Little League playoff game delayed 45 minutes while a red-tailed hawk ate a pigeon

EVG reader Maite Castillo shares this photo and story ...

My son plays in the Junior Division of Peter Stuyvesant Little League. Today was their 1st playoff game at Murry Bergtraum Softball Field (161 Cherry St.).

The game was delayed, for approximately 45 minutes, by a local red-tailed hawk who brought its prey (a pigeon) to clean on the field's backstop.

We all stood around watching pigeon feathers rain down onto home plate. The Ump said “Well, this is a first for me!”

The hawk was unflappable and maintained his perch as the game restarted.

In the end, the Metropolitans defeated the Empires.

As for the hawk, he or she eventually moved over to perch on a streetlamp across the street, behind the bleachers, for, as Maite put it, "a bird-seye view of the game."

Tristan Eaton starts on the Bowery Mural Wall

Tristan Eaton started work yesterday on the Bowery Mural Wall... the above photo is an in-progress look as of this morning here at East Houston...

On his Instagram account, Eaton said he'd be working on the large-scale mural for the coming week ... he's known for his meticulous, visual collages with pop-cultural imagery...

The P.S. 19 community playground is open

The official opening of the revamped playground at P.S. 19 on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street took place this past Tuesday morning.

There were several comments on the post about whether this playground will actually be open to the community (as billed) ...

The playground was open this morning at 8 a.m. (you enter on the 12th Street side) ... and there were several people inside...



For now, the sign promises community hours of 6-9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Those weekday hours will likely change after school ends for the summer next week...



Among other amenities, the playground features a synthetic turf field, a painted track, play equipment, a basketball court and an all-weather ping-pong table.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on the all-new playground coming to P.S. 19

At the start of the 2018 Drag March

Dozens (hundreds?) of beautiful queens and kings gathered in Tompkins Square Park early last evening for the annual Drag March — the kick-off to NYC Pride weekend.

Joined by a small NYPD presence and a lot of photographers, the group made their way west to the Stonewall Inn.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos ...





























... and Grant Shaffer shared as the March was getting underway on Ninth Street ...

Friday's parting shot(s)

A few photos from the annual Drag March, which started in Tompkins Square this evening... before the walk to the Stonewall Inn.

Steven shared these photos... have more from EVG contributor Stacie Joy to post later...

'New' song

The audio track here is for "Someone New" by the LA-based Smokescreens ... the lead track from their new album out next month on Slumberland. (RIYL: Flying Nun Records.)

The EVG podcast: Red-tailed hawk talk with Laura Goggin

[Christo, left, and Amelia by Goggla]

As mentioned last week, I recently launched an EVG podcast, recording episodes in the East Village Radio studio on First Avenue.

This conversation with East Village-based photographer Laura Goggin (aka Goggla!) was the first one that I did. We recorded it several weeks ago, and many red-tailed hawk developments have occurred since then, such as the arrival of the two chicks... who are growing so quickly.

In any event, in the podcast, we talk about the history of Christo and Dora and their offspring as well as discuss the tabloid-worthy exploits of Christo (and Not Dora/Nora and Amelia) and the other red-tailed hawks in the city.



This link will take you to Goggla's site for more photos and red-tailed hawk narratives. And stay tuned for more EVG podcasts (kind of in the "soft open" phase, to use some restaurant lingo).

Previously on EV Grieve:
The EVG podcast: with Mike Katz and Crispin Kott, the authors of "Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City."

DHS flyers on 1st Street

Workers recently removed the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge from 18 Second Ave.

While the sidewalk bridge was up, multiple people started living in encampments along the First Street side... (Earlier this year, the Daily News reported on one of the women who was living along here. Her pitbull reportedly bit a man who was tormenting her.)

On June 14, reps from the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) taped flyers to the remaining poles along here...



The flyers states that the DHS along with the NYPD and other city agencies "will complete a clean-up" of this area...



... and people need to vacate along with their belongings. Anything left behind by today may be discarded...



I don't recall seeing flyers like this before... the reader who shared this wondered, at the very least, if the city could have taped one to a flat surface to make it easier to read.

