Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included... (with a photo by Derek Berg from one of the 9 days it rained last week... )

• Exclusive: This is the new tenant for the former Gem Spa space (Monday) 

• Long-vacant P.S. 64 now being pitched for medical use, educational purposes (Wednesday) 

• Police: Delivery man slashed in face at 7th Street and Avenue A entrance to Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) ... The Parks Department looks to be lighting up the 7th and A entrance to Tompkins Square Park (Friday) 

• Remembering off-Broadway theater legend Jeff Weiss (Tuesday) 

• The Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, with a new name, returns to Tompkins Square Park (Monday) 

• Building issues temporarily KOs HAGS on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• The annual Harvest Arts Festival is underway in East Village community gardens (Thursday) 

• A new art installation on Astor Place honors playwright-activist Lorraine Hansberry (Tuesday) 

• Openings: Irving Farm New York on 10th Street (Tuesday) 

•  A 1982 view of St. Mark's Place at 3rd Avenue (Friday) 

• Coming soon: the 'Meet Me in the Bathroom' documentary (Tuesday) 

• Jean-Luc Godard screenings this month at the Quad Cinema (Tuesday) 

• At the Blessing of the Animals at Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish (Sunday)

• Construction watch: 351 E. 10th St. (Tuesday) 

• These 3 East Village restaurants make list of new Bib Gourmands (Wednesday) 

• Zee Convenience & Smoke debuts on Avenue A (Thursday) 

• New plaque honors Ginsberg and Burroughs on 7th Street (Friday) 

... and here's Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Gregory Corso at the Beat Poet Reunion. Photo by John Penley via the Tamiment Library at NYU...

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Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included ... (with a photo Thursday on Seventh Street by Derek Berg) ... 

 • Two local deadly shootings on Thursday: 26-year-old man outside 3 Haven Plaza ... 25-year-old woman on 14th Street and Irving Place 

• Report: Unsafe levels of arsenic found in the drinking water at Riis Houses; when did city officials know? (Saturday) 

• The Boys' Club has moved out of its longtime home on 10th Street and Avenue A (Monday) 

• Tenant concern as longtime family-owned residential buildings sell for $58 million (Thursday) 

• Essex Card Shop reopens on TUESDAY (Thursday) 

• Bands we like — Jade Tourniquet (Friday) 

• The Green Bench is stolen from the TF in Tompkins Square Park; 'this shit is an act of WAR' (Monday) 

• Highlights from Day 1 of Keyapalooza (Saturday)

• Claim: City cuts down tree on 5th Street after block association receives permission for pruning (Tuesday) 

• New at Ray's Candy Store: The corn dog (Tuesday)

• In the mood for autumn: Fall Into the City debuts at 3rd & B'zaar (Tuesday)

• A name change for Yoli Restaurant on 3rd Street (Wednesday) 

• Madame Vo team opening Monsieur Vo on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Sanshi Noodle House looks closed (Tuesday) 

• The pits: Workers digging in for the future office building at 1 St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• Foxface closing Friday ahead of a move to new Avenue A space (Tuesday) 

• Why Panda Express isn't open yet on 14th and 1st (Thursday) 

• What's going in at the renovated 316 Bowery? (Monday) 

• City removes Poco's outdoor dining structures (Monday) 

... and headlines we didn't get around to posting: What the duck?

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Week in Grieview

Posts this last week included (with a photo from Avenue B yesterday by Stacie Joy) ... 

• 2 arrested in latest East Village encampment sweep (Wednesday) 

• Closing day at Panya on Stuyvesant Street (Monday) 

• Report of a stabbing on Avenue A near 10th Street (Monday) 

• A visit to Spooksvilla + Friends on 9th Street (Thursday) 

• Farewells: Rev. Anne Sawyer has left St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery (Tuesday) 

• City honors Saifee Hardware manager Francisco Puebla for role in nabbing alleged subway shooter (Friday) 

• Big Ash brings the vintage gems to Delancey (Friday) 

• The cowboy way at Key Food (Friday) 

• Breaking bread: Librae Bakery coming to Cooper Square (Monday) 

• That 99-cent slice of pizza will now cost you $1.50 (Wednesday)

• 'Low Fidelity' features the iconic photos from Bobby Grossman's downtown milieu (Wednesday) 

• A chance to see the 1956 film classic 'On the Bowery' on a big screen (Friday) 

• Former B Bar & Grill cleared from the Bowery (Monday) 

• Don't be blue! The window displays will return to Blue Door Video on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• Root & Bone shutters after 8 years in the East Village (Tuesday) 

• Modern Asian restaurant slated for 334 Bowery (Monday) 

• Wyatt will pay you to move your car on 9th Street (Friday) 

• Openings: Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) ... Viva Cucina on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Checking in on the incoming Chicken & the Egg on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Bagel Boss has closed on 14th Street (Saturday) 

• A new wrinkle for art installations on Astor Place (Thursday) 

• Meta deal: Facebook takes up more of 770 Broadway (Tuesday) 

... and thanks to Salim for sharing this find from outside the Duane Reade (2nd and B) on 4/20...

