At long last, you can see the NW corner of Avenue B and Houston

Photos by Stacie Joy 

We can't remember when a sidewalk bridge did NOT obscure the NW corner of Avenue B and Houston. 

Well, no more — workers have removed the structure here.

G's Cheesesteaks opened in the storefront this past summer ... the first retail tenant in 15 years in the long-empty building that the new landlords call The B.

The storefront (and upstairs floors) have undergone extensive renovations this past year-plus. An LLC linked to Penn Capital South, whose portfolio includes multiple EV properties, bought the building in February 2023. 

This was one of the abandoned properties owned by the estate of the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, both long deceased. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Here's a look at the renovated interior of the long-vacant 6 Avenue B 

• Because you've always wanted to know what the inside of the long-empty 6 Avenue B looks like 

• Let's take another look at the eerie remains of the long-abandoned 6 Avenue B

This stretch of 2nd Avenue is now sidewalk-bridge free

Workers have removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 105 and 107 Second Ave. on the west side between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...

For now, this ends the encampment that had been here on and off all summer. The city would clear it out, and the inhabitants would move a block away for a day or so, then return (photo below by Derek Berg from Aug. 27).

No. 107 has remained vacant since the New Yorkers Foodmarket closed at the end of 2023. Apple Bank relocated to Fourth Avenue in March ... and on the corner, Mighty Quinn's closed in April, though another restaurant is in the works here.

Sidewalk bridge removal reveals a business closure on 1st Avenue

Photos by Steven 

Late last week, workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 165-167 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street, where we learned that the obscured business here, Hay Hay Roasted, had closed. (The other storefront, the former Commodities at No. 165, has been vacant for 20 months.)

The restaurant, which served Cantonese roast meats and noodle soups, opened this past Dec. 16. They announced their closure on May 28 via Instagram. 

The notice left for patrons on the gate didn't go into too much detail: "We regret to announce the closure of our East Village location. Despite our best efforts, this decision, though difficult, reflects our commitment to adapt and thrive."

Being under a sidewalk bridge during the business's entire existence could not have helped. In fact, we didn't even realize that the place had shut down.

Hay Hay Roasted's Mott Street outpost remains in service.

The signage at No. 167 remains from Tatsu Ramen, which closed in the fall of 2021.

Noted (sidewalk bridge edition)

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As previously reported, G's Cheesesteaks is the new tenant for 6 Avenue B at Houston Street — the first in 15 years. 

The gut renovations of the long-vacant residential portion are also complete. The building — now going as The B (!) — is currently leasing.

G's owner, Giacomo Pisano, apparently tried to get the sidewalk bridge hauled away. Good luck! 

So there's now a G' s-branded sign on the bridge with the message, "We tried to get this scaffolding removed ... But this is NYC."

Pisano, whose family has been in the restaurant business for several generations, founded G's in Staten Island in 2015 at age 20. 

The opening date for the EV outpost is expected soon.

Noted

Photo last night by Stacie Joy 

A noticeable absence on Fifth Street — workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside the 9th Precinct between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

It has been there since... late 2019? 2020? 

However, we heard a new one may be back here with a new contract/company. So enjoy while you can!

Thanks to all the readers who shared photos of this!

Scaffolding and sidewalk bridges coming and going along Avenue A

Because many people have pointed this out... on Tuesday, workers removed the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge from around the building on the SW corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street.

... and on the corner building at Second Street and Avenue A... where there are now floating tags on that south-facing wall where the scaffolding was ...

Workers had been doing roofing and façade-repair work for the past five months. 

The Petopia on the corner remains closed for emergency repairs (courtesy of the construction). 

While the sidewalk bridge is gone from the corner... workers have been extending it along Avenue A outside the city-owned First Houses between Second Street and Third Street.

Packing up the Urban Umbrella scaffolding around Cooper Union

Workers continue to remove the sidewalk bridge (yes, we were faked out here once), part of the more aesthetically pleasing Urban Umbrella scaffolding that has been around Cooper Union's Foundation Building for two-plus years... 

The structure arrived in April 2021... work permits pointed to a "renovation at the fourth floor."

The Urban Umbrella, made of recycled steel and translucent plastic panel, made its first NYC appearance in the fall of 2017.

Thanks to everyone who noted this ongoing removal, including @unitof and Lola Sáenz.

[Updated, we were faked-out edition] Today in miracles on Houston and Avenue B

For the first time in eight-plus years, there won't be a sidewalk bridge on the NW corner of Houston and Avenue B. [OOPS — see the update below!]

Workers from the Department of Miracles were removing the long-standing structure today. (Thanks to EVG reader Miriam Abrahams for the photo!) 

In February, we reported on the long-vacant building's new owner, an LLC linked to Penn Capital South, whose portfolio includes multiple EV properties. A gut renovation is in the works.

The liquor store in the retail space has been closed since the owner passed away in the fall of 2009 at age 89. (See the shop's frozen-in-time interior here.)

This was one of the abandoned buildings owned by the estate of the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, both long deceased. However, No. 6 has been generating some income with the cell-phone towers on the roof. 

Updated 8 p.m. 

Well then! So much for that sidewalk being free of a sidewalk bridge... so workers removed the old one and have erected a new sidewalk bridge (thanks again to Miriam for keeping tabs on this!).

As you were!

Previously on EVG:

• Because you've always wanted to know what the inside of the long-empty 6 Avenue B looks like

• Let's take another look at the eerie remains of the long-abandoned 6 Avenue B 

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...

