Images and stories 2017, Part 1

Here's a sampling of the stories and photos from the past year... January through June... thanks to everyone who contributed during 2017!

January

A snow shot above Avenue A via jdx ...



Ray celebrates No. 84 ... via Stacie Joy...



A presidential piñata on Fourth Avenue ... via Derek Berg...



At the Women's March on NYC ... by Derek Berg

February

A Monday morning ... via Bobby Williams...



M2M closes on 3rd Avenue ...



Valentine's night at Sunny's ... via @EdenBrower



At the rally for the former PS 64 at City Hall ... via Peter Brownscombe ...



No roundup is complete without an abandoned mannequin photo... via Steven...

March

Snowfall on Avenue A ... via Grant Shaffer...



After 40-plus years of serving vegetarian cuisine in the East Village, Angelica Kitchen announces its closure...



The snow car of Fourth Avenue via Derek Berg



Fire jumping at La Plaza ... via Ryan John Lee...

April

Cyclist Kelly Hurley dies after being struck by a box truck making an illegal turn on First Avenue at Ninth Street...



The Tompkins Square Park Art Bar... photo by Daniel...



Good Friday on Third Street ... via Stacie Joy...



A spring scene in Tompkins Square Park... via Bobby Williams...

May

Love and shrooms for Gregg Allman outside the former Fillmore East on Second Avenue ...



At the DanceFest in Tompkins Square Park ... via Stacie Joy...



News arrives that the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston will close in January ...



Feeding time in Tompkins Square Park with Dora and her latest red-tailed hawk offspring... photo by Bobby Williams



Report of an early-morning fire at 328 E. 14th St., home of Artichoke Basille’s Pizza ...



The Sean Spicer lawn ornament in Tompkins Square Park... via Steven...



East Village tenants pay landlord Raphael Toledano a visit at his Upper West Side home...

June

At the 2017 Drag March... via Stacie Joy...



A two-alarm fire on Broadway at Eighth Street as seen from Astor Place... photo by Grant Shaffer...



San Loco closes on Second Avenue...



Ranger Rob brings a new red-tailed hawk to Tompkins Square Park ... via Goggla ...



Lenin returns.... via Steven...



McDonald's on Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place closes after 20 years ... via MP...



A morning scene at Houston and Avenue A... via Aaron...



Summer rain in Tompkins Square Park... via Bobby Williams...

Week in Grieview

[Someone tossed a P from Stomp on St. Mark’s Place]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

AG's office: Steve Croman agrees to pay $8 million to the tenants he harassed (Thursday)

Workers remove the sculpture fence and prep lot at 89 1st Ave. (Wednesday)

Paquito's Restaurant closing after 25 years on 1st Avenue; take out and delivery will remain (Tuesday)

Neighbor: East Village Cheese, closed now for 2 weeks, is starting to smell (Thursday) ... and a co-owner spotted clearing out the space (Friday)

Santa delivers sacks of coal to Madison Realty Capital, Rafael Toledano's lenders (Friday)

Hotel Tortuga, now with morning espresso service on 14th Street (Wednesday)

Partial vacate order and violations for sidewalk-collapse building on 4th Street (Monday)

Presenting Mercury East Presents, which brings together several local music venues (Tuesday)

How many East Village properties do the Kushner Cos. actually own? (Wednesday)

Pinky's Space bringing quick-serve food options to 1st Street (Monday)

Opossum action (Friday ... Wednesday)

GG's closes on Fifth Street (Friday)

The Ainsworth East Village debuts on 3rd Avenue (Tuesday)

Icon's 9th Street townhouse now available for $17 million (Tuesday)

Out East has not been open the last few days (Thursday)

Viking Waffles signage arrives on Avenue C (Monday)

Reader report: Beware the Amazon Fire TV Stick (Monday)

Westside Market opening in the former Met Foods space on 3rd Avenue and 17th Street (Tuesday)

Some Steiner East Village retail speculation (Monday)

... and several readers noted this bike-lock job on 10th Street and Third Avenue...


[Photo via EVG reader Doug]

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Santa delivers sacks of coal to Madison Realty Capital, Rafael Toledano's lenders

The following is from the EVG inbox via Tenants Taking Control ...

A festive group of holiday carolers from the TTC (Tenants Taking Control, formerly the Toledano Tenants Coalition) visited the Midtown offices of Madison Realty Capital on Monday morning. But the songs they sang were much more ironic than celebratory.

"Madison is Coming to Town" was sung to a familiar tune, but featured such lyrical enhancements as "♫ They’re making a loan ♪ They’re raising the price ♪. They’re funding a landlord who’s not very nice ♫ Madison is coming to town ♪"



In 2015, Madison Realty loaned $124 million to Rafael Toledano, a 25 year old with no track record as a landlord and a conviction for aggravated assault, so that he could buy a "portfolio" of 15 buildings in Manhattan, mostly in the East Village.

Through demolition that generated lead dust, outright neglect of the properties, aggressive buyout offers and threatened lawsuits, Toledano removed about a third of the 450+ rent-regulated tenants from those buildings before defaulting on Madison's loan and then facing foreclosure in February 2017.

On Monday, the group of remaining tenants also sang "I Had a Little Landlord" (to the tune of "I Have a Little Dreidel"). One verse went: "♪ I had a little landlord ♫ He bought the place one day ♪ He got a check from Madison ♫ And then he couldn’t pay! ♪"

The LLCs once controlled by Toledano staved off the foreclosure in March 2017 by each declaring bankruptcy. Through bankruptcy court, control of the buildings was given over in April to Silverstone Properties, the property management arm of... Madison Realty Capital. If you think that sounds kind of circular, you're not alone. It's a bit like singing a round.

