Open Mic for Arts in Education Saturday night at the Theater for the New City

Saturday night at 9, Theater for the New City on First Avenue is hosting a Late Night Open Mic.

Admission is $10, and the proceeds go to fund the Theater for the New City's Arts in Education after-school program for middle-school students.

Here's a little more about the program:

Arts in Education engages a network of passionate and dedicated artists to teach after-school theater classes to underserved middle-school students in the Lower East Side and East Village, filling the critical void left by underfunded or nonexistent drama programs

Arts in Education is offered after-school, completely free, two days a week from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. for 9 weeks in the Spring and Fall. Throughout the program kids engage in ensemble building games, improvisation exercises, text analysis, physical theater exercises, writing exercises, original choreography, character creation, playwriting and mask-making workshops. The students show off their skills and perform their self-written playlets and scenes as well as their own dance at our Culminating Event for friends and family.

"Our after school-theater program provides kids with a safe, inclusive, creative environment in which to express themselves together, instead of staring at a TV screen or being on the streets," East Village resident Danielle Hauser, the program's director, told me via email. "Our kids benefit together, learning to think creatively, be bold, collaborate, take chances and believe in our community."

Find more info at the Theater for the New City's website. The Theater is located at 155 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

2-plus-month-old Ciala on 2nd Avenue reopens tomorrow with new menu

[Photo Tuesday by Derek Berg]

Ciala, the restaurant serving Georgian cuisine at 77 Second Ave., opened back in July here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

A sign arrived on the front door this week noting that they are closed for renovations, reopening tomorrow (Sept. 29!) with an "all new and exciting menu."

Has anyone tried Ciala? I haven't heard much about it to date.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ciala signage arrives on 2nd Avenue

A tale of 2 chains on 3rd Avenue

The Shake Shack is looking close to opening at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star. (Haven't heard an exact date just yet.)

Meanwhile, across Third Avenue, here's a look at the former McDonald's ...



This McDonald's location closed on June 1 after deciding not to renew the lease after 20 years here near St. Mark's Place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Shake Shack effect? McDonald's on 3rd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has closed after 20 years

Shares are now available for the 14th Street Y CSA Winter Season

Via the EVG inbox...

It's time to sign up for your local WINTER CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Mountain View Farm supplies farm fresh food to the 14th Street Y CSA. Six Bi-weekly distributions beginning in November — you will pick up a massive box of fresh vegetables at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This makes it easy to enjoy fresh organic produce all through the winter months.

Each distribution will consist of 25-30 pounds of produce. Vegetables you will see in your share will be: Carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, winter squash, cabbage, purple top and hakurei turnips, black, daikon and watermelon radishes, kale, onions, celeric, leeks, bok choy potatoes, garlic and much more

Feel free to email alice14ycsa@aol.com if you have questions or would like to sign up.

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 or Lower East Side.



By James Maher

Name: Nancy Blum
Occupation: Artist
Location: Seventh Street
Time: 4 p.m. on Sept. 24

I’ve been here 30 fucking years. I’m from an area called Mainline, Philadelphia. I went to college in Amherst, and I graduated early, specifically to come to New York because I’m an artist. In the 1970s, New York was it – it’s self-explanatory.

I babysat in Tribeca for many years for very wealthy people – loved that. My first job in New York was as an au pair — you’re not paid, but you live in the apartment, and I took care of two little girls. The youngest one, who was three at the time, [later became] the chief curator at the Guggenheim Museum a few years back.

I moved to the East Village in 1988 because I got a job with Irving Penn. His photography studio was on 16th and 5th, and I used to bike to work. It was unbelievable, and I think of him every day. He was extremely important in my life. He was a genius. He rarely spoke. He was extremely intense. He only thought about work, and he was a very civilized man, a real gentleman. In all the years I worked for him, I never once heard him raise his voice or get short tempered, even though we were under a lot of pressure.

