Reader report: Murals on East Fifth Street

Earlier this afternoon, EVG reader prop noted the in-progress murals that Paul Kostabi was creating on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery...

... then the NYPD arrived... who told him to move the canvas onto the sidewalk...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Spotted on Avenue C and East Third Street via Glenn Belverio]

Do you have any tips for NYC tourists? (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Scaffolding woes on East Fourth Street (Occupy East 4th Street)

Checking in on the 163 Orchard Street Hotel eyesore (BoweryBoogie)

Glaze Teriyaki Grill opening soon on Fourth Avenue (Grub Street)

More details about the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival at Pier 36 next month (The Lo-Down)

One idea for vacant LES storefronts (DNAinfo)

Ice cream at the Standard East Village (Fork in the Road)

At the Johnny Ramone tribute (Rolling Stone)

CBGB promoters planning to raise money for Pussy Riot (The New York Times)

...the former Animal Crackers storefront on East Second Street is for rent...

... and on Avenue B near East Second Street... the former boutique New World Order is now a ... Law Office!

... though we hear that they will be applying for a beer-wine license, just to pair with documents being notarized...

6 St. Mark's Place on the market for $14.5 million

6 St. Mark's Place, currently home to NY Tofu House and a very large karaoke bar, is now on the market. The building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue is currently asking $14.5 million.

Per the Massey Knakal listing that arrived yesterday:

[T]his elevatored commercial 5 story plus lower level building is 81% NNN on one of the busiest downtown retail corridors. The average rents are $52/SF and all have long term leases in-place. The seller is willing to escrow 1 years rent for the second floor for $15,000/month until a suitable tenant is found. This is an excellent opportunity for an investor who is looking for strong in-place cash flow in one of the busiest corridors of the East Village.

It likely is an excellent investment... 51 Astor Place is rising about a 1/2 block or so away... and once that thing is up and functioning, the retail landscape along here could change dramatically ... marking a switch to restaurants/businesses catering to an office crowd...

Previously, before the quick succession of failed businesses, No. 6 was home to Mondo Kim's ... and going back ... No. 6 was first, starting in 1913, home to the Saint Marks Russian and Turkish Baths ... which, in 1979, became the New Saint Marks Baths, the gay bathhouse (purportedly the largest one in the world) that the city eventually closed in 1985 during the AIDS epidemic.

Also, in 1914, The Modern School — "an anarchist school with Emma Goldman on the board," according to NY Songlines — had space in the building.

About that 'terrible screeching noise' on East Ninth Street

A more specific sign has arrived on East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C ... we posted a photo of the first sign yesterday... it was a little skimpy on details...

Now, though...

[Bobby Williams]

And a reader left this in the comments:

The noise is a high pitched sound that sometimes sounds like a whine and at present more like a shriek that varies in pitch. It's affecting people in the upper stories, especially at the rear of buildings on the eastern half of 9th and 10th Streets between B and C. It continues 24/7 for days at a time. It first began last Thanksgiving and returns intermittently. The latest episode has lasted more than a week and those of us affected are getting pretty desperate, as the sign indicates. Calls to 311 have got us nowhere so we've now appealed to CB3 to use their influence with the DEP. As the sign indicates, we can't trace where the noise is coming from but it's most likely a ventilation system.

Your chance to stand in line outside a 7-Eleven to meet Shaun White today

So Gold-Medal-winning snowboarder Shaun White will be at the 7-Eleven today at noon on IHOP Way as part of a promotion for his new flavor of gum — Mintacular ...

According to the flyer the gum dude handed me this morning... "Shaun White and Stride will ... completely take over this 7-Eleven" which "will be transformed into a Stride super store, carrying only Stride's two Shaun White flavors ..." According to the Times, 7-Eleven will also serve a batch of Mintacular-flavored Slurpees. (Read Andrew Adam Newman's article here.)

Be kind of cool if the left the 7-Eleven this way permanently. We need a good two-flavor gum store around here.

Bon Vivant replacement closed after 13 months on Broadway; long live Bon Vivant

Burger House, the so-called "Zen Grill," opened on Broadway near East 12th Street in June 2011... it was another in the rather suddenly trendy Asian-style burger places popping up (see Bento Burger) ... there were better places for burgers, though the fare here was always solid enough... anyway, the place closed on July 10 and the space is for lease...

