Birdbath Bakery has apparently closed for good

As we noted earlier last month, Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery over at Third Avenue at East Ninth Street randomly closed. No sign to note a closure, temporary or otherwise.

And even though Birdbath removed this location from their website, workers at the main location told us that this closure was just for the slow summer period. Which makes no sense given the rents. But OK!

Meanwhile, last week, a crew gutted the shop.



The bakery opened here in May 2011. The location on First Avenue near East 13th Street closed in March 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery on 3rd Avenue has not been open lately

Topping off the incoming dorm on Cooper Square

Workers have reached the top of the incoming dorm on Cooper Square and East Sixth Street … and they raised the American flag atop the 13-floor building that will one day house students from Marymount Manhattan College.

I celebrated this occasion by taking 674 photos of the dorm. First, here is the flag, which was not being very cooperative. It was not photogenic and flappy. (Probably blames the wind.)







Previously on EV Grieve:
City OKs 13-floor dorm for Cooper Square

Updated: Here's what the newest East Village dorm will look like

Dig bottoms out on Cooper Square; here comes the dorm, here comes the dorm!

Laundromat replaces laundromat on Avenue B

Back in January, the laundromat at 44 Avenue B between East Third Street and East Fourth Street relocated to Clinton Street.

The familiar "call Harvey" sign of the Croman Empire went up …

And now EVG reader John shares these photos of the new tenant: A new laundromat/dry cleaners. (No word if they will serve grilled cheese sandwiches.)



This is the third time in recent memory where a laundromat closed … only to be replaced by another laundromat. (Here and here.)

Full stop work order for 76 E. Houston St., and the return of Billy's Antiques (sort of)

We noticed the stop work order on Thursday evening over at East Houston and Elizabeth, where a 2-story building is in the works for the former Billy's Antiques space.

We were waiting for the violations to be posted online. That hasn't happened yet.



Apparently the excavation/foundation is having an "influence" on the adjoining property, per the sign...



We'll update this post as soon as the infractions are online.

Meanwhile! Someone placed some Billy's Antiques stickers on the renderings...





Perhaps some wishful thinking. It was certainly a lot more fun with Billy Leroy here. Anyway, he hasn't 100-percent ruled out a return, as far as we know...

New 3rd Avenue market sets really high expectations

Signage for Heavenly Market has arrived at the corner of Third Avenue and NYU East 11th Street … they'll be taking over the space that last housed Fern Cliff Deli.

They'll be joining new neighbors GNC here in the Third North NYU dorm storefronts.

Up close and personal with the supermoon

Bobby Williams took these supermoon shots from atop the Williams Observatory in the East Village between 12:37 to 12:42 a.m.

Surprise! 'Taxi Driver 2' isn't actually filming on St. Mark's Place now

Last Sunday we spotted those film-shoot signs for "Taxi Driver 2" on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Likely either a code name for another unrelated film or a gag. (Of course, Robert DeNiro has expressed interest in a "Taxi Driver" sequel.)

Anyway, per the above sign, crews were to be filming now. And St. Mark's Place has been film-crew free all weekend.



Meanwhile, Gothamist spotted "Annie Hall 2" film-shoot signs on the Upper East Side last week. (A source in The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment told Gothamist that the signs were not related to any productions that have applied for filming permits.)

What next, signs for "Weekend at Bernie's II"? (Oh, right…)

Week in Grieview

[East 10th Street near 3rd Avenue]

Demo of East 14th Street buildings complete (Monday)

Digital Society has closed (Wednesday)

Landlord: You have to move out because we might need to tear down the building (Thursday)

NYPD looking for information about a sexual assault on East Ninth Street (Tuesday)

A look at the incoming DF Mavens (Monday)

The time that Melissa Elledge got punched in the face (Wednesday)

Rooftop raging at Ben Shaoul's Bloom 62 (Tuesday, 48 comments)

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has a torn tendon! (Friday)

Nicolina's new mural for Mona's (Tuesday)

Honey House arrives on East 11th Street (Friday)

Elsa closes on East Third Street (Monday)

Details about the Tommy Ramone memorial (Wednesday)

Enormousface! (Tuesday)

Photos of Day 2 of the Tompkins Square Park riot reunion concert (Monday)

An old timer look for East Seventh Street (Tuesday)

Out with $1 pizza and in with dumplings on First Avenue (Wednesday)

Le Jardin Bistro arrives on Avenue C (Thursday)

Is one of the coolest (and most mysterious!) buildings around for sale? (Thursday)

Saved by the beer in 1960 (Friday)

New retail space for Avenue B (Thursday)

Brick Lane Curry House has relocated to 2nd Avenue

This weekend, Brick Lane Curry House made the move from East Sixth Street to 99 Second Ave. between East Sixth Street and East Fifth Street.





This move had been in the making for more than three years. No word on what will happen with the East Sixth Street space.

Thanks to EVG reader Vinny for the tip!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Brick Lane Curry House still planning Second Avenue expansion

World's largest Brick Lane Curry House slated for 99 Second Avenue

Sketchy blue box arrives on Avenue C

This arrived Friday outside La Plaza at East Ninth Street … the city has already tagged it for removal. Seeing as they are illegal and all.

