Sept. 2 is the last day for New York Central Art Supply

New York Central Art Supply has set Sept. 2 as its last day in business...



On July 11, the Steinberg family, who has run the art supply store for three generations, announced that they were closing the 111-year-old business for good in September. They cited "poor business conditions" and the pending sale of the building at 62 Third Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street as the primary reasons behind the closure.

"We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring and support of the community and our customers," family member Doug Steinberg told me via email. "We are continuing to see if we can find a new home for what's left of our inventory and our paper collection."

For now, there are items up to 60 percent off... they are also selling fixtures and furniture such as flat files.

As for who might be the new owner of the building, there isn't any transaction in public records just yet. One source claimed that the Lightstone Group had purchased No. 62, and that the developers would use the space for part of the Marriott sub-brand Moxy Hotel planned nearby at 112-120 E. 11th St.

Doug Steinberg said that he was not sure who was buying No. 62. "But I am 99 percent sure it is NOT Lightstone," he said. "They actually looked at it and passed. Whoever is buying it is — as far as we know — unrelated to the hotel mania around the corner."

Blink opens a sales office on Avenue A

[Photo via @edenbrower]

Blink Fitness is opening at 100 Avenue A this fall... ahead of that, the gym unveiled a temporary sales office yesterday nearby at 115 Avenue A ... The Blink website for this location shows a rate of $20 a month for an all-access membership ... and $15 a month for access to just the Avenue A gym.

The No. 115 space previously served as a sales office for Ben Shaoul's condoplex at 100 Avenue A.

Tompkins Square Park hosts the annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival on Sunday

[Photo of Ron Miles in the Park last year by Stacie Joy]

Info on the 23rd annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival via the EVG inbox...

City Parks Foundation is proud to announce the 2016 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. The festival is New York City's annual salute to the legendary saxophonist, featuring contemporaries of Charlie Parker as well as young jazz musicians that continue to shape and drive the art form.

In a world of modern music — not just jazz — few figures loom as large or cast as long a shadow as saxophonist Charlie Parker, best known as "Bird" (short for "Yardbird") to generations of musicians. He was born in 1920 and almost 60 years since his death in 1955, he is universally celebrated for single-handedly inventing bebop and bringing jazz into the modern era.

The festival is particularly significant this year given the upcoming centennial of the musical dawning of the term “jazz,” as well as what would have been the 100th birthdays of late jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Ella Fitzgerald.

On Sunday in Tompkins Square Park, audiences will be introduced to DeJohnette - Moran - Holland, the first-time collaboration of influential jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette, innovative pianist Jason Moran, and prolific double bassist Dave Holland.

Listeners will be delighted by performances from award-winning jazz vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Allan Harris and acclaimed saxophonist Donny McCaslin, who will perform his newest album accompanied by his group.

The complete Charlie Parker Jazz Festival schedule can be found on the City Parks Foundation website here.

The Festival is 3-7 p.m. here on Sunday. The Festival is in Marcus Garvey Park tonight and tomorrow afternoon.

Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived at 151 Avenue B from 1950-54.

The $29.5 million triplex penthouse on Cooper Square

[Image via Streeteasy]

62 Cooper Square was home, starting in 1926, to sheet-music company Carl Fischer. The 12-story building was converted to condos (26 in total) in 2001.

The building's crown jewel, the three-level penthouse, hit the market back in the late spring. And, as I learned in a post at Luxury Listings (h/t The Real Deal) yesterday, the home remains on the market. Perhaps because the asking price is $29.5 million?

Here are some details via the listing at Stribling:

The Penthouse at 62 Cooper Square ... covers 15,781 interior square feet, with an additional 2,400 square feet of beautifully landscaped terraces. Located on the top three floors of the Carl Fischer Building, this triplex penthouse offers soaring 10'8 ceilings; 90+ windows; North, South, East, and West exposures; and includes 2 guest apartments and an adjacent guest suite. This truly extraordinary home currently consists of 8 bedrooms, 8 full bathrooms, 3 half bathrooms, 2 private terraces, a billiard room, library, and personal yoga studio.