Another reader shared a discarded tree shot from the day before on Second Street and Avenue A... didn't quite have as much green left!

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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.  

K-Dogs and K-pop on St. Mark's Place

Oh K-Dog is opening a branch at 36 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, as we noted last summer. 

This past week, new signage (h/t Steven!) arrived next to the shop that will sell Korean-style snacks such as stuffed hot dogs and egg toast ... for K-pop Albums and Goods. 

People have asked about it... a side business, perhaps? We'll see! There isn't any mention of it on the Oh K-Dog site or social media.

Oh K-Dog also has outposts on Ludlow Street and Seventh Avenue South, with several more planned for the city.

As for this storefront on St. Mark's Place... not much has had success here in recent years. Joe's Steam Rice Roll was the most recent tenant, quietly closing in March 2021. Other concepts included Cheers Cut, the Taiwanese mini-chain of fried foods ... Friterie Belgian Fries ... Fasta ("Pasta Your Way") ... and the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza.

Week in Grieview

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

• The in-person tree lighting ceremony returns to Tompkins Square Park; save the date for Dec. 12 (Wednesday) 

• Shoring up the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

• Random Accessories celebrates 25 years (Thursday)

• Dress Shoppe II will close in early January (Tuesday) 

• Q&A with local band cumgirl8 (Thursday)

• Gallery Watch: 'If Death Ever Learn' at Someday Gallery (Wednesday) 

• Your chance to check out Jimmy Webb's collection of iconic music photography (Tuesday) 

• Someone painted 2 swastikas on the barrier surrounding the 6th Street sinkhole (Monday) 

• Sidewalk bridge arrives ahead of planned demo of former Red Square storefronts (Wednesday) 

• A visit to Howl! Arts/Howl! Archive on the Bowery (Friday) 

• Surf's up for Patagonia on the Bowery (Monday) 

• Jiang's Kitchen is in soft-open mode on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• The Irish breakfast makes a triumphant return to St. Dymphna's (Thursday) 

• Openings: Bar Lula on 1st Avenue (Thursday)

• The longest partial moon eclipse in 580 years as seen from 2nd Avenue (Friday)

• Boarding up Papaya Dog (Monday) 

• A tradition like no other returns this holiday season on 9th Street (Sunday) 

• Drunken Dumpling returns (Tuesday) 

• Beyond Sushi will not be reopening on 14th Street (Tuesday) 

• Sweet Village Marketplace opens on 1st Avenue (Sunday) 

• At Key Food: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more (Monday) 

• Blank Street debuts on Avenue A today (Friday) 

• A new florist for Sunny & Annie's (Monday)

... and a new mural arrived the other day on the NE corner of Sixth Street and First Avenue (outside the Dunkin') ... "Rise by lifting others" by Aída Miró ... thanks to Goggla for the photo...

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Update: the alarm on the BMW outside Sophie’s at 507 E. 5th St. near Avenue A in the East Village is still going off — now 24 hours in. People egged the car, stole the NJ plates and left a passive-aggressive note. pic.twitter.com/wQcRY8oCAr

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) November 15, 2021

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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Oh-K Dog now officially coming soon on St. Mark's Place

The coming soon signage for Oh-K Dog is now up at 36 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to Steven for the photo!)

Their arrival was first reported in August. 

The chain specializing in Korean-style snacks such as stuffed hot dogs and egg toast will have some competition a few storefronts away... where Afternoon is opening soon at No. 34. Brands under this roof will include Jongro Rice Hotdog, Machi Machi (bubble teas, etc.), Mochi Mochi Donut, Brooklyn Roasting Company and Croffle Haus (croissant dough baked in a waffle iron)...

There's also Mochinut, which offers mochi doughnuts and Korean-style hot dogs, open on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

Oh-K Dog also has outposts on Ludlow Street and Seventh Avenue South, with several more planned for the city.

And perhaps Oh-K Dog can break the spell of quickly disappearing quick-serve food spots at 36 St. Mark's Place. Joe's Steam Rice Roll was the most recent tenant, quietly closing in March. Other concepts included Cheers Cut, the Taiwanese mini-chain of fried foods ... Friterie Belgian Fries ... Fasta ("Pasta Your Way") ... and the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg) ...

