Monday, February 1, 2021

Mid-morning snow break (Still Snowing Edition)

EVG regular Greg Masters shared these photos from Tompkins Square Park this morning ...

Nor'easter news

The nor'easter that people have been taking/tweeting about is apparently upon us. Here's the latest from the National Weather Service (with a photo above from Seventh and A this morning around 7)...
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST
TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy snow. Snow may change to a light wintry mix
tonight. Additional snow accumulations of 14 to 18 inches and
ice accumulations of a light glaze. Winds gusting as high as 45
mph.

* WHERE...Portions of northeast New Jersey and southeast New
York.

* WHEN...Until 6 AM EST Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Travel will be very difficult to impossible. The
hazardous conditions will impact the morning and evening
commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Blizzard like conditions possible this
morning into this evening.
ABC7 meteorologist Jeff Smith called this "a rare snowstorm — the likes of which we see every five to 10 years."

The city is restricting non-essential travel...
... and the CitiBike network is offline... ... and there's no line at Key Food this morning...

Get your Sex, Love & Vintage this month at 3rd and B'zaar on 3rd Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

February kicks off with a new seasonal pop-up shop at the 3rd and B'zaar space at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Sex, Love & Vintage, featuring the work of 30 local vendors and artists, is on tap for this Valentine's Day season.

"At Sex, Love & Vintage, shoppers can expect everything from fancy jock straps to beautiful floral bouquets to art," said 3rd and B'zaar co-founder Maegan Hayward, who also owns East Village Vintage Collective on 12th Street. "There will be gifts for your Valentine, Galentine or for yourself because February should be all about celebrating you."
This mixed vendor market and event space debuted this past November with a holiday market with more than 30 artists and merchants. 

For now, Hayward and company have the space through April, though they would like to extend the lease to host a spring market in May. They also hope to host more art shows, such as the one the weekend of Jan. 22.

"The plan for the 3rd & B’zaar, in general, is to have more art shows and events in between markets," she said. "And the hope is that we can keep the space and keep with that method of markets every few months that are specialized and small events in-between. But even if we don't stay in that space we hope to be able to travel and do the same thing in other spaces as a pop up."

Sex, Love & Vintage will be open all this week from 1-6 p.m. For the rest of the month, their hours are Wednesday-Sunday 1-6 p.m. You can follow the 3rd and B'zaar Instagram account or Facebook page for details on vendors and updated hours. 

With Gino Sorbillo bowing out, there's another pizzeria slated for 334 Bowery

A "temporarily closed for renovation" sign arrived at the Gino Sorbillo outpost at 334 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond in early January.

It didn't seem likely that the first U.S. pizzeria from "the Neapolitan celebrity super-chef" Gino Sorbillo was going to reopen amid the pandemic. At the time, there wasn't any message about a closure on the pizzeria's social media...  and their website was offline ... and the phone went to a random voice mailbox. 

Turns out applicants, named as William Fung and Steve Fung, appeared before Community Board 2 last fall for a new liquor license for the space and sidewalk cafe. 

There's now an SLA notice on the front window...
The application, found here, notes that this will be a 
"artisanal neighborhood pizzeria" with hours of noon to midnight.

This hyped Gino Sorbillo outpost arrived here in November 2017

The address was previously a carousel of pizza-tapas concepts between November 2014 and June 2015 ... this is when the address was divided into two spaces, where we had Forcella, Espoleta, Gia Trattoria, Slice of Naples, SRO and Bowery Pizza over the six-month period. 

Sunday, January 31, 2021

6 posts from January

A mini month in review... 

• Big Gay Ice Cream founders say goodbye to their very first shop (Jan. 22

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities (Jan. 14)

• NYPD looking for suspects in brutal daytime mugging on 3rd Street at 1st Avenue (Jan. 14

• A 21-story office building planned for the former B Bar & Grill on the Bowery (Jan. 8

• Hope for Little Poland in 2021? (Jan. 5

• A new era for Via Della Pace on 4th Street (Jan. 4)

Storm prep

There are reader reports of long lines at grocery stores ahead of the winter storm that is expected to drop between 18 and 24 inches over the next 12 hours. 

EVG reader Doug shared the top photo from Third Avenue, where the line went around block for the Trader Joe's at Union Square. 

There were also reports of lines at Key Food on Avenue A ... Gothamist posted this shot...

