Week in Grieview

[Photo of accordionist at Cooper Union by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Driver charged in collision that killed cyclist Kelly Hurley on 1st Avenue and 9th Street (Thursday)

A five-alarm fire at 60 E. 9th St. (Wednesday)

Rent Guidelines Board approve increases between 1.25 and 2 percent (Wednesday)

Push-in robbery on Avenue B was actually a drug deal gone bad: NYPD (Thursday)

Out and About with Sierra Gilboe Zamarripa (Wednesday)

A new lease for Three of Cups (Wednesday)

A new home for S'MAC on 1st Avenue and 12th Street (Monday)

The Marshal seizes Mamani Pizza on Avenue A (Thursday)

Fledgling No. 1 (Wednesday)

More dessert choices for Avenue A as Eggloo opens this weekend (Thursday)

City pools open; and a reminder to have a swimsuit to enter the pool area (Thursday)

The Black Rose looks to be moving into the former Benny's Burritos space on Avenue A (Friday)

A call to expand the boundaries of the proposed special business district in the East Village (Tuesday)

Saltwater NYC bringing Australian coffee to 12th Street (Tuesday)

Economy Candy's 80th anniversary retro signage (Friday)

Mancora now open in new First Avenue home (Monday)

Thoughts on the 9/11 mural on 9th and A (Tuesday)


[The musical bags of 11th Street via Derek Berg]

Your ideas wanted on improving McKinley Playground (Tuesday)

Sushi Lounge emerges from a crowded combo of brands at 31 St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Wasan East Village has apparently closed on 4th Street (Friday)

DOT looking for feedback about the Village Plaza (Monday)

First look at the Other Music documentary (Tuesday)

Looking at the Allegro Coffee Roasters coming to Whole Foods Market® Bowery (Monday)

Bluemercury rising on 3rd Avenue (Friday)

The New Stand coming to Patricia Field’s former storefront on the Bowery (Tuesday)

55 Third Ave. sells for $57 million — AGAIN (Monday)

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Red Gate Bakery shapes up on 1st Street

Awning alert over at 68 E. First St., where Red Gate Bakery is expected to open soon here between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (As you can see, Red Gate also has a red roll down gate.)

The Red Gate website notes that they sell "small-batch, high-quality, no-frills baked goods." Their menu features a variety of cookies, brownies, cakes and a midnight banana bread. You can see some of these items on the Red Gate Instagram account.

This is the first storefront for the proprietors, who have been taking online orders for a variety of events and special occasions.

No. 68 was previously home to the Tuck Shop, which closed in September 2018 after 13 years of selling Australian meat and vegetable pies.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red Gate Bakery setting up shop at 68 E. 1st St.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Panty time on Houston and Orchard, courtesy of American Apparel, of course.

New Web site writes about NYC store openings and closings (Launch Stalker)

Jeremiah has a history of Village Paper... and some fire theories. (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Melanie got a look inside the old Australian joint on St. Mark's that will soon be D.O.B. (East Village Corner...Musings by Melanie)

Eco-indulgent living on 11th Street selling well (Curbed)

A recap of Day of Ray (The Villager)

A shortage of bitters on the LES (The Observer)

Big Kisses on Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Aside from the peepee phone, of course: Public bathrooms in NYC (Untapped New York, via Patell and Waterman’s History of New York)

This photo by Ozier Muhammad in the Times pretty much sums up why we hate Bloomy's public plazas in Times Square. New York Traffic Experiment Gets Permanent Run.

So long to the 3 rhinos

Late last night, workers packed up "The Last Three" sculpture on Astor Place ... Peter Feld shared these top two photos...



...and here's the rhino-less Astor Place this morning...





The 17-foot sculpture had been here since March.

Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner recreated the last three Northern White Rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – "to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade."

The two have yet to disclose the new NYC location of "The Last Three" ...

