The NYPL's archive of the legendary East Village Eye now available to the public

Images from the NYPL

The New York Public Library's extensive archive of the East Village Eye is now processed and available to researchers. 

In February 2023, the NYPL acquired the East Village Eye archive from founder and editor Leonard Abrams. The collection consists of documents, manuscripts, artworks, videos, ephemera, and a complete run of the original printed publication (72 issues in total), which was published from 1979 to 1987 and covered the neighborhood's arts, politics, and social currents during a transformative decade. 

The collection also documents the daily workings of a small publication – advertising, correspondence, datebooks, financial records, and more. Contributors included resident advice columnist Cookie Mueller, Richard Hell, and David Wojnarowicz, and the newspaper featured images from dozens of acclaimed photographers early in their careers.

"The Library's acquisition of the East Village Eye archive is the perfect outcome of our years-long search for the best home for these materials," Abrams said upon the purchase last year. 

"We are looking forward to seeing the creative ways that the collection will be used by scholars, students, educators, artists, activists, and anyone passionate about the history and culture of downtown New York City,"  said Julie Golia, associate director, manuscripts, archives, and rare books and Charles J. Liebman curator of manuscripts, in a statement.

Highlights of the collection include: 

• A full print run of all 72 issues of the East Village Eye in pristine condition (no other public institution possesses a complete print run of the periodical)
• Extensive administrative records and founding business documents for the magazine, including correspondence with staff, contributors, advertisers, and readers throughout the Eye's eight-year run
• Abrams' handwritten pocket planners showing his relationship with artists, musicians, businesses, and writers across the neighborhood and beyond
• Promotional materials created by the Eye, including maps and guides of the East Village and invitations and flyers for Eye-affiliated parties, openings, and events
• A collection of photography of the downtown scene by a roster of acclaimed photographers employed or engaged by the Eye, including Marcia Resnick, Eric Kroll, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, and others
• Candid and behind-the-scenes snapshots of Abrams and the Eye staff and contributors at work and as participants in the neighborhood's vibrant nightlife

Per the NYPL: "The records of the Eye will be essential to researchers studying the evolution of the punk movement, the growth of hip-hop, the rise of HIV/AIDS, and the early careers of artists like Basquiat, Mapplethorpe and Fab Five Freddy."

Researchers can access the East Village Eye records in the Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 476 Fifth Ave. at 42nd St. (Find more info here.)

You can learn more about the East Village Eye records from the collection guide and this blog post by the NYPL's Golia.

Sadly, Abrams (above left with Fab Five Freddy) died suddenly last April, only a few months after the collection came to the NYPL. He was 68. 

The NYPL "is proud to provide access to the archive that represents Abrams' important cultural and journalistic legacy."

Previously on EVG:

• Q-and-A with Leonard Abrams, publisher of the East Village Eye

Deli marks the end of the revolving door of bars on the corner of 4th Street and 2nd Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The long-vacant bar space on the SE corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street is undergoing a gut renovation.

A worker at the scene told us that a deli-market is in the works for the storefront (an actual deli-market and not a smoke shop)...

The worker did not know about an opening date.

In 2021, the English-style pub Queen Vic became just Queen ... before evolving into Watering Hole. The for-rent sign showed up in September 2022. 

Queen Vic had a decent run, opening in September 2010,  which ended the revolving door of bars here with awnings, including 2x4, Ambiance and Evolution.

More about the return of Bereket to the Lower East Side

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Yesterday we had the scoop about the opening of Ankara Turkish Restaurant on Houston and Orchard ... from the owner of longtime LES favorite Bereket Turkish Kebab House.

After 19 years in service, Bereket was forced to close in June 2014 to make way for the new luxury condo via Ben Shaoul on the block. The property housed a single row of storefronts, including Bereket, Ray's Pizza and Lobster Joint — all demolished. (As Shaoul told the Times back in 2017, the small businesses that closed were "part of evolution ... You call it gentrification, I call it 'cleaning it up.'") 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy returned to the quick-serve restaurant, which debuted last week...

... and met with Ramazan Turgut, who owned Bereket and now Ankara Turkish Restaurant, which has two outposts in Brooklyn...

... and manager Aydın Günaydın...

