Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included... (and top photo is of Tompkins Square Park the other morning)... 

• The East Village Community Fridge can use some fresh-food donations (Friday)

• A Taste of the Tropics on Avenue C (Monday) 

• RIP Pastor Diane (Friday) 

• Organizing the Avenue B Flea (Thursday) 

• A very East Village Halloween (Sunday) 

• Halloween night with Moral Panic (Sunday)

• Report of a death outside the Orpheum Theatre (Tuesday) 

• Caracas Arepa Bar is closing its East Village outpost after 17 years (Thursday) 

• Ducks Eatery will close after 8-plus years on 12th Street (Monday) 

• Businesses along Broadway and the Bowery board up their windows ahead of Election Day (Tuesday) 

• Gallery watch: Crichoues Indignation at the Hole NYC; Vantage Points at GRIMM Gallery (Wednesday) 

• The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black in Tompkins Square Park (Monday) 

• The giveaway continues on 9th Street (Friday) 

• 4 years on, the Shepard Fairey mural is being chipped away on 1st Avenue and 11th Street (Tuesday) 

• This week's NY See (Thursday) 

• After Con Ed work, Cafe Himalaya and Prim Thai are reopening (Tuesday) 

• Incoming office building makes first appearance above the plywood at 141 E. Houston (Monday) 

• Veniero's has a temporary new space on 11th Street (Thursday)

• The vacant corners on the west side of 3rd Avenue and 13th Street (Monday)

• Opening and/or coming soon: The Dolar Shop, Kyuramen (Monday) 

... and a moment from yesterday with Amelia and Christo on 10th and A... photos by Steven...

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4 years on, the Shepard Fairey mural is being chipped away on 1st Avenue and 11th Street

Thanks to the reader photos/tips about the southwest corner of First Avenue at 11th Street... where workers started removing the Shepard Fairey mural this past weekend  ... these photos are from yesterday...

This work arrived here in October 2016. Titled "Rise Above," the mural featured an image of Fairey's daughter when she was 3 years old. (She is now in her mid-teens.) 

In an Instagram post, the L.I.S.A. Project, the public art charity responsible for this wall, said that "an aged building with a NW exposure and a bad pipe burst has taken its toll" on the mural these past four years.

The mural's goal was "to supply some brightness and positivity for the locals wandering below — especially the children coming and going from neighboring P.S. 19."

The L.I.S.A. Project is promising a new mural on this space.

Meanwhile, at least one reader figured the Michael Jackson mural on the other side of the Avenue might be removed first...

The former Saxon + Parole space is for lease on the Bowery

The for rent sign arrived yesterday at 316 Bowery ... officially bringing an end to Saxon + Parole's tenure here at Bleecker.

As noted a few weeks back, the Equestrian-themed restaurant was one of many in the neighborhood that had remained dark since since the PAUSE went into effect in March — this despite ample outdoor space for sidewalk dining. 

S+P opened here in September 2011, replacing the company's Double Crown restaurant. They've kept busy by opening an S+P outpost in Auckland, New Zealand last month. 

As for No. 316, the listing doesn't mention the asking rent for the space (upstairs and downstairs!) that totals 6,600 square feet.... along with the tagged (multiple times) Shepard Fairey Blondie mural.

Week in Grieview

[Key Food still life on Avenue A]

RIP Lucien Bahaj (Monday) RIP Unkle Waltie (Tuesday)

Time capsules: The Gap of St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

An annual reunion in East River Park (Sunday)

Report: New owner of the Boys' Club building on 10th Street and Avenue A — revealed! (Wednesday)

Gov. Cuomo condemns suspect who left anti-gay graffiti on Avenue A; another message found on Norfolk Street (Saturday)

The tree nest in El Jardín del Paraíso has been removed (Tuesday)

The Sunshine is gone, and an empty lot awaits a 9-story office building (Wednesday)

Tech hub officially breaks ground on 14th Street (Tuesday)

Niconeco Zakkaya, seller of Japanese stationery and gifts, opening a shop on 10th Street (Friday)

Café Social 68 debuts on A (Wednesday)

Dramatic storm shots (Thursday)

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

Grant Shaffer's NY See (Thursday)

Maison Kayser closes Union Square location (Monday)

Another Flamingos Vintage Pound opens in the East Village, this one on 11th Street (Monday)

Former Nobletree Coffee space for rent (Wednesday)

Bowlmor Lanes-replacing condoplex cleared of construction equipment on University Place (Wednesday)

Something finally happening at the former Gotham Pizza (Wednesday)

Little Buddha pops up with vegan fare on 1st Street (Friday)

Medina's Turkish Kitchen debuts on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

Polytima Designs is closing on 9th Street (Friday)

The Boilery up next for 58 3rd Ave. (Thursday)

A new door for The Jones (Monday)

Thoughts on Ray's (the new bar on the LES) (Wednesday)

... and ICYMI...



