Feeling the need to reduce the speed on 2nd Street

This afternoon, DOT crews were out on Second Street between Avenue B and First Avenue to install "speed reducers" (aka speed bumps!) along the corridor, as EVG regular Salim points out...

And here's a look at the new WIP bump between Avenue A and First Avenue... a stretch where we've seen plenty of speeding TBH...

Looks like just one bump per block. Residents can request these speed reducers via the city at this link.

Updated 9/15

Fourth Street is getting speed bumps too. Post is here.

At the 50th anniversary of Albert's Garden on 2nd Street

On Sunday afternoon, Albert's Garden celebrated its 50th year here at 16-18 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. (Read more about its history here.)

Some longtime garden members and local residents were on hand for the festivities ... as was EVG contributor Stacie Joy, who shared these photos...

You can check out the garden yourself during these posted open hours... 

Sunday: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 

Monday: * when the gate is open

Tuesday: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. 

Wednesday: * when the gate is open 

Thursday: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. 

Friday: 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. 

Saturday: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Village Voices, a new street exhibit, recognizes trailblazing neighborhood icons

Photos by Steven

Village Voices is a new street exhibition via Village Preservation honoring downtown trailblazers and their legacies ... and you can find four of the installations on the fence along St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

Featured artists here are Patti Smith, Charlie Parker, W.H. Auden and Joan Mitchell. Each name is linked to an audio overview of the artists as well as biographical information.

You can find a map with all the installations in the area right here.

Brown paper on the windows at the former Odessa on Avenue A

Photo by Steven

Former Odessa Watchers™ noted the arrival yesterday of brown paper on the front windows at the old diner at 119 Avenue A. 

As you may know, Superiority Burger has signed a lease for the address here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place, first reported by Grub Street last month.

Brooks Headley, the owner of the all-vegetarian quick-serve spot on Ninth Street, told Grub Street's Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld that he's not changing a thing:

"Odessa has always kinda been my dream space," he says. What's so dreamy about it is that besides being big, it comes completely furnished and ready to go. "It's not old and dusty and gross and needing upgrades," he says. "I find it completely beautiful — the soda counter, the satellite bar, the cash register station. I don't plan to change it at all."

So the paper on the windows is likely to provide a little privacy and keep the Former Odessa Watchers™from obsessing over every little detail. (Sample: That pen was not on the table yesterday. Also, we forgot to report that the Sanity Inspection Grade, an A, and assorted signage were removed from the front windows several weeks ago. Hopefully, all this is in the Diner Hall of Fame.)

Headley previously said that the move from Ninth Street will be several months down the road. (Given the current supply-chain issues, it may take longer for any new kitchen equipment to arrive.)

Once the new home of Superiority Burger is up and running, they'll first launch a dinner service before opening it up later for lunch and breakfast.

In July 2020, longtime manager Dennis Vassilatos said that Odessa was shutting down after a prolonged slump in business due to the pandemic. (Odessa Restaurant opened in this space in April 1995. The original Odessa, the longtime favorite that dated to the mid-1960s, closed next door in August 2013.)

However, closer to the last day, co-owner Steve Helios told Gothamist that Odessa was only closing temporarily, that the space would be renovated. The building's landlord is Odessa partner Mike Skulikidis. The closing turned out to be more than temporary.

Superiority Burger opened in the East Village in June 2015. 

New Indian restaurant in the works for this stretch of 2nd Avenue

An Indian restaurant called Desi Stop is coming to 75 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. (Thanks to Steven for the photo and tip!)

This info is according to the workers who are currently renovating the space. We don't know anything just yet about the owners behind the new place.

Desi Stop takes over for Nostro Ristorante, which debuted in October 2019. The Italian restaurant reopened briefly late in the spring of 2020 for pandemic-era takeout and delivery but closed soon after. 

The west side of Second Avenue between Fourth Street and Sixth Street has been hard-hit with closures... aside from Nostro, Atlas Cafe ... Thailand Cafe ... and Hou Yi Hot Pot/Spicy Noodle Hot Pot all closed last year. And Calexico at 99 Second Ave. remains "temporarily closed."  

Report: Jeepney closing after 9 years on 1st Avenue

Jeepney, the 9-year-old Filipino gastropub at 201 First Ave., is closing on Sept. 25, Eater reports. 

However, owner Nicole Ponseca said that this isn't the end of Jeepney — just at this location between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

Per Eater:

The restaurateur hopes to partner with a restaurant group to open a more casual version of her pioneering restaurant in multiple cities, including the possibility of New York, similar to her expansion in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami earlier this year.

Ponseca and executive chef Miguel Trinidad also operated Maharlika on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street from 2011-2019. As Eater noted: "Both restaurants have been heralded for their takes on modern Filipino cooking, which helped introduce New York City to the Southeast Asian cuisine." 

For its remaining time on First Avenue, Jeepney will be open for dinner from 5 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. 

Image via Facebook

Raising the barre: Pure Barre opening a studio at 250 E. Houston St.

A Pure Barre outpost is coming to 250 E. Houston St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, per the fitness chain's website. (H/T Stacie Joy!) 

Pure Barre looks to be taking over the space last held by Y7 Studio, the hip-hop-fueled yoga center that never reopened after the PAUSE of March 2020. Update: Y7 reopened on Oct. 4. It's not clear what space Pure Barre is taking.

As its name suggests, Pure Barre is a ballet-inspired fitness regimen mostly centered around the handrail used in ballet training — the barre. 

And as we've been noting, there's been a storefront shuffle along this renovated retail stretch. Kapri Cleaners and the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center moved here from the unrenovated spaces a few doorways down East Houston. The old retail section of this strip is apparently coming down to make way for an unspecified new development. 

On that note, workers last week were removing asbestos from the former Subway (sandwich) shop space...

Any signs of the East Village in the 1st trailer for Marvel's 'Hawkeye' series?

Back in December, crews for the new Disney+ series "Hawkeye" via Marvel Studios spent several days filming in the East Village (under the name "Anchor Point"). 

In the series, Jeremy Renner is reprising his Marvel Universe role as the superhero Hawkeye and his alter ego Clint Barton while Hailee Steinfeld plays his protégé Kate Bishop (also known as Hawkeye). 

Anyway! The jocular first trailer for the eight-part series dropped today... looks solid, though there's no sign of the Discount Wine & Champagne's shop on 4th and A... or Key Food... but, at the 1:15 mark, that could be a building along Szold Place near 11th Street, a filming location...

   

"Hawkeye" debuts on Nov. 24. 

And revisit Stacie Joy's photos from along Fourth Street and Avenue B here.

Midday pizza break

Andy Warhol and Keith Haring reimagined as Ninja Turtles. 

Art on First Avenue at Third Street by DeGrupo. 

Speaking of Keith Haring, his sculpture outside 51 Astor Place has been MIA now for a little more than a year. It was to undergo "minor conservation work."

Hamilton Fish Recreation Center returns with free annual membership offer

The Hamilton Fish Recreation Center officially reopens tomorrow (Sept. 14) for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

As EVG contributor Stacie Joy reports, you can sign up for a one-year free membership here at 128 Pitt St. just below East Houston. (Adult memberships are $100 to $150 annually depending on the facility. And the free membership is happening at all city rec centers.) 

You can bring proof of COVID vaccination and a photo ID for the membership (you can sign up through December). You can download a registration form here.

The facilities here are open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Masks are mandatory. 

Anyway, if you've never been here... they do have a fitness center with cardio machines, weights, etc. So in case you have a limited budget for a gym right now... 

This link has more about the available amenities.