Ramazan said that he always wanted to return to this neighborhood and that it wasn't his choice to leave. In the interim, he opened the two restaurants in Brooklyn under the Ankara name. When Bereket closed, he said he didn’t want to open a Brooklyn restaurant with the same name because it was special, and the name belonged to this area. 

He signed a lease when this space at 183 Houston St. (the former Dr Smood) became available directly across the street from the previous outpost. 

Since there are two other Ankara Turkish Restaurants, he decided to keep the name for continuity. Still, he wants people to know it's still Bereket (hence the "Bereket is Back" banners on the storefront). 

The menu items remain unchanged — including the famed vegetarian red lentil soup...

... and the variety of gyros (the chicken gyro option is new)...

There are also a variety of Turkish beverages (no alcohol!) ...

Ramazan said several former customers have come in and confessed how much they missed Bereket. One customer even started crying, which prompted tears from the staff too. 

During this soft-opening mode, the hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with plans to expand to 4 a.m. soon.

EVG Etc.: an East Village population increase; an interview with EV artist Anton van Dalen

Recent headlines of possible interest include (with a photo from Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery) ...

 • "So what Manhattan neighborhoods are the hottest in our new, post-pandemic normal? At the top of the list is the Upper West Side, which saw a 30% increase in residents between November 2019 and October 2022. Next up are the East Village/Gramercy and the area around City Hall, all hovering around 25% during that same span of time." (The Post) 

• On Jan. 25, homeless outreach workers will fan out across the city and into the subway system to count the number of New Yorkers who call the streets and subways home (Gothamist) 

• Remembering Patrick Briggs, frontman for Psychotica, who died on Dec. 27 at age 58 (Legacy.com) 

• An interview with longtime East Village artist Anton van Dalen (artnet ... previously on EVG) 

• Personal essay about the East Village squatters' standoff of 1995, and how Dan Kois made it the center of his new novel, "Vintage Contemporaries" (Curbed) 

• Catching up with red-tailed hawks Christo and Amelia in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography) 

• What to know about Lunar New Year 2023 (6sqft) 

• Al Diaz on the evolution of NYC graffiti (huck ... previously on EVG) 

• About the fried mashed potato sandwich at Rowdy Rooster on First Avenue (Tasting Table) 

• A Fred Ward retrospective, including "Tremors," "The Right Stuff" and "Henry & June" (Anthology Film Archives) 

• The ashes of actor Robbie Coltrane were scattered around his favorite New York haunts — including Katz's (The Daily Mail) 

• Paddy Reilly's, the 36-year-old Irish saloon with live music on Second Avenue at 29th Street, is closing. The landlord won't renew their lease. (Gramercy Local) 

• At Cooper Union on Jan. 25: A panel exploring issues of mental health, addiction and social justice. Hip hop/theater artist Baba Israel, sound artist Fay Victor, and NY Phil Director of Media Production Mark Travis discuss the nuanced impact that the criminalization of addiction and drug use has had on music and other creative arts. (Official site)

Anniversaries: 15 years ago today

The very first post arrived on this site on Dec. 21, 2007. It was an item from Page Six (!!!???) about the possible sale of Sophie's and Mona's, two longtime favorite East Village bars.

The site went by — not joking! — Sophie's Bar Blog for a brief period. (And why not Mona's Bar Blog?) After a few weeks of handwringing, it turned out that the bars would stay in the family and remain pretty much the same to this day 15 years later. (I explain the site's evolution from Sophie's Bar Blog to EVG here.)

Anyway, taking this moment to thank you for reading the site for however long it has been these past 15 years and 38,546 posts, and for sharing in the adventures of living in this neighborhood — for better or worse. And thank you for sharing tips, photos, anecdotes, observations, complaints, and perspectives on day-to-day life here, past and present.

Couldn't do any of this without all of you. 

I'm incredibly grateful to Derek Berg and Steven for their daily contributions... and to Stacie Joy for lending her photography and reporting talents in covering happenings around the neighborhood.

And now, a happy and healthy holiday season to you. (If you have a Christmas tree and need to discard it before leaving town, please place it where we can get a good photo of it!)

 Photoshopped photo from the archives courtesy of EVPinhead. And I give that business six weeks!