And a photo or two...





Move in now and you'll likely be able to watch the last few years months of the Astor Place-Cooper Square reconstruction.

Images via Stribling

The Village Pourhouse looks closed but it's not

An EVG reader noted late this afternoon that the Village Pourhouse on Third Avenue at 11th Street was looking rather closed with the brown paper in the front windows...

However! The sign out front notes they are doing some renovations or something...in conjunction with their 10th anniversary... as well as the new season (Fall TV? Hurricane season? Fall turkey hunting?)

A small request to clear the weeds from the 2nd Avenue explosion site

Last week, workers removed weeds from the empty lot at 123 Second Ave., one of three buildings destroyed during the deadly gas explosion on March 26, 2015.

There's now a new memorial sign on the fence of the adjacent properties, 119 and 121 Second Ave., which are owned by Maria Hrynenko, who faces various charges, including involuntary manslaughter.

A message at the bottom of the sign reads: "Somebody cut the weeds please!"

Nearby resident Lola Sáenz placed the sign this morning. "I made a new flyer. Since the weeds got cut on the right side lot, I'm hoping someone sees the note, and cuts them [at 119-121 Second Avenue]. It's starting to look like a forest."

In April 2015, Sáenz created an In Memoriam and left flowers for Moises Ismael Locón Yac, one of the two victims in the explosion. Sáenz said that she did it because his family is in Guatemala, and likely wouldn't have the opportunity to create a memorial at the site themselves.

RIP Richard Kopperdahl

Longtime EVG reader Scuba Diva shares the following...

After a long, 10-year-battle with cancer, Richard Kopperdahl died on Sunday afternoon a little after 4.

He was 83 and had managed to keep the cancer in remission for several years with the help of his oncologist, Dr. Hai Sun Park. ("Hi, Sunshine," Richard liked to call her.)

He was generally in good humor about it, and always managed to make it up the hundred stairs to his home. He had lived in the same sixth-floor apartment since 1976.

He went once, even twice a day to the Odessa on Avenue A — all the waitresses loved him. Yesterday morning I went to tell the waitress there he'd passed, and she said she had visited him when he was in Beth Israel last week. When she came into his room, he saw her, recognized her, and said, "Oh, I don't need anything else."

There's a viewing Friday evening at the Peter Jarema Funeral Home, 129 E. Seventh St., from 5-9 p.m.

One more month for The Edge

Earlier this month, we reported that The Edge, the 29-year-old bar at 95 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, was closing for good at the end of August.

"We'll just say [the landlord, Thermald Realty Associates] found an opportunity to sue us for a bunch of money that we can't pay," a bar rep told us at the time.

However, after a little legal wrangling yesterday, the bar was given one more month: The official closing date is now Saturday, Sept. 24.

Cava Grill opens today on 4th Avenue

Back in May we noted that a Cava Grill was coming to Fourth Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street. And now, the D.C.-based Greek-Mediterranean restaurant chain, which serves grain bowls, pita wraps and salads, opens its first NYC location today.

Our 1st #NYC location at Union Square opens THURSDAY, August 25, FREE lunch! https://t.co/wufVvJ06uw @UnionSquareNY pic.twitter.com/kmI4SXoWOL

— Cava Grill (@CavaGrill) August 20, 2016

The Wall Street Journal had a brief preview yesterday:

“We want customers to have the ability to choose ingredients that fit their nutritional needs or dietary attributes,” said Cava Grill’s chief executive and co-founder Brett Schulman, adding that the average cost for lunch is about $10.

For its New York location, Cava Grill is hoping to keep things as local as possible, getting produce from Hudson Valley, Long Island and New Jersey farms.

The official opening is tomorrow (Friday). Cava is offering a free lunch today ... while encouraging diners to donate to Grow to Learn, an organization that helps NYC public schools set up gardens.

