Wednesday, March 27, 2019

The DOH temporarily closes Bubbleology Tea on 1st Avenue



Updated 3/29: Bubbleology Tea has reopened.

The DOH has temporarily shuttered Bubbleology Tea, the London-based chain that opened at 120 1/2 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place in early February.

The report from the inspection, which took place yesterday, has yet to be posted online.

Thanks to EVG reader Sawyer Mitchell for the tip/photo!

Updated 7 p.m.

The inspection report is still not online... and a "closed for repairing" sign is now on the door...


[Photo by Steven]

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Tuesday's parting shot



Derek Berg spotted this posted along Second Avenue near St. Mark's Place around 3 p.m. ... and it was gone by 4 p.m.

Report: Man dies from stab wounds at 9th Street shelter

There's not much information at the moment about a deadly stabbing that reportedly took place last night just before 9 at a men's shelter on Ninth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

According to the Daily News and PIX 11, a 27-year-old resident of the shelter was stabbed in the stomach. Per the News: "He staggered out ... and collapsed in the courtyard of the Jacob Riis Houses about a block away."

EMS workers took the victim to Bellevue, though he did not survive. Another shelter resident is in custody, though it's not known if charges have been filed.

Police officials have not released the victim's name.

Updated 3/27

Police have made an arrest. Per Patch:

Christopher Dixon, 26, was arrested and charged ... for murder after a fatal stabbing of Phibeon Smalls, 27, a fellow resident of an East Ninth Street supportive housing building for young adults with a history of homelessness or mental illness.

Report: Arrest made in hit-and-run death of East Village cyclist


[Ghost bike for Chaim Joseph]

Police said today that they've made an arrest in the hit-and-run death of Chaim Joseph, a 72-year-old East Village resident who was struck by a private oil truck shortly before 6 a.m. on Feb. 4 while he was riding in the bike lane near the intersection of Eighth Avenue and West 45th Street.

According to published reports, the NYPD arrested 56-year-old Queens resident Kenneth Jackson, who worked for Brooklyn-based Approved Oil company.

As Streetsblog reported, Jackson was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.

Per Streetsblog:

The charge of failure to yield suggests that police believe Joseph had the right of way and was pedaling with the light when Jackson allegedly ran him down.

Jackson ... faces a maximum of 30 days in jail — although such sentences are rare.

Days after Joseph was killed by the oil truck, police responded by ticketing cyclists a block from the hit-and run site. The following day cyclists rallied outside the Midtown North stationhouse.

On March 11, cycling advocates installed a ghost bike for Joseph on Eighth Avenue and 45th Street. Via the Families for Safe Streets Facebook page: "We learned of his beautiful acts of kindness, his commitment to social justice, his generous spirit and his deep respect for all living beings."

Updated 3/27

Christopher Robbins at Gothamist has a solid Day 2 story. An excerpt:

Police say that Jackson was driving the truck for Approved Oil Company of Brooklyn when he killed Joseph. Jackson is the third reported driver from Approved Oil to kill a pedestrian or cyclist in the last two years.

In an email, Approved Oil attorney J. Bruce Maffeo said, "There is no evidence that Ken Jackson was driving negligently or aware that he had hit the bicyclist who was dressed in dark clothes and traveling at night. As a result the police who investigated the incident declined to arrest him at the time and correctly saw the tragic incident as an accident—nothing more or less."

Maffeo added, "The charge against Ken involves an untested NYC statute that criminalizes any motor vehicle accident involving a fatality. While Ken and Approved Oil sympathize with the victim and his family, neither he nor the company acted negligently, much less criminally, in this case and intend to vigorously contest the charge."

Joseph Cutrufo, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, countered, "This crash happened in midtown Manhattan, a block from Times Square, where there's no shortage of light. And last we checked, it's not a crime to wear dark clothes. It is, however, against the law to kill a person with an oil truck."

Remembering Nicholas and Moises: the Figueroa family marks the 4-year anniversary of the 2nd Avenue gas explosion



Today marks the fourth anniversary of the gas explosion that killed two men, injured more than 20 others, and leveled 119, 121 and 123 Second Ave.

Members of the Figueroa family gathered on the corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street today to remember their brother and son Nicholas Figueroa, 23, who died on March 26, 2105, along with Moises Locón, 27.


[Top photos by Steven]

Figueroa, who had recently graduated from SUNY Buffalo State, was at Sushi Park, 121 Second Ave. and the site of the fatal blast, dining with a co-worker. Locón worked at Sushi Park.


