Former Croxley Ales beer garden ready for development

According to the listing (PDF):

East Village Development Site/Retail Space opportunity. The subject property is currently a vacant lot with 24 feet of frontage on Avenue B. My client is looking to sell the property which has approximately 7,680 buildable square feet, or sign a long term triple net lease for a retail tenant. The retail space can be built out to approximately 3,840 square feet of commercial space not including the basement.

You have to call for the price. But wouldn't it be worth any price to be so close to those 10-cent wings on Tuesday?



Previously on EV Grieve:
Things that I didn't notice before: The beer garden at Croxley Ales has closed

Also on this month's CB3 docket: Evolution

We continue to look over this month's massive CB3 SLA & DCA Licensing Committee agenda for Monday.

Of interest (at least to me, Jeremiah and Hunter-Gatherer perhaps!)

The new Evolution!



Hunter-Gatherer was told the following about the new Evolution this past June:

As I queried the construction worker regarding the future tenant he said, “evolution”.

“Really”, I said, “what’s the concept”?

“Flair”, he replied, “flipping bottles, fire tricks…you know, bringing a Las Vegas style bar to New York”.

Fine, fine — I'm there opening night! But according to the transfer: Evolution, 68 2nd Ave (alt/op/renovations/name change) (The Watering Hole of 2nd Ave Corp)

The Watering Hole? To douse the flames, perhaps? And will this mean another awning?

For further reading:
E4volution Mach II? (Hunter-Gatherer)

Previously.

Evolution looking pretty classy (so far!) for a Vegas-style bottle-flipping, fire-trickery-type new bar

At Second Avenue and Fourth Street.

For further reading:
E4volution Mach II? (Hunter-Gatherer)

Previously.

Belgian place now Latin

I've lost track of the changes that took place in the conversion from Hop Devil Grill to Hop Devil Lounge last December. Also affected in all this: The companion bar
next door, the Belgian Room.

Anyway, the Belgian Room is now the Latin Bar Lounge.



On St. Mark's near Avenue A.

"All the junkies and prostitutes are gone, and replaced by drunken hooligans"

The Post has a piece today titled The East "Pillage" (And the paper even acknowledges the original source -- Scoopy!)

Someone orchestrated a break-in at famed composer Philip Glass' home in the East Village, but got away only with a cellphone.

Magdalena Adorno, 41, faces charges of burglary and possession of stolen property in the July 17 incident at the property on East Third Street, cops said yesterday.

She was arrested within hours of the burglary, which has neighbors talking about how the area near the Bowery has lately become more crime-ridden.

Police didn't say what was taken, but a story in The Villager said the thief got away only with a cellphone.

Area residents and business people say the neighborhood has become a drunken party zone for noisy teens and 20-some- things who litter the streets with trash.

"All the junkies and prostitutes are gone, and replaced by drunken hooligans," said Claude Campbell, who for 20 years has owned the East Village Music Store.

"At least you could tell the junkies to go away," Campbell said.

Photos by Brian Finke via New York

CB3 to explore bar-related noise issues on Avenue A?

As you may know, two new bars opened this summer on Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street. We haven't talked much about Destination, now at the corner of 13th and A in the former Boysroom space. Mostly because we don't know much about it. So we looked it up. Here's a description from Grub Sreet:

Destination has what one of the operators (they include owners of Paladar and Iggy’s Karaoke Bar) has already deemed a “make-out corner,” and there are Jell-O shots with gummy tequila worms and whiskey-infused Rice Krispie treats.

The double whammy of Destination and Superdive (both taking over spaces that have been empty for more than a year, if not longer in the case of the Boysroom) are apparently creating quality-of-life issues for residents. Based on these fliers someone distributed on Avenue A, it looks as if the CB3 is ready to listen.



There is a phone number on the flier. I'll pass it along if you'd like it.

Updated:

Jeremiah has the following photo today... "NO MORE LIQUOR LICENSES."

Noted

From The Baltimore Sun nightlife reporter:

Yes, I know, Baltimore already has a spot called Speakeasy.

