EV Grieve

Friday, August 21, 2009

Posts that I never got around to posting: Ashlee Simpson-Wentz's transition to TV star going as well as expected

On Third Avenue near 12th Street.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Three stars for Superdive

Time Out reviews Superdive this week.

Let's see what they have to say:

Rowdy frat bars don’t usually pique our interest. But Superdive so perfectly replicates the Alpha Beta experience that, fine, we’ll do a reluctant keg stand. But just one.

And!

It’s like a fictional frat house, with a lack of decor so striking — a couple of couches, a long ugly bar, a few tables hosting beer pong — it could’ve been achieved only by drunk dudes who slept through the campus-center poster sale. The crowd appears to have stumbled out of an Abercrombie catalog and on most nights packs the place full. In fact, on weekends you’ll want a reservation — an absurd requirement for a place that postures as the ultimate dive bar.

And!

Like it or not, Superdive’s management has achieved what they presumably set out to do: bring pledge week debauchery to a Manhattan bar. A bartender summed it up best: “If someone pukes, we probably won’t kick them out.” We’re intrigued and horrified at the same time.

As food truck wars heat up, vendors start offering more options

"Yes, I'll have a falafel and something in 42L." Somewhere on Park Avenue South.

What celebrity lives here?

Here's a "celebrity offering" at the Albert, 23 E. 10th St. (between University and Broadway). And look, there's even a margarita machine!

(And I hope the celebrity doesn't mind his/her address was included on the video!)

P.S.
According to the YouTube description, this "can be combined with Apt 811 to create duplex. Offered at $1,599,000."

Preservation of the Provincetown Playhouse not going so well so far

"The preservation of the original Provincetown Playhouse within a new building that New York University is constructing at the MacDougal St. site was put on hold on Aug. 18 after neighbors discovered that part of the historic playhouse wall that was to have been preserved had been removed." An outraged Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said: "What’s unfortunate and clear is that N.Y.U. has yet again been caught in a lie, the lie that they would preserve the walls of the theater in their entirety." For its part, an NYU official apologized and said that work will cease until a report can be made to the community. (The Villager)

Previous Provincetown Playhouse coverage from The Villager. Washington Square Park has been all over the story as well. And BoweryBoogie, photo via BB too.

From Hysteria to... suburbia?

The long-vacated Waldorf Hysteria space at 165 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street...

...got the plywood treatment earlier this summer. The proprietor of the dry cleaners next door told me that offices were being created on the ground floor.

Well, here's what it looks like now...

Hmm, well, seems about right. Something with a little character is replaced by something very sterile looking...

[Waldorf image via]

Rockrose around the clock

The dorm-to-luxury-rental conversion continues at 200 Water Street. So far, we've seen the Rockrose brass introduce all sorts of amenities: VIP pizza treatment! Rooftop waterfall showers! Fine, all fine. But it's the return to glory of a 200 Water staple that's welcome news: The weird, giant clock is working once again! Welcome news for people who like weird, giant clocks anyway. (Oh, and not to nitpick, but how do we know if it's am or pm?)

And how does it work?

Previously.

For further reading:
Rooftop cabanas, barbecue, outdoor shower -- such is the life of a renter (The Real Deal)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Good morning from Ninth Street (and 10th Street!), where you'll wake to the sound of power tools and demolition

A resident writes in this morning to note the noise coming from the former P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center on Ninth Street. "Sound of power tools, chute (pictured) and dumpster — is Gregg Singer gutting the place?"

Yes, it appears the work continues to turn the school into University House at Tompkins Square Park.

According to marketing materials for the building: [It's] "currently undergoing a complete renovation including new building systems, core and shell. The property is zoned R8-B. The property is ideal for schools, universities, museums, college dormitories, medical offices, hospital, foundations, nonprofit institutions and related facilities."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

New skyline for Lafayette Street?

The Meineke Car Care Center on the southwest corner of Lafayette and Great Jones has been on the market for several years... I took the photo below for a post back in February.

As I noted in February... According to the Massey Knakal Web site: The property has Landmark’s Approval for a 6-story steel and glass building for residential, commercial or hotel-use. The property is listed at $4.4 million. It could look something like this:

Anyway, the "for sale" signs have been removed...

Perhaps a buyer has been found? The property is still listed at Massey Knakal.

Meanwhile, next door...Massey Knakal is arranging for the sale 8 Bond Street and 358-364 Lafayette. According to the listing:

This exciting and rare site can be delivered vacant which allows for immediate development to meet the ever increasing hotel/commercial office demand in New York City. Alternatively, a developer could obtain a special permit for residential use from the city, a precedent that has been set by a variety of projects in the immediate area. Currently, the site is generating approximately $333,000 annually. All of the current leases are cancellable on either 30 or 90-day notice.

And what might this space look like...?

No price listed...the owner is requesting proposals because..."This property represents a truly rare opportunity to capitalize on the strong demand for a premier residential, commercial, or hotel development site on one of the most sought after streets not only in NoHo, but in all of Manhattan."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another corner still primed to fall on NoHo

What's next for the "stocky, brooding" 37 Great Jones?

While I'm in the neighborhood... Dunno how long 37 Great Jones has been on the market...

As the Times noted in March 2008: "An unusual addition to the street was the stocky, brooding building at 37 Great Jones, designed in 1917 by Lewis Patton and used as a warehouse in the 1930s by the Philco Radio and Television Corporation."

Here's how it looked in 1936 (via):

The building is on the block for $8.8 million. As the listing (PDF) notes, "This property represents a unique opportunity for an investor or end user (such as a single family or restaurant), in an area teaming with new development. This building abuts Ian Schrager's 40 Bond, and numerous other new projects."

Single family?

Seventh Street tumor watch: Now for lease!

We've been waiting, waiting and waiting (since May 2008!) to see what will appear at the former tumor at Seventh Street just west of First Avenue...

...a construction worker at the scene in the spring said it will be "a restaurant or another bar." Hmmm.

Well, maybe some day. It appears that all that work gone into carving out the space and creating the tumor was just to prep it for lease.

According to the listing, the joint has 2,000 square feet, plus another 1,000 square feet in the basement. And: "Many busy cafes in the vicinity."

Feel free to leave your guess in the comments...smart money would have to be on some sort of ramen/noodle/yogurt place. (Or, if BaHa can do it, FroRam!)

For further reading:
7th Street Tumor (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
*Everyday Chatter (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)