Sunday, February 12, 2023
Week In Grieview
Monday, February 6, 2023
Owner of the fire-damaged Gjelina seeking jobs for its staff
To have persisted for 6 and a half years to open Gjelina NY on Bond Street, and to have experienced a fire 1 day short of our one month anniversary — the only feelings right now are heartbreak. For every human who put so much into creating this restaurant. And it was them that created it — make no mistake.This team are like no other that I have had the privilege to work with. Every single one of them made Gjelina what she was. Every single one of them deserve the most outstanding work opportunity.We have no timeline for rebuilding and reopening. Thus I am asking, please, if you have any positions — please email me and I will pass it onto them ...
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Week in Grieview
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
6 posts from January
Fire shutters the recently opened Gjelina on Bond Street
Manhattan All Hands Box 0365, 45 BOND ST, COMMERCIAL
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) January 30, 2023
The Citizen app reported that two firefighters sustained minor injuries during the blaze. No other injuries were reported.Manhattan All Hands Box 0365, 45 BOND ST, COMMERCIAL, DUCTWORK 1/2 FLR, Under Control
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) January 30, 2023
Gjelina, a vegetable-centric restaurant that opened in Venice, Calif., in 2008, debuted here at the start of the year with a breakfast-lunch service. Grub Street noted that Gjelina was "already Manhattan's hottest lunch."Earlier today, a fire broke out at the recently opened Gjelina. We’re thankful nobody was hurt and want to extend a big thank you to NoHo’s own @FDNY station on Great Jones Street, Engine 33 and Ladder 9 for responding so quickly. #NoHo #NoHoNYC #ExploreNoHo pic.twitter.com/15piR42qsA
— NoHo (@NoHo_NY) January 30, 2023
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Week in Grieview
Friday, January 13, 2023
The remaining structure of the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church will be demolished
INCREDIBLE NEWS! The NYC Landmarks Commission has voted to allow @middlechurch to remove the burnt remains of our facade, so we can rebuild on our historic site.
— Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (@RevJacquiLewis) January 11, 2023
Truly, God is good. Out of this fire, fierce love is rising.
Make a gift to help us rise: https://t.co/Vkt9D5e9V0
Thursday, January 12, 2023
RIP Alicia Torres
Alicia Torres and her eight children moved to New York City in 1959. In 1975, they moved to the heart of the Lower East Side (Loisaida), 219 E. Seventh St., a tenement building, after being displaced from one dilapidated apartment to another.Alicia had grown up on the island of Vieques; her family had been displaced from their land by the United States Navy in the 1930s and had suffered through the Great Depression, which made Puerto Rico the poorest country in the world at that time.
When the building (219 E. Seventh) was sold in 1976 to a real estate speculator who tried to collect rent while providing no services, Alicia decided she was tired of being pushed around. With the guidance of a community housing organization, Adopt a Building, the Torres family organized a tenant association and led a rent strike.They collected the rents and started to make repairs and purchase heating oil. The landlord brought eviction proceedings in the Housing Court, but did not prevail as he failed to make the repairs that were ordered by the judge. Conditions were harsh, however, and most of the tenants gradually moved out, leaving the Torres family members occupying eight of the twenty-four apartments.In 1975, the building next door (223 E. Seventh St.) had a devastating fire. The City demolished the building in 1976 and the resulting rubble lot attracted neighborhood drug dealers. Some neighbors at this end of Seventh Street met with Alicia Torres and her family and together they started to clear the lot of the bricks and debris and planted sunflowers. It was backbreaking work, but soon the lot started to look more like a garden than a rubble lot.In 1979, the East Seventh St Block Association was granted a lease by the City's Operation Green Thumb and a fence was erected to protect the garden. Green Thumb delivered truckloads of fertile topsoil from upstate and soon after that, it wasn't long before the garden members, many of them 219 residents, were growing vegetables, flowers, and shrubs. Trees and rose bushes were planted and the garden became a magical space for East Seventh Street residents, especially children.On weekends, the garden would be full of people working, talking, cooking, and kids playing. It was an island of beauty and harmony amidst a gritty urban landscape.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
A look back at the devastating fire that destroyed Essex Card Shop 1 year ago today
EVG was the only media outlet to document the rebuild and return of Essex Card Shop. You can find the archive of the rebuild, as reported by EVG contributor Stacie Joy in 2022, right here.This was heartbreaking and an emotional time for me & my family. You all gave us strength & supported us. Your kind words kept our heads held high and we were able to persevere & have Essex Card Shop back up & running ✌️☮️ Love you all ♾️ https://t.co/kypxdieFRK
— Saba (@Essex_Card_Shop) January 10, 2023
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Week in Grieview
Friday, January 6, 2023
A report of a small fire at Dua Kafe on 14th Street
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Workers arrive with construction materials at the former P.S. 64 on 9th Street
This past January, a court ruled that Madison Realty Capital, a $10 billion global private equity firm, can foreclose on the property. Although Singer is fighting that too, he appears to be running out of money. Singer now owes Madison nearly $90 million in interest and principal, along with late fees and interest charges of $30,000 per day, which started accruing as of the January 20 court judgment, according to a report compiled by a court-appointed referee.Singer's attorneys and Madison Realty Capital did not respond to numerous calls and emails seeking clarification on the current ownership status of the building or their intentions for it. Both sides were supposed to appear in court in June, but the meeting was postponed, so the fate of this old school is still in limbo.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Before Dallas BBQ, part 2 (and yes — there will be a part 3)
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Renovations underway at the former Whitehouse Hotel on the Bowery
However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert a 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. Those plans never materialized. The Renatus Group now owns the property.
Saturday, December 3, 2022
Checking in on the Bowery mural wall
The creative process is an utter joy to watch. Filling a fire extinguisher with paint and spraying to destroy a work of art is not talent. It is sad and not only ruins the opportunity for countless artists, it ruins the opportunity for a neighborhood to live with glorious world-class art. The Houston Bowery wall could be just another advertising wall, but we’d prefer it to be a powerful beacon of the best of a movement.For now, we don’t wish to wipe away what’s been done, we are simply taking a break...
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
6 posts from November
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
A new Aura for 1st Avenue
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Week in Grieview
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Middle Collegiate Church seeks permission to demolish the remaining façade of its fire-damaged structure on 2nd Avenue
"This makes me feel heartbroken"
We don’t believe there is sufficient documentation that alternatives to preserve the historic façade have been fully explored, nor that there is sufficient evidence at this time to justify the permanent and irreversible removal.We are calling for further examination and documentation before such a decision would be appropriate to render. We want to see the church rebuild and flourish at this location, and know that they have been through incredible hardship. But we also believe that this process must be extremely carefully considered, to ensure unchangeable decisions that could have been avoided are not made, and harmful precedents are not set for allowing demolition of historically significant structures without reasonable and achievable proof of the necessity of doing so.
In addition, Richard Moses, president of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, released this statement: "We're sympathetic to the very real challenges the congregation faces here. But this building has been a beacon for the neighborhood for over 100 years. It's one of the most important sites in the historic district. We just want to make sure that the Landmarks Commissioners have the best information and all the options spelled out before deciding on the building’s fate."