I'm talking about the real thing.

Speakeasies are all the rage in New York and a few other major cities.

I saw a TV show about one speakeasy in New York where you walk into a phonebooth in a hot dog shop, pick up the phone and a hostess from the speakeasy opens a secret door on the inside of the phone booth to let you in.

That. Is. Awesome. ...

Remembering Babyland: "We all want to go back to the womb, and here we are"

Speaking of NoTell Motel... I was looking for some background on the bar and came across an article from the Times dated June 26, 1994, titled "Set 'Em Up in Crib No. 2, Captain Kangaroo." It was about NoTell owner Deb Parker's new (at the time) hipstery/rather insufferable Babyland on Avenue A near Fifth Street. Used to be a mom-and-pop infant shop called Ben's Babyland. Anyway, brought back a few memories (not all pleasant)...

To the article!

The boys in the white crib looked comfortable enough, sitting together on the edge of the mattress pad, separated by a huge, dirty pink teddy bear. One was sucking on a bottle (filled, incidentally, with a vodka tonic), and the other was silently mowing down an ice cream sundae.

The crib was surrounded by other big boys and girls, most of them in their 20's, who were sitting in undersized chairs and drinking cocktails or quietly reading "Danny the Dinosaur" or "Goodnight Moon."

And!

Babyland appears to be inspired by Roald Dahl, its walls covered with childhood record-album covers and every corner filled with old toys: stuffed animals, supposed-to-be-sweet-but-actually-spooky-looking clowns, the Playskool barn with the mooing door, plastic letter magnets and dog-eared books. Naked Barbie dolls spin out of control on top of a ventilator, and a plastic baby-doll face has been plastered on a blender.

And!

Bar owners in the East Village face the special challenge of courting coolness by offering a hip, novel theme while still remaining cheap...

Childhood nostalgia is indeed a fashion statement, and the summer streets are full of women in little-girl dresses and sneakers, or T-shirts with Josie and the Pussycats decals ironed on to the front. It makes sense that the East Village corners of cool would capitalize on childhood comfort zones: Limbo, a cafe on Avenue B, serves up nonalcoholic treats to the many who pour in to play board games. Babyland will soon offer Twister and pinball in the basement.

And!

"We are all really babies, so this theme is great," said Sonja Patillo, a production coordinator who dragged two friends from Texas to the bar on Tuesday night.
[A]s Jack Dawe, 25, pointed out: "We all want to go back to the womb, and here we are."

P.S.
There's another article on Parker in the Sept. 7, 1997, Times.

Things that I didn't notice before: The beer garden at Croxley Ales has closed

These lovely photos by Yun Cee Ng for New York magazine show the beer garden at Croxley Ales on Avenue B near Second Street ... (and was it ever really this serene?)




What I didn't notice until the other day. The patio is gone.




The beer garden sign is still up, though.

Updated:
A reader sent along an e-mail.... The reader's belief is the patio closed in the spring of 2007. More from the reader:

I had asked several of the bartenders if they knew when it would re-open. They shrugged; one said that the bar had a permit issue (noise, perhaps?). Now the door connecting the bar to the garden is bricked over, and I expect the garden will be sold or leased as a separate parcel.

Croxley is pleasant on weekend mornings, when the only people at the bar are well-preserved and the cool quiet breeze blows in. Any other time it is unbearable -- even walking past can be irritating.

At Superdive: "Went here for my bachelorette this weekend and was able to do a keg stand, bartend, dj, and dance on tables"

Sure, some EVG readers haven't been thrilled by Superdive. But over at Yelp, the reviews are starting to come in... and they've all been positive: Four stars (out of five) on average. Here are some excerpts:

"Went here for my bachelorette this weekend and was able to do a keg stand, bartend, dj, and dance on tables. That basically sums it up."

And!

