Walking Tour: Ridgewood

Ridgewood is perhaps a bit out of the way for the average New Yorker, but the effort to get there is well worthwhile. Historically, this is a German neighborhood but today it is as diverse as anywhere else in Queens – and is home to a major Polish enclave (mainly along Fresh Pond Road), and a smattering of former Yugoslavs, among many other groups.

The neighborhood is home to a major historic district, focused on its fantastically preserved early 20th century residential buildings. When the historic district was declared in 1983, it was the largest in the country, with nearly 3000 buildings included. Even beyond the Slavic sites here, the historic architecture makes Ridgewood a nice place to spend an afternoon.

Though there are several transportation options, Slavs of New York came from Manhattan on the L line to Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenue, and walked across Myrtle Avenue (though there is also a connection to the M line that runs straight through Ridgewood).

The Balkan presence is quickly felt on Myrtle Avenue. Walking across, you’ll first hit the Bulgarian grocery Parrot Coffee Grocery (58-22 Myrtle Avenue). Nearby is the Serbian-owned European Music & Video Store (59-13 71st Avenue), then Muncan Meat Market (60-86 Myrtle Avenue).

A bit further down, the deli Balkan Express (64-02 Myrtle Avenue), featuring a Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia flag on its awning has unfortunately closed, though the awning (and the flag) remain for now. From here, it’s a quick walk over to the next neighborhood in Queens, Glendale, home of the Serbian Club (72-65 65th Place).

An outpost of the Greenpoint-based Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union (60-95 Myrtle Avenue) on the corner with Fresh Pond Road is the gateway to a Polish enclave second only to Greenpoint itself. Walking up Fresh Pond Road, you’ll first hit Bona Restaurant (71-24 Fresh Pond Road).

The road has a string of Polish delis, too numerous to list here. They include Teddy's Market Polskie Delikatesy (71-08 Fresh Pond Road), Wawel Meats (68-33 Fresh Pond Road), Pulaski Deli (67-12 Fresh Pond Road) and Okruszek Polish Bakery (67-10 Fresh Pond Road). Just around the corner, down Putnam Road, is a Polish bookstore.

After a couple more delis, including Jantar (66-66 Fresh Pond Road) and Starowiejski (66-51 Fresh Pond Road), there are two excellent Polish restaurants: Kredens (66-36 Fresh Pond Road) and Krolewskie Jadlo (66-21 Fresh Pond Road). Either is a good place for lunch or dinner.

Further up, you’ll find many more Polish delis, as well as Video Random (66-02 Fresh Pond Road) and Aga Book Store (65-18 Fresh Pond Road).

A short walk down Linden Street from Fresh Pond Road will take you to Gottscheer Hall (657 Fairview Avenue), which is worth poking your head into. The well-preserved deco lobby is impressive, as is the beer-hall on the first floor.

Along with the early German presence came the Gottscheer Germans, a group from what is today Kočevje, in Slovenia. Very few Gottscheer Germans remain in Slovenia because of post-World War II repression of German culture in Yugoslavia, and so their presence in Ridgewood is rather unique. The Gottscheer community here has a number of institutions – most visibly Gotscheer Hall, but also a dance group, a hunting club, a women’s chorus and more.

Down Fairview, the excellent restaurant Bosna Express (7-91 Fairview Avenue) sits next door to the Albanian Café Tirana, a sight possible perhaps only in Queens. Also nearby are even more Polish delis, joined now by a few Balkan ones. Check out Old World Bakery (66-91 Forest Avenue), Europa Grocery (99 Forest Avenue), Korona Deli & Grocery (66-65 Forest Avenue), and Burek's (68-55 Forest Avenue). Also nearby is St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church (58-15 Catalpa Avenue), a German parish that now serves the Polish enclave.

And from here, you will be within striking distance of the Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenue L train.

Forum of Slavic Cultures finally online!

Founded in 1994, the Forum of Slavic Cultures has only recently debuted on the internet. The international cultural organization unites representatives from all 13 Slavic countries to join forces to promote Slavic cultures at home and abroad. The organization is based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The Forum's members are: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine, with The Czech Republic as an observer status. Attention is also paid to Slavic minorities in non-Slavic countries, including the Lusatian Sorbs in Germany.

While the Forum has a variety of projects, among the most pressing right now are those designed to highlight Slavic cultures in Brussels in honor of Slovenia's current stint as the first Slavic president of the European Union.

So far, no activities have been planned for New York, but Slavs of New York is nevertheless very proud to be among the Forum's links!

Bulgarians (and Romanians) in the 5 Boroughs

Sunday’s Travel Section of the New York Times included the article “Weekend in New York Romanian and Bulgarian Culture: Danube (Both Sides) on Hudson” featuring Bulgarian restaurants on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and in Astoria, Queens.

