Looking at the new Avenue D greenstreet

Yesterday, we looked at the new greenstreet coming to First Street off Avenue A and East Houston Street ... all part of the three-year East Houston Street construction job expected to last through the summer of 2013... A greenstreet is also planned at Avenue D... so you will no longer be able to hit Second Street going 60 MPH off Houston...




This intersection will likely look a whole lot different in three years or so... especially if that new development in the planning stages actually happens...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Avenue D's future

Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

What East First Street will look like after the Houston construction project

Earlier today, we talked about the construction on East First Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...and how that might impact the cab-heavy business at Punjabi Grocery & Deli.

I was unaware of the extent of the infrastructure changes planned on East Houston from the Bowery to FDR ... So many thanks to a reader for sending along the plans... I'm still sorting through them... but the area on East First between A and First Avenue will see significant changes... see the plans for yourself....




Vehicles will no longer be able to enter First Street right off Houston at Avenue A (a dangerous intersection, if you ask me...) mostly because they'll be a greenstreet ... There's a similar greenstreet planed for Avenue D...

Work is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013.

Bye bye First Street entryway!



Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

Outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli: Where are the cabs?

The East Houston construction project continues... apparently there's work to do on along East First Street too... the path between Avenue A and First Avenue has been a mess...




Something noticeable missing here: Cabs. Punjabi Grocery & Deli is, of course, a favorite stop for cab drivers to get tea and some affordable vegetarian food... not to mention use the restroom...



I'm not sure how long First Street will be a mess... I'm wondering what kind of impact this will have on Punjabi's business...




I was ready to duck inside the other day, and saw a healthy crowd inside ... enough to deter me from going in... the cab drivers seemingly just have to park a little further away for now...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

Then and now: The Provident Loan Society of New York

As Eater reported Friday, the Element Nightclub on Houston and Essex is closing... Sunday marks the club's last night... Per Element management: "We are sad to say that the management of Element contacted us earlier to let us know that The Bank has been sold. They aren't sure what it will become but the one thing that is for sure is that it will no longer be a club."

I've lost track of how many clubs this space has been in the last 15 or so years... The space was originally The Provident Loan Society of New York, which opened here in 1912... the space served as a studio for Jasper Johns in the 1970s...

Amazingly enough, the classic revival brick building has retained its look through the years... Here are some photos from the NYPL Digital Gallery..... the first photo isn't dated...



from 1936...



from 1935...


and today...



I wonder if, in 1912, locals were annoyed that another bank branch was opening...

The Lee expects full occupancy by March 31

Been awhile since we heard any updates on the Lee, the low-income housing development and training center on East Houston and Pitt Street developed by Common Ground, a Manhattan-based nonprofit.

BoweryBoogie had a report back in February on how the 12-story building was shaping up. Staring at it from the street today, it looks awfully close to being completed...





We asked the folks at Common Ground for the latest.

"The Lee is nearing completion and many applications for the low-income units have been received," Lyle Churchill, the senior director for external affairs at Common Ground, told me via e-mail. "The building will 'rent-up' in phases, and we expect full occupancy by March 31, 2011."

He also said that the tenant composition remains as originally stated upon the start of construction in 2008: "In providing stable homes for 263 adults, Common Ground will reserve 104 units for formerly homeless individuals, 105 units for low-income workers, and 54 units for young adults at risk for homelessness."

For more on The Lee:
Morphing on East Houston (The Times)

The original news release on The Lee is here.

All is quiet on the East Houston Street construction front — so far

Speaking of East Houston Street.... Construction crews started their road work on the eastbound lanes on Houston below Essex on Oct. 13. As you'd expect, it's a noisy, messy scene... though I have yet to hear anyone talk about it... Something residents and motorists just have to put up with, so no sense in complaining about it?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

It has begun!

An EV Grieve reader notes that construction crews have starting their road work on the eastbound lanes on Houston below Essex this morning... No photographic evidence, though.... People! In any event, this roadway project should keep us in posts for the next, oh, 37 years.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

[EV Grieve file photo]

Creating the Barry McGee wall a lot more awesome than we originally thought

So.. as we noted yesterday, Barry McGee (TWIST) and his team put up new work on the Deitch Wall on Houston and The Bowery....

Well! Late last night, we heard from The Art Collectors... and they have a full-on narrative of work on the corner... "which ended in a collision, flipped SUV, near arrests, and booty shaking girls."

Indeed! Check out some photos... and you can read the whole shebang at The Art Collectors.....






(All image © Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)

Deitch Wall now with a TWIST

As we noted last Thursday, the Deitch Wall on Houston and The Bowery would soon be home to work by Barry McGee (aka Twist)... As Animal New York reports (via BoweryBoogie), Twist and company began tagging the wall after midnight...

Here it is now...




Per Animal:

"TWIST and company finished the mural that is likely to breed outrage, anarchy and cliché news narratives questioning whether graffiti is art."

Their headline: "Twist's Completed Masterpiece."

Agreed!

Work under way at the Deitch wall

A crew is currently prepping the wall at Houston and the Bowery for a work by Barry McGee (aka Twist) ...



And I hope it's not an ad for this... currently parked across the Bowery...

What's next for the Deitch wall?

A reliable source passed along word that Barry McGee (aka Twist) is up next on the Deitch wall on Houston and The Bowery. Deitch alum Kathy Grayson is now apparently serving as the curator.

Here is some of his recent work, via the Deitch website:

NYPD raises Shepard Fairey threat level to 'high'

Heh. No! Just the NYPD protecting the Houston corridor for the Obama motorcade this evening...



Many thanks to EV Grieve reader Anna for the photos...

Thankfully the Penistrator didn't deface Shep's work for the President to see...

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

During last night's Community Board 3 meeting, District Manager Susan Stetzer reported that the reconstruction of East Houston from the Bowery to the FDR will start this month. She noted that there will also be a traffic-lighting change at Houston and Avenue A. But! She said there would be traffic cops on duty to help expedite matters as best as they can. The construction work will be done in three phases... and there will also be a construction office to voice complaints!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

[EV Grieve file photo]

The Mercury Lounge turns colors

The Mercury Lounge on Houston has a new look...

Before!



Now!




And so far, it looks as if the Shastone Monuments signage will remain...



By the way, as Curbed reported, the building that houses the Mercury Lounge was sold earlier this year... though the Mercury has a lease through 2018...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Some faded ad glory reappears above the Mercury Lounge

The Mercury Lounge survived John Mayer, it can survive this

[Top photo via Curbed]

Into the sunset

Outside Billy's on Houston...

The oil zone

Around 6 this evening, protesters took to the BP gas station on Lafayette and Houston ... (which was conveniently closed in advance) to condemn BP's involvement in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster (read more about the protest here via Gothamist) .... here are a few photos from the protest ... (BoweryBoogie was also there... you can read his report here.)