Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The latest A Building amenity: sidewalk shed

Over at the A Building on 13th Street, workers are currently erecting a sidewalk shed outside the world-famous, pool-party palace...





There's doesn't appear to be anything on file with the DOB that might explain the need for the sidewalk shed... However, there are a handful of recent complaints on file with the DOB:

FAILURE TO MAINTAIN BALCONIES THROUGH-OUT BUILDING

And!

FACADE - DEFECTIVE/CRACKING

Perhaps workers are ready to fix some of the "massive" problems found at the building, as The Real Deal reported earlier this year... Per The Real Deal's Sarah Ryley:

Beneath the two-year-old building's reputation for hosting raucous rooftop pool parties lies a reality worse than the most killer hangover -- flooding, crumbling balconies, alleged mismanagement of the condo board's funds and two unresponsive developers who have left owners banging their heads against mold-ridden walls, claim several residents who forwarded dozens of documents detailing these issues to The Real Deal.

Dance Tracks sign turns green

Back in March, the Monk Thrift shop relocated to the long-dormant Dance Tracks space on Third Street near First Avenue.



And we asked: Wonder if Monk will keep the Dance Tracks sign?

Well, no, the new owner said...

Anyway, as EV Grieve reader Steph has noted in the photo below, the Dance Tracks sign has now been painted over...

Village Fabrics says goodbye; Something Sweet closes for the holiday

As we've been reporting... Village Fabrics on First Avenue at 11th Street is closing...

I thought today was their last day...but that's not the case...



...workers inside were cleaning out the place... some friends stopped in to collect shelves and other items...



Meanwhile, across First Avenue ...I site that gave me the fear....



But Something Sweet is just closed for the holiday weekend...

Liquor license blockbusters for September: And how do we interpret that Blarney Cove application?

The CB3/SLA agenda is out now for Sept. 20, and there are many, many items of interest... well, to me anyway.



Here's a look at some of the items:

Applications within Resolution Areas
• Table 12 (188 Ave A Take Out Food Corp), 188 Ave A (wb)
• Totale Pizza, 36 St Marks Pl (wb)
• Corp to be Formed, 150 E 2nd St (wb) (aka: 24 Ave A)
150 Second St. is Nicky's address... which must mean those rumors of Nicky's leaving are true...

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades
• One & One (12 1st Ave Restaurant Corp), 12 1st Ave (alt/op/convert basement service bar to standup bar)
• Justified LLC, 102 1st Ave (alt/op/extend to backyard)
The good people at the International are taking over the former Lilly Coogan's space here...

• Corp to be Formed, 14 Ave B (trans/op) (Butterfly Butterfly)
This is that ginormous space on Second Street and Avenue B ...

• Max (Luigi Iasilli), 235 E 4th St (trans/op) (Tonda)
So! Luigi Iasilli who runs Max around the corner on Avenue B, is taking over the rather doomed location here that was once EU....

New Liquor License Applications
• Wackywok (Panasia Kitchen Ltd), 129 Ave D (wb)
• Thai Playground LLC, 99 3rd Ave (wb)
The former Hea space looks to become another Thai joint

• Porchetta LLC, 110 E 7th St (wb)
• Prime & Beyond NY Inc, 90 E 10th St (wb) (Danal)
Hmm... must do some digging on this... Danal moved to Fifth Avenue... the space here is below the 123 Third Avenue Sales Office!

• Blarney Cove (510 E 14th Pub Inc), 510 E 14th St (op)
Uh-oh... Uh-oh.... What's all this? NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!

Related reading:
Eater has coverage of the CB3 docket too.

Doom and doomer: More of Cooper Square primed for development




As you can see, a brand-new "For Sale" sign has been hoisted up on the empty lot at Sixth Street and Cooper Square.... the sign just went up, and there's no listing for it just yet at the Massey Knakal site. Add this to the "doomed corners" list.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your guide to the doomed corners of the Bowery

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition



Will New Yorkers stand in line to get Jonathan Franzen's new novel? (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

A Photographic History of 'Hipsters' on MTV (Runnin' Scared)

123 Third Avenue hits the market! (Curbed)

Crazy photo shoot for the Crazy Landlord wall (GammaBlog)

Love for the Ukrainian National Home (Eater)

Keith Haring for David Dinkins in 1989 (Ephemeral New York)

Extraneous Twist tags removed (BoweryBoogie)

And a photo shoot of some sort late yesterday afternoon along Avenue B... hmm, white socks, brown loafer-looking things... white T-shirt, a waistcoat... maybe a catalog for German tourists?


Creating the Barry McGee wall a lot more awesome than we originally thought

So.. as we noted yesterday, Barry McGee (TWIST) and his team put up new work on the Deitch Wall on Houston and The Bowery....

Well! Late last night, we heard from The Art Collectors... and they have a full-on narrative of work on the corner... "which ended in a collision, flipped SUV, near arrests, and booty shaking girls."

Indeed! Check out some photos... and you can read the whole shebang at The Art Collectors.....






(All image © Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)

Revisiting the "Intimate" Sculpture for Living

News of the new 13-story office building coming some day to 51 Astor Place prompted some discussion of that other swanko building on the block — Sculpture for Living at 445 Lafayette.

I came across an ad from 2005 for the place...



