EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Progress at Wylie Dufresne's Alder; 7 Spices for Second Avenue

The transformation of the former Plum Pizzeria at 157 Second Avenue continues... where noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne is opening a 50-seat pub that will serve "modern casual food and well-crafted cocktails," as Grub Street first noted last fall.

And do not enter...

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Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine quickly opened and closed last summer... the space is now back open here on Second Avenue near East Fifth street as 7 Spices... serving Turkish and Mediterranean fare...

They also deliver...

Let us know if you try it...

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...and now a few items that we meant to note much sooner... Such as! JujoMukti Tea Lounge on East Fourth Street between A and B closed some time late last year... a reader said that the owners sold most of the furniture and fixtures in mid-December...

CB3 OK'd a a beer and wine license here back in June 2011 even though the cafe is in a resolution (saturated!) area ... "after enthusiastic patrons spoke out about the venue's uniquely diverse presence and focus on a nurturing lifestyle," per Eater.

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Also meant to note that Jeepney recently filled in the rest of their sign on First Avenue...

[Last October via EVG reader @robbyohara]

Now!

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And Queen Vic, the British pub and restaurant on Second Avenue at East Fourth Street, hasn't been serving food in recent weeks...

[Updated] Inside the renovated St. Brigid's

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...and to see how far the church has come... Clayton Patterson shared these photos from a neglected church circa December 2005...

Updated 1-28

The New York Times has a piece on St. Brigid's in today's paper. The article goes into detail on the church's "daunting structural problems" and the challenges of the restoration.

A quick excerpt:

The pews were replaced and the exterior restored to resemble the original brownstone. Stained glass windows were brought from St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Harlem, which closed in 2003.

[Architect Michael F.] Doyle also restored an elaborate inscription along the top of the east wall that had been painted over in the 1960s, although there was not enough money to put the original bell back in the tower.

The parish has been merged with St. Emeric’s nearby, and the parish and the church are now known as St. Brigid and St. Emeric.

Read the whole article here.

From St. Emeric's to St. Brigid's

This afternoon, parishioners traveled from St. Emeric on East 13th Street between Avenue C and Avenue D ... to the newly reopened St. Brigid's on Avenue B and East Eighth Street...

As The Villager first reported in June, St. Emeric’s, built in 1950 at 740 E. 13th St., will close and merge with St. Brigid's.

Bobby Williams took the following photos...

St. Brigid's reopened today after more than 11 years ... in a special mass presided by Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

Here's the WABC report... with bonus Casey Anthony coverage tacked on...

St. Brigid's opening act

This afternoon... photo by EVG reader Jolene... More photos tonight...

Sunday brunch

Tompkins Square Park this afternoon... via East Village resident Shelley Whiddon ...

Week in Grieview

[East 13th Street near Avenue A yesterday]

RIP M15 Select bus flashing blue lights (Tuesday)

Third Rail Coffee opening soon on East 10th Street (Thursday)

The Immigrant is expanding, but Mermaid Inn isn't (Wednesday)

The latest on the No 7-11 campaign (Wednesday ... Thursday ... Friday)

More FroFuckingYo (Tuesday)

There are a lot of Yorkies named Max around here, apparently (Thursday)

... and Kita the Wonder Dag of East 10th Street responds (Friday)

Mystery Lot replacement rises (Tuesday)

Olde Good Things opening on the Bowery (Friday)

Here's the trailer for the new Coen Brothers movie, filmed in part in the East Village (Thursday)

Barney got his ass kicked on East 13th Street (Tuesday)

Jane has worked with NYU students, gypsies and dogs (Wednesday)

Another East Village record store closes (Tuesday)

The Amazing Spider-Man in action on East 12th Street (Sunday)

This alleged shoplifter bit people after stealing Jimmy Choo boots (Thursday)

It was cold (Wednesday)

St. Brigid's reopens: 'We are very blessed to have the church restored'

As you know, St. Brigid's reopens today at 5 with a special invite-only mass for parishioners presided by Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan. We asked Edwin Torres, chairman of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's, if he ever thought he'd see this day after the church on Avenue B and East Eighth Street closed in 2001:

I must admit there were times when I felt very low and discouraged. But this is the way the Lord works to test your faith. He will bring you almost to the edge and how one respond defines who you are. Although I was very discouraged, I never lost faith and I never got angry. A trap many fell into. The Lord put many people in my path. All served a purpose, different talents and skills came togather to achive this goal ... We are very blessed to have the church restored.

