More movies at MoRUS and 'Garbagia Island'

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) is continuing to host Movies @ MoRUS, a monthly film series exploring themes such as social justice and political reform.

Playing tomorrow night (July 21):

"The True Cost," a 2015 documentary "examining fast-fashion’s global supply chain and its tragic effects on human lives and the environment." The film is screening at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden, on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street, at 8:30 p.m. Movies @ Morus are free to the public but a suggested donation of $5 is appreciated.



And via the EVG inbox...

"The True Cost" sets a fitting backdrop for MoRUS’s participation in Loisaida Center’s Community Summer Program, “Garbagia Island,” a dystopian representation of the Island of Puerto Rico and its current economical and political situation.

The program will present workshops open to the public and held at the Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural Community Garden where participants will learn, among other activities, how to create fashion, masks and costumes with recycled materials. A culmination of these community workshops will manifest in a up-cycled fashion and costume presentation at La Plaza on Saturday, July 30 at 4 p.m.

To learn more about these free, pirate-themed events visit the Loisaida website.

Shaun Martin found guilty of murder in 2013 crash at East Village Farm and Grocery

Queens resident Shaun Martin, who prosecutors say was drunk and high on PCP when he plowed his car into East Village Farm and Grocery on Second Avenue on June 19, 2013, which led to the death of florist Mohammed Akkas Ali, was found guilty of murder today.

He faces up to life in prison. He is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 21.

Here's the statement from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.:

MARTIN was convicted following a bench trial in New York State Supreme Court of all of the charges against him, including Murder in the Second Degree, Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, and Assault and Reckless Endangerment in the First Degrees, among other charges.

“Shaun Martin turned a vehicle into a ‎murder weapon the morning he took the wheel while impaired by drugs,” said District Attorney Vance. “In doing so, he chose to endanger the lives of every New Yorker he encountered that day. As proven at trial, he acted with depraved indifference to human life, directly causing the death of Mohammed Akkas Ali and seriously injuring two of his coworkers. He never touched the brakes as he hurtled through the East Village. I would like to thank the Judge for her careful deliberation of this case, and hope this conviction serves to deter those who would be so devoid of care for the lives of their fellow New Yorkers.”

As proven at trial, at approximately 6:50 a.m. on June 19, 2013, MARTIN sped through the East Village in a white Nissan Altima, driving more than 50 miles per hour, while impaired by both phencyclidine, commonly referred to as PCP, and methamphetamine. Cutting across three lanes of traffic, MARTIN drove onto the sidewalk and struck a fire hydrant, a pay phone, a muni-meter, and a tree, before crashing the car into a flower stand attached to the East Village Farm and Grocery Store on the corner of East 4th Street and Second Avenue. MARTIN struck three of the store’s employees, including Mohammed Akkas Ali, who died as a result of injuries he suffered from the crash. A man riding a bicycle was also injured by debris from the crash.

Defendant Information:

SHAUN MARTIN, D.O.B. 4/7/1981
Queens, NY

Convicted:
• Murder in the Second Degree, a class A felony, 1 count
• Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Assault in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Aggravated Vehicular Assault, a class C felony, 4 counts
• Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, a class D felony, 1 count
• Driving While Ability Impaired By Drugs, a class E felony, 2 counts
• Driving While Ability Impaired By Combination of Drugs and Alcohol, a class E felony, 1 count
• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a class A misdemeanor, 1 count
• Assault in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor, 1 count

Martin's attorney argued Ali's death "was not caused by Martin's terrifying collision ... but because his breathing tube had been knocked out and he could not be revived" at the health-care facility he was in, according to the Daily News.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Car smashes into East Village Farm & Grocery on Second Avenue; 6 reported injured

Crowdsourcing campaign for injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker raises nearly $19,000

Report: Injured East Village Farm and Grocery florist has lost his memory, use of his voice

[Updated] RIP Akkas Ali

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing 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: Anna Pastoressa
Occupation: Jack of all trades
Location: 2nd Street and Avenue A
Time: 4:15 pm on Friday, July 15

I was born in Rome. As a young person, I thought that I was in a small world, and I wanted to see the world. So I used to travel a lot, and then I decided I wanted to come and visit the U.S. It was just a visit.

