At the prayer vigil for Most Holy Redeemer

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

On Friday evening, dozens of residents gathered outside Most Holy Redeemer-Church of the Nativity on Third Street for a prayer vigil. 

The event, organized by the Facebook group Save Most Holy Redeemer Historical Church, included a call-and-response chant of "Hail Mary/Sancta Maria" by candlelight.

There were no speeches or flyers handed out — just steady prayer filling the block between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

The candles lit up the front steps and drew curious passersby on this pleasant summer evening. Several attendees quietly shared concerns about the church's future. Some spoke of rumors that the Archdiocese might sell or demolish the 19th-century building, like it did with Mary Help of Christians on 12th Street in 2013. That church and school yielded Steiner East Village, the block-long luxury condoplex with an indoor pool. 

Others worried that priests had been silenced, or that settlement costs from abuse claims were driving the closure. Many expressed frustration — and devotion. 

"I'm not even Catholic, and I come here to pray; it's such a beautiful space," one woman said. A handful of people pointed to the departure of Father Sean last summer as the moment the parish began to decline.

The vigil follows July's announcement that weekly masses at Most Holy Redeemer will end after Aug. 31. Going forward, the church will host only occasional ceremonies such as weddings and funerals.

Parishioners are being directed to St. Brigid's on Avenue B for regular services. Church leaders cited a shortage of priests and the building's deteriorating condition, including falling plaster, as reasons for the shift.

Meanwhile, Village Preservation, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, and the East Village Community Coalition are pushing for landmark status for the 1851 church, its rectory, and former school to protect them from redevelopment.

Supporters argue the complex is a vital part of the neighborhood's cultural and architectural heritage. 

Find the petition here.

Push continues to landmark East Village’s historic Most Holy Redeemer

EVG file photo from 2023 

As we first reported on July 16, Most Holy Redeemer-Church of the Nativity is halting its mass schedule starting in September, leaving the future of the historic church in question. 

A group called "Save Most Holy Redeemer Historical Church" is hosting a vigil this evening at 7 outside the church on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B to raise awareness of its fate.

Meanwhile, efforts continue by preservation groups and parishioners to landmark the historic East Village property. To date, outgoing District 2 City Council Member Carlina Rivera and the Tenement Museum have lobbied the Landmarks Preservation Committee.

The landmarking effort, spearheaded by Village Preservation, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative and the East Village Community Coalition, seeks to protect the 19th-century church built in 1851 — along with its rectory and former school — from potential redevelopment. 

Supporters argue that the church is a vital part of the neighborhood's cultural and architectural heritage, and it deserves formal landmark status. 

Find the petition here. 

During a meeting on July 14, church officials said that Most Holy Redeemer's weekly masses will end on Aug. 31. In their place, the church will offer only occasional services, such as weddings, funerals, or what was described as "once in a blue moon masses" for long-time parishioners. This fall, masses that were previously held on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays (including Spanish services) will take place at nearby St. Brigid's. 

Leadership cited the shortage of priests as a key reason for the shift. Concerns were also raised about the structural condition of the building itself. There is plaster falling from the ceiling in the church, officials noted, adding that engineers would evaluate whether it remains safe. 

An employee of Most Holy Redeemer and St. Brigid attended the July 14 meeting and expressed skepticism about the timing of the engineering review, calling it "suspicious." 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Most Holy Redeemer to halt regular masses this fall amid uncertainty about its future 

• Petition seeks to landmark Most Holy Redeemer ahead of possible closure

Petition seeks to landmark Most Holy Redeemer ahead of possible closure

With reporting by Stacie Joy

Following last week's announcement that the Archdiocese of New York will cease all masses at Most Holy Redeemer-Church of the Nativity this fall, preservation groups and parishioners have launched a petition to landmark the historic East Village property. 

The effort, spearheaded by Village Preservation, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative and the East Village Community Coalition, seeks to protect the 19th-century church at 173 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B — along with its rectory and former school — from potential redevelopment. 

 

Supporters argue that the church is a vital part of the neighborhood's cultural and architectural heritage, and it deserves formal landmark status. 

Per the petition, which you can find here: 

With roots in waves of immigration dating back to the 1840s, the church was once one of the largest in the city and one of its tallest structures. A devastating fire at its school led to pioneering reforms in fire safety measures that remain with us today, and the church, which was restyled over time, was the site of significant innovations in the use of electricity in church structures as well as the introduction of Gregorian chants at Catholic Churches. 

