Showing posts with label 331 East Sixth Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 331 East Sixth Street. Show all posts

Friday, June 8, 2012

Behold the rear of the Schwimmer mansion

Seems like just yesterday that David Schwimmer's dream home at 331 E. Sixth St. was just a hole in the ground... like in February...


EV Grieve reader weigone, who took the above shot, has some updates from the backside for us...







Also, per weigone: "I could've SWORN I heard Schwimmer's voice. That was the week when it was rumored that he'd visit."

Previously.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Claim: David Schwimmer will inspect his new East Sixth Street home this week


The word on East Sixth Street is that David Schwimmer is supposed to stop by some time this week. He'll be checking out the progress at his incoming home at 331.

Meanwhile, we heard the swimming pool rumor again. A tipster told us this at the start of construction. Probably not a big surprise that the home would include an indoor pool. We didn't see anything showing a pool in the DOB permits, though we could have missed an update.


In any event, a neighbor reports that late last week workers hauled out two dumpsters full of dirt from the basement, where the pool will allegedly be ...

Friday, April 27, 2012

Dr. Geller, I presume?

Spotted this morning outside Villa Schwilla (uh, David Schwimmer's new home at 331 E. Sixth St.)...


Thursday, April 19, 2012

On second thought, workers have apparently returned to the Schwimmer's

On Tuesday, we noted that full-on construction had yet to re-start at the Schwimmer Palace on East Sixth Street...

The city had issued a Stop Work Order after a minor mishap on April 3... the city was allowing workers to address the specific violations — "missing guardrails, openings at egress, housekeeping, and interior scaffold no permits."

After our post, several nearby residents said that work had resumed...

Per one commenter:

I live next door. They were there today welding steel and laying cinderblock. According to my landlord they are NOT permitted to work yet just make safety (scaffolding) repairs. They are in violation.

Yesterday, we did spot workers at the job site...




Photos by Bobby Williams.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Still no sign of construction at the David Schwimmer estate

On the afternoon of April 3, the DOB issued a Stop Work Order at 331 E. Sixth St., the future six-floor home of David Schwimmer. (DNAinfo reported that a piece of debris "caromed off a scaffold" and struck a passerby, who EMTs took to Bellevue with a minor arm injury.)

And now, 10 work days later... there's still no sign of the full work crew as of this morning. According to the DOB website, the city lifted the Stop Work Order to allow workers to address the specific problems — "missing guardrails, openings at egress, housekeeping, and interior scaffold no permits."

In recent days, we've spotted two or three workers at the site to take care of these issues.

[Photo last week by Bobby Williams]

The DOB website notes that there are seven open violations/non-compliance issues at the address.

In any event, you can see that the construction site looks more secure.

On April 4. the morning after the city issued the Stop Work Order:


Today:


Not that residents miss the construction. Back in January, one neighbor called the work "insanely noisy."

Friday, April 6, 2012

All is still quiet at Schwimmer Manor


Work appears to still be suspended at David Schwimmer's new home at 331 E. Sixth St. following Tuesday afternoon's debris mishap. The city issued a full Stop Work Order. We didn't spot any workers as usual this morning.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Full Stop Work Order at Schwimmer Manor


It is quiet outside David Schwimmer's incoming estate at 331 E. Sixth St. this morning. As DNAinfo reported yesterday afternoon, a piece of debris "caromed off a scaffold" and struck a passerby, who EMTs took to Bellevue with a minor arm injury.

Meanwhile, the DOB immediately issued a Stop Work Order on the property.


In the DOB's all-cap style: "FULL SWO ISSUED FOR MISSING GUARDRAILS, OPENINGS AT EGRESS, HOUSEKEEPING, AND INTERIOR SCAFFOLD NO PERMITS."

The city issued a Stop Work Order here back on Nov. 10: "CALLER STATES THE EXCAVATION WORK AT THE LOCATION IS UNDERMINING THE ADJACENT PROPERTY AT 329 6 ST CAUSING IT TO SHAKE."

