The art of Sir Shadow and the remaining residents of the Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery

In case you didn't see this feature in the Times over the weekend... Alex Vadukul profiles the artist Sir Shadow, one of the six remaining residents of the Whitehouse, about the last of the flophouses on the Bowery.

A few passages:

As Sir Shadow hums for inspiration, his slender hand strikes a sketchpad with a silver marker and swirls deliriously, never leaving the page, as though he were signing a signature. The elegant silhouette, formed with one continuous line, depicts a saxophone player. He blurs through more: a jazz ensemble featuring trumpet and upright bass; a drummer in the flurry of a solo. His musicians are faceless abstractions.

And...

At 6-foot-4, he sleeps diagonally to fit into his windowless cubicle. Rarely without his fedora, he gets around on a red electric scooter and draws his blues and jazz musicians across the neighborhood. He calls his one-line style Flowetry, which can be found in the calendars he sells.

But his masterpiece might be the Whitehouse Hotel itself. Nearly every hallway and boarding room contains a Sir Shadow mural. Even the keys behind the reception desk are marked with his musical silhouettes.

The piece also delves into Sir Shadow's past as well as "another surreal accent" of his life — his connection to one of the most powerful real-estate families in NYC.

The Whitehouse, a four-story building erected in 1916 at 340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond, spruced itself up in 2011 to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling... while the longterm residents remained on another floor.)

However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. Those plans never materialized. The Renatus Group now owns the property. However, as the Time notes, "development has been hindered by Sir Shadow and his compatriots."

A few residents have died, and buyouts have lured away others. The men who remain in the flophouse have refused these deals. The Whitehouse Hotel’s future appears to now hinge on a grim but simple waiting game.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery is 'temporarily closing down'

The Whitehouse Hostel has closed for good on the Bowery

The Whitehouse Hostel has closed for good on the Bowery

As we first reported on Sept. 2, a sign appeared on the front door at 338-340 Bowery pointing out that the Whitehouse Hostel was no longer accepting reservations …


[EVG file photo]

Given that hotelier Sam Chang had sold the property, there was not going to be anything temporary about this closure. (Public documents point to The Renatus Group, a Greenwich, Conn.-based privately held real estate investment firm, as the new owner.)

Sure enough. The Whitehouse announced the permanent closure on Facebook back on Sept. 12. (No mention of the closure on the Whitehouse website.)



Plans were filed in April to "convert 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. The city disapproved the plans again on Sept. 9, records show.

It's not clear if the Whitehouse would be demolished for the new hotel, or if new floors would be dropped on top of the existing structure.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery is 'temporarily closing down'

People are still living in the Whitehouse Hotel, 1 of the last remaining flophouses on the Bowery

[Photo from Dec. 27]

As we first reported on Sept. 2, The Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo at 338-340 Bowery, was no longer accepting reservations.

A few days later, the Hotel's Facebook page noted: "We regret to inform everyone that Whitehouse Hotel's building has been sold and our doors have been closed as of September 4th 2014." (Don't tell this to the Whitehouse website, which still has that clip arty group of people looking happy to make a reservation here.)

In the past four months, there hasn't been much activity at the building. (However, someone remained sitting behind the check-in desk in the lobby.) Plans were filed in April to "convert 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. The city disapproved the plans again on Sept. 5, records show.

In 2011, the hostel spruced itself up to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling.)

Meanwhile, the four-story building erected in 1916 between Great Jones and Bond still served as a permanent home to a handful of low-income residents.

Apparently a few of them are still living in the building, based on this sign that appeared a few days ago on the front door...



Any construction will likely have to wait until the remaining residents have left...

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery is 'temporarily closing down'

The Whitehouse Hostel has closed for good on the Bowery

A 'boutique micro hotel' is in the works for this former Bowery flophouse

The former Whitehouse Hotel, the last flophouses on the Bowery, will see a new life as a "boutique micro hotel" for solo travelers. 

This information comes via a new listing at Meridian Retail Leasing for the space at 340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond. Here are hotel details per a PDF about the ground-floor space being pitched for retail or restaurant use: 

338-340 Bowery will undergo a full renovation repositioning itself into an 182-key modern boutique micro hotel inspired by European Luxury train sleeper cabins. The hotel will focus on creating a hub for solo travelers to connect while providing a beautiful, affordable and exceptional experience ... 

