Richard Boccato, the owner of PKNY, is opening another Polynesian spot on Avenue B, in the long vacant Mercadito Cantina space at 172 Avenue B. That’s just one of a few interesting morsels that have surfaced as Community Board 3 has posted the latest batch of liquor license questionnaires to its Website, ahead of a liquor licensing committee meeting next Monday.
Unlike at Mr. Boccato’s Lower East Side tiki bar, there’ll be a food at The Asphalt Jungle, as the 32-seat spot will be called. A sample menu on the questionnaire lists a “loco moco” burger, Spam masubi, and various skewers.
Also of note: first-time operator Eric Perez is bringing El Diablito Taqueria to 60 East Third Street, where Jammyland record store closed in 2008. A sign on the window says it’ll open this spring. You can find some interior shots on the taqueria’s Website.
And at 414 East Ninth Street, another first-time operator is taking over the former home of Kajitsu (now relocated to Murray Hill) and opening Cagen, where $85 and $120 tasting menus will feature Japanese dishes such as deep-fried softshell crab, sushi, grilled Wagyu beef, and the traditional porridge-like dish, zensai.
On Friday Patti Smith, a Village Hall of Famer if ever there was one, played the Dome. No, not the Superdome, silly — the VW Dome, a temporary events space that MoMA PS1 just opened in Rockaway Beach. Check out footage of her reciting “People Have the Power” and playing “My Blakean Year” and “Beneath the Southern Cross.”
Daniel MaurerNo place like Dome.
If you missed the commotion by the ocean, you’ll have another chance to catch the legendary songstress when she plays Bowery Ballroom on June 5, in honor of Federico Garcia Lorca’s birthday. Apparently, she’s a big fan of the Spanish poet and playwright: “I have always enjoyed reading him and I’ve learnt a lot about improvisation and on-scene presence, thanks to him,” she once said during a similar tribute show in Granada.
The “words and music” concert featuring Ms. Smith and friends is part of a city-wide “Lorca in NY” festival opening this Friday at the New York Public Library, with an exhibit of “Poet in New York”-era manuscripts and artifacts (full disclosure: the exhibit was co-curated by a scholar known to me as Papa, Christopher Maurer). Other events in the neighborhood include a performance of Lorca’s puppet play, “The Billy-Club Puppets,” at Clemente Soto Velez Center (every Saturday in April) and a flamenco-tinged “extravaganza” of music, theater, and spoken word at Bowery Poetry Club (April 7).
And on June 10, Paul Auster, John Giorno, Wayne Koestenbaum and other literary lions will convene at St. Mark’s Church to recite their favorite passages from “Poet in New York.” For the full lineup of events, check out the Website.
“NoHo now boasts some of the priciest residential real estate in the city and has become destination for its retail and restaurant offerings.” [Wall Street Journal]
The city Department of Consumer Affairs is investigating EMM Group, the operators of Bow and Finale, for tacking on mandatory “operation charge” to bills. [NY Post]
Straight outta Lod, Israel: a trio that’s often hailed as the first Palestinian hip-hop group will kick off a U.S. tour promoting its new album, “Dabke on the Moon,” at Drom this Sunday.
DAM was formed in 1998 by Mahmoud Jreri and brothers Suhell and Tamer Nafar. Suhell grew up loving the “fast lyrics and the beat” of hip-hop; his older brother Tamer at first hated the music but changed his mind when he heard Tupac Shakur’s “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” After they cut an album, “Stop Selling Drugs,” as The Untouchables, a classmate told them her brother wanted to meet them. They didn’t know anyone else who liked hip-hop, so they agreed. Mahmoud Jreri joined the band and DAM was born. (The name means “immortal” in Arabic and “blood” in Hebrew; Suhell takes it to signify the idea that “our blood will be eternal.”)
The project started as fun, but later Suhell realized that “the lyrics we were writing were actually protests,” he said. “We were actually fighting racism, fighting problematic circumstances without knowing that we’re fighting it.”
Take, for example, the 2001 single, “Min Irhabi” (“Who’s the terrorist?”). When Israel raided Jenin and the world stayed silent, he said, some Palestinians bombed a club in Israel in retaliation. “Then the whole world jumped and said, ‘You’re the terrorist. Why’d you do that?’ We just said, ‘Let’s just tell the world who’s the real terrorist.'”
