EV Grieve Etc.: Raphael Toledano's tenants come together; Feltman's is NYC's best hot dog

[Photo on 6th Street by Derek Berg]

Tenants sound off on notoriously shady landlord Raphael Toledano (Brick Underground)

Feltman's at Theatre 80 "is NYC's best hot dog" (Gothamist ... previously)

Haircuts, coffee and art at the Vacancy Project on East 10th Street (Sprudge ... previously)

A visit to Kingsley, "an inviting restaurant" on Avenue B (The Village Voice)

Corrupt lawmaker Sheldon Silver can remain free until appeal is heard (The New York Times)

Construction starts at the future home of the Essex Street Market (The Lo-Down)

Hawk action winds down in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)

Man busted for alleged heroin deal on 14th Street and First Avenue (Town & Village, 2nd item)

NYU study offers some L train alternatives (Patch)

Interview with Tim Murphy, author of "Christodora" (B+B ... previously)

Retrospective devoted to Catalan filmmaker José Luis Guerín (Anthology Film Archives)

Lady Bunny's new show (The New Yorker)

Madonnathon at the Metrograph on Ludlow Street (Official site ... read our Q-and-A with "Desperately Seeking Susan" director Susan Seidelman here)

Black Flag at Maxwell's circa 1984 (Flaming Pablum)

Random diversions: When David Lynch did daily weather reports (Dangerous Minds)

...and ahead of the Chi Snack Shop debut in the former Mamoun's space at 22 St Mark's Place... the branded ATM shelter has arrived...



... and at 2 St. Mark's Place, the Greek restaurant that is opening in the St. Mark's Ale House space is hiring ...




[H/T Steven]

Week in Grieview

[Photo of the NYPD "Pride Ride" outside the 9th Precinct via Goggla]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Boys' Club of New York selling East Village building; will remain open through June 2019 (Thursday)

Report: AG selects management firm to oversee Steve Croman's real-estate holdings (Wednesday)

The warm and fuzzies in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

The EVG podcast: Red-tailed hawk talk with Laura Goggin (Friday)

At the start of the 2018 Drag March (Saturday)

The Swiss Institute debuts its inaugural exhibit at new East Village home (Friday) ... Printed Matter/St. Mark's opens today inside the Swiss Institute (Friday)

Grape and Grain returns under new ownership on 6th Street (Friday)

Little League playoff game delayed 45 minutes while a red-tailed hawk ate a pigeon (Saturday)

This 3-story building on 6th Street is for sale (air rights included) (Tuesday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Ben Shaoul owes Steve Croman some back rent on Avenue B (Monday)

E Smoke Shop will remain on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

The new P.S. 19 community playground is open (Saturday)


[Photo Tuesday on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg]

Incoming: Gala on 3rd Avenue, Nunoodle Noodle + Bar on 1st Avenue (Monday)

DHS flyers on 1st Street (Friday)

Flamingos selling clothing by the pound on Stanton Street (Thursday)

Tristan Eaton starts on the Bowery Mural Wall (Saturday)

Cherry Tavern cherry-free for now (Monday)

Another broker for 20 Avenue A? (Thursday)

The really for-real Target signage has arrived at EVGB (Tuesday)

Blue Quarter debuts in the back of Local 92 on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

Video: Father John Mistry's early-morning stroll through the East Village (Tuesday)

Nai Tapas Bar moving from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue (Monday)

A Perfect spot for a dental office on 4th Street (Tuesday)

Bad 'Neighbors' at First Street Green Art Park? (Tuesday)

... and you may have seen these lost-dog flyers around this weekend... Linda has been found and returned to her grateful owners...



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Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo from earlier in the week in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg) ... 

• The homicide of Jordan Neely (Thursday) 

• Heady psychedelia: A conversation with East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak of Lukka (Thursday) 

• After deadly collapse, city issues vacate order at the Little Man Parking garage on 9th Street (Tuesday)

• Coming attractions: Prep work underway for the renovation of the Tompkins Square Park field house (Friday)

• RIP Bill Brady (Friday)

• The Pinky's Space storefront is for rent on 1st Street (Monday)

• Grass acts: Main lawn in Tompkins Square Park has been reseeded (Thursday) 

• Basics Plus has closed on 3rd Avenue (Monday)

• Officials: Developer had permission to remove trees from new building site at 1 St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

