Reminders: It's Primary Election Day

Polls are now open from 6:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. Visit nyc.pollsitelocator.com to find your poll site and use this site for other questions.

A small business SOS

Save Our Storefronts, a coalition of East Village merchants and community members, recently launched a petition that will help lobby for fair rent relief for NYC small businesses.

We are facing the catastrophic loss of thousands of small and micro businesses, the economic and social cornerstones of our communities.

New York is on PAUSE, but the bills have not paused. The rent has not paused. NOTHING has paused except our ability to survive. Without rent relief, untold numbers of storefronts will shutter. For good. Communities will lose vast numbers of jobs, essential services, vitality and more.

We will lose the very fabric of our city.

You can learn more and sign the petition at this link.

Monday's parting shot

A new era for haircuts. Photo on Avenue A by Derek Berg.

[Updated: never mind] New police barricades arrive on Avenue B

As promised, the NYPD brought in new barricades for Avenue B... EVG contributor Stacie Joy took these photos...



The barricades along the Avenue (from Sixth Street to 14th Street) to indicate the Open Street had taken a beating in recent days.


[Photo by Dave on 7th]

Updated 6/23

A walk along Avenue B today... there are barricades up on 14th Street, 13th Street, 10th Street and Sixth Street. The other intersections didn't have any barriers — they were either lying on the ground, shoved off to the side or missing altogether...

Noted

Also on Avenue B. A longtime reader had a 2010 EVLambo flashback...

Now entering Phase II

[East 14th Street]

The city officially enters Phase 2 today, which allows for the reopening of outdoor dining at bars and restaurants, in-person retail, hair salons and barber shops (though excluding personal care services like nail salons and spas) ... and more office jobs, with less capacity and mandatory COVID-19 safeguards in place like social distancing and facial coverings.

Of particular interest is how, exactly, the outdoor dining portion will work. Mayor de Blasio unveiled the plans back on Thursday. Here are excerpts from the city's press release:

The City’s Open Restaurants program ... allows qualifying restaurants and bars to expand outdoor seating on sidewalks, curb lanes, backyards, patios, plazas, and Open Streets as New York City begins Phase 2 of reopening. The City has established an expedited approval processes by allowing restaurants and bars to self-certify their eligibility for curb lane and sidewalk seating using a new, streamlined application process at NYC.Gov...

Open Restaurants gives dining establishments five new options. Beginning in Phase 2, restaurants can implement seating in curb lanes and sidewalks. Phase 2 allows reopening and use of as of right outdoor space in backyard and patios. Restaurants can also work with their local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to establish seating in plazas. Beginning in July, restaurants can offer seating on Open Streets on nights and weekends.

Sidewalk seating will be in effect until the end of October. Curb lane seating will last through Labor Day. DOT will work with community groups and partner agencies to identify additional seating within full streets closures in July. Restaurants can work with their local BID and DOT to request additional seating in plazas by emailing Plazas@dot.nyc.gov.

Customers are not permitted to gather outside of establishments. Businesses that repeatedly fail to comply will have their Open Restaurant authorization revoked by DOT, and will be referred to the SLA.

This NYC.gov link has more details on how the Open Restaurants scenario will work.

I haven't heard yet of any plans to close East Village streets for outdoor dining. (If you have, then please let me know!) Closing off Avenue B as part of Open Streets hasn't exactly been a success.

East Village Postal's raffle raised more than $20,000 for BLM-related charities

[Photo at East Village Postal by Stacie Joy]

The community raffle organized by East Village Postal at 151 First Ave. ended right before midnight this past Saturday.

And the raffle's $5 tickets were a hit, raising more than $20,000 for Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp and the Equal Justice Initiative.

The shop reported on the results yesterday in an Instagram post...




Prizes included gift cards and other items from local businesses that included East Village Organic, Flower Power Herbs & Roots, Veselka, Takahachi, Mr. Throwback, Superiority Burger, Abraco and Azaleas, among many others.

St. Mark's Place at 3rd Avenue promises to be a hot construction mess for the next few years

Since our last look, workers have expanded the construction perimeter around the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place... the unofficial entry from the west into the East Village.

The sidewalk on Third Avenue was previously blocked off... now the same goes for the St. Mark's Place side... with the sidewalk now part of a barricaded street with a narrower roadway for the M8 bus (and every other vehicle) that uses this route...







Still no activity on the actual lot where the 10-story office building will eventually rise, per a view into the blogger portals...