Prior to this ... and for decades, Bon Vivant served always-reliable, reasonably priced diner food... Eater reported that the same owners were behind the new concept...


As New York magazine noted: "Imagine a prototypical old-school diner and, chances are, you’ll get a close approximation of Bon Vivant. Owned for decades by a Greek family, it has a huge illustrated menu, vinyl maroon booths, and chrome chairs."

That description sounds like the makings of an obituary in the new New York City. (See Jeremiah's Vanishing New York for the graveyard full of diners that have closed ... Tiffany Diner, Chelsea Gallery Diner, the Galaxy Diner, etc.)

The landlord upgraded all the storefronts along here... given them a sleek, impersonal feel ... So even if the owners were to reopen Bon Vivant, it would, of course, never be the same... Or could it work again, some equilibrium maintained...?

Previously on EV Grieve:
A bad sign at Bon Vivant

[Updated] Joe Strummer would have been 60 today

John Graham Mellor, better known by his stage name Joe Strummer, was born on this date in 1952.

Updated: Today at 4, East Village Radio has a special Strummer birthday tribute, hosted by Jesse Malin. Details here.

------------

And now... an EVG repost from Dec. 22, 2011...

Joe Strummer died on this date in 2002. He reportedly had an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. He was 50.

In November 2003, REVOLT painted a mural in honor of the former Clash frontman on the side of Niagara on Seventh Street at Avenue A ... seen here in this video featuring Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros singing "Redemption Song."




Since then, I've taken far too many photos of the mural, which REVOLT updated in February 2009...


Look, Smokin' Joe! (Eh, sorry...)



There's always something comforting about seeing the mural there... looking rather calm about anything going on around it...




Let's end this with a Strummer solo number from Aki Kaurismäki's "I Hired a Contract Killer" from 1990...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Joe Strummer gets a splash of Niagara

Joe Strummer gets a new look, skyline

[Updated] You can now sit outside at Nicoletta

Outside seating is now available at Nicoletta, beginning tonight! Enjoy your pizza outdoors in@ Nicoletta instagr.am/p/OkPbIxQ_Xw/

— Nicoletta Restaurant (@NicolettaNYC) August 20, 2012

Not real cozy-looking just yet here on Second Avenue and East 10th Street. And is that police tape?

Updated:

A reader walked by around 7:45 tonight and noted two tables were occupied so far ...

They'll likely need to add some greenery to the space a la DBGB to make it look a little more inviting...

Smoke scare on East Fourth Street

Earlier this afternoon... passersby spotted the smoke coming from the mobile boiler here on East Fourth Street at Avenue A (adjacent to the Ageloff Towers) ... Bobby Williams reports that the FDNY quickly responded ... no word on any damage to the boiler just yet...

Icon EV now renting on East Fourth Street; anyone in the market for a 6-bedroom apartment?

[Bobby Williams]

The gut-renovated buildings at 326-328 E. Fourth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D have a name — Icon EV. And the first units from developer Terrence Lowenberg and penthouse-making architect Ramy Issac are are now available for rent starting Sept. 1.

Here's the listing for the buildings over at Icon Realty:

Icon EV is a Brand New Boutique Rental Building located on East 4th street surrounded by a wide array of unique shops, restaurants, bars, and live music venues in New York City's famous East Village.

Distinctive architectural features such as black and white tiled hallways, oak paneled walls and elegant lighting were incorporated into the building's design to create a Classic New York Atmosphere. Residents can unwind, entertain and enjoy unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline from the building's Roof Top Sun Deck.

Apartments Feature:
• Open Gourmet Kitchens with carrera marble countertops, and stainless steel appliances

• Recessed lighting, crown and baseboard molding, and exposed brick walls

• Oversized windows which provide sun filled living spaces

• Wide plank ebony hardwood floors Marble bathrooms with wengay vanities

• Marble bathrooms with wengay vanities

• Premium Bosch Washer and Dryers

• Access to Roof top Sun Deck

Here's how the apartments look...

We found listings for a three-bedroom apartment priced at $4,250 and a two-bedroom unit for $3,500 at No. 326.

No. 328 seems to be the dormier of the pair. There's a six-bedroom apartment listed at Streeteasy for $8,000 ... and a more modest four-bedroom home for $6,000.

