Coming to streets this summer: Dragon Fest, a Chinese food and culture festival

Several local businesses are participating in the first Dragon Fest, billed as NYC's largest Chinese food festival. 

Per organizers: "Its mission is to bring people and cultures together through food, music, and art. Dragon Fest provides a welcoming space for all to celebrate, share and connect."

The festival will take place on four dates this summer, starting tomorrow (Saturday) on Washington Square North between Fifth Avenue and University Place. Later in August, Dragon Fest will be on Broadway between 12th Street and 13th Street, and Fourth Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street.

Participating vendors include the MáLà Project, Nom Wah and Lady Wong.

Visit the Dragon Fest site for more details.

A Smoke House for Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated: The shop opened on June 24

A weed-smoke shop called Smoke House is in the works for the smallish retail space on Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street... previously part of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater's East Village outpost, UCBeast.

The new shop is nestled between Two Boots and O'Flaherty's, the newish gallery-performance space. 

This arrival comes as New York State has ramped up cracking down on unlicensed cannabis shops in NYC.

More unlicensed cannabis shops busted in the East Village

Top photo by Derek Berg 

On the past two Wednesdays, a contingent of law enforcement officers has busted several unlicensed cannabis shops in the East Village. 

You may have noticed the "Illegal Cannabis Seized" posters affixed to the storefronts...

Last week's visits included a shop on Second Avenue near Fourth Street (photos by Stacie Joy) ... and First Avenue near Ninth Street. These businesses remain closed, though others that were fined in the past have reopened.

Yesterday's action targeted the dispensary on the SE corner of First Avenue and 11th Street (photos below by William Klayer) ...

More crackdown tactics are on the way. 

As Gothamist reported on June 13: "More than half of the City Council's members are sponsoring a bill that will lead to serious penalties for people who knowingly lease space to unlicensed sellers of marijuana, tobacco and other controlled substances." 

And fines for selling marijuana without a license could eventually hike up to $20,000 daily. 

From a June 8 press release from NY State:

"New York is proud to have undertaken the most equitable legal cannabis roll-out in the nation and the State will not stand idle as unlicensed operators break the law and sell untested products to underage New Yorkers," Gov. Hochul said. "These enforcement actions are critical steps to protect and help those individuals who were promised a shot to start a legal business and be successful. Additionally, these unlicensed operators undermine the State's efforts to generate substantial funds for a social equity fund that will go into the communities that have been hardest hit by over-prosecution of the cannabis laws in the past." 

This afternoon, Gov. Hochul announced that inspectors from the Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance issued violations to 21 stores in Manhattan and seized nearly $11 million worth of "illicit products" this month.

Hochul said that "some of the unregulated product was found to be marketed to kids and contain toxic chemicals, E. coli, and other contaminants," the Post reported. 

"I want to be aggressive; I want to get this done," she said. "I want to send a message loud and clear across this state that if you're operating illegally, you will be caught, and you will be stopped. We're going to work together and enforce the law quickly and aggressively and shut these bad actors down."

Previously on EV Grieve:

City's fight against unlicensed cannabis shops now targets landlords; 4 East Village shops busted

The arrival of the smart composting bins in the East Village

Photos: Salim, Stacie Joy and Garth Johnston 

Over the past week, the Sanitation Department has been placing the orange, solar-powered compost drop-off bins (aka Smart Bins) on sidewalks around the East Village and Lower East Side. 

This is part of the city's ongoing effort to expand organic waste collection. Residents can access the curbside bins 24/7 through one of two smartphone apps. (The apps include a map with all the bin locations.) 

So why the hassle of a QR code? Curbed explains: 

This extra step is an effort to prevent contamination — or when non-compostable materials wind up with organics in the containers. (The issue of mixed materials became such a problem for the street recycling program that DSNY removed many of those bins entirely.) When it comes to the Smart Bin, the agency believes that the app offers just the right amount of friction. 

