A new (familiar) owner for Takahachi on Avenue A

Takahachi, the 29-year-old sushi restaurant at 85 Avenue A, will have a new owner.

Jack Hlaing — aka Jack the Chef — will appear before CB3's SLA committee tonight for a new wine-beer license for the restaurant between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

Hlaing, who has worked here for 19 years, says in a letter to CB3 that owner Hiroyuki Takahashi is giving him the opportunity to buy the place.

"I have no intention to change [the] method of operation or [make] alterations related to new business," he writes. "It will be resumed as it was before."

You can find the letter with the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website.


[Photo of Hlaing from 2018 by True World Foods]

Takahachi opened here in 1990. The owner later expanded to Tribeca with a restaurant on Duane Street in 2002 and a bakery on Murray Street in 2010.

As The Infatuation wrote about the East Village location: "On any given night, it’s safe to assume 75 percent of the restaurant are regulars. It’s that kind of spot. Good food and a personal connection, no wonder people keep coming back. Next time you need sushi in the East Village, Takahachi is the move."

[Updated] C&B is weekends only at the moment at Paper Daisy on St. Mark's Place

This post has been updated...

Over the weekend, the C&B logo was replaced at 39 St. Mark's Place with signage for Bar Ilegal. (Thanks to Brian I. Oxman for the photos!) The letters on the door read "11C Mezcal Bar."



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Updated 9/10

According to a Paper Daisy rep:

C&B is still in operation. We are operating weekends only at the moment while we work on growing Paper Daisy. Bar Ilegal is a collaboration between C&B and some friends who are doing a brief pop-up in the space during the evenings. While the space looks different for the time being, we are still serving the same product on the weekends as always.

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C&B Cafe opened in the late winter in this spot just east of Second Avenue.

Some background. C&B chef-owner Ali Sahin was brought in to be the executive chef for Paper Daisy, which opened in March and whose creative team features East Village residents Jaime Felber, Darin Rubell and Thomas Flynn. Combined, their local credits include Boulton & Watt, Drexler’s and Mister Paradise.

Meanwhile, the 4-year-old C&B Cafe continues on at its original location at 178 E. Seventh St. near Avenue B.

As for this St. Mark's Place address, Cafe Orlin closed here in October 2017 after 36 years of service.

Previously on EV Grieve:
C&B Cafe now part of new venture taking over the former Cafe Orlin space on St. Mark's Place

C&B Cafe debuts outpost on St. Mark's Place

Could there be news soon about the reopening of the Tompkins Square Park Avenue B children’s playgrounds?

The word from Tompkins Square Park: Inspectors are expected to look over the new equipment in the recently renovated Avenue B playground today (Monday!)...



If all goes well, then we should have word of a grand re-opening here soon.

The work started last Oct. 1 on the southeast portion of the Park, which saw the closure of the entrances on Seventh Street at Avenue B and Eighth Street at Avenue B. The space was expected to reopen some time this month.

H/T Steven!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nearly 11 months in, Tompkins Square Park playground rehab winding down

Fire temporarily closes Gyu-Kaku on Cooper Square

A small fire inside Gyu-Kaku on Cooper Square Thursday evening has temporarily ko'd the restaurant.



The official FDNY Twitter feed puts the fire at just before 8 p.m. The FDNY had the fire under control in 20-plus minutes...

MAN ALL HANDS 34 COOPER SQ, COMMERCIAL FIRE ON FIRST FLR,

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) September 5, 2019

MAN ALL HANDS 34 COOPER SQ, COMMERCIAL FIRE ON FIRST FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) September 6, 2019

No word on where the fire started. The Citizen app mentioned the fire started on a table. (That information has not been verified.)



Gyu-Kaku is a chain of Japanese yakiniku restaurants specializing in barbecue that diners can prepare at their tables. As the sign on the door notes, their Midtown locations are open.

On tonight's CB3-SLA agenda, applicants for 185 Avenue C, 507 E. 6th St.

[185 Avenue C]

Here are a few of the items on tonight's CB3-SLA agenda...

New Liquor License Applications

• Rumba NYC Bar & Grill Corp, 185 Avenue C between 11th Street and 12th Street

A bar-restaurant with a Latin-influenced menu called Rumba NYC Bar & Grill is in the works for this space. The proposed hours are 2 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday; with a 2 a.m. close on Friday and Saturday.

The applicants also run Salome Latin Cuisine on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx, per the questionnaire on the CB3 website.

There has been a lot of turnover in recent years at this address. The last tenant, Bar Taco, which closed earlier this year, arrived in early 2018, taking over the space from a short-lived venture called Malcriada, a self-described "Latino Gastropub" ... which arrived after Kaz, another short-lived venture that lasted seven months.

Cafecito, the Cuban-style cafe, had a good run here, closing in early 2016 after 14 years in business.


[505 E. 6th St.]

Items not heard at Committee

• Entity to be formed by Jae Lee, 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (wine-beer only)

A Korean-American restaurant called Nowon will open in this space.

The applicant, Jae Lee, has been running the well-regarded kitchen at Black Emperor on Second Avenue. He was previously the executive chef of Rice & Gold at Hotel 50 Bowery.

NowOn's hours are listed at 5 p.m. to midnight during the week, with a noon opening on Saturday and Sunday. Find the full questionnaire here.