As the Times noted in September 2010, the 170-year-old buildings here (now with two extra floors) were an artists’ collective and burial society called the Uranian Phalanstery and First New York Gnostic Lyceum Temple ... started in the East Village in the late 1950s by the artists Richard Oviet Tyler and Dorothea Tyler.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Historic East Fourth Street artists' collective soon to be condos

Two side-by-side townhouses on East Fourth Street await your renovation

City doesn't give a shit about these historic East Village townhouses

Almost working around the clock on developing 326-328 E. Fourth St.

'Stop the noise!'

[Bobby Williams]

As the sign posted on East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C shows ... there is ample noise coming from ... somewhere.

If the person/people who left the put up the sign would like to expound on this in the comments ... Bar noise? Renovation noise? Rooftop BBQ woo?

Wedding crashers

An EVG reader shared these photos from Saturday ... when a wedding party briefly descended upon First Park on East 12th Street near First Avenue...

"Kind of funny ... they all ran onto the active park to the confusion of the skaters there, took about 10 minutes of photos, and then ran off before posing with some of the skate kids."

...and we nearly had a heelflip... Impressive!

Bento Burger has closed

Bento Burger opened here on East Second Street near First Avenue back in April 2011 ... the Asian-style roadhouse specializing in hamburgers was part of the Lucky Cheng's complex...

...and it's now closed...

... previously, the space was home to the BBQ joint Marfa... and, before that, the tiki-themed Waikiki Wally's ... (whose banner is still visible atop the building...) ... and La Nouvelle Justine ...

Meanwhile, as you probably know, Lucky Cheng's is moving to West 52th Street, as Grub Street first reported, in the coming weeks (six weeks was the word Michael Musto heard at the Voice the other day...)

Previously.

Joey Pepperoni bringing his $1 pizza to First Avenue

A branch of Joey Pepperoni's Pizza is opening here on First Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street... (this space was most recently Ikura Sushi...) There are a few Joey Pepperoni locations around the city... Midtown Lunch reviewed the $1 cheese slice at the Tribeca outpost.

The verdict: This was a good piece of pizza, and when you add in the $1 price tag it’s kind of amazing. The crust was really crisp and the cheese plentiful and slightly browned in spots.

And what's the verdict on the Joey Pepperoni mascot?

And the space next to Joey P's is for rent too...

h/t @robbyohara

There goes the neighborhood... again (again)

Spotted on the plywood at the under-renovation Cabrini Center on Avenue B and East Fifth Street...

21 E. First St. now tall enough for floor numbers

Continuing to note the progress at 21 E. First St. at Second Avenue... this is from the East First Street side...

Numbers go to 8 ... and it looks as if the crew is starting on the 10th floor... on the the way to 12...

Black Iron Burger back open after brief remodeling hiatus

Black Iron Burger on East Fifth Street near Avenue B reopened this weekend after a five-week long renovation... about four weeks longer than originally advertised... which caused a little concern among the restaurant's fans...

Week in Grieview

[The beauty in Tompkins Square Park this morning]

Vacating 32 Avenue C (Wednesday)

Juice Press opening another East Village location (Monday)

OLSEN TWIN ALERT (Friday)

Branding for 51 Astor Place (Thursday)

St. Mark's Bookshop meets crowdfunding goal to help move (Tuesday)

UFOs (Sunday)

What an East Ninth Street parking lot will look like one of these days (Wednesday)

Brick Lane Curry House still planning expansion on Second Avenue (Tuesday)

"Boardwalk Empire" filmed on East Fourth Street (Monday)

315 E. 10th St. now renting (Wednesday)

Fares reopening on Avenue A (Tuesday)

BaoBQ closes on First Avenue (Monday)

Blackbird is now open on Avenue B (Sunday)

NYPD shoots dog on East 14th Street (Monday, warning: graphic image) The dog is in "stable condition (Tuesday)

Gothamist posted the video showing the shooting and the chaotic aftermath. It's a 9-minute video that you can find here.

Here is a 75-second version that shows the shooting... some people have been curious to see the video to help them understand what was happening... please keep in mind that the video is graphic and shows the officer shooting the dog in the first 8 seconds of the start time...

Perhaps this is a subtle hint that tags here are no longer really welcome

The wall here on East Second Street at Avenue C (the side of The Stone) receives its fair share of tagging attention... someone paints the wall... only to be tagged again (familiar story) ...

Anyway, so there's this on the wall now.