• 219 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street. A fire broke out in the rear of the storefront this afternoon here that houses Revision Lounge. (Thanks to EVG reader @MerMerJ for the photos!)
According to Patch, about 12 units and more than 60 firefighters responded to the scene, where they had it under control in 45 minutes. One firefighter reportedly suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Updated:
It's bad. The patio is destroyed and the back of the lounge has major damage. No one in building was hurt. Smoke is dissipating. Power is back on.
Gov. Cuomo announced today that the 15-month L-train shutdown that was to start in April to repair Sandy-damaged tubes is no longer necessary.
During an early-afternoon press conference, Cuomo, joined by a team of Cuomo-appointed tunnel experts (engineering academics with unknown insights into MTA project management), unveiled a new renovation method using a different design for repairs that would require night and weekend closures of one tube at a time.
"It uses many new innovations that are new, frankly, to the rail industry in this country ... With this design, it will not be necessary to close the L train tunnel at all, which would be a phenomenal benefit to the people of New York City," he said.
Cuomo said he does not believe this design has been used in the United States before, though it has been implemented in Europe.
The governor said that commuters should not worry about the integrity of the tunnel: Major structural elements were not compromised. The MTA needs to fix the circuit breaker house and power cables that were damaged after the tubes flooded and were therefore exposed to salt water.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials spent years weighing repair options, including shutting down one track at a time to maintain some service between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
In 2016, they opted for a full shutdown, reasoning that it could be completed in half the time and at less expense than a partial shutdown. Initially, they said that a full shutdown would be needed for 18 months, but that timeline was later shortened to 15 months.
Judlau Contracting Inc., which won a $477 million contract to repair the tunnel, was offered incentives to finish the work ahead of schedule and penalties of $400,000 for every day beyond the deadline that the project was delayed.
Mr. Cuomo’s decision to alter the project raises questions about how the contractor can now finish the work on time. It also raises questions about contingency plans that were being put in place by the MTA and New York City following years of planning.
The L-train prep work started in July 2017 on 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue B. This past summer, residents learned that this corridor was not only the main construction zone leading up to the L-train closure, but also during the 15 months the MTA expected the trains to be offline between Bedford Avenue and Eight Avenue.
Meanwhile, some quickie reaction via Twitter...
My hot take is that I have no idea if this is a better L-tunnel plan than what was supposed to happen. Obviously needs a lot of dissection. What I do know is that Cuomo took interest in this far later than he should have.
Now riders will be majorly inconvenienced for 3-5 years instead of 15 months of a total shutdown...#Cuomo plan very light on details except that it's a "breakthrough"
Cuomo halting the L train shut down at this point is like when you've finally adjusted to life after being dumped and you feel fine in your new life and then they text you "I've been thinking a lot about you." https://t.co/Thcyvn6Efx
Waiting until the last minute to cancel the L train shutdown -- after three years of anxiety, & a lot of uproot -- just to be hailed the hero, is the single most Cuomo thing possible https://t.co/7YBEFv2QUO
How much has it already cost New Yorkers to pay for L train shutdown preparations that now won't be needed? There are A LOT of questions that need to be answered.
Gay couple who live in the East Village say they were subject to hate-filled tirade by Uber driver; one passenger dragged along Fourth Street by car (NBC 4 ... New York Post ... Daily Mail)
Three top NYCHA executives lied about elevator inspections (Daily News)
Alleged shoplifter waves box cutter at Target employee on 14th and A (Town & Village)
[The Bowery Boys on Great Jones]
Spike Lee retrospective coming to the Metrograph on Ludlow (Gothamist)
A preview of Ravi DeRossi’s new vegan outpost on Seventh Street, Fire & Water (Grub Street)
Architects offer their opinions on the NYC of Amazon, "and it’s terrifying" (Fast Company)
Updated 9 p.m.
Robert Plotnik, the owner of Bleecker Bob’s, the Village record shop that was forced to close in 2013 after 46 tears in business, has died. He was 75.
The owner of Academy Records on 12th Street posted this remembrance...
