More about the return of Bereket to the Lower East Side

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Yesterday we had the scoop about the opening of Ankara Turkish Restaurant on Houston and Orchard ... from the owner of longtime LES favorite Bereket Turkish Kebab House.

After 19 years in service, Bereket was forced to close in June 2014 to make way for the new luxury condo via Ben Shaoul on the block. The property housed a single row of storefronts, including Bereket, Ray's Pizza and Lobster Joint — all demolished. (As Shaoul told the Times back in 2017, the small businesses that closed were "part of evolution ... You call it gentrification, I call it 'cleaning it up.'") 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy returned to the quick-serve restaurant, which debuted last week...

... and met with Ramazan Turgut, who owned Bereket and now Ankara Turkish Restaurant, which has two outposts in Brooklyn...

... and manager Aydın Günaydın...

Ramazan said that he always wanted to return to this neighborhood and that it wasn't his choice to leave. In the interim, he opened the two restaurants in Brooklyn under the Ankara name. When Bereket closed, he said he didn’t want to open a Brooklyn restaurant with the same name because it was special, and the name belonged to this area. 

He signed a lease when this space at 183 Houston St. (the former Dr Smood) became available directly across the street from the previous outpost. 

Since there are two other Ankara Turkish Restaurants, he decided to keep the name for continuity. Still, he wants people to know it's still Bereket (hence the "Bereket is Back" banners on the storefront). 

The menu items remain unchanged — including the famed vegetarian red lentil soup...

... and the variety of gyros (the chicken gyro option is new)...

There are also a variety of Turkish beverages (no alcohol!) ...

Ramazan said several former customers have come in and confessed how much they missed Bereket. One customer even started crying, which prompted tears from the staff too. 

During this soft-opening mode, the hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with plans to expand to 4 a.m. soon.

What's up with Two Hands?

Photos by Steven

The Two Hands outpost on Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street has been closed for the past week-plus.

A sign on the front window of the Korean corn dog specialists states "a technical issue" is behind the closure.. and go to the location on Mott Street...

The windows were later papered up... and it appears the interior has mostly been packed up...

Google lists the business as permanently closed. We reached out to learn more about the status of the Avenue A shop, which opened here in April 2021 as part of the L.A.-based chain's U.S. expansion. 

Tough times for Korean-style street food here. Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast closed its doors earlier this month at 36 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black headlines celebration for the East Village Eye

Photos by Stacie Joy

On Thursday night, the Bowery Electric hosted a special performance for East Village Eye and the New York Public Library. 

Last month, it was announced that the archives of the East Village Eye, the legendary magazine published from 1979 to 1987 that covered the neighborhood's arts, politics and social currents at the time, will have a new home at the New York Public Library. 

A full house was on hand for a slate of spoken-word artists, Nathan Ross, Ira Abramowitz, Kathe Burkhart and Bob Holman...

Here's editor-publisher Leonard Abrams...

And headliners the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, the glam-punk performance legends led by East Village-based artist Kembra Pfahler...

...with Samoa Moriki...

... and Chase Noelle of cumgirl8 sitting in on the drums...

It's always a pleasure to see the VHoKB... and congratulations to the East Village Eye on the acquisition. (Read more about it at The New Yorker here.)

You can vote on what neighborhood projects receive capital funding from City Council

Participatory Budgeting Vote Week is underway in NYC.

Per the city:

New Yorkers can vote online or in person all week to decide how nearly $30 million in capital funding will be spent in the Fiscal Year 2024 city budget to improve neighborhood schools, parks, libraries, and local infrastructure. 

City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's District 2, which includes the East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, the Lower East Side and Murray Hill, has $1 million in funds available ... and 11 projects up for a vote.

Per Rivera in a statement:

"The projects on our ballots range from improving safety in public housing, enhancing public parks and green infrastructure, adding new recreation spaces, and upgrading technology in our educational and cultural institutions. Our neighbors as young as 11 years old and older can vote, regardless of citizenship status, which makes PB one of the most inclusive ways to participate in local government. I encourage everyone to vote for their favorite projects."

