Reminder tonight: "Photographs for Your Kitchen"

As the flier says, opening reception is from 8:30-10:30....

So why is Aces & Eights doing this?

And read more about Curt Hoppe here.

EV Grieve readers inspire Aces and Eights to do something worthwhile with the bar's upstairs space

As you may recall from last August, we had several posts on Avenue A's Aces & Eights and the bar's general manager, Tom Michaelsen... (You may refresh your memory here.)

While, for instance, Aces & Eights LES helped raise $1,200 for UNH (United Neighborhood Houses)... they were still serving up the beer pong, as Michaelsen said, "that much maligned representation of jockdom and fratholiness you all despise (possibly because you didn’t make the Varsity team in high school? Don't worry, neither did I.)"

Later, he wrote: "I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it."

And now, starting Thursday...



Well, let's go right to the news release that Michaelsen sent me:

Aces & Eights at 34 Avenue A, brings back the glory days of East Village art with a fun exhibition of evocative, post-pop photographs by Curt Hoppe in a lively, lounge setting. Who could be more perfect for the bar’s first foray into serious art than the legendary Hoppe, who as a young artist was one of the most talked about stars of the notorious “New York / New Wave” show at PS1 which helped launch the careers of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe and others, back in 1981.

For most of the last twenty years, Hoppe has keapt a relatively low profile steering clear of downtown shenanigans for a lucrative career making exquisite photo-realist paintings of scenes in the Hamptons. Hoppe has always used his own photographs for his paintings. Recently turning his camera on city scenes, he has accumulated a profusion of exciting new images, and began thinking about exhibiting the photographs themselves. When Aces and Eights called, it seemed the perfect opportunity to give the new work its first public test.

Aces & Eights’ decision to show art was an outgrowth of the spirited exchanges on EV Grieve’s neighborhood blog between then general manager Tom Michaelsen and East Village residents concerned about the bar’s Upper-East-Side, preppy reputation. “Our style is sometimes a little different,” says Michaelsen, “but there is much about East Village culture that we share and we’re proud to be part of the community and its history.”

OK. I love Hoppe's work... and I see this as a positive step for the bar...I'm curious what other people think...

Q-and-A with Curt Hoppe: Living on the Bowery, finding inspiration and shooting Mr. Softee

Curt Hoppe in 1977.

Starting Thursday, legendary hyper-realist artist Curt Hoppe is showing his latest work, "Photographs For Your Kitchen," at the Aces & Eights lounge, 34 Avenue A near Third Street. I connected with Hoppe via Facebook, and was honored that the Minneapolis native, whose work was shown alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Robert Mapplethorpe in the early 1980s, agreed to answer some questions on the eve of the new exhibit...

What inspired you to move to NYC from Minneapolis in 1976?

Minneapolis, while a great place to grow up in and get an education, was just a starting line. I can't say that I was inspired to move here more like gravitated or pulled. I grew up listening to the likes of Dylan and the Velvets. I followed Warhol and loved the whole POP art movement -- it was just so America.

I had an uncle living here who was an art dealer and I would come to NYC to visit periodically in the mid to late 1960's. He was the director of the Betty Parsons Gallery and he encouraged me to pursue my artistic interests. He introduced me to Max's Kansas City and got me into the Factory where I was actually was given a silver coke bottle. (I lost it). I grew up in the whole "hippie" period but never really related to the earth child "go west with a flower in your hair" stuff. There was always something deeper darker and more alluring about New York that appealed to me.

It was on one of these NY visits that I stumbled on an ad in the Village Voice for a Bowery Loft, so I slapped down some key money and decided to move here in 1975 to pursue my artist career. Finding the space at 98 Bowery was one of the luckiest events of my life. Through the years it has been a home or stopping place for an array of artists in all fields. I quickly fell in with Marc Miller and Bettie Ringma, my upstairs neighbors who at the time were combing the streets and clubs photographing a lot of New York celebs. One of those clubs was CBGBs. I would hang with them on their nights out and that would eventually lead to the three of us collaborating together. One of such collaborations was a portrait of Bettie and the Ramones at CBs. The painting was autographed by the Ramones and exhibited at the Washington Project for the Arts in what was billed at the time "Punk Art"

Where do you find your inspiration today?

Why I paint what I do stems simply from what I am interested in or how I am feeling at any given time. I always say I paint where I am. That includes my thoughts or where my head is at. What's weird is that inspiration usually comes when I feel a total void and a lack of any interest in anything. I can't live with boredom for very long. I am like a child with a new toy when it comes to my work. When I first get it I love it to death but after a few years need a new toy or fix. My attention span is about 5-7 years with any subject. I like to move on when I feel I have covered the subject and I think it has becomes a formula which tends to cheapen it. There is always a new visual adventure out there waiting to be discovered.