Seth Kugel writes that there are 22,000 Romanian (not Slavic) and 4,000 Bulgarian (Slavic) immigrants in the five boroughs. The most obvious center of Bulgarian life in the city is Mehanata, (113 Ludlow Street) well known as a bar/disco but less so for its food (which isn’t bad at all). The Times prefers the menu at Bulgara (37-10 11th Street, Long Island City) instead.

The article also points out a couple Bulgarian happenings, including the Bulgarian Film Festival at Scandinavian House (58 Park Avenue). Three screenings are left, all on Friday, 27 April:

• 7:00 p.m., Sparrows in October (Vrabci prez oktomvri, Henry Koulev, Bulgaria 2006, 100")
• 9:00 p.m., George and the Butterflies (Georgi i peperydite, Andrey Paounov, Bulgaria 2006, 56")
• 10:00 p.m., The North Side of the Sunflower (Severnata strana na slunchogleda, Ivan Mladenov, Bulgaria 2006, 51")

The Bulgarian Virtuosi will also perform at Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall (154 West 57th Street) on Sunday, 29 April at 2:00 p.m. Performers include the Bulgarian Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Stefan Linev, Music Director and Conductor, violinist David Bowlin, cellist Kalin Ivanov and clarinetist Todd Brunel. The program features three 20th and 21st century works from Bulgarian composers. Tickets are $30 and $20 for students and seniors. The Bulgarian Consulate (121 East 62nd Street) also regularly hosts free concert evenings with Bulgarian performers.

And finally, Eleanor Gilpatrick will be showing her painted landscapes of Bulgaria at the Jadite Gallery (413 West 50th. Street) starting on 1 May.

More on the Bulgarians of New York on Slavs of New York.

Photo: Bulgara, by Robert Caplin for The New York Times

BREAKING NEWS: Mehanata's BACK!

At 5:32, Slavs of New York got an email from Mehanata's owner reading:
Mehanata is now open. 113 Ludlow Street.

We'll provide more details when we get them.

Peviously on Slavs of New York: Sofia on the Hudson: The Party’s Over, Friday: Slavic Soul Party at Mehanata?, Mehanata's down but not out (yet), Mehanata to Become… Gypsying?, Mehanata’s BACK!, Save Mehanata! and Mehanata can't open...yet

Mehanata can't open...yet

The 25 July meeting of Community Board 3 saw the application for Mehanata’s new liquor license denied despite over 1750 signatures on a petition, the endorsement of over 500 local residents and numerous other shows of support. So Mehanata will not be able to reopen as planned at its new Ludlow Street location any time soon.

To get an idea of the debate over the bar’s new location, check out the comments on our 21 July post, Save Mehanata! Somehow most of the comments are negative and are against reopening the bar on Ludlow Street, but we (as East Village residents ourselves) agree with the anonymous commenter who asked why the naysayers live on the LES at all if they are bothered by the nightlife.

Save Mehanata!

Strange things have been afoot at Mehanata ever since it reopened at its new location at 113 Ludlow Street last month. Finally a clarification, but the news is not good.

Apparently, the Community Board reversed its earlier decision and denied the bar the transfer of its liquor and cabaret licenses, and Mehanata was shut down virtually as soon as it had reopened. Now, they have applied for new licenses, but after the 17 July meeting of Community Board 3, it looks like the licenses will not be approved.

Mehanata's owners explained that the decision was due to "a number of arbitrary and unsubstantiated reasons... (e.g. "the proposed use of this location as a dance space…is inconsistent with the primarily residential character of Ludlow street" at a site that has hosted a number of clubs/bars during the past many years – Seho, Lickwed, etc.)," and are now accusing the Community Board of "hidden intolerance towards New York's global thinking community as well as the immigrant circles ... colliding with the idea of bringing Gypsy Punk, Balkan, and Eastern European, Turkish music and culture to NYC."

Clearly Mehanata needs our help. The easiest thing to do is to send an email supporting Mehanata to Community Board 3 at info@cb3manhattan.org. Please include your name and address, and tell the board how much you love the bar and its mission, and that you really DO want it in the neighborhood.

You can also come check out the new digs at 113 Ludlow Street between Rivington and Delancy tonight (Friday) and Saturday from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. and sign the petition to the Community Board.

And if you're a bit more ambitious, you can also attend the next Community Board meeting, on 25 July at the Chinatown YMCA Beacon Center (inside PS 131 at 100 Hester Street between Eldridge and Forsyth). If you live in the neighborhood, your voice would be particularly helpful.

Mehanata’s BACK!

After a brief pause, Mehanata is on its way back! The fab Bulgarian bar will reopen on Friday, 9 June, at its new digs at 113 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side. And headlining the evening? Gogol Bordello!


By the way, the name-change scare is over: they’ve settled on retaining the old name, Mehanata, with the tag line “House of Gyspy.” Very nice.

