[East 10th Street and 4th Avenue]
[Avenue A and East 11th Street]
[Phebe's, the Bowery and East 4th Street]
[East 10th Street]
[The Bowery and East 4th Street]
Saturday, December 12, 2015
SantaCon signs of the times
[East 10th Street and 4th Avenue]
[Avenue A and East 11th Street]
[Phebe's, the Bowery and East 4th Street]
[East 10th Street]
[The Bowery and East 4th Street]
Friday, December 11, 2015
SantaCon announces its path through the East Village for 2015
[Photo on 2nd Avenue by @prismpop]The SantaCon organizers have released the complete schedule/slate for tomorrow's annual charity drive, which does not include anything like a bar crawl.
As previously reported, SantaCon kicks off at McCarren Park at 10 a.m. The do-gooders will then spend several hours in the Williamsburg area taking part in charitable activities ...
...before heading to the East Village and the surrounding area to perform more random acts of kindness...
However, the festivities won't be limited to these above "anchor" establishments... the official SantaCon page includes a list of other bars that will welcome Santas tomorrow. Here is that list for 2 to 8 p.m. via the SantaCon website:
BIG LEE’S SALOON
140 1ST AVE
FINNERTY’S
221 2ND AVE
AMSTERDAM BILLARDS
110 EAST 11TH ST
THE BRAZEN FOX
106 3RD AVE
CAFECITO
185 AVENUE C
ROYALE 157
157 AVENUE C
DURDEN BAR
213 2ND AVE
BAIT & HOOK
231 2ND AVE
THE CONTINENTAL
25 3RD AVE
THE SPOTTED OWL TAVERN
211 AVENUE A
BULL MCCABES
29 SAINT MARKS PL
PROFESSOR THOM’S
219 2ND AVE
CROCODILE LOUNGE
325 E. 14TH ST
DOUBLE DOWN SALOON
14 AVENUE A
PHOENIX BAR
447 E. 13TH ST
LITTLE TOWN NYC
118A EAST 15TH ST
PINK’S BAR & GRILL
242 E. 10TH ST
DOC HOLLIDAY’S
141 AVENUE A
VILLAGE POURHOUSE
64 3RD AVE
VAZAC HORSESHOE BAR
108 AVENUE B
THE BELFRY
222 E. 14TH ST
THIRSTY SCHOLAR
155 2ND AVE
THE CENTRAL BAR
109 E. 9TH ST
COYOTE UGLY
153 1ST AVENUE
[Photo Wednesday by Steven]
Apparently SantaCon will no longer be stopping at any Lower East Side venues.
According to Gothamist, the main organizer of SantaCon lives in the East Village. From an interview published Tuesday with the unnamed person:
I went last year, and I would say people generally got what they wanted. I guess if it’s not your scene, the answer is just avoid it, right?
That’s a great solution. I mean, I don’t go by Madison Square Garden on game nights. I just don’t like that energy. So I know to steer clear of it. I try not to go out in the East Village on a Saturday night. I don’t like that energy. A lot of college students not sure of how to act.
But you could argue that that's sort of the same contingent that—
No but I don’t complain about it! I just don’t go out in that neighborhood during that time. I don’t frequent those venues. I don’t say that they don’t have a right to do it. I don’t like crass commercialism so I don’t go to the Rockefeller tree lighting. I don’t go to Times Square. It’s my choice what I choose to do. I don’t tell anyone they can’t do it.
In a piece on SantaCon the other day, the Times names names here.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, if you want to keep tabs on the action...Fun!
Tomorrow the tweets will be coming hot & heavy (just like Mrs. Claus heh heh). To opt out of the text alerts, reply “STOP” to Santa’s tweet.
— santacon (@santacon) December 12, 2015Deal with the devil
Some music to help pass the holidays. So Pitted with "Rot in Hell," from the Seattle trio's February release on Sub Pop.
The NYPD found this dog
Anyone recognize this fella, was found wondering the #les #eastvillage He has no microchip or tags #illbehomeforxmas pic.twitter.com/UWASlxkPRd
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) December 11, 2015Currently in possession of the 9th Precinct on East Fifth Street...
[Updated] The wait for the gas to return at Hot Kitchen explained with emojis
[Photo last month by Steven]
On Nov. 21, Hot Kitchen, the Sichuan restaurant at 104 Second Ave. near East Sixth Street, closed after the building's landlord had work done on the main gas pipe, per a sign on the door.
Three weeks later, and Hot Kitchen remains closed. And the restaurant has new signs on the door communicating their frustration in a way that we can all understand — via emojis...
[New photos via Steven]
So, per the sign, the building's plumber completed the pressure test and filed a request for turn on with Con Ed on Dec. 3.
And they are still waiting...
