So long to the longtime sidewalk bridge on 12th Street, and hello to SMØR Bakery

Back on Friday, workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 437 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Per an EVG reader who shared these photos: "The infamous pre-pandemic scaffolding, (whew) finally came down. Thanks to all the residents who endured and requested removal via 'the city inspectors' given the job had been finished last fall. Happy Spring!" 

With this, SMØR Bakery now enjoys an unobstructed façade for the first time in its lifespan since opening in August 2022...

Sunday's parting shots

Yesterday, workers removed most of the remaining sidewalk bridge on First Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street along Village View...

Now just a small section on the interior property along the Fifth Street walkway between Avenue A and First Avenue remains... the extensive sidewalk bridges that weaved around the buildings on the Village View property arrived in April 2019. 

Thanks to Steven and Vinny & O for sharing photos this weekend...

Hello again: Sidewalk on the NW corner of 2nd Avenue and 9th Street returns to view

The longstanding sidewalk bridge is coming down today on the NW corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street — aka 145 Second Ave. (thanks to Steven for the photos)...

... which has to make management at Whiskers at 235 E. Ninth St. happy...

The sidewalk bridge and scaffolding had been up since May 2018. 

Hopefully, this is for keeps now. Workers removed the sidewalk bridge in April 2021 ... only to return one week later. 

The corner space (Starbucks until April 2019) is being renovated for a fast-casual restaurant called Balkan Streat.

Let there be sidewalk here on Avenue C!

We've received several messages from readers noting that workers have been removing the longstanding sidewalk bridge on the west side of Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street ...

The sidewalk bridge and construction equipment has been up along these NYCHA-owned buildings since at least 2015. The sidewalk was freed in October 2017, but it was short-lived as a heavier-duty bridge arrived a short time later. Hopefully, that doesn't happen again.

Taking in this newly freed sidewalk along 3rd Avenue

Have you been enjoying the unobstructed sidewalk on the west side of Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street?

Back on Tuesday, workers started taking down the sidewalk bridge from the building — the St. Mark at 115 E. Ninth St. It had been up for seven years. (And there was actually work going on during this time.) 

A lot of businesses came and went in these storefronts during that time, including Duane Reade and East Village Cheese. And we welcomed new businesses such as USA Super Stores (just one!) on the NW corner at 10th Street...

... with an endless supply of McKenzie & Lloyds Danish Style Butter Cookie tins...

... and a bonus nighttime shot... with that iconic ghost Organic Avenue signage...

Sidewalk bridge removal on 3rd Avenue and 9th Street reveals some EV archaeological history

The sidewalk-bridge removal at 115 E. Ninth St. (and around Third Avenue up to 10th Street) today revealed some ghost signage... as EVG reader Sarah points out...

If this helps... Organic Avenue!

Organic Avenue was here from 2013-2015 until the juice-bar chainlet imploded. 

Top photo by Steven

A sidewalk returns to full view and use along St. Mark's Place

Yesterday we reported that workers were finally removing the sidewalk bridge outside 19-23 St. Mark's Place. 

EVG reader KT Hendrickson shared these night/day photos showing the triumphant return of an unencumbered sidewalk between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...

The bridge had been up for some six years. As we understand it, work on the 8-story building was wrapped up last summer ... and apparently, a COVID-era backlog with the city caused delays in the signing off on the work.

Miracle on St. Mark's: Sidewalk bridge coming down outside No. 19-23

Photo by Steven 

Workers from the Department of Miracles are out this morning... removing the long-standing sidewalk bridge from 19-23 St. Mark's Place. 

The structure outside the 8-story retail-residential complex between Second Avenue and Third Avenue has been up for nearly six years. Google Street View shows that it arrived sometime between September 2016 and September 2017. (Thanks to the reader who checked that!)

At long last, this section of 1st Street is free of a sidewalk bridge

Workers yesterday finished removing the sidewalk bridge surrounding 118 E. First St., the new 9-story condoplex between Houston/Avenue A and First Avenue. 

This has been an active construction zone since the extended plywood, whose wobbly remains are still in place, arrived in April 2018. Demolition of the former building at No. 118 started in May 2015. So that's seven years of work for this one project...

And this doesn't even include the mess this corridor was during the never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project, which finally wrapped up at the end of 2018 — six years behind schedule. 

A 2015 First Street flashback for you...

Anyway, good news for the Punjabi Grocery & Deli, which has struggled to stay in business during all this... not to mention the adjacent establishment, Hollywood Nail & Spa, and the residents of these buildings... and anyone who walks along this corridor...

On 9th Street, wind sends sidewalk-bridge plywood onto 2 cars below

Two cars parked on Ninth Street at First Avenue were damaged when a piece of plywood from the adjacent sidewalk bridge came crashing down during last night's thunderstorm.

EVG reader Danny shared these photos. As the top pic shows, some more debris landed just across the street. Luckily there weren't any reports of injuries, but the cars took a hit... one worse than the other...

As Danny noted, the sidewalk bridge here outside PS 122 has seemingly been up forever...

Unhappy returns: A one-week respite from a sidewalk bridge

From April 21-23, workers removed the sidewalk bridge from around the northwest corner of Ninth Street and Second Avenue ... after being in place for nearly three years for façade repairs.  

Well, as you can see in the top photo, the sidewalk bridge returned to 145 Second Ave. late last week, as Steven noted.

We heard two reasons for this:

a) the bridge came down before inspections took place

b) the repair work wasn't done to spec

No idea how long it will remain up this time.

But it was nice to see the Whiskers Holistic Petcare storefront while we could for the week.

Hello, Whiskers!

Workers finished removing the sidewalk bridge from around the northwest corner of Ninth Street and Second Avenue late yesterday afternoon. 

And for the first time in nearly three years, you can see the Whiskers Holistic Petcare storefront...

Thanks to Steven for the photos!

Making the grade: So long to the sidewalk bridge outside P.S. 19

Workers this week removed the sidewalk bridge and construction netting that had surrounded/covered P.S. 19 on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street for what seemed like a long time... Steven shared these photos...

The city approved the sidewalk bridge permit in July 2019 ... for the roof-replacement roof here...

This 2nd Avenue building comes back into full view

The sidewalk bridge was removed the other day from outside 104 Second Ave. at Sixth Street... ending a nearly three-year run (as seen in Google Street View).

One building resident said that no work was actually done during this time. The Department of Buildings had issued several permits in recent years, including for "removal/replacement of defective brickwork, limestone and terra cotta segments." 

The two restaurants in the retails spaces have also moved on, most recently Jiang Diner after six whole weeks ... and, in the corner space, Madame Vo BBQ, which seems to have permanently merged with its sister restaurant on 10th Street. 

Anyway, nice to see the building again. (And bring back Bamboo House!)

As for sidewalk bridges, I'd say the one outside 19-23 St. Mark's Place has the current record with more than five years maybe? (In emeritus status: the sidewalk bridge around the long-empty P.S. 64 on Ninth and 10th streets.)