East Village subs for the Forest Moon of Endor in Halloween speeder video

[Image via @jessewelle]

As mentioned yesterday, Casey Neistat, Jesse Wellens and crew filmed around the East Village — and other parts of the city — for a "Return of the Jedi"-Speeder Bike Chase video for Halloween.

They released the video today ...

Reader report: Driver crashes into Town & Village Synagogue on 14th Street

There are reports this afternoon that an elderly woman lost control of her car and crashed into the gates outside the Town & Village Synagogue on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

According to a witness, the driver exited from the parking garage on the north side of 14th Street ... and drove straight into the synagogue across the street. There weren't any reports of pedestrian injuries.



No word just yet on injuries to the driver.

Thanks to James & Karla Murray for the photos and KT for the report.

Happy Halloween from 11th Street

This building on 11th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue has the Halloween spirit ... (or maybe it's a warning to either potential developers or tenants...?)





... and the pièce de résistance — the bloody-bag-of-appendages decoration ...



(Or maybe it's a food trend #HoofInABag ...?)

Look at the old BP station on 2nd Avenue now

Here on Second Avenue at First Street (officially 32 E. First St.!), work is zipping along on the 10-story 31-unit condoplex at the site of a former BP station.



Sales started last month, with homes ranging from $1.175 million to $8.7 million. (Six of the homes are apparently already in contract, per Streeteasy.)

Here's a description of the building:

Inspired by the contemporary aesthetic of Italian rationalist design, 32 East 1st Street purposely lives within its urban context, presenting a substantial limestone exoskeleton accentuated by expansive windows and geometric metal detailing.

And here is the view from First Street...





And soon enough!


[Via CityReality]

The BP station closed in July 2014. This was the second-to-last gas station in the East Village, joined later by the Mobil station on Avenue C and East Houston in September 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 2nd Avenue BP station has closed

Permits filed to demolish former 2nd Avenue BP station

More about the 10-story building taking the place of the former BP station at 24 2nd Ave.

Check out the new 10-story building for the former 2nd Avenue BP station

A ballerina for 2nd Avenue

2nd Avenue residential complex now complete with renderings on the plywood

Graffiti space giving way to Greek restaurant on 10th Street

Graffiti, the acclaimed small-plates (and small) restaurant from chef Jehangir Mehta, has not been open lately on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

At first glance, it appeared that some kind of renovation was going on inside the space. In any event there hasn't been any mention of a closure — temporary or permanent — on the restaurant's website or social media properties.

Now there's a Community Board notice stating that an applicant is seeking a new liquor license (beer and wine) for the address...



The applicant is for the Athenian NYC Inc. The applicant's name is Kamal Kouiri, the wine director and general manager of Molyvos, a Greek restaurant on Seventh Avenue in Midtown. The questionnaire isn't online just yet with more details about what to expect here.

And no word on the status of Me and You, Mehta's space for private dining next door...



Mehta's Graffiti Earth remains open in Tribeca.

Graffiti opened in 2007, and drew praise for Mehta's inventive food pairings.

Mama Fina's signage arrives on Avenue A

As noted earlier this month, Mama Fina's House of Filipino Sisig, an Elmwood Park, N.J.-based restaurant, is opening an outpost at 167 Avenue A.

The coming-soon signage arrived this past week here between 10th Street and 11th Street...



Don't know too much yet about what to expect here. The family-owned Filipino restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Elmwood Park, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. (According to Yelp, they are cash only at their N.J. location.)

The Avenue A Mama Fina will have a beer-wine license. They are on CB3's SLA docket in November, though they will not be appearing before the committee.

Moonstruck Eatery closed at No. 167 in July 2016 after one year of business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chelsea Thai coming to former Neptune space on 1st Avenue; Filipino fare for Avenue A

Week in Grieview

[Photo from Tompkins Square Park this a.m.]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

SLA says East Village resident's drunk brunch suit doesn't belong in court (Wednesday)

RIP Flatbush (Thursday)

More details on Ben Shaoul's condo conversion Liberty Toye, where you can buy with bitcoins (Monday)

9th Precinct looking for information on the recent Avenue C shooting (Tuesday)

A former intern revisits the summer of 1977 on 7th Street (Friday)

The latest I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Friday)

Construction watch: 79 Avenue D (Tuesday)

Additions to the RIP Memorial on Avenue A (Tuesday)

Le Sia signage arrives on 7th Street (Monday)

You only have about 5 more years to use and enjoy the MetroCard (Thursday)

A look at some of the Night Mayor candidates (Wednesday)

Bar Verde conversion underway on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

Deadline approaching for the 14th Street Y CSA Winter Season (Thursday)

Human Hunan Slurp Shop coming to former Ricky's space on 1st Avenue (Friday)

Out and About with Siobhan Meow (Wednesday)

534 E. 14th St. is for sale again (Thursday)

These are the 13 East Village restaurants on the 2018 Michelin Bib Gourmand list (Tuesday)

Lowering Joey Ramone Place (Monday)

Selling Eighty East Tenth (Thursday)

A bike rack bike theft? (Monday)

Eastside Market now looks permanently closed (Monday)

Gramercy Kitchen shaping up on 3rd Avenue (Friday)

... new ad campaign for the Moxy hotel chain, one of which is opening in a few years on East 11th Street... spotted at Brother's Candy & Grocery on 14th Street and Avenue B...