The new Donut Pub on Broadway is now HIRING (Friday)
Mexican restaurant opening on 2nd Avenue called Savor Por Favor (Monday)
Cocoa Grinder bringing coffee and all-day breakfast to 1st Street (Tuesday)
NYPD light tower back in illuminating action on 2nd Avenue and 7th Street (Tuesday)
Mi Tea now serving up the cheese tea on St. Mark's Place (Monday)
210 1st Ave. is for sale; and a visit to Gena's Grill (Wednesday)
Pado in soft-open sushi mode on 2nd Avenue (Monday)
Gym moves: IG-Fit replaces Synergy on 14th Street (Monday)
And as Eden carefully documented Friday, someone on Fifth Street discarded a well-curated scrapbook of Leif Garrett clippings from the late 1970s when the actor-singer ruled the covers of teen-focused magazines (along with his contemporaries such as Shaun Cassidy, Willie Aames, Robby Benson, Rex Smith, Scott Baio and the Bay City Rollers)...
In any event, this is all Leif, all the time, showcasing his life and career to this point in seven parts...
Tree Bistro's back garden badly damaged in last week's 1st Avenue fire (Monday) ... Report: 188 1st Ave. survives fire; back extension must be demolished (Monday)
Coffee is in your future at this new café on 7th Street (Thursday)
... and on Tuesday, we reported that Tony (aka Abdul), the longtime owner of the deli at 123 Avenue A (and apparently the owner of the building) died... photographer Thomas Anomalous shared this photo of Tony on Instagram from September 2005...
Anomalous had moved away from the East Village in the early 2000s and returned several years later. As he wrote, in part, on Instagram:
Virtually no one remembered me, except for Abdul. He shook my hand warmly and said he had wondered what had happened to me many times over the years. I asked where everyone from the old days had gone. He said “There is no one left but you and I, my friend.”
District 2 City Council member Carlina Rivera's office posted this information this morning on the state of affairs after yesterday's six-alarm fire at 188 First Ave.
Our thoughts remain with the residents affected by yesterday's fire in the East Village. Though the incident centered on 188 First Ave, adjacent buildings were evacuated as well. The blaze was persistent, smoldering into Wednesday evening. We thank our brave first responders for their work yesterday and in the days to come: New York City Fire Department (FDNY), NYPD 9th Precinct, the American Red Cross in Greater New York, Con Edison, and NYC Environmental Protection.
INJURIES
Thankfully, no fatalities or life-threatening injuries.
TENANTS
188 First Avenue remains vacated until further notice.
186 First Avenue is cleared for re-occupancy today.
190 First Avenue is cleared for re-occupancy today.
Landlords or the Red Cross have relocated most residents to hotels. Agencies are doing their best to get tenants back in their homes. If you still require emergency housing assistance, call the Red Cross at (212) 875-2301.
SCHOOLS AFFECTED
PS 19, East Side Community High School, and Girls Prep are all re-opened. Thanks to principals and staff for jumping into action, and to parents and students for their patience.
BUSINESSES
All businesses can re-enter their premises except for those located at 188 First Avenue. If you have a business on the block affected by the incident, please reach out to NYC SBS at (212) 618-8810.
TRAFFIC
Aside from emergency vehicles placed on the east side of the block, vehicular traffic has resumed on First Ave. All side streets will re-open today.
OTHER NOTES
Madina Masjid has reopened on a normal schedule; FDNY will keep one mobile unit at the scene until further notice; Thanks to NYC Emergency Management, New York City Council Staff, NYC SBS, DOE, DOB, NYC Mayor's Office, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, state Senator Brad Hoylman and LES Ready - Long Term Recovery Group for their support; and special thanks to 14th Street Y for offering assistance from the get-go.
You can always call our office at 212-677-1077 with questions. We will continue to provide updates to residents and the community as needed.
Several readers/residents asked about any crowdfunding campaigns for the displaced residents. I haven't heard of any just yet.
And these photos from today via Steven show some business on the block between 11th Street and 12th Street back open, including Atomic Wings...
To date, the majority of articles about the upcoming L-train repairs have focused on the transportation alternatives while the MTA upgrades the Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel.
The 15-month L-train shutdown between Bedford Avenue and Eighth Avenue begins in April 2019.