Grape and Grain returns under new ownership on 6th Street

[Photos from the soft opening this past Sunday by Brian Boulos]

A familiar operator is behind the Grape and Grain reboot on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

The wine bar quietly closed last fall after 12 years in the space. That's when TJ Provenzano, a general manager and partner of the Mayanoki Sustainable Sushi counter next door, stepped in.

I asked Provenzano a few questions about the relaunch ahead of tonight's official reopening.

On getting involved with the original Grape and Grain space at 620 E. Sixth St.:

To be honest, the reason we got involved at G&G because we really love the location, and the bones of the space. We've been operating Mayanoki, and the opportunity came up to take over Grape and Grain and we had to jump on it. It's such a great block here between B and C. It feels a little off the beaten path, and yet still has a great neighborhood feel to it.

Grape and Grain really just needed a good clean, and some love. We love the community garden next door, and I've had the opportunity to get to know the neighbors over the last year at Mayanoki. I've heard time and time again how much "we love the G&G space so much but I just really wish the food and wine was better." So it seemed like a unique opportunity to hopefully provide the neighbors with exactly what they were asking for.

On keeping the name the same:

We decided to keep the name Grape and Grain for a few reasons. The most important of which is the fact that G&G has been here for over a decade, and I felt had really become part of the neighborhood. I remember one of our guests at Mayanoki told me that she and her husband met at G&G, got engaged at G&G and had drinks after their wedding here as well.

That was the moment where I really started to realize that this place has history, and that I’d love to pay homage to that, while kind of re-alligning it with my own unique background and experience. I grew up in Westchester, and when I was young I would come hang out in the city — the East Village was the only place I wanted to be. Catching an all-ages show at Coney Island High on St. Mark's will always be some of my greatest memories.

I'm humbled and excited to be back 20 years later and to have the opportunity to continue a warm, inviting space that has become part of the neighborhood itself. We are looking to continue the G&G tradition of providing a neighborhood place for locals to grab a bite and a glass of wine, and really for it to feel like an extension of their own living room.








[Sonomi Kobayashi, who created the artwork]

The Swiss Institute debuts its inaugural exhibit at new East Village home

[Photo from last evening]

The Swiss Institute's inaugural exhibition officially opens to the public tomorrow on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place (the address is 38 St. Mark's Place).

Here's more about it via the Institute's website:

On view will be "Readymades Belong to Everyone" ... the third edition of SI’s Architecture and Design Series. Curated by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen, the exhibition features more than 50 artists, architects and collectives from 16 countries with 17 new commissions.

The opening hours are noon to 8 p.m.

The building — 7,500 square feet in total — was a former Chase branch. The four levels include space for exhibitions, a research library, a bookstore run by Printed Matter and a rooftop terrace with art.

Michael Wang installing his work, Extinct in the Wild, on the roof of 38 St Marks Pl. #SIONSITE #swissinstitute

A post shared by Swiss Institute (@swissinstitute) on Jun 20, 2018 at 2:26pm PDT

Here's more background via a recent preview in The Wall Street Journal...

The nonprofit institution was created in 1986 by a group of Swiss expats looking to highlight their country’s artists and culture. That mission has since broadened to promote a diverse community of international artists, all the while charming the wider art world with its zeitgeist-tapping exhibitions.

Despite this success, Swiss Institute director Simon Castets yearned to find a permanent home base. After reviewing roughly 100 buildings and raising nearly $4 million, the French-born Castets and his board, chaired by philanthropist Maja Hoffmann, landed on a former Chase bank ...

“We used to be near Céline and Moschino,” says Castets, 34, of the Institute’s former Wooster Street space. “[We’re now] on one of the city’s most heavily trafficked corners. It changes the profile entirely.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

It will now be more challenging to tag the front of the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue

Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

A few more details on the Swiss Institute's move to the East Village

Printed Matter/St. Mark's opens today inside the Swiss Institute

[I spy Dallas BBQ]

The Swiss Institute, the arts nonprofit, officially opens tomorrow on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue.

And today, the Printed Matter/St. Mark's offsite location debuts in the lobby space.

