East Village building with Ramones history is back on the sales market

Images via LoopNet 

An East Village building at 6 E. Second St. with a lot of Ramones history is once again on the sales market. 

A listing for the four-level building just east of the Bowery — at Joey Ramone Place — recently appeared on LoopNet, with an asking price of $10.8 million. 

A loft in the four-level building was the longtime home of Arturo Vega, the artistic director of the Ramones and creator of the band's iconic logo. 

Jones Lang Lasalle has the listing, which plays up the Ramones' connection to the building's history: 

The property is the former home of Ramones' lead singer Joey and bassist Dee Dee and hosted one of the band's earliest shows. Nearby Albert's Garden is where the band paid $125 in 1976 for a black-and-white picture [ed note — taken by longtime EV resident Roberta Bayley] from Punk Magazine, featuring a brick-wall background, for their debut album titled ... This image on East 2nd Street is considered one of the most important and definitive music images of the 1970s. Situated in one of the most desirable pockets in Lower Manhattan, the Property presents a unique opportunity for an investor or owner-user to obtain a cash-flowing asset with potential for tremendous upside. 

There are three residential units and a retail space (the John Derian Company). 

No. 6 was listed for $7.25 million in the summer of 2020 and, according to public records, sold for $5.8 million in November 2021. 

The building also has a nice rear view of the New York Marble Cemetery on Second Avenue...

Other onetime residents here include Fayette Hauser, John Flowers and Pam Tent of the Cockettes. 

As for the Ramones, plenty has been written about their relationship with the space (Joey and Dee Dee lived here early on, the band signed their first contract on Vega's coffee table, etc.)... and here's footage of the band playing in the loft in February 1975...

 

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ICYMI: 6 E. 2nd St., home of Ramones history, is for sale

As Jennifer Gould recently reported at the Post, 6 E. Second St. is now on the market for $7.25 million.

A loft in the four-level building just east of the Bowery — at Joey Ramone Place — was the longtime home of Arturo Vega, the artistic director for the Ramones who created the band's iconic logo.

The listing via B6 Real Estate Advisors is now online:

The four (4) story property consists of one (1) retail store, along with three (3) residential units. The current residential units consist of three (3) full floor loft apartments. All three (3) of the loft apartments are fair market.

The property has 26 feet of frontage on East 2nd Street and has a depth of 63 feet. Additionally, the property is comprised of approximately 6,408 square feet broken down as follows: 4,806 SF residential and 1,602 SF retail.

The retail tenant, the John Derian Company, apparently also owns the building.

There isn't any mention of Vega or the Ramones in the listing. Other onetime residents here include Fayette Hauser, John Flowers and Pam Tent of the Cockettes.

As for the Ramones, plenty has been written about their relationship with the space (Joey and Dee Dee lived here early on, the band signed their first contract on Vega's coffee table, etc.)... and here's footage of the band playing in the loft in February 1975...



Vega died in June 2013 at age 65.


[Above the front door at No. 6]

Rise of the 'Empire' — Arturo Vega retrospective through April 20 at the Howl! Happening space

The "Empire: An Arturo Vega Retrospective" debuted this past Thursday at the Howl! Happening space on First Street.

Here's more about it via the Howl! website:

This ambitious survey runs through April 20 and will include guest lectures, performances and a panel discussion exploring Arturo Vega’s broader impact on popular culture while contextualizing his work as a visual artist.

Howl! Happening was established to honor Vega, his life and work, and his support for East Village artists, and we are particularly proud to be the second stop for the late Mexican-born artist’s U.S. museum retrospective. The exhibition features photography, collage and a number of iconic canvases from the artist’s Supermarket and Silver Dollar series (begun in the 70s); his Flags and so-called “word paintings” from Insults; and other series produced during the 80s, 90s and aughts. Of special note is his last major work, Life isn’t tragic, love is just being ignored, a mural commissioned in 2013 that hung on the corner of Prince and Elizabeth streets.

Escaping the repressive violence of an authoritarian regime under Mexico’s “perfect dictatorship” in the late 60s, Arturo Vega made his way to New York City to study English, philosophy and photography at the New School for Social Research in the early 70s.

While working on his first painting series of supermarket signs, he befriended members of the Ramones. Designing the Ramones’ ubiquitous logo based on the Great Seal of the United States, painting backdrops for their stage, and creating a lighting scheme loosely adapted from Albert Speer’s Lichtdom to enhance their effect, Vega created visual imagery that defined the transgressive aesthetic of punk rock by co-opting and questioning symbols of power.

You can check out the Howl! site for dates and times for the panels (there are two tomorrow).

Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project is at 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.

Vega died in June 2013. He was 65.

Howl! Happening opens today on East 1st Street

Howl! Happening, a new gallery and performance space, makes its debut today at 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue…

The exhibit "Arturo Vega American Treasure" runs through April 25.



You can read more about the space here.

Remembering Arturo Vega: 'there might not have been the Ramones without his support'

[Photo by Curt Hoppe from March 2013]

Arturo Vega, the artistic director for the Ramones who created their iconic logo, died this past weekend. He was 65.

John Holmstrom, the founding editor of Punk Magazine who designed two of the Ramones best-known album covers, shared some stories about Vega with Maximum Rock'n'Roll, including:

“But his loft on East 2nd Street – wow! He had his paintings on display, hundreds on Ramones t-shirts in a huge closet, and Joey and Dee Dee lived there. And it was almost on top of CBGBs, so when they would perform there, they’d often hang out at home, then walk downstairs into the club and play their set, then go back upstairs. Arturo was kind of supporting them in those early days, so in a way there might not have been the Ramones without his support.

As the Times noted, Vega was instrumental in getting the City to name part of East 2nd Street Joey Ramone Place.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk Magazine

John Holmstrom on the CBGB movie and the East Village of 2013

RIP Arturo Vega

[Photo by Curt Hoppe from March 2013]

Arturo Vega, the artistic director for the Ramones who created their iconic logo, has died. He was 65. Legs McNeil first reported the death on his Facebook page:

RIP: ARTURO VEGA: 1948-2013 Sleep gently my dear friend, you were the must optimistic, jubilant and fun pal anyone could wish for. I don’t know what the world will be like without, nor do I want to even imagine it… But I know you will find eternal happiness wherever you end up….I love you Arturo.

No other details are available at the moment.

Saving the world in time for Easter

Our friend Curt Hoppe sent along these photos from today... where Arturo Vega was installing a mural on Prince and Elizabeth...



Vega says that it's "for the people saving souls."