The Bowery Boutique Hotel will have a target demographic of adventurous, curious, global travelers ages 25-40 seeking a shared experience and appreciation for design and culture. The social profile will consist of design-focused and brand-aware young professionals who align their values with the NoHo culture.

The PDF includes renderings of the hotel...

And a rendering of the retail...

This 2,200-square-foot retail space has a monthly ask of $27,000.

Some recent history here: In August 2022, a "retail opportunity" banner arrived by the front door. (The Meridian signage arrived early last week.)

There is a lot of history with the Whitehouse, a four-story building that has served as a single-room occupancy hotel dating to 1899.

As we understand, a handful of residents remain here, and their presence has reportedly hindered any new building plans through the years. We hadn't heard anything about the building since late 2018, when Alex Vadukul profiled the artist Sir Shadow, who was one of the six remaining residents of the Whitehouse, in a feature at The New York Times.

As Vadukul noted: "A few residents have died, and buyouts have lured away others. The men who remain in the flophouse have refused these deals. The Whitehouse Hotel's future appears to now hinge on a grim but simple waiting game." (Sources tell us that Sir Shadow no longer lives at this address.)

Ahead of the renovations, the residents were moved to space at 338 Bowery. (We covered this here.)

The building was spruced up in 2011 to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling... while the long-term residents remained on another floor.)

However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert a 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. The Renatus Group now owns the property located in the NoHo Historic District.

At its height in 1950, the Whitehouse had 234 "cubicles" for its occupants. Take a tour of the space here.  

A 'retail opportunity' at the former Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery

An interesting development at 340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond ... a "retail opportunity" banner now hangs by the front door of the former Whitehouse Hotel, the last of the flophouses on the Bowery...

Management is offering 2,000 square feet on the ground floor, with an "optional 500 SF cafe + courtyard."

There is a lot of history with the Whitehouse, a four-story building erected in 1916 that has served as a single-room occupancy hotel. A handful of residents remain here, and their presence has reportedly hindered any new building plans. 

We hadn't heard anything about the building since late 2018, when Alex Vadukul profiled the artist Sir Shadow, one of the six remaining residents of the Whitehouse, in a feature at The New York Times.

As Vadukul noted: "A few residents have died, and buyouts have lured away others. The men who remain in the flophouse have refused these deals. The Whitehouse Hotel's future appears to now hinge on a grim but simple waiting game."

At this point, there aren't any new permits for development. So perhaps retail is the solution for now to generate revenue for the property.

Some recent history: The building was spruced up in 2011 to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling... while the long-term residents remained on another floor.)

However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. Those plans never materialized. The Renatus Group now owns the property. 

Renovations underway at the former Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery

Top photo by EVG; all others by Stacie Joy 

Renovations are underway at 338-340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond. 

In August, a "retail opportunity" banner arrived by the front door of the former Whitehouse Hotel, the last of the flophouses on the Bowery. 

Management is offering 2,000 square feet on the ground floor, with an "optional 500 SF cafe + courtyard." 

The work to create the retail space is happening. Permits show the scope of the work includes replacing windows, cleaning the brick, and repainting fire escapes, all with the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. (The building is located in the NoHo Historic District.)

There is a lot of history with the Whitehouse, a four-story building erected in 1916 that has served as a single-room occupancy hotel. A handful of residents remain here, and their presence has reportedly hindered any new building plans. 

We hadn't heard anything about the building since late 2018, when Alex Vadukul profiled the artist Sir Shadow, who was one of the six remaining residents of the Whitehouse, in a feature at The New York Times.

As Vadukul noted: "A few residents have died, and buyouts have lured away others. The men who remain in the flophouse have refused these deals. The Whitehouse Hotel's future appears to now hinge on a grim but simple waiting game." (Sources tell us that Sir Shadow no longer lives at this address.)

Ahead of the renovations, the residents were moved to space at 338 Bowery... where the tenants can access their small room via security... 

There is a shared bathroom on the floor as well.

Some recent history: The building was spruced up in 2011 to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling... while the long-term residents remained on another floor.)