... and Key Food on A has unleashed the Thanksgiving bags...



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Follow EVG on Instragram and/or Twitter for more updates

The real cost of subway delays through the years

Happy Halloween from the L train!

Photo by Grant Shaffer

Large horse head on the loose

[Photo from Oct. 21 by Derek Berg]

The large horse head that arrived outside Bonefade Barbers on Avenue A near Seventh Street back on Oct. 21 is now roaming around the neighborhood...

Some people (this thing is too heavy for a one-person job) apparently tried to steal it ... or maybe it was some kind of act of Halloween tomfoolery.

Anyway, they got as far as Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, as EVG reader Nancy Blum points out...

5 years of portable boilers on 6th Street

[Photo from yesterday]

The temporary boilers that arrived shortly after Superstorm Sandy remain rather permanently on Sixth Street at Avenue C outside the NYCHA-owned building.

In September 2014, Sen. Schumer and Mayor de Blasio announced that $108 million in federal funding would be used to replace temporary boilers in NYCHA buildings damaged by Sandy. Apparently they haven't been able to get over here these past three years. (The Daily News once reported that a temporary boiler costs $5,000 a month to rent.)

Anyway, a look back at the boilers that have roughly cost the NYCHA $600,000 to rent these past five years.

October 2014...



October 2013...



April 2013...



Early 2013...

I have a bad feeling about this

[Photo yesterday by Bobby Williams]

For the past two days, Casey Neistat, Jesse Wellens and crew have been filming around the East Village (and elsewhere?) for a "Return of the Jedi"-Speeder Bike Chase video for Halloween.

In the past two days, they've been spotted on Third Street, Avenue A and First Avenue.


[Photo via @vedantdragon]

Rebel scum!


[Photo yesterday by Bobby Williams]

I'll post the video once it's released...

I think we might win Halloween @CaseyNeistat pic.twitter.com/zyx9Gs4kgL

— Jesse (@Jessewelle) October 29, 2017

Updated 10/30

Here's the final product...

EV Grieve Etc.: Little storm-proofing progress since Sandy; more Select Bus Service routes

[Photo outside the Cure Thrift Shop on 12th Street by Derek Berg]

Five years after Sandy, city lags on storm-proofing, rebuilding projects (Daily News) ... and inside the failure of the Build It Back program (Curbed)

A visit to Streecha on Seventh Street (The New Yorker ... previously)

Kenny Scharf revisits his old East Village stomping grounds (The New York Times) ... and "Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983" opens Tuesday at MoMa (Info here)

A a "knock out game" assault on Essex Street (DNAinfo)

More about the new community garden next to Project Renewal (Patch)

City adding 21 new Select Bus Service routes, including on 14th Street (Town & Village)

Jean-Georges "delivers the city's worst new restaurant with Public Kitchen" at the Public Hotel on Chrystie Street ... "where a round of pre-dinner drinks for four, including a margarita whose aggressive sugars recall Kool-Aid demi-glace, costs $83." (Eater)

The Ron English pop-up at Toy Tokyo, 91 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street, debuted on Oct. 20 (coverage here) ... it will remain open through Nov. 20...


[Photo via @EdenBrower]

Noted

Microwave photo in Tompkins Square Park this morning by Steven.

Also, as a courtesy and reminder: When it comes to microwaving soups or stews, there's great potential for food to splash everywhere. Ideally, the best way to avoid issues is to first cover up your bowl with either a plate or a napkin.

But if it’s too late for that approach, and you see that your food has erupted or that you’ve left a mess in your wake, the responsible thing to do is to clean up after yourself. Now enjoy this new Park amenity!

Love and loss at the 'Halloween Parade'

Here's Lou Reed with a live performance of "Halloween Parade" (off the New York album) from 1989.

This Halloween is something to be sure
Especially to be here without you

There's the Born Again Losers and the Lavender Boozers
and some crack team from Washington Heights
The boys from Avenue B and the girls from Avenue D
a Tinkerbell in tights

This celebration somehow get me down
Especially when I see you're not around

Tomorrow in Tompkins Square Park

A free show in Tompkins Square Park ... details via the EVG inbox...

