Week in Grieview

Posts this past blizzard week included (with a sunrise photo yesterday on Seventh Street)...

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• The owners of Cafe Mogador are opening a new bar on St. Mark's Place (Feb. 24) 

• Report: Plans for a 21-story residential building filed for the former St. Emeric lot on Avenue D (Feb. 25) 

• 1 person treated for minor injuries in East 5th Street fire (Feb. 22) 

• NYPD seeks suspect in alleged assault on Sunny and Annie's employee (Feb. 22) 

• The wisteria-adorned townhouse on Stuyvesant Street is for sale again (Feb. 26) 

• Reader-submitted snow photos from the great blizzard of February 2026 (Feb. 23) 

• Tompkins Sculpture Park (Feb. 24) 

• Meanwhile, in the adult section of Tompkins Square Park (Feb. 23) 

• The morning after (and day of) the blizzard of Feb. 22-23 (Feb. 23) 

• Back to the Gap (Feb. 28)

• February in review (Feb. 28)

• A band playing New Colossus Festival: Drook (Feb. 27)

• Sliders up next at 34 St. Mark's Place (Feb. 26) 

• Signage alert: New Mott Cleaners on 1st Avenue (Feb. 26) 

• The former Housewatch space is for lease on Avenue B (Feb. 25) 

.... and during the blizzard, six NYPD officers helped a motorist get unstuck on Second Avenue... thanks to the reader for the pic...

Articles to read: The man who bet on St. Mark’s (in 1959)

The New York Times via writer Alessandra Schade takes a deep dive into Charles FitzGerald, the longtime St. Mark's Place landlord credited with helping shape the block's countercultural identity. 

FitzGerald arrived in 1959, when St. Mark's between Second and Third Avenue was largely boarded up and dirt cheap. What began as a $28-a-month studio-and-storefront deal turned into a decades-long experiment in retail, risk-taking and reinvention. 

He opened Bowl & Board in 1961, followed by a string of eclectic shops — from crushed velvet and vintage Levi's to imported goods and raccoon coats — eventually assembling multiple buildings and seven storefronts along the block. 

Over the years, as the street evolved from an immigrant enclave to a bohemian hub to a global curiosity, FitzGerald focused less on profit and more on "vibe," often subsidizing tenants he believed added to the character of St. Mark's. 

Tenants say he acts more like a curator than a conventional landlord. During the pandemic, he paused rent for some commercial tenants to help them survive. He also planted the oak trees that now line the block (the first in 1974), donated $2 million from building sales to a Maine conservancy and most recently backed Village Works, the late-night bookstore devoted to New York culture. 

Now 91, FitzGerald says he's not sentimental about the street’s changes — from the Gap's arrival in 1988 to the coming Sephora — viewing St. Mark's instead as "an evolving thing." 

Read the article here.

 

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Sunday's opening shot

Tired of shoveling on First Avenue and Sixth Street.

Probably won't need the shovels for the snow flurries today. 

Tomorrow will struggle to get above the freezing mark... but AccuWeather alleges it will be "the coldest day until next winter." Woo?

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Taking in the almost spring-like weather today in Tompkins Square Park...

6 posts from February

A mini month in review... with a Feb. 22-23 blizzard pic at 7th and B by Kyle de Vre... 

• Plans for a 21-story residential building filed for the former St. Emeric lot on Avenue D (Feb. 25)

• The owners of Cafe Mogador are opening a new bar on St. Mark's Place (Feb. 24) 

• Watching the East Village in 'Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette' (Feb. 16) 

• Sephora announces itself on the gateway to the East Village (Feb. 14) 

• End of an Avenue B era for Gruppo as it will relocate to the Bowery in March (Feb. 10)

• An immigration detention, a waiting room, a family in limbo (Feb. 9)

Back to the Gap

The arrival of signage for the incoming Sephora on the NE corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place has stirred up some déjà vu for longtime observers of the retail beat. 

When the Gap opened on the NW corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue in 1988, it felt — to some — like the corporate cavalry had arrived. That outpost eventually closed in 2001, but the memory lingers. 