• This 2nd-level retail space is for rent on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue (Thursday) 

• Local elected officials speak out to landmark Theatre 80 ahead of auction (Tuesday) 

• Signage alert: Don Ceviche on 1st Avenue (Tuesday)

• Sunday C&C Eatery announces itself at The Bowery Market (Monday) 

• The stand-up MRI place closes on Avenue A (Monday)

• The Mermaid Inn won't be returning to its original East Village home (Wednesday) 

• Nest Ball: Amelia and Christo's 2023 chicks make first appearance (Thursday)

• Ichibantei Japanese Soul Food and Steak debuts on 3rd Avenue; closes on 13th Street (Wednesday) 

... and keeping with the dog theme in Tompkins Square Park... a dog vs. car moment (photos by Steven) ...

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Papaya King will start serving beer next Monday on St. Mark's Place

Via the EVG inbox yesterday...

Starting Monday, November 24, you can have a beer with your meal at 3 St. Marks Pl. 12oz Heineken Light Bottles and 12oz Brooklyn Lager Cans will be available to start, with new items being added each season.

The beer will be available Sunday through Thursday from 11:00AM – 10:00PM and Friday & Saturday from 11:00AM – 11:00PM. You must purchase a food item off the menu to buy and enjoy a beer.

Unlike the other Papaya and Hot Dog copycat restaurants in New York City, Papaya King on St. Marks Pl. is more than a grab and go location. With a giant projection screen along the back wall, old school arcade games in the front, foosball in the back, loud music and a long picnic table down the middle, it is a place to rub elbows with your friends, neighbors, classmates and someone new.

The Papaya King owners were turned down for a beer license back in May 2013. According to CB3 documents, the St. Mark's Block Association and 8 St. Mark's Tenants' Association submitted letters and testimony in opposition to this application.

CB3 again turned down their application in September 2013, citing a failure "to provide substantial community support from area residents." While five people spoke out in support of the license, only one of them actually lived within the CB3 boundaries, according to CB3 documents.

So it looks as if Papaya King made some concessions, cutting back the proposed hours for beer sales. (They originally wanted to sell beer until 4 a.m. Thursday through Sundays.)

Papaya King opened in the East Village in May 2013. Papaya King opened on East 86th Street in 1932.

Week in Grieview

[Photo on Astor Place yesterday by Derek Berg]

Posts this past week included...

More details on the city's new plan to keep East River park partially open during flood protection construction (Thursday)

The 29th annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is scheduled for Oct. 20 in East River Park (Tuesday)

August Laura is opening in the former Sidewalk space on Avenue A and 6th Street (Wednesday)

RIP Purushottam Goyal (Friday)

Not much left inside the once mysterious 84 2nd Ave. (Wednesday)

14th Street busway finally set to get moving (Thursday)

A petition to keep the 8-foot fence at Joseph C. Sauer Park on 12th Street (Friday)

Koko Wings spreading to 1st Avenue (Monday)

Hitchcocktober is back (Wednesday)

Report: Landlord alleges tenant using 7th Street townhouse for sex parties (Monday)

Longer hours now for Foxface on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)


[10th Street windows via riachung00]

New Herbal World has moved away from 14th Street (Monday)

Re-covering Cover Magazine at the Tompkins Square Library (Tuesday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Here then, the cantilevering condoplex on 4th Avenue and 10th Street (Tuesday)

After a late-summer hiatus, Tuesday Soup Night is back on at Ciao for Now (Tuesday)

At long last, the construction fence is coming down around the Tompkins Square Park playground (Friday)

Gem Spa expanding its product line (Tuesday)

Chi Snack Shop moves into the former Trash & Vaudeville space on St. Mark's Place (Friday)

Elsewhere nearby: the flagship Dean & Deluca is closed for now on Broadway and Prince (Wednesday)

The former Social Tees space on 5th Street is for rent (Monday)

...and over at the Bowery Mural Wall... the intricate new work by Tomokazu Matsuyama, which took nearly two weeks to complete, was tagged the other day...



... and a worker was on the scene yesterday trying to clean off the graffiti...



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Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo from Union Square by Derek Berg)... 

