Last remaining plywood removed from the Economakis him, revealing NO GARAGE

A tipster sent along the above photo, noting that the last piece of plywood outside 47 E. Third St. — the former tenement that Alistair Economakis renovated for his family — was recently removed. The address was the site of a bitter landlord-tenant fight dating back to 2003.

Several neighbors were convinced that the former 15-unit tenement would include a garage. There was an application for a curb cut, but the city never approved the request.

Last May, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez told The Villager that the Economakises are leasing part of the ground-floor space to a medical facility ... and the garage would serve that facility.

Anyway, the tipster said that he or she couldn't quite tell what was behind the plywood all that time. "It just looks like a black wall." No hidden doors?

[November 2011]

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

More coverage here.

The Villager tours the Economakis mansion on East Third Street

In an article last week at The Villager, Lincoln Anderson wrote about his recent tour of 47 E. Third St., the former tenement that Alistair Economakis renovated for his family. (This after clearing the five-story rental of its residents.)

We meant to link to it ... this week, the post also appears at The East Villager. So here's another chance to revisit the article in case you missed it... no photos, though. (The family thought "this would be an invasion of their privacy.")

Anderson offers highlights from the home, which includes a wrestling room ... he also tracks down a few of the building's former tenants who took buyouts ... as well as gets comments from City Councilmember Rosie Mendez.

One other tidbit: Alistair Economakis commissioned the Mosaic Man to create a border above the basement's basement-level storefront ... which Economakis hopes to rent out to a medical facility.

Read the whole article here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

More coverage here.

Report: the Economakis family is now living in 47 E. Third St.

After a nearly two-and-a-half-year gut renovation, the Economakis family has moved into their newly created mansion at 47 E. Third St., Lincoln Anderson reports at The Villager this week.

Per the article:

In an e-mail to The Villager, Alistair Economakis wrote, "Catherine's and my intentions to make 47 E. Third St. our home were always true and genuine as is now evident."

The address was the site of a bitter landlord-tenant fight dating back to 2003. The Villager summarizes what transpired here — basically a handful of rent-stabilized tenants fought a lengthy battle to stop the eviction proceedings by Alistair Economakis who wished to turn the building into his private mansion.

Many EconoWatchers were skeptical that Economakis would ever return, choosing instead to flip the former 15-unit tenement building.

Meanwhile, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez tells The Villager that the Economakises are leasing part of the ground-floor space to a medical facility. Mendez also said that the landlord did not get the OK for a new curb cut for a garage to serve the medical facility.

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

More coverage here.

On second thought, there is a garage at the Economakis Dream Mansion

Just on Tuesday, we had given up on the gossip about a new garage at the former 15-unit tenement on East Third Street. However! A well-placed tipster says it's all true, possibly.

First, some paperwork from the DOB to install a new curb cut. (Notice it is in audit to revoke — which means??)

Per the tipster:

"The garage is already built. I haven't seen behind the plywood since the structural work was done so I don't know what it looks like exactly. There is a vandal and graffitti resistant (maybe tactical nuclear-strike proof) garage door which does not roll on a track like a typical door, but rises in one piece vertically through the floor above and stops behind the windows of the floor above."

Two other items of business:

1) Per a commenter: "If you look on the DOB website at job #110412232, Schedule A, it has a proposed 'community facility' where the storefronts are. Isn't this supposed to be a single family mansion?"

2) Predicting a move-in date...

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Behold the Economakis Dream Mansion

Workers have removed the construction netting from 47 E. Third St., soon to be the single-family Economakis Dream Mansion.

Here's a shot of the building, once a 15-unit tenement, from September 2009... So long pesky fire escapes!



Around that time, Scoopy at The Villager got a tour of the building. You can read that here.

The Economakis Mansion's latest feature: Branded Plywood!

Last Thursday and Friday, I did a little guest-posting at Curbed. Here is an item from late Friday afternoon...

Renovations continue at the Economakis Mansion at 47 E. Third St., the former site of a bitter tenant battle. Although it has been nearly two years since the 15-unit tenement emptied out to make way for a jumbo single-family home, the eviction wounds are still fresh.

Which is one reason why EconoWatchers are keeping an eye out for the slightest development, fueling rumors of a private garage along the way. Meanwhile, there is one new item to note: The Economakis-branded plywood. Rather stately, don’t you think?

