Mosaic Man rebuilding on Sixth Street and Second Avenue

Two weeks ago, we were wondering if the Mosiac Man was calling it quits on refurbishing his mosiac trail around the neighborhood... as this note spotted last evening on the sidewalk at Second Avenue and Sixth Street would indicate, he's planning on rebuilding, though he could use some financial assistance...




Previously on EV Grieve:
More on the Mosaic Man removing his mosaics

Mosaic removal on St. Mark's Place?

Another Housing Court meeting for Whitehouse Hotel tenants

Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Hello from tonight's CB3/SLA meeting!

After taking nearly 140 minutes to get through the first two items on tonight's agenda, CB3/SLA committee member David McWater noted that, at this rate, the meeting will last more than 31 hours.

See you Wednesday afternoon!

East Village getting a 60,000- to 70,000-square-foot residential building?

Yowza... a reader just sent along a Q-and-A from the Times with developer Donald Capoccia, a managing principal and founder of BFC Partners, whose projects include the monstrosities Toren in downtown Brooklyn and Schaefer Landing, a three-building waterfront complex in Williamsburg.

This is the passage that we Yowza'd about:

Q. What else is in the pipeline?

A. We have an East Village property. It’s going to be a 60,000- to 70,000-square-foot building. We’re also looking at a hotel deal in Kennedy Airport — this would be our first hotel. Kennedy, believe it or not, does not have any hotels that offer significant conference space.

Whoa! What? Where?!

To be continued....

Lost City tribute

As you may know, Brooks of Sheffield is retiring from active duty at his excellent Lost City blog. You can read his farewell here.

Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, Neither More Nor Less and Lost City served as part of my inspiration for launching EV Grieve in December 2007.

Now, two of those sites have called it a day... All this has made me think about my own blog mortality.

[Moment of silence]

Anyway! Meanwhile, I think I'll apply for a liquor license with a sidewalk cafe.

As a tribute to a lost and vanishing part of the city ... I revisited a post of mine from November 2008 ... Here's Donohue's Steak House, 845 Lexington Ave. near 64th Street, which opened in 1950... an-all-too-rare classic that's still open....





Previously on EV Grieve:
The timeless appeal of Donohue's Steak House

A few scenes from the first weekend of the World Cup

As I exclusively reported, the 2010 World Cup started last Friday... and, even if you weren't interested in the games, you likely happened upon some kind of soccer-inspired scene in the East Village...

Starting with the World Cup Capital, Nevada Smith's... where a police officer was watching the line entering for the Argentina-Nigeria match...





Outside Zum Schnieder on Avenue C and Seventh Street before the start of the Germany-Australia match yesterday afternoon... line stretched halfway down the block...




Outside Karma on First Avenue near Fourth Street on Friday ... where Uruguay fans/citizens might want to talk to whomever created the chalkboard sign...



U-R-Gay?



On St. Mark's Place... after South Korea's 2-0 victory over Greece...




Meanwhile, thanks to EV Grieve reader Blue Glass for the following photos... Blue Glass was walking on Third Avenue prior to the start of the U.S.-England match, and witnessed the crowds waiting to get into Nevada Smith's and the Village Pourhouse on Saturday afternoon ... (good thing Third Avenue was blocked off for the street festival...)

New vegan cafe for Avenue B

A new vegan cafe called The Little Bird opened last Wednesday on Avenue B near 11th Street (at the former Panache Cafe)...

I asked proprietor Joanna Troccoli via e-mail what people can expect here...
"As for now it is just the vegan baked treats, coffee and teas. I make everything in the back. All the cookies, granola, and treats are vegan."

This is the first commercial outlet for Troccoli, who runs The Little Bird with her sister and brother-in-law. "But I have been wholesaling the cookies to local stores like Earth Matters, Liquiteria, Jack's Coffee, Gimme! Coffee and Kula Yoga."

She'll expand the menu in the coming weeks to include small plates of vegan fare. "We are also working on getting a beer and wine license to serve ORGANIC beer and wine," she said. "But that is in the future!"

Another month, another Superdive scratch; Plus, Avenue A bars give it another go tonight

Once again, Superdive was on the agenda for the CB3/SLA meeting... to transfer their license, etc. This makes four consecutive months that they've bowed out of the meeting ...

