Monday, May 30, 2022

The Salads Days of our lives

Top photo by Steven yesterday

Superiority Burger is putting its former space to use for a Salads Days pop up here on Mondays and Saturdays at 430 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

An explanation via the SB/SD Insta
This season's greenmarket vegetables and fruits turned into fun as hell salads and ice creams two times a week. No burgers, no beans, no baldor, no bread, nothing cooked. The ovens won't get turned on because they don't work anyway. Your *new* favorite east 9th st. storefront. 
Salads Days starts today, from 5-9 p.m. ... and will happen on Saturdays too from 2-6 p.m.

Superiority Burger closed the Ninth Street HQ (but held onto it) in November ahead of a move to a larger space at 119 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place — the former Odessa.

Here's a look inside the old Odessa the other week courtesy of Stacie Joy (and some brown paper peeled away from inside the front window)...       
No word on an opening date here. 

The popular all-vegetarian quick-serve spot opened in the East Village in June 2015

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Sunday's parting shot

Today during the Loisaida Festival on Avenue C... photo by Derek Berg...

Reader report: Private security firm now keeping tabs on unhoused encampment on 9th Street

Photo by Jose Garcia 

Several readers have noted that the unhoused encampment is back under the sidewalk bridge along the former P.S. 64 on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. (The city has unsuccessfully attempted to place the residents in shelters multiple times this spring, resulting in several arrests.) 

The arrival of the tents also prompted someone to hire private security. It's not known who may have enlisted the services of Madison Security Group.

Per one local resident: "A Madison Security car was stationed alongside the encampment all last night with its lights flashing at them."


Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included ... (with a photo on 1st Avenue by Derek Berg) ... 

• Acclaimed Adda Indian Canteen relocating to the East Village (Monday

• Police looking for 2 suspects in an attack on 2nd Avenue and 4th Street that left victim with a skull fracture (Wednesday

• P&T Knitwear, a new bookstore, cafe and podcast studio, opens on Orchard Street (Friday

•  'Justice' league: A street co-naming on 6th and Avenue B (Tuesday)

• Guerra Paint is now closed ahead of move to Williamsburg (Tuesday

• Amelia and Christo's chicks looking ready to wing it in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday

• Watching the Dance Parade and DanceFest (Sunday

• City frees tree entombed in concrete on 3rd Street (Tuesday

• Gutting 207 E. 4th St., onetime home of Bob Arihood (Wednesday

• Parting spring thoughts on the wisteria of Stuyvesant Street (Thursday

• SMØR is opening a bakery (with bread!) on 12th Street (Monday

• New open space at DEP site debuts on 4th Street near the Bowery (Thursday

• Opening at the 292 Theatre/Gallery: 'Hard Journey in Space and Time' (Monday

• Tompkins Square Bagels makes it signage official on Union Square West (Wednesday

• The 27th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is this weekend at Theater for the New City (Friday)

• A bubble tea shop for this long-vacant storefront on 14th Street (Monday

• Reader report: Empanada Mama opening at the former Papaya Dog space on 14th and 1st (Tuesday

• Are you ready to Puff & Pass? (Tuesday

• FULL reveal at 118 E. 1st St. (Friday)

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

EVG Etc.: the new 10th Congressional District candidates; the pop-up version of Angel's Share

• Meet the new 10th Congressional District candidates, including former Mayor de Blasio and current City Councilmember Carlina Rivera (Gothamist ... City & State)

• City streets near schools are uniquely dangerous (Streetsblog

• Albany lawmakers are poised to approve a long-sought Preservation Trust for the NYCHA. Good news for residents or..? (The City)

• The city's eight beaches are officially open (NY1)

• A Q&A between novelist Ottessa Moshfegh and Iggy Pop (Document Journal

• Great pix of the three Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk chicks (Laura Goggin Photography)

• Former East Village bar Angel's Share will be a pop up at Hotel Eventi on Sixth Avenue near 30th Street this summer (The New York Times... previously on EVG

• Lady Wong offering an Indonesian rainbow cake for Pride Month (TONY ... previously on EVG

• About Loisida — "a new brand with a baroque take on Lower East Side style" (Vogue ... previously on EVG

• A UK look at "New York's hipster wars" (The New Statesman
 
• Couple tries to walk out of a Chelsea gallery with a Basquiat (Hyperallergic)

Sunday's opening shots

Good morning from East Houston (above) and Fourth Street (courtesy of Derek Berg) ...

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Saturday's parting shot

A reader shared this photo today on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue... a Merry Christmas and a blessed Memorial Day Weekend to everyone!

'Memorial Day Madness' today in Tompkins Square Park with 6 bands

There's a slate of six bands on tap for Tompkins Square Park this afternoon (2-6 p.m.) ... the start of the summer concert season via The Shadow.

The Loisaida Festival is TOMORROW

The 35th edition of the Loisaida Festival returns tomorrow (Sunday!) on Avenue C... (the event was virtual the past two years).  

Most of the activities will be taking place between Fifth Street and 12th Street, the site of the main stage with a slate of live bands and DJs throughout the afternoon. 

The Festival is from noon to 5 p.m. ... with an opening parade starting at 11 a.m. featuring Batalá New York, the all-women, Black-led percussion ensemble. 

You can find the full list of performers and other events at this link.

By the way, Chico created this year's festival poster.

Friday, May 27, 2022

Friday's parting shot

A moment during the downpour late this afternoon on Second Avenue... photo by Derek Berg...

Hair and now

 

Sudan Archives has new music out ... here's "Selfish Soul," a song about women and the celebration of hair.

Last 2 days for the 'Rotten to the Apple' NYC punk photo show at C-Squat

Photos by Stacie Joy

There are two days left to check out "Rotten to the Apple" an NYC punk photo show featuring the work of 30-plus photographers at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space/C-Squat on Avenue C. (Previously.)

