Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Concern over the city's rezoning proposals, and 5 EV developments without affordable housing


[EVG file photo of The Nathaniel]

The de Blasio administration's rezoning proposals Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing have been making the rounds at the Community Board level.

The proposals have, to date, reportedly concerned some neighborhood politicians, housing activists and preservation groups.

Now the plans go before City Council tomorrow (Wednesday!) for final review.

Here's more on how these proposals could impact the East Village in the opinion of The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP):

Under the Mayor’s ZQA plan, in virtually the entire East Village, new market-rate developments would be allowed to grow five feet higher. While this seem like a modest amount, it’s a noticeable difference — in much of the East Village, existing buildings often average forty to fifty-five feet in height. A five foot difference is therefore significant.

The bigger change will come on East Village avenues and the blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenues. There new development will be able to grow by 25 feet or 31% over existing allowable height limits if they include 20% affordable housing – lifting height limits in these areas from 80 to 105 feet or 120 to 145 feet.

Some may say the height limit increase is worth it for the affordable housing produced. But all evidence points to the height limit increases not resulting in a single additional unit of affordable housing being built, and potentially only resulting in developments which would have been built anyway growing up to 25 feet or 31% taller.

Right now, East Village avenues and the blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenues have what is called “inclusionary zoning.” This means including 20% affordable housing in new developments is incentivized (but not required) by allowing developers to add additional market-rate square feet to help pay for the affordable housing they include. The new developments must currently abide by the existing height limits; currently about 50% of new developments in the East Village chose to include the affordable housing.

GVSHP investigated new developments in the East Village's affordable housing zones and found that at least five were approved by the city without requiring affordable housing, as DNAinfo reported.

The GVSHP identified these developments as: 84 Third Ave./138 E. 12th St. (The Nathaniel); 152-154 Second Ave.; 118 E. First St.; 438 E. 12th St.; and 67 Avenue C. (You can find a PDF of their letter revealing their findings to the city here.)

Andrew Berman, executive director of the GVSHP, told DNAinfo: "We are losing out on the affordable housing we should be getting. In return are buildings that are larger than they are supposed to be."

A Department of Buildings spokesperson told DNAinfo that they "will review each of the projects listed to ensure compliance with inclusionary housing requirements."

Reaching the top at 347 Bowery



Looks as if workers have reached the top at 347 Bowery. (We've been waiting for some kind of ceremonial flag atop the structure at East Third Street.)

By our count, that's 13 floors... (these photos are from Sunday...)





And the recap: Workers demolished the Salvation Army's former East Village Residence that was on this corner … to make way for a 13-story, 30,000 square-foot mixed-use residential development.

Per developer Urban Muse, the project will feature five 3-bedroom homes ranging from 2,100 to 4,000 square feet, two 2,000-square-foot commercial units and one 6,800-square-foot retail unit.

Annabelle Selldorf, who designed the nearby 10 Bond Street, is listed as the architect of record.

And this is the most recent building rendering that we've seen...



And a few years ago...

[EVG file photo]

Do you remember when Koi wanted to turn the space into an upscale sushi restaurant back in 2009?


Previously on EV Grieve:
The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence will be demolished on the Bowery

Looks like 347 Bowery will be home to a 13-floor mixed-use residential development

The future of 347 Bowery (sorta!) revealed

Let's take a look at 347 Bowery, now and in the future

Report: Ravi DeRossi is turning his empire meat-free, starting with Mother of Pearl on Avenue A

Ravi DeRossi has plans to make as many of his 15 bar-restaurants animal-free as possible, Eater reports.

Per Eater:

DeRossi feels strongly about the environmental impact of meat and restaurants, as well as the impact to animals, he says. Taking animal products out of his businesses is his way of helping. "If we're going to do something to help this planet, it needs to start," DeRossi tells Eater. "It needs to be me not just preaching, but me just doing it. I'm in the position to do it."

He'll start with Mother of Pearl, his tiki-Hawaiian-themed establishment on Avenue A and East Sixth Street. Starting on Sunday, MoP will unveil a new vegan menu featuring "Polynesian-inspired dishes, like coconut rolls with coconut miso butter and black lava salt; and green mango with tomato, jicama, crispy rice, and macadamia." The drink menu will also be revamped, eliminating any spirits that use animal products.

