Saturday, December 3, 2016

Some big nights ahead for the Second Avenue Star Watchers



Via East Village astronomy buff Felton Davis...

Amazing lineup of planets setting in the southwest this week: the sun in Ophiuchus setting at 4:30 pm, Saturn in Ophiuchus setting at 4:55 pm, Mercury in Sagittarius setting at 5:34 pm, Pluto in Sagittarius setting at 6:56 pm, Venus in Sagittarius setting at 7:30 pm, Mars in Capricorn setting at 9:30 pm, and Neptune in Capricorn setting at 11:19 pm. What a spectacle for people viewing over the Hudson from High Line Park or from Battery Park.

What does that leave for Second Avenue Star Watchers? It leaves a nice four-day old waxing crescent Moon about seven degrees north of Venus in the constellation Capricorn, and if it doesn't cloud over, later in the evening the famous Pleiades star cluster rising high in the heavens between Aries and Taurus.

If it stays clear I'll set up outside The Bean (East Third Street & Second Avenue) at 5:30 pm to show the Moon going down, but don't get your hopes up for the Pleiades, because that one is difficult to spot from the street.

Updated: Unfortunately, the cloud coverage made all this impossible this evening... Felton says he will try again tomorrow night...

Grubby ol' St. Nick inflatable makes triumphant return to 14th Street after 2 (long) years


[Lame perky inflatables photo from December 2014]

After two years of lame perky inflatables at the tree stand on 14th Street at First Avenue ... a familiar figure has returned atop the RV...



Why yes, it is grubby ol' St. Nick! (Trailer Park Santa Claus to a few) ... and it looks like the genuine original (unlike the fake cube that returned to Astor Place)...



Compare this to a photo from several years ago ... (image slightly faded as it's been in a frame on my desk)...



Meanwhile, in other less-triumphant returns, the one-seat bubble room is back outside Whole Foods Market® Bowery ... providing shelter to the brave men and women (one at a time) who sell the holiday trees here...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The Year Without a Trailer Park Santa Claus

Another year without grubby ol' St. Nick on East 14th Street; what to tell the children?

New, improved inflatable Santa arrives on East 14th Street tree lot

Holiday Fair at the Lower East Side Girls Club today


Noon to 5 p.m. today... entrance is on Eighth Street near Avenue D...

A moment or 2 with Bingo Bronson



Fans of Comedy Central's "Broad City" might appreciate this sighting yesterday of Bingo Bronson (Abbi's blue stuffed animal who comes to life) on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place... part of a promo for "Broad City" merchandise.

Plus, bonus Bingo butt shot...



Not sure if Bingo made it to Whole Foods.

Photos by Derek Berg

Friday, December 2, 2016

Heading out to the 'Highway'



NYC's Dead Heavens are playing some West Coast dates at the moment... they'll be back around on Dec. 17 with a show at Union Pool ... then an intriguing double bill with the Lilys on Jan. 29 at the Bowery Ballroom. (Those tickets went on sale today.)

The above video shows the Dead Heavens with "Adderall Highway."

EV Grieve Etc.: An East Village dining-out guide; a Dennis Hopper retrospective


[Ping-pong photo shoot in Tompkins Square Park via Derek Berg]

An East Village dining guide (Eater)

At the Mosaic Light Pole ceremony on Astor Place (DNAinfo)

Sen. Daniel Squadron looks to improve service on the 14A and 14D (The Lo-Down)

Holiday events at the Essex Street Market (Official Site)

Former Quintessence chef pleads guilty to harassment in subway lewdness case (Daily News)

Dennis Hopper retrospective starts tonight, highlighting "the wrongly-maligned and largely forgotten roles that [he] tackled between his ‘official’ successes" (Anthology Film Archives)

Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel putting penthouse at 311 E. 11th St. on the rental market for $6,200 a month (The Post)

Hedda Lettuce presents "Valley of the Dolls," an interactive event tomorrow night at City Cinemas Village East (Official Site)

The skateboarding history of Astor Place (B+B)

Early works from Christine Vachon, Todd Haynes and Barry Ellsworth Dec. 9-15 (Metrograph)

Thanksgiving with the hawks (Laura Goggin Photography)

A hidden garden behind the FDR (Ephemeral New York)

...and returning this week at Veselka, Second Avenue at Ninth Street...

Beethoven Hall, that $25 million condo for sale on 5th Street, returns to the market



If memory serves correctly, then this unit — known as Beethoven Hall — at 210 E. Fifth St. near the Bowery — is the most expensive home that we recall seeing for sale in the neighborhood.

