For whom the plot tolls

Yesterday morning, city crews arrived on East 11th Street just east of First Avenue... jackhammered up part of the sidewalk in front of Reciprocal Skateboards, filled it with dirt... and moved on...

Greg Matherly at Reciprocal Skateboards, who shared these photos, noted the arrival of a makeshift cross ... to give it a fresh grave look, perhaps in honor of Halloween...



And for some local reaction to the new plot...

Post by Reciprocal Skateboards.

As for what's next, probably a new tree.

By the way, the site of the cemetery of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral was once across the street. The graveyard was moved to Calvary Cemetery in Queens in 1909.

Here's a map from 1867...



Learn more about this here.

Happy news for Lucky's Dry Cleaners and Laundry on East 11th Street

At the end of November, we reported that Lucky's Dry Cleaner and Laundrys would have to close… in part because the landlord apparently wanted to break proprietor Linda's lease while she took an indefinite leave of absence to care for a family member in China.

However, EVG reader Brian Katz happily passes along an update on the situation here. Linda's landlord is allowing her to leave to attend to her family while also allowing her to transfer her store (for the duration?) to her good friend who has more than a decade of experience running a laundry and dry cleaners.

Reader report: Last day for Lucky's Dry Cleaner and Laundry

EV Grieve reader Brian Katz shares the following:

Lucky's Dry Cleaner and Laundry on 11th St. (520 East 11th St.), between Avenues A and B, owned and operated by Linda, one of the kindest people and representative of all that is wonderful about our village, will be closing today at 6 p.m. She has been run out due to a variety of circumstances (chiefly, a landlord who wants to break her lease and raise her rent while she returns to China to care for a family member) and must shutter her little shop, for good, today.

Not only has she offered her obvious business services to our immediate neighborhood, but she accepted mail deliveries for ALL her neighbors and never, ever expected anything in return.

Updated: Per the comments.. she will remain open through tomorrow now.

Reader rumor report: 504-508 E. 11th St. has been sold

A tipster shares this report... which we're posting verbatim...

As if 11th Street wasn't under enough stress with that plastic scourge from the 'burbs, 7-11, on the verge of puking up its burnt weenies and Slurpees all over the corner of 11th and A. Now it seems that the nearby building of 504-508 E 11th Street has been recently sold to a real estate investment cabal with big plans to cash in on the current East Village real estate feeding frenzy.

And there's certainly copious amounts blood in the neighborhood waters these days. Word has it that the new dollar sign eyed owners intend to clear the 28 unit building of its tenants asap, "renovate", and then jack up the rents to the grotesque amounts commanded by landlords utilizing the rapidly fading vapors of EV hipness to entice the legions of eager neighborhood newbies waving fistfuls of dollars. Boy howdy, what could cooler than having a brand spanking new 7-11 right on your corner!

To date, nothing in the NYC property records indicates that the building has recently changed hands. But, given the frenzy described above, it's certainly not surprising to learn that a deal is in the works ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your guide to construction hell on East 11th Street

Reader report: Roof fire on East 11th Street

Per EVG reader Joe... the FDNY was on the scene on East 11th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C around 9:40 and quickly extinguished the flames... no word on damages at the moment... Another reader put the fire at 167 Avenue B near East 11th Street... either way, the fire is out...

More details when they are available...

...and from the @FDNY

MAN ALL HANDS 604 E 11 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON THE ROOF,

— FDNY (@FDNY) September 7, 2013

Today in helpful warnings on East 11th Street

Between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Your guide to construction hell on East 11th Street

East 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B continues to be an active zone for ongoing construction. Idling trucks. Large cranes. Blocked traffic. Continuous jackhammering.

Here's a look at the projects making life nearly unbearable for some neighbors.

• The Mary Spink apartments, which will provide affordable housing for formerly homeless and mentally disabled East Villager residents


[Ron Z]


[RZ]

• 510 E. 11th St., where workers are adding a new floor to the existing four-story building...


[Cheryl Pyle]


[CP]


[CP]

• 500 E. 11th St, home of the incoming 7-Eleven. After 11 months of gut renovation, the space is finally looking 7-Eleveny/chainy...


[Bobby Williams]


[BW]

In April, some residents who live above here said that the never-ending work has made their existence in the building "a living hell."

• 181 Avenue A at East 11th Street, where workers are about halfway done demolishing the Mary Help of Christians school and church...


[BW]

After the demo, residents from more than just East 11th Street will have to endure the lengthy (and noisy) construction of developer Douglas Steiner's retail-residental complex.... described in one listing as a "140 unit market luxury rental building."

One East 11th Street resident said that one of these jobs would be off-putting enough, but four happening simultaneously is "fucking ridiculous."

Report: 'Jodie Lane Place' sign is gone; City says it will be replaced

[EVG file photo]

The street sign noting "Jodie Lane Place" on the northwest corner of East 11th Street and First Avenue is missing, The Villager reports today.