Here’s a look at the city-sanctioned mural on the water tower atop 190 Bowery that Shepard Fairey created of actress Rosario Dawson titled "Power & Equality." The work is in part a celebration of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, where Dawson is a board member...



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On the Bowery, an homage to the Alleged Gallery era

Over on the Bowery, the exterior of the Hole has been transformed, complete with the original signage from Aaron Rose's Alleged Gallery, which had a 10-year run from 1992-2002 on Ludlow Street.

The transformation is part of a gallery exhibit that opens tonight here at 312 Bowery near Bleecker titled "Now & Then: A Decade of Beautiful Losers."

Per the Hole website:

The “NOW & THEN: A DECADE OF BEAUTIFUL LOSERS” exhibition venerates the 10-year anniversary of the ‘Beautiful Losers’ documentary that made its US premiere on August 8, 2008 at the IFC center in New York. "Beautiful Losers," directed by Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard, captured the characteristic spirit of a community of artists affiliated with the Alleged Gallery [at 172 Ludlow St.]. ‘Beautiful Losers’ depicted a community of artists including Barry McGee, Ed Templeton, Mike Mills, Thomas Campbell, Jo Jackson, Shepard Fairey, Chris Johanson, and Margaret Kilgallen during the Alleged Gallery era.

The exhibit is up through Sept. 1.

From Joey Ramone to Debbie Harry on the Bowery

Back on Monday, a crew painted over the two-year-old Joey Ramone/CBGB mural on Bleecker at the Bowery...



In its place on Tuesday, Shepard Fairey (in connection with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC) created a mural in honor of Debbie Harry and Blondie...



..which wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon with a visit by Harry and Chris Stein. (Godlis has some photos here.)



Harry and Fairey previously collaborated on a project for his Obey fashion label coinciding with the 40-year anniversary of Blondie's debut album.

Updated 8:30 a.m.

Lola Sáenz notes this morning that, given the placement of the cardboard, it appears Debbie Harry has a new necklace...

The Joey Ramone street sign returns to Joey Ramone Place

[Photo from this morning]

After nearly a month-long absence, the city returned the Joey Ramone Place street sign yesterday afternoon (H/T Jessie Malin!) to the northeast corner of the Bowery and Second Street. (This block of Second Street is co-named for the frontman of the Ramones.)

It appeared that the light pole on this corner was under repairs. (Plus, the street sign looked as if it had been bashed a few times.)

The sign first went up in November 2003. The sign remains pretty high up there ...


[Photo from this morning]

This placement happened several years ago after the sign was previously stolen a half-dozen times. So workers raised the sign to 20 feet. Standard street signs are between 12 and 14 feet off the ground, per the Post.



Meanwhile, the two-year-old Joey Ramone-CBGB 40th anniversary mural a block away at Bleecker and the Bowery has been painted over in place of a Debbie Harry-Blondie mural by Shepard Fairey. Will post on that a little later.

[Updated] Tagging the Bowery mural wall

This past weekend, someone defaced David Choe's week-old canvas on the Bowery Mural Wall.

BoweryBoogie reported that the vandalism was due "to past comments made on [Choe's] podcast bragging about an alleged sexual encounter with a masseuse in 2014." Choe later claimed that his confession was simply "bad storytelling in the style of douche." Regardless, as BoweryBoogie put it, "Critics have been accusing him of rape ever since."

Hyperallergic published an op-ed last week titled "How the New Bowery Wall Commission Puts Rape Culture on Display."

The "BTM" tag on the wall is apparently the work of Big Time Mafia. It's unclear if their message is related to Choe's past or general disdain for the wall, owned by Goldman Properties, and/or Choe's work.

Another tag on the wall last week was more explicit...

Someone spray painted "rapist" on David Choe's new mural earlier today! pic.twitter.com/Td3qNH9QMc

— Bucky Turco (@buckyturco) June 6, 2017

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Updated 6/14



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And this wasn't the first time that someone has tagged/bombed/defaced the work up on the Bowery Mural Wall in recent years. A sampling includes:

Logan Hicks last September...



Swoon in January in January 2014...



Maya Hayuk's criss-cross mural in February 2014...



Kenny Scharf multiple times in early 2011...



Shepard Fairey in July 2010...





...and Fairey in May 2010...



The bottom part of the mural was eventually ripped to shreds...

A look at Shepard Fairey's mural Rise Above, now complete on 11th Street at 1st Avenue

Shepard Fairey's mural on 11th Street at First Avenue is complete. (He started work on Wednesday.)



