Signage alert: Nosh Up on St. Mark's Place

Photo by Steven 

Signage has arrived for a new deli and grill called Nosh Up at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The business takes over for Jewels, the body jewelry and piercing parlor.

The address has a lot of recent history... Ben & Jerry's! Pinkberry! No. 24 was also the Ice Cream Connection in the early 1970s before the owners of Dojo opened the Japanese restaurant here in 1974 (RIP 2007).

Jewels is the new tenant for the former Ben & Jerry's space on St. Mark's Place

You may have noticed that Jewels recently moved a few storefronts to the east on St. Mark's Place ... they made the move to the larger space in early August, though the new sign just arrived for the body jewelry and piercing parlor here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to Steven for the photo yesterday!)

They quickly took over 24 St. Mark's Place after Ben & Jerry's officially closed at the end of July. 

This also marks the first non-food/"dry" business at the address in nearly 50 years. No. 24 was the Ice Cream Connection in the early 1970s before the owners of Dojo opened the Japanese restaurant here in 1974. 

We've also had a Caffe Bene and Pinkberry and a few other things I'm forgetting here.

H/T Upper West Sider!

24 St. Mark's Place sells for $12.9 million

There's a new owner for 24 St. Mark's Place, a 17-unit, 6-floor walk-up with Ben & Jerry's in the retail space here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The transaction hit public records last week with an LLC linked to a Greene Street address as the seller, and an LLC in Great Neck as the buyer. The purchase price was $12.9 million.

The Traded: New York Instagram account posted that Laurence Beame sold the property to Danny Hakakian.

A Bahram (Danny) Hakakian of Great Neck was once on City Councilmember Bill de Blasio's "Slumlord Watch List," according to the Daily News in 2009.

In 2011, The Real Deal's analysis of city records found that "there were 3,020 housing code violations on the 334 units" in the 17 buildings that Hakakian reportedly owned. (He had just sold many of the properties.) That figure came out to about nine violations per unit.

Since then, however, Hakakian has not appeared on any lists, such as the 2017 Worst Landlords Watchlist via Public Advocate Letitia James.

The building was last sold for $5.3 million in January 2012, per public records.

Ben & Jerry's now hiring on St. Mark's Place

A hiring sign is now up at the incoming Ben & Jerry's at 24 St. Mark's Place (above left)... in case you are looking for a job or missed the news in late November that the brand was returning to the neighborhood with a retail outlet (or both)...



Previously on EV Grieve:
7 years later, a Ben & Jerry's is returning to the East Village

7 years later, a Ben & Jerry's is returning to the East Village

Back on Friday, we noted that the former Caffe Bene space was under renovation at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

And yesterday, EVG contributor Derek Berg spotted the coming soon signage for the next tenant — Ben & Jerry's. (H/T to Bayou, who noted in the comments on last Friday's post that a Ben & Jerry's was coming to the block. The former DF Mavens space was also a contender.)

There was a Ben & Jerry's outpost at 41 Third Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street for 22 years before its closure in September 2010.


[41 3rd Ave. from 2011]

No word on the opening date just yet on St. Mark's Place.

Caffe Bene closed back in April after 17 months in business. Before Caffe B, the address was a Pinkberry.

Former Caffe Bene space under renovation on St. Mark's Place

The former Caffe Bene space is getting the covered-window treatment on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Renovations are underway inside the space... the work permits don't reveal who the new tenant is here at No. 24.

Per the permit in the all-cap DOBguage: "PROPOSE TO PERFORM INTERIOR RENOVATION WORK ON THE FIRST FLOOR RETAIL SPACE AS SHOWN IN THE PLANS SUCH AS INSTALL NON LOAD BEARING WALLS, COUNTER, CABINETS, REPLACE SINK AND COSMETIC WORK OF PAINTING."

If you had to bet based on current neighborhood retail trends, then something involving desserts or noodles would be a safe wager.

The Caffe Bene outpost closed back in April after 17 months in business.

Before Caffe B, the address was a Pinkberry. The space was on the market for nearly six months before Caffe Bene signed a 10-year lease in August 2015, with a reported asking rent in the $240 per-square-foot territory.