Thursday, September 27, 2012

Here is your Nevada Smiths signage


Yesterday afternoon, workers put up the Nevada Smiths sign at their new home at 100 Third Ave., as this photo by EVG reader Clive shows.

And here's a photo from this morning. You can't really tell how the sign glows from this shot.


According to a Sept. 5 post on the Nevada Smiths Facebook page: "The new location should be ready by October. Closer to the actual date we will blast it on our Facebook and website."

Back in July, Paddy McCarthy gave DNAinfo's Serena Solomon a guided tour of the new space between 12th Street and 13th Street. (You can read that here.)

A few highlights of the $3 million establishment:

The bar will broadcast soccer matches and other sporting events from around the world on 20 plasma televisions scattered throughout the space, as well as a pair of massive projection screens that measure 18 feet by 10 feet.

"It will be the only [television screen] you can see life-sized people on," said McCarthy, boasting that the projection screens are the biggest of any bar in New York City. The screens are so large, in fact, that a crane had to hoist them into the building through a window, with the job requiring an eight-man team.

Despite some concern from neighbors about possible quality-of-life issues (noise, public drunkenness, etc.) the CB3/SLA gang gave the green light for a license here on Sept. 10.

According to Grub Street, there were several stipulations with the passage, such as a 2 a.m. closing time on weeknights and 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. There's also reportedly a requirement that McCarthy must meet with residents monthly to address potential complaints.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smiths

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building

A hands-on event tonight at ABC No Rio


ABC No Rio celebrates the installation of a new mural by Brian George on the building's facade tonight ... Per the ABC No Rio website, the event starts at 7 over at 156 Rivington.

Meanwhile, in case you were wondering about the status of ABC's new HQ, Scoopy had an update on it at The Villager on Sept. 13. Scoopy talked to ABC No Rio director Steve Englander.

Basically, he said, instead of doing it in phases, as originally planned, they tried to bid out the project as one job. But all the bids came back too expensive — about 30 percent too high. So now it looks like they’ll be segmenting the project again and rebidding the work, hopefully soon.

ABC No Rio first unveiled the plans for the new building back in March 2008.

For further reading on EVG:
Looking at "ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery"

The EVG Files

Spotted on First Avenue near East 13th Street...


Any connection? From Sept. 18.

This is what a tow tow truck on East Houston looked like on Sept. 23, 2012


This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...


Previously on EV Grieve:
The East Village will soon be down to 1 gas station

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wall work under way at 420 E. 12th St.

Workers arrived at the Mary Help of Christians playground early this morning to start work on the damaged wall of the school at 420 E. 12th St.

Here are photos from this afternoon via Bobby Williams on Avenue A and East 11th Street... You can see the workers on the school's roof ...



According to a notice from the Department of Education posted outside the school, the structural defect "will require the immediate demolition and subsequent rebuilding of that wall." They expect the demolition work to take "several weeks," and there will likely be evening hours as well.

Last evening, a worker said that they wouldn't really know the extent of the damage until they "get up in there."








Students from East Side Community School and the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School, who share the space at 420 E. 12th St., have been temporarily relocated to other schools.

Lawsuits abound over NYU 2031

In case you missed this news elsewhere... a quick recap via Gothamist:

A big supergroup of groups and individuals — NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, Washington Square Village Tenants’ Association, East Village Community Coalition, Friends of Petrosino Square, LaGuardia Corner Gardens, Inc., Lower Manhattan Neighbors Organization, SoHo Alliance, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, NoHo Neighborhood Association, and 11 individuals — have filed an Article 78 lawsuit against several City and State officers and agencies ... claiming that the approval of the NYU 2031 plan was unlawful.

As Curbed put it, "It remains to be seen whether or not the lawsuit will be able to halt or delay construction, which is slated to begin in 2014."

You can read more about the lawsuit at Crain's ... as well as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

[Image via GVSHP]

Most overrated East Village eatery? Best cheap eats? Q-n-A with The Village Voice's Robert Sietsema

In a city full of food writers and restaurant critics, Robert Sietsema stands out as my favorite. Sietsema started at The Village Voice in 1993, and continues to be an adventurous writer who will delve into all sorts of genres and locations, from the latest Yemeni addition to Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue to sampling the water melon with fish stomach in Chinatown's Fujianese neighborhood. He can be scholarly without sounding like an asshole. He can be downmarket without seeming as if he's slumming it with his artisanal buddies.

He's good for a rant too, such as his piece titled "Mayor Bloomberg's Jihad Against Salt." He's also particularly strong on the cheap eats front, and, well, I've discovered a lot of far-flung places thanks to his work.