And... 

Most Holy Redeemer has been a cornerstone of the East Village community for over a century and a half, and embodies so much of this neighborhood’s and New York's rich immigrant history and culture. 

The three groups had previously lobbied Mayor Adams and the Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider landmark status in a letter this past December. 

As we first reported, Monsignor Kevin J. Nelan of Immaculate Conception on 14th Street and Eileen Mulcahy, the vice chancellor for parish planning of the Archdiocese of New York, addressed continued speculation during a meeting on July 14 that Most Holy Redeemer would close outright. 

They emphasized that while the church isn't officially closing, its operations will undergo significant changes. Regular weekly masses will end, and in their place, the church will offer only occasional services, such as weddings, funerals, or what was described as "once in a blue moon masses" for long-time parishioners. This fall, masses that were previously held on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays (including Spanish services) will take place at nearby St. Brigid's. 

Leadership cited the shortage of priests as a key reason for the shift.

Concerns were also raised about the structural condition of the building itself. There is plaster falling from the ceiling in the church, officials noted, adding that engineers would evaluate whether it remains safe. 

We attended mass this past weekend at Most Holy Redeemer, where approximately 75 people were in attendance.

Caution tape now cordons off a section to the left of the altar at Most Holy Redeemer, where plaster reportedly fell from the ceiling. 

From our vantage point, visible damage appeared minimal — limited to a small white patch overhead — but the incident has raised concerns about the building's condition as its future remains uncertain.

Last summer, the Archdiocese of New York sold the historic Holy Rosary Church in East Harlem to a developer, citing the building's severe disrepair. 

In recent years, Catholic churches (or any places of worship) in the East Village haven't fared well with landmarking protections.

The Archdiocese previously went the luxury route, selling two properties for more than $80 million. Developer Douglas Steiner bought the former Mary Help of Christians property on Avenue A at 12th Street in 2012 for $41 million. 

During the summer of 2013, workers demolished the church, school and rectory to make way for Steiner East Village, the block-long luxury condoplex (below) with an indoor pool and retail spaces that have been vacant for seven years.

In March 2020, Gemini Rosemont, an L.A.-based real-estate investor, bought the former Church of the Nativity property on Second Avenue between Second Street and Third Street for $40 million. The property remains vacant. 

Church of the Nativity merged with Most Holy Redeemer in 2015. 

The former site of St. Emeric, located on 13th Street and Avenue D, is likely to yield an affordable housing complex. The now-deconsecrated church merged with St. Brigid on Avenue B in early 2013. 

Further back, in 2003, St. Ann's Church, located on 12th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, was partially demolished to make way for NYU's Founders Hall dormitory. The church's historic facade and fence were preserved and incorporated into the front courtyard of the dorm, a hollow gesture that does little to honor what was lost. As "The AIA Guide to New York City" noted, "the effect is of a majestic elk, shot and stuffed." 

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Find the petition to landmark Most Holy Redeemer at this link.

Stripped to the studs: former church on 4th Street sees full gutting

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The gutting of the former Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel at 256 E. Fourth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C appears complete.

We peeked at the interior the other day and didn't see much left. 

"It's all gone, all the windows, everything on the inside, it's completely empty," a worker on the scene said.

As we previously reported, the city has a partial demolition permit on file. A few parts of the existing building will remain in place, as the four-story structure will receive two additional floors to accommodate six condos. 

Project architect Stephen Conte told the Post in March that the original facade could not be saved, as decades of water damage rendered the already-thin front walls unsafe. Other elements of the previous houses of worship here were also deemed unsalvageable. 

The plywood rendering lists a spring 2026 completion date.

Village Preservation continues to call for expanded landmark protections in the East Village, including swaths of Avenue B and Avenue C (more info here). Despite similar designations in other neighborhoods, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission has ignored the proposal. 

Our post from Feb. 10 has more info on this building's history.

A few more details on the condo conversion of a former tenement synagogue on 4th Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

As we first reported on Feb. 10, workers are gutting the former Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel at 256 E. Fourth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

As of this past Thursday, a partial demolition permit has been filed with the city. Some parts of the existing building will remain in place as the four-story structure will receive two additional floors to accommodate six condos. 

Since our story broke, there has been concern over the loss of this one-time historic tenement synagogue. 

Project architect Stephen Conte told the Post on Friday that ...

