Flashback: A mural for Princess Diana on Houston and Avenue B

As you likely know, today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Shortly after her death in the Paris car crash, LES-based artist Chico created a mural in her honor on Houston at Avenue B (6 E. Houston St.) ...



Someone wasn't a big fan of the Royal Family....hence the "die" mustache ...

[Updated] Starbucks opened today on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

This location made the end-of-summer deadline by opening today...



The posted hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week... until 10 p.m. on weekends.

This location features a mural by Brooklyn-based artist Misha Tyutyunik, a custom piece that flows across three walls. According to the Starbucks newsroom, this collaboration was made possible via the East Village-based Citizens for the Arts.


[Image via Starbucks]

As previously reported, this wasn't a case where business was off and Nino's, the previous tenant, had to close. The pizzeria had to close on Oct. 21, 2015, due to a gas leak in the building. On Nov. 17, Nino's received an eviction notice. Owner Nino Camaj had said that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him.

In late November 2015, Camaj's lawyers were reportedly in discussion with landlord Citi Urban Management to dispute the rent charged for the month during which they weren't open due to the gas leak. Camaj still had 10 years left on his lease, and had been in court with the landlords.

He accepted a buyout in February 2016, after having been closed for nearly five months. Camaj told DNAinfo that he could no longer afford the $14,500 monthly rent. (Not to mention court expenses.) Camaj said that the rent for the corner space was $3,500 when he first opened in 1989. Starbucks is reportedly paying upwards of $40,000 a month for the space.

Updated 7:30

Today was apparently a soft opening with an early closing. An EVG reader stopped by early this evening to find it closed until tomorrow.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Starbucks confirmed for Avenue A

At the 'Not Another Starbucks Rally'

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Tenants: Sacha, since 1991, and Mike, since 2005

Sacha came to Manhattan from Wales in 1988 to be an au pair for a family in Soho. She found this apartment in the East Village through The Village Voice in 1991. Mike moved here from Texas in 1997.

Sacha and Mike met in 2004, and he moved in the following year. They were married in the nearby New York City Marble Cemetery — the first couple to have this honor — in 2008. ​​

Their apartment is one of three rent-stabilized units in a tenement building. The other non-rent-stabilized apartments have been renovated and divided into smaller spaces. They turn over each year to new tenants.

One of their favorite things about their upper-floor home is "the feeling of living in a treehouse.​"

As for the East Village, some ​of their ​favorite things include that it still feels like a neighborhood, where they can run into longtime friends on their front stoops or have a package delivered or leave a set of keys for a friend at the corner deli.

They have a long list of favorite neighborhood places, including 4th Street Food Co-Op, ​Russ & Daughters, ​Gizmo Notion, Casey Rubber Stamps, the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket, Panna II, Lil Frankie's, Supper, Mermaid Inn, Block Drug Stores, yoga at ​the Bhakti Center, the $8 movies before noon at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue, and so much more.

"Despite it changing rapidly, there is still lots to love."

And they love their apartment...











If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.

Updated: Tagging the cube

Astor Place this morning... photo by EVG reader Brian Polay...

Updated

Here's another view via @brittsullivan ...



Updated 3 p.m.

Squiggle removal commenced... photos via Derek Berg ...

1st look at the condoplex coming to the site of the former beer distributor on 2nd Street

Work is underway at 298 E. Second St. between Avenue C and Avenue D ...



And here's the first look at what's next, courtesy of the rendering on the plywood...



As previously reported, East Village-based Starleeng Equities is putting up an eight-story, seven-unit residential building. New York Yimby noted that the residential units should average 1,967 square feet apiece — most likely condos. There will be a duplex apartment on the ground and second floors, with full-floor apartments on the third through eighth floors.

According to public records, the building that housed the Houston Street Beer Distributors sold for a little more than $7 million in the fall of 2015.



Previously on EV Grieve:
298 E. 2nd St. latest development site up for grabs

East Village now minus 2 beverage distributors

Something brewing (demolition) for former beer distributor on East 2nd Street


[Photo from August 2016]

Good hair day: On the Mark opens second location; Bonefade Barbers debut on Avenue A

[Photo by Pinch]

On the Mark Barber Shop has opened a second location, which debuted on Tuesday at 350 E. 13th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

As we understand it, they will continue to operate their other location for the time being at 400 E. 13th St. between First Avenue and Avenue A.

The new space is larger with nine chairs, per EVG reader Samir Randeria (one of the first customers on Tuesday).

In other hair-cutting news, Bonefade Barbers is now open at 115 Avenue A near Seventh Street. Read more about them here.

Resobox, a Japanese cultural center, opening in the former Edge space on 3rd Street

Back on Aug. 2, an EVG reader spotted workers putting up some decorations on the marquee at 95 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... the former home of the Edge.

