Easter in Tompkins Square Park

Let's hop right to Stacie Joy's photos of the colorful bonnets and bunny ears as seen in Tompkins Square Park on Easter Sunday ...

Barnyard Cheese Shop returns; Brix Wines moves a storefront away

Barnyard Cheese Shop reopened on Saturday at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street... (thanks to Vinny & O for the photos and Laura for the tip!)...

The popular cheesemonger and sandwich shop closed on Feb. 19 for a temporary break. 

In an email at the time, owner Beatriz Gutierrez told me that it had "been an exhausting year." She continued: "[B]ut I know that a lot of folks look to us, literally, for their daily bread and I knew it would be a shock to see us closed. But I also know that closing Barnyard, for at least now, was the right thing to do. I am working hard at finding the best way to reopen and also stay safe, relevant, and of course, solvent as a business at a time when so many other businesses are not able to do so."

Meanwhile, Brix Wines, her sister shop right next door, moved one storefront to the north...

... to the former Rue St. Denis space...

Barnyard is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Brix Wines is open daily from noon to 8 p.m., to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. 

Thanks to Steven for the second Brix shot...

Partial reveal at the 101 Condominium

Workers late last week removed the scaffolding and netting from the all-new 24 First Ave. — aka the 101 Condominium, Rybeck Development's 7-story, 23-unit condoplex.

The Second Street side of the project remains behind the construction shroud... 

The building will feature residences from studios to three-bedroom units. (No mention of pricing.) Listed amenities include a full-time doorman, fitness center, lounge area, grill & wet bar and an "immaculate indoor/outdoor park." 

And here are two renderings of the building's lounge area for tenants via the 101 website...

Two addresses — 24 First Ave. and its property mate 99-101 E. Second St. — were demolished to make room for the 101.

No. 24 's previous occupants included the cabaret Lucky Cheng's (1993-2012) and Club Baths, the first openly gay-owned bathhouse (1971-1983)... and Cave Canem and La Nouvelle Justine in between.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Building that housed Lucky Cheng's on 1st Avenue now on the auction block

• Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property sell for $12 million

• 7-story residential building pending at the former Lucky Cheng's space

• Demolition permits filed to bring down former Lucky Cheng's building on 1st Avenue

• The 411 on the 101 Condominium

Vinny Vincenz Pizza has closed

We started hearing reader reports late last week that the venerable Vinny Vincenz, the 18-year-old pizzeria at 231 First Ave., was closed during usual business hours.

By Friday, a for rent sign had arrived on the storefront here between 13th Street and 14th Street. (Thank you to food writer Nick Solares for the photo.) 

There's no mention of a closure on the pizzeria's lightly used Instagram account. 

Vinny Vincenz had stared down the competition during the Great $1 Pizza War of First Avenue in 2013-14, which saw multiple sidewalk sandwich boards … the introduction of $1 drafts… and dancing pizza menu women.

The place served a good slice and offered other pizzeria staples. This marks the second old-school pizzeria casualty over here... as Muzzarella on Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street shut down last year. 

The Hayaty Hookah Bar space is for rent on Avenue A

A for rent sign now hangs outside Hayaty Hookah Bar at 103 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, bringing an official end to the lounge.

Hayaty had not been open since the PAUSE went into effect in March 2020. 

And some residents had been surprised that Hayaty was open at all following a deadly shooting outside the space in January 2020.

Early on Jan. 9, 2020, two men, identified as Earl Facey and Richard Reid, reportedly got into an argument inside the lounge. 

The fight escalated outside when the two men — each reportedly carrying a .22 caliber handgun — exchanged gunfire. Surveillance footage obtained by NBC 4 showed the two men "shooting at each other as they dance around a parked car," per the report, outside Hayaty.

The chase ended in front of 113 Avenue A where Facey was said by police to fatally shoot Reid in the torso. Two uniformed officers who were on patrol nearby shot Facey on the northwest corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street as he walked away, refusing multiple commands to drop his weapon and lie on the ground, according to police accounts and media reports. One officer fired his weapon twice, the other one time. Facey later died at Bellevue.

Hayaty remained open until the PAUSE.

The building's other storefront, the former Thai Hub, is also for rent. Thai Hub relocated to 50 Avenue A early last month.

You'll recognize those for rent signs ... they've been up on the long-vacant southwest corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street... same landlord here... 

The space has been vacant ever since Benny's closed here in November 2014. Hopefully, 103 Avenue A won't sit empty for nearly seven years.

Another take on the coming-soon Bagel Boss signage

Back on March 22, we reported that Bagel Boss was opening an outpost at 238 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... the signage, though, got tangled up, and it was difficult to read passing by... and eventually someone just took it down...

But! As the top photo shows, the signage is securely in place... at the site of old-timer City Gourmet Cafe, which closed during the pandemic.  

