Sunday, October 24, 2021

Sunday's parting shot

A reader shares this scene from Avenue A and Seventh Street this evening...

Week in Grieview

 Posts this past week included (with a Michael Myers sighting by Derek Berg) ...

• Barnyard Cheese Shop has closed (Thursday)

• Rue-B closes on Avenue B (Thursday)

• Office building for 3 St. Mark's Place appears stalled for now (Tuesday)

• Cheap-eats fave Papaya Dog is done on 14th Street (Thursday

• Report: Police shoot at man threatening people with a knife on Houston and the Bowery (Friday

• Via Della Pace owners opening an Italian deli on 4th Street (Monday

• Signs of new development along the retail strip of 250 E. Houston St. (Monday

• FA debuts on 9th Street; the green bench arrives in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday

• Stromboli Pizza reopens (Friday

• Blank Street coffee looks to be opening an outpost on 3rd Avenue (Wednesday

• A campaign to landmark the building that housed A Gathering of Tribes on 3rd Street (Monday

• Openings: Chichen Itzá on 10th Street (Tuesday

• Sun meets the sidewalk again along this stretch of 2nd Avenue (Wednesday

• Omakase sushi bar coming to former upholstery shop on 7th Street (Tuesday

• A wrap at the Bowery Mural Wall (Tuesday

• When life gives you a bulky sidewalk bridge, play tetherball (Tuesday

• Reader report: new laundromat washed up before it opens? (Wednesday

• A speakeasy and restaurant concept slated for 221 2nd Ave. (Monday

... and East Village native Reuben Gordon is an artist now living in Los Angeles ... if you happen to be out that way, a solo exhibition recently opened at Baert Gallery ... and you can see how NYC and the neighborhood inform his work...
 

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

A farewell to Barnyard Cheese Shop

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Barnyard Cheese Shop closed after service Friday evening at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

As we first reported, owner Beatriz Gutierrez (pictured above) was, despite repeated efforts, unable to find someone to replace Victor, who helmed the kitchen here for years. Victor, who lost his brother to COVID-19, is returning to be with family in Mexico. 

Yesterday, family members, longtime regulars and staff (including Michael in the photo below) gathered to say goodbye to Barnyard...
Several bands, part of a HONK NYC! performance, were also playing right outside along the Open Street of Avenue B...

This week in milling & paving with your host...

Crews working for the DOT milled Avenue B — from Houston to 14th Street — early this past week. 

Enjoy this fresh-milled look and feel while you can. 

According to the DOT website, workers are expected to start paving the roadway on Friday night...

Saturday, October 23, 2021

EVG Etc.: Early voting begins; SoHo/NoHo rezoning pushes ahead

Fall views on 1st Street/Houston

• Early voting begins TODAY (NYC Votes

• Police say this suspect assaulted an 11-year-old girl in Stuyvesant Square (1010 WINS) UPDATED: A 29-year-old East Village resident is out on bail following his arraignment Saturday on charges of strangulation, harassment, assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child. (amNY ... ABC 7 ... CBS 2) More details at The Daily Mail.

• Arrest made in murder of food-delivery worker on the LES last Saturday (Daily News) Loved ones are collecting money to help victim Miah Sala's family pay for expenses (GoFundMe

• ICYMI: On 8th and Broadway, cops shove man out of the subway station after he asked them to wear masks (The New York Times) Cops disciplined (ABC 7

• The latest on the SoHo/NoHo rezoning (Gothamist

• Remembering the EV boutique/salon Knobkerry and proprietor Sara Penn ... the subject of a new exhibition (The New York Times

• A review of La Cabra, now open on Second Avenue (Gothamist ... previously on EVG

• NYU receives a collection of 200 works by downtown artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe and Keith Haring (Hyperallergic

• A fall update on Amelia and Christo, the red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography

• About Dumpling Lab on Ninth Street (Time Out ... previously on EVG

• Gold Medalist Shaun White's condo in the A Building on 13th Street sells (The Post

• A rerelease for the debut EP from Heart Attack, Jesse Malin's first band (Brooklyn Vegan

 ... and our best to Karen McDermott, who owns the toy store the March Hare on Ninth Street with her husband Jason McGroarty. McDermott, 31, found out earlier this month that she has colon cancer. More details here.

Friday, October 22, 2021

Carve your enthusiasm

Some photos from a recent pumpkin-carving extravaganza at the Parkside Lounge on Houston at Attorney ... pics by Stacie Joy...

Like a 'Dream'

 

New Order is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of their first album, Movement

On this occasion today, the band released this video of "Dreams Never End" — Movement's lead track — from their concert (Nov. 18, 1981) at the Ukrainian National Home on Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

(We've posted the full show before, like here.)

