TY LISA Project NYC...
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Thursday's parting shots
Masked garbage bandit spotted on 12th Street (OK, it's just a raccoon)
Reminders: Volunteer litter cleanup this afternoon around Tompkins Square Park
Jonothon Lyons, creator of Buddy the Rat, is launching a community litter clean initiative called "Buddy's Brigade: Litter Exterminators."Lyons and NYC entrepreneur Michael Quinn are hosting a series of volunteer community litter cleanups around New York City with material resource support from the Department of Sanitation.The first cleanup will be around the perimeter of Tompkins Square Park this Thursday (Aug. 18) at 5 p.m.Volunteers can meet at the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A on Thursday. You don't need to bring anything: Quinn said that the Department of Sanitation will be supplying all of the necessary resources and equipment. They will also be coming back to pick up the trash, he said.
Rake Wine debuts on 3rd Street adjacent to Urban Wine & Spirits
Photos by Stacie Joy
Vinicius Aboin (above) co-owns the space with Jorge Arias, who operates Urban Wines & Spirits on the corner ... which you can keep an eye on from the cafe...
Aside from Aboin, EVG contributor Stacie Joy met managers/bartenders Ian Garcia (left) and Elbert Giron ...
As we mentioned back in December, Urban Wine & Spirits was opening a small wine bar — via a separate entrance on Third Street — in the shop's new corner space.
According to Rake's website, the cafe "is inspired by the many small 'mom and pop' wine bars that are located throughout Europe."
There's a food menu with a variety of bruschetta, fresh bread, olives, and meats and cheeses. The space accommodates about 20 people, with a few sidewalk tables weather permitting. There are plans for events such as wine tastings as well.
The hours: 5-10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 2-11 p.m. on Friday; 1-11 p.m. on Saturday; and 1-10 p.m. on Sunday.
Boot party: Why so many immobilized vehicles in the East Village?
Reader Carl Bentsen said he saw three boots on one block... and we counted about a dozen or so on a recent walk...
First, why a vehicle's owner might get the boot. According to the NYC Department of Finance:
If you do not pay or dispute your ticket within approximately 100 days, it will go into judgment. This means the City takes the legal step of entering a default judgment against you for the entire amount plus penalties and interest. The City can take steps to collect the debt, such as sending your debt to a collection agency or seizing assets. If you have more than $350 of tickets in judgment, your vehicle could be booted or towed.
And there's this rather jaunty video about how to get one removed...
The Department of Finance reportedly suspended the booting program on March 16, 2020. As Streetsblog reported in the fall of 2020:
According to data provided by Republic Immobilization Services, which currently has the contract to boot the cars of drivers with multiple unpaid parking tickets, the city deactivated between 5,000 and 15,000 cars per month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The Guardian reported yesterday that the city is owed $534.5 million in unpaid parking fines.
Anyway, we don't know at the moment when the boots were returned post-March 2020 ... or why the marshal booted so many in the East Village this past week.
Mayor Koch first introduced the boot... and it went out of favor for some years before making a return in 2013.
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Noted
You fucking thief! I am watching, and when I catch you, I will kill you!
Report of a fire at 313 E. 6th St.
The FDNY first reported the fire at 2:03 a.m. ... with the "under control" coming nearly 90 minutes later...
No word on the cause of the fire.
Manhattan 2-Alarm Box 0437, 313 E 6 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING A
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) August 17, 2022
Neighbors reported seeing flames coming from the roof of No. 313 (reader photo below). The FDNY said the fire started in the cockloft.Manhattan 2-Alarm Box 0437, 313 E 6 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING A, COCKLOFT , Under Control
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) August 17, 2022
This morning, boards covered windows on the third and fourth floor of the circa-1900 building, which has three residential units.
A new residential building for this block of 9th Street
The now-approved permits, first filed in April 2020, show 10 residential units, most likely rentals given the square footage.
This is the second former residential parking lot on the block to yield to housing... No. 639, an 8-story building, was unveiled (finally) in late 2020...
Free fitness classes return to Avenue B
Via the EVG inbox...
