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From our friends at Neighborhoodr.... and, uh, as they point out, the Ramones made their debut 36 years ago...
And there's something Bloombergy about Mr. Burns...
In June, Pamac Realty filed suit against Kurban Ali Kokan, the store's owner, after Kokan did not pay $27,400 in back rent. The Kokan family claimed that the store had water damage that was never properly repaired. The suit ended on August 9, when a judge ruled that Kokan must pay the back rent with interest and vacate the building. Pamac's attorney created a stipulation that reduced the amount to $20,000.
But that's still too much money, says Kokan's wife, Cemile, who is currently working at the store with their son Sadik. (The Kokan's rent was $4,400 each month for the last five years, during which business slowed down, her husband fell ill, and medical bills needed to be paid.)
Then Pamac Realty posted a For Rent sign above the storefront. "He came one day and he said 'pay or ship out' -- those were his words," Cemile says. "I'm not blaming him, but some of things he does are unfair. He's not a bad landlord, but he's fed up with me too. I guess 18 to 20 years doesn't count."
Cemile, 65, wipes tears from her eyes as she sells a few yards of brown vinyl to a customer. "I'm sorry," she says. "It's just that there's been no peace in my house for a while," she tells the customer. "We are getting older now, my husband is 80. We still have a mortgage to pay. What are we going to do after this?"
"I just want folks to know that the whole neighborhood is going to crap," Sadik, 33, says. "I mean [my parents] are senior citizens, you know? We're just tired of being honest and loyal, when apparent greed is all that matters. This just shows you what is happening to our community now."
Pasquale Coppolechia, the president of Pamac Realty, says that the tenants were never a problem, when they were paying the rent. He says the Kokans were at least eight months behind in rent and that after their 10-year lease expired, they went on a one-year lease and eventually a month-to-month one. "We offered an installment plan as well," he says. "I know they were going through some 'apparent' difficulties and that they were clearly struggling, but even these negotiations just took up time."
Coppolechia says that there are already businesses interested in the First Avenue location. "We've been collecting several requests from the broker, pardon my French, but they were like flies on shit."
A wake and vigil of considerable moment, lasting for the better part of 2 weeks , was held in the neighborhood at Merlin's corner . Some nights the sidewalk and street around the memorial were so densely packed with people that it seemed that everyone in the neighborhood and the surrounding communities was attending , crowded together ,all kinds of folks , from all professions and callings , from high and low paying their respects to Merlin .
Existing 6 Story mixed use asset with 4 commercial spaces on the main floor and 30 one and two bedroom units. Corner, Walkup apartment building, 100% occupied. 25 Free Market Units, 4 Rent Stabilized Units, one super occupied. 6 homes per floor: 4 One Bedrooms/ 2 Two Bedrooms with a total of 24 One Bedroom Homes and 12 Two Bedroom Homes. High traffic location. Prime East Village. Air rights.
The most intriguing concept of the night came from the team behind “Dans Le Noir,” the “blind dining” franchise from Paris. Having just flown in from France yesterday, the owners walked community board members through an impressive proposal for the former “Tonic” space on Norfolk Street. The idea, they said, is simple: “Diners eat in the pitch dark and are served by blind people, creating an interesting sensory experience.”
Dans Le Noir co-founder Etienne Boisrond, elaborating on the concept, said, “you become the blind and they (the servers) become your eyes.” It’s a fusion menu with french accents. The owners noted that 10-percent of the profits go to charities around the world.
There are few certainties in this changeable city. But on Avenue A and Sixth Street, a place that has been convulsed by change in recent years, one thing has remained constant through the riots and real-estate booms: Merlin, a 41-year-old homeless man who uses only one name, has made the intersection's southeast corner his residence for eight years. Neither blizzards nor blistering heat have routed him from atop a set of wooden pallets in front of a Con Edison substation.
"People move in and out of the neighborhood, but I never budge," he said last week, lounging beneath a pair of tattered umbrellas, his only guard against the sting of the sun. A stroke has left him partly paralyzed, and frostbite cost him several toes three winters ago.
To strangers, he is but another intrusion on the East Village's gritty streetscape, a reason to avert their eyes. But to many local residents, he is a cherished asset: a timekeeper, a message center, a town crier and a source of good, solid conversation. "Merlin is a social hub," said Tatiana Bliss, 25, a local artist. "If you're looking for someone, Merlin probably knows where they are. If you want to leave something for a friend, he'll make sure they get it. He makes this crazy city feel like a small town."
NEW YORK (CBS 2) – The NYPD is on a ticket blitz, giving cyclists more than 15,000 violations so far this year. Many pedestrians say it’s about time and fear the city’s push to get people pedaling has led to danger on the streets and sidewalks. Some have even dubbed it “bike bedlam.”
The Big Apple is racing to become the bike capital of the world and the Bloomberg administration has added more bike racks, paths and lanes.
However, as CBS 2’s Tony Aiello found out, spending a few minutes along the new bike lane on First Avenue makes clear that plenty of New Yorkers have little liking for the biking.
“It would be one thing if the bike riders obeyed the lights and things — they don’t,” Lower East Side resident Amber Rogers told Aiello.
In a recent 20 minute period at First Avenue and Sixth Street, CBS 2 counted 17 bike riders running red lights and more than two dozen riding the wrong way and against traffic.
Live and work in this huge, open loft . Facing Tompkins Square Park, on Avenue B, in the most incredible landmark East Village building. 12 foot ceilings and huge windows, this 2 bedroom corner loft apartment is every hipster's dream! Live totally "outside the box" in every way and wow your friends as they enter this one-of-a-kind space. Corinthian columns. Great south and west light. Steps to the best of the East Village. Nothing else like it. Video intercom system. Sorry no shares.