Tree down at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery

Workers today had to remove the last of the majestic willows from St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery… along the eastern edge of the property at Second Avenue between East 10th Street and East 11th Street… EVG reader Daniel, who shared these photos, said that the tree was diseased (there was yellow tape around it for the past week or so) …











We're curious how old the tree was… here's a photo circa 1905 via the New York Cemetery Project…

Meet the Snickers Bar Squirrel of Tompkins Squirrel Park

EVG contributor Derek Berg noticed this critter putting away some Halloween leftovers in Tompkins Square Park yesterday…



… anyway, Pizza Rat seems so September 2015…

The Barrel has closed on Stuyvesant Street

The Barrel, the tapas bar at 10 Stuyvesant Street adjacent to East Ninth Street, has closed.

EVG reader Christopher Pelham passes along this photo from last night… The sign on the door says, "We have loved getting to know you and serving you these past years! … We will miss all of you."

We didn't hear any reason for this closing. The Barrel stopped its weekday lunch service back in September. There isn't any mention of the closure on The Barrel's social media properties.

As we recall, the owners of Panya next door opened The Barrel five-plus years ago, taking over part of the former Around the Clock space. That 20-year-old diner closed in January 2009.

Avenue A L train entrance closer to a reality … some day

[Those 1st Avenue L train entrances]

An observant EVG reader spotted the following in the 237-page PDF of the 2015–2019 Capital Plan that the MTA board approved last week…



So there's budgeted $$$ for a second set of entrances for the L stop at First Avenue. A news release via the MTA from last December suggested the following scenario:

At the 1 Av station, new fare control areas at Avenue A would double capacity – a 100% increase – up to the street from each platform. The Avenue A entrances would serve 60% of the station’s ridership, thus eliminating a 500-foot walk (from First Avenue to Avenue A) for 31,000 weekday customers entering or exiting the station.

According to Sen. Brad Hoylman's office, use of the station at East 14th Street and First Avenue has increased by 30 percent from 2007-2012. (Seems like 300 percent.)

And the L train only promises to get more crowded with the arrival of the 150 residential units in the two new 7-floor buildings on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B that Extell is developing. (Not to mention the residential building replacing the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office.)

In February 2014, Holyman asked Extell Development to "contribute toward the construction of a second entrance to the 1st Avenue L train subway station." (You may read his letter to Extell here.) Not sure how that ask went.

Regardless, the money is in the MTA budget to make this new L train entrance/exit dream happen.

The Extell developments are expected to be complete in early 2017. No word on a timeline from the MTA on when any of this L train entrance work might happen. (Given that the 2015-2019 Capital Program finally got the OK so close to 2016…)

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Davey Drill and a dream

Is an Avenue A entrance for the L train in our future?

179 E. 3rd St. is for sale

The 6-story walkup building between Avenue A and Avenue B is now on a market.

Here's part of the pitch via Cushman & Wakefield:

Of the 32 residential units, 19 are fair market, 11 are rent stabilized and 2 are rent controlled. As 40% of the units are stabilized and achieve an average of only $985 per month, or just 30% of market, prospective ownership can unlock significant value over time through deregulation. Further upside can be achieved immediately in the fair market units through the creation of coveted amenities for residents including, but not limited to, an expansive roof deck that already benefits from impressive views, the installation of a laundry facility/service, a security system, automated doorman and an updated lobby.

There is also substantial value in the property’s retail component that features approximately 1,360 square feet of ground floor space. The building currently hosts three separate retail units, two of which are occupied by renowned Crandall Guitars and Studio 26 Gallery with leases that expire in 2018 (with a 5 year renewal option) and 2017 (with a 2 year renewal option), respectively. The last unit is owner occupied and will be delivered vacant upon sale. As the landscape of the East Village has transformed into one of the most desirable residential and commercial locations in the city, future ownership has the ability to capitalize on the favorable growth of the neighborhood in the near term.

Located in the heart of the East Village, 179 East 3rd Street benefits from a wide array of the city’s best shopping, dining and nightlife options. The neighborhood has experienced rapid transformation in recent years that has attracted a younger population drawn to the area’s new developments. The most exciting new project coming to the area is Essex Crossing, a 1.9 million square foot mixed-use project located just 3 streets south of the subject property.

