City moves to potentially landmark 827-831 Broadway

[EVG photo from August]

Plans to demolish 827-831 Broadway for a 14-floor office building are on hold for now as the City has decided to begin the formal process of considering them for landmark designation.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission moved yesterday to calendar the pair of cast-iron buildings built in 1866 here between 12th Street and 13th Street. "That means the commission will ultimately hold a public hearing on the buildings’ designation and subsequently vote on it (one way or the other) within one year from now," as Curbed reported.

As previously reported, Quality Capital and Caerus Group bought the parcel between 12th Street and 13th Street last summer for $60 million. The deal reportedly included 30,000 square feet of air rights.

In the late 1950s, Willem de Kooning had a studio in No. 827, one piece of the history of these buildings uncovered by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), who has campaigned the past 18 months to preserve these buidlings.

GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman co-authored an op-ed at the Times in early August, providing more history of the addresses and making the case for why they should be landmarked.

The buildings were designed by Griffith Thomas, called “the most fashionable architect of his generation” by the American Institute of Architects.

You can read more about the buildings and the next steps in the landmarking process at the GVSHP website here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: 14-story building planned for 827 Broadway

An appeal to landmark these buildings on Broadway

Wagamama opens Oct. 4 on 3rd Avenue

Signage is up in the windows at Wagamama, announcing an Oct. 4 opening date here on 11th Street at Third Avenue...



This is the second NYC location for the London-based restaurant that serves Japanese-inspired cuisine. (You can find their menu here.)

And here's a look inside the space the other day...





Thanks to Vinny & O for the top two pics!

Previously on EV Grieve:
A few details about the Wagamama coming to 3rd Avenue

Dr Smood is now in on Houston and Orchard

[Photo from Monday]

Dr Smood debuted yesterday on Houston at Orchard, in part of the former American Apparel space.

Here's their description, via Facebook:

Dr Smood is an organic boutique cafe offering a carefully crafted menu of performance food for mind, body, and soul. We work closely with our partners to produce the highest quality products from sustainable sources, pure water, and nutrient-rich soil.

They are also billing themselves as...

Come by and experience Probably the Healthiest Cafe on the Lower East Side! #DrSmood #NewOpening #LowerEastSide #NeverProcessed #NeverArtificial #AlwaysOrganic

A post shared by Dr Smood (@drsmood) on Sep 19, 2017 at 12:48pm PDT

This is the fifth Dr Smood location in NYC. (The company started in Miami.)

And this Well + Good article has more about the owners. Such as: "The idea came to Danish business developer Rene Sindlev and his wife, Patrizia Manici Sindlev, when they were living in Denmark and feeling frustrated by the lack of healthy, grab-and-go restaurants."

Previously

Willow tree post mortem at La Plaza

Back on Friday, workers removed the rotting willow tree from the southwest corner of La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C and Ninth Street.

EVG correspondent Steven stopped by the community garden today... there is a pile of chips from the 40-year-old tree, nicknamed Cher, available to take...





Also, it appears that following the clean up after the removal, community gardeners found steps to a path inside La Plaza ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A wake for the last willow trees at La Plaza Cultural

At the Weeping Willow Wake


[Photo from Sunday]

Final date set for Clayworks Pottery on 9th Street

Last month, Helaine Sorgen announced that she was closing Clayworks Pottery after 44 years at 332 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

"My building has been bought by a predatory landlord who will not renew my lease," she said at the time. "It's been over a two-year fight, and the time has come to close up shop." (You can read her closing letter here.)

At the time, she was unsure of her closing date — some time around Sept. 15.

Sorgen provided an update on Facebook this past weekend:

"I am sad to report that my court ordered last day at Clayworks will be September 30th. However, the exorbitant amount of money judgment levied against me doesn't quite make up for the extra week. Still, it gives me the opportunity to see many of you again and share memories and say goodbye. I look forward to seeing you all before Clayworks closes forever."

Jeremiah Moss interview Sorgen for a post that you can find here.

Storefront photo from 2009 via Facebook

7th Street townhouse once owned by John Leguizamo to be demolished for new development

In September 2016, a permit was filed with the DOB to demolish the 3-level townhouse (circa 1848) at 264. E. Seventh St. between Avenue C and Avenue D.

In late October, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced that they would not consider a row pastel-colored residences here for landmarking.



While the fate of No. 264 (above) remains in limbo at the moment, its neighbor two buildings to the east will be demolished to make way for a new development.

As New York Yimby first reported yesterday, the city approved a demo permit last month for the three-level 268 E. Seventh St. ...


[268 E, 7th St.]

