58 1st St. awaits another restaurant

A for rent sign hangs outside now at 58 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Thanks to the EVG reader for the photo!)

Km1 closed here in early December... the restaurant, officially Kilometro Uno, and serving food from the Caribbean, first opened in the summer of 2020... but went dark late last year ... before returning in the fall. 

The pop-up establishments VistroBurger and PurpleThai were here between Km1 stints. Those two relocated to Gramercy Park.

As we've pointed out, this address has seen several quality restaurants come and go in recent years. Esperanto Fonda lasted nine months here, closing in May 2017. Before that, this was home to BARA for two years and Prima for three years. The Elephant, a Thai restaurant, was previously here for 17 years.

Perhaps the next concept will be able to stick around longer than a few months or years here. 

An end of the ride: Busy Bee Bikes closes on 6th Street

Busy Bee Bikes has ended its long tenure at 437 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

A for rent sign hangs in the window of the yellow storefront with the handpainted signage, and the space was emptied out over the weekend. On Saturday evening, workers inside the storefront told an EVG reader that they were closed for good.

Several years after debuting, there were some claims that the shop pedaled hot property. And in early 2010, as The New York Times reported, Busy Bee was busted for buying stolen bikes at the time... reopening "after a $4,000 fine and under court-ordered stipulations that include random inspections and severe restrictions on purchasing used bikes."

An owner, the Times reported, was Joseph Malewich, a former NYPD detective. He opened the shop in 2004 with local bike legend Emey Hoffman, who died in 2009.

Busy Bee joins some other bike shops to close in the neighborhood in recent years... including Bikes, By George! ... Landmark Bicycles ... and Danny's Cycles.

As for other shops in business:

• Bfold Folding Bicycles, 224 E. 13th St.

• BikeFixNYC, 334 E. Sixth St.

• CC Cyclery & Co., 530 E. 13th St.

• NYC Velo, 66 Second Ave.

• Trek Bicycle Bowery, 303 Bowery

• Wing Bikes, 345 E. 12th St. (high-end ebikes)

Virginia's is closing on 11th Street; owners will look for a new location

Virginia's, the bistro on 11th Street just west of Avenue C, is closing after service on New Year's Eve. 

Per an email to patrons (thanks to the EVG readers who shared this): 

We have battled through a pandemic and a fire, either of which would have been reason enough to give up. Instead, we persevered — mostly because of the support of our loyal guests and hardworking team. 

With our lease expiring, we have made the very difficult decision to leave our current location in the New Year. Hopefully, this is only goodbye for now as we search for a new home for Virginia's. 

Please stay tuned as we search for a larger location with a longer lease. Thank you all so much for all of your support. We hope to see you once more on New Year's Eve for an unforgettable farewell party!

The restaurant opened here in May 2015.

Image via Instagram

Former August Laura space is on the rental market; building on the auction block

For lease signs arrived yesterday on the retail space on the NE corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street...

As noted last week, the bar-restaurant August Laura closed here last week.

The retail listing, which doesn't mention many particulars, such as asking rent, is right here. 

Meanwhile, a separate listing here states the recently renovated building is on the auction block starting on Jan. 31. The minimum bid for 94-96 Avenue, with nine residential units and the retail space, is $4.8 million.
 

August Laura opened here in October 2019. They seemed to have more irregular hours over the last few months, rarely open at the advertised 4 p.m. hour. Their ample outdoor space, including sidewalk seating and streetside dining structures on Avenue A and Sixth Street, sat unused on pleasant summer and fall afternoons and early evenings. 

August Laura took over the space from EV institution Sidewalk, the restaurant bar and live music venue (home of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after 34 years.

Pini Milstein, who retired, was the principal owner of the building and the operator of the Sidewalk. According to public records, Penn South Capital paid $9.6 million for the property in March 2019. The building's new owners added a one-floor extension here in 2020.

Bubbleology Tea has gone out of business on 1st Avenue

The East Village outpost of the London-based Bubbleology Tea chain has closed at 120 1/2 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Steven shared these photos of the now-empty space, which closed without any notice... (apparently, this happened a few weeks back...)

The outpost opened in February 2019 in a crowded bubble-tea market.

Previously, the landlord here, convicted felon Steve Croman, didn't/wouldn't renew the lease of the International Bar ... which closed in November 2017 before merging with the Coal Yard, down the block.

RIP Molly.

Cornerstone Cafe calls it quits

The East Village has lost a solid breakfast spot. 

Yesterday, the owners of Cornerstone Cafe on the NE corner of Avenue B and Second Street announced its closure after 10-plus years in business. 

In an Instagram post, the Cornerstone cited the ongoing pandemic and the city's related mandates and restrictions for the closure...

The restaurant opened in the early summer of 2011. 

Cornerstone Cafe made headlines in August 2017 after a member of the waitstaff used an Asian slur about a customer on a printed receipt. Management fired the employee and issued an apology.

H/T Salim!

Arthur’s Barber Shop has closed

Several readers (h/t simcitymayor) have let us know that Arthur’s Barber Shop has closed at 34 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. 

