The Hayaty Hookah Bar space is for rent on Avenue A

A for rent sign now hangs outside Hayaty Hookah Bar at 103 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, bringing an official end to the lounge.

Hayaty had not been open since the PAUSE went into effect in March 2020. 

And some residents had been surprised that Hayaty was open at all following a deadly shooting outside the space in January 2020.

Early on Jan. 9, 2020, two men, identified as Earl Facey and Richard Reid, reportedly got into an argument inside the lounge. 

The fight escalated outside when the two men — each reportedly carrying a .22 caliber handgun — exchanged gunfire. Surveillance footage obtained by NBC 4 showed the two men "shooting at each other as they dance around a parked car," per the report, outside Hayaty.

The chase ended in front of 113 Avenue A where Facey was said by police to fatally shoot Reid in the torso. Two uniformed officers who were on patrol nearby shot Facey on the northwest corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street as he walked away, refusing multiple commands to drop his weapon and lie on the ground, according to police accounts and media reports. One officer fired his weapon twice, the other one time. Facey later died at Bellevue.

Hayaty remained open until the PAUSE.

The building's other storefront, the former Thai Hub, is also for rent. Thai Hub relocated to 50 Avenue A early last month.

You'll recognize those for rent signs ... they've been up on the long-vacant southwest corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street... same landlord here... 

The space has been vacant ever since Benny's closed here in November 2014. Hopefully, 103 Avenue A won't sit empty for nearly seven years.

Space where Momofuku got its start is for rent on 1st Avenue

163 First Ave. just north of 10th Street is now on the rental market.

The space is notable to some local food aficionados for being where David Chang's Momofuku empire got is start .... first as the home of Noodle Bar (2004) before it moved a few storefronts away... later becoming Momofuku Ko for six years (2008-2014), which is now open in a larger space on Extra Place ... and then the first outpost of his Fuku fried chicken sandwich chain (2015-2018).

There was speculation that Chang would hold on to the space, as Eater noted after Fuku closed: 

The space, near and dear to Momofuku as the location that kicked off Chang’s empire, will continue to serve as an incubator — though what else the company has up its sleeves is TBD.

Not much info on the retail listing, except that the space is vented for cooking, though all uses are considered. 

Photo by Steven with assistance from EV Arrow

P.S.

Bring back Wraparama!

Carving out a retail space at 56 St. Mark's Place

The 8-story residential building known as The Saint at 56 St. Mark's Place is now advertising retail space on the property between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

The retail for-rent sign that arrived on Friday shows that there are three spaces available — spread out over the ground, first and second floors and featuring more than 10,000 square feet in total. The space can also be combined. (The listing isn't online just yet.)

Not sure what's in the space currently ... or why this the right time to put more retail on the market when plenty of empty storefronts line the neighborhood.

Thanks to Steven for the photos!

3 for-rent signs along a once popular stretch of 7th Street

A rather sad state here on Seventh Street just east of First Avenue ... where for rent signs (now all via the same broker) hang in three consecutive storefronts that previously housed bustling quick-serve restaurants.

Most recently, Caracas Arepa Bar closed in early November at 91 E. Seventh St. The original location at at 93 1/2 E. Seventh St. suffered extensive fire damage in September 2016, and the owners were never able to reopen in the space, which has remained vacant. 

In the middle, the first outpost for Luke's Lobster's closed in October 2019.

Both Caracas Arepa Bar and Luke's carry on at other locations. These small spaces on Seventh Street seem ideal for other new businesses just starting out. 

As Luke's founders Luke Holden and Ben Conniff wrote in October 2019: "It's time for 93 E. 7th Street to help launch someone else's dream, and we can't wait to visit and support it."

Former Finnerty's space for rent on 2nd Avenue

Finnerty's will not be reopening at 221 Second Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. 

A for rent sign now hangs outside the sports bar and self-described "party destination" featuring rent-a-keg service. 

The bar closed in March for the PAUSE and never reopened. There is not any message about the closure on their website or social media properties. 

Finnerty's, which opened in 2009, was an alleged Bay Area sports bar, where fans could watch games featuring the 49ers, Giants, Golden State Warriors or San Jose Sharks. Snubbed: the Oakland A's (and the Oakland Raiders before they moved to Las Vegas). 

This makes two like-minded bar closures on this block... Professor Thom's also never reopened after the PAUSE...

91 3rd Ave. is for rent

For lease signs recently arrived at 91 Third Ave., the large storefront on the northeast corner of 12th Street.