Updated 12/12
Hot Kitchen is back open.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Gas work in building temporarily shuts down Hot Kitchen on 2nd Avenue
EV Grieve Etc.: 2nd Ave. explosion selfies named worst of 2015; Teenage Jesus & the Jerks reunited
[Photo by Derek Berg]
CB3 wants more community time to review ideas for the Williamsburg Trolley Terminal (The Lo-Down) ... and is suspicious of the Lowline (BoweryBoogie)
Selfies taken in the aftermath of the deadly Second Avenue explosion named worst of 2015 (Mashable)
How Wells Fargo scored with Stuy Town deal (The Real Deal)
Lydia Lunch on the resurrection of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks (Time Out)
Quality time with Dora in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)
Jeremiah visits Black Seed bagels on First Avenue (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
Checking in on how Jay Walder is faring running Citi Bike (Fast Company)
Some history of the Silk Building — former home to Tower Records — on East Fourth Street and Broadway (Ephemeral New York)
When you could buy a horse at 126-128 E. 13th St. (Off the Grid)
More bikers, drugs and rock-&-roll on-screen (Anthology Film Archives)
Midnight movie this weekend: Spend xmas eve with John McClane at Nakatomi Plaza (Sunshine Cinema)
A sampling of musical presentations this holiday season at churches in NYC (The New York Times)
Thanks to HiFi owner Mike Stuto for asking me to do a podcast ... part of Live at Fi — Transmissions From The Hifi Bar in NYC series (iTunes)
... and last night was the opening reception for Art Basel on 4th Street at 212 Arts...
... per the EVG inbox...
If you weren't lucky enough to make it down to Art Basel this year, don't fret. 212 Arts is pleased to present an exhibition highlighting the works of some of our favorite artists many of whom are showing in Miami. This show will feature works by AVone, Bind156, Claw, Emilio Ramos, Eric Inkala, Julia YuBaba, Key Detail, Reso, Russell King, and Sean Sullivan. This exhibit also marks the first gallery showing of the acclaimed artist Mike Mozart who has revealed himself as the ghost artist behind Alec Monopoly. Join us at 212 Arts for ART BASEL on 4th STREET.
The exhibit is up through Dec. 31. Details here. The gallery is at 240 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B.
The 24th annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square Park is Sunday
[Photo by Steven]
In case you didn't see the posters that went up — and around — the Park yesterday afternoon... the 24th annual tree lighting ceremony is Sunday from 4-5 p.m. (And be sure to break out your favorite holiday shorts and tank tops for the event: Sunday's high will reach 66. Degrees.)
Anyway, the tree lighting will feature, as always:
Music from Mandel & Lydon Trio
Carolers of Olde New York from Theatre for the New City
Refreshments from Veselka Restaurant
Additional Support from East Village Books, Vazacs/7B (listed on the poster as Vazac Ave B Restaurant) and Apple Savings Bank
... and co-hosted by...
East Village Parks Conservancy
Third Street Music School Settlement
Tompkins Square Park Neighborhood Coalition
The tree was planted in 1992 in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS," per the sign that hangs near the tree.
You can revisit last year's tree lighting here.
As a commenter noted last year, the lights and tree were "delightfully askew."
Report: Toledano tenants hanging tough in face of evictions
As the paper notes, to date, "Toledano, who purchased more than a dozen properties in the area this year, hasn’t made the best of impressions on his new tenants, who have reported late-night phone calls and ominous visits by his associates that leave them feeling threatened."
And there have been a few eviction notices, which arrived after buyout offers. Lawyer David Frazer currently represents three Toledano tenants in rent-regulated apartments in the neighborhood.
“Two of the cases that I currently represent involve completely made-up allegations by the landlord, one of which they’ve already caved in on and given my client a renewal lease,” Frazer told The Villager.
The attorney said that case involved a tenant who had a pseudonym listed on his mailbox from the beginning of his tenancy, which the landlord used as evidence to claim that the man was illegally subletting the apartment.
Read the whole Villager article here.
In a $97 million deal, Toledano and Brook Hill closed on a 16-building East Village portfolio back in the fall.
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
Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio
More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties
Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive
In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'
Report: Lawsuit accuses Raphael Toledano of not paying his office rent
[Updated] First retail tenant at 51 Astor Place opens on... Sunday
The anticipation builds at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star ... as the CVS debuts on Sunday.
The opening marks the first official retail outlet here in the base of the 13-story, 430,000-square-foot office building. (You can't really count the 215 Chrystie sales office on the Third Avenue side for hotelier-developer Ian Schrager because they don't accept the Discover card.)
The familiar glow of the CVS and Pharmacy letters provide contextual harmony* and a strikingly modernistic dramatic streetscape* for the Fumihiko Maki-designed building that reportedly cost $300 million to develop.
