This is happening from 1-5 p.m. on Avenue B between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.
Friday, April 23, 2021
Open Culture on the Open Streets of Avenue B
Happy Hatch Day for Amelia and Christo, the red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park
Goggla has been keeping an eye on the nest and has noticed a change in behavior starting on Tuesday evening... as the two went into parenting mode.
Per Goggla:
What's going on up there?
Christo perched on the edge of the nest while Amelia stayed inside. He appeared to be watching and/or waiting, something we've seen him do on hatch days in previous years. The hawks stayed in this position for over two hours, which is also notable. Finally, Amelia got up and the two of them fussed around with some food, Christo watching as Amelia tore it up, then went through the motions of feeding a chick deep in the nest.
We have no idea how many eggs or chicks there are in the nest, but can expect 1-3 nestlings. It may be another week or so before we catch a glimpse of any fuzzy white heads peeking over the edge of the nest, so we'll have to wait and be surprised.
Head over to Goggla's site for more details... plus check out her video of Christo riding out the hailstorm on Wednesday from atop St Nicholas of Myra on Avenue A and 10th Street.
Openings: Looker bringing vegan bar food to Avenue B
Looker, serving vegan bar food, debuts today (1 p.m. until ... ?) at 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.
This is the sister restaurant to Post, the former tenant here... as previously reported, the four-year-old cafe moved around the corner to a larger space on Third Street.
Not sure what else to say about Looker at the moment... they do have an Instagram account chock-full of 1980s throwbacks...
Thursday, April 22, 2021
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 the neighborhood and NYC ...
Spring forward with Al Diaz
On Tuesday, Diaz added a seasonal touch to the gate at 246 Bowery (at Stanton Street) ... the message reads: "Spring. Nature's Most Optimistic Gesture."
NY1's Roger Clark caught up with Diaz while on the Bowery.
If the letters on Diaz's work look familiar, it's because they are made up of reclaimed New York City Transit Wet Paint Sign characters, and subway system icons."Being a New Yorker and all, it's a kind of ubiquitous alphabet, constrained alphabet, that as commuters we see every day," said Diaz, who makes messages of all sorts with those letters intended to inspire action.
Diaz grew up in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. He started writing graffiti at age 12. As a teen in the late 1970s, he and his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated on a series of cryptic messages seen around the city signed from SAMO©.
The show at Howl!, titled A Subterraneous Journal, features work that Diaz created during the pandemic.
Find more info about the exhibit, which is on through May 30, at this link.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Live music returns to these 2 Avenue A venues
Drom, 85 Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street, is welcoming back an array of acts. (Schedule here, flyer above.)
The club is also the new home of DJ TM.8's Temptation INXS — 80s Dance Party Saturdays. (The first one on May 1 is already sold out.) This was a long-running dance night at the now-closed Pyramid Club.
Live music is also back (as of April 16) at Berlin – Under A at 25 Avenue A and Second Street. Check out their Facebook account for upcoming shows.
Brazen Fox returning to the Brazen Fox space
Turns out the venture will be ... the Brazen Fox. The bar-restaurant announced its reopening yesterday on Instagram... stating that they've "reached an agreement" to return...
[Updated] 145 2nd Ave. returns to view
Updated 12 p.m.
THE SIDEWALK BRIDGE IS COMING DOWN...
Report: Mermaid Inn plans to reopen, though the SLA isn't helping
[Photo from Aug. 22]
Co-owners Daniel Abrams and Cindy Smith have plans to reopen the Mermaid Inn, the seafood-centric restaurant that closed late last summer after 17 years on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.
However, as Abrams tells the Post, a stringent State Liquor Authority law is delaying the reopening.
Why?
Under current law, new or revived restaurants and pubs outside New York City can obtain a temporary liquor permit within 30 days, while the State Liquor Authority reviews an applicant’s request for full license — a process that could take anywhere from four to six months.
And?
... unlike their peers in other parts of the state, Big Apple restaurants that want to open or reopen are barred under the law from obtaining a temporary permit to sell booze pending the SLA’s months-long review on whether to provide a two-year license to sell liquor.
Hmm.
The more restrictive treatment of city restaurants under the state alcohol and beverage control law is a result of complaints from city residents and lawmakers who railed against the proliferation of bars in certain neighborhoods, sources familiar with the law said.
According to Abrams, alcohol sales account for 40 percent of a restaurant's revenues.