Per the Newmark Knight Frank listing: "3,500sf on ground floor and an additional 1,800 sf in basement. Vented food uses accepted. Expansive corner space in the East Village surrounded by restaurants, bars, cosmetic and service tenants. Bustling neighborhood, steps from Union Square."

Rental rate available by request!

As previously reported, housewares shop Basics Plus was set to close in this storefront in the spring of spring 2019. However, the housewares shop that opened here in August 2014 ended up consolidating the space, and making do with a smaller footprint in the building.

Surprise! Surprise! was the previous housewares tenant, closing in April 2014 after 25 years in business.

A sign of things to come?

A for rent sign arrived yesterday in the front window at T-swirl Crêpe, the dessert shop on 14th Street that has been closed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Pinch, who took this photo, added: "Hopefully not too much of an indication for what’s to come for other businesses."

T-swirl Crêpe, part of a small chain with multiple NYC locations, opened here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue in July 2015.

Report: State says landlords must now pay broker fees, not tenants

Updated 2/10

The New York Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order halting the ban on landlord-hired brokers charging tenants a commission, per Gothamist.

--

Making headlines last evening: "Surprise for New York Renters: No More Broker Fees."

From The New York Times:

In an unexpected addendum to last year’s rent laws, state regulators said renters can no longer be charged broker fees, potentially upending the market and delivering the latest blow to an industry already reeling from new regulations and sweeping tenant protections.

Brokers can still collect a fee, the state said in the revised rules, but it must be paid by the landlord unless a prospective tenant hired them to help find an apartment.

This action caught many people off guard, chief among them the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), who is exploring legal action.

A REBNY spokesperson told The Real Deal that the new cost of landlords paying brokers fees instead of tenants would lead to an increase in rent.

A for rent sign at the Smoke & Beer shop on Avenue A

After nearly four years on Avenue A, the Smoke & Beer shop here between 13th Street and 14th Street is winding down its business. A for rent sign hangs in the front window.

Among other other items, the shop specializes in e-liquids and e-cigarettes, which continue to come under scrutiny amid an outbreak of lung illnesses.

This was one of the several beer-smoke combo shops that popped up in the neighborhood in recent years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Smoke shop, the new nail salon, opening in former nail salon on Avenue A

Hit sandwich connoisseurs Foxface opening a new venture in the former Harry & Ida's space on Avenue A

Foxface, the tiny shop for adventurous sandwich seekers at 80 St. Mark's Place in Theatre 80, is opening a new venture on Avenue A near 12th Street.

East Village residents Ori Kushnir and Sivan Lahat made the announcement on Instagram this morning... offering details on what they have planned for the former Harry & Ida's Meat and Supply Co., where owners Julie and Will Horowitz closed on Nov. 25 after four-and-a-half years of business.

View this post on Instagram

Dear Friends, Sometimes things just fall into place. Ever since we opened Foxface we've been daydreaming of a space nearby where we could smoke, ferment, dry, cure and otherwise transform ingredients in ways that do not fit in our tiny kitchen. Our dream "nearby" was probably in industrial Brooklyn, but then, out of the blue, @willhorowitz stopped by for a sandwich and casually mentioned he and @shweetums might be looking to pass on their smokehouse a few blocks away... You can imagine that we were doing all sorts of happy dances inside while trying to keep our cool fox faces. 🦊 💃🕺... This felt like it won't just be great for us and our sandwiches (and @sivantokyo's sanity whenever @orikushnir comes up with yet another loopy idea), but also like it would be a way to keep the cultural asset that Will & Julie have given the neighborhood from being replaced, in all likelihood, by a bro bar. (not that we have anything against bro bars - we have everything against them) We ramble, but to TLDR: We're happy to announce that in spring 2020 (we hope), @Foxface_Provisions will be opening as a smokehouse, tasting room, and preservation commissary in the space that once housed @harryandidas on Avenue A. See you there soon, and at Foxface in the meantime!

A post shared by Foxface (@foxface_nyc) on Dec 18, 2019 at 8:23am PST

So look for Foxface Provisions — a smokehouse, tasting room and preservation commissary — later in the spring of 2020. They will keep the small current space at 80 St. Mark's Place just west of First Avenue, which they opened late last year. Pete Wells is among the fans of Foxface.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Longtime East Village residents open Foxface, now serving sandwiches at Theater 80

Acclaimed pastrami purveyors Harry & Ida's will close this month on Avenue A

-------

Updated the original post from today...


