Friday's parting shot

Outside Forbidden Planet on Broadway today... photo by Derek Berg...

The Mars Bar lives! (in a penthouse suite in Times Square)

[Mars Bar photo courtesy of Karla and James Murray]

The dear old Mars Bar (RIP July 2011) over on Second Avenue and First Street has been immortalized in an unexpected place — a penthouse suite at the recently renovated Row NYC hotel on Eighth Avenue...

An EVG reader shared this find... behold the Penthouse Suite, with an entry featuring a life-sized Mars Bar storefront photo-printed on the wall...


[Click to go big]

Per the Row NYC website:

For a truly unforgettable stay, our Penthouse Suites are the ultimate uptown indulgence. Featuring one or two-bedroom options with separate living areas – along with a wet bar and kitchenette for entertaining – they hold our most-desired accommodations with top-notch city views and unparalleled touches to make your stay even more extraordinary.

Per the EVG reader: "If the guests only knew..."

If you're unfamiliar with the Mars Bar, well, it was a shithole — the best, really. (I write that with great affection.)


[Mars Bar photo by Eden from 2009]

It never reopened after a DOH inspector found 850 (or so) fruit flies, standing water, cracked walls and other unsanitary conditions in July 2011. What else was new?

Anyway, for upwards of $500, you can see the Mars Bar on your penthouse walls.

And Mars Bar owner Hank Penza was right. In an interview leading up to the closure, he said: "Fuck the bar. What am I, crazy? There's a beginning and an end. You hear? The Mars Bar will live forever and I'll die." (Penza died in October 2015 at age 82.)

The corner storefronts where Mars Bar stood were eventually demolished in late 2011/early 2012 to make way for the 12-story residential building Jupiter 21. The corner space now houses a TD Bank and The Alchemist's Kitchen, a cafe and shop that sells botanical medicines, herbal remedies and whole plant beauty products.

Previously on EV Grieve:
At the Mars Bar yesterday, the DOH found 850 fruit flies (or so)

That Nutella Cafe is shaping up on University Place

More than a year has passed since news of the first NYC Nutella Cafe came out (via the Commercial Observer).

Anyway, the Nutella signage is now wrapped around the 2,200-square-foot corner space at 116 University Place and 13th Street. (The signage arrived perhaps a month ago.)

Nutella Cafe New York, which is expected to open next month, will feature a (duh) Nutella-inspired menu and specialty espresso beverages.

As previously reported, the Adjmi Architects-designed seven-story condoplex will feature one unit per floor. The starting prices for the homes are $6 million.

The corner previously housed University Place Gourmet as well as several adjacent storefronts, including Bennie Louie Chinese Laundry.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Major changes coming to University Place and East 13th Street

Report: Incoming condos for 13th Street and University Place will start at $6 million


[Photo from June 2015]

Oversight hearing on L train shutdown this Wednesday

Via the EVG inbox...

On Wednesday, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez will be co-hosting a public oversight hearing to evaluate the latest mitigation plans for the 2019 L train tunnel closure.

If you're one of the hundreds of thousands New Yorkers who will be impacted when the MTA shuts down the L train between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 15 months for repairs beginning in April 2019, we invite you to attend this important hearing.

The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. in the Jacob Burns Moot Court Room of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Brookdale Center, located at 55 Fifth Avenue (at 12th Street). We expect it to go into the early evening depending on the number of people who show up to testify.

If you plan on attending, we encourage you to RSVP [here] to help us know how many people we should anticipate.

Public testimony will begin immediately following the testimony of any invited experts and will generally be limited to two minutes per person to allow as many residents as possible to present their views.

For those planning to testify in person, please be sure to register with the sergeant-at-arms at the Center as soon as you arrive at the hearing.

If you can't make it to the hearing but would still like to make your voice heard, you can also submit written testimony to the City Council by emailing correspondence@council.nyc.gov with the subject line: L TRAIN SHUTDOWN TESTIMONY. Written testimony will be accepted until the close of business (6 p.m.) on Friday, June 29.

Noted

The Robb Report checks in today with an update on Ben Shaoul's 11-story, 94-unit condoplex on East Houston at Orchard Street.

Adam Rolston, creative and managing director at INC. Architecture & Design, discusses the handmade glazed bricks that they imported from a small fishing village in Spain for this development.

Rolston wanted a handmade, metallic-glazed brick that would evoke the old-world character of glazed terra-cotta while also bringing a touch of luxury. He found it in Cadaqués, a small community in Spain formerly visited by artists such as Picasso and Miró. “We went to Europe to find a handmade, metallic-glazed brick — and specifically the Costa Brava of Spain where this particular handmade brick-making tradition survives,” Rolston says.

