They arrived back on Nov. 1 ... we've seen them stay up as late as Feb. 15 (happy Valentine's Day!).
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Holidays on ice
A visit to Good Time Pilates
Being somewhat new to fitness, I’d only taken a mat Pilates class before but had always been curious about the reformer-machine–based classes.
So I was equal parts excited and nervous when I arrived at the newly created Good Time Pilates on lower Avenue C to meet owner Sam Miles (above right) and teacher Meg Broome (above left).
The studio is housed in Meg’s apartment and the sunny back room is all set up with the reformer machine, blocks, mats, a “squishy ball” and a sweet soundtrack. I am greeted by kitties Ringo and Mushu, who delicately approve of my presence before Sam initiates the now-standard COVID-19 protocols: Temperature check, hand sanitizer, masks, open windows, and an air filter machine humming softly.
I confess my beginner status as I look at the carriage and rack assembly of the machine, but Meg and Sam put me at ease discussing the mechanics of the practice.
“Movement can change how you feel on a daily basis, and Pilates can change your body’s relationship with gravity,” Meg tells me as she leaves Sam and I to begin our session.
After I have a basic understanding of the class, we talk about Pilates, opening and operating a fitness studio during a pandemic, and what drew them to the East Village, where they both live and work.
Can you speak a bit about Good Time Pilates’ history? How did you two meet, and what prompted you to open a fitness studio? What made you pick the East Village as your and its home?
Sam: Good Time Pilates was born at the beginning of the pandemic. Putting a pause on life, being locked inside, and the uncertainty about the future made me need to move my body.
I started teaching virtual classes pretty quickly. I would just post, “anyone want to move tonight at 6?” on my Instagram and I got tons of people who felt that same need. Good Time Pilates really blossomed from there. The name says it all, we want people to have a good time while they move.
Meg: Good Time Pilates is Sam’s brilliant brainchild. I craved a teammate, structure and inspiration, so I reached out to Sam. Since then, each day I have been on my mat has been a little brighter. Community, even virtual, shifts the experience in class drastically. Joining the Good Time Pilates team has been the highlight of my pandemic.
Sam: [We met when] I was working as a bartender, getting my certification during the day, and working the front desk at a Pilates studio to get free classes. Meg got hired as an instructor at that same studio and five years later, here we are.
We have spent endless hours building our first small studio and daydreaming about the possibilities of the future. Good Time Pilates has decided to take the pressure off this year. The goal is to embrace, accept, and learn about our bodies exactly as they are right now.
We want to modify our relationship to movement and exercise away from punishment and toward nourishment. We are creating a space that gives the power of physical knowledge a chance to shine past some of the darkness currently clouding our lives.
Meg: Five years ago, right around this time of year, I was hired at the same Pilates studio as Sam in downtown Manhattan. She was in the middle of her certification and I had just moved to New York from San Francisco. Our passion for Pilates is just one of many things that helps us vibe well together.
Sam: I lost my job immediately when quarantine started. My lease was up shortly after lockdown started, so I moved upstate to Kingston with my pup Birdie.
Prior to that, for the last seven years I had bounced around the boroughs. As Good Time grew, picking its forever home wasn’t easy. I am a California girl and I felt my roots calling me home.
However, the community and support I have here made it obvious that this is where I want to share my passions. I just signed my first solo lease for an apartment in the neighborhood that will also house Good Time’s administrative office.
Meg: I have lived in the East Village for the last four years, but have been deeply intrigued by it as a neighborhood since my early teens. Tall buildings sometimes make me anxious, so this part of Manhattan has always made me feel held and inspired. I got my first tattoo at 16, on St. Mark’s. I met the love of my life over the pool table at Parkside Lounge. I have danced many, many nights away at The Pyramid Club. The locals are what make this neighborhood buzz.
Is Pilates accessible to every person’s body? What would you say to beginners who haven’t had much if any experience with the practice or find the machines intimidating? [Ed. Note: Meg & Sam jointly answered the following questions.]
