern styles like tap, swing, contemporary, urban and hip-hop.

The Parade begins at 1 pm at the intersection of East 21st Street and Broadway, moves south through Union Square and down University Place to East 8th Street, where each group dances before a Grandstand. Turning east on 8th Street Parade dancers salsa, swing and two-step their way across Saint Mark's Place and into Tompkins Square Park in the East Village for DanceFest.

The Festival, a four-hour program of free dance performances on four stages with lessons, experience dance booths and site-specific and social dancing throughout the Park.

Here's the overview of how dance officials will set up Tompkins Square Park for DanceFest...



This year's Parade theme is the "Caddyshack"-esque "Be the Momentum." Here's the official Dance Parade website with more details.

Meanwhile, if you hate Mother Earth and park a CAR around here, then keep in mind there will be some posted No Parking signs up... or the city will tow your ass.

Check out the Bowery on film

From the EVG inbox...

The Bowery on film dates to the earliest days of cinema, when its rowdy, amoral reputation provided titillating material for the 30-second peep shows viewed in arcades. It continued to be a popular setting for one-reelers and features (such as 1915’s REGENERATION), and featured even more prominently in the early sound era in films like SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933). The ravaged lives of the Bowery’s skidrow have long fascinated artists, most famously in the semi-documentary classic ON THE BOWERY (1956). Scott Elliott’s SLUMMING IT is a wonderful overview of Bowery history, and Mandy Stein’s BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is a poignant appreciation of Hilly Kristal’s CBGB, made during the legendary music venue’s final days.

With the Bowery imperiled by developers at every turn, we appropriately end the series with THE VANISHING CITY, a powerful look at the forces that threaten to obliterate the character and culture of our communities.

Co-presented with The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, whose chair, David Mulkins, curated the event.

Find more details about the films in the series here. (PDF!) All screenings are at the Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave. at East Second Street.

This is just one of the many events going on new as part of Lower East Side History Month. Find more details and events here.

Abandoned slice of stuffed pizza doesn't seem to mind being abandoned

[Photo via @pgilks]

Meant to post these photos earlier… they are from last night on Avenue B near East 11th Street. We do not know what happened here… but based on the pizza's goofy grin in the top photo, all seems to be well (all things considered)…


[Photo via @andreahong]

Anyway, not nearly as sad as abandoned stuffed teddy bears…

Report: Family of Ruan Wen Hui wants hate crime charges brought against suspect

[Jefferson Siegel/NY Daily News]

The family of Ruan Wen Hui, who died after a vicious attack on East Sixth Street Friday evening, want his killing treated as a hate crime, the Daily News reports today.

Police arrested 20-year-old Jamie Pugh early Tuesday morning. He has been charged with second-degree murder, robbery and assault.

If Pugh's murder charges were to be elevated to a hate crime, then he would face a possible sentence of life in prison without parole, the Daily News reports.

One of Hui's daughters told reporters: "We want the suspect to have the proper kind of penalty so that we feel safe to walk on the street. We demand a life [sentence]."

Before Pugh's court arraignment yesterday, his mother, Charlotte Pugh-Douglas, told reporters that someone slipped the club-drug Molly into his drink last Friday evening while partying. "He wasn't in his right state of mind," she reportedly said.

Per the Post:

But Pugh's own defense lawyer, Frank Rothman, said the distraught mom did not have firsthand knowledge of her son's sobriety, or lack thereof, during the brutal attack. "She's speaking as a panicked mother who’s saying that if this [charge] is in fact true, then someone must have drugged him, because that's not who her son is," Rothman said.

Judge Bruna DiBiase ordered Pugh held without bail

Hui, a retired garment worker who lived on Avenue C and East Seventh Street with his wife, died from his injuries Saturday night.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: East Village resident dies from injuries sustained in brutal attack (25 comments)

[UPDATED] Reward for info on East 6th Street assault; plus video of the attack (34 comments)

[Updated] Family mourns Ruan Wen Hui as police hunt suspect in deadly assault on E. 6th St.

[Updated] Report: Murder suspect's mother says her son was high on Molly at the time of attack

Collision on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Don't have a lot of details about what happened here just after 11 a.m. ... anyone happen to witness this?

Photos by EVG reader Charlie Chen