Sietsema, who moved to NYC in 1977, answered a few questions for me via email on the East Village dining scene.

What new(ish) East Village restaurants are you particularly pleased with?
Masak, a sleeper bistro on East 13th (Remember when the rents used to be depressed on 13th Street because nobody wanted to live there because of the number?) that serves a fancified Singaporean menu

[Masak]

Sao Mai, one of the best Vietnamese cafes in the city, with killer pho

Sabor A Mexico, a taqueria started by immigrants from Guerrero, with beer

[Sabor A Mexico]

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria, very nice small dishes, pleasant space, but a little pricey

Mile End Sandwich, nice addition to the myriad sandwich possibilities in the East Village.

[Life Cafe from 2010]

Most overrated and underrated East Village restaurants?
The most overrated restaurant of all time was Life CafĂ©, which closed somewhat unceremoniously not too long ago. I ate there several times during its long existence — fueled by the musical "Rent" — and always had a bad meal. That kind of awful hippie cooking is now thankfully nearly gone from the nabe.

I think Veselka is also vastly overrated — and comparatively expensive, too. Not sure how it established its reputation, but a couple decades ago it was only one of over a dozen cheap Polish and Ukrainian places clustered on the avenues. Now most of them are gone and it remains. The food has always been decidedly lackluster, but maybe the late-night hours made it the place to hang.

Underrated? Lots of good Japanese food that gets ignored, some it rather formulaic, but often cheap. Natori and Sapporo East are two good old-timers with sushi much better than you’d expect, both historic refuges for cash-strapped daters.

Still mourn the loss of Vandaag, the only Dutch resto in town, and offering very nice food, the kind you make your parents pay for when they visit New York. Never got enough traction (that corner has been a problem for years), and the sandwich and bakery window they tried to install at the last minute in the back was pretty much a disaster.

Best cheap option in the East Village?
Downtown Bakery is a gem, not too comfortable but with great southern Mexican food. Ramen Setagaya is one of the city’s best noodle joints. Xi’an Famous Foods for some off-the-wall, anti-rice northern Chinese (with plenty of chiles).

I'm very fond of Stromboli’s, since it was the place I often went post-gig when I was a rock musician. You always bond permanently with the first pizza you try, and that was my first slice when I came to New York. The sauce is tangy and a little sweet. Hate the weird space they added on, though.

[Archival photo via]

How do you think East Village restaurants stack up against those in other neighborhoods these days?
The East Village is one of the 10 greatest restaurant neighborhoods in the city; it may be in the top 5. Lots of crappy little storefronts that, even today, are not as expensive as you might imagine, and become home to little ma-and-pa places.

Also good for mid-range bistro-level restaurants and even fine dining. A place where empires can be built, too, and filled with quirky food choices. Lots for vegetarians and carnivores alike, and every time you go around a corner, you see a new place. Japanese presence has long been a boon to the neighborhood, and the East Village also has its very own celebrity chefs. Enough restaurants crowded together there to fill a medium-size Midwestern City. And everyone eats out. Every meal.

Most annoying food trend?
For a long long time along with other neighborhoods in the city, the East Village was able to resist national franchises. I can remember when the McDonald’s on First Avenue was the only such franchise in the neighborhood.

But thanks to Bloomberg — who has no reverence for food culture and culture in general — and the rapacious landlords who are his most eager supporters, these franchises have been flooding the neighborhood in the last five years. Franchises pay employees nothing, source their foods out of state, and undersell small local restaurants. They must be resisted at all costs. And besides, the food they sell sucks.

Did I just see a Long John Silvers go in on First Avenue? Jeez!

[Photo by James Campbell Taylor]

What's your guilty food pleasure?
Egg cream at Gem Spa plus french fries at Pommes Frites

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: Jocelyn Francon Saldana
Occupation: Actress/Model
Location: 6th Street Between Avenue A and B
Time: 3:50 on Monday, Sept. 24

I’m an actress and a model. I’ve been doing it since I left home at 18. I’m from Boston but I grew up all over. I graduated from Connecticut and I came right here after.

I’ve lived on this block for about a year. I’ve also lived on 3rd between C and D, 3rd between A and B, and on 2nd and 2nd. Kate’s Joint was around for awhile, that was a big part of my life. I worked there and I’m good friends with Kate. It just closed recently though. I love Sidewalk Cafe and Manitoba’s is good too, but I usually hang out more on the Lower East Side.

Everyone in my life right now I’ve met in the East Village and it’s how I got my start really, doing what I’m doing now. I was sort of running around with this band and modeling for them and doing shows here and there around the area and I met Richie Rich here — he’s a former club kid who has a fashion line called Heatherette. He kind of put me on the map.