When I came, I liked it, and I traveled all over the U.S. I decided that I wanted to try to stay, but New York was not my first destination. I lived in New Orleans, I met somebody there, and I got married. That’s what made me stay here in this country. Eventually, I divorced that person and I decided to come to New York. I’m from Rome and I needed to be in a big city. New Orleans had a small-town feeling.

I moved here in 1983. I came right to the East Village. I used to live on Avenue C. It was the cheapest place to be, but it was also a dangerous area. It was like the wild west, but I have to say, the drug dealers who were in charge of the neighborhood, they kept the neighborhood safe. I used to walk around Alphabet City in the 80s by myself, at night. I knew the drug dealers would be in the doorways minding their business, and making sure that the neighborhood stayed safe.

You know, I felt safe, as crazy as this sounds. It was very hard to take a cab home, because cab drivers used to drop me on 1st Avenue. They’d said, ‘You have to walk. I’m not taking you to that jungle.’ I would be mad, because I wanted to go home, but they would systematically drop me on 1st Avenue, and I would have to walk all the way to Avenue C. But then I thought, ‘Okay, from 1st Avenue to Avenue C, there are going to be the drug dealers helping out.

In fact, there were some people who were pickpocketed, and the drug dealers were the ones who saved them, or they would chase the thief. They used to tell them, ‘Do not rob in this neighborhood. Do not come here to steal, because we will beat you up. We don’t want the cops here, so you don’t do this in this neighborhood.’

I knew the drug dealers, to the point where I had an old funky car, and I used to park it around the neighborhood. One time, the car got broken into. They broke the glass, and one of the drug dealers saw the car and said, ‘What happened to it?’ I said, ‘Well, look, they broke into the car, and I don’t even have a radio. There is nothing to steal.’ And he said, ‘Where did you park it?’ I said, ‘I parked it two blocks away,’ and he said, ‘You don’t park it there. You park your car on this block and nothing will ever happen to your car.’

I remember having a little trouble sometimes with kids in the neighborhood. They would play basketball and bounce it on my car, or be a little rowdy. There was one particular kid, I was trying to park the car near my house, and he was trying to take over the parking spot and put his ball there. So one time I wanted to park there, and he started bouncing the basketball on my car, and bent it.

I got so upset that I went to the drug dealer, and I said, ‘Listen, you told me to ask you for help. Please help me, this kid is not being nice to me. I know the kid, he lives right there, a few doors down from me.’ The drug dealer took care of it. He brought him to me and said, ‘You say sorry to this lady. Don’t you ever, ever bother her again,’ and the kid was like, ‘Sorry!’ I felt so bad for him.

The funny thing is that I saw him growing up after that, and he turned into a very nice man. To date, when I run into him, we laugh. He keeps telling me, ‘I’m so sorry for what I did as a kid,’ and I say, ‘Stop it. A long time has gone by. You’re a wonderful, nice young man. Leave it alone. You were a kid.’ We still laugh. We can never forget that incident.

I had a lot of friends in my neighborhood. We were all artists, musicians. I know a lot of people here who are into visual arts, music, theater. We used get together and Tompkins Square Park was our playground; that was our meeting point. We would go together to plays. There used to be a lot of alternative theaters in this area. People had theaters in their homes, and they had galleries in squats. It was a very nice period. As much as it was considered bad, or it had a negative connotation, I think it was a fun time of New York City, and of this area. There was a lot of freedom. We knew everybody. It was like being in a village. It was a real village.

Then we grew up, we got married, we had children, and our children play together in Tompkins Square Park. It was the playground for our children. We would have parties and be with our children. We looked out for each other’s children.

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

Report: New owners for the empty lot at 14th Street and Avenue C

[EVG file photo]

The long-empty lot at East 14th Street and Avenue C has new owners.

The Real Deal is reporting that Brooklyn's Rabsky Group scrapped plans for its first Manhattan project here, selling the property to Opal Holdings, a real-estate investment firm led by Shaya and Shulamit Prager, for $23 million. No word just yet what they have planned for the site.

Rabsky reportedly paid $15 million for the property in 2014. The one-level structure that was demolished here in early 2015 previously housed R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

There were approved permits for a 14-story building totaling 63,932 square feet, with 8,064 square feet for retail ... and 21,991 square feet for a community facility.