Per the report:

Scott Gastel, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, told The Villager he didn’t believe there was any connection between the installation of the new-style cantilever signs and the disappearance of the Jodie Lane Place co-naming sign and the other traditional-style street signs that had been attached to that pole. It looks like the signs were removed with a hacksaw — a thin, jagged strip of green from the removed signs can still be seen.

On Monday, in an e-mail, Gastel assured The Villager that a sign honoring Lane, plus the other removed signs, will be put back up on the pole.

Lane was a 30-year-old doctoral candidate at the Teacher’s College at Columbia University. During the late afternoon of Jan. 16, 2004, Lane, who lived on East 12th Street with her boyfriend, was walking her dogs. She was electrocuted on a snow-covered Con Edison junction box on the southwest corner of 11th Street at First Avenue.

The street was named in her honor in the spring of 2005.

Read more about the Jodie S. Lane Public Safety Foundation here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
In Memoriam: Roger M. Lane

Halal cart battle developing on East 11th Street

Greg Matherly, an employee of Reciprocal Skateboards on East 11th Street, passes along the following from late this afternoon...

"Just about an hour ago in front of Reciprocal. There was arguing, pointing, shouting, and a brief appearance by the NYPD. Guy on the right just wheeled his cart up beside the Halal guy who has been across from the mosque for years. Also, it's totally blocking the view to the shop, entirely."

Then! A little later.

The NYPD returned. More arguing! Developing...

Reader report: Unshoveled sidewalks in front of the incoming 7-Eleven remain treacherous

Yesterday morning, we noted that the plywood walkway outside the incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A and East 11th Street was extremely slippery... causing someone to post the above warning note...

Apparently little has changed here.

EV Grieve reader VH McKenzie notes:

"The only building on the block of 11th between A and B that DIDN'T shovel any snow from the pathway in front of their building since Friday ... the site of the incoming 7-Eleven.

"What was a slippery, treacherous sheet of ice is now, thanks to the rain, an impassable small lake. Soon to be a slippery, treacherous sheet of ice again when the temperature drops."

Walking on the other side of the street is really a good idea.

Meeting recap: 'Pringle-lizing' the East Village, 7-Eleven style

[Photo of Bob Holman by Jose Garcia]

As previously noted, members of the 11th Street A-B-C Block Association met last night at Father's Heart Ministries to discuss the incoming 7-Eleven on East 11th Street and Avenue A..

A tipster passed along a quick recap of the No 7-11 meeting...

The meeting was the usual mix of brainstorming, with some good ideas and some silliness, but it all came from the heart. There were some ideas put forth that a lot of us had not even thought of — for instance, how to keep schoolkids from patronizing a shiny, magical 7-11 instead of a Slurpee machine-free bodega?

There was talk about banding together with other block associations to fight this and other chains...

The problem, and believe me I don't mean to sound cynical, is that a lot of this is sound and fury ... I have been on many committees and in many groups, and have repeatedly found that while you might have any number of interested people, only a few of them will actually step up to the plate and take on the struggle, with the rest encouraging from the sidelines. That's a hard way to win a war, and sometimes it doesn't work.

Jeremiah Moss always has a summation here.

And here are a few quotes from Serena Solomon's article at DNAinfo this afternoon:

"People come to New York because it is not the suburbs," said Rob Hollander, the meeting's organizer, who also heads up the 11th Street A-B-C Block Association. "7-Eleven is not here to contribute to the culture of New York, and someone has to stand up for that culture."

And!

Bob Holman, founder of the Bowery Poetry Club, was also on hand at the meeting to blast the store.

"They are boring. They are bland. They are not New York," said Holman, who wore thick links of industrial-size chain around his neck to symbolize the fight. "They are Pringle-izing our population."

A writer from Gothamist was also at the meeting. Read that post here.

A 'Super' East 11th Street

In our post yesterday about the new apartment building on East 11th Street ... Dave on 7th noted that the building adjacent to the lot, 533 E. 11th St., served as the exterior for "The Super," a rather painful comedy (co-written by Nora Ephron too) from 1991 starring Joe Pesci.

And the plot: "Karma comes into play when a wealthy wisecracking landlord is ordered by a court to live in the filthy building that he runs."

The movie provides a nice time capsule for the neighborhood circa 1990-1991, as you can see in this clip that Dave on 7th sent along...



And a few photos...

[From 1979 via Michael Sean Edwards]

[From 2011 via Google]

11th Street A-B-C Block Association opposing incoming 7-Eleven; eyeing future developments

[From August]

The following is a synopsis of last night's 11th Street A-B-C Block Association meeting...

By Matt Amoroso

At Father’s Heart Ministries church last night, approximately 50 attendees comprised largely of 11th Street residents discussed strategies and action items regarding the incoming 7-Eleven on the corner of Ave. A and 11th St., the pending luxury development in the Mary Help of Christians lot as well as the proposed construction of a social services building at 535 E. 11th St.

While the discussion centered on East 11th Street and parts of Avenue A, the fact was not lost on the room that these development concerns are symptomatic not only of the greater East Village neighborhood but also the rest of Manhattan.

