Tahini closed for good on Third Avenue

[June 2]

Back on June 1, the DOH temporarily shuttered Tahini on Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place. According to DOH records, the city issued 79 violation points, including for:

• Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.
• Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service

The restaurant never reopened.... and this morning, we spotted workers cleaning out the space...



The supervisor confirmed that Tahini was closed for good.

As you may recall, back in January, Eater reported that Michael "Bao" Huynh was taking over the Tahini space ... and opening an "Old School Style Philly" cheesesteak place called — Mikey's Cheese Steak. However, the Tahini owners followed up later saying that they had no plans to close.

Perhaps the new Bao concept is back in play then.

Atlas Barber School space on the market

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.)

Meanwhile, the listing for the space is online now... the rent is $11,250 ...



Per the listing: "No Cooking or conflicting uses."

Meanwhile, WalkerMalloy also has a listing for the corner space at East Ninth Street ...currently the travel agency... the space is $13,600. Same deal: "No Cooking or conflicting uses."

Back to Jeremiah's May 30 post:

After all, Astor Place is changing — a shiny new tower is coming, and shiny new towers bring shiny new people who want all things to be shiny and new. As [Sheila Gray, director of Atlas] noted to me, Atlas and the East Village Cheese shop are the only old-school businesses left on the block — now the cheese stands alone and we have to wonder for how much longer.

White Plains bar-restaurant owner looking to open former Friend House space on Third Avenue

Last month, Friend House closed on Third Avenue at 13th Street... the for rent signs quickly went up... and someone is already looking to take over this prime space. There's an applicant for the address on this month's CB3/SLA meeting on June 18.

According to CB3 documents (PDF), one of the principals owns and operates two bar-restaurants in White Plains — the Brazen Fox and neighbor Ron Blacks. This yet-unnamed restaurant is proposing hours of 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. seven days a week. The applicants — Niall Henry and Declan Rainsford — are also proposing an unenclosed sidewalk cafe on Third Avenue and 13th Street for seating up to 32 people from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

According to Westchester Magazine, Ron Blacks (currently closed for renovations) has 15 TVs and 40 taps. Brazen Fox, per the website, features a martini happy hour as well as nightly specials such as "Ladies Night" on Wednesdays and "Suds for Scrubs," a new promotion in which anyone showing a medical ID can get "$5 draughts."

[Updated] Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Today's street fair festival is on Third Avenue from East 14th Street on down to East Sixth Street (we think!)...

...vendors were just setting up when we walked through around an entirely too early hour.

With the Dance Parade and the Ukrainian Festival, traffic should be nice and snarly...

Updated: Noon

An aerial view via @AndrewPettit ...

Giant pink sports bra will no longer be distracting motorists, pedestrians on Third Avenue

Flashback to the corner of Third Avenue and East 11th Street this past January...

And despite the role the Giant Pink Sports Bra filled in helping guide motorists down Third Avenue during the Great Whiteout of Jan. 21...

The Pink Sports Bra has, sadly, been retired.

The wall this weekend.

Feel free to share your favorite Giant Pink Sports Bra moments in the comments.

Friend House closes on Third Avenue

Multiple readers this past weekend pointed out that Friend House has closed on Third Avenue at East 13th Street... there is the Marshal's notice ... as well as for rent signs...

Let's see... it was Hea until September 2009, when Friend House across the street took over the space (same owners)... Friend House ran afoul of the DOH several times ... we also recall attending a CB3/SLA meeting where residents complained about late-night noise from the second-floor bar...

Countdown to April 15

This afternoon on Third Avenue. And it's Cooper Square Committee Co-founder & Chairperson Frances Goldin.

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

The other day, we were walking by the former Ben & Jerry's space on Third Avenue and NYU (technically 41 Third Ave.) ... such seemingly prime space has been empty for some time. Jeremiah first reported that Ben & Jerry's was closing (after 22 years at this location) in September 2010.

So nearly 18 months later... what gives here? Astronomical rent? We looked at the Newmark Knight Frank listing. Pretty specific instructions in all caps for future tenants:

FANTASTIC RETAIL SPACE in NYU DORM.
ABSOLUTELY NO COOKING, NO TEA, NO COFFEE.
Formerly Ben and Jerry's.