If you need any CVS-type items before Sunday, then you could try the Walgreens or Kmart directly across Astor Place or, perhaps, the Walgreens on East 14th Street and Fourth Avenue … or the Duane Reade locations on East 14th Street and Third Avenue and East 14th Street and Broadway ... or the Duane Reade on Third Avenue and East 10th Street. Or the Duane Reade on Broadway near East 10th Street.
CVS will eventually be joined by three more ground-level businesses — Bluestone Lane Coffee, Chop’t and Flywheel Sports.
Updated:
The Grand Opening has been pushed back to Dec. 18!
Previously on EV Grieve:
You can finally shop at 51 Astor Place!
BREAKING: CVS is the 1st retail tenant for the Death Star! (42 comments)
1st sign of the incoming CVS at 51 Astor Place
CVS has teamed up with Watson, IBM’s supercomputer
3 new retail tenants for 51 Astor Place: Bluestone Lane Coffee, Chop’t and Flywheel Sports
* cut-n-paste from some random architectural reviews
Thursday, December 10, 2015
[Updated] EVG on EVR
Tomorrow morning (Dec. 11!) from 10-noon, I'll be talking with Robert Shapiro, founder of Social Tees Animal Rescue, and East Village-based illustrator Peter Arkle and writer-editor Amy Goldwasser, creators of the book "All Black Cats Are Not Alike."
Listen in via dashradio.com/EVR or the Dash Radio app.
The show will be rebroadcast at some point during the weekend. And I'll try to get a copy of the program to post here later.
Updated 12/11
You can tune in to the rebroadcast on Saturday (tomorrow!) from 10 a.m. to noon at dashradio.com/EVR or the Dash Radio app.
Report: Manhattan’s vacancy rates are highest in the East Village (but rent is still going up)
From Curbed:
While median rental prices climbed for the 21st consecutive month, the vacancy rate is the highest it's been in nine years, which means landlords are being forced to offer tenants more concessions on rentals, explains data whiz Jonathan Miller, the author of the Elliman Report.
From DNAinfo:
Miller doesn’t expect to see big rent drops anytime soon since there is still a lot of “pressure” on the rental market — there’s a “robust” economy as well as tight credit and the potential of rising mortgage rates, which prevent some renters from becoming buyers.
But affordability continues to be a big issue, Miller said.
According to Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats, Manhattan’s vacancy rates were highest in the East Village (3.2 percent), followed by the West Village (2.6 percent).
“The fact that vacancy rates are the highest in the East and West Villages is strong evidence that for apartment seekers, paying high prices for small spaces no longer adds up,” Malin said.
Malin said the “party’s over” for landlords, as inventory has been “trending upward for the past six months,” giving renters more options.
Citing lack of support, Jimmy McMillan retires from the Rent Is Too Damn High Party
Jimmy mcmillan founder of the rent is too damn high movement/ party Quit - walking away due to the lack of support of the people.— JIMMY McMILLAN (@Rentisto) December 10, 2015Speaking of high rents... East Village resident Jimmy McMillan has announced his retirement from politics, specifically the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, under which he ran for mayor, governor and, for a moment, president.
According to The New York Times:
In a news release infused with misspellings and other errors that was dated Tuesday, Mr. McMillan said voters had been “totally brainwashed” and criticized Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, for not securing “a rent reduction for the people in the cities of Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Manhattan and Queens.”
“Rent is too damn high is an international crisis,” he wrote. “There are many questions the people should ask themselves. I which them the best — I’m out.”
And we're not sure about what came of the eviction battle over his rent-stabilized apartment of 38 years on St. Mark's Place. We saw him get in his car on the block earlier this week.
Meanwhile, on Nov. 29, McMillan published this Merry Christmas message/song on YouTube...
As the Hotel Indigo and Mr. Purple continue efforts to be part of the LES neighborhood
We’re toasting to a new neighborhood to explore + new discoveries made at #mrpurplenyc. Cheers! #HotelIndigo pic.twitter.com/VI0CFMDKgQ
— Hotel Indigo (@hotelindigo) December 10, 2015The recently opened Hotel Indigo on Orchard Street continues to try to make inroads with the local community. The latest effort: a nighttime light show titled The Color of Discovery.
From the press invite:
With the launch of The Color of Discovery, the Hotel Indigo brand is set to expose consumers to a one-of-a-kind, community experience like never before. The Color of Discovery leads travelers to explore and discover the local neighborhoods of each Hotel Indigo property through a series of mnemonic reveals. The brand’s message is to deliver a unique boutique experience at each location and the color Indigo is the emblematic of each unfolding adventure.