Yes, that's the real beauty of Pilates. It is designed for anyone with a body. Pilates focuses on building strength, developing coordination and balance, improving flexibility, and enhancing overall body alignment and posture.
What makes Pilates unique is its ability to adapt to accommodate any level. Whether you’re an athlete, someone who has never worked out, or even someone with an injury, Pilates is for you. One thing that can make Pilates inaccessible is the price.
Since the creation of Good Time, we have been dedicated to trying to fix that one step at a time. We offer classes at a variety of prices. Students have the opportunity to add a donation onto the price of class that goes directly into our scholarship fund. We offer all of our services at a reduced rate with the help of our students’ donations. The second thing that can make Pilates feel inaccessible is the way it is marketed.
We sometimes talk about Pilates feeling intimidating because its name doesn’t describe what is going to happen in the class. Spin, we get it. Boxing, we get it. Even yoga, there’s a broader general knowledge about.
If we renamed Pilates, “strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility” or something sassier like “a class to help with aging” I think some of the nerves would fall away.
As far as the machines go...yes, it does look like some crazy BDSM contraption. Yes, some things you experience will feel like torture. However, we find that after a single session people are more fascinated with the way they feel than how scary the machines may look.
What has the experience of working with and training people during the pandemic been like? What precautions do you observe when working in the studio?
It’s been tough but endlessly rewarding. Everyone lost their sense of routine and was all of the sudden working out in their homes. We started virtually to keep everyone safe and moving. We teach every class from our homes. Kittens and pups make appearances on the daily and our virtual community of furry friends grows weekly with all the new adoptions. The toughest part has been not being able to hug our students after class.
The small private studio we opened in September has been our safe space to be able to see bodies in person again. Our space is up to every safety standard as well. We have the windows open at all times, we have a room air filter that is on at all times, both instructor and student wear a mask at all times, etc. We sanitize everything and leave thirty minutes between students.
Can you speak about what teaching online classes has been like? What online platform(s) do you use, and how do you offer suggestions, corrections and adjustments when working with people remotely?
Teaching online has been an adjustment to say the least. Zoom and technology challenges are still giving us a run for our money. Pilates is usually a very tactile practice. Instructors use hands-on corrections to help heighten proprioception in the students. Touch usually helps the brain-to-muscle connection fire.
Clearly, the screens make that difficult. We try each day to deepen our cues to help students get the same experience through the screen. Teaching students to become more familiar with touching their own bodies. As well as sending and posting tips and tricks often for trying to help with the at-home experience.
People’s work/life balances have gone completely out the door. The other challenge has been creating a schedule that feels like it accommodates everyone. On top of our daily live classes through Zoom, we have one Instagram live class a week that is donation based, totally free to join, on-demand videos for rent on Vimeo, as well as a few completely free classes up on YouTube to get a feel for what we do!
What’s next for Good Time Pilates?
The plan is to keep chugging one day at a time, feeling our roots grow in the neighborhood: Introducing ourselves to the intramural sports teams that play at East River Park, reaching out to local bars and restaurants to build a band of badass service-industry humans, connecting with local youth and community organizations to get a sense of what accessible movement opportunities already exists and how we can help contribute to them.
As we feel the world is headed closer to some normalcy, we hope to open a larger space. We dream of a movement clubhouse. A place where all bodies are celebrated and your neighbors go with you to class.
The East Village is home to so much history and the communities that helped build this neighborhood deserve accessible movement education.
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ICYMI: Enz's is back in the East Village
We're long overdue with this welcome back post!
If you've been on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue in recent weeks, then you've likely seen a familiar name on the block: Enz's.
The rockabilly and retro clothes shop opened at 76 E. Seventh St. in December.
Owner-designer Mariann Marlowe had previously operated the shop at 125 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place for the past 18 years after relocating from St. Mark's Place. (The store dates to the 1970s on Grove Street.)