EVG Etc. Remembering Chef Colin Alevras; assessing the mayor's street sweeps

• RIP Colin Alevras, who ran the the Tasting Room with his wife Renee on East First Street from 1999-2006 before moving to Elizabeth Street. He died of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. (The New York Times) 

• Assessing Mayor Adams' street sweeps six months later: "Property destroyed, people separated from services, no reduction in street homelessness" (1010 WINS) 

• Dysfunction in the Adams administration fuels housing crisis (The Post) ... And the mayor parties until late at Little Sister at the Moxy East Village (Page Six)

• State court keeps possibility of permanent outdoor dining program alive (Gothamist) 

• New program will convert unused newsstands to rest stops for delivery workers (The City) 

• Primary Wave Music has acquired a major stake in Joey Ramone's music-publishing assets for around $10 million (Variety) 

• Interesting behavior from Christo and Amelia in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggon Photography) 

• Fake heiress Anna Sorokin (aka Anna Delvey) is living in the East Village upon her release from prison yesterday (The New York Times... the Post) 

• The story of Angel Ortiz, Keith Haring's overlooked collaborator (i-D) 

• Some history of the recently opened Nine Orchard hotel on the LES ... aka, the old Jarmulowsky Bank building (The Forward) 

• Double Chicken Please on Allen Street named one of the world's best bars (6sgft) 

• The evolution of the egg cream (Eater) 

• Iggy Pop Covers Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker" (Pitchfork) 

• THIS WEEKEND: A few screenings left of Kathryn Bigelow & Monty Montgomery's "The Loveless" and Abel Ferrara's "The Addiction" (Anthology Film Archives)

Longtime bar space at 68 2nd Ave. hits the rental market

A for-lease sign now hangs on the front window at 68 Second Ave. at Fourth Street, bringing an official end, for now, to a bar in the corner space. (Thanks to Steven for the photo!)

Last year, the queer-friendly English-style pub Queen Vic from the owners of Boiler Room next door became just Queen ... and more recently, Watering Hole.

Queen Vic opened in September 2010, ending the carousel of bars here, including 2x4, Ambiance and Evolution.

The fullest full reveal to date at Zero Irving on 14th Street

Workers recently removed the sidewalk bridge from outside the 21-story Zero Irving (formerly the Union Square Tech Training Center, 14 @ Irving and tech hub) on 14th Street...

... providing a near-complete look at the building, developed jointly by the city's Economic Development Corp. and RAL Development Services ... which will feature 14 floors of market-rate office space as well as a technology training center, co-working and event spaces on the seven floors beneath. Urbanspace will operate a food hall on the ground level.

Per the Zero Irving website:

Zero Irving is more than a trophy-class office building, it’s an ecosystem ideally engineered to foster growth, flexibility, productivity, and the evolution of new ideas in Manhattan’s ultimate live/work neighborhood.

Zero Irving has reportedly signed several full-floor deals recently, including data analytics software company Sigma Computing Inc. on the ninth floor and B2B payments platform Melio on the 15th and 16th floors. And most recently: Laurel Road, a digital banking platform and brand of KeyBank, leased space for offices on the 11th floor. 

Long contested by local preservationists and community groups, the new building sits on the former site of a P.C. Richard & Son on city-owned property.

Foundation work started here in August 2019.

Previously

Proposed plans now call for a 24-story residential building on 14th Street and Avenue C

Updated 6/15: L+M Development Partners is not a developer in this project. According to a spokesperson, L+M's only role was assisting NYCHA in selling air rights. The post has been modified to reflect this.

There are proposed plans to build a 24-story, 166-unit residential building — including 50 "affordable" units — at the long-vacant lot on the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue C. The development would include retail space and a community facility. 

Tonight, CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee will hear a presentation from reps for New York City Housing Authority and Madison Realty Capital. 

The corner property — 644 E. 14th St. — has been in a stalled-development mode for years. (This corner property last housed the single-level R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.) 

There are already approved plans here for a 15-floor mixed-use building, though there aren't any affordable units attached to this version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing.

This past spring, the NYCHA and Madison Realty Capital filed documents seeking a non-ULURP modification — known as an LSRD — to the development plan.

PincusCo first reported on this. Per their report:

The application seeks to modify the boundaries of the previously approved plans and zoning calculations by expanding the zoning lot to include 644 East 14th Street (Block 396, Lot 29). Through the zoning lot merger, the development rights from the existing LSRD comprised of Campos Plaza I and II, which are owned by a joint venture that includes NYCHA ... can be transferred to Block 396, Lot 29, a vacant property owned by Madison Realty Capital.

