EVG Etc.: Long live St Mark's Place; this is radio Clash

Sky view from 2nd and A 

Local stories of interest from other sources this past week include... 

• 100 immigrants arrested in week 1 of ICE raids (The City) 

• At St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, rallying against the new federal directive that strips longstanding protections from immigrant New Yorkers (amNY)

• AG James says NY hospitals — including NYU Langone Health and the Mount Sinai Hospital System — must continue offering gender-affirming care to minors (The Associated Press ... City & State ... CBS News) 

• Cooper Union wins legal fight over the Chrysler Building (Gothamist) 

• NYCHA residents can apply for grants to fund resident-led community projects that promote a healthy environment (City Limits)

• Mayor Adams does not feel the need, the need for speed for NYC bike lanes (Streetsblog)

• Various folks — Lucy Sante, Tish and Snooky, Danny Orlin, Ada Calhoun, Jason Diamond, Barbara Sibley, (and EVG!) — talk about the past and present of St. Mark's Place (Punch)

• Opening Saturday at the Hole on the Bowery: tinyvices archive 20th-anniversary exhibition (Official site) 

• Thoughts on "Discrimi-NATION: Guerrilla Girls on Bias, Money, and Art," the mini-retrospective of posters by the Guerrilla Girls currently at Hannah Traore Gallery on Orchard Street (Hyperallergic) 

• Tickets remain for the David Lynch series at Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street (Offical site) 

• Checking out the Tex-Mex at Wayne & Sons on Second Avenue (Eater ... previously on EVG) 

• Inside Bar Kabawa, a Caribbean spot in Extra Place via team Momofuku (Robb Report ... previously on EVG)

Today (Feb. 7!) is the annual International Clash Day 2025 on KEXP. Stream it online here.

EVG Etc.: Election Day the day after

Sunrise from 3rd and A today

• Where Donald Trump's policies are likely to affect New Yorkers (Gothamist)

• How Trump's mass deportations and tariffs would impact NYC's economy (The City) 

• Mayor Adams vows to fight for rights of New Yorkers after Trump election victory (ABC 7) 

• Adams was way off the political radar last night (Politico) 

• How your NYC neighbors voted in the election (The City) 

• NYC voters approve most local ballot measures (CBS News) ... Voters approved four of the mayor's five ballot proposals in a blow to City Council (Politico) 

• NYCHA tenants, including at the Riis Houses on Avenue D, sue the city, saying the agency does not disclose hazards such as lead and rats (Gothamist) 

• Village Preservation study finds high housing growth policies like "City of Yes" tend to make neighborhoods more white (PDF here)

• ICYMI: SNL spoofs EV resident and Assembly Member Harvey Epstein (City & State ... NBC)

• A curbside dining farewell tour (The New Yorker) 

• Book Club Bar turns 5 on Saturday (Official site... previously on EVG) 

• How Frank Kabatas, the owner of East Village Pizza, spends his Sundays (The New York Times)

• East Village well-represented in the best-coffee-in-NYC listicle (Eater) 

• A listicle of the East Village's best restaurants (The Infatuation) 

• Elbow Bread now open on Canal and Division (The Infatuation)

• The Berlin-founded Cabin Gallery debuts on Henry Street (artnet) 

• An Insomnia film series includes "Taxi Driver" and "Fight Club" (Metrograph)

The 24-floor building rising on 14th and C appears to be one-third of the way home

The new 24-floor residential building on the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue C is rising quickly, and workers appear to be already on the eighth floor.

The 234-foot-tall building, going as 14+C, will include 197 residential units, "a state-of-the-art fitness room," a yoga studio, and a rooftop deck. Information about the number of "affordable" units included in 14+C, one of the stipulations for being allowed to build a more extensive (by nine floors) building, has not been made public. 

Madison Square Realty is the third owner of the long-empty lot (since 2009) in the past eight years. Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020. Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 from Brooklyn's Rabsky Group for $23 million. 

Plans for a 15-floor mixed-use building had already been approved, though no affordable units were attached to that version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing. Plans for the larger development were first unveiled in June 2022. 