To launch this campaign, Hotel Indigo Lower East Side New York is hosting an event exposing the culture of the Lower East Side (complete with graffiti art, performances and neighborhood elements) while partnering with Dawn of Man and Lee Quiñones to bring the new campaign to life in a truly imaginative display of 3D projection art that incorporates the signature Indigo mnemonic, thus revealing each aspect of the local scene.
[Photo by James and Karla Murray]
At one point, it looked like the projection of an old tenement projected on the new building that the Hotel Indigo replaced. BoweryBoogie noted this morning that this Color of Discovery is helping the hotel further solidify "its sense of self, you know, just in case you didn’t realize the towering 23-story building was there."
Then there is the hotel's 15th-floor bar called Mr. Purple.
According to initial reports, the bar, featuring an outdoor pool, was named after Adam Purple, the well-known Lower East Side environmentalist and activist, who died on Sept. 14 at age 84. (The Gerber Group, who operates the bar space, later seemed to backtrack on this.)
On Nov. 24, a rep for the Gerber Group sent us the following statement in regard to Mr. Purple to show that they are committed to supporting the local community:
The name of the bar and restaurant was established when the project was first conceptualized in 2014. It was indeed inspired by Lower East Side resident David Wilkie, who became known as "Mr. Purple." A gardener and activist, he was an iconic figure who dedicated his life to beautifying and improving the neighborhood. A mural was painted in his honor and can be seen on display in the lobby area of the hotel.
Also, in honoring Wilkie's dedication to the neighborhood, the restaurant is committed to supporting the Lower East Side community through several initiatives including partnerships with the Bowery Mission and local businesses such as Russ & Daughters, il laboratorio del gelato and Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery who are all featured on the restaurant's menu. Additionally, through the Lower East Side Employment Network (LESEN), 30 percent of jobs at the hotel have been allocated to local residents.
After posting this statement, we heard from Russ & Daughters, who wanted to set the record straight:
Russ & Daughters doesn’t have a partnership with Mr. Purple or Hotel Indigo. That restaurant simply purchased smoked salmon at our shop one time. We never authorized them to use our name on their menus or in their promotional materials.
We then contacted the Bowery Mission to see if they do have a relationship with the hotel. In an email, James Winans, chief development officer for the Bowery Mission, told us the following:
The Gerber Group reached out to The Bowery Mission a number of weeks ago. They seem genuinely interested in getting to know The Bowery Mission and learning how they can help us serve our homeless and poor neighbors. The Gerber Group has made an initial financial contribution and spent a morning volunteering at the Mission.
Part of this relationship also included Mr. Purple donating a $1 to the Mission from every drink sold on Thanksgiving eve and Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, in a report yesterday, BoweryBoogie noted further tension between the bar and some local community members, particularly those who were friends with Adam Purple.
Multiple sources tell us that there was actually a meeting earlier in the year between Adam Purple and the Gerber Group. While the hotel was still under wraps. Purple apparently never gave them permission to use his name or his likeness and did not sign any documents to that effect.
And!
We hear whispers that a large contingent wants to approach the hotel with positive solutions ... If the hotel is open to hearing these ideas and willing to speak with a representative from the community, they are saying, then there might be a way to honor Purple’s legacy, and at least might make a clueless concept a bit less offensive.
The short list of ideas includes asking the hotel to create a proper memorial in the bar with a display of photos and info about Adam, taking the “Mr. Purple Burger” off of the menu [Purple was a devout vegetarian] or replacing it with a garden burger, and educating the staff on the real story of Adam Purple.
For the time being, New Year's Eve reservations are now being accepted at Mr. Purple...
🍾💜🍾💜🍾 Celebrate #NYE at Hotel Indigo LES @mrpurplenyc!GA + table packages are on sale now #nye #2016 #nye2016 pic.twitter.com/v9dFFKYkof— Hotel Indigo L.E.S. (@HotelindigoLES) December 8, 2015If you're interested, the VIP Table Package No. 3 is $3,000 ...
Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] The upscale hotel bar with a pool named for the late environmentalist Adam Purple
[Updated] The Gerber Group responds to criticism over Mr. Purple
Construction watch: 22 Bond St./25 Great Jones
Construction continues at a glacial pace at 22 Bond St./25 Great Jones.
From Lafayette, you can see that workers are adding on to the Great Jones-facing exterior of the building ...
Right here.
As previously noted, the building will now house a 6-unit condo. (The building is officially 22 Bond Street, though it's also known as 25 Great Jones since the property extends through the block.)
[The view from Bond Street]
BKSK Architects designed the exterior.
Here's what they have to say about it at the BKSK website:
What was a long-dormant 14-story superstructure originally intended to be a hotel is being remade into a more contextually sensitive and art-inspired residential loft building.