And now, in a small nod to that moment in neighborhood history, someone has affixed a Gap sticker onto the new Sephora signage — just in case anyone needed a reminder. 

Oh!

The above photo is by Barry Joseph, and it was published in Ada Calhoun's book "St. Marks Is Dead."

 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• When the Gap moved into the East Village (January 2010)

Saturday's opening shot

Early morning view to the east along 14th Street. 

Enjoy the high-40s reprieve today — and keep an eye out for surprise rooftop showers as the snow starts to slide. A fresh dusting is in the forecast tomorrow, so maybe don't retire the boots just yet this season.

A band playing New Colossus Festival: Drook

The 2026 edition of the New Colossus Festival takes place in the East Village and on the LES starting this coming Tuesday. Details here. 

In recent weeks, our Fridays at 5 video clip features a band playing at the festival. (And there are more than 180 in total!) 

Today, we have the Richmond, Va.-based Drook with a sample of their electro-pop in this video for "Sprinter."

They'll be playing at Piano's next Friday at 5:15 p.m. and at Ki Smith Gallery on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Q&A with Steven Matrick, co-founder of the New Colossus Festival, taking place this week at East Village and Lower East Side music venues (Link from March 2025)

Post-blizzard snow sculptures continue to delight New Yorkers

"New Yorkers create realistic snow art after blizzard" went the headline at The Washington Post yesterday ... CBS News and others followed with similar segments on the city's perfectly packable snow and boundless creative spirit. 

And then there's this entry on the Bowery near Bond Street: a painstakingly sculpted tribute to… a giant pile of trash bags. 

The realism is uncanny.

A free film screening about saving public housing — and why it matters beyond Chelsea

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101 Avenue D is between Seventh Street and Eighth Street.

Friday's opening shots

Just wondering if there's a car under here on Seventh Street along Tompkins Square Park... at one point, it looked as if there were footprints on this snow mound...

Thursday's parting shot

A late winter night at the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

The wisteria-adorned townhouse on Stuyvesant Street is for sale again

EVG photo from 2024

The classic home at 35 Stuyvesant St. at 10th Street is back on the sales market as of this week.

The five-story townhouse is also home to the purple paradise of flowering beauty® ... the wisteria that has inspired both Instagram users and jigsaw puzzle makers over the years.

First, here are some details via the Compass listing (via the Post, who first reported this):

Bring your architect to a 32-foot-wide townhouse on the best block in the East Village.

Set within the storied Renwick Triangle, 35 Stuyvesant Street is an architecturally significant townhouse offering exceptional width and historical presence in the East Village. Built in 1861 by James Renwick, Jr., the home measures an impressive 32 feet wide and spans five stories plus an English basement and cellar. Four south-facing window bays extend across the rusticated stone and brick façade, and in the warmer months, a blooming wisteria vine cascades down the building.

Stuyvesant Street, a short, one-way road that connects Astor Place to 10th Street, is among the oldest parts of the city. While it sits at a diagonal to the city's grid, it is in fact the only street in Manhattan that runs true west to east.

Enter number 35 through either the English basement or parlor level. Myriad details convey the house's historic significance: five fireplaces and their marble mantles; intricate tin ceilings; exposed brick; decorative wood paneling. Above, an unfinished roof presents the opportunity to create a bright and impressive private outdoor space with striking views of the neighborhood...

Price: $3.895 million. (Check out photos here.)

Lee B. Anderson, called the godfather of the Gothic revival in America, was the long-time owner. He died in 2010, and his caretaker had been living there.

In 2023, the property went on sale for the first time since Anderson bought it in 1958. (Curbed had a great piece on the home here.)

The 2023 price was $4.2 million, but it's back on the market with a new broker.

Anderson won a 2003 Village Preservation Award for "nurturing his wisteria and making the Village a more beautiful place." 

Speaking of the wisteria, EVG reader Terry Howell shared this photo from 2012...

Sliders up next at 34 St. Mark’s Place

St. Mark's Burgers & Dogs has closed at 34 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when it shut for good — the quick-serve shop (which opened in December 2024) was often dark during its posted business hours.