 ... there was no way to save the original facade, as decades of water damage rendered the already-thin front walls unsafe.

"We're going to see if there are any interior design elements we can keep that don't have any toxic materials or mold," such as stained glass windows and wooden doors, Conte told The Post, adding that the red brick exterior was chosen to keep the building "contextual" within the block.

Village Preservation continues to call for expanded landmark protections in the East Village, including swaths of Avenue B and Avenue C (more info here). Despite similar designations in other neighborhoods, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission has ignored the proposal. 

Our previous post has more info on this building's history. 

Here's a New York Municipal Archive photo from the early 1940s, when this was the Lemberger Congregation Anshei Ashkenaz. The property, dating to 1859, was once part of Petrus Stuyvesant's estate.

Today: A rally to landmark the historic New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

Village Preservation, along with disabled advocacy groups, neighborhood organizations, local elected officials, and members of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary community, will hold a rally and press conference this morning at 11 to call on the city to designate the hospital's historic main building (above) as a landmark.

The future of the building and the hospital on the NE corner of Second Avenue and 13th Street has been in doubt since they were acquired by Mount Sinai Health System. (In 2013, following the merger of Continuum Health Partners, Inc. with The Mount Sinai Medical Center, the hospital was officially renamed the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.) 

As organizers previously noted: 

In late 2022, Mount Sinai Beth-Israel, the parent corporation of the 200-year-old New York Eye and Ear Infirmary that serves people with hearing and vision disabilities, applied before the Public Health and Health Planning Council to merge operating certificates with the Infirmary — a tactic that would enable MSBI to more easily move services out of the site and around the city, paving the way for a sale of the historic Infirmary. 

The Infirmary owns two buildings here — 14th Street and Second Avenue and 13th Street and Second Avenue — and the vacant lot on 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Real-estate insiders have said the parcel could fetch upwards of $70 million for some new development. 

Those gathered today will call for preserving the hospital, said to be the oldest specialized hospital in the Western Hemisphere, and its historic building, the ribbon cutting for which was performed by Hellen Keller. 

Another piece of trivia: The building on Second Avenue and 13th Street served as a setting in "The Godfather," in which Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) moves his father's hospital bed, saving him from a possible assassination attempt...

 

EVG Etc.: A 4th Street building aims for landmark status; Max Fish returns for NYFW

Above: A reader-submitted photo from 11th and 3rd from the other day

• The Feds raid the homes of the Mayor's inner circle (Gothamist ... Politico ... The Associated Press)

The mayor insists that he regularly reminds his appointees to “follow the law.” It never seems to occur to Hizzoner that it might be better to hire aides who don’t need a daily reminder not to commit crimes. My take in ⁦@NYMag⁩ https://t.co/YFJSstqxNm

— Errol Louis (@errol.louis on Threads) (@errollouis) September 6, 2024

• Ten years after the city passed a Paid Sick Leave Act, some of the worst recent violators in NYC are major corporations and franchises like Starbucks, Shake Shack, Chipotle and Amazon (The City) 

• 82 E. Fourth St. just west of Second Avenue up for landmark designation (Village Preservation) 

• Carnitas Ramirez on Third Street in the battle for NYC's best tacos (Eater... previously on EVG) 

• Today and tomorrow (9/7-8), screenings of a largely obscure body of 16mm films from Andy Warhol (Anthology Film Archives) 

• "Goodfellas" in 35mm Monday at the Village East by Angelika on 12th Street and Second Avenue (Tickets) 

• The 1990s LES photos of Angela Cappetta (Dazed) 

• Vans recreates Max Fish for NYFW (Hypebeast)

• Emma Stern's "The Rabbit Hole" exhibit now at the Half Gallery on 4th and B (Official site... Interview)

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 neighbor buys the landmarked Isaac T. Hopper Home on 2nd Avenue

For the first time in 150 years, 110 Second Ave., the landmarked Isaac T. Hopper House between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, has a new owner. 

The Women's Prison Association (WPA) had owned the property since 1874. The 8,372-square-foot property is a designated New York City Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Yesterday, Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP, and their client, WPA, announced that Self Reliance New York Federal Credit, which owns the building next door, will expand its East Village footprint by purchasing No. 110 for $7.4 million. 

The credit union, which provides financial services to the Ukrainian American community, plans to renovate and adapt the building for administrative and community needs.

The Hopper House most recently served as a 38-bed transitional shelter dedicated to formerly incarcerated and at-risk women and their children. 