The permits (filed on Friday) awaiting approval show that the new 7-floor structure will have 8,043 square feet of residential space divided between two units.

Actor John Leguizamo owned No. 268 starting in 1995. In February 2013, the building hit the market with a $4 million ask. However, as Curbed noted at the time:

It's unclear how recently Leguizamo lived in the place, or whether or not he even still owns it — the deed was transferred to an LLC in 2002, and the listing says that it was "Recently a single family residence; currently used as a 3-family" ...

Leguizamo watchers on the block figure that the actor moved away from here about 2001 or 2002.

According to public records, No. 268 sold for $3.65 million in September 2013 to investment banker Wilco Faessen, who's listed as the developer.

There isn't any word on when the demolition/construction might start at No. 268.

Across the way, work continues at 253 E. Seventh St., where there are approved permits for a 6-story residential building ...





Previously on EV Grieve:
City says no to landmarking row of 7th Street homes, clearing way for demolition of No. 264

Come live in John Leguizamo's former home here on 'Artists Row'

The East River Park Track is now closed for renovations; September 2018 reopening expected

A longtime East Village resident said that he was "shocked and vexed" yesterday to discover that the East River Park Track at the FDR and Sixth Street was closed without any warning "until further notice" for reconstruction.



This project has been in the works since 2013. Per the Parks Department website, "this project will reconstruct the synthetic turf soccer field and resurface the running track."

The fine print notes that the construction will start this month, and take one year to compete. There wasn't any advance communications about this seemingly sudden closure.

The note the Parks Department left on the gate lacks many specifics, such as the reopening date...



Per the reader, who's training for the New York City Marathon: "Seems like a disservice to the schools, clubs and individuals who use the track in the prime months of September and October."

[Updated] Sentencing day for landlord Steve Croman

[Image via the Croman Tenants' Alliance]

Back on June 6, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the guilty plea of Steve Croman. The landlord will be sentenced this morning by Justice Jill Konviser as part of that plea deal.

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Updated from The Real Deal:

Steven Croman will get to spend the Jewish holidays at home instead of behind bars.

At a sentencing hearing ... Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser postponed sentencing for Oct. 3.

Prosecutors in the office of state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman – who dubbed Croman the “Bernie Madoff of landlords” – opposed the motion, but Konviser granted it nonetheless

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Here's the original statement about the plea from the Attorney General's office...

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the guilty plea of Steven Croman, a major New York City landlord with more than 140 apartment buildings across Manhattan, for fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud. Under the terms of his plea, Croman would serve one year of jail time on Rikers Island and pay a $5 million tax settlement – marking a significant precedent in the effort to combat landlords who base their business model on the displacement of rent-stabilized tenants.

Rarely, if ever, has a landlord been sentenced to serve time in jail for engaging in these practices. The jail time and multi-million settlement announced today send a strong message to landlords that the Attorney General will pursue anyone who engages in these types of practices to the fullest extent of the law.

“Steven Croman is a fraudster and a criminal who engaged in a deliberate and illegal scheme to fraudulently obtain bank loans,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “He went to outrageous lengths to boost his bottom line – including falsely listing rent-stabilized units at market rates when his efforts to displace those renters had failed. Now Mr. Croman faces a year in Rikers and a $5 million settlement – and unscrupulous landlords are on notice that we’ll pursue them to the fullest extent of the law.”

The AG's office still has a pending civil case against Croman accusing him of forcing tenants from their rent-controlled apartments. His next court date for the civil case is now scheduled for Nov. 13.

Schneiderman first announced the charges against Croman in May 2016. Those charges included multiple felonies for his role in an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain several multi-million dollar refinancing loans between 2012 and 2014.

The civil lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan and the product of an independent investigation, alleges that Croman used, among other things, the illegal tactic of pressuring tenants into surrendering their apartments by repeatedly filing baseless lawsuits against them.

Croman's real-estate portfolio includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.

Members of the the Stop Croman Coalition will be present at the sentencing, set for 9 a.m. at the New York City Criminal Court, 100 Centre St., Room 1333 (13th Floor).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Following eviction proceedings, Steve Croman's 9300 Realty has a new office

Drumming up some dumpster action outside Webster Hall

There still aren't any permits on file with the city to renovate the landmarked Webster Hall on 11th Street... however, over the weekend, several readers spotted a dumpster out front here between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue ... whose contents included part of a drum kit...



Anyway. A quickie recap. The venue in its most current iteration closed on Aug. 10. (You can find a Webster Hall timeline here.) Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, along with AEG-backed The Bowery Presents, bought the building from the Ballinger family for $35 million this past spring.