“While we were writing to teach people, we were teaching our own selves,” Suhell said. “It was all a kind of boomerang thing. We loved that feeling and we wanted to keep fighting. And then we were so mad about what’s happening, so mad, for example, about me being beaten up from a cop, me being locked inside a police station having three cops stepping on my face. I was just so mad. That kept us moving.” Read more…
Despite the name, The Virgins aren’t newcomers to the East Village music scene. In fact, frontman Donald Cumming has lived here, on and off, for 15 years. After arriving in the neighborhood as a teenager, he partied his way into the new millennium as a muse for local renegade photographer Ryan McGinley. (A portrait of Mr. Cumming appeared in McGinley’s 2003 exhibit at the Whitney Museum.) He formed The Virgins in 2006, and his current bandmates — Xan Aird, John Eatherly and Max Kamins — all live and practice in the East Village, which might explain why their sound is reminiscent of the post-punk and new wave that coursed through the neighborhood in the ’80s.
Their sophomore album, “Strike Gently,” was just released by Cult Records, the label of fellow East Villager (and frontman of The Strokes) Julian Casablancas. The Local caught up with Mr. Cumming while he was on the road for their U.S. tour, as the band made its way to New York for an April 1 show at one of his local hangouts, Bowery Ballroom.
Q.
Why are you sticking it out in the East Village when so many people are flooding over to Brooklyn?
A.
I feel very at home here. All my friends live here. It’s close to my two favorite vegan restaurants: Angelica Kitchen and Souen. Gem Spa is right on our corner. What’s not to love? Read more…
For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Linhardt Design.
Wary Meyers
This is the first Making It we’ve done with a shopkeeper whose store has closed. Last Sunday, Lisa Linhardt shuttered her jewelry showcase at 156 First Avenue after nearly five years in the East Village. But a failed business this is not. As The Local reported, she’ll reopen the shop in a considerably larger space (14 feet wide!) at 211 Mott Street. Why’d she cross Houston Street? We spoke with the designer to find out.
Q.
So why did you leave your First Avenue location?
A.
I’m leaving to get into a large space. The new location is a boutique-lined block. As much as I loved First Avenue, it is not boutique-lined. Ninth Street is, but First Avenue just wasn’t known for fine jewelry shopping so it’s really nice for me to have that community.
Q.
How different will the rent be for you at the NoLiTa location?
A.
The rent is definitely a lot higher so I do hope it works out for me. I feel confident I won’t lose people and that I will continue to grow. I was very lucky with the First Avenue store. I had a great landlord where my rent didn’t change. They were so supportive after we first opened. After that first period where right away I did well, it was slow that summer and my landlord was very accommodating. Read more…
A man attempted to rob the Duane Reade at Broadway and West Houston Street on Tuesday, the police said.
Around 11 p.m., the man entered the store and handed the cashier a note demanding the money in the register, a police spokesperson said. The would-be robber was unarmed but “simulated” carrying a weapon. The cashier was unconvinced, however, and refused to hand over the money. “They didn’t get anything,” the spokesperson said.
The alleged robber then fled on foot. The police are currently looking for suspects.
Here’s the latest pitch to hit the Virtual Assignment Desk. A celebration of post-Soviet cinema is returning to the Ukrainian Museum and Anthology Film Archives:
The fourth annual Kinofest NYC, featuring independent film from Ukraine and the broader post-Soviet region, will take place April 4–7, 2013. This year’s festival includes ten screening sessions presenting more than thirty feature and short films by independent filmmakers from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Russia, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 12 guest filmmakers are flying in from Ukraine and Estonia to present their films.
We told you a bit about the festival last year. If you’d like to be our point person this year, volunteer to cover it via the Open Assignments page. Have a story of your own? Pitch it to us via the Virtual Assignment Desk.
The seventh Intermix store in Manhattan will open in the old Steve’s on the Bowery space at the end of April. [Racked NY]
After complications related to Hurricane Sandy, the city’s new bike share program is expected to launch in May. Here’s an interactive map of the locations in the Lower East Side. [The Lo-Down]
Adele Atelier, a “no-frills beauty parlor for men and women,” will move into the upstairs-north storefront at 96 Orchard Street. [Bowery Boogie] Read more…
Aron Kay, the Yippie “Pieman” who in the 1970s became a counterculture hero for throwing pies in the faces of political enemies like William F. Buckley, Jr. and Phyllis Schlafly, was admitted to the emergency room at Beth Israel Medical Center earlier this week, complaining of what he called “cold flashes” and severe leg pain.
The Canadian-born Mr. Kay, 63, who now lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, is currently in a ninth-floor hospital room undergoing treatment for cellulitis on his legs, a skin infection he admits is most likely related to the 366 pounds he is carrying on his 5′, 10″ frame.
