Late afternoon East Houston Street still life

Photo by Fenton Lawless

Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard

The one level row of storefronts on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard are now business-free with the exception of Katz's.

Empanada Mama is the last to bow out...


[Photo via @fnytv]

They aren't going to far away as the sign notes — 95 Allen St., as first reported by BoweryBoogie.

So everyone else, including Ray's Pizza, Bereket and Lobster Joint, among others — have closed or moved to make way for Ben Shaoul's new development... Oh, there it is!



Shaoul's latest is a 10-story building with 83 residential units spread out over 95,000-square feet... plus 13,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Katz's, who sold their air rights to help make this happen, isn't going anywhere.

H/T EVG reader Chris F.

Report of a fire on East Houston

There was a major FDNY response earlier this evening on East Houston between Norfolk and Suffolk...

MAN ALL HANDS 251 E HOUSTON ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON TOP FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) November 26, 2014

EVG reader Chris Mason shared this photo showing the scene on the rooftop...



No word at the moment on what caused the fire or the extent of the damage...

Reports: Katz's sells air rights, but will remain in its home of 126 years

In case you missed this story from Friday … Katz's has sold its air rights. However, the 126-year-old deli isn't going anywhere. Just getting some new neighbors, mostly likely.

BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down first reported on this Friday morning.

There is a lot of speculation on the future of the block of East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard…



First, part of the Katz's statement via BoweryBoogie from co-owner Jake Dell:

The most important thing is that the future of Katz’s is secure — at the end of the day, no developer can ever come in and knock us down to put in a high rise. At no point will anyone value the corner of Houston and Ludlow for anything other than Katz’s Delicatessen. A year after our 125th anniversary, this will help ensure that we can see our 150th, and hopefully many more to come.

As for the rest of the block… BoweryBoogie reported back in March that Ben Shaoul was close to buying that L-shaped parcel of single-level businesses. Several of the restaurants have already cleared out, including (sob) Bereket.

The 2008 Lower East Side rezoning allows for buildings up to 12 floors (120 feet) here.

You can get a choice seat to this likely incoming development from one of those new condos right behind Katz's.

How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

Jeremiah first reported on this campaign yesterday at Vanishing New York.

Given the never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project, the folks at Punjabi Grocery & Deli on East First Street near Avenue A/East Houston are struggling to stay in business. The storefront, which arguably serves the best inexpensive vegetarian food in the neighborhood, is losing a big chunk of its audience: cab drivers.

The construction site has taken up all the parking spaces for cab drivers, making it nearly impossible for them to stop in for a meal. (Those who do stop face a getting a ticket.)

So Punjabi is petitioning the city to bring a taxi relief stand to the front of the deli, "a place where taxis can park for an hour so drivers can get a meal, use the rest room, and relax before getting back behind the wheel."

Here's more from the petition:

Though the City and state government collect taxes for each trip from commuters in the form of surcharge through hard working of drivers, they do not create or give much facility and respect to taxi drivers. Since last many years this particular area is under major road and other repairs.

On the top of that construction companies using this area as their personal storage and stocking facility. Due to that in this all area you only see no parking signs. Parking to use the facility become more and more difficult and drivers get parking violation tickets. But the city government official do not think about creating facility but they are only interested in creating more hardship to their hardworking community.

[East First Street disaster construction zone]

You can find the petition here.

This is exactly the kind of business that we need around here. As it stands, the inexpensive, quick-serve restaurants are disappearing (Bereket ... Cafe Rakka on Avenue B ... First Avenue Pierogi and Deli ... and soon, Snack Dragon, to name a few).

As for the East Houston Reconstruction Project, it is now scheduled (PDF!) to be completed by mid-2016, according to the latest city estimates. It doesn't seem possible that Punjabi Grocery & Deli can last two more years at this rate.

East Houston back to its good ol' normal self

[Photo Thursday by @maraaltman]

On Thursday morning, a ruptured pipe dating to 1959 flooded East Houston Street with mucky water. Crews worked overnight Thursday to fill in the sinkhole that formed after the break between Orchard and Ludlow … here is how East Houston was looking earlier today… almost as good as its old self!



Holiday weekend or not, the arrows, pointing to the formerly broken roadway, have to work…



The DEP claims that the break was an anomaly, according to NBC News, and not related to the ongoing East Houston Reconstruction Project between the Bowery and the FDR that is set to wrap up long after we're all dead.