"We want the bins to be simple enough so that people passing it on the street look at it and immediately know what it is," says sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch. The city also, crucially, wants this piece of its composting program to succeed, and that means keeping busted umbrellas and the errant tall boy out of the bins. 

The bins are meant to complement the existing drop-off composting sites, such as at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket, the Down to Earth Garden on 12th Street, and La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C and Ninth Street. (There's a citywide map here.) 

Smart Bins have been spotted on Avenue B at 12th Street, First Avenue at Fourth Street, and Second Street at Second Avenue. (There are more! But you get the idea.)

The bins will likely look familiar — they are made by the same company that designed those Big Belly Solar trash cans. 

The Smart Bins first debuted in 2021 in Lower Manhattan and Astoria. This City Limits piece has more background.

Composting will reportedly be mandatory by October 2024, thanks to the recent passage of the Zero Waste Act. 

Thank you to everyone who sent in photos of the bins!

About The Pastry Box, now open on 12th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The Pastry Box had its soft opening on Monday at 515 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Brooklyn native Tiara Bennett is the chef-owner...

"I spent my entire life in the kitchen in some way or another," she told us. "My love of combining food with art, adventure, culture, love, and family was why I decided to attend the International Culinary Center [formerly known as the French Culinary Institute]."

After graduation, she worked in several kitchens (Tao Group, Union Square Hospitality, and Cafe Boulud and Restaurant Daniel with the Dinex Group).

However, her affinity for "classic pastry" won out.

"I then decided to combine the complex flavor profiles I learned with my love for the basics, and The Pastry Box was formed." 

And on June 19, 2020, with her best friend in tow, Bennett started selling baked goods outside her Brooklyn apartment.

Bennett realized her dream of running her own brick-and-mortar shop earlier this year when she signed the lease for this space...

The shop offers a variety of muffins, cookies, tarts, scones, cupcakes, housemade jams and nut butter, granola, doughnuts ... and will eventually add bread into the rotation. They also serve Oval Coffee.

"The mission with The Pastry Box is to offer high-quality pastry and dessert products without the need to go to a fine dining restaurant," Bennett said. "Our motto is 'classic favorites, premium flavors.' We want to start programs educating the youth in our community on proper kitchen etiquette and simple baking techniques."

The Pastry Box hours: 

Thursday-Saturday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Monday: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Closed on Tuesday and Wednesday

You can follow the bakery on Instagram. The Pastry Box website is coming soon here.

Salter House bringing the sustainable housewares and clothing to 2nd Street

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Salter House, a shop offering sustainable housewares and clothing, is opening an outpost at 34 E. Second St. just west of Second Avenue.

Sandeep Salter and her husband, Carson, opened the first Salter House (which includes a tea shop) in 2018 in Brooklyn Heights.

No word on an opening date.

The previous tenant here, Anyway Cafe, closed this past February after 28 years of serving a lot of vodka.

H/T Garth

Chrissy's Pizza taking over the former Superiority Burger space on 9th Street for its first pizzeria

Chrissy's Pizza, which gained a large following last year through a unique system (DMs via Instagram and made in the kitchen of chef-owner Chris Hansell), is popping up in the East Village next month in a familiar space. 

Hansell will make pies from the former Superiority Burger (and Salads Days!) space at 430 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. (SB's Brooks Headley kept the lease on the storefront after the move to 119 Avenue A.) 

Hansell reportedly started making about 20 pies per week from his Bushwick apartment in late 2021.

The results, per The Infatuation: 

The crust is impossibly crisp, the sauce is rich and sweet, and the cheese ratio is ideal. There's also some secret ingredient that gives this pizza a little something extra. Love? Magic? You’ll have to try it for yourself. 

Follow the Chrissy's Pizza IG account for updates.

Closings: Sauced Up! on 2nd Avenue

After two-and-a-half years of serving wings, sandwiches, fries, etc., Sauced Up! has gone belly up at 77 Second Ave.

