I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant in The New Yorker

[Photo from Sheila's apartment last October]

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant.

She started sharing them with EVG in July 2017.

Susan's feature is the subject of a Talk of the Town piece in The New Yorker this week titled "Rent-Stabilized and Nervous in the East Village."

Here's an excerpt from the piece by Paige Williams:

On a recent Sunday, Schiffman walked over to a building near First Avenue. A woman named Jenny was waiting for her on the fourth floor, in yoga pants and a hoodie imprinted with the words “Locals Only.” Schiffman took in the incense and the wood carvings from India. Jenny, a chef and an astrologer, divulged that, in the sixties, she became a “militant vegetarian” after an acid trip during which God said, “What are you doing?” as she cooked a cube steak.

“Why did you move to the East Village?” Schiffman asked. Jenny answered with a story that involved 1971, Keith Haring, “a bunch of hippies,” aids, macrobiotics, Madonna, Oprah, and “Pluto going into Scorpio.” Jenny said that when she first moved in the apartment was “all brown and lime green. Two dancers from ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ lived here.”

Schiffman plucked a Nikon from her backpack and started shooting — moody light at the bedroom windows, a bouquet of bodega roses. Jenny checked an astrology app and said, “Oh! Melania Trump’s gonna have Uranus on her sun.”

You can access all the I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant features — 29 with No. 30 coming soon — on EVG here.

A new nest for Amelia and Christo in Tompkins Square Park

Amelia and Christo have been busy working on a second nest in Tompkins Square Park. I spotted the resident red-tailed hawks this past weekend in this tree near Temperance Fountain (in what is called the Sandra Turner Garden)... right up there...



I asked Goggla about this second nest. Both of Amelia and Christo's 2019 chicks died in recent weeks in their nest near Eighth Street and Avenue B. (Cause is not yet known.)

Goggla says that this is a "frustration" or alternate nest... and in the same tree where Christo and Dora raised their 10th offspring in 2017.

Here's Goggla with more via a post from Monday:

Several people have asked me if this means the hawks will lay more eggs this year. Short answer: No. The breeding time for the hawks is generally February - May, so it is too late in the year to start again. The hawks undergo hormonal changes in the spring that lead up to egg-laying, and that time has passed.

However, nest-building is bonding activity, so it's a good sign. It shows Christo and Amelia are working together and maintaining their territory and partnership. Although I'm really sad not to have baby hawks playing in the park this summer, I'm happy to see the adults staying close to home and remaining visible.

And here's a photo from Steven of (we think) Amelia from late Monday afternoon watching planes atop Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street...

A new sign for Ray's Candy Store, and a visit by Kim Kardashian West

Here's a look at the almost completed new sign at Ray's Candy Store ... NYC-based illustrator Peach Tao (with help from Will DeNatale and Shreya Gupta) started work on Sunday.

Peach said she still has a few more details to add.



This version replaces the well-weathered facade that Chico created in July 2016. Chico's previous sign here was in part a tribute to neighborhood photographer Bob Arihood, who died in September 2011.

Steven took these photos yesterday afternoon.

Early last evening around 6:45, Kim Kardashian West stopped by the shop here on Avenue A near Seventh Street with friends (besties?) Simon Huck and Jonathan Cheban to celebrate La La Anthony's birthday (this info via Instagram).

The reality TV star and makeup mogul shared photos/clips in her Instagram Stories showing the group ordering milkshakes and deep-fried Oreos from Ray, who was working behind the counter...





In true Kardashian fashion, there were reports of "a mob scene" outside the shop during the brief stopover, as Ray's was plunged into the paparazzi world ... with black sedans and bodyguards on Avenue A...




[Bottom 2 photos via @RaysCandyStore]

Last week, it was Kendall Jenner's turn to stop by Ray's.

H/T Jon-Michael!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Kim Kardashian was in the East Village on Tuesday, ever so discreetly

Tuesday's parting shot

A graduation scene on Astor Place today via Derek Berg...

Renovations underway at the (formerly) mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

The plywood recently arrived outside 84 Second Ave. ... marking the beginning of the renovation phase here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

There are now approved work permits on file with the city for this address, including "a horizontal enlargement at the rear of the building."

This 5-floor building has been the subject of much curiosity and speculation through the years.

Here's a quick recap of the permitting required to renovate the building.

Last July, the newish owners of the currently-empty building, reportedly Highpoint Property Group, a real-estate development company, appeared before CB3's Landmarks Committee for a proposal on a Certificate of Appropriateness for the address. (Landlords of buildings located within a designated New York City historic district must receive a permit from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for major work.)

According to the alteration permits filed with the city, the additions would take the building from its current 5,829 square feet to 8,439 total square feet with a rear-yard addition. The modified No. 84 would feature new retail space as well as four residences.

As for that July 2018 meeting, CB3 conditionally approved the front façade plan only if the trapezoidal storefront window could be retained. CB3 opposed the rear-yard addition. According to the minutes from that meeting, neighbors submitted a petition against the proposal containing 160 signatures.