The overnight work on the East Houston Street sinkhole

Crews worked around the clock to repair the sinkhole that formed after a ruptured pipe flooded East Houston Street with mucky water yesterday morning.

EVG reader Connor Sheets took these photos between 1:30-2 a.m. …





East Houston Street was closed between Allen and Essex after the 20-inch water main dating to 1959 broke.

"When that type of water starts rushing out of a pipe, it's gonna take everything with it," Jim Roberts, the city Department of Environmental Protection's deputy commissioner of water and sewer operations, told the Daily News.

This stretch of East Houston has seemingly been under construction since 1959 … however the DEP claims that the break is an anomaly, according to NBC News.

The DEP said they shut off the water to five adjacent businesses and eight residential buildings. Katz's, who sustained heavy losses after its basement flooded, was able to remain open for business during all this — the deli is connected to an adjacent main. Unfortunately, its neighbor, the Lobster Joint, didn't fare so well.

"We're out of business," general manager Alex Linomontes told The Wall Street Journal. "We still have bills to pay, and there are hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage."

In the basement, workers in industrial rubber boots waded through stagnant brown water, salvaging what they could. Mr. Linomontes said he lost refrigerators, boilers, and other equipment to flooding — along with tens of thousands of dollars worth of seafood.

East Houston was expected to be open to motorists later this morning.

This photo (via BoweryBoogie) by @ja0095 is the best shot that we've seen of the damage…

Updated: Part of East Houston is currently flooded, along with Katz's basement

Yikes! Part of East Houston near Ludlow is currently flooding (flooded?). Save the pastrami!

Not sure what is going on at the moment here ... crews have been working on the water mains as part of the never-ending East Houston reconstruction project now in its 457th year...

Updated 11:21: yep. Water main break per a reader at the scene.

Thanks to @maraaltman for the photo!

Houston floods. Luckily, looks like the water is going around the brisket. pic.twitter.com/N49wUlKvHQ

— Mara Altman (@maraaltman) May 22, 2014

Updated 12:02 p.m.

The basement at Katz's has reportedly flooded.



Updated 1:01 p.m.

Here's a shot of the damage on East Houston... a sinkhole has formed on the the eastbound lanes between Orchard and Ludlow...


[Photo via @luxtravelstyle]

Updated 1:27 p.m.

Katz's remains open!

Katz's is still open, despite the water main break. Just don't try to drive on Houston for a while... pic.twitter.com/BNc6c8TtfZ

— Katz's Delicatessen (@KatzsDeli) May 22, 2014

Updated 3:58 p.m.

According to published reports, 13 nearby buildings are now without water after the circa-1959 pipe broke under East Houston. In addition, Brooklyn Vegan notes that tonight's Stone Jack Jones and Ex-Cult shows at the Mercury Lounge have been cancelled tonight.

And there you have it...


[Photo via @hanakanna]

Planting the median along East Houston Street

An EVG reader notes that crews are out this morning planting, um, plants and stuff in the East Houston median near Avenue C...



Per the reader: "It's quite an elaborate operation."



The city estimates that the ongoing East Houston Reconstruction Project between the Bowery and the FDR will be complete by December 2015. (Find an update here, PDF)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today's quiz: How tall will the weeds in the East Houston median grow by the end of summer?

Reader report: These street lights along East Houston have been out for several years

An EVG reader tells us that there are two street lights out just west of Avenue A along East Houston and East First Street ...



According to the reader, the lights have been dark "for several years."

"I have called 311 several times and even talked to the guys who have been working on [the East Houston Reconstruction Project] for the last 600 years. They never get fixed," the resident says. "It is very dark on both Houston and First Street. I have almost stepped on little dogs since I can't see them and tripped on the horribly uneven sidewalk."



This can be a rather treacherous thoroughfare here. There's a lot going on with various traffic patterns … not to mention the construction equipment, the bus stop, the pedestrians, etc. … made all the more challenging along a darkened corridor …



As for the East Houston Reconstruction Project, the city expects the work between the Bowery and the FDR to be completed by December 2105. (Find an update here, PDF) Perhaps the lights will come back on then.

Ben Shaoul linked to another possible LES development; bye bye Bereket?

Ben Shaoul is reportedly close to buying that L-shaped parcel of single-level businesses on East Houston at Orchard Street.

