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 NYC ... as well as political observations on current events...

The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop will not be reopening on 7th Street

A lot of people have pointed this out in recent days: The for-rent sign in the front window of the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Co-founder Doug Quint confirmed the closure, though didn't offer any other immediate comment. [Updated: Read their farewell-to-Seventh-Street message here.]

This outpost had been closed since the PAUSE went into effect last March ... the Big Gay locations in the West Village and UWS did reopen.

The popular shop opened in September 2011 with a memorable array of entertainment, including an all-bassoon band, Bea Arthur lookalikes and Anthony Bourdain dressed as a priest blessing the shop. 

This was the very first location for the business that started with an ice cream truck. Since then, Quint and co-founder Bryan Petroff authored a cookbook on frozen treats and launched a pint-sized product line in grocery stores. 

Photo by Steven

A show of Local Artists this weekend at 3rd & B’Zaar

3rd & B’Zaar, the mixed-vendor market and event space at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, is hosting an art show this weekend with an array of local artists.

The opening reception is tomorrow (Friday!) evening from 6-9. The show will then run this weekend — 1-6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

And coming soon: the space will become the Sex, Love & Vintage Market from Feb. 1-Feb. 28. Stay tuned for more details on that.

3rd & B’Zaar debuted late last year as a group of local merchants, artists and designers hosted a month-long Holiday Market.

Noted

As seen this afternoon on the Bowery at Bleecker... photo by Robert Miner...

Gallery Watch: Paige Beeber’s Farbe at Freight and Volume Gallery

Text and photos by Clare Gemima  

Paige Beeber’s Farbe

Freight + Volume Gallery, 97 Allen St.

Freight + Volume Gallery is a space I regularly walk past, but it wasn’t until seeing Paige Beeber’s large scale paintings that I had wanted to ring their doorbell for a tour. 

I had initially thought these were oversized textiles. Crazy in composition and almost panicked in their abstraction, as I drew closer to Beeber’s mixed-media canvases, a clear and painterly dialogue seeped through her strategically applied pallet of wet media, paint and found objects instead.

Ink splotted, cross-hatched and heavily patterned, what I enjoyed most about this show was how reminiscent of a studio scene these works exuded. It was almost as if all the paintings had kicked up a fuss about being transported to the gallery. It is immediately clear from their proud experimentalism that every work has a life of its own. Farbe (German for color ) felt like it was incredibly fun to put together and is an evocative showcasing of Beeber’s vibrancy and growing talent.

Beeber’s works operate as frames of time, snapshots of external and internal circumstances articulated and crafted by the artist. She has investigated ideas like order and chaos, which can be seen on her canvases through controlled, more orderly mark-making amongst the more frenzied and fluid gestures. The draw to these works is found within their multitudinous layers. Countless mark-making techniques that have managed to survive within the constraints of a canvas —how she has not run out of room I do not quite understand. 

What Beeber’s work does successfully is a call for contemplation from her viewer, as there is simply too much to comprehend from one glance. 

The scale of these works aid in this as well. As each work in the gallery towers over you, they demand some kind of attention and calculation — are they puzzles? A game of snakes and ladders? Painted knitting swatches? It is definitely not a case of what you see is what you get. 

Aside from the brilliant choice in showcasing Beeber’s paintings, I learned that Freight and Volume publish beautifully designed catalogs for each of their exhibitions. For a gallery that is dedicated to providing opportunities for emerging visual artists, an incredibly unique resource such as this — so kindly extended to their artists — is rare enough to be highlighted. 

Paige Beeber’s Farbe at Freight + Volume Gallery will be on view until Feb. 21.

 

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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 

When it snowed for a few minutes this morning

In case you missed the snow flurries this morning around 7:30... here are two scenes from along Avenue A... inlcuding a shot of Key Food's new awning that workers installed yesterday...

2021 development watch: 38-46 2nd Ave.

In the weeks-months ahead, workers will demolish three buildings (No. 38, No. 42-44 and No. 46-48) on the east side of Second Avenue between Second Street and Third Street...