The City Planning Commission will cast their vote at a later date as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. They are expected to approve the plan to transfer air rights from the landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place to the new development across the street at 3 St. Mark's Place. In issues such as this, City Council usually follows the lead of the local Councilmember. (Carlina Rivera spoke out against the transfer plan in in early March.)

With the air-rights transfer, developer Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) would be allowed to build 8,386 square feet larger than the current zoning allows.

Regardless of an extra 8,000 square feet, construction will still happen. As Gothamist reported in early March, the project's architect, Morris Adjmi, emphasized a building of a similar height size would be built as-of-right.


[A rendering of 3 St. Mark's Place]

REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties here for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The corner lot is owned by the Gabay family.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• New building plans revealed for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• Concern over potential air-rights transfer for new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue

Cucina Di Pesce returns as a pop up at Nomad on 2nd Avenue

[Undated photo via Zomato]

Good news for fans of Cucina di Pesce — owner Mehenni Zebentout has announced that menu items from the now-closed Italian restaurant are available for takeout or delivery from his other establishment at Nomad, 78 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

Cucina di Pesce, the unpretentious seafood-focused restaurant on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery, closed in September 2018 after 32 years in business. The building at 87 E. Fourth St. had a new owner, and there was a rent increase for the restaurant space. (That space remains empty, though a Chinese restaurant is in the works for it.)

Late last summer, Cucina di Pesce's Instagram account teased a comeback with a photo of Audrey Hepburn wearing a sleep mask in a scene from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with a caption "that was a nice break...WHO’S HUNGRY?"

Cucina di Pesce announced their pop-up venture at Nomad via this snappy Instagram clip...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cucina di Pesce (@cucinadipesce) on Jun 20, 2020 at 3:27pm PDT

Previously on EV Grieve:
• After 32 years on 4th Street, Cucina di Pesce will close after service on Sunday

First Lamb Shabu has closed on 14th Street

For rent signs hang in the front window at 218 E. 14th St., bringing an end to the short tenure (August 2019) of First Lamb Shabu.

This was the first Manhattan outpost for the Beijing-based hot pot chain that has more than 300 locations in China. (There's also an outpost in Flushing that people like.)

Prior to the start of the First Lamb Shabu build-out in April 2018 (!), the storefront between Second Avenue and Third Avenue had been empty 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

Reader report: Fire on an Avenue C rooftop caused by fireworks last night

The ongoing fireworks around the neighborhood nearly resulted in a major fire early this morning.

An EVG reader shared the following from along Avenue C:

People setting off fireworks from Avenue C and neighboring buildings caused a fire at 1 a.m. on the rooftop of our co-op. Thankfully someone saw it and called the Fire Department and no one was hurt. Our doors were destroyed by the firefighters gaining entry, and an apartment now has considerable water damage as a result of the effort to put out the fire.

The reader then asked a follow-up question that others have asked: "Is there any effort to try and stop people from lighting these fireworks?"

Updated 9 p.m.

And a few more photos from the roof,







Per another building resident: "Part of the brand new roof will need to be replaced, and the apartment below suffered water damage. It could have been much worse, but just goes to show what happens when neighboring buildings set off fireworks from their roof."

Week in Grieview

[Friday evening along 7th Street via Derek Berg]

Posts from the past week included...

• East Village volunteers expand their outreach to feed more neighbors in need (Thursday)

• At the Juneteenth protest on Astor Place (Friday)

• Michal Gamily’s 'Mashawsha to go' from an East Village fire escape (Wednesday)

• Designer Darrell Thorne is 'Under Glass and In Color' on Avenue A (Tuesday)

• Report: These 12th Street residents are going on 5 months without gas for cooking (Thursday)

• Curb your enthusiasm: A look at more East Village businesses with their doors back open (Friday) East Village businesses reopen their doors for curbside pickup (Monday)

• Tech hub nears halfway mark (Monday)

• Essex Card Shop is moving to a new space on Avenue A (Tuesday)

• Popeyes getting nearer to unleashing the chicken combo deals on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

• More prep work for incoming St. Mark's Place office building (Monday)

• Fortnight Institute leaves 4th Street (Wednesday)

• Drivers keep moving, and now breaking, the Open Streets barricades on Avenue B (Friday)

• I Need More will close next month (Friday)

• Ninth Street Espresso (on Ninth Street) reopens (Monday)

• Merry June 17 (Wednesday)

• This week's NY See panel (Thursday)

• Julie's Vintage has closed (Thursday)

• Re-openings: Juicy Lucy returns to 1st Street (Thursday)

• Ramen and dim sum for 9th Street (Tuesday)

• That new store in town (Monday)

... and by yesterday, the mannequin on Seventh Street was put to work (thanks to Eden for the photo!)...



