Stephen Rex Brown

Stephen Rex Brown

A new pizza joint opened at 23 Third Avenue today, right around the corner from where 2 Bros. started experimenting with $1.50 slices last week.

St. Marks Pizza is slinging pies in the former home of Tahini. Earlier this year chef Michael Huynh told Eater that he planned to open a restaurant serving cheese steaks in the space, though that idea apparently went nowhere. (Elsewhere in Mr. Huynh’s universe, Eater breaks news that BaoBQ has officially closed on First Avenue.)

Now, St. Marks Pizza is serving fairly standard fare. Several signs trumpet “Little Italy Pizza” (right here in the East Village!) A slice goes for $2.75. Read more…

Jamie Larson Bookshop owners Terrence McCoy and Bob
Contant.

The constantly-embattled St. Mark’s Bookshop surpassed its goal of $23,000 today, though that doesn’t mean the beloved store’s survival is certain.

“This first big chunk at least guarantees that we will keep fighting because you have shown everyone that there is a reason to,” the owners wrote in a thank you note posted online.

Currently, the store has raised over $24,000 and still has three days of fundraising left.

But in a phone conversation co-owner Terrence McCoy said many hurdles remained. For one, the store’s shelves are disconcertingly empty due to the fact that some publishers have stopped shipping new books due to unpaid bills. The owners are seeking investors who could fund the new storefront, but thus far, any potential backers have favored the existing location, Mr. McCoy said.

“I can’t say that we’re going to instantly move,” he added. Read more…

For once, the police and crusties can agree on something. The pit bull shot yesterday on 14th Street in front of dozens of horrified onlookers had it coming.

Brandon Verna, a homeless man acquainted with the owner of the dog, identified by police as Lech Stankiewicz, said that the pit bull has a reputation for being overly protective of her master.

“Most of us figured out that when he’s passed out, whether he’s overdosing or not, leave him alone,” Mr. Verna said. “If he’s going to die, call an ambulance and have them deal with it because no one wants to get bitten.” Read more…

Back in June, Paul Gerard, the chef who took over the short-lived Zi’Pep space on Ninth Street, told us he would open Exchange Alley with Billy Gilroy, a partner in West Village hotspot Employees Only. So what does “New York with a New Orleans flair” look like? Watch our video of yesterday’s opening night festivities to find out.

Yesterday Mr. Gerard, who was a chef in New Orleans before most recently serving as chef of Soho House, said he would be preparing a frequently changing menu using, in part, ingredients from a backyard garden that he hoped would be used by local schoolchildren. “Some days I’m enamored with pasta, other days I’m enamored with tomatoes,” he said. “By the time the tomato season is just about over, I’ll be enamored with root vegetables and game.” The bar, backed by mirror-finished stainless steel, will serve beer-and-wine cocktails till 2 a.m. on weekends.

The walls are decorated with photos of some of Mr. Gerard’s creative inspirations, including downtowners like Lou Reed and Miguel Piñero. The chef is hoping to tap into the new make-up of the neighborhood, which has changed a lot since his younger days living in Alphabet City. Read more…

Courtesy Hill Country Pierogi Bacon pierogies

Rob Harding left his job in marketing to start a food truck in Texas and now he wants to bring his pierogies back home to the East Village.

After he got laid off from a gig at Groupon, the 39-year-old and his girlfriend, Britney Lukowsky, 30, moved to Austin, Tex. to launch Hill Country Pierogi last September. The truck, currently on summer hiatus, serves a traditional potato pierogi based on a recipe handed down by Ms. Lukowsky’s Polish family, as well as out-there varieties like chorizo and kimchi pork.

Last week, Mr. Harding posted an ad on Craigslist indicating that he was looking for an investor for a small brick-and-mortar takeout shop (a la Dumpling Man) in the East Village. That’s right, he wants to bring his pierogies right into Veselka’s backyard. Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The Daily News reports that Star, the pit bull shot by a police officer on 14th Street yesterday survived, and is being cared for at a shelter in East Harlem.

The Wall Street Journal got in touch with Eli Halali, the owner of Two Bros. Pizza, to explain why he has shaken the very foundation of the pizza industry by selling a slice for $1.50. “We’re feeling the customers out, seeing what they think of this particular slice,” he said. “This may or may not be an item that we may add to the menu if people want a bigger slice.”

A second soldier facing charges related to the death of Private Danny Chen pleaded guilty in Fort Bragg, N.C. to charges of hazing and maltreatment. He has been kicked out of the Army and will serve six months behind bars, The Daily News reports. Read more…

New York Police Department The suspect.

