EV Grieve

Friday, June 4, 2010

Penthouse life on Avenue A

Here's a new-to-the-market home at 50 Avenue A...

Huge Outdoor space in a beautiful Penthouse in the East Village. Renovated loft-like home with high ceilings, a wood-burning fireplace, a Solarium plus a 900 square foot private multi-tiered roof deck. Additional features include an open kitchen with Miele appliances, a washer/dryer, excellent natural light through open northern exposure (Views of midtown Manhattan), 2 full bathrooms and a 2nd bedroom/home-office.

And:

You can bring your check for $1.35 million to the open house this Sunday afternoon between 1-3.

"Very pied-a-terre" on East 13th Street

Or, on Sunday, you could check out the open house here at 228 E. 13th Street... A 650-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment near Third Avenue... Listing, please:

This charming one bedroom with south, north and east exposures is a rare find. With approximately 900 sf of private exclusive roof top, beautifully planted, it is truly your stairway to paradise! Prime east village location, corner unit, windows with unobstructed views in every room, exposed brick wall throughout the apartment, high ceilings and full of character. Just a short walk to Union Square and the farmer's market, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, as well as Momofuku, Milk Bar and Kiehl's right on the corner. Very pied-a-terre and pet friendly as well!

(By the way, say this listing was on the market, hmm, 1o years ago, what would the realtors have promoted ... back before Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Momofuku?)

So it's going for $530,000... Looks nice and all ... and check out the roof...

...where, at the right angle, you could keep tabs on the Mystery Lot just a little west up the street.

And it's not in that place that defaulted or anything

I was looking at a Craigslist ad for a four-bedroom duplex, with a backyard, laundry, etc., etc., in the East Village. One of those let's-get-nine-new-grads-to-live-here-and-party-while-we-make-Manhattan-ours places for $5,200. Anyway, I don't know, this last line of the ad cracked me up:

GREAT LOCATION, A FEW SHORT BLOCKS TO L TRAIN (NOT STUYVESANT TOWN)

[Image via Lux Living]

Stop the rooftop noise

Anyone else spot these "stop the rooftop noise stickers"?

Apparently atop 84 E. 10th St. here...

Bowery bum?

While doing a little recon for one of my 87 posts on the Bowery Wednesday... I spotted this street sign on the Bowery... Slow Down Bum Ahead? Not funny!

...and as I kept walking...

Oh.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Superdive continues to be, well, Superdive

Superdive isn't going quietly into the nightlife... looks like they're here for longer...or they're just taunting you...

Here are their summer plans, as Eater reported:

Thursdays: 7:30 beerpong tournament. Cost of entry is the beer you drink during the tourney. Winning team drinks for free all night. After the tourney we celebrate with live music and karaoke.

Fridays: Wet T-shirt contest, with a male AND female winner of $100 cash each and free drinks.

Saturdays: Endless Champagne Disco Ball. 11-1 $25 all you can drink champagne. Music by world-class Disco DJ, Christian.

Haha. Funny, guys. You can do better than this, though.

Previously on EV Grieve:
NOW what's going on with Superdive...?

More on the possibly vanishing mosiacs

Continuing our conversation about the possible loss of the mosaics.... Jeremiah Moss shared this photo with me...

We're all hopeful that a Vanishing tribute to these will never have to be written.

A little bit ago outside Bikes by George

A reader sends along the above shots while walking past Bikes by George on Fourth Street near Avenue A... "Pickup truck pulls up loaded with 'used' bikes. Two guys driving look like they haven't ridden a bike in 30 years. Short conversation ... bikes get unloaded. Hmmm."

More on the Mosaic Man removing his mosaics

Per the earlier post today.... EV Grieve reader Marjorie Ingall passed along these photos from a few weekends ago...

Already this morning, Marjorie and several other readers have written to say that they hope that Jim reconsiders removing the mosaics; that they are vital and iconic part of the neighborhood....

3,000-square-foot bar/restaurant "with an occasional D.J." apparently moving forward on Avenue B

Last September, I noted that a new bar/eatery was coming into the dormant spaces at 14-16 Avenue B at Second Street...

Yesterday, work on the exterior began...

Back in January, Rebecca Marx at Fork in the Road reported that Beltrami Foods, an Italian restaurant, will open here. As she noted:

According to Cristiano Morroy, one of the restaurant's owners, Beltrami will be open from morning to night, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus. The chef will be Morroy's mother, a professional chef whose food reflects where she lived and worked in her native Italy. The restaurant's menu will have a strong southeastern accent, as Morroy's mother spent time in towns like Apulia and Otranto, both located in the heel of Italy's boot.