• Volunteers at East Village Loves NYC prepare meal for Ramadan; celebrate 1st anniversary (Wednesday) 

• A look at local vaccination progress (Wednesday) 

• RIP Madelaine (Dee) Ferro (Wednesday) 

• An afternoon out with Hello Mary (Friday) 

• Cure Thrift Shop will have a new high-profile corner space (Monday) 

• Repairs finally for the "warped" intersection of 1st Avenue and 7th Street (Friday) 

• Watching 21-23 Avenue B merge and grow (Tuesday) 

• Reconstruction of the McKinley Playground appears to be winding down (Thursday) 

• Tan lines in this week's NY See (Thursday) 

• Empty 1st Avenue lot enters the surveillance era (Monday) 

• Sly Fox is open for REAL now (Thursday) 

• May Day (and Night) in the East Village (Sunday) 

• Wine bar in the works for this former dry cleaner on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Hot dog!? Crif Dogs reopens on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• In the run-up to reopening, Short Stories is renting its bar by the hour for private drinking sessions (Monday) 

• Go Fish: Osakana sets up for sushi on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• Tony's Pizza signage arrives on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

• On University Place, Agata & Valentina has closed ahead of building demolition, condo construction (Thursday) 

• Intellectual property: Thirsty Scholar giving way to the Long Pour (Tuesday) 

• Openings: Rosemary's East, an Italian restaurant at 350 1st Ave. (Tuesday) 

• Unhappy returns: A one-week respite from a sidewalk bridge (Monday) 

... and Pinch points out the nice-looking sidewalk cafe now up outside Little Poland on Second Avenue near 12th Street...

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Protection for a tree garden on St. Mark's Place

Photos by Donald Davis

This past weekend, Boyd constructed an elaborate medieval fence on one of the adopted tree garden plots outside 99 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The fence is to help remind dog walkers and people looking for a place to sit that every garden space is precious...

Week in Grieview

[On the Bowery yesterday via Derek Berg]

Posts this past week included...

Bushwick-based pizzeria Roberta's coming to Avenue A (Tuesday)

At the march and rally to save East River Park (Monday)

Report of a slashing on Seventh and B (Saturday)

Southern Cross Coffee has closed on 5th Street (Wednesday)

First work permits issued for the former Hells Angels HQ (Tuesday)

M15 Select Bus Service routes will soon carry surveillance camera to bust lane blockers (Thursday)

Is Facebook leaving Astor Place? (Thursday)

Reader mailbag: Is this a new dog run in Tompkins Square Park? (Friday)

Helping celebrate 125 years of Veniero's (Tuesday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

What's new below 14th and B? (Monday)

Report: Associated expected to close by the end of November (Thursday)

Soothr, a Thai noodle bar, coming to the former Bruno Pizza space on 13th Street (Monday)

October CB3-SLA docket: An applicant for 99 Avenue B, former home of Manitoba's (Thursday)

Strings Ramen signage arrives at 188 2nd Ave. (Monday)

Plywood tumor marks the future home of Sanpoutei Ramen on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

May the "Four Force" be with you at the Ninth Street Community Garden & Park dioramas (Tuesday)

A reinterpretation of "The Jazz Singer" on the Lower East Side (Monday)

A garden party to help rebuild the East Side Outside Community Garden (Friday)

Hanoi House expansion in-progress on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

Another bubble tea chain setting up shop in the East Village (Monday)

Squish reopens on St. Mark's Place after summer hiatus (Tuesday)

... and a quick nut run in Tompkins Square Park this morning via Vinny & O...



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EVG Etc.: the evening vibe at Abraço; cinematic tribute to Jonas Mekas

[Springtime on St. Mark's Place via Alice Owen]

NYC rents hit record high (Gothamist) ... Meanwhile, operating costs for rent-stabilized apartment buildings increased 5.5 percent from March 2018 to March 2019, a new Rent Guidelines Board report claims (Curbed)

A 36-year-old man committed suicide by jumping in front of an L train at the First Avenue station on Monday evening (Town & Village)

In the evening at Abraço on Seventh Street (Grub Street ... previously)

The cinematic tribute to Jonas Mekas is underway (Anthology Film Archives ... previously on EVG)

City Council passes legislation imposing a nickel surcharge on paper grocery bags (Crain's)

The front-facing staff at the Tenement Museum announce their decision to unionize (Hyperallergic)

...EVG reader Jason recently shared this photo of the demolition winding down at the former St. Denis Hotel on 11th Street and Broadway...



On that topic: Jeremiah Moss writes about the loss of this building here.