#thelastthree are leaving their home at @astorplacenyc after three marvellous months of raising awareness for the northern white rhinos! ❤️🦏🦏🦏❤️ Thank you everyone who visited and a big thank you to the team at Astor Place for all the love and support! PS - New location of The Last Three in NYC TBA! Stay tuned! #nyc #gillieandmarcart #astorplace #goodbyerhinos #sculpture #publicart #couple

A post shared by 💛GILLIE AND MARC💛 (@gillieandmarcart) on Jun 12, 2018 at 4:37pm PDT

Dub FX and Flower Fairy are performing in Tompkins Square Park

The not-so-secret show is on now in the Park ... featuring the Australian street performer and his partner Flower Fairy...



Photos by Dave on 7th

Updated 8 p.m.

A few photos via Bobby Williams...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 7th Street]

Jack Bistro priced out of University Place (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Australian model Elyse Taylor selling her East 2nd Street home (New York Post)

The spirits of the former Amato Opera House on the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

And more haunted spirits at the Merchant House Museum (Ephemeral New York)

Seward Park shuns Con Ed (The Lo-Down)

Thoughts on Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" (Dangerous Minds)

... and the other night, activists with Right of Way created a stencil depicting the assault of SUV driver Alexian Lien on a scaffold above the West 178 Street site of the incident... They call this work #Cranksy.



And, given the popularity of anything Banksy-related these days... someone stole the fake Banksy, as Gothamist pointed out yesterday.

About 'Bomb Pop 2,' an 'ongoing conversation' at Bullet Space

Photos and text by Daniel Efram 

Bullet Space is currently showing "Bomb Pop 2," a group exhibition featuring Fly Orr, Mac McGill, Andrew Chan, John Farris, Michael A. Gonzales, Andrew Wilhelm and Maggie Wrigley (above), who's serving as the curator. 

The original "Bomb Pop" took place in 2012, and this 2022 edition is dedicated to honoring the late poet and illustrator John Farris. 

This is a group of NY artists with roots in the Lower East Side squatter community. The gallery itself is a former squatted space. "Bomb Pop 2," revisited on the 10th anniversary of the original show, continues the ongoing conversation between these artists and their work that started a decade ago.

"Michael Gonzales and I curated the first show. We have been collaborating for years — my photos and his words," Wrigley said. "These are fragments of a story that he wrote. It's an afro-futurist dystopian story inspired by Sun Ra, and my photos are fragments of the past East Village, which was pretty dystopian, too, so it's a kind of time-travel connection. Being movie buffs, we call it 'Prevues of Coming Attractions.'"

Regarding Wrigley's photography, Gonzales stated, "She captures the various beauties of the city: the ugly beauty, the concrete beauty, the sad beauty and joyful beauty. As a writer of noir short fiction, I'm attracted to that dark/light sensibility in her images."

Fly Orr, a teacher at the Lower East Side Girls Club, is perhaps better known for her squatter zines and "PEOPs, Portrait & Stories" project. For this show, she installed stencils, using a language of symbols as a different way to communicate her love of the community. (See above.)

Mac McGill is a native New Yorker and former squatter, now a tenant owner of his former squat.

 

"He makes incredibly detailed and moving pen and ink drawings," Wrigley said. "His work has addressed housing and environmental issues of the neighborhood for decades."

Sculpture artist Andrew Wilhelm has been helping to nourish next-generation artists through his work with Pratt and Cooper Union. The flowing, smooth lines of his pieces in the gallery's garden [seen behind Wrigley in the above photo] feel like his sculptures are an extension of nature. His work in the gallery employs a Renaissance-era technique to make plaster simulate stone but with wild colors instead.

Australian artist Andrew Chan makes playfully critical paintings of the United States, his adopted country. Seen above in the portrait titled "The Collector," Chan connects the darkness of consumerism and corporations with the playful idea of assembling them all in a shopping cart headed down the block, conceivably a reference to our own presence in late-stage capitalism.

John Farris lived in Bullet Space for the last 25 years of his life. 

