The exterior of the former Rhong Tiam continues to amuse

The former fancy Kurve/Rhomg Tiam space on Second Avenue and Fifth Street continues to look a little, well, neglected... as always, we enjoy seeing what we'll find here next... such as abandoned furniture ...





However, our friend Miss Heather at New York Shitty came across some dandy urban artifacts here this past weekend... She found what she likes to call the 2011 East Village Survival Kit!* (*also good for use in the Lower East Side, Williamsburg, East Williamsburg or Greenpoint, among other locales, she notes...)

Per New York Shitty:

The empty corners of Fifth Street and Second Avenue

Rhong Tiam on the northwest corner of Second Avenue shuttered back in August... and, on the southwest corner, Saturday night marked Sin Sin's last day in business... Walked by last evening for the first time since both places have been closed... and it seemed, well, dark....

I'm curious how much longer these prime corner spaces will remain vacant.... word is the Sin Sin owners will reboot with a new concept sometime soon. (Sin Sin owner Philip Quilter didn't respond yet to an e-mail asking about future plans.)

The side of the former Rhong Tiam space is a nice spot to give away furniture

On Fifth Street near Second Avenue. And the TV is "free to a good home."

On second thought...Rhong Tiam the Sequel not likely happening

JUST the other night, the former Rhong Tiam space on Second Avenue and Fifth Street was all lit up...

'

A worker on the scene said that they'd be reopening next month...

THEN! Last evening, while walking by, "for rent" signs had gone up...

World's long private party almost over: Rhong Tiam is returning!

The space formerly known as Rhong Tiam on Fifth Street and Second Avenue was all lit up last night... as if it was — open!



The space is being cleaned up.... and some of the garish fixtures have been moved around...





I asked a worker if they were reopening. He said no. Then he said a new place would be open next month.

As Grub Street reported last month:

"Andy Yang tells us he has closed the East Village outpost of Rhong Tiam. “It was a miscalculation,” he says of its predecessor Kurve, with its infamous Karim Rashid design." He's also considering whether to remodel it (bringing the kitchen upstairs) and reopen it with a less off-putting décor, or to simply let go of the space.

Looks as if he is going the remodeling route.