We estimate that workers have reached the 12th floor... so they are halfway there...
The plywood rendering lists a February 2026 completion date.
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Looking at the new 14th Street skyline near Avenue C
Blazing the trail: A map to all the high points of legal cannabis dispensaries
For anyone confused about which storefronts are licensed, the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has launched a new map to help.
Behold the Legal Online Cannabis Activities Locator (LOCAL) map — "a tool designed to make the application process more efficient, transparent, and affordable."
The map features the following:
The first is an industry-focused map tailored for applicants, licensees, and stakeholders, featuring advanced capabilities such as generating proximity reports, searching licenses, exporting data, and navigating multiple data layers.
And!
The second tool ... is a consumer-focused dispensary map allowing New Yorkers to easily locate the nearest legal dispensary, ensuring access to safe, regulated cannabis products.
The consumer portion includes coming-soon legal operations. A search under zip 10009 reveals that Avenue B will soon have two legal dispensaries at Nos. 15 and 229.
The LOCAL Map Application Tool can be accessed by visiting the website here.
There are currently 197 adult-use dispensaries open for business across New York state. Find a complete list of dispensaries here.
Meanwhile, law enforcement continues to crack down on unlicensed cannabis shops throughout NYC. Elected officials have said these businesses do not comply with regulations meant to protect our health, and some have been found to sell to minors.
Monday, September 23, 2024
Today in Libra birthdays: Happy No. 130 to Veniero's Pasticceria!
EVG photo from April
Veniero's Pasticceria opened on this day in 1894 on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
They are open until 10 p.m. if you want to celebrate with them.
You can check out a comprehensive history of the business via Village Preservation.
Dimmed lights on 1st Avenue: Only 1 Indian restaurant remains at Instagram-friendly address
Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
And then there was one.
After decades of aggressive hosts trying to entice diners into their establishments with twinkling Christmas and chili pepper lights and promises of superior food, the upstairs-downstairs block of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants at 93 First Ave. is down to one.
While Milon closed in December 2020 after nearly 40 years in business, next-door neighbor Panna II Garden took over the space in early 2021 (see below) without switching the previous tenant's sign.
It was business as usual, with groups coming in for various celebrations amid the lights and over-the-top decor (this with some pretty mediocre-to-average food and spotty service).
The Panna II maître d' on duty Friday evening told us they stopped using the adjacent dining room last month.
"No business," he said.
The Milon space has been gutted (thanks to Blake Farber for the following two pics) ...
... and workers bagged up the lights that had lit up thousands of Instagram posts to throw away...
Royal Bangladesh, which opened on the lower level in 1978, closed in the late spring of 2022. An unlicensed smoke shop briefly occupied one of the storefronts on the lower level.
While Milon and Panna II had been catering to the Instagram crowd in recent years, some locals still found the BYOB restaurants a familiar comfort on evenings away from the weekends.
This article at 6sqft has a nice recap of the restaurants here; Eater, too. (A photo of the glory days is below via 6sqft.)
The number of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants along the so-called Curry Row or Little India here and around the corner on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has been dwindling in recent years. As many as 27 establishments were clustered on the block in the 1990s; today, there are two on Sixth Street.
Economics and competition certainly played a part ... and, in recent years, we've seen new buzzy options, such as from the Unapologetic Foods team (Rowdy Rooster and Dhamaka, with two more concepts on the way)... and higher-end experiences like Bungalow at 24 First Ave., which opened in March and recently received three stars from the Times, and Jazba on Second Avenue and 13th Street.
On Friday night at Panna II, the lone maître d' said business has been slow.
Façade exploration work continues at the former P.S. 64
Last week, workers focused on the Ninth Street side between Avenue B and Avenue C. Crews were on 10th Street this time.
Here's what's happening at the long-vacant, landmarked building, according to an email from the East Village Community Coalition:
As part of ongoing building stabilization and preservation efforts, a bucket lift will be on site as per the schedule below so that preservation architects and engineers can assess existing conditions by gently tapping (sounding) the façade elements with a rubber mallet. This sounding exercise is intended to ensure that the terracotta elements of the façade are safely tied into the building structure and are not in danger of falling.Elements that are not safely secured to the building may be removed for public safety purposes, and retained for replication or reinstallation. We have been assured that this work was planned in conversation with the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and Landmarks Conservancy, and that the building is not being demolished or harmed in any way.
