Reminders: The 23rd annual tree lighting at Tompkins Square Park is today

Workers made some final preparations yesterday (more lights!) ahead of today's 23rd annual tree lighting in Tompkins Square Park.



The details for the ceremony, which takes place between 4-5 p.m.:

Music from Mandel & Lydon Trio
Carolers of Olde New York from Theatre for the New City
Refreshments from Veselka Restaurant
Additional Support from East Village Books, Vazacs/7B, Saifee Hardware, Apple Savings Bank

HOSTED BY:
East Village Parks Conservancy
Third Street Music School Settlement
Tompkins Square Park Neighborhood Coalition

Photos via Bobby Williams

Sunset, just now

Photo by James and Karla Murray via Facebook

Meanwhile, on 2nd Avenue…

Near East Ninth Street outside the 13th Step … where one Santa has his own Beer Pong kit…



Photos via EVG reader Steven…

And so much for official SantaCon bars…

Along the Millions March route

Checking in with supporters of Good Ole Lower East Side (GOLES) now on Sixth Avenue…

Noted

Santas taking a piss on a roof in the East Village. Nice. cc @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/Y86QTbwZ9g

— gaminette (@gaminette) December 13, 2014

Noted

EVG reader John notes a free hideaway bed/couch combo on East Eighth Street at Avenue B… but there are some stipulations…

Millions March NYC

The March starts today at 2 in Washington Square Park.

If you're looking for a local group to meet up with, supporters of Good Ole Lower East Side (GOLES) are gathering on Astor Place (near where the cube was) at 1:30 p.m. to convene with the Millions March.

And the route:

BEGIN at Wash Square Park then march north on 5th Ave.
Head west on 14th St. to 6th Ave.,
Turn north on 6th to 32nd St.,
Turn east on 32nd to Broadway,
Head south on Broadway until Worth/Lafayette St. turns,
END at 1PP - NYPD Headquarters

A tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe

EVG contributor Derek Berg caught part of a small procession this morning down Second Avenue … in honor of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe …





And they have a lot of nerve to do this on the same day as SantaCon. (C'mon — someone was going to say it.)

Testing, testing

EVG reader William Klayer spotted a preliminary tree lighting last night in Tompkins Square Park … ahead of tomorrow's tree-lightng ceremony between 4-5 p.m.

And maybe they need another strand of lights on the tree?

Sign of the times?

EVG reader Riian Kant-McCormick spotted this outside Elsewhere Espresso on East Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue this morning…

Morning

Tompkins Square Park around 7:30 a.m.-ish

The 23rd annual Unsilent Night returns tomorrow

[Image via]

Per the official website:

Composer Phil Kline will lead a massive chorus of boomboxes from the West Village to the East Village in the 23rd annual holiday presentation of UNSILENT NIGHT. People gather at the arch in Washington Square Park, and less than an hour and mile later, end up in Tompkins Square Park.

Phil Kline will hand out a limited number of vintage boomboxes from his collection — and cassettes and CD’s for those who bring their own. The public is strongly encouraged to bring their own boom boxes ... and to pre-download the track. Find out more about how to participate and download the tracks here.

A Little bit of pop heaven

A fine pop song from 1986 via Mitch Easter and Let's Active called "In Little Ways."

Dorm reveal on Cooper Square

Workers this afternoon are removing the scaffolding and netting from the new dorm at 35 Cooper Square and East Sixth Street for Marymount Manhattan College....

Previously on EV Grieve:
City OKs 13-floor dorm for Cooper Square

Updated: Here's what the newest East Village dorm will look like

Dig bottoms out on Cooper Square; here comes the dorm, here comes the dorm!

The 23rd annual tree lighting at Tompkins Square Park is Sunday

[Photo today by Derek Berg]

Workers were hanging the lights on the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree this morning (didn't the Park keep the lights up year-round for awhile???) ... ahead of the 23rd annual tree lighting ceremony Sunday from 4-5 p.m.

Here are details via the EVG inbox...

