St. Mark's Place Fight Night

Updated: The video of the street fight is no longer on Vimeo, though it is now on YouTube.

Updated 7/14. Apparently the video has been removed from YouTube. On Friday night, someone using a gmail account with "gibberish" as the name told us to remove this post or face "legal action."

Last night via Jordy (of the Temple of Ramentology and Cult of Joe and the doorshitter...) Per the Vimeo description:

"It all started when a drunk Asian kid was pissing on the stairs of Search & Destroy. The skate kids walk by and make a comment about him pissing. The Asian kid stops mid flow then steps up to the black skater kids and says 'I'm Asian motherfucker!' Right after that I started filming the Asian kid and his drunk ass friends get the crap kicked out of them."

Tuck Shop closes St. Mark's Place location

The Tuck Shop closed its location for good on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A last night. The locations on East First Street and in the Chelsea Market remain open.

According to the sign on the door, "we decided to close this location for myriad reasons" ... which include:

Surf's Up!
Real-Estate Taxes (my personal fav)
Gentrification
The booze
Sandy (of course)
Rent is too damn high!
Laziness/ennui
Albany/Bloomberg
Gluten-free people

The Australian restaurant opened this location in the summer of 2009.

From April...


[Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.]

Reader report: 8 Crown Trade closing Sunday on St. Mark's Place

[Photo by Chloe Sweeney McGlade via Facebook]

8 Crown Trade, the family run T-shirt and souvenir shop at 28 St. Mark's Place, is closing on Sunday. Word is that they have been forced out by a large rent hike. Several of our Facebook friends who live nearby are quite upset by this impending departure...having watched the family raise their children and put them through college...

Now it will be interesting to see what takes the space... something of the $1 pizza-bubble tea-tattoo variety... or something that will cater to the incoming working crowd at 51 Astor Place in Midtown South ...

From 1967-1971, the address was home to the Underground Uplift Unlimited, who made the Make Love, Not War buttons, per Songlines NYC...

H/t Rhonda Hager Ryan

The NSA needs your support!

At least according to these flyers on St. Mark's Place. After pledging support, will people need to see "After Earth"?

[Photo by Chloe Sweeney McGlade via Facebook]

Storm brings down tree on St. Mark's Place

Uh-oh. @gaminette reports that tonight's stormy-ish weather uprooted this tree outside Natori on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... amazingly, it doesn't appear that the tree caused any damage... missing a mini-van ... and any passersby...

[UPDATED] An eviction notice for Luca Bar on St. Mark's Place

An eviction notice, dated yesterday, is posted on the door at Luca Bar at 119 St. Mark's Place ...



No other information is available right at the moment.

Almost two years ago to the date, the Marshal seized Luca Bar. According to The Local , the owners of the bar owed state tax officials $31,385.49, not including interest and penalties; that the bar has six open warrants for unpaid taxes dating to November 2009.

The bar did reopen several days later.

Its sister bar, Luca Lounge, closed last spring on Avenue B.

Updated 6-8

Luca Bar is open.

Reader report: Supercuts leaving St. Mark's Place

A tipster passes along word that the Supercuts here on St. Mark's Place is closing down at the end of this month. "No word on why or what would be replacing it," per the tipster. A stylist said folks in the area could go to the location at 66 University Place (between 10th Street and 11th Street) ... and that some of the St. Mark's stylists will relocate to that branch.

'Arborcide' — People are pissed that this tree was chopped down on St. Mark's Place

Ugh. This morning, EVG reader Ann was walking on St. Mark's between Second Avenue and Third Avenue when she spotted workers removing this beauty on the south side of the street.

Later, when there was nothing left but the stump, someone left this sign and flowers...


[Photo by Chloe Sweeney McGlade via Facebook]

It reads in part:

"You have killed the most poetic perfectly healthy beautiful ornamental Callery pear tree ... You are killing the historic character of this block..."

Papaya King is NOW OPEN on St. Mark's Place

As noted yesterday... at 3 St. Mark's Place...

Who is going to be The King's first customer in the East Village? Doors open at 10am. #thekingisreadytorock #eastvillage #puredeliciousness
— Papaya King (@Papaya_King) May 9, 2013

We thought Paul Kostabi was first in line as of last night. Or he was just waiting for the M8.


[Via Twitter by @nranra]

Papaya King opening TOMORROW on St. Mark's Place

[April 25]

The King just made it official on Twitter:



They are also on this month's CB3/SLA docket for a beer-wine license.

Here's Ralph Gardner Jr. talking about them a few years back at The Wall Street Journal:

I almost feel foolish describing Papaya King and its franks, so familiar I assume it is to just about anybody who has landed in New York more than 15 minutes ago. But for the record, it serves an arguably unimprovable hot dog. Slightly spicy and garlicky, its casing explodes in your mouth to release its mouth-watering contents.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Papaya King coming to St. Mark's Place

Today's entertainment

Waiting for a friend. Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place. Worker from corner magazine shop sweeps the sidewalk, pushing some of the dust, cigarette butts and what not into Third Avenue.

Meanwhile, a street sweeper comes roaring up, horn honking. People standing on the corner quickly move back as the sweeper pulls up.

The driver gets out and stands on the cab. "What are you doing? I just came by here and swept," she yells down to the man with the broom.

He apologizes.

"I called this in. I already swept here. You're not supposed to sweep into the street after we come by."

He apologizes again and attempts to try to sweep up what he left behind. "Don't do that. I've already called it in." She mentions a ticket, but says that she will make sure that he doesn't get one.