The plywood rendering lists a February 2026 completion date. 

The status of 642 E. 14th St. next door seems to be in limbo. In July, the owner of No. 642 filed plans to demolish the currently vacant pre-war building. According to Crain's New York, Jeremy Lebewohl, owner of the Second Avenue Deli, filed the paperwork with the Department of Buildings (DOB) on July 10. 

Last November, as we first reported, No. 642's residents — many in rent-stabilized units — were abruptly vacated after excavation next door destabilized the building. 

According to the Department of Buildings, "Structural stability of building compromised due to construction operations at 644 E. 14th Street. Heavy cracks in the exterior and interior in addition to separation noted at door frames and floor from wall..." 

Lebewohl's attorney, Adam Leitman Bailey, told Crain's that "multiple engineers have now said the building is dangerous and needs to be torn down entirely." 

According to a spokesperson in July, the DOB was reviewing the application but had yet to issue an emergency demolition order for the property, per Crain's. 

As of Friday, the request for a demolition permit remained "on hold," per DOB records. 

EVG Etc.: Broken mailboxes at the Riis Houses; Erewhon-like smoothies at East Village Organic

Reader-submitted photo from along 7th Street 

• NYCHA mailboxes vandalized and broken for months at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D without fixes (PIX11) 

• ICYMI: Cancer-causing chemicals still lurk under the Jacob Riis Houses 19 years after detection (The City)

• A last-ditch effort to stop Beth Israel closure (Gothamist)

• Mayor Adams on his low-profile DNC trip (City & State) 

• State greenlights NYC evicting more migrant families from shelters (The City) 

• The Sun Shy Spa on Sixth Street near Second Avenue accused of being a brothel (The Post) 

• East Village Organic on First Avenue is selling a similar "Coconut Cloud Smoothie" as those from Erewhon Market, the L.A.-based grocery chain (Gothamist) 

• How those Olympic muffins made their way to the East Village (Gothamist... previously on EVG) 

• About Odre, a new Korean restaurant from Hand Hospitality at 199 Second Ave. near 13th Street (Eater) 

• Props for Bungalow, the newish Indian restaurant at 24 First Ave. (The New York Times ... previously on EVG) 

• Writers, poets, musicians, et al, wanted for the open mic Saturday from 2-5 p.m. at 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden (Instagram link) 

• "Good One" is one of the best movies of the year — EVG ... Saturday's 7:30 p.m. screening includes a post Q&A with director India Donaldson (Village East by Angelika, 12th and 2nd)

 

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The new 24-story residential building on 14th and C begins its ascent

Construction is ascending on 642 E. 14th St., the new 24-story building along the eastern border of the East Village at Avenue C. 

The structure now stands several floors above the corner plywood...

The 234-foot-tall building, going as 14+C, will include 197 residential units, "a state-of-the-art fitness room," a yoga studio, and a rooftop deck. Information about the number of "affordable" units included in 14+C, one of the stipulations for being allowed to build a larger (by nine floors) building, has not been made public. 

Madison Square Realty is the third owner of the long-empty lot (since 2009) in the past eight years. Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020. Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 from Brooklyn's Rabsky Group for $23 million. 

Plans for a 15-floor mixed-use building had already been approved, though no affordable units were attached to that version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing. Plans for the larger development were first unveiled in June 2022. 

The plywood rendering lists a February 2026 completion date.

Meanwhile, there is no word on the status of 642 E. 14th St. next door. The new development extends to the third floor of the five-story tenement. 

Last month, the owner of 642 E. 14th St. filed plans to demolish the currently vacant pre-war building.

Per Crain's New York, Jeremy Lebewohl, owner of the Second Avenue Deli, filed the paperwork with the Department of Buildings (DOB) on July 10. 

Last November, as we first reported, 642's residents — many of them in rent-stabilized units — were abruptly vacated after ongoing excavation next door destabilized the building. 

According to the Department of Buildings at the time, "Structural stability of building compromised due to construction operations taking place at 644 E. 14th Street. Heavy cracks in the exterior and interior in addition to separation noted at door frames and floor from wall..." 

