Your July 1 rainbow action

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The top photo by Tall Betty is from Seventh Street between A and B...

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A shot via East Village-based photographers James and Karla Murray...



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And on Second Avenue via Regina Shvartsman...



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And one more reader-submitted photo...

'Sesame Street' on 6th Street; Oscar the Grouch brings some cheer (and there's Big Bird)

Crews were (are?) out on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue today ... filming something with Oscar the Grouch ... Vinny & O shared these photos...



Oscar doesn't have a nose, as you may have noticed these past 48 years, and we can reveal that he also doesn't have legs...



And Oscar can never be far from his pal Big Bird, who was also spotted being filmed... (not in character yet here..)





Just about the entire "Sesame Street" cast was in Tompkins Square Park last month to film a commercial for the Chrysler brand of automobiles.

What the devil? Vector Gallery closes on 3rd Street

That's it for the Vector Gallery, dubbed the Official Art Gallery of Satan by its founder, on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... workers cleared out the space yesterday...



And a for rent sign via Steve Croman's 9300 Realty is now at the small storefront.

In April, the city inspected the space over complaints that the gallery was "illegally used for religious assembly." Then in March, an event/performance described as "a Vectorian Mass dedicated to the 'Israeli-Palestinian Conflict'" drew a heavy FDNY response after a report of a small fire inside the space. (Any fire was related to the Mass.)

The Gallery didn't appear to be a hit with all neighbors, as someone scrawled "Yuppie scum paying $3,900 to create unoriginal shit" on the front window.

The gallery opened last August.

And this likely won't be the last time you'll see the Gallery, which has had stints on Clinton Street, East Broadway ... and in Los Angeles.

According to its website, "VECTOR Gallery seceded from the United States, making it the newest (and smallest) independent country in the world." Not sure what the asking rent will be for the smallest country in the world. But the 325-square-foot space (with basement) is on the market for $3,250 a month, per the listing.

Previously this space housed Snack Dragon, which closed in October 2014 after being Cromanated.

H/T EVG reader Jennifer!

Checking in on the Tompkins Square Park sinkhole

The one at the Eighth Street/Avenue B entrance... now in its third smash week...



We weren't able to measure the sinkhole's circumference to see if it is expanding, and if surrounding properties, such as St. Brigid's, are in danger of being swallowed...

Gigi leaves a request for Key Food; weekend ruined?

Gigi wants to know where the Yasso S’mores frozen Greek yogurt bars are... Key's frozen dessert section doesn't have them ... and she left some Post-it® Notes about it on the freezer doors here on Avenue A...

H/T Stacie Joy

'Cleveland' rocks

An audio-only clip of "Cleveland," a track from the new record that Algiers released last week.

The band will be at Baby's All Right on July 22.

Headline H/T

[Updated] The Black Rose looks to be moving into the former Benny's Burritos space on Avenue A

Updated: This item is no longer on the July SLA docket.

The Black Rose, the bar that recently lost its space at 117 Avenue A, is looking to move a block to the south and reopen in the former corner home of Benny's Burritos, according to paperwork filed ahead of next month's CB3-SLA committee meeting.



In late April, the Marshal took possession of the bar space between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place on behalf of landlord Steve Croman. There were accusation that Croman forced the bar out, even removing the boiler.

As for Benny's, the restaurant closed on Nov. 29, 2014. The corner space at Sixth Street has sat empty since then. The Benny's awning remains up...


[Photo from yesterday]

Benny's owner Mark Merker said that they were having trouble staying afloat, as costs and rents rose while competition increased from Chipotle and other restaurants that served burritos. Benny's limped along for a few months with a smaller, mostly to-go spot next door. They closed in February 2015. This space became a 99¢ pizza place called 99¢ Pizza, which seems to do brisk business.

There's not much more information about the new Black Rose at this month. The full questionnaire isn't online yet. (Updated: The PDF of the questionnaire is here.) And it will be somewhat new given that much of the bar's interior ended up on the corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street, where Jerry launched the short-lived Tompkins Square Park Art Bar.

The July CB3-SLA committee meeting is July 17 at 6:30 p.m. at a rather strange venue — Ian Schrager's luxury Public Hotel, 215 Chrystie St.

Mango Mango bringing more dessert to St. Mark's Place

Signage has arrived upstairs at 19-21 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue for Mango Mango, a dessert shop with multiple locations that launched in Chinatown in 2013.