Mr. Penn’s studio was very bare. His philosophy was if we can make it out of cardboard, we make it out of cardboard. It was old-school, old world, to the bone. We always stopped work at 5, and we always started at 9. It was a small studio with very few of us, and you could never make a mistake. I knew a girl who worked there — she misspelled one name wrong and she was fired that day. You could not make a mistake – just absolute precision. I adored him, I don’t know what else to say. He was unlike anybody I had ever known.

I was relatively young when I worked for Penn. I met a lot of famous people, and most of them were really unimpressive. I’m going to be honest, there were some who were fantastic, brilliant, but a lot of celebrities were real morons and just shockingly so. They were uninformed, very narcissistic, very superficial. I could say that because I spent time with them – they came to the studio for a couple hours and sat for Penn. Most of his portrait work was for Vogue. He rarely did any private work. He didn’t like to be paid by the sitter, because then you’re in a way obligated to flatter the sitter.

I was a portrait photographer for many years. I was mostly a child photographer. I turned down the Trumps. When I worked for Penn once, New York magazine called, this is 1989, and Donald Trump was going to be on the cover with his wife, and they wanted Penn to shoot the cover. He said no, and they asked if he knew anyone. I was standing right there in the office, so he put them on hold and said, ‘Nancy would you like to photograph the Trumps?’ And I said, ‘No thank you.’ And I was broke. That one picture could have paid my rent for a year, no question. I was really particular.

Eventually ... I gave up the money from the photography, and I said, no, I’ll just starve, and I starved. The reason I stopped was I went to photograph Robert Rauschenberg in 1992 for an art critic named Henry Geldzahler, the curator of 20th Century Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

After I took the picture, Bob said, "I don’t know why you’re doing this Nancy. This is not who you are." I just met the man. He said, "You’re an artist, go home and make some art." So I went home and I made Bob a drawing, stayed up all night, walked over at six the next morning and put it through his mail slot. He loved it. He sent it to where he lives in Florida and put it on his wall in his bedroom. And this man didn’t like anything. So that’s when I knew I was on the right road.

He then gave me a great job. It was unbelievable. He gave me a job to go into his personal closet and archive and organize all his private possessions that he had since the 1940s — his private shit — letters from Cy Twombly, hot dog wrappers, really expensive little Etruscan sculptures. I remember thinking it was unreal.

So I’ve been really lucky, but you have to take risks in life. I was really destitute for many years. You had to live by your wits, but I wasn’t the only one. It’s a very hard life. I paid my rent. You could do it then, you could get it together. You could come up with the $300 for rent. I feel very sorry for young people today – you have to work your fucking ass off.

We'll have Part 2 with Nancy next week: "I’m passionate about the East Village, and I find that I have neighbors who feel the same way."

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

Claim: Amazon deliveries taking up prime space on 2nd Avenue, hurting business at Enz's

Last month, The Villager reported on Amazon contract delivery trucks "showing up in large unmarked vehicles around Union Square and other Downtown neighborhoods with increasing frequency."

In recent months, an unmarked truck has set up an impromptu distribution center on Second Avenue at Seventh Street — in front of where the three buidlings were destroyed following the deadly gas explosion in March 2015.



"They are blocking me, every day — even on the weekends," Mariann Pizzaia, owner of the 1950s-inspired boutique Enz's at 125 Second Ave., told me. "Sometimes people can't walk on Second Avenue. There are at least six to eight workers banging boxes."

The workers will sort packages in the street or on the sidewalk, loading them on small hand trucks for delivery to neighboring residences.



Aside from being an ongoing annoyance, Pizzaia says that the truck obscures her storefront for periods of up to four-plus hours daily, and she is missing out on potential foot traffic from people waking on the other side of Second Avenue or dining outside at Bar Virage or Cafe Mocha.

There are signs posted stating that this is a No Standing zone 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily in this far Bus Only lane. However, Pizzaia says that the truck parks here during these hours.