And as noted on March 22, there's also a Bagel Boss coming soon to 55 E. Houston St. at Mott Street... in the former Oddfellows space.

Bagel Boss, founded in 1975, will now have 15 locations in NYC and on Long Island. 

Sunday's parting shot

Thanks to EVG contributor Linda Dyett for sharing this aerial view of the socially distant Easter celebration today outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street...

Report of a balcony fire on 7th Street

Late this afternoon, the FDNY responded to a report of a fire on a fourth-floor balcony at 102 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

EVG correspondent Derek Berg happened to be passing by "as something exploded and showered down black bits and pieces" ...

There are unconfirmed reports that it was a battery ...

The FDNY was quickly on the scene and extinguished the small fire... which, according to the Citizen app, was contained to the balcony...

Happy Easter!

As seen today at the entrance to StuyTown on 14th Street and Avenue A... thanks to Christine Champagne for the photo!

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo on Avenue A by Derek Berg) ... 

• Remembering Carol Joyce on 7th Street (Wednesday) 

• A sneak peek at the new C&B space (Monday)

• Exclusive: Iconic East Village venue The Pyramid Club will not be reopening after year-long PAUSE (Thursday) 

• Your chance to laugh and support the Sixth Street Community Center (Wednesday) 

• Subway Dreams on 2nd Street (Monday) 

• 1st sign of new-building construction on the northeast corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street (Tuesday) 

• Gallery Watch checks out the "Group Sex" show at Full Tank Moto Cafe (Friday) 

• This week's NY See on that non-vaccinated feeling (Thursday) 

• Sales: "Unique and endless" possibilities for this unique church on 4th Street (Thursday) 

• At the first Pinc Louds show of 2021 in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday) 

• The last days of the former B Bar & Grill (Monday) 

• Greenwich Marketplace debuts on 4th Avenue (Tuesday) • EXPG Studio is closing on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Openings: Cadence debuts on 7th Street (Thursday) ... Four Four South Village on 7th Street (Monday) 

• With the sale of the building, the Central Bar signs off after nearly 20 years on 9th Street (Monday) 

• You can bet your bottom dollar that you'll find things for $1 and more here (Monday) 

• F&M Slice Pizza has closed on Avenue C (Monday) 

• Activity at the former Khyber Pass (Tuesday)

... and thank you to everyone who pointed out the newly painted sidewalk space at Stromboli on First Avenue and St. Mark's Place ... (pic by Vinny & O) ... 

... and Key Food on Avenue A is practically giving away this brand of hand sanitizer ... that was so difficult to find a year ago...

---

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

Sunday's opening shots

Spring morning views from Tompkins Square Park (and from yesterday when there was better morning light ...)

Saturday's parting shot

A portait of Lucy outside her bar at 135 Avenue A ... thanks to @GrittyGotham for sharing this...

EVG Etc.: A guide to legal marijuana in New York; a replacement for the Hester Street Fair

Photo on 12th Street by Lola Saénz 

• What you need to know about legal marijuana in New York (Gothamist) 

• The Chinese Hawaiian Kenpo Academy on Second Avenue sees increased interest in self-defense classes amid spike in anti-Asian hate crimes (NY1 ... official site) 

• The New York State Court of Appeals clears way for supertalls along the East River (The Broadsheet)

• Crystal Field on the past and future of Theater for the New City (B&B) 

• Thoughts on Precious Okoyomon's living installation "Fragmented Body Perceptions as Higher Vibration Frequencies to God" on view through May 9 at Performance Space New York on First Avenue (The New Yorker) 

• The upcoming live shows at the Bowery Electric (Instagram ... official site)

• Our faves: Cherry blossoms and brooding hawks in Tompkins Square Park! (Laura Goggin Photograophy) 

• Team behind Smorgasburg/Brooklyn Flea bringing Hester Flea to the Lower East Side (The Lo-Down) 

• Details on Beverly's, a pop-up homewares and specialty market at 22 Ludlow St. (Vogue)

• One day you might see a comedy with Iggy Pop and Bob Saget (Deadline)

Happy No. 20 to Academy Records

Wishing Academy Records a happy 20th anniversary ... the record shop at 415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue first opened on April 1, 2001. 

Congrats to owner Mike Davis and his Academy staff on this milestone... to 20 more...  

A note to dogs from the Fragile Flowers and the Struggling Young Tree on Avenue A

A note on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street... 

Dear Dogs -- 

 The daffodils are coming up! 

Instead of "going"

 here, please ask 

your human to walk you 

where no plants 

 are living.

Thank you -- 

The Fragile Flowers and the Struggling Young Tree

Fade to black at The Pyramid Club

Late this afternoon, workers removed The Pyramid Club sign outside the now-permanently-shuttered venue at 101 Avenue A... an anonymous reader sent in the top photo... while @drewallen shared the one below...

