The EVG podcast: Al Diaz on BOMB1, SAMO© and Basquiat

Artist Al Diaz joined me in the East Village Radio storefront studio on First Avenue for this EVG podcast.

Diaz grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. He started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.

Some 40 years on Diaz remains active (check out his Instagram account here).

We covered a lot in 30 minutes, from the early days of graffiti in NYC to Sara Driver's recently released documentary, "Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat," which features Diaz, to the return of SAMO© after Election 2016.

Take a listen... or download it for later...



His work will also be featured in a new gallery via Adrian Wilson coming to 57 Great Jones St. ... where Basquiat lived and worked at the time of his death in 1988.



Al Diaz image via Instagram

Previously on EV Grieve:
The EVG podcast: Red-tailed hawk talk with Laura Goggin

The EVG podcast: Mike Katz and Crispin Kott on the "Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City."

The EVG podcast: A 'Vanishing New York' conversation with Jeremiah Moss

The EVG podcast: More hawk talk with Laura Goggin

The 47th annual 10th Street block party is tomorrow (on 10th Street)

Happening tomorrow (Saturday!) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 10th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

As the flyer shows, there will be antiques, collectible and music brought to you by the 10th Street and Stuyvesant Street Block Association.

And arrive early for mannequins photo opps...


[Via @evgrieve]

The annual Ninth Street A-1 Block Association Block Party is also tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

H/T Steven

Tree down on Clinton and Stanton

This is the scene this morning on Clinton Street just south of Stanton... EVG reader @artisanmatters shared these photos. Not sure what happened just yet (other than that it fell some time last night and remains blocking the street this a.m) ... and this Bud Light rig took one on the cab...



And two more views via EVG reader @Section215 ...

Stannard Farm pulls out of the Greenmarket; 20-plus year veterans of Tompkins Square Park

[Photos by Blake Farber]

Stannard Farm, a regular presence on Avenue A and Seventh Street on Sundays dating to 1998, abruptly pulled out of GrowNYC's Greenmarket program this week.



Here's their note to customers:

With a heavy heart, we write this. Due to injustices we have faced with Greenmarket, we will no longer be participating in the Greenmarket Program. Unfortunately, this means we will not be finishing the CSA season.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your faithfulness and loyalty to Stannard Farm.

Please keep an eye out for a letter in your “snail mail” over the next couple of days that will have your refund check for the remaining 10 weeks of your CSA share.

They did not specify what "injustices" they experienced at the Greenmarket.

I asked Michael Hurwitz, director of the Greenmarket program, for a comment about Stannard Farm. To his knowledge, reps from Stannard Farm had not approached Greenmarket officials with these concerns. His statement:

GrowNYC’s Greenmarket Program has been supporting farmers for over four decades and we strive to work with all our Producers to help them succeed and prosper. We also have some of the strictest rules in the country, requiring farmers to grow their own products for sale at our markets.

In addition, we have a Farmer Community Advisory Committee (FCAC) that serves as advocates for farmers who may have concerns with Greenmarket’s operations. Prior to receiving Stannard Farm's notice Tuesday afternoon that they were immediately ending their relationship with Greenmarket, to my knowledge, Standard Farms had not approached Greenmarket Management or the FCAC through the process outlined in our rules, or otherwise, to raise concerns over perceived "injustices."

While it is unfortunate for their customers that they would end their CSA and market operation so abruptly, Greenmarket will do everything possible to replace them at market with a suitable farmer so that customers can continue to access fresh, healthy, local food.

So no official word just yet who will be taking over their space on Avenue A and Seventh Street in the Tompkins Square Greenmarket.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated move, the Greenmarket announced a new vendor for Tompkins Square Park on Sundays. NY Cider Co., located in the Fingerlakes Region, will be selling their hard ciders made from New York State grown heirloom and wild apple varieties.

City Council to hold public hearing Monday on hotel next to the Merchant’s House

[Illustration by SJ Costello]

The 186-year-old Merchant's House Museum continues the fight against the developers of the proposed hotel next door to the city, state and federal landmark on Fourth Street between the Bowery and Lafayette.

Next up: The City Council Zoning Subcommittee meeting on Monday morning.

The eight-story hotel, which has been in the works for several years, would rise 100 feet on a lot to the west — currently housing Al-Amin Food Inc., which stores food carts.

The developers, Kalodop II Park, are seeking a spot rezoning to build the structure that high. The seven-month public review process, the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), began in the spring.

This development is of grave concern to preservationists, not to mention the leadership of Merchant's House, the circa-1832 building that is one of only six residences in NYC that is both an exterior and an interior landmark. (The Merchant’s House has a call to arms, which you can read here.)

