[UPDATED] Let's help Bleecker Bob's find space in the East Village

Ken Mac at Greenwich Village Daily Photo first reported on Thursday that Bleecker Bob's would be replaced by a Starbuck's... (Jeremiah followed up on it, and received a lot of comments...)

An EV Grieve reader points us to the Bleecker Bob's Facebook page, where they posted the following yesterday afternoon...

So, they are not closing — just moving. Store spokesperson J.K. Kiptzer, partner of owner Bob Plotnick, told WNYC yesterday that they hope "to find something a little more affordable in the next few months on the Lower East Side." Read more about this possibility at Jeremiah's this morning...

So. Let's help them out. Here's one idea: Avenue A at Fifth Street ... former home of East Village Pharmacy, who moved down the Avenue...

The number on the for rent sign: (212) 473-6349.

Anyone? There is plenty of space available around here...

UPDATED:

We just heard from Ski, assistant manager at Bleecker Bob's.

"The spaces we've checked out so far in the east village are 650-800 square feet at a cost of about $4000 a month. Something like that would be doable."

Watch a red-tailed hawk snatch a rat in Tompkins Square Park

The other day in Tompkins Square Park. Uploaded to YouTube by KiddBowery.

Marketing the Mystery Lot

So you know developers are turning the long-empty Mystery Lot off 14th/13th Streets near Third Avenue into condos... The Real Deal reported yesterday afternoon that the developers "hired Jacqueline Urgo, president of the Marketing Developers, to promote the property, which is slated for groundbreaking this summer."

Jackie! (Jac? JU?) have WE got some marketing ideas for you! Let's talk! [motions with pinky-thumb to ear as if holding a phone].


More on this later. Meanwhile, the future Mystery Lot address is officially 211 E. 13th St. And another tidbit from Real Deal:

The project will feature a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space on East 14th Street. Amenities include a gym, lounge and roof deck with an outdoor kitchen. Buyers will have a chance to purchase private storage and roof terraces.

And on a clear day, you'll be able to smell bacon.

Reader report: Small fire on St. Mark's Place

Several readers passed along word that firefighters were on the scene late last night on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Looks as if the FDNY was at 20 St. Mark's, high above the Grassroots.

Photo via @IrisBlasi who noted: "Fire on St. Marks. (Seems to be put out; everyone ok)"

Storm clouds on First Avenue

...and at the future home of Starbucks at East Third Street...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Ughybargy

Fitting song for the week. Squeeze with "Another Nail in My Heart" from 1980.

Neighbors asked to be vigilant about construction at 315 E. 10th St.

As renovations continue at 315 E. 10th St. in the East 10th Street Historic District*, neighbors are being asked to be vigilant about how the work is being done... EVflip sends along photos of these signs spotted on East 10th Street today... (Technically, the sign asks for people to be "vigillent" ... we get it...)

Previously on EV Grieve:
A bid to protect the integrity of 315 E. 10th St.

Landmarks Preservation Commission expedites hearing on East 10th Street Historic District

Workers quickly start dismantling roof of historic 315 E. 10th St.

[Updated] Reader report: Renovations begin in earnest at 315 E. 10th St.

In the shadows of old Astor Place

Photo of Jerry Delakas, the newsstand guy of Astor Place, taken last night by James Maher.

Read more about Jerry's plight at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

On a cloudy day, you can see Fourth Avenue (for now)

The now-demolished 51 Astor Place courtesy of EV Grieve reader peter radley.

Coming soon.

Noted

In "The Hunt" column this week at The Times, two third-year NYU law students go through the trials and tribulations of finding off-campus housing...

"Michael said, 'I don’t care if I am in Alphabet City, as long as I have a nice apartment,'" [real-estate agent Julia] Perez said. That was unlike most of her apartment-hunters. "Everyone wants to have a nice apartment on Second Avenue."

A celebration of Mike Hamm's life

Mike Hamm moved here from Austin, Texas, two years ago. He worked at Lancelotti Housewares and Alphabets on Avenue A.

"He loved the East Village — it inspired him," Cara Brininstool told me via email. Mike, like many others, had the dream of moving to New York City and exploring what life had to offer, she said.

The two of them moved here together. She said that they were best friends.

Mike died on Jan. 7. He was 29.

Cara said that he had an undiagnosed condition called arteriovenous malformation that caused a series of brain hemorrhages. He remained in a coma through another hemorrhage and a stroke. Cara said that Mike's family and friends never left his side during the 11-day hospital stay.

"We actually got complaints that we were causing a fire hazard because there were so many friends who had gathered in the waiting room," Cara said.

"Mike was the kind of person who got excited when the music playing in his headphones synced up with the bustle of the city around him," she said. "Turning a corner or breaching the city's surface from the subway at the climax of the song — things like this thrilled him and made him giddy."

Next Friday, Mike's friends and family are gathering at Heathers on East 13th Street to celebrate his life.

As previously noted, the Centre-fuge Public Art Project is dedicated in his memory.

City issues permit for demolition of formerly historic 316 E. Third St.

Well, this was really just a matter of waiting for the permit...

Preservation groups tried to protect 316 E. Third St., a circa-1835 house. Unfortunately, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected a hearing on the matter last fall.

And here are the permits that the city issued yesterday. The way things are going around here, workers probably already tore down the place.

So, the townhouse that formerly belonged to Community Board 3 member Barden Prisant (who moved his family to Prospect Park South) will become a Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit apartment building, as Curbed first reported last August. (The garden and trees to the east of the house will also be dug up to become part of the new structure.)

Last week, developer David Amirian told the Post that he will offer only studios and one bedroom units here. "The market right now is to build rental. You want to build affordable housing for young people," he said.

One last thing: The DOB has yet to actually approve the plans for the new building.

Previously on EV Grieve:
33-unit, Karl Fischer-designed building rising at former home of Community Board 3 member

Landmarks Preservation Commission rejects hearing for 316 E. Third St., paving way for 7-floor condo