Here's the suitably breathless listing via Douglas Elliman:

BEETHOVEN HALL.... LIKE NOTHING YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE Situated on East 5th Street just off the Bowery, this unassuming 4 unit condo in an East Village historic building dates back to 1860. Words can not do justice what lies beyond the key locked elevator on the 3rd floor.

Upon entry into this simply incredible jaw dropping floor thru apt you are greeted with over 6700 sq ft of living space which includes a great room measuring 47'x35' with 32' ceilings, exposed brick, and an arched ceiling. Outstandingly unique, there is quite simply nothing else like this in Manhattan. Currently configured as a 4 bed 3.5 bath with loft, laundry room, eat-in-kitchen, heated logia, media room and 800 sq ft of private outdoor space.

Price: $25 million.

The listing that arrived on Wednesday only included the above exterior shot. However, the place was on the market with a different broker back in 2012 (same price!). Curbed posted these photos at the time (they have lots more here)...







The owner is photographer Gregory Colbert "who is professionally obsessed with documenting human interactions with animals," per Curbed. Colbert reportedly purchased the converted space for $6 million in 2004.

Daytonian in Manhattan has extensive history of the circa-1860 building here. In short, the one-time concert hall attracted such historical figures as political activist Emma Goldman and publisher William Randolph Hearst. It later became a TV studio where crews filmed episodes of "The Honeymooners."

Jared Kushner's East Village tenants wish he'd resolve issues closer to home


[Page 1 of the Journal from Tuesday]

Since the election, Jared Kushner, President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law, has been the subject of Page 1 stories in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ... as well as the cover of the latest issue of Forbes...



As the Times and other media outlets have reported, Kushner, 35, who is married to Trump’s elder daughter, Ivanka, "is exploring the prospects of joining the administration as a formal, but unpaid, adviser." During the presidential campaign, Kushner became an integral member of Trump's inner circle.

Kushner has been running his family’s real-estate business, Kushner Companies. According to the Times, "the Kushners have acquired $7 billion worth of commercial and residential property over the last decade."

In recent years, starting in 2013, Kushner has bought 40-plus buildings in the East Village. According to the Cooper Square Committee, only Steve Croman owns more residential buildings in the East Village than Kushner does.

And as we've noted in multiple posts, there hasn't been any shortage of tenant horror stories since Kushner and his management company, Westminster City Living, became the landlord. For instance, back in March, tenants at 118 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue went to Manhattan Housing Court as part of ongoing litigation against Kushner. Tenants there had been without gas for cooking since October 2015. There were other issues too, such as collapsed ceilings, overflowing trash and sporadic heat. (Kushner eventually settled with the tenants.)

Brandon Kielbasa at the Cooper Square Committee told Gothamist in March that Kushner "treats both rent-stabilized and market-rate tenants badly, and seems to feel that he can get away with not maintaining buildings because the housing market is so tight he can keep them full anyway."

In July 2014, DNAinfo reported that "Kushner is using lawsuits, disruptive construction and neglect to force rent-stabilized tenants out of two buildings [170-174 E. Second St.] he owns in the East Village, as he converts them to high-end apartments, according to court documents and residents."

Meanwhile, around that same time, the Daily News filed a story with the headline "Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner forcing residents out of East Village building so he can get higher rents: tenants."

Yesterday, DNAinfo filed a lengthy piece on a lawsuit that a resident at 331 E. Ninth St. filed against Kushner. Uta Winkler, a rent-stabilized tenant, said in court papers that her kitchen was destroyed several days before Thanksgiving in 2013 by construction workers renovating an unoccupied unit above her apartment.

And then...

Two weeks later, Winkler had to endure more mayhem when she came home to find that a construction worker carrying dirty water and debris on the floor above hers had crashed through her bedroom ceiling, landing on her bed, court document said.

The fall destroyed her bed and other furniture, but Westminster refused to reimburse her for the damage or even return her calls, court papers said.

Without a response, Winkler withheld her monthly rent, which reportedly prompted the Kushner Companies to sue her for the unpaid rent in 2015 in Manhattan Housing Court. DNAinfo reported that the company also sued tenants in two other units, include new market-rate residents, in the building for also withholding rent because of the disruptions from construction. (Those two other tenants then each filed counter-suits against Kushner.)

As a way to improve its image, Westminster introduced a new program this fall called Westminster Cares (not to be confused with this Westminster Cares), a partnership with the Educational Alliance...



The kick-off party was Nov. 17 at the 14th Street Y. Per the fliers, "This new program gives you an opportunity to serve your community while getting to know your fellow Westminster neighbors." The slogan: "Mingle. Give Back. Repeat."

The event prompted the Cooper Square Committee to release a statement asking, "Westminster Cares – About Who?!"