The lineup includes:
• Skitzopolis
• Sewage
• Bowery Boys
• Straight To Hell (Clash tribute band)
• Avante Duel starring VON LMO (he was the house band at Max's Kansas City and CBGB)
• Slide show by Seth Tobocman featuring materials from the upcoming Fight Fascism issue of WW3 Illustrated

Also: political speakers, literature tables, and the latest issue of The SHADOW and Time Warp

The fun begins at 2 pm sharp!

A few things to do for Halloween around here

[The makings of extra special Pumpkin Spice Lattes on 3rd Avenue]

Here are just a few of the Halloween-related activities happening in the neighborhood in the next few days... will continue to add to the list as submissions arrive ...

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Via the EVG inbox...

The parents and teachers of Little Missionary's Day Nursery and Sara Curry Day School (on St. Mark's Place) will host a Haunted Halloween Party at La Plaza Cultural Garden on Saturday (tomorrow!) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Open to the public.

Activities will include a haunted house, creepy maze, games, arts & crafts, face painting, tattoos, fortune telling, music by Willie Vargas, a beloved music teacher at Little Mish & Sara Curry, a photo booth — photos to be taken by Sara Curry parent and professional child photographer Greg Marinaccio. Plus cotton candy, food, drinks, and a bake sale of savory and sweets.

Everyone is welcome. Children and their parents are encouraged to come dressed in costume.

La Plaza Cultural Garden is at the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street.

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Happening tonight at Scumbags And Superstars, the clothing and gift boutique on Clinton Street between Rivington and Delancey ...



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John Carpenter's "Halloween" is the midnight movie this weekend at the Sunshine on East Houston. Details here.



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The Chinese Hawaiian Kenpo Academy, 122 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place, is hosting a Halloween party tomorrow afternoon from 1-4. There will be food, games, prizes, etc., and it will provide a chance to see what they offer in the Academy's new location.



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Per Facebook: Carve your own pumpkin at the 6th Street and Avenue B Garden. This is a FREE Event that begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday (tomorrow!) and continues while supplies (the pumpkins) last.



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Mephiskapheles, the ska punk group formed in the East Village in 1991, is hosting the sixth installment of their annual Devil's Night Danse Saturday evening at the Bowery Electric. Find details here.



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Tuesday starting at 5 p.m., La Plaza Cultural is hosting Haunted Adventure Garden and Rat Race Maze. There is live music from the Rude Mechanical Orchestra at 6 p.m.

Per the EVG inbox:

The theme at this year's spooky Halloween adventure garden is Rats, because whether they rule or horrify, they're part of living in NYC. At this costume party, bring your whole family, as there'll be mystic fortune telling, face painting and thrilling coffin rides.

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Halloween night at the Theatre for the New City on First Avenue near 10th Street...

Join us for NONSTOP theater, cabaret, costume contest, ballroom dancing, scary room and MUCH MORE will bewitch the East Village at Theater for the New City's 40th Annual Village Halloween Costume Ball on OCT. 31! Tickets are $20. Details here.

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And A-1 Record Shop on Sixth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue has a lot of Halloween on display ... press play to see (and hear)...

👂🏼🎃🎃🎃👂🏼 #halloweenrecords

A post shared by A-1 Record Shop (@a1recordshop) on Oct 26, 2017 at 11:51am PDT

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Photos and text by Susan Schiffman

Tenant: Deanna Kirk, since 1991

Deanna was born in Manhattan, at Doctors Hospital on 69th Street and York Avenue. She was raised near Columbia University while her father attended school there. Her family later relocated to Long Island.

In the 1980s, Deanna moved to Brooklyn. From 1991 to 1995 she owned Deanna's, a jazz club on Seventh Street near Avenue A.

Around the time she opened the club, she found her current apartment through a friend of a friend. No one in the unit had paid rent in almost four years as the building was in such disrepair.

When the new owners took over, they met with Deanna in the bar downstairs from the apartment. They asked her, "How much do you think is fair?"







What do you love about your apartment?

I used to love my clawfoot tub, that was my favorite thing. But they just got rid of it two weeks ago because there was a leak. Now my favorite thing is the wooden moldings from the 1850s that somebody restored 40 years ago.

I love my fire escape and the trees outside my window, the birds and my view of Second Avenue. I have seen so many things on Second Avenue. I sit here and have my coffee and look out onto the trees that meet my window and Second Avenue.

And I love my friends in the building.









Deanna performs at Nomad, the North African restaurant at 78 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, every Wednesday night from 7 to 10.

"The thing I love best is the neighborhood feeling. It's only a block away from my apartment. Every Wednesday I can just walk a block to my steady singing event, which is a lot like my old jazz club, which is like bringing my old jazz club back for one night a week. I am singing with Burt Eckoff, another rent-stabilized tenant in the East Village since 1968 on Sixth Street."

If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.