And the 11 items open for a vote (residents may choose up to five):

• Community Garden Resiliency 

Gardens between Avenue A and Avenue D 

Permeable pavers and water access in community gardens 

• Library Technology Upgrades 

Computers and Laptops for Kips Bay, Epiphany, Ottendorfer and Tompkins Square Public Libraries

• Improvements at Merchant's House Museum 

29 E. Fourth St.

• Girls Locker Room Upgrade — School of the Future 

127 E. 22nd St. 

• Upgrade for the shared library for PS 64, Tompkins Square Middle School and the Earth School  

600 E. Sixth St. 

• Bathroom Renovations — East Side Community School, P.S. 15, P.S. 63  

• Riis Houses Pathway Lighting 

Avenue D and 10th Street 

• LES II Basketball Court Upgrades (photo above via a reader)

750 E. Sixth St. 

• Meltzer Towers Safety Improvements 

94 E. First St. 

• Peter's Field Basketball Courts Reconstruction 

2nd Avenue and 20th Street

• Union Square Park Fences and Landscape Initial Funding

Residents age 11 and older may vote (once!) online here until Sunday, April 2. Or! You can vote in person (once!) at the following locations...

The 2nd Avenue gas explosion — 8 years later

Yesterday marked the eighth anniversary of the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion.

Yesterday was about remembering the victims. Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locón died on March 26, 2015. Figueroa, 23, who had recently graduated from SUNY Buffalo State, was at Sushi Park, 121 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place and the site of the fatal blast, dining with a co-worker. Locón, 27, worked at Sushi Park.

The explosion injured over 20 others and leveled 119, 121 and 123 Second Ave. A condominium complex at 45 E. Seventh St. (above) sits on two of these three lots.

Here's some background about what was happened to date.

In November 2019, a jury found landlord Maria Hrynenko, who took over ownership of the buildings after her husband Michael died in 2004, contractor Dilber Kukic and unlicensed plumber Jerry Ioannidis were found guilty of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and related offenses for their role in the explosion.

Prosecutors said that Hrynenko, driven by greed, and her cohorts rigged an illegal system to funnel gas from 119 Second Ave. to 121 Second Ave. to save money.

In January 2020, they were each sentenced to four to 12 years in prison. Hrynenko remained out on bail for two more years as she awaited an appeal of the case. 

During the sentencing, where defendants faced a maximum of five to 15 years each, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus told the courtroom, "What the defendants did, in a matter of speaking, was roll the dice with the lives of many people. The results, as we know, are catastrophic."

However, Obus said he gave the defendants a break on their prison time because they were older and "did not intend to blow up the building." 

"It's not enough. It’s a joke," Nixon Figueroa, father of Nicholas, told reporters afterward. "What kind of justice did you give us? You didn't give us no justice. It's a slap in my son’s face."

As of February 2022, Hrynenko, 63, has been at the Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford, N.Y. According to public records, she is eligible for parole in November 2025. Her conditional release date is November 2029, and the maximum date is November 2033.  

Kukic, 47, has been at the Wallkill Correctional Facility since his sentencing in early 2020. He is eligible for parole in January. Ioannidis, 66, who's at the Adirondack Correctional Facility in Essex County, N.Y., is also eligible for parole in January.

Michael A. Hrynenko, Jr., Maria's son and a key figure in the gas explosion investigation, died on Aug. 25, 2017. He was 31, according to an obituary posted on the Pizzi Funeral Home website. A cause of death was not disclosed.

On Houston, Bereket returns in the form of Ankara Turkish Restaurant

Top photo from Thursday by EVG; other photos yesterday by Stacie Joy

3/28: Updated here.

Ankara Turkish Restaurant debuted last week on the southwest corner of Houston and Orchard. 

This is the first Manhattan outpost for the quick-serve restaurant with two Brooklyn locations. Their menu shows a variety of gyros and skewers combos... and sides like baba ganoush and grape leaves. 

In an exciting development, over the weekend, a "Bereket Is Back" banner arrived in the window (thanks for the tip, Seth!) ...

As you may recall, Bereket Turkish Kebab House anchored the opposite corner of Orchard and Houston for 19 years until its closure in June 2014 to make way for Ben Shaoul's gold-dusted condoplex at 196 Orchard St.  

The loss of the 24/7 Bereket with its legendary red lentil soup was tough. There were rumors Bereket would relocate nearby, but it never actually did.

Until now?!

Workers confirmed that the owner of Ankara was also the owner of Bereket. Unfortunately, we just missed him at the restaurant yesterday. So more on this later. 3/28: We talked with owner Ramazan Turgut here.

Ankara is currently open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

The cheese slice is $1 at the just-opened 99¢ Pizza

Photos by EVG reader Tom 

99¢ Pizza debuted last week at 418 E. 14th St. just east of First Avenue. (First reported here.) 

Despite the name of the establishment, a cheese slice will cost a penny more — $1. And if you want to get fancy and add, say, pepperoni, then the price goes up to $2.50. 

Here's a look at some of their combo specials...

EVG reader Edmund John Dunn tried two slices: "Not bad, IMO, better than the average for a 99-cent [or a $1!] slice."