Cava sells various dips and spreads at retail outlets, such as the Whole Foods Market Union Square®.

The space here at 143 Fourth Ave. was previously Lan's Spa.

Cava Grill is the latest quick-serve restaurant to open along Fourth Avenue. PokéSpot debuted on Fourth Avenue and 12th Street on Aug. 12. And a Melt Shop is coming soon to 135 Fourth Ave.

Restaurant space that has been a lot of things lately ready to be something else

The for rent sign recently arrived at 189 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Since May 2014, the address has been home to Lumiere, Casablanca and Tut, which closed in February after just a few months in business.

Doomed location for a restaurant? It's interesting that the sign says "store for rent" and not "bar-restaurant for rent."

New Museum announces exhibition on the work of Raymond Pettibon

Via the EVG inbox today...

In February 2017, the New Museum will open a major exhibition focusing on the work of Raymond Pettibon. For over thirty years, Pettibon has been chronicling the history, mythology, and culture of America with a prodigious and distinctive voice. Through his drawings’ signature interplay between image and text, he moves between historical reflection, emotional longing, poetic wit, and strident critique.

Although Pettibon is unquestionably a pivotal figure of American art since the 1990s, he has never before had a major museum survey exhibition in New York. “Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work” at the New Museum will be the largest presentation of Pettibon’s work to date, featuring more than 700 drawings from the 1960s to the present. It will also include a number of his early self-produced zines and artist’s books, as well as several videos made in collaboration with fellow artists and his musician friends. This unique collection of objects and distinctly immersive installation will provide insight into the mind of one of the most influential and visionary living American artists.

Occupying the three main floors of the New Museum, “Raymond Pettibon: A Pen of All Work” will be on view from February 8 to April 16, 2017.

The New Museum is at 235 Bowery between Stanton and Rivington.

You can check out a gallery of flyers Pettibon created for Black Flag here.

And here's a video on the art of Black Flag from 2013...

Report of a fire at 104 Avenue B

[Photo by Mike H. on 9th Street]

The FDNY is responding to a report of a fire at 104 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street ... (the building one south of where Vazac's/7B/the Horseshoe Bar is...)


[Reader submitted]

Fire on Ave B, right near 7B (but doesn't look like 7B building) cc @evgrieve @chelsa 🔥🚒 pic.twitter.com/X4WRvFPhYJ

— Dennis Crowley (@dens) August 24, 2016

No word on the cause or the extent at this moment. The fire, which appears contained to the roof, did not make it to the @FDNYalert... One witness said that the smell of smoke is strong for several blocks.

Updated... via the comments: "according to neighbors who eye witnessed the event, an air conditioner caught on fire. firemen had to ascend through the adjacent building and douse the flames from the roof."

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: Craig
Occupation: Musician/Graphic Designer
Location: 9th Street
Time: 4:15 on Monday, Aug 22

I was born in Queens, but I’ve been here in this neighborhood since 1976. A lot of my friends lived here, and it was the East Village. It was a lot different than this. People didn’t east go beyond First or Second Avenue.

It was like not living in the city, because it was so desolate. It was very empty, because a lot of stuff beyond Avenue B was all abandoned. It was like a quiet neighborhood with hardly any people. I thought it was nice. The occasional gunshot; that was it.

I’ve lived in at least eight or nine different places in this neighborhood, uptown, on the west side. I’ve been all over the place, but mainly here. I mostly lived in storefronts because I liked having a backyard, but it wasn’t cheap so much. It was cheaper than other places, but it wasn’t exactly cheap. I think right about then, you could get a walkthrough for $75 a month before 1975, but then all of a sudden the prices just went up.

There were so many little clubs around here, especially the Puerto Rican social clubs, but they’re all gone now. There were so many of them, little bars... There was all sorts of little stuff around here. Sometimes they were open for a week; sometimes they were open for a couple months, but that was it.