However, landmark status does not guarantee protection from adjacent construction, and Merchant's House officials are worried that the ensuing excavation and subsequent work will damage their building.


[Via SRA Architecture and Engineering]

On Aug. 25, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the application, rejecting the denial recommendations of both Community Board 2 and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

The application is now with City Council. A public hearing is set for Monday morning at 9:30 at 250 Broadway, 16th Floor.

As Curbed reported on June 1:

The Council member representing this part of the East Village, Carolina Rivera, seems to be on the side of the museum and preservationists, saying in a statement in May that she would not support the project until the museum was assured of the safety of its building.

The City Council is the final stop for this project, and other City Council members usually tend to side with the Council member representing that particular neighborhood...

Rivera disappointed preservationists and some other residents last month with her yes vote for the 14th Street tech hub without any substantial zoning limitations on neighboring blocks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern again for Merchant's House Museum as developer moves forward with hotel next door

Report: Landmarks Preservation Commission OKs plans for hotel next door to the Merchant's House

Plans filed for new 8-story hotel next to the historic Merchant's House Museum on East 4th Street

EVG Etc.: Hanoi House lawsuit; Second Avenue Deli sign discovery

[New signage for Search & Destroy on St. Mark's Place]

NYCHA deal for market-rate housing on public properties still hasn't closed after 28 months (Daily News)

Prune's Gabrielle Hamilton no longer teaming up to run Spotted Pig, where co-owner Ken Friedman has been accused of sexually assaulting and harassing dozens of women (Eater NY... Eater National ... Grub Street)

Details of the ugly lawsuit involving the owners and former chef of Hanoi House on St. Mark's Place (The Post)

Painter finds old Second Avenue Deli sign in workshop space on 10th Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Target plans to hire 6,500 seasonal workers in NYC (Patch)

The plan to rezone Noho and Soho (Crain's)

Some Grand Street sign history (Ephemeral New York)

John and Yoko's "Imagine" screens Monday night at City Cinemas Village East (Official site)

"The Public Image Is Rotten" — the Public Image, Ltd. documentary — opens tonight at the Metrograph (Official site)



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And an EVG reader reports that this cat wandered into her apartment building on 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue last night... no collar. Per the resident, the cat is "clearly domesticated. We are unsure whether it’s lost or abandoned."

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 elsewhere.

The annual 9th Street Block Party is Saturday (on 9th Street)

[Photo by Steven]

The annual 9th Street A-1 Block Association Block Party is coming up this Saturday.

Here are a few details via the EVG inbox...

Resident artists, crafts people, and photographers will be showing and selling their work, and residents will be selling a la "stoop sale" — antiques, bric-a-brac, clothing, accessories, music, jewelry, etc.

Block businesses include:
• Shops: Beetle Bug, Enchantments, Flower Power, Good Beer, Love Only NYC, Mr. Throwback, Ollie's Place, Pink Olive, Polytima, Puppy Love Kitty Kat, Reason Outpost, The Wineshop
• Restaurants/Food Establishments: Cagen, Confectionery!, Dian Kitchen, Mahalo NY Bakery, Poke n Roll, Superiority Burger, Tacos Morelos, Thursday Kitchen, Whitman's
• Hair Salons/Barbers: Classic Man Barbers, Lovemore & Do, Maria Mok Salon, Neighborhood Barber, Tsumiki Hair

Find all this from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. There isn't any rain date. At the moment, though, the weather forecast is looking pretty good.

Today is Primary Election Day

You are getting sleepy... You will vote on Thursday, September 13th in the New York Primary. You will vote on Thursday. You will vote on Thursday. You will get out the vooooote. pic.twitter.com/Tp9N3cTQsD

— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) September 10, 2018

And starting the day off with a cat GIF from Brian Lehrer.

So the state’s primary election is today. (The general election is on Nov. 6.)

Here is the official list of candidates for every race via the Board of Elections.

There are several places to find more reader-friendly primary guides, such as at Curbed ... Gothamist ... The Villager and the Gotham Gazette.

Polls are open today from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can find your polling site via this link.

And you can bring your "I Voted" sticker over to 99 Favor Taste on St. Mark's Place for your free barbecue and hot pot.

130 E. 7th St. is for sale

[Image via Marcus & Millichap]

From the EVG tip line comes this listing for 130 E. Seventh St., the 7-floor building on the southwest corner of Avenue A.

Marcus & Millichap is the broker, though the link is via Loopnet. Some details:

130 East 7th Street offers investors a unique opportunity to acquire a corner elevator loft mixed-use building in the heart of the East Village with strong in place cash-flow. Miss Lily’s, a popular Caribbean style restaurant occupies the ground floor. There is shared office space occupying the second floor followed by five floor-through loft apartments. All of apartments are three bedrooms aside from the penthouse unit which is a spacious four bedrooms duplex apartment with a 1,300 Square Foot private outdoor space.

