Mystery digging at 35 Cooper Square

Yesterday, Curbed noted that the backhoe was back at the year-long vacant lot at 35 Cooper Square... We checked it out ourselves... the worker(s) had left for the day...

...there's now just a shallow grave hole of sorts in the southeast corner near the Standard East Village... There aren't any work permits posted or on file with the DOB, so we don't have any idea what is going on here...



Any guesses?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Toy excavator spotted at 35 Cooper Square

Noted

On Avenue B, Fu Sushi is advertising its 4th Annual Naked Sushi Party. Have no idea when it is. If you do find out, then please let me know. I'll go as long as it's not the same night as the First Annual Naked Pizza Night at Papa John's.

Previously (if you wish).

Noted

EVG regular William Klayer spotted these flyers plastered all along Avenue A this evening... we called the number, but no one answered...

Free iced things tomorrow

From the EV Grieve inbox... from S'MAC

Since Wednesday, June 20th, is the first day of summer, we decided to ring in the hot weather with free iced coffee or iced tea at our First Park location. Come swing by our kiosk to get a refreshing iced drink!

P.S. - this offer is available only at the First Park Cafe (which opens at 7 a.m.) and not at our 12th Street restaurant.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Muzzarella Pizza on Avenue A]

Jeremiah works up the nerve to finally look at the "Tribute to Mars Bar" at Blue & Cream; wishes he hadn't (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Activity at 35 Cooper Square (Curbed)

Robbery at the Delancey Street Duane Reade (BoweryBoogie)

The "current king of downtown nightlife" joining the team developing 199 Bowery (Eater)

The Bowery of a 1932 painting (Ephemeral New York)

Meet the new Parks & Rec Commissioner (Runnin' Scared)

Interview with LES photographer Vivienne Gucwa (Digital Journal via The Lo-Down)

Auditioning to be a CBGB biopic extra (Connect Savannah)

Attorney Stanley Cohen, with offices on Avenue D, indicted on tax-evasion charges (Syracuse.com)

...and EVG reader Robbie passes along this shot of film crews prepping at John's of 12th Street for the "Boardwalk Empire" shoot...

From wigs to veggies on East 14th Street

For the past few months, we noticed that the Royal Wigs shop was never open on East 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... sure enough, in recent weeks, a few readers have spotted workers inside gutting the space... such as this one via LvV...



...and from Dave of 14th Street...



Dave said that it has been on the block the 15 years he has lived nearby ...

Before getting into history ... as for the future: A tipster tells us that it will be a vegetarian restaurant selling items that include wraps and sushi.

As for the past... like, Dave, it seems like the place has always been there. Does anyone know any of the store's history?

We came across an alt.rock country band called The Royal Wigs, who took their name from the store. According to the band's bio, the store "was frequented by such famous NYC denizens as Lou Reed, the New York Dolls, and Vivienne Westwood." Not sure about the merits of these claims ... though we like the thought of, say, Arthur Kane rummaging around in here one day years back ...

In any event, the storefront was always photogenic ... Here's a shot by Goggla...



...and via LuciaM on Panoramio...

Live above Kelly's Sports Bar on Avenue A for $12,000 a month

There's a new listing for 12 Avenue A ... it's a four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom home available starting July 1.

According to the listing at Maison International:

Enjoy this nicely furnished house located in the heart of the East Village. Come in from the city hustle and bustle and lounge in your 3000 sqft house that has a gracious floor plan. A large kitchen, separate dinning area and 4 bedrooms with private baths, no detail was left undone. This house comes with its own private outdoor space that has lovely outdoor furniture that will help you unwind and forget the hype of city. Perfect for a vacation summer rental you will not be disappointed. Listed at a great price for a quick rental.

So, are we already in $12,000-is-a-great-price territory? (And I had something planned for when it hit $10,000!)

Anyway, not sure if this is a short-term rental or what... the listing isn't too clear. Still, be great in the fall if you're a Sabres fan — can zip downstairs to Kelly's...

In closing, bedrooms...

The new restaurant for the former Bowery Wine Co. space

Before the May 2011 CB3/SLA committee meeting, we learned that the people behind restaurants like Dell'Anima and L'Artusi were taking over the Bowery Wine Co. space as well as the empty storefront next door in the sterile bowels of Avalon Bowery Place on East First Street.

Yesterday, Grub Street learned that the name of this new place will be called L'Apicio. (Here's the take from Eater.)

According to the original proposal, there'll be 50 tables seating 160 people with plans for outdoor dining and a sidewalk cafe. The proposed hours of operation were 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.

Grub Street has the opening date as late summer or early fall...

Anyway, renovations continue in the space ... here's how it looked yesterday...



We noted this in our previous post about the space.. and we'll repeat it here... Not familiar with Dell'Anima? (Like us!) Here's a summary via New York magazine:

This is what happens when a former Babbo sommelier and an ex–Del Posto kitchen whiz get together and open an unassuming little trattoria: mobs of salivating foodies and goggle-eyed scenesters clamoring to get in.

Meanwhile, say goodbye to those GIANT SUSHI ROLL PHOTOS along here...