Counter Culture: Feta Blizzard

We should've noted this earlier, but better late than never, right? Last weeks Village Voice featured Counter Culture: Feta Blizzard, about Bulgara (31-10 11th Street) in Long Island City, Queens.

This is one of just two Bulgarian restaurants left in the city (togeter with Tricolorii in Sunnyside), with the closure of Chinatown's Mehanata back in March.

Though Bulgara "is located in a rat's ass of a neighborhood in Long Island City," the food is deemed more than satisfactory, if the ambience is not. Be forewarned: this is no Mehanata. But if you're hankering for solid Bulgarian fare, you won't go wrong here.

(Photo: Kate Lacey for the Village Voice)

Mehanata to become...Gypsying??

So now it's official. Mehanata is closed permanently as the building gets converted into a Ramada Inn. But now the fave Bulgarian bar is promising to reopen soon at a new location on the Lower East Side - no details yet on exactly where they'll end up.

For now, Mehanata parties continue at Maia Meyhane (98 Avenue B between 6th and 7th Streets) on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. This weekend catch Zlatne Uste Brass Band with DJ Pepe and DJ Joro Boro at 10:00 p.m. on Friday and belly dancer Jeniviva with DJ Palamuth, Tossun, Mark and DJ Joro Boro on Saturday at 10:00 p.m.

And in the meantime, fans of the bar need to put on their thinking caps:

Since the name MEHANATA (‘The Tavern’ in Bulgarian) was difficult to pronounce for a big part of our international crowd, we are considering renaming it. We strongly feel that the new name should have ‘Gypsy’ as its part, since the word ‘Gypsy’ is associated with freedom, party, and great music – all of them a central part of MEHANATA’s idea – as well as contains references to the global multi-culti spirit that reflects in the international mix of crowd. For now we are considering ‘Gypsying’, ‘Gypsy Camp’, and ‘Gypsy Time’ among others, but we’d appreciate any submissions and feedback from you. Shortly we will make a form available on our website where you can vote for your favorite name, since the new place should be named by the people who go there.

Slavs of New York will let you know as soon as they put up that form. It sucks that they want to remove the Bulgarian bits from the Bulgarian bar, but we cannot stand by and let the place be named "Gypsying" or "Gypsy Time"... Better the place have a name that's difficult to pronounce than a name that's difficult to stomach.

Mehanata's down but not out (yet)

So here’s the latest: the Slavic Soul Party! gig scheduled for tonight at Mehanata has officially been moved to Maia Meyhane (98 Avenue B between 6th and 7th Streets).

The announcement came together with word that Mehanata is not actually closed for good. Yet. The Ramada is definitely on its way, so the place’s days are most unfortunately numbered.

Friday: Slavic Soul Party at Mehanata?

Monday’s post on Mehanata certainly stirred up quite a bit of interest, and a few more details have turned. First up, Gawker ran a post called Ariel Kaminer Kills the Bulgarian Bar Monday, alleging dreaded the Sports Illustrated Cover Curse is at play.

And then in Bulgarian Bar closes in yesterday’s Metro, we read that no one bothered to tell Slavic Soul Party that their gig this Friday night at Mehanata is probably not going to happen. Matt Moran told Metro, “What I know at the moment is that it’s closed now, but that they’re trying to open by this weekend.”

The latest rumour is that the bar hasn't actually been shut down yet to make way for the Ramada (though that's definitely in the cards), but that they may just have been shut down now for a fire-code violation or something relatively minor. Slavic Soul Party hasn't cancelled yet, though, so if you were planning on checking out the show, call ahead first: 212-625-0981.

Sofia on the Hudson: The Party’s Over

Just a day after the New York times included Mehanata in 36 Hours: Lower Manhattan on Friday, Slavs of New York received this email from the downtown Bulgarian bar:

As many of you may know, the building where Mehanata is located is going to become a Ramada Hotel. The construction started earlier than we expected and we have to be closed for awhile. However we joined forces with Maia Meyhane located at Avenue B and 6th Street in the East Village and the parties will be held there with the same DJs and staff for the time being. We will inform you when Mehanata reopens and keep you posted with all the developments.

So the party’s over. For now.

Be sure to check out Maia Meyhane, and you can also get a glimpse of the now-defunct favorite in the video accompanying the Times article, around 5:46 minutes into it. In Bulgarian Bar Goes Straight for the Arts & Leisure, Gawker points out that “you’ll have the rare pleasure of watching a Bulgarian Bar waitress berate a Times arts editor. Which is something all of us, every now and then, wish we had the chance to do.”

Bulgarians in New York City

New York has been home to a Bulgarian community since at least 1900, according to the Encyclopedia of New York City. The original immigrants settled in today's Alphabet City, around Avenues B and C at 3rd and 4th Streets.