Marlowe decided to close up shop in late 2019, having grown tired of the hostile retail climate and the daily rigor of running the business (This post from the time has more details.)
Welcome back...
Tokio7 returns (online)
Tokio7, the longtime consignment shop on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has opened an online shop.
They will also soon be taking consignment appointments Tuesday through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Follow them on Instagram for more.) There's hope among the T7 faithful that the store will reopen to the public in the weeks ahead.
The shop closed late this past August. Back in early June, Tokio7 was one of the many East Village businesses that was broken into and looted. (The 8-foot, 900-pound Predator statue out front was left untouched.)
Tokio7, which sells second-hand designer and vintage clothing, shoes and accessories, debuted on the other side of Seventh Street in 1996 ... before moving to this location in 2010.
Photo from Steven in August.
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Curbside eviction notice outside Lucy's
As Steven notes, the Department of Homeless Services has posted a notice here stating that the city will clean up this space beginning tomorrow... 
Meanwhile, Lucy's has not been open since Gov. Cuomo revoked indoor dining back in December. Several people have asked about her.
And so the person who runs Lucy's Instagram account posted this message yesterday in her Stories..
Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex
On Jan. 14, EVG contributor Stacie Joy reported on the crime and quality-of-life issues inside the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing development along Avenue C between Third Street and Fourth Street. (Read more from the interview with resident Kanielle Hernandez right here.)
We heard from another resident who lives in the complex.
"I grew up here, and when I say this building has become more dangerous than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, I am not kidding," said the resident, who shared a few photos to illustrate the squalid conditions ... such as in the blood-stained elevators and atop the trash-strewn sidewalk bridge, which lines the property and provides cover for some of the illegal acts that residents have reported without much success...
Have you seen the new Vision for Union Square?
As you may already have seen (The Wall Street Journal first had the scoop on Jan. 19), the Union Square Partnership's $100-million Vision Plan would result in a 33 percent increase in public space for the Union Square-14th Street neighborhood.
"Initiated as a response to the proposed L train shutdown, this Vision Plan evolved as COVID-19 upended our world, and with it, our relationship with public space," Jennifer Falk, executive director of the nonprofit Union Square Partnership, said in a statement. "More open space, safer pedestrian and cyclist travel, better transit, and more outdoor seating and greenery — all of these changes are called for in this plan and will benefit our community immeasurably as we chart the district’s next chapter."
The Vision Plan proposes five key improvements:
- Transform 14th Street into a world-class boulevard and transitway.
- Convert Union Square West into a seamless pedestrian plaza by extending the park all the way to the surrounding buildings.
- Create an expansive new open space at the park’s southeast corner.
- Build a Broadway Gateway at 17th Street as a permanent extension of the park.
- Develop a new Master Plan for Union Square Park.
The Vision Plan, two years in the making, must still undergo an extensive review process by the city and public, as the Journal pointed out.
And, importantly:
There is also the question of who will pay for it. Partnership officials said they are prepared to kick in millions of dollars through fundraising and a possible bond issue but added that it will be up to the city to fund a significant share and largely handle the construction.Partnership officials also noted that the project’s estimated $100 million cost will cover not just expansion of the park's footprint, but also other upgrades and improvements, including construction of a new accessible subway entrance with elevator and escalator.
The 25th anniversary of 'Rent'
This week marked the 25th anniversary of the very first performance of "Rent" ... the musical, which would later win the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award, debuted on Jan. 25, 1996, at the New York Theatre Workshop on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery.
NPR published a look back at "Rent" this week (find the article here), recounting how the performance almost never happened as creator Jonathan Larson died that morning of an aortic aneurysm.
On March 2, the New York Theatre Workshop is hosting a virtual fundraiser in honor of "Rent"'s anniversary.
Per the invite:
This virtual celebration of "Rent" and its impact on the collective cultural consciousness will feature a selection of iconic songs by some of today's most beloved recording and theatre artists, exclusive content uncovering how "Rent" came to life, and reflections on the driving force of Jonathan's legacy in the American theatre.