And soon enough we'll likely have the first look at the 11-story mixed-use building that Gemini Rosemont Development has planned for this space... another development to watch in 2021.

As reported back in August,  there are work permits awaiting approval by the city... plans call for an 11-story building (120-feet tall) filled with 87 residences (condos?) and 10,014 square feet of retail. In addition, there will be a 1,884-square-foot office (likely medical) on the first and second floors. 

Last year, Gemini Rosemont bought the former La Salle annex at 38 Second Ave. and Second Street. The $14.5 million purchase of the four-story building was the third of three contiguous parcels acquired by the firm this year for development. Gemini Rosemont closed on 42-44 Second Ave. and 46-48 Second Ave. (the former Church of the Nativity) in March 2020 for $40 million.

Demolition permits have already been filed for three buildings.

The Church of the Nativity closed after a service on July 31, 2015, merging with Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street.

As previously reported, the Cooper Square Community Land Trust had explored buying the former Church of the Nativity to use as low-income housing.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Educator: Turning the former Church of the Nativity into luxury housing would be a 'sordid use' of the property

• The fight to keep Church of the Nativity from becoming luxury housing

Taiwanese noodles for 7th Street?

11 E. Seventh St. looks to have a new tenant. 

There's a filing now for Four Four Taipei Noodles Inc. at the address. (H/T Upper West Sider!) No word yet if it is related to Four Four South Village, which sells similar Taiwanese noodles in Flushing. 

The space was previously home to Le Sia. The restaurant that served a Chinese crawfish boil was not able to survive the downturn during the pandemic. 

Le Sia debuted in January 2018 here just east of Cooper Square. 

As previously noted, No. 11 was home to Surma Books & Music for 98 years until June 2016. Third-generation owner Markian Surmach cited a decline in business and the expense of property tax and other charges related to owning the building. Public records show that the Surmach family sold the property to Icon Realty for $5.75 million at the time.

Amsterdam Billiards will reopen today

After a 10-month COVID-19-mandated closure, Amsterdam Billiards reopens this morning at 11 over on 11th Street and Fourth Avenue. 

Amsterdam Billiards, along with 15 other New York pool halls, had sued the state to reopen ... and this past week, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that the pool halls that had sued the state to reopen can do that — as long as COVID-19 safety protocols are in place, as PIX 11 reported.

Per PIX 11:

Among the many COVID-19 safety protocols for pool halls: They must operate at only 50 percent capacity, masks at all times, six foot social distance markers, no food or alcohol, deep cleaning as well as temperature checks, contact tracing and hand sanitizing stations.

While bowling alleys were allowed to reopen this past summer in the city, pool halls were left off the list. 

The judge’s decision will stand while the larger lawsuit is litigated.

Photo last night by Steven

Camellia will not be reopening on 3rd Avenue

Just a little north of our usual coverage area... Camellia, the restaurant that served made-in-house ramen and gelato, will not be reopening at 155 Third Ave. between 15th Street and 16th Street.

Food writer Nick Solares tells us that a for-rent sign has arrived in the front window. The restaurant never reopened after the PAUSE of March 2020.

Camellia debuted in early 2019 in space that was, in part, a Subway (sandwich shop). They temporarily closed several months later for renovations. 

Tuesday's parting shot

Today, the United States reached 400,000 deaths from COVID-19, which nearly equals the number of Americans killed in World War II, numbers multiple media outlets cited. 

Someone marked this grim milestone with a candle this evening on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Photo by Steven

Report: Man shot and killed last night on Avenue C and 3rd Street

Police are investigating a fatal shooting last night on the southeast corner of Avenue C and Third Street. 

According to published reports, a 36-year-old man was shot multiple times around 8:40 p.m. 

The Post reported that three men were seen fleeing westbound on Third Street. Witnesses also said that the victim had been on a bike.

Residents have long complained about the drug activity on this corner, which has been under a sidewalk bridge now for more than eight years. 

The renovations to the three-story building, 32 Avenue C, came to a halt in recent years. A full vacate and stop-work order remain at the address.