For now, the signage looks like this...



The space will be home to the third NYC location of Resobox, a gallery, workshop (with a variety of classes) and café that celebrates Japanese culture. The first location opened in Long Island City in 2012. (The other location is in Chelsea.) You can read more about Resobox and its founders here.

For now, the Third Street location, until it's fully operational, is offering flower-arranging classes on Saturdays...



The Edge, a neighborhood bar, closed last September after 29 years in business.

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo in Tompkins Square Park today by Derek Berg...

Meanwhile, on the corner of 7th and A...

[Photo by @edenbrower]

At the entrance to Tompkins Square Park at Seventh Street and Avenue A.

As far as I know, this isn't a new, abs-out (and headless and armless) version of the Samuel S. Cox statue ...

Big Kitty is missing

An EVG reader shared this... Big Kitty is missing... last seen on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

EV Grieve Etc.: Council candidates speak out; Cops hunt for 5th Street muggers

[Photo yesterday outside the Death Star by Derek Berg]

District 2 City Council candidates make their case (Gotham Gazette)

An interview with Daniel Kane, author of "Do You Have a Band? Poetry and Punk Rock in New York City" (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Cops looking for two men in robbery on Fifth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. One of the suspects was wearing a Tom Brady jersey. (DNAinfo)

Westchester real-estate executive in double murder-suicide had been previously sued by the owners of an East Village building (New York Post)

Community leaders come together after LES synagogue is vandalized (The Lo-Down)

Actor Alexander Skarsgård buys Parker Posey's former 10th Street home (Mansion Global)

About the doughnut ice cream sandwiches at Stuffed Ice Cream on First Avenue (Gothamist ... previously)

With new legislation, cigarettes are now $13 a pack in NYC (Daily News)

Epstein's Bar continues fight to return to Stanton and Allen (BoweryBoogie)

Will Citi Bike go dockless? (New York Post)

When the Bowery was born (Off the Grid)

An 8th Street burger casualty? (Flaming Pablum)

"Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" screening this weekend (Metrograph)

... and the entertaining documentary "California Typewriter" ends at Village East Cinema on Second Avenue and 12th Street after tomorrow evening...



As NPR noted, "the film quickly feeds the paper, as it were, for a larger meditation on the magic of these physical word processors and a solemn reflection on what gets lost along the forward march of technology."

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: David Anderson
Occupation: Events Planner
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 28

I’m originally from Chicago. My father worked for the post office. He was a systems person, and he brought me to New York for the first time when I was 9 years old. In the course of my high school and college years, I would come back and forth and back and forth. I got the opportunity to finish school in 2004 in New York and I never looked back – I just never moved. My degree is from the Art Institute of Chicago, and I did a teaching internship at Pratt for two years.

It’s changed so much. This Park was always really special, because there was a little bit of everything going on down here. This area here in general used to be overgrown. This was like a jungle and no one ever went in that way. It was just sort of an unwritten rule. There was like an open market. You would bring things here, people would sell marijuana here — it was just one of the places to be. It wasn’t quite as civil as the West Village. It was a little naughtier, but it’s amazing to me what they’ve done to it. You wouldn’t recognize it. They cleared out all of it.

I always liked just wandering around here. This is one of the last neighborhoods in Manhattan. This kind of movement, this kind of energy is kind of common in Brooklyn right now, but [not as much] in Manhattan.I’ve lived in two or three places in Manhattan, and then I moved to Brooklyn before moving here a few years ago. It was just so funny when I moved to Brooklyn — I was just like, ‘Okay, yeah, this is it.’ I never ever thought I was going to move back to Manhattan, but now Brooklyn is more expensive than Manhattan.

It’s a homey, family-oriented place. I mean, I bring people here and they’re just like who knew? You go to Midtown, even Harlem now, and it’s just so ridiculously commodified that it’s just not the same space that it once was, but this just holds on and maintains.

But I can’t get over how pricey it is. When I moved, I actually hired a broker and was curious. I said, ‘I want to see something on the Lower East Side, East Village,’ and what is amazing is that a lot of the old railroad apartments, they’re exactly the same. I actually saw a building, up on the second floor, in the center was a bathroom area and the apartments were around it. And now, people are paying like $2,000 for one of those things. It’s like, are you crazy? This used to be the cheapest type of apartment you could find in Manhattan.

I like Crif Dogs, but they’re so expensive now, what are they $5.50? It’s a goddamn hot dog, but it is where it is. It’s really wild, real estate — real estate governs everything. Even in this rag-tag, wild kind of neighborhood, places still have to make the rent.