BoweryBoogie had the scoop yesterday that Shaoul, the East Village-LES Developer-Landlord of the Year seven years running, was in (or close) to contract for 196-198 Orchard and 187 East Houston.

While the deal EXCLUDES Katz's, the rest of the businesses, including Bereket, Empanada Mama and Ray's Pizza, will need to vacate in the coming months. None of the restaurants that Gothamist's Christopher Robbins contacted were aware of the upcoming deal. "The man who answered the phone at Bereket said he believed the restaurant had another year on its lease."

News of Bereket possibly closing was particularly upsetting to EVG reader Danny:

"Their lentil soup is essentially a panacea for all the ailments that might plague a body, mind or spirit. (Of course, it must be eaten with hot sauce and with lemon.) And at $5, it's quite possibly the most bang for a buck to be had in all of Manhattan. Plus, all the guys that work there are incredibly warm and friendly. I'll be really sad to see it go. I only hope it'll move (not far away) and not close up shop for good."

+1

As for what might be coming next, BoweryBoogie points out that developers are permitted to build up to 12 stories (or 120 feet) with inclusionary housing.

Per a BB tipster:

"It's hard to imagine a single block is being subjected to such a massive unwanted upheaval (with absolutely no benefit to the residents)."

Remembering elderly pedestrians killed by cars

[August 2013]

From the EVG inbox…

Today, Street Justice Activists with Right of Way will travel 30 miles by bicycle across 3 boroughs to stencil body outlines of dead pedestrians at 7 sites where New Yorkers over 70 years old have recently been killed by drivers. In 6 of these cases, the NYPD has not filed any charges. In a seventh, the driver was charged only with leaving the scene, not for the illegal left turn that led to the pedestrian’s death.

The event starts at 9 a.m. at East Houston and Clinton Street … at the site where East Village resident Meipui Chow Leon, 73, was killed on Aug. 23 by a Whole Foods van while crossing the street.

Find more details on today's event here.

Updated 12:20 p.m.

WCBS reports that four pedestrians have been killed this weekend by cars.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Reports: 73-year-old East Village woman struck and killed by van while crossing East Houston

More accidents on East Houston Street

I'll be back? Never too early to prep for 2016!

[Photo by VH McKenzie]

There's a new mural over on the wall on East Houston at Avenue B... courtesy of @ArtByJW.

So is he an Arnold fan? No! A bit of a goof, the mural is. "The best part was making people believe he really is [running]," @ArtByJW said via Twitter.

Going Ape on East Houston and Avenue B

Just pointing out the recent arrival of a Frank Ape original on the East Houston Street side of 6 Avenue B ... not sure who added the kitty below...



Photo by Stacie Joy

More accidents on East Houston Street

Late Friday afternoon, 73-year-old East Village resident Meipui Chow Leon was reportedly struck and killed by a Whole Foods van while she was crossing East Houston at Avenue B.



In the above photo from yesterday afternoon, an EVG reader notes what was the third accident at this intersection this weekend... where one SUV sideswiped another SUV. One passenger in the SUV in the foreground was taken away in the ambulance.

"This intersection is so dangerous," said the reader. "You've got traffic coming off the bridge and the FDR and no traffic cameras."

-----



Meanwhile, last night around 8, Bill the Libertarian Anarchist came across the scene of an accident at East Houston and Avenue C. The cab collided with a Toyota Camry Solara in the intersection. Witnesses believe that the cab driver was speeding. The driver of the Solara said that he was not injured.

The cab was flipped over when Bill first arrived on the scene at 8:15. The cab driver and the passenger were taken to the hospital. It is not known what condition they are in...

Reports: 73-year-old East Village woman struck and killed by van while crossing East Houston

East Village resident Meipui Chow Leon, 73, was killed late yesterday afternoon by a van while crossing East Houston Street at Avenue B, according to published reports.

The Lo-Down reported that she was walking north in the crosswalk from Clinton Street to Avenue B.

Per DNAinfo:

That's when the driver of a 2011 Ford van, who was attempting to take a left from a southbound lane of Avenue B, plowed into her causing serious bodily trauma, police said.

An EVG reader, who took the above photo, said that four ambulances were at the scene at one point. According to witnesses, the van belonged to Whole Foods. DNAinfo reported that "the driver stayed on the scene, and was later cited for failure to yield and failure to exercise due care."