Not much has happened here since the demolition of the former Strauss store. As many commenters have pointed out in the past, this corner was about 5-6 feet under water during Sandy.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Development back in play for East 14th Street and Avenue C

More details on the sale of 644 E. 14th St.

Here comes a 15-story retail-residential complex for East 14th Street and Avenue C

Prepping the former R&S Strauss auto parts store for demolition on East 14th Street and Avenue C

City OKs 15-story mixed-use retail-residential building on 14th and C

14th and C now waiting for the Karl Fischer-designed 15-story retail-residential complex

14th and C still waiting for its Karl Fischer-designed retail-residential complex

Blink Fitness signage arrives at 100 Avenue A

The Blink signage arrived yesterday (photos courtesy of an EVG reader) on the sidewalk bridge at 100 Avenue A, the incoming condoplex from developer Ben Shaoul.

As previously reported, a Blink Fitness gym is opening a 12,000-square-foot facility in the retail space here between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...



The signs point to a fall opening. (The East Village location has a holding place on the Blink website.) The site advertises rates "as low as $15" a month. (Updated: This Blink will cost $25 a month, per a rep.)

In other Ben Shaoul development news, New York Yimby got the first look yesterday of some interior renderings for 196 Orchard St., the 11-stories of condos going up adjacent to Katz's. The residential building, as noted before, includes a three-level Equinox gym, Blink's upscale relative.

As for the homes at No. 196, studios start at $1.075 million.

[Updated] Logan Hicks bringing the story of his life to the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Logan Hicks, known for his photorealistic stenciled paintings, will be the next artist to work on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall.

According to a news release issued yesterday by landlord Goldman Properties, Hicks is scheduled to start work on his mural, titled "Story of My Life," on Monday. It is expected to take several weeks to complete.

Here's more about the piece via the release:

The Bowery Wall mural will be Hicks’ most personal piece yet. His signature architectural landscape is set on Greene Street where a massive photo shoot took place on May 22. For the shoot, Logan invited dozens of friends and family to participate, and be represented in a “crowd scene.” The mural represents his past, present and future here in New York City, telling the story of his life through the people who have touched him.

The current work by FUTURA (aka Lenny McGurr) went up last September.

Updated 12:30

Several readers have noted that the whitewashing of the wall is underway... this morning...



...and around noon...

Parting Tuesday shot

Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place via Greg Masters...

Last licks for Ludlow Guitars on the Lower East Side

[Ludlow Guitars owner Kaan Howell and employee Garret Lovell, first and second from left, along with members of nearby Con Artist Collective.]

Earlier this month, Ludlow Guitars announced that they were relocating to Brooklyn after 17 years on the Lower East Side.

Here's what owner Kaan Howell had to say, as reported by The Lo-Down:

[T]he move to Brooklyn is not due to an alarming rent increase, unlike his move 6 years ago from 164 Ludlow St. to the current location. “Normally when you do the move,” he said, “it’s not generally one thing (namely a rent hike).”

“The lease is not up this second,” Howell said, “but I’m choosing to leave before I really don’t have a choice.”

Yesterday was the store's last day in business here between Houston and Stanton.

Photographer Nick McManus, a group portrait artist who works on Impossible Project Polaroids for gallery exhibition in New York, stopped by for some closing shots.

Per Nick:

I was able to take a group portraits for the final day of Ludlow Guitars. Owner Kaan Howell and employee Garret Lovell were joined by their neighbors from Con Artist Collective down the block as the sun shone on the facade.

Kaan, who's owned the business since 2004, told me they'll be opening up in Brooklyn soon and were excited to start a new chapter there.

It was second time Ludlow Guitars has relocated after moving just up the block in 2010 from it's longtime home at 164 Ludlow St. where ODD is presently located. Kaan and Garret enjoyed the shoot and gave everyone guitars to pose with.

Update on yesterday's stabbing in Tompkins Square Park

Here are more details about the stabbing that took place yesterday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park.

According to Downtown Manhattan Patch, a 26-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, was stabbed multiple times with a pair of scissors.