... and a little later...

As EVG contributor Stacie Joy exclusively reported yesterday, the iconic 40-plus-year-old club between Sixth Street and Seventh Street will not be reopening after the year-long state-mandated PAUSE.

Sweetness and light

 

The video for the new tropical-punk single by Pinc Louds is now available ... in the clip for "Tamarindo," Claudi returns to her Puerto Rican homeland where she chases chickens, serenades horses, meets a miniature version of herself and learns the secret to never growing up: tamarind syrup. The song bursts with the unbridled joy that you'd expect from anything related to Pinc Louds. 

The single, from the band's forthcoming release, officially drops on April 9. And you can see Claudi perform tomorrow afternoon at the East Village Flea... and the full band will be in Tompkins Square Park on April 10 at 2 p.m.

Gallery Watch: 'Group Sex' at Full Tank Moto Cafe

Text and photos by Clare Gemima 

Group Sex

Full Tank Moto Cafe, 49 Monroe St.

The New York City health guidelines — via its updated Safer Sex and Covid-19 fact sheet — discourage group sex, but provide advice for interested parties, suggesting “to find a crowd, pick larger, more open, ventilated spaces”…

This is an open-minded safety precaution endorsed by the New York City health department to take during the pandemic ... and also a genius conceptual parameter for a visual-arts exhibition. 

The East Village-based Ed. Varie is presenting Group Sex in their newest collaborative location on Monroe Street that showcases the works of artists Cavier Coleman, Colleen Herman, Esteban Ocampo-Giraldo, Giorgio Handman, Ivy Campbell, Leticia Infante, Moises Salazar, Nina Gilkshtern, Sarah Hombach, Scout Zabinski and Ted McGrath. (To learn more about each artist, please visit the gallery website here.)

The show explores group sex, sexuality and sensuality — both metaphorically and literally — in a raw, 2,000 square-foot space. This particular Ed. Varie collaboration marries gallery with the new Full Tank Moto Cafe — part cafe, motorcycle workshop and future bookshop all under the same beautiful roof. 

The building used to be a glass factory, and (thematically, if you will) hosts chains hanging from the ceiling. Ed. Varie founder Karen Shaupeter had to enlighten me that the bondage decor was not part of the show but a happy accident nonetheless. 

Through linoleum prints, gouache and acrylic paintings, soft sculpture and collage, the grit of the work in the space left an enduring impression as I walked through and witnessed exposed brick walls around the canvases and spilled dog food along the gallery floor. 

There were spirit and realness both on and off-canvas, and if you’re exhausted by the Chelsea gallery hoity-toity, then please visit Group Sex for a revitalization. Authentic work is out here in the Lower East Side, ready to challenge and capsize the whitewashed and straight status-quo of what being an artist in New York looks like. 

Thank you Ed. Varie for curating a show that, much like its title, isn’t afraid to show its roughness, its realness, its core. Among the standout work: Esteban Ocampo-Giralso’s Mañanas oil painting, depicting an illusionary, self-pleasuring scene that collides ecstasy with the mundanity of one's own bedroom confines. The forms in this piece are curvaceous and rich with highlighting and shadow play that is seductive and wildly transportive.

Another highlight was Ted McGrath’s Marat Moods/“…stop me if you heard this one…”/Haw haw haw. For me, the more disturbing looking the work is, the better. In this oil painting, we see multiple characters looking both humanly and mystically entrenched in a scene that looks so uncertain and on edge that it becomes nerve-wracking and uncomfortable to be around. There are skulls, banana peels and a sense of impending doom all captured in a sizeable canvas. Confusing and wretched, my favorite work in the show, hands down. 

And there is Spring Fever by Moises Salazar, which captured me immediately both from Ed. Varie’s social media and in person. The work depicts a female form wearing heels on a fur backdrop embellished with constructed floral arrangements. 

This to me is a kitsch daydream from the color right through to the glitter, yarn and sequins used to create the piece. The work is so polished and technically precise that it will leave you wondering how Salazar made it, let alone how the idea came into existence. Super cute, super ridiculous and super exciting to see how this artist grows. To no surprise, this piece has already sold.

If you are in need of a visual explosion, or even a new lease on your own creative practice, then I recommend visiting Ed. Varie’s amazing new space, and even striking up a conversation with its founder and staff. The experience was extremely welcoming and informative and I thank Karen for curating a potent and memorable show that represents a handful of talented and young practitioners. 

Group Sex will be showing until April 18 at 49 Monroe St. (across the street from Coleman Skatepark under the Manhattan Bridge). Full Tank Moto Cafe is open daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the gallery will remain open until 6 p.m.

Ed. Varie’s sister location, 184 E. Seventh St. at Avenue B, is currently exhibiting a solo show of Cavier Coleman’s work titled Heaven & Hell, also showing through April 18. 

 

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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