Chalk art on Extra Place

Spotted Sunday afternoon...

Third store opens today in Extra Place

There's some kind of high-end looking furniture-wood shop opening in the corner space tonight at Extra Place...






Meanwhile, seems like a good time to take a quick inventory of Extra Place...

Starting in 1978 (photo via Forgotten New York)...



OK, anyway, as it was first reported back in the spring of 2008, the Avalon Bowery team aspired to turn the cul-de-sac into "a slice of the Left Bank, a pedestrian mall lined with interesting boutiques and cafés."

With the new furniture shop, there are now three storefronts in business... Bespoke Chocolates...



...and Montana Knox ...

Looks as there are 4-5 retail spaces available...




...it feels a little lonely back here...



...not quite yet what the Avalon Bowery folks envisioned with their rendering a few years back...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Extra Place now officially a Dead End

Meanwhile, Extra Place continues to maintain its proud heritage

Perhaps he just saw Extra Place for the first time in 15 years or so?

The Chocolate Wars (well, not at all, but we needed something that sounds CONTROVERSIAL)

Giving Extra Place the warm, comfortable feel of suburbia

Looking at Extra Place

Extra Place getting prepped to become a major thoroughfare?

There is a recent addition to the Extra Place roadway here...



Stop signs were painted on the blacktop ... In case someone can go 0 to 75 in a few hundred feet or gets the funny idea to start drag racing or they don't see the stop sign...




Not that you'll get too far onto First Street anyway ...

Meanwhile, Extra Place continues to maintain its proud heritage

Previously.

Yuppies keep getting younger and younger on Extra Place

Thanks to the EV Grieve reader for sending along the photo....

I do not want to know what this cab driver was doing in Extra Place this morning

Perhaps he just saw Extra Place for the first time in 15 years or so?

Happened upon this scene Sunday morning on Extra Place just off the Bowery.





Oh, it was nothing serious. Just a 5-7 person film crew doing something involving a man and a van.

Fierce Pussy on Extra Place

There's new a Fierce Pussy work along the west wall on Extra Place.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

The former home of the Marx Brothers in danger of demo (Living with Legends)

Sabotage at the Aqueduct? (New York Observer)

Analyzing "Manhattan" (Patell and Waterman's History of New York)

Carnage at the P&G (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Ken has photos from better days at the P&G (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

What's doing in Murray Hill? (Esquared)

The Bowery/Delancey billboard goes black (BoweryBoogie)

Happy No. 62 Iggy (Hunter-Gatherer and Stupefaction)

EV/LES streetscenes (Flaming Pablum)

Tagging along on Snuggie Saturday (Daily Intel)

Jeremiah had news yesterday of the new tenant at Extra Place.

Meanwhile! From Metropolitan Diary yesterday in the Times:

Dear Diary:

Recently I was on my way to a job interview in the East Village, a neighborhood I don’t know well. I had a hard time finding the address I was looking for, even with directions I had printed out from the Internet.

The short street, Extra Place, was not marked, and since the tiny shop wasn’t open yet, there was no sign of any kind that I was in the right place. In a panic, I hurried up to a police car stopped at the next intersection and asked where “Extra Place” was.

The officers immediately went to work. One consulted his mobile phone to verify the address; one pulled out a map from a large bunch stuck between the two seats. To my confusion, that officer also handed me a handful of tissues.

“Are you on your way to an interview?” he asked. “You’re going to need this; you have lipstick all over your teeth.”

He swiveled the passenger-side mirror so I could get a look at myself and make the necessary touch up. The two then directed me to the right location and with a quick thank you, I jogged off down the block.

I didn’t get the job, but I did get a good story about New York City officers going above and beyond the call of duty.

Extra Place is now officially a Dead End

As the new city sign on the left shows...
Previously on EV Grieve: The End of Extra Place

An award for navigating "the wilds of don’t-ruin-my-neighborhood blogosphere resentment"

In Time Out's Eat Out Awards this week, the magazine's critics bestow the Best Sweet Revenge award upon Bespoke Chocolates. Why?