We (me and my fellow LES/EV bloggers) spend a lot of time writing about change in the neighborhood. Instead of focusing on what's no longer here... what do you think has remained a constant in the neighborhood through the years? What makes you feel as if it may be the same place as, say, 30 years ago?

For starters, the residents. In a lot of ways the Bowery is pretty much the same. The Bowery is a street. But it’s the gang that lives here that makes it it what it is. You’d be surprised at how many of the stores have not changed or are just updated versions of stores that have always been here. What is happening now is that advertising has begun tapping into the myth of the Bowery.

The Bowery and LES always had bars, on my block alone there were two -- Harry's and Al's. They're gone but have been replaced by newer establishments and different clientele. There were drunks then and there are drunks now. What's changed is that the smokers have to go outside causing noise. I can’t imagine Harry or Al saying to Jimmy and Jerry, "fellas you can't smoke in here," as they drank White Rose or Night Train. CBs is gone but it was never the Bowery it was CBs on the Bowery. CBs became a caricature of itself after 1982. Most of my neighbors still live here and the neighbors are what make the neighborhood.

While some of the artists have left as in my building others have taken their place. Marc and Bettie left a long time ago and Maya Lin moved in and then moved on. Now a couple of talented gals, Brooke Arnao, a filmmaker, and Elisabeth Bernstein, a photographer, are living and working there. Elisabeth is currently exhibiting at The Wild Project on East 3rd Street with a show titled "Scapes." So in many ways the Bowery is the same. Maybe my building is an exception.

The city has become way over priced making it difficult for young artists to move in early in their careers and with rents constantly going up it’s almost impossible to create a lasting community. Thankfully, many of the folks fought the good fight years ago when they converted these illegal spaces to legal living. But artists all over the world will find a skid row to live and work in until it becomes fun and the masses will follow like they always do. It happened in the Village. It happened to St. Marks, Soho and Times Square all living off an old reputation that no longer exists but is kept alive somehow by the hucksters. Now what the developers are doing is a different story one I could rant about for hours.

In "Photographs for Your Kitchen," you focus on Mr. Softee ice cream cones and Happy Face bags. Why did you decide to explore these NYC motifs?

I finished a series of paintings last year, portraits of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby and local Burlesque performers.



And after three years of work on the series combined with the sinking economy and hoopla around the Elections I was exhausted. I was suffering sort of a Postpartum thing. One Sunday last summer when returning from a visit to Coney Island my wife Ruth felt like having a Mr. Softee. Well, BINGO! When that arm appeared out of that truck holding that cone and it's big swirl of cold Ice Cream, descending down to Ruth I saw "The Creation." Yup, the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.



So I decided to start hanging out by the trucks and photographing this everyday summertime event. I discovered a treasure trove of humanity around it. I would watch a grown adult turn into an eager child as they awaited their cone. For a brief time the area around that Softee window turned into heaven on earth. I carry a camera everywhere I go -- like when I’m walking my dog Dorothy.

I started shooting smiley bags. They are sort of local residents too. I discovered that no matter what their circumstances they are always smiling at me wishing me a nice day and saying thank you. Tossed in the garbage, or squashed under a car tire stretched over a bicycle seat they always make the best of a bad situation. They make me laugh and deserve some attention. So I wanted to exhibit something uplifting and fun.



Favorite Ramones story?

My best memory about the Ramones has got to be when they signed the painting Bettie and the Ramones back in 1978. You can’t imagine the thrill of carrying that big 4’ x 6’ painting down the Bowery and getting the Ramones to specially come over to CBs in the afternoon just to sign it. Tommy was still in the group. They all just stood there staring at it. I think Joey was the only one who really got it.



Dee Dee was all hyper and kept asking their manager Danny Fields if it was OK to sign it. Then Johnny asked, "Who's Bettie?" I replied, "She's every Fan." When we carried that autographed painting back to 98, Marc, Bettie and I were just flying. I love the Ramones.

Another one of Hoppe's paintings...



For further reading on EV Grieve:
Life at 98 Bowery: 1969-1989

Revisiting Punk Art

Aces & Eights GM: "I understand that drunkards make your life miserable"

So, where were we? Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, is interested in engaging readers/the neighborhood. As he wrote yesterday:

I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it.

