At the Drag March along 9th Street

Images by Stacie Joy 

The 28th edition of the Drag March took place last night — a kick-off to NYC Pride Weekend. 

As always, participants gathered in Tompkins Square Park ... before the group — estimated in the thousands — marched across Ninth Street to Sheridan Square and the Stonewall Inn. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy met the annual drag protest and visibility march along Ninth Street ...

At the start of the Drag March in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven 

Drag March participants gathered in Tompkins Square Park early last evening to prepare for the nearly hour-long walk — with blocks-long numbers of queens and kings — to Sheridan Square and then the Stonewall Inn. 

The 28th annual Drag March included signs of protest against the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ... with everyone decked out in their Drag March best...

'Use Your Voice'

 

In April 2019 ... Patti Smith and Stewart Copeland joined Choir! Choir! Choir! at the "Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming" ... at the Public on Lafayette. 

The choir of 250-strong joined Smith for a version of her 1988 single "People Have The Power."

Tonight in Washington Square Park, Union Square

Thousands of people are expected to turn out this evening for rallies scheduled in Washington Square Park at 6:30 and Union Square at 8. More details here.

The Drag March is TONIGHT

The 28th annual Drag March is tonight ... starting in Tompkins Square Park, where hundreds of participants will being gathering at 7 before making their way over (at 8-ish) to Sheridan Square and then the Stonewall Inn. 

The Drag March got its start during the Stonewall 25th anniversary celebrations in 1994. 

You can check out Stacie Joy's photo from last June right here.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo on Avenue A and Seventh Street today by Steven...

RIP Pilar Limosner

Several longtime East Village residents, all integral members of the local arts scene, recently died. We will honor them in the days ahead. 

Pilar Limosner, a decades-long East Village resident and fashion designer who made her mark in the neighborhood's vibrant 1980s art scene, died on June 2. According to her obituary, she died of cardiac arrest. She was 67. 

Here's more about her life: 

She shared a boutique named Batislavia on Avenue A with fellow fashion designer Carmel Johnson. It was there that Pilar launched several collections under her own label and the storefront became a popular hangout for many East Village artists. Pilar's clothes were also sold at Patricia Field's original 8th Street retail store. 

In addition to fashion design and construction (including millinery,) Pilar choreographed and performed in various rock venues and New York clubs (such as Danceteria) and even worked the front door of the famous club AREA where she was always memorably decked out in her own creations. Pilar was an active member of the neo-Dada Club 57 and receives mention in the MOMA retrospective catalogue (Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983) for her performance work there with the band Los Microwaves. 

Pilar's adventurous spirit is best exemplified by her enthusiastic membership in an informal East Village "arty" motorcycle club that was active in the 1980s. She was often seen astride her English-made "metal beast" fearlessly negotiating the mean streets of New York while fashionably dressed to the nines. 

A memorial will be held in her memory at a later date. You can find updates on @pilarlimosnernyc. 

Photo by Robert Carrithers

The Gem Spa signage shines brightly in this Ohio farmhouse

While Gem Spa has been permanently shuttered for the past two-plus years, a refurbished piece of the iconic corner shop lives on in a 19th-century farmhouse in Mount Sterling, Ohio.

Jason Sheehy, the owner of the just-mounted sign, splits his time between NYC and this town about 25 miles southwest of Columbus, Ohio, where he helps his father on the family farm. 

In recent years, he became friends with Parul Patel, who ran the store on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place that her father Ray had owned since 1986. After the shop closed (read the history here), Patel auctioned off parts of the Gem Spa to help pay for her father's care. (According to The New Yorker, he had been suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, a disease akin to Parkinson's.)

There were several bidders, but no one matched the reserve price for the yellow Gem Spa sign from the St. Mark's Place side of the business. 

"The auction ended and I texted Parul and told her I was interested," Sheehy said in an email yesterday. "We ended up settling on a price and made the deal."

Why did he want to make an investment in the sign?

"Gem Spa to me was the East Village," he said. "I used to be in Gramercy and spent most of my time in the East Village. Coming down Second Avenue — the glow of Gem Spa meant I had arrived.

"I loved the selection of magazines about obscure things. The history of the place. It just was to me, the heart and soul of the East Village," he continued. "So when the opportunity to own the sign popped up….I couldn't pass it up."