When I first moved to Brooklyn, I remember sending emails back to Chicago and saying, ‘You know, the most fascinating thing about Brooklyn is that these are people that shouldn’t get along — culturally, historically, they shouldn’t get along, but they’re jammed into this landmass.’ To me, that’s what the city is about — all kinds of demographics coming together. It’s about the people who are here, that are co-existing, that are all in the struggle. It’s the Big Apple — gotta get a bite.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Checking in on the Swiss Institute, coming next spring to 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Nearly a year has passed since the news arrived that the Swiss Institute, a non-profit cultural center, was moving to the Icon Realty-owned 130 Second Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

There hasn't been much activity at the former Chase branch (except for the daily switch in wheatpaste ads on the plywood) ... until this past week, when some interior gutting commenced... (coinciding with the work-permit approval earlier this month) ...


[Photo last week by Lola Sáenz]

The original announcement said they open in the spring of 2017. That opening date is now the spring of 2018.

Here's more about what to expect via the Institute's website:

In Spring 2018, Swiss Institute looks forward to relocating to a new long-term home in New York City’s East Village, moving into a building at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue. Swiss Institute has hired Selldorf Architects to oversee the transformation of the new building. The 7,500 square foot space features four levels – basement, ground floor, second floor and roof.

The design for the building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs, a library, a bookstore, and a rooftop garden. SI’s new home is located within half a mile of several prominent cultural and educational institutions including Anthology Film Archives, Cooper Union, Danspace Project, ICP, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New Museum, New York University, The Poetry Project, and The Public Theater.

THE MOVE TO ST. MARKS WILL ENABLE SI TO:
– Stengthen & expand its core mission of promoting forward thinking and experimental art- now in an architecturally significant and expanded space.
– Act as a cultural catalyst to partner and engage with a dense network of cultural and educational institutions in a demographically diverse community.
– Significantly grow attendance to exhibitions and public programs though increased prominence and visibility.

There's a benefit for the new space, officially going as 38 St. Mark's Place, in November. (Benefactor tickets are $1,200 each.) Details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

A new storefront for 2nd Street

The sign on the door at 201 E. Second St. currently reads C & R Construction & Renovation Inc. However, the landlord here (an LLC c/o the Kushner Companies) is installing a new storefront in the building here at Avenue B.

Here's a rendering via the listing at Eastern Consolidated...



The asking rent is $4,500 a month for 500 square feet.

House of Physical Therapy coming to 10th Street

Signage is up at 280 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue ... where Stephanie Shane is opening a branch of her physical therapy business.

Per Facebook: "House of Physical Therapy is a boutique medical office. Dr. Shane specializes in caring for the busy New Yorker. Athletes, office workers, weekend warriors, and new moms seek care here because of the level of personal treatment and access to the provider."

This location will open in the fall. Find more info here.

The address was previously (and briefly) a women's boutique called NY.Slip.

7th Street awning action

[EVG photo from May]

Back in May, we noted that 113 First Ave. — current home of the 7th Street Village Farm at First Avenue — was on the rental market.

Given the recent modifications here, it appeared as if the space would remain a corner market, as it had been for years ... and this afternoon, workers put up new awnings ... for 7th Street Village Farm Inc., as these photos by Derek Berg show...







We have an unconfirmed report that this is now part of the East Village Farm & Grocery (Second Avenue and Fourth Street) family... Anyway, there are new awnings.

Croxley Ales closes tomorrow (Wednesday) after 14 years on Avenue B

[EVG file photo]

Croxley Ales is ending its 14-year run on Avenue B after service tomorrow (Aug. 30).

Ownership posted this on the bar's Facebook page:

After almost 15 years on Ave B, Croxley's will open it’s doors for the last time Wednesday, August 30th 2017. We’d like to thank our staff and our guests for all the memories. We invite you to get your craft beer & wing fix one last time with us in Croxley Ave B & we sincerely look forward to seeing you at our other locations ... Don’t forget! Croxley’s In Williamsburg is only one short stop away on the L line. See you there for FOOTBALL KICK off Sept 7th…

The owners behind the Irish bars Triona's on Sullivan (est. 2012) and Triona's on Third (est. 2009) will take over the space at 28-30 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street for a similar-sounding venture.

Earlier this month, CB3's SLA committee approved a new liquor license for the yet-to-be-be-named establishment (Triona's on B?). This Triona's will have hours of noon to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The menu is "traditional American-Irish comfort food." The bar-restaurant will also have 20 TV sets.

Croxley Ales opened on Avenue B in 2003.

