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: John Cannatella (and Paesano)
Occupation: Actor
Location: 1st Avenue, Between 3rd and 4th
Time: 2:45 pm on Monday, Oct. 22

I’m an actor. I’m still acting. It’s steady work. I do comedy, drama, and I write and I make movies. 'The Third Testament' was one movie I’ve been in; 'When God Left His Shoes' is another, with John Leguizamo, but I’ve done mostly stage acting. I make my own movies too. I’ve acted all around this neighborhood.

I moved to the West Village way back in the 1960s to study acting and I lived there for awhile. Then I moved to the East Village when I got married and raised two children here. My daughter was born in 1976 and my son in 1981, so I’ve pretty much lived in the same apartment for 36 years — on 4th Street and 2nd Avenue.

Most of my favorite places are gone now. One was called La Focacceria on First Avenue, which was my favorite. It had genuine home cooked Sicilian food. The owner was there for ages and he had a really wide reputation — people would come from all over.

One time, I was with an improv group, headed by Jeremy Stevens, who is now a producer – he produced 'Coach' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond.' We were all pretty good. And one day he brings a couple of friends in, a man and a woman, and asks us if it’s okay if they join us for our show. We said sure. At the time I had been running dry. I wasn’t very happy; I was kind of forcing it. I was young and feeling a lot of self-pity. The venue was a restaurant called Hilly’s on 9th street and 6th Avenue. So I did a thing during the first half of the show and then I saw the man get up and he was funny and then the woman got up and she was funny.

Then there was an intermission. I went up to the balcony, where nobody was, and I sat there and I sulked. They started the second half of the show and everyone goes on and the man and the woman are still funny. Everybody leaves and I hear the director calling for me. I’m pouting. Jeremy comes up to the balcony and he sees me and he says, “What are you doing sitting here alone?” And I say, “Jeremy, get rid of me, I stink.” He says, “No you don’t, you’re still funny, you’re just going through a bit of a dry spot.” And I said, “I really stink. Those two kids you pulled off the street; they’re funnier than I am!” And he says, “You idiot! That’s Stiller and Meara — Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara!”

He tells me that everyone’s going to Trudy Heller's, the bar on the corner, but I was too embarrassed. And so he leaves and five minutes later I walk out and standing in front, leaning on a car, is Jerry Stiller. And he goes “John, yes? I really liked what you did and I was looking forward to seeing more of you. C’mon, come with us.” He put his arm around with me and guided me to Trudy Heller's. What a beautiful guy!

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

Explanation for this splop on St. Mark's Place this morning

What have we here?

Probably a perfectly reasonable explanation... and just up ahead... incriminating evidence.

Ah, thought there was a scent of hickory smoke in the morning air.

We'll always have Craigslist: 'Seeking third roommate that doesn't suck'

There is a listing on Craigslist with the heading "$1750 Seeking third roommate that doesn't suck (East Village)"

What constitutes a roommate who sucks? In this case, the people who placed the ad — "two cool guys from Michigan who went to school at the University of Michigan" — explain what went wrong with the third roommate, a woman who has agreed to move out.

And to the ad:

Here are some of the things we experienced in our first three months with her. Stop reading if you seriously might do one of the things listed below. Otherwise, take humor in our past suffering.

1) You own a non-spaded dog that gets dog period juice (that's right, I called it that) all over the apartment, and then you decide not to tell us about it until we find it is an epidemic of disgustingnesss. It was cleaned up by a maid.

2) You pull stuff out of the garbage and attempt to reuse it. In this case, the prior roommate removed a water bottle container that had been used to store urine during an emergency situation. Yes, our roommate drank from a plastic water-bottle filled with piss for seven days that she pulled out of the garbage. Fireworks followed. More can be told in person.

3) You attempt to fix a freezer frozen completely shut with a hammer. I can't make this shit up.

4) You let us know the day before rent is due that rent+utilities exceeds your budget during your first month living with us.

5) You regularly and randomly start crying during any serious conversation.

Oddly enough, we started regularly and randomly crying while reading this ad...

Wylie Dufresne's rent on Second Avenue

As you may recall, chef Wylie Dufresne will open a pub concept early next year on Second Avenue, as Grub Street first reported last Thursday. Given all the interest in the new project, we thought we'd pass along the listing that we found for the space...

As you can see, the asking rent was $15,450/month ... with a term of 11 years. Plus an undisclosed amount for key money.

Previously.

New life for old deli on First Avenue

The deli over on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place was closed on Monday...

...and yesterday, the plywood and workers arrived. These days, you can't help but think it will become a 7-Eleven or something. However, workers on the scene told EVG regular William Klayer, who took the photo below, that the same owners were renovating the space...