• Southern section of East River Park to mostly close on Nov. 21 as resiliency work begins (Monday) 

• A ghost bike for Borkot Ullah on Avenue B (Wednesday) 

• A campaign to co-name St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue 'Club 57 Way' (Wednesday) 

• At the 31st Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade (Tuesday) 

• Could drink and draws be the new neighborhood draw? (Thursday) 

• The latest future development clue from along 250 E. Houston St. (Monday)

• Gallery Watch: 'The Marble Mouth Oracle' at Below Grand (Wednesday)

• Caravan of Dreams turns 30 (Thursday) 

• A look at the menu for the incoming Sweet Village Marketplace, opening soon on 1st Avenue (Thursday) 

 • Vegan Grill coming soon to 58 St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• The all-new 21-23 Avenue B comes into view with 2 extra floors (Tuesday) 

• Signs of life (again) at the former Benny's Burritos on Avenue A (Tuesday) 

• Blank Street debuts on the Bowery (Monday) 

• 14th Street outpost of Bagel Boss likely closed through the end of the year (Wednesday)

• Taking a look at the NW corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Joey Bats Café offering a sneak preview outside new Avenue B home (Monday) 

• Openings: Beard Papa's on St. Mark's Place (Thursday) 

• La Colombe taking over the Allegro Coffee Roasters space at Whole Foods Market® Bowery (Thursday) 

• Report: Mermaid Inn to return to 2nd Avenue in 2022 (Wednesday) 

... and there was a report of a car fire on Fourth Street west of Avenue D early this morning (4-5) ... EVG reader Jonathan Calvenna shared this photo... no word on how it started... the FDNY was on the scene for close to an hour, we're told...

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Week in Grieview

 Posts this past week included (with a Michael Myers sighting by Derek Berg) ...

• Barnyard Cheese Shop has closed (Thursday)

• Rue-B closes on Avenue B (Thursday)

• Office building for 3 St. Mark's Place appears stalled for now (Tuesday)

• Cheap-eats fave Papaya Dog is done on 14th Street (Thursday) 

• Report: Police shoot at man threatening people with a knife on Houston and the Bowery (Friday) 

• Via Della Pace owners opening an Italian deli on 4th Street (Monday) 

• Signs of new development along the retail strip of 250 E. Houston St. (Monday) 

• FA debuts on 9th Street; the green bench arrives in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday) 

• Stromboli Pizza reopens (Friday) 

• Blank Street coffee looks to be opening an outpost on 3rd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• A campaign to landmark the building that housed A Gathering of Tribes on 3rd Street (Monday) 

• Openings: Chichen Itzá on 10th Street (Tuesday) 

• Sun meets the sidewalk again along this stretch of 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Omakase sushi bar coming to former upholstery shop on 7th Street (Tuesday) 

• A wrap at the Bowery Mural Wall (Tuesday) 

• When life gives you a bulky sidewalk bridge, play tetherball (Tuesday) 

• Reader report: new laundromat washed up before it opens? (Wednesday) 

• A speakeasy and restaurant concept slated for 221 2nd Ave. (Monday) 

... and East Village native Reuben Gordon is an artist now living in Los Angeles ... if you happen to be out that way, a solo exhibition recently opened at Baert Gallery ... and you can see how NYC and the neighborhood inform his work...

 

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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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Oh-K! Another Korean-style hot-dog chain to give the East Village a go

Oh-K Dog appears to be the next tenant for 36 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

The chain specializing in Korean-style snacks such as stuffed hot dogs and egg toast has this location as "coming soon" on its website. Oh-K Dog also has outposts on Ludlow Street and Seventh Avenue South with several more planned for the city.

Competition for Korean-style hot dogs is heating up around here. Two Hands, which offers Seoul fresh corn dogs, opened on Avenue A and Ninth Street in April ... while Mochinut is opening soon on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

As for this storefront on St. Mark's Place... not much has had success here in recent years. Joe's Steam Rice Roll was the most recent tenant, quietly closing in March. Other concepts here included Cheers Cut, the Taiwanese mini-chain of fried foods ... Friterie Belgian Fries ... Fasta ("Pasta Your Way") ... and the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza.

H/T Upper West Sider!

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on First Avenue by Derek Berg) ...