The opening comes as the 99¢ Pizza shop at 246 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue lowered the price of a slice from $1.50 to 99 cents as the cheap slice war heats up.

Sunday's parting shot

Spring view from Ninth Street-Stuyvesant Street...

Week in Grieview

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

• Ben’s Deli moving on without Ben on Avenue B (Wednesday) 

• Time passages: Check out the interior of the long-empty Mom's Liquor Store on Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Suspect arrested after firing gun on 4th Street between C and D (Thursday) 

• Reconstruction work on the Tompkins Square Park field house starts soon (Monday) 

• Report: Gregg Singer places the former P.S. 64/Charas into bankruptcy protection (Wednesday) ... At the long-vacant former P.S. 64/CHARAS, more "frivolous court actions to tie up the property" (Thursday) 

• Paying tribute to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 (Friday) 

• These East Village tenants, fearing displacement, to rally against their new landlord (Saturday) 

• Experimental Intermedia brings the films of Bradley Eros to Whitebox gallery (Thursday)

• Anthology Film Archives hosting a long-overdue retrospective of East Village artist Abigail Child (Wednesday) 

• McSorley's "bringing all the energy back inside" (Monday) 

• Corteiz x Nike Air Max 95 collab drop draws crowds, NYPD on 4th and C (Tuesday)

• The $1 cheese slice at 2 Bros. on St. Mark's Place is now $1.50 (Monday) ... A cheese slice is 99 cents again at 99 Cent Pizza on 14th Street (Thursday) 

• Highlighting "Free The Nipple Day" on Avenue A (Thursday)

 ... and a moment on Third Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street...

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

Remembering Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locón

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion, which killed two men, injured two dozen people, and leveled three buildings (119, 121 and 123 Second Ave.).

There is a memorial plaque on site for the two men who died that day — Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locón.

Officials dedicated this plaque in May 2021. The Village Preservation advocated for its placement here on the new residential building at 45 E. Seventh St. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• RIP Nicholas Figueroa 

• RIP Moises Locón 

• Dedicating Moises Locón Way and Nicholas Figueroa Way on 2nd Avenue at 7th Street

At Cooper Union, a concert to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility this Friday

You can commemorate "Transgender Day of Visibility" this coming Friday, March 31, at "Shine On," a special concert at the Cooper Union hosted by Murray Hill.

Per the press materials:

"Shine On" is both a celebration honoring transgender and non-binary people and a call to action to fight against hate. The event is part of The Gardiner Foundation Great Hall Forum series, which explores contemporary societal issues and connects history from The Cooper Union's Great Hall, dating back more than 160 years, to the present.

The concert event, which features performances by actress, singer and activist Peppermint and the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, starts at 7 p.m. at the Great Hall, 7 E. Seventh St.

 

You can RSVP to the free show here. 

The Third Avenue side of the Foundation building highlights members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as works by some of Cooper Union's transgender alums.

Saturday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Frankfurters + ticket at Katz's ...

These East Village tenants, fearing displacement, to rally against their new landlord

Late last summer, news surfaced about the sale of 305 E. 11th St. and 310 E. 12th St. (above), adjacent multifamily residential buildings between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

The deal for the 89-unit buildings, owned by the Chissick family since the late 1960s, was for $58 million. 

Since then, we've heard from residents about significant rent increases, evictions, and alleged apartment warehousing at the buildings. 

As a result, residents here have advanced their efforts in recent months by forming the GoldinFinch Tenant Association. They are hosting a rally tomorrow afternoon (March 26) with the help of the Cooper Square Committee. (NYC Comptroller Brad Lander is also expected to be in attendance.)

Per a media advisory: 

Tenants, advocates and elected officials will protest the actions of private equity firm Meadow Partners, which purchased two multifamily buildings in the East Village. Shortly after the purchase, Meadow Partners and their operating partner 60 Guilders/620 MGMT began aggressively displacing long-term tenants and hiking up rents. 

The rally will call for Albany to enact "Good Cause" legislation to prevent arbitrary evictions and unconscionable rent hikes, as well as city-level legislation to curb the apartment "warehousing" and "frankensteining" that Meadow and other landlords are practicing.

 Many tenants have lived in the neighborhood for decades and have strong ties to the community. The tenant association ("GoldinFinch Tenant Association") is named after housing advocate Frances Goldin [a longtime resident here] and art critic Charles Finch. Those residents, as well as other notable tenants who lived in the building, will also be honored at the rally. 

