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 and NYC...
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Checking in on 2 under-renovation properties along this charming block of 7th Street
Here's a look at the recently renovated 264 E. Seventh St. between Avenue C and Avenue D.
According to the approved permit filed with the city, the owners had No. 264 gut-renovated and converted to a two-family dwelling (from three units), leaving the building's exterior in place and adding an extension in the rear.
You can see the exterior results of this work in the top two photos... as it still fits in this row of like-minded residences.
Things didn't look so good here in September 2016, when a permit was filed with the DOB to demolish the three-level, circa 1842 townhouse.
Preservations rallied to try to have the string of pastel-colored residences considered for landmarking. However, in late October 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to consider them for such a designation.
In April 2019, word came via the Village Preservation that new owners purchased the property and nixed a full demolition. (Public records show an LLC paid $7.7 million for the address.)
And as noted before, Felicia Bond lived in the garden duplex at No. 264 when she illustrated the renowned children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" in the mid-1980s.
Things didn't look so good here in September 2016, when a permit was filed with the DOB to demolish the three-level, circa 1842 townhouse.
Preservations rallied to try to have the string of pastel-colored residences considered for landmarking. However, in late October 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to consider them for such a designation.
In April 2019, word came via the Village Preservation that new owners purchased the property and nixed a full demolition. (Public records show an LLC paid $7.7 million for the address.)
And as noted before, Felicia Bond lived in the garden duplex at No. 264 when she illustrated the renowned children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" in the mid-1980s.
Meanwhile, two residences to the east, the three-level 268 E. Seventh St., didn't fare as well ... demolition continues here... and the insides have been gutted...
Actor John Leguizamo owned No. 268 starting in 1995. In February 2013, the building hit the market with a $4 million ask. However, as Curbed noted at the time:
It's unclear how recently Leguizamo lived in the place, or whether or not he even still owns it — the deed was transferred to an LLC in 2002, and the listing says that it was "Recently a single family residence; currently used as a 3-family" ...Leguizamo watchers on the block say that the actor moved away about 2001 or 2002.
Highpoint Property Group is now listed as the owner... picking up the property for $4.3 million in the fall of 2019, per public records. The Group's other East Village properties include The Slater at 174-176 First Ave. ... The Topanga at 202 Avenue A ... and The Callahan at 100 Second Ave.
More pizza for a former pizzeria
Look for more pizza on the high-profile corner of Second Avenue at 10th Street.
Signs arrived yesterday for Marinara Pizza ... (thanks to Steven for the photos!)
Two buzzy pizza joints have been at this address (160 Second Ave.) in recent years. Lions & Tigers & Squares — the Detroit-style pizzeria from the Artichoke team — debuted in October 2019 before closing during the pandemic last summer.
And before this... Nicoletta spent six-plus years in business here until the end of 2018.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe Centosette closes on Second Avenue
Cafe Centosette closes on Second Avenue
AuH20 Thriftique popping up for 2 days in former 7th Street home
AuH20 Thriftique is making an encore presentation tomorrow and Saturday in the shop's former home at 84 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
Per an Instagram post:
Popping up at the old storefront, 84 E. 7th St., on Friday & Saturday, May 14 & 15, from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Stop by if you're in the East Village! We will also be buying! Bring your used clothes and accessories ... And we'll be bringing "wait to bundle" bags in case you'd like to pick up in person.
After 14 years of selling stylish women's vintage clothes and accessories, Kate Goldwater, who opened the storefront after graduating from college, shut down the business last fall.
Coffee shop slated for 194 1st Ave.
Updated June 2: Cafe Sandra is now open!
Cafe Sandra already has a website. And despite what the site states, they are not yet open for business. The storefront is empty.
The previous tenant, Space 194, a hybrid tea-coffee shop-gallery, closed in early 2020 after nearly a year in service.
The address was previously the Neptune. The Polish-American diner shut down in December 2016 after 15 years in business. After their departure, the landlord divided up the restaurant into two storefronts.
Photo by Steven. H/T Upper West Sider!
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Wednesday's parting shot of a Basquiat painting that just sold for $93.1 million
The record price paid for a Basquiat at auction came in 2017 when another painting of a skull sold to the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for $110.5 million.
As for last night, Bloomberg provides the play-by-play...
As the lot opened up to a salesroom populated exclusively by cameras and auction house specialists, Gemma Sudlow, a senior vice president at Christie's who was leading the auction, opened bidding at $40 million, and quickly brought its price to $52 million.And...
Soon, six bidders began to vie for the work, slowly pushing its price in increments ranging from $1 million to $3 million. After about six minutes of bidding, the nearly 6.5 foot-high (2 meters) painting hammered at $81 million. Auction house fees payable by the buyer added on another $12 million.And...
The painting was last purchased publicly in 2002, when it sold at Sotheby’s for just under $1 million. It then sold privately in 2007 for an undisclosed sum. The seller on Tuesday night, according to reports, was former Valentino chairman Giancarlo Giammetti; the buyer was not immediately known.Basquiat died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at his home-studio at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette. He was 27.