In other related news, DeRossi is expanding his vegan restaurant Avant Garden on East Seventh Street near Avenue A to Williamsburg. In addition, The Bourgeois Pig, which moved from East Seventh Street to the West Village early last year, will be converted into "a vegan wine and tapas bar called LadyBird," according to Eater.

Mother of Pearl image via

Monday, February 8, 2016

Today in pretty cool looking broken lamps on 2nd Avenue



Photo by Derek Berg...

The Honey Fitz in the works for St. Mark's Place and Avenue A



There are ambitious plans in the works to convert and combine the former Hop Devil Grill space on St. Mark's Place with the temporarily closed Nino's Pizza next door on Avenue A, according to public documents (PDF) on the CB3 website.



A team led by James Morrissey (The Late Late on East Houston) and Gerard McNamee (Webster Hall) are proposing an operation called The Honey Fitz that would offer quick-serve breakfast as well as lunch and dinner ... in addition to a bar with "upscale craft cocktails." During the week, The Honey Fitz would offer free Wi-Fi and printers for "all local creative entrepreneurs."




[Screenshots via the CB3 website]

According to the paperwork filed ahead of this month's CB3-SLA meeting on Feb. 16, The Honey Fitz is named for the yacht owned by the Kennedys.

The configuration shows two bars in the conjoined spaces ... with seating for up to 90 people. The proposal includes a plan for a sidewalk cafe with 5-7 tables for two along St. Mark's Place.


[Click to go big]

As mentioned, the plan calls for the conversion of longtime tenant Nino's pizzeria, which has been anchoring the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

Nino's had to close on Oct. 21 due to a gas leak in the building, according to a sign on the door. On Nov. 17, the pizzeria was hit with an eviction notice. Owner Nino Camaj has said that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him.

In late November, Camaj's lawyers were reportedly in discussion with landlord Citi Urban Management to dispute the rent charged for the month during which they had to close due to the gas leak. As we understand it, Camaj still has a lease on the space, and is currently in court over the matter.

You can read the comprehensive questionnaire for The Honey Fitz at the CB3 website. (Here.) The questionnaire includes several letters of no objection from nearby neighbors who said they would welcome this concept to the block.

The SLA committee meeting is Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

A for rent sign at the former Sounds space on St. Mark's Place



As you know, Sounds closed in October at 20 St. Mark's Place after 36 years selling records, tapes and CDs. The second-floor retail space had been on the market since February 2014.

We never saw any for rent signs on the space... until now...



We didn't spot the listing at the Halstead site just yet. There is a listing, which was first posted in February 2014, for the space at LoopNet ... it was updated this past Jan. 21. The asking rent is $22,000...



There was a rumor that the former Sounds was going to be fitted for an Indian restaurant. (That seems like a really expensive proposition to convert/vent this landmarked space for a restaurant...)

The historic building between Third Avenue and Second Avenue was recently sold to Klosed Properties. The building's lone business tenant, the Grassroots Tavern, has a lease for the next five years... with an option after that for renewal.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The last record store on St. Mark's Place is closing

So long Sounds

RIP Brian Fair, owner of Sounds

20 St. Mark's Place, home of the Grassroots Tavern, has been sold

Boglioli brings its Italian tailoring to 10 Bond Street



And over at 10 Bond Street (Curbed recently asked if this was the prettiest new building in New York), the coming-soon signage is up for the first commercial tenant... a retail outlet for Boglioli, which is known for the light hand it applies to traditional Italian tailoring (I cut-and-paste that)...



This looks to be the fashion brand's first dedicated U.S. outpost... joining Milan, Seoul and Tokyo.

Anyway, what were you expecting to open here at the corner of Lafayette, where the $12.5 million penthouse sold in less than two weeks, a Dollar-Plus store? (Though that idea isn't too farfetched.)