In late October, the LPC voted to approve the proposal to modify and replace the storefront and construct additions out back and on the roof. Per the LPC: "[I]n voting to approve this proposal, the Commission stipulated that the applicant work with the Commission's staff to reduce the visibility of the rooftop work from public thoroughfares. No work may begin until a Certificate of Appropriateness has been issued. Upon receipt, review and approval of two signed and sealed sets of the final Department of Buildings filing drawings for the approved work, a Certificate of Appropriateness will be issued."

Apparently all this work received the proper blessing along the way, as the permits show.

This property has changed hands twice in recent years. Highpoint bought the building for $7.8 million in the spring of 2018. According to public records, the building sold in May 2016 for $5.1 million. Betty Sopolsky via an LLC was the seller, with the buyer listed as West 26th Street LLC.

As we've noted several times through the years, the address has a dark past, which includes the still-unsolved murder of Helen Sopolsky, proprietor of the family's tailor shop who was found bludgeoned to death in 1974, per an article at the time.

The storefront has remained empty since her death.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Plywood and a petition at 84 2nd Ave.

Workers clearing out the mysterious 84 2nd Ave. storefront

Renovations proposed for mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

Mysterious 84 2nd Ave. sells again, this time for $7.8 million

There are new plans to expand the mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

Chong Qing Xiao Mian II has closed on 2nd Avenue

And while we're here on this part of Second Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street ... Chong Qing Xiao Mian II recently closed at No. 82.

The Chinese restaurant, which opened in late 2017, was a sibling to Chong Qing Xiao Mian on Ninth Avenue in Hell's Kitchen.

This has been a tough spot for restaurants. Casualties in the past seven years are Express Thali ... Golden Crepes ... 7 Spices ... and
Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine.

This documentary takes you inside Jay Maisel's move from the legendary 190 Bowery

[EVG photo from 2016]

The sale of 190 Bowery — the circa 1898 Germania Bank Building — was the biggest, and most interesting, downtown real-estate transaction in recent years (and maybe ever).

Prolific photographer and artist Jay Maisel bought 190 Bowery at Spring Street in 1966 for $102,000. He sold the six-story, 72-room building where he lived with his wife and daughter to Aby Rosen in early 2015 for $55 million.

According to legend, only a handful of people had ever been inside it while Maisel, whose photography credits include the Miles Davis Kind of Blue album cover, was still a resident.

On July 31, interested parties can learn more about Maisel's time in No. 190 and his subsequent move to Cobble Hill when the Film Forum debuts the documentary "Jay Myself" for a two-week run.

"Jay Myself" chronicles Maisel’s monumental move out of his 72-room home following its sale, the largest private real estate deal in NYC history. With humor and awe, Stephen Wilkes captures Maisel’s half-century of collecting – having had the room to save and exhibit every last thing he found beautiful, strange, or (potentially) useful.

And here's the official trailer...



Supreme is the temporary retail tenant on the ground floor of No. 190 these days... while the upper floors house a consortium of creative agencies.

East Village residents take exception with Nobletree Coffee's reason for closing

After five-plus months in business, Nobletree Coffee abruptly closed on May 30.

According to a note from Nobletree here on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, they were forced to close "because of the slow foot traffic at this location."

Given the busy corridor here, that reason left some residents rolling their eyes.

And now someone has added their own note to the Nobletree storefront (thanks to EVG reader Todd O'Brien for the photo!) ...

"Please don't blame the neighborhood for slow foot traffic. Maybe it was your mediocre coffee and bad service?

Sincerely,
East Village Residents

Goodbye Sunshine

After sitting vacant for nearly 16 months, workers finally got around to starting the exterior demolition at the former Sunshine Cinema in late April.

Several EVG readers have pointed out that the circa-1898 building on Houston Street between Forsyth and Eldridge is shrinking into a pile of rubble now...





The property owners, East End Capital and K Property Group, have approved plans to erect a 9-story office building. Our previous post has more details on what's to come.

The five-screen Landmark Sunshine Theater closed Jan. 21, 2018, after 17 years in business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Sunshine Cinema-replacing office building moving forward; demolition watch back on

Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

The boutique office building replacing the Sunshine Cinema will be 'unbounded by walls' with an outdoor space called Houston Alley

Is this the real life? Watch a group singalong of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on Astor Place at 3:30 a.m.

An EVG reader shared this video clip that was uploaded yesterday... showing a group singalong at the Sing for Hope piano on Astor Place. The description says this was at 3:30 a.m. Very, very frightening?

Christo looks as if he wants to kill a mockingbird

From earlier today... when a mockingbird was hassling Christo, the adult male red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park ...



Thanks to Steven for the photos!

This mural on Avenue A is a passage from 'Call Me By Your Name' — in Braille

Here's a look at the mural that Jaye Moon, a Brooklyn-based Lego artist, created outside 50 Avenue A (the former Citi branch!) between Third Street and Fourth Street.

Per the sign, the piece, made partly with Legos, is an excerpt of the script — in Braille — from "Call Me By Your Name," the Oscar-Nominated film from 2017 ...







This piece is part of the WorldPride Mural Project initiative, a collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. Per Instagram: "Both local and international artists, 50 in total, were selected to create murals within the five boroughs of New York that reflect and honor the beauty, struggle, and strides of the LGBTQIA+ community."

The work, mounted in plywood, is temporarily covering the cowboy art here.