For its story, The Villager traced the source to a New York-based trucking and freight-shipping company called Cornucopia Logistics, which has warehouses in New Jersey.

Cornucopia’s corporate parent, Avant Business Services, has a dispatching office in One Grand Central Plaza’s basement. Ken Daniels, an Avant financial executive, refused ... to discuss the nature of his company’s contract with Amazon or to explain why it allows workers to use city streets as an ad hoc warehouse and distribution hub.

The Villager spoke with Julie Jang, the manager of Jay Nails at 780 Broadway.

“Basically, they park all day,” Jang said, claiming the trucks overstay a three-hour metered parking limit on commercial vehicles imposed by the city’s Department of Transportation. “They load up all the boxes on the street where cars park. They have a canopy when it rains.”

Jang said Cornucopia’s street operation has caused business to drop at the nail salon because “they’re right in front of our store and people passing can’t see our awning..."

Pizzaia just reached out to elected local officials, and hopes to get some help with the impromptu unloading zone that she says is hurting her business.



"Honestly I really don't want to fight these people every day," Pizzaia said. "I don't want to close my shop, but this is not fun."

All photos courtesy of Mariann Pizzaia

Updated 10/5

The trucking company has promised to move its operation to the two-block stretch of Lafayette between Astor Place and Fourth Avenue, The Villager reports.

Dog's cafe life: Boris and Horton signage arrives on 12th and A

The signage went up yesterday on the northwest corner of Avenue A and 12th Street for Boris & Horton, billed as "New York's first dog friendly coffee shop and community space." (Thanks to EVG regular Greg Masters for these photos!)

The sign points to a winter 2017 debut (New York magazine previously listed a Dec. 1 opening date)...



As DNAinfo reported back in the summer, the space will be divided by a glass wall into two sections, per Department of Health rules. There will be a cafe side with food and drinks for humans, and a dog-friendly side that will sell pet supplies.

The owners are Logan Holzman and her father, Coppy. The cafe is named after their dogs. The Holzmans have said that they will host dog adoption events here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On tonight's CB3-SLA docket: Boris & Horton, New York's first dog friendly coffee shop

Dec. 1 date set for Boris & Horton, Avenue A's new dog cafe

[Updated] Mayahuel replacement now open on 6th Street

The bar-restaurant taking over the Mayahuel space at 304 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue is now open.

There doesn't appear to be a name anywhere on the space. The sidewalk sign reads "Handcrafted cocktails, mezcal bar & Moorish cuisine."

Ravi DeRossi closed Mayahuel after service on Aug. 8, noting that renewing the lease "wasn't an option." As Eater reported, there was a rent dispute between DeRossi and the building's landlord, Keith Siilats.

Siilats, who lives in the building, got the OK from CB3 in July to open a place that sounded similar to Mayahuel.

Anyway, according to Florence Fabricant at The New York Times yesterday, Siilats is "temporarily giving it the same name (he says he may have a new one in a few days)." So it's Mayahuel for the moment.

As for the rest of the new Mayahuel: "The food is now in the hands of a chef from Morocco, who is preparing Spanish-accented North African specialties. The mezcals are still served," per the Times.

The preview in the Times doesn't mention the chef's name. Perhaps it is Radouane Eljaouhari, who ran Zerza a few storefronts away at 320 E. Sixth St. Zerza's Facebook page says that it is now located at 304 E. Sixth St.

Updated:

Eater reports on the legal drama here:

DeRossi claims that Siilats signed an agreement saying he would not use the name and has already sent the information to his attorney.

But Siilats says he does have the right to call it Mayahuel. The landlord alleges that DeRossi owes him thousands of dollars in rent money from June, July, and August, and because DeRossi still hasn’t paid, he can keep using the name. Rent per month was about $10,000, Siilats says.

Movies Under the Stars featuring 'The Fate of the Furious' & 'Saturday Night Fever'

The city's Movies Under the Stars program continues... and there are two free screenings around here to note.