And!

The hand-laid, gilded-bronze brick — which reaches the second floor of the building — is infused with gold dust that becomes more golden over time as it oxidizes in the air. Imported directly from Cadaqués, the brick cannot be replicated in the United States, meaning that the building has a truly distinct and one-of-a-kind look.

The building will also benefit from a truly distinct and one-of-a-kind aroma from Katz's next door.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Making way for Ben Shaoul's new retail-residential complex on East Houston

Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard

Send a salami to your boy next door in the condo

Sales underway for Ben Shaoul's Liberty Toye — at the 'crossroads that cradled the Culture of Cool'

[Liberty Toye's sale office at 44 Avenue B]

As previously mentioned (here and here and here), Liberty Toye is the name of Ben Shaoul's condoplex taking over his nursing-home replacing rentals at 62 Avenue B.

And now sales are underway at the 81-unit building at Fifth Street. Here's the eye-rolling description::

Liberty Toye is located in the legendary East Village. Born in the creative clash of the 70’s and rocketing to iconic status in the 80’s, the neighborhood emerged as the epicenter of cool, producing a galaxy of stars and shaping an indelible worldview of New York City.

Today, at 62 Avenue B, stands Liberty Toye at the very crossroads that cradled the Culture of Cool. Modern luxuries abound in this urban sanctuary, where studio, one and two bedroom condominiums and private outdoor spaces provide the setting for the next chapter in the epic tale of downtown grit and glamour.

A lush entry garden leads to the marble and brass lobby where a doorman waits to greet you 24 hours a day. Experience a full suite of amenities, a recreation room, fitness center with a yoga room, and a landscaped roof deck outfitted with grills, dining areas, a lounge, an outdoor shower, and a 360-degree view of the vibrant city.

A residence at Liberty Toye evokes the allure of downtown New York City with a style all its own. Available as studio, one and two bedroom condominiums with dark-stained or light grey stained hardwood floors throughout. The kitchen features custom cabinets, white marble counters, and brushed brass fixtures, and is completed by stainless steel Bosch appliances. Bathrooms complement the space with white marble, chrome fixtures, and grey vanity with touches of brushed brass.

And here are photos of the model homes ... featuring framed photos of Joey Ramone, Grace Jones and Debbie Harry, among others...





Prices range from $660K to $1.8 million for buyers who may use Bitcoin for the purchase. (Shaoul's sales team is renting an office from the imprisoned Steve Croman at 44 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.)

Shaoul previously leveraged the neighborhood's history to potential renters at Bloom 62 in May 2013 with this unforgettable copy:

It sounds impossible: a fully-appointed luxury building has sprouted in the beating heart of the East Village. A 24-hour doorman greets you before work in the morning, after returning from a cafe in the evening and when heading out to Tompkins Square Park on the weekends. You'll have every modern convenience, from a gym to a roof deck to in-unit laundry, on the same streets where names like The Ramones, Warhol and Hendrix and [sic] paved the history of this neighborhood for years to come.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on Cabrini's closing announcement

A look at the 'Hip young crowd planting roots at Bloom 62'

1st signs of Ben Shaoul's Bloom 62 going condo on Avenue B?

More details on Ben Shaoul's condo conversion Liberty Toye, where you can buy with bitcoins

NYC's first Nutella Cafe coming to University and 13th Street

The retail space in the base of the in-progress condoplex on 13th Street and University Place will house the city's first Nutella Cafe. (There's a Nutella kiosk in the Eataly food hall.)

According to the Commercial Observer, who first reported on this yesterday, the cafe and coffee bar will occupy 2,200 square feet here at 116 University Place.

The first U.S. Nutella Cafe, in Chicago, "serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including waffles, croissants, crepes, panini, and family-style fondue," per Eater.

As previously reported, the Adjmi Architects-designed seven-story condoplex will feature one unit per floor. The starting prices for the homes are $6 million.

The corner previously housed University Place Gourmet as well as several adjacent storefronts, including Bennie Louie Chinese Laundry.

Developer Ranger Properties paid $22 million for the lot.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Major changes coming to University Place and East 13th Street

Report: Incoming condos for 13th Street and University Place will start at $6 million


[Photo from June 2015]

Pop-up bubble tea exhibit brings crowds to the Bowery

[Photo yesterday by Derek Berg]

The Boba Room made its debut Saturday at the Open Space Gallery on the Bowery between Third Street and Fourth Street.