No. 507 was last Carma East, the dim sum bar that closed in early 2019.

Tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting starts at 6:30 at the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Pub in the works for longtime corner bar space on Houston and Suffolk

Sunday's parting shot

An early morning shot along Avenue A today...

Week in Grieview

[Tropical paradise on 2nd Avenue via Derek Berg]

Posts this past week included...

Jury selection starts for defendants in 2nd Avenue gas explosion that killed 2 men (Tuesday)

Parks officials say they will NOT be putting down a synthetic turf in Tompkins Square Park; skateboarders rejoice (Friday)

On Avenue A, Coney Island Baby transforms into Lola; live music to share stage with club nights (Thursday)

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen is back open for the fall (and winter and spring) (Wednesday)

2nd acts: Sushi counter for the former Amato Opera on the Bowery (Tuesday)

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza vying for former Nicoletta space on 2nd Avenue and 10th Street (Tuesday)

This week's NY See (Friday)


[At the 6 & B Garden via riachung00]

L train work moves to the entrance of the future Trader Joe's on 14th Street (Wednesday)

Report: Stabbing on Avenue A sends police on chase through Tompkins Square Park (Friday)

At Gallery 72, everything that John Holmstrom did with the Ramones (Thursday)

Frisson Espresso has closed on 3rd Avenue (Tuesday)

Reader report: A dog-kicking incident on 10th Street (Wednesday)

A new-look storefront emerges on 7th and B (Friday)

An unsettling find on 5th Street (Tuesday)

Now the Basics Plus on University Place is closing (Tuesday)

Report: Man arrested for attempting to kidnap 5-year-old boy outside Katz's (Monday)

Openings (Night Music) and reopenings (Sauce Restaurant) (Friday)

The return of "yuppie scum" at the former home of the Sunshine Cinema (Thursday)

Pub in the works for longtime corner bar space on Houston and Suffolk (Wednesday)

A warning about sitting on these tree guard railings on 5th Street (Monday)

Whatever happened to the former Heathers space on 13th Street? (Wednesday)

The Alley now in soft-open bubble tea mode on Cooper Square (Tuesday)

...and a photo via Eden from the women's restroom in Tompkins Square Park — "keep out crackheads" ...



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Today's free show in Tompkins Square Park

SOS & Friends are hosting a free concert — a little rock, metal and punk — in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon in the usual place.

The lineup:

2:30 p.m. — Phantom Rocket
3 p.m. — SOS NYC
3:30 p.m. — Drownyard
4 p.m. — Final Siege
4: 30 p.m. — Blueblack
5 p.m. — Violent in Black
5:30 p.m. — Crimshaw

Part 2 is Sept. 14.

Saturday's parting shots

A few scenes from the 49th annual 10th Street Block Party today ... photos by Derek Berg...

A farewell to Unkle Waltie

Friends gathered this afternoon at the International Bar on First Avenue to pay tribute to longtime East Village resident (and iBar regular) Walter Kohl aka Unkle Waltie. He died July 30 at age 69.

Photo by Steven

The 49th annual 10th Street block party is today (on 10th Street)

Happening today (Sept. 9/7) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 10th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

As always, there will be antiques, collectible and music brought to you by the 10th Street and Stuyvesant Street Block Association. #GoodTimes

H/T Steven

Breaking: Parks officials say they will NOT be putting down a synthetic turf in Tompkins Square Park; skateboarders rejoice

[EVG file photo]

On the eve of a rally to save the Tompkins Square Park multipurpose courts from a future of synthetic turf, Parks officials have announced that they will no longer move forward with their plans.

Organizers behind tomorrow's rally posted the news on Instagram...

View this post on Instagram

WE WON. The city called and announced they are NOT going to install AstroTurf at Tompkins. It’s not a coincidence they made the decision the day before the rally. We organized, made our voices heard, and made a difference. TF IS HERE TO STAY! Big thanks to @quartersnacks @stevernyc @carlinalrivera @supremenewyork @hardbody.nyc Everyone still come out tomorrow! It’s a celebration! Not a protest! I could cry right now 😅✊

A post shared by Adam Zhu (@z.h.u1) on Sep 6, 2019 at 2:55pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Thanks to the Tompkins community who made this happen and @nycparks for listening.

A post shared by Steve Rodriguez (@stevernyc) on Sep 6, 2019 at 2:22pm PDT

As we reported on July 2, the city had plans — apparently only known to residents who may have attended a Community Board committee meeting in May — to cover the courts with synthetic turf, rendering the space useless for skateboarders and street hockey players, among other groups.

The turf project, happening at several area parks, is a result of the city's flood-protection plan that will close East River Park next March for 3.5-plus years. The city needs to find space for the sports teams and youth leagues who use the fields along East River Park.

More than 32,000 people had signed the petition — titled "Save Tompkins Square asphalt!" — since early July.

Instead of a rally tomorrow, the skateboarders are now planning a celebration.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• No winners yet in Tompkins Square Park synthetic turf battle (Aug. 27)

• Petition to 'Save Tompkins Square asphalt!' closing in on 19,000 signatures (July 8)

• Skateboarders upset over plan to add synthetic turf to the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park (July 2)