Saturday, March 11, 2023
Saturday's parting shot
EVG Etc.: The NYC luncheonette trend; a Beth B retrospective
• Where is the NYCHA's Public Housing Preservation Trust? (The City)
• Village Works looking for a new home (PIX11 ... previously on EVG)
• A feature La Sala de Pepe, a social club and gallery on Avenue C (NACLA)
• Starting next month, the New York Restoration Project is giving out 3,500 free trees to New Yorkers (Time Out)
• Ghost signs along Avenue A (Untapped Cities ... previously on EVG)
• The artists paying tribute to NYC storefronts (Gothamist)
• NYC's luncheonette trend (Eater)
• A long-overdue showcase for Beth B (Metrograph)
• Highlighting the work of multimedia artist Friederike Pezold (Pezoldo) (Anthology Film Archives)
John?!
The question: Is this some kind of statement about John Varvatos next door? (CBGB until 2006.)
Dunno!
The piece is titled:
John?!
Spray paint on custom awning
72 x 36 x 24 in.
182 x 91 x 60 cm
And the awning is part of a new exhibit featuring the work of Louis Osmosis titled "Recording Artists."
Here's more about the artist via the gallery:
Louis Osmosis (b. 1996, Brooklyn, NY) is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in sculpture, drawing, performance, and text. His practice revolves heavily around craft/manufacture, performative actions, and readymades, incorporating found objects and vernacular materials from popsicle sticks to graphic t-shirts, and hornet nests to violins. Equally invested in reenactment and artistic production, Osmosis's speculative approach to form reflects his ongoing "investigation into affected modes of aspiration and lack." Osmosis received his BFA from the Cooper Union in 2018.
Tonight's opening is from 6-8. The exhibit is up through May 7.
Con Ed ready to transform your weekend along Avenue A!
The Bay Crane team is out in force this morning for what we understand will be the installation of a new transformer at the Con Ed substation on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.
Posted signage last weekend tipped us off to this event ... though with some cliffhanging — maybe it will happen March 4-5... or maybe March 11-12! ("We don't really know!" didn't fit on the sign.)
The transformer work here, often 17 workers directing a beeping forklift, started as we welcomed 2023 ... 
Could this be the guest of honor?
Anyway! Pull up a chair and umbrella and enjoy.
The sign leaves out some vital info... like Avenue A is closed through traffic from Fourth Street to Seventh Street. (Perhaps that was optional to include, given the 47 flatbed trucks and various cranes parked along A.)
Friday, March 10, 2023
After 'Sun'
The New Colossus Festival continues this weekend at neighborhood music venues (Pianos, Mercury Lounge, Berlin, Heaven Can Wait, Bowery Electric and Arlene's Grocery).
Among the many acts to play: Local band Lukka, on a dream pop-shoegaze bill tomorrow night at Arlene's.
The video here is for "Wisdom of the Sun."
A clothing swap at Fish Bar
Interested parties may bring in unwanted clothing, accessories or jewelry (nothing dirty or damaged!) to exchange for other items from attendees.
It's happening from 1-3 p.m. at the good ol' Fish Bar, 237 E. Fifth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.
The owner of A&C Kitchen on Avenue C would like to reopen his business now
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
On Feb. 27, a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.
Initial reports put the blame on a "lit object" discarded from a window down to the courtyard in the rear of the building.
The fire destroyed a ground-floor apartment. As a precaution, the FDNY opened up some walls and the ceiling in the kitchen at the Wayland on the corner, causing them to be closed for a few days to repair the drywall. (They reopened on March 2.)
Meanwhile, A&C Kitchen, the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant sustained some water damage — mostly in its basement.
Now, more than 10 days after the fire, Mr. Li, who has owned A&C Kitchen for the past 30 years, is frustrated with the city's response and the bureaucratic process.
Mr. Li says the electricity and gas are still turned off to his business, even though they have restored both services to the residents and nearby commercial tenants.
He pointed out that there is no fire damage to his restaurant and that any water damage in the basement has been cleaned up and the smoke scent mediated. Still, he has lost two weeks of business.
He is actively looking for assistance from the community and hopes that local elected officials might help him cut through the red tape...
Mr. Li also noted that people who live in the building are still tossing lit cigarettes out the windows and fears they may have a similar issue again...
Shinn East expands on 7th Street
Photo by Stacie Joy
The Omakase spot first opened here in May 2020.
They take over the space vacated by [plant-baked], whose owners decided to close its brick-and-mortar operation last September after 18 months in business. (Their online enterprise continues.)
Thursday, March 9, 2023
A rally at City Hall for the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center
Per the invite, attendees will "demand the city right the wrongs of the past and return our community center."
The rally starts at 11 a.m. on the south plaza outside City Hall this Wednesday.
The action comes before the landmarked building heads to a foreclosure auction on March 22 at the Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Avenue. (There is a Facebook invite to "Stop the Auction.")
The property that developer Gregg Singer purchased during a city auction in 1998 for $3.15 million fell into foreclosure last year. Through the years, Singer wanted to turn the one-time P.S. 64 into a dorm (more here), though those plans never materialized.
In October 2017, then-Mayor de Blasio's statement at a Town Hall put forth the idea that the city would take steps to reacquire the building.
Some residents want to see the space used again as a community center, as it was during its time as Charas/El Bohio Community Center. Singer evicted the group on Dec. 27, 2001.
There's also a petition in circulation titled, "Save Charas Community Center! Stop the Private Auction!"
Per the petition, which states, "Demand Mayor Adams use eminent domain to return the center to the people!"