In a transaction filed on Jan. 9, an entity going as 605 East 9th Community Holdings LLC bought the property from longtime owner Gregg Singer for $57,267,453, per public records.
The LLC reportedly (per The Real Deal) has ties to Aaron Sosnick, a billionaire hedge fund manager who lives next door in the Christodora House. Denham Wolf Real Estate Services stated that the LLC is "a philanthropic entity with the purpose of returning the property to community use."
Singer, who bought the building from the city during an auction in 1998 for $3.1 million, has wanted to turn the one-time P.S. 64 into a dorm, though those plans never materialized, and the building has sat in disrepair. The 135,000-square-foot building is zoned for “community facility use,” and any conversion to residential housing would require a zoning variance.
Holy Cow announces itself on 14th and B
Photos by Stacie Joy
The Holy Cow signage rolled up on Thursday on the SE corner of Avenue B and 14th Street. (H/T Maegan Hayward!)
As we previously reported, the burger joint that started on the Lower East Side in 2018 is taking over this space. (A few readers were hoping for a diner-type spot here, but...)
The expanding chainlet, with over a dozen locations around the five boroughs and on Long Island, offers several vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. The menu can be found here.
The business takes over the corner space from M & J Asian Cuisine, which quietly closed earlier in the summer after 10 years. Fans can find (and order from) the New M&J on West 29th Street.
Signage alerts: St. Mark's Burgers & Dogs, Kamisama, Alphabet City Gourmet Deli
The space was last very briefly home to Glizzy's.
Meanwhile, we have a coming-soon banner for Kamisama, a ramen restaurant at 230 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...
The space was home to the Nugget Spot and Mad For Chicken in recent years.
Top photo: Steven
2nd photo: Brian Carroll
3rd photo: EVG tipster
Closings: Pizza Pazzo on 1st Street
A for-rent sign is now on the front door here between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
The business just opened in April.
The small storefront was previously part of Pinky's Space.
The Meridian website does not yet show a listing.
Sunday, September 22, 2024
At the 18th annual Anarchist Bookfair
Photos by Stacie Joy
The 18th annual Anarchist Bookfair took place yesterday at La Plaza Cultural, the community garden/space on the SW corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street.
Here are a few scenes from the event...
Week in Grieview
• Façade exploration underway at former P.S. 64 (Monday)
• More details emerge about the new Whole Foods Market StuyTown on 14th Street (Monday)
• Report: Man stabbed in the back exiting the L train at 1st Avenue stop (Saturday)
• Chicago's Dark Matter Coffee is coming to the Bowery (Monday)
• Dressing up Avenue A for a 1990s crime thriller (Tuesday)
• Explore neighborhood community gardens during the 13th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival (Thursday)
• Extra taco time: Carnitas Ramírez expands its days of service on 3rd Street (Monday)
• At the 98th Feast of San Gennaro (Friday)
• A place in the Sun: An installation series on St. Mark's Place celebrates the daylight (Friday)
• Coming attractions: Noona's Ice Cream + Bakeshop on 5th Street (Wednesday)
• Tree down on 12th Street (Friday)
• A 3-day festival to celebrate Tompkins Square Park and the Tompkins Square Library (Tuesday)
• The 12th annual MoRUS Film Festival coming to a community garden near you (Wednesday)
• A quick conversation about 'The Chat,' a short film by East Village resident Artie Brennan (Wednesday)
• On the CB3 docket for September: An outpost of Bushwick pizzeria Ops; longer hours for Penny (Monday)
• Tacombi is now closed for renovations on 12th Street and 3rd Avenue (Thursday)
• The storefront at 60 2nd Ave. (the former Black Ant) is for rent (Thursday)
• This week's partial lunar eclipse from 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)
This week in milling East Village avenues
Top photo by Steven
As you likely noticed (or felt), city crews milled Second Avenue from 14th Street to Houston this past week.
Crews also milled Third Avenue between 12th Street and Houston a move that likely makes sense to someone.
These East Village avenues are not on the coming week's Milling and Resurfacing Schedule at the DOT.
As we've seen, it usually takes several weeks before the milled streets are repaved. 🙏
The Village View fall tag sale is today (Sunday!)
