East Village Cheese, now with an East Village Cheese sign

Still no word on an opening date just yet here at 80 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... but this is a good sign, so to speak.

Updated 9:15 a.m.

Two photos showing how the interior is shaping up...





Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Duane Reade expansion will take over adjacent storefronts, including East Village Cheese (74 comments)

[Updated] Confirmed: East Village Cheese will be moving to Avenue A later this year

East Village Cheese makes move to 7th Street official

[Updated] Work starts on new home of the East Village Cheese Shop

Looking at the incoming East Village Cheese shop on East 7th Street

Party progress at Icon Realty's 205 Avenue A

Icon Realty's 205 Avenue A has a bit of a reputation for its rooftop ragers, which in the past attracted the attention of the neighbors, the police and the media. (Brokers did once dub this an "East Village frat house" in a listing.)

Haven't heard too much from the address this past summer ... until an EVG reader who lives nearby noted that there was a sizable party with maybe 100 guests between the rooftop and backyard area on Friday evening.

Per the reader:

Most interestingly was what was going on in the backyard. There was a DJ, and lots of lights, but the noise was minimal. It took me a minute to piece it together, but all of the lights were coming from headphones that everyone was wearing — they literally set up a silent disco in their backyard.

I don't really want to pan these guys cause it's definitely progress from last year and I guess I appreciate them coming up with a creative way to keep the noise down (even if the thought process almost certainly was more about not having the cops called than thinking about their neighbors).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Friday night's rooftop party at Icon Realty's 205 Avenue A (49 comments)

Your 6-bedroom dream 'frat house' awaits you in the East Village

Icon Realty's new Avenue A 'frat house' is attracting attention

At 205 Avenue A, where the NYPD stops by 'almost every weekend'

Construction watch: 222 E. 13th St.

Just noting that work has commenced here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue at the future location of the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth.

Per some previous posts:

Bea Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Ali Forney Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence, which will house 18 residents.

And here's the rendering ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Plywood report

Neighborhood watchdog keeping an eye on the construction at the former Mary Help of Christians property, where there will be a mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and 82 market-rate condos some day...



Photos by Shawn Chittle

Week in Grieview

[Lion among the flowers on East Houston via Derek Berg]

Community Board 3 member Morris Faitelewicz, his wife and daughter's fiancé die in upstate car crash (Tuesday)

First Flight Music closing at the end of the month (Thursday)

Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio (Friday)

First look at the new Puebla Mexican Food in Essex Street Market (Tuesday)

Out and About with Lisa Arbetter (Wednesday)

More about Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar, coming soon to East Sixth Street (Tuesday)

A partially opened gate at the Stage on Second Avenue (Wednesday)

Graffiti legend Futura next up on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall (Thursday)

Bar Virage closes to debut a new menu (Wednesday)

Sitting empty on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

Building progress at 27 Avenue D (Friday)

Big Lee's makes it official on First Avenue (Wednesday)

26 Avenue B is alive again with the sounds of dump trucks and digging (Friday)

Ramen Zundo-ya opening first U.S. outpost on East 10th Street (Tuesday)

Images from the summer of 2015 (Monday)

Double rainbow! (Thursday)

Thoughts on NYC nostalgia of the late 1970s (Thursday)

Preparing for the papal visit (Sunday)

So Zoltar is a cat? (Monday)

Puebla Mexican Food opens today in the Essex Street Market

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Back on Tuesday, EVG correspondent Stacie Joy reported that Irma Marin had found a new home for her restaurant in the Essex Street Market.

And Stacie says that everything has quickly come together for Marin and her Puebla Mexican Food food stall: She is opening for business today.

Marin hopes to be serving by noon. (Today's Market hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. And 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.)

