The vintage photobooth from the HiFi needs a new East Village home

[Photo from 2012 at HiFi by Shawn Chittle]

The vintage photobooth that resided inside HiFi these past five-plus years is in need of a new East Village home.

HiFi closed at 167 Avenue A back in the fall. Trixie, the owner of the photobooth, thought that the new establishment taking over the HiFi space would keep the machine... that deal fell through, unfortunately.

"So we’re on the prowl again," Trixie told me. "We still have a booth at Otto’s Shrunken Head on 14th Street, and ideally we’d relocate the one from HiFi somewhere within walking distance of that here in the East Village."

The booth was previously at the Lakeside Lounge, which closed in April 2012, on Avenue B.

Trixie remains hopeful to find another home.

"If we can’t find the right location, a fun bar that’s busy enough to make good use of a photobooth, well then I suppose we’d have to consider selling it," she said. "I know these old photobooths are beloved in the neighborhood, but the neighborhood sure ain’t what it used to be."

Interested parties may contact Trixie via this email.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lakeside's photobooth has a new home

Lumos Kitchen bringing the baijiu to 2nd Avenue

Lumos Kitchen is the new tenant for the southeast corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street... (thanks to Laura K. for the photos!)



This is apparently an expansion of Lumos, the now-closed (as of April 2017) cocktail bar that debuted in the fall of 2015 on West Houston Street between Thompson Street and LaGuardia Place.

As New York magazine noted, "Lumos ... is likely the only [bar] in America that specializes in baijiu, the ancient Chinese liquor that's probably the most surprising, divisive thing you can drink in the whole city."

And more on baijiu via this Gothamist post from 2015:

Baijiu ("bye Joe") is actually an over-arching term for liquor, roughly translating to "white liquor" in Chinese. Baijiu doesn't refer to one spirit—they're categorized into different "scents," ranging from "rice" scent on the light side of the spectrum to "strong" and "complex" scent on the other end. Baijiu is also the world's most consumed form of liquor; that's what happens when you have the most populous country in the world. According to data from International Wine & Spirit Research, Chinese people drank over 11 billion liters of baijiu in 2012, accounting for more than one-third of all spirits consumed in the world.

So Lumos Kitchen looks to be pairing some food with the baijiu. (There's a help-wanted ad for a sous chef with "experience in French & Chinese restaurant.") For now, there's just a teaser site for the restaurant. The folks behind Lumos look to have further expansion plans, as their website shows...



Anyway, as for this Second Avenue space, three restaurants — Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go — came and went since March 2015. Before this, Shima had a good run here until January 2014.

DöKham will sell Tibetan treasures on 1st Avenue

DöKham, which sells clothes and accessories from Tibet ("treasures from Tibet," per the website), is opening an outpost at 117 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place...



DöKham has a store on Prince between Lafayette and Mulberry. Not sure if they are moving or if this will be a second location. (Updated: The Prince Street location, which debuted in 1988, is now closed.) You can find out more about their wares here.

The previous tenant at No. 117, Village Kids Footwear, closed at the end of last summer.

As a P.S. ... and if you don't already know ... Himalayan Vision is a nice Tibetan speciality shop nearby at 127 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place...

USA Body Work out of business on 6th Street

The no-frills massage place at 516 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B is gone. Someone cleared out the storefront last week.

USA Body Work was open 24/7, and I'm pretty sure the couple who ran it lived in the back, which is why sometimes they might work in their pajamas.

Anyway, no official word on why they closed. And this marks the fourth massage-spa business to close in the neighborhood this year.

Tasty Garden hasn't been open lately

[Photo from Jan. 24]

The windows at Tasty Dumpling on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B have been papered over the past two-plus weeks. There's no sign up noting a temporary closure for renovations. And the phone is currently disconnected.

However, an EVG reader who lives on the block reports seeing someone inside the space doing something.

The same thing happened at this address (No. 518) last summer when paper arrived on the windows at Baron's Dim Sum. A few weeks later came Tasty Garden, serving various dumplings and wontons.

The address seems to specialize in businesses that quickly close, such as a psychic... and an organic dry cleaner/cafe.

In any event I heard good things about Tasty Garden from readers. Perhaps it will return.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Baron's Dim Sum gives way to Tasty Garden on 6th Street

1st residents moving into Steiner East Village

Here's part of a news release that arrived late last week about Steiner East Village, the block-engulfing condoplex on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street...

Steiner East Village has welcomed its first residents, as closings have begun at the 82-unit, 7-story, full service luxury condominium developed by Steiner NYC. The project, which includes one- to four-bedroom condos and penthouses, is now 75% sold and has entered its final phase of sales.

The classic, loft-style interiors at Steiner East Village are designed by Paris Forino and offer ten-foot-plus ceiling heights, oversized windows, exquisite marble finishes, wide plank floors, top-of-the-line appliances, and an abundance of light and air.

The building’s amenity spaces, encompassing over 16,000 square-feet, are best-in-class for the East Village and include a transcendent 50’-indoor pool, lush garden, 2,000-square foot fitness center, sauna, steam room, parking, resident library with fireplace, bike storage, pet spa, children’s playroom, and a 4,000-square-foot common roofdeck with stunning, protected views.