In December 2020, the townhouse sustained significant physical damage from a six-alarm fire on the SE corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street. The fire destroyed the neighboring Middle Collegiate Church and displaced the shelter's residents and staff.

Following a review of the damaged property, "WPA determined that a sale of the property would be most conducive to the building's restoration and the organization's programmatic continuity." No. 110 arrived on the market in February 2023 with a $7.1 million ask. 

Here's some history of No. 110, built in 1837-1838, via Village Preservation: 

This three-and-a-half-story Greek Revival structure is a rare surviving house from when this section of Second Avenue was one of the most elite addresses in Manhattan.

The house at 110 Second Ave. was constructed as one of four houses built for brothers Ralph, Staats, and Benjamin Mead and designed in the Greek Revival style. Although the only one remaining of the original four houses, 110 Second Ave. retains much of its original details characteristic of a Greek Revival row house. 

The façade is clad in machine-pressed red brick laid in stretcher bond. It has tall parlor-level windows with a cast iron balcony, a denticulated cornice, and a brownstone portico with ionic columns supporting an entablature. In 1839, David H. Robertson, a shipbroker and tradesman, bought the house for his widowed mother, Margaret. Three years later, however, he declared bankruptcy. 

The house was foreclosed, and in 1844, it was auctioned and transferred to Ralph Mead. Mead was the proprietor of Ralph Mead and Co., a wholesale grocery business. He and his second wife, Ann Eliza Van Wyck, lived at 110 Second Ave. (then No. 108) from 1845 to 1857. After that, they leased the house but retained ownership until 1870. It was sold in 1872 to George H. and Cornelia Ellery, who then sold it in 1874 to the Women's Prison Association ... 

In 1992, the Hopper House was renovated and re-opened as a residential alternative to imprisonment for women. 

Meanwhile, with 70 employees and 50 volunteers, WPA continues to operate from its other community sites in New York City, jail-based offices on Rikers Island, and the Taconic and Bedford Hills State Correctional Facilities.

6 posts from December

A mini month in review (with a photo on 9th Street by William Klayer)

• New Yorkers Foodmarket is closing soon on 2nd Avenue (Dec. 20) 

• Displaced 14th Street tenants seek support after city orders them to vacate their building (Dec. 18) 

• Up in the under-restoration bell tower at Most Holy Redeemer (Dec. 14) 

• Landmarks Preservation Commission approves hotel project that could potentially damage the city's oldest residential landmark (Dec. 13) 

• The Joyce Theater Foundation completes purchase of the former Boys' Club on 10th Street and Avenue A (Dec. 5) 

• City officials help facilitate successful meal handout for asylum seekers in the East Village (Dec. 4)

Week in Grieview

Posts this week included (with a PediCab Santa photo by Derek Berg) ... 

• Up in the under-restoration belltower at Most Holy Redeemer (Thursday) 

• Paulie Gee's Slice Shop in the works for the former Huertas space on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• RIP Phil Klein (Friday) 

• A memorial for Bill Dean (Thursday) 

• Landmarks Preservation Commission approves hotel project that could potentially damage the city's oldest residential landmark (Wednesday) 

• A new CO at the 9th (Monday) 

• Sammy's Roumanian Steak House now looking at a new Lower East Side space for its return (Monday) 

• Local elected officials call out landlords renting to unlicensed cannabis shops (Wednesday) 

• A bad sign at Numero 28 Pizzeria Napoletana (Tuesday)

• On the sales market: 180 1st Ave., home of the dual Michael Jackson murals (Tuesday) 

• Construction watch: 183 Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Calamari with fries at Ray's (Wednesday) 

• Kung Fu Tea closes on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• Dates released for Mulchchella 2024, where the headliners are your Christmas trees (Tuesday) 

• A Total by Verizon for Avenue A (Monday) 

... and if you won the door prize, don't worry, it's on its way... (photo by Derek Berg)...

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Landmarks Preservation Commission approves hotel project that could potentially damage the city's oldest residential landmark

EVG file photo

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted yesterday to approve an 8-story hotel next door to the landmarked Merchant's House Museum on Fourth Street between the Bowery and Lafayette, prompting a dire response from museum officials. 

As we reported last week, the development firm Kalodop II Park Corp. has been trying to build the hotel for nearly 12 years; the project has been in limbo for the past three years.

In January 2019, the developers sued New York City, the City Council and Councilmember Carlina Rivera over rejecting their Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application for the project. 