Our friends at East Village Wines next door confirmed this as well...

Will be curious to see how the spruce up the place...

Busted

East Fourth Street between Lafayette and the Bowery.

For whom the Spa Belles toll

EVG reader Corey noted the following about the Spa Belles location on Second Avenue at East Seventh Street:

I was walking by there last night a bit after 10, and saw a moving truck. A group of maybe 5 were loading up equipment, chairs and stuff into the nearly full truck. The nail salon looked nearly empty ...

And the place is empty today... and someone removed the "Belles" from the sign. The other NYC locations remain open.

Hot buns: Burger-burlesque concept on tap for the East Village

Per DNAinfo's Serena Solomon today:

A new restaurant project is looking to blend burgers with burlesque in the East Village, under a plan by a veteran nightlife operator to combine classic American fare with the risqué dance performance.

The man behind the concept is Timothy Simpson, aka Lorenzo Cortelli, who has worked for BR Guest Hospitality, which owns the Dos Caminos Mexican food chain.

And in a Craigslist ad, he is looking for an investor with $150,000 to be part of this project. (That posting has expired.)

Back to the article:

The concept is "fully developed," said Simpson, who has a business plan in place and is eyeing several existing bars near bustling St. Mark’s Place to convert into a space with a 1890s Paris feel in the coming months.

[Image via ...and it is not part of this project]

Backhoe Beamer — explained!

[ Via @DicksCottons]

So the Post set out to learn more about the Backhoe Beamer, which residents discovered on Bleecker near Mott this past weekend. Just what happened here?

The heavy-duty piece of construction equipment lost battery power over the weekend, and ended up in back of, above and in front of the vehicle ...

A construction worker finally moved the John Deere machine yesterday morning, telling The Post that its battery ran down by “accident.”

The equipment belongs to a Long Island contractor fixing a nearby city water main. A company rep said that they would pay for the damages to the car (a few dents on the hood), which belongs to an anesthesiologist who lives across the street.

The story also sparked debate: Is it Beamer, Beemer or Bimmer (via purists)?

Next for 255 E. Houston St.: Community facility/school/medical building?

The other day, Goggla sent me these photos of the levels monitoring the cracks of the long-vacant building at 255 E. Houston St. between Norfolk and Suffolk.

It has been a long time since we heard anything about the site's future. Last December, Crain's reported that the destabilized building, which once housed the Action for Progress school (they left in 2009), was on the market. Bids for the for the L-shaped parcel were due on Dec. 20. Real-estate types figured the building would house rentals rather than condos.

Earlier in December 2011, BoweryBoogie reported that the owner wanted a commercial zoning overlay for the property.

Per BB:

By gaining this amended zoning overlay, those involved could reap more cash from ground-floor commercial tenants like bars/restaurants rather than a community facility (if demolished under current zoning, would need to build a residential-compliant building).

However, there's still an active listing for the property, now being marketed this way: Community Facility/School/Medical Building for Net Lease.

A few of the details on the four-story building, roughly 29,000 square feet plus the playground adjacent to the property on Suffolk Street.

• Whole building identity
• 11 large classrooms, each with bathrooms; numerous private offices; a commercial kitchen;
• Large meeting room; two small terraces; a large roofdeck; 4,600 sf playground.
• Expandable to 70,000 sf.

That expansion would likely take the building up to 12 floors. The property is in some disrepair (call it a fixer-upper), and the sidewalk bridge has long been providing shelter for some less-fortunate individuals. Here's a quick look around the building.

It's not clear if the deal includes 179 Suffolk St. next door, where there are plans on file for a five-floor (or taller!) residential development. Construction mishaps here prompted the evacuation of 255 E. Houston. Today, the stalled site is currently home to empty cans of cat food.

200 Avenue A back in play?

What's going on with the storefront space at 200 Avenue A, previously haunted by Superdive? A group calling themselves Hospitality LLC with a concept for an "art gallery with a full-service restaurant" had appeared before and been rejected by the CB3/SLA committee three times.

They fought and fought and fought... and finally, in April, the State Liquor Authority OK'd a liquor license for the group.

Now this sign recently appeared on the front window...

We'll see what we can find out about the situation here...

Updated 9:09:
Word along here is that Hospitality LLC figured they wouldn't be able to make a go of it with a midnight closing time, per the SLA stipulations.

Reader requests: 'At least you...' WHAT?

From an EVG reader:

I need your help. Every morning while walking on 2nd Ave, I see half of a phrase written on the top of a building on the NW corner of 7th St. and 2nd Ave. All I'm ever able to make out is "AT LEAST YOU", but I am dying to find out what the rest of it says.

Anyone have access to the roof? A helicopter? Anyone know the rest of what is written there...?