Readers reported showing up at Arthur's in recent days only to find the gate down, with the inside of the shop emptied out... there also isn't any information about a new location. 

Thanks to Steven for the photo

7-Eleven shutters on 14th Street

The 7-Eleven on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue shut down last week. (Thanks to Pinch for the tip!)

No closing notice, no explanation behind the closing.

As you can sorta see in this shot above the papered storefront... the space is mostly empty...

This outpost arrived in 2012 (bring back Exquisite DVD Video!). And this is the second 7-Eleven to close in the East Village, joining the one on St. Mark's Place in 2013.

Still, there are still plenty of 7-Elevens around (the Bowery, Avenue A, etc.) to get your Fiery Hot Taquitos and Mountain Dew Major Melon Slurpee...

August Laura has apparently closed on Avenue A and 6th Street

Multiple EVG readers reported that workers were clearing out August Laura on Monday evening and all day yesterday here on the NE corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street... some items were said to be bagged and tossed on the curb while others were loaded into trucks...

Several workers told readers that August Laura has closed for good. There isn't any mention of a closure on the bar-restaurant's website or Instagram account, though Google lists them as permanently closed.

The space was mostly cleared out last night...

August Laura opened here in October 2019. They seemed to have more irregular hours over the last few months, rarely open at the advertised 4 p.m. hour. Their ample outdoor space, including sidewalk seating and streetside dining structures on Avenue A and Sixth Street, sat unused on pleasant summer and fall afternoons and early evenings. 

August Laura took over the space from what some people considered an East Village institution — Sidewalk, the restaurant bar and live music venue (home of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after 34 years.

Pini Milstein, who retired, was the principal owner of the building and the operator of the Sidewalk. According to public records, Penn South Capital paid $9.6 million for the property in March 2019. The building's new owners added a one-floor extension here in 2020.

Long & Short Barber Co. cuts out of 250 E. Houston St.

Long & Short Barber Co. has closed its outpost at 250 E. Houston St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

EVG regular Salim shared the photos here ... including one of a goodbye note for patrons... Long & Short will continue with its shop in Brooklyn and the new location at Columbus Circle...

This is just the latest retail change along this strip, though this one may not have anything to do with the future development on this block.

Businesses in the storefronts just to the east of this — in the unrenovated portion — have all vacated, a list that includes Dunkin'/Baskin-Robbins, Subway (sandwich shop) and China Town. Workers boarded up the unrenovated section last month ahead of its demolition for an unspecified new development.

You can read our previous posts (all 34,567) on the topic right here. 

Original Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches closes in 2nd Avenue A location this year

The Original Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches outpost has closed at 216 Avenue A (the storefront on the right in the pic) between 13th Street and 14th Street. 

The shutter comes nearly seven months after the quick-serve restaurant moved into the space from the SW corner of Avenue A and 13th Street. We didn't hear any reasons for the departure, or whether Nicky's might turn up in another storefront sometime soon.

Nicky's, related to the one that had been on Second Street several years earlier, opened on Avenue A in March 2019.

Thank you to the readers who mentioned this!

Caffè Bene has closed on Avenue A

The Caffè Bene outpost on the SE corner of Avenue A and 13th Street has closed. Workers cleared out the space last week (thank you to Steven for the photos)...

As we understand it, the family of this franchise owner, Rish Sheth, has a deli uptown, and they decided to combine the business. (We also heard the landlord was raising the rent by $2,000 a month here.)

The cafe arrived here in late 2015, offering a variety of coffee drinks, breakfast and lunch items, etc. 

In September 2020,  as part of a pandemic pivot, Sheth added a line of South Asian-inspired groceries and snacks, from bags of Masala Munch to boxes of Parle-G biscuits, alongside Caffe Béne's usual fare. He named this new part of the business Jaleby, which continues to have an online presence for deliveries here. 

This was one of two Caffè Bene franchises to open in the East Village in 2015. The location at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue closed in April 2017 after 17 months of business. 

H/T Lola Sáenz... and thanks to Laura and dwg, who also shared photos last week. 

2 restaurants opened and closed in 6 weeks at this space on 10th Street

After less than a month in business, Tompkins Village Cafe has closed at 277 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

As this photo by EVG correspondent Steven shows, workers have cleared out the space...

The cafe opened at the start of November, taking over for Chichen Itzá, which, by our calculations, was open for 16 days. 

It wasn't immediately clear if the folks behind Chichen Itzá were also doing the new cafe concept ... or what made them initially pivot the business after two-plus weeks in existence here.

We didn't hear much, if anything, about either establishment from readers. Despite its short existence, Tompkins Square Cafe racked up 10 five-star reviews on Google.

This address was previously home for 11 years to the Brindle Room, whose closure was official in June.

Previously

Flamingos Vintage Pound checks out

It appears that the Flamingos Vintage Pound shop has closed on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

A "closing sale" notice recently appeared on the storefront ... and the gate has remained down here for the past two weeks — including over the weekend when people were likely to be out shopping.

This was the last of the local FVP outposts to shutter. The one on Stanton Street and on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue previously shut down. Meanwhile, the two stores in Brooklyn are also out of business. (All the NYC locations had the same phone number listed, which no one answers.)

