Saturday's opening shot

Still Life with Rotting Fruit on 14th Street

Courtesy of the EVG Masters Series

Live look-in at National Pancake Day on IHOP Way

Here's a noontime look at the police barricades lining 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue (IHOP Way!) on this National Pancake Day at IHOP.

So free short stacks of pancakes until 7 p.m. New this year: Pancake Day Prizes! Including! Free Pancakes for Life. (Presumably you will need to eat those at an IHOP... and they won't magically appear in your apartment whenever you wanted. Doesn't hurt to ask for clarification, though.)

Thanks to Pinch for the photo!

Noted

[EVG file photo]

Major changes appear in store for IHOP Way, aka 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Per the Post today:

IHOP says it’s changing its name to IHOb, and it will explain why on Monday.

The 60-year-old franchise’s coy announcement was made on Twitter on Tuesday.

“For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb”

Grub Street weighs in on the marketing gimmick here.

This IHOP location opened in September 2011.

Hey, the 14th Street IHOP is back in pancake biz

Just closing the IHOP-renovation loop ... the restaurant is back open (actually as of Monday afternoon, per an employee) here on 14th Street near Second Avenue (aka, IHOP Way).

The five-year-old IHOP closed for a makeover on Sept. 18.

Having never been inside the pre-makeover IHOP, I can't tell you how the place is any different. Anyone?

Big Blue returns to IHOP Way

The Big Blue awning has returned to the under-renovation IHOP on 14th Street.

This location between Second Avenue and Third Avenue closed for the renovations on Sept. 18. While the awning is back, the dining room still has a ways to go...

14th Street looks so bare without the large, blue IHOP awning

One week in now on the Great IHOP Makeover of 2016...and we're in the Remove the Awning phase here on East 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

IHOP signage on the front window promises "A whole new IHOP is coming." So that means awning too.

This location closed for the renovations on Sept. 18.

When the building that houses IHOP hit the market in 2012, the listing noted that the pancakers were paying $45,833 per month on a 10-year lease. This location opened on Sept. 20, 2011.

And a fond look back at the awning ...


[2012]

Now THIS is a line for free pancakes

Checking in on National Pancake Day, where IHOP is serving free short stacks (of pancakes) on IHOP Way/East 14th Street … A very healthy line around 5, made up mostly of students (high school, middle school…)



The line goes back to Kings Hairstyling … about 9 storefronts to the west … it is all very orderly …



… and an ambulance remains parked nearby… just in case.

Joey Pepperoni brings his $1 slice to IHOP Way

Well, that Joey Pepperoni $1 sliceria went up quickly at the former AT&T store here on East 14th Street just west of Second Avenue...

And this is the second JPP in the East Village ... with the one opening on First Avenue near East 13th Street in August. And this may be a record for turning over a storefront. One day it was empty, the next day it's a fully functioning pizza place. Not bad considering it usually takes the city about 7 weeks to show up and inspect a hand sink.

Anyway. Game on.

You've been put on notice, Nicoletta!

Haha. Kidding!

But seriously — has anyone tried JPP's? (And if you answer, then I promise to never refer to it again as JPP's.) Was curious how it compared to 2 Bros. or any other $1 or $1.50 slices... Or cardboard?

[Thanks to EVG reader Tony for the tip on the opening]

Your chance to stand in line outside a 7-Eleven to meet Shaun White today

So Gold-Medal-winning snowboarder Shaun White will be at the 7-Eleven today at noon on IHOP Way as part of a promotion for his new flavor of gum — Mintacular ...

According to the flyer the gum dude handed me this morning... "Shaun White and Stride will ... completely take over this 7-Eleven" which "will be transformed into a Stride super store, carrying only Stride's two Shaun White flavors ..." According to the Times, 7-Eleven will also serve a batch of Mintacular-flavored Slurpees. (Read Andrew Adam Newman's article here.)

Be kind of cool if the left the 7-Eleven this way permanently. We need a good two-flavor gum store around here.