Plans for the through-block site include reducing the height of the existing tower, which faces Great Jones Street, by two floors and re-establishing the building’s street presence with new façades positioned on either lot line. Taking advantage of the site’s expansive exposure on Lafayette Street, the building will become a literal canvas for art with a giant, site-specific mural. Additionally, the deep site is bracketed by two facades of weathered steel on the north and south ends, framing an “art garden” within, visible to passersby through a large vitrine near the entrance on Bond Street.
Within the garden, landscape, an expansive mural, sculpture, and elevated trees are framed by architecture, transforming the building into a vessel for art. This building-as-art concept continues the neighborhood’s legacy as an incubator for art, where beginning in the 1970s, some the city’s most prominent contemporary artists emerged. This tradition has inspired a new generation of art installations – along Bond Street in particular – that work in concert with the architecture.
According to The Real Deal, the units range in price from $9.26 million to $19.88 million. Pricing starts at $3,200 — a foot.
At one point with different developers and architects involved, the property was going to be a hotel several years back.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Your chance to buy a boutique hotel on Great Jones
25 Great Jones St. returns to the land of undead developments
Ruffian Wine Bar signage arrives on East 7th Street
[Photo by Steven]
The Ruffian Wine Bar sign is up now in the window at 125 E. Seventh St., in the storefronts between Butter Lane and Big Gay Ice Cream.
As the name implies, a wine bar/cafe is in the works for the small space that previously housed Oaxaca Taqueria here between Avenue A and First Avenue.
Ruffian has an active Instagram account showing renovation progress ... (the website is still partially under construction).
Owner and sommelier Patrick Cornet has worked as GM and beverage director at Lelabar on Hudson Street ... as well as wine director at Resto on East 29th Street.
This will be the second new wine bar right along this stretch of East Seventh Street... Virgola, the Greenwich Village-based oyster-and-wine cafe, is due soon at No. 111.
Activity to note at interesting new business coming to East 14th Street
Well, we haven't seen much activity of late at the incoming Domino's Pizza® location at 440 E. 14th St. just west of Avenue A. The sign arrived back in July.
And that has been about it for the Domino's Pizza® Watching.
However! The gate was open yesterday...
... offering a look at the work in progress...
Perhaps the crew here was waiting for the adjacent buildings to be demolished for a new residential building with 114 units.
In any event, this location hasn't shown up just yet at the Domino's Pizza® website. Big D fans will still need to order from STORE #3694 on Allen Street or STORE #3616 on West 8th Street.
Thanks Edmund John Dunn!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Interesting new business opening on East 14th Street
Work continues at interesting new business coming to East 14th Street
Signage arrives for interesting new business on East 14th Street
And that has been about it for the Domino's Pizza® Watching.
However! The gate was open yesterday...
... offering a look at the work in progress...
Perhaps the crew here was waiting for the adjacent buildings to be demolished for a new residential building with 114 units.
In any event, this location hasn't shown up just yet at the Domino's Pizza® website. Big D fans will still need to order from STORE #3694 on Allen Street or STORE #3616 on West 8th Street.
Thanks Edmund John Dunn!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Interesting new business opening on East 14th Street
Work continues at interesting new business coming to East 14th Street
Signage arrives for interesting new business on East 14th Street
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Stand out at SantaCon this Saturday by dressing in a polar bear suit
Per a seller on the Lower East Side via Craigslist:
Get the hottest costume for Santacon - a polar bear. Unleash the beast within. This costume is well constructed, warm, and stylish. Wearing this costume, you are guaranteed to grab the attention of the opposite sex. In fact, it's very likely they'll help you take it off. Buy it now!
The costume is clean and was worn once for a holiday event. I paid a lot more than I should have for it, but I couldn't resist. Now it's yours for half the price ($100) and twice the self-control.
The costume is four pieces: The head, the body (with attached gloves), and two feet (the feet have never been worn). It also comes with a convenient carrying bag. Buy it and make this the best Santacon of your goddamn life.
Might be fun to wear to the MulchFest 2016 as well!
Look for the gory details tomorrow on the SantaCon 2015 not-a-pubcrawl route.
NYPD looking for suspects in apparent random East 9th Street stabbing
According to NBC New York, the NYPD is searching for two men who allegedly approached a man standing on East Ninth Street and stabbed him several times in the back.
Surveillance video picked up the two suspects approaching the 49-year-old victim on the 300 block of East Ninth Street near Second Avenue just after 4:30 a.m. last Saturday, Dec. 5. The two men reportedly fled after the attack. The victim was treated and released for his injuries. It was unclear if the man knew his assailants.
The NBC report did not include a description of the suspects.
Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.
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: Tony Feher
Occupation: Artist
Location: Avenue A between East 3rd and East 4th
Time: 4:30 pm on Friday, Dec. 4
I moved here from Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1981 because I wanted to have a life, which I was not going to have in Corpus Christi. I moved into my apartment on East 2nd Street in 1984. I worked in SoHo. The art galleries were there and I was kind of between places and somebody let me sleep in their basement on some crates full of art. Then I moved over here because it was cheap. I’ve lived here for 31 years.