"One of the proudest things we’ve done as a collective was giving this poet a place to live," Wrigley said. 

The back room is dedicated to Farris, who died in 2016. 

 "When John had trouble writing, he started drawing. And he drew and drew and drew. He had piles of work in his apartment. He did a lot of self-portraits and people he met on the street," Wrigley said. "He also made these incredibly soulful head sculptures [above] made out of shopping bags and masking tape." 

East Villagers should make their way to Bullet Space at 292 E. Third St. between Avenue C and Avenue D for this inspired group show that speaks to the past and harkens to the future. The gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from 1-6 p.m. (Viewings are available by appointment by emailing Wrigley at: maggiebullet292@gmail.com.) The space will not be open on Thanksgiving weekend.

The show's closing party is Sunday, Dec. 18, from 6-8 p.m., and includes performances by Lorraine Leckie, Puma Perl, Jennifer Blowdryer and Faith NYC.

Top photo: Wrigley with work by Mac McGill

A final visit to the Tuck Shop, closing today after 13 years on 1st Street

Today is the last day in business for the Tuck Shop, which has been selling Australian meat and vegetable pies these past 13 years on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Owner Niall Grant told me this about the closure in an email last week: "All the usual reasons can be cited but rising costs in general are behind this difficult decision. After 13 years in business I am tired of the struggle to keep a small business afloat in NYC."

Yesterday, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the shop where the mood was fairly upbeat, all things considered...



Here's part of the Tuck Shop team (from the left): Andras Castro, Lee Galdos, Pedro Arrioca, Juan Lorenzo and Grant...



Grant said that he is especially concerned about finding jobs for his longtime kitchen team. (He was helping with résumés while Stacie was there.) Arrioca, the head chef, has been at Tuck Shop from Day 1 while Lorenzo, the sous chef, has been there for nine years, and Castro, the prep cook, for seven years. (If anybody out there has a kitchen opportunity for any of them please email tuckshopfirststreet@gmail.com.)




[Tuck Shop employee Elvis Barlow-Smith]





Here's a longtime customer who stopped in for a last Tuck Shop meal...



Grant said that he'd love to have people could come by today to have a meal and say goodbye...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Tuck Shop is closing after 13 years on 1st Street

The Sunburnt Cow hopes to reopen by New Year's Eve

Last Thursday, as we first reported, the NYPD closed the Sunburnt Cow on Avenue C for "Criminal sale and possession of controlled substances — marijuana." On Friday evening, we received a statement from the owners of The Sunburnt Cow on Avenue C:

The Sunburnt Cow will open this weekend and honor all reservations and specials as usual, including the Endless Brunch. After Sunday, December 18th, we will close and remain so until the police complete their investigation. We plan to reopen in time for our annual New Year’s celebration.

We are working with the authorities to bring about a swift and just resolution to this issue and want to reiterate that we had no prior knowledge of illegal drug activity on our premises. We do not and will not condone, endorse or tolerate such behavior at any of our establishments.

Yesterday, a rep for The Sunburnt Cow confirmed that the Australian-themed bar-restaurant would remain closed, with an eye on reopening before New Year's Eve.

Previously.

'The Last Three' unveiled on Astor Place; Saltz — 'It’s like a Vegas acrobatic act'

[Photos via @AstorPlaceNYC]

Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner officially unveiled their 17-foot bronze sculpture "The Last Three" this morning on Astor Place...



The Schattners recreated the last three Northern White Rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – "to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade."

Visitors to the sculpture are encouraged to leave a goodbye message ... with the artists hoping to collect 1 million messages worldwide to "put them toward a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns through education."

And as Patch noted in its coverage:

The artists partnered with app developers at INDE to create an informative, augmented reality experience to accompany the statue. The app allows smartphone users to see a life-size, augmented reality version of one of the three last white rhinos. Using the app, you can watch a rhino walk around and meander among the tourists and pedestrians on Astor Place.

The sculpture will remain here through at least May. You can read more about the project here.