The bus stopped here ... after striking the sidewalk bridge on 10th and C

Lots of reader pics from this afternoon... when an M14D cut the turn a little tight on the NE corner of Avenue C and 10th Street and struck the sidewalk bridge...

There weren't any reports of injuries, and the workers were on the scene to secure the sidewalk bridge, which has taken a few hits through the years...

Thanks to Jose Garcia, EVJackie and everyone else for sending along photos!

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...

7 years later, the sidewalk bridge is coming down on the NW corner of 3rd Avenue and 9th Street

Workers from the Department of Miracles were out today... starting to remove the longstanding sidewalk bridge from outside the St. Mark at 115 E. Ninth St. ...  which wrapped around the storefronts along Third Avenue up to 10th Street... (thanks to Bruce Tantum for the initial tip!)

A worker told EVG correspondent Steven that the bridge had been up for seven years, which seems about right. (A Google Street View shows the bridge in place in 2016 but not at the next increment back in 2014.)

In May 2016, a 10-by-10-foot section of the facade started to separate from the building on the 15th floor. (At this point, the bridge had been in place for seven months.) The city closed Third Avenue while the repairs were made. 

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.

To no surprise, 'emergency work' is necessary at the long-empty 6 Avenue B

After reading yesterday's post about workers removing the sidewalk bridge from around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza ... several readers brought up everyone's fave abandoned building — 6 Avenue B at Houston.

Yes, the sidewalk bridge remains up here — as it has been dating to 2015-16. 

And who knows how much longer it will be up here outside the long-empty 6-floor residential building.

As EVG contributor Stacie Joy recently pointed out, there are DOB notices dated Aug. 31 by the entrance... per the notice, "emergency work" is necessary "due to the disrepair of the building facade on all exposures." The repair evaluation/plan by the licensed professional the landlord hires is due by Oct. 1, 2022.     

Given that there has been 0 work done here of late... that deadline will zip on by.

As previously noted here, the liquor store in the retail space has been closed since the owner passed away in the fall of 2009 at age 89. (Chico created the tribute to her on the gate in February 2010.)

In January 2013, workers were spotted hauling out some junk from the building...  in December 2014, bricks fell from the building, breaking the foot of a passerby, as the Lo-Down reported at the time. And an SUV took out part of the sidewalk bridge in November 2018. And that's about it.

And as previously noted, this is one of the abandoned buildings owned by the estate of the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, now both deceased. 

Previously on EVG:

• Because you've always wanted to know what the inside of the long-empty 6 Avenue B looks like

• Let's take another look at the eerie remains of the long-abandoned 6 Avenue B 

At long last, workers remove the sidewalk bridge from around Mariana Bracetti Plaza

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Last Tuesday, workers started removing the sidewalk bridge from around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza, the 7-story NYCHA-run housing complex on Third Street and Fourth Street along Avenue C.

The removal brought cheers from residents, as PIX11 noted. Residents who EVG contributor Stacie Joy talked with were thrilled it was gone, and that in the past eight years or so, the workers had only repaired a few bricks. 

Tenant advocates have blamed the longstanding sidewalk structures for the increase in illegal activities here in recent years — not to mention more rats and unsanitary conditions from use as a public restroom. 

According to DOB records, permits for a sidewalk shed date here to December 2000. (Reason: "loose brick.") There are records of permits for installing a sidewalk bridge in March 2003 ... April 2004 (for "remedial repairs") ... August 2015 ... and October 2017. (A Google Streetview shows a structure in place continuously back to 2016.) 

Hopefully, the sidewalks will remain free of other structures. There was a fake-out here in March 2021 after workers took down the sidewalk bridge before rebuilding it several days later. (They were replacing some rotting wooden planks.)

So the views for now...

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

• PSA 4 providing increased security at Mariana Bracetti Plaza

Another look at the long-stalled 75 1st Ave.

Yesterday's post about removing the sidewalk bridge outside the longtime-coming new building at 118 E. First St. prompted a few queries about another taking-its-time project — 75 First Ave.

Last year about this time, workers removed the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge from outside the cantilevering 8-story condoplex next to Rite Aid at Fifth Street.

A sidewalk bridge returned earlier this spring... and workers have been focusing on some exterior portions on the top right section of the building. 

As previously noted, the groundbreaking here took place in September 2016. (The build included nearly 14 months of inactivity.) Sales commenced in August 2017, with City Realty reporting that 50% of the units sold in the first six weeks.

The venture was slowed down following a series of lawsuits between the construction manager, Pizzarotti, and the developer, the Colonnade Group.

The Real Deal reported this in July 2019:

The developer and Pizzarotti are also currently locked in a dispute over the project's costs. Pizzarotti has filed a lien, claiming it’s owed a little more than $1 million. In a counter complaint, Colonnade alleges that Pizzarotti hasn’t properly itemized its expenses and "claimed a lien for significantly more money than it has spent on the project." In its complaint, Colonnade calls Pizzarotti's billing practices "false and possibly fraudulent."

Public records showed in 2020 that the building had a new architect of record and construction manager. 

As far as we can tell, No. 75,  with its floor-to-ceiling windows, remains tenant free. The building's website is "currently private."  

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...

Sun meets the sidewalk again along this stretch of 2nd Avenue

Workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 111 Second Ave. here between Sixth Street and Seventh Street on Monday... re-introducing sunlight and the storefronts (New Yorkers Foodmarket and Le Fournil Bakery) to this west side of the Avenue. 

And you can get the full view of Le Fournil's newish sign, which debuted back in the summer...

The sidewalk bridge had been in place since the bakery opened in December 2019. (The sidewalk bridge went up in the fall of 2019 for exterior work at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.)

Thanks to Steven for the photos!