Photo by Stacie Joy
For the first day of fall, the fall edition of the biennial Village View tag sale is today (Sunday!) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The rain date is Sept. 29, but the forecast looks good today.
As always, you can find the resident vendors — selling various items, including clothes, books, houseware, jewelry, bric-a-brac, and more — on the Fifth Street basketball court between Avenue A and First Avenue.
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Saturday's parting shots
Photos by Stacie Joy
Just a few scenes from the annual 9th Street A-1 Block Association Block Party today between Avenue A and First Avenue (a top-two neighborhood block party along with the 10th Street Block Festival)...
Noted
Photo by Jackflashnyc
Seeing this warning sign in Tompkins Square Park — "Lisa Cheats at Cornhole" — reminds us just how safe this neighborhood used to be, when things like this (and pickleball players taking more than 10 seconds to serve) didn't happen.😔
Endless summer in Tompkins Square Park on the brink of fall
Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy
It's skating as usual on the recenly painted multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park ... now with a discarded couch...
As the Times noted: "It's still summer today, but fall arrives tomorrow. Take a minute to pause on the threshold."
Last night at Paul's Bar on Avenue A
Photo by Stacie Joy
Despite the sometimes menacing undercurrent, it's a decent spot here at 14 Avenue A for cheap-ish drinks ... though we can do without MTV's "Celebrity Deathmatch" on the TV and the person who kept playing every track from Celebrity Skin on the jukebox.
Anyway, as you may have noticed ... the Double Down Saloon between Houston and Second Street is currently serving as a set (Paul's Bar) for "Chelsea Honeymoon," aka the Darren Aronofsky-helmed 1990s crime thriller "Caught Stealing" starring Austin Butler ... and an impressive cast (Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Will Brill, Bad Bunny, Griffin Dunne and Vincent D’Onofrio).
Filming will continue tonight, and we have more photos to post showing how the set dressers gave the immediate area a late 1990s vibe.
Updated: Man stabbed in back exiting the L train at 1st Avenue
EVG reader photo
Updated 9/23: Police have made an arrest in the case. Details here. The suspect, an East Village resident, is out on bail.
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The Daily News reported the victim first thought he had been punched until he saw the blood.
Per the News: "Police later described the possible attacker as 'an Asian man with a bag.'"
In a follow-up story, amNY reported that when leaving the station, the victim "bumped into the suspect, who then engaged in a verbal argument with him." The suspect then stabbed the man and ran off.
According to surveillance footage released by the NYPD, the suspect was wearing a white baseball cap, a white mask under his chin, a dark blue jacket with white lettering on the sleeves over a light blue shirt, dark pants, and blue-and-white sneakers.
EMTs took the victim to Bellevue, where he is in stable condition, ABC 7 reported.
The Anarchist Switchboard retrospective exhibit opens today at MoRUS
The opening coincides with the annual Anarchist Bookfair, which will take place at La Plaza Cultural on Ninth Street and Avenue C from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Info via the EVG inbox...
The Anarchist Switchboard was a political organizing space on the Lower East Side from late 1983 to 1989. It was located at 324 E. Ninth St. and was started by activists associated with The Libertarian Book Club, Alchemical Theatre, Freespace and The Living Theatre.After the 1988 Tompkins Square Park Police Riots, it was taken over by a new generation of activists. Due to several incendiary factors, the Switchboard was contentiously shut down in the summer of 1989. Some regulars decided to immediately open a new space, which they turned into an Anarchist Bookstore.The exhibition of Switchboard-related flyers and documents specifically chronicles the years 1983 to 1987. It opens during the Anarchist Bookfair today (Sept. 21). There will be a presentation/talk/moderated group discussion featuring several people who organized at the Switchboard throughout the years. Event seats at 5 p.m.; discussion at 5:30 p.m.The exhibit stays up through Oct. 5.Additional exhibit hours:• Sept. 21: noon – 7 p.m.• Sept. 22: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.• Sept. 28: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.• Sept. 29: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.• Oct. 5: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.Sales and proceeds will benefit the War Resisters League/A.J. Muste Institute.
MoRUS is at 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.
Friday, September 20, 2024
Friday's parting shot
Photo by Stacie Joy
On the Friday shift with Ray at Ray's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A...
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