The vacant corners on the west side of 3rd Avenue and 13th Street

The retail spaces on the northwest and southwest corners of Third Avenue at 13th Street are vacant.

As previously reported, Brazen Fox, the two-level sports bar, shut down in September after seven years in business. And the for rent signs arrived last week. (No word on the asking rent for this "high foot traffic area.")

From 2009-2012, the space had been the restaurants Hea ... and Friend House.

More recently, Bluemercury, the luxury beauty retailer, vacated the southwest corner. 

Gothic Cabinet Craft shop closed in January 2016 after 47 years in business on this corner. A listing showed that the asking rent here at the time was nearly $30,000 a month. 

Reader report: Workers dig up streetcar tracks on 3rd Avenue

An EVG reader/tipster shared these images from last evening... where workers have been putting in a new roadway on Third Avenue between Astor Place and Ninth Street/Stuyvesant Street as part of the Astor Place Reconstruction project ...

The reader thinks that workers have unearthed the former streetcar tracks along here...

"In digging out the roadbed for Third Avenue near Stuyvesant crews uncovered what I believe to be crossovers for the Third Avenue and crosstown streetcars. It may be difficult to see in the photos but one axis runs east/west (Stuyvesant) and the other runs parallel to Third Avenue."

When the Stuyvesant and Ninth Street mini-parks were built I remember Stuyvesant Street tracks being dug out."

These crossovers are still so well anchored that workers couldn't pull them out. Per the reader: "The crew has been cutting them into small pieces. They are at it again today."



No word on how this might delay the project...

According to the Village Crosstown Trolley Coalition: "The 8th St. line ran its last streetcar on March 3, 1936, clearing the way for the crosstown bus and ever-increasing swarms of automobiles and trucks."

Off the Grid has some nice trolley history here.

Gutting some 3rd Avenue storefronts

Renovations continue on several of the storefronts along Third Avenue between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street...

Workers are tearing down the walls and gutting the former P&P Convenience Store, East Village Cheese (now on Seventh Street!) and Excel Art and Framing Store (now on the other side of Third Avenue!)...



...this is what the old EV Cheese space looks like...





Per the DOB work permit (in their ALL-CAP style): RENOVATION OF EXITING RETAIL SPACE. WORK TO INCLUDE PARTITIONS, FLOORING, CEILING AND FINISHES.

The rumor is that the Duane Reade on the corner of East 10th Street will expand into these spaces to make an even longer Duane Reade.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Duane Reade expansion will take over adjacent storefronts, including East Village Cheese (74 comments)

East Village Cheese makes move to 7th Street official

As the traffic islands disappear and appear on 3rd Avenue

[Back in July]

Back in July, workers installed pedestrian crosswalk islands along Third Avenue as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project… then! At the end of September, workers jackhammered away the island on the north part of the St. Mark's Place-Third Avenue intersection ... leaving behind a springy tar pit...


[EVG photo from Sept. 25]

Then yesterday! Workers began putting in a pedestrian island on the southern side of the St. Mark's Place-Third Avenue intersection…





There isn't a timetable just yet for the removal of this pedestrian crosswalk island.

Photos yesterday via EVG correspondent Steven

Newly installed traffic island disappears on 3rd Avenue at St. Mark's Place

[Back in July]

Back in July, workers installed pedestrian crosswalk islands along Third Avenue as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project…

And just like that yesterday, an alert EVG reader let us know that workers jackhammered away the island at St. Mark's Place... leaving behind a springy tar pit...



... this was an oasis that provided relief from the dodgy Third Avenue traffic as well as time to decide what 7-for-$10-shots to order at the Continental ...





No word just yet how long this will push back the project's completion date. Perhaps Amanda Burden-Christ will provide commentary in the comments.

Thinking about the future (and past) of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

As you probably know, some major change is in the works for the corners of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

To recap:

• Back in June, The Real Deal reported that real-estate investor Arthur Shapolsky is in the process of buying three properties at the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Marks Place: 23 Third Ave., 27 Third Ave. and 3 St. Mark's Place. Basically everything from McDonald's to the corner.

According to The Real Deal, the corner could accommodate a 41,500-square-foot commercial building or a residential one of roughly half the size.

To date, nothing about the sale has shown up in public records just yet.

• Last November, the Pappas family, owners of the St. Marks Hotel, filed plans to build a 10-story mixed-use building on the hotel's lot at the southeast corner St. Mark’s Place and Third Avenue. (The hotel would take floors 2-10.)

New York Yimby got a look at a rendering.



This Super St. Marks Hotel structure awaits DOB approval. (The DOB website shows that city last disapproved the plans on March 26.)

Meanwhile, for a little perspective on this corner (at least the northeast side), take a look at this photo that writer Ada Calhoun bought on eBay that dates to 1963...

The coming changes might make for a nice addendum to Calhoun's forthcoming book, "St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street," out Nov. 2 from W.W. Norton & Co.

The new islands of 3rd Avenue

Been meaning to note this… you've likely noticed this if you've crossed Third Avenue or Cooper Square anywhere from East Ninth Street to East Fourth Street of late… workers have been installing pedestrian crosswalk islands as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project…





According to the city, the entire reconstruction/reconfiguration project is expected to be complete by Jan. 31, 2016.

Coming and going on 3rd Avenue

OK, let's see … as noted back in July, a GNC is taking over the former East Hardware space at 79 Third Ave. The GNC sign arrived a few weeks ago. More recently, the signage went up next door at East 11th Street for Heavenly Market & Deli.