Here's more via the Printed Matter website:

Printed Matter/St. Mark’s will present a mixture of contemporary and out-of-print artists' books, Printed Matter titles, and publications related to current Swiss Institute exhibitions and programs. Stay tuned for updates on St. Mark's-specific events and educational programming ... We look forward to joining the vibrant community of independent arts institutions and bookstores with this new space in the East Village.

And the bookstore hours:

Monday-Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday-Friday: 2–8 p.m.
Saturday: Noon-8 p.m.
Sunday: Noon- 6 p.m.

And here's a look at some of the titles that will be available (via this link here)...



Images via Printed Matter/St. Mark's

Previously on EV Grieve:
Printed Matter will have a bookstore inside the Swiss Institute's new 2nd Avenue home

Thursday's parting shot

A free show by Arcade Fire Slavic Soul Party late this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... photo by Derek Berg

1st day of summer and the pool STILL isn't filled on 7th Street

Apparently some water-main woes here the last few days between First Avenue and Second Avenue... the block is closed to traffic.

Ignite

Ignite

June sun ignites the summer solstice

retreating slowly into darkening days

leaving in its wake sisters Hot and Humid

to argue who should show their prominent ways

start the A/C, resurrect the lightest linen

seeking shade insufficient, try lemonade

too hot for hot we had forgotten how the

sweltering sun rays exhaustion made

Some of our assumptions will arrive

others fall on stoney ground

this serious summer business

what is out there, a good time found.

•

peter radley

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

Boys' Club of New York selling East Village building; will remain open through June 2019

The Boys' Club of New York (BCNY) will be selling its Harriman Clubhouse building on the northwest corner of 10th Street and Avenue A, according to a recent letter to alumni from Stephen Tosh, BCNY's executive director and CEO.

An EVG reader, and an alum of the Boys' Club, shared a copy of the letter, which states that the building, which opened in 1901, will remain in operation through June 2019.

According to the letter, BCNY will look to rent space somewhere on the Lower East Side to continue with programming for Harriman members after the closure next summer. The letter also states that the sale of the East Village building will allow BCNY the opportunity to start new programs in other communities, including Brownsville, East New York and/or the South Bronx.



A few excerpts from the letter:

It is with sadness that I write to tell you that the Board of Trustees of the Boys' Club of New York has decided to sell the Harriman Clubhouse building...

As you know, when E.H. Harriman founded the Boy's Club in 1876, 10th Street and Avenue A was in the middle of a poor, immigrant neighborhood where most boys had little opportunity to learn and grow and nowhere to feel safe. He opened this clubhouse to give any boy on the Lower East Side a shot at a better life.

The neighborhood surrounding the building has changed dramatically since Mr. Harriman built this building, especially in the past few decades. The sale of the property now will allow BCNY to provide programming to an even greater number of boys and young men in more underserved communities. The Board will use proceeds of the sale to start new programs in Brownsville, East New York and/or the South Bronx. The Board has no plans to sell Gerry Clubhouse in East Harlem or Abbe Clubhouse in Flushing.

At least six new high-end luxury buildings have arrived near the BCNY outpost in recent years, including Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A, Extell's EVGB and Douglas Steiner's Steiner East Village.

In 2012, Steiner bought the former Mary Help of Christians property on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street from the Archdiocese of New York for $41 million. The church and school were torn down.

No word yet what the BCNY building might fetch on the market... or what might happen to the 7-story building — complete gut renovation or full demolition to make way for a new residential complex.


[Boys' Club photo from 1934 via NYPL]

Updated 2:30 p.m.

Patch's coverage includes comments from Alice Maggin, the club's director of communication.

Today, the building is equipped with two gymnasiums, a swimming pool on the seventh floor and a rooftop space where a slew of athletic, music and art programs are offered to roughly 300 members, boys ages 7-to-21. Club officials have not begun talks with specific buyers yet, but aim to sell the space to a group with the community's needs in mind rather than a developer who would raze the structure.

"That building is built like a bomb shelter — thick walls of concrete and steel — if it were to be knocked down it would be hugely expensive," said Maggin. "It's a seven-story building with unique features, we're hoping that it could become something for the area."