Marin closed her 25-year-old location on First Avenue in March due to a rent increase.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Puebla Mexican Food is closing after 25 years on 1st Avenue

You'll now have until March 23 to visit Puebla Mexican Food on 1st Avenue

Puebla Mexican Food closes on 1st Avenue; Villacemita opens on Avenue A

First look at the new Puebla Mexican Food in Essex Street Market

NYPD apparently helping crack down on abandoned-looking bikes

EVG reader Mike H. on the Ninth Street spotted these flyers this morning on non-abandoned-looking bikes along East Ninth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D…



Per the sign:

"Please be avised due to the number of 311 calls and community complaints regarding the bikes on the sidewalk which have been left for extended time and seem to be abandoned.

You are requested to remove the bikes to a proper location within the next three (3) day from today (September 16, 2015) otherwise they will be deem abandoned and Department of Sanitation will remove and discard."

Hmm, not sure if these are legit NYPD signs or the creation of an annoyed resident. Anyway, per the signs, people have until Wednesday to move the bikes… Anyone spot these bike flyers elsewhere?

Probably a good idea for the city to be proactive on this to head off an expose by the Post. ("Even abandoned bikes say de Blasio has been a failure...")

The New York City Marble Cemetery is open for a visit today

Today at the New York City Marble Cemetery on East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... via the EVG inbox...

A reminder….. that we invite you to join us at our Neighborhood Open Day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

And upcoming!

Fall Open Weekend, with historic displays, photos and artifacts
Saturday and Sunday
Oct. 17-18
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Read more about the cemetery here.

Image via

The 44th annual East 10th Street Block Fair is today

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on that nice block go East 10th Street between Third Avenue and Second Avenue… featuring antiques, collectibles, food, music and likely no tube socks.

UV index

Cold Beat has a new record out... and the San Francisco-based band will be in Brooklyn for two shows on Sept. 18 (Union Pool) and Sept. 19 (Shea Stadium).

Here's a look at "UV" from last summer.

Updated 9-12
Cold Beat will be doing an in-store performance at Other Music, 15 E. Fourth St., on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.

EV Grieve Etc.: East 2nd Street bomb scare; East Village photos from the 1980s

[What the hay? Avenue A and 7th Street via Derek Berg]

Bomb scare leads to evacuation of firehouse on East Second Street (New York Post, last item)

The paintings of longtime East Village resident Patricia Melvin (Off the Grid)

More 1980s photos of the East Village via photographer Tony Mangia (The Daily Mail)

Going back to school on the Lower East Side — in 1890 (Ephemeral New York)

Former Bialystoker nursing home on the LES goes for $18 Million (The Lo-Down)

Ken Auletta on Bratton's NYPD (The New Yorker)

Cookbook in the works from Superiority Burger (Grub Street)

The Louis Zuflacht building sells on Stanton Street (BoweryBoogie)

A look back at "The Warriors" (The Village Voice)

There's still some unreleased Velvet Underground material out there (Dangerous Minds)

... and font lovers take note... via the EVG inbox...

Exhibition Celebrates 30th Anniversary of The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography, 1985–2015

What: The exhibit "thirty" reveals the many hidden gems amongst the more than 50,000 pieces of design ephemera in The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design & Typography’s collection.

Made to recreate the archive in the gallery space, visitors will be able to see highlights from the collection arranged in flat files, the same ones used by researchers in the center. The work on view will span two centuries and several continents, including several one-of-a-kind, rarely seen pieces of design, like the pilot issue of Life magazine, a sketch of a logo for MTV and a 19th century bill of sale.

Ongoing Exhibition: Sept. 11 – Oct. 3
Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sunday noon – 5 p.m.

Where: 41 Cooper Gallery at The Cooper Union, Third Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets.

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

[233-235 E. 5th St.]

Raphael Toledano’s Brook Hill Properties has completed the purchase of 16 East Village buildings from the Tabak family, paying $97 million, according to The Real Deal.