The city was also home to the first Bulgarian association in the country, the Bulgarian American Mutual Aid Society, founded in 1906. Several other organizations aimed at the newly-arrived immigrants followed. Political emigration after World War Two saw the creation of a number of political groups in the city, such as the Bulgarian National Committee (1946-) and the Bulgarian National Front (1947-1968).

As the early immigrants moved up in society, they, like other immigrant groups, moved out of the Lower East Side. Many Bulgarians ended up the Tremont Avenue and Fordham Road sections of the Bronx, as well as in other parts of Manhattan and in the suburbs.

By the end of the 20th century, there were between 1500 and 2000 Bulgarians in New York, according to the Encyclopedia. Religious centers include Ss. Kirill and Methody Cathedral (552 West 50th Street) and St. Andrew in the Bronx. The Bulgarian community is connected through the weekly newspaper Nedelnik, and many congregate at the city's Bulgarian restaurants, such as Bulgara in Astoria, Tricolorii in Sunnyside and Mehanata in Manhattan.

In large part building on the popularity of Mehanata, the Bulgarian community has stumbled into the cultural spotight in recent years, helping to launch a local Balkan music scene, and a Gypsy music festival.

New York City's Balkan music scene

One of the least-expected waves to hit New York City is the current Balkan gypsy music fad, led by Gogol Bordello and its illuminated frontman Eugene Hütz.

The scene started slowly at Mehanata, on the second floor of an unassuming building on the corner of Broadway and Canal Street in Chinatown. Hütz started out there as a DJ and quickly built a following. Gogol Bordello quickly followed, forming in 2000. The band performs what it calls "punk cabaret" music, influenced by Hutsul, Ukrainian, Romanian and Gypsy music. Hütz's rise recently culminated in a starring role in the movie Everything is Illuminated.

There are easily a dozen bands in the five boroughs playing one sort of Balkan music or another. Among the current favorites are Zagnut Cirkus Orkestar, Romashka, Hungry March Band and Luminescent Orchestrii. The most established are Zlatne Uste and Slavic Soul Party!, and one old favorite we'd love to see make a comeback is Pectopah.

You can catch these bands at shows all over town, particularly at Mehanata, Hungarian House, Barbes and Maia Meyhane. Other venues that frequently feature these bands include the Knitting Factory, Nublu and Satalla.

For anyone interested in learning the traditional dances that accompany the music, there's NYC Folk Dance. Each year, they schedule two seasons of low-key dance lessons as part of their Folk Dance Fridays, Family Dance and Balkan Cafe series at Hungarian House on the Upper East Side. They also run a Wednesday night Balkan dance class in Chelsea.

The high point of the Balkan music year in the city is definitely the Golden Festival, which next takes place on 13 and 14 January 2006. In its 21st year, the annual gathering is organized by Zlatne Uste and features countless performers on multiple stages, Balkan and Middle Eastern delicacies and art vendors.

But before that comes the first New York Gypsy Festival, which opens on Saturday and runs through 6 November. The festival, like most of the bands and events, does not feature music from Slavic lands exclusively, but covers a wider cultural area that includes Romania, Turkey and the Middle East. The highlight will be an eight-hour marathon of performances on 6 November at the Roxy.

And if you can't attend any of the events, or just want a souvenier, check out the new double CD produced by Mehanata. Tracks were provided by many bands that have performed at Mehanata, including Balkan Beat Box, the Dolomites, Gogol Bordello, Guignol, the Hungry March Band, J.U.F., Luminescent Orchestrii, Romashka, Shaat’nez, Slavic Soul Party!, Yuri Yunakov and Zagnut Cirkus Orkestar.

But why the sudden craze? Inna Barmash, the singer of Romashka, told the Times of London in May that “There is something about gypsy music that people just respond to, whether it’s flamenco, Hungarian gypsy or Russian gypsy — it catches people’s souls in a very immediate way. People seem to know how to dance to it intuitively” (check out The Gypsies pitch up in the New York Times). Matt Moran of Slavic Soul Party! told the Times that he thinks part of the reason is the opening up of the Eastern Bloc and the floods of new immigrants and refugees from Eastern Europe and the Balkans. But the music and the passion behind it are the real pull - who could resist it?

Mehanata

Come before 10 p.m. and it's Manhattan's only Bulgarian restaurant...come later and it's Manhattan's only Balkan dance club!

On the web at http://mehanata.com/ and in person at 416 Broadway, New York on the corner with Canal (second floor, entrance on Broadway). Call 212 625 0981.

Mehanata has also just released a double CD featuring many of its live performers, including Balkan Beat Box, Dolomites, Gogol Bordello, Guignol, Hungry March Band, J.U.F., Luminescent Orchestrii, Romashka, Shaat’nez, Slavic Soul Party!, Yuri Yunakov and Zagnut Cirkus Orkestar. Buy it here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mehanata