[Updated] Behold the bell of St. Brigid's

Wow. EVG regular Salim just shared this... This morning, workers from a bell-restoration firm were putting a 3,000 pound, 150-year-old bell back in place at St Brigid's on Avenue B and East Eighth Street.

Wow.

Per Salim: "Everyone — cars, pedestrians, cyclists — was stopping to look at the bell. It was remarkably bright and beautiful, and the bell restorers had a lot of pride as they described it... forged in 1858, I think."

After a lengthy restoration, St. Brigid's is set to reopen on Sunday, as we first reported. And this might just do away with those fake "bells" that we've been hearing...

Updated 1-25

Salim and some other readers noted that the bell is actually on display now outside the church...

Hopefully people won't decide to do anything stupid here... it's pretty much right there in shenanigans way...

Why it's very possible that you own a Yorkie named Max in the East Village

From the EV Grieve inbox...

People love their dogs and consider them members of their family, and in New York City, a city with such a high number of singles, dogs may be their only family. Recognizing the enthusiasm people have for their pets, WNYC’s Data News team has created DOGS OF NYC, an interactive map that illustrates the popularity of names and breeds depending on neighborhood.

DOGS OF NYC includes:
• Doggy Census: Who lives where? Who knew Yorkies were so popular in Chelsea?
• Most popular boy and girl names (and other top 10 lists) Max and Bella reign supreme in 2012.
• Match the Breed with the Name” game, and more!
• Make your own t-shirt: a unique gift for the dog lover this upcoming Valentine’s Day!

Some more interesting tidbits:
• Princess is big in the Bronx, but Bronx — the name — is not nearly as popular as Brooklyn.
• The most popular female dog name is Bella, and Max is the most popular male dog name.
• There are 26 dogs in NYC named Pepsi, but none named Coke or Coca-Cola.
• There are 14 dogs named Kitty and 31 named Tigger.

You can read the article and find interactive stuff here. (The top image here is interactive.)

In total, there 5,000 Yorkies are licensed in the city, and more than 4,700 Shih Tzus. As for the East Village... a closer look at the stats shows that — surprise! — Yorkies are the most popular breed ... with Max being the most popular name. Followed by Bailey and, um, Coco. Keep in mind that these are only for licensed dogs, which only number 20 percent of all canines in the city.

From the article: the Health Department estimates that only one in five dogs are licensed. And now a cut-and-paste job from the piece:

It’s against the law to own a dog in the city and not get it licensed. The Health Department says licensing helps reunite lost dogs with their owners, and reminds owners to keep up with vaccinations for their best friend. The proceeds from registration fees support the operation of animal shelters in the city. The penalty for getting caught by a police officer or park official with an unlicensed dog is a summons and $200.

An unscientific survey of dog owners in Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan's East Village on a Thursday afternoon reveals most of them are oblivious to the rule, the reasons for getting a license, and the penalty for going without one.

“Laziness, mainly laziness,” said one owner of an unlicensed dog, explaining why he hadn’t registered his one-and-a-half-year-old Affenpinscher with the city. The owner asked that he remain nameless for fear of incriminating his dog, to which he gave the alias “Bodean.”

You should really go get Max licensed.

Chalking up more 'No 7-Eleven' sentiment on Avenue A

A handful of hearty residents took to the frozen streets last night to create some more "No 7-Eleven" messages on Avenue A and East 11th Street ... site of one of the all-too-familiar franchise shops that will soon open in NYC ... A BBC crew was on-hand as well, documenting all this for an upcoming news segment...

...and from above...

Meanwhile, Khalif from East Village Deli at 217 Avenue A shows off his "No 7-Eleven" pride...

[Photo by Crazy Eddie]

The movement is growing...

Top photos by Shawn Chittle

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] More from the anti-7-Eleven front on Avenue A and East 11th Street

7-Eleven alert: Are 2 chain stores replacing Bar on A and Angels & Kings?