I was a graphic designer, artist, musician — stuff like that. I started out in publishing. I was a graphic designer and then after about 10 years I went into advertising and then stayed in that for 10 to 15 years, but I didn’t really like that. So now I’m just hanging around. I had always been a musician since high school. I went to school for music. I play guitar and I used to play violin but I haven’t played that in years. I played in miscellaneous bands.

I don’t think anyone actually thought anything important was happening around here. We were just trying to survive and have fun. There was all sorts of stuff going on at the time, and I think people didn’t really have to stick to one thing to make a living. Now it’s just suburban. Once I saw all these people having kids here, I knew the neighborhood was gone. I guess that was around 1988 or 1991.

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

Former Dempsey's space transformed into the Gray Mare on 2nd Avenue

[Photo from Aug. 14]

In recents weeks workers have been transforming the former Dempsey's space into... something.

And yesterday, EVG correspondent Steven got a look at the new exterior here at 61 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street... complete with new signage...


[Photo by Steven]

No word yet exactly what The Gray Mare will bring... at first glance it looks to have a similar pub vibe like Dempsey's owner Tom O’Byrne's other nearby establishments — Slainte at 304 Bowery and Cooper’s Craft and Kitchen on Second Avenue at East Fifth Street.

After 24 years, O'Byrne, who also owns the building at 61 Second Ave., decided to close Dempsey's in April. We reached out to O'Byrne last week for a comment on the new space, though didn't hear back.

Former wine and liquor store to become a wine store on Avenue A

The plywood tumor arrived late last week at 196 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

The DOB signage shows a storefront rendering...



... the sign on the door here shows a business named Convive...



We found a job listing for the incoming shop that offered a few more details about the business:

Convive is a new retail store in the East Village of New York City that believes the process of buying wine should be easy and enjoyable. We build strong relationships with clients because we enjoy engaging with them: we create and seek out shared experiences. Additionally, we provide our clients with excellent customers services, rare/allocated wines and vast expertise.

The previous tenant here, Avenue A Wine & Liquor, closed about this time last year.

Late last year, Dalan Management and real-estate investing firm Avenue Realty Capital bought 194-196 Avenue A and 503-505 East 12th Street for $16.8 million.

Another no for Cholo Noir

Renovation work carries on at 503 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... where there are plans for Cholo Noir, a restaurant serving Southern California-style Mexican with a bar and art gallery.


[Image via Facebook]

In June, the proprietors, Lennard Camarillo and Arlene Lozano, appeared before CB3 in June for a new liquor license for the space.

CB3 recommended to deny the application for a variety of reasons, according to the official minutes from the June meeting. For starters, there are 25 full on-premises liquor licenses within 500 feet of the address... plus CB3 didn't see how a Southern California-style Mexican
restaurant was a public benefit given the number of places in the neighborhood to get the same kind of food. In addition, the applicants only collected seven signatures of support from neighbors, according to the CB3 minutes.

However, the Cholo Noir folks returned to face CB3 on Monday during the August meeting. As Bowery Boogie reported, the applicants made their pitch: "There would be an authentic vibe imported from the West Coast; street artist Chico would be the first artist in a monthly rotation of work. CB3 wasn’t so much feeling it, and denied the application."

The owners have put a lot of work into the space to date. Camarillo told DNAinfo that "his team will take its case directly to the State Liquor Authority in hopes the agency rules against the board’s recommendation." If granted a license, then they plan to be open in October.

As noted previously, in 2014, Camarillo and Lozano won the New York Public Library's annual business plan competition, scoring the top prize of $15,000.

No. 503 was previously home for five weeks to Long Bay, a Vietnamese restaurant, last spring. (I don't recall them serving any alcohol.) Several years earlier the space housed Gladiators Gym.

Learn some emergency preparedness tips tomorrow (Wednesday!) on Astor Place

[Call me Snake]

Via the EVG inbox this afternoon...

The New York City Emergency Management Department, Manhattan Community Board 3 and the Village Alliance will host a preparedness fair in the East Village on Wednesday, August 24. [Ed note: Tomorrow!]

