You'll need to get your ham burrito elsewhere today

Chipotle on Union Square is closed... and they're very sorry about this.

A little something for all you signage lovers in the house

The Brazo Pizza sign went up the other day in the Zeckendorf Towers on the northwest corner of Irving Place and 14th Street...

From yarn to meat on 14th Street

The Knit New York shop on 14th Street near Second Avenue closed last April...



...and the space finally has a new tenant...

Dreaming of opening your own teeth bleaching salon? Or gelato store?

Bond New York has a listing for an Internet cafe on 14th Street near Second Avenue. The 800-square-foot space holds many possibilities...

Prime retail space in high foot traffic location near Union Square. Currently occupied by an internet cafe. $150,000 buys out current tenants below market lease thru Sep 2016. This space is perfect for a gelato store, teeth bleaching salon, nail salon, jewelry store, small boutique or convenience store. Space has venting for a food business.

A Building going to the dogs (and cats)

This tweet from Winick Realty just caught our attention: Winick Leases Retail Space at Upscale East Village Condo

Oh yeah? Finally!

According the subsequent (from Feb. 10!) link:

Winick’s Lori Shabtai and Michael Gleicher has brought Petopia, the dog boutique and pet store, to a 1,400 s/f retail store at the base of 420 East 14 Street, the newly-constructed luxury condominium located between First Avenue and Avenue A.

Good thing the A Building is pet friendly....

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Building retail space still on the market

A Building retail space still on the market

After looking at Monday's A Building post (lobby back open, penthouse continues to come down in price), a reader sent along a note saying that the A Building's retail space on 14th Street was still on the market.

Indeed!



According to the listing at Tower Brokerage(PDF):

New luxury store front at the base of a newly constructed 96-unit luxury condominium. Approximately 1,400 sq. ft. and located at the intersection of 1st Avenue & East 14th Street. 25’ of glass frontage and only steps from the 1st Avenue L-train subway station.

Neighbors include: CVS Pharmacy, Chase Bank, Starbucks, Associated Supermarket, Beth Israel Medical Center, Payless Shoes, Strawberry, Grey Papayas & Stuyvesant Town

Rent: $10,500 per month

As the reader noted, given the rent and list of neighbors, only a chain will be able to take this space...

Futurizing about the corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue

Earlier today, we spotted workers cleaning out the former Robin Raj space on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue...





Perhaps this is an early sign that a new horrible tenant is on the way... The space has been vacant for nearly a year. As reported then: The landlord was looking for $60,000 a month in rent...

Walking on 14th Street: Nordstrom setting a date; Baked by Melissa and Subway coming soon

Maybe I should walk on 14th Street near Union Square more often. Or not.

Noticed that a Baked By Melissa shop is coming to 14th Street just east of Fifth Avenue. She bakes tiny cupcakes.



You know that the Nordtrom Racked store is opening at the former Virgin Megastore location... Now a date has been set for the opening: May 11, 2010. (And will they actually make that date?)



And the city's 8,976th Subway is opening right along the Chipotle and Bravo Pizza in the Zeckendorf Towers on the northwest corner of Irving Place and 14th Street.



EV Grieve reader Nowooski pointed this out the other day...

Union Square getting burritofied

Here's the proof that a Chipotle Mexican Grill is, in fact, coming soon to the Zeckendorf Towers on the northwest corner of Irving Place and 14th Street.



Will be right next door to the new Bravo Pizza.

Previously in EV Grieve:
Bravo Pizza coming to Union Square

Another Santa behaving badly

On 14th Street near First Avenue.

Bravo Pizza coming to Union Square

Bravo Pizza is opening its seventh NYC location... coming soon to the Zeckendorf Towers on the northwest corner of Irving Place and 14th Street. It's at the former site of Rhyme & Reason, the card shop, which closed in September 2008.



As far as we know, a Chipotle is still going in the corner space.



Meanwhile, the folks at pizza parlor Amore's (who are always hiring cashiers) must be thrilled with the competition directly across the street.



Makes sense to have two pizza parlors so close to each other along this stretch. We have a Duane Reade and a Walgreens; a P.C. Richard and Best Buy; Trader Joe's and Whole Foods; an NYU dorm and an NYU dorm and an NYU dorm within a short few blocks.

And this means that Bravo has locations at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue; 19th Street and Fifth Avenue; and Park Avenue South at 21st Street. Is there a market that big for deep-dish pizza ...?