Oh boy. This bar is complete madness... it is the place frat guys dream about. You can make your own drinks or buy an entire keg for your table. There is a random assortment of instruments in case you feel the need to play one and the DJ station is up for grabs, as long as you use your own Ipod. I'd like to tell you more, but I honestly can't remember...

Meanwhile, ForSureNot.com weighs in as well. FSN's take?:

Is this going to be the greatest bar that New York has ever seen? ...

It’s like the goddamn Wild West. I hope that they have a set of those swinging half-doors one of those saloon pianos that play by themselves and spittoons on the floor.

A Revolutionary Free For All with kegs and booze -– Please excuse me while I go get some tissues for John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to dry their eyes.

At Superdive

Superdive opened last night at 200 Avenue A. (So it was Thursday the 25th after all!)

A reader sent me a fairly lengthy e-mail early this morning after a night out at Superdive. The reader started off by saying: "Maybe you can excerpt something useful from this, but I don't know. It just wasn't that interesting." We'll be the judge of that!

To the reader's e-mail:

Upon entering, confronted with a wall of noise. It's *incredibly* loud. You can't make anything out — total wall of noise.

Near the door are some mini kegs stuck in ice. By the window are guys filling mugs from a mini kegerator. Very fratty, all around. Fratty smell, especially.

We try to figure out the bar situation. Confusing. It looks like there is no bar and patrons are just doing whatever, but really there is a bar. It's just surrounded by patrons. We eventually get drinks. My mixed drink is quite strong. This is good, as it took an eternity to get it. It was served by a bartender wearing legwarmers on her arms. As we're trying to secure drinks, we're hit by a blast of flatulence. Did I mention this place is fratty? We get our drinks and head toward the front. The girls here are CUTE.

There is a live band in the back, playing under an enormous lit sign that reads APPLAUSE. The sign is always lit. I do not clap. There is a guy on piano, trying to sing over the noise, and he's accompanied by a drummer. They're playing "When a Man Loves a Woman."

There are plastic cups everywhere.

We go for another round of drinks. We ask how much, and the bartender says "Ummm.... 30?" as if we're bartering. We pay. It seems fair for the amount of drink we're walking away with.

A cringing girlfriend leading her man away from his friends.

A group of girls enter, high-fiving each other. They are cute.

A guy in a yellow shirt starts to lose composure, head in hands. He's had enough beer.

"Thriller" is played (the pianist/drummer are done now). There is cheering, dancing.

And that's about it. We get bored and go for pizza.

CB3 didn't approve a liquor license for Superdive; "a nice neighborhood Internet café-bookstore" becomes a bar with keg service at tables

In previous posts about Superdive, I wondered how the SLA/CB3 could have approved such a boozy concept (mix your own drinks, keg service at tables, etc.) ... Well, it turns out they didn't. Check out the minutes from the May meeting. (Item 4 below from the May 11 SLA meeting.)



The owners of Superdive were denied the renewal of a full on-premise liquor license (click on the image for a better view).... in part, because the owners "did not appear before Community Board #3" ... and "the location has been closed for several months." (Actually, Rapture Cafe & Books, the previous occupant here at 200 Avenue A, closed in April 2008)



Regardless, the State Liquor Authority has the final say in these matters. Meanwhile, according to the SLA Web site, Superdive has Rapture's existing license, which is effective through April 2011.



Rapture owner Joe Birdsong's name is on the SLA licensing information, operating as trade name Superdive. Birdsong was interviewed for a Dec. 28, 2006, article in the Observer about the cafe's opening:

Proprietor Joe Birdsong said the 2,200-square-foot space (formerly occupied by the Clockwork Orange-themed Korova Milk Bar)... is still awaiting his community-approved liquor license, which he hopes to receive once the State Liquor Authority's present moratorium on new licenses expires next month.

For now, patrons can sip coffee or tea as they browse the cafe's prerequisite bookshelves.

Mr. Birdsong, who, in order to some day sell alcohol, pledged to operate primarily as a bookstore, said he has, in fact, sold some books, particularly back on Christmas Day.

The Observer had more on Rapure on Jan. 7, 2007.