Image via Christie's
Today in sunspots
Crystal-clear blue sky this afternoon, for an unusually large sunspot left of center, but the attempt to angle my aging telescope almost straight up was very difficult. Joanne stayed the course through about 45 minutes of agonizing adjustments, and then the sun promptly disappeared behind the clouds. The sunspot was approximately 8,000 miles in diameter, or a hundredth of the diameter of the sun.... and a view of the sunspot...
And a word of warning from Felton if you want to start sunspot spotting: "Do not stare at the sun for any length of time, and do not point a telescope at it unless you have a very thick filter covering the tube."
Christopher Meloni brings 'Law & Order' to Astor Place
Gallery Watch: 'My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake' at Freight + Volume
Text and photos by Clare Gemima
Rebecca Goyette's My Snake is Bigger Than Your Snake
Freight + Volume Gallery, 97 Allen St.
My Snake is Bigger Than Your Snake is definitely a sight for sore eyes from the instant you stand in front of Freight + Volume on Allen Street.
Visible before entering the gallery, a video of humans in dog suits giving birth, humping and licking all sorts of different things invites onlookers shamelessly into the space.
Regardless of this show’s potent R18 feel, colors explode playfully throughout the gallery as you experience the artist’s multifaceted skill set displayed through illustration, soft sculpture, video work, and in her most exciting execution, ceramics.
Reading about this show, I discovered so much extrapolated narrative attached to it that I would like to encourage readers to visit and interpret the art for themselves. I say this because often the charm of a great show is rubbed away by some forceful and didactic description that 1) an average gallery-goer may never read in the first place and 2) is a load of just utter, out-of-touch bullshit.
I think the conflict I face regarding this show is that the work is outstandingly attractive to me, yet it presents a dense amount of self-involvement and inaccessible self-consciousness that it becomes less about the beauty of the objects and more about the artist’s lived experience. I can’t tell if this is a good thing or not, but there is so much going on — a successful mind-fuck above all else.
There is strong authorship in the show that guides viewers through a personal story of Goyette involving the sale of her father's house after he had passed away. The new home-owner turned out to be a right-wing and starchy bum-hole Trump supporter who is crafted (life-size) for a full-on confrontation as you enter the space. He’s grotesque to look at, drowning in snakes and dressed in politically indicative attire.
This recurring "Snake Man" debuts as No. 1 enemy to our hero and protagonist, Rebecca Goyette, aka Lobsta Queen. The dogs have human dicks, the humans each have two dicks, a group of sausages throws a party, and the art of sex is celebrated positively, strikingly, abjectly.
Evidence for an aforementioned mind-fuck of a show is particularly blatant in Goyette's collection of ceramics, which are by far the most enticing part of My Snake is Bigger Than Your Snake. Her drawings are particularly tantalizing as well (think animal kingdom stampeding through a Grayson Perry tapestry).
Go inside the mind of a tortured artist who chooses to torment her audience for fun with child-like and extremely perverse make-believe scenarios.
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Clare Gemima is a visual artist from New Zealand. New-ish to the East Village, she spends her time as an artist assistant and gallery go-er, hungry to explore what's happening in her local art world. You can find her work here: claregemima.com
Ray's Pizza & Bagel Cafe owner eyes new concept for 2 St. Mark's Place
The owner of Ray's Pizza & Bagel Cafe on Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place has plans to open an Italian restaurant-bar in the adjacent space at 2 St. Mark's Place...
The previous tenant at 2 St. Mark's Place, Eliza's Local, didn't make it out of the pandemic, closing late last summer after a little more than 18 months in business.
Before Eliza's, No. 2, next to the entrance of the St. Marks Hotel, was previously Ayios Greek Rotisserie, which quietly closed at the end of 2017 after 16 months in business. St. Mark's Ale House had a 21-year run until July 2016. And once upon a time, it was the second location of the Five Spot Cafe.
Tonight's virtual CB3-SLA committee meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here.
Another Tony's Pizza for the East Village, this one for the former Vinny Vincenz space
Tony's will be taking over the space from Vinny Vincenz, the 18-year-old pizzeria that quietly closed last month — much to the dismay of its regulars.
And this marks the second Tony's Pizza to be arriving in the East Village ... signage showed up outside 128 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place earlier this month...
Still no word about who this Tony might be. There was some speculation (or perhaps hope?) that this might be related to the Tony's out on Graham Avenue in East Williamsburg, though the logos don't match up. (We messaged them to ask anyway.)
The Starbucks on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place has not been open lately
Updated: Reopened as of May 17.
Signs on the door simply note, "Our store is temporarily closed," with instructions to visit the nearest Starbucks.
Calls to this branch result in an outgoing message stating, "your call cannot be completed at this time."
While two neighborhood Starbucks outposts have closed in recent years (Second Avenue at Ninth Street, Broadway at Ninth Street), this isn't believed to be a permanent shutter. This location has been closed from time to time, like in July 2019 for an electrical issue.
Starbucks opened at this spot in August 2017.
The previous tenant, Nino's, had to close on Oct. 21, 2015, due to a gas leak in the building. On Nov. 17 of that year, 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 talking 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.
In late November 2015, Camaj's lawyers were reportedly talking 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.
Photo by Steven!
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