Lebewohl's attorney, Adam Leitman Bailey, told Crain's that "multiple engineers have now said the building is dangerous and needs to be torn down entirely." 

According to a spokesperson last month, the DOB was reviewing the application but had not issued an emergency demolition order for the property, per Crain's. 

As of yesterday, the request for a demolition permit was "on hold," per DOB records. 

The rendering, which does not seem to scale with the surrounding structures, shows No. 642 still in place...

A look at the ongoing renovations at First Houses

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

We've fielded several queries about the extensive renovations at the city-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street, both in the residences and above the strip of retail spaces.

For starters, a little history of the eight four-story and five-story buildings with the residential entrances on the south side of Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. First Houses was the first publicly funded low-income housing project in the U.S., opening in December 1935 under the auspices of the just-created New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). 

Per Village Preservation: 

First Houses was originally planned to house 120 to 122 families, and all apartments had steam heat, hot water and were equipped with the modern amenities typically found in middle-class housing. Within two months of opening a rental office for the project, the Housing Authority received between 3,000 and 4,000 applications. Prospective tenants were carefully selected by a team of social workers, with preference given to the inhabitants of the worst slums and relatively small families. All but one of the families chosen were residents of the Lower East Side. 

First Houses became a NYC Landmark in 1974. 

In recent decades, the buildings have shown their age, revealing ongoing bureaucracy issues plaguing the NYCHA.

In 2011, City Limits documented many of the residents' issues here. There were stories of mice eating their way through the worn floorboards and a resident battling the NYCHA for 15 years over a persistent leak. 

Fast forward to the start of the renovations last year. According to an architect working on the $24.8-million roofing replacement and exterior restoration:

[The] project is for restorative work throughout all of the facades of buildings within the complex, including rebuilding brick parapets in kind, repointing masonry and replacing brickwork, precast coping stones and metal lintels. 

Entrance porticos will be temporarily removed to allow for the replacement or restoration of green-painted cast iron columns and railings. Work on porticos includes the replacement of portico copper roofs, copper cornices, new concrete entrance stairs, landings, and footings, and replacement of nearby concrete or asphalt pavers pathways. Roofs of all buildings will be replaced with new liquid-applied roofing membrane over new insulation. 

In addition, the construction site manager told us: "We are replacing the roof and doing masonry restoration. We've also started on the interior work, which includes drywalling and lead and asbestos removal." 

Here's a look around the complex earlier this summer...

As you may have noticed, many tenants have moved out, including the local folk hero known as The Chillmaster, known for blasting classic R&B from his open window (year-round).

Local Assemblymember Harvey Epstein told us that tenants were temporarily relocated to other complexes, including the Jacob Riis Houses and the Wald Houses, and some public housing further away from the Lower East Side. 

Epstein said that all tenants can return to the First Houses upon completion of the work, set for 2025, per the posted signage.

A visit to Groove Garden, a community music studio on Avenue C

Photos and story by Stacie Joy 

You can't miss the brightly painted, all-green slender storefront at 89 Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

I paused to admire the façade before heading inside to talk to musician and songwriter Rob Taube, owner of community music studio Groove Garden.

He's surrounded by kids, all participating in the Song Camp program. Some are tucked into the sound booth, a couple at the drum kits, and even more crowded around a mic. 

It's a hot, swampy summer day, but the energy in the small space is contagious. I took a few photos and waited until the recording session ended before chatting with Rob about what brought him to this location, his passion for music, and why he loves the neighborhood.

On his start as a music teacher: 

Somewhere in the 2010s, I decided to take on a few music students and produce some recordings to help make ends meet. I had no idea what the resulting influx would be, and soon, I had more students and musical clients than I could handle in our tiny apartment, which was now constantly overflowing with players and singers. 

On finding a home for Groove Garden: 

Funds were tight, but the NYCHA rental guy guided me to this small space tucked between two brick buildings on Avenue C. It was naturally soundproofed due to the bricks, and it had an old closet space in the back with some odd pieces of wood and junk in it, which I immediately saw as a potential sound booth. It was kind of an "if you build it, they will come" moment. 