Clinton Street was closed until 9:30 last night, The Lo-Down noted.

Chico's mural corner painted over on East Houston

Through the years, the East Houston Street side of 6 Avenue B has been home to a variety of tributes and ads by Chico... (the most recent ad on the corner space was a colorful spot for Wafels & Dinges...)

[September 1997]

This past weekend, several readers were surprised to see that someone painted over the existing murals... (apparently a trend)





So far, no one seems to know who ordered the paint-over for the corner... and we're told that Chico is quite upset by this development...

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation of Chico's work

Houston and Avenue B in 1997....and 2007

Report: CVS taking over former Soho Billiards space on East Houston

[November 2012]

Soho Billiards disappeared late last October on East Houston and Mulberry, as we first reported here. The next month, the retail listing arrived, noting that the whole block between Mulberry and Mott on the north side of East Houston was up for grabs.

And we have a taker: BoweryBoogie got the scoop yesterday that CVS is taking the space of the billiards hall as well as the dry cleaners and Subway sandwich shop. And BB hears that there is a whopping $1.5 million annual rent.

Meanwhile, Soho Billiards was on last month's CB3/SLA docket to move into a vacant storefront at 250 E. Houston in the Shoppes at Red Square between Avenue A and Avenue B.

However, that appears to be on hold at the moment. Per minutes from the CB3 meeting:

15. NYC Billiards Club Inc, 250 E Houston St
VOTE: To deny the application for a full on-premise liquor license for NYC Billiards Club Inc., for the premise located at 250 East Houston Street .. . because the applicant did not appear before Community Board #3 for review of its application or provide any application materials for review.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Eviction notice for Soho Billiards

Retail space that included Soho Billiards is up for grabs on East Houston Street

Former Local 269 space back on the market

The Local 269 on East Houston at Suffolk never reopened last fall after a flood apparently KO'd much of the live music venue's equipment.

Applicants who were previously involved with the Apocalypse Lounge (2004-2007) on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B apparently had designs on a new bar here. However, the applicants apparently never appeared before the CB3/SLA committee back in March, according to the CB3 meeting record.

So now the space is back in play. An EVG reader points us to this Craigslist post:

188 Suffolk Street corner of Houston St
EAST VILLAGE BAR/ RETAIL SPACE in Prime Location
· Located at 269-271 East Houston St
· Prime location
· Approx 900ft² street level with approx. 1200ft² usable downstairs
· 4AM Liquor License
· Showings from 10:30-6pm
· Monthly rent $14,500
· $100,000 Key Money
· No fee
· AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY

The Local 269 space was previously home to Meow Mix and Vasmay Lounge. The Local opened in February 2009.

New venture aiming to take over former Local 269 space on East Houston

We're also interested in the following item on this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting docket:

• To be Determined, 269 E Houston St (aka 188 Suffolk St) (op)

An applicant is looking to take over the Local 269, the live music venue that never reopened after an apparent flood last September.

There's a little more information about the proposed venture now on the CB3 website. (PDF is here.)

According to the paperwork, the applicants are looking to open an unnamed bar with proposed hours of noon-2 a.m. Monday-Wednesday; noon-4 a.m. Thursday-Sunday.

Unlike the Local 269, there won't be any live music at this new bar. There will be a jukebox, though.

There's food mentioned. The menu attached to the paperwork is very generic — chicken wings, Buffalo wings, sliders, hot dog, fries, etc. (However ordinary, perhaps it's nice not to have yet another place featuring, say, a pickling station or serving bacon-infused maple bacon with burnt ends.)

Where were we?

The paperwork notes that the applicants were previously involved with the Apocalypse Lounge (2004-2007) on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Well, we have no memory of this place. Here was New York magazine's write-up on it:

One gets the sense that the Apocalypse Lounge is meant to shock and astonish, but the whole thing comes off as more confused punk theme park than East Village "café artistes." Is it a dive bar, a college bar, or a trendy downtown club? Like some acid-inspired art project gone awry, floors are splattered with colorful paint and walls plastered with Polaroids, sparkles, and doll's heads — apparently there's even a Basquiat stuck somewhere in the muck ... the bar drew opening hype, but Page Six press can't save it from seeming a decade or two off: While the East Village is home to plenty of artists, these days they're neither starving nor hanging out at open-mike nights.

Meanwhile, the whole building here remains on the market. The owners are seeking proposals.