Now Now NoHo set to debut its micro hotel rooms in April on the Bowery

Top EVG photo from Saturday

Room photos via Dovetail + Co

Now Now NoHo, a micro boutique hotel for solo travelers, is set to open this spring at 340 Bowery. 

According to the Now Now website, rooms will be available starting on April 1. (No April Fool's!) 

Details via Hospitality Net: 

Envisioned as a transformative boutique experience for solo travelers, Now Now NoHo offers 180 small but thoughtfully designed sleeper cabins that combine the nostalgia of European train cars with the ingenuity of Japanese capsule hotels. The hotel is designed for adventurers seeking a unique and affordable way to explore New York City ...

The "Cozy Sleeper Cabin" basic room starts at $118.15 per night. The description: 

27.7ft² • Room Safe • Luxury linen type • Bathrobes Provided • 24hr Security • Wireless Internet • Air conditioned A cozy, sumptuous sleeper cabin with space to recharge on a plush WRIGHT single mattress outfitted with luxurious Garnier-Thiebaut linens. Your shared, but private, bathroom is only steps away, stocked with Grown Alchemist products. All rooms include a curated sleep kit and a luxe Brooklinen bathrobe.

The Sleeper Cabins are also available for women, and there are options for ADA-complaint rooms.

Guests can also choose the Now Now or Never Cabin, which is two times larger and costs $135 a night. This room includes "an up-close and personal look at our rotating in-room gallery walls."

This is the seventh hotel created by Dovetail + Co, "a boutique collective of design-obsessed hotel nerds." They also have properties in Hawaii and Newport, R.I. New York-based Islyn Studio is behind the Now Now NoHo design, "inspired by the vivid world of dreams, with interiors that blur the line between reality and possibility," as Hospitality Net reported. 

The Whitehouse, a four-story building that has been a single-room hotel since 1899, has a long history. A handful of long-term residents remained, and their presence had reportedly hindered any previous new building plans over the years. 

In late 2018, 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.) 

Before 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 backpackers. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room with walls that didn't reach the ceiling while the long-term residents remained on another floor.) 

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

At its height in 1950, the Whitehouse had 234 "cubicles" for its occupants. You can tour the space here.

Terra Thai is closing this month for a revamp with a March return

Terra Thai closed after service last night for a month-long revamp. 

Owners Karuna Wiwattanakantang and Norawat Margsiri emailed us with the news about the restaurant at 518 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

"We plan to reorganize the store to make it fit for the current economic situation," they said. "We'll be back in March at the same location and look forward to serving you and the community again." 

The owners previously operated Terra Thai in Boulder, Colo., for six years before deciding to move to NYC and signing a lease — weeks before the pandemic PAUSE of March 2020.

They could offer a more limited menu of Bangkok-style street food starting in May 2020. Since then, they've expanded the menu (our go-to is basil tofu over rice or the sen yai drunken noodles). 

With lush plants, a working turntable, and rows of LPs, dining at one of the two tables feels like enjoying a meal at a friend’s home. 

Highly recommended if you haven't tried it. Mark it in your calendar for March.

The former Brick Lane Curry House space is for rent on 2nd Avenue

If Brick Lane Curry House is opening a new concept, it won't be from its former outpost at 79 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

The modestly priced British-style curry spot shuttered in December. In a closing announcement on Instagram, ownership wrote, "Stay tuned for Brick Lane 2.0. A new chapter is coming, and we can't wait." 

There's now a for-rent sign on the storefront. We contacted Brick Curry to see if they are opening at another location in the neighborhood. We'll update this post if they respond.

Brick Lane has operated for 23 years from several East Village storefronts, including 308 E. Sixth St. and 99 Second Ave. 

You'll need to go to Jersey City for the Brick House heat.

Signage alert: Kobano on the Bowery

Signage is up now for Kobano at 299 Bowery between Houston and First Street.

The Japanese-Brazilian restaurant is set to debut on Feb. 13, per an Instagram announcement. 

As previously reported, the owners of Íxta, which served southern Mexican and Oaxacan dishes, decided to revamp the space after two-plus years in service. 

You can find the Kobano website here.

Week in Grieview

Photos this past week include (with a photo from Sixth Street) ... 

