Louie Lazar Billy Lyles poses in front of a mural that depicts him playing the saxophone.The record vendor who toured the world with a disco star isn’t the only East Villager who’s both a musician and salesman: on Ninth Street, jazzman Billy Lyles and his wife, designer Jane Williams, have owned Katinka, an idiosyncratic store no bigger than a walk-in closet, since 1979.
Mr. Lyles, 69, has performed at clubs like the Bitter End, but neighbors know him best for his impromptu saxophone, keyboard, guitar, and flute performances outside of his shop on Ninth Street, near Second Avenue. There, Mr. Lyles interacts with passers-by from his usual position near a table where scented soap and incense are sold for just a dollar. A mural by Chico featuring his likeness – white beard, attentive eyes, saxophone at his lips – adorns an adjacent brick façade. On warm days, shouts of “Billy!” echo down the tree-lined block, and people wave at him from across the street.
“It’s nice to get said hello to,” said Mr. Lyles, wearing his trademark glasses and old-fashioned flat cap. “To be a nice person, man: they don’t have that going on any more like they used to.” Read more…
Stephen Rex Brown Cigkoftem at 438 East Ninth Street.A little over a week ago, Cigkoftem opened on East Ninth Street near Avenue A, the first American outpost of a chain that has over 130 locations in Turkey.
The eatery only serves one item: a vegetarian patty similar to falafel that is made of cracked wheat, tomato or chili paste, chili pepper and spices. It comes in spicy or mild varieties — “The Sweetest Hot” is Cigkoftem’s slogan — and is served in a pita.
“Why’d we choose the East Village? Because the people are cool,” said Cigkoftem’s laid back manager, Ghengis Demir. “People like it, we’ll see what happens.”
The menu, which is below, includes some interesting history about the chain, as well as the phone number for two locations in Turkey.
Read more…
Stephen Rex Brown Owner Lalita Kumut, along with her friend Daphne Blake (left) and her cousin, Maka Inthraphuvasak, pack up the Aromatherapy store on East Seventh Street.After 20 years, a fragrance shop on East Seventh Street is moving three blocks south, and the owner of Porsena is considering expanding into the vacated space.
Lalita Kumut, the owner of Aromatherapy Bath and Body Oils, said that her lease had expired in December, but that she’d been holding out for a new location. “My customers told me to wait until another lease came up — I’m a good tenant,” Ms. Kumut said. “Finally, I found something nice.” Read more…
Courtesy of Professor Thom’s The crowd at Professor Thom’s during the AFC
championship game.According to the owner of Professor Thom’s, every one of the bar’s tables has been reserved for Super Bowl Sunday – mostly by fans of the New England Patriots. “If we had 10 more floors, we’d still be booked,” Pete Levin told The Local. He said the bar’s phone has been ringing off the hook since early Monday.
As The Times noted yesterday in its “Neighborhood Joint” column, the Second Avenue bar is a notorious Boston sports hangout. In fact, the first 100 customers that show up for its pregame tailgate party on Sunday will get “W.W.B.D. (What Would Brady Do)” wristbands.
Mr. Levin estimated that 98% of his crowd would consist of Pats fans. Kenny Williams, the head bouncer at the bar, expected to see a few Giants fans, as well. He’s sacrificing a day off to work on Sunday, but not because he expects trouble. “Sure, there’s a knucklehead or two, but that’s anywhere.” Referring to Giants fans, he said, “They’ll be fine.” Read more…
Evan BleierA year after alarm bells sounded when its home on Second Avenue was put on the rental market, the Ukrainian Sports Club is still soldiering on, and will be among the neighborhood drinking establishments showing the Super Bowl this weekend.
Wasyl Zinkewitsch, the president of the club, said that previous reports that it might leave the neighborhood were misinterpreted. “Our interests are to keep this club running,” he said while sipping from a bottle of Coors Light yesterday evening. “We’ve been here since 1947.”
In February of last year, The Local reported that the club was reeling from $80,000 in yearly property tax, $25,000 per year in insurance, and $250,000 in repairs after a fire the previous summer. To cover those costs, the sports fraternity is currently hoping to rent out a commercial space on the second floor, a vacant loft apartment, and even the front room of its clubhouse.