Music from Mandel & Lydon Trio
Carolers of Olde New York from Theatre for the New City
Refreshments from Veselka Restaurant
Additional Support from East Village Books, Vazacs/7B, Saifee Hardware, Apple Savings Bank

HOSTED BY:
East Village Parks Conservancy
Third Street Music School Settlement
Tompkins Square Park Neighborhood Coalition

The tree was planted in 1992 in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS," per the sign that hangs near the tree.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Ongoing transformer work at the ConEd substation via EVG reader Salim]

Remembering Benny's (The Villager)

Public hearing set for next month on Success Academy's new LES location (DNAinfo)

Toxic paint drama on Rivington Street (The Lo-Down)

The activist history of Union Square (Off the Grid)

A walk on Clinton Street in 1985 (BoweryBoogie)

A Paris Review pop-up shop inside Contrada on Second Avenue on Sunday (The Paris Review)

Mystery hawks in the Park! (Gog in NYC)

Inside the new Dee Dee Ramone exhibit (Newsweek)

Ian Schrager discusses his new luxury property coming to Chrystie Street (The Commercial Observer)

A look at Tower Records circa 1983 (Flaming Pablum)

KIDS (NOT CUTE) group exhibition now at Umbrella Arts on East Ninth Street (Umbrella Arts)

Other Music picks its best new albums of 2014 (Other Music)

Merry Mixmas with a free Christmas music mix (BoingBoing)

A new tenant for old-timer The Back Fence on Bleecker and Thompson (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

… and EVG reader Olympias Epiriot recently told us that the Big D Store at 22 W. 14th St. near Sixth Avenue is going out of business… a useful and inexpensive option for various items and off-brands…

Here is the New York Sports Club building on Avenue A

[EVG photo from spring 2013]

Workers this morning are removing the scaffolding and construction netting from the incoming New York Sports Club at 28 Avenue A... A reader sent us this photo of the exterior...



Hmm. Thoughts?

As we first reported back in April 2013, New York Sports Club will be operating on the second through fifth floors here between East Second Street and East Third Street. Above the former Gracefully, which closed on Nov. 18.

So workers will need to remove that old Gracefully sign too.

The familiar Burger-Klein sign disappeared back in July. Furniture seller Burger-Klein occupied the building as early as 1939. Read more about the history of the Burger-Klein building at Off the Grid.

The NYSC website says that the gym will open this fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
RUMOR: New York Health & Racquet Club taking over the space above Gracefully on Avenue A (24 comments)

New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

Sidewalk bridge and scaffolding arrive ahead of planned New York Sports Club on Avenue A

New York Sports Club says hello on Avenue A

Familiar Burger-Klein sign has disappeared from Avenue A

City Comptroller audit finds poor maintenance and shoddy oversight of the Citi Bike program

[File photo from Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

We get press releases! Via the EVG inbox...

New York City Bike Share (NYCBS), the operator of the Citi Bike program, failed to both adequately inspect Citi Bike equipment and ensure stations were fully functional according to an audit of NYCBS’s compliance with its contract with the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) released today by New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.

“New York City Bike Share’s management of Citi Bike left too many New Yorkers in the lurch,” Comptroller Stringer said. “While Citi Bike has become part of our urban landscape, auditors found that the bike sharing program’s spotty maintenance, poorly cleaned bikes and substandard docking stations inconvenienced riders and discouraged growth in the system. Moving forward, I hope that these findings will provide a road map for ways to improve safety and performance for this critical component of our transportation network.”

The Comptroller’s audit examined maintenance of Citi Bike equipment by NYCBS during the period of May 2013 through May 2014. The Citi Bike program has a fleet of approximately 6,000 bikes and 330 stations throughout the City. Bikeshare Holdings LLC recently announced an agreement to purchase Alta Bicycle Share — the parent company of NYCBS. With a promised infusion of additional capital, Bikeshare Holdings has announced plans to improve maintenance and double the size and geographic reach of the Citi Bike system by 2017.

According to NYCBS’s own maintenance data, 28 percent of bikes system-wide were inspected in November 2013, 34 percent in December 2013 and 38 percent in January 2014, despite contract requirements that 100 percent of bikes undergo a complete maintenance check at least once per month. NYCBS cited the layoff of 16 on-street bike checkers during the winter months as a reason behind the decline in maintenance checks.