Updated

Via Racked, we learned that the first U.S. outlet of activewear line Yogasmoga is also opening here at 10 Bond.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Week in Grieview


[Photo Wednesday p.m. via the EVG Instagram]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

An 83rd birthday celebration for Ray at Ray's Candy Store (Monday)

1983 to 2016: An East Village blizzard then and now photo essay (Friday)

Douglas Steiner's church-replacing condos emerge from the pit; plus new renderings (Wednesday)

Empire Biscuit is taking a sabbatical for the month of February; will retool for the apocalypse (Monday)

Out and About with Niall Grant, owner of the Tuck Shop (Wednesday)

The Alchemist's Kitchen takes over the short-lived NatureEs space on East First Street (Monday)

With CleaNYC, Mayor de Blasio declares war on litter, graffiti (Wednesday)

Northern Spy closes for good on Feb. 17 (Thursday)

Police looking for suspect in a string of area armed robberies (Monday)

NY Village Deli reopens in new First Avenue home (Tuesday)

Blythe Anne’s (the former Lula’s Sweet Apothecary) has closed on East Sixth Street (Tuesday)

Rumors: 348 Bowery will house new food market (Monday)

Ninth Ward closes for good on Feb. 14 (Thursday)

Updated: Ballaro has closed on Second Avenue (Friday)

An incentive to spend some time on East Ninth Street this month (Friday)

Cafecito has closed on Avenue C (Monday)

Take a look at the inside of Ben Shaoul's condos at 100 Avenue A (Thursday)

332 E. Sixth St. is for sale — air rights too (Thursday)

The Subway (sandwich shop) has closed on Fourth Avenue and East 12th Street (Tuesday)

The Marshal seizes Tut on East Third Street (Monday)

The former Poppy's Gourmet Corner is for rent (Wednesday)

If you are looking for Smoke & Beer on Avenue A, then this store is for you (Tuesday)

Bago hasn't been open recently on First Avenue (Tuesday)

A look at the residences coming to Thirteen East + West on East 13th Street (Wednesday)

The Baker's Pizza signage is up on Avenue A (Monday)

Mumbles has closed on Third Avenue (Wednesday)

NYPD makes real arrest while 'Law & Order' is filming nearby on Avenue A (Tuesday)

...and as a reminder, please do not recycle your holiday trees on a bicycle...


[Photo on East 7th Street by Derek Berg]

[Updated] These are likely the last days for St. Mark's Bookshop



This past Thursday, St. Mark's Bookshop launched a cash-only, 50-percent-off-everything (except cards and consignment books) sale.

You're correct in thinking that's likely not a good sign for the rent-challenged store's future. For starters, the clerks have been telling customers that they'll only be around for "a few more days."

And Bedford + Bowery spoke with the shop's lawyer, James West, who said that the bookstore was served with a Marshal's Notice about a week ago. They reportedly owe $62,000 in back rent to the landlord, the New York City Housing Authority. And there's more.

Per B+B:

“The people they owe money to are, among others, the State – there are some taxes due – but there are some other creditors, one of them was a book distributor. That was the pressure point.”

“The State doesn’t usually play games,” West added. “That was pretty much it.”

According to New York’s Department of State, a warrant was issued on January 21, 2016 for a $34,408.76 tax lien. The only way out of a tax warrant is to pay the bill in full or file for bankruptcy. Then, as Contant explained, as a result of losing a legal dispute with the book wholesaler Baker & Taylor (which boasts the title of “world’s largest distributor of books and entertainment”) a U.S. Marshal Auction has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 10.

Still, the shop, which has been in several locations since 1977, seems to find a way to hold on. Last Wednesday, The Awl had a post titled "The Mystery Money Keeping St. Mark's Bookshop Alive." There are apparently several investors, including longtime East Village resident (since 1959) and building owner Charles FitzGerald and a man named Rafay Khalid, "who covered the bookstore’s $22,000 down payment on its lease with NYCHA," per The Awl.

What Khalid and FitzGerald propose, and what they hope the city will agree to, is a new lease, with a new company — under a new name, Khalid said repeatedly — that will pay a higher rent than it is currently paying. In return, it will forgive the back rent. FitzGerald, any investors, and a management committee will direct how to allocate any funds raised, including whatever is left of the $200,000 Khalid said he’s already raised. “I think of this as a startup,” Khalid said. “St. Mark’s 2.0.”