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Looking at the Economakis front-door coop

We don't know what all this fencing is about at the under-renovation Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street ... Was thinking there might be poultry back there. (Uh, no.)

Anyway, we walked by because... an EV Grieve reader/neighbor is convinced they're putting in a garage... with this as the evidence...

Work more prominent now at the Economakis Mansion

It just occurred to us that we haven't checked in on the Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street since last May... On Jan. 5, Curbed made a return visit, noting a new cornice and new windows ... Still, hasn't really seemed like much is happening... until now... Workers recently put up construction netting and a sidewalk shed...

A look at the DOB permits issued a few weeks back don't reveal too much... However, there is the permit approved on Jan. 11 ... according to the DOB, workers will be installing a new curb cut. The DOB originally disapproved the curb cut, as Curbed noted on Jan. 5 ... Now it seems to be OK. As Curbed noted: "Maybe the old storefronts are being eyed for a private garage?"

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

What's doing at the Economakis dream mansion on East Third Street?

Scoopy has an update this week in The Villager.



Take it away Scoopy....:

Lower East Side activist Susan Howard told us that a friend of hers who lives near 47 E. Third St. — the East Village "mass eviction" building — hasn't seen evidence of any work going on there for a while and thinks construction has ground to a halt.

Howard urged us to call Alistair and find out what’s up. "Work is progressing..." He said he doesn’t have a specific completion date for when the building will be ready for them to live in as their luxurious, single-family mansion. He said he and his family recently moved out of the place, and are temporarily living in Brooklyn until the job is done. "It came time we had to move out of there," he said of 47 E. Third St. "Our bedroom's gone — it was relocated to a different spot. The steps are being relocated. It was much simpler to just open everything up and build everything at once." Economakis said all the building’s windows are boarded up on the inside, not because no work is going on, but to protect the windows while work is going on.

[EV Grieve file photo]

Previously on EV Grieve:
And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Trick-or-treat at the Economakis mansion

At 47 E. Third St.








Starting to look a little weathered, though, this past week...





Previously.

Inside the Economakis dream mansion on East Third Street

In this week's issue of The Villager, Scoopy gets a tour of the renovations at 47 E. Third St., where the Economakis family is making their 11,600-square-foot dream home from the former 15-unit tenement.

To some excerpts!

Except for the areas that the family is still using, the place has been completely gutted in the past month — with just the floors, the stairs and the building’s brick shell remaining. The old roof is still on, but will be replaced soon. With peppy enthusiasm, Catherine Economakis led the tour, first showing us her “dream kitchen” she had installed on the second floor, complete with a fully stocked stainless steel refrigerator, adjacent to their combination living room/dining room. Moving into the freshly gutted areas — where nothing at all is left of the former apartments — Catherine showed where they will blast through a wall to create a new doorway so that she won’t have to make the “50-yard dash,” as she put it, between the kitchen and the new dining room proper — that is, once they build the dining room in the rear of the building where one of the tenant’s apartments used to be.

And!

The Economakises also proudly note they have even restored the building’s cornice, which had been removed, and have cleaned and pointed the old tenement’s front brickwork. Catherine stated they intend to live there their whole lives. Alistair, saying one can never know what the future holds, assured they’ll stay there at least 10 years — if not 20 years, and yes, maybe even forever.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin Evel for libel

And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Dumpster marks the beginning of the end of 47 E. Third St.

As The Villager reported in its current issue, on Aug. 27, tenants moved out of 47 E. Third Street -- home of the infamous, longstanding battle with building owner Alistair Economakis.

According to the paper, Economakis may have also moved out -- at least temporarily. Pr maybe not.

And now a dumpster is in place in front of the building for collecting the remains of the renovation that will turn the tenement into the family's Mansion.




And check back with the paper later this week: There will be more of an interview with Alistair Economakis -- his longest to date with the media.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Alistair Economakis is suing his cousin Evel for libel

And Economakis gets the whole building for his dream mansion

The 47 E. 3rd St. protest in video

At the 47 E. 3rd St. protest

Conspiracies: Where are all the fliers?

Court date for 47 E. Third St. tenants/landlord

Showdown in court today over the fate of 47 E. Third St. (New York Post)

The EV Grieve 47 E. Third St. archive.