The portfolio amounts to 301 apartments and 15 retail spaces. Here are the addresses (updated this list 9/12):

• 27 St. Marks Place – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 66 East 7th Street – 22 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 95 East 7th Street – 20 residential units
• 223 East 5th Street – 18 residential units
• 228 East 6th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 229 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 231 East 5th Street – 8 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 233 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 235 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 253 East 10th Street – 20 residential units; 1 commercial unit
• 323-325 East 12th Street – 37 residential units
• 327 East 12th Street – 22 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 329 East 12th Street – 24 residential units
• 334 East 9th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 510 East 12th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 514 East 12th Street – 20 residential units

The deal moved forward despite the fact that Toledano’s uncle, power broker Aaron Jungreis, is suing him. According to the Daily News, the two allegedly agreed to form a joint venture to acquire the buildings, but Toledano reportedly went behind his uncle's back to buy them himself. Jungreis accuses his nephew of being "motivated solely by greed." (This suit was settled. See update below.)

In other East Village Toledano legal action... In May, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. filed a lawsuit against Toledano and his Goldmark Property Management for "deplorable conditions" as well as for alleged ongoing threats and harassment.

Then in August, state officials served subpoenas on Goldmark Property Managmenet, investigating whether the company threatened tenants with police raids, evictions and the shut off of essential service, as The Real Deal put it.

Updated 11:30 a.m.

Real Estate Weekly had more details on the sale...

Toledano, who at 25 is the youngest landlord in New York City with a portfolio of this size, and Brookhill Properties are focusing on this neighborhood because of its appeal to millennials (18-35 year-olds) and the significant potential for continued growth. Toledano is currently under contract to purchase an additional 11 buildings in the East Village, West Village and Murray Hill for $55 million.

“We are committed to being a force for good in the neighborhood and providing our tenants with high-quality apartments,” Toledano said. “Our company is not just a property owner, we are members of this East Village community and look forward to partnering with local groups to show our dedication.”

Updated 12:30 p.m.

The Real Deal reports that Jungreis and Toledano have settled...

“I am glad that we were able to amicably settle with Mr. Jungreis and continue focusing on what matters – serving our tenants and asserting ourselves as the largest landlord in the East Village while continuing to better the community,” Toledano told The Real Deal.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

26 Avenue B is alive again with the sounds of dump trucks (and digging)

The onetime Croxley Ales beer garden is now a full-on construction zone again. Work has resumed at 26 Avenue B between East Second Street and East Third Street, where there are plans for an 8-unit, 6-floor residential building.

EVG regular Salim shared these photos, showing the activity starting Wednesday at the site…



Work stopped in April 2013, after excavation here caused the evacuation of the residents (and Croxley Ales) next-door at No. 28. A resident at No. 28 started to notice cracks in her ceiling after construction began, DNAinfo reported. Debris also reportedly fell from the building.

The current rendering on the plywood still shows the building next door … with a completion date of — !!!!!! — January 2016.



Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 6-story apartment building ready to rise from the former Croxley Ales beer garden

[Updated] Report: 28 Avenue B has been evacuated

Full-stop work order served at construction site adjacent to evacuated Avenue B building

Resident wants stuff back that workers took from not abandoned apartment

Is 26 Avenue B ready for its new building now?

Take a Load OUT tomorrow on East 3rd Street

[Image via Facebook]

The annual Load OUT! event is happening tomorrow (Sept. 12) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Here are details via the EVG inbox…

FABNYC is hosting Load OUT!, a creative recycling and repurposing riot during which we bring together gently used materials from arts organizations throughout the East Village and LES. Take home costumes, props, and furniture for your next artistic endeavor!

In 2010, we noticed that local theaters were “loading out” sets and materials directly into dumpsters after productions ended their runs. Not only were the materials being disposed of inefficiently and unsustainably, but were often of great value to other artists.

As a creative response, FABnyc initiated “Load OUT!” inviting neighborhood arts and cultural groups, non-profits, and community members to donate sets, costumes, props and office equipment they no longer needed, to be made available to other artists.

Among the listed items up for grabs: 200 candles, costumes from La MaMa's production closet, 20 gallons of white paint, 70 cowboy hats, prop cigarettes, printers, a voodoo doll… (we saw something about tennis balls too)…

Load OUT! is happening at 11 E. Third St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. Visit the FABNYC website for more details. Admission is $5; free for artists (not sure how you prove this) and students.