Hot East Village Location.

The rent is "negotiable" for the 1,175 square feet.

The listing including this sad photo of abandoned cows...

What do you think? Cellphone store? Radio Shack? Egg shop?

And now, video of Speedo-clad revelers celebrating the Giants Super Bowl victory on Third Avenue

Remember on Sunday night, when we posted something about some New York Giants fans/NYU students in Speedos celebrating the Super Bowl victory on Third Avenue and 11th Street?

Yeah, anyway. There's video.

Noted

Per @hattmayes — "in front of the NYU dorm. People flooded the street and some guys in speedos jumped on a cab."

During whiteout, motorists making way down Third Avenue with help of pink sports bra

Boob job

11th Street and Third Avenue this morning.

Rejected posts from 2011: New NYU outdoor swimming pool coming along

Yes, there's a reason the EV Grieve editorial board rejected this one. And others.

First look at PermaBase, opening soon on Third Avenue

Ha. Just kidding about the PermaBase. Old construction joke.

It's actually going to be a Japanese restaurant called Kotobuki here on Third Avenue near 10th Street... and we're sure their food won't taste like cement board...

Penny Farthing sibling Linen Hall now open on Third Avenue

Here we are at the former Cosmic Cantina space on Third Avenue... The Penny Farthing owners have taken over the space... and it's open... CB3/SLA OK'd all this in November 2010, as Eater reported.

Don't know much about how this place is different from the Penny Farthing next door. (Never been to Penny Farthing.) Early word on Linen Hall: Neighborhoodr called it "very nice" and a "welcome addition to the hood."

Large warehouse wanted

So we spotted this on the plywood along Third Avenue between 13th Street and 12th Street Saturday...

Intrigued, we emailed the address listed...

Turns out the people behind Unicorn Meat NYC — "an underground, art based nightlife production group" are looking for permanent space. Per the Unicorn Meat website:

We will fill the walls and ceilings with LED art and 3D projection. It is our belief that people controlling the underground nightlife scenes in NYC are simply not doing what they could be doing with warehouse space. It's our dream and passion to bring you an eclectic and electronic based space that will blow you away and take you to another place.

In the email, Unicorn's Alex Kay wrote, "We get large multi-thousand person crowds and need to be able to put them somewhere we can run. Venues in NYC are difficult to work with so we are starting our own."

Also:

"We put some of the signs up in ... Williamsburg and they disappeared. Why? I believe they were taken down by brokers who don't want us going around them. The one in the city stayed up."

Actually, as of Sunday, someone had removed this poster too. Or maybe someone wanted a closer look at the American Pole Fitness Championship crotch.

DOH closes Friend House (again?) on Third Avenue

In late August, the DOH temporarily closed Friend House, the Asian bistro on Third Avenue at 13th Street. They reopened, or so I thought.

In any event, per the DOH website, Friend House has 83 violation points dated Thursday. Among the worst of the violations:

• Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.
• Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
• Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.

[EVG flashback] Off the wall

Our post from yesterday about the the closure of the Manhattan Parking Group at 74-84 Third Ave. at 12th Street ... and of the mysterious windows in the Yummy House building... prompted me to dig up this post from February 2009...


I'm always rather surprised to see the side of the building free of ads here along this stretch of Third Avenue near 12th Street...Been empty for at least a week since "The Pink Panther Part Duh" banner came down...




This is always prime ad space too. A short history of the wall from 2008...







BONUS FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR!

From July 2009...

Ad for Julia Child movie is oddly erotic

First, though, the latest ad to grace the building on Third Avenue near 12th Street.



And, um. Really? I'll say nothing else, in fear that I will appear in a blurb for the movie...

"Julie & Julia is finger-lickin' good!"
— EV Grieve

Previously on EV Grieve:
Where are all the ads?

Third Avenue around 9:50 a.m.

Near Ninth Street.

A glimpse of the incoming 5 Napkin Burger on 14th Street and Third Avenue

Yesterday, workers removed part of the plywood on the Third Avenue side of the incoming 5 Napkin Burger here at 14th Street...

Not much to see, to be honest. The interior still looks pretty raw. Plywood is remains up on the 14th Street.

In October, Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo reported that a 5 Napkin Burger was opening on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue — previously home to Robin Raj.