Scheduled performers include Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Billy Porter, Anthony Rapp and Daphne Rubin-Vega, among many others.
Tix for the fundraiser start at $25. Find more details about "25 Years of Rent: Measured in Love" at this link.
"Rent," which was based on Puccini's "La bohème," later made its Broadway debut on April 29, 1996. You can read more about the musical's East Village connections here.
And this year will mark the 10th anniversary of the closing of Life Cafe, where Jonathan Larson wrote "Rent" while hanging out in the early 1990s, on 10th Street and Avenue B.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Tuesday's parting shot
Hopefully the for-rent sign wasnt going up outside the Park office. "Amenities include 10.5 acres of outdoor space, a basketball court, playgrounds, dog runs, a kiddie pool and 4.5 bathrooms."
The East Village establishments taking part in NYC Restaurant Week To Go
Updated 1/30: Restaurant Week To Go has been extended through Feb. 28!
Here's the official word via NYCgo:
What: A takeout- and delivery-only version of NYC Restaurant Week, offering lunch or dinner for a set price of $20.21. The offer includes a prix-fixe entrée and at least one side. Plus, if you purchase your meal with your registered Mastercard®, you’ll get $10 back.
NYC Restaurant Week has taken place twice per year since it launched in 1992. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the summer 2020 edition.
Talk again of privatization at Village View
First, a little recent history: Back in August 2016, there was news that the residents/shareholders of Village View were mulling over whether to withdraw from the affordable housing program.
By November 2016, the Board met ... and passed a motion: "to cease any further discussion of privatization, including a feasibility study, unless and until such time there is a clear indication from a large percentage of shareholders that there is an interest in learning more about privatization."
In recent weeks, a tenant — also with a Westhampton address — named Jerry Hackman has been leaving numerous flyers on doors and in mailboxes, according to one resident, who shared a copy of a missive here (click on the image below for more detail) ...
The message includes the claim that privatization is a "free gift for you without any risk." The letter ends with a promise: "Let Santa come early this year."
The resident who shared the above flyer described the message as "disgusting." The resident elaborated:
"We cannot close the path for others to affordable Mitchell-Lama housing, however rare this path remains. I hope neighbors are aware and talk to folks they know at Village View about the importance of preserving affordable housing in NYC, now more than ever."
Village View, which opened in 1964, consists of seven buildings.
Top photo via EVG archives
99 Favor Taste looks to have closed (again) on St. Mark's Place
The business has not been open in recent months... and the location has been removed from the 99 Favor Taste website (there are four other NYC locations).
This isn't the first time that it appeared 99 was done for. Late this past summer, a "14-day notice demanding payment of rent" notice arrived on the front door. According to the paperwork, the restaurant owed $34,986 for the August rent along with a balance of the July rent and real-estate tax for a sum totaling more than $52,000.
There was also the ongoing construction that blocked entry to the restaurant. However, to some surprise, 99 Favor Taste did reopen in the late summer and early fall.
The restaurant, which offers traditional Korean-style barbecue and Chinese hot pot meals at multiple NYC locations (and free birthday meals), opened in the East Village in July 2017.
The restaurant, which offers traditional Korean-style barbecue and Chinese hot pot meals at multiple NYC locations (and free birthday meals), opened in the East Village in July 2017.
Photo by Steven
Monday, January 25, 2021
Noted
Steven and Eden shared these photos... not sure if people are living here now or just they just opened a store or lending library...
Not sure when Lucy's was last open... likely until the 25-percent indoor capacity was revoked in December...
Cemetery hawk
And what have Amelia and Christo, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, been up to of late? As Goggla reports, they're gearing up for nest-building season!
Longtime resident revisits the neighborhood for 'A Walk Around the Block'
Today marks the 10th anniversary that Victoria Linchong, who was born and raised in the neighborhood, was evicted from her East Village apartment.
In commemoration of that life-changing event, Linchong — aka Viva Lamore — is releasing a web series that she started in 2014 titled "A Walk Around the Block."