First sign of the incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A

Avenue A's anti-7-Eleven campaign now includes arsenal of 20,000 stickers

More about the second location of Third Rail Coffee, opening soon on East 10th Street

As we first noted back on Dec. 31, the the second NYC location for Third Rail Coffee is taking over the former Stogo space on East 10th Street just west of Second Avenue. (Thanks to Bill the libertarian anarchist for that tip.)

Co-owner/barista Humberto Ricardo shared more about the space with us via Facebook.

"I'm really excited to get back to the East Village. It was the first place I lived on my own in New York City when I moved there," he said. In particular, he always liked this picturesque stretch of East 10th Street — near the St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery and the circa 1860s row houses designed by James Renwick Jr.

He was friendly with Angelo Fontana, the proprietor of the beloved A. Fontana Shoe Repair. He loved the shop, and the location. He figured it would be the perfect location for his business when the time came. (This was before the Sullivan Street location of Third Rail.)

"I started talking to [Angelo] about it in case he ever did retire. Also because he was a nice man and I have a deep respect for craftsmen who do one thing well forever," he said. "When he was forced out and into an early retirement, however, I backed away from the whole thing — too much bad karma. And I'd be damned if I was gonna be that guy.

A huge rent hike caused the shoe repair to close for good after 45 years in business in February 2008. Stogo, the vegan ice cream shop, opened in December 2008. They closed at the end of November.

"So I watched as Stogo took it and well — I'll leave the story there," he said. "I know some people still have some sore feelings about Angelo's being run out of that space. I hope that once people get a sense of who we are and what we're about ... they'll be happy about [the new coffee shop]."

He said he expects the new Third Rail to be open in the next few month.

February CB3-SLA highlights: I Cipressi, Sunshine Cinema and the Immigrant Tap Room

Hey now. The folks at CB3 have released the liquor license docket for February's meeting. Many of the applicants this time around are below Houston, so it's not really our fucking problem you can likely find more details on these establishments in the days/weeks ahead via BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down.

So.

Let's take a look.

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, February 11 at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. 5th Street at Bowery

Applications within Saturated Areas

[EVG file photo from last June]

• 1st Street Ventures Inc, 44A 1st St (wb)

This is Julius Klein's former studio-gallery space ... he left back early in the summer after being Cromanized... No word just yet what this will be... we've spotted several prospective tenants check out this space going back to the summer...

• The Cow Theater (Stephen & Tyler Productions LLC), 21A Clinton St (wb)

• 154 Ludlow Bar LLC, 154 Ludlow St (op)

• I Cipressi Restaurant (Lidoalberta LLC), 189 Ave A (wb)

Lorella Innocenti, a former owner of I Coppi, which closed in September on East Ninth Street, is starting a new Tuscan-style restaurant here at the former Vampire Freaks space.

EVG reader J-Dough recently spotted sisters Maristella Innocenti (pictured left, who owns Matilda on East 11th Street off Avenue C with her husband Esteban Molina), and Lorella outside No. 189.

Alterations

• Peels Restaurant (Radley Realty Corp), 325 Bowery (op/alt/extend bar counter "L" shape, add 5-6 seats)

Outrageous!

• Cafe Katja (Graz Restaurant LLC), 75 Orchard St (op/alt/license to adjoin current business at 77-79)

• The General/Finale/Bow (Bakers Dozen Associates LLC), 199 Bowery (op/alt/move dance space to back half of the ground floor)

Heh.

• SakaMai (SakaMai LLC), 157 Ludlow St (op/alt/add stand up bar)

New Liquor License Applications

• Sunshine Lounge (Cinema Beverages Holding Company LLC), 143 E Houston St (op)

The Sunshine wants to add food and drinks to go along with their art-house cinema. CB3 hasn't been too receptive, per The Lo-Down ... and BoweryBoogie.

• The Immigrant Tap Room, 341 E 9th St (wb)

We wrote about this yesterday.