• D.A. Bragg announces sentencing of shooter in gang-related murder on 3rd Street and Avenue D (Monday) 

• The former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center has a new project name (Tuesday)

• The building that houses East Village institution John's of 12th Street is for sale (Wednesday) 

• Where does the East Village rate in the list of NYC's noisiest neighborhoods? (Friday) 

• The incoming Whole Foods Market Daily Shop shapes up in StuyTown (Thursday) 

• Pink Olive is returning to the East Village (Wednesday) 

• A moment with Marianne Faithfull on St. Mark's Place in 1992 (Friday) 

• Anthology Film Archives hosting an epic Willem Dafoe movie series (Saturday) ... Films we want to see: 'Peter Hujar's Day' (Tuesday) 

• Soda Club is moving from Avenue B to Avenue A (Thursday)

• Signage alert: Win Son Bakery on 2nd Avenue (Friday) 

• Some Downtown Funk and Junk coming to 9th Street (Thursday) 

• The T Mobile shop that always looked closed on 14th Street and 1st Avenue has closed (Thursday) 

• Madonna endorses Baz Luhrmann's new East Village bar Monsieur on 4th Street (Monday)

• After 10 years on 1st Avenue, SenYa has closed (Friday) 

• Schmackary’s coming back (Monday) 

• Together again at Katz's, now with mayo (Wednesday) 

... and we had queries about velvet rope and disco balls at La La Laundry on Avenue B and 11th Street on Thursday evening (thanks to the reader for the photo!)...

It was a launch party for Hampton Water Bubbly, from Hampton Water Wine Co., in partnership with Gérard Bertrand, Jon Bon Jovi, and his son Jesse Bongiovi. And Jon and Jesse were at the party.

Report of a fatal fire at 65 2nd Ave. between 3rd Street and 4th Street

Top photo via a reader; other photos by Steven 

A fire broke out this morning around 10:30 on the second floor of 65 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street. There is an unconfirmed report that a resident died from the fire in the six-story building on the west side of the avenue.

The Citizen app reports the fatality as well as two minor injuries. Updated: FDNY sources confirmed the death of a 75-year-old man inside the building, per the Daily News.

According to witnesses, the FDNY responded quickly and had the fire under control before 11 a.m.

As of noon, Second Avenue is closed at Fourth Street.

Updated:

Residents were able to return to the building around 3 p.m.

We'll update the story when more information becomes available. 

Updated 7:45 p.m. 

Here's a look at the building this evening... the fire started in the second-floor unit above the now-closed former home of Double Zero in the north storefront...

EVG Etc.: Street vendors fear deporation; Con Ed considers double-digit rate hikes

Sunrise from 3rd Street 

Local stories of interest from other sources this past week include... 

• The Trump administration's move to re-examine federal funding could have a significant impact on NYC's public housing (The City) 

• Trump threatens to kill congestion pricing (City & State) ... though he'd need to break the law to do so (Streetsblog) 

• Cart vendors worry about being a target in ICE sweeps (Eater ... CBS News) ... What mass deportations would do to NYC's economy (The New York Times) 

• Con Ed is looking to increase customers' electric bills by an average of 11.4% and gas bills by 13.3% starting on Jan. 1, 2026 (Gothamist) 

• Cops searching for suspect who smashed man's face with a glass outside Phebe's on Fourth Street and the Bowery (amNY) 

• A visit to City Lore on First Street — "A hidden New York gem curates culture that might otherwise be lost" (ABC 7) 

• Hawk season 2025 is in full swing (Laura Goggin Photography) 

• Honoring Flaco Eurasian eagle-owl with a new book and exhibit (West Side Rag ... previously on EVG)

• And a diversion from The Hollywood Reporter's cover story on "Babygirl"'s Harris Dickinson, an East London native, who stayed here during the filming: 

He lived in the East Village, right on Houston Street, and though he took constant advantage of the proximity to Katz's Deli (and its world-famous Reuben), he couldn't handle the neighborhood's frenetic energy. "People were accidentally ringing my buzzer at night, and I was in a constant state of stress," he says. "My cortisol was so high that I felt like I was going to explode." 

"Babygirl" screens locally at Village East by Angelika, Regal Union Square and Regal Essex Crossing.

Friday night lights

We've heard reports of a Mustang adorned with Christmas lights in the neighborhood. 