Anyway! A new burger venture is already in the works for the space. Whits, specializing in sliders, is coming soon. 

You can follow them on Instagram for opening updates...

 

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Signage alert: New Mott Cleaners on 1st Avenue

Signage is up for New Mott Cleaners at 45 First Ave. between Second Street and Third Street. 

Once open, the business will offer cleaning-type services such as wash & fold (washing and folding?), tailoring, and dry cleaning. 

There is a New Mott Cleaners with the same phone number on Mott Street just below Houston. (We need to check to see if this will be a second outpost or a relocation.)

The First Avenue storefront was previously home to City Fun, the licensed band T-shirt shop that moved one storefront to the south last fall.

Wednesday's parting corner shot

If you've walked by the SW corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue in the past week, you likely noticed that the sidewalk work wrapped up... (which we meant to note last week — photo below from Thursday night).

Not sure exactly what the crew was doing here in recent months, other than replacing the sidewalk outside and around Poetica Coffee and Paul's... work that dragged on and made it challenging to enter the businesses. 

Backing up a bit... last July, workers demolished the building extension on the St. Mark's side. (New owners bought the three buildings on this SW corner in 2024.) 

The longtime vendors here left earlier in 2025. For decades, vendors sold items such as sunglasses, floppy hats, wigs, umbrellas, and novelty holiday merchandise from outside the corner mainstay Gem Spa. (These items are still available outside Funky Town, mid-block, and at the kiosks closer to Third Avenue.) 

Before the vendors, the wall housed a bank of payphones — a location for New York Dolls photo shoots, among other phone-related activities.

Report: Plans for a 21-story residential building filed for the former St. Emeric lot on Avenue D

EVG file photo

Reps for NYC supportive housing nonprofit Community Access have filed plans for a 21-story, 350-unit residential building at 743 E. 12th St., Crain's first reported.

In July 2024, the Archdiocese of New York sold ($35 million) the block-long property at 13th Street and Avenue D, which formerly housed the St. Emeric church and school. 

As 6sqft reported at the time: 

Under the terms of the deal, the developers would create 570 affordable housing units across the full-block site. The project calls for two towers, one measuring 240,000 square feet and the other 570,000 square feet. Up to 60% of the homes will be reserved for homeless New Yorkers.

And... 

The first phase of construction will be as-of-right and kick off in 2026; the team may pursue a rezoning for the second phase. Any change in zoning would require the project to go through the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP). 

However, as Crain's noted, it wasn't immediately clear whether this residential project along 12th Street and 13th Street on Avenue D will also offer affordable housing.

The now-deconsecrated church, founded in 1949, merged with St. Brigid on Avenue B in early 2013. The site adjacent to the Con Ed power plant includes a former school building, greenhouse, and large parking lot. 

Community Access, founded in 1974, also operates a 45-unit building for formerly homeless individuals several blocks away on Avenue D.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• The former St. Emeric property could yield a 570-unit affordable housing complex on Avenue D

Keith Haring exhibition opens March 11 at the Brant Foundation on 6th Street

As previously reported, the Brant Foundation opens its new exhibition dedicated to Keith Haring on March 11. 

The show focuses on Haring's formative years from 1980 to 1983, tracing his rise from subway drawings in New York City to wider recognition in the art world. 

Tickets are now available through May 31. Details here. Tix are $20, though $15 for East Village residents. (Kids 12 and under are free.)

The Brant Foundation is at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The Brant Foundation started showing exhibits here in the spring of 2019, with a show featuring art by Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

Peter Brant bought the building — a former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio — for $27 million in August 2014.

The former Housewatch space is for lease on Avenue B

Photo last week by Stacie Joy 

A for-lease sign is up at 50 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street. 

The previous tenant, Housewatch, quietly closed earlier this year after nearly 18 months in business. 

This is a large space that has been many different things over the years (Joey Bats Café, Gama Lounge, Lovecraft, Affaire Bistro and Lounge, China 1), with a lower level and access on both Avenue B and Fourth Street. 

There are also rumors of a new suitor for the Avenue B space.

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Sparkle meets slush on Second Avenue