[Photo by Lola Sáenz]

The previous owner of 119 and 121 Second Ave., Maria Hrynenko, her son Michael Hrynenko (now deceased), contractor Dilber Kukic and their plumber Anthanasios Ioannidis illegally tampered with the gas line at 121 Second Ave. then failed to warn those in the building before the blast, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.

According to public records, Hrynenko and the other defendants will appear in court again April 26. Records show that Hrynenko and the other accused have appeared in New York County Criminal Court 25 times since February 2016... and the outcome was the same — "adjourned/bail continued" — since their initial appearance.

On March 20, Andrew Trombettas, the plumber indicted in connection to the explosion, was sentenced to probation and community service. He reportedly signed off on required paperwork that went to the Department of Buildings and Con Edison because a friend who actually did the job did not have a license.

Meanwhile, work continues on the retail-residential complex coming to part of the blast site. The new building will include a commemorative plaque that honors Locón and Figueroa.


[Photo by Lola Sáenz]

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Nicholas Figueroa

RIP Moises Ismael Locón Yac

A memorial on 2nd Avenue

Birthday wishes for Nicholas Figueroa on 2nd Avenue

A family continues to feel the loss on 2nd Avenue

Dedicating Moises Locón Way and Nicholas Figueroa Way on 2nd Avenue at 7th Street

What's in your empty storefront? Capital One is closing both of its East Village branches



After May 8, Capital One will no longer have a bank branch in the East Village.

Closing notices are up in the locations on Third Street and Avenue C (above) ...



... and 10th Street and Second Avenue...


[Photos on 2nd Avenue by Steven]



The Capital One on the southeast corner of Third Avenue and 14th Street closed in July 2016 (that retail space is still for rent).

The bank is sending customers over to the newish multi-level flagship location on 14th Street and Broadway. (An EVG tipster first told us about these pending closures in January. Per the tipster: "It's Union Square or be damned" for Capital One customers.)

This continues the trend where banks are closing down local branches. Last June, The Wall Street Journal reported that banks across the United States have closed nearly 9,000 branches this decade "as more customers rely on digital tools to complete routine banking transactions."

In recent years, Citi, Chase and Santander all shuttered their outposts on Avenue A, making it a bank-branch-free zone for now.

Tickets for the 'Other Music' documentary screening at Village East go on sale today



The "Other Music" documentary makes its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.

And tickets for screenings at the Village East, Second Avenue at 12th Street, and Regal Cinemas Battery Park, go on sale this morning at 11 via this link.

Here are the dates and times for the various screenings:

• April 26, 9 p.m. — Village East
• April 27, 8:45 p.m. — Regal Cinemas Battery Park
• April 28, 12:15 p.m. — Regal Cinemas Battery Park
• May 5, 8:45 p.m. — Village East

The film chronicles the 20-year history and legacy of Other Music, 15 E. Fourth St. between Lafayette and Broadway, its influence on music in New York City and its closure in June 2016.



Other Music's owners cited rising rents and the growing hardship of selling music out of a physical store as reasons behind the closure.

Incoming: Me ❤️ Cue on St. Mark's Place; Empire Smoke Shop on 1st Avenue



Signage arrived late last week at 17 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue for Me ❤️ Cue ... apparently they will be selling cosmetics, not unlike Shibuyala that just opened at 37 St. Mark's Place.


[Me Cue photos by Steven]

This storefront was most recently (as you can see from the awning under the Me ❤️ Cue sign) the Mandala Tibetan Store.

Updated 3/28: Me ❤️ Cue is now open.

---

And that Optimo Cigars shop/deli (with its 75-cent coffee) closed last month on First Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street ...


[Last month]

Workers were putting up the signage for the new tenant yesterday — the Empire Smoke Shop, whose awning touts e-cigarettes, CBD and Kratom...



And a flashback to an old friend next door — the Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's action-packed combo that ruled the Avenue in 2012...


[Photo in 2012 by Bobby Williams]

Monday, March 25, 2019

Monday's parting shot



Third Street today between Avenue C and Avenue D... thanks to Jason Chatfield for the photo!

'Heeere's Kubrick' returns to the City Cinemas Village East


[Oh hi HAL]

Once again this spring, City Cinemas Village East on Second Avenue and 12th Street is celebrating the work of director Stanley Kubrick on the next few Wednesday evenings... starting tomorrow night at 7 with "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 70mm (and in the big auditorium).



... and the rest of the lineup...


Find ticket info at this link.