Meanwhile, there's the 50-percent-off sale. The store is getting picked over, as you'd expect ... last night, I noticed one copy each of Richard Hell's "Massive Pissed Love," Romy Ashby's "Stink" and Kim Gordon's "Girl in a Band," to name a few titles that I have an interest in ... and there were several copies left of the latest Maximum Rocknroll and Mojo "Punk Anniversary Special" with a CD of "15 pre-punk nuggets" (Hawkwind!)...


[Photo from last night]

St. Mark's Bookshop is at 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. They are open today (Sunday) from noon to 10 p.m.; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.

Updated 2/8

Here's more via Publishers Weekly:

Jim West, a lawyer with his own firm who has been providing pro bono legal assistance to St. Mark's, explained that New York City would probably prefer not to see the execution sale happen. The reason, West explained, is because the cost of the auction would likely be higher than the money it will bring in.

If the execution sale does not happen, West said St. Mark's could stay open until March 9, which is the date of the next hearing about the back rent.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: St. Mark's Bookshop prepping fundraiser ahead of possible move to Avenue A.

Is this the new home for the St. Mark's Bookshop?

Report: St. Mark's Bookshop signs lease for East 3rd Street space

Renovations at the future St. Mark's Bookshop on East 3rd Street

St. Mark's Bookshop seeking buyers with an ownership interest

Report: Last stand for St. Mark's Bookshop

Report: Latest woe for St. Mark's Bookshop — possible eviction

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Just picking up some breakfast before heading out to LaGuardia



Cooper Square and St. Mark's Place this morning... (and there aren't actually any docking stations at LaGuardia. Closest you'll get is 21st Street and 41st Avenue in Long Island City...)

Another smoke shop for Avenue A



Several readers have told us that a smoke shop is opening in the former D-Lish Pita space on Avenue A at East Sixth Street... we haven't been by when anyone has been working on the space... though the gate is partially open, revealing some of the items that will be for sale...





The store is next door to 99¢ Pizza, which opened in late December. As for smoke shops on Avenue A, Smoke & Beer opened between East 13th Street and East 14th Street earlier this month.

Anyway, it's nice that some new retail shops are opening ahead of the residential developments going up ... like this one... and this one.. and this one ... and this one.. and this one.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Pumpin' it up



Well, with Iggy Pop in the news of late with his Josh Homme collaboration... I went back to 1981 to dust this off from Iggy's sixth solo album, Party ("A bizarre train wreck of an album...") This is "Pumpin' for Jill."

An incentive to spend some time on East 9th Street this month



Several of the merchants on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue are having a block-wide sale this month.

Here's info that we received: "From now until Feb 29, come and take advantage of some great bargains. Each participating merchant will have their own take on the 9.99% off sale theme. Shop the block, score some fab deals, meet the neighbors, and even better, support small, local businesses."




[Images via Clayworks Pottery]

H/T EVG contributor Steven

EV Grieve Etc.: New breakfast sandwiches on Avenue A; International Clash Day all day


[Photo this a.m. in Tompkins Square Park by @emwexler]

Harry & Ida's on Avenue A unveiling breakfast sandwiches (Eater)

It's International Clash Day – listen online all day (KEXP)

East Village oral history with Robert Zerelli of Veniero’s (Off the Grid)

Landmarks rejects renovation of 348 Lafayette St. (NY Yimby)

Check out Marcia Resnick's "Punks, Poets and Provocateurs: New York City Bad Boys 1977-1982" (Howl! Happening)

Investors refinance a six-building portfolio in the East Village (The Commercial Observer)

Christo and Dora at sunset (Gog in NYC)

C.O.W. Theatre on Clinton Street is closing (The Lo-Down)

The Spanish Delancey Seventh Day Adventist Church on Forsyth Street is seeking developers to purchase air rights from the organization (Curbed)

Plan now for the Totally 80s Movie Freak Out Part 2: Electric Boogaloo (Anthology Film Archives)

Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys back open today (The New York Times)

Tom Verlaine and Vesey Street (Flaming Pablum)

The Lower East Side BID is rebranding (BoweryBoogie)

Jesse Malin's punk appreciation (CBS News)

Attacker says "fuck you yuppies" and punches man on Delancey (Dnainfo)

Diversions: 27 years of MTV's "120 Minutes" now online (The AV Club)

And from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

In the older buildings that provide more than three-quarters of the city’s one million rent-regulated apartments, whose owners are barred by law from raising rents, taxes are also due to rise. The average tax on these buildings will rise 8.5%, including an 11.3% increase for Brooklyn landlords, a Wall Street Journal analysis found.

1983 to 2016: An East Village blizzard then and now photo essay


[1st Avenue near 5th Street from 1983 by Raphael Lasar]

Two Fridays ago, we shared photos that EVG Facebook friend Raphael Lasar took of the Blizzard of 1983 (the Megalopolitan Blizzard). This storm produced some 22 inches of snow on Feb. 11-12 that year.

We posted these photos the day before the blizzard (Jonas, if you'd like) dumped nearly 27 inches here on Jan. 23.

Following this, Cassondra Bazelow, an art director who lives in the neighborhood, went out and took post-blizzard photos at the same locations that Raphael did.

Here then, one location, two blizzards, 33 years apart...


[1st Avenue near 5th Street]


[1st Avenue looking north toward 6th Street]


[1st Avenue at Sixth Street]


[1st Avenue at East 3rd Street]


[2nd Avenue between East 6th and East 7th streets]


[Astor Place]


[Astor Place]


[Astor Place and the Alamo]


[St. Mark's Place between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue]

Previously on EV Grieve:

When the Megalopolitan Blizzard hit the East Village (and NYC) in February 1983

Updated: Ballaro has closed on 2nd Avenue


[Photo from Tuesday night]

The all-day cafe at 77 Second Ave. between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street has closed.

Several readers noted that the space was dark all week... and we received confirmation of the closure yesterday.

The low-key Ballaro, which served Italian coffee and pastries during the day, and beer, wine and small plates in the evening hours, opened here in May 2009. The owners also run Cacio e Pepe and Cacio e Vino nearby.

The owners also operated a short-lived bakery on East Fifth Street that, unfortunately, only lasted just four months.

As we first reported last August, the cafe made headlines after drunken Taylor Swift fans apparently terrorized the staff by demanding they play more of the pop star's music on the house stereo. (Not really a Taylor Swift kinda place, you know?)

Ballaro wrote about the incident on Facebook:

One of the women in the group took out her phone and said that she was going to make a viral video so no one would come to Ballaro anymore. Now this, more than anything, upsets me because Ballaro is a gathering place for neighbors, friends, lovers and strangers alike. We have a community that gathers in Ballaro and we all love and support each other and welcome anyone in our restaurant and bar. To possibly lose all that because of someone’s tainted point of view on social media, would be the worst thing.


My mission is to make everyone who enters through the front door feel like they are at home, because sometimes New York hardens even the best of us and we forget the true values in life: community and peace. 


Updated:

The owners passed along this message to us:

We want thank all of our customers and staff for the support and hard work over the past 7 years. With rising cost of operating a small business in NYC and the changes in the neighborhood, we could not longer stay afloat. Feel free to drop by our other restaurant Cacio e Vino across the street from Ballaro. Thank you again to everyone who helped to make Ballaro a place that will truly be missed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Why Taylor Swift fans treated the staff like shit at Ballaro on 2nd Avenue

A look at the new building coming to the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office property


[At the former Peter Stuyvesant PO on East 14th Street]

This week, we've looked at updated renderings for three new residential developments coming to (and near!) Avenue A. There's Douglas Steiner's 82-unit building at 438 E. 12th St. ... Thirteen East + West on East 13th Street ... and Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A.

However, there's one new development that we haven't heard much about of late — an 8-story retail-residential building featuring 114 units at 438 E. 14th St., site of the now-demolished former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office just west of Avenue A.