NYC Emergency Management staff members, along with representatives from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), FDNY, Con Ed, Small Business Services (SBS), and local community organizations, will be on hand to share emergency preparedness tips ranging from how to beat the heat to gas safety. Residents can also learn basic CPR skills and participate in rock climbing.

NYC Emergency Management staff members will also distribute a range of emergency preparedness materials and show New Yorkers how to prepare for their unique needs. Representatives from the Health Department will distribute information about the Zika virus, DEP will discuss water safety, and FDNY staffers will share information on how New Yorkers can become one of New York’s bravest. FDNY EMS will teach residents basic CPR skills.

New Yorkers are encouraged to stop by to learn how to be prepared for any emergency, including steps to make a plan, gather supplies, and stay informed. Residents will also learn how to join their local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a program consisting of more than 2,000 volunteers dedicated to helping their communities during emergencies.

Where: Astor Place plaza

When: Wednesday, August 24, 11 AM – 2 PM

Fall TV preview underway

Busy week for filming in and around Tompkins Square Park. Yesterday, crews for the CBS drama "Blue Bloods" were filming scenes on Avenue B and 10th Street (and probably elsewhere) ... this afternoon, the NBC series "Blindspot" is filming in Tompkins Square Park... (some kind of press conference where someone pulls a gun...) The trucks are lined on Avenue B from Seventh Street to 11th Street...




[Bonus "Blindspot" dummy shot...or Margarita March survivor]

And tomorrow, there are posted signs around Avenue A and Fifth Street and Sixth Street for HBO's "The Deuce," which has already used East Village streets for some filming...

RIP Stephen Konzen, aka the East Village Magic Man

Longtime East Village resident Uncle Waltie shares the following...

Sadly, we lost an East Village original. Stephen Konzen, affectionately called "East Village Magic Man," was not able to pull one more rabbit out of his hat. He succumbed to his illness on Aug. 11, 2016.

Magic Man spent his entire adult life on 9th Street near First Avenue. In addition to his magic, he loved to cook for people. Every holiday he provided tons of food to friends and strangers at The International Bar on First Avenue.

A great many of his friends saw him off on his final journey this past Friday at the crematorium, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Though he's gone now, he leaves behind many happy memories and will live on in our thoughts. Thanks for all your kindness and generosity, Magic Man. The world is a sadder place without you in it.

Here's a clip of Stephen in action from 2013 on "Deprogramming Hour," a cable access show...

Park View Office Suites available on Avenue A and 7th Street

[Photo from July 18]

Throughout the summer a crew had been working on the second floor at 130 E. Seventh St. ... in the space above Miss Lily's.

All that was finally cleared up a few weeks ago... and over the weekend, for lease signs arrived in the second-floor windows offering Park View Office Suites ...



..the sign says from $1,500 (a square foot? Well, we shouldn't joke.)



We haven't spotted a listing for the offices anywhere. The number goes to an answering machine.

The 7-floor building on the southwest corner has been through a luxury makeover in recent years. The new residential rentals were fetching $16,995 and $14,995. Longtime corner restaurant 7A closed in January 2014... and later replaced by Miss Lily's.

Public records show that the University of the Streets sold the building to Park Corner Development, LLC in September 2011 for $5 million.

After 46 years of music and arts programs here, the University of the Streets cleared out of the second floor in April 2015 and relocated to the Bronx.

Thanks to Steven for the photos

---

The address was home to L.W. Schwenk… and here's a photo dated July 24, 1914, titled "Depositors at failed bank."



Previously on EV Grieve:
Penthouse life above 7A will cost you $16,995 monthly

Fish Cheeks opening soon on Bond Street

Over on Bond Street between Lafayette and the Bowery (and next to Mile End)... the signage is up for a new restaurant called Fish Cheeks, billed as Thai seafood "straight to your soul" ...



The Times had a quickie item on the place back in June:

Fish Cheeks — High-end Thai seafood by the owners of the Obao restaurants will move into the former Le Philosophe space in a few months: 55 Bond Street (Bowery).