New business opens

And with this on East 14th Street, the Axis of 11 in the East Village is almost complete...

The Bowery. Check! St. Mark's Place. Check! East 14th Street. Check!

And now, we await the 7-Eleven coming soon to 813 Broadway near 12th Street ... into a building owned by Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate, according to the DOB.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A quick East Village 7-Eleven inventory

7-Eleven now hiring on IHOP Way East 14th Street

Previously.

New 7-Eleven signage almost makes IHOP less noticeable on East 14th Street

Hey now. Workers put up the 7-Eleven signs today on East 14th Street.... How do you think it all looks together now?

Previously.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Deep in 51 Astor Place ... by Bobby Williams]

Henry Rollins: Joey Ramone's legacy is in danger (LAWeekly)

Avenue B's past as the "German Broadway" (Ephemeral New York)

Landmarks Preservation Commission postpones meeting for new hotel next to the Merchant's House (BoweryBoogie)

Donal Logue will play Merv Ferguson in CBGB biopic; Cheetah Chrome lands cameo (The Hollywood Reporter)

Making Delancey safer (The Lo-Down)

Jesus and Love at the Folsom Street East festival this past weekend (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

LES men curating monthly reading lists at Orchard Street's Lost Weekend (DNAinfo)

Nicoletta pizza porn (Gothamist)

And we spotted this 7-Eleven brandage on IHOP Way back on Thursday...

Workers just as bored with 7-Eleven as we are

Workers at the incoming 7-Eleven on IHOP Way left the lights on for us...



...and no paper on the windows? Where's the challenge in that?



Anyway, no one was around to ask when the space might be opening here on East 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...

Previously on EV Grieve:
A quick East Village 7-Eleven inventory

7-Eleven to complete suburbification of East 14th Street

7-Eleven's feeble attempt at an anti-blogger shield on the Bowery

Bishops & Barons takes over the Hype Lounge space on East 14th Street

A few weeks ago, Page Six noted that people behind ventures such as Macao Trading Co., Employees Only and The Gates were taking over the former Hype Lounge on East 14th Street aka IHOP Way...

Yesterday...

And today...

According to a description on Yelp, Bishops & Barons is "a restaurant and cocktail lounge that celebrates the days of showgirls, movie star gangsters and supper clubs."

How you can own the East Village IHOP

Just buy the whole building! That's right: Massey Knakal has the listing for 235-237 E. 14th St.

Here it is:

The property, situated on the north side of East 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues, contains 17 lower income housing units and 1 store. The building, erected in 1988 as part of NYC's Inclusionary Lower Income Housing Plan created 3,915 SF of retail space on the ground floor and 18,019 SF of residential floor area on floors 2 through 7. The retail store was recently leased for 10 years with one 5-year option to IHOP Restaurant for $45,833 per month or about $140/SF. IHOP is an excellent credit tenant with a corporate guarantee by Dine Equity Inc. (NYSE: DIN). IHOP’s rent increases 10% every 5 years. As a result of the Inclusionary Housing Plan in place, an investor can only benefit from the rent increases by the retail tenant and the revenue from the cell antenna. Ownership must break-even from the residential portion where rents are regulated by HPD and all units must remain affordable for the life of the building. Any profit derived above the cost to operate the building’s residential portion must be preserved in a capital reserve account that can only be used for capital improvements. The building can not be taken out of the Inclusionary Housing Program making this asset ideal for a conservative long-term investor, a retail investor, or an institution looking to place capital in a solid, low-risk investment.

So. IHOP's rent is $45,833? Yow. I would have guessed $30,000-$35,000.

Anyway, at least the building is safe from any high-end condo conversion. Wonder how the current residents handle any IHOP smells?

On closer inspection, IHOP NOT opening a sidewalk cafe on 14th Street

Joking. But still. Seeing the blue tarp tent out front ... which matches the IHOP brand colors ... gives you pause...

...the work continues on all this... the cooling system for the Pancake Maker. Or it's something for the L train. Either way.