A look at Thayer, a new cafe-bookstore opening soon on Avenue B

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Updated 11/2: Thayer is now open!

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Thayer, an independent press, is moving closer to opening day for its bookstore-cafe at 99 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. (First reported here.) 

Founder Matt Lally, an East Village resident, plans to have a soft opening early next month. The two-level space will feature coffee drinks by Irving Farm New York and pastries by Balthazar. There will be grab-n-go soft drinks too. Beer and wine will be available in the evening.

Thayer will host various literary events and offer a curated selection of books and magazines for sale. There will be tables and chairs for drinks and books.

Daily hours: 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week, with a 9 p.m. close on weekends.

Thayer is opening a bookstore and cafe at 99 Avenue B

This spring, Thayer, an independent press, is opening a bookstore-cafe at 99 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

Thayer founder Matt Lally confirmed the arrival in an email, noting the space will serve as its HQ along with a storefront offering books, coffee and pastries as well as beer and wine in the evenings. (They are on this month's CB3-SLA docket for the beer-wine license, though, having received administrative approval, they will not appear before the committee.) 

Thayer currently publishes a biennial magazine of short fiction, poetry and photography ... with plans for a debut novel this spring. 

No. 99 was previously Manitoba's, Handsome Dick Manitoba's namesake bar, which closed in June 2019 after 20 years in service.

Lally, who described himself as a punk rock kid in his youth, said that he wanted "to do right by the legacy of the space." 

You can keep tabs on Thayer via Instagram.

H/T Stacie Joy!

The new-look storefronts at 99 Avenue B

After nearly five months, the plywood came down Tuesday outside the under-renovation storefronts at 99 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...



Looks a little more life-like than the broker's rendering... the spaces are both available. No mention of the rent.



The space on the left was home to Manitoba's, which closed in June 2019 after 20 years in service. A little bit of the old exterior from the bar run by Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators is still visible through the new front door...



The other vacant space was East Side Ink, who moved one storefront to the south in early 2017.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Manitoba's has closed

• The former Manitoba's space receives the plywood treatment on Avenue B

On the October CB3-SLA docket: An applicant for 99 Avenue B, former home of Manitoba's

[Photo from late June]

CB3 released its October meeting agenda yesterday. And an item of interest on the SLA licensing committee docket that caught the attention of several EVG readers: Murray Street Restaurant Co., 99 Ave B (corp change).

99 Avenue B was the longtime home of Manitoba's, which closed after nearly 20 years in late June.

Reps for Murray Street Restaurant Co. will not be appearing before the committee next month, however. (This is often the case when applicants agree to stipulations ahead of time or their method of operation is — paraphrasing — not a beer-pong shitshow and an actual restaurant. Also, when there's a change of personal in the corporation, as it appears in this case.)

According to the State Liquor Authority, the license at Manitoba's, whose premises name is currently Genco Importing Inc., is active through March 31, 2020.

There currently isn't any application for Murray Street Restaurant Co. on file at the CB3 website. Will update when more information becomes available.