Here's more about them via their website:

The aspect of our business is to serve traditional Hong Kong style sweet soup dessert to modern fusion sweets. We use the finest ingredients and a sophisticated method of cooking to create innovative handmade desserts to serve our customers. Most of our desserts are made with mango from the soup base to the pastries and drinks that we cater to our customers. Mangos are liked by all ages because of the sweetness that it brings and provides 100% of vitamin C.

The space adjacent to the Chipotle and above St. Mark's Market was previously home to Beyond Vape, which went up in smoke closed in January.

Wasan East Village has apparently closed on 4th Street

An EVG reader shares this photo, noting that Wasan East Village has closed on 4th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Per the reader: "Restaurant's dark and the phone is out. Yelp and Open Table say permanently closed. Ugh."

The Japanese restaurant opened here in 2010. Wasan opened an outpost on Bergen Street at Fifth Avenue in Park Slope two years ago.

Bluemercury rising on 3rd Avenue

Bluemercury, the luxury beauty retailer and spa, is ready to open on the southwest corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street.

Workers yesterday were spotted hoisting the BM signage...



The company has 120-plus locations nationwide. Among other brands, BM sells Kiehl's products, which has its flagship location on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street.

Gothic Cabinet Craft shop closed in January 2016 after 47 years in business at this spot.

H/T EVG reader Harry Weiner!

Previously on EV Grieve:
On 3rd and 13th, Bluemercury arriving; dinosaur mural not yet extinct

Economy Candy's 80th anniversary retro signage

Heading into the Lower East Side for a moment... where the third-generation owners of Economy Candy at 108 Rivington St. installed some retro signage modeled after the store's 1960s storefront. (See the Lo-Down for more.)

Here's their inspiration (when the store was a few doors away here between Orchard and Essex) ...


[Via @EconomyCandy]

Jerry's art on the corner

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Some of Jerry's art that has been on Seventh Street and Avenue A outside Tompkins Square Park ... photos by Daniel...

Push-in robbery on Avenue B was actually a drug deal gone bad: NYPD

Push in robbery in #EastVillage leaves tenant with stab wounds Latest @firstatfour & #abc7ny pic.twitter.com/ysMnfZ6esd

— Tim Fleischer (@TimFleischer7) June 26, 2017

There were multiple media reports earlier this week about a push-in robbery on Avenue B at 13th Street. A man reportedly pushed his way inside an apartment, stabbed the female resident multiple times, and fled with $500.

However, according to the Police Blotter in this week's issue of The Villager, that's not actually what happened.

Police say that the resident, named as Cassidy Helmken, "had made an arrangement for a drug deal — she was apparently buying — but it turned violent."

“It was a drug transaction that went bad,” Captain Vincent Greany, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, told The Villager.

A search warrant subsequently turned up a quantity of alleged cocaine and drug paraphernalia at her apartment.

According to police, it was not a home invasion: Helmken apparently willingly opened the door for the suspect.

Police charged Helmken, who reportedly has three prior arrests, with multiple counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia.

The investigation is ongoing.

H/T Steven

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Avenue B resident stabbed during push-in robbery

Report: Driver charged in collision that killed cyclist Kelly Hurley on 1st Avenue & 9th Street

[Photo from April 11]

The driver of the box truck who fatally struck a cyclist in April on Ninth Street at First Avenue has been arrested, according to published reports.

Per DNAInfo, who first had the story:

Kyung H. Hyun, 59, was arrested at 1:57 p.m. and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian — the city's "right of way" law under the Mayor's Vision Zero initiative — failure to exercise due care, and making an improper left turn, according to authorities.

On April 5, Kelly Hurley was riding in the northbound bike lane on First Avenue around 7:20 a.m. She had the green light at Ninth Street when Hyun reportedly made a left turn from First Avenue's right-most lane.

Previous reports stated that he had come to a complete stop on First Avenue before making the abrupt left turn onto Ninth Street across four lanes of traffic. He struck Hurley, who had the right of way. She died the following week from her injuries. Hurley was 31.

Police gave Hyun a desk appearance ticket. He’s due in Manhattan criminal court on Aug. 29, the Daily News reported.

CB3's Transportation Committee recently recommended that the Department of Transportation consider more carefully separating bike and car traffic in the so-called "mixing zones" found at intersections like Ninth Street and First Avenue. Read more about that here.

As DNAinfo's Allegra Hobbs reported in April:

Captain Vincent Greany, the Ninth Precinct's commanding officer, has condemned the zones as problematic, noting at a community council meeting after Hurley's death that it is "almost impossible" to see a cyclist while merging into their lane "unless you physically turn your head and look back."

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Kelly Hurley

Reactions to Kelly Hurley's death

NYPD offers explanation into Kelly Hurley's death: 'she slipped'