Here's more about the pop-up exhibit via Gothamist:

Conceived of by Chaimi Food Studio co-founders Yanqiong Zeng and Iris Danlu Xing, Boba Room is an intersection of art, design and food that combines the duo's appreciation for food with their backgrounds and experiences in visual art, photography and food engineering and science.

And per The Daily Meal: "For those who are in the dark about boba, it’s an edible, chewy ball made from the cooking and cooling of tapioca. Boba is used in bubble tea."

The Boba Room is open through May 6 (from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week; 10 p.m. on weekends). Tickets are $10 each ($7 for kids or seniors).

Random shirtless, bearded guy on a bike now helping market luxury condos at 277 E. 7th St.

On Tuesday, we noted that a new branding/marketing campaign is in the works for the luxury condos at 277 E. Seventh St. near Avenue D.

The place hit the market in early October, though, to date, none of the six units have sold.

So there's a new broker as well as a new name for the building — Seven East Village.

And now, as our friends at Curbed noted, there are new marketing materials to showcase these million-dollar homes.

Behold Mr. Seven East Village ...



Not even sure where to begin with this one. Well, let's start by asking why First Avenue at St. Mark's Place is subbing for East Seventh Street and Avenue C — and not even Avenue D where No. 277 is nearest.

Your turn.

Previously on EV Grieve:
277 E. 7th St. condos rebranded 'Seven East Village,' and will feature a bike-sharing program (23 comments)

But of course!: Former Norman's Sound & Vision space becoming a Dunkin' Donuts

[EVG file photo from August 2012]

After 22 years, Norman's Sound & Vision closed at 67 Cooper Square near East Seventh Street back in August 2012.

Now comes word via EVG Facebook friend Michael Hirsch that the space will become a — ding, ding! — Dunkin' Donuts.

Sure enough!

The DOB permits approved on Tuesday show work for a DD in this space...



Meanwhile, just give us a kick down here on the floor when a Starbucks or bank or 7-Eleven moves into the Kim's space.

Listing for Kim's Video says space is 'ideal for Bank, 711, Starbucks'

[Photo from April 21 by Williams Klayer]

Oh, really?

The listing for Kim's arrived at Streeteasy yesterday... and it's doozy:

124 First Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets Store 1820 SF approximately- plus basement storage / office East side of 1st Avenue Ideal for Bank, 711, Starbucks, Cafe, Deli, Bakery ASKING $16,500 month Security 4 months Lease term 5 to 10 years.

As we first reported on April 21, Kim's Video and Music is closing.

In a letter to Kim's patrons, management wrote:

The point is, and you should be aware, that we are NOT closing because record stores are dying, business is bad, it's not like it used to be and oh terrible world. Not at all. The actual reason for our closing is that the lease is up in July and the rent is being raised to an amount we simply can't work with.

The space was previously home to the great Kurowycky Meat Products, which closed in the summer of 2007. The Kurowycky family still owns the building... and a reliable source tells us that a family member who now lives in the South is calling the shots on the rent.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] A really bad sign outside Kim's Video & Music on First Avenue (31 comments)

Source: Kim's staff looking for ways to save their store

More about the closure of Kim's: 'We are NOT closing because record stores are dying'

Noted

[Image via NYU Local]

The former home of Bleecker Street Records, forced to relocate after a rent hike to $27,000, will next become a Starbucks. (Grub Street)

Making up for not getting the Bleecker Bob's space, perhaps?

Today's sign of the apocalypse

Oh! "The Carrie Diaries" will be filming around the neighborhood today... signs are up along East Seventh Street, and perhaps elsewhere... crews for the CW prequel to "Sex and the City" were shooting on Essex Street Tuesday...

It revolves around the eponymous Carrie , a shy high-school girl who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her during her senior year of high school in the early 1980s and part of her life in New York working as a writer.

What the hell was that?

We waited to post these photos until we spoke with NASA, NORAD, the U.S. Military and the World Weekly News.

Bobby Williams took these photos from his East Village apartment last night. Here is his description via email: "This flew by about 9:38 pm. Heading north then turning east."

Aside from anything related to the Hoboken Hoof or Amanda Bynes (just getting those guesses out of the way!), any ideas what this is/was?

Report: Maps show that Midtown South does NOT include the East Village/Astor Place

[770 Broadway as seen in the reflection of the Death Star]

As various media outlets reported this week, Facebook is moving its NYC HQ to 770 Broadway at East Ninth Street.

And various media outlets noted that this was the latest tech company to move to Midtown South.

Right!

Sydney Brownstone at Runnin' Scared was as confused — and annoyed! — by this as anyone else around here.