Construction watch: 27 Avenue D

Checking in on the progress at 27 Avenue D, where the Educational Alliance is adding an extension to their existing building here between East Third Street and East Fourth Street.

This location of the Educational Alliance, a co-ed outpatient facility for adults struggling with chemical dependencies, will use the new 6-story building for housing patients in their treatment programs.

The rendering shows the final product looking like…



As previously reported… after digging the foundation for the extension, the site sat dormant for several years, collecting water and reportedly breeding mosquitos.

In the summer of 2012, the Orchard Alley community garden on East Fourth Street had to close due to the mosquito infestation coming from the water-filled site at 27 Avenue D.

[EVG photo from July 2012]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Work on Educational Alliance extension, the former 'mosquito hazard,' resumes on Avenue D

In case you missed the double rainbow this morning

A photo posted by Seán Ó Grállaigh (@johngreally) on Sep 10, 2015 at 6:30am PDT

Photo from the Bowery by John Greally… Gothamist has more double rainbow action here.

Thoughts on NYC nostalgia of the late 1970s

[Photo by Michael Sean Edwards]

The Times has posted content from the fall issue of T Magazine, which includes an essay by novelist Edmund White titled Why Can’t We Stop Talking About New York in the Late 1970s?

Specifically he's talking about 1977-1982… an excerpt:

Those were years when rents were low, when would-be writers, singers, dancers could afford to live in Manhattan’s (East, if not, West) Village, before everyone marginal was further marginalized by being squeezed out to Bushwick or Hoboken. Face-to-face encounters are essential to a city’s vitality, even among people who aren’t sure of each other’s names, for the exchange of ideas and to generate a sense of electricity. In the ’70s, creative people of all sorts could meet without plans, could give each other tips or discuss burgeoning theories or markets or movements.

You can read the whole piece here … there's also an accompanying slideshow that provides a sneak preview of "The Downtown Decade: NYC 1975 – 1985," on display now through Oct. 10 at Rare/Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, 17 W. 54th St.

First Flight Music closing at the end of the month

[Undated photo via the Voice]

First Flight Music, billed as the most complete music store in downtown Manhattan, is closing shop at the end of the month.

Owner Daniel Wollock confirmed the closure in an email to us yesterday.

"After 20 years we have to vacate this store by the end of September," he said. "We thought we had secured a new, albeit smaller location nearby, but it has not worked out."

The 1,500 square-feet of space one level up at 174 First Ave. includes soundproofed practice rooms for shoppers to test out the instruments as well an area for music lessons.

Wollock did not disclose the reason for the closure.

The building here between East 10th Street and East 11th Street was previously owned by the DeRobertis family, who sold it and closed their bakery-cafe last December after 110 years in business.

According to public records, an LLC that shares an address with Jonis Realty paid just under $10 million for the building. (It originally hit the market asking $12 million.)

As previously reported, Black Seed bagels is close to opening in the former DeRobertis space.

First Flight is the second music shop to close along the stretch of the East Village of late. A-1 Music shuttered at 186 First Ave. in early 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 174-176 First Ave. is in contract

Sitting empty on St. Mark's Place

While there has been a taker for the former Luca Bar, the spaces that housed its neighbors on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue remain empty.

Back in April, the State of New York seized sister bars the Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill. The Ton-Up space at No. 127 has been empty since May 2014.

We looked inside the other day and noticed that someone removed the wall that separated the Ton-Up space...



... and the Belgian Room... to perhaps make for a larger bar-restaurant concept some day...



We haven't spotted any for rent signs on either the Belgian Room or Hop Devil Grill. And there aren't any work permits on file with the DOB to suggest any incoming new business.

And some equal time to the ex-Hop Devil Grill ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill closed for nonpayment of taxes

Selling off the former Hop Devil Grill

[Updated] Graffiti legend Futura next up on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

As we noted on Tuesday, workers prepped the Houston/Bowery Wall for its next mural ... and the first sign of what's to come arrived yesterday...