Price: $26.5 million

Image via Cushman & Wakefield

Report: Demo permits filed to raze southeast corner of 4th Avenue and 10th Street

[EVG file photo]

Demolition permits are now on file to take down the long-empty, single-level building at 71 Fourth Ave. and the four-story, turn-of-the-century townhouse next door at 82 E. 10th St., DNAinfo reports.


[82 E. 10th St. via Google]

Stewart Osborne, a partner in the LLC that bought the properties for development, told DNAinfo's Lisha Arino that they are still in the "planning process," and haven't decided on what to build here.

As New York Yimby first reported back in July, the owners filed plans for a 10-story, eight-unit building on the site with ground-floor retail. The DOB disapproved the first round of plans in September.

And, as previously noted, this is one of the renderings that has been attached to the corner…



The lot hit the market in June 2013 for $24 million.

The previous tenants of No. 71, including the Green East deli and St. Marx Music (and previously the Atlas Barber School), were cleared out in early 2007.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 'tremendous retail potential' of East 10th Street and 4th Avenue

10 stories of condos in the works for the long-vacant corner of 4th Avenue and East 10th Street

SantaCon 2015 set for Dec. 12 in NYC, says SantaCon

SantaCon organizers tweeted out the date last evening... and per the SC website...



To date, at least one local bar has gone on the record as ready to welcome the Santas...

Southern California-based Pressed Juicery opens 1st NYC storefront on Lafayette Street

Billed as "California's leading cold-pressed juicery chain," the aptly named Pressed Juicery opened its doors at 329 Lafayette St. between East Houston and Bleecker Street yesterday… although the products are available at some Equinox locations around the city, this is Pressed Juicery's first dedicated storefront.

You can find their juice selection here.

Noted

EVG contributor Derek Berg spotted this new living room ensemble at Whole Foods Market® Bowery ...



The sign asks for people to "treat this furniture as you would your own" this holiday season. How will this turn out???

Christo in front of the Christodora

Photo in Tompkins Square Park yesterday by Grant Shaffer.

PO demo porn, and other East 13th Street razing action

[This post sponsored by Little Bites]

Workers have finally started demolishing the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office … you can't really tell, though, from the front entrance on East 14th Street just west of Avenue A…



However, once you come around to the loading dock on East 13th Street … you can see the demo in progress…









An 8-story retail-residential building — featuring 114 units — is in the works for the PO space. Still no sign of a rendering yet from SLCE Architects.

Now some bonus demo action across East 13th Street… where the single-level garages at 436 and 442 E. 13th St. are coming down to make way for the Thirteen East + West condos…



An EVG reader shared a view from above the former garage at No. 436 …



You can read more about the project here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office closer to demolition

At East Village Meat Market's Pierogi Tasting Day

Photos and text by EVG contributor Stacie Joy

I stopped by Pierogi Tasting Day on Saturday at East Village Meat Market, 139 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.



I sampled the wares from Veselka’s, Rosa-Ly Pierogi, Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen, among others, and met the folks behind the event, Roman Ilnicki and his father, store manager Andrew Ilnicki.


[Roman, left, and Andrew Ilnicki]

Roman took a few minutes out of his busy day to chat with me about the shop, his family, and the traditions behind the store and its place in the neighborhood. Roman’s family used to live above the shop until a few years ago when they moved a couple blocks south. The store is still owned by Julian Baczynsky, who is in his 90s now. Andrew Ilnicki, who worked his way up from bagboy to store manager, is now running the market.



Roman was enthusiastic about the store’s responsibility to the community, where it has been serving the Ukrainian, Polish, and Eastern European customers as well as the rest of the East Village since 1970. With Pierogi Tasting Day, which offered plentiful samples, Roman wanted to do something nice for the neighborhood.

He believes that good food brings people together. He thought that celebrating the foods of the Ukrainian community — the meats, cheeses, blintzes and pierogis as well as the store’s best-sellers, its bone-in ham (a Christmas staple) and house-smoked kielbasa (they smoke the kielbasa on site every morning) — would be a great way to showcase the traditional values of the store: customer service, and old-school fine Eastern European tastes, products and experiences.



When I asked him what has changed since the store first opened, he said not much, with the exception of refrigeration, and some newer safety regulations, but that the foods and their prep are still the same today as they were 45 years ago.







While there were lines, I did manage to nab a delicious pumpkin and farmer’s cheese pierogi from Veselka, and Rosa-Ly’s delicious traditional potato pierogi with sautéed onions.