The show ends tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy recently stopped by the space...
... lots of great work here, including EVG friend Walter Wlodarczyk...
You can access the free show, curated by Destiny Mata and David Siffert, via MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street. 

Today's hours: 1-6 p.m. ... and tomorrow noon to 4 p.m.

P&T Knitwear, a new bookstore, cafe and podcast studio, opens tomorrow on Orchard Street

P&T Knitwear, the neighborhood's latest bookstore, debuts tomorrow (Saturday!) at 180 Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton.

P&T Knitwear is a family-owned independent bookstore, podcast studio, event space and cafe ... "run by a team of passionate lifelong readers and listeners."
As previously reported (first by the publishing industry newsletter Shelf Awareness), Bradley Tusk, the venture capitalist and philanthropist who founded the Gotham Book Prize in 2020, and general manager and buyer Julie Wernersbach are behind the new venture. 

In 1952, Tusk's grandfather, Hymie Tusk, and his business partner Mike Pudlo opened the original P&T Knitwear, a small shop selling sweaters and collared shirts at 37½ Allen St. Per the store's website, "the two men survived the Holocaust and met in an American displacement camp in Germany after the war."

The 3,000-square-foot bookstore is open this weekend from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find a list of specials and promos here.  

The 27th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is this weekend at Theater for the New City

Via the EVG inbox...
The 27th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is on for three full days this Memorial Day weekend, from Friday, May 27-Sunday, May 29, at Theater for the New City, with a wide array of free indoor and outdoor offerings that include theater, music, dance, video, film, poetry, cabaret, an art exhibition, and a youth program, along with food and vendors. 
Find the full list of activities here

Theater for the New City is at 155 First Ave. at 10th Street.

Panda Express makes it signage official on the SW corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue

Orange Chicken, incoming!

The Panda Express Chinese Kitchen signage arrived yesterday on the SW corner of 14th Street and First Avenue, as EVG regular Pinch shows us...
News of the PE arrival first surfaced in January (31 comments!).

This marks the latest outpost for the quick-serve Chinese restaurant chain that launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today (with a handful around NYC). 

An AT&T store was here for a few months... taking over for the Vitamin Shoppe.

FULL reveal at 118 E. 1st St.

Last week, we reported that sales have commenced at 118 E. First St., the 9-story condoplex between Houston/Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Workers have now removed the scaffolding and construction netting from the building, offering a better look at the "collection of four townhouse-style duplexes with direct, keyed elevator access and private outdoor spaces."
Also yesterday, an EVG reader pointed out 118's pièce de résistance on the market ...
Tour de force of 118 E 1st, the penthouse triplex is a stunning space converging between a downtown industrial loft aesthetic that meets a modern architectural vision. Upon stepping off the elevator you are instantly awed by the 15’ ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows. The dining room is set back with a stunning south-facing terrace, perfect for enjoying an indoor/outdoor environment while overlooking clear downtown views. 
Asking price: $7.2 million. This includes Siberian Marble Herringbone heated flooring in the can bathroom.

Foundation work started on this building in 
the spring of 2018.

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Thursday's parting shot

It's Fleet Week... and as seen on Seventh Street and First Avenue... members of the USS Bataan... thanks to Steven for the photo...

New open space at DEP site debuts on 4th Street near the Bowery

Work is complete on the new open space on Fourth Street between 2 Cooper Square and the Merchant's House Museum.

EVG reader JOY spotted the gates open yesterday... with a few folks inside the long-empty lot ...
According to the Parks Department website, construction is now 100% complete... and the completion date was moved up from October to this month.

As noted in previous posts, since the 1990s, the Department of Environmental Preservation has used this city-owned space to work on shafts connected to the underground network of tunnels that supply NYC's drinking water. 

Several years ago, there were public meetings to gather ideas for "passive recreation space" here between the Bowery and Lafayette. And this is the result of those.

As a few readers have noted, the design couldn't include large trees because the space is above the water-tunnel site ... and the roots would interfere.  

And to be clear, this is still an active DEP site... and, occasionally, city trucks will need to access the space... as the schematic shows...

[Updated] Can you Handel some opera in a community garden?

UPDATED!
Due to the rain expected on Friday, organizers have moved opening night to tomorrow (Saturday) and added a Sunday show. Friday reservations are being honored for both Saturday and Sunday. And per the organizers: "Come as you are. All are welcome."

Via the EVG inbox...
Opera Praktikos (OPrak) will present a one-act distillation of Handel's rarely performed opera, "Orlando" in collaboration with Opera Essentia as their inaugural presentation in the NY OperaFest

This distillation of Handel’s masterpiece, here titled "Orlando: Hero of Love," explores love and madness from contemporary sensibilities, centering on what it means to love truly and how to endure pain and loss.
Performances occur tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday at Campos Community Garden on 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. There is an encore presentation on June 10-11. The start time is 6:30 p.m. Tickets are free, and you can reserve seats via this link.

In the photo below, Opera Praktikos co-founders Gregory Moomjy and Marianna Mott Newirth check out Campos Community Garden (photo by Dailin Mercedes) ...

Parting spring thoughts on the wisteria of Stuyvesant Street

Photos by Steven

On May 11, we pointed out — with concern! — that the wisteria ("the purple paradise of flowering beauty") outside 35 Stuyvesant St. at 10th Street never reached a full bloom this season. (See pic above.)

There were comments (and whispers!) that the wisteria was, perhaps, suffering from a root disease or some issue with the vines.

In any event, as this photo from yesterday shows, the wisteria is looking pretty lush as we move deeper into the spring... into the opening weekend for "Top Gun: Maverick."