Photo from May by Stacie Joy
A documentary about the closing of the longtime Two Boots Pizza outpost on Avenue A is screening again tonight (Saturday) in Tompkins Square Park.
“Tabby the Great and the Highly Unfortunate Closing of Two Boots Avenue A,” directed by Tabitha Haugen and Billy Waldman, starts at 9 p.m. at the Park’s handball courts. Admission is free, and, per the announcement, there will be cold pizza.
Haugen, who worked at Two Boots for two years, said on Instagram that the documentary started as a joke after word came that the pizzeria would be closing.
“The film was Billy’s idea,” she wrote. “Billy came in and jokingly said we should make a movie about the closing … I took it as joke for 3 seconds then realized … that could actually be really fun and challenging!”
They shot the film over three weeks, collecting interviews and B-roll, with Two Boots customers contributing music and posters.
The filmmakers attempted a screening in the handball courts last month, but technical difficulties cut the showing short.
They’re returning tonight to try again.
Two Boots closed its Avenue A and Third Street location on May 29 after nearly 40 years in business. Owner Phil Hartman has said he plans to reopen Two Boots elsewhere in the East Village.