Someone suggested playing NYC classics such as "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Taxi Driver" on a designated movie night. And Marnie, a mother of two, had this to say:

My concerns about Aces & Eights LES are really, to be honest, not something that I think you alone can address. I appreciate your contributions to charities bringing potable water in places like India. I wonder, however, if your charitable contributions might not win you more respect if they were spent here in the neighborhood.

This neighborhood has many public schools which do not receive adequate funding, and therefore rely on the contributions of parents and local businesses.

Another thing we, as parents, need to deal with on a regular basis is not only the noise from local bars (which frankly, my children have learned to sleep through since birth) but the aftermath. The people urinating in doorways, the vomit on sidewalks, the garbage, the stench in the summertime.

I think if you could find a way to direct your efforts towards making real changes to the daily life of local residents we would all be a lot more tolerant of the noise and the general image of the bar itself.

Thank you for listening to those whose lives are impacted by your livelihood.

To which Tom responded,

We have actually already partnered with United Neighborhood House Junior Board, which support local settlement houses like Third Street Music School, University Settlement Society and Henry Street Settlement.

The event was quite a success and I am fully open to working with them or any other charities which benefit the community again.

Community consciousness is something I take very seriously. I understand that drunkards make your life miserable and I will do what I can to stem the tide of urine and vomit from our neighbor's doorsteps.

And another commenter found that A&E has already been a good neighbor:

I live around the corner from Aces & Eights, and when it first opened there was an issue with really loud HVAC equipment up on your roof. One of our residents was brave enough to march right in to your club and tell you about it. And you know what? The issue was taken care of, and the noise issue went away. I give you credit — that's not what we all expected to happen. thanks for being a good neighbor.

Meanwhile, there's another comment thread going here.

So, what else? Here's your chance. (And I think we have the cargo shorts/douche/frathole angle already covered.)

An opportunity to offer Aces & Eights constructive ideas to improve your quality of life in the neighborhood

Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, checks in with another comment. Anyone have any constructive comments?

Aces & Eights LES (the LES differentiates us from our other location, FYI) has helped raise enough money to build two wells in the town of Devki, India through an organization called 1Well.

Aces & Eights LES helped raise over $1200 for UNH (United Neighborhood Houses), which is an umbrella organization that presides over the Settlement Houses of New York, a number of which are in the Lower East Side.

Yes, beer pong, that much maligned representation of jockdom and fratholiness you all despise (possibly because you didn’t make the Varsity team in high school? Don't worry, neither did I.) helped make that happen.

Now I know it isn't much. I know we could do more, but I ask, where were you? What were you doing for your community while this "frathole" was giving back?

It is fairly easy to insult me and this establishment. However, I'd prefer to have a conversation. That is why I wrote what I wrote and why I am writing this. I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it. If you just want to insult me and the business keep it to yourself.

I will be at Aces & Eights tonight. It's trivia night. The beer pong tables are converted and people sit and answer questions for prizes. It starts at 9pm. It's good fun. You are all welcome to join. I'll even buy you your first drink if you mention EV Grieve. My name is Tom. I am the one wearing the green t-shirt that says "Douchebag" on it. Seriously.

Aces & Eight GM offers some clarification on previous posts, comments

Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, responded to our post from yesterday:

I find the entries and comments on this site to be one-sided and offensive. As an Aces & Eights employee I have a few things to clarify:

-Serving food has ALWAYS been a part of our business plan. Due to certain delays we were unable to for quite some time. As the entry above discloses, we are now. The issue should be moot.

-The average age of our clientele is between 25-30 – older than the "frathole" demographic. Also older than the NYU crowd your commentator blames. Frankly, it makes you look prejudiced, judgmental and rude to speak that way about our establishment and our clientele.

- The stipulation in our license regards having no more than two TVs over the bar. The 12 TVs you're referring to are NOT over the bar. There is actually only one TV over the bar. I am not quite sure why televisions offend CB3 so much. According to Nielsen the average American watches 151 hours of television a month. It’s a preposterous figure but I really don’t think watching a baseball game in a bar is that big of a deal.

-Regarding beer pong, it is actually one pitcher (60ounces, three pints) divided into 20 cups played by two teams of two. The average game takes approximately 20 minutes. That means four people split three pints over 20 minutes. In my experience in this industry people drink more, faster when they’re not playing.

-As far as noise is concerned, there is not one subwoofer on the premises and there has never been one. We currently function at a fairly low decibel output. In the East Village street traffic is the nature of the beast. The other evening a man in a spray-painted jalopy drove up and down Avenue A blasting CSNY's "Teach Your Children Well" on a PA system mounted on the roof of his car. I've seen gangs of motorcycles roaring up 1st Avenue. Troops of partygoers and bar patrons have been streaming up and down the streets for years. Our bar is not the predominant noise polluter in the neighborhood nor is it even a significant factor.