And over the last seven years, they have come to take music lessons, write and record songs, rap, and jam — so much so that it's hard to keep up. I'm not here 24/7, but I am more like 12/7, teaching them, recording them, and performing with them live and on their tracks. 

On spreading the word about his business: 

100% of my business comes from word-of-mouth or from people who walk by and say, "What is this place?" So often, they are creative artists who need a place to create, and the fact that I'm right here in a storefront makes the whole process so accessible they actually can wind up with their stuff out there in the world when otherwise it would have died in the vine as they went about their lives. 

On being in this neighborhood:

For me, this could only happen in the East Village, where there is such a crazy quilt of businesses and characters that someone like me, who has lived as an outsider, can thrive.

Even when I lived elsewhere, I loved this neighborhood for its eccentric characters, and now I'm one of them — how amazing is that?

 

You can hear some of the finished products from the studio at this link... and this link.

Visit the Groove Garden website here.

Report: East Village building owner plans demolition amid ongoing controversy and litigation

The owner of 642 E. 14th St. has filed plans to demolish the currently vacant five-story pre-war building next to the construction site on Avenue C, according to media reports and public records.

As Crain's New York first reported, Jeremy Lebewohl, owner of the Second Avenue Deli, filed the paperwork with the Department of Buildings (DOB) last Wednesday.

On Nov. 28, as we first reported, 642's residents — many of them in rent-stabilized units — were abruptly vacated after ongoing excavation on a Madison Reality Capital-owned 24-story development next door on the SW corner of Avenue C destabilized building. 

From the Department of Buildings at the time: "Structural stability of building compromised due to construction operations taking place at 644 E. 14th Street. Heavy cracks in the exterior and interior in addition to separation noted at door frames and floor from wall..."

 

Lebewohl's attorney, Adam Leitman Bailey, told Crain's that "multiple engineers have now said the building is dangerous and needs to be torn down entirely."

According to a spokesperson, the DOB is reviewing the application but has not issued an emergency demolition order for the property, per Crain's.

With the help of Mobilization for Justice and Take Root Justice, several tenants filed an HP Action against Lebewohl and had their first court appearance on Feb. 9. They allege that Lebewohl, who has owned No. 642 since 1984, was aware of the building's structural issues but never took any action to make repairs. 

Paul Messick, an attorney for the tenants, told Crain's that the ongoing litigation should prevent the demolition from taking place. Lebewohl's attorney disputed this claim, saying that the structure was damaged beyond repair.

Meanwhile, next door at the construction site, the work that was temporarily halted in late November and limited to shoring up 642's foundation has been picking up pace in recent months. The first sight of concrete reinforcing bars is (barely) visible above the plywood.

Madison Square Realty is the third owner of the long-empty lot (since 2009) in the past eight years. Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020. Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 from Brooklyn's Rabsky Group for $23 million. Plans for the latest development were first unveiled in June 2022. 

The 24-story, 234-foot-tall building will be known as 14+C and include 197 residential units. There is no word on how many "affordable" units will be included in 14+C, one of the stipulations for being allowed to build a larger (by nine floors) building. (The Rendering below is via Fischer + Makooi Architects.)

There were already approved plans for a 15-floor mixed-use building, though no affordable units were attached to that version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Residents ordered to vacate after excavation next door destabilized this 14th Street building 

• Displaced 14th Street tenants seek support after city orders them to vacate their building 

• Crowdfunding help for the residents displaced by Madison Reality Capital construction on 14th Street

EVG Etc.: NYPL funding restored; gunshots or fireworks?