The gate has been down here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street in recent weeks. Google lists them as "permanently closed," and the phone is out of service.

Sauced Up! opened in December 2020 and was a welcome presence for some readers tired of the many empty storefronts along this corridor. 

Watch Kim Petras (or her stand-in!) walk around the East Village in medieval-style armor

Top photo from June 10 by Eden 

As we noted on June 10, history-making Grammy winner Kim Petras filmed a video in the East Village to promote her upcoming world tour. 

Locations included Tompkins Square Park and Ben's Deli, 32 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. 

Check out the video, which features Kim's body armor stand-in Cait ... and a generous supporting role for Haas behind the counter at Ben's...

   

The "Feed the Beast" tour is in support of Petras' debut studio album of the same name ... which will be released on Friday.

Mid-morning juvenile hawk watch

Photos by Derek Berg 

One of Amelia and Christo's 2023 kids was out and about in Tompkins Square Park this morning...

See our previous post for more background on the red-tailed hawks.

Openings: Caffe Corretto on 12th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Caffe Corretto debuted at 511 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B last Wednesday. 

East Village residents Colin Vickery and Leah Blewett, partners in business and life, are behind this project that they say is inspired by the all-day cafes of Rome.

Caffe Corretto serves breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week, Wednesday through Monday (closed on Tuesdays).

Chef Nicole Dakwar prepares the breakfast pastries and lunchtime pizza al taglio ... while the evening menu features a variety of pasta dishes, seasonal salads, and other entrees via Chef Alessandro Urbisci. You can find menus here.

Hours: 8 a.m. to midnight. You can keep tabs on Caffe Corretto via Instagram.

1 St. Mark's Place looking a little close to beaming up

Photos by Steven

Yesterday's post on 360 Bowery at Fourth Street reaching the 21st floor prompted questions about the new office building slated for four blocks to the north... on Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place. 

Well, still no sign of the 9-story structure above the plywood just yet. 

As these photos (through the plywood blogger portals) from yesterday show, the foundation work is still coming along, with a steel beam looking ready to ascend the street level...

Real Estate Equities Corp. plans on 53,000 square feet of office space and some 7,700 square feet for retail here at 1 St. Mark's Place. 

Workers started on the foundation for each project last summer.

Previously

About the new tenant at 37 Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy

In recent weeks we've seen activity in one of the long-empty storefronts in the retail spaces of the city-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

The new tenant is the project management team behind the renovations on Avenue A at Second Street... in a space that looks restaurant ready with the kitchen hood, countertop, and stools...

They say they are doing roofing and façade-repair work and will only be in the space until the project is finished... (and if you were looking for the taco cart) ...

The storefront, 37 Avenue A, has been vacant since Angelina Cafe closed in the spring of 2019 when Rafik Bouzgarrou opened Bin 141 on the next block.

While this stretch has been considered a "vacancy hotspot," East Village Buyers moved to 39 Avenue A in April. Perhaps a cafe or restaurant could take over 37 Avenue A after the construction wraps up. 

A subway ride from Union Square to Coney Island on this day in 1987

 

In case you haven't seen this clip from 1980s NYC nightlife videographer Nelson Sullivan ... it has made the rounds through the years ... and it seems appropriate on its 36-year anniversary...

Here's the description:

Enjoy the sights and the graffiti as Nelson, photographer Liz Lizard and her family, Michael Musto and Albert Crudo, take the subway from Union Square to Coney Island on June 20, 1987...

Sullivan's video archive was donated to NYU's Fales Library & Special Collections in 2012.

He died of a heart attack on July 4, 1989.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Take a quick trip back to Avenue A and East 7th Street in 1986

The East Village of Nelson Sullivan

The first nice Sunday of 1987 in the East Village

'The Fabulous Personalities of 1980s New York'

Iconic gay dive bar the Boiler Room is closing later this year ahead of a move to a new East Village space

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After 34 years at 86 E. Fourth St. near Second Avenue, the Boiler Room will likely be closing by the end of the year, management confirmed to EVG. (H/T Queer Happened Here.) 