Said Kielbasa: "Every week we have Kushner tenants calling our office to get issues resolved. The problems they face range from not getting security deposits back, not getting lease renewals, having chronic mixups with their rent payments, and having difficulties getting repairs. If Westminster really cares, they need to get better at managing their properties."

For their part, Westminster provided DNAinfo with a statement for yesterday's article about their ongoing work in maintaining their portfolio:

"As with all our properties, we are committed to providing a high level of service for our tenants across that portfolio, which is nearly fully leased. We couldn't maintain that level of occupancy or service without investing in essential building infrastructure, so we consistently make meaningful upgrades in our walkup buildings across the city on behalf of our residents."

In a Page 1 story on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal cited Kushner's business activities that could potentially raise conflict-of-interest issues if he is named to a staff position in the Trump administration. (Possible solutions include Kushner selling his assets and putting the money into a trust.)

As the Trump told the Times last week, "Jared’s a very smart guy. He’s a very good guy. The people that know him, he’s a quality person and I think he can be very helpful." (The Times contacted dozens of politicians, diplomats and journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Very few of them were familiar with Kushner.)



Upon reading the news of the possibility of Kushner brokering peace, one resident wrote on Facebook last week: "The Middle East is gonna have to wait until he fixes my sink. Might be forever."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Report: Jared Kushner buys $130 million portfolio of East Village rental buildings

Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

Reports outline how Kushner Companies is aggressively trying to empty 170-174 E. 2nd St.

Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

A Bandura Christmas tomorrow on 7th Street



Via the EVG inbox...

The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus returns to New York City with a special holiday program "A Bandura Christmas," on Saturday, December 3rd!

Founded in 1918, the all-male Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus has captivated audiences in major concert halls in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Ukraine since immigrating to North America from Europe in 1949. Under the current artistic direction of conductor Oleh Mahlay, today's chorus of bandura players and singers hail from all throughout North America, each volunteering their time and talent for the mission of the ensemble.

Combining the musical characteristics of both the lute and the harp, the Ukrainian bandura is more than a national musical instrument: it is the voice of Ukraine, its history closely tied to the turbulent history of the Ukrainian people. Producing a sound similar to a harpsichord but with a wider range and tone, the modern bandura has between 20 and 65 strings and is tuned like a piano rather than a guitar. The concert variety (the kind played by the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus) has levers that allow the 'bandurist' to quickly change keys during a performance.

Join us this Saturday, December 3rd, as these talented musicians and all-male chorus perform traditional Ukrainian Christmas Carols in the beautiful setting of St George Ukrainian Catholic Church...

The church is at 16 E. Seventh St. (across from McSorley's!) near Cooper Square. The concert begins at 7 p.m. Find ticket info here.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

East Village students show support on World AIDS Day



Students from the Children's Workshop School on East 12th Street took part in parade today in honor of World AIDS Day 2016 ... their route took them through Tompkins Square Park...



Photos by Derek Berg

The Lightstone Group flips 10th Street residential building


[Photo of 85 E. 10th St. from September]

Back in the spring, the Lightstone Group paid $127 million for a 6-building portfolio on East 10th Street and East 11th Street. Five of those buildings, 112-120 E. 11th St., are currently being demolished to make way for a 13-floor hotel for the Marriott's Moxy brand.

And now, a resident of the other address in the deal, 85 E. 10th St., which abuts the hotel conversion, shares news that the building here between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue has been sold.

Per the resident:

New ownership put notes under tenants' doors announcing the sale and promising improvements to the property, including adding a package room, virtual doorman system with surveillance cameras throughout the building, much to the relief of tenants who regularly complain of packages that go missing!



And!

New owners also boast they will be "sprucing up the common areas and keeping the premises very clean and the air smelling pleasant." Also good news to tenants since the building usually reeks of garbage and marijuana, has an outdated ugly lobby, filthy hallways and stairwells and an overgrown, leaf-covered backyard common area no tenants use.



According to The Real Deal, Mallory Management bought the 121-unit rental building on 10th Street for $72.5 million. Residents in the back of No. 85 will have unobstructed views of the demolition at 112-120 and subsequent construction of the Moxy hotel, which is expected to open in late 2018.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: 6-building complex on East 10th Street and East 11th Street sells for $127 million

Report: LPC OKs renovation and expansion of 4 St. Mark's Place


[EVG file photo of 4 St. Mark's Place]

On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) signed off on renovations and an expansion for the Hamilton-Holly House aka 4 St. Mark's Place aka the former storefront for Trash & Vaudeville.

The landmarked building (built in 1831 and sold to Alexander Hamilton’s son two years later) changed hands for $10 million in the spring.