Black Friday update: Live from the front lines

The Duane Reade on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue was free of pesky shoppers...



Ample supplies of JLo and Halle Berry scents still available...

The Blarney Cove was not open last evening

And I recall the bar being open on previous Thanksgivings... Always a good place to spend the afternoon.

In the new New York even the smokestacks have to be pretty

For some reason I've always liked those four smokestacks at the ConEd plant at 14th Street and the East River...I like the industrial look, I suppose...



In recent weeks, though, I've noticed that the stacks are getting a new coat of paint...

Speaking of canopies...

Have always been curious about the beauty parlor on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... Always wondered if they knew about the salon/saloon mistake on the sign...




Did the sign company make the mistake or the salon/saloon owners figured what the hell? Or maybe the salon/saloon owners didn't notice? Or maybe they want to nab any lost people looking for the Beauty Bar up the street...

Photo EXCLUSIVE: Where a window used to be at the KFC on 14th Street and Second Avenue

As my exclusive exclusively noted earlier today, something crashed through the window here at KFC. As our eyewitness's friend exclusively told us: The window on the 14th side "was smashed in, and the furniture, etc. was smashed to smithereens like a car had driven through the window. Anyway, there wasn't any police tape or anything blocking off the area ... "

And here is that first photo, in which I won exclusive bidding rights over Poultry magazine.



And we still don't have any idea of what happened. And they were open for business.

Crash at KFC?

We heard that there was an accident at the KFC on 14th Street and Second Avenue earlier today. No reports of injuries. The restaurant was also likely closed at the time. According to the tipster, the window on the 14th side "was smashed in, and the furniture, etc. was smashed to smithereens like a car had driven through the window. Anyway, there wasn't any police tape or anything blocking off the area ... "

Photos anyone?

Memories of daily life in now-empty storefronts

You may have seen the little signs taped to a few empty storefronts along 14th Street between Avenue B and First Avenue. It's the work of local artist Nicholas Fraser. I sent him a note asking for some background on the signs.




His response:

"The flyer/cards are my first stab at trying to collect memories people might have of their day-to-day encounters with now empty businesses along 14th Street. I will then re-frame these memories and create a series of ephemeral text drawings placed in front of unoccupied commercial spaces. The texts combine these donated stories and daily observations, evoking past and present moments of daily life at the transitional sites. Laid out in ash and other impermanent materials, each work disintegrates and disappears quickly under the rush of ongoing urban life, echoing the temporal and transitory nature of the moments documented."

This will be part of the Art in Odd Places festival that will feature performance/installations/etc. along 14th Street. You can see some earlier versions of this idea on his Web site.



He has since made larger fliers with more open-ended questions. As he says, it's not important that the memory be from a particular location -- only that it involves a now-closed store somewhere. (Certainly plenty to choose from.) "The limitation to 14th Street is somewhat arbitrary," he says. "Memories from any place in the city really are just as pertinent."

You may send your memories/anecdotes to stories@NicholasFraser.com

Street fair!

On Third Avenue above 14th Street.

East 14th Street destined to become just like West 14th Street

As you know, we've been watching the R&S Strauss auto parts store on East 14th Street at Avenue C. Last May, the building was reportedly quietly put on the market for $13 million. And according to the Massey Knakal Web site, the building was sold in January for $12.3 million. As the site noted: "The lot measures 114’9” x 88’and has a total buildable square footage of approximately 36,125 sq. ft. for residential use or 68,262 sq. ft. for a community facility, which will likely be the ultimate use of the property."

We wrote the following on April 6:

News of a possible community facility is a relief for those among us thinking this sale could signal, as Jeremiah Moss wrote, "an opening for the overall Meatpacking effect that is rippling up and down this main artery to reach deep into the East Village."

Yeah, well: Stupid us for feeling any possible relief. According to the Times, the Arun Bhatia Development Organization -- who specialize in luxury condos and dorms -- bought the space. The Times article on the development of the eastern end of 14th Street concludes with the following on the former R.S. Strauss space:

The site, marketed for development, allows for stores and dozens of apartments, explained Joe Sitt, the Massey Knakal broker who handled the deal.



Yes, Mr. Sitt said, the nearby blocks, which hold mostly chain- and diner-variety eateries, have a way to go before they attract hip West 14th Street-style restaurants. But those typically follow new residences, and residents.



"It's not about 'Build it and they will come,'" he said. "It's 'Put a roof over their heads and they will dine.'"

Previously.