Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour at Tompkins Square Park

The Abracadabra Field Trip mobile music jam bus was back on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place last evening.

Daniel Efram shared these photos and this text...

The Abracadabra Magical Mystery Tour (which is affiliated with Airbnb) touched down at Tompkins Square Park yesterday to the bemusement and enjoyment of dozens.

The onlookers enjoyed the festivities featuring topless dancers and some songs they were all familiar with, including from The Beatles and their own original music.

It seemed as though a good — albeit a little confusing — time was had by all. Some didn't know what to make of it. One audience member joined the festivities by removing her top in a show of solidarity.

We should be thankful that this type of fun event can still happen in New York City without the NYPD arriving to shut it down. Thank you Abracadabra Magical Mystery Tour. We appreciate you.

Jazz in the Garden today on 8th Street

If Puke Island isn't the tonic to sooth your jangled nerves... there's another Jazz in the Garden session today (Sunday, June 9) in the Green Oasis Community Garden with the Eric Paulin ensemble ... happens from 2:30-5:30 p.m. The Green Oasis is on Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Puke Island returns to Tompkins Square Park

The ninth annual Puke Island takes place this afternoon (Sunday, June 9) in Tompkins Square Park.

Per the invite:

As many of you know, the first Punk Island was complete and utter chaos, and 100% free expression. A badly organized bolt from the blue. Without going into detail, it's gotten way TOO organized for a lot of people.

PUKE ISLAND carries in its original spirit, allowing us to bask in what it used to be. PUKE ISLAND is not affiliated with Make Music New York, ABC No Rio, or Anyone else.
In cahoots with the SHADOW underground newspaper.

The bands will be:

2 — Room Full of Killers
2:40 — Necrotic Society
3:30 — Patterns of Decay
4:20 — False Gods
5 — Eye of the Destroyer

Astor Piano

Thanks to Jefferson Siegel for this action shot of the Sing for Hope piano in use today on Astor Place... the piano, titled "Community of Dreams" and created by Joan Dilieto, will be here through June 23.

H Mart is open! H Mart is open!

[Photo from 8 a.m.]

The H Mart on Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street opened its doors today around noon (H/T Steven!)...

And there's an unconfirmed report that @sukebornloose was first in line...


[Photo by Steven]

This location of the Asian-American grocery will also carry BBQ chicken...



And the hours of operation...



More, much more, later... and previously.

Updated 1:15 p.m.

A few interior shots via Steven...











We first spotted the branding for the Asian-American supermarket here last August. This is the third H Mart in Manhattan (the others are on West 32nd Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side). Overall, H Mart, based in Lyndhurst, N.J., has more than 70 outposts in the United States and Canada.

Workers combined four retail spaces on this block in the base of NYU's Alumni Hall to fit this H Mart — the former Birdbath and Citi Habitats office (both of those businesses left in the summer of 2014 ... as well as a Subway (sandwich shop) and Saint's Alp Teahouse.

The Tompkins Square Middle School Music and Food Festival is today

The Tompkins Square Middle School Music and Food Festival happens today from noon to 4 p.m. ... taking place in the playground behind the school (enter on Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C).

The invite promises food, live music (via students and teachers), "pie-in-the-face," tie-day t-shirts and tote bags, and a rummage sale.

There's a also a raffle — $2 per chance or $5 for three. The prizes include a $50 Big Gay Ice Cream gift card and four tickets to the One World Trade Observatory.

Friday's parting shots

The East Village sunset view tonight courtesy of @cecilscheib...

And another view on Second Avenue by Mary Jane Glaser...

Primal 'Scream'

Midnight, the new record (produced by Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest) from Detroit-based musician Stef Chura is out today. The video here is for the track "Scream."

Look for her out at Rough Trade on July 12.

About the 'Pay It No Mind' mural honoring LGBTQ+ advocate Marsha P. Johnson outside the F train stop on 2nd Avenue

This new mural titled "Pay It No Mind" arrived this past weekend outside the F stop on Second Avenue at East Houston...



The work is a collaboration between Suriani, a visual artist based in Montréal, and Homo Riot.