• Barzinho Inc, 48 Hester St (wb)

I don't even know where Hester Street is. (KIDDING.)

• Guayoyo (Highseyko Corporation), 67 1st Ave (op/upgrade)

• To be Determined, 266 Broome St (op)

• Retro Bar & Grill (Delancey Diner LLC), 148-150 Delancey St (op

Hope that's just a working title for the bar & grill...

• Natori Saint Marks LLC, 58 St Marks Pl (wb)

The owners moved to Japan late last year. Despite word that the space would close, new owners took over the space. A tipster told us the new owner also runs Sushi Lounge and Noodle Cafe Zen on St. Mark's, and Zen 6 on East Sixth street.

• Long Xin Restaurant (Sunrise Restaurant 88 Inc), 50 Eldridge St (b)

• Luzzo's (Luzzo's 211 LLC), 211 1st Ave (op)

???

• Azize Cafe & Lounge (45 First Ave Corp), 45 1st Ave (wb)

• Pulperia on Essex Inc, 131 Essex St (wb)

• To be Determined, 138 Orchard St (op)

• Mediterrean Grill and Tapas (Izagara Gourmet Inc), 128 1st Ave (op/upgrade)

• 90 Third Avenue TC Restaurant LLC, 90 3rd Ave (op)

This was last Montein Thai Cuisine near 12th Street... the DOH closed them in January 2011, and they never reopened. We've lost track of the applicants here... last that we recall, a Mexican eatery had designs on the space. Will get an update.

• Bar Chevere (O & O Wine Corp), 181 Essex St (op)

• Ivrose B LLC, 137 1st Ave (wb)

This is the former Tara Thai Cuisine space

• Eastwood (Sivandrew Inc), 200 Clinton St aka 221 E B'way (wb)

From the folks who own B-Side on Avenue B. Been a challenging go here too.

• Rivington 155 Parlor Inc, 155 Rivington St (op) (St Jerome's)

-----

b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations

Things that are now saturated

Speaking of the CB3/SLA Licensing Committee... did you notice how they are now designating certain locations (starting with the February docket)? Before, CB3 used the expression "Applications within Resolution Areas."

But this is likely much more descriptive ...

"Applications within Saturated Areas."

I like "Applications within Woooooooo! Areas." But that is likely too large an area.

Here's a list of those areas via the CB3 website:

Community Board 3 has listed the following areas where oversaturation of licensed business has negatively affected the quality of life of residents. CB 3 believes these areas are problem areas because of oversaturation, and we have a policy to not approve new licenses or expansions in these areas unless the applicants show public benefit or strong support from residents living in the immediate area (adjoining, above, across the street from and behind the business).

An exception to this policy is applications for beer wine licenses for businesses that will close by midnight, agree to never apply for full liquor licenses and meet other requirements.

1. [ 99 - 192 ] Ludlow Street between Houston Street and Delancey Street.

2. [ 85 - 138 ] St. Marks Place between First Avenue and Avenue A.

3. 12 St. Marks Place, for which there have been persistent community complaints throughout its history as a licensed establishment.

4. [ 1 - 73 ] Clinton Street between Houston Street and Rivington Street.

5. [ 500 - 599 ] Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

6. Avenue A between Houston Street and Fourteenth Street.

7. [ 85 - 130 ] Rivington Street between Norfolk Street and Orchard Street.

8. Avenue B between Houston Street and Fourteenth Street.

9. Avenue C between Houston Street and Fourteenth Street.

10. [ 10 - 31 ] First Avenue between First Street and Second Street.

11. [ 144 - 202 ] Orchard Street between Houston Street and Rivington Street.

12. [ 1 - 37 ] St. Mark’s Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

13. [ 183 - 242 ] Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

14. [ 27 - 74 ] First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

H/T Shawn Chittle

Help Theater for the New City burn its mortgage on Saturday

From the EV Grieve inbox...