Per Patch:

Emerson Whitmore, 51, and Sarah Wilson, 36, who knew the victim, got into a fight with him over property that had gone missing or might have been stolen, according to the NYPD. Whitmore stabbed the victim in the back multiple times with the scissors.

Police charged Whitmore, who lives at Project Renewal on the Bowery, with assault and possession of a weapon.

The victim is in serious condition at Bellevue.

St. Mark's Ale House sign down

[Photo by Steven]

Workers today removed the St. Mark's Ale House sign from 2 St. Mark's Place. The 21-year-old bar-restaurant closed at the beginning of the month, as we first reported.

We continue to hear rumors that the owner the is going to reopen the place as a Greek restaurant.

Signage arrives for Dahlia's-replacing salad and juice bar

Earlier this month, multiple tipsters told us that the closed-for-now Dahlia's on Second Avenue and Fifth Street will return as a quick-serve restaurant specializing in salads.

And yesterday, the signage arrived for 100% Healthy Blend...



The sign notes both a salad bar and a juice bar on the premises. As we understand it, the owners of Dahlia's are also behind this new venture.

As you likely recall, the SLA temporarily suspended Dahlia's liquor license after serving a reported 50 minors one night in January. The Mexican restaurant then closed in May.



Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Dahlia's busted after cops find 43 minors drinking inside locked restaurant

More about the underage drinking bust at Dahlia's; plus, reaction from NYU students

RUMOR: The Dahlia's space will be converted into a salad bar

Full reveal at NYU's expanded Academic Support Center on Lafayette and 4th Street

After nearly 21 months of work, the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding have been removed from NYU's Academic Support Center (the former Tower video space) at 383 Lafayette St. at East Fourth Street...



As Curbed reported in July 2014, NYU was expanding the space, adding a new 4-floor buidling on the land that previously housed the Plantworks garden center for nearly 40 years.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Growing soon in the former Plantworks garden center — an NYU building

Coffee shop slated for former Top A Nails space on Avenue A

A tipster passes along word that a coffee shop will open in the former Top A Nails space going under renovations now at 137 Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street. The tipster did not have any further details, such as who the proprietors are.

Top A Nails moved next door to No. 139 — the former Sustainable NYC — at the beginning of May.

A look at Follia, opening soon in the former Mumbles space on 3rd Avenue

And just a little north from our usual coverage area... an EVG reader sends along these exterior photos of Follia, the Italian wine bar and pizzeria opening this summer on Third Avenue and 17th Street...



La Follia had been operating at the corner of of Third Avenue and 19th Street. Per Town & Village earlier this year: "The new location will be an upgrade for the Italian restaurant, since it will make it possible to expand the menu and offer things like pizza."

The owners are also behind Carroll Place on Bleecker Street and Anisette on Third Avenue.

Mumbles closed here at the end of January after 22 years. Owner David Feldman cited a variety of reasons for closing Mumbles, including a continued decline in business the past few years.

Parting Monday shot

Photo by Bobby Williams

[Updated] Report of a stabbing in Tompkins Square Park

A man was stabbed in the neck three times this afternoon following an argument in Tompkins Square Park, according to several witnesses.

Multiple readers reported a heavy police presence in Tompkins Square Park starting around 2:30 after the incident took place near the chess tables in the southwest corner near Seventh Street and Avenue A. Sources in the Park told EVG correspondent Steven that the two men are regulars at the chess tables, and that the fight started over a cellphone.

A police source said that an arrest had been made. The condition of the victim is not immediately known.

Updated 7/19:

Here are more details about the stabbing that took place yesterday afternoon:

According to Downtown Manhattan Patch, a 26-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, was stabbed multiple times with a pair of scissors.

Per Patch:

Emerson Whitmore, 51, and Sarah Wilson, 36, who knew the victim, got into a fight with him over property that had gone missing or might have been stolen, according to the NYPD. Whitmore stabbed the victim in the back multiple times with the scissors.

Police charged Whitmore, who lives at the Project Renewal on the Bowery, with assault and possession of a weapon.

The victim is in serious condition at Bellevue.

Remembering Alan Vega

[Photo this morning by Derek Berg]

Someone spray-painted Alan Vega's name on the wall here on Sixth Street at First Avenue...as mentioned previously, the co-founder of influential electronic and proto-punk band Suicide died Saturday. He was 78.

