GG's looks to be yielding to Emmy Squared on 5th Street

The owners of Emmy Squared are applying for a new liquor license at 511 E. Fifth St. — the current home of GG's, the pizzeria between Avenue A and Avenue B, according to paperwork on file at the CB3 website. (PDF here.)

The paperwork filed ahead of Monday night's CB3-SLA meeting describes this as a sale of assets. The method of operation looks about the same with seating and hours (noon to midnight daily).

Emmy Squared in Williamsburg serves Detroit-style pizza via the wife-and-husband team behind Emily on Downing Street. (Neither of the owners, Emily and Matt Hyland, happen to be from Detroit.)

Eater once wrote that Emily and Emily Squared are "two of NYC's most exciting pizzerias."

A post shared by Emmy Squared (@emmysquaredpizza) on Nov 19, 2017 at 1:18pm PST

The Hylands are currently involved in a lawsuit with some investors.

GG's opened here in September 2014... after owner Nick Morgenstern decided to revamp his Goat Town space. Morgenstern told Eater that business is good at GG's, but he and his partners want to focus on new projects, such as a restaurant for the Ace Hotel on the Bowery.

GG's will close after service on Dec. 23.

The December CB3-SLA committee meeting is Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Goat Town is closing to make way for a pizzeria

The transformation of Goat Town to GG's on East 5th Street

GG's announces itself on East 5th Street

New storefront reveal on 2nd Street

The plywood recently came off at 201 E. Second St., where workers had been putting in a new storefront here at Avenue B.

The space, formerly an office for C & R Construction & Renovation Inc., is going for $4,500 a month for 500 square feet, according to the listing at Eastern Consolidated.

Here's a rendering, showing a potential coffee shop...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A new storefront for 2nd Street

Winter Craft Fair tomorrow at the Children's Workshop School

The Children's Workshop School (CWS) is hosting a Winter Craft Fair tomorrow (Friday!) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There will be a variety of handmade items for sale to the public at the school, 610 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. The CWS website has more info here.

'It's a Wonderful Life' at Ciao for Now on Dec. 15

Ciao for Now is hosting a free holiday screening of "It’s a Wonderful Life" next Friday, Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Via the EVG inbox...

We will be collecting unwrapped toy donations at the door for the NYPD 9th Precinct’s Annual Toy Drive. Seating is limited so we strongly recommend reserving your seat by calling 212-677- 2616 to RSVP. There will be delicious food and beverage available for purchase and plenty of holiday cheer!

The family-owned restaurant is at 523 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. This is the latest film screening for Ciao for Now, who earlier this year showed "Carnival of Souls" and "What About Me?"

Wednesday's parting shot

Back to this morning on Avenue A via Derek Berg...

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: Holly DeRito and Tulip
Occupation: Owner, Waggytail Rescue
Location: Avenue B between 10th and 11th
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 28

I’m originally from the sticks of Pennsylvania. I grew up with horses on a small farm next to Allentown. I came here for the music scene. One of my friends was a roadie for a band, and I started seeing shows. I just became addicted to New York. I’ve been here for 24 years. I was into hardcore punk, alternative. The first show that I drove up to myself was Bad Brains at the Wetlands.

I was bold but I probably should have been more scared than I was. I was always a little bit fearless. I’ve always been a little bit shy but then I’ve been bold. I like challenges — so one of my friends dared me to go into one of those S&M places and try out to be a dominatrix.

I was going to school and working two jobs. I just did it for shits and giggles, and they were like, ‘Oh, you’re blond, you’re hired.’ So I ended up doing that and that’s how I put myself through college with no debt. And then I did a dominatrix workout program that was on HBO and VH1 Real Sex — it was called Slaversize.

I got really sick with Lyme disease, so I didn’t start that again, but I adopted my dog Taco, and he was just magical. The day that I adopted him, two of my friends died in a murder-suicide, and I just remember he was so scared and I just clung to him. He was my soulmate dog.

Then I fostered a dog for another group, and the second that dog was adopted, Taco just looked so sad. So I road my bike up to the city pound to jailbreak him a friend. There I ran into a girl I had worked with as a dominatrix. She was running a pug rescue.