About bringing your dog on the subway (Gothamist)

Meanwhile, the MTA fare hike goes into effect on Sunday — happy Easter! (Daily News)

NYCHA plans to X-ray 135,000 apartments for lead paint (Curbed)

ICYMI: Citi Bike pulls all its pedal-assist bikes after braking issues emerge (Streetsblog)

The Thirteen East + West condoplexes sell for $25 million on 13th Street (The Real Deal ... previously on EVG)

At their Easter worship celebrations on Sunday, the Middle Collegiate Church, 112 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, will feature selections from “Jesus Christ Superstar” at 9:30 and 11:45 am. (Official site)

Over at the Classic Stage Company on 13th Street, Marc Blitzstein's historic 1937 fervently pro-labor "play in music" "The Cradle Will Rock" continues through May 19 (Official site)

See "2001: A Space Odyssey" in the big auditorium this weekend at the Village East (Official site)

Some history of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church on 12th Street, now a monument in front of an NYU dorm (Ephemeral New York)

How New York's raw gay history ended up in a box (Popula)

Cabin Down Below returns to below 7th and A (Grub Street ... previously on EVG)

At Essex Crossing, 180 Broome St. has reached its full height of 26 stories (The Lo-Down)

The story of how this Keith Haring mural was saved from the LES... and now on display in Red Hook (Artsy)

Diversions: When the Psychedelic Furs were "one of the coolest, most underground groups around" (Dangerous Minds ... and I recall that frontman Richard Butler once lived on St. Mark's Place?)

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Roberta Bayley (and Stella)
Occupation: Photographer
Location: St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue
Date: Tuesday, May 23 at 3:15 p.m.

I was born in Pasadena, Calif. I went from California to London, where I lived for three or four years, and then I came to New York in 1974. I came here because I had a one-way ticket from London to New York. I didn’t know anybody here, but I had to get out of England fast — nothing illegal, romantic. New York was where the ticket was. My friend ... said, ‘I have a one-way ticket to New York,’ and I said, ‘I’ll take it.’

I had a list of names in New York that people had given me in London. Everybody I met was really great. Some people let me stay with them, and then I found an old friend in Brooklyn from San Francisco, and I just stayed. I came to the neighborhood right off the bat, to East 12th Street.

The people I met when I came here were involved in the rock 'n' roll scene, so I got to know people like the New York Dolls and Richard Hell and the Voidoids. In the midst of all that, I was working at CBGBs — I would take the money at the door. I also had a very strong interest in photography, but I hadn’t been doing it, so I bought a camera, and then I started taking pictures of the bands. And that’s what I’m still doing.

I loved the Ramones, the Heartbreakers, the Voidoids. I liked some bands that never made it. The Miamis were one of my favorites. They were the first band I saw in New York. And a band called the Marbles — they were kinda cute but they didn’t make it.

The other lucky thing, besides working at CBGBs with all these new bands that didn’t have record labels or anything and needed pictures, was that I also went to work for a magazine called Punk, which sort of became the engine of the scene. That allowed me to not only photograph the bands, but also to photograph them in really weird situations. We used to do these things called fumettis, which is like a comic in photos, with little word balloons, but you take the pictures — it’s like a little movie.

It was great because to shoot photography that way, I’d always say this looks terrible, and they’d say, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll color the background in later,’ because that’s what it was. You could draw stuff in, so it made things pretty easy and fun. We had a lot of fun. We got to do wacky things like Mutant Monster Beach Party — we had a big shootout at Coney Island, and so some people were the surfers and some people were the bikers. Lester Bangs was a biker, Debbie [Harry] was a surfer, and they had a big battle on Coney Island. We all went out there and really acted it.

Debbie probably was my favorite person to photograph because she was so easy to photograph, and she was always such a nice person. We got to put people like Debbie Harry and Joey Ramone in situations they would have never really been in in real life, but those are some of my best-selling pictures — Joey with the surfboard is my top number one.

I like where I am. You can still eat for very cheap, and there are a lot of little quirky stores with interesting people running them. It’s a quirky neighborhood. It just has more grit to it, but St. Mark's has gotten pretty weird with all the empty storefronts. It’s like this weird ghost town. It has to be the greedy landlords are just asking for too much. The only thing that seems to make money on St. Mark's is cheap food, $1 pizza and Mamoun's.