It's part of an in-progress Queer Street Art documentary by photographer and filmmaker Daniel Albanese aka @dustyrebel for Pride Month. This piece honors LGBTQ advocate Marsha P. Johnson, a leader in the Stonewall uprising.

(Suriani’s imagine of Marsha P. Johnson is based on Richard Shupper’s studio portrait of Johnson from 1991, the year before her death.)



Albanese talked more about the mural in an interview published yesterday at Brooklyn Street Art:

This wall is actually the kick off to a series of Queer Street Art that will be coming to NYC for Pride Month. I have partnered with Art In Ad Places, Keep Fighting NYC, and other community based projects to create a queer alternative to the overwhelming flood of corporate pride events.

While not part of Reclaim Pride Coalition’s inaugural Queer Liberation March on June 30, I was inspired by the activists who have organized to bring the “Spirit of Stonewall” directly to the street, and who are keeping the focus on the continuing needs of the LGBTQ+ community.

The mural was also defaced short after its arrival on Second Avenue:

I know street art is ephemeral, and I also know that work that is unapologetically queer is especially targeted. So I knew it was coming, I just didn’t expect something that big and that fast in less than 30 hours. We made this piece as a community, for our community. We really wanted to start conversation about the issues that LGBTQ+ people face, and to honor the memory of Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Riot. To have that important conversation cut short felt like a punch in the gut.

View this post on Instagram

In less than 30 hours from completion, New York’s only non-corporate sponsored, fully and unapologetically queer pride mural was destroyed. . But like Marsha, we PAY IT NO MIND . And rise again . . @homoriot @surianiart #homoriot #surianiart #marshapjohnson #payitnomind #suriani #queerliberation #stonewallwasariot #PassThatBrick #dustyrebelproduction #worldpride #queerstreetart #gaystreetart #nycstreetart #instagay #lgbtq #queerart #gayart

A post shared by TheDustyRebel (@dustyrebel) on Jun 3, 2019 at 9:14am PDT

Late last month, the de Blasio administration announced that it will create a permanent Greenwich Village monument to honor Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, founders of the Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries.

Report: Man attacks M15 with a knife on 2nd Avenue

[Montage via @Pix11]

A knife-wielding man attacked an M15 last around 8 on Second Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street, according to witnesses and multiple published reports.

Here's WABC-TV with some narrative:

The seemingly emotionally disturbed man stopped traffic and climbed onto the MTA bus, then began stabbing the front of the bus with some kind of object.

Eventually he was stopped and taken down by the bus driver and some Good Samaritans until police arrived.

"I opened up the doors and told him listen, you've got to get off the bus or get off the bumper," said the driver, Louis Huertas. "Sure enough he pulls a knife out on me and starts coming after me. After he broke the windshield wiper somebody yelled, 'yo he put the knife away'. When I asked were they sure, they said yeah he put the knife in his front left pocket. That's when I went ahead and grabbed him and swung him and threw him on the floor."

And via Twitter...

Another crazy day in NYC #unionsquare #mtaselectbus #nyc pic.twitter.com/LElZU3A4fJ

— katelyn (@vxkatelyn) June 7, 2019

Charges are pending against the bus assailant, per WABC.

You can find other reports at CBS 2 and PIX 11.

Day starter

Here's the sunrise view this morning around 5:15 from Fourth Avenue and 12th Street ... thanks to EVG reader Jeanne Krier for the photo.

Last weekend for Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen before the summer break

This is the last weekend until mid-August for the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen before their customary summer break.

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen, 33 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, is the basement cafe that helps generate income for the St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church up the block.

The photos here are from EVG contributor Stacie Joy's visit to the space last September...





Anyway, three more days to hit them up for some inexpensive and hearty fare. The cafe is open today 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 the daily specials and reopening updates.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on 7th Street

A new age on 10th Street: Rocky’s Crystals & Minerals opens tomorrow

Tomorrow (Saturday!) marks the grand opening of Rocky's Crystals & Minerals over at 280 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

This is the first NYC location for the "New Age Metaphysical Crystal & Gift Boutique," which also has outposts in Philadelphia and northern New Jersey.