She pulled me into the back to where all of the dogs were on death row that the public didn’t see. She was like, ‘These are the ones that aren’t going to get out, who can you take? Can you help me?’ And I went home with seven dogs that night. I couldn’t leave any of them. So I went home and called my friends and said, ‘Hey can you watch a dog for a few days?’

I had no idea what I was doing — and that’s kind of how I started. It became like — I can save more. I was so passionate, and it was a challenge. I officially formed a rescue in 2004 and it’s just grown from there. The city has changed a lot in that there are almost no small dogs or family friendly dogs in the city shelters, which is great because people have started spaying and neutering. They have started taking better care of their pets. The city has become really pro-dog and dog friendly in comparison to what it used to be. Here for dogs to breed and have puppies, you almost have to make a conscious effort. They have to be in heat and find each other down the hallway and down the stairs. In Los Angeles, Dallas, and elsewhere in the south, they don’t spay/neuter and the dogs are just running in yards. They’re just completely overwhelmed with dogs.

We had a waiting list of people who wanted to adopt dogs. I went to Los Angeles to dogsit for one of my friends and saw the shelters there. I decided to form a program called One-by-One. We supply the carriers, we pay for the ticket for the dog as well as the leashes, the harnesses — everything. We drop off the dog at the airport, pick it up on the other side and a person just flies with the dog. Everybody said it couldn’t be done, and it seemed like it was impossible, but people love it. Everybody who’s done it has done it again. We’ve gotten about 500 dogs that way — one by one.

I have a little bit more faith in humanity. We get adoption donations. The dogs that are coming in tonight on American Airlines are from the highest kill shelter in Dallas, and then all the fosters are going to pick them up. I’m going to microchip them myself. I have my own little branch in Los Angeles with my system and my setup with the shelters and the veterinarians and we also partner up with a few groups. We take in dogs about every two weeks. I formed a buddy system where people who have fostered help the new [dog owners].

I really like anything hands-on. My mom was a nurse and my grandmother was a lab tech. I grew up going into the lab, visiting my grandmother and being fascinated by tumors when I was 6 years old. That stuff is kind of normal to me. I grew up next to a wildlife sanctuary, and because my mom is a nurse, we used to take in all types of orphaned animals and birds with broken wings. It’s an addiction, and it’s also a little bit of a gamble because I agree to a certain amount of dogs. If I don’t find fosters, then I’m out on the street with the dog. Hasn’t happened yet but I’m at the max amount allowed in my building – so yeah, I’d be sleeping at Remedy diner.

If people want to help we have a little fostering section on Waggytailrescue.org. For support we have trainers who we work with. A lot of the fosters end up adopting. A lot of people are considering adopting a dog and they’re not sure it’s the right time, so they’ll foster for a week or two and see if they’re ready for the commitment. If they’re not ready, they’ll maybe foster again until the right time or the right dog, so it’s a good system.

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

A campaign to #SitOutSantaCon

SantaCon is scheduled for Saturday... ahead of that, DiMassimo Goldstein, an NYC-based ad agency, along with Crew Cuts, a broadcasting and media production company, launched a #SitOutSantaCon campaign. (The website notes that the campaign is also brought to you by "Decent People Everywhere.")

And there's a video, described this way:

This year, tens of thousands of people will flood the streets for SantaCon in cities across America. Like every year, adults will see overserved Santas, inebriated elves and reckless Rudolphs.

But what will the children see?

The #SitOutSantaCon website features a variety of posters and GIFs to share...



Not taking part in SantaCon is one thing. It's a choice. One problem with SantaCon, depending on where you are, is that you don't have much of a choice of being surrounded by it if you decide to venture outdoors.

As Jason Gilbert wrote for the Times in 2013 (in calling for a ban):

Perhaps most distressing about SantaCon is its size and the way that it shuts down and befouls dozens of blocks. Any East Villager (I am one) can tell you that the event makes doing absolutely anything beyond one’s front stoop an impossibility, unless you own swamp waders and a riot shield.

And...

For a New York City event of its size, however, SantaCon is distinctive, and arguably impressive, in that it contributes absolutely zero value — cultural, artistic, aesthetic, diversionary, culinary or political — to its host neighborhood. Quite simply, SantaCon is a parasite.