I mean the place on the corner, they were going to serve vegan ice cream – you can’t make the rent with that. The Gap was there and they couldn’t pay the rent. It was funny when the Gap came in — it was all undercover. These big things were blocking it, and then one day they just came down and the Gap just kind of appeared intact. Now it would probably fit in a little better.

The big fire [on Second Avenue] was traumatizing ... the idea that your apartment would catch fire and you would lose everything. That was a really fast fire – I was across the street in a café when it happened.

One thing I really don’t like are the travelers, when they come. My last dog was killed by one of those travelers’ dogs. When they start showing up, it just gives me the creeps. I feel bad for them, but it’s sort of by choice.

I’ve been in the same place since 1975. My rent was $125 a month, so I wasn’t going anywhere. The neighborhood was cheap – that was the main thing back then. It was just very relaxed. Everybody talks about the city being so dangerous and horrible — I never really experienced that. I mean, I got mugged, but I didn’t think that was because of the city being bankrupt. I didn’t walk around feeling scared. I just thought it was great. That’s why I stayed — I connected with a scene that was happening here, which I hadn’t really been part of, just slightly in London and slightly in San Francisco. Here, though, it just felt like something new was happening, and it was exciting. Everybody was broke and everybody was trying to make it. It’s a fun time in your 20s. Wouldn’t go through it again, but I enjoyed it.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Unlucky dog?

As Alex noted Sunday, the pooch who kept watch over the now-shuttered Spots' Cafe and Good Dog on St. Mark's Place is no longer on his perch....





In the comments on Alex's post, Jill said that she saw the pup in Chinatown...but, without photographic evidence, can we be sure that it's the same one? I'm actually curious what happened to the big fellow...I've softened my stance on him/her. Maybe I will miss the thing...At first, the dog seemed to represent the continued Disneyfication/froyogurtization of St. Mark's...serving as a metaphor for what was wrong with the neighborhood: big and stupid...Now, given the state of things, I hope the poor thing finds a good home. He/she just wanted to be loved.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Not such a hot spot

[Missing pooch photo by Alex via Flaming Pablum. Head on dog photo via The Voice]

A new pizzeria for the former pizzeria at 36 St. Mark's Place

As the pizzerias turn at 36 St. Mark's Place.

Cellos has been added to the existing Pizzeria signage here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. This development comes as an applicant is on this month's CB3-SLA docket for a beer-wine license for the address. (The applicants have already received administrative approval.) 

The questionnaire isn't online, so we don't know more about the new owners.

---

Updated: The questionnaire lists the operator as Larry Kramer, who owns Whitman's on Ninth Street (and Hudson Yards).

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A little pizzeria history here... Funzi's opened late last June and aspired to be an East Village throwback with a 1970s-80s decor modeled after owner Kevin Cox's grandmother's house. 

Cox left the business in November ... taking the Funzi's name with him for a new version of the pizzeria in another EV location. (Funzi's was named after the youngest of Cox's three sons.) We never heard anything more about a new spot for Cox.

After Cox departed, the business pivoted to St. Marks Pizzeria... with a message on its website noting, "Same Pizza. Same Chef's. Same Location. New Name." This post-Funzi's concept went dark in December, and paper went up on the front windows several weeks ago.

You can see where the new operators simply put Cellos over where Funzi's was on the sign... and the post-Funzi's version below (both pics last year by Stacie Joy)...

Cellos marks the ninth food establishment at No. 36 — St. Marks Pizzeria, Funzi's, Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast, Joe's Steam Rice Roll, Cheers Cut, Friterie Belgian Fries, Fasta and the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza — since 2015. 

[Updated] Stores that are open today

[Katz's at 1:20]

We're in the process of compiling a list of stores that are open today (aside from Ray's).

Please let us know in the comments. Or via the EV Grieve email. Or on Twitter. #EVopen (clever!)

Partial list... in progress Call ahead first. (and thank you for all the tips!)

