[Updated] Reader report: Bar 82 is closing

Word was spreading last night that Bar 82, with its ample back room for bands, poetry readings and other events, is closing at the end of this month. At least one performer with an act booked after March 31 took to Facebook last night with the news.

Several other sources confirmed the impending closure. The bar opened here on Second Avenue near St. Mark's Place in 2008... the bar was a reincarnation of sorts of Verchovyna Tavern aka George's Bar aka Bar 81, which sat for decades on East Seventh Street until a rent hike KO'd it.

We'll have more information on the closing as it becomes available.

Updated 1:31

Per Bar 82's Facebook page:

Bar 82 is going to close it's doors at the end of March. We would love to see you all before then. I'm going to keep this page open after the fact to tell everyone where your favorite bartenders might end up just to be cool. Please come by and say hello and goodbye and hello again somewhere else. It's important to us bartenders. We love you peeps.

[Updated] Street fight erupts at Raphael Ward's memorial service on Second Avenue this afternoon

There was a memorial service this afternoon for Raphael Ward, the 16-year-old gunned down for his jacket last Friday night on the Lower East Side.

Witnesses described a wild scene after a fight among students apparently broke out outside the Provenzano Lanza Funeral Home on Second Avenue between East Third Street and East Second Street around 3 p.m.

These pictures by Event Photos NYC show panicked students fleeing the scene, heading south toward Houston...

Bobby Williams was also in the vicinity and took these photos...

He reports that a large contingent of NYPD officers quickly arrived and restored order... no word on any arrests...

Police are looking to question four "persons of interest" about the murder. His funeral will take place at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on Pitt Street tomorrow morning, according to the Lo-Down.

More details on today's altercation as they become available...

[Courtesy of Event Photos NYC]

Updated 1-10:

The Lo-Down has more on the incident:

A friend of The Lo-Down witnessed the confrontation, telling us that at one point a teen was being beaten with a large chain and a frying pan. Another source said at least one fight began inside the funeral home. Cops were forced to shut down traffic on 2nd Avenue to deal with the situation.

Updated 1-10:
The Post reports that the NYPD arrested a 16 year old for his alleged role in the shooting last Friday night.

Looking at some old favorites along Second Avenue

On Monday, we posted a 2001-2012 comparison photo of Gem Spa by James and Karla Murray ... turns out that was just a warm-up for a new post — A Walk Down Second Avenue, from 14th Street to Houston circa 2001.

The photographers, who published "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York," don't capture every business ... but they do highlight the old-timers and current favorites, such as East Village Meat Market and Block Drug Store, and now-closed businesses such as Jade Mountain and 2nd Ave Deli.

You can find the photos and text with some history here.

Wylie Dufresne bringing fancy cocktails for foodies to former Plum Pizzeria on Second Avenue

Here's some foodie action for this stretch of Avenue Woo. Grub Street is reporting that noted LES chef Wylie Dufresne (of wd~50 on Clinton Street) is opening a place at the former Plum Pizzeria at 157 Second Avenue.

Per Grub Street:

Alder will be a 50-seat pub. It will open in the former Plum Pizzeria space ... The kitchen will serve "modern casual food and well-crafted cocktails," according to a rep for the restaurant. The name Alder is the Old English analog for Ellery, the name of Dufresne's second daughter.

Sleepers

Earlier today, the NYPD paid a visit to the men hanging around on Second Avenue near East Sixth Street... some were sleeping... others were not... But they were all asked to leave... Photos by Bobby Williams...

Azaleas moving around the corner to Second Avenue

Something we've been meaning to note... Azaleas, the boutique that sells jewelry and nice froufrou things like undergarments and stuff, is moving from its East 10th Street home around the corner... (the store announced this via Facebook on Sept. 15.)

The coming soon paper is up on the windows...

...to right here on Second Avenue. Right where that helpful arrow is here between St. Mark's and Ninth Street.

This is part of the former Estroff Pharmacy space. Fresco, the gelato cafe, took over the other part of the pharmacy back in the summer.

Another Saturday night, another stretch limo idling in the bus lane

Last night, Dave on 7th noted that car that was pulled over on Avenue A, causing the M15 driver to honk his horn for 10 minutes before finally just going around the vehicle...

Another reader shared this scene from Second Avenue at East Sixth Street... where a stretch limo was parked in the bus lane...

Only to be replaced by a stretch Hummer several hours later...

Per the reader: "Kudos to NYPD Traffic Enforcement for their business-friendly attitude."

Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine has looked closed of late

Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine quietly opened at 82 Second Ave. (the former Mission Cafe space) back in the middle of June... and it has looked closed of late. The above photo is from a few nights ago... paper now hangs in the window... the always-reliable fellow at the deli next door said that the owner was "impatient" and decided to close...

However, another tipster on the block said that the owner will likely reopen with a different concept. Back in February, Crain's reported that the owner had signed a 10-year lease here.

Summer Fridays rehash: The Second Avenue bike lanes — What do we think so far?