In May 2017, the New York State Attorney General's office filed a massive objection (PDF here) and declaration, accusing Madison Realty Capital of practices “Consistent with a Predatory ‘Loan to Own’ Business Model.” The filings dissected the striking irregularities of the deal. Among other oddities, it references...

• "fatal flaws" in the underwriting of the loan, as evaluated by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. • clear evidence that Signature Bank (an investor in the loan) foresaw that Toledano would default, and that Madison was well positioned to take over the properties.
• floor plans for the apartments that show newly-added, windowless bedrooms, which are illegal in NYC.

Bankruptcy court hearings regarding the case have been repeatedly postponed by Madison since the AG and the DHCR's Tenant Protection Unit publicized through its filings that the ongoing investigation of Toledano had been expanded to include Madison.



On Monday morning in Midtown, Santa Claus himself made an appearance. He had a special gift for the principals of Madison: Gift-wrapped little sacks of coal. Bellowing loud enough to (possibly) be heard on the 37th floor, he pronounced that the company had been naughty.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Amid claims of being a rent-stabilized tenant, Raphael Toledano faces eviction from his home
Foreclosure notice arrives on Raphael Toledano-owned building on 12th Street

Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Cleaning up 444 E. 13th St.

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust

Foreclosure notice arrives on Raphael Toledano-owned building on 12th Street

Report: Raphael Toledano files for Chapter 11; $145 million deal for EV portfolio is off the table

Raphael Toledano tenants take to Midtown streets to speak out against their landlord and his lenders

East Village tenants pay landlord Raphael Toledano a visit at his Upper West Side home

Workers remove the sculpture fence and prep lot at 89 1st Ave.

[Photo yesterday by Goggla]

Workers yesterday dismantled the sculpture fence that had lined the empty lot for years (since the late 1980s, per one estimate) here on First Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

As I understand it, the fence was created at the former Gas Station (aka Art Gallery Space 2B) on Avenue B and Second Street by Claire Kalemkeris and Johnny Swing in collaboration with Linus Coraggio. (In an email, Coraggio said that he wanted to salvage the fence and place it in the Kenkeleba Sculpture Garden on Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C where more of his work is on display.)

For now, it appears that at least one section of the fence is lying inside the lot...


[Photo by EVG reader Mona]

Aside from removing the fence, workers — once again — cleared out some of the weeds in the space.



Plans were filed in the spring with the city for a 6-floor building. According to the pre-filing info at the DOB, the building will house eight dwelling units in nearly 7,400 square feet of space. The nearly 1,000 square feet per unit suggests condos. There's another 900 square feet listed for the ground-floor storefront. (The city has yet to approve these permits.)

As previously reported, Florence Toledano was the owner of this lot. In 2013, public records show that the deed for the property was transferred from the Florence Toledano Living Trust to 89 First Avenue LLC. The DOB permit lists Daniel Toledano as the manager of the property. (We do not know the relationship between Daniel Toledano and Florence Toledano. One reader said Daniel is a nephew of Florence.) Andrew Fredman is listed as the architect of record for the new building.

In recent weeks the fence had started to sag... there was an opening in the front...


[Photo from Sunday]

It looked as if someone or something rammed the fence...


[Photo from Sunday]

And someone had written a lyric from "Chinese Rocks" back in the summer...



Updated 5:30 p.m.

EVG reader Rik Rocket shared this photo of the new fence going in...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Will this long-empty lot on 1st Avenue yield to affordable housing?

Drilling and soil testing commences at the long-empty lot at 89 1st Ave.

Permits filed for 6-story building in long-empty lot at 89 1st Ave.


[Photo from 2014]

Week in Grieview

[Photo yesterday on 3rd Avenue by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

The end is nearing for the Sunshine Cinema (Friday)

Remembering Kate Millett (Friday)

Someone vandalized the entrance to the Chinese Hawaiian Kenpo Academy on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

Arrest made in Avenue D murder (Thursday)

Papaya King closes on St. Mark's Place ahead of new development (Monday)

The Continental says it will close late next summer (Tuesday)

The latest I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Friday)

Liberty Toye now lighting up Avenue B (Tuesday)

The Peter Stuyvesant-PO-replacing residential building tops out on 14th Street (Tuesday)

City Kids bringing the East Village Playhouse to long-empty storefront on 6th Street (Tuesday)

PS 122 returns to the East Village in January (Wednesday)

Judge dismisses Raphael Toledano suit over 97 2nd Ave. (Wednesday)

Landlord accused of tenant harassment in Chelsea new owner of 7th Street building (Thursday)

Old Monk offering a free meal this Thanksgiving (Friday)

Out and About with Margie Segal (Wednesday)

Meet Fresh bringing teas and taro balls to Cooper Square (Thursday)

Report: Part of a man's leg discovered along the East River (Thursday)

Wall 88 looks closed on 2nd Avenue (Monday)


[7th Street streetscene via Derek Berg]

There's a proposed addition for the recently landmarked 827-831 Broadway (Wednesday)

A quick look at the incoming Joe and Pat's (Monday)

The Good Santa-Bad Santa events taking place on Dec. 9 (Thursday)

The AltSchool's East Village location is closing (Monday)

Stuy Town to catch some major solar rays (Thursday)

Wise Men closes on the Bowery (Monday)

The Ainsworth neon arrives on 3rd Avenue (Monday)

... and in 14th Street salon/spa news from the past week... EVG 14th Street spa/salon correspondent Pinch notes that Hair Trendz between First Avenue and Second Avenue has closed ...



... with signage stating that they are opening across the street in the Perfect Glow space...



...and one block to the west, Spaology has given way to Morning Ritual...



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