The developers have been seeking a spot rezoning to build an 8-story hotel on the site — higher than the current zoning allowed. The full City Council ultimately voted down the rezoning in September 2019. 

Preservationists, not to mention the leadership of Merchant's House, the circa-1832 building, were concerned that the construction could permanently damage the structure, one of only six residences in NYC that is both an exterior and an interior landmark. Local elected officials and Community Board 2 have all opposed the current application for the 8-story hotel. 

During yesterday's meeting, the LPC did not allow for testimony from the Merchant's House or their engineering team.

 The Merchant's House released this statement after yesterday's decision... 

[T]he LPC voted to approve the development next door to the Merchant's House, despite overwhelming and unanimous opposition from the community, preservation organizations, public officials and, of course, from the Merchant's House and our engineers and preservation architects. 

When asked, the developer's engineers admitted that they have no data about what standards are appropriate when dealing with historic decorative plaster. Further, none of the participants today was aware of the plaster study that confirmed irreparable damage will take place. 

The LPC mandated that certain standards relating to vibration monitoring be established. However, even the most state-of-the-art vibration monitoring systems only announce when the vibration limit has been reached — at which point the damage has already occurred. 

Today's vote by the LPC to greenlight a development that is certain to cause irreparable damage to the Merchant's House Museum is a warning to every other landmark in New York City. If the Merchant's House, one of New York's most treasured historical assets, can be subjected to adjacent construction that will destroy its historic fabric, then every landmark in New York City is at risk. 

This decision, even if reversed, will be a permanent stain on the Commission, which has failed in its existential duty to protect Manhattan’s first and New York City’s oldest residential landmark. The Merchant’s House Museum will take aggressive legal action to halt this unacceptable development. 

Thank you to all who wrote letters of support to the LPC and to those who were able to attend or listen to the meeting today. We couldn't do it without you.

You can donate to their legal fund here. (You can support them in other ways here.) You can watch a replay of the meeting here. The Merchant's House proposal starts at the 25-minute mark.

Proposed hotel next to the Merchant's House Museum returns to the Landmarks Preservation Commission

EVG file photo

A developer's decades-long effort to build a hotel next door to the landmarked Merchant's House Museum on Fourth Street between the Bowery and Lafayette is back in the news. 

Merchant's House officials learned yesterday that the Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 12, to discuss — and possibly vote on — the proposed development for an 8-story hotel. (Find the meeting and registration info at this link. A PDF of the presentation is here. A livestream will be on the LPC YouTube page. Village Preservation has more details.)

Per the Merchant's House: 

At the last LPC hearing nearly three years ago, the LPC declined to vote on the proposed development. If the LPC now votes to approve the project, the Merchant's House will be forced to close to the public for at least two years to safeguard the house and the collection. Construction next door will cause significant structural damage to our landmark 1832 building. 

Shockingly, landmark status does not guarantee protection.

The development firm Kalodop II Park Corp. has been trying to build the hotel for nearly 12 years. 

In January 2019, the developers sued New York City, the City Council and Councilmember Carlina Rivera over the rejection of their Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application for the project. (Not sure whatever happened to that suit.)

The developers have been seeking a spot rezoning to build an 8-story hotel on the site — higher than the current zoning allowed. The full City Council ultimately voted down the rezoning in September 2019. 

Preservationists, not to mention the leadership of Merchant's House, the circa-1832 building, were concerned that the construction could permanently damage the structure, one of only six residences in NYC that is both an exterior and an interior landmark. Local elected officials and Community Board 2 have all opposed the current application for the 8-story hotel. 

The developers have promised to take extensive measures to ensure that the neighboring structure would not be harmed during the hotel construction. 

This project dates to 2011.

The proposed site of the hotel, 27 E. Fourth St., currently houses Al-Amin Food Inc., which houses carts for street vendors. 

Report: City temporarily halts demolition of 6-building parcel on 3rd Avenue

The demoliton of six walk-up buildings on the west side of Third Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street is on hold for now. 

As previously reported, Kinsmen Property Group bought the buildings over the past two years through the entity 62-64 Third Ave., paying more than $60 million for the parcel. 

According to Straus News, which publishes several local weekly newspapers and associated websites, including Our Town — Eastsider, a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings said "that outstanding objections" have interrupted the developer's plans. 