According to a presentation posted to the CB3 website, the benefits of this air-rights deal would: 

• "Generate revenue for NYCHA, which will fund repairs exclusively at Campos Plaza II."

• "Enhance the pedestrian experience for both Campos Plaza and the surrounding community with new ground floor retail, ground floor community facility, lighting and new street trees." 

• "Provide additional affordable housing units pursuant to the Affordable New York Program Option B." 

• "MRC will commit to a resident hiring plan."

The presentation includes a rendering of the proposed building, a "massing evolution" and a slide on the "appropriateness of height" ... 

As previously reported, Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020. Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 for $23 million. 

Concerns over new plans

Meanwhile, there are concerns about the plan for the larger-scale development.

One group of locals started a Facebook group to help notify residents of the ongoing plans at No. 644.

"While we are all for the development of that corner ... and the affordable housing element of the plans, we are not happy with the sheer size of the footprint and the excessive height that goes along with the proposal," one of the organizers told EVG. "We believe it will have countless negative effects on the local community and is out of place in this neighborhood. One major, immediate concern is that they have done little outreach and have kept plans for the project very quiet, which seems to be an obvious strategy to avoid any scrutiny from the local public."

Before a presentation last month prior to CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee, Tenants Taking Control, a group of 100-plus long-term tenants in 15 East Village buildings owned by Madison Realty Capital, spoke out against the plans.

In a "warning letter" to CB3 members and other local elected officials, the group, which has had Madison Realty Capital as a landlord since 2017, alleged: "We believe from first-hand experience that they disregard East Village tenant and community needs for their own financial benefit."

Tonight's committee meeting starts at 6:30. You can find the Zoom link here. 

The Brant Foundation debuts its next show, Julian Schnabel's 'Self-Portraits of Others'

Starting tomorrow, the Brant Foundation debuts its next show, "Self-Portraits of Others," a solo exhibition of new works by Julian Schnabel. 

Per the Brant website:

Created between 2018 – 2020, this series explores the evolution of Schnabel's artistic practice while making "At Eternity's Gate," a film about the life of Vincent van Gogh. The exhibition features 25 plate paintings that examine the theme of portraiture throughout art history.

Some details... the exhibit is open to visitors, free of charge. Advance tickets will not be required and walk-ins are welcome during open hours:

Wednesday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Thursday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Friday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Proof of a COVID-19 vaccination is required to enter.

"Self-Portraits of Others," up through December, is the third exhibition to be held at the Brant Foundation 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

In its first, from March to May 2019, the Brant Foundation featured an exhibit by Jean-Michel Basquiat, some 70 works collectively valued at $1 billion. Brant later extended the show by a few weeks.

The Brant Foundation features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors. Brant bought the building — a former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio — for $27 million in August 2014.

Brant had said the space would host two exhibitions open to the public each year. 

The 9th annual MoRUS Film Festival arrives in community gardens tomorrow evening

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) on Avenue C is once again hosting its end-of-summer tradition — its annual film fest, a four-evening event titled "Steal This City: NYC Urban Occupations on Film" that starts tomorrow evening in local community gardens.

For its ninth iteration, MoRUS teamed up with the Loisaida Center, with additional support from ABC No Rio, to present the curated collection of films and guest speakers that will examine "how in a city where real estate dominates spatial reality, activist-driven occupations show how another world is possible."

Here are highlights for tomorrow night:

Thursday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.

"Steal These Walls: Graffiti and the Fight for Free Expression"

Green Oasis/Gilbert’s Community Garden, 370 E. Eighth St. b/t Avenue C and Avenue D

This night explores the cultural complexities of graffiti and the use or occupation of public walls, spaces and structures to create a space for alternative communities and foster the rise of new art forms, from graffiti to murals to hip-hop.  

• "Graffiti/Post-Graffiti" (1985, 30 minutes). Directors: Marc Miller and Paul Tschinkel 

This documentary captures a key moment in the evolution of graffiti from illegal street art to rarified commodity exhibited in high-profile galleries.  

• "Girl Power" (2016, 92 minutes). Directors: Sany and Jan Zajíček

Following female graffiti writers from 15 cities — from New York to Prague to Cape Town and all the way back to New York, the documentary illuminates their paths as they navigate this predominantly male world where men often share the view that graffiti is not for girls. 