As we first noted back in June, the building's developers, Castellan Real Estate Partners, need the proper LPC approvals before any work can take place.

The proposed plans show that the 4-floor building would increase its residential units from three to eight... with the help of a fifth-floor addition and expansion in the rear ... (the proposed renderings are on the left)


[Click for more detail]

...and the profile section...



New York Yimby has a full recap of the LPC meeting here.

A quick takeaway from NYY:

The commissioners were okay with most of the proposal, but not the fifth floor, because it would knock out the rear dormers. Nor did they like the new window at the basement level. They also had issues with the signage proposed for the front. In the end, they approved the proposal, but with the elimination of the new fifth floor and the new basement window. Without that additional floor, there might be a reduction in residential unit count. The applicant will also work with the LPC staff on the signage.

The LPC presentation included this photo of No. 4 from 1940...



Eastern Consolidated is currently listing two retail spaces at the building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Until this past February, 4 St. Mark's Place housed Trash & Vaudeville for 41 years. (The store is now at 96 E. Seventh St.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place

4 St. Mark's Place is for sale

More residential units and a 5th-floor addition in the works for landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place

Try not to rock the boat while 'Ocean's 8' films here today



Fans of the first seven Ocean's movies will be pleased to know that crews will be back filming scenes for "Ocean's 8" here today.


[Pause for bad joke to sink in]


Anyway! This all-female spin-off of the Ocean's Trilogy has an ensemble cast that includes Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kalig, Awkwafina, Dakota Fanning, among others.

Cast and crew will be filming (or trucks are taking up space) on First Avenue between Sixth Street and St. Mark's Place, Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Avenue A, and Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. Posted notices say crews will be filming roughly from 6 a.m. to midnight.

The film has a June 8, 2018, release date.

Updated 7:30 a.m.
Looks as if crews are setting up to shoot inside Blue & Gold on Seventh Street.

A look at the former Rodeo Bar, currrently being transformed into the Gem Saloon



And from up on Third Avenue at 27th Street, EVG reader Stephen Popkin shares these photos of the new facade of the incoming Gem Saloon ... owned by the folks who run East Village bars Phebe's on the Bowery and Penny Farthing on Third Avenue ...



The space was previously home for 27 years to the Rodeo Bar. The former Rodeo Bar sign has been removed from the building... its fate unknown at the moment...



As we first reported in July 2014, the Rodeo Bar — billed as "NYC’s longest running honky-tonk" — closed for good after 27 years in business. In a message on Facebook, the owners said that recent rent increases, "combined with a changing landscape, have made it impossible for us continue."

Kips Bay Corner reported yesterday that the Gem Saloon is expected to open on Jan. 4.

Back in June, a broker for the landlord told this to The Commercial Observer: "The Rodeo Bar was in operation for over 25 years, and hadn’t renovated or changed the interior in many years. The new tenants will transform the space into a first-class eating and drinking establishment. The tenant plans to renovate the entire space, to cater to a sophisticated clientele, that enjoy a wonderful atmosphere and quality food and spirits."

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Wednesday's parting shot



The path to Peter Cooper outside Cooper Union via

Noted



Letter for Santa from residents of this East Ninth Street building... hoping the hot water issues doesn't continue...

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher
Name: Henry Hills
Occupation: Filmmaker
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m.

I grew up in Atlanta. I was in San Francisco for four years and I moved here in 1978 - 6th Street between A and B for the first year, and 9th between B and C for 6 months. My apartment was burglarized, I got mugged twice in the park, but I had a great apartment. Then I subletted a place in SoHo for six months, I lived on the first block of Ludlow for eight years and then I renovated a building on 8th Street with a group of people — an artists' building.

When I was here in the 1970s ... there were a lot of empty storefronts, especially on Avenue B, but most of the storefronts weren’t stores. There would be a lot of little artist spaces that would come and go. Ray’s was there of course. Leshko’s was there but I liked Odessa better. You could eat supper for about $2, and there was an old woman who knew the regulars, and she would always give you extra portions. The kitchen in my place was impossible to cook at home, plus you couldn’t possibly buy groceries and eat as cheap as Odessa’s or Leshko’s.

We started as a study group in 1981. We got a site in 1985, and we moved in 1988. I’ve been there ever since. It was an artist-housing program that the Koch administration had proposed. It was basically people who were being displaced from SoHo, and they were moving them to Forsyth Street, but the Community Board freaked out because they were giving low-cost housing money to relocate artists who were being pushed out of Tribeca to the Lower East Side.