Finch jumped to his death from his apartment on the 12th Street side last Aug. 24. He was 69. As The New York Times reported: 

Debby Lee Cohen, a neighbor who said she had known Mr. Finch for 40 years, said that besides his health, he might have been anxious about the future of the building, which had just been sold. He was a longtime resident who had a rent-controlled apartment. 

The rally starts tomorrow outside 310 E. 12th St. at 1 p.m.

The tenant association also shared this building fact sheet (click on the image for a bigger view)...
 

EVG Etc.: the 9 Lives of a 7th Street townhouse; the 17 NYC arts institutions with free admission

Photo on 7th Street the other evening by Steven (and there wasn't a fire) 

• LES fashion designer's homicide linked to fatal drug-facilitated robberies (ABC News) 

• The history of 64 E. Seventh St. includes Lou Reed and Yoko Ono (The New York Times) 

• Christo and Amelia are in the brooding stage in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography) 

• "[A]n experiment in queering fine dining" at HAGS on First Avenue (The New Yorker... previously on EVG) 

• Checking out Wild Rabbit Coffee on Seventh Street (Time Out... previously on EVG) 

• Women rob East Village couple of $8k worth of property (amNY) 

• A mother-daughter conversation about their home in Stuy Town and putting down roots (dwell)

• Workers at the Trader Joe's at Essex Crossing file petition to unionize (NY1) 

• Next on Musical Mondays at Village East by Angelika — "Victor/Victoria" (Official site) 

• How to get an NYC street co-named (THE CITY) 

• A list of free museums for New Yorkers to visit (Hyperallergic)

Saturday's opening shot

A view of Tompkins Square Park this morning...

A 'Grave' situation

 

The underrated San Diego-based duo Crocodiles (Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell) are back with a new album, Upside Down In Heaven, due out on April 7.

The video here is for one of the singles, "Love Beyond the Grave."

They'll be at Mercury Lounge on May 4.

Paying tribute to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911

Tomorrow marks the 112th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

As in past years, volunteers have been taking part in the chalking project (organized by Street Pictures), writing the names and ages of the victims in front of the buildings where they lived on the Lower East Side.

For example, Julia Oberstein lived at 53 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street. (Top photo.) She was 19 years old. 

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the largest industrial disaster in U.S. history ... causing the death of 146 garment workers (mostly young women) who either died from the fire or jumped to their deaths.

The Triangle Waist Company was located on the northwest corner of Greene Street and Washington Place just east of Washington Square Park, where the commemoration ceremonies take place today (3/24). Find more details at The Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition website.

A memorial, expected to be unveiled at the site of the fire, is in the works. Read more about it here.

[Updated] Suspect arrested after shooting at police on 4th Street between C and D

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated 3/25: ABC 7 has an update here on the suspect, 20-year-old Richard Mendez, who allegedly had threatened his brother with a gun.

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A 20-year-old man is in custody tonight after shooting at a police cruiser on Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D, according to published reports

Per CBS 2, "officers in a marked police car spotted the suspect waving a firearm." He then allegedly fired at the vehicle, striking it several times. The officers also reportedly returned fire. 

NBC 4's account of the story said the suspect "was ... menacing people with a gun" before the encounter with the NYPD near 330 E. Fourth St.

There were originally reports on the Citizen app that the officers sustained unspecified injuries. CBS 2 reported that "the officers were taken to a local hospital to be treated for ringing in their ears." 

Updated: 

According to the Post, the man was menacing his brother with a gun. It wasn't immediately clear if the suspect shot at the officers during the confrontation. 

Per the paper: "The suspect's brother was also arrested for an alleged robbery from Wednesday, according to sources."

Thursday's parting shot

New on Houston at the Bowery (SW corner)... wheatepaste of China's President Xi Jinping by DeGrupo... (shades of)

Highlighting 'Free The Nipple Day' on Avenue A

Photo by Stacie Joy

New outside 50 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street ... local artist Jim Tozzi with Bert's Tit, one of his regular characters through the years. 

Here's more about the work via an Instagram post by wall curator The Lisa Project: 

Happy Women's History Month 2023. This year we wanted to spotlight the now decade-old "Free The Nipple" campaign created by the multitalented artist/actor, equal rights activist, and snappy dresser Ms. Lina Esco. As "Free The Nipple Day" is Sunday 3/26/23. 

To celebrate we tasked Street and Sticker Artist Jim Tozzi to paint his brilliant work. His funny culture-mashing take on an iconic character, "Bert's Tit" was the perfect way to keep body equality in the conversation. 

But at the end of the day, we hope it makes you smile, laugh and remember a woman's body is hers, and hers alone…