Avenue A:
Key Food (now closed)
Ink
Croissanteria (now closed)
7A
Ray's
Tompkins Square Bagels
Ost
Table 12
That crazy liquor store at East Fourth Street
Native Bean
Yuca Bar (CLOSES at 5)

East 14th Street:
Associated (NOW CLOSED)
McDonald's
7-Eleven
Dunkin Donuts
Papaya Dog
Duane Reade(s)
Adams Deli

St. Mark's Place:
Ray's Pizza and Bagel Cafe
Gem Spa
St. Mark's Market
Mamoun's
St. Mark's Comics
Cafe Mogador (NOW CLOSED)
St Dymphna's (NOW CLOSED)
Tuck Shop

First Avenue:
The Bean (NOW CLOSED)
McDonald's
Saifee Hardware (NOW CLOSED)
The International
Rite-Aid
First Avenue Pierogi & Deli
Brickman & Sons (NOW CLOSED)
The Neptune
dba

Second Avenue:
Professor Thom's on Second Avenue opens at 5
Bar 82
Kabin on Second Avenue
Moonstruck Diner
Cooper's Craft & Kitchen

Also:
Mud Coffee
9th Street Espresso on East 10th Street
Moishe's Bake Shop
Stage
Liquiteria
Bluebird on East First Street
Veselka (Second Ave. Last seating passed — take out only now Now closed)
Russo's on East 11th Street (NOW CLOSED)
Juice Press on East 10th Street open until 5.
Katz's
Mona's, Josie's and Sophie's will be open for part of the evening

Avenue B:
Happy Wok
Sunny & Annie's
Cornerstone
Duane Reade (rumored to be open around the clock)
Vazac's
Manitoba's
Blackbird

East Second Street:
Il Posto Accanto
Il Bagatto is delivering

East Fifth Street:
Lavagna is serving dinner from 5-10 p.m.

Avenue C:
Associated (Now closed)
Bobwhite
ABC Beer
ABC Wine
Casa Adela
Fine Fare
Cafecito (until 1 a.m.)

Most corner delis are open...

How long any of these places stays open depends on the changing weather conditions...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Jane Kelton and Little Egg
Occupation: Musician and Dog Walker
Location: 2nd Avenue Between 4th and 5th
Time: 12:10 on Monday, Jan. 21

I moved here in 1977. I’m from Pennsylvania. I came here because there were a lot of Irish music sessions here and I play Irish music. Although I have a good education, I was never very career-minded. I just cared about music and had college friends who played here. I play wooden flute and tin whistle — traditional instruments.

I still play in sessions to this day and I play professionally a bit. It’s not my living. I’m a dog walker for that. There’s a bar called the William Barnacle Tavern that has sessions on Monday nights at Theatre 80 on St. Marks Place and I play in a local, homey bar called Murphy’s in Sunnyside, Queens. I also play at Dempsey’s — there’s a big session there on Tuesdays.

I’ve done a lot of things. I did a couple of degrees at NYU. I did teaching of English and what’s called an MPhil in Performance Studies, which is everything in a doctorate except a dissertation. Within that program, I was doing folk performance, usually Irish stuff. I’ve taught at NYU. I’ve been a technical writer, and when I got laid off from that, I started the dog walking, which was about 13 years ago. I also went back to school and got a degree in teaching art, but when I got out there just weren’t any jobs.

My thing is textiles: weaving, embroidery. I take my style of dress partly from the old Babushka ladies. I dress old but with a vengeance. Right now I’m very involved in knitting. I did a quilt project with University Settlement, which is a wonderful neighborhood resource for immigrant people. I recently found out through my teacher training that something like my great grand-uncle founded it.

I worked for 10 years, up through 2000, for a Gypsy family on St. Mark's. I worked for them taking care of their children and making clothes for them, which is how I met them. I did a lot of things for them and they had me in to the house all the time. I learned a lot about their cleanliness system, which is very complicated. It has to do with their spiritual principles. They had an intense family life and were very funny. They were just very close and people were always stopping in. They run their businesses on family lines and the marriages were arranged. The family is an economic unit. Their main business is buying and selling cars and the fortune telling is just to get extra money for dinner.

I liked the East Village when it was more run-down. There were more bookstores and more thrift stores and antique places. There were more stores that sold whole grains and more people who did their own cooking. People didn’t go out to eat as a thing around here and there weren’t many places to go. It was a big deal when a place called DoJo came in on St. Mark's. And there was a place on Second Avenue and Seventh Street called Kiev. It was a place like Veselka. Everyone used to go there and have soup at night.

There have always been a lot of lunatics in the neighborhood. Always. There used to be a guy who dressed up like William Shakespeare who lived in one of the Bowery hotels. He would walk around Washington Square Park and down the Bowery. He was just an old alcoholic who liked dressing like William Shakespeare.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Reader mailbag: Is this a new dog run in Tompkins Square Park?