From time to time we'll take a look at some recently available retail space... such as 189 Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street.

The 950-square-foot (plus basement) storefront, which previously housed Harry & Ida's, has a monthly ask of $9,500, per the listing... which notes this is a "Heavily Trafficked East Village Location" with a "Close Proximity to Tompkins Square Park."

The Harry & Ida's Meat and Supply Co. closed on Nov. 25 after four-and-a-half years of business.

Former Bean space for rent on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

The Bean's sudden departures from their spaces on First Avenue and Ninth Street and Second Avenue and Third Street on Nov. 24 took a lot of people by surprise. For starters, the coffee shops always looked crowded, and they have a loyal neighborhood following.

Owner Ike Escava told us the following: "Due to rising costs the decision to close was unfortunately the only one we could make."

Now the Second Avenue space is on the retail market. (There isn't a listing yet for the First Avenue storefront.) Here's more about 54 Second Ave. via the listing:

Amazing corner retail in the heart of the East Village. High ceilings and a no cooking infrastructure in place. Landlord will consider venting for a qualified operator. Great storage basement with walk-in, storage, etc. Very strong corner in great neighborhood. Potential for a sidewalk café and all uses are considered. Ideal for non-vented or vented food, fitness, bank, retail, salon/spa and many other types.

The asking rent is between $135 to $155 a square foot for the space, listed at 1,355 square feet.

The Bean opened here in December 2011.

The prime corner space was vacant for years, and home to the infamous "crazy landlord" who "must rent this store."


[Circa 2010]

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Crazy Landlord sign

'Crazy Landlord' back to being crazy!

54 2nd Ave. has been sold

The 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue locations of the Bean closed for good yesterday

The former Steamy Hallows space is for rent (the back rent is also due)

The former Steamy Hallows (and Cake Shake!) space is now for rent at 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The Harry Potter-themed coffee and dessert shop closed at the end of October. According to the Steamy Hallows Instagram account, the owners couldn't come to an agreement with the landlord on a new lease.

Meanwhile, the landlord legalese taped to the front window shows that the Potterheads owe back rent of more than $12,000...



Steamy Hallows debuted in February in the storefront that briefly housed Cake Shake, the dessert shop that debuted in August 2018.

118 1st Avenue still for rent

[Photo Friday by Steven]

Vacant Storefront Week continues... new for-rent signs recently arrived on another prime corner spot — 118 First Ave. at Seventh Street.

The asking rent for the space — 900 square feet with another 900 in the basement — is $13,000, per the listing at KSR.

Golden Food Market closed here in the summer of 2017 after 35 years in business. According to a reader who spoke with the Golden Food Market (aka Ali's) staff, the lease was up for renewal and the new landlord wanted an increase that was more than the store could manage.

As for the new landlord, an LLC with a West 11th Street address bought the building in the spring of 2017 for $5.8 million, per public records.

A tapas-wine bar was in the works for the space in April 2018, but those plans never advanced past the Community Board stage.

102 E. 7th St. is now for rent

A for rent sign is now on the storefront at 102 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Avenue A.

The listing for this Steve Croman-owned space isn't online just yet at Meridian Retail Leasing.

This arrival marks the end of Comparti New York — "a full-service catering and events resource" — in this space.

Before Comparti we had the tapas bar XyZ Pintxos y Botanas. Previously there was Tink's Cafe. And because someone will bring it up... some years back the storefront was the boutique Body Worship with the stainless-steel penis as a door handle.

The former Social Tees space on 5th Street is for rent

[Photo by Steven]

A few weeks back we mentioned that Social Tees is looking for a new home. The 501c3 nonprofit animal rescue has had several storefronts in the East Village, mostly recently at 325 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Meanwhile, that space, in a building owned by Steve Croman, is on the rental market. The for lease sign arrived late last week. In case you are wondering, the asking rent is $4,995 a month for 500 square feet.

As for Social Tees, you can follow them on Instagram for updates on a new space as well as pets for adoption.

157 2nd Ave.is for rent

[Photo Friday by Steven]

The rather beleaguered restaurant space at 157 Second Ave. is back on the rental market.

In late August, the Marshal seized Savor Por Favor, the Mexican restaurant-bar opened here between Ninth Street and 10th Street last October. The previous tenant, Yuan, which shut down in July 2018, also didn't make it to a 1-year anniversary.