• Renovation watch: This is what the inside of the former Hells Angels HQ looks like now (Thursday) 

• New bike lanes next for freshly paved Avenue C (Tuesday) 

• Brooklyn Bean Roastery closes on Avenue A (Monday) 

• Wegmans makes it OFFICIAL, will take over the former Kmart space on Astor Place (Thursday)

• A short tribute — sob — to the World Famous Pee Phone™ (Friday) 

• Advocates urging City Comptroller to withhold approval for East River Park reconstruction — with update (Tuesday) 

• Report of a slashing outside 7-Eleven on Avenue A (Tuesday) 

• 787 Coffee debuts on 10th Street (Thursday) • Post debuts in new 3rd Street space (Wednesday)

• Now You're Clean, offering self-service dog washing, opens on 10th Street (Wednesday) 

• An encore presentation for the Pyramid Club on Avenue A? (Wednesday) 

• Karma's newest 2nd Street gallery is open (Tuesday) 

• Mochinut bringing mochi doughnuts and Korean-style hot dogs to 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• "I see you over there" — the return of a Zoltar and words of wisdom (Wednesday) 

• XOXO 2nd Avenue (Sunday) • At long last, workers remove the sidewalk bridge from 75 1st Ave. (Friday) 

• East Berlin set for 169 Avenue A (Thursday) 

 ... and B&H Dairy unveiled a new line of t-shirts this past week... with a logo modeled after the lunch counter's longtime neon sign... $20 at B&H, 127 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St Mark's Place...

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There were a lot of feelings about Kmart closing

As you likely know, the Astor Place Kmart closed this past Sunday after 25 years in business. (Top photo by Stacie Joy.) 

Throughout the week on Twitter, many people shared their feelings — and remembrances — about this Kmart. In fact, at one point on Monday, this became a trending topic on Twitter — in the United States.

Loved it or hated it or just here for the restrooms, the Kmart made an impact on people's lives. Here are some reactions to our tweet...

I hated this place but damn if it wasn’t there exactly when you needed it most. https://t.co/NowUTx0nbz

— Hannah Vanbiber (she/her) (@HannahVanbiber) July 14, 2021

The last time I was in here (ca. 2000), I had just left Other Music when I stepped in a pile of dog shit so massive it rendered my shoes unsalvageable. I left my shoes sitting in the pile, walked barefoot across Astor Place, into this K-Mart & bought a pair of fake Chucks for $15 https://t.co/qufptWM0dI

— Ben Boyer (@sleezsisters) July 14, 2021

RIP Astor Place Kmart, you were literally the worst. https://t.co/6GPcz3oW6M

— Jason Selvig (@jasonselvig) July 13, 2021

I once held the door open for Chloë Sevigny here. A part of my history. https://t.co/veASuznu20

— Angel Lopez (@Ariessoul329) July 13, 2021

This plus the death of the Kmart Penn station for the late aughts FIT girlies … end me https://t.co/l29yY3sNPH

— carina hsieh (@carinahsieh) July 13, 2021

rip to this alternate dimension of a place that inexplicably didn’t carry marshmallows https://t.co/iLKASo4kXh

— aloe fullee (@alliefulls) July 13, 2021

On hot summer days, I would stroll through this K-Mart while waiting for friends, who were running late—to not have to wait in the NYC heat/humidity. Rest In Peace to iconic relic. https://t.co/AqiddjKt1K

— BG (@TheBGates) July 13, 2021

I used to lowkey walk through here to kill time when I went to school in the area from 4th - 8th grade

RIP TO A FUCKING LEGEND https://t.co/x16XSymSIQ

— Toxic Crew (@ToxicCrewNY) July 13, 2021

When this moved into the East Village, it felt like end-times. https://t.co/zYO8UQLB6q

— Charles McNulty (@CharlesMcNulty) July 13, 2021

Don’t usually have sympathy for large chains but am deffo a bit emotional as this is where I repeatedly tried on items from the Adam Levine clothing line and cried about gender in the dressing rooms. I mean truly, THIS is where most of my gender CRISIS happened. https://t.co/YLwWg4sQKl

— Futaba Shioda (@FutabaShioda) July 12, 2021

roaming the aisles of this kmart in 2012 with my girlies texting our rolodexes “whats the address of that st mark’s deli that doesn’t card againnnn (:” https://t.co/ERMlEflDvV

— Vassileia Kazee (@vassileiafoxy) July 12, 2021

RIP I once went in here deeply drunk after doing $2 shots at The Continental thinking it would be the easiest place to find a public bathroom, couldn’t find it until I had substantially pee’d in my pants, and then bought new jeans and changed into them and threw my old ones away. https://t.co/l5omUaoYfr