I know blogs don't have the same journalistic requirements that standard news media insist upon, but no one has ever come to us to talk or ask questions. No one wants our side of the story. If you'd like to do so now, perhaps to clarify some things, perhaps to see that we run a clean, friendly and accommodating operation. I would be happy to oblige.

Yours Truly,

Tom Michaelsen
General Manager
Aces & Eights LES

Aces & Eights now serving food

During the May 11 CB3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting, Aces & Eights, the frathole on Avenue A in the former Mo Pitkin's space, heard it from residents and CB3 members. As Eater reported:

A number of EVill oldtimers stood up to complain about noise, while the CB members questioned the lack of food in the restaurant, the 13 TVs (they were allowed to have only two), and the advertisements for drinking games. In his defense the owner said food was on the way — though we think it's safe to assume he means wings, nachos, and bar snacks — and that beer pong should not be equated with binge drinking, "It's one pitcher divided into 16 cups!" The peanut gallery had a good laugh, and the committee decided to write a letter to the SLA.

Anyway, that food has arrived. Per the menu now on the front window:

Another new bar for Avenue A

Back on May 4 we noted that a new bar was coming to Avenue A near Third Street. Eater now has more details: The place will be called Mary O'Hallorans, and it opens Friday at the spot of the former sushi joint. Almost next door to Aces & Eights.

Perhaps they spent all the money on the renovation and flat-screen TVs

The new sign is up at Aces & Eights on Avenue A.





Looks a little...? Small? Homemade? High school shop classy?

CB3 to Aces & Eights: Where's the food? Why so many TVs? And what's up with the beer pong?

Eater has highlights from last night's CB3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting. Among the East Village highlights: Aces & Eights, the new frathole on Avenue A in the former Mo Pitkin's space, is not making many friends.

A number of EVill oldtimers stood up to complain about noise, while the CB members questioned the lack of food in the restaurant, the 13 TVs (they were allowed to have only two), and the advertisements for drinking games. In his defense the owner said food was on the way — though we think it's safe to assume he means wings, nachos, and bar snacks — and that beer pong should not be equated with binge drinking, "It's one pitcher divided into 16 cups!" The peanut gallery had a good laugh, and the committee decided to write a letter to the SLA.

Previous Aces & Eights coverage on EV Grieve is here.

Aces & Eights signage up at former Mo Pitkin's space

As I mentioned last Monday, a new bar has opened in the former Mo Pitkin's space at 34 Avenue A. I was told that the building was purchased by the folks behind the fratty Yorkville saloon Aces & Eights. Now, rather temporary-looking signage is up...




No indication yet how the performance space upstairs will be utilized. (Beer pong tourneys?) Something tells me that you won't be seeing, say, Kiki & Herb or Murray Hill headlining anytime soon...The 2-for-1 happy hour is in keeping with the four other bars on the next block -- Double Down, Kelly's, Nice Guy Eddie's and The Library -- that have the same deal.

Meanwhile, add futurist to the skills of former Mo's regular Ben Lerman. The ukulele-playing comedian had this to say to New York magazine in September 2007 upon hearing the news that Mo's was for sale:

“Like Brownies, Fez, Sin-é, Tonic, and many others before, Mo’s will be just another arts venue replaced by yet another bland, chic meat-market with delicious mojitos. The people moving into the town don’t want live entertainment. They just want to get hammered and drag someone home to their luxury condo. Which, when you put it that way, actually doesn’t sound so bad.”

Bar with no name opens in former Mo Pitkin's space

We were surprised to find the former Mo Pitkin's space reopened as a bar this past weekend. We knew something was in the works for the place. In any event, there was a "soft opening" -- as they say -- this past Friday in which a reliable EV Grieve operative reported that the place looked "sketchy" in sort of an Upper East Side way. There's no indication outside what the place is called. In any event, it's apparently run by the folks behind Aces & Eights, the fratty Yorkville saloon on First Avenue and 87th Street.

The former Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction bar/restaurant/performance space at 34 Avenue A closed in October 2007. It was owned in part by Two Boots honcho Phil Hartman. According to the Observer last November, the building was sold for $4 million.

We stopped by ourselves last night...but the place was closed...no word yet on what will become of the performance space upstairs. There is a rather rumpled-looking banner advertising loft space for rent hanging from the second level, though it looks like it's for LiveinNYC.net. (They have no listings for spaces on Avenue A.) It would be a shame if this becomes just another bar...losing the performance part of the space in the process.

A look inside Sunday night...