We finally got a nighttime shot from an EVG reader (thank you!). showing the car Friday evening on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

This makes us nostalgic for the "In the Air Tonight" car!

Sunday's opening shot

The Blue Man Group's final NYC performances are at the Astor Place Theatre today. (Tix on StubHub were $550 each for the 2 p.m. show and $279 for the 5 p.m. set.) It will conclude a 34-year run with 17,800 shows and 82,150 gallons of paint. 

We never saw the show (and we didn't do a last-week visit like with "Stomp"). 

But there are still chances! Productions of Blue Man Group will continue in Berlin, Boston, Las Vegas and Orlando. 

In 1987, a trio of Lower East Side artists — Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink — started what would "arguably become the most financially lucrative performance art troupe in the world." Cirque du Soleil bought the show in 2017. 

Before taking up residency on Astor Place on Nov. 17, 1991, the group played out and about at various local venues, including King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Avenue A at Seventh Street (where Niagara is now).

Saturday's parting shot

Happy 26th anniversary to Lavagna, an EVG favorite East Village restaurant at 545 E. Fifth St., just west of Avenue B. 

Visit the Tuscan restaurant from 5 to 10 p.m. daily, with a 1 p.m. start on Saturdays and Sundays.

Hellmouth strikes again

 

EVG reader TechSquared shared this quick clip from last night on Avenue C between Second Street and Third Street... we always enjoy a bubbling hole in the street!

Speaking of Avenue C, did anyone catch this geyser during the middle of last month between Seventh Street and Eighth Street...?

 

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Anthology Film Archives hosting an epic Willem Dafoe movie series

The Anthology Film Archives is paying tribute to the always-seems-to-be-working Willem Dafoe. 

The actor has worked with directors such as Abel Ferrara, Martin Scorsese, Kathryn Bigelow, David Lynch, Paul Schrader, Lars von Trier, John Waters, Wim Wenders, David Cronenberg, Sam Raimi, Wes Anderson, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog, and Sean Baker, among many others. 

The expansive "Wild at Heart: Willem Dafoe" series will feature several of these collaborations. The series runs from Feb. 7 to 26, and Dafoe will appear for a Q&A following a few screenings. (And both "Wild at Heart" screenings are already sold out.)

 More details and ticket info here. The Anthology is on Second Avenue and Second Street. 

Dafoe lived for a time in the East Village after moving to NYC in the 1970s.

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Saturday's opening shot

Early morning view from 14th Street and Avenue A... the photogenic clouds will allegedly give way to sunny skies later today, per the Weather Channel.

Friday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Happy 10th anniversary to C&B Café owner Ali Sahin and his team at 178 E. Seventh St., between Avenue A and Avenue B.

C&B opened in January 2015, and they've been great neighbors ever since. They sponsored the tree lighting in Tompkins Square Park, provided kitchen space to the volunteers who went on to form EVLovesNY, fed unhoused neighbors, provided Thanksgiving meals at Graffiti Church, refilled the community fridge, and taught kids from the Amsterdam School how to make cookies for free. The list goes on.

'Kiss' them for me

 

Over the next few weeks, we'll highlight indie acts performing at this year's New Colossus Festival, which will take place in East Village and LES venues from March 4 to 9. 

Here's dark-wave Canadian artist Frankie Flowers with "Kiss Me Like the World Is Ending." 

Find Festival info here.

6 posts from January 2025

Photo on 2nd Avenue by Asha Schechter 

A mini month in review... 

• Taking a look at the all-new Baker Falls, now in soft-open mode on the Lower East Side (Jan. 22) 

• A visit with Anne DeVita (Jan. 22) 

• Why School for the Dogs abruptly closed in the East Village (Jan. 7)

• Reader report: Car crashes into Blink Fitness on Avenue A; driver flees (Jan. 6) 

• Tompkins Square Park upgrades: When will the field house and restrooms reopen? (Jan. 6) 

• When we found out about a mysterious early-morning transport on 2nd Avenue (Jan. 3)

A moment with Marianne Faithfull on St. Mark's Place in 1992

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Marianne Faithfull with her longtime accompanist Barry Reynolds at Sin-é, the legendary music cafe at 122 St Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue in June 1992. Photo by Allen Ginsberg. 

Faithfull died yesterday. She was 78.

Where does the East Village rate in the list of NYC's noisiest neighborhoods?