From The New York Times:

Suicide, particularly in its early years, was as much a provocation as a concert act. Formed in 1970, it was one of the first bands to bill themselves as “punk music.” With Martin Rev playing loud, insistently repetitive riffs on keyboards and drum machines and Mr. Vega crooning, chanting, muttering and howling his lyrics about insanity, mayhem and death, Suicide fiercely polarized its audiences.

In the trashy, fertile downtown New York City arts world of the early 1970s, Suicide performed at the Mercer Arts Center, Max’s Kansas City and CBGB as well as at art galleries. The band was initially a trio, including a guitarist, but by 1972 it was just Mr. Vega and Mr. Rev.

[Updated] Reader report: Rumors about the new Astor Place and the Alamo

[Astor Place photo from Saturday]

Longtime EVG reader Liberation shared the following...

[On Friday] I was told by someone who works for Village Alliance that, when eventually complete, the new Astor Place will have a variety of food vendors, outdoor tables and chairs, and some type of lighting scheme. There's a large electrical box on the northeast corner of Chase that will power all of this. The Village Alliance and some type of committee at the Sculpture of Living building decide who these food vendors are and, in general, decide what takes place in the area.



One bit of news I found shocking is that they have allegedly altered The Alamo sculpture so it will now include some type of lighting.

According to the Village Alliance employee the sculpture will also rotate on its own now as he said people have hurt their backs trying to spin it. Personally, I find it unethical to alter an artist's work to make it appear more like a theme park attraction.

The Alamo had an announced return date of June 22, but the city pushed it back to August.

Workers removed the Alamo for safekeeping for the duration of the $16 million capital improvement project on Nov. 25, 2014.

Updated 3 p.m.

William Kelley, executive director of the Village Alliance, shared the following with us:

The Alamo sculpture should return in August, and it is exactly the same as it was before. There are no lights and the spinning mechanism is human powered, just like before. It received a thorough cleaning and coating to protect it from the weather and will return in good shape.

Also coming in August, there will be bistro tables, chairs and umbrellas for use by the public, much like you see in other plazas around the city.

Finally, there will be a single food concession in the north and south plaza spaces at Astor Place (not around Cooper Square or points south) pursuant to the license agreement with NYCDOT. No other vending will be allowed on the plazas.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Alamo returns to Astor Place this Halloween

Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

This is what it might be like living inside the Alamo on Astor Place

RIP Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor who created the Astor Place cube

The first of Jim Power's restored mosaic light poles has returned to Astor Place

Looking at a cube-less (still) Astor Place

DumplingGo returning as Dumpling Guo on 2nd Avenue

Over the weekend several readers pointed out that DumplingGo emerged from behind the brown-papered windows with a new look, concept and name here on Second Avenue and 12th Street.

Dumpling Guo will offer dumplings and hot pot... as the signs in the windows explain...



One sign says that they "source fresh, local, sustainable and organic ingredients" ...







DumplingGo closed in April for renovations, though there wasn't any explanation signage for customers. DumplingGo, which opened in March 2015, never appeared all the busy ... while Mimi Cheng's Dumplings was packing them in across Second Avenue.

So perhaps the new offerings and approach will bring in more diners. The DumplingGo team also received the OK from CB3 in April for a beer-wine license.

On Saturday afternoon, an EVG reader said that a few people appeared to be inside dining (perhaps as a friends-family test run) ... though the sign on the door says opening soon...

Gotham Pizza interior reveal on 3rd Avenue

The other day workers removed the paper from the windows at the incoming Gotham Pizza on Third Avenue and 12th Street ... as these photos by EVG reader Laura K. show...not much to see inside just yet — mostly boxes...



...Workers papered up part of the windows again by the end of the day Saturday...



Anyway, people have told us that they like the pizza here. (There are several other locations in the city.) Serious Eats gave Gotham Pizza high marks, particularly for its super-thin crust that includes "a smattering of breadcrumbs," in this 2009 review.

No one word on an opening date just yet for the Third Avenue spot.

As you probably know, the space last served up the FroYo via Funkiberry.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Funkiberry-replacing pizzeria revealed on 3rd Avenue