Le Philosophe closed back in January.

At the rally outside 112-120 E. 11th St.

As noted earlier, residents, local elected officials and preservationists were holding a rally early this afternoon outside 112-120 E. 11th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...



Here's some of the coverage via am New York:

“It is totally hypocritical and inexplicable that the mayor would allow good housing to be demolished for a totally unnecessary hotel no one wants or needs,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The betrayal is analogous to the deed-lifting scandal associated with nearby Rivington House, in which city officials allowed a nursing home to be turned into luxury condos, depriving the city of tens of millions of dollars and a much-needed facility, Berman said.

“This is another example of the mayor selling out this neighborhood and his principles,” Berman complained.

[State Sen. Brad Hoylman]

And some reporting from DNAinfo:

The protestors were joined by state Sen. Brad Hoylman, who is also demanding de Blasio himself take action to thwart the demolition, arguing the supposed failure by the LPC falls under his leadership.

“It’s his administration, and I am very disappointed at the LPC,” said Hoylman. “That is their mission. I think they have clearly failed, in this case, to respond to concerns of preservationists and offer an explanation as to why they are no longer protecting the buildings or even considering to protect them.”

Patch has coverage here.


[Photo by Grant Shaffer]

As we first reported on Aug. 8, the Lighthouse Group filed permits with the city to demolish five buildings — 112 to 120 E. 11th St. — that will yield to a 300-room hotel for Marriott's Moxy brand.

Thanks to Michael Paul Photography for the top four photos...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Protest reminder about 112-120 E. 11th St.; plus concerns over asbestos removal

6-building complex on East 10th Street and East 11th Street sells for $127 million

Report: 300-room hotel planned for East 11th Street

Preservationists say city ignored pitch to designate part of 11th Street as a historic district

Permits filed to demolish 5 buildings on 11th Street to make way for new hotel (58 comments)

Report: Resident known as the 'box man' found dead in 2nd Street apartment

Reports of a foul odor led police to discover the body of a resident inside his apartment at 89-91 E. Second St. at First Avenue, according to the Daily News.

The man, who was not identified, was in his 40s. Police found his body last night around 10. "Officials said it appears that the man died of natural causes," per the Daily News.

One source told the paper that "He was a total hoarder."

The man — known to neighbors as the “box man” — was often seen toting at least five boxes into his apartment each day, but witnesses said none ever came back out.

Updated 2:45 p.m.

DNAinfo reports that the resident was 57 years old. Also:

Neighbors described the man as polite but said he rarely interacted with anyone else in the building beyond the occasional “hello” and “goodbye.”

“He was very quiet,” said a neighbor named Melissa, who declined to give her last name. “I would always offer to help hold the door for him when he came in with his boxes.”

Police said the man’s body showed no signs of trauma, though the medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death. The NYPD could not immediately confirm any details about the apartment's condition.

Protest reminder about 112-120 E. 11th St.; plus concerns over asbestos removal

[Photo of 120 E. 11th St. from yesterday]

As previously reported, the five residential buildings at 112-120 E. 11th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue are slated to be demolished to make way for a new hotel from the Marriott family.

Last week, workers began prepping No. 120 for asbestos removal... reps for the Greenwich Village Society For Historic Preservation (GVSHP), who have been monitoring the situation here, noted the poorly sealed windows late last week... (the windows were boarded up by the end of the day Saturday...)



The posted notice points to asbestos in the window caulking...



In addition, the GVSHP notes that the company landlord the Lightstone Group hired for the asbestos removal — the Queens-based New York Insulation Inc. — has a suspect past. The company is currently barred from bidding on public contracts. (The 11th Street work is not a public contract.)



In May 2012, the company pleaded guilty to failing to pay six employees more than $30,000 they were owed, according to published reports. The case involved rooftop work at Wheatley High School in Old Westbury, Long Island.