Photo Monday from Avenue A and St. Mark's Place 

• Advocates and lawmakers frustrated by late City Hall report on homeless encampment sweeps (City Limits... previously on EVG) 

• A woman was killed in a hit-and-run on the FDR Drive near East Houston (CBS 2) ... Family blames construction signage from the East Side Resiliency Project for the fatal hit-and-run (Daily News) 

• NYCHA steps up evictions on tenants (The City) 

• Where top New York politicians stand on Gov. Hochul's congestion pricing pause (New York Focus)  ... 7 Years, $700M wasted: The 'stunning collapse' of congestion pricing (The Wall Street Journal, sub required) 

• Nearly united City Council votes 46 to 3 to approve fiscal year 2025 budget (City and State) ... NYPL funding restored amid threats from the Mayor's budget cuts (NY1 ... CNN) 

• A housing lottery launched this week for 196 affordable apartments in a new rental building on the Lower East Side — 165 Broome St. (6sqft) 

• And the EV/LES lags in affordable housing options (City Limits) 

• The city accuses the owner of Gelatoville on First Avenue and 10th Street of allegedly running illegal short-term rentals (Crain's ... W42st. ... City of New York) 

• Lucy Sante remembers James Chance (The Baffler... previously on EVG)

• Lyft has jacked up the price for bike-share members to ride pedal-assist electric bikes for a second time this year (Streetsblog) 

• A review of Spice Brothers on St. Mark's Place. Pete Wells says it's "a showcase for the power of cinnamon, turmeric and other flavors of the Middle East." (The New York Times) 

• Tompkins Square Bagels opening an Upper East Side outpost (Patch) 

• An expanded Pier 42 reopens along the East River (PIX 11 ... official press release)

• In case you want to watch the Macy's 4th of July fireworks on the WEST side (West Side Rag ... NBC 4) 

• Helpful: Were those fireworks or gunshots?????? (Gothamist) 

• How to keep your dog calm during fireworks shows (Axios) 

• A Denys Arcand crime trilogy (Anthology Film Archives)

• On July 5, catch an interactive screening of kitschy classic "Piranha" in the company of Hedda Lettuce (Village East by Angelika)

EVG Etc.: Report: NYCHA mishandled Riis Houses arsenic crisis; Beth Israel patient care lagging

Morning view of Astor Place

• Watchdog report: The NYCHA bungled its response to concerns about the water at the Jacob Riis Houses two years ago (Gothamist) ... NYCHA failures led to panic over nonexistent arsenic (The City) 

• 19-year-old Riis House resident on Avenue D arrested for alleged role in killing 16-year-old Mahki Brown in Soho (The Post)

• With Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital winding down to close, patient care suffers (The New York Times)

• Human service professionals discuss what's needed to reduce homelessness in NYC (NY1) 

• Harvey Epstein to run for City Council District 2, currently represented by the term-limited Carlina Rivera (City & State)

• E-bike shops are blowing off the city ban on unsafe batteries (The City) 

• Police arrest man who has allegedly been menacing neighbors for years along Avenue C (The Post) 

• The red-tailed chicks are GROWING in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography) 

 • Lower East Side History Month continues (Official site)

• Pastrogi: When you merge Katz's Deli pastrami and Veselka pierogi (1010 WINS)

• New single by Scottish alt-rock band Travis pays tribute to the now-closed Black & White on 10th Street (Billboard ... previously on EVG)

• A feature on East Village Pizza at 145 First Ave. (NBC 4) 

• Sietsema checks out the boba pancakes and Japanese souffles at Little Uluh on 14th Street (Eater) 

• Revisiting the sincere glamour of Candy Darling (Document Journal) 

• Out of the shadows! See "The Third Man" on the big screen on Monday (Village East by Angelika) 

• And a month-long trip back to the 1980s started yesterday at the Film Forum on West Houston (details)

 

EVG Etc.: NYPD arrests 56 in clearing NYU and New School protest encampments; Knickerbocker Village sells for $85 million

Sky view from St. Mark's Place 

• The NYPD clears protestors at NYU and The New School; 56 arrested (NBC News ... ABC News ... ABC 7 ... The Guardian) 

• Mayor Adams and top NYPD officials continued to blame "outside agitators" for the campus protests (The City) 

• The number of homeless New Yorkers moving into city public housing under the Adams administration has dropped to the lowest number in a decade (Gothamist) 