Further study of the objections indicates issues with the "phased demolition sequence," specified as "a clear and detailed demolition sequence in narrative and illustrated on the plans. All phases shall be designated by a number or letter to clearly depict the required sequence of the work." Other requirements such as pedestrian protections, debris removal plans, and the "context" of the demolition vis-à-vis adjoining buildings are also seemingly being objected to as inadequate. 

Inadequate, in this case, reportedly means nowhere to be found. Essentially, as the DOB spokesperson put it, Kinsmen was "missing a lot of the required drawings for the proposed demolitions."

It is not publicly known what Kinsmen has planned for this west side of the block, a development that will not include 48 Third Ave., the 4-story building owned by Isfahany Realty Corp. on the northwest corner at 10th Street with Healthy Greens Gourmet in the retail space.

Meanwhile, Village Preservation continues campaigning for landmark designation for their proposed South of Union Square Historic District. Find more details at this link. 

Report: City Council set to vote on a permanent outdoor dining program

Updated 4:15 p.m.

Council reportedly passed the legislation ... and it is now awaiting the signature of Mayor Adams to become official. District 1 City Councilmember Christopher Marte voted no, as the Commercial Observer reported, "on the basis that it would allow bad actors to continue with outdoor dining for years at a time." 

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City Council is expected to vote today to make outdoor dining a permanent part of the NYC street landscape. 

Per Gothamist: 

The bill, sponsored by Council Member Marjorie Velázquez with vocal support from Mayor Eric Adams, has gone through multiple revisions since it was first introduced in February of last year, as the Adams administration and Council members have spent more than a year in negotiations for a permanent setup. 

In the latest version, roadway cafes will be allowed from April until the end of November. Sidewalk seating will be authorized for restaurants year-round with the proper permitting, which covers a four-year period. Curb-based roadway seating will require a separate permit spanning the same length of time, with each permit costing $1,050, according to the bill text.

As City & State previously noted, "The establishment of a permanent outdoor dining program has been held up in part by lawsuits, but also by disagreements between City Hall and the Council on what the program should look like."

The most recent lawsuit to end the pandemic-era Open Restaurants program was filed last month. As Streetsblog reported:

The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, makes many of the plaintiffs' previous arguments about the open restaurant program taking away parking, causing noise and congestion, and allegedly inviting rats to move in (though this has been debunked).

But central to the latest effort to undermine the restaurant industry is the claim that the city itself has deconstructed its own pandemic edicts and, as a result, should do the same with the restaurant program.

Meanwhile, if passed, there's still a lengthy approval process for a restaurant to receive streetside dining status. Take it away, Streetsblog:

Business owners will have to send their petitions for outdoor dining to DOT, the Council, the borough president, and the local community board, the latter of which will have 40 days to give recommendations on whether to approve the applications. 

If the business is in a historic district or adjacent to a landmark, it will also need to get approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

The Council can review petitions and hold a vote on whether to approve them.

And one question we've heard people ask: If City Council passes this legislation, what does that mean for the outdoor structures that restaurants and cafes set up during the temporary program? According to various published reports, those streeteries that don't comply with the new rules must come down by Nov. 1, 2024.  

A winning bid for Theatre 80; a vow to keep fighting for the building

The owners of Foxface, current residents and former commercial tenants of the building housing Theatre 80, were reportedly the high bidders for 78-80 St. Mark's Place during its bankruptcy auction on May 9.

As The Village Sun first reported, business and life partners Ori Kushnir and Sivan Lahat put in the winning bid at $8.8 million under a single-purpose entity. 

Kushnir and Lahat have lived in an apartment in the building just west of First Avenue since 2005. They later operated the popular Foxface specialty sandwich shop from the front window in late 2018, drawing crowds and a positive review from Pete Wells at The New York Times. 

The quick-serve shop closed last September and planned to relocate ahead of the bankruptcy proceedings here to a larger space at 189 Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street. They are now running Foxface Natural, which debuts this coming Wednesday.

There is some recent legal history between the two parties. LIK Hospitality (dba Foxface) filed a lawsuit against owner Lorcan Otway and the William Barnacle Tavern at the address in March 2021. 

Meanwhile, Village Preservation is continuing its efforts to have the building landmarked. Per a recent newsletter: 

We are deeply saddened to report that [on May 9], lacking intervention from the city, 78-80 St. Mark's Place, the longtime home of Theatre 80, was sold at auction ... This is a tragic loss for our city and neighborhood, and particularly tragic for the Otways, the long-time proprietors of the building and theater.