By March 2014, following the re-hiring of inspectors, inspections rose to 54 percent of the fleet and to 73 percent by April. However, a sample of the maintenance records of 25 bikes from July 2013 through December 2013 found that NYCBS completed only 60 percent (84 of 141) of required monthly maintenance checks.

Ben Shaoul's bland new 2nd Avenue building is called The East Luxe

Back in July crews finished adding 3 new floors in the total remake of 31-33 Second Ave., which is now a charmless grey box. Perhaps to compensate for the bland exterior here between East Second Street and East First Street, Ben Shaoul's rental building is sporting an upscale name — The East Luxe.

And listings for the units arrived on the market yesterday. According to Streeteasy, there are eight active listings for the 2- and 3-bedroom apartments with an average piece of $5,200.

Here's a look at a listing via Platinum:

Introducing The East Luxe - Brand New Boutique Elevator Building In Prime East Village

Condo-quality apartment features include: Each apartment is gut-renovated w/ central air. Open kitchen features black marble counter tops & stainless steel appliances w/ dishwasher. Washer/Dryer in every unit. Solid white oak flooring throughout. High ceilings. Video intercom.

Building features, Elevator and landscaped roofdeck. Pets allowed.

There aren't any shots of the apartments online just yet, so we don't know if the inside fared better than the outside.

Meanwhile, BoweryBoogie previously reported that a Petco-branded store is set for the retail space.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ben Shaoul planning a 3-story addition at 31-33 Second Ave.

Bracing for 3 new floors at 31-33 Second Ave.

Checking in on the work in progress at 31-33 2nd Ave., where Ben Shaoul is adding 3 new floors

TakeMeHome Rotisserie Chicken hasn't been open lately after just 3 weeks in business

The quick-serve restaurant opened Nov. 23 at 151 Avenue A between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

And TakeMeHome Rotisserie Chicken has been closed the last two nights … and the owners haven't left any notes about a temporary closure due to some unforeseen circumstance. And there isn't any outgoing voice message. (We couldn't even find a Yelp review for them.)

IF this place is closed for good … it won't be any recent closure record. In 2011, an Italian restaurant called Tre Scalini closed after less than two weeks at 130 St. Mark's Place.

As for 151 Avenue A, the San Loco closed here back in February. The CB3/SLA Liquor Licensing Committee voted to deny high-profile restaurateurs Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield a license to open a bar cafe here in May.

Buy some art to help the Bowery Mission

Via the EVG inbox…

The Bowery Mission is pleased to announce the L.E.S. Art Drive, the first annual fundraising initiative for The Bowery Mission supported by its neighbors in the Lower East Side visual arts community.

This one-day silent auction will be hosted at the New Museum’s ground-floor space at 231 Bowery, next to The Bowery Mission, on Sunday from 1-6 pm. The event will raise funds essential to help the Mission continue their efforts to provide meals, shelter, clothing and services to New Yorkers in need. The Bowery Mission has been serving New York’s homeless and hungry for over 135 years.

Find more info at the Bowery Mission website.

These are apparently the participating bars in SantaCon 2014

SantaCon organizers plan to release this year's pub crawl route this evening.

Ahead of that, a curious East Village resident downloaded the official Santacon app that they are now advertising on their website.

The resident found that the participating bars are in the Midtown West/Murray Hill region: Pacha, Beer Authority, Houndstooth, Tempest, The Thirsty Fan, Slake, Red Room, Vivid Caberet, American Whiskey, Blarney Rock, The Australian, Stout, The Keg Room NYC, Feile, Blaggards, Reichenbach Beer Hall, Butterfield 8, Mustang Harry's, The Liberty, Suite 36, Mustang Sally's, Playwright Irish Pub, Galway Pub, Rick's Cabaret, Slattery's, Pioneers Bar, Jack Dempsey's, Foley's, Maru Karoke Lounge, Rattle 'n Hum, Nelly Spillane's, IchiUmi, Joshua Tree, 230 Fifth Avenue Rooftop & Lounge.

The pre-party starts at Pacha on West 46th Street.

The SantaCon website also notes that they are scaling back this year's festivities:

Due to the planned protests on Saturday, Santacon is scaling back this weekend's festivities in order to create the lowest possible impact on the city we love while still maintaining our glorious traditions this holiday season.