We're No. 7! We're No. 7! 

The New York Times did a deep dive on a favorite topic: Noise. 

Here's what a search of the city's 311 logs revealed:

Using 311, New Yorkers can file noise complaints and report violations of the noise code to the appropriate agencies. (Categories include loud neighbors, construction noise, street music, and “aircraft and boats.”) The 311 logs are publicly available via NYC Open Data and include location information, allowing us to determine which of New York City’s 59 community districts were the noisiest last year. In 2024, New Yorkers called in a total of 753,222 noise complaints. 

Incredibly, almost 10 percent of them came from residents of Bronx Community District 12, which encompasses several neighborhoods including Williamsbridge and Baychester.

Manhattan District 3, which includes the East Village, Lower East Side, Chinatown and Two Bridges, finished a distant seventh with 19,588 noise complaints via 311 last year.

Read the full piece at the Times here. 

This is a good time to revisit this June 2024 EVG post: What's the 311? How East Village residents can effectively file complaints.

Signage alert: Win Son Bakery on 2nd Avenue

Signage is up for Win Son Bakery at 23 Second Ave. between First Street and Second Street. (Thanks to the EVG reader for the pic!)

It has been almost a year since we first mentioned that the popular Taiwanese-American Win Son Bakery in East Williamsburg would open a place in this neighborhood. 

Like the Brooklyn outpost, the EV location will serve as a café, bakery and restaurant. 

The bakery opened in September 2019 at 164 Graham Ave. at Montrose Avenue, several years after the Win Son restaurant debuted. Many of its goods have been celebrated, like the mochi millet doughnuts. The New Yorker once called its Mortadella Pancake a perfect breakfast sandwich. You can check out the Win Son Bakery menu here. 

No word about an opening just yet. 

The previous tenant, the dance studio Exile Professional Gym (EXPG), never reopened after the March 2020 PAUSE.

After 10 years on 1st Avenue, SenYa has closed

Photos by Steven 

A pizzeria is taking over the SenYa space at 109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

There's now a rather generic-looking sign up on the gate of the former Japanese restaurant with the coming-soon info. 

SenYa debuted here in the spring of 2015. 

On the topic of pizza... a few blocks to the south between Third and Fourth, we have a cheap-slice switcheroo, with Basilic Pizzeria taking over for the short-lived Halal Bites Pizza...

Thursday's parting shot

An EV resident shared this photo today... when a juvenile red-tailed hawk paid a visit and got the cat's attention. 

H/T Steven!

The incoming Whole Foods Market Daily Shop shapes up in StuyTown

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The transformation of the former Associated continues at 409 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Workers told us progress is "going quickly" and the "next stage" should begin soon. (We don't know exactly what the next stage might entail.) 

As previously reported, Whole Foods Market is opening a smaller-format store, Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, in this space...

Last Fall, Beam Living shared the following email with StuyTown residents about what to expect: 

This store will be one of the first locations of the new Whole Foods Market Daily Shop — a recently announced quick-shop concept from the grocer. Whole Foods Market StuyTown will provide a convenient option for grab-and-go meals and snacks, weekly essentials, and the wide range of fresh, seasonal produce that Whole Foods Market is known and loved for. This location will also feature Juice & Java, which provides coffee, tea, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, soups, and desserts. 

You can read this EVG post for more details. NYC's first Whole Foods Market Daily Shop opened at 1175 Third Ave. on the UES last fall. 

Associated closed here in December 2019. Joseph Falzon, the store's owner, previously said that a confluence of factors had cut business nearly in half. For starters, construction on 14th Street for the L train obscured the supermarket with a 12-foot fence for nearly two years.

Soda Club is moving from Avenue B to Avenue A

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Soda Club is moving from 155 Avenue B near 10th Street to 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street. 

The Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded vegan wine and pasta bar will take over the space that Amor y Amargo occupied until it relocated to its original home next door several weeks ago. 

Overthrow's Ravi DeRossi confirmed the move. 

"It's a super busy restaurant," he said of Soda Club, "and we're turning away a lot of people in the small space that we currently have on Avenue B."

Construction at No. 95 will commence ASAP... with an anticipated mid-March ready date. 

He said Overthrow will hold onto 155 Avenue B. 

"We have a few ideas, but nothing solid yet," DeRossi said. 