And from the investment summary...


[Click to go big]

Curiously, the summary notes: "The other ground floor retail (7th Street side) is occupied by Avant Garden. They are on a lease that expires in 2088..." 2088? Helluva lease!

Anyway, the building's asking price: $22.95 million.

And here's part of an EVG post from August 2016 about the address...

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The 7-floor building on the southwest corner has been through a luxury makeover in recent years. The new residential rentals were fetching $16,995 and $14,995. Longtime corner restaurant 7A closed in January 2014... and later replaced by Miss Lily's.

Public records show that the University of the Streets sold the building to Park Corner Development, LLC in September 2011 for $5 million.

After 46 years of music and arts programs here, the University of the Streets cleared out of the second floor in April 2015 and relocated to the Bronx.

The address was home to L.W. Schwenk… and here's a photo dated July 24, 1914, titled "Depositors at failed bank."



Previously on EV Grieve:
Penthouse life above 7A will cost you $16,995 monthly

You may now pig out at BarBacon on 4th Avenue

BarBacon has debuted at 127 Fourth Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street ... an EVG reader shared this photo from last evening.

This is the second NYC location (the other is on Ninth Avenue near 55th Street) for the bacon-centric bar-restaurant that celebrates the whole hog with swine-spiked menu items and drinks. You can find their "chef-driven bacon dishes" here.

This Fourth Avenue space was previously Royal, the lounge-pub place that closed in April 2016.

Previously on EV Grieve:
BarBacon looking to pig out now on 4th Avenue

Wednesday's parting shot

Outside the Regal Union Square on Broadway and 13th Street today... photo by Derek Berg...

Wellness planning for the fall (and beyond)

On Sunday, the House of Physical Therapy, 280 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is hosting a free day of wellness planning.

The studio will have a physical therapist, registered dietician, personal trainer, chiropractor and other specialists available. (Find a list here.)

The planning takes place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. You can register here.

Today's foggy start

Looking east at the Christodora House from Tompkins Square Park this morning...

A few more details about Madame Vo BBQ, coming soon to 2nd Avenue and 6th Street

As Eater reported back in July, the owners of Madame Vo at 212 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue are opening a restaurant specializing in Vietnamese barbecue called Madam Vo BBQ this fall on Second Avenue at Sixth Street.

The Madame Vo team is on tonight's CB3-SLA docket for a new beer-wine license. However, given the method of operation (restaurant) and the owners signing the agreed-upon stipulations, they will not be appearing before the committee this evening.

Their questionnaire (PDF here) on file at the CB3 website provides a few more details about the place. For starters, the listed hours are noon to midnight daily. In total, there 13 tables to accommodate 52 diners as well as a five-seat bar.

As for the food at Madame Vo BBQ, Eater had this to say in a fall preview post:

This barbecue offshoot will have tabletop grills for meat and seafood in various marinades including curry, lemongrass garlic, and honey fish sauce. It’s typically a celebratory food in Vietnam, and here, the barbecued proteins then go into customizable summer rolls.

No. 104 previously housed Wall 88 for seven months until last fall. Previously, the address was the Lions BeerStore — part retail shop, part restaurant — for 16 months.

On 2nd Avenue, signage arrives for Uluh Tea House (and they're hiring)

[Photo by Steven]

Back in May 2017 we heard about a Chinese restaurant opening in one of the two newly created storefronts at 152-154 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. (They will join the Pure Green-PlantMade combo in the retail spaces.)

Signage arrived yesterday for the venture — Uluh Tea Shop, which is hiring. Sounds like it will be a pretty big operation. Positions wanted include managers, servers, Chinese Cuisine head chef, pastry chef, Cantonese Dim Sum Chef and kitchen staff.



152-154 Second Ave. is the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel that Icon Realty bought, gutted, added three extra floors and opened as luxury rentals a few years back.

Another dim sum place, Dim Sum Palace, is opening soon a few blocks away in another Icon-owned building at 59 Second Ave.

H/T Lola Sáenz!

Start me up: Waiting on a Friend opens on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place

[Photo by Steven]

A new bar called Waiting on a Friend recently debuted here at 132 First Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

The corner space had been VBar St. Marks before a conversion to Colibri last September. Not sure who's behind the new venture at the moment. (You can find the bar's Instagram account here.)

We had some reader-submitted photos in mid-to-late August as the place was under renovation...



The bar is named for the song by the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album Tattoo You... one of the reader photos shows a new mural inside the bar of the album cover ...