Previously on EV Grieve:
13 keys dates in the 165-year history of St. Brigid's, reopening on Sunday

4 year old debuts East Village snowffiti

East Seventh Street.

[Updated] Window smashed at the 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place

Not sure at this time what happened here at the 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place... EVG friend Bonnie DeWitt sent these along this evening...

The window here was also smashed last April...

Anyone know what happened here tonight?

Updated 1-27
A clerk said that a "crazy street person" tossed what looked like a small weight or chunk of metal at the window. (The store has the object in its possession now.) No word on what led to the window attack.

Today's hawk

Tompkins Square Park via Bobby Williams

RIP Alan Shenker aka Yossarian

[East Side Book Store, Saint Mark's Place 1972. Photo by Patrick Rosenkranz]

Several readers have passed along word that Alan Shenker, aka Yossarian/Yo, a legendary figure in the underground comics world in the late 1960s and beyond, died on Jan. 14. He was 67.

Among many other endeavors, he created illustrations and comics for the East Village Other, Gothic Blimp Works, The Rat, Kiss and the New York Ace.

He lived on St. Mark's Place the past 35 years.

There are features on his life here at The Comics Journal ... and at The Paris Review.

There is also a new Facebook page for him. Per the description:

A Page dedicated to the spirit of Alan Shenker/Yossarian: Son of Levittown, Revolutionary, Mordant Wit, Illustrator Par Excellence, Imbiber of Spirits, Flâneur, Haircutter, East Villager, Crank, Soul Man & Friend.

You can find an array of his artwork here at Babylon Falling.

[Via Babylon Journal]

From The Comics Journal yesterday:

His friends described his lifestyle as a “flaneur” or a “downtown habitué.” “He did what all New Yorkers do,” said [longtime friend] Maryann. “He complained about everything. He sat around drinking coffee at cafes. He talked to everyone. He was totally righteous and he never sold out.”

Woo-en Commission Report: Snow penis outbreak reaching epidemic proportions in the East Village

All sorts of reports coming in this morning about last night's light snowfall.

Per one reader:

Dicks.. dicks.. every...everywhere.... I can't...Hel...

Then the transmission broke off.

East 13th Street.

East Seventh Street

There are even McSorley's branded snow peepees.

East First Street

East Second Street. Where things just got...ugly.

There are more. But you get the idea.

At some point over the next few months of winter, all of us will entertain our worst fears and concerns. But I can also promise you this. Life will go on. We will prevail.

Otherwise, what a beautiful East Village morning...

...and noted on the EV Grieve Twitter account...

#EastVillage postcard morning twitter.com/evgrieve/statu…
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) January 26, 2013

#EastVillage postcard morning II twitter.com/evgrieve/statu…
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) January 26, 2013

Trench warfare in Tompkins Square Park

Photo today before the snow via Bobby Williams.

The wrath of Khan on East Fifth Street!

Sophie's in the light snow... on East Fifth Street... where it all began. Photo by Dave on 7th.

And is this snowfall part of Khan? And how many "Wrath of Khan" headlines will this spawn? (Aside from this one...)

Here is the Eyewitness News report on the 'No 7-Eleven' campaign

A Touch of greatness

Magazine with "Touch and Go" circa 1978.

We won't have Michael 'Bao' Huynh to blog about anymore

Via Eater, we learn that Michael 'Bao' Huynh is leaving town...

Per Gael Greene:

Serial restaurant dabbler and assassinator Michael “Bao” Huynh has given up on trying to make money after countless diehard efforts and is leaving tonight for Vietnam, the land of opportunity. Bao III, Obao, Mickey’s Burger, Bia, BaoBQ, Bar Bao, Pho Sure. Nothing really worked for Hunyh, at least not for long...

He left behind quite a trail in the East Village. Such as!

• Baoguette Cafe closed for a few hours back in September and never reopened...

• BaoBQ on First Avenue, which closed in August

• The infamous Barbao-DOB 111 whirlwind on St. Mark's Place back in 2010-11...

Then there was always the promise of something new... like the "Old School Style Philly" cheesesteak place called Mikey's Cheese Steak that never materialized at 23 Third Ave. ... or, better, Bao & Buny, the burger, fried chicken and waffles concept for 125 St. Mark's Place with former Playboy bunny Nicole Van Croft ...

And he probably had more fun with all this than we did.