Meanwhile tonight... the bars who were rejected at last month's meeting on the northern part of Avenue A are all back on the docket...

Renewal with Complaint History
Forbidden City (Lo-Eng Inc), 212 Ave A (op)

Applications within Resolution Areas
Percy's (Steelbar 180 Inc), 210-212 Ave A (op) (Al Diwan)

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades
MBM Lounge Inc, 212 Ave A (trans/op) (Forbidden City)

And another scratch...
Jay Cox Coal, 503-505 E 12th St (trans/op)... This is the former Mundial/Totem space...

I'm also not aware of any community outreach by these establishments since the last meeting...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Last night's CB3 recap: Residents 1, Bar Owners 0

New Grassroots sign is MIA

Just last week we pointed out the new sign for the Grassroots...



And, well, now it's gone... dunno if it was stolen... or there's some other logical explanation...

East Village eatery odds-and-ends

Think Coffee on Fourth Avenue namechecks Jack Tripper's favorite bar ...




Signage for the new tapas space is up at the old home of Xunta on First Avenue...



More beer specials at the Neptune...



Rico, the hookah bar on Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street, is really closed now...



Caffe Buon Gusto is still looking for that sidewalk application even though they don't have a liquor license... I didn't notice this sign posted until after the hearing... one nearby resident believes the sign didn't go up until the day of the hearing ...

Say hello to Kumo Sushi

Here's your weekly update on what's happening to the former Cookout Grill space on First Avenue and 13th Street... the signs are now up...



Say hello to Kumo Sushi... and Kumo Sushi, say hello to the neighborhood...



and, well, they're replacing the Cookout Grill sign of course...

Then!


Now!


...but we're holding out hope that CG mascot will continue to watch over the 13th Street entrance...

A bit of East Houston Street's history disappears

Back in December, I was pleased to see a faded sign on the side of the Mercury Lounge get exposed...




However, given the Mercury's recent paint job, the Shastone Monuments ad was likely a goner... Indeed, it has been wiped away...




The Mercury Lounge opened in 1993. Prior to that, Shastone Monuments -- part of Houston's once-thriving gravestone industry -- called this space home for nearly 60 years. You can read more about Shastone here at Mr. Beller's Neighborhood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Some faded ad glory reappears above the Mercury Lounge

Avenue C, 8:16 p.m., June 13

Avenue C, 4:26 p.m., June 13

CBGB company files for bankruptcy protection

I missed this news from Friday evening ... The Wall Street Journal has the story:

CBGB Holdings LLC, which two years ago purchased the name and copyrights associated with Manhattan’s legendary punk-rock club CBGB, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday.

The company, reported assets and debts each in the range of $1 million to $10 million in its bankruptcy petition, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

CBGB Holdings’ founding partners, James Blueweiss and Robert Williams, as well as the company’s bankruptcy attorney, weren’t immediately available for comment. The company didn’t say in court papers why it filed for bankruptcy protection.

[Image via.]

Is the MTA hip to this Internet meme?

Caroline McCarthy at CNET notes the following:

This week, an alteration in New York City transit signs to address forthcoming route changes have placed an unfortunate Internet acronym on a heavily trafficked subway station: Displays that list the color-coded subway services running at the 14th Street-6th Avenue underground station now display a bold "FML."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, may or may not have been aware that this is an acronym for "f*** my life," a profane exclamation of disgruntlement that arose in Web forums, in text messages, and on a popular blog several years ago.

[Photo credit via Digitalisms]

[Updated] Help a neighbor find a lost ring

From an EV Grieve reader:

I lost a ring in the East Village yesterday, probably on Second or Third Street, walking from Avenue B to LaGuardia Place in the West Village. I lost it between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. It's a gold band in a distinctive chain pattern, and I'm offering a generous reward upon return...

It has been found!

World Cup fever on Avenue A?

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Ryan on Avenue A for this shot ... Outside Gracefully around 2:24 a.m. last night/early this morning...kicking around a watermelon?

Street Fair!

On Third Avenue from 14th Street to Sixth Street...




..with plenty of the usual food options... something for the post World Cup crowd pouring out of Nevada Smith's...