BoweryBoogie hears that FUTURA (aka Lenny McGurr), the iconic graffiti artist from the 1970s, is next to work on the canvas here.

Per a profile in the Times from 2001: "In the early 1980's, he was one of the most sophisticated of the graffiti writers who moved aerosol art from the New York subway system to the embrace of the gallery world."

Also of note: In 1981, he toured with The Clash, painting live on stage as they performed throughout Europe. He also appears in the video for "This Is Radio Clash" and had other collaborations with the band.

Here's a documentary short on McGurr from 2013...



Updated 1:30 p.m.

Landlord Goldman Properties sent out a news release confirming Futura as the next wall artist. He will start tomorrow.

A partially opened gate at the Stage on 2nd Avenue

[Photo today by Steven]

There hasn't been much information about the status of the Stage at 128 Second Ave. The 35-year-old diner has been closed since March 30 here between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place during an ongoing legal tussle with landlord Icon Reality.

Today, though, several EVG readers noted that the gate was partially open, and a group of workers (one observer said they were wearing T-shirts for a plumbing company) were milling about out front. Another reader noted that the interior looked mostly cleared out, though the napkin holders and salt-and-pepper shakers remained on the counter.

Despite the possibly encouraging sight of an open gate, EVG correspondent Steven spotted owner Roman Diakun, who shook his head and said that there weren't any updates on the Stage's status.

In the aftermath of the deadly explosion across Second Avenue on March 26, Icon Realty accused the Stage of illegally siphoning gas, which was the basis for an eviction notice in April. Diakun has strongly denied the accusations, and sued the landlord to stop the eviction process... al the while, the diner has been shuttered.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The possibility that the Stage won't reopen on 2nd Avenue

City serves stop work order on Icon Realty-owned building for installing gas pipe without permit across from deadly 2nd Avenue blast zone (48 comments)

Petition to help reopen the Stage

Tenants at 128 2nd Ave. file suit against Icon Realty in housing court

Troubling talk about 128 Second Ave, and the long-term future of the Stage

[Updated] Report: Icon Realty serves the Stage an eviction notice

Stage owner Roman Diakun responds to allegations of illegally siphoning gas

Petition to help reopen the Stage

[Updated] The Stage is giving away its bulk food and supplies to charity

Report: The Stage is suing landlord Icon Realty to halt eviction process

The Stage is now crowdfunding to help in its legal fight with Icon Realty

Jets vs. Sharks tonight on Avenue B and East 9th Street

The hills will be alive tonight with the sound of.. oh, wait — sorry. Wrong musical!

The outdoor summer/fall film series continues tonight at Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish on East Ninth Street at Avenue B.

For free out in the church garden tonight: "West Side Story."



The doors open 7:30. Film starts around 8.

And upcoming at Trinity:

Oct. 21 - "Ghostbusters II"

Updated 4:15 p.m.

In case of rain this evening, Trinity will show the film indoors...

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: Lisa Arbetter
Occupation: Editor, People StyleWatch
Location: Creative Little Garden, 6th Street between Avenues A and B
Time: 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10

I was born in New York. My family lived in Queens at the time and it was the late 1960s, early 1970s. They moved us out fairly quickly. I only lived here for the first oh-so-formative 6 months of my life. My mom was from the Bronx and my dad was from Brooklyn and at the time we lived in Queens.

My grandfather on my father’s side worked in a vegetable market on the Lower East Side. My grandmother lived on Hester Street. Her family came from one of those towns that was Russia, and then was Poland, or the other way around. It’s a little confusing where she came from. It was the diaspora so people don’t know where they came from. The way she told it — and now this could totally be untrue — was that her family was incredibly rich and they had servants and everything. They had to be smuggled out of the country by their servants and then they wound up here and were very poor.

My dad likes to tell the story about why they left New York. One day they were making breakfast and they put the scrambled eggs next to the table by the window, and he turned around to get the coffee. By the time he came back with the coffee, there was soot all over the eggs. He was like, 'That’s it, we’re moving!' But I think it was more because everybody who had a family back then was leaving.