A man followed a woman into 116 Avenue C on August 11 and punched her in the face several times before snatching her purse, the police said.

The man, thought to be in his late 20s, made his move at 11:45 p.m. in the building near East Eighth Street. As the 28-year-old victim began to go up the stairs the suspect threw her to the ground, punched her and ran out of the building.

Melvin Felix Officers loaded a dog kennel into the trunk of a
police car as friends of the
owner of the dead pitbull looked on.

A police officer shot a pitbull that was apparently trying to defend its passed-out owner on 14th Street at around 4:15 p.m., horrifying passersby who watched the wounded mutt suffer a slow death.

A man who identified himself as Steve-o, who was lingering at the scene near Second Avenue said he was a friend of the passed-out man, known as Pollock. The dog, according to Steve-o, was named Star.

Another witness, Roland Bueler, said the dog was protecting his master as a police officer tried unsuccessfully to rouse him while an ambulance awaited. “People who live in the neighborhood say he’s along here all the time,” Mr. Bueler said of Pollock. “He had a dog that was, I think, a pitbull mix. And the dog was defending the guy so no one could approach him.” Read more…

First a swimming pool appeared in Union Square and now a beachy bocce court has come to East Fourth Street, courtesy of “Boardwalk Empire.”

As expected, the HBO show’s cameras were rolling today at the Cornelia Connelly Center, between First Avenue and Avenue A; an adjacent empty lot was filled with sand and a sandbox where a pair of actors seemed ready to play bocce.

The show had previously filmed inside the soon-to-close Mary Help of Christians Church on East 12th Street. Today, crew members left their modern-day cars in the church parking lot while the show’s old-time buggies lined East Fourth Street.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 20, 2012

An earlier version of this post misidentified the location of Mary Help of Christians. It is on 12th Street, not Seventh.

Daniel Maurer

The weekends are always pandemonium in the East Village, but it’s rarely the older hippies causing a scene.

And yet on the corner of First Avenue and Second Street last Friday around 8:20 p.m., a gray-haired man wearing a tucked-in tie-dye shirt – and, oddly enough, a Yankees cap – was vehemently stomping the back wheel of someone’s bicycle.

“Hey, don’t do that!” a bystander cried out limply. But the bike basher was already heading across First Avenue for a bite to eat.

Minutes later, he was back to where the bike was chained up, kicking it a couple more times for good measure before storming off with his takeout bag.

Before we could confront the man, he ducked into an apartment building on Second Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. That’s when we popped off the photo you see here.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the trouncing, a woman accompanied by a pair of dogs was taking photos of her own. Lo and behold: it was Grace Weaver, the “Singing Vegan Lady” who was profiled by DNA Info just last week. Maybe she was documenting the effects of meat rage? Actually, no: it turned out the bicycle was hers, and the man who had assaulted it was her roommate. Read more…

Looks like Village Fishmonger isn’t the only seafood co-op coming to town: Matt Grove, a Lower East Side resident, uses our handy Virtual Assignment Desk to tell us about a seafood CSA that he’s bringing to the Union Square Greenmarket:

Big City Fish Share, a seafood CSA, will begin deliveries to Union Square on Saturday September 8th, continuing for 8 weeks. They will be supplying local, sustainably caught seafood that supports New York fishermen. Check them out and sign up now at www.bigcityfishshare.com.

Want to sign up for the program and let us know how it is? or interview Mr. Stone about it? Volunteer to do so via our Open Assignments page.

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

The Times bring word that Piotr Pasciak, 24, has been arrested for the burglary of 516 East 11th Street, which was captured in surprisingly crisp surveillance video. According to the paper, Mr. Pasciak had completed a bid behind bars last year for charges related to three home invasions in Ostego County.

The Post reports that a bus driver and a matron, Barry Kurt and Akilah Toppin, have been arraigned on charges of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a developmentally disabled East Village resident who was left in a van on a sweltering day last summer.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Nielsen is preparing to ditch its digs at 770 Broadway and head Downtown. Meanwhile, a real estate agent for the nearby and under-construction 51 Astor Place has a quick update on the search for tenants. “We have strong activity on the building from a wide and diverse array of tenants, particularly those from the technology and digital media industries,” the agent told the paper. “It provides for a large block of space in a marketplace that’s lacking blocks over 100,000 square feet.” Read more…

Chelsia Rose Marcus

There will be no more services at Mary Help of Christians Church come September, according to pastor Kevin Nelan. The announcement, made after mass today, seems to confirm rumors that the sale of the church, as well as the adjacent school building and parking lot, will be finalized next month.

