EV Grieve

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Saturday's parting shot

Out with the dog today on Second Avenue... thanks to EVG reader Mary Jane Glaser for the photo...

Stage fright: What it took to get ready for the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

[Photo by Vinny & O]

The stage is now set for the 27th annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival tomorrow (Aug. 25) in Tompkins Square Park.

Getting to this place was filled with drama galore this morning.

We first saw the truck bringing in the stage at 7:44 a.m. The truck came in via the entrance at Ninth Street and Avenue B...

The driver was having a tough time navigating the left turn at the Sandra Turner Garden and Avenue A playground...

We kept on our journey from Avenue B through to Avenue A and out of the Park... EVG correspondent Steven then picked up the stuck-truck narrative.

With the construction fence up for the Avenue B playground renovation, the truck couldn't make the turn into the stage area...

The truck was able to back up a bit...

... and kept going toward Temperance Fountain...

... breaking off a few branches along the way...

In the end, 90 minutes elapsed between the time the truck couldn't make the turn into the stage area and, inching backwards, exiting the Park at Avenue A and Ninth Street...

The truck then drove around and re-entered on Avenue B and Ninth Street. From there, it only took about four or five minutes to get to the final destination. (This time, they turned left at the flag pole and drove around the ping-pong table.) They parked the stage for good at 9:59 a.m.

Residents who witnessed this maneuvering described it as "painful" and "agonizing" ... and there were claims that Tompkins Square Park staff wasn't helpful during this process.

Not sure how the stage was brought in during the previous 26 Charlie Parker Jazz Festivals — from the currently closed entrance on Seventh Street and Avenue B?

Anyway! The show is tomorrow from 3-7 p.m. Hopefully removing the stage will go a little more smoothly.

Back to school

Welcome Week is underway at NYU... and starting tomorrow (Sunday, Aug. 25), new and returning underclassman are able to return to the dorms.

Something to keep in mind if you were planning on a trip to, say, Trader Joe's on 14th Street tomorrow afternoon. Also, No Parking signs are posted around the various dorms on streets including, but not limited to, 13th, 12th, 11th, 10th and 9th. Expect some extra vehicular traffic, double parking and frazzled parents and guardians, among other things.

The scoop on the street photography exhibit at Mikey Likes It

Mikey Likes It plays host to street art photography showcase... the opening is today (Aug. 24!) from 4-9 p.m. at the ice cream shop, 199 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

The exhibit, titled #ShootersStreetArt and featuring 20 photographers, will be on display for the next month.

Street scenes

From 11th Street at First Avenue ...

Big match today for Mo Salah and the Reds in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Premier League as Liverpool takes on Arsenal at 12:30.

Photos by Vinny & O.

Friday, August 23, 2019

A matter of TR/ST

Here's "Iris," synth pop courtesy of TR/ST (aka Robert Alfons and FKA Trust) ... the track is on the Destroyer 2 album that's out in November. (Destroyer 1 was released in April.)

Con air

Photo on Avenue D featuring the Con Ed plant and the former St. Emeric ... thanks to jdx for the photo. Find more of his work on Instagram.

Nearly 11 months in, Tompkins Square Park playground rehab winding down

Crews are apparently wrapping up the renovations at the Tompkins Square Park Avenue B children’s playgrounds.

The work started last Oct. 1 on the southeast portion of the Park, which saw the closure of the entrances on Seventh Street at Avenue B and Eighth Street at Avenue B.

Here's a look at the revamped playground area from Monday...

A worker told EVG correspondent Steven yesterday that the heavy-duty construction fences should be taken down in about a week — following an inspection of the new playground equipment. The Parks Department website lists this project at 94 percent complete, with a September 2019 reopening date.

The upgrades have included the reconstruction of two playgrounds with new safety surfacing, spray showers, seating and fencing. A schematic from the Parks website offers more detail...

The Parks Department is supplementing the project's funding with its Parks Without Borders initiative that will lower the fences from its present height of 7 feet to 4 feet, a move that stirred plenty of concern in early 2017.

Parks officials believe the shorter fences make the play areas safer — "lowering barriers that block sight lines discourages negative behavior while at the same time making the green space more open and aesthetically pleasing," as DNAinfo reported at the time.

Speaking of shorter fences, Steven took these photos on Wednesday...

