Former Andy Warhol-owned townhouse used to swindle apartment hunters in the East Village

[321 E. Sixth St.]

Police are looking for a man who they say conned 10 women out of more than $20,000 with fake Craigslist ads for East Village apartments, including one in a building once owned by Andy Warhol.

The suspect, who is known to use the aliases David Horowitz and Michael Bryant, reportedly "advertised an apartment at 321 E. 6th St., between First and Second avenues, without permission or authority from the actual owners, police said. He took cash deposits of $2,200 as a downpayment from nine different women who answered and wanted to rent the apartment, police said."


[NYPD photo of the suspect, aka David Horowitz and Michael Bryant]

CBS New York said that the man also took $2,100 from another woman who answered an ad for 434 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

We looked up 321 E. Sixth St. on Streeteasy. It's not even a rental. The building hit the market for $2.4 million in 2010. The listing at the time noted that Warhol owned the building in the 1960s. Paul Morrissey apparently lived here until the 1980s. Cynthia Nixon was also rumored to have bought the building several years ago. Not sure what the status of the building is now.

According to the Post, "Police said he may be a former resident of the building who once rented and later sublet the bait apartment."

Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Own half of a used Warhol on East Sixth Street

Report: Children’s Magical Garden suing developers to regain LES land

[Photo from May via MoRUS]

The battle for the Children's Magical Garden continues.

Yesterday, Garden members filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court asking to be declared owners of the lot at 157 Norfolk St. at Stanton Street, according to Serena Solomon at DNAinfo.

Local residents established the garden back in 1983.

Per DNAinfo:

Garden members claim in the lawsuit that the New York State law of "adverse possession" makes them the rightful owners of the lot. Under the law, someone has the right to ownership if they have occupied a property for at least a 10-year period.

"We love the whole garden," said the garden's director Kate Temple-West. "We have been actively supporting the earth here for more than 30 years, for a very, very long time."

This story got particularly ugly back in May. Citing security and safety concerns, workers erected a fence on part of the property that developer Serge Hoyda owned, much to the dismay of residents, community activists and local poltiticians, who wanted to maintain the entire space as a community garden.

In late June, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development transferred ownership of the remaining section of the garden to the Parks Department to protect the parcel as park space. (Read more about this at DNAinfo.)

Earlier this year, Hoyda sold his parcel to a real-estate group, who want to build a six-story, six-unit residential building. According to the proposed work plans, the new building will measure 7,242 square feet and include a gym and a penthouse. The city disapproved the first round of plans last Wednesday.

Garden members are suing both Hoyda and the new owners, the Yonkers-based Horizon Group. Read a PDF of the complaint here.

Garden members are holding a press conference at the site this morning at 7:15.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: Children’s Magical Garden under siege on the Lower East Side

Meanwhile, in 1988…

This quote from the April 4, 1988, issue of New York magazine has been making the rounds lately on Facebook… it was filed under "the more things change, the more they remain the same" department at the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative Facebook page.

The quote was part of the magazine's 20th anniversary edition with a headline "From the 'Me' Decade to the Greed Decade."

What decade are we in now?

Who knew what and when? Psychic closed for remodeling on Avenue A

Yesterday afternoon, EVG reader Ruth noted that workers removed the awning from the psychic's storefront at 199 Avenue A near East 12th Street…



Likely a pretty pricy chunk of real estate for $5 tarot card readings… However! The psychics figured that people would question if this space would become home to another specialty food shop or something… so there is a sign… "Psychic is remodeling."

This bites: Flame Job leaves East Second Street storefront

Flame Job, longtime designers of custom-made fangs and gothic goods at 170 E. Second St., closed up shop for good at the end of February. There was talk of a new shop on the Lower East Side, but that hasn't materialized just yet…



They are still around, though, for custom fangs and leather, if the need beckons…check out their Facebook page for contact info.

As for this address between Avenue A and Avenue B, Jared Kushner of the Kushner Companies paid $17.5 million for 170-174 E. Second St. back in December.

As of now, we don't know why Flame Job closed, so we need to hold off on our "Bloodsucking landlord boots custom fang makers" headline.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Inside a classic East Village tenement before the whole building is renovated

Jared Kushner not done buying every walk-up in the East Village

Revival lives again on East 15th Street

Back in early January, Revival, the neighborhood bar at 129 E. 15th St., closed for renovations.

Andres, Revival's general manager, let us know that the bar between Irving Place and Third Avenue reopened last Thursday evening.

He noted the following changes that took place during the past two months: "working bathrooms (finally), new bar, new bar shelves, custom wood seats with cushions in the upstairs lounge with new furniture to accompany the entire business. Our outdoor patio is still a bit under construction especially after this harsh winter we had (or still in the middle of) and will reopen by April 1."

[EVG file photo]

Reader report: The fabulous Rainbow Music is closing this year in the East Village

[Photo by Jessie Auritt]

Word is spreading that one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shopkeepers, a man known as the Birdman who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes at Rainbow Music, will be closing his store at 130 First Ave. in the coming months.