Although this is Morroy's first restaurant in New York, he already runs a catering company that does a lot of work in the fashion industry. His mother, he says, is quite well-known back in Italy, having cooked for both Mick Jagger's and Willem Dafoe's wedding party.

Two quick comments:

1) Jagger and Dafoe?!
2) Can Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B possibly support another Italian restaurant? Especially with yet another one coming to Second Street and A? (And, more important, can this section of Avenue B support any more bars...?)

Back in February, the CB3/SLA folks denied Beltrami a license.... Here's how Eater reported it:

A yet-to-be-named group surfaced with a proposal to utilize the old Butterfly space, a stone's throw away from Sigmund, for a 3,000 square foot Italian restaurant, catering company and lounge "with an occasional D.J." This scenario sounds familiar - and the residents didn't hesitate to show their fresh battle scars from the throes of Le Souk, China 1 and Carnivale, all restaurants-gone-clubs that they say wrecked havoc on the peace and quiet in their 'hood. Needless to say, this was too much for CB3 and the community representatives to stomach, and after a lengthy dispute of pros and cons, the motion was denied.

As EV Grieve reader Mediainski commented back in February:

I love the claim of an "occasional DJ." In other words, this place is going to be blaring loud music every night!

Also! The denied transfer (from the former Butterfly at 14 Avenue B) led to an epic David McWater outburst at the meeting. The Lo-Down had all the details.

The current liquor license for this location is inactive...

Mosaic removal on St. Mark's Place?

I'm not sure what to make of this... As you can see here, someone wrapped tape around one of Jim Power's mosaics on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue...

The tape has been ripped in part ... but it appears to say "Mosiac Work To Be Removed."

Last I heard, via Neighborhoodr, Jim was coming back to the neighborhood a few days a week to do some repair work on his Mosaic Trail... perhaps this is his print... and he intends to replace it... Or there's something else... there's a recent entry on Jim's blog that reads, "bad day......MOSAIC"S to be covered and REMOVED after 26 years."

As I said at the top, I'm not sure what to make of this...

Mowing the Mystery Lot

I can't recall having ever seen workers actually working inside the beloved Mystery Lot here on 13th Street... I always figured someone quickly -- and magically! -- cut back the weeds around 5:40 a.m. on a Sunday... And here we are in broad daylight... Anyway, I'm not sure how these fellows got inside...the main gate appeared to be locked from the outside. More mystery!

I was yelling at them to get their attention... I wanted to go inside (legally!). But, for some reason, they didn't hear me...

Meanwhile! Someone tagged the back of the billboard thing here...

When will someone hit the front?

P.S.
The blue tarp was back up the other day...

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation: That empty lot on 13th Street

Another view of the Mystery Lot

NOW what's going on with Superdive...?

The Keg Tapping Gang at Superdive appeared to be all set for this month's CB3/SLA meeting ... As Eater noted, "The Superdive space is on the docket, and apparently the new tenants want to change the size and location of the bar and add a kitchen."

But, as you can see, the "corp to be formed" part of this equation is now a scratch... (again... they have been a scratch the last few months...)

So, there are a lot of possible reasons for this scratch ... paperwork... the deal fell through... there was actually never a deal, etc. So maybe they'll remodel the space but not transfer the license...

Meanwhile, the We're open Friday and Saturday Nights/Yay! signs have been removed...

East Village eatery odds and ends: Opening the Ballarò sidewalk cafe; hiring at the Ninth Ward; looking at the Library's mirror in the bathroom

Ballarò Caffè Prosciutteria on Second Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street now has their sidewalk cafe up and running...(the CB3/SLA approved it in April.)

...not sure about the couch, though...

26 Seats on Avenue B between 10th and 11th is on the CB3/SLA docket this month under the Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades ... to something called Paris Cuisine Inc.

A new fancy cocktail bar called Ninth Ward is opening on Second Avenue in the old Thai on Two place...from the people behind Shoolbred's across the way... Oh, and they're hiring now...

An espresso and wine bar is coming to the former Hala Pita space on Ninth Street near Avenue A...

Oh, I saw these T-shirts on sale on Mulberry...

Something new coming to the former Chabela's space at 40 Avenue B... to something called Little Printz Cafe LLC.

And East Village Feed reported: "The New York Film Academy Café will be continuously screening silent films on it’s new 65 inch television located on the outside of the Astor Place café." And you could see the TV in the window if there wasn't such a glare...and I wasn't, inexplicably, standing behind the tree...