A block party to celebrate the 'masters of hip-hop' tomorrow in Tompkins Square Park

This is happening tomorrow (Friday!) in Tompkins Square Park from 1-6 p.m.

Via the EVG inbox...

Great Minds will be hosting a special edition of I Still Love HER, a monthly event dedicated to celebrating Masters of Hip Hop.

Ending the summer on a high note, they are taking the event outside to Tompkins Square Park for the I Still Love HER Block Party with an all-star lineup of legendary DJs and artists to highlight the history and positive influence Hip Hop has had on our culture and communities.

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 — and perhaps elsewhere.

All about EVE, the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office-replacing rentals on 14th Street

[View of 432 E. 14th St.]

Work continues (one year in!) along 14th Street, as crews are putting in new, ADA-compliant entrances at Avenue A and a new power station at Avenue B for the L train.

Renderings show that one of the Avenue A L-train entrances will be right in front of the new residential building at 432 E. 14th St., site of the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch from 1953 to 2014....



And that residential building has a name — EVE (not to be confused with EVGB on the next block), which is ready to start leasing this fall. CityRealty first noted this earlier in August. Per their report:

Prices of the 113 studio through two-bedroom apartments will range from $2,000 to over $5,000. These figures are consistent with the East Village median rent of $3,963/month, according to CityRealty data. Further apartment details are not yet available, but amenities will include a courtyard, lounge, outdoor exercise and yoga room, bike room, and laundry room.

Here's an updated rendering showing the 13th Street side, where the residential entrance is...


[Via SLCE Architects]

No word on exactly what EVE might stand for (East Village Expensive?). There was some hope that the building would have a name that paid homage to the previous tenant, the much-loathed post 0ffice, such as Next Window Please or You Can Come Back Tomorrow If You Want.

And no word about affordable housing in EVE. The Benenson Capital website still notes the following:

Benenson and the Mack Real Estate Group have formed a joint venture to develop a mixed-use residential and ground floor retail property in New York City's East Village. The 80/20 property will provide both market and affordable housing units.

Reps for Benenson and Mack Real Estate previously sought a variance to build four more floors (to 12 from 8) than the zoning would allow to make up for the "extraordinary construction costs" from poor ground conditions here. They withdrew this request in March 2017.

As for the commercial space, which will have the 14th Street entrance ... the CityRealty post states: "To the delight of residents and neighbors, Trader Joe’s is the building’s retail tenant." There were rumors that the TJ's wasn't happening.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today in rants: the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office

Meanwhile, at everyone's favorite local post office branch...

UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

Developer withdraws zoning variance request for former 14th Street post office site

The Peter Stuyvesant-PO-replacing residential building tops out on 14th Street

Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company opens Tuesday on 8th Street

[Photo from Aug. 9]

Way back in April 2017 we spotted the signage over on Eighth Street just west of Broadway for an outpost of Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company... coming in the fall of 2017.

As we wrap up the summer of 2018, the shop is ready for bagel business. They announced on Instagram that they open next Tuesday (Sept. 4!) here at 63 E. Eighth St.

Despite the name, the 16-year-old company has three locations in Astoria, one in Chelsea and zero in Brooklyn. You can find their menu, which includes a variety of sandwiches, soups and salads, here.

In 2016, Gothamist named Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company the city's "Best Chain Bagels." Per Gothamist:

[They sell] spectacular hand-rolled doughy bagels, appropriately crispy-crusted and accompanied by what seems like thousands of spreads and proteins. They have a flavor-of-the-week cream cheese that has, at times, been cannoli cream, red velvet, spinach and white chocolate raspberry. Expect long lines in Astoria on weekday mornings, but your breakfast will be worth the wait.

A post shared by Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Co. (@bkbagelny) on Jun 24, 2018 at 9:29am PDT

How you all doing tonight? Grand opening at the New York Comedy Club on 4th Street this evening

After two weeks in soft-open mode, which included a Jim Gaffigan drop-in, the New York Comedy Club officially debuts tonight at 85 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Amy Hawthorne, the club's director of operations, sent along the opening announcement. Per that release:

The club ... will hold its Grand Opening on Thursday, Aug. 30 with two shows at 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m.

The shows will feature NYCC favorites, including Yamaneika Saunders, Sherrod Small, Adrienne Iapalucci, Jon Fisch, Matt Pavich and Matt Richards, along with special guests and unannounced drop ins.

NYCC is offering discount admission through the end of September to anyone who lives or works in the area. Locals can redeem this offer at www.newyorkcomedyclub.com by using code NEIGHBOR at checkout to receive $10 admission Sunday-Thursday. In addition, full-priced weekend admission comes with a free VIP Season Pass for free admission to most shows through January 2019 with RSVP.

You can find the East Village schedule here.

This is the second location for the New York Comedy Club, which opened in 1989 on 24th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

They are taking over the former home of the EastVille Comedy Club, which departed for Brooklyn in April.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Funny business: Comedy club replacing comedy club on 4th Street

Did you hear the one about the comedy club opening tonight on 4th Street?

Chi Ken, the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Store, no longer coming to St. Mark's Place

[Photo from May 2017]

Chi Ken, the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Store, had been set for 58 St. Mark's Place. The signage first arrived in February 2017.

Apparently that's no longer in the works — a for rent sign is now up on the storefront here between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



Next door, Clay Pot, serving traditional Hong Kong style open-flame cooked clay pot rice, opened in February...

Dog days of summer (obviously)

A short film by Grant Shaffer... shot today on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...

August 22nd 2018

August 22nd 2018

Emerging from a Summer

that never seemed able

to pass that over bearing

mix of: too hot, too humid,

too wet, too long, just too …

will we now be teased by

a breeze, a night

cool enough to sleep

false security, maligned teasing

summers cruel little joke

what did I expect

an unreasonable summer of old

foolish I know, just call me a

Pollyanna. In the summer sweat,

hopefully, in the Winter shiver.

•

peter radley

A look at the East River Park Track, due to reopen next month

[Reader-submitted photo from Sept. 18, 2017]

Last Sept. 18, the Parks Department shut down the the East River Park Track at the FDR and Sixth Street — without any advance notice — for a year-long renovation project.

Well, here we are almost one year later... and according to the Parks Department website, the construction is 84 percent complete.



A look at the track yesterday shows that work is wrapping up... with noticeable progress... and few, if any, alarming signs (like, say, mounds of dirt on a muddy track)...







The $2.8 million initiative was set to "reconstruct the synthetic turf soccer field and resurface the running track," per the Parks Department website, which includes this rendering highlighting all the improvements...


[Click on image for more detail]

A Parks Department official said the track will reopen on Sept. 10 [Updated 9/12: That didn't happen] ... with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to follow.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The East River Park Track is now closed for renovations; September 2018 reopening expected

Cholo Noir is currently closed 4 renovations

Several readers have noted that Cholo Noir has been closed since at least Aug. 19 here on Sixth Street just east of Avenue A ... Handwritten signs arrived on the front back on Aug. 22 noting a closure for (4) renovations...



There's no mention of the temporary closure on their website or social media properties. Their phone is currently not in service.

Cholo Noir, a Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant, opened in July 2017.

As previously reported, CB3 twice denied a liquor license for the proprietors in 2016 ... among other reasons, there are 20-plus full on-premises liquor licenses within 500 feet of the address. CB3 members also didn't see much public benefit from the concept on a mostly residential block in a nightlife-saturated neighborhood.

Given the amount of work that they already put into the space, ownership went to the State Liquor Authority for a license.

In 2014, the owners received $15,000 by winning the New York Public Library’s New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another no for Cholo Noir

'Low and Slow' on 6th and A