Signage arrives for Avenida on Avenue B

[Photo yesterday via EVG reader David]

Several readers pointed out the arrival of the Avenida name at 25 Avenue B this past weekend.

According to the questionnaire (the PDF is here) that was filed ahead of the September CB3/SLA committee meeting, there was a 100 percent corporate change for the business, from the short-lived Matty's to a new venture/bar called Avenida Cantina.



However, despite the new concept and partners, this item was not heard in front of the committee. The paperwork shows that the new proprietor served as manager of East End Bar & Grill on First Avenue between 86th Street and 87th Street. (Not sure what East End is like these days. In July 2010, CB8 unanimously rejected the bar's application for a sidewalk cafe. According to DNAinfo, "Neighbors at the public hearing testified that the post-college age crowd drunkenly wrestles in front of the bar and sometimes urinates on their doorsteps.")

In recent years, this space between East Second Street and East Third Street was home for two months to Matty's ... and, earlier, Idle Hands, Station B and Billy Hurricane's. (And upon a time — Save the Robots.)

Avenida Cantina will just be one of the new occupants along this part of Avenue B.

The pet store next door is closing, and the space is for rent...



And the former deli next to Cornerstone closed earlier in the year... the space was gutted and glammed up...



...and is now on the market...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Whatever happened to simple bar names...concepts?

Billy Hurricane's looking to hire attractive, sexy, fun, loud and pushy female bartenders who are still in school — and rock

25 Avenue B is on the market

The for sale sign went up last week at 25 Avenue B between East Second Street and East Third Street.

Tower Brokerage has the listing, which shows an asking price of $299,000 for the bi-level space. The monthly rent is listed as $16,882.63.

The previous bar here, Matty's, closed after just two months. In the past few years, the space was home to Idle Hands and Station B and Billy Hurricane's.

Matty's now serving eviction papers on Avenue B

That is apparently officially it for Matty's at 25 Avenue B.

Last week, we noticed a rent-due notice on the gate for the sum of $38,326.77 (just for January) here between East Second Street and East Third Street.

And now, there is a mass of eviction papers... noting that the landlord is in possession of the space, etc.



Matty's, run by some folks who had a bar called Matty's on the Drive in Wilton Manors, Fla., took over the Idle Hands space... opening on Dec. 12. They didn't get around to painting the new sign until Jan. 17. And by Feb. 17, the landlord served them rent-due notices. We haven't seen them open since the end of January.

We're trying to remember a bar that came and went so quickly in the neighborhood... opening and closing in under two months. Can you think of a place that closed in less time than this?

Previously on EV Grieve:
A bar called Matty's in the works for Idle Hands on Avenue B

Matty's makes it official on Avenue B

A bar called Matty's in the works for Idle Hands on Avenue B

Idle Hands looks to be changing ownership.

The bar at 25 Avenue B near East Second Street is on this month's CB3/SLA committee docket.

According to the paperwork (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website, Idle Hands is scheduled for a corporate change… as you can see, seven partners (essentially everyone) are leaving the corporation, and three new ones are joining…



The new venture will be Matty's, whose owners ran a gay bar in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., called Matty's on the Drive.

Here's how the New Times Broward-Palm Beach described Matty's on the Drive:

Gather on the far end of the room and take on formidable opponents at Wii Sports, or just kick back and wait for the man of your choice to approach you with his best pickup line. Wild Wednesdays score you 75-cent drafts and well drinks at Matty's on the Drive. And don't forget to try the signature grape martinis.

Matty's closed in late 2012 following a year-long legal case.

There's no word yet on what kind of bar Matty's will be on Avenue B.

In October, Allan Mannarelli, an owner of The Cock, decided to withdraw his application for moving his bar from Second Avenue to the Idle Hands space when it became clear that the CB3/SLA committee was going to issue a denial.

The CB3/SLA committee meeting is Monday night at 6:30 in the CB3 offices, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

However, according to the docket, this item will NOT be heard during the meeting. Strange, given that the space will be under new ownership, yet the corporate name remains the same.

Reader report: The Cock won't be moving into Idle Hands

As previously noted, The Cock was looking to move from Second Avenue to 25 Avenue B, into the current home of Idle Hands.

This item went before CB3's SLA committee on Monday night.

Several EVG readers in attendance noted that Allan Mannarelli, an owner of The Cock, decided to withdraw the application when it became clear that the committee was going to issue a denial. Several residents apparently spoke out against the application, including members of the East 4th Street A/B Block Association.

We understand the fact that he was a managing member of the quaint former establishment called Superdive wasn't lost on residents.

Paperwork on file with CB3 (PDF!) showed that The Cock was planning on taking both floors of the Idle Hands space. No word on what might happen next to Idle Hands.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lower Avenue B residents meeting tonight to discuss the Cock (25 comments)

Idle Hands stretching out on Avenue B

[Photo via Ray LeMoine]

After three years of life below Billy Hurricane's and later Station B, Idle Hands — the "Bourbon, Beer & Rock" bar — is taking over the entire space at 25 Avenue B. (East Village Eats first caught wind of this impending change this past Friday.)

The official grand reopening is this coming Wednesday, per the Idle Hands website.

Billy Hurricane's quietly became Station B back in June.

And a lot of people pretty much hated Billy Hurricane's, like Robert Siestema, who wrote this about the place for The Village Voice in May 2011:

You look up at the street sign and realize you're in the hippest nabe in the world, the old E.V. And it dawns on you that soon the entire length of Avenue B will be lined with shit holes like this, crass dining and drinking establishments that might have been invented by Guy Fieri. Yes, now we're in the Fieri-verse, a realm of ostentatious overconsumption so abject, that nori rolls may come wrapped in bacon so as not to frighten the regulars with seaweed.

Meanwhile, East Village Eats is optimistic about this Idle Hands takeover. "Honestly, I think this is a good thing for the neighborhood," he wrote.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Whatever happened to simple bar names...concepts?

Billy Hurricane's looking to hire attractive, sexy, fun, loud and pushy female bartenders who are still in school — and rock