This renovation project had been in the making three-plus years at the start of the construction.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your chance to brainstorm ideas to renovate the Tompkins Square Park Playground (27 comments)

Reminders: Meeting on possible improvements to the Tompkins Square Park Playground

Join Rosie Mendez to discuss improvements to the Tompkins Square playgrounds tomorrow night

Community meeting set to discuss lowering the playground fences in Tompkins Square Park (28 comments)

Report: There's opposition to lowering the playground fences in Tompkins Square Park

Playground renovations underway in Tompkins Square Park

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen will be open on Sunday

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen is getting ready to reopen after its customary summer break here on 33 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

To that end, the basement cafe that helps generate income for the St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church up the block on Seventh Street, will be serving on Sunday (Aug. 25) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Regular hours will be announced shortly. Until then, it's a good time to stock up on items like vareniki (Ukrainian dumplings) that are made with the help of volunteers every Friday (including today!) ...

Visit Streecha's Instagram account for daily specials and reopening details.

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

Oh oh it's Magic: Signage arrives for the new 99¢ shop on Avenue A

[The OLD sign at 47 Avenue A]

The signage arrived yesterday for the mystery discount shop that opened at 47 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street back on June 24.

The awning for the previous business, Avenue A Copy Center & Shipping Outlet, had remained above the storefront these past two months. No more, though. Please welcome 99¢ and Up Magic Deals to the neighborhood...

Upon its opening, we were told that this was a 99¢ shop ... though became naturally suspicious when most of the items we window shopped were clearly more expensive than 99¢.

This name offers plenty of wiggle room for the owners, said to be related to the nice folks who run Essex Card Shop at 39 Avenue A (as long as they actually have items for 99¢).

Anyway, as the new sign shows, the store carries a variety of housewares and toiletries. A further investigation is likely necessary.

Headline H/T

Your last weekly McDonald's update until next week

The under-renovation McDonald's on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street reopens on Monday, an employee told EVG McDonald's correspondent Steven.

The updated interior includes self-serve ordering kiosks and some uncomfortable looking stools...

This McDonald's outpost, which opened here in the early 1980s, closed for the upgrade back on July 29.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Thursday's parting shot

Photo on St. Mark's Place today by Derek Berg...

Things that likely wouldn't have appeared on the front door when the previous tenants were here

[Photos by Steven]

Spotted on the front door of 77 E. Third St., which was until March the longtime home of the Hells Angels...

As previously reported, No. 77 has new owners (Better Living Properties), who plan to convert the building between First Avenue and Second Avenue into luxury rentals following a $2 million renovation. Preliminary renovation work is apparently underway at No. 77, which the Angels had in their possession since 1969.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Photo exclusive: Take a look inside the former Hells Angels clubhouse on 3rd Street

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

About the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park Sunday

[Carl Allen]

The 27th edition of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is underway ... and, as always, the grand finale takes place in the East Village.

Here's the lineup for the free show Sunday (Aug. 25) from 3-7 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park:

• Carl Allen's Art Blakey Tribute
• George Coleman Trio
• Fred Hersch
• Lakecia Benjamin

Per the official SummerStage program:

Carl Allen’s jazz bonafides are indisputable—as a young drummer out of William Paterson University he earned a spot in Freddie Hubbard’s band, and would go on to play with the saxophonists George Coleman and Phil Woods (among others), and serve as the Artistic Director of Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School. The quintet he brings to SummerStage — featuring Jeremy Pelt, JD Allen, Eric Reed, and Peter Washington — pays tribute to one of his heroes, the legendary drummer Art Blakey.

Allen is joined by NEA Jazz Master and one of the most respected musicians out of the hard-bop era George Coleman and his trio, the multiple Grammy Award nominee pianist Fred Hersch, who has been proclaimed as “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz” by Vanity Fair, and the saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, who has played with the likes of Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Macy Gray, the Roots and Anita Baker.

Here's what to expect from Carl Allen ... this clip is from the recent San José Jazz Summer Fest ...

Charlie Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived at 151 Avenue B from 1950-54.

The sunflowers on the Bowery

We've been watching these sunflower plants grow this summer on the Bowery between Bond and Great Jones... not sure who has been tending to them, but thank you...

Khiladi debuts on Avenue B

Khiladi opened last night at 175 Avenue B and 11th Street.

The Times had a mini preview in Off the Menu:

Southern Indian fare like idli lentil nuggets, fried kingfish, chickpea puffs, and dosas with various fillings share the menu in this 60-seat spot with a few cross-cultural creations like an Indian chile dog and idli poutine. The chef and an owner, Sruthi Chowdary, has entered into a partnership with Godavari, a national chain of more than two dozen Southern Indian restaurants.

Eater noted that "the menu is inspired by Chowdary’s childhood meals as well as the street markets of Andhra Pradesh on India’s southeastern coast."