Great 'Pains'

The Brooklyn-based Tempers have a new album, titled Private Life, coming out on Oct. 25. The video here is for the first single, "Capital Pains."

A back-to-school BBQ at La Plaza on Saturday

La Plaza Cultural is hosting its annual back-to-school BBQ tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 7) at the community garden on the southwest corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C.

Aside from the BBQ, there's a book bag/school supplies giveaway as well as other activities for kids.

The event is also in honor Ninth Street resident and fellow gardener Felicia Mahmood, who passed away on April 14. The La Plaza invite notes that Mahmood "pretty much singlehandedly organized, sponsored and ran this event for many years."

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.

Report: Stabbing on Avenue A sends police on chase through Tompkins Square Park

An early morning confrontation on Avenue A near Ninth Street left one man with a stab wound while police chased a gun-toting suspect through Tompkins Square Park.

Patch has details:

About 4:40 a.m., a group of guys was filming a video when a second group of men became angry they were filming, telling the group, "Yo, why you filming us?," an NYPD spokesperson told Patch.

The two groups began fighting, and one person was stabbed in the back, police said. The person was rushed to Mount Sinai Beth Israel for stitches, but had non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The victim told police that one of the men in the other group had a gun.

Cops chased him through Tompkins Square Park, and the gunman unloaded it and drops it on the ground, police said.

Two men were reportedly arrested. Other details weren't immediately available.

Here's how the incident played out on the Citizen app...

Sip Ahoy: A remembrance for Unkle Waltie at the International

Friends are gathering tomorrow (Sept. 7) at the International Bar to celebrate the life of longtime East Village resident Walter Kohl (aka Unkle Waltie).

Kohl, who had been recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, died on July 30. He was 69.

The iBar is at 102 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

For further reading about Unkle Waltie's phrase "Sip ahoy," check out these posts from 2011 via our old friend Marty, who's actually not that old.

Flashback Friday fashions

EVG reader Jason Solarek spotted this on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue yesterday. The piece of box on the street reads: "Fashions from S Klein on the Square."



Not sure how this ended up here — given that the last S. Klein closed 41 years ago. Someone cleaning out a closet... or discarding a department store box collection?

S. Klein is well-known to longtime residents. Here's a thumbnail history via Forgotten New York:

Samuel Klein founded the discount chain S. Klein in 1906, with the flagship store at Union Square East and East 14th Street, and the business eventually grew as large as 19 stores in the metropolitan area before the inevitable decline. The Union Square flagship closed in 1975.

The last of the S. Klein stores closed in 1978.



Today, the Zeckendorf Towers and the Food Emporium occupy the former S. Klein space.

A new-look storefront emerges on 7th and B

Many readers have pointed out the ongoing renovations in the storefront on the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Avenue B.

Jillery, the jewelry and home accessories shop, vacated the corner space in late May 2018.

And the space has been behind plywood in recent months.

There's a for rent sign up on the window...



Not sure what might be next. Perhaps this Flashback Friday quote when Jillery moved in might offer a clue. The president of the board of directors of the co-op here told me this in 2013: "Our co-op is very proud to have rejected chain stores, banks, bars and loud food establishments. We are proud to have chosen a local business like Jillery who has been in the neighborhood for many years ..."





Thanks to Steven for the bottom three photos!

Openings (Night Music) and reopenings (Sauce Restaurant)

Night Music officially debuted last night at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

This is Ravi DeRossi's latest vegan entry in the neighborhood. Here's a blurb from Grub Street on this Indian restaurant:

This time DeRossi has a secret weapon: his mom. She taught executive chef Spencer Caine how to cook all the traditional dishes Ravi ate growing up during a months-long vegan-Indian-cooking boot camp at her house in Colorado.

Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos!



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[Image via Sauce]

And down on Allen at Rivington, Sauce Restaurant re-opens today following a kitchen fire that forced the 8-year-old Italian joint to close back in early January.

The restaurant has been upgraded with a refreshed interior as well as a new food and drinks menu.

Adam Elzer, who took over ownership in 2016, also runs Sauce Pizzeria on 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue and Coco & Cru on Broadway at Bleecker.

Thursday's parting sunset shots

Spectacular sunset this evening... the top photo is by Bobby Williams, with a view of the Christodora House on Avenue B... and below, a shot across Tompkins Square Park by Cecil Scheib ...

Good news from 1st Avenue

EVIL is Not In Service.

Thanks to Simon Dumenco for the update!

Noted

EVG reader David shared this from outside the psychic's space on Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. No word if the palm reader foretold these typos on its new sign.

[UPDATED] Rally Saturday afternoon to keep the Tompkins Square Park asphalt courts free of synthetic turf

Updated 9/6
The city has announced that it will no longer cover the court with synthetic turf!

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The skateboarding community is coming together Saturday afternoon to show their support for keeping the multipurpose courts in the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park free of synthetic turf.

As we reported on July 2, the city has plans — apparently only known to residents who may have attended a Community Board committee meeting in May — to cover the courts with synthetic turf, rendering the space useless for skateboarders and street hockey players, among other groups.

The turf project, happening at several area parks, is a result of the city's flood-protection plan that will close East River Park next March for 3.5-plus years. The city needs to find space for the sports teams and youth leagues who use the fields along East River Park.

Here's more from Adam Zhu, the East Village resident who launched the petition — titled "Save Tompkins Square asphalt!" — in early July:

For generations, Tompkins has been a safe haven for skateboarders and other marginalized activities. It serves as a melting pot for all walks of life and is an integral part of our identity as a neighborhood and community.

The city now plans to install AstroTurf there to prioritize permitted sports, which will destroy the way our community has utilized this park for decades. Please join me on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. in the NW corner of the Park to show the city what this park means to us!

In July, reps for the skateboarders met with the Parks Department. Both sides have reported that it was a productive meeting. However, Crystal Howard, a spokesperson for the Parks Department, told Patch last week that the proposal to turn the lot into astroturf remains. "We continue to consider the skateboarder's interests as we review the matter," she said.

You can find the petition here. As of last evening, there were over 32,000 signatures.

As Zhu recently told The New York Times: "There is something important about this specific spot, and that has to do with the history of the park at large and our personal history with the park — having grown up here, met all our friends here.

"I’m not fighting to make this a skate park," he added. “It’s a multiuse park, and it functions very well as is."

Previously on EV Grieve:
• No winners yet in Tompkins Square Park synthetic turf battle (Aug. 27)

• Petition to 'Save Tompkins Square asphalt!' closing in on 19,000 signatures (July 8)

• Skateboarders upset over plan to add synthetic turf to the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park (July 2)