[Reader-submitted photo of the West Lawn]

From the EVG inbox...

I was playing with my toddler in the unlocked area in Tompkins Square Park — north of the chess tables and south of the St. Mark's Place entrance. I’ve noticed the New Amsterdam School playing there so I assumed it was a space where children are allowed. A couple of people came in and let their very large dogs off leash. One woman informed me that this area was now an official dog area, though there is no sign posted. She said that for over a year this is the only area (besides the official dog run) where you won’t get a ticket for letting your dog off-leash.

I was wondering if you knew if this area is an official dog area, or just an area that dog owners are claiming for themselves.

The reader asked to put this question out to readers. (One vote for B — dog owners are claiming it for themselves.)

This came up several times last year... when Park regulars complained about more and more people letting their (large) dogs run loose in sections of Tompkins Square Park — especially in that West Lawn the reader above described ...



One owner of a large dog said at the time last year that he didn't like to use the official dog run because it gets too crowded.

Park officials eventually padlocked the West Lawn... for awhile.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Makeshift dog run in Tompkins Square Park has been padlocked

Week in Grieview

[Weekend view of the Odessa on Avenue A]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Tuesdays at Sophie's (Tuesday)

Local elected officials urge Boys' Club officials to postpone sale of the Harriman Clubhouse (Monday)

A look at the East River Park Track, due to reopen Sept. 10 (Wednesday)

The EVG podcast: More hawk talk with Laura Goggin (Friday) ... Health scare for remaining red-tailed fledgling in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday)

Report: DOB fines Kushner Cos. for falsifying dozens of permit applications (Tuesday)

Reader report: Body found in car on 12th Street (Friday)

An empty lot awaits the future home of the new Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital on 13th Street (Monday)

Baking news: Westville Bakery coming to 9th (Friday)

Check out this week's NY See strip (Thursday)


[The front doors of the former Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place]

The Village Voice has ceased publication (Friday)

Summer's end (Wednesday)

Churro Cone by ChikaLicious bringing another dessert option to Avenue A (Monday)

Video: The dog days of summer (Wednesday)

Renovations for rooftop cottage on 1st and 1st (Friday)

Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company opens Tuesday on 8th Street (Thursday)

A good happy hour (Tuesday)

A new look outside for the 11th Street Bar (Tuesday)

How you all doing tonight? Grand opening at the New York Comedy Club on 4th Street (Thursday)

Chi Ken, the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Store, no longer coming to St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

New lobby unveiled at 250 E. Houston St. (Monday)

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

... and speaking of EVE...

Got an email this morning for a new building opening in the EV. It reads:

First the East Village had The Velvet Underground

Then The Ramones

Coming Soon
EVE
Designer Studio, One and Two Bedroom Rental Residences

I'll just leave that there and cc: @evgrieve

— John Norris (@Jonnynono) September 1, 2018

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Owners of Macaron Parlor on St. Mark's Place opening city's first cat cafe

Christina Ha and Emilie Legrand, the owners of Macaron Parlour on St. Mark's Place, have announced that they are opening Meow Parlour on the Lower East Side next month.

According to Eater, who first reported this news today, the cat cafe will be at 46 Hester St. (between Essex and Ludlow) ... with a planned Dec. 15 opening date.

Here are details via the Meow Parlour website:

At Meow Parlour, you can rent time to access to our space, where we have adoptable free roaming cats. You can come for as little as half an hour so you can just pet the cats or stay for up to five hours where you can use our free wi-fi while a cat naps next to you.

You can bring in food or beverage you purchase at Meow Parlour Patisserie, located around the corner from Meow Parlour and enjoy a sweet treat in the company of a furry friend.

All the cats are adoptable. Meow Parlour has teamed up with KittyKind, an all volunteer, no kill rescue group located in NYC. KittyKind specializes in adopting out cats so if you fall in love, you can apply to adopt one!

And more via Eater:

It's $4 for every half hour, and there's a limit of five hours maximum. Plus, the cafe takes online reservations, which is probably a better bet than just trying to walk in.

As we've heard, cats are popular, unless you are a dog person, though it is not uncommon for people to like cats and dogs.

Last spring, the pop-up Cat Café on the Bowery attracted long lines. Really long lines.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included... (with a reader-submitted post-Halloween pic from 13th Street) ...