I’m an artist. When I first came here I was working in galleries or for another artist in the contemporary art world. I now support myself with my own work. I do sculpture for a lack of a better word, but really the breakthrough for me came when [started using] found objects and common ordinary things that we just overlook but I found interest in them and kind of created a unique genre of the moment.
It was a good neighborhood for found objects because there was so much debris and so much stuff everywhere. Like milk crates — nobody ever paid attention to them, but when you see them scattered around the neighborhood in green and red and blue and pink… I thought, ‘Wow these are like shells on the beach.’ It’s landscape, but it’s an urban landscape and they used to just be dotted around. Now you can’t find anything.
It was vibrant. It was tough, but [I was] young and looking for adventure and so that was cool. But I had to walk five blocks to the laundry, and if you turned your back, somebody would steal your clothes. There weren’t any markets around. The Koreans showed up after awhile and they changed the neighborhood completely because they had fresh food. Now they’ve all been kicked out. There’s not a single Korean market left. Grace from Gracefully had three or four places in the neighborhood and they’re all gone. And she, to her credit, when the deli workers, green market workers went on strike, she was the first one to settle with them, pay them more money, and get back to work. So I give Grace a lot of credit.
Two-thirds of the buildings on my street were abandoned and burned out. There was like a Kmart for heroin across the street in this vacant lot. For an artist it was great but I think it’s difficult to romanticize the ghetto, especially if you’re not from the ghetto. And that was not my background. A city can’t survive with huge sections burned out. It’s just the greed of real-estate development that destroys the integrity of a neighborhood and forces people out. I was too poor to move to Brooklyn when all my friends moved to Brooklyn and they’ve all now moved like five times. They keep getting pushed out. I worked in my apartment as my studio for 20 years and kind of woke up one day and all my friends were gone.
Westminster apparently bought [nearly 30] buildings in the neighborhood in the last year or two. The building was built in, say 1890, or something like that and had marble wainscoting four feet high up the stairway and all the way up. It’s a beautiful building. The first thing that they did with my building, which was really sad since it was the only building on the block that survived intact through the dark ages, was smash out the interior and turn it into a ruin for the look of the exposed brick interior. They made it look like it had been a burned-out hole, which they think appeals to the young suburban NYU kids. But it could have been a landmark interior. It was spectacularly beautiful. It needed to be cleaned; it didn’t need to be smashed. And the dust it created… people got sick. It’s just so vulgar, the way that they approach the whole thing.
I have a curator friend who has lived on Clinton Street for longer than I’ve been here and he predicted that the galleries would move to the Lower East Side, and I was like, ‘are you nuts?’ It’s interesting that the artists have been replaced with the galleries. The artists can’t afford to live there and the galleries are paying these big rents. That’s the thing in the city — there’s no place else to go.
When everybody moved to Chelsea, that was still an open territory for galleries. That’s full now and the High Line has turned that into a luxury neighborhood. There are a lot of substantial galleries that are having trouble, because the art market has changed so dramatically with the art fairs. It’s insane with the billionaires who come in and the speculation. I’m going to be left on the street but there’s going to be five or six mega-galleries and if you’re not involved with them, then you’re not involved.
Where is the art world going to go? I don’t know. It proved that Brooklyn doesn’t hold up because the people with money don’t want to go over there. For a little while Williamsburg was okay, but they ain’t taking the L Train and traffic is traffic. That’s when the Lower East Side bloomed. I mean, there’s stuff going on over in Brooklyn of course, and a lot of young artists are there. But it’s the same story — if a gallery over there gets successful, they move over here as quick as they can.
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
By James Maher
Name: Tony Feher
Occupation: Artist
Location: Avenue A between East 3rd and East 4th
Time: 4:30 pm on Friday, Dec. 4
I moved here from Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1981 because I wanted to have a life, which I was not going to have in Corpus Christi. I moved into my apartment on East 2nd Street in 1984. I worked in SoHo. The art galleries were there and I was kind of between places and somebody let me sleep in their basement on some crates full of art. Then I moved over here because it was cheap. I’ve lived here for 31 years.
I’m an artist. When I first came here I was working in galleries or for another artist in the contemporary art world. I now support myself with my own work. I do sculpture for a lack of a better word, but really the breakthrough for me came when [started using] found objects and common ordinary things that we just overlook but I found interest in them and kind of created a unique genre of the moment.
It was a good neighborhood for found objects because there was so much debris and so much stuff everywhere. Like milk crates — nobody ever paid attention to them, but when you see them scattered around the neighborhood in green and red and blue and pink… I thought, ‘Wow these are like shells on the beach.’ It’s landscape, but it’s an urban landscape and they used to just be dotted around. Now you can’t find anything.
