Plywood report: A big Dig renovation on 4th Avenue

Some serious plywood action on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue at 13th Street...



... where, as previously reported here, a Dig Inn is in the works.

The health-conscious fast-casual chain, founded in 2011, recently dropped the Inn from the Dig name ahead of a multi-city expansion.

And a recap of the activity in this storefront: This has been a challenging corner for businesses since the longtime deli was rent-hiked out of here in November 2012. The space has been home to Fresh & Co. and Pie Face and, most recently, Sandwicherie in the past five years.

Sunday's parting shot

Hydrant rainbow today on 13th Street at Avenue B via Lola Saénz...

Noted

Apparently Fresh Direct has expanded its delivery service to include squirrels in Tompkins Square Park... photos via EVG Squirrels-Doing-Cute-Things Correspondent Steven...

Week in Grieview

[Thursday evening in Tompkins Square Park]

Posts this past week included...

Mount Sinai Beth Israel offers more details on new East Village hospital, plans for the former Rivington House (Tuesday)

Report: Mayor unleashes the "Green Wave Bicycle Plan" to address increase in cycling fatalities, make streets safer (Friday)

Bartender files federal complaint against Bar None for harassment (Thursday)

NYPD looking for suspect who forced his way into woman's apartment near 12th and A (Saturday)

Ruby’s Cafe bringing its Australian vibes to the former Martina space on 11th Street (Monday)

The new fence at La Plaza is officially complete (Friday)

RIP Paul Krassner (Monday)

Curiosity about the anonymous buyer behind the sale of the Boys' Club Harriman Clubhouse (Wednesday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

The M14A tops the slow-bus charts (Tuesday)

You may now book a room for October at the Moxy East Village (Wednesday)

787 Coffee and Calexico now open on 2nd Avenue (Saturday)

1st of 2 Flamingos Vintage Pound shops has opened in the East Village (Monday)

The Village East screening Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" in 70mm (Wednesday)

Old Fashioned Pizza coming to 13th Street (Thursday)

Soft opening for Craft+Carry on St. Mark's Place (Friday)

Pizza Rollio has closed on 9th Street (Tuesday)

Sorbet Cray Cray debuts on Avenue A (Thursday)

Nolita Pizza now serving up slices on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

That's all for Bruno Pizza, which has been closed fire upstairs last November (Monday)

Chinese Graffiti has not been open lately on Avenue A (Tuesday)

14th St. Candy & Grocery has not been open lately on 14th Street (Monday)

... and thanks to the readers (h/t @Jason_Chatfield!) who pointed out the freshly pained awning at the newish cafe Bin 141 on Avenue A and Third Street...



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Recent ghost signage on Avenue B

A reader pointed out signage on Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street for the Little Bird Bakery and Coffeehouse. This is actually not the new tenant moving into the space, but the name of the business that had the space from June 2010 to January 2011.

Y Cafe eventually moved into the storefront at 182 Avenue B ... closing in March after nearly eight years of service.

Little Bird, a vegan cafe, was a nice spot but it only lasted those six months. Before that there was the short-lived Panache Cafe and Cafe de Nova.

The reader noted activity inside the space in recent weeks. The for-rent sign has also been removed.

EVG Etc.: Puerto Rican cultural history in the East Village; the unknown future of East River Park

[Early morning on 7th and A]

A few headlines of interest from the past week...

• The legacy of Puerto Rican cultural history in the East Village (6sgft)

• LES community groups trying to revive rezoning that de Blasio's administration rejected (City Limits)

• Here are the organizers behind the "Occupy NYCHA" rally at City Hall (Gothamist)

• The past and future of East River Park (Off the Grid)

• It smells like sewage in the Baruch Houses lobby on the LES (PIX11)

• Praise for the crispy rice at Clay Pot on St. Mark's Place (The New York Times)

• A talk with the chefs at Luthun, which just opened on 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue (Eater ... previously on EVG) And a look at their menu (Grub Street)

• The Blackstone Group, owner of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, has stopped renovating vacant apartments for the time being (Town & Village)

• Lydia Lynch discusses her new book of essays, "So Real It Hurts" (i-D)

• From 1930 to 1970, a librarian at the Hamilton Fish Park branch on East Houston Street kept a scrapbook of library life. Now it's for sale for $975. (FineBooks & Collections)

• Adidas and the Beastie Boys are marking the 30th anniversary of "Paul’s Boutique" with a new (vegan) skate shoe (UPROXX)

• Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong on creating "Nightclubbing," their cable access show (Document Journal)

• And from The Cut, go inside the home of artist Izhar Patkin ...