• Multiple NYCHA buildings going under renovation, part of the agency's PACT/RAD program, which converts Section 9 public housing into Section 8 housing operated by private landlords (Arch Paper)

• L+M buys Knickerbocker Village for $85 million (The Real Deal) 

• Assemblymember Harvey Epstein unveils pilot program legalizing basement apartments (NY1) 

• Cafe Mogador on St. Mark's Place — same as it ever was (Grub Street) 

• A new book celebrates Lee Quiñones, subway graffiti pioneer (Vanity Fair) 

• "NYC 2000-2005" at WHAMM! on Elizabeth Street features the photos of Alain Levitt (PAPER) 

• What your NYC tourist recommendations really say about you (McSweeney's) 

• Eva's Kitchen, an all-day cafe, debuts on Grand Street (The Lo-Down) 

• A collection of rarely seen work by Marguerite Duras (Anthology Film Archives) 

• Classics coming to Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue and 12th Street include "The Third Man" and "Metropolis" (Official site) 

• The new shop on Canal called Fugazi has nothing to do with the band (Brooklyn Vegan) 

• Diversions: About the new reality fashion series featuring (former EV resident) Julia Fox (Variety)

Reader report: Alphabet Grocery hasn't been open lately

The gates have been down at Alphabet Grocery on the NW corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street for the past week. 

An EVG reader noted that the corner market changed a few weeks back and "looked more like a grocery store." They also stopped selling lottery tickets. 

There isn't any signage about a kind of closure, temporary or otherwise.

The shop is in a building owned by the NYCHA.

Petopia reopens today (Tuesday!)

Photos by Stacie Joy

Petopia reopens today (11 a.m.!) at 29 Avenue A at Second Street ... 

The shop had been closed since late summer after work on the building caused a ceiling collapse.

Workers have been doing roofing and façade-repair work in the NYCHA-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

Spiritualized: End of days for High Vibe on 3rd Street; 'I would like to stay open!'

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The end is near for High Vibe after 30 years at 138 E. Third St. Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Robert "Bobby" Dagger, owner of the health/natural foods and goods store, plans to close on Dec. 31 after a rent hike courtesy of the landlord, the NYCHA, and an underwhelming response to a crowdfunding campaign. 

Everything is marked to go inside the small, comfortable shop...

Dagger said that he owns $40,000 in rent to NYCHA. The lease was up in October, and the business has been running month-to-month. 

He tried local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office, though that didn't lead to anything. "They were nice but didn’t provide any help," he said. 

So now what? 

"If I got $40,000, I can stay open. I would like to stay open! NYCHA raised my rent during COVID and only gave me three months of concession," Dagger said. "NYCHA doesn't care about small businesses. For 30 years, I paid taxes here. We're a link in the chain here, keeping America alive. I'm all for immigrants, but what about us? We're paying taxes for these people."

The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for now... and they may shut down before Dec. 31. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• A visit to High Vibe on 3rd Street

• High Vibe looking for some help to continue spreading the love

Residents ordered to vacate after excavation next door destabilized this 14th Street building

Photos from yesterday morning

The city has issued a Full Vacate Order for 642 E. 14th St. after ongoing excavation work on a 24-floor development next door at the NW corner of Avenue C destabilized the building, according to city records. 

From the Department of Buildings: 

Structural stability of building compromised due to construction operations taking place at 644 E. 14th Street. Heavy cracks in the exterior and interior in addition to separation noted at door frames and floor from wall...

The development, owned by Madison Reality Capital, is expected to yield 197 apartments — a percentage said to be affordable housing — plus retail space and a community facility. 

A few residents of 642 E. 14th St., said to be the property of Second Avenue Deli owner Jeremy Lebewohl, told EVG that city officials put in the directive to leave at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

 

"Some folks wanted to stay. By the end of the night, I believe it was mandatory that everyone be out of the building," said one resident who has lived there for more than two years. "We packed what we could in about 30 minutes and cleaned up just in case." 

The American Red Cross is housing the residents at a Chinatown hotel, though just through Sunday. After that, the residents don't know where they are supposed to live. 

