Photo today by Derek Berg.
Friday, November 27, 2020
Friday's parting shot
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
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
A break in at Popeyes
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
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...
There won't be an official SantaCon this year
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."
Thursday, November 26, 2020
A Thanksgiving feast for neighbors in need at the East Village Community Fridge
Text and photos by Stacie Joy
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
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:
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Gallery Watch: NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown at Derek Eller Gallery
Text and photos by Clare Gemima
NYNY2020 by Melissa Brown
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."
Max Fish says farewell to 120 Orchard St.; new outpost planned
The bar had not been open since July, and rumors circulated that this was it. In October, reps for the company that runs Grey Lady and Short Stories appeared before CB3 for a new liquor license for the space, as BoweryBoogie previously reported.
Yesterday, Max Fish posted the official closing announcement on Instagram, though they vow to return again one day:
This is not the end of Max Fish by any means. In the meantime while we look for a new location we will be working on our webstore, collaborations, and participating in pop up events. We look forward to seeing you at our new location in better times!
Thank you all for your love and support. We’d also like to shout out bar and service family and friends throughout the city, best wishes to everyone, please stay safe. These have been hard times for all of us. Hopefully we’ll see all of you sooner than later!
From The Max Fish Family
This was the second iteration of Max Fish, the second on the Lower East Side. The bar opened here in August 2014... this after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St.
Higher rents caused them to move out to Williamsburg after the Ludlow Street original closed in July 2013. However, those plans for a bar in Brooklyn never materialized.
So here's to Max Fish 3.0.
Previously on EV Grieve:
A Thanksgiving without Odessa
As you know, the diner, dating to the mid-1960s here on Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place, closed in July. Longtime manager Dennis Vassilatos said that Odessa was shutting down after a prolonged slump in business due to COVID-19.
Closer to the last day, however, co-owner Steve Helios told Gothamist that Odessa was only closing temporarily, that the space would be renovated. (The building's landlord is Odessa partner Mike Skulikidis.)
To date, four months later, no work has been done on the space... here's a look inside this week...
As for Thanksgiving... through the years they stuck with a winning offering — glass of wine, cup of cream of turkey soup, etc. And pricing — and signage! — for the Complete Dinner remained unchanged since 2014, when management bumped the meal from $15.95 to $18.95.
We are thankful for all the meals that we enjoyed at Odessa through the years. Perhaps we'll see another Odessa bounty next year.
Previously on EV Grieve:
• Odessa breaks out the Thanksgiving Special signage
• It now seems like Thanksgiving with the Thanksgiving Special at the Odessa
• Odessa unveils Thanksgiving Special; complete dinner still $18.95
• Thanksgiving at Odessa
• Still the best Thanksgiving deal around
• 1 idea for a last-minute Thanksgiving meal
• A tradition almost as traditional as Thanksgiving itself
Tree Riders pulling onto 2nd Avenue
Updated 8:30 a.m.
The tree stand — aka Greg's — is now up along Houston at Essex/Norfolk too...
Greenwich Marketplace coming to this 4th Avenue storefront
The previous tenant, the PokéSpot, officially closed this past summer after four years. Before that, we had a Subway (sandwich shop) here.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
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