First Lamb Shabu is (finally) open on 14th Street

First Lamb Shabu, a Beijing-based hot pot chain with more than 300 locations in China, has opened its first Manhattan outpost at 218 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (There's also an outpost in Flushing that people like.)

As the name implies, there are many lamb options — per Eater — "from chops to spines, and also has fun add-ons like a Hello Kitty-sculpture made out of beef oil, as well as a fish-shaped fish pudding. Besides traditional broth-based hot pot, First Lamb Shu also does a lamb stew — where broth arrives with spiced, bone-in lamb ribs."

The restaurant is open daily from 4 to 10:30 p.m.

And a photo of the interior...

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A post shared by First Lamb Shabu 老诚一锅 (@firstlambshabuusa) on Aug 22, 2019 at 2:11pm PDT

The build-out took awhile. We first noted this arrival in April 2018 (via the Commercial Observer).

The storefront had been empty for several years, ever since Dunkin' Donuts decamped for a smaller space on the block in August 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street Dunkin' Donuts shuffle complete

The Dunkin' Donuts space on East 14th Street is for rent

Sunday's parting shot

A nice turnout today for the 27th annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park... photo by Steven...

Week in Grieview

[Opening night at St. Dymphana's Thursday by Peter Brownscombe]

Stories posted this past week included...

Veniero's to celebrate 125th anniversary on Sept. 23; free mini cannolis for all! (Wednesday)

Waste land: Local elected officials tell the city to move the garbage trucks from 10th Street (Monday)

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

St. Dymphna's opens in new home on Avenue A (Tuesday)

The scoop on the street photography exhibit at Mikey Likes It (Saturday)

Excavation commences at the future tech hub; plywood renderings attract commentary (Monday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Cucina di Pesce teases return on Instagram (Monday)

The 1st Pangea Jazz Festival is underway (Wednesday)

Pete Wells visits Foxface (Tuesday)

First rentals arrive on the market at Sioné, the new luxury building at 171 Suffolk (Monday)

The sunflowers on the Bowery (Thursday)

About the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park Sunday (Thursday)

Your last weekly McDonald's update until next week (Friday)

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


[Dog Run photo by Derek Berg]

Beach day at the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run (Wednesday)

Khiladi debuts on Avenue B (Thursday)

Night Music signage arrives on 7th Street (Tuesday)

Repairs continue at the former P.S. 64 (Tuesday)

Work happening inside the former Nicoletta space; please mind the carpenter (Monday)

14th St. Candy & Grocery returns with a new look; fewer groceries, more bongs (Monday)

The Jones opens (Monday)

... and new art outside Julie's Vintage on Second Street at First Avenue... the spray-can rocket bird is via Thailand-based artist @muebon ...



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Scenes from the Official Animal Rights March

Animal rights activists around the world gathered in NYC yesterday "to advance animal liberation."

The march, which got underway at noon outside the Flatiron Building, eventually made its way across St. Mark's Place, ending in Tompkins Square Park.

Derek Berg took these first four photos from St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue...







Lola Sáenz took this photo between Avenue A and First Avenue...



And Steven took these shots from the St. Mark's Place entrance at Tompkins Square Park...







The Facebook event page listed 2,200 participants. Activist-photographer Erik McGregor has a recap of the march before it arrived in the East Village at this link.

Aug. 25

JUST four months from today to Christmas... apparently someone couldn't wait the rest of summer and fall, and decided to dump his or her tree from, presumably, 2018 outside the Starbucks on First Avenue at Third Street.

Thanks to Suke Born Loose for the photo!

Carb loading: This morning in meals for the pigeons in Tompkins Square Park

Someone today decided to toss a bag of cooked pasted (with lemons) into Tompkins Square Park along Avenue A this morning. For the pigeons, though they don't seem too terribly interested at the moment.

So maybe all the bread dumped here in the past was just an appetizer for the main course?

Thanks to Vinny & O for the photo.

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.

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