According to the Birdman, his landlord sold the building here near St. Mark's Place a few weeks before the end of 2013, and the new owner decided not to renew the store's lease. Rainbow Music has been on a month-to-month lease ever since, and he plans to sell his inventory via Amazon.com when the storefront is finally closed, per EVG reader Chris F.

In addition to all the items in the visible part of the store, the Birdman estimates that he has an additional 50,000 items in the back that he also needs to catalog.

Here's how the store was looking yesterday...


[Photo by EVG reader Chris F.]

A few years back Jessie Auritt made a 10-minute short about the Birdman... which you can watch right here...

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

[Thanks to EVG reader Chris F. for the tip]

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

Honest Chops opening on East 9th St., 'first all-natural halal meat store in Manhattan'

There's a new business opening as early as today in the subterranean retail space at 319 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (The space was previously home to Little King Jewelry.)



Here's the word via the business's placeholder website:

Honest Chops is the first all-natural halal meat store in Manhattan with delivery service to all five boroughs. We pride ourselves in being completely transparent in our services — from our farms to your dinner table.

We signed up to learn when Honest Chops will open… and received this message in reply:

Salams!

Thanks for joining us in this adventure.

We'll start by being more honest than we should: we are new to this.

We have never opened a meat shop before nor do we claim to be experts. But we were frustrated by the lack of affordable and accessible halal meat options in the city. We felt it was time that someone worked towards a better alternative.

Welcome to HONEST CHOPS. When you buy our meat, you have our honest-to-God guarantee that it is hand-slaughtered, all-natural, free-roaming, vegetarian or grass-fed.

We will be opening doors to our store and website very soon.

Your friends,
Khalid, Anas, and Bassam

[H/T EVG readers MP, Steven Sonnenblick and Jose Garcia]

Report: More support for protected bike lane on Lafayette Street/Fourth Avenue

A quick note from the coverage that Streetsblog provided from last Thursday night's Community Board 2 meeting:

In a unanimous 9-0 vote last night, Manhattan Community Board 2′s transportation committee endorsed a DOT plan to upgrade a buffered bike lane on Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue to a parking-protected lane, complete with new pedestrian islands, car lanes of an appropriate width for the city, and improved signal timing for pedestrians. The plan now moves to CB 2′s full board meeting on March 20.

The protected lane would run from Prince Street up to East 12th Street. The proposal would not remove any car lanes, but instead narrows them on the avenues, per Streetsblog.

Find a PDF of the proposal here. Read the whole Streetsblog post here.

How are we feeling about protected bike lanes these days? Anyone? Comments?

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Looking at the First Avenue's new bike lane and 'floating lane' (64 comments)

Protest planned for reconfigured Avenues (153 comments)

Painting over the SMELLS on Avenue A

Back in January, the NYPD arrested five people for tagging the roof of 201 Avenue A … A police spokesperson told Gothamist: "Officers observed the word 'Smells' painted in letters six to seven feet tall, and around 10 feet wide."



Anyway, EVG reader dwg points out that workers just painted over the SMELLS tag… as well as the one that had already been up there…



The Post reported that the NYPD charged all five with "making graffiti, criminal trespassing and resisting arrest."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Reader report: Taggers nabbed on Avenue A (36 comments)

Au Za'atar officially opens today

We noted last Tuesday that Tarik Fallous, the owner of Table 12, had changed concepts, converting the cafe-bistro on Avenue A and East 12th Street into Au Za'atar.

Here's the restaurant's description via Facebook:

Au Za'atar is a Middle Eastern restaurant with a French twist. Our menu offers everything from Lebanon's national dish (Kibbe Kras) to classical Parisian fare with influences spreading from the Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean Sea.

At the time of our post, the restaurant was still in soft-opening mode … and the menu we posted from the Au Za'atar website hadn't been finalized. (You can find the menus now at the website.)

According to a restaurant representative, there was an official soft opening at Au Za'atar this past weekend… and today is the official opening day… they also supplied us with photos of the interior, which was designed by local resident Frank Linkoff, who's an artist and filmmaker/producer.







Fork in the Road had a preview Friday:

"I always looked for a place where we could have these kinds of dishes the same way we had them back home," Fallous says. He craved lamb shank and lamb chops sprinkled with za'atar and roasted, tabbouleh at every meal, hummus and fresh babaghanoush, and escargot cooked with herbs and white wine (there is a lot of French influence in the culinary traditions of these countries, Fallous explains).

Au Za'atar offers all of those dishes, divided into small mezze plates and larger platters, as well as a number of daily specials, spicy stuffed fish, different kinds of kebabs, and kebbe kras, a blend of bulgur wheat and beef that is Lebanon's national dish. "We're trying to make it a place where people will come to have a meal once or twice a week," he says.

-----

Meanwhile, aside from the concept change at Table 12, Kool Bloo, the fast-food takeout specialist that shared the back of the space, has also disappeared in recent weeks with the renovation…

Ghost signage uncovered on Third Avenue and East 12th Street

AAA (New) Amici Pizza was rent hiked out of business here last July. Workers have been renovating the space for the new tenant… uncovering some ghost signage in the process… per these photos courtesy of EVG reader Dave from 14th Street…



Trying to remember this place… Lawrence & Paul's Pizza & Restaurant. The space was Due Amici before New Amici in the early 1990s … Anyone recall Lawrence & Paul's?