• Judge issues a temporary restraining order, halting construction at East River Park (Friday) ... The first sections of East River Park set to close today as resiliency work begins; activists arrested (Monday) 

• Election results: Rivera, Marte win local City Council races (Wednesday) 

• A look at 302 E. 2nd St., where a housing lottery is underway (Wednesday) 

• Work on green space for long-vacant site on 4th Street near the Bowery is underway (Thursday) 

• Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the eviction of the Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center (Friday) 

• This is what's next for the former Benny's Burritos space on Avenue A (Monday) 

• Ho, ho, no! SantaCon slated for Dec. 11 (Tuesday) 

• USA Super Stores debuts on Houston Street and Avenue D (Friday) 

• Halloween in the East Village (Saturday edition) ... Halloween in the East Village (Sunday edition) 

• Outside the Bored Ape Yacht Club pop up on 3rd Street (Tuesday) 

• New outpost of the Wild Son opens Tuesday on 1st Avenue (Thursday) 

• 32 Avenue C has been demolished (Tuesday) • Essex Squeeze bringing coffee, juices and smoothies to 5th Street (Monday) 

• SMØR reopens today after a brief renovation (Saturday) 

• Jiang's Kitchen signage-canopy combo arrives on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• Blank Street is now open at 36 3rd Ave. (Monday)

• Oh-K Dog now officially coming soon on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• The former Central Bar being converted to office use on 9th Street (Wednesday) 

• A very quick pivot for Chichen Itzá, now going as Tompkins Village Cafe on 10th Street (Thursday) 

• Noho Food Market hangs the signage on the Bowery (Monday)

... Over at 50 Avenue B, where the Portuguese cafe Joey Bats is opening soon, there's a new mural featuring Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo...

Paulie Nassar created the mural... (thanks to Stacie Joy for the pics!)

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Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo from 10th Street at Stuyvesant by Steven) ... 

• P&T Knitwear Co. bringing books, coffee and podcasts to the Lower East Side (Monday)

• Vandal on skateboard defaces new George Floyd bust in Union Square (Sunday) 

• A visit to Genshinkan Aikido (Tuesday) 

• The latest on the great aisle changeover at Key Food on Avenue A (Friday) 

• NYPD searching for 2 suspects in Sunday evening assault on 3rd Street (Thursday) 

• Weekend reopening recap: Blue & Gold, Tom & Jerry's (Monday) 

• 'Pipe Dreams' at the Ninth Street Community Garden & Park dioramas this fall (Thursday) 

• The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade returns on Oct. 23 (Tuesday) 

• Like a bat out of hell, a Halloween shop pops up on Avenue A (Wednesday) 

• Mad for Chicken to roost on 14th Street (Thursday) 

• Sidewalk usage available again on the NE corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Wednesday) 

• ICYMI: Quartino Bottega Organica has closed on Bleecker Street (Monday) 

• Must be the season: Hitchcocktober returns to 2nd Avenue and 12th Street (Wednesday) 

• Fish story: Crab Du Jour bringing seafood boils to 1st Avenue (Tuesday)

• Drunken Dumpling will be serving up its large soup dumplings again soon (Monday) 

• Today in notes about a kitten stuck in your car's engine (Wednesday) 

• Farewell (for now!) to the sinkhole on 1st Avenue at 5th Street (Tuesday) 

• Xing Fu Tang is now open on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Monday)

• Y7 reopens along 250 E. Houston St. (Tuesday) 

• Superiority Burger vying for a liquor license for new Avenue A space (Monday) 

• The Brazen Fox becomes the Ugly Duckling (Monday) 

... and in recent days, workers buffed out the Bowery Mural Wall over on Houston... waiting for confirmation on who's next here... the previous work here, titled "To Open a Portal," had been up for the past year...

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Openings: Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast on St. Mark's Place

Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast has debuted at 36 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (H/T Steven.)

The quick-serve establishment sells Korean-style snacks such as stuffed hot dogs and, you guessed it, egg toast. 

In addition, as we noted in February, this outpost includes a K-pop shop, selling music, books, calendars, stickers, etc., for a variety of South Korean bands. 

The Texas-based chain also has locations on Ludlow Street and Seventh Avenue South, with several more planned for the city.

This address has hosted its share of quick-serve businesses through the years, most recently Joe's Steam Rice Roll.