The L.I.S.A. Project's Wayne Rada told DNAinfo:

[T]he goal of the undertaking is to supply some brightness and positivity for the locals wandering below — especially the children coming and going from neighboring elementary school.P.S. 19.

The mural features an image of Fairey's daughter when she was 3 years old. (She is now 11.)

Photos by Steven

[Updated] Checking in on the Shepard Fairey mural on 11th Street and 1st Avenue

Here's how it's looking this morning, via a photo by EVG reader JG... Fairey started work on it Wednesday... it appears as if there's a little more to go, delayed by the rainy/windy weather.

Updated 3:30 p.m.

DNAinfo has more details on the mural, which is an image of Fairey's daughter when she was 3 years old. (She is now 11.)

"The title of the piece is 'Rise Above,' and its meant to be an uplifting image, a positive image to make people smile or to make New Yorkers look up," said Wayne Rada of the Little Italy Street Art (L.I.S.A.) Project.

The former Schnitz space is for rent

Shepard Fairey is wrapping up work on his mural on East 11th Street at First Avenue... above the space that housed Schnitz.

Several people said that they weren't aware that the sandwich specialists had closed.

We noted on Sept. 2 that the quick-serve restaurant hadn't been open in several weeks ... and that the storefront was listed for rent online.

The retail space for lease sign has been up for maybe two weeks now. According to the listing (PDF) at RKF, the asking rent is roughly $9,100 a month.

No one from Schnitz has responded about the closure via social media yet.

Schnitz, which served old-fashioned schnitzel sandwiches with unconventional toppings, opened here in March 2014. This was the first permanent retail space for Schnitz after gaining a following at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg and Dumbo.

Shepard Fairey creating a mural on 11th Street at 1st Avenue

[Photo by EVG reader Annabelle]

Shepard Fairey started work today on a mural above the former Schnitz space on 11th Street at First Avenue...


[Photo by Lola Sáenz]

The mural is his second collaboration with the L.I.S.A Project.

Back in the spring/summer of 2010, Fairey's May Day piece on the Bowery Mural wall was bombed and eventually destroyed.

Logan Hicks mural tagged again

The stenciled painting titled "Story of My Life" by Logan Hicks has been on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall for less than two weeks... and the work has now been tagged twice in the last few days...

Goldman Properties, who owns the space, has been quick to clean up the tags... Will be interesting to see if this escalates to the level of Shepard Fairey hating in 2010.

'Ramones and the Birth of Punk' coming to the Queens Museum in April

[Image via]

In case you didn't see this yesterday. As The New York Times first reported:

On April 10 the Queens Museum will present “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk,” a retrospective exhibition that will examine the group’s influence on both music and art, as part of a spate of spring programming under the museum’s new director, Laura Raicovich, that focuses on Queens as a Petri dish of global culture.

The Ramones show, organized with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where a second part of the exhibition will open on Sept. 16, will include more than 350 objects, from the band’s archives and those of Arturo Vega, who designed the band’s logo; from artists like Shepard Fairey and Yoshitomo Nara; and from Mad magazine and Punk magazine, to demonstrate, as the museum says, how the Ramones “served as both subject and inspiration for many visual artists, resulting in a large body of works.”

Here's the Museum's official news release on the exhibit.

And via "Too Tough to Die" from 1984 ...

The Dee Dee Ramone Exhibition arrives at the Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery next week

Via the EVG inbox...

The Dee Dee Ramone Exhibition will be held in Dee Dee’s home turf of NYC for the first time ever at the Hotel Chelsea Storefront Gallery (222 West 23rd Street), from December 10th, 2014 – January 1st, 2015. The launch of this exhibit will offer a preview of the soon-to-be-released Fender Dee Dee Ramone Limited Edition Signature Precision Bass guitar, a tool used by the enigmatic Ramone to leave his indelible fingerprint on rock history for generations to come.

This historic exhibition sanctioned by the rock legends’ own estate, will celebrate all of the facets of Dee Dee’s long-lasting artistic legacy: a founding member of the Ramones, one of the most influential punk-rock bassists and primary, prolific songwriter of world famous group, as well as his work in the visual arts – proving that Dee Dee, who began painting more seriously in 1996, was an artist in every sense of the word. The breadth of Dee Dee’s art and achievements is so wide that one of his paintings, to be featured in the exhibit, was recently showcased in a question on America’s favorite quiz show Jeopardy.

In addition to featuring Dee Dee’s art, writings and fashions, the Dee Dee Ramone exhibition will also include iconic photographs by the likes of Bob Gruen, Mick Rock, Chris Stein (Blondie), Ed Perlstein, Stephanie Chernikowski, Keith Green and more.