Per Tropolism:

Renee Turman, Interior Designer, comments on the latest advertisement for Sculpture for Living, showing a rendering of unit 16A:

"First of all, they're open to the wide city stark naked, they have one little blanket over them, no rug under the bed, no curtains. Basically, it's an apartment before someone moves in, except they put a bed in there, with people who own no furniture and no drapery. That's just about as opposite as you can get from 'intimate'"

We would like to add that they appear to be shivering from fright. Is it the sight of the bad sealant job on the stock-shaped aluminum curtain wall, or the fact that the view, while fantastic, is utterly interfered with by the clunky segmentation of the "sculptural" shape (the master at work: another S-curve!) and the fact that their room cannot be furnished by anything except a tripod. And perhaps it's just me, but the telescope appears to be pointed inside the apartment, with the viewfinder located near the window.


Heh. Anyway, speaking of penthouses, one remains (427 days on Streeteasy!) on the market here for $12.75 million... check it out....

Says the listing: "The most exhilarating 360 degree views in town!!! This astonishing duplex penthouse has 232 linear feet of continuous floor-to-ceiling glass walls with unparalleled views of Manhattan!"





Looking for AssCastles of the East Village

Something about this ad for Sculpture for Living on Astor Place reminded me of actress-comedian Diane Farr's search for "AssCastles" ... (It's on Funny or Die)



According to her, an AssCastle is "any home with three or more bedrooms that a man resides in without a wife or children and maintains for the sole purpose of 'pulling down ass.'"

(I think she still lives or lived — in the East Village) ... Since I read about it... I wondered where the AssCastles of the East Village might be... could be anywhere, but...some contenders might include big homes in ...




One business that's happy to see the reduced parking on First Avenue

The owners of the parking garage on 11th Street.... as EV Grieve reader Blue Glass points out, workers have been standing on 11th Street and First Avenue enticing car-driving shoppers with signs...


Memories of Marion's on the Bowery

On the Bowery, the beloved old Marion's...



... is now Hecho en Dumbo ... although Marion's has been closed for more than two years... the Marion's Mobile lives on...


East Village Eatery etc.: Charging a Quarter Pounder; remembering 'Killer Queen'; wondering about Red Mango

Never noticed this ad on 14th Street near First Avenue by the McDonald's...



The front of Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar on Second Avenue is getting a makeover...



Saluting the genius of Freddie Mercury on the Mud board on Ninth Street...



Red Mango closed on St. Mark's, as East Village Feed reported....And I noticed the Red Mango signage had been removed over the weekend...



But check out the paper on the door that appeared yesterday .... "Under Renovation" with an open date listed as Friday.... Hmmm...



And, for no reason, the dress code at Horus Cafe on Avenue B at Sixth Street...



...the final countdown at Billy Hurricane's on Avenue B...



Whoa. Did I just write the Final Countdown?! Hell, yeah. Rock!




And noted.... the "closed for" part fell off at Rhong Tiam...

Monday, August 30, 2010

Parting shots for Shepard Fairey on the Deitch Wall



Last night, while Twist and crew were working on the new mural on Houston and the Bowery... several images appeared on the wall.... like the one above... Via the Flickr page of *niCOle* ... you'll find some other messages from last night there... (Thanks to EV Grieve reader T.E.V.B. for the link...)

Crucial corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place now up for grabs, apparently

On May 4, 1988, the Gap opened shop on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, paying a tidy little $33,000 in rent per month... the store closed in 2001... I can't remember what came next... but in recent years the corner has been home to Pizzanini... As East Village Feed reported, they've been closed since Friday... with paper up on the glass...



Can't be easy to make it work with high rents here... and given the $1 competition at 2 Bros...

Anyway, change is certainly coming to the corner... You have the Theatre Condos upstairs.... with the new gaming shop upstairs... Work is under way on the former Andy's Chee Pees location... A worker on the scene said it would be "another store." Hmmm....



Previously on EV Grieve:
Hello again: Revisiting the past of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue

When the Gap moved into the East Village

For further reading:
St. Marks Cinema and Theatre Condos both via Jeremiah's Vanishing NY.

Deitch Wall now with a TWIST

As we noted last Thursday, the Deitch Wall on Houston and The Bowery would soon be home to work by Barry McGee (aka Twist)... As Animal New York reports (via BoweryBoogie), Twist and company began tagging the wall after midnight...

Here it is now...




Per Animal:

"TWIST and company finished the mural that is likely to breed outrage, anarchy and cliché news narratives questioning whether graffiti is art."

Their headline: "Twist's Completed Masterpiece."

Agreed!

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition



Everything that you need to know about the upcoming Howl Festival (East Village Howler)

An EV Grieve reader launches a new blog — check it out (Map of the Sidewalk)

Did Shaoul build another too-tall building in the East Village? (The Real Deal)

Chico's John Lennon mural painted over on Avenue B (BoweryBoogie)

Interesting — the Angelika Film Center has closed in Houston, Texas (29 95)

Exploring the former Novelty District (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Charlie Parker Festival organizers didn't allow photographers/residents to take photos upfront (East Village Corner - Melanie)

Photos from Saturday's free show in TSP (Slum Goddess)

Mafia Wars cleans up its money litter (East Village Feed)

And a reader sent along a photo of a rooftop videogame party or something on Avenue A from Saturday night...