Just added! "We have the honor to host the esteemed "first lady of graffiti," Lady Pink, and SoHo Renaissance Factory co-founder Konstance Patton in a panel for our opening night." (Thursday's rain date: MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.)

You can find more details on the festival right here. Advance tix are available at Eventbrite. You can also buy tickets on the evenings of the screenings in the garden venues. (They offer sliding-scale pricing.)

Succession to the throne on 2nd Avenue

In a battle for the crown, Vic has apparently lost out... an EVG reader shared this photo from Second Avenue and Fourth Street, where the queer-friendly English-style pub Queen Vic is now simply going as Queen.

Queen, from the owners of Boiler Room next door, has not been open since the PAUSE went into effect last March.

Queen Vic opened in September 2010, putting an end to the carousel of bars here, including 2x4, Ambiance and Evolution.

Max Fish says farewell to 120 Orchard St.; new outpost planned

As expected, Max Fish has closed its location at 120 Orchard St. between Rivington and Delancey. 

The bar had not been open since July, and rumors circulated that this was it. In October, reps for the company that runs Grey Lady and Short Stories appeared before CB3 for a new liquor license for the space, as BoweryBoogie previously reported. 

Yesterday, Max Fish posted the official closing announcement on Instagram, though they vow to return again one day:

This is not the end of Max Fish by any means. In the meantime while we look for a new location we will be working on our webstore, collaborations, and participating in pop up events. We look forward to seeing you at our new location in better times! 

Thank you all for your love and support. We’d also like to shout out bar and service family and friends throughout the city, best wishes to everyone, please stay safe. These have been hard times for all of us. Hopefully we’ll see all of you sooner than later! 

From The Max Fish Family

This was the second iteration of Max Fish, the second on the Lower East Side. The bar opened here in August 2014... this after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St. 

Higher rents caused them to move out to Williamsburg after the Ludlow Street original closed in July 2013. However, those plans for a bar in Brooklyn never materialized. 

So here's to Max Fish 3.0.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

• From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

• First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

• Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

Documenting 166 Avenue A through the years

I always enjoy receiving correspondence from Anton van Dalen, the artist who has lived on Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street for decades. Here's the latest dispatch:

Sending you photos of our home at 166 Avenue A, of its over the years evolving facade appearance. The photos cover a span of now almost 50 years of my observing and documenting our neighborhood.

Came to this address in 1971. Before we lived at 123 Rivington St. near the corner of Essex Street.

Initially I just watched and listened to the street life, its sidewalk theater with joyous salsa music. It was not the New World that I had imagined as child growing up in Holland — no streets here paved with gold. Rather streets paved by the colors of many cultures. 

On first arrival our new home looked abandoned, hardened by history, burned out house next door. And by contrast, a storefront church on the other side, often crowded with multigenerational Puerto Rican families. 

Today our Puerto Rican community is marginal, as neighborhood's demographics radically changed. As my below succession of photos illustrate, the creeping ongoing gentrification of our neighborhood.

I consider myself a documentarian of the East Village, yet I am a participant and spectator to its evolution. Began documenting my street surroundings in 1975, urged on by wanting to note and remember these lives. Came to realize I had to embrace wholeheartedly, with pencil in hand, my streets with its raw emotions. 

Also the everywhere discarded bloody heroin needles on sidewalks stunned and urged on my thinking. The drug dealers, the junkies, the police, the firefighters, were then the unquestioned royalty of our neighborhood. 

Then came hopeful efforts by gardeners in garbage-strewn abandoned lots, squatters, community organizers. They were able to redirect our devastated neighborhood toward again being a community for many. 

So my documenting became more and more informed by the stories of my neighbors' acts of activism. And a commitment on my part to be true to those lives, of their raw heartfelt emotions, birthed on the street. 

Their truth telling kept my work honest, brought authenticity to my documentation, so critically important. That my work needed to join the raw birth, speak for, this sad beauty born on our streets, and not to forget.

Postscript:

One of Anton's drawings, titled "Street Woman on Car" (1977) and posted at the top, has been acquired by the Whitney. That drawing is included in a show there now titled "Around Day's End: Downtown New York, 1970-1986." This exhibit closes on Nov. 1.