Benenson Capital Partners, whose company has owned the site since the 1940s, is teaming with Mack Real Estate Group on the project. Here's info from the Benenson Capital website:

Benenson and the Mack Real Estate Group have formed a joint venture to develop a mixed-use residential and ground floor retail property in New York City's East Village. The 80/20 property will provide both market and affordable housing units. The property is located less than a block from the L train and within blocks of Union Square, which is one of New York's busiest subway stations. Construction is expected to begin shortly and end in late 2016 or early 2017.

The listing, which features two retail spaces, includes a rendering — the first that we've seen — of the new building... this is on the East 13th Street side looking east toward Avenue A...


[Click to go big]

The residential entrance to the building will be on East 13th Street... while access to the storefronts will be on East 14th Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

'Ramones and the Birth of Punk' coming to the Queens Museum in April


[Image via]

In case you didn't see this yesterday. As The New York Times first reported:

On April 10 the Queens Museum will present “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk,” a retrospective exhibition that will examine the group’s influence on both music and art, as part of a spate of spring programming under the museum’s new director, Laura Raicovich, that focuses on Queens as a Petri dish of global culture.

The Ramones show, organized with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where a second part of the exhibition will open on Sept. 16, will include more than 350 objects, from the band’s archives and those of Arturo Vega, who designed the band’s logo; from artists like Shepard Fairey and Yoshitomo Nara; and from Mad magazine and Punk magazine, to demonstrate, as the museum says, how the Ramones “served as both subject and inspiration for many visual artists, resulting in a large body of works.”

Here's the Museum's official news release on the exhibit.

And via "Too Tough to Die" from 1984 ...

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Double Wide



Photo of the Christodora House from Tompkins Square Park today by Grant Shaffer...

Report: Northern Spy closes for good on Feb. 17

After six years on East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, Northern Spy is calling it a day.

Grub Street has this from co-owner Chris Ronis

We've had a great run and are very proud of what we accomplished in this space in the last six years, but 2015 was a tough year and we did not manage to pull the nose up to restore the flight altitude we once enjoyed. We're hanging it up while we still have the buttons on our pants. The upshot we have about two weeks left before it's lights-out for Northern Spy, with our final service being Wednesday, February 17th.

Eater has more here.

If you want to stop by for a last meal, then don't do it this evening...

Northern Spy will be closed tonight for a private event. We apologize for the inconvenience. See you tomorrow!

A photo posted by Northern Spy (@northernspyfood) on

2nd Avenue bar Ninth Ward is closing for good on Feb. 14; building rumored to be demolished


[EVG photo from 2010]

Ninth Ward, the New Orleans-themed bar at 180 Second Ave., is closing its doors for good after service on Feb. 14.

Here is their official message via Facebook:
Five years ago on Mardi Gras the Ninth Ward bar was born. After five wonderful years we are closing our doors. Please come by in the next two weeks and raise a glass to both Mardi Gras and Ninth ward!!

We will be closing on Sunday, February 14th - Valentine's Day. "It's not you, it's me"

According to a tipster, management informed staff on Tuesday night ... the rumor is the new (as of 2014) owners of the building between East 11th Street and East 12th Street have designs on a gut renovation that will eventually yield condos.

The ownership here is also behind two other Second Avenue bars — Kingston Hall and Shoolbred's. In November, Nic Ratner and Robert Morgan got the OK from CB3 for a beer-wine license to open a cajun-style restaurant in the former 10 Degrees Bistro space on Avenue A.

The Ninth Ward, which serves Abita beer, Sazeracs, absinthe and other cocktails. opened in June 2010. The opening announcement reportedly elicited a strong reaction from Louisiana native Cajun Boy, who tweeted:

A New Orleans-themed bar in NYC called Ninth Ward has opened. Maybe I'll open a NYC-themed bar in New Orleans and call it World Trade Center

The opening was also discussed in New Orleans. Per an item in the newspaper Gambit: "As you might imagine, naming a NYC bar 'Ninth Ward' is fraught with complications, starting with the fact the Ninth Ward has never exactly been known as a hotspot for creative cocktails."

The address was, until 2010, Thai on Two.