Mr. Nelan said the church, which was consecrated in February of 1918 and most recently served as a filming location for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” would hold its last service on Sept. 9.

A week after that, Spanish-speaking churchgoers can attend mass at a “temporary home” at Immaculate Conception Church, on East 14th Street and First Avenue. The Immaculate Conception parish has been overseeing Mary Help of Christians church since 2007. Read more…

Introducing a new column in which we get to know the strangers who are yelling under our windows, making out on our stoops, and keeping the dream alive every Friday and Saturday night. They’re the Weekend Warriors.

Alexandra Reali

We met this foursome in the middle of Ninth Street and First Avenue on a recent Saturday night. Dana is from Syracuse, N.Y., Andy lives in Brooklyn, and Arezu and Yasmin were visiting from Montreal. They came to the East Village after a night out in Williamsburg, looking for a bite.

Yasmin: We were here earlier today! I’m actually not too familiar with the neighborhood; we’ve only been here during the day. Now it’s very quiet.

Andy: I like Tompkins Square Park, I like St Marks. They have shows there in the summer, the old punk scene.

Dana: West Village is nicer. I like the roads in this neighborhood.

Arezu: I think there’s more to do at night, actually, in Montreal. Places stay open later and there’s more people on the streets. I find there’s peak hours here. And then it kind of dies – like it fluctuates. In Montreal it’s a steady flow, and different types of people. There are places in Montreal that are very diversified. This particular neighborhood I think is one social group.

Andy: Everyone’s in Brooklyn now, and you gotta move.

Arezu: We were just in Brooklyn, actually. The only reason we left Brooklyn is because I’m staying here. But we would have stayed. Read more…

Sarah Darville Remodeling today.

Here’s one more late-August bar opening: The Beagle on Avenue A will reopen its doors in two weeks with a new look and a focus on the cocktails that Jim Meehan of PDT likes so much.

The Beagle’s cream-colored walls and tables have been replaced with dark blue paint, new blue glass doors, and booth seats. Its owners Matt Piacentini and Dan Greenbaum said their goal is to create a “cocktail den,” moving the space away from its previous status as half-bar, half-restaurant.

“We’re going for that intimate, cozy feel,” he said. “Making it somewhere where it’s a little more fun and easy to hang out.”

Mr. Piacentini said a new menu of cocktails and charcuterie would be “more approachable” but that the specifics were still in the works. One thing is certain: “There will be a lot of sherry,” he said.

Molecule really made a splash last month, opening to a veritable wave of publicity: the “water cafe” got several write-ups, and news of $2.50 to-go glasses of filtered water even crossed the pond. But while the owners touted their $25,000 filtering machine and their “fountain of youth” and “body repair” supplements, there was no shortage of wet blankets: here at The Local, a commenter, Courtney, called the place “one of the most offensive things I’ve heard recently” and implored: “Can we as a neighborhood agree to stay far away from it so that they go away?”

So, is anybody – other than intrepid reporters, of course – actually going to Molecule? Turns out, they are. During a recent afternoon, about eight people trickled into the store over the course of two hours. Okay, not exactly a flood of customers, but they came from Brooklyn, the Bronx, and (sorry, Courtney) right here in the East Village – and some were back for seconds. Maybe the store won’t be a one-sip wonder? Maybe this concept really will hold water?

Watch our video to hear customers shower the place with praise and tell us what you think: are they just drinking the Kool Aid?

Sarah Darville

Speaking of new incarnations of old favorites: a sign on the doors of Josie’s, in the former home of Joe’s, says “opening soon,” and its owners told The Local today to expect a debut in about two weeks. The bar on Sixth Street near Avenue B, which the owners of Mona’s had hoped would open mid-July, is still undergoing extensive renovations, but partner Fred Brown said that replicas of the bar’s old red-and-black floor tiles and patterned wallpaper are on their way. A spokesperson for the State Liquor Authority said the full liquor license has been conditionally approved pending completion of construction and paperwork.

The police are now offering $32,000 for information that leads them to the man who shot a police officer in the Seward Park Houses on July 5. In the incident, Officer Brian Groves was patrolling the public houses when he came upon the suspect between the 18th and 19th floors. A brief chase ensued, and the suspect shot the officer, who narrowly escaped death thanks to his Kevlar vest.