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Follow EVG on Instragram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

Never-ending July 4 continues

We've received about a dozen emails or DMs from readers about people setting off fireworks around the neighborhood in recent weeks. Received some photographic evidence via Vinny & O from last night around 10th Street and Avenue C.

The increase in illegal fireworks have been documented throughout the city. Per Gothamist on Monday:

According to city data, 849 complaints about fireworks were logged with the city's 311 hotline in the last two weeks alone. That's a nearly 4,000 percent increase from the same period in 2019, which saw just 21 recorded complaints. In the first two weeks of June during the previous five years, there were less than 50 complaints related to fireworks in total.

As with other 311 data, it's not clear that the figures reflect an actual spike in activity. In many cases, the growth of nuisance calls is a better barometer of gentrification than any specific change in behavior. But while illicit fireworks have long served as the sonic backdrop to summer nights in NYC, some residents say the intensity and frequency has been noticeably greater in 2020, with many of the late-night displays appearing strangely professional.

And via NBC 4 on Wednesday:

Now, people in the city that never sleeps have a new audio accompaniment to their surreal spring: Booming, amateur fireworks displays that start at sundown and continue deep into the night.

Illicit bursts of fireworks from street corners and rooftops aren’t uncommon in the city’s neighborhoods in the days before the Fourth of July, but the past few weeks has seen an extraordinary surge in such displays.

In the first half of June, there were 80 times as many #nycfireworks complaints compared to the same period last year. Fireworks usually start late June. This year it’s earlier, longer and bigger. Who’s supplying all these professional-grade fireworks? https://t.co/NwoVJI7RQg

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 21, 2020

In the East Village, there have been reports of fireworks on multiple side streets and Avenues... and a lot of terrified dogs in apartments.

Previously.

Report: Man dies after gun accidentally discharges in waistband inside Campos Plaza

A 36-year-old man died last night after the gun he was carrying accidentally discharged in his waistband while in the lobby of Campos Plaza on 12th Street and Avenue C, according to published reports. (PIX11 and the Post.)

The man was reportedly adjusting his pants inside the apartment building at 635 E. 12th St. when the gun fired, striking him in his upper left thigh around 7:30 p.m. He died later at Bellevue.

Screengrab outside Campos Plaza via the Citizen app

The playgrounds are back open in Tompkins Square Park

The ballfield/TF and playgrounds in Tompkins Square Park are back open. Workers unlocked them on Friday morning, then locked them up again later in the day. Signage then arrived stating the areas would be closed until today for painting and cleaning.





Meanwhile, the playgrounds are open... and signage points out that the city is not sterilizing the equipment...


[Photo by Steven]

Also, the basketball courts are open, though the rims are still MIA. The dog run remains closed.

[Updated] Police barricades continue sad existence on Avenue B Open Streets

Readers continue to note the sad state of the Open Street concept on Avenue B between Sixth Street and 14th Street. Since the last post on Friday, the police barricades meant to block off the Avenue to through traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. aren't faring so well.

The barricade was smashed and discarded on Ninth and B. The one at Eighth Street is hanging on...



The one at Seventh Street was clipped by a fire truck this weekend...





And someone dragged one of the pieces about 50 yards to the east on Seventh Street...



And at Sixth Street...



The city announced the Open Street plan in late May to help residents safely get some fresh air while social distancing.

Updated 1 p.m.

Via the 9th Precinct...

Thanks for the calls and messages regarding the barriers on Avenue B needing to be replaced to ensure safety while the open space is being utilized. The replacement should be up today. Thanks for your patience!#EastVillage #NYC pic.twitter.com/08NKtxE3QK

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 21, 2020

Scooter LaForge's Love Power on the Bowery

East Village-based artist Scooter LaForge, working with Hitomi Nakamura and James Rubio, created this Love Power mural on the Bowery between Great Jones and Fourth Street earlier this week.

This was part of a larger effort organized by Bowery artist Sono Kuwayama. (Read about it here.) She received permission from store owners to paint on the plywood of the boarded-up businesses along this stretch of the Bowery. She then reached out to some local artists to have them create murals ...







And what will happen to the plywood when the businesses reopen?

Per Reuters: "When the boards eventually come down, Kuwayama’s plan is to store the art in a gallery, and later sell it, donating the proceeds to local homeless shelters."

As a P.S.

While we're on the Bowery and Fourth Street... Phebe's reopened yesterday for to-go food... they are open from 4-9 p.m. during the week and 2-9 p.m. today...