I have a one-woman show coming up in December; I’m on my way to that meeting right now. It’s based on Valerie Solanas; she’s the woman who shot Andy Warhol, and she wrote a manifesto about hating men, so that’s who I’m going to play.

I am moving out of the neighborhood this month. I’m kind of wild and there are a lot of older people in my building, and people who weren’t so keen on noise, so I’m moving out to Brooklyn, to South 4th and Bedford.

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

Here is what's left of the former 227 E. Seventh St.

An update from 227 E. Seventh St. near Avenue C ... where the one-level structure was quickly demolished by workers, as this photo by Dave on 7th shows. (And so much for that asbestos abatement lasting until March...)


Coming soon: A new six-floor residential building. Some day. The DOB hasn't approved the plans just yet.

And can anyone recall what used to be in this storefront?


It seems as if it had been empty for years.

Another shot from yesterday via Bobby Williams...


Previously on EV Grieve:
Asbestos abatement on East Seventh Street, then a new 6-story building

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

[Updated 9-26] Demo crews will remove part of the school wall at 420 E. 12th St.

Demolition crews rolled into the Mary Help of Christians parking lot on Avenue A at East 11th Street late this afternoon...



Workers on the scene said that they would be taking out part of the upper wall of the East Side Community High School. The wall, adjacent to Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, was found to be separating from the rest of the structure yesterday.

A worker said that they wouldn't know the extent of the damage until they "get up in there."


We haven't heard an official comment just yet from East Side Principal Mark Federman. The address is also home to the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School.

Updated:

A few more photos from late afternoon by Kimberly Fritschy via Facebook...




Updated: 8:19 p.m.


Updated 9/26:

According to this notice from the Department of Education posted outside the school ...

[EVG reader Steven Matthews]

The structural defect "will require the immediate demolition and subsequent rebuilding of that wall."

They expect the demolition work to take "several weeks," and there will likely be evening hours as well.

Marco is missing

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Tompkins Square Park yesterday. Photo by Bobby Williams]

Remembering the Dugout on Third Avenue and East 13th Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

NYC crime up thanks to iPhones, iPads, etc. (Gothamist)

Publicist who slashed his girlfriend's throat in her Clinton Street home pleads guilty; faces 25 years to life (The Daily News)

A marriage proposal at MudSpot Coffee on East Ninth Street (DNAinfo)

Proposed nightspot pissing off neighbors on Rivington (BoweryBoogie)

On second thought: City says no to Yo! bus stop on Essex (The Lo-Down)

Shawn Chittle noted extra school guards this morning outside PS 19 on First Avenue... where the displaced students from East Side Community School headed today...


One East Side parent told us that city inspectors continue to examine the school on East 12th Street to determine the extent of the damage to the building's east wall...

What happened to the sidewalk bike mechanics?

[Photo from spring 2011 by Bobby Williams]

A reader asked us if we had seen Peter Corbin, aka the Bike Man, who usually sets up shop outside Niagara during the summer.

Now that summer has come and gone ... No, we don't actually recall seeing him in some time. Ditto for Natividad Zirate, who was fixing bikes around Houston and Second Avenue. As you may recall, the Parks Department confiscated and trashed his set of tools in May 2011, as BoweryBoogie reported. A Good Samaritan came forward with new tools for Zirate.

In a feature from 2009 on Corbin and Zirate, the Times noted that:

Both men said they had a friendly relationship with the local police, but the official status of their shops is tenuous to non-existent. A permit from the Department of Consumer Affairs is needed to sell anything besides food on the sidewalk, which neither could produce. The city caps the number of permits at 853 for non-food vendors, and the waiting list for a new permit is so long and turnover is so slow, the department has stopped accepting new names.

Perhaps the Bloomberg Administration cracked down on them for good? This DIY-business mentality is certainly at odds with the direction the city is headed. Anyway, does any reader know what happened to either Corbin or Zirate? Let us know in the comment or via email.

TV guide: 'Smash' at Saxon + Parole; 'Elementary' on East Eighth Street

Let's see, crews from NBC's "Smash" will be all over the Bowery today...


...including a set inside Saxon + Parole at Bleecker...


...Meanwhile, the new CBS series "Elementary" (a modern-day Sherlock Holmes living in NYC) is filming on a few side streets between Avenue B and Avenue C ... and as Bobby Williams notes, crews are setting up for a scene at 337 E. Eighth St.


There are probably 5-6 other shoots around today that we're missing, so...

A new era (and awning) for First Avenue Pierogi & Deli

A few weeks ago we noted that EVG favorite First Avenue Pierogi & Deli was closed for renovations...