"What's the purpose of opening a restaurant without serving alcohol? If you can't offer a glass of wine with the oysters, diners will go somewhere else," he said.
Abrams decided to reopen the Mermaid Inn after renegotiating a lease with the landlord and seeing "more foot traffic and economic activity."
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Wednesday's parting shot
The EVAC, an arts venue, replaces FlyeLyfe on 1st Avenue after 1 day in business — why?
Reporting and photos by Stacie Joy
According to Steve Hirsch, who's opening the EVAC (East Village Art Collection), the space will be an art gallery with music, spoken word, painting, sculpture, photography and "maybe even a small Calder show."
"We want to work with the community and showcase East Village artists," said Hirsch, whose LinkedIn profile describes him as having a 25-plus year career in apparel design and merchandising and being "an industry innovator." "There are no galleries on First Avenue in this area."
The EVAC's arrival means that East Village-based artist and entrepreneur P.J. O'Rourke's FlyeLyfe, which moved to this storefront from 11th Street last month, will not be continuing on from this location — after just one day in business.
According to Hirsch, who was involved with securing the new FlyeLyfe storefront with the goal of expanding the brand: "We had a change in the business plan. We're no longer working with P.J. O'Rourke — we're going in a different direction."
And this quick turn of events took O'Rourke by surprise. In an interview and subsequent email exchange, O'Rourke described his version of the story. He didn't mention Hirsch by name, referring to him instead as his "so-called business partner," who first bought a print from O'Rourke when he was still hustling his T-shirts, hats and other original designs from the L train.
Hirsch, he said, helped him secure the first FlyeLyfe storefront on 11th Street before Avenue A and First Avenue.
"When it came time to scale up, he offered 215 First Ave. if we signed a partnership. I obliged hesitantly, but obliged nonetheless based on his word of helping it scale 'worldwide.' The new LLC was signed on Jan. 26, and the grand opening was March 19," O'Rourke said. "After hiring a few employees, he decided to make a very authoritarian person in charge of handling and managing employees. The employees were intimidated amongst other things with 'even if you’re not here, you're being filmed.' All this time of preparation, my job was to be the artist and not worry about any of the management and set up at the shop."
O'Rourke said that he "had to put faith and trust into the process." While the grand opening day on March 19 was a success, a "verbal altercation" the night before between a friend of O'Rourke's and Hirsch at the storefront apparently soured relations. Hirsch and the "authoritarian person" allegedly said that the friend wasn't welcome in the space.
Later on the opening day, according to O'Rourke, his "business partner" then shut down the space.
"I immediately left ... in complete shock. I even came back a couple of hours later and was berated by the authoritarian figure and completely undermined. He said 'you just fucked up, I have been talking to local artists, and we have no problem turning this into an artist space without you,'" per O'Rourke. "I went back to get my stuff ... Not only had they locked me out, but my belongings were also inside and my partner told me it was his. They papered up the entire store, and now a couple of weeks later, they are trying a fly-by-the-seat art gallery, while leaving my livelihood at stake. And that's factually what has happened to me at this point. I really just need to get my stuff back so I can make my living again."
In a follow-up call, Hirsch, whose LinkedIn profile lists him as director of operations for FlyeLyfe, denied this version of the events.
"I have no comment on what Mr. O'Rourke had to say. Mr. O'Rourke's statements are not facts," Hirsch said. "He presented his version of the story, I presented something different."
He then ended the call by saying "this conversation is over."
Signs of life at Sanshi Noodle House
Signage arrived back in August on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street for Sanshi Rice Noodle.
And we hadn't seen a lot of activity here since then... but apparently, work was going on behind the papered windows... those windows have been uncovered to show the in-progress dining room, as these photos by Steven show ...
This will be the second location for the restaurant ... joining the original outpost in Flushing. You can check out some food pics via the Sanshi Instagram account. Here's a menu for the Flushing location.
This prime corner space has been vacant since Bar Virage closed in December 2018 after 20-plus years in business.
On second thought, Chef Hans looks to be the new tenant for 120 1st Ave.
However, on Monday, signage arrived for a completely different establishment — Chef Hans Asian Kitchen. Not sure at the moment what happened to Jian Bing Man ... or perhaps this is some kind of spin-off restaurant.
The previous tenant here, Doma Food and Drinks, a Korean bistro, didn't have much of a chance, opening in February 2020 — about six weeks before the PAUSE ... this was a new concept from the owners of the Tang, which opened in this space in July 2016.
Photo by Steven
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