And, as you may know, the "Waiting on a Friend" video was shot on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue... where Keith and Mick eventually saunter into this corner space, when it was the St. Mark's Bar & Grill. There, the other band members are already assembled (this old EVG post has pics from the shoot) ...

Reader report: New owners for Fine Fare on Avenue C?

An EVG reader shared this photo from inside Fine Fare on Avenue C at Fourth Street.

Per the reader: "There was a bunch of work going on ... One of the employees told me they had new owners and were putting in an expanded meat and produce section."

This Fine Fare location is no longer on the tri-state grocer's website (the stores are independently owned and operated) ...



We reached out to the Fine Fare corporate office for more info on the Avenue C market. Will update if we hear back from anyone.

And back to the reader: "Glad they're fixing the place up, but hope the prices stay low!"

Tuesday's parting shot

Derek Berg took this photo of London-based hairdresser Joshua Coombes on First Avenue at Seventh Street today.

Coombes has been in the East Village in the past ... providing free haircuts (and shaves) to the homeless.

You can watch this "National Geographic" segment on Coombes, who believes small acts of kindness can make a big impact.

And you can see more of his work with the homeless on his Instagram account.

A 9/11 moment at Engine Company 5

Local firehouses throughout the city commemorated 9/11 today. James and Karla Murray shared this photo from this morning outside Engine Company 5 on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue during a moment of silence.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the Company lost Manny DelValle Jr., a 7-year FDNY veteran who grew up in the Bronx. He was 32.

As the Murrays wrote:

Manny had just finished an overnight at Engine 5 ... when the call came in around 8:47 am.. that a plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Engine Company 5 was assigned to team up with another company to walk up 80 floors and stretch the hose line. Manny Delvalle Jr. was carrying the rollup lines of hose and an oxygen tank. The last time Manny was seen, he had stopped on the 10th floor to give a woman oxygen. His unit had made it to the 15th floor when they were called back when the building began to rumble. They looked for Manny but could not find him and after the North Tower fell at 10:28 a.m., he was reported missing.

Here's more about him from his obituary in The New York Times:

At home in the Bronx, Mr. DelValle took advanced classes in salsa dancing. He loved Latin music but listened to everything. "Rap," said his brother Pete Moyer. "And R&B," added his sister Grace Nolly. "Old school," said his father, Manuel Del Valle, to be specific.

Mr. DelValle, who graduated from the University of Maryland, was also an accomplished moguls skier and roller skater, a traveler, a lover of war movies and, his family says, a lady's man. He also got Engine Company No. 5, where he was assigned, to participate in the Puerto Rican Day Parade. He was the one in the family who always sent a card and gift to siblings, half-siblings and cousins.

According to previous reports, 26 firefighters from the neighborhood's four stations died on 9/11.

A visit to the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on 7th Street

This past Friday morning, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen, the basement cafe that helps generate income for the St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church up the block on Seventh Street.

On this day, as with previous Fridays spanning nearly four decades, volunteers — parishioners from St. George's — gathered in the subterranean space at 33 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square to help prep the cafe's specialities, such as vareniki (Ukrainian dumplings).




[Volunteer Daria Rekucha]




[Rekucha and Anastazia Baran]

Dima Kovalenko, here in the orange shirt, is the chef and oversees the kitchen...






[Volunteer Anna Sinchuk]






[Volunteer Tetiona Grygorash]

Streecha, which is an old Ukrainian word for meeting, is a perfect place for doing so. The decor is, well — church basement, but the food is hearty and inexpensive...





Streecha reopened last Wednesday after the usual summer hiatus. The cafe is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a 9 a.m. start time on Saturday and Sunday. Visit Streecha's Instagram account for daily specials.

Looking at two dormant Bowery storefronts

In June 2017, there was news that The New Stand — a hipsterized convenience store — was opening a retail outlet at 306 Bowery, Patricia Field's former storefront.

Fifteen months later, the space between East Houston and Bleecker sits very empty... without any signs of activity...or any signs at all...



The New Stand didn't respond to an email query about the address. The company, with several NYC locations, is reportedly expanding elsewhere in the country.

Meanwhile at 347 Bowery at Third Street...



The ground-floor retail is still vacant. Early this year, signage arrived for Pilotworks, which was planning a "culinary incubator" for its food businesses to sell products.

The market was set to be open by now. The Pilotworks signage is gone... and the space sits empty...



A rep who gave me the information in February is no longer working with Pilotworks. The new contacts did not respond to questions on the status of the project.

Also, the COOL tag that arrived on or about Aug. 12 remains on the side of the retail-residential complex, where the penthouse fetched $17 million...



Updated...

Ah, a new tag arrived in the past 24-48 hours...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The New Stand coming to Patricia Field’s former storefront on the Bowery

More about the new venture from Pilotworks on the Bowery