Soda Club debuted on Avenue B in the spring of 2021.

The T Mobile shop that always looked closed on 14th Street and 1st Avenue has closed

Photos by Steven

The T Mobile store has closed on the SE corner of 14th Street and First Avenue.

Door signage points patrons to the location several blocks to the west on 14th Street...

This wraps up 10 years at this spot... arriving in April 2015. The previous tenant, Pizza Bagel Cafe, abruptly shuttered in November 2014. 

Anyway, T Mobile often looked closed. We sometimes thought they didn't want to look too inviting for anyone to wander in. This has long been a troubled corridor, with many people staggering around like some kind of zombie apocalypse.

Some Downtown Funk and Junk coming to 9th Street

Reporting by Stacie Joy

A vintage clothing-jewelry story is coming to 333 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

We don't know much about the new venture, Downtown Funk and Junk, but it sounds promising. 

This storefront was previously Yosei Nails. 

The new shop will be adjacent to vintage veterans Spark Pretty. 

The storefront to the west, the former Pride Smokes, is currently on the rental market. 

Wednesday's parting shot

Work by Vittorio Marella — Il nostro primo mare, 2024, oil on panel ... part of a group show at Spazio Amanita titled "Sonder" up now through Feb. 23. 

The gallery is at 313 Bowery between First Street and Second Street.

Fake O returns with a side of mayo at Katz's

Back in early December, we spotted film crews outside Katz's. Notices stated the project as Hellman's.

It turns out this was for a Hellman's mayonnaise Super Bowl ad that reunited Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal as characters from 1989's When Harry Met Sally, eating some too-puny-for-Katz's sandwiches. 

ICYMI the ad, which was in heavy rotation today... Sydney Sweeney also makes an appearance...

   

The spot will officially debut during Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 between the Commanders and Bills*.

* — yes, we know

The building that houses East Village institution John's of 12th Street is for sale

Image via LoopNet 

The five-story building at 302 E. 12th St., which includes the 117-year-old classic restaurant John's of 12th Street, is now on the sales market. 

Before delving into the details, the listing at Cushman & Wakefield notes that John's signed a 10-year lease extension in May 2022. 

To the listing:

The building features 8 residential units and 1 ground-floor retail unit. The residential units consist of 5 fair market and 3 rent-stabilized apartments, with 2 units per floor. Of these, all 5 fair market units, along with rent-stabilized Unit 2, are 2-bedroom, 1-bath units, while rent-stabilized Units 6 and 8 are large 1-bedroom, 1-bath units. The rear second-floor unit boasts a large private terrace. 

Recently, 7 of the 8 residential units, including all 5 fair market units and rent stabilized units 2 and 8, have undergone complete gut renovations, leaving the Property with no deferred maintenance. 

Owned by the same family for 40 years before its acquisition by an international investment group, the Property has since undergone a full renovation, completing the business plan and creating a turn-key, stabilized trophy investment opportunity for investors.

There are also 1,333 square feet of additional air rights available. The asking price is $9.25 million. 

Nick Sitnycky, who became a co-owner of John's with Mike Alpert in 1973, sold the classic red-sauce joint in 2016 to a long-time restaurant customer. 

Sitnysky, who grew up on Avenue B, owned the building until 2018. Public records show the property changing hands to an LLC with a Midtown address for $7.75 million.

Pink Olive is returning to the East Village

Image from 2023 via Instagram 

In August 2023, Grace Kang closed Pink Olive, her gift and stationery boutique on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, after 16 years in business. 

She continued operating her outposts in the West Village and Cold Spring, N.Y. 

This week, Kang announced her return to the storefront at 439 E. Ninth St., where she first launched the business in 2007. 

Here's the message via Instagram:

After closing our beloved East Village store 18 months ago, I'm thrilled to announce… we're heading back to the East Village! EV was where it all began 18 years ago, and it holds such a special place in my heart. It's where I grew professionally as an entrepreneur, connected with some of the loveliest people who remain dear friends to this day, and everything in between. Everything I've been through has brought me full circle, back to where it all began, and I couldn’t be more grateful. This 2.0 version will be prettier, sparklier, and better than ever! Stay tuned for updates as this special journey unfolds.

The eastern storefront at No. 439 had remained vacant after her departure. 

You can read our Q&A with Kang from 2017 right here. 