Santacon has respect and compassion for the hard-working municipal organizations of NYC, as well as for the important civil rights demonstrations currently shaping our city’s future. Thus, we are changing the format of this year’s Santacon.

This evening, all participating Santacon bars and venues will be announced on nycsantacon.com. Their halls will be decked, and they’ll be ready and waiting for Santa to come down their chimneys. PLEASE PATRONIZE THESE VENUES ONLY. If a venue isn’t on this list, it’s because they don’t want you there. Please move around throughout the day from venue to venue but spend most of your time inside, not on the streets.

Finally, it’s more important this year than ever to pace yourself, watch out for your elves, and stay safe. Fighting, public urination, and vandalism are unacceptable and a great way to ensure that there will be no Santacon in 2015. #DontScroogeSantacon

Meanwhile, the Village Pourhouse on Third Avenue and East 11th Street is still pretending to be an official SantaCon stop…

Maisy

Maisy the cat today in Tompkins Square Park.

Photo by Derek Berg

Jared Kushner picks up 2 more East Village apartment buildings

[EVG file photo of 438 E. 13th St. from November 2012]

Jared Kushner's Kushner Companies has expanded its East Village portfolio.

According to Lois Weiss at the Post, Kushner has closed on a 16-building apartment portfolio for $131.5 million. Two of the properties are in the East Village — 104 E. Seventh St. and 438-440 E. 13th St.

Stone Street and Florida-based HIG Realty Partners were the sellers. Stone Street bought the EV properties in November 2012.

We heard from a resident at No. 438 this past April who let us know what life has been like here since Stone Street took over the building. First, the resident says that many longtime tenants were driven out of their units … "and we had to deal with a round of apartment gut renovations last year."

And!

"I have lived in the East Village for [20-plus] years and have never dealt with such disregard for tenants," the resident said. "Even the tenants who moved into the renovated 'luxury' units are being screwed."

Not that Kushner will be a much better landlord. The Kushner Companies have not been very popular around here with all the allegations and subsequent media reports of tenant harassment and quality-of-life issues brought on by gut renovations in their buildings.

The Kushner Companies have bought up 28-29 or so East Village walk-up buildings in the past two years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 East Village buildings part of $73 million deal

Life at 438 E. 13th St.

MoRUS celebrates its 2-year anniversary tomorrow night

[Image via Facebook]

Via the EVG inbox…the party is tomorrow night …

Come celebrate with the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space at our two-year Birthday Bash, which will take place at the museum's storefront location in the legendary C-Squat. If you haven't visited the museum or attended any of our community events yet, now is a great time to come check out the space and join us for our two-year anniversary party!

Featuring a slideshow and presentation by Fly, performance by Seth Tobocman, DJ and dancing, and cake!

Sliding scale: $10.
All proceeds from the event help support MoRUS 2015 programming.

Doors open at 8, performances start at 9. MoRUS is located at 155 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
At the opening of the The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space last night

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

Back in August, news reports confirmed that billionaire art collector Peter Brant bought Walter De Maria’s former home and studio at 421 E. Sixth St. for $27 million.

While nothing has been made official about what Brant intends to do with the space, a tipster told us last spring that it will serve as exhibition space.



And last night, the Brant Foundation apparently had some kind of soft opening inside the space… EVG reader Shawn Chittle was there and shared these photos… We don't have any details on the exhibit… which included carefully placed scattered bottles and a drunken Scooby Doo… [Updated: Page Six reports this is the work of Gagosian gallery artist Dan Colen.]




[Click on image to enlarge]





De Maria died of a stroke in July 2013 at age 77.

No. 421 was built in 1920 as a ConEd substation, but had been converted into a photography studio after De Maria bought it in 1980.

All photos via Shawn Chittle

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Living in… the East Village

[Random EVG photo from the archives]

The Times checks in with a "Living in" piece about the neighborhood ("The East Village Clings to a Colorful Past") … your basic primer with some history and what not.

Passing along a few real-estate fact and figures from the piece:

Though home prices are no longer cheap, the East Village still offers a slim advantage in terms of value over other Manhattan neighborhoods… The average price per square foot of a condo in Manhattan this year through Nov. 30 is $1,643; in the East Village, it is $1,562, which is about 16.5 percent higher than 2013. There are only about 33 condos on the market…

And!