“We need some serious revenue to keep this place going,” said Mr. Zinkewitsch. “There’s no other choice. We have to rent places that were once exclusively part of the club.” Read more…
Suzanne RozdebaEasy come, easy go: A week after The Local spotted Motek creperie’s old awning being unceremoniously carted away, an awning for San Matteo Panuozzo has gone up on St. Marks Place, near Avenue A. The owners of the shop – an offshoot of Upper East Side pizzeria San Matteo that will specialize in a sort of “supersize panino” – will go before Community Board 3’s S.L.A. and D.C.A. Licensing committee on Feb. 13, in anticipation of a mid-month opening.
Natalie Rinn A “Sale” sign over the front door was nowhere to be seen this week.Around the corner from where Life Cafe’s fate hangs in the balance, a pet store has come back from the brink of closure, at least for the time being.
Last October, The Local reported that Zee’s Pet Shop and Supply, facing Tompkins Square Park on Avenue B, had fallen victim to an unmanageable rent hike. But yesterday, several “going out of business” signs that had been posted on the store’s front – along with sale tags attached to almost every piece of merchandise inside – were nowhere to be seen.
The store’s owner, Zee, who again declined to give a last name, was tight-lipped about the deal he had struck with his landlord, but confirmed the business would remain open. “I’m staying. As of today, I’m staying,” he said from behind the counter.
“The owner was so mad when he saw your article,” said the shopkeeper, referring to The Local’s report that a sign in his window sought a hair or nail salon for the storefront at 155 Avenue B. “But he is a nice man.” Read more…
Ray Lemoine Work was being done inside of Life earlier today.There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Life Cafe.
Owner Kathy Kirkpatrick and landlord Bob Perl have been in talks with potential business partners who would pave the way for the shuttered cafe at East 10th Street and Avenue B to finally reopen, much to the relief of “Rentheads” everywhere.
“There are other parties who want to partner with Kathy and I am talking to them,” said Mr. Perl. “There is a possibility it could go on — whether it does I’m not sure.”
Ms. Kirkpatrick confirmed the discussions, but had little to add. “It has to do with the landlord agreeing to work together and cooperate,” she said. Read more…
Max is the latest East Village restaurant to join Cafe Mogador, Crif Dogs, and Mama’s in opening a Williamsburg outpost. According to Eater, a new location will open on South Second Street and Driggs in the spring. An employee at Cafe Mogador says they’re still working on an opening date for their place at 133 Wythe Street.
Lauren Carol SmithA word from the owner? or from the neighborhood? Either way: an epilogue to our photo essay documenting the bar’s final night.
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York brings word that Rockit Scientist Records, the store on St. Marks Place in front of which Joe Barbosa (at left) plies his trade, will close at the end of February. The store’s owner John Kioussis tells Jeremiah, “My lease is ending and I don’t want to renew at the current rate. I asked for a rent reduction and was turned down. While business wasn’t great, it just isn’t worth paying $8,500 a month.”
Evan Bleier Assistant instructor Eton Kwok.Above a long-vacant storefront on Avenue A, a space that once served as the upstairs of Mo Pitkin’s and then as the office of an Internet start-up has found new life as a martial arts studio.
“You can do a lot of damage with a hammer-fist, and it’s quick to learn,” assistant instructor Eton Kwok told a group of young women practicing moves in front of a wall-length mirror during a recent “Smash Class” – a free self-defense class at the Chinese Hawaiian Kempo Academy.
Last month, C.H.K.A. left the Village Martial Arts Institute on Third Street and moved to roomier digs at 34 Avenue A. The dojo is owned by Sharon Shamburger, whose husband Jack, a ninth-degree black belt, is head instructor. Read more…
Photos: Vivienne Gucwa
Getting a table or a bar stool at the Holiday Cocktail Lounge Saturday night was nearly impossible. The 47-year-old dive was wall-to-wall with regulars, there to pay respects on its final night.
“I came here before I was legal,” said Angela Martenez, who frequented the Holiday in the 1990s. “The drinks were strong and cheap. And the little twinkly Christmas lights were friendly, and that’s what I needed in my life at the time.”