However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert a 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. Those plans never materialized. The Renatus Group now owns the property.

Retail space aside, it's not immediately known what the plans are for the upper floors of the former hotel.

'Blue Bloods' turns the Whitehouse into a hotel again for a day on the Bowery

The CBS drama "Blue Bloods" is filming on the Bowery... and some faux signage arrived outside 340 Bowery for the Wyckoff Hotel (and drink Abewell soda!).

The address is the former Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo that stopped accepting reservations for back-packing thrill seekers in September 2014.

Plans were filed via Sam Chang in April 2014 to "convert 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. The city disapproved the plans again in September 2014, records show.

Meanwhile, the four-story building erected in 1916 between Great Jones and Bond still serves as a permanent home to a handful of low-income residents.

And, according to a report in the Post, current resident Roland Davis is no longer allowed to file suit against current or former owners without proper legal representation or approval from a chief judge. Davis has sued the past or current owners of the Whitehouse Hotel 23 times in seven years, losing every time, the Post notes.

Davis, an $8.32-a-night resident, would file claims in Housing Court demanding that management make repairs to his tiny windowless room, and would then refuse to let the workers in, according to court papers.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery is 'temporarily closing down'

The Whitehouse Hostel has closed for good on the Bowery

Looking at the renovated Whitehouse on the Bowery

To be honest, it has been about 18 months since we last heard anything about the Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo that was barely hanging on and retaining some of the Bowery edge of yore. In May 2010, Curbed posted a notice of a housing court hearing for the hotel's remaining permanent residents.

And the prognosis looked dire, as developer Sam Chang continued his plans to purchase the property and build a nine-story hotel on the carcass, per The Villager.

Anyway, fast forward to now. We spotted this sign adjacent to the hotel on what used to be Sir Shadow's studio...

Fitness studio for Whitehouse guests? Huh? So we went over to the Whitehouse site and found ... well, a fancy new website... that apparently isn't so new.

According to the website:

"Introducing Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York, the coolest hostel in the No-Ho District of Manhattan in New York City for students, backpackers, and travelers on a budget. Just reopened in January 2011 after over $100,000 of improvements and renovations, our hostel will prove to be second to none for your New York City experience."

The site is full of social media options (Facebook! Twitter!) ... and contests...

How did we miss all that? Hard to see sometimes under that sidewalk shed that has been up for years.

So here's what a room looks like these days... adorned with Sir Shadow's work. BoweryBoogie interviewed him about this here ... (We're waiting to here where Sir Shadow is these days.)

A single room is $30, which we understand was the going rate about 10 years ago. In any event, we don't know what happened to the former tenants... On the positive side, it's still being used as an inexpensive option for travelers with a respectful nod to the past, unlike the vile Bowery House down the way, which treats its remaining destitute residents as "an asset to the property" for the well-heeled tourists looking for an authentic skid row experience.

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

The Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo on the Bowery, has been on Deathwatch for years now. Dating back to 2008, developer Sam Chang had been trying to convert the property at 338-340 Bowery into a 9- (or 10-) floor hotel.

As The Commercial Observer reported this past Friday afternoon, Chang is now selling the property (officially called Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York) between Great Jones and Bond to an unknown buyer for $12 million.

We looked at DOB records and found that plans were filed on April 23 for a 9-floor hotel with a proposed 68 rooms. (Total cost of the project is listed at $5 million.) Michael Lisowski of Otte Architecture is the architect of record. It's not clear if the Whitehouse would be demolished for the new hotel, or if new floors would be dropped on top of the existing structure. (We're leaning toward the full demo, of course.) Sixteen Hotel LLC, the company affiliated with Chang, is still listed as the property owners on the latest permits.

According to the DOB, the city disapproved plans here for a 10-floor hotel in July 2011 with Gene Kaufman as the architect of record.

Despite a renovation to make itself more appealing to backpackers and other thrill seekers in 2011, the Whitehouse had retained some of the Bowery edge of yore. For $45, guests can stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling.

Meanwhile, it might not to be too much longer before that sidewalk bridge returns here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

The Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery is 'temporarily closing down'

[EVG file photo from June]

It looks like the end might finally be here for The Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo on the Bowery, which has been on Deathwatch for years now.

