Pearce Pics Good morning, East Village.
In an interview with The Atlantic, Jeremiah Clancy, the owner of Mama’s, reiterates some of what he told The Local about the food shop’s closing. On the East Village: “Where it used to be a very vibrant neighborhood with a mix of cultures as well as different socioeconomic backgrounds, it started becoming very homogenous.”
Big news on the Lower East Side. DNAInfo reports that the long in-the-works Seward Park Urban Renewal (SPURA) plan got the nod from the City Planning Commission. “The current plan — which includes space for retail stores, offices, community facilities and a bundle of 900 apartments with 50 percent of them allocated for permanent affordable housing — is the closest any proposal has come to being built.”
According to DNAInfo some neighbors are upset that Jane’s Sweet Buns didn’t give them notice that it was changing to a 10-seat speakeasy called Proletariat.
According to Grub Street, neighbors also complained about Nevada Smiths at a recent SLA committee meeting, but a member of Community Board 3 stepped forward to say it was a soccer bar of “high value to the neighborhood.”
Employees and customers at TKettle on St. Marks Place tell DNAInfo they’re worried a possible ban on large sugary drinks will affect the sale of bubble tea.
Grub Street hears that the Beagle will reopen this Saturday. As The Local reported, it’ll have a stronger emphasis on cocktails and a pared-down food menu.
Per Twitter, an Iron Chef-style cookoff will pit Veselka Bowery against Hearth and Terroir on Sunday.
ArtsBeat reviews another Fringe Fest production, “The Art of Painting,” in which the Vermeer work of the same name is discussed: “The fun of this 50-minute Found Objects Theater Group solo show — written by Mr. Chrisler, ably directed by Tim Racine and having its New York premiere at the Fringe — is in the human details. ”
The Observer notes that the Red Hot foundation has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a compilation of Arthur Russell covers by Hot Chip, Scissor Sisters and others. The “most influential musician you’ve never heard of” at one point lived above Allen Ginsberg on East 12th Street.
And finally, a reader asks on Facebook: “Does anyone remember the Gallery Gwen at 74 E. 4th St. (between 2nd and 3rd Aves) from 1964 or 65- to ca. 1967? Irving Fiske, who gave talks on ‘Tantra, the Yoga of Sex?’ The poetry readings we held every week, and the ‘Folk Sings,’ and the films we showed? If you remember, and are interested in talking to me (Ladybelle Fiske, then a teenager) — as I am writing a memoir– please get in touch with me.”