Anton is pictured below with the exhibit's curators, Laura Phipps (left) and Christie Mitchell (photo by Grace Keir).

And details on the drawing: "Street Woman on Car" (1977). Graphite pencil on paper, sheet: 22 3/4 × 29in. (57.8 × 73.7 cm). Purchased with funds from the Drawing Committee 2016/7. © Anton van Dalen

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Anton van Dalen, drawing in isolation

Cults classic: East Village-based duo on the release of their fourth record Host

Cults, the celebrated indie-pop duo of Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion, have just released their fourth record, the enchanting Host. In case you didn't know this, Madeline and Brian both live in the East Village. Madeline answered a few questions for EVG the other day about Host and her East Village home since age 8.

You both live in the East Village. You spent time in Arizona while working on Host. So how do your surroundings influence the songwriting-creative process? Does it make a difference where you are? 

I think there are pros and cons for both recording at home and leaving town. When we're at home it's a bit harder to tune out the distractions and we get a little looser with our working schedule, which can be a good thing because we have the time to sit with what we've worked on.

We went to Arizona because we don't know anyone there and we just wanted to fully immerse ourselves in the record and be able to work round the clock which we can't really do in our East Village apartments. 

You've spent a lot of time on the road supporting your previous records. Given how much time you can be away, does the East Village feel like home to you?

It does feel like home! My mom and stepdad moved to the East Village when I was around 8 so it has always been home. Brian has lived here for about 12 years. 

With the COVID-19 crisis, what have you had to differently leading up to the release of Host?

Everything has been different! We had to find different ways to make videos and do our photos. We did a lot of things creatively that I'm not sure we would have done pre-pandemic. We probably wouldn't have done a "mukbang" video [see "Spit You Out" below] or agreed to having someone direct a video from our respective homes but our friends have helped us make some really cool stuff. Also, not touring the record is very different.

Four records in now, starting with 2011's self-titled release, do you feel as if you have a good assessment of the band's evolution?

I guess our evolution has been about slowly broadening the influences we allow into our songwriting. In the beginning it was very kind of early 60s and that was it!

Each album it feels like we’ve moved up a decade or so, letting the light in a little. This next album I guess we'll have finally caught up with ourselves. What a scary thought.

Speaking of a new record: You've said that you usually start on one after a tour wraps up. Without touring on the horizon, how might this impact record No. 5? 

We are hopefully going to start writing the next record the day after Host is released!

You can catch a livestream of Cults on Oct. 1 from (Le) Poisson Rouge. Find the details here.

The new East Village Trader Joe's opens on Monday

The Trader Joe's opens Monday morning at 8 here at 436 E. 14th St. just west of Avenue A... EVG regular Greg Masters snapped these shots yesterday (thanks also to Gojira for a heads up) ...



An EVG tipster told us in early November that Jan. 6 was to be the opening day.

EVG reader Mr. Baggs also shared photos... new employees are on the scene...



Industry pub Grocery Dive had a few more details about this TJ's:

It features local artwork and is headed by a "store captain" with 14 years of experience with the company. This will be Trader Joe's ninth location in New York City and its second in the East Village neighborhood.

This TJ's boasts 8,531 square feet of ground-floor space with 14,170 square feet on a lower level.

This is the final step in the long evolution (first reported in May 2017!) of the new EV TJ's, just a few blocks from the Union Square outpost that opened in 2006.

The location is in the retail space of the newish 8-story luxury rental called EVE. This development is on the site of the onetime Peter Stuyvesant Post Office (1951-2014).

P.S.

According to Grocery Dive, Trader Joe's has not indicated any plans to reinstate the home-delivery service that it discontinued last March.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Trader Joe's finally confirms that a Trader Joe's is opening on 14th Street at Avenue A

• All about EVE, the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office-replacing rentals on 14th Street

• Claim: A Trader Joe's won't be coming to new development at 14th and A after all

• Trader Joe's: No current plans for grocery at 432-438 E. 14th St.

• Looks like there's a Trader Joe's coming to 432-438 E. 14th St. after all

A visit to Turntable Lab on 10th Street

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

The older I get the less new music I am exposed to, which is why I am always particularly interested in EV Grieve’s Fridays at Five and curated musical selections. It’s turned me on to local rocker Liza Colby, Princess Nokia’s “Tomboy” and THICK’s “Green Eyes,” among others.