A sign on the front door at 338-340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond points out that the hotel is no longer accepting reservations after tomorrow... and that they are "'temporarily closing down" …



There's nothing on the hotel website indicating a closure (other than that when you go to book a room, there aren't any availabilities through next September).

A little recent history. The Commercial Observer reported in early May that hotelier Sam Chang had the property (officially called Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York) in contract to an unknown buyer for $12 million. (The owner's name hasn't hit public documents just yet.)

At that time, we noted that DOB records indicate new plans for a 9-floor hotel with a proposed 68 rooms. (Total cost of the project is listed at $5 million.) Michael Lisowski of Otte Architecture is the architect of record.

It's not clear if the Whitehouse would be demolished for the new hotel, or if new floors would be dropped on top of the existing structure.

According to the DOB, the city disapproved the hotel plans on June 10.

In 2011, the hostel spruced itself up to appeal to the backpacking set. (For $45, guests can stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling.)

The days of the SRO on the Bowery are winding down, of course. The owner of the Sunshine Hotel recently announced plans to downsize and convert the second and third floors of the SRO at 241 Bowery into commercial lofts. Meanwhile, the Ace Hotel is taking over the former Salvation Army-owned building at 225 Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel

Nearly 4 years later, sidewalk bridge removed from 338 Bowery

Wow. Something seems awfully strange walking on the west side of the Bowery between Bond and Great Jones... Sunlight! On the sidewalk! (Is that a song? — "Sunlight on the Sidewalk.")

The sidewalk bridge first arrived outside the Whitehouse at 338 Bowery in September 2009 for, according to permits, "emergency repairs." Nearly four years later, those emergency repairs must have finally been completed!

The sidewalk bridge even predates the Subway that opened in the former Downtown Music space next door ... the thing even prevented the Subwayers from finishing the paint job outside...



Perhaps it was the Subway manager who complained in December 2009 that he/she could not put up a business sign because of the sidewalk shed...

Not that the sidewalk bridge prevented Subway from advertising out front...




As for the Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo that was barely hanging on and retaining some of the Bowery edge of yore, it appears safe... developer Sam Chang wanted to build a nine-story hotel on the carcass ... but those plans never materialized ... and the Whitehouse hung on, and after $100,000 of glammed up improvements and renovations, reopened as the Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York in January 2011.

And now they have their sidewalk and sunshine (and rain) back.

Week in Grieview

Revisiting the summer of 2014 (Monday)

NYPD looking for this suspect in knifepoint holdup (Wednesday)

The last East Village gas station closes (Wednesday)

Local pols and residents speak out against Kushner (Friday)

First stage of portico repair and restoration complete at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery (Thursday)

Maybe Whole Foods isn't so expensive? (Thursday, 36 comments)

The Whitehouse is temporarily closing on the Bowery (Tuesday)

Out and About with the check-cashing guy (Wednesday)

Subway on First Avenue closes (Friday)

A revamped Perbacco reopens (Thursday)

Here's your new Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins combo on East 14th Street (Tuesday)

RIP The Crack™ (Thursday)

Just looking for a friend (Wednesday)

Santa Barbara Deli Superette closes for renovations (Friday)

The Albino Bowler doesn't make the moving-day cut (Tuesday)

Katz's sells its air rights (Sunday)

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: John Ellert and Sam
Occupation: Retired, director of nonprofit, Vietnam veteran.
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 9

I was born in Far Rockaway, Queens. I’m from the south shore. I started coming around here with the influx of the counter-culture influence in the mid-60s. I was hanging out down here when I got drafted and went to Vietnam. Actually my last night in New York, I spent over on St. Mark's Place at the Electric Circus – it was either the Electric Circus or the Balloon Farm.

I lived around here in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1960s, there was a mixture of people that were living here. A, B, and C – it was nothing like it is now. There were a lot of kids. There was a lot of flops, and hippie kind of culture, and there was also a Latino culture, very very strong, from the neighborhood. Sometimes [the groups] butted heads.

In the 1970s, with the influx of hard drugs it became very different. This was a very hard neighborhood. If you moved in here in the early 1970s and got a place on Avenue A or Avenue D, you might have some kid using a carjack to bring up your window guards, to keep people out. The smallest kid would come in — they might clean you out while you stepped out to go to the store. It was a tough place to live.