Per the Long Island Business News: "Along with the fines, New York Insulation and its principal, Anthony Cardinale, are prevented from bidding upon or being awarded any public work projects in the state of New York for five years."

New York Insulation Inc. appears on the New York State Department of Labor's "List of Employers Ineligible to Bid on or Be Awarded Any Public Work Contract." They are eligible again for public contracts starting in May 2020.

As a reminder, the GVSHP is holding a rally/protest outside 112-120 E. 11th St. In case you missed the invite notice from Friday:

Are you as angry as we are that the City is allowing five "landmark-eligible" 19th century buildings at 112-120 East 11th Street, which formerly contained long-term tenants and affordable housing, to be demolished to make way for a 300-room hotel geared towards globe-trotting millennials?

Are you as appalled as we are at the hypocrisy of the administration for refusing to save these buildings, which are being developed by a donor to and political appointee of the Mayor?

Are you disgusted by what this will mean for this block and this neighborhood?

Then join us on Monday, August 22 at 12:30 in front of 112-120 East 11th Street (3rd/4th Avenues) to protest the development and the City’s negligence and hypocrisy...

Updated 8:30 p.m.

Find rally coverage here

A letter to Peter M. Brant about the jackhammering

[Photo on Aug. 11 by Daniel Root]

Construction continues at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, where Peter M. Brant is having Walter De Maria's former home-studio converted into a gallery space for his personal art collection.

There's construction on two fronts: From the rear of the building on Seventh Street (top photo) and Sixth Street...


[Photo from Aug. 4 by Meredith Rendall]

Given the scope of the work, there isn't any shortage of construction-related noise... which explains this suggested letter-writing campaign... as seen in this flyer on First Avenue and Sixth Street...


[Photo by Samir Randeria]

The letter to residents begins:

If you have been disturbed by the jackhammering that we have been subjected to all summer — you can contact the owner of the property at the following email address...

Then the flyer leaver posted the email that he/she sent:

Hello Mr. Brant,

It is exciting to think there will be a museum on our block. We hope that the community will have access to the museum on a regular basis in recognition of your knowledge that you are part of a community. It has been a very difficult summer, waking up each weekday morning to the sound of jackhammering. I'm sure this is not what you would enjoy. In the past, any notices that might have concerned residents where [sic] so small and inconsequential that it was not possible for anyone to be aware of them. I hope in the future you will make sure that there is real spirit of inclusion.

Thank you.

Previously on EV Grieve:
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

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

More rolled ice cream for St. Mark's Place

Renovations continue at a new retail space at 42 1/2 St. Mark's Place just east of Second Avenue... and the signage is up now for the new tenant — the buzzy 10Below Ice Cream ...



The quickly expanding 10Below Ice Cream has locations in Chinatown, the LES (Allen Street as of last month) and Flushing. They are branching out to Los Angeles too.

Here's more from the 10Below website:

10Below Ice Cream is New York’s first establishment serving Thai-inspired ice cream rolls. This concept was created on the streets of Thailand, serving fresh, made-to-order ice cream. Inspired by this ice cream art and by the way bartenders artfully craft cocktails made to order, 10Below blends the two approaches to create an experience for ice cream aficionados with an eclectic palette. We roll each individual ice cream order with the freshest ingredients right in front of your eyes, meaning no preservatives or stabilizers are added. It’s ice cream in its rawest form — fresh off the plate.

Here's a not-annoying-at-all feature on 10Below from the Post last August:

Ever since it opened in July, tucked between Chinese restaurants and spas at 10 Mott St., foodies from far and wide have been waiting up to three hours to get a taste of 10Below, which serves an American twist on Thai ice cream rolls.

Unlike placing a Cronut in a box, the trendy dessert takes about four minutes to create. But that’s part of the show: The ice cream makers call you over to their cold plate before they begin so you can get a front-row view — and an ideal spot to snag a pic with a smartphone.

Another rolled ice cream shop, Lab -321, opened at 27 St. Mark's Place in June.