Checking in on @Jakobson_fix_it: 'so basically she has shit water in her apartment'

[A Jakobson apartment on East Fifth Street]

Two weeks ago, we posted an item on an East Village resident's campaign against Jakobson Properties. Tired of ongoing issues in a residential building, the tenant asked other Jakobson renters to take to Twitter with the complaints by using @Jakobson_fix_it

We wanted to check in to see how things were going. In the first week, the tenant noted that "Jakobson was really on it. They seem to react a lot quicker to maintenance requests, most likely because of this campaign. So we've had a few successes. We'll see whether this persists."

We've been monitoring the Twitter account as well as the Tumblr. Several past and present residents have chimed in... Here's part of an anecdote a current Jakobson tenant shared:

About a week and a half ago I get a txt from my roommate who came home late to water dripping from our ceiling. He put a bucket under it and i called the next day to have the guy come around to see what the hell was going on. We found out that the apartment upstairs toilet had overflown and the maintenance guy was actually standing in my “kitchen” on a walkie talkie and said “so basically she has shit water in her apartment” I mean WHAT?! I know its true but seriously. Talk about that with your friends later. He said he was going to fix the upstairs apartment and then fix ours at 3 (this was at like 11am) I had to leave so I told my roommate the maintenance guy never came back. Saw him in the stairs the next day brought it up again and he said that they were having a lot of floods. still hasnt been fixed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Taking to Twitter to complain about the landlord

'Don't you think that André Balazs knows what's going in at the empty lot next door?'

Well you probably know that André Balazs bought the Cooper Square Hotel and is turning the joint into The Standard East Village.

So we were having an email exchange with an EV Grieve regular who was trying to sound upbeat about the sale. Maybe it won't be so bad, he or she tried. They said it will be "a more mellow alternative" to the bumping-and-grinding off the High Line, right?

Of course, you have to say those kinds of things now to appease the Community Board, neighbors, etc.

Then the reader said, or wrote: Don't you think that André Balazs knows what's going in at the empty lot next door?

Now that's an interesting question. Earlier this year, despite an outpouring of support for 35 Cooper Square, developer Arun Bhatia had the historic structure demolished to make way for whatever he has planned for the lot adjacent to the hotel off Sixth Street.

Bhatia hasn't said what's coming to the space. Most people assume it will be some condo/hotel/dorm complex with chain-store retail on the ground-floor and some nonprofit or community facility for good (tax) measure.

Anyway, as The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the fall, Balazs bought the Cooper Square Hotel for $90 million.

If you're putting out that much for the property, then you'll gonna want to know what your new neighbor will be.... some day.

Meanwhile, if André, "Stan" or anyone wants to send us a note to the tipline with any renderings or plans for the empty lot...

[Photo by Shawn Chittle.]

Blue Man Group and King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

Last Thursday, Off the Grid noted the Blue Man Group's 20th anniversary... on Nov. 17, 1991, Blue Man Group "Tubes" opened at the Astor Place Theatre.

Before taking up residency there, the group played out and about at a variety of venues... including King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Avenue A at Seventh Street (where Niagara is now).

Came across this flyer while visiting the King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Facebook page.

Among the other photos on the King Tut Facebook page ... from March 1987...

...and the front entrance at Seventh Street and Avenue A...

Holiday road

Bobby Williams notes that workers yesterday put up the holiday lights on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Or else Japadog is really going all out for its opening next month ...

Pet Rider

Second Avenue and First Street today by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Eighth Street and Avenue B yesterday by Bobby Williams]

Two pit bull attacks in the past two weeks in the East Village (DNAinfo)

Building security questioned after an assault on Ludlow Street (BoweryBoogie)

More on the future of the former PS 64 (The Local, previous EVG coverage here)

Pizza at Pie on Fourth Avenue (Marty After Dark)

Paul Auster reads at the Green-Wood Cemetery (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Even Campbell's Soup is getting artisanal (New York Daily News)

Weird Macy's Parade balloons (Ephemeral New York)

Souvenir shop next to Ruby's on the Coney Island boardwalk forced to close (Amusing the Zillion)

Today it the last day to vote for the second annual Village Voice Web Awards (Runnin' Scared) ... and, given our long history of receiving bribes and kickbacks, we're pleased to be one of the judges this year (Runnin' Scared)

Claim: Ben Shaoul is the new owner of Cabrini nursing home, will convert to condos

As you may have read in the Nov. 3 edition of The Villager, the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on East Fifth Street at Avenue B is in danger of closing.