H/T Bayou!

Films we want to see: 'Peter Hujar's Day'

The biopic of the late East Village-based artist-photographer Peter Hujar premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week to rave reviews. 

The synopsis: 

A film adaptation of the book, "Peter Hujar's Day," by Linda Rosenkrantz starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall. It invites audiences into a single day in 1974 with groundbreaking queer photographer Peter Hujar. Set entirely in one room, the film re-creates the conversation between Hujar and Rosenkrantz, recorded on audio tape nearly fifty years ago and later published as a book. Through their freewheeling, intimate exchange, Hujar shares vivid stories of his interactions with literary and cultural icons like William Burroughs, Candy Darling, Susan Sontag and Allen Ginsberg, while also reflecting on the rhythms of everyday life in 1970s New York. 

To the blurbs! 

• "Whishaw and Hall play 1970s New York artists in a gorgeous monologue of a movie that becomes one you want to live inside." — IndieWire

• "Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall Take an Illuminating Snapshot of a Queer Artist in Ira Sachs’ Gorgeous Character Study." — The Hollywood Reporter 

• "Ben Whishaw Plays the Noted New York Photographer in Ira Sachs’ Magical 1974 Time Capsule of a Movie." — Variety 

• "Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall Are Breathtaking in Ira Sachs' Experimental Drama." — Collider 

No word about a distribution deal or release date yet. 

Hujar lived and worked above the Louis N. Jaffe Art Theater (today, the Village East by Angelika) on Second Avenue at 12th Street. Read more about the space where Jackie Curtis and David Wojnarowicz lived before and after Hujar right here. 

I highly recommend the book, "Peter Hujar's Day," which is a transcript of a conversation between Hujar and Rosenkrantz. Per the description: "Rosenkrantz asked Hujar to write down everything he did one day on Dec. 18, 1974."

Bought a copy at Mast on Fifth Street and Avenue A several years back.

Hujar died from AIDS-related pneumonia on Nov. 26, 1987. He was 53.

The former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center has a new project name

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Meet the Creative Community Collective — aka C3. 

The former P.S. 64/Charas/El Bohio Community Center on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C has a new project name.

That was the big reveal during last Thursday night's public informational session at the Grand Street Settlement on Pitt Street, which attracted nearly 125 local residents who wanted an update on the long-dormant East Village property.

Q Impact Solutions founder Quamid Francis (below) led Thursday's discussion and shared details about the rebranding.

Per the new project website:

C3 is more than a restoration project — it's a commitment to preserving the spirit of collaboration, creativity, and community service that has defined former P.S. 64 for over a century. The goal is to shape the building into a multi-use arts, educational, and community hub that remains publicly accessible while serving both the Lower East Side and the broader needs of New York City and beyond.

During this pre-construction phase, C3 serves as the platform through which we engage the community, invite feedback, and chart a path forward together.

There was a recap of the updates from the October public meeting with representatives from Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Denham Wolf Real Estate, representing the landlord, said to be a private foundation. (This post has more about the reported owner.)

There was an update on the structural surveys and exterior condition reports: The building is stable, though with some loose masonry. A partial vacate order remains in place.

Denham Wolf's Jessica Stander spoke about the interior work, the year-round security team, lighting, safety measures, and removing dead — and living — animals living or trapped inside.

"We are now pigeon-free with a safe and stable site," she said.  

Meanwhile, the timeframe hasn't changed, per Denham Wolf's Paul Wolf, who discussed money for renovations and capital expenses. The project will cost over $100 million and take four to six years to complete. 

Afterward, Francis said he was pleased with the meeting (which was much less contentious than in October).

"Overall, it was a strong night. The community members asked thoughtful questions, which signals sustained deep interest — fantastic news. I'm also very pleased with the positive reactions to the project name, as it helps make it feel more 'real,'" he said. "There's clear momentum with fundraising opportunities; several attendees approached me afterward, offering to make introductions. I'm excited to dive into fundraising aggressively because this is such a compelling opportunity. Once we extend awareness beyond the community, I'm confident we'll generate even more support."

You can keep tabs on the C3 website for updates.

The building has sat in disrepair for decades. New ownership bought the property last January for $57.1 million.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Rehabilitation of the former P.S. 64 could take 4 to 6 years, cost over $.100 million