[Via Facebook]

A "BURN THE MORTGAGE" CELEBRATION!
Saturday, January 26th
5:00 to 7:00pm (free admission)

REJOYCE! THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Has Paid Its Mortgage! $717,000 to $0!

Eats! Drinks! And Lots of Love! We want to Thank our Supporters! Champagne for everyone! And a Swinging Opening of a 40-year Retrospectacle: Theater for the New City, 40 Years of Struggle and Triumph!

Help us to put a Match to a 25-year old Mortgage, as we unveil our Donor Plaque.

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Celebrates its 40th Year, and celebrates its future as The Cultural Center for the East Village and the Lower East Side — serving its neighborhood with Free and Low-Cost Theater, Art, Music, Poetry, Puppetry, Multimedia & Street Theater.

Performers and Speakers will include: F. Murray Abraham, Charles Busch, David Amram, Vinie Burrows, NYC Council Member Rosie Mendez, Louis Mofsie of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, and some surprises. Reservations recommended.

RSVP and info here.

Theater for the New City bought their building at 155 First Ave. between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street with a $717,000 mortgage in 1987 ... they moved from the West Village to 156 Second Ave. in 1977...

Steamed espresso

Photo of 9th Street Espresso last night by Meg Lindley.

A cold-tailed hawk in Tompkins Square Park

Bobby Williams spotted the hawk hanging out on top of the Temperance Fountain in the Park this afternoon...

Today in photos of frozen fire hydrants in the East Village

We have learned exclusively that it is cold out today.

This cold out...

East 10th Street and Avenue C via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C...

... and East Fifth Street and Avenue A via Simon1961 ...

Or maybe these are just sneak previews of new winter drinks from Booker & Dax...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 12th Street near Avenue A via Shawn Chittle]

Q-n-A with Missing Foundation's Chris Egan (Flaming Pablum)

More history of the 9th Street Bakery (Off the Grid)

East Village substitute teacher suspended for selling books meant for fund-raiser (DNAinfo)

When the second floor of 1551 Broadway belonged to the Follies Burlesk (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

The story of Kirsten Larson, "an American Girl doll who sat on a shelf in the Ottendorfer branch" of the NY Public Library on Second Avenue (The New York Times)

The New Yorker reviews L’Apicio in the Mall of Avalon Bowery Place (The New Yorker)

Suing Ian Schrager on Christie Street (BoweryBoogie)

One possible future tenant for Seward Park project (The Lo-Down)

Bua on St. Mark's Place has a new menu (Eater)

Where the survivors from the Titanic docked (Ephemeral New York)

It is cold out (Gothamist)

And we've opened the heating center ... there's a 42-minute limit.

East Side Community School students are back, repaired wall and all

As you'll likely remember, students and faculty had to evacuate East Side Community High School and Girls Prep Charter on East 12th Street back in September when a maintenance worker found part of the eastern wall separating from the rest of the structure.

Original estimates via NY1 put the students back in the building in late February.

[The repaired wall last Friday, via Bobby Williams]

However, as East Side Principal Mark Federman tweeted on Jan. 4, the students would be returning sooner... and today was their first day back for classes here between Avenue A and First Avenue... we heard from a few East Village parents who were quite pleased that their kids were in the neighborhood again for classes.

Meanwhile, here is the new wall ... photographed on Monday...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Schools making it work while repairs continue at 420 E. 12th St.

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Jane Kelton and Little Egg
Occupation: Musician and Dog Walker
Location: 2nd Avenue Between 4th and 5th
Time: 12:10 on Monday, Jan. 21

I moved here in 1977. I’m from Pennsylvania. I came here because there were a lot of Irish music sessions here and I play Irish music. Although I have a good education, I was never very career-minded. I just cared about music and had college friends who played here. I play wooden flute and tin whistle — traditional instruments.