Previously on EV Grieve:
August Cardona buying Bowery Wine Company, expanding next door

Bowery Wine Company has closed

At the Bowery Wine Co. protest Friday night — in pictures

Linen Hall seeks sidewalk cafe

Over on Third Avenue near 13th Street, there are newish notices up that Linen Hall is seeking an unenclosed sidewalk cafe ...



Per the notice, there's a public meeting about the matter tomorrow at 2 p.m. downtown at 66 John St.

The owners of Penny Farthing also own this space, the former Cosmic Cantina, which had a small sidewalk cafe as well.

When this address went before the CB3/SLA committee in November 2010, Eater reported that "neighbors complained vehemently about the noise with one resident stating it made him 'miss the crack whores' ... they admitted that it wasn't so much Penny Farthing as the combination of all the restaurants on the block and no formal noise complaint was ever made against the bar."

Starbucks sidewalk cafe returning to Second Avenue

Speaking of sidewalk cafes... last night, The Lo-Down provided live coverage from the monthly CB3/SLA committee meeting. (There were still 22 items left to cover at 11 p.m. The meeting started at 6:30.)

One item that the committee dispatched with quickly: The renewal for the sidewalk cafe at the Starbucks on Second Avenue and East Ninth Street.

[An oldish sidewalk cafe shot via Google Street View]

On May 14, the city shuttered this Starbucks for having an expired permit for its sidewalk cafe. We heard about three different versions about how this happened... and employees told different versions of what happened too. (One employee told a reader the sidewalk cafe was never reopening.)

Anyway, the sidewalk cafe is coming back, as The Lo-Down noted. Also, the documents (PDF!) that the Starbucks reps provided CB3 are worth looking at (well, if you're a dork who likes looking at paperwork... like me!) Quite detailed!

Free tonight: "Permanent Vacation," Jim Jarmusch's first feature

From the EV Grieve inbox...

The Seward Park Branch Library is pleased to announce the second of its 2012 Lower East Side Heritage Film Series: the Eighties...

Tuesday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m.

In this installment of our FREE monthly series we will be showing Jim Jarmusch's first feature film:



Permanent Vacation (1980, 75 min., 16mm)

Jim Jarmusch direct his first feature: 16-year-old Aloysious Christopher Parker searches for meaning as he wanders a Lower East Side landscape of blind alleys, rubble-filled lots, and abandoned buildings. Along the way he meets his schizophrenic mother, a possibly psychotic war veteran, an hysterical Spanish-speaking Ophelia, and a junkie who recounts the sad life of Charlie Parker. Starring Chris Parker, Leila Gastil and John Lurie. With music by John Lurie.

Seward Park Branch Library
192 East Broadway

There's an essay by "Low Low" author Luc Sante in the booklet that accompanies the "Stranger Than Paradise" Criterion Collection, which includes "Permanent Vacation."

An excerpt:

"Permanent Vacation" sharply brings back the physical experience of the city then, both its serenity (a cobbled street lined with 19th-Century loft buildings possibly as empty as Egyptian temples) and its squalor (tenement rooms last painted during one of the Roosevelt administrations and pungent with the indelible odor of cockroaches).

Note the seemingly absolute darkness of the nighttime scenes. Note the devastation of the streets off Avenue C, looking like war ruins. We were right on the verge of owning the place, we thought — nobody else seemed to want it.

And how was your Monday night?

... a few observations via Twitter...

What's with all the drunkards in the hood? It's only Monday, people. You're not supposed to flood the streets til Thursday. #eastvillage

— Celine Willard (@CelineNYC) June 19, 2012

What's up with the people yelling and singing on 1st Ave? #eastvillage

— Alison Backman (@alibackman) June 19, 2012

Help find this East Village resident's stolen artwork

[One of the missing paintings]

A reader asked us to share this information (pulled from the Voice classifieds)

Please help!
My car was broken into on the morning of Wednesday, June 13th and a vintage green "Amelia Earhart" suitcase was stolen!

Sadly, this suitcase was FILLED with all of my paintings that I was going to hang in a show!

I believe the suitcase was discarded on the street shortly after the theft & one by one all the paintings were taken by passersby. (The car was parked on East 12th street between A & B.)

The paintings have fotografka.com on the back.

Please, if you have seen any paintings or know of their whereabouts please contact me!
email: The_Lost_Works@yahoo.com or call 646.567.0348

I am heartbroken over their loss!

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Deep in 51 Astor Place ... by Bobby Williams]

Henry Rollins: Joey Ramone's legacy is in danger (LAWeekly)

Avenue B's past as the "German Broadway" (Ephemeral New York)

Landmarks Preservation Commission postpones meeting for new hotel next to the Merchant's House (BoweryBoogie)

Donal Logue will play Merv Ferguson in CBGB biopic; Cheetah Chrome lands cameo (The Hollywood Reporter)

Making Delancey safer (The Lo-Down)

Jesus and Love at the Folsom Street East festival this past weekend (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

LES men curating monthly reading lists at Orchard Street's Lost Weekend (DNAinfo)

Nicoletta pizza porn (Gothamist)

And we spotted this 7-Eleven brandage on IHOP Way back on Thursday...