Here's more about the series:
It's a simple idea: Victoria takes a longtime East Village resident on a walk around their block. A hundred years of history are revealed as they say hello to shopkeepers, reminisce about long gone stores, check out the street art, poke through community gardens, and gaze at the architectural curiosities of this unique neighborhood.
And a preview of the upcoming episodes...
• Jan. 25: BACK ON THE BLOCK — 11th STREET BETWEEN B & CIn 2009, Victoria first took a walk around her block and documented her connection with the shops, the school, and the many community gardens. Three years after she was evicted, she is back on the block, surveying the changes that have occurred and saying hello to old friends who have remained. Special double episode, combining the original walk around the block in 2009 with a walk around the same block in 2014.• Feb. 22 : HOLY CANNOLI — 10th STREET BETWEEN 1ST & AVictoria and photographer Richard Sandler walk around his formerly Italian block, finding not only the world's largest cannoli, but also traces of Jerry Rubins, Basquiat and the Beastie Boys.March 29 : LA LUCHA CONTINUA — 8TH STREET BETWEEN B & CVictoria goes for a walk with actress/director Elizabeth Ruf and the late filmmaker Roland Legiardi-Laura on their block, which seems to be the immigrant epicenter of the old Lower East Side, with vestiges of former Irish, German and Jewish enclaves where Puerto Rican pride now runs strong.April 26: TWO OLD FUGS — 10TH STREET BETWEEN B & CVictoria and housing activist Frank Morales reminisce about Diggers, dealers, dissidents, DAMP and the Avenue D Boys on a walk around his block.
Linchong said that she'd like to do more episodes, and is hopeful of securing some financing to make it happen.
After her eviction, she lived in Berlin for four years. These days, she's living in the Park Slope/Gowanus area.
"I've not been coming by the East Village that often — especially with the pandemic," she told me via an email. "But I do still have a lot of friends in the neighborhood and I come around sometimes to see them."
And what would she like people to take away from her series?
"The value of the East Village is its community. No other neighborhood in the whole world has been so shaped by its residents. Every episode shows this ... Yet the longtime residents that make the East Village so great are rapidly being displaced by short-sighted moneyed interests," Linchong said. "I want people to see that the longtime residents of the neighborhood are valuable and their continued presence needs to be protected. What is a neighborhood if it doesn't have residents who are invested in their neighborhood, who have been part of the area's struggles, who know the story of every block?"
The episodes debut on the above dates at 7 p.m. on Vimeo ... as well as Facebook Live.
Batteries not included: Food and drinks options on this block of 7th Street
Last week, we reported that the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop would not be reopening on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. When it debuted in 2011, this was the very first storefront for co-founders Doug Quint and Bryan Petroff.
In a letter about the closure, the founders understandably cited the challenges of running a business during a pandemic, and how difficult it would be to make it work on Seventh Street ... they also noted that what was once one of "the hottest food blocks" in the city wasn't what it used to be... that "[t]he batteries have gone a bit dim on that street."
It's true that Caracas Arepa Bar decided to close in November after 17 years, continuing on with their Williamsburg location instead. In addition last year, the now-global Luke's Lobster shut down their Seventh Street location, having outgrown the space. And there was the loss of Porchetta a few years back.
Still, we heard from a lot of readers who took exception to the claim that the block between Avenue A and First Avenue was dimming. While they appreciated the good cheer that Big Gay Ice Cream brought to Seventh Street for nearly 10 years, some readers contend the block has never been more vibrant — even during the pandemic. (The readers were also sorry to see the ice cream shop close, and hope that it can reopen elsewhere in the neighborhood some day.)
For starters, Pylos, Butter Lane and Ruffian (among others, like Papilles and Giano as well as dessert spots mochii and Jell & Chill) continue on.