I still play in sessions to this day and I play professionally a bit. It’s not my living. I’m a dog walker for that. There’s a bar called the William Barnacle Tavern that has sessions on Monday nights at Theatre 80 on St. Marks Place and I play in a local, homey bar called Murphy’s in Sunnyside, Queens. I also play at Dempsey’s — there’s a big session there on Tuesdays.

I’ve done a lot of things. I did a couple of degrees at NYU. I did teaching of English and what’s called an MPhil in Performance Studies, which is everything in a doctorate except a dissertation. Within that program, I was doing folk performance, usually Irish stuff. I’ve taught at NYU. I’ve been a technical writer, and when I got laid off from that, I started the dog walking, which was about 13 years ago. I also went back to school and got a degree in teaching art, but when I got out there just weren’t any jobs.

My thing is textiles: weaving, embroidery. I take my style of dress partly from the old Babushka ladies. I dress old but with a vengeance. Right now I’m very involved in knitting. I did a quilt project with University Settlement, which is a wonderful neighborhood resource for immigrant people. I recently found out through my teacher training that something like my great grand-uncle founded it.

I worked for 10 years, up through 2000, for a Gypsy family on St. Mark's. I worked for them taking care of their children and making clothes for them, which is how I met them. I did a lot of things for them and they had me in to the house all the time. I learned a lot about their cleanliness system, which is very complicated. It has to do with their spiritual principles. They had an intense family life and were very funny. They were just very close and people were always stopping in. They run their businesses on family lines and the marriages were arranged. The family is an economic unit. Their main business is buying and selling cars and the fortune telling is just to get extra money for dinner.

I liked the East Village when it was more run-down. There were more bookstores and more thrift stores and antique places. There were more stores that sold whole grains and more people who did their own cooking. People didn’t go out to eat as a thing around here and there weren’t many places to go. It was a big deal when a place called DoJo came in on St. Mark's. And there was a place on Second Avenue and Seventh Street called Kiev. It was a place like Veselka. Everyone used to go there and have soup at night.

There have always been a lot of lunatics in the neighborhood. Always. There used to be a guy who dressed up like William Shakespeare who lived in one of the Bowery hotels. He would walk around Washington Square Park and down the Bowery. He was just an old alcoholic who liked dressing like William Shakespeare.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Here is the rest of the former Cabrini Center (aka 'The Neapolitan'?)

On Friday morning, we noted that workers had removed the scaffolding and construction netting from the former Cabrini Center on Avenue B and East Fifth Street ...

By the end of Friday, the East Fifth Street side was free of all that as well. And here's how the incoming luxury residences look ...

We were unsure if this was the final paint job, dubbed by commenter RD as The Neapolitan (in honor of the ice cream).

No word on what the actual building name will be...

Flashback: When 72 Avenue B was a luxurious 1,750-seat theater

On the topic of the new luxury apartment building on Avenue B and East Fifth Street ... here's a relevant EVG repost from Sept. 28, 2009...

-----

You'll recognize Fifth Street and Avenue B here...


But until 1957, it was a Loew's theater...


According to Cinema Treasures:

Loew's Avenue B is part of one of the great rags-to-riches stories of showbiz history. Movie mogul Marcus Loew erected it on the very site of the tenement building where he was born. Needless to say, his birthplace was demolished to make way for the luxurious 1,750-seat theatre, which was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and first opened on January 8, 1913, with vaudeville as its main attraction and movies thrown in just as fillers.

The Avenue B was the top Loew's house on the Lower East Side until the mid-1920s, when the circuit took over the Commodore on Second Avenue, which was a much busier area for entertainment and shopping. The Avenue B was reduced to playing movies at the end of their Loew's circuit run, and remained so until its closure around 1957-58.

As Cinema Treasures commenter Warren G. Harris noted:

The theatre cost $800,000 to build. In his opening night speech, Marcus Loew said "This is the most pretentious of the houses on our string, because my better judgment was over-balanced by my sentimentalism and my longing to do something better here than I ever did before." According to corporate histories, the Avenue B was never successful, but Loew's kept it running for decades as a memorial to its founder, who was born on the spot.