And in other NYU dorm storefront news … Citi Habitats moved out of 37 Third Ave. maybe at the end of June (don't think we ever noted it…) … the space remains on the market for an undisclosed sum. (The listing notes no bars or businesses to compete with its neighbors, like Subway and Saint's Alp Teahouse.) And next door at East Ninth Street, the brown paper now covers the gutted Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery space.

New 3rd Avenue market sets really high expectations

Signage for Heavenly Market has arrived at the corner of Third Avenue and NYU East 11th Street … they'll be taking over the space that last housed Fern Cliff Deli.

They'll be joining new neighbors GNC here in the Third North NYU dorm storefronts.

Small tree meets 'terrible end' on 3rd Avenue

An EVG reader noted this earlier today on Third Avenue at East 12th Street:

Did you see the tree in front of Funkiberry/Han Dynasty met some terrible end? I saw it very early this morning ... .within the last hour it got cleaned up. Now the little tree is over by the trash can.

Anyone know what happened here? (Specifically about the tree...)

Here's a Google Street View of the tree from last September...

Late-night fire reported on Third Avenue

We received multiple reports of a fire last night around 11:15 on Third Avenue between East 17th Street and East 18th Street…

MAN ALL HANDS 194 3 AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 3RD FLR

— FDNY (@FDNY) December 30, 2013

MAN ALL HANDS 194 3 AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 3RD FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) December 30, 2013

There weren't any immediate reports of injuries or extent of the damage… EVG reader Kevin, who took these two photos, noted that the FDNY removed one woman on a stretcher, though she appeared to be OK…



And another photo via @amybraun7

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Wow! Nearly an entire month has passed since Third Avenue has seen a street fair... anyway, cancel those weekend plans! Fun awaits! Right here on Third Avenue! At this hour of the morning an hour ago ... vendors were just starting to arrive...



...ditto for the NYPD...



We expect that you will be able to expect the usual....



Previously on EV Grieve:
Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Organic Avenue coming to Third Avenue

EVG regular William Klayman pointed out yesterday that there's a new tenant arriving at the former travel agency on Third Avenue and East Ninth Street... a new location of Organic Avenue, which is, according to their website:

[T]he leading provider of organic cold pressed juices, raw food cleansing programs, snacks, superfoods, truly natural beauty products, healthy lifestyle education and community building events. The company helps people learn how to transition and maintain a healthy lifestyle that is pleasurable and sustainable, while also friendly to people, animals and the environment.
Organic Avenue is controlled by Weld North, an investment company concentrating on education, health and wellness, consumer services and marketing businesses.

They have nine locations now in Manhattan, with three more on the way soon... Seems like a good fit for the office crowd/workers arriving soon at 51 Astro Place next door?

Subway taking over from Ben & Jerry's on Third Avenue

In recent weeks, the for rent sign came down and contractors arrived at the former Ben & Jerry's on Third Avenue between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street. The ice cream shop closed after 22 years here back in September 2010, as Jeremiah Moss first reported.

The space has remained vacant since then.

We asked Richard Colligan, proprietor of Metroplis next door, if he knew who the incoming tenant was.

Yes he does — it will become a Subway.

So this will reverse the trend of Subways closing around here ... like the franchise on East 14th Street and the one on Second Avenue near East Ninth Street ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
So what's going on with the former Ben & Jerry's space on Third Avenue?

Metropolis: 20 years of selling vintage clothes in the East Village

UPS Store replacing Atlas Barber School on Third Avenue

Jeremiah Moss first reported that the Atlas Barber School closed on Third Avenue at the end of May... As he noted, the landlord jacked up the rent to $11,000 a month — a little much for a barber shop charging $5 a haircut. (Read his post on the place and its history here.)

And there's now a new tenant for the space... a UPS Store...

Seems like the kind of business that will succeed with a brand-new office building going up a few hundred feet away... Also, a UPS Store closed on Second Avenue in April 2011 for financial reasons, per the sign on the door at the time.

Previously.

[Updated] Fire in the manhole on Third Avenue

Well, @Alexander_Stein sent along this photo... from about 20 minutes ago on Third Avenue at Astor Place/St. Mark's Place... you can see the FDNY arriving in the background...

11:19 — four trucks on the scene...

Via @MotoColor at 11:19 ...

Via @jarroddickenson

Via Grace Elizabeth Mangum on Facebook around 1 p.m. ...

The intersection remains closed off... and FDNY, NYPD and ConEd are on the scene...

Via Bonnie DeWitt on Facebook around 2:15 ... showing the scene now...

And later... the site filled our hearts with song... via @Troyquan ...

Trash talk

A reader noted the following this morning... the fellow here between 12th Street and 13th Street placed these garbage bags in the middle of Third Avenue...

Making it easier for the sanitation department?

Third Avenue is now nice and smooth

Freshly paved. Nice for skateboarding at the moment. Or falling down on dead drunk next weekend. Or tonight!

Two weeks ago... torn up for paving... Not so good for skateboarding. Or falling down on dead drunk.

Some convenience for Third Avenue shops

There has been some turnover in the strip along Third Avenue that is home to East Village Cheese ... and once housed Atlas Barber School... there's a new business in store for the former optical shop/dry cleaners next door to the cheese shop...

... the signs point to a convenience store; a worker on the scene confirmed it...

Previously.