I got an application, and it was clear that with the deadline you had to hire a development team to do this, so we formed a study group. We figured we were all college graduates – we’d figure out how to fill out this application ourselves. So we ... put in an application. It was defeated by the Community Board. We went and asked them to spell out exactly what they opposed, because they didn’t want to say they hated artists. They just didn’t want this funding for low-cost housing to go to middle-class artists. I mean, it wasn’t all middle class — none of us had any money, but most of us came from middle-class backgrounds.

I’m a filmmaker. I’ve always made short films. I show a lot at Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue and Second Street. This filmmaker friend Peter Hutton died last summer, so people got some friends and former students of his to go out and shoot a camera roll in 16mm. I shot a camera roll of the Hare Krishna Tree as a memorial to Peter and showed it at Bard College a few weeks ago and out in Brooklyn two weeks ago. I was out shooting today. I’m just making a little short film on the Hare Krishna Tree for my wife Martina, who’s also a filmmaker.

I just finished a new film called HHHHH - my first 16:9 movie. All the images revolve around the letter H. It’s a kind of game planned to avoid narrative, but still make it entertaining and a lively movie. I made a movie called SSS, which is on YouTube. I shot it when I was renovating the building. It’s a dance movie, shot entirely on the street. I worked with a bunch of dancers, and if it was a sunny day I would just call them up and we’d find one of the gardens or some rubble-filled lot or something, and they would improvise movement. I composed this movie. You can really see the neighborhood during that time and also the 1980s clothing styles.

I love Tompkins Square Park. I come here and sit almost every day. I think it’s the nicest neighborhood in town – every block has a garden. It’s unbelievable. I live in the back, between two one-way streets, a dead end and the park, with a tree in the backyard and stuff. It’s very quiet.

When I moved from Ludlow Street I could not believe how quiet it was. Here there are lot of people in rent-control apartments, there are the buildings where the tenants took over or people renovated, and also there is a bunch of public housing. So when you walk in Tompkins Square Park you don’t feel like you’re in a neighborhood full of millionaires.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Former Sunburnt Cow space on Avenue C is the new home of Viking Waffles


The retail space at the renovated (and taller by one floor) 137 Avenue C has been on the market for the past 15 or so months. The building's ground-floor was previously home to drunk-brunch hotspot Sunburnt Cow until April 2014.

Now The Commercial Observer has the scoop on the new tenantViking Waffles, which is opening its first retail space here. The location will also serve as Viking's wholesale manufacturing business, currently housed in Long Island City.

So what are Viking Waffles? Per the VW website:

Unlike Belgian waffles, Norwegian waffles are thinner, softer, fluffier and their heart-like shape fits conveniently in your hand making for a great snack on the go.

Viking Waffles are all-natural, gluten free, ready-to-eat and packed with 24g of protein and only 2g of sugar!


The packaged waffles are currently sold just in gyms around the city such as Barry's Bootcamp and Solace Crossfit as well as retail outlets like Westside Market on Third Avenue and 12th Street.

The broker at No. 137 noted that Benedicte Engen, a Crossfit trainer who founded Viking Waffles, only signed a five-year lease because "if their sales continue the way they’ve been going they will surely outgrow the space."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Renovations in store for 137 Avenue C, home to the Sunburnt Cow

The Sunburnt Cow closes for good at the end of this month

137 Avenue C, hollow on the inside

137 Avenue C — still standing!

137 Avenue C getting its extra floor


[Photo from April 2014]

Dahlia's-replacing salad and juice bar closes after 3 months on 2nd Avenue



After less than three months in business, 100% Healthy Blend (or maybe just Healthy Blend) has closed at Second Avenue and Fifth Street.

EVG regular Carol From East 5th Street, who shared the top photo, noted that workers were cleaning out the space yesterday.

There's also a notice from the Marshal, indicating that the property is now in possession of the landlord...





The quick-serve restaurant featured a sprawling menu that included create-your-own salads ... as well as juices, smoothies, empanadas, arepas and much more.

The corner spot was last home to Dahlia's, busted by the SLA after serving a reported 50 minors one night in January. The Mexican restaurant then closed in May.

Post, a new cafe, opens on Avenue B



Back in the fall of 2015, we heard that a new cafe was in the works for 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.

In recent weeks it looked as if the place was getting ready to open... The cafe, called Post, debuted last week. EVG reader ‏@Jason_Chatfield shared these photos from yesterday...



The menu shows several varieties of biscuits for breakfast ... as well as coffee and tea...



Lunch and dinner are coming soon, per the Post website.

And we don't know too much else about Post at the moment. (Updated: Gothamist has more on Post here.)

The address was previously home to Coyi Cafe, which closed in January 2014 after five years in business.