Tumor time for the Provident Loan Society Building on East Houston?

On Nov. 17, CB3's monthly Landmark's Committee meeting will include a hearing on the proposal to landmark the circa-1912 Provident Loan Society Building, 223-225 E. Houston St., at Essex.

BoweryBoogie has had the scoop on the situation here. Back in January, BB heard about plans to demolish the building for a new residential complex.

Well, rest assured, it no longer appears that the owners plan to take down the building.

No, as BoweryBoogie uncovered back on Friday, they want to simply drop a 12-story extension on top of the existing building… which would look like…


[Image from Bluarch Architecture via BB]

Head over to BoweryBoogie for more details.

The Landmarks Committee meets on Nov. 17 at 6:30, JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at Cooper Square.

After a string of random clubs and concepts through the past 20 years, the Provident Loan Society Building is currently unoccupied. (The space served as a studio for Jasper Johns in the 1970s.)

And now, a flashback to an EVG post from November 2010…

---

The classic revival brick building has retained its look through the years... Here are some photos from the NYPL Digital Gallery..... the first photo isn't dated...


from 1936…


from 1935...


and today [November 2010] ...

Fish Bar signage arrives on East 6th Street

Over at 345 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, the transformation of the former Gandhi space continues. As previously reported, Shane Covey, co-owner of Upstate around the corner, and Adam Elzer, operating partner at Sauce Restaurant, are opening Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar (named after their fathers).

Anyway, the new sign has arrived…


[Photo by Vinny & O]

Hopefully no one will confuse the restaurant with Fish Bar on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More about Edwin and Neal's Fish Bar, coming soon to East 6th Street

Nearly taco time on East 4th Street

Signage went up Friday evening for Tac N Roll, a quick-serve Mexican restaurant at 124 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue…

We don't have any other info on the place at the moment... Social Tees had this space until they moved in December 2011… (Social Tees is now on East Fifth Street.)

Week in Grieview

[EVG photo of the Ageloff Towers on Avenue A]

Check out the new 10-story building for the former Second Avenue BP station, (Wednesday) which has been demolished (Thursday)

Saint's Alp Teahouse closes for good (Tuesday)

There are now two ping-pong tables in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday)

Local politicos seek answers from the Blackstone Group on the Stuy Town air rights deal (Tuesday)

NatureEs, the Mars Bar replacement, seeking to become a Spanish bistro (Thursday)

The Post discovers Alphabet City again (Thursday, 47 comments)

A new rendering for 100 Avenue A (Tuesday)

Out and About with Robert (Wednesday)

The "stunning boutique collection" of new residences on East First Street (Monday)

About "a coordinated visit" to buildings owned by Brookhill Properties on East Fifth Street (Thursday)

City closes Brooklyn Dark Hemp Bar on St. Mark's Place until they add two additional sinks (Monday)

543 1/2 E. Sixth St., home of Sunny & Annie's, is for sale (Thursday)

A "St. Marks Is Dead" book release party (Friday)

On Second Avenue, Moonstruck Diner is now The Kitchen Sink (Wednesday)

A small victory for the Stage vs. Icon Realty (Monday)

American Apparel closes on East Houston (Tuesday)

Incoming sign of Virgola on East Seventh Street (Monday)

Former Sustainable NYC space for lease on Avenue A (Wednesday)

Le Petit Parisien opening soon on East Seventh Street (Friday)

Some rat proofing for Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

One East Village bar is ready for SantaCon (Thursday)

Decaf anyone? The Swiss Water® Coffee Studio open on Lafayette and East Houston (Tuesday)

Continuing to jazz up the Charlie Parker Residence on Avenue B (Thursday)

DOH temporarily closes Sushi Dojo on First Avenue (Monday)

… and a reader noted that residents at Icon's 205 Avenue A were kind enough to advertise their party on the front door…



… finally, some Halloween love on the L train…


[Photo by Grant Shaffer]

... and ONE more Halloween costume pic... on Second Avenue and East Fourth Street...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

Breaking: The self checkouts at Key Food are broken

Uh-oh! If you planned on shopping on Key on Avenue A today, then be prepared for some longer lines… Vinny & O report that the self checkouts remain down. A technician is on the scene… and he is on the phone.

Current Key mood: Chaos!