BoweryBoogie has photos from yesterday right here.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Report: Falling debris from the Schwimmer estate injures pedestrian

[331 E. Sixth St. around 6 p.m.]

As DNAinfo reported earlier this afternoon, a piece of debris fell from the under-construction David Schwimmer mansion at 331 E. Sixth St. and struck a pedestrian.

Per DNA's report: "The debris caromed off a scaffold and struck the person, the FDNY said. They were taken to Bellevue Hospital with a minor arm injury."

A 37-year resident of this block between First Avenue and Second Avenue said, "Mr. Bigshot made a mistake tearing down this building. He paid a pretty penny and built some shiny silver thing. He's like a wart on the block. He doesn't belong here."

BoweryBoogie has photos from the scene right here.

Friday, March 9, 2012

What it takes to build a six-floor mansion on a narrow East Village street

We're hearing from more and more residents complaining about the construction at 331 E. Sixth St. ... and the noise/congestion is only intensifying ... (Didn't help that film crews for the Coen Brothers were on the block for three days this week...)

Anyway, here's a quick look at the work taking place at the ol' Schwimming hole ...




The city has logged a few complaints at the future David Schwimmer home ... the most recent at the DOB is dated March 2, stating:

ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION WORK BEING DONE AT THIS LOCATION WITH EXPIRED PERMITS. WORKERS CAN SEEN ON-SITE BETWEEN 7AM-6PM. TONIGHT THEY WORKED UNTIL 8PM

Photos by Bobby Williams.

P.S.

Goggla notes that an old piece of the wrought-iron fence leftover from 331 E. Sixth St. is there for the taking...

Friday, March 2, 2012

First sign of Schwimmer Manor

Workers at 331 E. Sixth St., site of David Schwimmer's future six-story home, are making noticeable progress now... Yesterday, the house made its first appearance above the plywood...



And more bricks were arriving this morning...


Anyway, moving forward, we should probably come up with a name for the house... a way to refer to it in future posts. Going with Schwimmer Manor at the moment. But that's a little meh. Anyone?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

David Schwimmer's unfinished mansion makes New York City celebrity homes map


We received this news release yesterday from Rentenna, a newish rental search tool:

Rentenna's first-ever New York City Star Map features the buildings of over 100 celebrities across Manhattan and Brooklyn, so everyone can look up their famous neighbors, gloat to friends elsewhere in the country, then quickly go back to pretending they never cared in the first place.

We took a quick look... and were rather surprised to find that David Schwimmer's incoming home at 331 E. Sixth St. made the list... considering it's still in that hole-in-the-ground phase...

Friday, February 17, 2012

Today in looking at David Schwimmer's in-progress mansion

The construction crew at David Schwimmer's new place at 331 E. Sixth St. is making a lot of progress, at least based on this aerial shot by EV Grieve reader weigone... this photo is from Wednesday...


...and from Feb. 1 ...


Some neighbors, who say they have put up with horrendous noise from the site in recent weeks, are curious about the box-like structure in the top photo — elevator shaft? Indoor BBQ pit? Vault? Panic room?

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Did David Schwimmer do anything illegal by tearing down 331 E. Sixth St.?


That's the question BrickUnderground asked an expert, real-estate attorney Steven Wagner of Wagner Davis, about the destruction of the circa 1852 home on East Sixth Street. Here's the rather longish short answer:

“Personally I think what he did was wrong if the building was distinctive and worthy of preservation, but that is not a legal issue,” Wagner says.

“When a building is not landmarked, but Landmarks has issued a letter that [it] is being considered for landmarking, the DOB will hold the any plans (including demolition) for 40 days, which is the maximum time the DOB has to review plans and issue a decision," says Wagner.

The DOB can usually find issues, says Wagner.

