A new shopowner with a sense of humor on First Street

A few weeks back Jeremiah noted the sign on 70 E. First St. for a new business coming called Robot Daycare... As the sign said: "From Japan. "Always on time! Never inappropriate!" We were all a little suspicious of this...

Now there's new sign on the door, something for a store called The Missing Sock -- coming soon from Australia!

The store will feature "the world's largest collection of united socks collected from laundromats spanning the globe."

Heh. This ought to keep those snoopy bloggers scratching their heads over what's really coming here!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another First Street shop shutters

Marble baths and plank hardwood floors await you on First Street

After a seemingly long time, renovations at 47 E. First St. near First Avenue are winding down...You can actually see the sidewalk again...




According to StreetEasy, there are eight units over five floors, with a storefront on the ground floor. Average rent is in the $3,500 ballpark.

Here's one of the listings from KVNY:

This is a NEWLY renovated 2 bedroom, 2 marble baths duplex. It has a balcony as well as a granite kitchen (with dishwasher) and also it's own washer/dryer unit. It is accented by wide plank hardwood floors & exposed brick. It even has individual climate control and video intercom for extra safety. Please call for access. (PICTURES TO COME. APARTMENT IS STILL BEING RENOVATED) We have numerous apartments all being renovated in this building available March 15

.

And you'll be that much closer to the brunch line at Prune.

Another First Street shop shutters

Mirari, a costum-made jewelery shop at 70 E. First St. near First Avenue is going out of business...



...joining Alpana Bawa next door in closing...

Bowery/Extra Place gets a little more luxurious... more appealing for anyone with a shoe fetish

Here in the Avalon Bowery Place complex on First Street and Extra Place, a Tashkent by cheyenne showroom has opened...

Bowery and First Street likely not ready to blow up

I bravely walked again on First Street near the Bowery... where all those fire trucks were the other day. It looks as if ConEd is on it.



The problem should be fixed by the fall. Of 2011.

Is the Bowery and First Street next to blow?

I'm not one for cheap scare tactics. But. STAY AWAY FROM THIS BLOCK! RUN! RUN!

Anyway, I didn't think much of this at the time. While walking on First Street toward the Bowery in the flurries howling blizzard that nearly crippled the Eastern Seaboard Wednesday afternoon, I saw six fire trucks roar up to just across the street from the Bowery Avalon Condo Building Thing.




No one looked particularly alarmed. The firefighters stood around a little bit. There was talk of a live wire and the salt on the street causing some sort of problem or something. The firefighters then cordoned off these two vehicles, that were apparently on top of some hot spot under the street. Then they left. Someone standing there watching was like, "That's it?" Someone else said, "That's all they can do for now until ConEd arrives."




Given the recent fires/explosions on Greenwich Avenue and Sixth Avenue, I haven't been back this way.

My counsel: When you go to the Mars Bar later, please approach via Second Avenue. I'll be this guy by the door.



And can I pee in this thing?


[Fire retardant suit via]

Bluebird Coffee Shop now open

The Bluebird Coffee Shop opened Saturday on East First Street just west of First Avenue. (Simon Sips was in this spot until earlier this fall.) Pretty simple: coffee and espresso drinks, with a few things like coffee cake and Irish soda bread. I always give a new place a whirl. And, for what this is worth, the coffee at the Bluebird is better than at any of the other new cafes that have opened in recent months...

Now and then: Bowery and First Street

Bowery at East First Street looking south toward Houston

Late 1970s...



Today...



Top photo reprinted with permission from Randall's Lost New York City Collection

Bar threatens to call cops on a Thursday afternoon because some girls were standing in line to get free prom dresses next door

Wow. A doozy in The Villager this week. I'll link to it soon as it's online. Quickly, though! Last Thursday afternoon from 4-6, the good people at the Lower Eastside Girls Club were holding their annual free prom gown giveway at their HQ on First Street. As Lincoln Anderson reports, "hundreds of excited teenage girls lined up...in the process, blocking the way into The Elephant," the French/Thai bar/restaurant that doesn't exactly pack 'em in on a late Thursday afternoon. There were some words exchanged. And an Elephant manager threatened to call the cops. Lyn Pentecost, the executive director of the Girls Club, called the threat mindboggling. She lives on the block, and called the Elephant "a yuppie bar" and said that it "keeps the street awake all night every night." She claimed the manager got verbally abusive with the girls who were waiting for one of the 500 free prom dresses. The Elephant's GM, Eduardo Sontan, who was not in the restaurant at the time of the incident, told Anderson that they apologized to the the girls, but stressed the girls were blocking the entrance and the manager was worried someone might get injured by falling through the restaurant's sidewalk vault doors. He also said "I'm not against girls" and mentioned that Vice President Biden and Chelsea Clinton have recently dined there.

Please?

At Julius Klein/Art & Design on East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Appreciating a great bar on a day where it's not safe to go into any bars

Mars Bar, of course. First Street at Second Avenue. Not that you'll see anyone here today in green plastic hats and what not, but you never know what pub crawlers might be around on March 17...












Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. May you not have to spend it near anyone who has been drinking Irish Truck Bombs. (Yeah, it's a pitcher instead of a pint.)