Meanwhile, at New York magazine, Jerry Saltz weighed in with some thoughts on "The Last Three" ...

It is an ugly, bathos-filled folly that proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap. Thank goodness this crap is only temporary.

This surreal-ish kitsch monstrosity is a stack of the last three northern white rhinos on Earth. The bottom one is standing with the next one resting on it, back to back — why? — facing up, and then supports the third one on its feet. It’s like a Vegas acrobatic act.

And!

We must accept that hating this work is not dissing the cause. Not liking the sculpture is to show the cause the deep respect it deserves and not selling it out to gaudy artsy spectacle. As an art critic, I also feel compelled to add that if you like the sculpture, I’m afraid it means that you have pretty bad taste.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A sneak preview of the world's largest rhino sculpture, coming to Astor Place early next year

World's tallest rhino sculpture arrives on Astor Place this week

The rhinos have arrived on Astor Place

Week in Grieview

[Bobby Williams]

2013 East Village summer in review (Tuesday)

The life aquatic at the Avenue D Rite Aid (Friday)

"Modern Australian" for Avenue A (Thursday)

We love The Baroness (Wednesday)

The changes coming to Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street (Friday)

About a burlesque mentoring project (Tuesday)

Dr. Doom loses the hot tub (Tuesday)

The incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A looks fucking horrible (Wednesday)

Your CB3/SLA September highlights (Tuesday)

First Avenue Pierogi & Deli returns from summer break (Tuesday)

Memories of the Odessa Cafe and Bar (Wednesday)

FroYo confirmed for Avenue A (Tuesday)

Welcome Taverna Kyclades (Thursday)

New sponsor for the Halloween Dog Parade (Thursday)

Media relations, Lou Reed style

Dangerous Minds uncovered some uncut video footage of a 1975 interview between a cranky Lou Reed and trying-too-hard Australian journalist Stephen MacLean.

The interview does not go well.

LR: Don’t believe what you read.
I: No, I don’t.
LR: Don’t believe what you see.
I: Is it true that you wrote Sally Can’t Dance in the studio?
LR: If I say so, I guess….
I: But did you?
LR: I wasn’t there!
I: You were there.
LR: No I wasn’t. Dougie [Yule] did it.
I: Are you happier as a brunet?
LR: Ahh…. are you happier as a schmuck?
I: I’m no schmuck.
LR: I’m no brunet.

Stuck on You

Here is some pop via the Twerps, who are playing at the Mercury Lounge tomorrow night.

The track here, "Back to You," is from the Australian band's second full-length release on Merge Records.

All the Kings Horses Café announces year-end closing date

After three years in service at 521 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, All the Kings Horses will shut down at the end of the year. 

Owner Robbie Lecchino made the announcement about his Australian café in an Instagram post on Sunday: 

We will be closing our doors December 31st this year. We have spent 3 of the best years nestled here in the East Village and have made so many friends and relationships continue building each day that we will cherish for many years to come. 

Thank you for the continued support during one of the toughest times in our lives during and beyond Covid-19. 

Please continue to support us as we will be operating right through until December 31st. Thank you welcoming us with open arms we will miss y'all... 

Hours: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, with an 8 a.m. open on Sundays. 

ATKH opened in October 2020.

Image via Instagram

Australian Homemade is back open

As of yesterday. Following a short closure for "construction."

More turnover on St. Mark's Place: The Iron Fairies store closes

Last week, Crain's had the following news:

Vietnamese restaurant Pho 32 recently signed a 10-year deal for its second Manhattan location, leasing 2,000 square feet on the upper retail level of 13 St. Marks Place, between Second and Third avenues. In addition, Su, a Korean eatery, signed a 10-year lease for 650 square feet on the ground level of the same address.

Fine. The block could really use a few more Asian eateries so there is one in every other storefront...But. Hmm, 13 St. Mark's Place? Isn't that home to the Iron Fairies, the hippy-dippy Australian shop that sells soy-wax candles and handmade soaps? It opened in October 2007; the St. Mark's location was their first in North America.