Top photo via.

-----

Postscript. Knickerbocker Village has this still (circa 1967) from its days as an abandoned theater.

Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation opened in 1992... and operated here until it lost its lease last summer ... after an unnamed family trust sold the building.

Update on the 'No 7-Eleven' campaign, now with a Twitter account

You've read about the growing unrest regarding the 7-Eleven slated for the corner of Avenue A and East 11th Street... EVG reader Liberation, who is helping to organize residents, provided an update:

Our website team met this past weekend at the East Village Community Coalition offices to begin work on our forthcoming site, due to launch in the next few weeks.

The site will include profiles on local bodegas and how chain stores like 7-11 negatively impact their businesses and families, studies on how chain stores negatively affect local economies and cases where other communities have successfully fought back against chain stores and franchises, to name a few things.

While we prepare for our website launch people can connect with us now on Twitter at @No7ElevenNYC. In the next day or so we'll also be rolling out a new Facebook page. (Some people prefer one over the other so we want to provide options.)

We've set up various teams to support the project such as a research team, a street team and an education team. If people would like to get involved in one of these teams please email us here (no711nyc@gmail.com)

Meanwhile, the Observer and Crain's are the latest media outlets to report on this story.

And in case you missed this post from Saturday, the 7-Eleven on St. Mark's Place is now delivering.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] More from the anti-7-Eleven front on Avenue A and East 11th Street

7-Eleven alert: Are 2 chain stores replacing Bar on A and Angels & Kings?

First sign of the incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A

Avenue A's anti-7-Eleven campaign now includes arsenal of 20,000 stickers

Updates on yesterday's bar-restaurant rumors

1. The owners of The Immigrant will open a cafe adjacent to their current home on East Ninth Street. True.

Late yesterday afternoon, owner Jason Corey confirmed his intention to open a similar space next door. If all goes well, then he is "hoping to open our low-key locals hangout bar extension in the next two months." The Immigrant Tap Room is a working name for the new space now, with both beer and wine likely available.

2. The Mermaid Inn is expanding into the Candela Candela space next door on Second Avenue. False.

A Mermaid Inn rep contacted us early yesterday afternoon and said that their news announcement teased via Twitter was not about an expansion.

Their news: Starting on Monday, they'll have a happy hour every day from 5-7 p.m. Also: On March 23, to coincide with the celebration of The Mermaid Inn's 10-year anniversary, they are launching a lunch service on weekends from 12:30-4:30 p.m.

The Mobil on Avenue C is still going strong — for now

[EVG file photos]

Back in September, The Real Deal reported the Mobil station at Houston and Avenue C had been sold to a brokerage firm for $8 million.

Existing zoning allows for 43,000 square feet of residential development on the parcel, which has 120 feet of frontage on Houston Street, according to The Real Deal.

Some people figured that the station would be a goner by year's end. Not so. An EVG Facebook friend stopped by yesterday and noted that they were as busy as ever. (And you saw the crowds post-Sandy.) Darryl Terrell, the station's longtime manager, didn't have any updates on how much longer they'd be here on the corner.

So far, plans haven't been filed with the DOB for any new building.

Previously on EV Grieve:
How much longer will the East Village have gas stations?

A look at the incoming 2 Bros. Pizza on First Avenue

As you may recall, a 2 Bros. Pizza is opening at the short-lived BaoBQ space (and Select Burger!) on First Avenue near East 14th Street... EVG reader Joe got a look inside...

Do you think all this $1 (or .99-cent pizza) around here (Joey Pepperoni, Papa John's, 7-Eleven, et al) can make it...? All of which is making local favorite Vinny Vincenz reduce its prices...

The first 2 Bros. opened on St. Mark's Place in 2008.

'Come on over and let Zoltar tell you how cold it is'

And it will only cost you $2. Second Avenue and St. Mark's this afternoon via Bobby Williams.