Head to the Rocky's website for more on the offerings and services.

This space was previously Patisserie Florentine, the bakery that closed in February after two years in business.

On Avenue A Bin 141 is open, though Angelina Cafe is not

Bin 141, the new cafe from Imen and Rafik Bouzgarrou, opened this past Easter Sunday (April 21) on the northwest corner of Avenue A and Third Street.

The menu has a variety of staples — salads, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, entrees (grilled salmon and roast chicken, among other items) and vegan desserts. There's also a weekend brunch.



Meanwhile, the Bouzgarrou's other restaurant on Avenue A one block to the south, Angelina Cafe, is currently closed....



The space sits empty...



The Angelina website is sending potential diners to Bin 141. Here's the message:

We have temporarily moved to a new location
– Just a couple of doors from our original location –
Due to gas disruptions since February 2019 (unrelated to our business activity), we have decided to temporarily move our services just a few seconds away.

Angelina first opened in 2002 across Avenue A before relocating to this space between Second Street and Third Street in 2012.

Previously on EV Grieve:
First signs of Bin 141, a new cafe on Avenue A and 3rd Street

From noon to moon: El Sol Brillante's Garden Party benefit is tomorrow

The folks at El Sol Brillante are holding their Spring/Summer fundraiser on tomorrow (Saturday, June 8) at the community garden on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Here's what to expect via the invite:

Come join us for live music, food, refreshments, tie dye or just to enjoy and support the garden. All proceeds go directly to the garden for our composting and horticulture projects and general maintenance. Admission is free and all are welcome. Noon to Moon, June 8.

We will be celebrating the debut of our new mural at this Spring's party and toasting the artist, Jeramy Turner, who has helped to bring it to life. Please join us as we celebrate her!

Thursday's parting shot

Shopping at the Salvation Army today on Fourth Avenue... photo by Derek Berg

Businesses emerge from under the sidewalk bridge at 57 2nd Ave.

Two readers alerted us to 57 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street where, after two years (longer maybe???*) workers have removed the sidewalk bridge.

You can now see the two businesses here ... Dim Sum Palace, which opened back in December, and Kona Coffee and Company, which returned to the space in February. (Celebrity vegan chef Matthew Kenney took over that space for a cafe late last year, but it didn't work out. And Kona returned.)



Icon Realty bought the 9-story building here in early 2015. The previous retail tenants, Alex Shoe Repair and Allied Hardware, were not part of the new building's plans.

* Google Street View shows the sidewalk bridge up in September 2017. DOB paperwork for the sidewalk bridge dates to January 2017.

Previously on EV Grieve:
57 Second Ave. hits the market for $30 million

Reader report: Icon Realty new owner of 57 Second Ave.

Last day for Alex Shoe Repair on 2nd Avenue

Allied Hardware makes impending closure official on 2nd Avenue

Last days for Allied Hardware on 2nd Avenue

This is what the Hells Angels building sold for

The sale of the former Hells Angels clubhouse hit public records yesterday.

According to the public documents, 77 E. Third St., the six-story building between First Avenue and Second Avenue, sold for $7.75 million (updated: other reports list the same as for $10 million)...



As first reported here in February, there was a Memorandum of Contract (the form preceding a contract of sale) dated this past Dec. 21 between Church of the Angels, Inc. (aka — The Church of Angels) and 77 East 3rd LLC. The document was signed by Bartley J. Dowling, president of the NYC Hells Angels chapter, and the purchaser, Nathan Blatter of Whitestone Realty Group. [Updated: The New York Times reported that Whitestone sold the building to Better Living Properties.]

According to the the Post in late March, the units in the building were expected to hit the market as rentals. To date, there aren't any permits on file with the Department of Buildings for any renovations at the address.

The Hells Angels had a presence in 77 E. Third St. since 1969. They eventually bought the building, which included their clubhouse and member residences (Realtor.com lists 14 units), from Birdie Ruderman in the Bronx for a reported $1,900.