Rapture owner Joe Birdsong expects to receive his license to sling suds any day now, as the State Liquor Authority’s four-month-long freeze on processing such permits expired with the change in the calendar year.

The bohemian-style café’s entry into the booze business won’t technically exacerbate what many S.L.A. critics have denounced as a citywide proliferation of liquor licenses in recent years. Mr. Birdsong is simply taking the existing license from the location’s prior tenant, the Clockwork Orange–themed Korova Milk Bar. Keeping the license at that address was of particular concern to the building’s landlord, Mr. Birdsong said: "The owner doesn’t want to lose the value attached to it."

Not that Rapture’s ownership would choose to emphasize the alcoholic content of its business plan, penned by Mr. Birdsong. In fact, his proposal barely mentions the venue’s "extensive and unique beer and wine menu," even though his pending permit would grant him the freedom to serve Jägermeister shots or far stiffer drinks, if he wanted to. A wise strategy. Given the city’s current bar-wary climate, prospective restaurateurs and tavern operators are subject to an ever-increasing degree of scrutiny.

Even a self-described "nice little neighborhood Internet café–bookstore–performance space" is not immune, as Mr. Birdsong found out when he appeared this past September before local Community Board 3, a panel that specifically singled out Avenue A as a bad example of area bar sprawl. In order to garner community approval for his own "limited bar," Mr. Birdsong had to promise in writing that his proposed literary hangout would not someday morph into a troublesome, boozy nightspot.

Specifically, he was required to submit a "signed notarized stipulation" that Rapture would "operate as a bookstore with the service of alcoholic beverages incidental to its operation as a bookstore" and "with the predominant space being used for bookshelves," according to the minutes of that meeting.

Whoa. So, what just happened here?

Meanwhile, a few people were inside Superdive last night for what looked like a private party...

Glitter Gulp continues prepping for grand opening Thursday or Friday, the 26th or the 27th

Previously.

And: An update from Eater. An Eater reader responds: "I wouldn't quibble with 'dingy,' and would point out that's part of the allure of a dive called 'Superdive.' Nor would I leap to the conclusion that the yet-to-open bar is a 'con job.'...Without question, the vibe is raw and anything goes, and in prissy, high touch, please-call-for-a-reservation Manhattan, that nuttiness was more than welcome for stressed out us. Their approach to serving drinks is certainly novel, i.e. a D.I.Y. bar and keg, but then people thought D.I.Y. checkout looked strange at Home Depot too."

Superdive is opening Thursday or Friday, the 25th or the 26th

Thursday is the 25th. Friday is the 26th. So is the bar opening Thursday, June 25, or Friday, June 26?

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village, please meet your new nightmare

Superdive: "Should be condemned"

An Eater operative attended a private party at Superdive. And? As Eater reported:

"The place is dingy as all hell. First thought upon entry: how to leave. One of the great con-job sell-jobs of our time." Phrases also used to describe it: "disgusting" and "should be condemned."

Eater included a link to photos from the event too.

Meanwhile: 22 comments and counting on yesterday's Superdive post.

East Village, please meet your new nightmare

Somehow I missed this... Thanks to Eater for reporting on this... they linked to an UrbanDaddy article on the bar that's opening at the former site of Rapture on Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

The following is from UrbanDaddy.

This story is a warning.

You are about to enter a world of crazy—an all-out, raucous, beautiful disaster of a bar that will eat you alive if you let it.

Let's get right to it: meet Superdive, now taking keg service (yes, seriously) reservations for their grand East Village opening next week. Enter at your own risk…

Now, the first rule of Superdive is that there are no rules. You can mix your own cocktail behind the bar if you like. There's no door policy — anyone can come in. You can order a round of beers or a keg of beer, and a cocktail waitress will deliver the keg to your table in a rolling kegerator. You can even sit down and play their Steinway piano underneath a large applause sign.