They took us to this small town outside Pittsburgh called Greensburg. My parents had grown up in these majorly Jewish neighborhoods and they had never been to Pennsylvania. They didn’t know where they were going. I think that they were shocked.

My dad was an entrepreneur. I don’t know where he found them, but he hooked up with these guys who were in Pennsylvania and they started this replacement window company. My mom had this funny Bronx accent and the town that I grew up in was incredibly homogeneous — a very Catholic small town. I remember my dad saying all the time, 'Life is not like this. Life is not like this. It’s like New York. You can't get The New York Times and the only bagels are Lender's.’ We were literally brainwashed into thinking life isn’t this, it’s New York. They would take us here once, twice, three times a year. It was never a question that I would live here. My brother moved here, my sister moved to Albany so we all sort of migrated back.

When I went to school, I was bound and determined to be a therapist. That was it, but when I got there I didn’t really like the program. I went to Syracuse and it happened to have a very good journalism school. I had always liked to write and at the time and I had always been this kid who loved magazines. I just didn’t think of it as a career.

So it happened that they had a program at Syracuse called Magazine and I signed up for that and was hooked. It was at the time when Tina Brown was editing Vanity Fair and it was a big deal. She was mixing celebrity with more high culture, articles on art with tabloid crime stories, but it was a sort of revolutionary mix at the time. She was making a lot of news and I thought it was very glamorous. I loved the idea that I could write and it could be about anything.

My first apartment was on 4th Street between A and B. I had moved in with a friend. It was a crooked apartment with the bathtub in the kitchen — that whole story. I couldn’t afford anything and I was living on an air mattress on the floor. My roommate had a very active social life and I wanted to live by myself so I found a place in Brooklyn. I’ve had four apartments in this city, two on 4th Street and two on Amity Street in Brooklyn. I moved back here in 2006 to 4th Street again. I love the neighborhood so much. There is so much diversity in everything. There’s diversity in the restaurants, the people, the ages, the races and the way people talk, the languages, the way people dress.

I got a job at InStyle around 2000. It was fairly new and the whole idea of the celebrity on the cover was a new thing at that moment. People didn’t care about models anymore. It was sort of like the bridge between the model, the supermodel period and the celebrity period. I then worked at Cargo, which was a short-lived men's magazine, during the whole metrosexual moment in time. Then I got hired at People StyleWatch to help launch it, then went back to InStyle, and now I’m at StyleWatch again.

I started this job about five or six months ago. It’s been crazy but it’s been so much fun. We rethought and redesigned the magazine over the last five months. It was more of a celebrity publication and now it’s more of a street-style publication. There are many blogs but it’s never been put into a magazine format. It’s the entire world. It’s every city, and pulling it together into trends, showing how people put outfits together, adding the service element, adding the shopping element, and also being able to show big beautiful pictures in layouts.

And what I love most about it is the diversity. Style is not one thing; it’s not one body type. All of us think many different things are beautiful, but in the media you see one sort of thing. Now we have a chance to show body diversity, racial diversity, and diversity of style. You see people that aren’t necessarily trendy or the newest thing, but they put their clothes together in such unique ways that it’s fascinating to look at.

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

Big Lee's makes it official on 1st Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

Spanky and Darla's closed back in the late winter at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

The bar quietly reopened under new ownership earlier in the summer… not looking too different from the previous establishment, at least on the outside.

The bar's new neon signage arrived a few days ago — here's Big Lee's Saloon.

Big Lee is a former doorman/bouncer at Hogs & Heifers as well as Coney Island High on St. Mark's Place (he is also originally from Coney Island).

In times of age of high concepts, hand-carved ice and charcuterie boards … it's nice just to have a regular old bar open.

Bar Virage reopens Thursday with a new menu

If you walked by Bar Virage on Second Avenue and East Seventh Street the past two days, then you may have noticed the place is closed… just until Thursday as they prepare for the launch of their new menu. (Bar Virage describes their current menu as "French/Italian/Middle Eastern" influenced.)