[Bond New York broker] Wagner said he does not notice much difference between average condo prices in the East Village and those in Chelsea or the West Village. Studios typically run around $485,000; one-bedrooms about $900,000; and two-bedrooms about $1.5 million, with outliers in both directions. Co-ops typically cost about 20 percent less than condos, he said.

Avenue A Classic Food now open on … Avenue A

Rays's has some company (and competition in some respects) next door with the arrival this week of Avenue A Classic Food, your basic deli … wraps, smoothies, fresh juice… and bacon. The front door was open yesterday morning, and we could smell the bacon, so to speak, across Avenue A…

The address is 115 Avenue A between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

The SantaCon pre-party is in Hell's Kitchen

There seems to be some interest in where the annual SantaCon pub crawl will take place on Saturday.

As noted yesterday, SantaCon organizers told Community Board 3 officials that the official event will NOT take place in the East Village/Lower East Side. (Unlike last year.)

Apparently if you donate $10 to charity you get the early route information for SantaCon. (If not, then you have to wait until Friday for the details.)

One curious East Village resident forked over the $10 … and received a button that gets him or her into a private party at Pacha on West 46th Street Saturday morning at 11.

Given the starting time of this SantaCon private party, the resident figures Hell's Kitchen will be the neighborhood the groups hits on Saturday …

Tompkins Square Park, 7:21 p.m., Dec. 10

Reader report: Fire destroys 2 apartments at 542 E. 14th St.

The FDNY responded to a fire late this morning at 542 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B...

MAN ALL HANDS 542 E 14 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 3RD FLR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) December 10, 2014

East Village-based photographer Michael Paul, who took these shots, spoke with a resident of the building... word is two apartments were ruined in the blaze, which started in a third-floor unit...





There were not any reports of injuries. The FDNY is investigating the cause of the fire.

MAN ALL HANDS 542 E 14 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 3RD FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) December 10, 2014

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Avenue A in the rain via Grant Shaffer]

NYCHA selling stake in some public housing, including at Campos Plaza, to developers (Curbed)

Despite Board of Ed ban, some students and parents from East Side Community High School on East 12th Street marched in protest yesterday of Eric Garner decision (The New York Times)

More about plans to keep Jim Power's mosaic light poles in the new Astor Place (DNAinfo)

Former hacker Sabu, aka Hector Xavier Monsegur who lived on Avenue D, tells his story (CBS This Morning)

DA files homicide charges in hit-and-run on the Bowery (Streetsblog)

Educational Alliance reopening Community Art School at Manny Cantor Center (BoweryBoogie)

The original Barnes & Noble flagship store on Fifth Avenue becoming a Banana Republic (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Graffiti complaints on the rise in NYC (amNY)

Remembering hardcore nights in the East Village (The Village Voice)

Sale of Bialystoker Building under review (The Lo-Down)

A rainy day on Astor Place in 1945 (Ephemeral New York)

The Primitives, featuring a pre-Velvet Underground Lou Reed (Dangerous Minds)

Updated: East 1st Street resident found dead after fire

MAN ALL HANDS 31 E 1 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE IN THE BASEMENT,

— FDNY (@FDNY) December 10, 2014

Emergency responders found a woman dead after an early-morning fire tore through her basement apartment at 31 E. First St.

The FDNY responded after 3 a.m. to the building just east of Second Avenue.

The Daily News reports that the cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Authorities have not released the woman's name yet. An investigation continues.

Updated 10:07 a.m.

DNAinfo has more details here.

Updated 2:43 p.m.

DNAinfo reports that the victim is Evelyn Dahab, 33, an author and part-owner of Lucey's Lounge in Gowanus.

"She was bigger than life and too young to die," said her grieving father, Richard, who visited the apartment Wednesday afternoon.

[Image via Facebook]

According to DNAinfo, "she planned to leave her apartment come Dec. 31 because of 'a painful legal dispute' with her building's management company, Big Apple Management."

Updated 7:21 p.m.

Per NY1:

Investigators say the fire was accidental, caused by a power strip plugged in with many appliances.