“I’m a food freak. I like fried foods like French fries and hamburgers, different things,” he said during a disjointed conversation with The Local interrupted by a nurse, a physician, a chaplain and hospital staffer bringing him a modest lunch.
Wearing a voluminous hospital gown and sporting an elfin look thanks in part to a multi-colored knit cap, Mr. Kay acknowledged that shedding a hefty portion of his weight may well be the biggest battle of his life. “I’m here because I’m trying to survive,” he said of the hospital visit. “I don’t want to throw my life away. The trouble is when I try to stop, it acts up. I get frustrated because the pain doesn’t end.” That, he said, is when he resumes overeating. Read more…
If you’ve peered into the new home of Nevada Smiths lately, you’ve likely seen soccer games playing on a television inside of the darkened space. And yet the doors are still locked, with no one in sight.
After being exiled to Webster Hall in November of 2011, the soccer bar still hasn’t reopened at its new permanent home at 100 Third Avenue, but here’s some news: according to owner Patrick McCarthy, all systems are go for a reopening this weekend. At least, that’s the gooooooooooooooooooool.
We’ll have more information after we kick it with Mr. McCarthy tomorrow.
Update | 8:30 p.m. Mr. McCarthy now says it’s looking like early next week.
The moment has arrived: Wylie Dufresne will open Alder, a “modern interpretation of a traditional tavern,” on Second Avenue tonight.
Funny thing: Mr. Dufresne — who on April 9 will celebrate the 10th anniversary of WD-50, his Lower East Side temple of modernist cuisine — has set up a stone’s throw from Michael White, who’s also in the running for a James Beard Foundation Award this year (the five finalists in the Best Chef NYC category were announced earlier this month). But don’t accuse him of following Nicoletta into the nabe: the Rhode Island native (hence Narragansett on tap) lived in the East Village for 15 years and attended high school nearby, according to a press release.
“The East Village is where I cut my teeth as a kid,” Mr. Dufresne told The Times last month. “I ran around here on a skateboard.”
At Alder, WD-50’s beverage director, Kevin Denton, has concocted $12 cocktails using ingredients like pine-infused rum, grape-must molasses, smoked maple and the like. The $25-and-under menu, overseen by Mr. Dufresne along with executive chef Jon Bignelli (formerly chef de cuisine at WD-50), is no less inventive. See for yourself below.
The 56-seat spot won’t take reservations: it’s open to walk-ins Wednesday through Sunday, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Read more…
Speaking of neighborhood artifacts: you can now get your hands on copies of the underground paper that filled the void after the East Village Other stopped printing in 1972.
Marc H. Miller is selling original copies of the East Village Eye on his Website, 98Bowery.com, which chronicles life on the Bowery from 1969 to 1985 and sells art that parallels the period. Mr. Miller, an active artist during the ’80s who penned the magazine’s “Miller’s Memorabilia” column about local art and photography, is selling the copies on behalf of a former editor.
Marc H. Miller
Founder and editor Leonard Abrams published 72 issues of the alternative paper from 1979 to 1987. The mag covered the raucous art, music and street culture of the ’80s. Punk, disco, new wave and hip hop were vibrating through the neighborhood, offering up a soundtrack to the political and social movements that would ultimately shape the decade.
Each issue reflected the mood of that month, taking the pulse of the community. “Steve Hager, an editor who went on to work for High Times, wrote one of the first articles on hip-hop,” said Mr. Miller. “The Eye actually claims to be the first place that the term ‘hip-hop’ ever appeared in print.” The outlet also covered a lot of artists on the cusp of their fame, like Keith Haring, Kathy Acker, the Beastie Boys, Afrika Bambaataa, and Betsy Johnson. Read more…
After losing half of its space to a nail salon last year, SB Groupe, the advertising and design firm that runs SB D Gallery, has left its home on East Fourth Street and a barber shop is on the way.
Signs indicate the gallery has moved to 6 St. Marks Place, also the home of St. Marks Karaoke. It’s uncertain whether the new space is fully operational: it looked pretty barren when The Local stopped by (yes, that’s a bar in the photo) and owner Seolbin Park hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, a sign at 125 East Fourth Street indicates a barbershop is “coming soon.” It’s not the first time the address has housed a barber — that’s exactly what had occupied the gallery space when Ms. Park took it over in 2008.
“Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat left behind a secret trove of unseen work in his former girlfriend’s East Village apartment before he died tragically in 1988, she claims.” [NY Post]
Community Board 3 has sent out its April calendar of meetings. [CB3]
“John Penley’s campout in front of New York University’s Bobst Library may have started slowly after he launched it on March 1, but by the end of two weeks he had definitely built momentum.” [The Villager] Read more…
Faculty members discussed New York University’s plan to expand in Greenwich Village at a town hall organized by the N.Y.U. Space Priorities Working Group today. The first of three subcommittee meetings came a day after residents of Washington Square Village appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit against the university.
The city has already approved development within two superblocks, but the Working Group is seeking to “undertake a deeper comprehensive review of the academic and non-academic space needs for the community,” said Allyson Green, a faculty member of the group.
Faculty members voiced a wide range of concerns. Read more…
It’s official: ABC Animal Hospital is moving from its 14th Street location to its new home at 200 Avenue A tomorrow.
As previously reported, almost all of the buildings west of the animal hospital, between Avenues A and B, were leased for a 99-year period to a company going by the name of East Village 14 LLC.
Today, The Local spotted a note announcing that the move to Avenue A will take place tomorrow. According to the signage: “Our new space is still under construction, but our pharmacy, and store for food purchases will continue to operate in the basement of our new space. We expect to start seeing appointments as usual by April 16th.”
The animal hospital had been at 532 East 14th Street for about five of the 14-plus years it has been in the East Village. It is taking over the space at 200 Avenue A that used to house Superdive, the controversial bar that closed in 2010.
Courtesy Fales LibraryArchivist Nicholas Martin installing “Crossings: Larry Rivers & His Milieu” at Fales Library’s gallery.
Courtesy Fales Library
An East Village poet, musician, and artist considered by many to be a godfather of Pop art has returned to his alma mater: this Friday, N.Y.U.’s Fales Library will host a day-long symposium celebrating its acquisition of the Larry Rivers Papers.
Marvin Taylor, director of Fales Library, said the treasure trove of letters, manuscripts, and video is in keeping with previous additions to the Downtown Collection, including the papers of Richard Hell and the Nightclubbing archive featured weekly on The Local. The collection of over 1,000 media elements — including manuscripts of poems Rivers received from John Ashbery and Kenneth Koch, audio recordings, and reel-to-reel videos that are currently being digitized — was acquired in 2010 and, after extensive processing, will be viewable by appointment starting next week.
Among the correspondence with friends such as Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, and Maxine Groffsky are letters between Mr. Rivers and the great New York School poet, Frank O’Hara. “They collaborated on artworks, they collaborated on poetry, they were lovers,” said Nicholas Martin, the project archivist. “They had some really tumultuous times personally, and Frank O’Hara was just such a strong personality that his letters are outstanding.” Read more…
Papaya King unveiled its St. Marks storefront today, and its proprietors (papaya-tors?) say it’ll open during the last week of April.
At 1,100 square feet, this location is about three times the size of the Upper East Side original, and the extra room will be put to use: take a look at the construction shot below and imagine vintage video games (think Pac-Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders), a proper speaker system for pumping out music, and a projector displaying vintage footage of New York City.
Come early spring or late summer (depending on the State Liquor Authority), there will also be beer. (Likely just one tap, said Wayne A. Rosenbaum, director of operations.)
“What you’re going to see in this store is going to be shockingly different from all Papaya anything that’s been done in the city,” said Blake Gower, head of development, adding that the store would be all about “embracing the old but creating the 2.0.”
Don’t worry – the food program will feature the “exact same product, exact same everything,” according to Mr. Rosenbaum. And the colorful signage festooning the Upper East Side store will also hang here. But the menu will feature a debut item (“a very interesting creation that we’ve been testing for a while” winked Mr. Rosenbaum) and the décor will likely nod to neighborhood lore. Take a look inside…
51 Astor will feature a “black-and-white granite lobby anchored by a 14-foot-tall red rabbit sculpture by Jeff Koons. Three storefronts will wrap around the ground floor, one of which will house a bank, Mr. Minskoff said. A school will occupy a second-floor space. And there will be a public plaza at Astor Place and Third Avenue.” [NY Times]
The operators of the Soho House “have decided to take some more time for community outreach before moving forward with their Lower East Side expansion plan, so the liquor application has been withdrawn, for now.” [The Lo-Down]
Grant Stoddard visits Bowery Bliss, the new swingers club on the Bowery: “A half dozen more people inhabited the lounge now; the new arrivals were on the older side. We’d barely taken our seats by the fireplace when two more guys in their forties swooped in. One, Marcel, was French but lived in Boston, from whence he’d driven down to ‘party.'” [Timeout] Read more…
The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards.
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Daniel Maurer