The release includes a rendering of the pool ...



And no word yet about what might be coming to Stei Town's retail spaces along Avenue A.

Developer Douglas Steiner bought the former Mary Help of Christians property in 2012 from the Archdiocese of New York for $41 million. During the summer of 2013, workers demolished the church, school and rectory.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 'senseless shocking self-destruction' of Mary Help of Christians

Residences rising from the former Mary Help of Christians lot will now be market-rate condos

Ongoing construction at condoplex on Avenue A enters the swimming pool phase

Report: Developer Douglas Steiner lands $130 million loan for EV condo construction

Douglas Steiner's church-replacing condos emerge from the pit; plus new renderings

Developer Douglas Steiner presents Steiner East Village

An update on Steiner East Village, 'Usherer of Alphabet City Gentrification'


[The church property as seen from 11th Street in August 2012 via Bobby Williams]

Week in Grieview

[Ping-pong regulars in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Dora is on the mend, but she may not be back in Tompkins Square Park anytime soon (Thursday)

Kmart staying on Astor Place, minus the 2nd floor (for Facebook?) (Monday)

A visit to East Yoga Center (Wednesday)

The latest installment of I am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Friday)

Back to the 80s: Celebrating Ray's 85th birthday at Ray's Candy Store (Tuesday)

Boris & Horton opens on A (Friday)

East Village Dance Project choreographs move to the Lower East Side (Tuesday)

Ciao for Now has closed (Wednesday)

Claim: A Trader Joe's won't be coming to new development at 14th and A after all (Thursday)


[Friday's sunset photo via Bobby Williams]

Sammy's Halal signage arrives at the former Polish G. I. Delicatessen (Monday)

Interior demo continues at the former Sunshine Cinema (Monday)

Five Tacos has not been open lately on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

886, next-level Taiwanese food, in the works for 26 St. Mark's Place (Friday)

No, the Moishe's Bake Shop space is not on the rental market (Wednesday)

A familiar Voice returning to Cooper Square (Wednesday)

Santander branch closing in April on Avenue A (Tuesday) Another broker for the former Chase branch on Avenue A (Wednesday)

3 recent spa closures (Monday)

Construction watch: 79-89 Avenue D (Friday)

Meet Fresh debuts on Cooper Square (Monday)

Construction watch: 255 E. Houston St. (Tuesday)

Krust Pizzeria has closed for good this time on 14th Street (Monday)

... "Trinkets," Paul E. Alexander's look at 1990s LGBT community in the Meatpacking District, ended its run last night at 24 Bond Arts Center ... they hope to reopen at La MaMa in the fall... thanks to Grant Shaffer for the info and photo...



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Vendors at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket this winter

[EVG file photo]

Just as a reminder ... here's who you can expect most Sundays this winter at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket along Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place...

• Bread Alone, Boiceville, N.Y.: organic baked goods
• East Branch Farms, Roxbury, N.Y.: Farmstead kimchi, probiotics
• Flying Pig Farm, Shusan, N.Y.: all things pork
• Ronnybrook Dairy Farm, Pine Plains, N.Y.: bottled milk, yogurt, drinkable yogurt, butter, creme fraiche, live cultures
• Meredith's Bakery, Kingston, N.Y.: baked goods with gluten-free options
• Pura Vida Fisheries: Fresh seafood
• Stannard Farm, South Cambridge, N.Y.: 20-plus years of growing for the East Village Greenmarket. Storage vegetables, pears, apples, cider, donuts, beef, pork and eggs.

In addition, there's GrowNYC's Food Scrap Composting from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and GrowNYC's Clothing Collection from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Thanks to Madalyn Warren, one of the Sunday vendors, who helped compile this list...

Super Bowl Sunday

Sixth Street and Cooper Square.

And the line outside Professor Thom's (a Patriots bar) on Second Avenue at 8 a.m. ...



They open at 10 a.m. for brunch in case you were wondering.

Report: Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union loses challenge to Trump pick for CFPB

A federal judge ruled that the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union on Avenue B lacks standing to challenge President Trump's appointment of Mick Mulvaney to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The ruling was made public yesterday. Here's more from Reuters:

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan said the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union lacked legal authority to sue, rejecting what he called the plaintiff’s “fear-based theory of standing.”

Gardephe said the credit union failed to show that any actual or expected policy changes under Mulvaney, who is also White House budget chief, would undermine its ability to fulfill its mission of improving the health of underserved communities.

“Organizations advocating for a particular policy goal who have alleged no injury to themselves as organizations may not establish their standing simply on the basis of that goal,” Gardephe wrote. His decision is dated Thursday.

A lawyer for the Credit Union told Reuters: "We are evaluating our options in this extremely important case."

In early December, the Credit Union accused the President in a complaint of "an illegal hostile takeover of the CFPB." You can read more on the challenge here.

The Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union was founded in 1986. Today, it has nearly 8,500 members as well as locations in East Harlem and on Staten Island.