Then in the 1980s, I lived over on the Bowery. There were a lot of flops. There were places like the Whitehouse, the Sunshine, different places. I lived across the street from CBGBs. I’ve also been homeless down here, and now I have a co-op down here.

I’m a street guy, a blue-collar guy. I went back to school kind of late in life. I went to graduate school and then I became the director of a program in Lower Manhattan. They worked with homeless people and helping people to get back to work. I left there a couple years ago.

I was living on 73rd Street and I would come downtown once in awhile to do stuff when I wasn’t working in SoHo, but I’d come right around here and the feeling would change immediately. I said, ‘I gotta get back here.’ Just cruising around and going into different stores and noticing the restaurants and the people that I would meet. Then I got this co-op. It’s my favorite neighborhood in the world. There’s diversity, and kind of just the spirit of acceptance of all kinds of lifestyle that you don’t feel everywhere. You hear it spoken but… you know there’s music in the air down here.

I constantly question myself, you know, or the people that walk by. I just did it — a guy asked me for change, and I was listening to one of my favorite old songs and I didn’t really… I said no. But ordinarily, what’s a little change, and he deserves some acknowledgement. It’s a neighborhood that if you’re going to be part of it, be part of it. Don’t be part of some of it. Say hi to people. Acknowledge their existence. Although none of us are perfect and we don’t always do it, I think it’s important to keep questioning ourselves. I always question myself, if I’m being part of what this is about down here, or what is should be about.

I’ve been a drug addict and an alcoholic. I mean, that’s how I ended up homeless on different occasions. I’ve gone through a lot of things. I remember getting sober in 1990 and coming down here and watching punk kids drawing up needles out of the water fountains on a Sunday afternoon when people had their kids here. This was strange even for me. Even I used to hide somewhere.

What do we want this to be? New York has been deprived of its neighborhoods. Everything keeps changing and this is going to change, and what do we want it to be? It’s up to each one of us individually.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

The changes to 3 Bowery mainstays

Just adding up the changing Bowery landscape along East Third Street and East Second Street…

Workers continue jackhammering away at the Salvation Army's former East Village Residence on the Bowery at East Third Street. The site will one day yield a 13-floor, 30,000 square-foot mixed-use residential development.



---

The Whitehouse Hostel at 338-340 Bowery closed for good in early September. The building was sold. There are pending plans to build a 9-floor hotel in its place. Otherwise, there's not much activity here. There's still someone sitting behind the front desk … and the Pepsi machine remains in the lobby…



---

On Friday, workers erected the sidewalk bridge outside the former Amato Opera building at 319 Bowery just below East Second Street…



Landlord Steve Croman received DOB approval in September to convert the former theater into a commercial and residential building. Documents show that there will be one residence on each floor above the retail space. Amato Opera ended its long run on May 31, 2009.

And these are just the changes on one block. Curbed documented more of the Bowery's changing landscape back in August.

More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Last week, Curbed noted the ongoing tenant meetings at the doomed White House (or Whitehouse) on the Bowery... The four-story building erected in 1916 now serves as a hostel as well as a permanent home for a handful of low-income residents... it's destined to become a hotel...

More meeting signs are up for the remaining tenants... and if the photos weren't so blurry, you'd be able to read that the meeting includes an update on preservation efforts ...



Plus, the tenants' attorney has gotten the landlord to OK exterminating for bed bugs. How humane of the landlord. They had to get an attorney to lobby for decent living conditions?



Meanwhile, I was thinking, what if this place shutters... and the sidewalk shed eventually is taken down... How will the Subway next door advertise?