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included ... (with an uptown view this morning from First Avenue and St. Mark's Place) ...

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex (Wednesday

• Longtime resident revisits the neighborhood for 'A Walk Around the Block' (Monday

• The East Village establishments taking part in NYC Restaurant Week To Go (Tuesday

• Gov. Cuomo to allow indoor dining — at 25% — again starting on Valentine's Day (Friday

• Have you seen the new Vision for Union Square? (Wednesday

• Batteries not included: Food and drinks options on this block of 7th Street (Monday

• A visit to Good Time Pilates (Thursday

• This week's Gallery Watch goes to Ki Smith Gallery (Friday

• Mask envy in this week's NY See panel (Thursday

• ICYMI: Enz's is back in the East Village (Thursday)

• Phony Express debuts a birthday tribute to Ray at Ray's Candy Store (Friday

• Resident talks up privatization at Village View (Tuesday

• Tamam is now open on 14th Street (Monday

• Tokio7 returns (online) (Thursday

• 99 Favor Taste looks to have closed (again) on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday

• The 25th anniversary of 'Rent' (Wednesday

• A message for Short Stories (Monday)

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

NYC Restaurant Week To Go is now a full month through February

NYC Restaurant Week To Go, set to end today, has been extended now through Feb. 28.

As you may know, this is the deal, 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.
record 571 restaurants signed up for the semi-annual event... including 16 in the East Village — La Palapa, Cafe Mogador, Pangea, Hearth and Veselka among the participating venues. Find the EV list here... and the full NYC list at this link.

As Eater reportedNYC & Company, the city's tourism office and host of Restaurant Week, "has re-opened signups for new restaurants that would like to participate in the program for the weeks of February 8, 15, and 22."

Restaurants have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to register to take part. Given the pandemic, they've waived the participation fees. 

MF BERN

From this past week... the Bernie meme mashed up with the late MF DOOM on the Bowery between Great Jones and Bond... art by @bastardbot ...

Report: The first major snowstorm of Feb. 1, 2021, on its way

As you likely heard: It's gonna snow...  this is the latest from the National Weather Service this morning: 
 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY... 

* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 14 to 18 inches. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph. 

* WHERE...Portions of northeast New Jersey and southeast New York. 

* WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 6 AM EST Tuesday. 

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Blizzard like conditions possible Monday and Monday evening.
WHICH MEANS... we'll likely post dozens of snow photos (and provide other pertinent information) during the next 48 hours.

Dipping into the archives here ... the photos in this post are from the blizzard of Dec. 27, 2010, when the run-up to the storm was so severe, the only thing left at the Blockbuster on East Houston was "Army Wives: Complete Fourth Season." 

... on Avenue A... 
... and Avenue B...

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Your Book Swap Sunday reminder for Sunday

A remnidner that there will be another Book Swap Sunday (tomorrow!) outside the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Per the organizers: 
Let's share our used books to help us get through this pandemic together. Leave some and take others... Thanks for making these such a wonderful success! And you don't have to donate. Taking is sharing also.
Photo by Kevin Farley

EVG Etc.: Real-time maps of construction sites for cyclists; Permanent Open Streets for all

Photo by Derek Berg

• Police searching for thief who stole wallet from stricken shopper at Target on 14th and A (1010 WINS)

• Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera wants the city to create a real-time map of construction sites and other obstructions so cyclists know the danger spots (Daily News

• Details on the mayor's "State of the City" speech from Thursday; highlights include permanent Open Streets like on Avenue B (Streetsblog

• NYC residents behind in getting access to COVID-19 vaccines (The City

• What's left of Kleindeustchland, or Little Germany, in the neighborhood (Untapped New York

• RIP Jerry Brandt, founder of the Ritz (now Webster Hall) and music industry veteran (The New York Times

• NYC's radical female and non-binary skateboarders (CNN Style)

• The candidates for Manhattan Borough President (Gothamist

• The Philadelphia location of Big Gay Ice Cream closes (The Philadelphia Inquirer ... previously on EVG)

And in case you missed this... artists Graham Fortgang and Samara Bliss of the the Locker Room studio in Brooklyn created this billboard now up in Los Angeles that declares "New York is Dead. Don't come back." ...which serves as "a love letter to those doubling down in New York and choosing to rebuild and a golf clap to those on their way out."