From all corners of the city, former East Villagers returned to the Holiday for one last beer. Read more…
Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesThe news that both Bleecker Bob’s Records and the Holiday Cocktail Lounge would close amounted to a brutal double-whammy for many locals living around the Village. But there’s a silver lining: Jennifer Kitzer, a longtime partner of Bleecker Bob’s, told The Local that if worst comes to worst, the store will move to the East Village or Lower East Side.
For now, though, she and the staff are focused on remaining in their current location. “We’re not closing permanently — we’re not running out of there anytime soon,” said Ms. Kitzer, who later added, “I’m not looking to shut the name down, shut the store down. There’s going to be a fight in us.” Read more…
Stephen Rex Brown Louis Fugazy kept the drinks coming last night at Holiday Cocktail Lounge.Word had gotten around by the time the regulars started arriving: after 47 years, the Holiday Cocktail Lounge will close on Saturday. Not surprisingly, the shots just kept coming.
“Everybody that ever stepped foot in this bar is going to come through in the next three days,” said bartender Louis Fugazy. Over the years, those characters have included W. H. Auden, Leon Trotsky, and Allen Ginsberg, when they lived on the block. And urban legend has it that Madonna named “Holiday” after the bar (this much is certain: punk-pop band the Bouncing Souls immortalized the dive in a song that shares its name).
Over drinks, many of the regulars sitting around the semicircular bar bemoanded the state of the neighborhood, which recently has endured the loss of Mars Bar, another beloved dive. “Gentrification is moving out all the old standbys,” said Jeff Tendler, who was working the door. “The neighborhood is becoming full of chains, and the little guy is getting pushed out.” Read more…
Stephen Rex Brown Jeff Greenberg, the owner of Elan Antiques.Elan Antiques stayed in business for 23 years, but it couldn’t survive the ailing economy.
“2008 was really the death knell,” said Jeff Greenberg, the owner of the store at Bleecker and Lafayette Streets, just a few blocks away from the temporarily shuttered Billy’s Antiques. “I wasn’t able to recover. It kept getting worse — I really haven’t seen it get better.”
Mr. Greenberg, 58, said that he had been on a month-to-month lease for several years, and that a new tenant — it’s not certain who — had made a large offer on his space. “I can’t bear ill will — that is business,” he added, noting that his current rent is under the market rate. Read more…
Matt Rosen Mosaic Man’s latest.The East Village’s most ubiquitous street artist is in the midst of a particularly prolific period, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
Matt Rosen Jim Power, alongside Porchetta co-owner Matt Lindemulder.This morning, “Mosaic Man” Jim Power alerted The Local to his new pig mosaic, which he had just delivered to to Porchetta on East Seventh Street.
Recently, Mr. Power unveiled signage for Tompkins Square Bagels and the new location of The Bean.
The Local will probably get a firsthand look at the porcine mosaic any day now. We just finished off a punch-card for a free sandwich, and those burnt ends are irresistible.
Recently released 311 complaint data reveals a veritable who’s-who in the neighborhood’s ongoing struggle with nightlife.
An analysis of commercial noise complaints submitted to 311 between January 2010 and October 16, 2011 finds that some familiar faces like La Vie, Sin Sin Lounge and Nublu are near the top of the list. The data, which represents the most recent 311 complaints available on NYC Open Data, shows that the undisputed champion of noise complaints in the East Village is Sutra Lounge. The hip-hop lounge had a whopping 265 complaints during the 22-month stretch — 116 more than the runner-up.
“We have the number one most vigilant neighbor, that’s what it really means,” said Ariel Palitz, the owner of Sutra and a member of Community Board 3. Read more…
Some morsels of food news today: Zagat Buzz reports that Shanna Pacifico is leaving Peter Hoffman’s Avenue B restaurant, Back Forty, to be chef at his reboot of Savoy in SoHo. Meanwhile, Grub Street hears that The Smile (now getting competition from the newly relaunched Acme as NoHo’s sceneiest spot) is opening a takeout-oriented offshoot on Howard Street near Crosby Street.
Eater has a look at the menu and the interior of the Bowery Diner, the “haute diner” that Mathieu Palombino of Motorino opened just below Houston Street on Sunday.
