Tuesday, November 8, 2011

An epic FAILE

By now, you've likely seen the new mural by FAILE on the wall at Houston and the Bowery... BoweryBoogie chronicled the work last week.

Here's a look at the mural through the lens of EV Grieve regular jdx ...


In addition, Billy Leroy of Billy's Antiques sent us this shot adjacent to the mural... a spinning sculpture of wood and steel...

Monday, November 7, 2011

Things that we missed seeing today


Anyone?

The Serious Eats guide to East Village restaurants

At Serious Eats today, editor Maggie Hoffman lists her favorite places to eat in the East Village... by category... Among her picks:

Pizza by the Pie: Motorino

Pizza by the Slice: South Brooklyn Pizza

Ramen: Ippudo

Brunch: Northern Spy Food Co.

Sophisticated Bar Bites: Vandaag

Indian: Banjara

Chinese: Grand Sichuan

Where to Bring Your Parents: Pylos

Espresso: Abraço

Well, you know, such lists are all so subjective... What do you think? And what are "sophisticated bar bites" exactly?

You can find the whole list here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Outside Cooper Union yesterday by Bobby Williams]

Help police catch this Stuy Town mugger (Stuy Town Living)

Steve Croman tripling the rent at the classic Caffe Vivaldi, which will have to shutter (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Billy Leroy — Defender Of The Old New York (HuffPost)

A really long (and rather entertaining) "Missed Connection" about an iPhone (BoweryBoogie)

Check out the video for the new R Crumb book (Slum Goddess)

More from the EV Grieve animated GIF tribute site (EVGif)

Olek crochets a cab in London (Runnin' Scared)

A burger at Odessa (Marty After Dark)

Brooks dares to go into Sprinkles, former home of Gino (Lost City)

Flyer for the 1971 New York City Marathon, featuring 245 runners (Nonetheless)

Plus: A cool compilation of photos from this year's race (PopSugar NYC)

The secret subway platform beneath The Waldorf-Astoria (Gothamist)

CB3 member Ariel Palitz puts Sutra on the market


Sutra Lounge, the club owned by Community Board 3 member Ariel Palitz, is on the market. A listing for Sutra at 16 First Avenue (near First Street) showed up on Streeteasy on Friday.

Per the listing:

Bi-Level Lounge For Sale
• Exterior and Interior entrances for Lower Level
• Original Mosaic Mirror staircase and other detail
• 10+ Year lease
• $15,000 per year base rent
• Optional Office/Apartment above lounge

We reached out to Palitz via email for a comment. This is her response:

"This month is Sutra Lounge's 7 year anniversary and it continues to thrive against all odds in industry. At this time we have opted to put Sutra on the market to explore its value and interest but continue to operate as if there is no tomorrow. As entrepreneurs we intend on developing new ventures and look forward to the future."

Demolition permits on file for historic 316 E. Third St.


Back in August, Curbed reported that a Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit apartment building is coming to 316 and 318 E. Third St., which is between Avenue C and Avenue D. (Still waiting for those renderings!)

In May 2010, we posted info about the sale of the four-story brick townhouse. It was on the market for $3.995 million.

According to the listing, "The townhouse is surrounded on 3 sides by bucolic garden, open lawn and mature trees. The townhouse itself is not landmarked, and there are approximately 22,900 buildable square feet available to the purchaser of these combined 2 lots, offering myriad opportunities for creative expansion."

Anyway, it was just a matter of time... last week, the demolition permits were put on file for the house at 316 E. Third St.



Preservation groups had worked to try to protect 316 E. Third St., a circa-1835 house bound for the condo after life. Unfortunately, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected a hearing on the matter in September, according to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation website.


Several readers had noted that former Community Board 3 member Barden Prisant owned the home. He confirmed this to us in a message via Facebook at the time.

According to an article on living in Prospect Park South in the Times dated Oct. 6, Prisant and his wife "decided to sell their house in the East Village because a tall building was to go up next to their beloved backyard."

Area marked below is 316-318 E. Third St. ...


Forgot about this beast in the works for that empty lot above at Houston and Avenue D:



Back to the Times article: "In addition to uprooting their 8-year-old daughter, the move would involve transplanting the garden that Mr. Prisant had cultivated over 20-plus years. It had peach, apple, cherry and pear trees, none of which they wanted to leave behind. Factor in the barbecue, which Mr. Prisant likes to use year-round, and it was clear that no ordinary place would do."

As the article points out, they found a suitable new home "a block and a half from Prospect Park’s parade grounds."

Japadog construction starts; plus, the end of an era for 'the doorshitter'?

As we reported, Japadog is opening its first U.S. outpost at 30 St. Mark's Place...


Last week, workers knocked off the front section of the address, the former Go Japanese Restaurant...


In doing so, the space here is, of course, much more wide open... a space made famous (sort of!) last summer ...


...by the infamous Doorshitter.


Not really as much cover left for clandestine crapping.

At Joe's Bar, a freshly painted gate, mystery and, apparently, roaches


On Friday evening, we walked by the now-closed Joe's on East Sixth Street — hopeful that one of our favorite bars had reopened.

