Someone stole the safe from Nowon on Wednesday night

This past week, chef-owner Jae Lee celebrated the first anniversary of Nowon, his well-regarded restaurant that serves Korean-American fare at 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

And on Wednesday night, someone stole the safe from the establishment.

Lee launched a crowdfunding campaign yesterday offering more details:

We had a burglary at our restaurant on Wednesday evening. Our entire safe itself was stolen. We had over $2,000 in cash. Safe itself was over $1,000.

I spent the entire day today speaking to cops, detective and forensic team. The crook knew exactly where to go, which makes me think he has been here before and knew exactly how to move to not get caught on camera except the office. 

I am raising money to just get back what I lost. I would appreciate anything, honestly. I’ve never fundraised for myself before so if you have any questions or even words of encouragement, I will take it.

Within 14 hours of the GoFundMe, Lee raised the money — and more, and he deactivated the fundraiser. 

The restaurant also released a photo of the suspect from the surveillance video... 

Friday's parting shot

Black Friday, and we had the first fake snow sighting of the season... crews for "Tick, Tick... Boom!" — a musical drama directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda based on the semi-autobiographical musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson — are back on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery. (The cast includes Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens, Judith Light and Bradley Whitford.)

Photo today by Derek Berg.

A slice of 'Life'

 

Last weekend, after an ill-advised doomscroll, I was feeling a little down... walking along Avenue A, a cyclist went by with a speaker attached to his messenger bag. This song by the Damned was playing... which I hadn't heard in years. A fleeting moment that lifted my mood. From the under-appreciated Strawberries LP from 1982, this is "Life Goes On."

Oh look at the opossum in Tompkins Square Park

An EVG reader shared these photos from Tompkins Square Park today ... where an opossum was spotted lurking in some holly bushes... right there!

Nearly three years have passed since our last opossum sighting here (whatever happened to Nicodemus Punch Sugarpop aka Parachute ChingChing Yanoonoo aka Opie...?) 

Updated 7:30 p.m. 

Steven and Eden had a sighting this evening...

Previously on EV Grieve:
• The opossum has pretty much made Tompkins Square Park her/his home now

• The opossum of Tompkins Square Park — now on video

• Opossum where art thou?

• Opossum drama in Tompkins Square Park

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 and NYC...

A break in at Popeyes

The NYPD is at the Popeyes location on First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street this morning... after a report of a break in here...

As you can see, someone smashed in the front door. 

According to the Citizen app at 6:49 a.m., "two suspects reporteldy fled from the scene on foot." It's not known at the moment if anything was taken. 

The fried-chicken franchise opened here on Oct. 17.

A visit to Hello Banana Vintage

Vintage veteran Bailey Leiter has opened her very first shop... Hello Banana Vintage — named from a Tommy James and the Shondells song, "I Am a Tangerine" — debuted last weekend at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Bailey got the space via Amy Van Doran when she closed Modern Love Club last month. Turns out She used to live in an East Village building owned by the same landlord as 156 First Ave. So she has a good working relationship with them and is excited to be open. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the well-curated shop for a look around...

The shop is open Tuesday-Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Follow Hello Banana on Instagram here. 

There won't be an official SantaCon this year

SantaCon, set to terrorize NYC again on Dec. 12, is officially off, organizers announced on their website this week.

In the usual tone-deaf humor that has been a hallmark of SantaCon through the years, the announcement (screengrab above) reads in part: "All of the reindeer got the 'rona, so the elves have advised Santa to hold off on the in-person merriment."

The announcement also reads "there is no official SantaCon in 2020," leaving open the potential for unofficial Santa pub crawls this holiday season.

In any event, SantaCon organizers offer alternatives to "spread merriment (not infection) this year." Suggestions include donating to Helping Hearts NYC and, more on brand, playing a drinking game to "light up your holiday spirit like Rudolph's suspiciously red nose."

A Thanksgiving feast for neighbors in need at the East Village Community Fridge

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

This morning, a few dozen volunteers got together to prepare and serve Thanksgiving holiday meals to those in need at the East Village Community Fridge, located at S’MAC on the northwest corner of First Avenue and 12th Street.

East Village residents cooked, wrapped, labeled and bagged homemade meals while local restaurateurs Jill and Kimo Hing of San Loco and Marco Canora of Hearth provided additional supplies and assistance. 

Spearheaded by organizers Diane Hatz of East Village Neighbors mutual aid group and Sarita and Caesar Ekya of S’MAC, this effort fed more than 75 individuals and families. 

Says Sarita, “Today is a wonderful day for many and a yet also terribly lonely and hard day for many. We wanted to bring some joy through food to those who otherwise wouldn’t get that. Isn’t that what true community is all about?” 