[Updated] NYPD looking for suspect who forced his way into woman's apartment near 12th and A

🚨WANTED🚨for a Burglary in vicinity of Avenue A and East 12. @NYPD9Pct #EastVillage #Manhattan on 7/29/19 @ 1:45 AM 💰Reward up to $2500👓Seen Him? Know who he is?☎️Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!📞Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! #YourCityYourCall @NYPDDetectives @ny1desk pic.twitter.com/E0kbXNmksM

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) July 27, 2019

The NYPD is searching for a suspect, shown in the above clip, who reportedly followed a 21-year-old woman into her building early Friday morning before forcing his way into her apartment located near Avenue A and East 12th Street.

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Updated 8/2: Police ID'd the suspect as Tyler Lockett.

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Per the Post:

He continued behind her as she went to her apartment door — where he forced his way inside and pushed the woman to the ground.

“Shut up,” he told her as he tried to cover her mouth, cops said.

He ran off shortly thereafter when he saw the victim’s roommate.

Here's more via the NYPD alert:

He was last seen fleeing on foot in the vicinity of 11 street and 1 Avenue. There were no reported injuries or property taken as a result of the incident.

The individual is described as an adult male Black, slim build, brown eyes, beard and short black afro-hair. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweat jacket, black pants, a white t-shirt, black sneakers and carrying a black backpack.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Updated 8/5

The NYPD made an arrest...

Thanks to the work of @NYPDDetectives in @NYPDSVU and sharp-eyed officers of the @NYPD90Pct, TYLER LOCKETT was apprehended! Thanks too to the community for its help sharing this! #NYPDConnecting #NYPDProtecting pic.twitter.com/M6xByGGT7y

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) August 4, 2019

787 Coffee and Calexico now open on 2nd Avenue

As a follow up to Tuesday's post... both the Calexico outpost and 787 Coffee cafe have opened on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. (The previous post has more background detail.)

And thanks to everyone who passed the news about the openings here!

Hot wax

Some vinyl up for grabs in Tompkins Square Park... inside the entrance on Seventh Street and Avenue A.

Dibs on the Ray Price...



Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos.

Automatic for the people

The Los Angeles-based trio Automatic has a new record out in September. This audio clip is for the track "Too Much Money." Inspired by Suicide, Kleenex and Neu.

[Updated] The Starbucks on Astor Place is closed for the moment

[Photos by Steven]

Multiple readers have pointed out that the Starbucks outpost on Astor Place is currently closed...



Several workers were spotted inside... Per EVG correspondent Steven: "There is plastic over the coffee machines. They are moving inventory to the side."

Another reader said that there was some sort of leak.

In any event, the official "store closed" sign is a lot more boring than the ones used during the brief closure at the Avenue A/St. Mark's Place location.

Updated 7/28 — This location is back open.

The bus stopped here ...

Workers this morning demolished the bus stop on Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street (thanks to @MKNyland for the photo!) ... this stop for the (pokey) northbound M14A was eliminated ahead of the Select Bus Service that went into effect on July 1.

There are other abandoned bus shelters that will likely be removed soon. Perhaps this will create space for some LinkNYC kiosks? [Ducking]

Updated 1 p.m.

And the bus shelter on the west side of Avenue A between St. Mark's and Ninth Street is gone... thanks to Steven for the pic...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The abandoned bus shelters of Avenue A

Report: Mayor unleashes the 'Green Wave Bicycle Plan' to address increase in cycling fatalities, make streets safer

To address the rising death toll of cyclists on city streets this year (17 so far vs. 10 all of last year), Mayor de Blasio yesterday released details on a five-year, $58.4 million plan that aims to combine design, enforcement, legislation, policy and education to make the city safer for all street users.

Here's Gothamist with the key details:

Dubbed the "Green Wave Bicycle Plan," the 24-page blueprint calls for the addition of 30 miles of new protected bike lanes each year, up from the current rate of about 20. The Department of Transportation will also begin implementing traffic calming treatments at 50 of the city's most dangerous intersections, while the NYPD's three-week campaign targeting dangerous drivers will be extended indefinitely.

Vision Zero never started with the idea that we'd save only a few lives — it's about saving EVERY life. And a citywide network of protected bike lanes will bring us closer to that goal. pic.twitter.com/UtLuYE99RK

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 25, 2019

The plan includes expanded NYPD enforcement:

• Under the plan, the NYPD will ramp up enforcement at the 100 most crash-prone intersections and target enforcement on highest risk activities: speeding, failing to yield, blocking bike lanes, oversized trucks/trucks off route.
• Maintain continuous citywide implementation of “Operation Bicycle Safe Passage” initiative – extending elevated enforcement of blocked bike lanes and hazardous driving violations. Since implementation of Operation Bicycle Safe Passage, NYPD has doubled enforcement of cars parked in bicycle lanes and issued more than 8,600 summons in the first three weeks of July.
• Specialized units and precincts will increase enforcement against oversized and off-route trucks.
• The NYPD also announced that supervisors would respond to collision sites to determine if the right-of-way laws should be applied — and that it would also discontinue its practice of ticketing cyclists at the site of fatal cyclist crashes.
• NYPD supports new and emerging technology for automated enforcement.