Previously on EV Grieve:
CB3 OKs Triona's takeover of Croxley Ales on Avenue B

Owners of Triona's lined up to take over Croxley Ales on Avenue B

Croxley Ales beer garden sign finally removed

Croxley Ales reopens on Thursday

Avenue B condos near former heroin hot spot named Poppy Lofts

At the Bowery Market, Parantha Alley exits, Dosa Royale enters

Parantha Alley has not been open this month at the Bowery Market, the year-round open-air food court at 348 Bowery and Great Jones.

Turns out to be a permanent closure for the vendors who specialize in Indian street food. (They opened here in May.)

A rep for the Bowery Market told me that the owners of Parantha Alley had a health issue and needed to end their lease here.

However, the space won't be empty long. Per the rep: "It was clear the neighborhood enjoyed Indian food at the market. Therefore, we are welcoming Dosa Royale of Brooklyn to the market shortly who will carry on with Indian food and bring an even more expanded menu of Indian food offerings."

The Dosa Royale name has been added to the food stall.



Here's New York magazine with some thoughts on Dosa Royale:

The menu is lengthy, with plenty of vegetarian options, dosas, and curries. South Indian favorites like ulunthu vada, a fried lentil doughnut, and kothu parotta — flaky flatbread layered with onion, eggs, spices, and yogurt — are must-orders. (Avoid the idly, a steamed rice cake that’s pucklike with a microwaved quality to it.) Skip the curries in favor of the namesake dish, the gigantic dosa royale, a savory crêpe made from fermented rice and lentils that is quite literally larger than the width of the table and filled with spiced potatoes and a tangy shredded paneer and spinach mixture, as well as mixed vegetables.

The Market launched in July 2016 with five vendors... and since then, the mini outposts of Champion Coffee, The Butcher's Daughter, Pulqueria and now Parantha Alley have moved on.

Dosa Royale will join current vendors Alidoro, Sushi on Jones and Oaxaca Comida Calle.

Scaffolding arrives as demolition nears for Mount Sinai's 13th Street residential building

In recent months, workers have been prepping 321 E. 13th St., a 14-floor building between Second Avenue and First Avenue, for demolition.

Scaffolding is now up at the rear of the building, which housed training physicians and staff of the nearby New York Eye and Ear Infirmary...





That took about two weeks to erect... and workers are making their way around the building...



As you know, the Mount Sinai Health System is in the midst of its years-long project to rebuild Mount Sinai Beth Israel, transitioning to a network of smaller facilities throughout lower Manhattan. The plans include an expanded facility on 14th Street and Second Avenue.

The hospital's downsizing includes shutting down (and selling off) its campus on First Avenue and 16th Street

The new, 70-bed Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital will apparently live where No. 321 stands now and be ready, optimistically, in 2020. This is from a Mount Sinai FAQ page:

Central to the downtown transformation is the new Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel inpatient hospital, and a brand new state-of-the-art Emergency Department (ED), located at 14th Street near Second Avenue – just two blocks south of the current MSBI campus. The hospital will feature operating and procedure rooms, lab services and imaging equipment, and will be able to handle general surgeries such as gall bladder, hernia and appendectomies.

The ED will accept ambulances and will be able to handle all of the same emergencies that the current ED handles, including: broken bones, asthma attacks, appendicitis, heart attacks, pneumonia, stroke and all other emergencies. It will also include a pediatric ED. Services at the existing MSBI ED will continue without interruption until the new facility opens, which is expected in about four years.

So far only renderings for the enhanced New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on 14th Street and Second Avenue have been released to the public.


[Perkins Eastman]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mount Sinai's 13th Street residential building

Temporary closure at Jimmy's No. 43 may be permanent

Jimmy's No. 43 closed without much notice on Aug. 9 over at 43 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

A "gone fishin'" sign appeared on the door noting a temporary end-of-summer closure for repairs.

However, as owner Jimmy Carbone tells Gothamist, Jimmy's No. 43 may not be coming back at all.

The lease has been up for two years — Carbone has been operating on a month-to-month lease since then — and in February the landlord "dialed it up" and told him that Jimmy's could stay but he would have to start looking for a partner to help with back rent and, in the meantime, he'd have to pay more to remain, according to Carbone. He says it's been a long road getting to this point.

Carbone says the financial difficulties started in 2010 when the city began issuing letter grades for bars and restaurants. Jimmy's was inspected five times in six months and Carbone says it took him three years to pay off the $15,000 in fines as a result of those inspections. In 2013, Jimmy's was shuttered twice by the Health Department, first because of rodent issues that stemmed from Hurricane Sandy; another time because Carbone couldn't afford to pay the fines.

For now, Jimmy's, which opened 12 years ago, remains closed. Carbone, who previously owned Mugsy's Chow Chow on Second Avenue, remains hopeful.

"I have to believe that we're closed for a revamp and there's going to be someone who realizes there's a great location in the East Village that people know about that's ready for a business partner."