The city previsouly hauled off a sketchy pink box from nearby in recent weeks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About those new sketchy pink boxes around the East Village

The sketchy pink boxes are going away

Oh no! Here come the sketchy blue boxes!

Last night's nearly full moon over 2nd Avenue

Local astronomy buff Felton Davis was out last night with his telescope.

A quick report from him: "The nearly full moon rose up over 2nd Avenue and East 1st Street by 8 pm, and three hours later there was still a long line of people waiting to see it as it slowly arced over the intersection."





… and another view from a different location via @heathterry …



In other moon news, via space.com:

"The largest full moon of 2014 rises tonight (Aug. 10) … August's full moon, a so-called "supermoon," rises when the natural satellite is at perigee — the closest point to Earth in its orbit. It is the second of three supermoons this summer, according to NASA."

Rooftop ruckus

This was this scene yesterday atop a building on East 10th Street… One of the hawks (Christo? Goggla? Help!)

The hawk's presence didn't go over so well with the other birds on this perch.



The birds continued to make a ruckus…



… and were eventually successful in driving away the unwanted squatter…



Photos by EVG contributor Bobby Williams

Noted

Clint Mario remains everywhere.

Third Avenue and East 11th Street via EVG reader William Klayer.

1st tag returns to Verizon's freshly painted brown wall

[This morning]

Workers painted over the rest of the tags along East 13th Street at Second Avenue on July 28.

It wasn't really the best brown paint job that we'd ever seen.



We walked by that day and noticed that workers got paint and water-blasted graffiti residue on the cars parked here.



Previously.

I know what you did last Summer Streets

[The same photo EVG posted last week]

Just a reminder that Lafayette and a good part of Park Avenue will be closed for you to bike, walk, run, skate, crawl, [________] in a hoof to your heart's content today. At least until 1 p.m., when the wheeled motor vehicles used for transporting passengers and other things return.

And here is the official map from the City about all this:



Previously on EV Grieve:
Takin' it to the streets like the Doobie Brothers

Summer loving had me a blast, Summer loving happened so fast

No more corny Summer Streets headlines until next summer, probably

No banana puns will be used for this headline

Going back to 2012 for this song from Black Bananas, the band led by ex-Royal Trux frontwoman Jennifer Herrema.

See and hear their scuzzy stoner rock tonight at 8 at the South Street Seaport. The Shockwave Riderz open at 7. And it's a free show.

Closing weekend for the Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest

[Photo of EL Jardin del Paraiso by Steven Matthews via MoRUS]

It's the last two nights for the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space's Lower East Side Film Fest ... here's a quick look at what's playing via the EVG inbox:

Friday, 8 p.m.
El Jardin De Paraiso
E. 4th street (North Side) between Aves C & D
**** Lawn Seating: Bring a blanket!*****

Catalina Santamaria
UMBRELLA HOUSE
10 min
From the 1970’s to the 1990’s hundreds of buildings have been taken away from their owners in The Lower East Side/East Village because of tax arrears. But these buildings in the hands of the city have been left to collapse or be demolished. Pioneering residents took it upon themselves to move in and restore some these buildings with their own labor, giving new life and vitality to the area.

Sebastian Gutierrez
VIA GEANME
16 min
Geanme reached New York not to long after having crossed the border through Mexico. She dealt with the hardship of living as a squatter, delivering a baby and falling out of love. But her tenacity helped through the winter's cold, building her apartment all the way to the improvised delivery room. With the help of a midwife but no running water, Paula, her daughter, was born. Geanme never really got over having left her family behind in Colombia. But that void was filled by Paula and also by the camaraderie and support from the New York City squatter community.

Christina Holmes
HOME AT LA PLAZA CULTURAL ARMANDO PEREZ COMMUNITY GARDEN
La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez Community Garden on East Ninth Street and Avenue C was one of many public spaces damaged by Hurricane Irene and dealt a further blow by flooding during Hurricane Sandy. Garden members discuss the recovery process, the importance of these spaces, and the history of the garden that inspires them to plan and plant for the future.

Saturday, 8 p.m.
El Jardin De Paraiso

Lizzie Borden
BORN IN FLAMES
80 min

Fitting with the theme of the fest we will be screening the 1983 classic feminist indie film BORN IN FLAMES. Director Lizzie Borden is flying out from Los Angeles to be in attendance for the film, a gem of New York cinema, depicting a militant feminist movement in the city after a fictional socialist revolution in America. It also features vintage footage of the Lower East Side and from around New York.

Find more details about the films and the Festival here. Admission each night is a suggested donation of $5.

Reader report: Box truck nearly takes out pedestrians, tree on East 10th Street

From EVG reader Jose Garcia today just after noon...

We were just walking down 10th Street between A and B when this box truck, making a furniture deliver to the illegal hotel on the block, made a sudden, illegal U-turn, coming right up onto the sidewalk scaring the daylights out of us and ramming into the side of a youngish tree, scraping a bunch of bark off of it.