It was vibrant. It was tough, but [I was] young and looking for adventure and so that was cool. But I had to walk five blocks to the laundry, and if you turned your back, somebody would steal your clothes. There weren’t any markets around. The Koreans showed up after awhile and they changed the neighborhood completely because they had fresh food. Now they’ve all been kicked out. There’s not a single Korean market left. Grace from Gracefully had three or four places in the neighborhood and they’re all gone. And she, to her credit, when the deli workers, green market workers went on strike, she was the first one to settle with them, pay them more money, and get back to work. So I give Grace a lot of credit.
Two-thirds of the buildings on my street were abandoned and burned out. There was like a Kmart for heroin across the street in this vacant lot. For an artist it was great but I think it’s difficult to romanticize the ghetto, especially if you’re not from the ghetto. And that was not my background. A city can’t survive with huge sections burned out. It’s just the greed of real-estate development that destroys the integrity of a neighborhood and forces people out. I was too poor to move to Brooklyn when all my friends moved to Brooklyn and they’ve all now moved like five times. They keep getting pushed out. I worked in my apartment as my studio for 20 years and kind of woke up one day and all my friends were gone.
Westminster apparently bought [nearly 30] buildings in the neighborhood in the last year or two. The building was built in, say 1890, or something like that and had marble wainscoting four feet high up the stairway and all the way up. It’s a beautiful building. The first thing that they did with my building, which was really sad since it was the only building on the block that survived intact through the dark ages, was smash out the interior and turn it into a ruin for the look of the exposed brick interior. They made it look like it had been a burned-out hole, which they think appeals to the young suburban NYU kids. But it could have been a landmark interior. It was spectacularly beautiful. It needed to be cleaned; it didn’t need to be smashed. And the dust it created… people got sick. It’s just so vulgar, the way that they approach the whole thing.
I have a curator friend who has lived on Clinton Street for longer than I’ve been here and he predicted that the galleries would move to the Lower East Side, and I was like, ‘are you nuts?’ It’s interesting that the artists have been replaced with the galleries. The artists can’t afford to live there and the galleries are paying these big rents. That’s the thing in the city — there’s no place else to go.
When everybody moved to Chelsea, that was still an open territory for galleries. That’s full now and the High Line has turned that into a luxury neighborhood. There are a lot of substantial galleries that are having trouble, because the art market has changed so dramatically with the art fairs. It’s insane with the billionaires who come in and the speculation. I’m going to be left on the street but there’s going to be five or six mega-galleries and if you’re not involved with them, then you’re not involved.
Where is the art world going to go? I don’t know. It proved that Brooklyn doesn’t hold up because the people with money don’t want to go over there. For a little while Williamsburg was okay, but they ain’t taking the L Train and traffic is traffic. That’s when the Lower East Side bloomed. I mean, there’s stuff going on over in Brooklyn of course, and a lot of young artists are there. But it’s the same story — if a gallery over there gets successful, they move over here as quick as they can.
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
The East Village Holiday Shopping Night — is tonight (and today)
[Photo last month on East 9th Street via Steven]
The East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA) is hosting its second annual Holiday Shopping Night tonight.
Nearly 20 shops are taking part in the event ... and with some discounts for shoppers. Here's the list via the EVIMA website... (and these deals are good all day, not just this evening...)
There's also a free holiday party at Ballaro (no Taylor Swift xmas song requests please), 77 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street, from 6 to 9 p.m. (You can RSVP here.)
EVIMA is an offshoot of the East Village Community Coalition.
[Updated] Caffe Bene opens today on St. Mark's Place
The (soft) opening sign has been up inside here at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...
The storefront previously housed a Pinkberry, which closed at the beginning of the year.
This will make the second Caffe Benne to open in the East Village in recent weeks. The outpost on Avenue A at East 13th Street, which serves beer and wine, is up and running too...
Has anyone been to the Avenue A location? Several readers have noted that the proprietor of this franchise (the company is based in Seoul, South Korea) lives in the neighborhood, where he grew up in a family of deli/market owners.
The one comment I heard from several people about the Avenue A location — it's a little bright...
... at least compared with Ost Cafe a block away on A at East 12th Street...
Updated 9:04 a.m.
Several neighbors have now noted that the Avenue A Caffe Bene is opting for the bar vibe, promoting football and a buy-one-get-one-free special on weekend nights ... instead of say, coffee ...
CB3 signed off on the beer-wine license back in September, though with some hesitation ...