Ravi DeRossi has three restaurants — Saramsam, a Filipino restaurant at 111 E. Seventh St. that opened in September, Ladybird and Avant Garden — on the block. (They are currently closed for a winter break.) His Overthrow Hospitality is preparing for the opening of a fourth establishment this year on the block — Cadence, a take on southern soul food via chef Shenarri Freeman.
Meanwhile, several of the newer businesses seem to be a hit, including Ho Foods and 787 Coffee, which is a welcomed lively spot in the morning.
Meanwhile, four quick-serve businesses have opened in recent months... Shinn East ... Los Tacos ... plant-based, a vegan bakery, and the newly opened Medan Pasar, the Malaysian restaurant that has drawn rave reviews from Eater and Gothamist this year.
Tamam is now open on 14th Street
The plant-based Tamam Falafel (first reported here) is now open on 14th Street at Third Avenue right next to Joe's Pizza. (Thanks to Pinch and Nick Solares for the tip!)
Here's part of a review of the UES location when it opened last summer via The Beet:
The name, Tamam, which is Arabic and Hebrew slang for "thumbs up," definitely elicits that kind of response for all sampling its tasty — and affordable — fare and Oren clearly hasn't lost his edge in the falafel-verse. The short menu has several standouts.First, the Eggplant Sabich Plate ($11.50) is a must, with the crispy eggplant savory and crunchy, and the perfect complement to a drizzle of amba sauce, a piquant condiment made of pickled mangoes and spices. Served on a bed of quinoa with a side of Israeli salad or cabbage salad with delectable hummus—extra creamy and mild — and warm chickpeas, along with freshly baked fluffy pita, the generous portions mean you may just have late-night leftovers to anticipate.
A message for Short Stories
And perhaps no one is around to mind the store on a full-time basis... as such, a neighbor left a sign on the door asking the bar-restaurant to clean up its curbside dining space...
... seen worse, but...
This has been a common complaint among some residents when a bar or restaurant temporarily closes... who's taking care of the curbside space... and, in some cases, if the venue closes, who's responsible to take down the structure... ?
Sunday, January 24, 2021
Sunday's parting shot
As previously noted, the Ray's Annual Birthday Celebration isn't happening this year... organizers instead are asking Ray fans to record a video message here.
Week in Grieview
Posts from this past week included ... (with an optical illusion on Seventh Street via Derek Berg) ...
• In open letter, community groups seek answers over recent removal of 2 CB3 committee chairs (Tuesday)
• Big Gay Ice Cream founders say goodbye to their very first shop (Friday)
• How you can record a virtual 88th birthday greeting for Ray (Monday)
• Halloween Adventure is hoping for one more Halloween (Friday)
• This week's NY See panel (Thursday)
• Gallery Watch heads to Paige Beeber’s Farbe at Freight and Volume Gallery (Wedensday)
• Phony Express returns with "Laurie Anderson" (Friday)
• The former Meet Noodles space is for rent on 3rd Avenue; Taste Wine looks closed next door (Tuesday)
• 2021 development watch: 38-46 2nd Ave. (Wednesday)
• Amsterdam Billiards reopens (Wednesday)
• Happy trails: the sidewalk bridge has been removed from the all-new 619 E. 6th St. (Tuesday)
• Taiwanese noodles for 7th Street? (Wednesday)
• Camellia will not be reopening on 3rd Avenue (Wedensday)
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Follow EVG on Instragram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.
Layers of signage on Avenue A
Until this past September, this storefront was home to Native Bean. The coffee shop was here since January 2015, having moved the one block from 50 Avenue A.
The Native Bean sign always looked rather temporary here, stuck over the name of the previous tenant – Angelina Cafe, which moved across the Avenue in 2012 (before closing and becoming Bin 141 on Third and A in 2019!).
Anyway, the rumor is that another coffee shop is opening at 36 Avenue A... something to keep an eye on in the weeks ahead.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Bernie meme goes offline in the East Village
Friday, January 22, 2021
Friday's parting shots
"We thought an apartment in our building was on fire, but instead it was a DSNY truck."
Mind the 'Store'
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