As for SantaCon 2017, organizers have yet to divulge what neighborhoods they'll congregate in this year.

Hot Pot Central closes on 2nd Avenue

[Photo via @jcastro_nyc]

After nearly a year in business, Hot Pot Central has closed on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street. They closed after service on Sunday night. No word on why they shut down.

This was the third attempt by the owners here since March 2015 ... following DumplingGuo and, previously, Dumpling Go.

Shima had a good run on the corner here until January 2014. After Shima, the asking rent for the prime corner location had been $25,400 per month.

Stereo exchange: Bright Audio moves on Avenue A

This past weekend, Bright Audio moved out of its storefront of five years at 202 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street ... heading across the Avenue to No. 207...




[Photo by Lola Sāenz]

Owner Kerry Bright, a general contractor specializing in home theaters, first created custom audio and video systems in the basement of 205 Avenue A in the early 2000s. (Sales were by appointment only.)

Bright then opened the storefront selling high-end headphones, amplifiers, turntables, etc., at No. 202 in 2012. (Read more about his business here.)

Now it appears he's moving back to the pre-storefront era. Bright Audio has an online shop and offers custom installation.

H/T Lola Sāenz!

The former Venus Body Arts space is for rent on Avenue A

Venus Body Arts recently cleared out of its 4-year-old home at 31 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

And the listing for the storefront owned by the NYCHA arrived on the market yesterday. (The photo in the listing shows the wrong space.) Asking rent is $90 a square foot.

As for Venus Body Arts, owner Maria Tash, whose clients have included Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé and FKA Twigs, first got her start in a Fourth Street studio in 1992. She moved the jewelry, tattoo and clothing boutique to this storefront in 2013. The locations on Broadway and in London remain open.

Get well soon, Dora!

[Photo last week by Ryan John Lee]

Last week, several residents reported a red-tailed hawk in some sort of distress on Ninth Street at Avenue C. Someone called the NYPD...


[Photo last week by Ryan John Lee]

...and eventually the hawk, believed to be Dora, one of the resident hawks in Tompkins Square Park, flew off into La Plaza Cultural.

In the following days, none of the Park's hawk watchers had seen Dora... raising some concerns about her health.

Goggla provided an update tonight: Turns out that Dora has an injured wing. She was picked up last night by the NYPD on Avenue C between 9th Street and 10th Street and was taken to Animal Medical Center. Her wing is not broken, but she is unable to fly.

You can head over to Goggla's site for more details.

Come home soon, Dora ...


[Photo by Steven]

You Gotti be kidding me: Mobster biopic pulled 10 days before release

[Photo in February by Daniel]

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.

"Gotti," directed by "Entourage" star Kevin Connolly, was set to open on Dec. 15.

Not anymore. The Tracking Board reports that Lionsgate dropped the film from its schedule and sold it back to its producers. There isn't any word on why Lionsgate decided to drop "Gotti."

Insiders say that "Gotti" would have given 10th Street its meatiest role since "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" filmed between Second Avenue and Third Avenue in 2005.

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

Today in sad-looking bears propped up by a tree on 1st Street

RIP Magdalena Wassiltschuk

Several readers have shared the news that Magdalena (Maggie) Wassiltschuk, a longtime resident on Ninth Street, died early last week.

I don't have any biographical information at the moment. A reader who lives on the same block between Avenue A and First Avenue said that she had cancer.

According to the reader, she lived for at least two decades at 415 E. Ninth St. and prior to that on Avenue B. She came to the city some years ago from Gettysburg, Pa., where she was a registered nurse.

Per the reader:

She was a huge animal lover and daily would sit on the stoop at 415, talking to everyone who passed by (well, primarily if they had a dog with them). She was a great neighbor. She was the first person who introduced herself to me when I moved to the East Village. Then, in typical fashion, she told me I should get a cat — and pointed at Ollie’s, that cat adoption place across Ninth street. When I finally did get a dog, it took her about two days to tell me the dog needed a friend and that I should adopt another!

She had very little, if any, family.

A neighbor created a small memorial, which has grown in recent days, on her building's entryway with a sign reading "Queen of the Stoop."