They offered a sneak preview of one dish via Instagram…

Closed till Thursday. Get ready for a new #menu! And yes this will be on it. #Steak with mixed #potato mash and #redwine glaze. #nyceats #barvirage #nyfoodie

A photo posted by Bar Virage (@barvirage) on Sep 7, 2015 at 6:30pm PDT

Virage changed its name to Bar Virage in the spring of 2014 as part of a larger transformation, which included a remodeled dining room and new menu items.

A pop-up fashion thrift shop tonight at Rockwood Music Hall to aid the Bowery Mission

The next L.E.S. amis — described as New York's non-profit fashion thrift store — takes place tonight at the Rockwood Music Hall from 5-9.

Via the EVG inbox: "There will be vintage and new designer women's and men's clothing, and all proceeds go to The Bowery Mission."

Here's some background from the LES amis website:

LES amis was founded by fashion designer Jemima Janney. Born from a recognition of the huge amount of wastage in the fashion industry and a desire to help the many homeless of NYC.

L.E.S. amis collects NYC's best designer clothing from those willing to donate. All clothing sold at our pop up stores is high quality, designer, high fashion and affordable. (We're always up for a barter).

The thrift store coincides with NYC Communion Residency shows, a monthly, multi-genre showcase of local and national musicians. (You can gain access to the show with any purchase from the thrift shop.)

Rockwood Music Hall is at 196 Allen St. between Houston and Stanton.

You can read more about L.E.S. amis here.

Community Board 3 member, his wife and daughter's fiancé die in upstate car crash

[Image via Facebook]

Morris Faitelewicz, 58, and his 54-year-old wife Beth, who were well-known on the Lower East Side, died yesterday afternoon during a single-car crash on Route 17 in Sullivan County. Their soon to be son-in-law, 31-year-old Yehuda Bayme, also died. The Faitelewicz's three children — daughter Shani and sons Yaakov and Avi — were injured, but they are reportedly expected to recover.

"The family was a truly amazing Lower East Side family," friend Jacob Goldman told the Post. "Morris volunteered for everything. There was nothing that he was not involved in."

Morris was a former auxiliary police officer, a 9/11 first responder and a member of Community Board 3. Beth was a nurse at Beth Israel.

The family was on their way back to the city when the crash occurred. According to ABC-7: Morris attempted to move into the passing lane, but there was already a car next to his. He turned back but overcorrected, causing the car to run off the road and roll over several times before coming to rest.

The funeral for Morris and Beth is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10 at Bialystoker Synagogue, 7-11 Bialystoker Place (formerly Willett Street) between Grand Street and Broome Street.

Someone apparently felt compelled to take part of Stephen Colbert's face

Stephen Colbert makes his "Late Show" debut tonight... perhaps that was incentive for someone to tear off part of the Colbert poster on Second Avenue and East Seventh Street... or maybe it was one of the ads that included the "Free Kim Davis" scrawl...

The Houston/Bowery Mural Wall is now a blank canvas

The Ron English mural that arrived here back in April is no more…

So long All-American Temper Tot…



We haven't heard who's scheduled next for the wall…

[Updated] Bagel Seed bagels watch: Oven edition

[Photo by a reader from East 14th Street]

EVG readers have sent along exterior photos today showing the progress at Black Seed bagels, which is opening this month on First Avenue between East 10th Street and East 11th...

This shot offers a view of the oven...


[Photo by Vinny & O]

Right there...



According to a recent preview at New York magazine, Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite noted that the third Black Seed location (first in the East Village) will offer salads, bagel sandwiches and pastries ... including rugalach and rainbow cookies to honor the storefront's predecessor, DeRobertis bakery, which closed last December after 110 years in business.

Previously

Updated 9-9

Apparently the Black Seed owners do not want any passersby to take interior photos of how the space is shaping up…



EVG reader Lola Sáenz walked by this afternoon… when she stopped to take a photo from the sidewalk, the workers told her no photos… the woman in the chair was also on the scene. Per Lola: "I talked to her she was nice and explained that it was the owners' idea. I asked her who hired her, and she said the construction company."