The 14Y is proud to partner with Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition (LOSCC) with support from NYC Departments of Transportation and Small Business Services this summer to expand our group fitness class offerings and support our vibrant downtown community!Join us on Wednesdays and Saturdays in August and September for Zumba, Masala Bhangra, and Heart and Soul Cardio Dance to stay active, enjoy some sunshine, and connect with your neighbors!All fitness levels are welcome!
Shinzo Omakase set to debut on 2nd Street
We haven't spotted a website or social media for the restaurant just yet.
There was also some debate in the EVG newsroom about the use of comic sans on the door signage...
We can't recall the last tenant here... Guaco Taco in 2017?
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Tuesday's parting shot
A sticky situation this morning at the Keith Haring sculpture on Astor Place
Photo by Lola Sáenz
A new day dawned at the Keith Haring's "Self Portrait" on Astor Place at Third Avenue ... with stickers (featuring a QR code for some film project) all over the sculpture ...
[Updated with video of the crash] Another day, another car drives into Tompkins Square Park
Christopher J. Ryan took these photos at 5:48 a.m. ...
The working assumption is that the car entered the Park on Ninth Street and Avenue A ... and headed east before colliding with a fence just past the dog run.
At this point, we don't have any other details, such as the condition of the driver or the number of passengers.
On Sunday morning, a man drove into the Park after allegedly hitting a female companion and sparring with people who came to her aid.
Here's a look at the collision site... given the skid marks and impact at the benches, observers believe the driver was speeding...
Thank you to the folks at the Tompkins Square Dog Run for the photo.
A reader shared this surveillance footage of the car driving at a high rate of speed and smashing into the benches and fence...
Here's a second video from the reader... showing the aftermath of the crash. Several people in the Park confront the driver, the man in shorts and a ponytail, and take his keys... and wait for the NYPD... the video does not show what happened after the police arrived and what, if anything, may have happened to the driver...
VIDEO: Watch the Nissan Sentra drive through Tompkins Square Park on Sunday morning
Updated with comment from the NYPD below.
As previously reported, a man, possibly late 20s to early 30s, and a woman were seen arguing in the Park just before 11 a.m. Both the man and the woman are known to hang out near the chess tables in Tompkins.
According to witnesses, the man grabbed a shovel from a Parks maintenance truck and hit the woman multiple times. (It's not known the extent of her injuries.) One Park regular described this as "a crime of passion" to EVG contributor Stacie Joy. Per the regular: "I mean, she owed him money and whatever but like damn. A shovel?"
A group of men sitting nearby rushed to her defense and chased the shovel-wielding attacker from Tompkins.
Witnesses said the man returned in a few minutes driving a Nissan Sentra with Pennsylvania plates. (Our previous post has info about traffic citations associated with this vehicle.) He entered the Park, which was hosting the weekly Greenmarket, at Seventh Street and Avenue A, "going down different rows while everyone is diving out of the way," as one witness described it. Witnesses believe he was looking for the men who had confronted him.
The person who shared this video shot it from Temperance Fountain. The clip starts with the car slowing down (with the hazard lights flashing) before revving up and taking another lap.
Witness estimates put the driver in the Park between 1 and 2 minutes total. "Hard to describe how terrified people were for however short a time that was," one witness told us.
Before the man drove into Tompkins, he was seen — with a torn T-shirt and missing shoe — getting into the car with a woman who was also in the Park. (It's unclear if this was the same woman he allegedly hit with the shovel.) Witnesses said he drove the wrong way on St. Mark's Place toward First Avenue before turning around and making a right onto Avenue A, where he went in circles under the traffic light at Seventh Street before entering the Park.
The NYPD arrived (along with a truck from FDNY Engine 5 on 14th Street) after the man had driven through Tompkins. He was stopped on Avenue A near St. Mark's Place. There's speculation the car broke down.
To the disbelief of some onlookers, the man was not charged and walked away after spending some time talking with officers from the 9th Precinct. According to a resident who watched the police on the scene on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place: "One thing I noticed was that the police didn't seem interested in witness accounts."
We've talked with witnesses who saw the man allegedly hit the woman with the shovel... drive the car up St. Mark's Place and along Avenue A before entering the Park... and maneuver his way through the Park. No one we spoke with saw the entire incident from beginning to end.
