East Village may be home to city's first Bitcoin ATM

That's the word from the New York Post today. The co-founder of the company that makes the bitcoin dispenser says that he is in negotiations to install the $5,000 machine at Just Sweet, the bubble tea joint on Third Avenue and NYU East 12th Street.

Here's how the machine works, per the Post:

The machine, designed and manufactured in Portugal, looks like a typical deli ATM — but functions more like a vending machine. You put in dollars and receive bitcoins back on your phone.

Users first download a bitcoin wallet mobile app — such as BlockChain or Mycelium — and set a password. A black-and-white QR code appears. They press the phone against the ATM’s glass window so it can scan the code, then feed in cash.

[Updated] Milady's closes for good after tomorrow night

Word is spreading on Twitter that Milady's, the well-worn neighborhood bar and restaurant on Prince Street at Thompson, closes for good tomorrow night.

Last Call at #MiLady's 1/12/14. #Soho #NYC #history #closing #restaurant #bar #taverns

— tim schreier (@timmywvillage) January 11, 2014

Will miss this NYC establishment RIP MILADY's pic.twitter.com/0WtkNjMEW4

— Jesse Marco (@JesseMarco) January 11, 2014

So we just lost Milday's, Gray's Papaya and Cooper Union. When does the municipal name change to "Bank of America presents New York"?

— Sasha Frere-Jones (@sfj) January 11, 2014

@evgrieve Milady's closing?! Who do I punch in the balls about this?

— david blend (@daveblend) January 12, 2014

We called, but no one is picking up the phone right now.

The building is (or was) for sale. One listing we spotted:

15,000 sf, five story elevator-ed Gorgeous brick building in fantastic SoHo location. Building has been completely gut-renovated. Fully built and fixtured restaurant on Lower Level, Ground, Second floor. Building will be delivered vacant. Incredible opportunity for luxury residential conversion.

Updated:

Gothamist gets confirmation on the closure tomorrow night. Ughs.

Electrical fire on East 10th Street

Dave on 7th reports that an electrical fire broke out this afternoon around 2 on East 10th Street just east of Avenue C... the FDNY is on the scene…

Report: Cooper Union Board says no to proposal that would keep the school tuition-free

[EVG file photo]

Gothamist has the story:

Cooper Union will officially start charging its undergraduates tuition, after the Board of Trustees rejected a 54-page report compiled by a Working Group of alumni, staff, students and trustees that outlined a plan to keep the school free.

Felix Salmon has an opinion piece on the decision today at Reuters titled The shame of Cooper Union.

An excerpt:

The minute that Cooper starts charging tuition, it loses its soul. It becomes a second-choice college in the most expensive part of the most expensive city in the world, which will never regain the kind of love and loyalty among its students and teachers that produced the summer’s sit-ins and the fall’s Working Group Report.

Tree down on East 13th Street

Just off Second Avenue. Anyone know when this happened? How it happened?

Looking at Swoon's bombed Hurricane Sandy-inspired mural on the Bowery wall

This happened back during the snowstorm on Jan. 2 into Jan. 3, as AnimalNY first pointed out… hadn't seen it ourselves… and wanted to note it as well…



Graffiti writer PIXOTE marked the wall some 30 feet above the mural back at the end of December.

MulchFest is underway!

Until 2 p.m. today… and back at it tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park. And if you don't have a tree, well, drag over that damn loveseat you never liked.

Earlier, we spotted the crew on Second Avenue… parked in front of Little Poland… perhaps a pre-mulch breakfast?



Hope that they got some stuffed cabbage!

Don't be shy about frolicking in that remaining East Village snow!

Or maybe it's part of a meteorite. Either way! Enjoy! Enjoy!

Yesterday's hawk in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Bobby Williams

It's 'Alright' now

Pussy Galore with "Alright" from 1987... and this video cuts off the last 14 seconds. It ends how it begins. Loudly.

10 questions for 2014

Hey, it's still early in 2014. And there are many storylines to monitor in the coming year in the East Village. Here are 10 of them.

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• Will 51 Astor Place be fully leased by the end of this month?

That's what developer Edward Minskoff told The Commercial Observer on Dec. 13. "By January 30 we’ll be 100 percent leased there, and that's all I'll say." Off to a fine start with the announced arrival yesterday of IBM's Watson. (Bonus question: Will Twitter be one of those new tenants? Bonus question No. 2: Who will fill those retail spaces?)

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• What will happen with the former Amato Opera building on the Bowery?

The Amato Opera building has sat vacant since the company closed on May 31, 2009. A retail listing arrived for the ground-floor space about 17 months ago.

Current owner Steve Croman has plans to turn the circa-1899 structure into luxury residences, with the addition of a penthouse. However, the city hasn't approved those plans ... and there's still a Stop Work Order on the space dating to June.

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• Will Extra Place becoming a dining destination?

It's question we've asked a lot these past few years... the former alley behind the former CBGB is currently restaurant-free after a few closures and Oaxaca Taqueria moving to East Seventh Street.

However, restaurants are on the way... including Red Hook Lobster Pound and a Momofuku outpost. "Left Bank" promise fulfilled seven years later?