From the minutes (PDF) of that meeting:
Community Board 3 was concerned about granting a wine beer license to this applicant given that 1) this application for an international coffee house chain store is in a location which has previously been unlicensed and was last operated as a laundromat, 2) this location is in close proximity to numerous businesses with liquor licenses, as well as numerous independently operated small coffee shops, 3) that this applicant has no experience operating an eating and drinking establishment or having a wine beer license, 4) while there are seven (7) coffee houses in New York City from this international chain, this is the only operator seeking to obtain a wine beer license, and 5) opposition from area residents, the 182-184 Avenue A Tenants Association and the North Avenue A Neighborhood Association to the granting of an additional liquor license for this location because of its hours of operation, the number of other licensed businesses in the area and the garbage, drunkenness and noise which now pervades this corner..
According to the stipulations, this Caffe Benne may have a happy hour to 8 p.m. each night. The above photo is from 10:47 p.m., according to the neighbor who took it (and the time stamp on the photo)...
H/T Steven
Previously on EV Grieve:
2 Caffe Bene locations coming to the East Village (45 comments)
Reader report: Rent hike washes away longtime Avenue A laundromat (11 comments)
Work starts on the 2 Caffe Bene spaces in the East Village (26 comments)
Brewing Soon signage arrives for Caffe Bene on Avenue A (25 comments)
The Caffe Bene on Avenue A looks very close to opening (24 comments)
Makki Deli & Grocery has closed
The small deli serving Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian food to go at 440 E. Ninth St. has closed. EVG correspondent Steven spotted workers hanging for rent signs on the space just west of Avenue A last evening.
Makki opened back in April, and people seemed to like the food (and the portions and prices). However, the place never seemed to attract many customers, at least based on the times that I looked in while walking by... The food was good, though it was tough passing up Punjabi Grocery & Deli on East First Street for this.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Have you tried Makki Deli & Grocery?
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Report: SantaCon starts in McCarran Park before heading to the East Village; plus, organizers respond to elected officials
Busy day on the SantaCon 2015 front.
First! According to DNAinfo, the Santas will first assemble at McCarran Park in Williamsburg Saturday morning at 10. DNAinfo previously quoted a police source saying that the assembled will eventually arrive in the East Village to continue the festivities.
And where exactly here? You'll have a little longer to wait.
Per DNAInfo:
A major portion of this year's SantaCon route will be publicly released Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, said civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, hired last year as the event's liaison with government agencies and the press.
Meanwhile! SantaCon organizers and Siegel responded to the letter made public yesterday by 12 local elected officials.
You may read their response right here...
Art around the Park
Photo this morning on East Seventh Street and Avenue A outside Tompkins Square Park via Derek Berg ...
RIP Brian Fair
[Photo outside the former Sounds at 20 St. Mark's Place by Panda Cat]
Brian Fair, owner of St. Mark's Sounds, passed away Thursday after a brief hospital stint, according to friends. (We'll add more biographical information as it becomes available.)
Sounds opened at 20 St. Mark's Place — above the Grassroots Tavern — in 1979. (He also ran an annex for several years in the early 1990s at 16 St. Mark's Place.) Sounds closed for good on Oct. 11, making it the last record store on St. Mark's Place.
[Photo by Alex via Flaming Pablum]
We asked three former employees at Sounds for their remembrances of Fair.
Michael Dolan:
Brian was a curmudgeon, but a lovable one. Think of all the record store clerks you have encountered in your lives. He was the alpha of all of them.
I worked for him for seven years and I'm grateful for that time and experience. I learned a lot about life and music and had a lot of laughs. When I started touring and leaving New York every year, Brian always had a job for me when I returned. I always tried to swing by the store when I was in the neighborhood to say hi or exchange Christmas presents in years to come. We would linger on the steps and share stories and he always made me happy.
I can only imagine after 30 years of selling records and the decline of the industry closing the store left Brian with a void in his life. I only wish he had the time to relax and enjoy his retirement before leaving us so soon.
Paul Kostabi:
My first job in NYC 1984 was working for him remodeling record bins and building Sounds Video from the ground up. The mahogany cabinets at the store survived. A few weeks ago I was there and he said, "you know, what killed me — with a tear in his eye — the mp3. The mp3 fucking killed me."
[He was] a great person.
James Lawrence, who worked at Sounds since 1995, and alone with Fair the past eight years:
He loved rock music, especially hard rock — Motörhead. And since he worked so much in the shop he didn't get to go to many shows. Well, Motörhead sister group Girlschool did a mini tour of the states a few months ago. I knew the Girls from back in the day so we took the day off and went to Brooklyn to see the show. We went early and I was able to introduce him to the Girls. I could tell how happy Brian was. It was the last show he got to see, I believe.
That makes me happy.
Brian loved music. It was his life. He cared about people underneath his gruff appearance. I remember Kembra from Karen Black gave him a homemade card thanking him for his support in the East Village music scene. When he read the card he started to cry.
That's the Brian I knew.
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