It's total lawlessness in bar form. You'll know you're in the right place when you walk into quite possibly one of the least adorned bars you'll ever see—the walls are maroon, the banquettes have floral patterns and there's even a row of protected seats for ladies who don't want to deal with gentlemanly advances, delicately dubbed the "f*ck off seats."

Just drop in with a few (or more) friends, carve out one of the booths along the wall, order up a keg (more exotic orders, like Hitachino or Chimay, take 48 hours, but they have regular kegs in stock), take over the iPod and walk out eight hours later not recalling much of what just happened.

In other words, just like a good dive bar experience, only supersized.

The Evolution continues to evolve (sort of)

At Second Avenue and Fourth Street. Can't wait to see what the next incarnation of this space is...

Previously.

Oh! Turns out that I don't have to wait long.... Hunter-Gatherer, still pursuing the Bennigan's dream, happened by and saw some serious renovations under way. As he reported:

It looked like a fairly serious change as the interior has been gutted and the exterior walls have come down. As I queried the construction worker regarding the future tenant he said, “evolution”.

“Really”, I said, “what’s the concept”?

“Flair”, he replied, “flipping bottles, fire tricks…you know, bringing a Las Vegas style bar to New York”.

“Wow, sounds great”, I replied……..thinking that the description sounded vaguely similar to the former ethos of the hallowed halls of E4volution/2X4/Ambiance…

And from the HG Photo Department:



I said this in a comment over at HG: Seems the problem before was the concept, not the bar. So the owners decided to gut the bar and keep the concept?

Trainwrecks: Angels & Kings back open last night

First, a reader who lives near the bar confirms it in the comments from my previous Angels & Kings post.

And then the Angels & Kings Twitter account was spreading the news....



Meanwhile, someone sent me a link to Celebslam.com (a little NSFW depending on where you work) that had a report on Angels & Kings. Not really a report, but a brutal takedown of Wentz:

Pete Wentz is so fucked. Once all these 17 and 18-year-olds sober up, they're gonna realize how much Fall Out Boy blows. His album sales are gonna plummet. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him on a street corner in six months selling his body. "Hey Mister, I'll suck your cock real good if you buy me some eyeliner."

Wow. Uh. OK!

Previously.

Will there still be a Trainwreck tonight at Angels & Kings?

According to the Angels & Kings Web site this afternoon, Trainwreck Tuesday is still a go for tonight.

Also, it looks as if someone removed the "closed for maintenance issues" line that was posted yesterday:



Meanwhile....um, there's this item from Sabrina Brody in the LA Gossip Examiner yesterday:

Your options for overpriced douchery just got slightly slimmer in New York City: Angels and Kings, the LES bar owned by Pete Wentz, has been closed down for receiving its third citation for serving minors. Don't worry, your opportunity to punch him in the face and scream FALL OUT BOY SUCKS while running screaming across the bar isn't gone for good. The bar will reopen after he responds to a court date, pays some insane fine, and probably watches some videos about America's Draconian drinking laws.
Hire a door guy, dude. There are a million heavyset, intimidating black guys in NYC perfect for the part. The cops are always looking for reasons to shut down stuff in the city, because of all the horrible people who moved into renovated condos in the Lower East Side for the 'authentic New York experience' and then started complaining about all the loudness and the bar crowd.

At 2 x 4: Another bar, another awning?

The Evolution is not dead after all!



According to the door, the bar is being renovated...



As a commenter noted last time:

My roommate and I have been going to 2 by 4 for years now, so when I saw that it shut down, we had to find out what was up. We swung by there last night and saw Eric and Heather inside, so my roommate banged on the door and they opened up. The whole place was gutted and they're doing massive renovations, but they're reopening in mid-July.

It won't be 2 by 4 anymore, but the ownership is staying the same.

Hmm, perhaps the owners needs some suggestions on a theme for the new bar? I'm sure all of you have some good ideas to share. I've always wanted to open a Patrick Swayze Theme Bar — The Swayyyyyyyyyze. Made in his likeness. With drinks like "Next of Kin" and "Red Dawn." But it seems insensitive given his health.