Hey, we're digging into the EVG archives for these next few summer Fridays... We first posted this one on July 1, 2010...

------------

Well, the bike lanes have been up now for long enough on Second Avenue, complete with a line of parking that's meant to add protection to the cyclists ... for me to hear some grumbling... Not really any kind of cyclist vs. pedestrian thing... but more of a safety issue. Trucks and cabs abruptly pulling over into the bike lane... pedestrians standing or walking into the bike lane... oh surely there are other offenses... soon enough, the First Avenue lanes will be a go (not to mention the dedicated bus lanes for the M15 on First Avenue and Second Avenue)...


So what do you think so far?



The makeover includes a line of parking that's meant to add protection to the cyclists...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Green day: Second Avenue getting its bike lanes

Gas station switcheroo shocker on Second Avenue: Gulf now a BP; bagels still served

Last night, we went for our usual morning bagel at the Gulf station on Second Avenue and East First Street and...

Whoa! BP!

Inside, while trying to overcharge me $1 for a fucking bottle of water, the attendant told me that the station made the switch on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, bagels are still on the menu...

But can we ever eat a BP bagel?

[The good old days of Gulf bagels]

Fresco now open on Second Avenue; not serving mashed potatoes

Back on May 18, Jeremiah Moss noted the rather cryptic symbol on the window of the former Estroff Pharmacy on Second Avenue near St. Mark's ... He asked, Fro-yo? Mashed potatoes? (The sighting also brought on an anxiety dream) ...

We were going for a mashed potato shop too...

[Via JVNY]

Anyway, it is gelato, as we later learned, and Fresco opened on Tuesday, reports EVG reader Brian T., who passed along these photos...

One EVG regular tried a sample and gave it an A+ ... or, if it was the Summer Games, a 15.8777.

Budding Second Avenue sinkhole now out of the running as a sinkhole to watch this summer

After our "2 potential sinkholes to watch this summer" listicle from Friday... several readers pointed us to another budding Sinkhole to Watch ... this one on Second Avenue at East Seventh Street, an intersection well-known for famous sinkholes...

As seen yesterday...

Yes, perfect!

But! Today, workers patched up the hole for now...

How about some more gelato for Second Avenue?

Jeremiah and I have both been watching the former Estroff Pharmacy space on Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street ... As he noted about the "cryptic symbol" in the front window of the incoming business... "Fro-yo? Mashed potatoes?" ... (And cause for an anxiety dream) ...

[Via JVNY]

Workers on the scene this morning are putting in the new signage and front window, etc. Any guesses?

It will be a gelato shop/cafe.

Gelato? Aren't you thinking that a new gelato shop just opened on Second Avenue? Yes, down just south of East Fourth Street...

Meanwhile, around the corner on St. Mark's Place...

The shell of the former Timi's Gelateria Classica™ — "a gelato franchise for the 21st century, with true Italian artisanal gelato made fresh daily" — sits empty since closing late last year.

[Updated] Reader report: Starbucks closed on Second Avenue

Interesting message via EV Grieve reader Bayou earlier this afternoon:

The starbucks on 9th and 2nd has been closed by the city for operating illegally.

i didn't have my camera. does that mean it didn't happen?

Well, turns out that it did happen... Bayou just sent along the above photo...

Former East Village resident injured by falling air conditioner remains missing

[Via EaterNY]

On Sept. 28, 2010, an air conditioner fell six stories and landed on the Winebar canopy on Second Avenue at Fourth Street.

Here's how the Post illustrated the accident:



According to published reports, the AC bounced off the canopy and hit 67-year-old Tony Franzese, who was walking his dog as he does every morning, in the head. He suffered severe head injuries, and the EMTs took him to Bellevue Hospital.

The Post reported that Franzese, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, had been evicted from his apartment... and was due to leave the building on Sept. 30.

And that's the last we heard of this accident. Until yesterday. The Post reported that Franzese had filed a $21 million lawsuit against the landlord. However, according to his attorney, Franzese vanished about a year ago.

It gets a little complicated. The NYPD brought in a "John Doe" to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital on Tuesday. An NYPD sergeant photographed the man and fingerprinted him for the Missing Persons Bureau. A few days later the officer saw the Post article about the missing man and realized that the patient at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt was Franzese. The NYPD returned to the hospital only to discover that officials had already released Franzese.

The officer who took his photo told the Post, "He's extremely incoherent. He couldn’t even say his name to me. He couldn’t formulate words." Apparently he "suffers from bi-polar disorder and serious brain injuries."

Here's the photo of Franzese from the hospital:

Per the Post: "But because authorities now have his fingerprints and have connected them to his identity, they hope Franzese will be found when he turns up at another hospital."

A St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue now and then

Speaking of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue... Why not do an now and then of the northwest corner... These photos are from Off the Grid, the blog of the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation...

First, a mansion that was once on the corner circa 1903...

... and sorta today... (yes, the coffee place changed names...but still...)

Off the Grid has more on this corner here.