In this A Visit To ... I get the opportunity to explore new-to-me music at Turntable Lab with owner Pete Hahn and his Turntable staff.


[Pete Hahn]

Pete arrives — on skateboard — from his nearby East Village home to meet me at the Lab’s storefront at 84 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, and walks me though the store pointing out both beginner record players (now made with USB port) and advanced DJ setups. I even get a mini lesson on the ones and twos on the in-house DJ booth from sales associate Paul Bennett!





Aside from a tour and DJ lesson, Hahn talked about the evolution of Turntable Lab, which had its humble beginnings as an NYU side hustle, to its first shop on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. Turntable is now in its 20th year of business.

Turntable Lab got its start while you were at NYU. What experiences led to this launch?

My decision to go to NYU had a lot to do with the city’s DJ/record shop scene. There were lots of record shops, but if I wanted to get equipment, I had to go to a Canal Street electronics stores. I would walk in knowing the market price of an item, get into an intense haggling session, and still walk away paying above market price.

This gave us the idea to create a website that would sell DJ equipment with more transparency — no “call for price,” which was the norm back then. We started in my apartment on 12th Street with a Macintosh G3, a 56K modem, and a fax machine to take orders.

At what point did you realize that this was going to be a full-time business and not a side hustle?

In the first year of the business I was working during the day for a Soho advertising agency. I specialized in internet boom sites (1999) and was assigned to an early beauty ecommerce site. They were paying the agency hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a site that was barely functional. During a meeting I found out that my archaic hand-coded HTML site was grossing more than the beauty site — that’s when I decided to go full time.





Why did you decide to relocate from Seventh Street in 2016 to the current shop on 10th Street? At the time, did you consider moving to another neighborhood?

After being on Seventh Street for 15-plus years, the store needed a major renovation. It was cramped. The basement always flooded. The fixtures were wearing down. Rather than renovate the old space, we decided to start fresh. We never looked at any other areas — we knew we were staying in the East Village.



On that note: Why have you continued to base the TTL storefront in the East Village?

Personally, I think the East Village is still one of the top three record-shopping neighborhoods in the world. You can walk around, eat delicious things, check out Tompkins, find a stoop sale, people watch, and visit other quality record shops.

The East Village — along with many other neighborhoods — have suffered the loss of record/music shops in recent years. What has helped you survive? Twenty years in any business, especially one related to trends in music and music consumption, is impressive.

I could go deep into this, but here’s a quick version:
1) Don’t get stuck in old ways.
2) Respect each other’s tastes in music.
3) Be kind to customers.
4) Make it interesting for customers to visit often.
5) Keep it organized.
6) Know your margins.

The TTL website is robust. Why is a physical storefront still important to you?

Online commerce is inherently soulless. The store helps us maintain our soul by linking us in a different way to our customers, the DJ community, and the neighborhood. Plus, if you can successfully run a storefront these days, you know you are doing something right (and maybe even universally correct).



The storefront spans many genres of music. In one visit, I can pick up the new Diiv, Bat for Lashes and the re-release Rupa Biswas’ 1982 disco jazz LP. How do you decide what to carry?

There’s three people in the company that buy most of the vinyl; but we also get input from everyone who works here. Nearly everyone in the company is a collector. For example, one person is our go-to for decisions on Japanese vinyl and anime soundtracks. If it’s emo, I’ll ask someone else in the company. Distributors also know that we’re super-selective, so they’ll only recommend the top titles to us. I still have that broke college-kid mentality when I’m picking records: they have to be worth it.






[Lauren Jefferson, sales associate]

Looking back to 1999, did you envision that you might be doing this in 20 years?

Hell no! I still can’t believe it. My business partner and I always joke that we can pass it along to our kids, but I think in our minds, we’re mostly serious about the idea. People have tried to buy the Lab a couple times, but in retrospect, I’m glad those deals never went through.

What’s next for TTL?

We’re very focused on continuing to expand our range of exclusives. We’ve been teaming up with audio-equipment manufacturers, brands and labels to create special items. I’m especially excited about this boxset with Stones Throw Records. It will be available at the end of the year and it features our favorite releases from their catalog in a box we designed. Lastly, we’ll continue to develop our in-house audio furniture line: Line Phono.

---

Turntable Lab is open every day from noon to 8 p.m. You can find them on Instagram here.