The company had multiple stores in Europe, as well as in Los Angeles, Houston and Miami. Google lists the U.S. shops as permanently closed.

The two East Village locations arrived in the summer of 2019. As the name implies, the used clothes are sold by the pound at different tiers — $12.99 for lightweight clothing, $9.99 for medium clothing and $6.99 for heavy clothing. My lone trip to the 11th Street space yielded several solid T-shirts for about $14. 

Photo by Steven

Leekan Designs winding down its operations on the Lower East Side

Leekan Designs is wrapping up nearly 41 years of business here at 4 Rivington St., just east of the Bowery. (Thanks to @asafeplate for the tip via Instagram!) 

The shop, specializing in antique and contemporary beads and jewelry and other accessories from China, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Morocco, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and other parts of Asia, will be open through the end of 2021.

The business started in a SoHo loft before relocating to the LES in 1999. And this isn't the first time the shop was set to close. It was slated to shutter in March 2019, though owner Annie Lee apparently had a change in heart.

Leekan is just open three days a week now, though you can schedule an appointment for other times...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leekan Designs (@leekandesigns)

Beyond Sushi will not be reopening on 14th Street

Beyond Sushi has closed for good here at 229 E. 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

We noted in early October that the vegan restaurant had not been open in recent weeks. This location was no longer on the Beyond Sushi website, and Seamless lists them as closed. A Beyond Sushi rep did just confirm the permanent shutter. 

Beyond Sushi, part of a chainlet of plant-based quick-serve restaurants, opened here in July 2012. Four other locations remain open in NYC, including at 215 Mulberry St. near Spring.

Surf's up for Patagonia on the Bowery

The Patagonia outpost on the Bowery has closed.

The sustainable outdoor brand closed here at 313 Bowery at the end of October. (Other NYC locations, such as on Greene Street and West 14th Street, remain open.) No reason was cited for this closure. 

Patagonia opened here in late 2012 as the brand's first East Coast Patagonia Surf Store. They were active with sustainable causes through the years, such as supporting Surfrider, a nonprofit committed to protecting NYC's waterways and coastal communities. They'd also share information from East River Park Action. 

Previously, the space was a pop-up shop for a rock-inspired clothing line called Andrew Charles created by Andy Hilfiger and Steven Tyler ... and the Morrison Hotel Gallery. 

And a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

The space adjacent to CBGB housed the CBGB Record Canteen and, later, the 313 Gallery.

315 Bowery, the former CBGB, remains the John Varvatos outpost. 

H/T @hot_sauce_map  

Lahore Deli — home of the world's best chai? — has closed on Crosby Street

From a little outside our usual coverage zone... EVG reader Choresh Wald brings word that Lahore Deli has closed at 132 Crosby St. between Houston and Prince after 25 years in service.

A sign on the door notes the permanent closure (with an apology!) and thanks customers for their business through the years.

The small shop, a popular destination for cab drivers, offered up delicious, inexpensive and generous portions of Indian and Pakistani fare.

However, it was Lahore's $1.50 chai that people talked about. Bon Appétit once declared: "The World's Best Chai Might Just Be From a Small NYC Deli." Other fans included Ian Astbury, lead singer of the Cult, who said it was "the best chai I have ever tasted outside of India."

While there wasn't any reason given for the closure, the lack of office workers and cab drivers around here during the pandemic didn't help.  

A very quick pivot for Chichen Itzá, now going as Tompkins Village Cafe on 10th Street

Photos by Steven

After less than three weeks in business, Chichen Itzá has apparently closed at 277 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The Mexican restaurant is now dark ... and there are signs in the window noting a new venture titled Tompkins Village Cafe (thanks to the commenter who pointed this out in the previous post)...

The menus posted to the storefront yesterday show a variety of breakfast items (including a Good Morning Salad), sandwiches and burgers...

It's not immediately clear if the folks behind Chichen Itzá are also doing the new cafe concept ... or what made them pivot the business after two-plus weeks in existence here. (We first saw them open on Oct. 16.)

Barnyard Cheese Shop is closing for good tomorrow

Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy

Tomorrow is the last day in business for Barnyard Cheese Shop at 168 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

Owner Beatriz Gutierrez confirmed the news (H/T Elsie) to EVG contributor Stacie Joy. 

Gutierrez said Victor, her longtime cook, suffered a loss during the pandemic — his brother died. Victor wants and needs to return home to be with his family in Mexico.

Gutierrez said that she has repeatedly tried to find kitchen staff but can't, so she is forced to close Barnyard. She stressed that this is not a lack-of-business issue — it's wholly staffing-related. 

She has a lease on the space until the end of November and may do some catering here. Gutierrez also said she may hold on to the storefront for another venture in the future, though she isn't sure right at this moment.

Barnyard, which offers cheeses, cured meats, salads and delicious specialty sandwiches, first opened in 2008 on Ninth Street and Avenue C ... moving to its current location in late 2016.

Her companion shop next door, Brix Wines, will remain open. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• A Visit to Brix Wines and Barnyard Cheese Shop on Avenue B