Anyway, this is the same 13 St. Mark's Place. Which means the Iron Fairies store has closed.




In an article dated Oct. 25, 2007, the New York Sun noted the recent high turnover on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Iron Fairies was one of eight new retail outlets staking their claim on this block. According to the Sun:

Ashley Sutton, a director of the company that owns Iron Fairies, Wild Blue Holdings, said he settled on St. Marks Place after researching locations in the city for a year and a half.

"We were looking at six locations in Manhattan, but we ended up here," Mr. Sutton said. "The trash is moving out of the neighborhood. It's trendy and has a lot of Asian influence, as well."

Meanwhile, across the street, the former Mondo Kim's awaits a new tenant.



As the Sun article noted: "The owner of Mondo Kim's, Youngman Kim, had put 6 St. Marks Place on the market for $19 million, but he recently decided instead to lease the five-story, 15,000-square-foot building for about $1 million a year, his broker, Steven Rappaport, said. Mr. Kim is "in serious negotiations" with a food vendor, the broker said, but he would not disclose the company's name. The store, which has been at no. 6 for 20 years, will move to another space in the East Village, Mr. Rappaport said. Mr. Kim declined to comment."

Guess we're in for another turnover on this block (David Z shoes is apparently closing too)...just like in the fall of 2007. As the Sun reported then:

Two factors behind the revolving door of retailers on the street are high rents and a demographic of younger shoppers who do not have deep pockets. And despite the fact that foot traffic on St. Marks is usually heavy from the early morning to the late evening, this "gateway to the East Village" lacks luxury residential developments that could help anchor the retailers.

Following up on two previous posts

Last Thursday I reported that 167 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street (the former NoTell Motel) will become the latest eatery from Jason Hennings and Robert Giraldi.

Hennings confirmed this to Eater. According to Eater: "Restaurateur Jason Hennings writes in today to report that the 167 Avenue A spot ... is indeed his, but his frequent partner Bob Giraldi is not involved. Hennings is bringing his deathwatched but still kicking West 10th venture Diablo Royale to Avenue A."

Also. In the Australian Homemade post from Wednesday, a reader shared the following information:

Actually the place closed when the landlord suddenly tried to raise the rent to a crazy high level. They could not afford to be there any more so they left. Now the store is empty and the landlord is getting nothing. Good business in a recession???

It was a combination of rent hike and tax increase as I am told. The landlord was passing on his city tax hikes to the store (as was probably in the lease) but the store could not pay it. They tried to negoitate a lower amount but the landlord would not budge.

On the CB3-SLA docket tonight: A 10th Kitchen for Avenue A; Coppelia for East Houston

Tonight marks the second of Community Board 3's SLA & DCA Licensing Committee meetings for the month.

Among the applicants vying for new liquor licenses:

• A 10th Kitchen (A 10th Kitchen Inc.), 162 Avenue A

An applicant is on tonight's agenda for the vacant restaurant space (pictured above) between 10th Street and 11th Street. There's already signage up for the venture, called A 10th Kitchen.

There aren't many details on the application (PDF here) other than that A 10th Kitchen will serve a menu featuring "New American" cuisine between the hours of 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday with an 11 a.m. start on the weekend.

The questionnaire shows 13 tables for 26 guests along with a six-seat bar. The applicant, listed as Enkeleda Kelmendi, has not been licensed before, per the paperwork.

Flinders Lane closed here in August 2018 after five-plus years in service. Before the Australian restaurant, this space was previously The Beagle ... and Orologio before that.

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• Corp to be formed by Beatrice Rodriguez Dearma, 157 E. Houston St.

An outpost of Coppelia, the 24/7 Latin diner on West 14th Street, is vying to open at 157 E. Houston between Allen and Eldridge. The application (PDF here) shows space for 58 diners as well as a bar with 14 stools.