[December 2011]

A reader sent us the good news last night that the shop looks ready to reopen... However, the bad news, depending on your fondness for old signs ... was that an awning had replaced that great old sign...


On the bright side, we do like that font...

Plantworks 'probably closing and not moving'

This won't be news to you if you've been by Plantworks on East Fourth Street lately... I had not. And so I never noticed the "retail space available" sign here between the Bowery and Lafayette ...


Plantworks has been around since 1974. In 2009, the Voice named it the city's Best Plant Shop:

The best mom-and-pop nursery in the city, it's packed with everything from common spider plants and bamboo to towering palms and Dracaena. The shop also sells an excellent selection of ceramic pots, seeds, fertilizers, and a noteworthy device called the Drip Drip, a ball that slowly releases drops of water onto your plant while you're away on vacation.


But in the new era of the Bowery, "mom and pop" might as well mean "doom and gloom." Across the street is where the controversial hotel project threatens the well-being of the Merchant's House Museum. This stretch of East Fourth Street includes the B Bar, the upscale housing at 2 Cooper Square and the boutique hotel Lafayette House.

The space has apparently been on the market for some time... the listing at RKF note that the "current tenant is month-to-month" on the lease. Also, "food not accepted." And 7-Eleven gets billing as a neighbor.


I asked the Plantworks folks if they were planning on moving. "Probably closing and not moving."

Incoming St. Mark's Place wine and liquor store to feature realistic Dirty Old New York touches


Heh. Previously.

Reader report: Tattoo parlor coming to 31 Avenue A


An EVG reader hears that the vacant storefront between Petopia and Joyful Nail on Avenue A is going to be a tattoo parlor ... The tipster didn't have any other information at the moment. Perhaps you heard this rumor too?

Meanwhile, the empty storefronts owned by the the New York City Housing Authority between Second Street and Third Street are filling up ... also on this stretch, Angelina Cafe should be opening soon.

Monday, September 24, 2012

[Updated] Structural damage prompts evacuation at East 12th Street school building

The following notice went out this afternoon:

FROM: Notify NYC

Staff/Students of East Side Community School (420 E 12th St) will be relocated to PS 19 (185 1st Ave) 9/25 until further notice.

There isn't any other information at the moment on the school's website or Twitter feed... Currently, the school's entrance is blocked by caution tape... a hard hat at the scene said that they were "still trying to figure out" what happened...

The address is also home to the Girls Prep Lower East Side Middle School. According to DNAinfo, students at Girls Prep were sent to P.S. 188 on East Houston.



More details as they become available...

Updated 7 p.m.:

Here's a message on the East Side Community School website from Principal Mark Federman...

As you may know, earlier today we experienced a structural issue concerning our school building. The building’s East wall (adjacent to the nearby church) was found to be separating from the rest of the structure. Experts from the city’s Department of Buildings and the School Construction Authority are still assessing the situation but we know for certain that extensive review and repairs are required to ensure the building’s safety before we may re-enter it.

For tomorrow (Tuesday), our school is relocating to nearby P.S. 19, located at 185 1st Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets. Students should arrive by 9am (and there will be a parent information session for parents who are able to attend.) High school students will be dismissed at 12:30 pm and middle school students will be dismissed at 3:30pm. Beacon is available tomorrow at P.S. 19 until 6 pm for families who cannot make other arrangements after school.

We will be located off-site on a day-to-day basis, until the building situation has been resolved. Please remember that school is out on Wednesday for the Yom Kippur holiday. For Thursday, our school may have a temporary home for the duration of the repair work. The temporary site will be determined shortly and as soon as I have that information, I will pass it along to all of you as well as hold an information session. The Department of Education will also be holding an informational session with parents and staff to discuss in more detail what happened at our building and the nature of the repairs required to allow our safe return.

DNAinfo noted that the discovery of the structural problems prompted school officials to evacuate the building.

DNAinfo has more on the story here.

Updated 9-25:
The account in the Post adds a little drama.

Some students ... said they felt desks shake just moments before school officials notified them of the structural damage.

Updated 2:45 p.m:

Here's the latest via DNAinfo:
"Beginning Thursday, students at Girls Prep Lower East Middle School will be housed in P.S. 158, located at 1458 York Avenue ... The East Side Community School will move to Norman Thomas High School at 111 E. 33rd Street.

Meanwhile, the DOB issued full vacate orders at the school ... as well as for the Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church next door ... and the adjacent Mary Help of Christians school on East 11th Street.


Both properties had been vacant. The church closed for good after mass on Sept. 9.