— Jesse, Alternatively (@shartlito) July 12, 2021

Fun fact, this location was my FIRST job. I am in shock right now! https://t.co/6cEPy91dF0

— who? (@yeahokgurl) July 12, 2021

Wait, I need to return the Martha Stewart sheets I got there in the '90s! https://t.co/IBJl0acTvJ

— Robert David Sullivan (@RobertDSullivan) July 12, 2021

I once had a date and decided to wear a NuBra but couldn’t figure out how to stick it on and started sweating on the 6 train and one of the boobs migrated down to my rib. The Astor Place Kmart bathroom is where I finally tore the thing off and stuffed it into my purse. RIP. https://t.co/Wgd1ewrXW0

— Joyce Wu 吳 元 欣 (@oneandonlyjoyce) July 12, 2021

RIP Astor Place Kmart. You outfitted generations of freshman NYU students in the span of a week and then did seemingly no business the rest of the year. https://t.co/5reqxCNqgT

— Kirby Pate (@KPateNews) July 12, 2021

As a real piece of shit 18 year old, I used to steal 10 packs of Double A batteries from here for my Walkman that I had spray painted white and written "iPod" on in magic marker. https://t.co/Jc2nR6IwXo

— Easy Miyake (@popopopolio) July 12, 2021

Through thick and thin my faith in New York was always underpinned philosophically by the existence of the Astor Place KMart. This one hurts https://t.co/qw9uJNbgi9

— kelly farber (@kelfarbs) July 12, 2021

RIP to this incredible and bizarre place. Saved me so many times. She held out and gave NYC her all❣️ https://t.co/kwLtz9GtZ5

— Marlene Lenthang (@marlenelenthang) July 14, 2021

where my friends and i killed time between school and driver's ed 😢 https://t.co/G5jOTLeYaW

— Hannah Bloch-Wehba (@HBWHBWHBW) July 12, 2021

seeing fran lebowitz doing irritated pre-storm shopping at the astor k mart before hurricane sandy remains my favorite celeb sighting, RIP to this big box legend https://t.co/ajNnWHGPbI

— Virginia K. Smith (@vksmith) July 12, 2021

We're losing all the local businesses that made New York great. If this becomes a bookstore I'll cry. https://t.co/eBVg8KdDPh

— Matt Nedostup (@nedostup) July 12, 2021

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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Hot dog!? Crif Dogs reopens on St. Mark's Place

Crif Dogs reopened yesterday — for the first time since the PAUSE of March 2020 — here at 113 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The hot doggery is now in its 20th year, having debuted in 2001.

Hours: Wednesday-Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m. Find their Instagram here.

H/T Vinny & O. Old photo by EVG.

Concern for the barking dogs at 58 St. Mark's Place

Back in October, an EVG reader wrote in about a seemingly unattended dog (or dogs) coming from somewhere in the shared courtyard toward the west side of the block between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place ... and First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Since then, thanks to some sleuthing, the reader has tracked down the location ... but is stymied by the lack of progress to free the dogs.

I posted on Next Door, where I was able to find a man across the courtyard who had already posted about the dogs, and could identify the building and posted a video of the dogs barking and scratching at the back entrance, as well as someone who had seen the dogs moved into the same building at the time when the barking started. 

Unfortunately, what we learned is that the dogs are being kept in the abandoned unit that formerly was home to Clay Pot at 58 St. Mark's Place. It's empty. So every time I report it to 311, they send a police officer who knocks on the door, no one answers, and they shut the animal neglect ticket. 

The Office of Health and Mental Hygiene isn't answering their phones or returning messages. The barking is near-constant day and night, and obviously very distressed and suffering. I have been posting flyers outside the door, which get ripped off, and I found a ConEd notice this week saying that there was no tenant in the unit but it was still receiving gas, which would be shut off. 

I (and the others on NextDoor) am now worried that if it gets cold again, or if electricity is cut off, those dogs will freeze to death, or die of sheer neglect in the dark.

Is there anything else EV Grieve readers can think of? I have tried 311 and the 92nd St ASPCA (both of which send the complaint to the local NYPD precinct, which knocks and leaves), flyers, Next Door. I'm at wit's end and feel as though I am just waiting for the dogs to die tragically. 

58 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second is one of the many East Village buildings scooped up by now-disgraced landlord Raphael (Rafi) Toledano. The building appears to still be in his name, per public records.

In 2017, a subsidiary of lender Madison Realty Capital took over the portfolio while Toledano was mired in bankruptcy proceedings. It's not immediately clear who is managing the building today... or who is keeping the dogs behind an empty restaurant space.