The plan doesn't mention if they'll be an educational component to curb the NYPD's tradition of blaming the victim for his or her own death on the streets, as we saw in the case of Kelly Hurley on First Avenue at Ninth Street in 2017. A detective came to the conclusion that she didn't stop in time and "slipped" under a truck — a truck failing to yield and making an illegal left turn across four lanes of traffic.

You can find plenty more reaction and analysis of "Green Wave" over at Streetsblog — here and here, for starters.

The new fence at La Plaza is officially complete

It's official: The new fence is complete at La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C and Ninth Street...





The community garden/green space has been closed to the public since the spring for the fence work.

An official grand reopening will be announced soon.

The previous chain-link fence was sagging in spots and in need of repair. Winter Flowers, handmade sculptures from discarded materials that Rolando Politi started creating in 2000, lined the top of the fence. The collection had grown to nearly 250. Not sure if any of those might return.


[Photo from September 2018]

Meanwhile, La Plaza volunteers will be holding onsite member registration, orientation and dues payment from 1-4 on Saturday and Sunday if you're interested in being part of the garden.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A fall day to remove the Winter Flowers from La Plaza Cultural

A wake for the last willow trees at La Plaza Cultural

Soft opening for Craft+Carry on St. Mark's Place

[Photos by Steven]

The East Village outpost of Craft+Carry will have a soft opening today at 116 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue...



Craft+Carry, which also has locations in the DeKalb Market (since June 2017) and on Third Avenue (September 2017) in Gramercy Park, sells several hundred varieties of craft bottles and cans to take home... there's also a small bar with a rotating batch of taps and free Skee-Ball. (Among the other amenities: the Crowler machine, which employees can draft beer for customers at the bar, and homebrew equipment and recipe kits.)

The recently renovated storefront previously belonged to a Ukrainian religious organization.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Craft+Carry outpost slated for 116 St. Mark's Place

Transaction wire: 182-184 Avenue A; 743 E. 6th St.

[File photo of 182-184 Avenue A]

From the transaction wire via The Real Deal: 182-184 Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street has changed hands for $11.5 million.

Per TRD:

The four-story-tall walk-up sits on two tax lots between East 11th and East 12th Streets. The seller was an entity linked to Granite International Management and the buyer was another limited liability company linked to Great Neck-based landlord Bahram Hakakian.

Hakakian was once on City Councilmember Bill de Blasio's "Slumlord Watch List," according to the Daily News in 2009.

In 2011, The Real Deal's analysis of city records found that "there were 3,020 housing code violations on the 334 units" in the 17 buildings that Hakakian reportedly owned. (He had just sold many of the properties.) That figure came out to about nine violations per unit.

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[743 E. 6th St.]

Meanwhile, 743 E. Sixth St., a three-story building between Avenue C and Avenue D, just sold for $3.2 million.

According to the listing, the property was vacant ... and features a garage-studio on the ground level (the former Manny's Auto Repair) ... and a single-family residence on the second and third floors.

Traded: New York reported the buyer as David Mashaal.

The property will reportedly be leased as a rental in the short term with long-term development plans. There were 4,430 square feet of air rights available to the buyer.

A photographic memoir at the Tompkins Square Library branch

The photography of longtime LES resident Paul Adrian Davies is currently on display at the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street.

Saturday (July 27) afternoon at 3, Davies is giving a talk followed by slide presentation about previously unseen work from his extensive archive of photographs of the neighborhood, which stretches back to 1985.

His work will be up at the branch, 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, until Aug. 24.

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

Report: Bartender files federal complaint against Bar None for harassment

Bartender Kaitlin Day filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint last week alleging that Bar None, 98 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street, promoted a culture of sexual harassment and assault, according to published reports.

Per the Daily News:

The complaint alleges that owner Frank Steo let his friends use the basement as a crack den, the rain poured into the bar when the weather was bad and she had to put up with gross ogling from the toxic boss’s buddies.

And:

The last straw came on June 18, when a man Day believes is Steo’s cousin allegedly went behind the bar to serve himself. When she complained, the man, Kurtis Burns, put his hands on her breasts, squeezed her butt and tried to put his finger inside her vagina, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Burns was previously charged with multiple counts of harassment and assault stemming from a fight near the bar on June 2. The News reported that Burns failed to show up for previous court dates.

Day's attorney says that they plan to file a lawsuit after the EEOC makes its determination. Steo did not return calls for comment to the News.

Citi Bike of the day

Derek Berg spotted the one at an impromptu docking station on Seventh Street near First Avenue.