However, this need not be the end of this story. The Otways are still urging the city to intervene to take possession of the building and allow it to be operated by a nonprofit which would continue the work of Theatre 80, and we are still fighting to have the historic building landmarked, so no matter who the owner is, we can ensure this piece of our city’s history is not destroyed. We will continue to work to try to ensure that the cultural vitality embodied by Theatre 80 and the history embodied by this building survive. 

There's also a petition in circulation, now currently titled, "Mayor Adams, SAVE THEATRE 80 with Eminent Domain!" As of last evening, more than 8,000 people have signed it. 

New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs has also supported the theater's survival efforts. In April, the office expedited granting a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status to Historic 80 Saint Marks Inc., which opened the venue up to receiving various grants. 

Kushnir told the Sun that the building needs a lot of work. As for future commercial tenants: "Our first preference is to work with the preservation/theater groups to see if we can find a viable solution for keeping a community space alive in the building."

Meanwhile, the longtime owners, Lorcan Otway and his wife Genie Gilmore Otway, were ordered off the property by a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee on April 5. They have been staying in a room on Ninth Street provided by Father Pat, a longtime friend.

As previously reported, the Otways had been battling in recent years to save the space, which housed Theatre 80, the William Barnacle Tavern and the Museum of the American Gangster. (Lorcan had lived here since age 9 when his father bought the buildings to create an Off-Broadway theater in 1964.)

The two-building property was sold off to satisfy a $12 million loan in default via Maverick Real Estate Partners. (Our previous posts here and here have more background.)

EVG contributor Stacie Joy ran into the Otways in Tompkins Square Park last week. Lorcan said, "The fight is not over."

Previously on EV Grieve

• A look at Theatre 80 last night before marshals seize the historic East Village venue

• Local elected officials speak out to landmark Theatre 80 ahead of auction

Local elected officials speak out to landmark Theatre 80 ahead of auction

Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, Assemblymember Deborah Glick and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine have asked the city to landmark the historic Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place ahead of the planned auction on May 9. 

According to Village Preservation, which is spearheading this campaign: 

Landmarking will save the building from destruction, but won't save the beloved theatre and other cultural institutions within. We have also asked elected officials and the entire public to join Theatre 80 in calling upon the city to intervene and acquire the building and establish a permanent home for Theatre 80 there.

In the letter to Mayor Adams and Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll, the elected officials write: 

For years, our offices have advocated for this beloved cultural institution and piece of New York history to remain. Currently, it is in danger of being lost to real estate speculation that is plaguing many neighborhoods in our city, especially the East Village. A landmark designation for these buildings will honor the legacy of artists and immigration in the East Village, as well as protect this important cultural institution for today’s audiences and future generations. 

Find the full letter here.

As previously reported, owners Lorcan and Genie Otway have been battling in recent years to save the space, which houses Theatre 80, a 199-seat theater, the William Barnacle Tavern and the Museum of the American Gangster. (Lorcan had lived here since age 9 when his father bought the buildings to create an Off-Broadway theater in 1964.)

The two-building property is set to be sold off to satisfy a $12 million loan that is in default via Maverick Real Estate Partners. (Our previous posts here and here have more background.)

Bidders for the property, which includes several residences on the upper floors, must register by May 8 and supply a cashier's check for $950,000 payable to a Chapter 7 trustee. 

A campaign to support landmark designation of the Eye and Ear Infirmary on 2nd Avenue

Preservationists are rallying to support the Eye and Ear Infirmary on Second Avenue at 13th Street. 

Here's more via Village Preservation: 

The historic Eye and Ear Infirmary ... is in danger of being lost forever. This striking building, which was built in stages between 1856 and 1903, with most of it dating to the 1890s, housed what is the oldest specialized hospital in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1820 by two doctors known as the "fathers of American ophthalmology." 

This institution became an icon of comprehensive and accessible care for the public, attracting Helen Keller to speak at the ribbon-cutting for the final stage of the building in 1903. 

Unfortunately, the building’s fate is now clouded. It is being emptied of doctors and services as a move several blocks to the north is being contemplated. No matter what happens, this striking piece of our city’s history deserves to be spared from the wrecking ball. 

This link has info on how to support the landmark designation of the infirmary. 

Last summer, Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials announced that they were no longer pursuing the "$1 billion downtown transformation" that would have seen the creation of a new 7-story hospital on 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. This building appeared to exist among the new facilities.