When did the area immediately surrounding Astor Place (i.e. the Village) become Midtown South? Was it when 51 Astor birthed that terrifically lame office building? Did Midtown suddenly annex the rest of the world, turning Brooklyn into Midtown East and Canada into Midtown North?

We weren't the only ones surprised by the characterization of the 'hood.

"I am fairly certain that Astor and Broadway are not considered to be within our boundaries or even generically considered as Midtown South," wrote John Mudd, president of the Midtown South Community Council, in an email to the Village Voice.

And the Voice helpfully posted this map from Midtown South Community Council:



Meanwhile, some EVG reader reaction:

Richard Bensam said...
We have to fight this. No, I don't mean Facebook moving in -- we have to fight the "Midtown South" label. Slapping a classy-sounding new name on a neighborhood can be worth millions in real estate. This name is a big deal to them. Deny them this victory. Don't use it. Don't let the developers colonize and gentrify our very language and thoughts the way they do our streets and buildings.

And!

Alex in NYC said...
What the fuck? They call it MIDTOWN because it's in the MIDDLE OF TOWN. Astor Place, meanwhile, is DOWNTOWN, because it, by its very geography, is SOUTH (i.e. DOWN) from the MIDDLE OF TOWN.

So no. Midtown South.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Facebook is moving into the neighborhood; Midtown South expands its boundaries, apparently

Now everyone [with a credit or debit card!] can ride Citi Bikes!

[East 13th Street yesterday morning]

Bike Share launched last Monday for folks who bought the annual membership... and today, 24-hour and 7-day passes are now available at Citi Bike kiosks...



Here's info on pricing:



And this is happening today:

Celebrate Citi Bike!
@ Union Square
North Side of Union Square Park, Manhattan
Sunday, June 2
11 am - 3 pm
We'll have a DJ, food, a Citi Bike Street Skills
zone where you can test your urban biking
skills, NYC DOT will be fitting and giving away 500
free helmets (must be 18+ or have a parent or guardian
18+ accompany you), plus some other fun special surprises. It’s free and open to all.

Report: 9th Precinct traffic safety sergeant worries about an increase in accidents with Citi Bikes

As the apocalypse© The Apocalypse® approaches with the arrival of Citi Bikes on Monday, there isn't any shortage of pros and cons to read out there about the bike-share program ... (This Curbed post from yesterday links to many of the various articles on the topic.)

Meanwhile, in an interview with DNAinfo's Serena Solomon, Amber Cafaro, a traffic safety sergeant stationed at the 9th Precinct, echoes what some people against the bike share have said: there will be an increase in accidents.

To the story.

Cafaro listed recent accidents in the East Village involving distracted cyclists talking on phones and running red lights, along with one biker who slipped on a wet roadway and wound up putting his hand through a car windshield.

"Bikers don't realize you can't do that," Cafaro said, describing behaviors that could endanger cyclists. "You have to stay off the phone, you have to stay in the bike lane and you have to stop at red lights."

The East Village recently saw a spike in reported bicycle crashes, with eight in the 28-day period ending May 19, compared to just four in the same period the previous year, Cafaro said.

Read the whole article here.

Meanwhile, at Slate, there's a "10-point resolution to end the decades-long conflict between walkers and bikers."

[Image via Citi Bikes]

Today's sign of the Apocalypse: 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place now delivering

Not sure how long that sign has been up... didn't notice it earlier in the week... did not see a delivery sign on the 7-Eleven Bowery location... And what would you have delivered from a 7-Eleven?

Today's sign of the apocalypse

A reader noted this scene earlier in the week:

I was walking on Ave C between 3rd and 4th St, there were two guys standing with a giant Brother Jimmy’s sign, leaning on the storefront about where Bedlam is. I should’ve taken a picture but didn’t think to at the time. Anyone know anything about a Bro J’s opening around here??

Perhaps the fellows were just going to going to work at the Union Square location on East 16th Street? We haven't heard this one. Seems possible, though not probable. Anyone hear anything about a BroJi's Brother Jimmy's opening around here?

Mystery Lot killer REVEALED; bland, glassy box in custody

Good lord.

Curbed yesterday posted parts of the news released trumpeting the arrival of development sprouting right now at (officially) 211 E. 13th St., formerly the longtime home to the Mystery Lot.

Some details from that release:

Units will have nine foot ceilings, and a third will have "substantial outdoor space." There will also be six "private rooftop cabana terraces," which we assume will be connected to penthouses. Shared building amenities include a library, fitness center, residents and business lounges, and a rooftop terrace with an outdoor kitchen.

Back with more when we're done weeping.

[Some time ago]

Previously on EV Grieve:
City approves new building for Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot likely facing a luxurious end

The last days of the Mystery Lot