HONK NYC! returns to the streets and community gardens

HONK NY!, the activist and community-based street bands, is back in action this week... Today (Friday!), HONK is hosting a Horns to the Sky! program in Tompkins Square Park from 4-6:30 p.m.

And tomorrow afternoon (Saturday!), HONK bands will be in the East Village ... along the Open Street of Avenue B and in various community gardens. This link provides the details. 

Report: Police shoot at man threatening people with a knife on Houston and the Bowery

According to published reports, police shot at a man threatening people with knives during the morning rush (8:45) along the Bowery at Houston. 

Media accounts described the suspect as an "emotionally disturbed man." 

Per PIX11: "According to police, the officer fired one round but missed the man." 

Starting around 8:40 a.m., the unhinged man cut a bizarre path from outside the Butcher's Daughter, a cafe on Kenmare St., to the Bowery and then to the corner of Elizabeth and Grand Sts., cops said. He allegedly threatened to stab people along the way. 
Cops found the man at the corner of Houston St. and Bowery. Officers first shot the man with a Taser, but it didn't work, police said. A cop from the 9th Precinct fired off one shot as officers tried to subdue the man, but no one was hit.
The suspect was taken into custody without further incident. 

EVG reader Robert Miner, who shared these photos, reports that the Bowery is closed from Houston to Bleecker ... other parts of Houston are also said to be currently closed to traffic... 
Updated 10:46 a.m.:

And a report via CBS 2...

 

Stromboli is back open

Stromboli Pizza, sidelined since early August with a building-related gas issue, reopened yesterday on First Avenue at St. Mark's Place. (Thanks to everyone who shared this news via email!) 

As previously noted, we were told that there was a gas-line issue with the building at 83 St. Mark's Place/135 First Ave. The gas issue impacts the building's residents as well, sources said. 

Steven shared these photos, including of Joseph, Stromboli's owner...
Dan & John's next door has also been closed these past two-plus months. The wing shop has not yet reopened.

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Thursday's parting shots

A moment on First Avenue and Ninth Street... thanks to Grant Shaffer for the pics...

Barnyard Cheese Shop is closing for good tomorrow

Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy

Tomorrow is the last day in business for Barnyard Cheese Shop at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

Owner Beatriz Gutierrez confirmed the news (H/T Elsie) to EVG contributor Stacie Joy. 

Gutierrez said Victor, her longtime cook, suffered a loss during the pandemic — his brother died. Victor wants and needs to return home to be with his family in Mexico.
Gutierrez said that she has repeatedly tried to find kitchen staff but can't, so she is forced to close Barnyard. She stressed that this is not a lack-of-business issue — it's wholly staffing-related. 

She has a lease on the space until the end of November and may do some catering here. Gutierrez also said she may hold on to the storefront for another venture in the future, though she isn't sure right at this moment.
Barnyard, which offers cheeses, cured meats, salads and delicious specialty sandwiches, first opened in 2008 on Ninth Street and Avenue C ... moving to its current location in late 2016.
Her companion shop next door, Brix Wines, will remain open. 

Previously on EV Grieve

Dark jazz: Rue-B closes, leaving Avenue B

Photo yesterday by Stacie Joy

Rue-B, the bar and live music venue specializing in jazz at 188 Avenue B, has closed after nearly 23 years in business here between 11th Street and 12th Street. (H/T Lilly!)

Mike Camacho, who has owned the spot for the past five years, made the announcement in a video clip posted on Instagram

He said that they will be reopening at a location TBD at a later date. 

While he didn't name a specific reason for the closure, Rue-B's Instagram page states: "We apologize after almost 23 yrs we were forced to close down. Thank U East Village NYC 4 for allowing us to serve you spirits & live Jazz. With Love Rue-B." 

You can watch Camacho's farewell and thank you to patrons below...

Reader report: Cheap-eats fave Papaya Dog looks done on 14th Street

Several EVG readers noted that Papaya Dog has been dark recently on the northwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue ... and yesterday, KT spotted a worker cleaning out the space. He confirmed that the closure is permanent. (All pics here by KT.)

Later yesterday, some furniture and other PD items were placed on the curb...
A look inside shows that many of the fixtures have been removed...
Papaya Dog seems as if it was here forever. However, Manhattan Sideways listed its opening in 2005. 

There's a Papaya Dog still in business on Sixth Avenue (and on Fulton Street?), though other quick-serve hot dog joints have dwindled in numbers in recent years. (The circa-1932 Papaya King is still serving up the grilled franks and papaya drinks on the UES.)

While prices here inched up lately, you could still get two hot dogs, fries and a drink for $7.99 late into the night. 

This corner also seems primed for development. But at this point, there's nothing official about anything coming to this corner ... for now.