The Villager's Lesley Sussman reported that the building's current owner is an unnamed family trust, which is in the process of selling the property.

During the weekend, an anonymous reader left a comment on our post about 515 E. Fifth St., the site of a recent protest about the illegal addition to the building. The property is owned by Ben Shaoul's Magnum Management.

Per the commenter:

We just learned that Ben has purchased the property where Cabrini Home is at 542 East 5th Street from another private owner to convert to condos. The home says their lease runs out in April 2012 and they are being forced to close. Can't anyone stop him? They want to stay but so far, no dice.

According to a neighborhood source monitoring the situation, until the deal closed this past week, no one at Cabrini knew the names of the buyer. The source said that Cabrini officials have made an offer to the previously unknown new owner to pay a substantial amount of money just to receive a lease extension — in addition to more rent.

Previously, local politicians — including Assemblymember Speaker Sheldon Silver, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez and members of the Community Board 3 — sent a letter to attorney Kenneth Fisher, who is representing the buyer, asking for an extension of the current lease, The Villager reported.

The nonprofit, 240-bed nursing home — sponsored by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — provides health care for low-income elderly residents in the East Village. The location at Fifth Street and Avenue B opened in 1993. This location serves 240 patients and employs nearly 300 employees.

As The Villager noted, Cabrini officials have been planning to relocate to a still-unspecified site owned by the Archdiocese of New York in the next five years. However, without a lease extension and ample opportunity to find a new home, the facility is at risk of losing its state-issued operating license.

Inside Tompkins Square Bagels

Bagels Return To The Lower East Side from Shawn Chittle on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Shawn Chittle for creating this video that takes us inside the coming soon Tompkins Square Bagels on Avenue A ... Among other things, owner Christopher Pugliese walks us through his unique bagel-making process...

The Standard East Village makes it official; plus the Trilby sign is gone

On Friday morning, Page Six reported that André Balazs was ready to turn the Cooper Square Hotel into The Standard East Village.

Later on Friday, The Standard made it official on its website via a post by "Stan D’Arde," the "perennial voice of The Standard Hotels." Here's what "Stan" had to say ...

Let’s cut straight to the point. I know you have been hearing rumors that we at The Standard Hotels were bringing you, our Stan D’esirably loyal family, another property in New York City to call your own. Well, I’m here today to squash all those rumors and to give you the facts straight from the Stan’s mouth…

WE ARE VERY PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE 5TH ADDITION TO OUR STANDARD FAMILY WITH THE STANDARD, EAST VILLAGE!

There. I said it, and there’s no turning back.

Since you’re already part of our family, you know how very unique all of the siblings are. The Standard Hotels in Hollywood, Downtown LA, Miami and New York are each special in their own way, and this latest property already fits right in.

Don’t get too excited though! Unlike The Standard, New York, this Eastside counterpart, located on the corner of East 5th Street and Bowery at Cooper Square, is going to be a more mellow alternative to all the boom in your Westside room. Spanning 21 floors with 145 rooms offering stunning cityscape views, The Standard, East Village will offer you all the spacious comforts and high ‘standards’ to which you’ve grown accustomed.

Over the next year, we’ll be refurbishing the rooms, revamping the restaurant and reimagining the public spaces to make everything perfect for you. Oh, and when I say I’ll be “working”, I mean I’ll be at the bar sipping my martini, pointing at things and telling people where another bar should probably belong.

We’re really excited to be moving into the hood with old friends like Creative Time and The New Museum and to meet all the new friends waiting for us. We know we’ll see you there, so keep checking back for updates. I’ll be keeping you posted every step of the way.

xoxo
Stan

xoxo right back atcha Stan!

Meanwhile, there are already a few noticeable changes. Or at least one.

Like! Remember the Trilby hitchin' post that workers installed last July?

Gone!

More views of the freshly renovated St. Brigid's

Workers removed even more of the scaffolding on Saturday...

Please do not throw bottles out your windows and into the courtyard

A reader brought our attention to this sign hanging on a Jakobson Properties building on East 12th Street... The sign is dated Oct. 31... not new, though still entertaining.

Quantum Leap makes it official

As we reported, Quantum Leap, the vegetarian restaurant on First Avenue near 12th Street, closed last Thursday due to a rent hike...

... someone put up a sign in the window making it official... and telling people to visit their original Thompson Street location... via a photo by @JorgeO ...