A worker had just finished up painting the bar's front gate. We stopped and asked if the bar was reopening. The worker looked startled, and said, "I didn't have anything to do with it. I didn't have anything to do with it." With that, he hurried inside the adjacent building leaving us wondering, To do with what?

The bar is still closed in the eyes of the DOH. On Oct. 5, the DOH hit them with 71 violation points. The DOH returned on Oct. 21, and found improvements, though there were still 32 violation points. There are two listed sanitary violations on the DOH website ("critical" violations are displayed in red):
1) Live roaches present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.
2) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.

Ko-Z not looking very open anymore on Sixth Street


Also while walking on East Sixth Street Friday evening... We noticed that Ko-Z was closed. We checked again on Saturday and Sunday evenings too. Closed. We wrote about the small Thai eatery just a few weeks ago. We had tried the food and liked it. The owner prepared our sandwich with great pride... enough pride that it took him maybe 15 minutes to do so. Which is fine. We weren't in a hurry. But we were the only people there. We wondered what happened if there was a crowd or an order for delivery...? We only ever saw the owner working.

Perhaps this is all just temporary.

The restaurant had just opened in last September.

Peek A Bao

We haven't looked at the latest offering from Michael "Bao" Huynh in a month or so here on First Avenue near 14th Street ... (most recently home to the short-lived Select Burger...)

Here's a peek (and yes — that headline is awful) ...



DOH temporarily closes Muzzarella Pizza


Muzzarella Pizza on Avenue A near 14th Street remains "closed for renovations." On Oct. 27, the DOH closed the pizzeria with 65 violation points, including for "evidence of mice or live mice."

As an Eater reader noted about the place back in August: "Muzzarella Pizza is everything that the East Village used to be and is losing at an alarming rate."

How your apartment can star in a CBS medical drama


Hmm, can't quite make that sign out... scouts for the CBS medical drama "A Gifted Man" are looking for a first floor or ground-floor apartment to use on Monday, Nov. 21. Interested? Call Ana at (917) 548-3201... spotted at Sixth Street near Avenue B...

We'll hold out for CBS' "2 Broke Girls."

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Chimney collapse at 528 E. 13th St.

Several readers have told us about a chimney collapse at 528 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B around 8:30 tonight...



Witnesses said that everyone is OK... however, residents who live in the rear of the building will have to spend tonight (and perhaps a few other nights too) elsewhere... the Red Cross was going to put anyone up who needed it... One resident described the noise as "sounding like an earthquake."

The following photos are from EV Grieve reader Deanne Draeger...






According to the DOB, there have been three complaints against the building... In September 1997, "EAST WALLOUT OF PLUMP REAR YARD CHIMNEY PULLING AWAY FROM BLDG. BROKEN SHAFT."

On Oct. 8, 2010 — "BRICK CHIMNEY SEPARATING" ... and Sept. 22, 2010, "FAILURE TO MAINTAIN BUILDING WALL. NOTED: STRUCTURAL STRESS CRACKS AT NUMEROUS LOCATIONS ON ALL FLOORS OF EAST ELEVATION."

According to the DOB, Crisari Realty is the owner.

Bubble man back in Tompkins Square Park today

Photos by Bobby Williams...





Week in Grieview

[Ninth Street at Avenue C, by Bobby Williams]

New condos for Seventh Street (Monday)

Tuition for Cooper Union? (Tuesday)

So long Crazy Landlord sign (Friday)

David Cross reads EV Grieve comments at the UCBeast grand opening (Monday)

76 Third Ave. is coming down (Thursday)

Rent reduction for St. Mark's Bookshop (Thursday)

A memorial for Steve Jobs in Tompkins Square Park? (Friday)

Zip 10003 has how many chain stores? (Wednesday)

Pepper spray and NYPD on Avenue A (Tuesday)

Nevada Smith's new home (Monday)

The Lab is gone from First Park (Monday)

Long lines for the M15 Select Bus Service on First Avenue; plus scarves (Friday)

We noted our 10,000th post (Tuesday)

Hello Karl Fischer!: Meet 'NY's most loathed architect'

[532 E. Fifth St.]

In the Post today, Maureen Callahan takes a look at Curbed favorite Karl Fischer in a piece titled "NY’s most loathed architect."

Let's jump right in:

Since 2003, Montreal-based architect Karl Fischer has designed more than 200 residential structures in Manhattan and Brooklyn, each one looking very much like the last: glass-curtained boxes flecked with grim brick or concrete, characterless high-rises in bohemian areas that, like uninvited party guests, seem to neither know nor care that they are profoundly out of place.

"Like doctors, there is a certain ethic of the architect: You're not supposed to make anything worse," says Aleksandr Mergold, architect and professor at Cornell University. "I'm not saying Karl Fischer is making things worse. But he’s not making things any better. That Cold War look seems to come from a lack of imagination. Great business model, though."

Fischer currently has three projects working in the East Village ... 427 E. 12th Street ... 316-318 E. Third St. ... and 532 E. Fifth St. ...

Please explain


East Third Street near Avenue B.

Yo Post


Somewhere along Avenue A. And is this the start of a NYC paper sticker war?

Meet the Ass family on Seventh Street


Photo by Dave on 7th.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

A note for Adam


Spotted by EV Grieve reader Rob on Avenue A between Second Street and Houston...