As noted in previous posts on No. 157, this has been a challenging space to make work for any length of time. Before Yuan, Biang! — the sit-down Chinese restaurant via Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang — closed in March 2017 after 15 months in business.

The previous tenant, Wylie Dufresne's bistro Alder, called it quits after two-and-a-half years at the end of August 2015. (There was a rumored rent increase, per Eater.) Other recent restaurants here (before 2013) included Plum and Cafe Brama.

In previous posts, some commenters have questioned the landlord's role in these closures.

No sign of a listing for No. 157 just yet.

171 Avenue A ready for another restaurant

[Photo by Steven]

A for rent sign is up now in the front window at 171 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The broker signage notes "Newly built restaurant fully vented."

As documented here, restaurateurs have had a challenging time making anything work in the space in recent years.

Chinese Graffiti went dark in July without any notice of a closure — temporary or permanent. The Asian-American gastropub had just opened here in early March, drawing praise for its offbeat menu items.

Recent ventures here include Chao Chao, which closed without any notice to patrons in May 2017 after six months in business. Chao Chao evolved from Soothsayer, which opened in January 2016. Soothsayer, from the same operators, also closed without any notice to patrons at the end of September 2016.

B.A.D. Burger made it work here for four years until early 2015 — and without a liquor license.

The listing for the address is not yet online.

Whatever happened to the former Heathers space on 13th Street?

[EVG file photo]

Two retail spaces recently arrived on the market at 506 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B...



Per the listing:

Brand new, mint-condition, white-boxed space with floor-to-ceiling windows (full glass front), exposed brick, recessed lighting, new hardwood flooring, partial kitchen (however no food establishments, please), renovated bathroom. Open floor plan with tons of potential. Similarly-finished but smaller second space also available next door (same address).

The rent is $107-$118 a square foot.

The larger of these spaces (the storefront on the west) was home for eight years (under two different owners) to Heathers, a bar-lounge hotspot of sorts that attracted plenty of press during its time here.

Heather Millstone opened Heathers in 2005, and the bar quickly became a lightning rod for noise complaints. (The Times had a lengthy article in January 2007 about the ongoing noise issues between the bar and neighbors.) There was also plenty of CB3-related drama for Heathers with its liquor license in the fall of 2011.

New owners took over the bar during the summer of 2012 ... and the place abruptly closed in October 2013.

Post Heathers, the space has been on and off the market these past five years. I can't recall any business being in the space during that time.

The former Bruno Pizza space is for rent on 13th Street

The retail space at 204 E. 13th St. just east of Third Avenue is now on the market...



The asking monthly rent for the space — 1,300 square feet on the ground floor, with another 1,300 in the basement — is $12,950, per the listing.

The previous tenant here, Bruno Pizza, never reopened after an early morning fire broke out in the top-floor apartment last November. The fire caused extensive water damage to the pizzeria, which first opened in July 2015.

Sharon's Laundry Service was in the space before its restaurant conversion via landlord Steve Croman.

Survey: There's a lower rate of retail vacancies in landmarked areas of the East Village

[Click to go big]

The percentage of retail vacancies in landmarked areas of the East Village were less than half the rate in non-landmarked areas – 7% vs. 15%, according to a survey released late last week by Village Preservation (GVSHP).

Here's more from the survey:

This was consistent throughout the neighborhood – non-landmarked streets had consistently higher retail vacancy rates than landmarked ones, sometimes as high as 31%. By contrast, the East Village’s three landmarked districts encompassing about 400 buildings had 242 retail spaces with 17 vacancies and a fairly consistent retail vacancy rate of about 7%. The East Village overall has about 2,200 buildings with 1649 retail spaces and 250 vacancies, or a 15% retail vacancy rate.

The findings of this new apples-to-apples survey undercuts claims by the Real Estate Board of New York in a study it released last year indicating that landmarking led to higher rates of retail vacancies. That study was based upon inaccurate data and assumptions, using a very limited comparison of one street in Hell’s Kitchen vs. a few cherry-picked streets in the West Village.

This survey, by contrast, is the first neighborhood-wide survey of retail vacancies in New York City looking at comparable landmarked and non-landmarked areas.

"While no study like this is conclusive, it certainly shows that historic districts and landmarked areas not only can but do thrive, even in this tough climate for retail in New York City," GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman said in a statement.

The survey was conducted by the East Village Community Coalition, the Cooper Square Committee and GVSHP.