Diane added, “The pandemic has really brought out a sense of community in the East Village. Every day I see more and more neighbors dropping things off at the fridge, and more and more local businesses are donating items and even hosting fundraisers. Most people who donate to the fridge drop off a few items as they go by, and others are stopping to take a few things they need. This really is a collective community effort.” 

Today’s bagged meals included items like turkey and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, roasted veggies, cornbread, green bean casserole, shortbread cookies, and slices of pie. 

Masks were also provided to those who needed them. If you are interested in making a donation to the Community Fridge, then you can bring labeled, wrapped food by anytime or make a cash donation here.

Community Fridge organizer Diane Hatz ...

Marco Canora of Hearth...

Kimo Hing of San Loco with Jill Hing's homebaked cornbread, cranberry loaves, and pumpkin chocolate chip bread ...

and Jill Hing's pecan chocolate homemade pie ...

ABC Special: Pinc Louds edition

ABC News has a feature today on local busking sensations Pinc Louds, which you can read (and listen to!) right here. 

The piece is titled "New York City buskers look back on a pandemic summer." 

Music blogger Charley Crespo shared this familiar sentiment about the band:

"[Pinc Louds] pretty much saved the summer in downtown Manhattan by playing in Tompkins Square Park two or three times a week. They were probably the first. Their music is energizing. It was exciting and for anybody who passed through the park, it was just the most wonderful experience to hear live music again."

And here's a quote from lead singer Claudi about playing in Tompkins Square Park:

"You got all the weird, crazy people, and you got familie. It's just like a wonderful mix of people, all kinda getting by, you know? Sometimes with a little bit of friction — but it's that friction that makes life more special right? And it makes it more New York."

Meanwhile, you can catch Claudi playing tomorrow (Friday!) evening from 6-8 outside B-side on Avenue B... and the full band Saturday in Tompkins Square Park from noon to 3 p.m.

Photo of Claudi from August by Stacie Joy

Previously on EV Grieve:

• An end-of-summer appreciation: Pinc Louds   

Gallery Watch: NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown at Derek Eller Gallery

 Text and photos by Clare Gemima 

NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown 

Derek Eller Gallery, 300 Broome St.

Melissa Brown's work is an equally refreshing and dystopian take on the year of severe global chaos.

The upheaval of all normalcy has forced us to take a step back — can we even remember how we lived before the pandemic wiped out our rituals and routines? What has COVID-19 made us bereft of or even worse, adapt to? 

NYNY2020 highlights the beauty in the banal and takes viewers into atmospheres that seem so out of reach in 2020. 

Zoom, New York’s subway system and famous art museums are subjects shown glorified throughout Derek Eller Gallery’s latest show. It was the first space I had visited that had more than two people in it. All wearing masks of course, but the irony of the work's commentary rang true during my physical encounter at the gallery. 

How do we safely look at art anymore? Especially when these seemingly cheerful paintings take a while to figure out. 

Brown’s distortional collages are created with layers of oil paint, stencil, airbrush and screen printed digital photography that undulate with reflective mark makings and contrasting textures. Brown’s use of light is also unique as it ranges from natural to digital, illustrating how ubiquitous the glare of a screen has become for us as our world turns increasingly virtual. 

NYNY2020 is somewhat of an optical illusion in that it turns ordinary objects into surreal terrains. The intimacy of portraying commuting, being in an office or heading to a virtual work meeting displays the new set of demands our society faces, particularly in what was once the world’s epicenter.

Another interesting feature of the work is that it occasionally involves a human hand, suggesting that this work is in fact about us. Our consumption, our surveillance, our addiction to our cellular devices. The world is still in our hands during this pandemic, but the way in which we see and control it will be altered tremendously ... and forever. 

This show is so uncomfortably relevant that it is almost scary to think how else 2020 in New York City will be depicted in the future. Melissa Brown’s work forces you to slow down, to stop and think about this year and to understand our home with an entirely different appreciation.

NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown is showing at Derek Eller Gallery until Dec. 19

 

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Clare Gemima is a visual artist from New Zealand. New-ish to the East Village, she spends her time as an artist assistant and gallery go-er, hungry to explore what's happening in her local art world. You can find her work here: claregemima.com 

Giving thanks at the Mariana Bracetti Plaza

This past Saturday, the proprietors of bar-restaurant the Cabin NYC on Fourth Street, Joey Aponte and his brother, chef Dennis Aponte, paid a surprise visit to the Mariana Bracetti Plaza. 

The brothers, along with local entrepreneur Freaky Frige, donated more than 20 turkeys to the residents here on Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

The Apontes, who grew up in the Vladek Houses, were planning do to several other surprise turkey drop-offs in other public housing complexes on the LES.

"It feels good to give back to people in need from my neighborhood, the Lower East Side," Frige told EVG contributor Stacie Joy, who shared these photos. "I love my hood."