For 22 years, from 1979 to 2001, 605 E. Ninth St. served as the home to the Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center. Each year, thousands of people attended programs there. Charas hosted community meetings, children’s programming, art exhibits, music concerts, film screenings, plays, dance recitals, bicycle recycling, construction and youth jobs training, substance abuse treatment, and political organizing.In 1998, Rudy Giuliani sold Charas to a campaign contributor [Gregg Singer] for a paltry $3.15 million, and in December of 2001, Charas was evicted from the space, and the center was shuttered.
You can find the petition here.
News flush: The Tompkins Square Park restrooms, open once more
Photos by Stacie Joy
The saga continues... so! After the restrooms reopened to the public this past weekend in Tompkins Square Park for the first time in four months... the men's and women's rooms were promptly shuttered on Monday.
Why? According to a Parks employee, workers installed a new toilet on the women's side, but the flange was faulty and leaking. Plumbers (or whomever) were called to the scene. Yesterday, the repair was made... and the restrooms reopened once more.
Here is the newest addition to the women's restroom... inside a stall still wrapped in some caution tape...
... the new toilet lovingly plastered to the wall "in wonky Tompkins fashion," per EVG contributor Stacie Joy...
For the time being, the restroom hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (!?) ... until the restrooms are locked up again when the field house renovations start this month.
As previously noted, during the 18-month reconstruction project, parkgoers are expected to use restrooms at the McKinley Playground on Fourth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue adjacent to P.S. 63/the Neighborhood School.
Renovations underway at the former Dallas BBQ
Photos by Steven
The gutting of the old Dallas BBQ has begun on the NE corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...
Workers said that they didn't know anything about the new tenant.
Last June, hospitality vet Curt Huegel, whose portfolio includes concepts such as Bill's Townhouse, Campagnola and Printers Alley, received Community Board approval for the unnamed establishment. There was some debate over closing time, and the committee wouldn't approve a 4 a.m. close. Huegel did not respond to previous emails about whether he was still taking the prime space.
Dallas BBQ closed this past December after anchoring the corner since the mid-1980s. According to staff, the building's landlord would not renew the chainlet's lease and opted to rent the space to another business.
First sign of the new Ichibantei outpost on 3rd Avenue
This restaurant has been in the works for awhile... reps for Ichibantei received approval from CB3 last June. (According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, the establishment would feature room for 24 tables/98 seats spread over two floors.)
No. 100 last housed the vowel-deficient club VNYL, which shut down at some point during the pandemic. Until September 2015, the renovated building featured the second iteration of Nevada Smiths.
Openings: Burgers on B
Photos by Stacie Joy
Burgers on B debuted on Saturday at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street...
The quick-serve establishment is in a soft-open mode, with a grand opening expected in two weeks.
The BonB website doesn't appear to be active just yet, though there is an Instagram account.
Burgers are $6, and hand-cut fries are $4. Vegan patties will be available soon.
The special of the house: the Oklahoma, a smash burger with onions on the inside plus onion jam, cheese and pickles.
The space was last Barnyard Cheese Shop, which closed in October 2021 ... before a brief encore presentation as Barnyard Express.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Wednesday's parting shot
Get ready to say so long to the Stomp sign
Photo by Steven
Workers were spotted measuring the marquee today at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... word is the "Stomp" sign will be coming down soon to make way for signage of a new production.
No word just yet on what might be next here in the famed theater. (There are rumors of an April start date.)
"Stomp" ended its 29-year run here in early January.
According to Cinema Treasures: "The site on which the Orpheum stands is alleged to have been a concert garden as early as the 1880s and, as such, to be one of the oldest continuously operating places of gathering for entertainment events in New York City."
In the 1980s, the Orpheum was well-known for Off-Broadway productions such as Little Shop of Horrors in 1982, Sandra Bernhard's Without You I'm Nothing in 1988, Eric Bogosian's Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll in 1990, John Leguizamo's Mambo Mouth in 1991, and David Mamet's Oleanna in 1992.
About Radhika & Saman, a pop-up shop featuring handmade clothing from India and Pakistan
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Radhika & Saman is a pop-up clothing boutique at 618 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Proprietor Saman Mahmood sells dresses (which can be custom-ordered), skirts, tops, and other accessories handcrafted by women in Pakistan and India.
Mahmood's business partner, Radhika Khanna, whom she met while a student at FIT in 2001, died of lupus in February 2022 at age 47. Part of the shop's proceeds goes to the Lupus and aHUS Foundation.
The storefront also includes handmade jewelry by Casey Clark ...
Radhika & Saman will be here through Sunday, though Mahood hopes they can either extend the pop-up shop or find a new space in the East Village or Lower East Side. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A corner lot awaits new development on 5th Street and Avenue D
As previously reported, a 13-story mixed-use building is slated for this now-empty property...
As NY Yimby first reported:
In recent years, several new developments, including the Adele ... Arabella 101 and NIKO East Village, have risen along this Avenue D corridor.
The proposed 125-foot-tall development will yield 62,200 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 85 residences, with an average unit scope of 731 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have 15 inclusionary housing units and a cellar but no accessory parking.
Public records show that Manny Ashourzadeh, via Golbar LLC, is behind this new project.
Uncle Johnny, the longtime grocery store, closed here in February 2022.
In recent years, several new developments, including the Adele ... Arabella 101 and NIKO East Village, have risen along this Avenue D corridor.
Openings: Döner Haus on 14th Street
The quick-serve establishment sells "real German kebabs" (chicken, beef or vegan) in a bread pocket... as well as fries.
Döner's website lists hours of 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, with a 3 a.m. close on Friday and Saturday.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Stump town no more in Tompkins Square Park
Photos by Steven
Over the past two days, workers have removed several stumps from around Tompkins Square Park (using the trusty Rayco RG70X!) ...
... one of the workers said the city will be planting new trees in these spots...
The Park has lost several trees in the past few years... like this one... and this one... and this one.
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