But, he adds, if the owner of the property files an application for demolition prior to the landmarking and gets a permit before the property is landmarked, the right to demolish survives the landmarking.

So you see, he did nothing illegal. I wish that you people would just leave him alone then!

Oh, and that photo illustration is via BrickUnderground.

Hat tip to Curbed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Monday, February 6, 2012

[Updated] Mainstream media confirm that David Schwimmer owns destroyed 331 E. Sixth St.

[Matt LES_Miserable]

The New York Post checks in today with a story on 331 E. Sixth St., the formerly historic townhouse that we've been writing about hereabouts for the past six months.

The Post gets "sources" to confirm the David Schwimmer connection.

Schwimmer bought the home through a limited-liability company, 331 East 6th Street Townhouse LLC. Although his name is not attached to the deal, sources briefed on the purchase confirmed that Schwimmer is the owner.

In addition, Schwimmer, the LLC manager Gary Kress and 331 East 6th Street Townhouse LLC all share the same Santa Monica, Calif., address.

Schwimmer, Kress and the project’s architect all didn’t return calls for comment. But future neighbors were willing to sound off.

Indeed!

“All the new people are yuppie transients. If I see David Schwimmer on the street, I’ll be sure to give him my two cents!” said Charlett Hobart, a retired independent contractor who has lived on the block for the past 37 years.

“People who have been living here a long time don’t like new people coming in” and tearing down old buildings, she explained.

Updated:

One nugget from the Post story that we didn't mention first time around...

Schwimmer, 45, snapped up the property for $4.1 million in 2010 — and the city Landmarks Preservation Commission send him notices on March 31 and May 27 of last year that it could get landmark status by the end of 2012, said commission spokeswoman Elisabeth de Bourbon.

But by September 2011, the building was gone, just four months after the city’s latest letter was sent to Schwimmer’s representatives.

So, just to spell this out, Schwimmer or his people knew that the building was under landmark consideration, yet they hurried and destroyed it anyway.

Let's go back and look at the questions that we asked on Sept. 8:

We're wondering why:
• With all the available upscale townhouses on the market in the city, why did he buy this historic building only to tear it down?
• Didn't his people think tearing down this historic townhouse would raise the ire — and suspicion — of neighbors?
• What was so special about this particular location? Proximity to Indian food?
• How often will a busy person like Schwimmer actually even stay here?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Thursday, February 2, 2012

And now, let's look down at Sixth Street's incoming mansion


EV Grieve reader weigone sends along a photo looking down at (so to speak) 331 E. Sixth St., where David Schwimmer may or may not be building a six-floor home. She took the photo yesterday, and noted that workers poured the wall of concrete for the foundation on Friday.

"Anyway, the noise is horrendous," she said. And only six floors to go! There has been some talk of recording the construction noise, and playing it back during the new tenant's first roof party.

This would probably never happen in Hancock Park.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

'Smash' vs. Schwimmer* today on East Sixth Street


The incoming NBC series "Smash" is back filming in the neighborhood ... today, they'll be on East Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

As an exasperated resident of the block said, "Because living on East Sixth Street between First and Second Avenues isn't torture enough already." The resident points to "the insanely noisy construction of Maybe-Schwimmer's mansion" at 331 E. Sixth St. as the culprit. The resident noted that two cement-mixing trucks groaned away in front of the soon-to-be six-story home all day this past Friday.

So will the construction crew take a breather during the filming (Spielberg is involved! He has connections!)? Or, per the resident, did the location crew accidentally scout this location on a weekend or a rare quiet day, thereby failing to note the construction racket that is guaranteed to ruin any shoot?

Anyway! We'll find out today! Woo!

* Maybe!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Diagrams provide idea of what David Schwimmer's house will look like on East Sixth Street

While we're waiting for the renderings of 331 E. Sixth St. to land in our inbox, we at least have a basic idea of what the under-construction, six-floor superhome will look like here.

Found these diagrams at the DOB site.