Witnesses described a confusing, chaotic and scary few minutes in the Park. Witnesses who saw any part of this unfold said that there were amazed no one was injured and shocked that the driver wasn't arrested.
Updated 8 p.m.
EVG contributor Stacie Joy asked a source at the 9th Precinct for a comment on what happened in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday morning.
"The event in the Park was a result of a dispute between the car owner, who was with his female friend, and another group of men who robbed the car owner. The car owner tried to get back his belongings from the robbers but he was jumped ... The robbers chased him with a shovel and in the process, he got into the car to run away from them. He proceeded to drive into the Park — not knowing it is a Park because he is not from the neighborhood," the source said. "So far the owner of the car and his girlfriend were the victim of a crime and the complaint is still being worked on by the detectives. So there is still an ongoing investigation."
The current NYPD storyline is at odds with what multiple residents said they saw transpire. According to several witnesses, the driver of the car allegedly hit his girlfriend with a shovel before a group of men intervened. Witnesses said they also have seen the man in the Park on several occasions.
Love Thy Beast departing 5th Street for Brooklyn
There are many happy tears as I am looking back to all our photos. We put in so much hard work setting up the east village but after 5 years its time to move on. There are so many amazing surprises in store for our Brooklyn location that we know you'll be there on the regular.
Agnello, a former prop stylist, started selling her homemade creations online and in several pop-up locations back in 2012 ... before opening here in the spring of 2017.
Monday, August 15, 2022
About the 188 Allen St. Takeover this week
You can read more about what to expect here over the next five nights at this link.
Volunteer litter cleanup around Tompkins Square Park scheduled for Thursday
Jonothon Lyons, creator of Buddy the Rat, is launching a community litter clean initiative called "Buddy's Brigade: Litter Exterminators."
Lyons and NYC entrepreneur Michael Quinn are hosting a series of volunteer community litter cleanups around New York City with material resource support from the Department of Sanitation.
The first cleanup will be around the perimeter of Tompkins Square Park this Thursday (Aug. 18) at 5 p.m.
Volunteers can meet at the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A on Thursday. You don't need to bring anything: Quinn said that the Department of Sanitation will be supplying all of the necessary resources and equipment. They will also be coming back to pick up the trash, he said.
On 12th Street, Hi Noona says goodbye
Photo from last summer for EVG by Stacie Joy
After a year of serving unique Korean-influenced juices, smoothies and small menu items, Stella Pak has decided to close Hi Noona at 515 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Pak made the announcement on the shop's Instagram account:
I have the deepest gratitude and love for the beautiful people I've met and the lessons I've learned in this space. My intention with Hi Noona was to explore my identity of what it means to be Korean American through the lens of health and food.Looking back on my explorations, I'm proud to say I've fulfilled that intention and will continue to do so through different expressions.
Moving forward, she'll be working at Noona Noodles, her family's restaurant on West 32nd Street.
In her 12 months on the block, she made a positive impression on those around her. On the Instagram post, she received good wishes from several nearby businesses, including All The Kings Horses Cafe, the East Village Vintage Collective and SLCT Stock NYC, who wrote: "the best neighbors we could ever ask for!"
Days of wine and closures
Updated 8/17: A new report suggests TJ's shut the store after learning employees wanted to unionize.
The closure prompted a surprising amount of nostalgia for the shop, many related to buying bottles of Two Buck Chuck ... to spurring some existential crises, as one Twitter user asked, likely rhetorically: "Why God, why????"
It sounds like a Trader Joe's Wine Shop will return someday and somewhere. The signage on the door mentioned that. And in an email to staff, management stated (in part):
It is now time for us to explore another location that will allow us to optimize the potential of our one and only license to sell wine in the state of New York. In addition, the space currently used for the wine shop will be used to improve the overall operations of store 540, our grocery store in Union Square.
Read the letter sent to employees at 12:01 a.m. here.
A few readers got a jump on suggesting new locations for the shop, such as at the Trader's Joe's on 14th Street near Avenue A...
For people who shopped at Trader Joe's Wine Shop, there were also discussions about wine-store alternatives in the neighborhood. There are several solid choices around here... which will be for a good future post.
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