I started to give them the what for ... and [the delivery people] were dismissive, laughing, rude etc. I called 311, who said because it was an issue of reckless driving, transferred me to 911.

By the time the cops got there, of course, the jerks had left. The cops said because they didn’t see it they couldn’t do anything about it. With the spike of pedestrian deaths owing to out-of-control drivers in NYC, I will file a complaint with the Department of Transportation.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo of Caravan of Dreams on East 6th Street by Fallopia Tuba]

2 people injured in a fire at the Lillian Wald Houses this morning (DNAinfo)

A section of Delancey Street now co-named Dashane Santana Way (The Lo-Down)

The Fringe Festival returns (The New York Times)

When a car nearly wiped out Yonah Schimmel's in 1970 (BoweryBoogie)

Christo and Dora watching at Tompkins Square Park with Goggla (The Villager)

Community garden tour in the East Village (Off the Grid)

About the new executive director of the Third Street Music School Settlement (Crain's New York)

And there is a campaign underway to save the Subway Inn from the wrecking ball (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

A story of neighborhood heroism, 1960 edition

Anyone remember Pauline's bar and grill on First Avenue near East Seventh Street?

Thanks to EVG Twitter friend @RTSNYC for this find from The New York Times on June 7, 1960.

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street is on the mend!

In recent days/weeks we've had several Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street sightings … while she is wearing some kind of protective paw thing. (Not the technical term!)

So we reached out to Kita's owners for a report.

"She is still recovering from a torn tendon that happened during the brutal icy winter. She's been treated by a variety of local and non-local vets to varying degrees of success. Now she travels to Long Island every Thursday morning with a fabulous vet who apparently has a national reputation for diagnosing the undiagnosible."

The poor dear! What is the prognosis?

"By all accounts, including hers, Kita is on the mend. She avoided having to need surgery. She's looking forward to being able to chase tennis balls in Tompkins Square Park and East River Park very soon."

On the next episode, Kita responds to the commenter who writes, 'If you don't like torn tendons, then move to … '"

Previously on EV Grieve:
Meet Kita

The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

The further (often truly) amazing adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Happy holidays from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street has her first ever annual checkup

Holiday greetings from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Summer greetings from Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

The documentary that captured the Bowery's high-end restaurant transformation

In case you haven't seen it, the 2005 documentary "Bowery Dish," which chronicles the Bowery's transformation from skid row to high-end restaurant row, airs tonight at 10 on Channel 13/WNET.



The director, Kevin R. Frech, is a 20-plus year resident of the East Village. He filmed between 1999-2004, after noticing that more restaurants were popping up on the Bowery. He wanted to document the changes.

The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and later aired on the Sundance Channel.

With the arrival of even bigger bold-face-named restaurateurs such as Keith McNally (Pulino's then Cherche Midi) and Daniel Boulud (DBGB), we asked Frech about what has transpired on the Bowery since the film's release.

Did you ever anticipate that the Bowery would continue to transform to such a degree as it has in 2014? Seems like a sequel is in order!

Yes, I really want to make a sequel — follow some of the camera angles from the original to show what dramatic changes have happened lately. When I set out to make the film, I could see the street was about to undergo radical change, but I was amazed at how fast it happened.

While I knew it would continue after the film was completed, I had no idea how much further it would go. Keith McNally, the New Museum, all of the high-rises and galleries. Meanwhile the flophouses are mostly gone, the Salvation Army is gone, and only the Bowery Mission remains from the rougher days of the old Bowery.

Honey House, now serving coffee on East 11th Street

A new coffee shop opened this week at 334 E. 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The place is so new, there isn't a sign yet outside.

EVG reader Jake Seliger stopped by Honey House yesterday, and shared these photos with us. His take?

"The space is small — somewhere between Abraço and Third Rail — but has a few seats," he reported. "They're supposed to get pastries in the next couple days."

EVG reader Russ also stumbled by the place, and liked the vibe. The owner, who previously ran the clothing boutique at this location, was hanging LP covers on the wall. He will eventually bring in a record player to listen to the vinyl.




[Photo by EVG reader Russ]

Buy this skinny East 13th Street building alone — or with 3 other NYC properties

The building at 216 E. 13th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue is now on the market. The 9-studio walk-up is asking $4 million.

Or! The four-floor building can be paired with three other properties from other neighborhoods. In total, the portfolio has 53 apartments (plus two retail spaces) with an asking price of $23.5 million. (All cash.)

A PDF with the property descriptions is here.

Catch some solar flares on the Lower East Side

EVG Twitter friend ‏@travishuggett shared this with us from earlier today...

"I watched a woman ride her bike up to the corner of Broome and Orchard, strap this can to a light post, and ride off. I looked inside and there is a tiny video screen playing footage of what I think are solar flares on the surface of the sun. It's weird. I love it."

Anyone happen to spot any of these solar-flare cans around?

Updated 8/8

Ah, thanks. The video installations are the work of Nora Breen.

The Dusty Rebel has documented more of them here.