Tonight! "The Fate of the Furious" screens on the basketball courts in Hamilton Fish Park, East Houston and Pitt.

Action!



Per the NYC Parks website:

You should arrive by 6:30 p.m. to get your spot. Feel free to bring a blanket to sit on; there will be a limited supply of chairs available. Bottled water is OK, but no glass. Reservations are not taken; space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. All are welcome!

The screening starts at 7 p.m.

And on Saturday! "Saturday Night Fever" is set for the basketball courts in the Dry Dock Playground, 10th Street and Avenue D.

Same deal: Arrive by 6:30 p.m. The film starts at 7 p.m. It is rated R, so, per the NYC Parks website, "viewer discretion is advised." (!)

Here's 'Gotti'

Back in February, crews were out on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue filming scenes for "Gotti," the biopic starring John Travolta, seen above, in the title role...



Anyway, I mention this again because Lionsgate released the first trailer for the film today... (you can see 10th Street for about a second).



"Gotti," directed by "Entourage" star Kevin Connolly, is out in December.

Photos in February by Daniel

Previously on EV Grieve:
Mob scene on 10th Street as 'Gotti' crew and John Travolta hold forth

[Updated] Hurricane Maria relief efforts continue at 2nd Street firehouse

Back on Friday, city officials announced that more than a dozen firehouses across NYC will collect supplies to send to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

In the East Village, Engine 28/Ladder 11 at 222 E. Second St. between Avenue B and Avenue C is still accepting donations daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

According to published reports, many residents have been dropping off the requested supplies...


[Via @fdny]

As a reminder, here's a list of items NYC is collecting:

• Diapers
• Baby food
• Batteries
• First Aid Supplies
• Feminine Hygiene Products

There are other ways to support the humanitarian efforts in Puerto Rico and surrounding islands, such as through this relief fund established by the Hispanic Federation and a coalition of local elected officials.

Updated 7:30 p.m.

The FDNY is also collecting donated goods tonight until 11 on Second Street at First Avenue outside Spiegel...



Thanks to EVG reader Tracy F. for the above photo!

East Village Dance Project is in danger of losing its space on Avenue C

East Village Dance Project (EVDP), a dance-development organization that offers programming for kids and adults, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Since January 2011, their home studio has been at 55 Avenue C at Fourth Street.

Unfortunately, EVDP is in danger of losing this space.

Bonnie Stein, the executive and artistic director of GOH Productions, which serves as EVDP's nonprofit umbrella organization, said that they need "to find a partner to share the rent and to occupy the lovely ground-floor office."

The previous tenant moved out (on good terms), and the deal for someone new to take the space fell through this past summer. Meanwhile, EVDP can't go it alone paying the full rent.

"Our program is strong," said Stein, referring to EVDP's after-school classes for ages 3 to 18. "But the rent is a big burden on the dance program."

Stein said that there is 400 square feet of office space available. (There's also use of the studio when EVDP is not holding its own classes.) The rent is about $1,800 to $2,000 per month, plus some minor utilities. The space is move-in ready.

Here are some more details via Stein:

GORGEOUS DANCE STUDIO AND OFFICE AVAILABLE.
Fully accessible ground floor

Dance Studio: 24 x 47 feet
Mirrors, ballet barres, windows, private bathroom in the studio

• Available studio hours are:
8 a.m. to 3 p.m. M-F, Saturday after 3 p.m. and Sunday all day.

• NOT AVAILABLE studio time when we have a youth dance program:
M-F 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Studio time cannot be after 9 p.m.) Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

• OFFICE: 17 x 14, with large windows on the street level, lots of light.
Shared bathroom in lobby.
Can also be used as a small studio, with some modifications.

Rental is variable depending on need, office only, or office/studio combination.

Please contact Bonnie via email here.

"The timeline is pretty fast," Stein said. "We have about three months to really decide if East Village Dance can stay here or move."

Previously on EV Grieve:
A sneak peek at 'The Shell-Shocked Nut'