Despite the presence of several issues on the docket, the incoming 7-Eleven stood out as the hot-button topic of the evening. The consensus in the room largely acknowledged: the 11th St. Block Association opposes the 7-Eleven, and there is not much the members of the 11th St. Block Association can do to stop this particular location from opening.

In a majority decision, the Block Association voted to oppose outright the opening of this 7-Eleven, and in the failure of that attempt, to push for a list of agreed upon concessions from the local 7-Eleven owner or the landlord. Those concessions included:

• Reduced evening/late night hours
• Reduction in lights and signature signage
• Noise control
• Entrance on Ave. A only
• Enforcement of loitering laws
• Possible security guard
• Limits to the sale of alcohol
• Keeping the door closed at all times

In addition to “Is this really happening?”, the pressing question for most attendees was “What can we do about it?” Aside from a general boycott, the attendees suggested numerous courses of action to accomplish the above goals. The most feasible and effective suggestions centered upon utilizing legislative channels through elected or soon-to-be-elected officials to gain notoriety for the grievances of the block and East Village overall.

Other ideas included: social media engagement and petitioning, flyering, picketing, NY media engagement, and research into the existence of any public funding going into construction.

Despite the clear opposition to the incoming 7-Eleven, several residents noted that this franchise would solve the often-voiced problems associated with the (now-closed) bars on the street, including Bar on A and Angels and Kings. In addition, if this 7-Eleven were not to open, then another bar would surely fill the void (if not out of spite from the landlord).

No love was lost in the room for the much-maligned real-estate developer Ben Shaoul, who owns the building housing the future 7-Eleven as well as the Mary Help of Christians lot.

It remained reluctantly clear to the attendees that there is not much that can legally stop a private owner from developing businesses or luxury condos on his property. One can only hope for community engagement, elected official support, and a little bit of luck to turn the tide in the East Village and Manhattan as a whole.

As community leader Rob Hollander reminded everyone: “The law couldn’t stop Robert Moses, but Jane Jacobs did.”

Author’s note: There were many great ideas and viewpoints expressed during the meeting that couldn’t make it into the above story due to time and space. I encourage people to add anything that was left out in the comments section!

Matt Amoroso is the Co-Editor of The Stark Online.

East 11th Street residents meeting tomorrow to discuss 'the big changes coming'

From the EV Grieve inbox...

With the threat of a super-size 7-Eleven at the south corner at 500 E 11, the loss of our community's wonderful flea market and its impending replacement with a huge luxury residential complex along Avenue A, residents on 11th Street have organized to let their voice be heard. If we can't stop these developments, we can still make a difference to prevent the worst. Join us!!

Block Association Meeting
Wednesday, November 14, 7 pm
@ Father's Heart Ministries
545 E 11th St

Anyone living on 11th Street is a member of the 11th Street A-B-C Block Association.
So come and be heard.

[Photo via James C. Taylor]

Reader report: Witnesses claim excessive police force following car accident on East 11th Street

Just before 6 this morning, witnesses say that the car photographed above slammed into two parked vehicles on East 11th Street after making the turn from Avenue C.

The man who crashed the car was allegedly drunk, according to witnesses.

Witnesses described the incident, in which NYPD officers allegedly slammed the driver's head into the ground multiple times. The 6-8 officers who responded to the scene also allegedly used pepper spray on the man who was already in handcuffs and on the ground, according to eyewitnesses. One person who watched this scene unfold described it as "particularly excessive" and "disturbing and unnecessary."

[Top photos by C. Ryan]

And here is the scene this morning... you can see the damage to two parked vehicles...

Old firehouse on East 11th Street no longer really looks like an old firehouse

In January, we posted about the former firehouse converted into residences on East 11th Street just east of Avenue B... two units were available to rent... the space is no longer on the market ...

... and it no longer has that firehouse look out front — workers painted it black yesterday.

Apparently black is in for former firehouses-turned-residences in NYC — just ask Anderson Cooper.

Updated: Dave on 7th notes that this space is now home, in part, to ALLDAYEVERYDAY, an integrated marketing communications and entertainment company whose clients include Michael Kors, Gawker Media and Cee Lo, among many others.

Checking out the East 11th Street waterfall

Courtesy of @fashionbyhe ...

Your chance to live in an old firehouse on East 11th Street

There's an old firehouse converted into residences on East 11th Street just east of Avenue B...

...and two of the floor-through spaces are now on the market...

Interesting space with skylights, roof deck, etc., though you'll be paying for it...

Here is the $7,000-per-month unit...

And the $7,500-per-month unit...

Spotted these two listings at Streeteasy ... Per the listing at Bold New York, looks as if you can snag the whole building for $24,000 monthly ... Apparently Anderson Cooper has made living in old firehouses, uh, hot...

Russo's mural progress

11th Street and First Avenue... Via EV Grieve reader Juan TRED.

And from Dave on 7th...

Previously.

Crusty slumber party

Earlier this morning on East 11th Street. Would like to know what that CNBC van is doing in the background... Photo by native New Yorker and East Village resident Anthony Torre.