As for the new tenant [sadly chuckling] … soon to be home to Funkiberry Premium Frozen Yogurt. Yes, it's true.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Stuff that you can't make up: More FroYo for the East Village

[UPDATED] Black Hound New York closes East Village retail location today

As we pointed out on Wednesday, the 26-year-old dessert-cake shop is closing its retail location at 170 Second Ave. near East 11th Street today.

The sign on their window says Black Hound will be open until 10 tonight. (EVG reader Andy, who took this photo, says there wasn't much left for sale. So maybe you call ahead before making a special trip…)

Per the sign:

"The East Village has been out retail home since 1988, and we've seen out neighborhood evolve from eclectic to trendy."

Also, local customers can "still enjoy Black Hound treats" via a delivery service from their Greenpoint bakery. You can also pick up orders by appointment there.

From their Facebook page Wednesday:

We’ll continue connecting with you through Facebook, emails, friends@blackhoundny.com, 800.344.4417, and www.blackhoundny.com. Thanks to our loyal customers and friends for your support!

And back to the sign, which states, "Looking ahead, we want to resume our retail presence in NYC and will seek investors to help us on this journey."

UPDATED 5:54 p.m.
Per our Facebook friends, Black Hound sold out of everything and closed around 5.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Black Hound New York closing Sunday after 26 years in the East Village (26 comments)

Week in Grieview

[East 7th Street the other day via Derek Berg]

Cab crash on Second Avenue (Sunday)

A Gathering of Tribes looking for a donor to buy its East 3rd Street home (Tuesday)

A tour of Kossar’s Bialys (Friday)

No 7-Eleven for the retail space at Arabella 101 (Monday)

A new art and performance space on East 4th Street (Thursday)

New residential building for East 7th Street (Wednesday)

Out and About with Eric Danville (Wednesday)

Black Hound New York is Closing (Wednesday)

A knockout attack on the Bowery? (Thursday)

Irish guy steals Sabrina's bear coat (Sunday)

Behold the sofritas from Chipotle (Monday, 18 comments)

SVA dorm for sale on Third Avenue (Friday)

Views from the World Trade Center in 1978 (Friday)

FREE PANCAKES (Tuesday)

A tiny roof deck with a lawn and phone booth? (Thursday)

Ashes to go on Astor Place for Ash Wednesday (Wednesday)

Some people can't figure out where the new USPS retail store is on East 14th Street (Wednesday)

HiFi launches monthly Reading Series (Tuesday)

Laundro-cafe opens on East 1st Street (Thursday)

Lindsay Lohan gives us the middle finger at the Houston/Bowery mural wall (Sunday)

Former 7A looks to keep sidewalk cafe (Thursday)

Noted

East Village PSA: The gunshots you hear on E 3rd St are actually some dude walking down the street cracking a whip /cc @evgrieve

— Anoop Ranganath (@anoopr) March 9, 2014

Spring for a day

Tompkins Square Park this afternoon… photo by Bobby Williams…

Reminders (Or, A Reminder)

My neighbors will have 1 less hour to yell Wooooooooooooo! tonight. pic.twitter.com/p9MpaeG64p

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) March 8, 2014

Clocks forward at 2 a.m.!

[H/T Stack of New York Times at Associated]

Up in smoke

Second Avenue and East 13th Street … photo by Grant Shaffer. (Steam courtesy of Con Ed.)

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[The old Mars Bar space via Goggla]

How hipsters ruined the Bowery (Gizmodo)

At the William Barnacle Tavern on St. Mark's Place: "It feels both experimental and trapped in time" (The New Yorker)

The Mexican First Lady and a Jewish Anarcho-Feminist Walk Into An East Village Tenement… (Off the Grid)

Local chef's favorite EV food spots include Sunny & Annie's, Ray's Candy Store and Zaragoza (Serious Eats)

More about the hawks nesting at the Christodora House (DNAinfo)

Work by members of Murphy's Law now on display at the Art on A Gallery (NY1)

The East Village of "200 Cigarettes" (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

24 people applied to be on Community Board 3 (The Lo-Down)

Citi Bike may raise its rates (Gothamist)

Want to take a Tom Waits-themed vacation? (Dangerous Minds)

… and important tweets from the morning…

While standing in front of Gem Spa, a man passed by & said Zoltar was a liar! Slander!

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) March 8, 2014

… also, it's really nice outside.

A new design for Citi Bikes?

EVG reader Mark Smith spotted this today at the Citi Bike docking station on East Fifth Street at Avenue C … a new spring-look for the bikes? A rogue Citi Bike artist? What is going on…?

The Citi Bike blog has the answer:

For the first time, a handful of Citi Bikes will shed their iconic blue for a springtime hue. In celebration of Armory Arts Week, ten Citi Bikes will don artwork created by The Armory Show‘s 2014 commissioned artist, Xu Zhen. While eight of the special bikes circulate in the Citi Bike system, two will be on display at The Armory Show, at Pier 94, through Sunday, March 9.