"We were only able to bring what we could carry. We have no idea when we will be able to access our building or our belongings again, if ever," the resident said. 

A Partial Stop Work Order on the site allows crews to perform dewatering operations to prevent further destabilization. An emergency construction fence is expected to be erected outside No. 642, a 5-story building with 18 units, per Streeteasy. (One resident said there were 16 residences.) 

Meanwhile, per city documents, DOB engineers are monitoring the site daily.

There have been concerns about what excavation work on the lot might do to the adjacent buildings on 14th Street. This corner property last housed the single-level R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

As previously reported, Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020. Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 from Brooklyn's Rabsky Group for $23 million. 

There were approved plans here for a 15-floor mixed-use building, though there weren't any affordable units attached to this version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing.

In the spring of 2022, the NYCHA and Madison Realty Capital filed documents seeking a non-ULURP modification — known as an LSRD — to the development plan. 

One group of locals started a Facebook group in June 2022 to help notify residents of the ongoing plans at No. 644.

"While we are all for the development of that corner ... and the affordable housing element of the plans, we are not happy with the sheer size of the footprint and the excessive height that goes along with the proposal," one of the organizers told EVG at the time. "We believe it will have countless negative effects on the local community and is out of place in this neighborhood. One major, immediate concern is that they have done little outreach and have kept plans for the project very quiet, which seems to be an obvious strategy to avoid any scrutiny from the local public."

Before a presentation in May 2022 before Community Board 3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee, Tenants Taking Control, a group of 100-plus long-term tenants in 15 East Village buildings owned by Madison Realty Capital spoke out against the plans.

In a "warning letter" to CB3 members and other local elected officials, the group, which has had Madison Realty Capital as a landlord since 2017, alleged: "We believe from first-hand experience that they disregard East Village tenant and community needs for their own financial benefit."

In June 2022, Community Board 3 signed off on the plan, which was expected to generate $19.5 million for the NYCHA, to be exclusively used at the adjacent Campos Plaza II for capital repairs and other programmatic needs as determined by a community planning process involving NYCHA and the residents of Campos Plaza II.

The current plans for 644 show a 234-foot-tall building with 197 apartments known as 14+C, according to the Fischer + Makooi Architects website.  

In January 2019, the Commercial Observer reported that Jeremy Lebewohl filed a $10 million lawsuit against Opal Holdings alleging that No. 642 sustained damages by the foundation work next door at No. 644 during a previous iteration of the project.

The suit claimed that Opal tried to cut costs on the project by driving piles for the foundation too close to Lebewohl's building, which led to the damages. (It's not immediately known what happened to the suit.)

According to DOB records, complaints about work on the corner lot date back to June 2017, when someone reported, "The building is shaking when the construction workers at the site are pile driving." An April 2018 complaint noted a "cracked exterior" in the building.

And from a February 2023 complaint in public records:

What is compromising the building's integrity: There is construction planned to start next door at 644 E 14 Street, and it is suspected that this cracked the facade at 642. There is further construction planned and it is likely to cause further structural damage. The tenants are also very concerned about the damage that can't be seen: namely the structural integrity of the building. The location of the structural instability: Cracks are largely on the east side of the building. The location of the crack or gap and whether it is horizontal or vertical: There are diagonal cracks on the side of the building.

However, DOB records show that an inspector "observed no visible cracks or structural defect on exterior facade."

The resident of two years said, "We absolutely had concerns — the drywall in our buildings was significantly cracked, and walls were beginning to separate from the floor. We shared it with management but probably should've followed up more."

Another resident, who also lived in 642 for two-plus years, told us: "We would constantly feel our building shake. I know from a few other tenants that we were all very concerned. I submitted information to 311, and they came to our apartment three times from September to November. Finally, on Tuesday, they told us we had to vacate."

The residents we spoke with hadn't heard anything as of yesterday from 642's management company — aside from suggesting they contact the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for shelter services.

While the resident we talked with said they had access to resources, that wasn't likely the case for all of 642's tenants.

"It's shameful that so many families were put out for a 'luxury building' with what seems like very little empathy," the first resident said.