Sunday, November 3, 2019

Reader report: Fire started by sun reflecting off mirror in window on 12th Street



The FDNY responded to a report of a fire yesterday afternoon on the fourth floor of 413 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue...


A firefighter told EVG regular Lola Sáenz, who shared these photos, that a mirror in the window had reflected the sunlight and sparked a fire (it has been known to happen) ... two other readers collaborated this version of the cause via the FDNY.



... and a side view via EVG reader Bruce...



Here's a look at the building this morning. Three of the front-facing windows on the fourth floor have been boarded up... no word on the extent of the damage here...

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Time check



I took this photo on St. Mark's Place this morning around 8.

If I take the same photo tomorrow at the same time, then it will be 7. 🤔

Anyway, a reminder about Daylight Saving Time, which ends on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 a.m. — which is the official hour to set clocks back to standard time.

You can read more at The Old Farmer's Almanac, which you probably already have a copy of!

A day-long celebration of Steve Cannon's life this Sunday



Steve Cannon, the writer and poet who founded the East Village-based magazine and gallery A Gathering of the Tribes, died this past July. He was 84.

There's a celebration of his life tomorrow (Nov. 3) at various locations throughout the neighborhood. Select details follow (find the Facebook invite here with more information) ...



• 1 to 1:30 p.m.: Gather in front of the old Tribes Gallery building at 285 E. 3rd St. between Avenue C and Avenue D

The renowned Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans, will kick it off.

• 2 p.m.: Salutations, poetry, music, dance.

Rebirth will be joined by NYC musicians via the Arts for Art “Artists for a Free World” marching band, spearheaded by William Parker.

• 3 p.m.: The Second Line will stop in Tompkins Square Park for poetry music and dance.

• 3:30 p.m.: Exit at 9th Street, Second Line continues west to 2nd Avenue, north to St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery

• 4 p.m.: Doors open to indoor music by downtown jazz (Vision Festival, Arts for Art) with snacks and drinks available in the Parish Hall until 4:30 p.m. (music continues in Sanctuary which will conclude w/ poetry performance by Anne Waldman w/ Melanie Dyer (viola).

• 4:30 p.m.: The formal service begins, with family, speakers, poets, films, Poets Choir, and a short play by Steve.

Be part of B&H Dairy year round



Today is the B&H Dairy "family" cover photo for their 2020 calendar.

Some details via Facebook:

Nov. 2 from 3-3:30 p.m. Come on down to B&H Dairy and be in our B&H Family photo for the 2020 B&H Dairy calendar cover. Join Ola, Fawzy, our employees, customers, neighbors and friends for as this fun annual photo. We’ll take a photo of just the employees at 3 p.m., followed by a B&H Family group shot out in front of the restaurant no later than 3:30 p.m. Please put us in your calendar!

B&H is at 127 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

Friday, November 1, 2019

'Sway' of life



The latest LP via Rotterdam's The Sweet Release of Death came out a few weeks back. The above audio clip for "Sway" provides a taste for what to expect.

Costume dramas! Halloween along Avenue B



As you may have noticed, Halloween was yesterday. As in previous years, EVG contributor Stacie Joy was stationed on Avenue B (Ben's Deli was a good spot) to check out the costumes.

Movie characters were, as always, a popular choice, from new films like "Joker" and "Midsommar" to standbys such as Jason Voorhees ("Friday the 13th" parts 1 through 678), Michael Myers ("Halloween") and Billy Loomis ("Scream") ... we even spotted one homage to "Schitt's Creek" ...































































The transplant was a success? A doctor recommend Halloween procedure at Exit9



Halloween evening also included a return performance of the Exit9 Gift Emporium's window theater, in which passersby were treated to "an insane doctor’s gruesome medical malpractice" ... Stacie Joy took in the performance...





...and the cast and crew following the curtain call...



Ground control



A Halloween scene (I think) along Broadway last night via Derek Berg...

Pols call on Parks Department to save local community gardens at risk over new licensing agreement



Local elected officials, led by State Sen. Brad Hoylman and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, are calling on the Parks Department to resolve outstanding issues in the latest proposed GreenThumb licensing agreements.

By one estimate, nearly 100 community gardens on city-owned land are in danger of closing or relocating due to the ongoing dispute over the licensing agreement from the department's GreenThumb program.

In April, community gardeners received a new four-year license agreement that they say substantially changes the relationship they've enjoyed with the city since 1978.

According to the New York City Community Garden Coalition, the 2019 Community Garden License Agreement and GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook contain additional requirements that are burdensome for both parties, and "which will hinder the community outreach and engagement that are hallmarks of community gardens in New York City."

There hasn't been any progress made with negotiations, and the Parks Department has told groups that they won't be permitted to continue operating without signing the new licensing agreement.

In the letter to Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver dated Oct. 10 and made public yesterday, elected officials encouraged the Parks Department to return to the negotiating table with community garden leaders and reach a fair deal for gardeners that allows them to continue operating with a neighborhood-led approach.

Per the letter:

"Under the proposed license ... GreenThumb becomes an agent of enforcement rather than a garden-friendly working partner. The 2019 Community Garden License Agreement and GreenThumb Gardeners’ Handbook contains new burdensome requirements that could hinder the community outreach and engagement that is a hallmark of community gardens in New York City."

"City Hall’s attempt to change GreenThumb licensing agreements ... threatens the ongoing operation of our community gardens," Hoylman said in a statement released yesterday. "Commissioner Silver and the Parks Department must revise this licensing agreement so we can preserve these vital community spaces for years to come."

Said Rivera: "It is critical, that as we begin to recognize and address the decades of environmental injustice and racism, our city does not turn its back on the one area of environmental independence our minority communities have grown and fostered — our community gardens."

Aside from Hoylman and Rivera, the elected officials who joined the letter were: U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, U.S. Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, State Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick, State Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried, State Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, State Assembly Member Dan Quart, State Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, City Council Member Margaret Chin, and City Council Member Helen Rosenthal.

Find a copy of the letter at this link.

Officials for the Parks Department have downplayed any garden drama.

"These renewals happen every four years and always have small changes based on experiences from the previous four year cycle — this cycle is no different," Crystal Howard, assistant commissioner for communications at the Parks Department, previously told amNY.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern over new GreenThumb regulations for community gardens

Community gardeners to rally at city hall over remaining issues with new license agreement

After Basquiat: the next exhibition coming to the Brant Foundation on 6th Street



Tickets for the next exhibition at the Brant Foundation will be available starting today (Nov. 1).

"Third Dimension: Works From the Brant Foundation" will run from Nov. 13 to Sept. 13, 2020 at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center, 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

There haven't been too many specifics released just yet about what to expect.

The Instagram post about the tickets features a photo of "Dan Flavin's alternate diagonals of March 2, 1964 (to Don Judd)," a colorful sculpture of light that Brant apparently owns...


You can check the Brant site here today for ticket info. (This is NOT a free event. Adults are $15; $10 for EV residents. Students and kids under 16 are free.)

From March to May, the Brant Foundation featured an exhibit by Jean-Michel Basquiat, some 70 works collectively valued at $1 billion. All 50,000 of the free tickets were apparently reserved even before the exhibition officially opened on March 6. Brant later extended the show by a few weeks.


[Basquiat on 6th Street]

The Brant Foundation features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors. Brant bought the building — a former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio — for $27 million in August 2014.

Brant had said the space would host two exhibitions open to the public each year.