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• What will become of the Salvation Army's former East Village Residence?

The shelter closed here at the Bowery and East Third Street in August 2008. After a few false starts, there are now plans with the city to demolish the interior of the 3-story building, though there's no word on what's next here from the privately held real estate firm who owns the space.

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• Where will the St. Mark's Bookshop move?

In November, Publishers Weekly reported that St. Mark's Bookshop had found a new retail space "in the East Village in a space near Avenue A and Third Street." The article didn't mention where, exactly, the rent-challenged new store will be. The owners have said that nothing has been signed yet for a new space.

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• What will take the place of the former Odessa Cafe and Bar?

Oh, kind of a personal one as a longtime fan of the Odessa. Plans for a "new American brasserie/bistro" apparently fell through here. And the deal to reopen the Odessa Cafe and Bar at 117 Avenue A never materialized … and a for rent notice arrived on Dec. 28.

The Odessa Cafe and Bar closed after service on Aug. 31. The Odessa had been in operation here since 1965.

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• Will this be the year that something actually happens at the former PS 64?

The former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street has been rotting away these past 12-plus years. Perhaps the building will be converted into dorms. Or perhaps the building would return to the community, the preferred choice among some residents and activists.

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• What will become of the soon-to-be-former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office?

This branch on East 14th Street is apparently closing in the coming months. The USPS will lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

The lease expires at the current location at the end of next month. The landlord reportedly told the USPS that they have other plans (residential?) for the building, which was erected in 1951.

And it appears the big clear out has already begun — Dave on 7th recently spotted these sorting tables (pictured above) stacked up on the loading zone on the East 13th Street side.

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• What East Village mainstay will close next?

We don't want to make this a sport. But Christ. The year is nine days old and we've already lost Sapparo East (and maybe Shima) as well as 7A.

... and on this note...

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• What will some developer buy in 2014 to convert to upscale housing?

So many choices! Churches! Two public libraries! A power plant! A men's shelter! A big Park in the middle of the East Village!

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This isn't meant to be any kind of exhaustive list of stories to watch... What are you keeping your eye on here in 2014? Let us know in the comments...

Reader mailbag: What can I do with my record collection?

A longtime EVG reader writes in...

"Do you know any person or place that would still be interested in records? We're moving and the records can't come with us, and we have decades of stuff ... there's little if any monetary value to some of the records, but someone somewhere may want them."

The reader figures there are at least 500 LPs (pictured above), probably "mostly 1960s & some '70s and some guitar stuff." There are also some 78s.

So… Any record stores around here still buying some vinyl?

Separately, perhaps you are interested in a few of them? The reader is happy to just give them to a good home. Here's the reader's email if you'd like to know more about the records.

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We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)

Reader mailbag: Do you have any suggestions for East Village-related holiday gifts? (22 comments)

Renovations in store for 137 Avenue C, home to the Sunburnt Cow

Several things are going on over at 137 Avenue C… just south of East Ninth Street. The building was sold last February for $2.45 million to 137 Avenue C, LLC. (The address eventually leads to Corigin, a private holding company specializing in real estate and private equity investments.)

A plan to renovate the entire building is in process, dated Wednesday, with the Department of Buildings. Per the DOB's all-cap job description: "INTERIOR RENOVATION OF FIVE STORY MIXED USE BUILDING AMENDED CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY WILL BE OBTAINED."

The DOB lists Ramy Issac, no stranger to the East Village, as the architect of record. Issac specializes in penthouse additions here, legal or otherwise. To date, there isn't any sign of an extra floor for No. 137.

Meanwhile, the ground floor is home to the Sunburnt Cow, now just a weekend-only bar. Last Sunday, the Cow didn't open. According to the Cow's Facebook page: "Unfortunately we experienced a major water leak during the night and the FDNY have shut off all water to the building. We will not be open for brunch today."



The sign on the door says closed due to building maintenance. The bar, which remains for sale, is next scheduled to be open this evening.

This building has changed hands several times in recent years… last going for $1.48 million in 2004, per public records.

Trashing Viva Herbal Pizzeria

This past Sunday, readers noticed that Viva Herbal Pizzeria, the gluten-free, vegan pizza joint at 179 Second Ave. near East 12th Street, had apparently closed.

There was some thought, though, that the space might have been damaged by a leak or some bodies came bursting through the floors.

That was not the case. On Wednesday afternoon, workers cleaned out the space, bagging up paper products and pizza boxes and dumping them around the corner on East 11th Street.

Viva's #1 Customer spotted these, and was not pleased.





"Fitting that the movie 'All Is Lost' is playing next door at the Village East Cinema," Viva's #1 Customer told us.

Karen Loew, who works nearby at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, also spotted the workers emptying the contents of the former pizzeria.



The fellows cleaning out the space, who didn't work for the former or future tenant, said they thought that another pizzeria will replace Viva (makes sense) ... and that Viva was moving to a new location (doesn't quite make sense, given that the workers trashed perfectly good supplies).

In any event, a for lease sign is now up in the former Viva window. The space had been on the market since last August.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Viva Herbal Pizzeria has closed on Second Avenue