Are these dangerous intersections on the Bowery?

EVG reader Chad Marlow points out what he considers some dangerous pedestrian crossing signals on the Bowery at East Third Street and East Fourth Street... He lodged this complaint with 311:

"East-west pedestrian signals at Bowery @ E. 4th E. 3rd only provide 6 second countdown to cross 6 lane road with no center median. 1 second per lane must be an error and is dangerous. Please adjust."

It is a short signal considering ... that, for example, you have a 25-second warning crossing 14th Street at Second Avenue...



This is especially a short signal considering that the Evelyn and Louis Green Residence at Cooper Square is on the corner at East Fifth Street... and the residents here and their visitors might likely need more time crossing a busy street... Why not a 25-second countdown like at the 14th Street intersections?

Has Jane's Sweet Buns closed?

In the last few days, multiple readers passed along word that Jane's Sweet Buns on St. Mark's Place no longer appears to be in business. In early May, the sort of secret 10-seat bar called Proletariat opened in the back of the establishment at 102 St. Mark's Place.

Per a reader the other night: Went "to get some pastries and the shop wasn't open. Bartender at Proletariat said [Jane's] was closing due to poor sales."

We called the number for Jane's, but it has been temporarily disconnected. The shop was also closed during its announced hours of business this weekend. There aren't any notes about a closure on the Jane's website or Facebook page.

We emailed owner Ravi DeRossi for comment on Saturday morning to see what's officially happening with Jane's.

Meanwhile, Proletariat remains open for business.

Jane's Sweet Buns opened last July in the former De La Vega Museum space, selling a handful of desserts made with alcohol, such as the Rum Runner (a bun glazed in aged rum, Galliano liqueur and cinnamon, among other ingredients).

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] There's now a (sort of) secret beer bar behind Jane's Sweet Buns

Bakery opening on St. Mark's Place

Jane's Sweet Buns opens today at 2 on St. Mark's Place; features 'pastries inspired by cocktails'

Atlas Barber School space on the market

Jeremiah Moss first reported that the Atlas Barber School closed on Third Avenue at the end of May... As he noted, the landlord jacked up the rent to $11,000 a month — a little much for a barber shop charging $5 a haircut. (Read his post on the place and its history here.)

Meanwhile, the listing for the space is online now... the rent is $11,250 ...



Per the listing: "No Cooking or conflicting uses."

Meanwhile, WalkerMalloy also has a listing for the corner space at East Ninth Street ...currently the travel agency... the space is $13,600. Same deal: "No Cooking or conflicting uses."

Back to Jeremiah's May 30 post:

After all, Astor Place is changing — a shiny new tower is coming, and shiny new towers bring shiny new people who want all things to be shiny and new. As [Sheila Gray, director of Atlas] noted to me, Atlas and the East Village Cheese shop are the only old-school businesses left on the block — now the cheese stands alone and we have to wonder for how much longer.

'Boardwalk Empire' returns to the East Village tomorrow

You've probably seen these signs about "Boardwalk Empire" filming interior scenes around here tomorrow ... it will impact portions of 11th Street and 12th Street... and First Avenue and Second Avenue... (tow trucks arrive tonight at 10)


[Click image to enlarge]

Last July, the HBO series filmed in part at John's of 12th Street ...

[EVG reader Han Shan]

The folks at John's confirmed that "Boardwalk Empire" would again be filming there, though they weren't aware of all the details just yet ...

Meanwhile, we also saw the filming signs outside EVG favorite DeRobertis on First Avenue...



...a seemingly perfect location for the show set in the 1920s-1930s ...



We asked someone at DeRobertis about this... while she agreed that their cafe would be be a great fit for the show, "Boardwalk Empire" would not be filming there... Perhaps another time...



And a bonus photo... a hallway in the building above DeRobertis... via Dave on 7th, who points out that the walls and ceiling are all pressed tin...

Sidewalk's new-look sidewalk cafe

A bit of a sidewalk beautification project here on Avenue A at East Sixth Street... on Friday, Bobby Williams noted the arrival of some flower boxes for the outdoor space...





...and it's a good thing that Sidewalk workers bring them in at night. Have you noticed how people continue to dump the flower boxes at various restaurants, such as here at Numero 28 on Second Avenue?

Signage appears at new hotel on the Vegas strip the Bowery

Been a long time since we last looked at the incoming Wyndham Garden Hotel on the southern stretch of the Bowery (at Hester) ... Our friend Curt Hoppe sent us this photo of the new sign late last week...

BoweryBoogie has more about it here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Wyndham Garden Hotel starting to sprout on the Bowery

Last night at Nice Guy Eddie's

Nice Guy Eddie's closed for good last night after a 16-year run on Avenue A... EVG reader Rob sent a long a few photos from the evening/early morning...





...and later, at the end of the night (morning) ...





Plans call for a restaurant serving "American comfort food" coming next here via a team led by Darin Rubell of the Gallery Bar.

Previously on EV Grieve:
How do we feel about the Kiss mural outside Nice Guy Eddie's?

And how was your weekend?

A few observations via Twitter...