We're not sure how many people are stopping to take photos. We received three photos yesterday from three different readers … who said they were curious about the space and/or looking forward to Black Seed opening…

First look at the new Puebla Mexican Food in Essex Street Market

Photos and text by Stacie Joy

When we last saw Irma Marin in March, she was shuttering her much-loved, 25-year-old restaurant on First Avenue due to rent/landlord issues.


[EVG photo from March]

As we first reported at the time, Marin was looking into possibly opening a Puebla Mexican Food stall at the Essex Street Market.

Here's some good news for those who love her burritos, tacos and tortas, not to mention her guacamole, mole, and salsa — she’s
back.



Marin and her family were able to secure a new spot at the Essex Street Market ... and we got a chance to see her last week right after she received approval for the space.





Marin says she’ll have a similar menu to her restaurant at 47 First Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street. She'll also be offering delivery via the usual sources — Seamless, Grub Hub, Delivery.com, etc.

The current space, which will have several stools for diners, is a place-holder where she can vend until sometime in 2018, when the new Essex Street Market is slated to open. Marin and her family have been promised a spot at the new location.

As of now, she is several weeks out from opening her new Puebla Mexican Food. She said that she can’t wait to see her old customers again — and to meet some new faces.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Puebla Mexican Food is closing after 25 years on 1st Avenue

You'll now have until March 23 to visit Puebla Mexican Food on 1st Avenue

Puebla Mexican Food closes on 1st Avenue; Villacemita opens on Avenue A

About Puebla Mexican Food's abrupt closure, and future at the Essex Street Market

More about Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar, coming soon to East 6th Street

[Photo from Aug. 25 by Michael Hirsch]

Gandhi, the 31-year-old East Sixth Street mainstay, closed for good at the end of July.

As we pointed out on Aug. 5, Shane Covey, co-owner of Upstate around the corner, and Adam Elzer, operating partner at Sauce Restaurant, Supper, Lil Frankie's and Frank, are opening a new restaurant here on East Sixth Street just west of First Avenue.

Covey shared a few more details about his plans.

For starters, he's not closing or moving Upstate, the small seafood-centric restaurant with a rotating list of craft beer at 95 First Ave.

"I built that place with my Dad and my chef and I spend just about every waking moment in there and couldn't fathom moving it," Covey said via email. "I put Upstate in the East Village with the sole purpose of being a part of the community. It's a neighborhood place, and it's function is to be part of the community."

And why the new space?

"The problem is we turn so many area people away that it is driving me nuts." So he had been looking for someplace nearby to open what he describes as a neighborhood fish place.

And then the Gandhi space became available. He decided to team up with his friend Adam Elzer on the new venture.

"He asked what I was going to call it. I wasn't sure, so I paused. Adam said, 'let's name it after our fathers.' So Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar it is," Covey said.

He said that Edwin and Neal's will be "a mirror image of Upstate."

"I am just going to emphasize the raw bar aspect. At Upstate I have a full liquor license, but I don't serve booze. I like the craft beer aspect," he said. "So that is what we will be doing at the former Ghandi space. I want to source the freshest seafood and beer and make sure people can afford it. Makes no sense being a local joint if the locals can't afford it."

Ramen Zundo-ya opening first U.S. outpost on East 10th Street

The exterior is shaping up at 84 E. 10th St., where Ramen Zundo-ya is opening its first U.S. restaurant here between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

Tatsuya Hashimoto launched Ramen Zundo-ya in 2002… there are now 15 locations throughout Japan.

There are also global plans, as he lays out on the Ramen Zundo-ya website:

For the first step to share our ramen with the world, our first international shop is to be opened in New York in 2015. We also plan to open 1000 international franchised shops. I strongly believe that ramen is not only for Japanese but for the world. A strong willpower, a good fortune and confidence, have always been my saving grace. It is also on this journey that I came to realize how lucky I am – to be surrounded with most precious people such as my family, my staff and mostly the customers of Ramen Zundo-ya.

Also from the website… this chart Ramen Zundo-ya's ramen…