Previous exhibits of Dee Dee’s work have been held at La Luz De Jesus and famed street artist Shepard Fairey’s Subliminal Projects galleries in Los Angeles, and is now being presented in New York for the first time.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East Seventh Street. Photo by Bobby Williams]

If you happen to be in Echo Park: Dee Dee Ramone will have a posthumous gallery exhibit of his artwork via Shepard Fairey (The Los Angeles Times)

Long live El Faro (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

NYPD says suspect in fatal stabbing near Union Square left for Mexico (The New York Times)

Macaron Parlour opens tomorrow on St. Mark's Place (BoweryBoogie)

Brooklyn Flea's Smorgasburg popping up shop at the Whole Foods Bowery (Gothamist)

Cafe Katja reopens tonight on Orchard Street (The Lo-Down)

And at The Awl today, Choire Sicha weighs in on the new East Village/Lower East Side Historic District in a post titled "The Permanent East Village: A Fascist Swamp of Crappy Buildings Now Historic."

An excerpt!

The district stretches down Second Avenue, which is now referred to as "Little Dartmouth Gangsta's Paradise," due to the habits of the khaki-clad worthies who clog its congested sidewalks of an evening, alternately issuing mating shrieks and vomit.

Finally, please put your stickers somewhere else besides Joe Strummer's sunglasses...

[This morning]

You may 'Exit Through The Gift Shop' tonight for free in Tompkins Square Park

The Films in Tompkins series continues tonight with "Exit Through the Gift Shop."

Per Wikipedia:

Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film is a film by graffiti artist Banksy that tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every waking moment on film, from a chance encounter with his cousin, the artist Invader, to his introduction to a host of street artists with a focus on Shepard Fairey and Banksy, whose anonymity is preserved by obscuring his face and altering his voice, to Guetta's eventual fame as a street artist himself.

Meant to see this film... never got around to it.

And as we'll cut-n-paste all summer long like the Beach Boys:

Free. Gates Open at 6 p.m. Music Starts ½ Hour before the Start of the Film (sundown)

July 5 — Exit Trough The Gift Shop, Music by Church of Betty

July 12 — Fantastic Mr. Fox, Music by Dandy Wellington And His Band

July 19 — Summer of Sam, Music by The Debonairs and Brendan O’Hara

July 26 — Goldfinger, Music by The Luddites

Aug. 2 — Donnie Darko, Music by The Rad Trads
A Two Boots 25th Anniversary Event with Free Pizza!

Aug. 9 — The Big Lebowski, Music by Main Squeeze Orchestra
A Two Boots 25th Anniversary Event with Free Pizza!

Aug. 16 — Poltergeist, Music by Timbila

Dates subject to Rain Delays.

Films In Tompkins is sponsored by Ella, The Blind Barber, Two Boots, Grolsch, GalleryBar, Tower Brokerage and NYC& Company.

Tomorrow is Record Store Day

It's that time of year again, when I receive news releases like this:

Longstanding Fugazi fans, JuiceheaD and Osaka Popstar, teamed up and took on the challenge of covering the punk classic, “Waiting Room.” A limited copy of the cover’s 7” will be released on Record Store Day (April 21st) with exclusive artwork by world-renowned Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant Art/Studio Number One).

Meanwhile, Iggy Pop is serving as the 2012 Record Store Day Ambassador. (Which means, basically, that you can enter to win this poster.)

Several East Village shops are participating... such as!

Here is a list of area stores participating. Right here. And Pitchfork has a listicle titled The Top 45 Releases of Record Store Day 2012 here.

Finally, found this chart at the Times from 2008 ... showing how many record stores had closed in recent years... and look how many more stores have closed since then...

Oh, on second thought, André Balazs only paid $67.5 million for the Cooper Square Hotel

And not the $91 million that was previously reported. This news comes via Roland Li at the International Business Times. Read it here.

Meanwhile, Goggla notes the end of the mural (Balazsification) on the side of the former Cooper Square Hotel... now called The Dradnats Standard East Village

The Shepard Fairey mural went up in April 2010.

Meanwhile, some fallout...

Part of JR's artwork from the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall already for sale on eBay

Less than a week since JR hung his "Lakota, North Dakota" mural, a piece of the artwork has showed up on eBay.

Own a piece of Street Art History!
Auction is for 2 sheets (approx. size 24"x"36") of excess paper used on the actual wall installation process located on Houston Street and Bowery in New York City.

And you can buy it now for $125. Of course, this isn't the first time a piece of this wall has shown up on eBay.

Previously on EV Grieve:
What a piece of Shepard Fairey's vandalized Deitch Wall mural is going for on eBay

eBay seller dares people to bid on piece of Shepard Fairey's mural