Looks like they'll be an elevator. Roof terrace. (Roof party!) No sign of a swimming pool.


Anyway, at least one local blogger is under the impression that David Schwimmer might be the mystery owner of this space.

Finally, the city logged a complaint yesterday from a caller who stated: "CONSTRUCTION ON A FEDERAL HOLIDAY W/O ANY PERMITS FOR DOING CONSTRUCTION ON A FEDERAL HOLIDAY. CLR STATES THAT SHE IS THE TENANT ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Going deep at the Schwimmer's for that 6-story new home

Work continues at 331 E. Sixth St. ... where we continue to speculate that the land under the formerly historic, now-demolished townhouse is the property of David Schwimmer. (A refresher on why this may belong to the "Friends" star here.)

Goggla passed along this photo. And we took a look at the site ourselves yesterday. The workers are digging deep... any deeper and they'll be in Hollywood soon...


There are permits galore now on file with the DOB... we're looking at "the erection of a 6 story one family building."


According to permits, Cooper Union grad (and current Trustee!) Leslie Gill is the architect of record. (No sign of the renderings yet, but we look forward to seeing them!) Among the many projects during her distinguished career, she did the master planning for Warner Bros. Records, Los Angeles. (Did you know that "Friends" was filmed on the Warner Bros. lot from 1994 to 2004?)

Meanwhile.

A caller told the DOB on Nov. 30 that workers are "doing unsafe demolition and it is causing his building to shake and it may cause structural damage."

And now, a comment someone left on Nov. 25 on one of the other Schwimmer posts:

You know what the difference between LA and NYC is (having lived in both places I can speak with some some degree of knowledge)?

In LA they don't give a rat's ass about the character of the neighborhood. There's very little consideration given to architectural context, and they have very few buildings that have been around since the 1850s.

Here we take some pride in the fact that our neighborhoods have some character, and saying that someone can do 'anything they want' with an old building may be technically true, but is completely out of the spirit of what makes this city different and why neighborhoods like the LES/EV what they are.

If someone comes in and buys a perfectly nice old building (and one that might actually be landmark-worthy) and then razes it to put up some monolith that has no relationship to the what's around it, well, then that person is, um, well, an idiot.

Having some knowledge of the world that Mr. Schwimmer comes from, it's not strange that he did what he's doing, because in his world oversize garish houses on small lots is what you DO. You could really care less about what your neighbors do or think or even what their house looks like.

Here, however, that's really annoying and I'd even go so far as to say dramatically uncool. Welcome to NY, David. It's clear you're just an interloper with more cash than sense.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Monday, November 14, 2011

Maybe a friend of a 'Friends' star owns 331 E. Sixth St.?

We continue to speculate about who owns 331 E. Sixth St., the now-demolished circa-1852 townhouse. Some evidence pointed to, possibly, David Schwimmer. (Read that detective work here.)

[Via]

Now, here comes another theory via EV Grieve reader BodegaMan:

I've been speculating that the building on sixth is owned by Joey Slotnick.

I saw him on the stoop there once when it was still standing, and he's business partners with Schwimmer in a theater company in Chicago. So maybe they use the same manager or something. I see him around the neighborhood regularly.

First, we had to look up Joey Slotnick. Oh, yes — we recognize him. (The fellow on the left up there.)

And yes, according to IMDB, he is an ensemble member of Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company along with fellow member David Schwimmer ... and someone spotted him drinking at the 12th Street Ale House ... and...

OK, a little flimsy, perhaps?

Meanwhile. Next theory!

Oh, also... a commenter on Friday's Schwimmer post said that the DOB slapped a Stop Work Order dated from Wednesday on the pit. We meant to walk by... but per the DOB site (in ALL CAPS!) ...

CALLER STATES THE EXCAVATION WORK AT THE LOCATION IS UNDERMINING THE ADJACENT PROPERTY AT 329 6 ST CAUSING IT TO SHAKE

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse