Report of a fire this afternoon at 91 E. 3rd St.

Photos by Felton Davis 

The FDNY responded to a report of a kitchen fire this afternoon around 2:30 at 91 E. Third St., just west of First Avenue...

Manhattan All Hands Box 0422, 91 E 3 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING A, APT 11-KITCHEN

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) September 13, 2023

The FDNY reported the small blaze under control in 10 minutes...

Manhattan All Hands Box 0422, 91 E 3 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING A, APT 11-KITCHEN, Under Control

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) September 13, 2023

Felton Davis, who lives on this block, said: "Congratulations to the FDNY for the speed with which they arrived and got this one under control... Many buildings, including ours, are over 100 years old, and it wouldn't take much for a fire to spread."

There isn't any word of the cause or extent of the damage. There weren't any reports of injuries.

Welcoming Beastie Boys Square to the Lower East Side

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

You can now officially call the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Beastie Boys Square on the Lower East Side.

On Saturday afternoon, the city unveiled the new street blade during a ceremony that included remarks from founding members Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. 

The two NYC natives seem humbled by the honor, and expressed their gratitude to the city for making them who they are today. (You can watch the ceremony via the Beastie Boys' YouTube account.)

"We could not have ever been what we have become without growing up in New York City and hearing all this incredible music, being around all this incredible art, being just around all these incredible people that's only in New York City," Mike D said.

"Thank you for teaching us what to look at, what to listen to, what to wear, how to love, how to live," Ad-Rock said before delivering the afternoon's best line. "It makes me really happy to know that some kid on the way to school 50 years from now is gonna look up and say, 'What the fuck is a Beastie Boy? Why do they get a square?'" 

The ceremony included a tribute to Adam "MCA" Yauch, who died of cancer in 2012. Said Mike D: "He was our brother on this amazing journey that we all got to go through." 

This corner played a starring role on the cover of the group's iconic 1989 album Paul's Boutique. LeRoy McCarthy had been behind this effort and kept with it even after Community Board 3 voted 24 to 1 to reject the Beastie Boys Square application in January 2014. CB3 also reportedly barred McCarthy from reapplying for the street naming for five years. 

McCarthy — sporting a "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" t-shirt on a fire escape above the ceremony — received props from the crowd...

Despite the swampy weather, people packed the corner for the event, which also commemorated 50 years of hip-hop. 

Here are a few scenes from the crowd...

... and the moment it became official...

   

You can read this post for more about the new mural here by Brooklyn-based artist Danielle Mastrion

Noted

As seen on the east side of Second Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. (Thanks Eden for the photo!) 

"The Floraissance Has Begun!" (background here) ... with additional messages with pleas to help keep this tree alive here outside the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church...

Get a little of the old Essex Card Shop at the new Essex Card Shop

Top photo by Stacie Joy

Essex Card Shop, 47 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street, recently unveiled some new merch in the form of an Essex Card Shop t-shirt ... in which owner Muhammad Aslam was happy to model for us.

The t-shirt ($24.99) features an illustration by Joel Holland showing the shop's signage when it was one block to the south at 39 Avenue A. (A local news site declared this "one of the neighborhood's greatest business signs.")

It's a quality t-shirt and an easy way to support the shop, which reopened last September after a devastating fire. 

And check out Joel Holland's book of classic NYC storefronts here.

Where to cool off when the heat is on

An Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect for NYC today ... with a triple-digit heat index expected. 

The city has its Cooling Centers open. You can find a list of sites at this link (you can narrow down the choices by zip code; many of the options are for seniors only).

 Local options include:

• Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Hamilton Fish Park Library, 415 E. Houston St. between Pitt and Columbia — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(The Tompkins Square branch remains closed for renovations.) 

Also listed among the cooling centers: The big new Petco on Union Square East. They are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Outdoor city pools will stay open for any hour later (to 8 p.m.!) today and tomorrow.

You could also go old school and open a hydrant... of course, that is ILLEGAL!

But! There is a legal way to go about this. Per an article of The City yesterday: 

You can put in a request to the Fire Department to open a hydrant. If it’s approved, a member of the fire department will come to fit the hydrant with a spray cap and return that same day to close it up. To request a spray cap fitting, go to your local firehouse and fill out a short form.

You can find your nearest firehouse on the 311 Firehouses page. You must be over 18 years old and bring your ID with you.

Full reveals: 650 E. 6th St.

Workers recently removed the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge from outside the all-new 650 E. Sixth St. just west of Avenue C.

According to the listing, this five-unit condoplex features residences with "a gorgeous jumbo reclaimed-brick facade, floor-to-ceiling casement windows, intelligently curated custom design elements, and steel balconies reminiscent of the neighboring steel pre-war fire escapes."

Streeteasy shows two available units — one for $1.995 million and another for $3.25 million. Two other homes are in contract in the mid $2.5-million range.

The four-story apartment building that previously stood here was demolished in early 2018... two years after the condoplex plans were initially revealed. 

No. 650 is the second residential reveal along here this summer... joining the all-new 699 E. Sixth St. on the NE corner of Avenue C.

That's Mr. Pizza to you

Photos by Steven

Coming-soon signage is up for a venture called Mr. Pizza at 186 First Ave. ...

This is the first business for the retail space since Handsome Dan's Snocone & Candy Stand closed here between 11th Street and 12th Street in September 2018. 

In early October 2018, a six-alarm fire next door at 188 First Ave. caused extensive damage to the surrounding properties ... and the residential spaces at No. 186 and No. 188 remain without tenants. 

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with more air-quality alerts from the Canadian wildfires)...

• Ink on A can use some help (Monday) 

• About the fire at 204 Avenue B (Friday)

• The latest distribution for asylum seekers took place this past week (Tuesday)

• On St. Mark's Place, Funzi's Pizzeria is a throwback modeled after grandmother's house (Tuesday) 

• Farewell to the Champagne's of storefront signs in the East Village (Friday) 

• Last summer for the current configuration of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday) 

• Weeping for this lost tree on Avenue A (Tuesday)

• Khiladi NYC is closing on Avenue B (Sunday) 

• Six Feet Under Sound with The Acute (Thursday)

• The incoming Shake Shack on the Lower East Side owes nearly $200k back rent: legal notice (Monday) 

• At 2nd and 2nd, a change in plans (Monday) 

• Is 334 Bowery now officially a doomed location for restaurants? (Thursday) 

• For those who rocked: Legendary East Village venue Fillmore East closed on this date in 1971 (Tuesday) 

• City pools open (but not the Tompkins Square Park mini pool) (Thursday) 

• Do you remember the Unicorn Frame Shop? (Wednesday)

• Retail moves: Westerlind relocates to East Houston Street (Wednesday) 

• Roasted NYC slated for this 2nd Avenue storefront (Wednesday) 

... and a surprising number of people have asked about the status of Healthy Choice, the deli-market on the SW corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street. Temp signage for My Deli 3 Corp. arrived on June 23. Same ownership and management here... an employee told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that the sign is temporary and relates to their beer license renewal...

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Fire damages B-Side bar on Avenue B

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Updated July 3: There's now a GoFundMe for bar employees here.

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The FDNY responded to a report of a fire just before 1 p.m. today at 204 Avenue B between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

The department's Twitter account deemed the fire under control in 45 minutes.

Sabina Brunetti, the co-owner of B-Side, the bar in the building's retail space, said they had a new air conditioner installed. A worker was using a torch for welding, and the insulation went up in flames. B-Side was not open at the time.

The fire marshal deemed the blaze accidental. 

The four-story, three-unit building is now under a full vacate order. There weren't any injuries, thankfully, and all the tenants (plus a dog) got out safely. For now, the residents have a place to stay, but there isn't an estimate to how long repairs will take. The apartments were said to be badly damaged.

Meanwhile, the bar will also be out of commission for an unknown amount of time.

B-Side was closed at the start of the year for an extensive deep clean and renovations, including a new ceiling.

"We put so much blood sweat and tears into the space — it's really emotional. Our regulars are like family," a visibly upset Brunetti said. 

She was especially concerned for her staff, some of whom do not have other jobs. She also is worried about the tenants whose homes were damaged, including the landlord who lives right above the bar.

Despite the setback, she vowed to return.

"We absolutely plan to rebuild," Brunetti said. "Again and again."

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo outside Webster Hall on 11th Street by Sean Piccoli... RIP Tina Turner)... 

• Report of a fatal stabbing on 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C (Sunday) 

• Inside the new home of The Joyce, which aims to be a hub for the performing arts in the East Village (Tuesday) 

• The Wild Son will not be reopening (Monday) 

• A grassroots movement to access the main lawn in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday) 

• On 10th Street, infused bake shop Sweetooth closed for now after raid (Monday) 

• I saw Andy Warhol at the Brant Foundation (Thursday) 

• Waga is closing on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday) 

• Sadly, Mister M — aka papier-mâché man — meets the end (Saturday) 

• Soft openings: Spicy Moon on the Bowery (Thursday) 

• A Make-A-Wish moment on Avenue A (Friday) 

• Power aid: Transformer work wraps up at the Con Ed substation (Monday)

• Is this the skinniest smoke shop in NYC? (Wednesday) 

• Report of a fire in an abandoned curbside dining structure on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

• "An Empire in Decline" at Village Works (Thursday) 

• On 10th and A, Deer Gallery debuts with some "Crispy Critters" (Thursday)

• Just another *******Pizza place (Wednesday) 

• To Eat Sushi on 10th Street (Thursday) 

• This East Village outpost of Blank Street coffee will be a barista training lab (Tuesday)

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Report of a fire in an abandoned curbside dining structure on St. Mark's Place

According to multiple residents this morning (after 8), a man allegedly set fire to the abandoned curbside dining structure outside 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Firefighters immediately extinguished the blaze. It was not immediately known if the man had been living inside the structure ... his whereabouts were also not known after the fire...

Last Wednesday, the Department of Transportation issued a "Termination" notice for this dining structure outside Compilation Coffee, which closed one week after the streetery arrived last November.

Meanwhile, city officials are still debating the future of outdoor dining. Part of a proposed bill "would allow 'streeteries' — aka the dining sheds on the streets — to stay up from April through November each year," NBC New York reported on Friday. 

Reader-submitted photos

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a construction shot of 1 St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue)... 

• With Community Board approval, Sammy's Roumanian Steak House takes another step to returning to the Lower East Side (Tuesday) 

• This East Village resident is bringing a classic 82-year-old radio back to broadcasting life (Thursday) 

• Mayor Adams visits Tompkins Square Park (Monday) 

• RIP Andy Rourke (Friday) 

 • Report: 8 months after fire, residents want their landlord to repair their Avenue D building (Monday)

• Workers demolish the south ramp to East River Park at Houston Street (Wednesday)

• Parkgoer escapes injury after a branch falls in the Tompkins Square Park dog run (Wednesday)

• The Cube will return to Astor Place this summer — but not before a spin to the Hamptons (Thursday) 

• A winning bid for Theatre 80; a vow to keep fighting for the building (Friday) 

• Openings: Saint Pizza on Avenue B (Wednesday) 

• Checking in at Jazba, a new Indian restaurant opening this summer on 2nd Avenue (Thursday) 

• A necessary 'eVil' (Tuesday) 

• Packing up the Urban Umbrella scaffolding around Cooper Union (Tuesday) 

• 8 new trees on a truck in Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday)

• Out and about with Rhett the Rhino (Friday)

• The all-new Bleecker Street Bar debuts (Monday) 

• City issues curbside dining structure removal to the shuttered Compilation Coffee (Thursday)

• Scenes from a rain-soaked Dance Parade (Sunday) 

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Report: 8 months after fire, residents want their landlord to repair their Avenue D building

Photo from September 2022

Eight months after a two-alarm fire at 11-13 Avenue D, some residents of the 6-floor residential building between Second Street and Third Street say their landlord is "dragging his feet" in making the necessary repairs.

PIX11 reports that three tenants are taking landlord Gregorio Nunez to housing court via Mobilization For Justice. Residents say no work has been done to the rent-stabilized units.

"The landlord originally told us six months, and that's obviously not the case," Ise White... told PIX11 News. "Our apartments are in great condition. It's mostly the windows that need to be fixed very easily. There was no structural damage."

"Apparently, he's dragging his feet," Nikita Salehi-Azhan, the Mobilization For Justice lawyer and tenant advocate, told PIX11 News. "Unfortunately, it takes a lawsuit to do anything about it. Because only four of the 16 units were occupied and three of the four are rent-stabilized. You can say he doesn't have an incentive to get the repairs going," Salehi-Azhan added.

When PIX11 contacted Nunez, he reportedly said, "no, no, no" and hung up the phone.

After the fire, the DOB issued a vacate order on the building.

Per the city: 

Due to extensive fire damage at 1st-floor restaurant along with fire, water and smoke damage throughout building... fire fighting operations to vent out entire building where all windows and doors have been removed along with removal of the skylight for venting. These hazardous conditions have therefore rendered the ENTIRE premises unsafe to occupy. 

Sources previously said the fire started in the New Chinatown Restaurant. 

There were no injuries in the fire.

PIX11 says the tenants will be back in housing court today.

Reader report: Apartment fire at 182 Avenue B

The FDNY responded to a late-night (after 2 a.m.) fire at 182 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street. 

EVG reader Joe shared these photos from this morning, showing soot and broken glass on the sidewalk... and a burned-up office chair on the fire escape outside the third-floor apartment where the fire started...

Officials at the scene blamed a lithium battery from an e-bike. (And per the Citizen app: "Firefighters advise that a lithium battery was involved in the fire.") 

There weren't reports of any injuries... and no word on the extent — if any — of damage to the ground-floor tenant, Haile Bistro. 

CBS 2 reported last month that "lithium-ion battery fires are prompting more and more apartment buildings to pull the plug on e-bikes." 

As NY1 reported yesterday: "The FDNY says 66 fires have been started by lithium-ion batteries, killing five people. Last year, the city saw 216 fires and six deaths related to the batteries." 

This past week, two people died after a fire on West 190th Street sparked by a lithium battery.

After deadly collapse, city issues vacate order at the Little Man Parking garage on 9th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The Department of Buildings (DOB) has issued a vacate order for the Little Man Parking garage on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Per the vacate order issued Friday via the DOB: "The occupied parking structure with concrete framing observed to be in a state of disrepair at several locations in cellar level... crushed column base observed at several locations in cellar level ... vertical cracks observed inside elevator shaft and on masonry walls."

Albert (below), the manager at this location, said that workers have relocated all the vehicles to other Little Man garages.

No one is allowed inside the now-empty garage. He said it would be at least two weeks before they could reassess the space, though repair work had yet to start as of yesterday. They plan to reopen once repairs are made and they receive the all-clear from the city.

The closure comes two weeks after the deadly collapse on April 18 at the Little Man garage on Ann Street in the Financial District. According to its website, Little Man Parking operates 46 garages in New York and New Jersey. 

During a citywide sweep on Friday, Buildings officials shuttered four parking garages, including an eight-story building at 50 Bayard St. in Chinatown and a 25-story structure at 225 Rector Place in Lower Manhattan. (The Ninth Street location was not mentioned in any media accounts.) 

The temporary order also means the Budget Car Rental that shares the space is closed for now... signage arrived on the door this past Saturday instructing renters to visit the East 31st Street location.

According to the Post, the Ann Street garage "had a long history of significant structural issues, including that the connection joint between one support column and a ceiling beam had developed cracks, as had several of the walls — including some that were 11 feet long — and needed substantial upgrades to comply with the city’s fire code." 

Willis Moore, the Ann Street manager, died in the collapse. He was 59.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo by Steven of the LUNGS Spring Awakening Parade in Tompkins Square Park yesterday)... 

• Report: East Village gallery a no-show on opening night, leaving artists without their work (Wednesday) ... After group-show ghosting, the EVAC space is for lease on 1st Avenue (Thursday) 

• Help for A&C Kitchen, which remains closed after a late-February fire (Thursday) 

• A look at Poetica Coffee, opening soon on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• The farce awakens at the Orpheum Theatre (Saturday) 

• Downtown Bakery preparing to reopen after being sidelined with an expired license (Friday) 

• A visit to East Village Buyers, now in soft-open mode in new Avenue A home (Friday) 

• A new home on an avenue for East Village gallery-bookstore Ed. Varie (Tuesday) 

• A great new song and video from cumgirl8 (Friday) 

• Collapsed portion of sidewalk whole again on 7th Street (Monday) 

• Openings: Honey Crepes on 13th Street (Tuesday) 

• Aura Bar & Kitchen is back on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Sushi on Jones departs The Bowery Market, where several new concepts are on the way (Thursday) 

• Signage alert: Deli Convenience on 1st Avenue; Partea on 14th Street (Monday) 

• On the April CB3-SLA docket: A Pig & Butter sibling on Avenue B (Monday)

• Happy trails to the Shake Shack curbside dining structure on 3rd Avenue (Thursday) 

... and Bob's Bar has reopened for the season on 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue (photo by Stacie Joy) ...

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Help for A&C Kitchen, which remains closed after a late-February fire

Photo of Mr. Li from March by Stacie Joy 

On Feb. 27, a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. 

Initial reports blamed a "lit object" discarded from a residential window down to the courtyard in the rear of the building. Unfortunately, a groundfloor tenant, A&C Kitchen, the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant, remains closed. 

Sierra Zamarripa, who owns Lovewild Design next door, recently started a crowdfunding campaign to help Mr. Li, who has run A&C Kitchen for 30-plus years, with lost income over the past two months as well as other additional reopening expenses. 

You can find the link here.

Aura Bar & Kitchen is back on 1st Avenue

Aura Bar & Kitchen returns to service today at 111 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

The restaurant, with various small plates and pasta dishes, debuted here in late December... before taking a break last month while awaiting a liquor license.

As previously noted, ownership here was behind Cafe Mocha, which was wiped out by a three-alarm fire in February 2020 at 48 E. Seventh St./116 Second Ave. Any hopes for a reopening were dashed when another fire destroyed the corner building in December 2020. 

Cafe Mocha first opened in the East Village in 2008.

Aura's hours are listed as 4 p.m.-midnight on Tuesday-Wednesday; until 1 a.m. Thursday; and 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The Aura website is at this link.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on First Avenue by Derek Berg) ... 

• Ben’s Deli moving on without Ben on Avenue B (Wednesday) 

• Time passages: Check out the interior of the long-empty Mom's Liquor Store on Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Suspect arrested after firing gun on 4th Street between C and D (Thursday) 

• Reconstruction work on the Tompkins Square Park field house starts soon (Monday) 

• Report: Gregg Singer places the former P.S. 64/Charas into bankruptcy protection (Wednesday) ... At the long-vacant former P.S. 64/CHARAS, more "frivolous court actions to tie up the property" (Thursday) 

• Paying tribute to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 (Friday) 

• These East Village tenants, fearing displacement, to rally against their new landlord (Saturday) 

• Experimental Intermedia brings the films of Bradley Eros to Whitebox gallery (Thursday)

• Anthology Film Archives hosting a long-overdue retrospective of East Village artist Abigail Child (Wednesday) 

• McSorley's "bringing all the energy back inside" (Monday) 

• Corteiz x Nike Air Max 95 collab drop draws crowds, NYPD on 4th and C (Tuesday)

• The $1 cheese slice at 2 Bros. on St. Mark's Place is now $1.50 (Monday) ... A cheese slice is 99 cents again at 99 Cent Pizza on 14th Street (Thursday) 

• Highlighting "Free The Nipple Day" on Avenue A (Thursday)

 ... and a moment on Third Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street...

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EVG Etc.: the 9 Lives of a 7th Street townhouse; the 17 NYC arts institutions with free admission

Photo on 7th Street the other evening by Steven (and there wasn't a fire) 

• LES fashion designer's homicide linked to fatal drug-facilitated robberies (ABC News) 

• The history of 64 E. Seventh St. includes Lou Reed and Yoko Ono (The New York Times) 

• Christo and Amelia are in the brooding stage in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography) 

• "[A]n experiment in queering fine dining" at HAGS on First Avenue (The New Yorker... previously on EVG) 

• Checking out Wild Rabbit Coffee on Seventh Street (Time Out... previously on EVG) 

• Women rob East Village couple of $8k worth of property (amNY) 

• A mother-daughter conversation about their home in Stuy Town and putting down roots (dwell)

• Workers at the Trader Joe's at Essex Crossing file petition to unionize (NY1) 

• Next on Musical Mondays at Village East by Angelika — "Victor/Victoria" (Official site) 

• How to get an NYC street co-named (THE CITY) 

• A list of free museums for New Yorkers to visit (Hyperallergic)