The MTA outlined the extensive work that will take place in a news release last year:
Demolition and reconstruction of approximately 60,000 linear feet of duct banks, 14,400 linear feet of track and track bed, 270,000 linear feet of cable ducts and associated cables, repair of 7,000 linear feet of concrete lining, and the installation of tunnel lighting and fire systems. The tunnel will be also be protected from future storms with resiliency measures including construction of resilient cables and ducts and the installation of a new discharge line.
Prior to the tunnel closure, extensive station work will be performed that will increase operational efficiency and improve accessibility and circulation. Station improvements at the 1 Av and Bedford Av L Subway stations will include new stairways, and four accessibility-compliant elevators and other work to improve customer flow.
Preliminary work started in the summer of 2017 on building new entrances at Avenue A and a new power station at Avenue B. Since then, 14th Street between First Avenue east to Avenue B has been an active construction zone with a variety of trucks, drill rigs, pile drivers, compressors and generators.
[Reader-submitted photo]
Meanwhile, 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is down to one lane of traffic in each direction.
This is a large — and noisy — project that has already taken its toll on nearby residents and businesses.
However, as some 14th Street residents recently discovered, as bad as it has been the past year, the construction is going to get a whole lot worse. A group of residents living at 542 E. 14th St. at Avenue B said that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main access point for the 24/7 delivery of new Canarsie Tunnel infrastructure as well as the portal for removing debris from the tube.
BoweryBoogie first reported on this development on Aug. 29. A resident speaking on behalf of tenants at No. 542 provided an update after a second meeting with officials on the construction on Sept. 6
Describe what you have been through with the L-train work to date.
Our first inkling that something was up was on Aug. 5, 2017 (a Saturday), when workers showed up and quietly dismantled the bus stop at the corner of 14th Street and Avenue B. There was no community announcement about a construction job about to begin at that location, no posted announcement about the bus stop removal.
Since that time, the project and site have been growing and growing — from Avenue B to First Avenue, on both the north and south sides of the street. The noise and pollution have made our building untenable. For almost a year, we've had on our block (14th between A and B) over 30 diesel machines (generators, four-story drills, compressors, bulldozers, backhoes, etc.) running six days a week, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
[Reader-submitted photo]
The noise has been astounding. We've regularly made recordings of decibel readings in the high 90s to 120 on many of the machines — way above DEP allowable levels. We've also reported diesel run off into the streets and gutters.
[Reader-submitted photo]
For as horrific as the scope of the project has been, it has continued to get worse in every respect.
While all this has been going on, a crucial, game-changing piece of paper was tacked up at the site on the corner of 14th and A: A permit issued by DEP to the MTA approving 24/7 work hours beginning May 2018 for a full year. Mr. Nirva Paul at the DEP signed off on this permit (below) without the DEP having responded to a single one of our scores of complaints, and with no community interaction whatsoever.
In our first meeting — not a publicly announced, town-hall meeting, but one organized for residents of 542 E. 14th St. with the MTA and Judlau Contracting, Inc. by Assemblymember Harvey Epstein — MTA and Judlau finally admitted ... that their diesel emissions are not being monitored, and their noise levels are not being monitored. We were told in that first meeting that they weren't monitoring diesel emissions because a) they weren't required to, and b) there is so much diesel in the air already, there's no point in monitoring it.
The refrain from the MTA for the Carnarsie Tunnel Project has always been a firm, frantic — "This has to be done!" As if we're in an emergency state of repair. This is a bullying technique of they use to cover their bad planning.
The fact is, Hurricane Sandy happened in 2012 and they've had six years to figure out the best way to do this work with minimal community impact. They are a state agency, and appear to be clueless about our how our neighborhood functions.
This work has already greatly affected the businesses on 14th Street between B and First Avenue. Several have already gone out of business due to severely limited access to their storefronts. Several (west of Avenue A) are suffering because their customer access now is only 28" of sidewalk space, not big enough for a wheelchair in spots.
What we learned in that first meeting was the MTA's plan to make that very spot, at 14th and A, the sole entry and exit point for all old tunnel materials and all new tunnel materials. Heretofore, they had told the public that the work on that corner was for the new stairways and elevator for the station.