Week in Grieview

[Photo outside Gem Spa yesterday by Derek Berg]

Someone dumped motor oil in this Steve Croman-owned building (Friday)

Permits filed to demolish former 2nd Avenue BP station (Wednesday)

The Whitehouse Hostel has closed for good on the Bowery (Monday)

Activity again at the long-dormant 25 Great Jones (Friday)

Now open: Barcade on St. Mark's Place; King Bee on East Ninth Street (Thursday)

A matcha bar on East Fourth Street (Friday)

An Out and About recap (Wednesday)

Interior of 137 Avenue C is gutted (Monday)

Longtime East Village resident Jack Smead has some of his photos on display at the 11th Street Bar (Thursday)

Local pols blast 7-Eleven for blocking order to remove noisy refrigeration unit at 170 Avenue A (Tuesday) and .... 1 year later, 7-Eleven asks for more time to move noisy refrigeration units from residential windows (Wednesday)

Pricing and interior shots of the 'intimate new development' at 277 E. Seventh St. (Tuesday)

Possibly albino bank robbery suspect has been busy (Wednesday)

Checking out Centre-fuge Cycle 15 on East First Street (Monday)

Residents continue to speak out about living conditions in Jared Kushner's 170-174 E. Second St. (Wednesday)

The Yaffa mural returns to view (Tuesday)

People behind Gestations still pretending to be opening a bar for pregnant women on Avenue A (Monday)

Avenue A Classic Food opening soon on ... Avenue A (Wednesday)

Lunar eclipse! (Wednesday)

The Subway Inn has a new home (Wednesday)

Looks like The Cock won't be moving into the Idle Hands space (Wednesday)

At Empellón al Pastor, with graffiti on the outside and Charles Bukowski on the inside (Tuesday)

The Post discovers graffiti around the city (Friday)

The changing of the facade at 9 Bleecker St. (Tuesday)

And thanks to Tim Hayes at CBGB for giving 50 EVG readers tickets to the CBGB Music & Film Festival (Tuesday)

Week in Grieview

[Friday morning on 7th and A]

Ricky hopes for a reunion with Pookie (Tuesday)

Local elected officials urge Mayor de Blasio to help return the former PS 64 to the community (Wednesday)

Open Pantry announces closure on Second Avenue (Thursday)

Those "incessantly ringing" wind chimes on East Seventh Street (Friday)

Out and About with Zachary Mack (Wednesday)

NYU neighbors Just Sweet and Everything Bagels close on Third Avenue (Monday, 30 comments)

It snowed a little bit (Friday)

Mexican food spot slated for former Native Bean space on Avenue A (Tuesday)

Moonstruck Diner reopens after another revamp (Friday)

The former Back Forty space is for rent (Thursday)

Ella Lounge closes on A (Thursday)

A skylight falls from St. Brigid's (Thursday)

East Village in images, 2014 (Part 2) (Sunday)

The life aquatic on East Fifth Street (Wednesday)

Let's take a look at the New York Sports Club on Avenue A without the sidewalk bridge (Monday)

Madman Espresso coming to University Place (Monday)

Whitehouse Hotel still occupied on the Bowery (Thursday)

The Streit’s Matzo Factory is closing on the Lower East Side (Tuesday)

Video: The "Mighty Manhattan" of 1949 (Monday)

Oyster City to replace Sliders on East 11th Street (Thursday)

Dial-a-Song by They Might Be Giants returns (Monday)

… and a faraway look at the film shoot in Tompkins Square Park last Tuesday night for the Untitled Christmas Eve project starring Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie.


[Photo by @roaddoggz via Instagram]

The Bowery's last gasp fairly audible

I've been waiting to write the obituary for the White House (or Whitehouse to some), the last of the neighborhood's SROs at 338 Bowery. There's a long history at this four-story building erected in 1916 that's now serving as a hostel as well as a permanent home for a handful of low-income residents... The building’s owner, Metro Sixteen, is affiliated with the hotel developer Sam Chang. Their plans: demolish the White House and replace it with a nine-story hotel.

And this item at Curbed today makes me think the end will be here sooner rather than later:

A Curbed tipster notes, housing court hearings for remaining residents — many of whom are in pretty rough shape — are something of a regular occurrence.

Previously on EV Grieve:
White House blues

[Photo via Curbed]

The complimentary hotel bike wars, because it sounds controversial

Speaking of places to stay on the Bowery ... We keep noticing subtle changes at the newly christened Standard East Village... (Look winterizing!) The former Cooper Square Hotel now offers complimentary bikes to its guests...

[Bobby Williams]

(And you can watch a video about it here.)

Down the way, the Bowery Hotel introduced free bikes for guests in April 2009.

[Via]

Meanwhile, the Whitehouse is apparently no longer offering complimentary grocery carts...