As if the seven levels of city-permit hell weren’t enough, chocolatier and former Union Square Cafe pastry staffer Rachel Zoe Insler also had to navigate the wilds of don’t-ruin-my-neighborhood blogosphere resentment before she even opened the doors of her unassuming bonbon shop. Insler placated the haters with patience and warmth — and won over everyone else with her pretzel-covered sea-salted caramels, cardamom-scented Turkish coffee truffles and the rest of her handmade sweets. 6 Extra Pl at E 1st St (212-260-7103)

Well, now. I hope you haters are happy now! Got your just dessert!

The End of Extra Place

In February, Extra Place was paved over...in an effort to "beautify" the piss-filled alley that ran behind CBGB and turn it into a pedestrian mall...



And now...as a capper to the project, an ominous "End" sign was put up...



...to signify the "End" of an era...or to warn motorists who may not otherwise be able to see the building that is sitting there...

By the way, it has been nearly one year since the makeover plans were announced for Extra Place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Looking at Extra Place

The Chocolate Wars (well, not at all, but we needed something that sounds CONTROVERSIAL)

Extra Place is getting prepped for pavement

Extra Place is getting paved. Here's the flier telling residents....



"Keep your windows in the closed position"?



Previously on EV Grieve:
Looking at Extra Place

The Chocolate Wars (well, not at all, but we needed something that sounds CONTROVERSIAL)

The Chocolate Wars (well, not at all, but we needed something that sounds CONTROVERSIAL)

In his Nabe News Wednesday, BoweryBoogie included a link to my post on Bespoke Chocolates opening shop on Extra Place. Rachel Zoe Insler, the owner of Bespoke, left him the following comment. Which he reposted in a post. Anyway! Here's BB....and Rachel:

Rachel Zoe Insler, owner of the new Bespoke Chocolates set to open on Extra Place, wants to set the record straight. Her message is clear, don't bemoan Bespoke! Per a comment received earlier this morning:

Hi! I'm the owner of Bespoke...I specifically left the opening date so open-ended because the fiery hoops you have to jump through to open a small business (especially in a corporate-owned building) in New York City will never cease to amaze me. It's been months trying to get the appropriate permits to install a sink. Anyway, we'll be open soon enough, and I'm hoping that my small, independently owned shop making handmade products manages to make more people happy than it does horrifically offended. Cheers, Rachel P.S. EVGrieve: where's your sense of humor? "Charming" is a joke!

She also responded to his post:

You're speedy! Thanks for posting. If I ever get my damn doors open, please come by for a chocolate and a chat!

I've lived on East First between First and Second for a few years now. I love the East Village and I'm excited to be part of a long history of unique small businesses.

To be clear: I am not trying to say that people shouldn't prefer things "the way they were." Bemoan me all you want; a little controversy is hard to come by when you make chocolate anyway. :)

But I am asking that folks give me a chance and at least let me open my doors before deciding that I am going to be a detriment to the neighborhood. Remember: CBGB's was once a new business. So was Moshe's Bakery.

Times are tough, and small locally owned businesses need all the support they can get, lest Extra Place be filled with six more Chase Banks. I'm proud of my handmade products and the fact that I can create a few new jobs for New Yorkers.

I will yield your blog back to you now, thanks. :)

I'll have more to say on this tomorrow in the first installment of my 12-part series, "How Bespoke Chocolates singlehandedly ruined the East Village."

Heh. But seriously! I'm all for small, locally owned businesses...and I'm happy to hear that she lives in -- and appreciates -- the neighborhood. This place aside....generally speaking, with the proliferation of FroYo places and the comings-and-goings on Dessert Row, the Momofuku's Bakery & Milk Bars of the neighborhood, and what not, I have to admit I feel a little desserted out. And annoyed when the SATC crowd shows up to eat said desserts. In any event, we do wish her all the best with her new store.

Looking at the first retailer coming to Extra Place, that "charming little East Village Street"

Back in October, The Feed blog breathlessly announced that Bespoke Chocolates would be opening its first retail outlet in November...right in Extra Place, the infamous alleyway behind the former CBGB space where you can now buy $250 vintage Cheap Trick T-shirts. Anyway! So Bespoke would be the first shop in Extra Place, which is maybe now owned by the city or nearby condos Avalon Bowery Place...So, to torture ourselves, we took a look the other day to see what was what with this space. As far as we knew, nothing had opened yet...



Yes, something is happening behind that Bespoke wrapping, officially at 6 Extra Place. Which the Bespoke Web site describes as a "charming little East Village street."



According to the Bespoke Web site, they'll be opening after the New Year. Which narrows it down to 365 days.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Extra Place gets its first tenant...And it's dessert (shocker!)

Giving Extra Place the warm, comfortable feel of suburbia

Looking at Extra Place


PS: Here's what Extra Place looked like in 1978 (via Forgotten New York)

Crying all the way to the bank?

Speaking of Avalon Bowery Place, a passerby added a little detail to their condoganda...

Tipstering with good intentions: Versace to the Bowery?

I always appreciate any tips... So! A tipster just e-mailed claiming that a Versace store was opening on First Street at the Bowery. The tipster said the item was in Luxury Briefing. Which does me no good since the thing is subscription only. Anyway, it's a former Versace designer opening the store, as Racked reported in October. He has done work for Sarah Jessica Parker, which means this may become a stop on the Sex and the City tour. (OK, sorry. Because I made this joke, it'll probably really happen now.)

Giving Extra Place the warm, comfortable feel of suburbia

The Villager has an update on Extra Place:

Neil Cardi was walking down E. First St. between Second Ave. and the Bowery, when he stopped. He was wearing a worn-out rocker T-shirt and black skeleton biker gloves, complete with trench coat slung over his shoulders. Standing by the small, cul de sac in midblock, he sneaked a smirk at the grimy, graffiti-covered walls and scraps of trash that decorated the obscure alley.

“This place gives me comfort,” said Cardi, a former amateur musician who has struggled with substance abuse. “I remember spending a night or two here as the Rolling Stones rolled out the back of that door. It used to be CBGB.”

The unmarked place Cardi stood in front of is a deserted street known as Extra Place and some say that since the 1970s this historic alleyway has given character to the Lower East Side.

Sigh.

AvalonBay’s advertisements that run along the walls between the Bowery and Second Ave. read, “The Redefined Bowery.” And redefining is exactly what residents of 11 E. 1st St. and 22 E. First St., together known as Avalon Bowery Place condominiums, want for Extra Place.

“Clean it up!” and “It’s pretty ugly” were the reactions of people coming out of both buildings as they walked from pressure-washed sidewalks surrounding the new buildings to aged, gum-covered splats of cement. Jennifer, a resident of two months who declined to give her last name, said of the attraction of fixing up Extra Place with cafes: “The less I have to travel for nightlife the better.”

So is Extra Place nothing more than an alley that needs a sprucing up or is it one of the last remnants of old New York? The vote is split.

“It’s kind of famous as the back door of CBGB’s. It’s the backdrop of The Ramones’ ‘Rocket to Russia’ album,” said Fred Harris, senior vice president of AvalonBay, of Extra Place. He said it’s unclear if the parcel is even an officially mapped city street, but, “Regardless of its status, or whether or we own it or not, we just want to clean it up, light it and maintain it and pedestrianize it.”

Extra Place coverage on EV Grieve

Extra Place gets its first tenant...And it's dessert (shocker!)

Terrifying news from Time Out New York's The Feed yesterday afternoon (via Curbed):

This just in from budding chocolatier Rachel Zoe Insler, previously of the pastry kitchen at Union Square Cafe and now the owner and mastermind of the soon-to-open Bespoke Chocolates...Two pieces of good news (we cherry-picked the best for you):

(1) BESPOKE CHOCOLATES HAS AN OFFICIAL ADDRESS!

The lease on the shop has been signed and it looks like our fabulous landlord will be turning over the keys on Halloween. Scary, yes, but also exciting! By the end of November, you will be able to visit us in the East Village at 6 Extra Place, New York, NY, 10003.

Two pieces of good news? I didn't make it to that second piece of good news in The Feed post. Now can someone tell me what the first piece of good news is?

Extra Place coverage on EV Grieve is here.

The Times looks at Extra Place

The Times looks at the possible development of Extra Place. As you know, Avalon Bay wants to pave it and add boutiques and wine bars and stuff. Others argue that it remain a public space. And kind of like it was.

“The ground was magnificent,” said Danny Fields, the manager of the Ramones, who took the photograph in November 1976. “It was filled with junk, shreds of clothes and pieces of barrels, posters, leaves, ropes.”

(The article also mentions Jeremiah Moss.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
"All of Manhattan has lost its soul to money lords"

[Photo: Michael Falco for The New York Times]