The diner is part of the same family as Yerba Buena, the now-closed restaurant at 23 Avenue A, and Toloache, the Mexican bistro up in Midtown.

157 E. Houston was, until late 2017, the Latin tapas joint Macondo East.

Side note: The paperwork for this applicant previously (and mistakenly?) showed up at 205 Allen St. ...



... the former Domino's pizza space, which looks as if a new tenant is on the way in...



The CB3 committee meeting is tonight at 6:30. Location: the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.

Last day for 'The Three Rhinos' on Astor Place

After nearly three months on Astor Place, it's time for "The Last Three" sculpture to move on.

Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner will be moving their 17-foot bronze sculpture, which arrived here on on March 15, later tonight.

The Schattners recreated the last three Northern White Rhinos – Sudan, Najin, and Fatu – "to inspire, educate and mobilize the global community to raise their voices and affect real change against illegal rhino poaching trade." (Shortly after the sculpture's unveiling, the BBC reported that Sudan had died.)

Visitors to the sculpture were encouraged to leave a goodbye message ... with the artists hoping to collect 1 million messages worldwide to "put them toward a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns through education." You can read more about the project here.



The sculpture had its fans... for example...

❄️ Snow begins to cover "The Last Three" rhino sculpture located in Astor Place, New York City on April 2, 2018. The incredible 17-foot-tall interactive artwork is being created to raise critical awareness about rhino conservation. (Photo: Gordon Donovan) #GOODBYERHINOS pic.twitter.com/ZfP498efaF

— Gordon Donovan (@gordonovan) April 2, 2018

Cool new artwork on Astor Place #nyc. “The Last Three”, highlighting the threat of extinction which looms over rhinos. pic.twitter.com/z3z7cIAUU9

— NYU Primatology (@nyuprimatology) March 25, 2018

Upon its unveiling, New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz wrote that "it is an ugly, bathos-filled folly that proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap. ... It’s like a Vegas acrobatic act."

In any event, the sculpture won't be going too far: the Schattners will be moving it to a yet-to-be-disclosed new location in NYC.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A sneak preview of the world's largest rhino sculpture, coming to Astor Place early next year

World's tallest rhino sculpture arrives on Astor Place this week

The rhinos have arrived on Astor Place

The Beagle closes for good Saturday on Avenue A

[EVG file photo]

The Beagle, the craft cocktail bar at 162 Avenue A, closes for service after Saturday, according to a letter the owners sent to friends and customers. (We saw the news over at Eater.)

Here's part of the letter that the owners sent:

It is with a mixture of sadness and excitement that we announce that the Beagle will be closing. We have immensely enjoyed our time serving you all and getting to know this great neighborhood.

This was a difficult choice to make, but we believe it was the right choice. We do not feel that the physical space we currently occupy is well suited to the full time cocktail bar we have become.

Although our search for a new space continues, we accepted an offer to sell the Beagle's current home. We think this is fortuitous.

We are very excited about this opportunity to start anew, with a focus on cocktails, which are the heart and soul of what we do. The Beagle was a wonderful little place and we'll always be proud of what we accomplished there, and remain grateful for its many enthusiasts.

The new owners were on last month's CB3/SLA docket to open a "modern Australian" bar and restaurant.

The Beagle debuted here in the former Orologio space between 10th Street and 11th Street in May 2011. The Beagle's initial "pairing boards" included items such as Pressed Pig Head and Rum, Lamb Neck and Rye, and Scallop and Mezcal. The Beagle closed for part of last summer to rework their menu and cocktails.

There was some friction during the CB3/SLA meeting about this transfer back in February 2011. Per Eater's report at the time:

There was a lot of back and forth on this one. The representative mentioned the price points being reasonable, and community members responded that they saw a sample menu, where entrees were between $26-31. The representative said that was an old menu, and of the 31 items on the menu, 20 are $12 or under. The community members complained about pigs head, foie gras and animal rights.

I never went The Beagle. And I never met anyone who did go here. Anyone want to share their thoughts on the place?