Keeping the sign company in the farmhouse are items from the now-closed O'Lunney's Times Square Pub, which shut down during the pandemic. ("I built an Irish dive bar," he said.)

Meanwhile, he continues to keep in touch with Parul.

"I was texting her [Tuesday] night," Sheehy said. "She's delighted that the sign, and her family's legacy, lives on — even if it's 500 miles away."

Los Tacos NYC has apparently closed on 7th Street

The gate has been down recently at Los Tacos NYC, 117 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

There's a handwritten "I'm sorry. We are closed. See you later." sign on the door. Google now lists them permanently closed; the phone goes to a voice mailbox that was never set up. And they are no longer on Seamless. We reached out for more info.

The well-reviewed taqueria opened in October 2020... operated by Brandon Pena and Sam Sepulveda, the owners of the 787 coffee brand with a shop on the same block. 

Photo yesterday by Steven

The Green Room setting up a CBD shop on 9th Street

The Green Room, billed as New Jersey's largest CBD retail chain, is opening an outpost on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

One source on the block said the shop, featuring an assortment of CBD products ranging from meal replacement powders to pet treats, might be open as early as tomorrow. 

This marks the brand's second NYC branch, joining the one on Cornelia Street. 

The space at 314 E. Ninth St. was previously the first retail store for Eileen Fisher, opening in 1987 before officially shutting down back in February.

Thanks to Steven for the photo

Details on the 'Queers of Noise Dyke March After Party' Saturday at Berlin Under A

Local artist-photographer-filmmaker-musician Katrina del Mar is presenting "Queers of Noise Dyke March After Party: Love is Love" Saturday night at Berlin Under A, 25 Avenue A at Second Street. 

Via the EVG inbox... 

Katrina del Mar is excited to announce the electrifying lineup for "Queers of Noise Dyke March Afterparty: Love Is Love," the ONLY live music Dyke March After Party in NYC for Pride 2022. 

Celebrate the long-awaited return of Triple Creme, with Tracy City, Themme and the Queers of Noise Supergroup, fronted by very special guests Pamela Sneed, Michael Love Michael, BETTY, Sarah FM, Stepneck’s Lindz and Nussy Andrews. 

Come bang your head, riot grrrls to the front, for punk bands, radical queer poets and female-led rock bands. 

The show is 7:30-11:30 p.m. Find ticket info here. (This year, the 30th-annual NYC Dyke March will step off from Bryant Park at 5 p.m. on Saturday.)

Del Mar also fronts one of the bands on the bill, Tracy City (seen below) ...

A bakery called Butterdose is coming soon to 13th Street

Butterdose is coming soon to 236 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to EVG readers Jodi and Hubs for photos and info about this!) 

Per the signage, Butterdose (German for butter dish???) will offer "Bakery • Brunch • Coffee." 

We didn't spot a website or any social media accounts just yet. 

The bakery takes over the space from Tamago Skincare, which closed during the pandemic. Those same owners still operate Sei Tomoko Salon next door.

This week at the Village East: 'Goodfellas,' George Michael, Stanley Kubrick and Elvis

Top photo yesterday by Steven 

The Village East is back in action (as of last evening) after 11 days of screenings for the Tribeca Festival. 

The theater (Village East by Angelika) on 12th Street and Second Avenue closed after the business day on June 5 to prep for the festival... and the blank marquee that night prompted a few closure queries...

You can see "Goodfellas" and "George Michael Freedom Uncut" this week... not to mention a Stanley Kubrick retrospective. Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis" opens Thursday. And "The Duke," a pleasant caper, moves over here on Friday after a run at the Angelika mothership on Houston. There are other films too.

Find showtimes here.

June 5 photo by EVG after making it through "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

A soft opening for Xeo Cantina on the Bowery

Tonight marks the soft opening for Xeo Cantina at 334 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond...

In a Facebook post, hospitality vet Mike Khuu described the concept as "Vietnamese food with Tequila." 

Khuu also co-owns The Boil (with locations on Chrystie Street and Waverly Place, not to mention Jersey City) that serves creole and Cajun-style cuisine, and Saigon Shack on MacDougal. 

No sign of a menu or other particulars at the moment for XEO Cantina.

Gia Trattoria closed here late last year after just four months in business. 