The work that's being done — long ahead of the stairways and elevator — is to create entry and exit points for a constant (24/7) flow of yet more diesel trucks removing debris that contains asbestos and silica dust (you can learn about that on the MTA's very own YouTube channel).
Residents said that they have filed complaints with the MTA and the DEP. What has been their response?
We — at least five of us in our building alone — have made a steady flow of very specific, documented complaints about violations to the MTA and the DEP about noise, diesel pollution and traffic congestion. We've had zero response from either agency. The only responses we’ve been able to obtain have been verbally, during the two meetings we’ve had so far with them and the Assemblymember.
You said that MTA reps confirmed on Sept. 6 that the area between Avenue A and First Avenue will be the main staging area — 24/7 — during the reconstruction. Before this, were you aware of any public meetings to let community members know about the work?
There were public meetings, but none of them addressed what you mention, which is what leaked, we believe for the first time, during our first meeting with the MTA, Judlau and Assemblymember Epstein. You can check the records on that — no publicly released information mentioned the staging area or the 24/7 work.
The only work mentioned was installation of the underground power station at Avenue B, and the construction of the elevator and stairways down to the new station on either side of Avenue A. We know of no place this “main staging area” information was made public before now; if it was, it certainly is not known at all in the affected area.
What is your biggest concern about the work?
The fact that the MTA’s current plan is to truck out hundreds of tons of tunnel debris. Much of this debris is known to be contaminated with silica dust and asbestos as acknowledged by the MTA on its YouTube site.
The Avenue A access point 50 feet from a school and church. This debris will be carted out 24/7 for a year and a half, under tight deadlines and facing and with contractors facing stiff penalities for each day the deadline passes, through the streets of the East Village and Stuy Town.
On the delivery end, the MTA will be commandeering the service/access roads of Stuytown to deliver all the tunnel materials, again 24/7. With a very conservative estimate of 30 trucks a day, that is over 13,000 truck deliveries, with all the pollution, idling, beeping and noise coming into what will be some of the most heavily-trafficked blocks and street in the city.
The fact that we’re facing two years of diesel trucks lined up and idling, coming and going round the clock, in an already heavily congested area.
The fact that the neighborhood will very likely to become a parking area for idling diesel trucks, 24/7. This alone will create conditions even more untenable than those we’re already facing.
Why is this being done undercover, in such a shady fashion? The only answer to that is they know community response will be outrage once people have a chance to fully grasp what’s in store. Keeping it secret will allow them to get far enough into the project that there will, arguably, be no turning back. But the nightmare of the plan (and the congestion, not to mention the pollution), combined with their plan to use 14th Street for a substantially increased number of buses round the clock, will have a devastating effect on the area.
Now that we know the plan, we’re calling on all public officials for our district to come out against the plan, and for the Mayor and the Governor to put a moratorium on work until an independent auditor can be brought in to assess the impact of this plan on the community’s health and well-being, and to engage the community in this plan.
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Debris removal from this entry point on 14th Street is likely among the topics to be discussed this evening during a Town Hall on the L tunnel reconstruction project. The event takes place at Middle Collegiate Church, 112 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
We're seven months away from the scheduled L train shutdown. Join @CarlinaRivera and I, along with several other elected officials, for an East Side town hall featuring the latest updates from @NYCTSubway President Byford and @NYC_DOT Commissioner Trottenberg. Details below. pic.twitter.com/MOB9t6BJcX
Cars to give way to a bus-only corridor most hours on 14th Street during the L-train shutdown (Tuesday) Citi Bike will expand ahead of L-mageddon time (Thursday)
City Planning Commission OKs tech hub for Union Square (Thursday)
Judy talks about her apartment of 40 years (Thursday)
The new Westside Market on 3rd Avenue opens (Thursday)
Ippudo closed for renovations through July 17 (Monday)
In Tompkins Square Park, we lost a piano but gained, for now, a wicker vanity table (Tuesday)
The Neighbors move out early at First Street Green Art Park (Tuesday)
Cheers Cut has not been open lately on St. Mark's Place (Monday)
... workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 86 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue this past week ... which had been there since an apartment fire on Feb. 7. In case you forgot what the Black & White looked like...
... and the heatwave is drying up the perpetual puddle/pool at the M14 stop on Avenue A near Ninth Street...