The new owners will renovate the space, axing the club nights to focus on live music. Some reports suggest that the new venue won't be ready until 2020.

H/T EVG reader Doug!

The 9th Precinct Community Council meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday!) night

As a reminder, the 9th Precinct Community Council meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. So that would be tomorrow (Sept. 19).

The meetings take place at the 9th Precinct, 321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This is an opportunity for residents to address any concerns and ask 9th Precinct officials for their input on recent crime statistics.

First Hints

First Hints

Are we too, to be blown into Fall?

This quiet transformation from a summer,

Of heat and relief patented across,

Weeks in succession.

New mornings taking longer to appear,

Almost tranquil, limpid of light,

As the grip of summer,

Teasing in its reluctance, relinquishes its might.

Great winds surge across the South.

As we sit in park’s dappled light,

Children play, shrill their voices, below

The leaves above that soon will fall.

•

peter radley

[Updated] A look at tonight's CB3 agenda, which includes the return of The Honey Fitz

CB3's SLA committee meets tonight at the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton. The festivities start at 6:30.

Here's a look at a few of the applicants on the agenda:

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• 20 St Mark's Place — Applicants from Ichibantei, the 7-year-old "Japanese Soul Food & Drink" bar-restaurant on 13th Street near First Avenue, are looking to open a similar-sounding concept at 20 St. Mark's Place.

This space is above the Grassroots on the block between Second Avenue and Third Avenue that previously housed Sounds.

According to the application (PDF) at the CB3 website, this unnamed restaurant would seat 64 during their daily hours of 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

The paperwork doesn't note if this would be a second location of Ichibantei or if they plan to move the business.

The fact that an applicant is looking to sell liquor in a space that wasn't previously licensed in a so-called Saturated Area has raised the ire of a few people on the block. While not named in the story, this application was the news hook in a St. Mark's Place Is Full-of-Bars piece in the Post yesterday.

Per the Post:

A proposal for yet another bar and restaurant at 20 St. Marks Place shows there are an astonishing 32 liquor licenses within 500 feet. And that’s before you count two more pending applications for watering holes, State Liquor Authority records show.

And...

“Stacking bars on top of bars is not a happy thought for me,” said Ian Fair who ran Sounds for many years and still lives in the building. He closed the shop in 2015 after the landlord tripled the rent.

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• 58 E. First St. — Applicants with experience at Casa Mizcal on Orchard Street and the Black Ant on Second Avenue are looking to open a restaurant called Boticarios in the space where Esperanto Fonda lasted nine months.

The application at the CB3 website (PDF) includes a sample menu.

While they haven't yet secured the liquor license, the owners have left a note for the neighboring residents about some renovations in the restaurant...



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• 210 Avenue A — Applicants for The Honey Fitz are making another run at Avenue A. The proprietors, James Morrissey and Ian Nolan (The Late Late on East Houston and The VNYL on Third Avenue), were looking to open in 2016 in the space that is now home to Starbucks on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place. However, they held off given the uncertainty at the time surrounding the lease at Nino's.

They are proposing a bar-restaurant with hours of 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily. (I don't know if the networking space for freelancers is part of this proposal as it was for the St. Mark's Place space.)

The application (PDF) has all sorts of details about the proposed venture, including the menu. No. 210 at 13th Street is currently home to Percy's Tavern, who presumably would close if all this is OK'd.

Updated 9/17

BoweryBoogie reports that CB3 denied the application for the Honey Fitz. Per BB:

[Residents] further alleged that bringing in Morrissey with a 4am liquor license, and who has a terrible track record with VYNL and The Late Late, would only exacerbate an already saturated area. Indeed, the latter operation is considered one of the worst offenders in the district, and carries a report card of more than thirty 311 complaints. Residents on East 1st Street regularly complain about noise, which first has to travel past a clamorous Houston Street and then through First Park.

Remember, of course, that the original intent of The Late Late was an Irish gathering space that would feature “Irish gourmet food” and small poetry readings. Talk about bait-and-switch. This could be why so many turned up to speak in opposition (i.e. more than a dozen).

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• 151 Avenue C — Studio 151, the three-year-old club from the owner of Nublu, is on the agenda for a new liquor license for the upstairs space here between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

I'm not sure what's going on with the space, which has been closed the past six months, per Studio 151's social media.
(You can find their CB3 application here.)

Neighbors have already been circulating flyers about this item...


[Photo by Steven]

The flyers cite Studio 151's "thirty year history of noise." To be fair, Studio 151 opened in July 2014. Speakeasy closed here in the spring of 2014.