Titan’s Greenery Arts, a '420 friendly gallery,' debuts on 9th Street

Multiple readers have pointed out the opening (as of June 17) of Titan’s Greenery Arts on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

According to its Instagram account, Titan’s Greenery is "a brand that supports arts and the cannabis culture." It's a "collective community" where members must be 21 years old to enter ... and "nothing is for sale." 

The storefront is affiliated with the Dr. Green brand — "the First Members-Only Consumption Lounge of NYC." 

The address was previously home for nearly 40 years to Enchantments ... before the occult-themed shop's move to 165 Avenue B earlier this year. 

H/T Steven!

Celebrating the life of longtime community garden activist Clyde Romero

Clyde Romero, a longtime East Village resident and co-founder of the LES Ecology Center, passed away in January. 

This Wednesday evening, June 22, there's a memorial "to honor his life as an artist, community and environmental activist" at the LES Ecology Center, 213 E. Seventh St. between Avenue B and Avenue C, from 5-9 p.m. (Rain date is Thursday night.)

A memorial fund has also been established in honor of Romero, "who has been the driving force for designing and programming the garden over the last 30 years ... Help us honor his contributions and ensure the garden will flourish for many decades to come." 

Find the fund link here. 

Romero would have turned 85 on June 22.

Noted

EVG reader Garth shares this discovery from last evening ... a mostly concealed Christmas-tree-in-June-undercover-of-the-night discard from First Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

1st Avenue old-timer Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant has closed

Royal Bangladesh on First Avenue at Sixth Street has not been open for several weeks, per multiple readers. Yelp also lists the restaurant as closed.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy caught this shot of the rolldown gate open over the weekend ... showing a for-rent sign on the storefront...

The colorful BYOB standby on the lower level here first opened in 1978. 

With this closure, Panna II, who runs Milon these days, is the sole restaurant at the address...  bringing an end to the era of theatrical hosts trying to get passersby to eat in their establishment, insisting that their food is superior. 

This article at 6sqft has a nice recap of the restaurants here; Eater too.

Details about an hours-long break-in at CC Cyclery & Co. on 13th Street

Photos by Daniel Efram 

Jeff Underwood, the founder and chief mechanic at CC Cyclery, is sharing details about a burglary at his shop, 530 E. 13th St., early on May 26.

In total, six people were involved in the break-in. Here's part of the message via an Instagram post from over the weekend... 

They ended up making multiple trips during the hours of 1:45 a.m. until 8:40 a.m. The person who broke in was wearing a white hoodie, white shorts and carrying a shoulder bag. He was holding a small flashlight in one hand and a hunting knife in the other. 

After breaking in, others showed up and helped themselves to all our cash in the register, our laptops, ipads, bicycles, all our locks on display.

After one broke in, five others showed up to help. They took multiple trips back and forth over the course of a few hours. 

I had been in the back office the whole time, unaware of what was happening just a few feet away on the other side of the wall. I had fallen asleep with my headphones on, and the A/C and fan were on, drowning out the sound. I heard something earlier but thought it was the neighbors coming in from a late night.

Later I heard another noise, looked at the surveillance camera monitor, saw a woman walking out the front door with multiple bags and two men, each in the process of taking bikes. I jumped up and started toward the front of the shop. Stupidly, I went to confront them. 

As I was about to open the door they heard me, dropped the bikes and ran out the door ... They were all seen leaving the shop. They walked, ran, and rode the bikes on the sidewalk both east toward Avenue B and west toward Avenue A. 

The Instagram post has screengrabs of the suspects.

Per Underwood: "If you saw anything, know the suspects or have any information about this crime, please contact us and/or the NYPD's 9th Precinct (212) 477-7811 and ask for Detective Saunders."

Meanwhile, a longtime CC customer has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help "keep the business afloat." Details here. 

Reader report: Tarallucci e Vino has closed

After more than 20 years on the NW corner of 10th Street and First Avenue, Tarallucci e Vino has shut its doors. 

Workers were spotted clearing out the space yesterday. A worker confirmed that Sunday was the last day in business for the all-day cafe-restaurant ...

We reached out for more information. 

The other locations (including the UWS, NoMad and Union Square) remain open. 

Tarallucci e Vino owner Luca Di Pietro, his wife Kate and daughter Isabella launched the Feed the Frontlines NYC initiative at the start of the pandemic to feed New Yorkers in need and help restaurant workers stay employed. 

Top photo by Jason McGroarty; others by Steven