In 1983, chapter president Sandy Alexander took over ownership of the building. The deed from that time states that Alexander, his wife Collette and their family could live on the premises rent free. In addition, in the event that the building was sold, she would stand to receive half of the proceeds.

This agreement was later the basis for a legal tussle in 2013 between the clubhouse and Alexander's family. (Sandy Alexander, who spent six years in prison for selling cocaine, died in 2007.) That deed was eventually reversed in April 2018, per public documents.



No word on where the Angels may have moved. A member named Tony told the Post in March that: "We're being harassed by the yuppies down here [who are] sitting on our bikes and pissing on the sidewalk ... [We want to] go somewhere we can live comfortably."

The last of the members moved out of No. 77 at the end of March.

Previously on EV Grieve:
After 50 years on the block, the Hells Angels appear to be selling their 3rd Street clubhouse

The Hells Angels have left the East Village

[Updated] Tai Thai is closed for now

EVG reader Gacjon shares this tip — Tai Thai, the refreshingly low-key spot at 78 E. First St. between First Avenue and Avenue A, is currently closed.

There's a sign noting a closure for renovations with an abrupt "until further notice!"



We called the restaurant and didn't get any response. Tai Thai also doesn't appear to have any social media accounts that might have news about a closure.

Hopefully this is an actual closed for renovations and not the "closed for renovations" in which the restaurant never reopens.

Updated 6/11

Tai Thai is back open!

New equipment for the former Moishe's Bake Shop

EVG contributor Derek Berg spotted workers yesterday moving in new equipment at the former Moishe's Bake Shop at 115 Second Ave.

Last month, owner Moishe Perl told Derek that several bakers are taking over the shop, where they will serve a variety of baked goods as well as coffee. (He said that they may call the new venture Formerly Moishe's.)

Workers at the shop yesterday between Sixth Street and Seventh Street said that it might be another two months for the new venture to open.

Moishe's closed on March 5 after 40-plus years in business. The links below have more background on what has transpired here in the past few months.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: After 40-plus years, Moishe's Bake Shop has closed on 2nd Avenue

The mystery of Moishe's

An update on the former Moishe's Bake Shop

Just For Fen folds on 1st Avenue

[Photo via @jcastro_nyc]

That's all for Just For Fen on First Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street.

A for-rent sign now hangs in the window of the former quick-serve restaurant, which opened in September 2017 and served a variety of Guizhou-style fen bowls.

No word on why they closed. One day they were gone. Of course, there's no shortage of places serving rice noodles in the area, including the acclaimed Little Tong two blocks to the south.

Before Just For Fen, three quick-serve restaurants quickly came and went at this location in three years — Bago ... Hibachi Dumpling Express ... and 2 Bros.

According to the listing for the 650-square-foot space, the asking rent is $11,995.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Just For Fen opens on 1st Avenue

Another look at that two-wing building growing in Brooklyn

Yesterday morning, we noted the new building on the eastern horizon as seen from East Houston Street (above!).

We can now share what One South First at the Domino Sugar Refinery site in Brooklyn will actually look like once completed... @LESNYC shared this via Twitter...



Probably shouldn't give any architects any ideas...

That roadwork on Avenue A this afternoon

There was quite a construction production this afternoon on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street.

EVG regular Gojira passed along these shots of the work taking place for:

a) A new entrance for the L train
b) A moat for Steiner East Village
c) An SBS ticketing machine

The correct answer is C, though, given the amount of activity, A and B didn't seem implausible.

The MTA started installing SBS ticketing machines along the M14A/D routes back in April. That SBS service — with all-door boarding and pre-boarding payment — is expected to start this month.









Earlier in May, the MTA announced that it was axing several stops along the 14A and 14D to speed up service, especially during the current L-train slowdown.

Per Curbed:

The route, which is set to roll out in June, will nix 16 stops and add one instead of slashing the originally planned 22 stops. After fierce advocacy from riders, the M14 will retain five stops that were originally on the chopping block, including two M14A stops on Grand Street and a stop at Columbia and Rivington streets on the M14D, the MTA said.

Previously