She stands there a few more awkward moments. Then gets back inside and drives off... only to make a theatrical entrance a minute later. Going back and forth over the spot and then hanging a sharp left and continuing on St. Mark's Place.

Eastside Bakery has closed

A tipster passes along word that workers have cleaned out Eastside Bakery (.net?) on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place... the place is now empty. No note.



This whole northwest corner here is up for grabs. Cohen's Fashion Optical moved out about two months ago... Michael "Bao" Huynh's Baoguette Cafe around on St. Mark's Place closed last fall... and Timi's Gelateria Classica™ closed in December 2011.

Hey, the space is all empty for the Gap to return!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Roastown Coffee coming to Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Here's another Citi Bikes docking station for St. Mark's Place

This morning, Shawn Chittle spotted workers installing the Citi Bikes docking station on the north side of St. Mark's Place ... just east of Second Avenue...







Early Monday morning, workers installed the docking stations on the same side of St. Mark's closer to First Avenue.

Per Citi Bikes:

• North side of St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue
This station will have 39 docks and is located in a no-parking area of the street.

• North side of St. Mark's Place near First Avenue
This station will have 31 docks and is located in a no-parking area of the street.

So 70 docks total for the block. (Perhaps we can now call this stretch Citi Bikes Place?)

And if the FDNY seemed annoyed by one docking station on this block... wait until they see this...

Citi Share docking stations arrive on St. Mark's Place at 1 a.m., quickly tagged

EVG regular Stephen Popkin notes that the Citi Bikes docking stations arrived on the north side of St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue (in front of the former Holiday Cocktail Lounge) ... around 1 a.m. (Per Stephen's estimation, the installers were working quietly...)



Plans called for 31 docks here in a no-parking area of the street.

Updated:

Well, later, someone felt compelled to write RAMEN on the docking station...



...and another angle via Shawn Chittle...



Meanwhile! On East Fifth Street at Avenue C... EVG reader Mish noted that workers installed the docking station here around 11 p.m.



Per Mish: "We're already taxed as it is parking wise, and the street is a dead end. Really failing to see the logic in this choice of location. I'm not sure they realize how much of an adverse effect this is going to have on commuters in the neighborhood."

Someone stole the Burger Shop sign on St. Mark's Place

The Burger Shop opened on St. Mark's Place back in the fall of 2011 ... it is owned by Gregory Nardello and his father, who hail from Queens... While the place recently changed the name to The Village Joker, the Burger Shop sign was left hanging to help during the transition period.

But! Gregory Nardello shared this with us.

"Some time between Sunday night and Monday morning that sign was stolen off the building. Although I was planning to take the sign down soon anyway, I was really hoping to keep it for a couple of reasons. One being that this is the first restaurant I have ever opened and that was the only signage that I have remaining. The second reason is that I made the sign, and I really would of liked to hold on to it for sentimental value."

So, he would love to have the sign back... "if the person who took it would anonymously be willing to give it back. I am willing to offer a small reward for it."

Papaya King sign now — up

At 3 St. Mark's Place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Breaking: Papaya King sign going up on St. Mark's Place — right now

Breaking: Papaya King sign going up on St. Mark's Place — right now

Workers arrived around 7 a.m. today to put up the new Papaya King sign at 3 St. Mark's Place...



... and moments ago, Shawn Chittle spotted workers prepping the sign for placement...



Papaya King hopes to have the shop open by May 1.

Spring on St. Mark's Place

By Bobby Williams.

Wiener watching on St. Mark's Place

From the EV Grieve Wiener Wire... workers put up the "world's best frank" lettering yesterday at the incoming Papaya King at 3 St. Mark's Place ...

Meanwhile (via Eater last Wednesday), Design Observer interviewed Andrew Bernheimer, the architect who designed the East Village Papaya King. Headline: How to Design an Iconic NY Fast Food Joint? Bernheimer studied everyone from from Katz's to Shake Shack for this creation.

Excerpt!

So how do you design a place that retains the je-ne-sais-quois authenticity of an iconic New York place without it becoming a generic franchise joint?

Use the language of their original store, and then deploy elements in slightly different ways. Don’t merely replicate things. For example, we decided to push the entry in from the street (the opposite of the original incarnation, which occupies a prominent corner on the Upper East Side) and widen it, to create a sheltered entry space. And we made it bright yellow, which picked up on their color scheme. Also, signage is really important. Sometimes we are taught in architecture school (or later on, learn in practice) that nostalgia isn’t valuable, and our impulse is to fight it. But in this case nostalgia was important, very much so.

Lastly, Wiener Watchers are predicting that Papaya King will be ... the place to be this summer... as evidenced by how the space is already attracting crowds...


[Saturday afternoon, via Stephen Popkin]

... and the leftovers from crowds...


[Sunday morning]

Via Twitter, the folks at Papaya King said that they are hoping to open by May 1. "Psyched to be coming downtown."

Deal of the day: FroYo shop for sale on St. Mark's Place

Spotted on Craigslist:

Busy Self-Serve frozen yogurt shop in East Village for sale buy owner.

Store is located on St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. Extremely high foot traffic area 7 days a week.

Great for frozen yogurt business or other fast food concepts.

Store has been in business since 2008. Absentee owner looking to sell.

9 years, 6 months remaining on new lease with new 2013 tax base year.

750 SF plus basement storage space. Plenty of space for outdoor seating as well.

Current monthly rent way below market at $6200.

The listing doesn't mention the shop by name, but it has to be Yogurt Station, which recently reopened after a several-months hiatus.