However, there are plans to relocate the popular gay dive bar a short distance away to 45 Second Ave. between Second Street and Third Street. More on that later in the post.

According to management, the building's landlord had them in a two-plus-year court battle over pandemic-related back rent payments. A judge ruled in favor of the landlord, who is requiring a lump-sum payment — without any negotiations for current and future rent. 

Bar manager Randy Weinberg, whose brother Neil is the Boiler Room's owner, said they have a lease until September, with a month-to-month arrangement through the fall and, perhaps January, until the new space is ready.

Here's a look inside the space, which New York magazine described as a "friendly, unobtrusive, post-gay gay bar that helped put the queer East Village bar scene on the map."

The bar is collecting signatures of support for a new liquor license for the currently vacant 45 Second Ave., which was previously home to the Moroccan specialty shop Timbuktu.

At least one element of the new space will look familiar: Randy Weinberg said they'll take the well-worn bar with them...

Reaching the top at the 21-story 360 Bowery project

Workers have reached the top of the 21-story office building on the SW corner of the Bowery and Fourth Street (360 Bowery). 

Several American flags are on-site to mark the occasion... 

Façade installation is underway now... with the first floor-to-ceiling window panels arriving...

Also! Part of Kendall Jenner's elbow remains visible on the mostly-obscured Marc Jacobs billboard on the building next door ...

This development — offering full-floor office suites — replaces the single-level B Bar & Grill (1994-2020) on property that was previously a gas station.

The developers of this project within the Soho/Noho rezoning area are reportedly a collaboration between SK Development, Ironstate and CB Development. 

Previously on EV Grieve:
• CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

• Permits filed to demolish the former B Bar & Grill on the Bowery

• First sign of the B Bar & Grill-replacing 21-story office building on the Bowery   

The East Village Panda Express is hiring

The opening of the Panda Express outpost at 237 First Ave. at First Avenue inches forward.

Recently, a help-wanted sign arrived on the storefront. Depending on the role, hourly wages run anywhere from $17.50 (service team) to $38.19 (general manager)... 

This pre-grand opening has been a lengthy process. We were the first outlet to report that Panda Express was coming to this corner in January 2022. In April, a PE rep said that the projected opening date was around June 5. 

As noted late last summer, there were issues with permits — as in waiting for the city, Con Ed, etc., to approve them. (One tipster told us that management here was very late in completing the necessary paperwork for the various licenses, etc.)

Panda Express launched in California in 1983 ... with more than 2,000 locations today, including a handful around NYC.   

A transformation for the Ugly Duckling on 3rd Avenue and 13th Street

The Ugly Duckling closed earlier this month so the owners can rebrand the multi-level space on the NW corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street. (H/T EVG reader John!)

A rep for the Dream Hospitality Group confirmed the closure... and the new concept — a French-themed establishment.

The Ugly Duckling, which offered a Saturday special called "Boujee Brunch," debuted in late 2021... taking over the space from the Brazen Fox (same owners), which closed during the pandemic after nearly seven years in business.

Noted

When the crime blotter and grocery list collide... reported on the Citizen app along the East Fourth Walk in the Wald Houses...

[Updated] Someone placed an ad for AMC's 'The Walking Dead: Dead City' over the George Floyd mural on Houston and the Bowery

The George Floyd mural by @fumeroism arrived in early June 2020 on the southwest corner of the Bowery and East Houston... and has remained in place these past three-plus years. 

Hopefully, it will return: The AMC ad looks to be temporary — some kind of peel-and-stick mural. "The Walking Dead: Dead City" premiered last night. 

As a reader noted, bad timing for covering the George Floyd memorial on Juneteenth.

Updated 6/20 

Overnight, someone peeled off the AMC ad to reveal the George Floyd mural once again...