Monday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Capturing a few portraits at Superiority Burger, 119 Avenue A.

First (above) with SB regular Cáit O’Riordan. 

Owner Brooks Headley ...

... and Fowzy, who was recently promoted from bar manager to a GM...

6 posts from March

A mini month in review... with a photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg 

• After nearly 40 years, Sixth Street Specials prepares for its final ride in the East Village (March 20) 

• Staggering toward the April 1 start of outdoor dining in NYC (March 19) 

• An early spring report from 97 St. Mark's Place (March 19) 

• Yummy Hive post mortem (March 17) 

• The new old Lucy's reopens (March 3) 

• Report of a fatal shooting at Tom & Jerry's on Elizabeth Street (March 1)

Housing lottery is underway for 49 apartments at the all-new 280 E. Houston St.

The application process is underway (deadline May 27!) for one of the 49 apartments at the brand-new 280 E. Houston St., the 12-story mixed-use building on the north side between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Households that earn $33,909 to $218,010 are eligible to apply for units at The Houston, a development via SMA Equities being constructed through the city's Inclusionary Housing Program.

The apartments are designated for New Yorkers earning between 40% and 130% of the area median income (AMI), which varies based on household size. Studio rents start at $989. First bedroom and two-bedroom units are also available. 

First, some amenity info: 

At The Houston, modern design and urban sophistication converge to create an unparalleled residential experience. More than just a home, this contemporary residence invites you to embrace a lifestyle of comfort and convenience. Elevate your day-to-day living with exclusive amenities such as a fully equipped gym*, secure bike storage*, a stylish media room*, a versatile recreation room*, and a professional business center*. The pet policy allows a maximum of one dog up to 45 lbs. at full growth, with certain breed restrictions.(*fees apply) Rent includes all utilities (gas stove, electricity including electric hot water and heat).

A percentage of units are set aside for: 

• Residents who live within the confines of Community Board 3 (20%)

• Residents with mobility issues (5%) 

• Residents who are city employees (5%) 

• Residents with vision/hearing needs (2%) 

Find more details and apply here. (Be sure to read the fine print, such as do NOT submit multiple applications or apply online AND via U.S. mail.)

 

Some background from previous EVG posts: No. 280 encompasses 224,809 square feet of residential, commercial, and community space. The residential portion will total 211,028 square feet for 157 apartments, with an average size of 1,300 square feet. The retail section — the listing is here — will feature 12,000 square feet. 

Last July, Gothamist reported that the construction company, which has ties to Mayor Adams, illegally started work on the building before obtaining the essential permits. 

The parcel previously housed a single-level strip of storefronts that relocated closer to the residential building at No. 250 E. Houston St. (Kapri Cleaners and the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center) or closed (Subway, Mattress Firm, and China Town) several years ago. 

The elongated trapezoidal lot housed a gas station until about 1987. 

Prep work (plywood, pedestrian barriers, etc.) started in February 2023. The building is still under construction, though it appears to be winding down.

H/T Brick Underground

How to vote on what neighborhood projects receive capital funding from City Council

Participatory Budgeting Vote Week is underway in NYC. 

Per the city: 

Between Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, April 6, residents across New York City will cast their ballot and vote for locally developed projects to improve schools, parks, libraries, and other public spaces in their community. Voting is open to everyone ages 11 (or at least in 6th grade) and older who lives in or has a special connection to (i.e., goes to school or works) in one of the 23 participating Council Districts. Help shape the future of your community by casting your vote today. 

City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's District 2, which includes the East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, the Lower East Side and Murray Hill, has $1 million in funds available ... and nine projects up for a vote.

• Lower East Side Playground Soccer Field Redesign

• Bathroom Upgrades at Washington Irving School 

• Bathroom Upgrades at Bard High School Early College 

• Sensory Gym at P.S. 19 East Village Community School 

• Auditorium Air Conditioning at P.S. 63 STAR Academy and The Neighborhood School 

• Union Square East and West Median Refurbishment

• STEM Lab for M361 The Children's Workshop School 

• Tree Guards for District 2 Street Trees

• Argus Cameras for PSA4, 6th, 9th, 13th Precincts 

You may vote (once!) online here until Sunday, April 6. Or! You can vote in person (once!) at the following locations...

Stuy Town grocery starting to look more Whole Foods-y

There's noticeable progress at the incoming Whole Foods Market Daily Shop at 409 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

We have entrances...

... and more shelving...

As previously reported, Whole Foods Market is opening a smaller-format store, Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, in this space. No word yet about an opening date, other than some time this year, which narrows it down to April-December. 

Last Fall, Beam Living shared the following email with StuyTown residents about what to expect: 

This store will be one of the first locations of the new Whole Foods Market Daily Shop — a recently announced quick-shop concept from the grocer. Whole Foods Market StuyTown will provide a convenient option for grab-and-go meals and snacks, weekly essentials, and the wide range of fresh, seasonal produce that Whole Foods Market is known and loved for. This location will also feature Juice & Java, which provides coffee, tea, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, soups, and desserts. 

You can read this EVG post for more details. 

NYC's first Whole Foods Market Daily Shop opened at 1175 Third Ave. on the UES last fall.

Associated closed here in December 2019. Joseph Falzon, the store's owner, said that a confluence of factors had cut business nearly in half.

Sunday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Today at the A99 Anarchist Collective on Ninth Street at First Avenue... here every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.: "A hub of radical art, mutual aid, community power and anarchist resistance."

Noted

Urban etiquette signage as seen in a tree well on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B: 

To the low life 

who took the plants 

[Karma] a bitch 

May your life be [taken] 

in a bad way. We try 

to make the block nice.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on Ludlow Street)...

• "A reminder of the tragedy that left many physically and emotionally wounded..." (Wednesday) ... Wednesday's parting shots (Wednesday) 

• RIP Janne Schaefers (Wednesday) 

• Terra Thai reopens with new grab-and-go items (Tuesday) 

• An impromptu goodbye party as Sabor A Mexico closes on 1st Avenue (Thursday)

• Williamsburg hit Titi's bringing the empanadas to 7th Street (Wednesday) 

• A moment with East Village artist Scooter LaForge (Friday) 

• A few more details on the condo conversion of a former tenement synagogue on 4th Street (Monday) 

• Residential rendering reveal at the former 9th Street parking garage (Monday) 

• At the annual fundraiser for the Sixth Street Community Center (Tuesday) 

• Last days for Current Coffee and Sunday C&C Eatery at the Bowery Market (Wednesday) 

• After December fire in building, Jane Cookshop will not be reopening on 9th Street (Monday) 

• Urbanspace Union Square has shut down to make way for Time Out Market (Tuesday) 

• A week left for 'Before the Clean-Up' at new East Village gallery Smilers (Saturday) 

• 7 years vacant, the storefront on the NW corner of 3rd Avenue and 12th Street is now for rent (Monday) 

• At the closing party for Lori McLean's jewelry shop (Saturday)

• Checking in on the bunny of 13th and B (Sunday) 

• Bánh Anh Em looking closer to opening on 3rd Avenue (Tuesday)

• On St. Mark's Place, sidewalk emerges after lengthy construction stint (Thursday) ... Welcoming back another East Village sidewalk (Friday) 

• Venerable Joe's Pizza becomes Jonas Pizza for a day to celebrate the Jonas Brothers (Sunday) 

... and more spring in Tompkins...

EVG Etc.: Explaining the new composting rules; crowdfunding for La Sirena

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Wrapping up Women's History Month at the Tompkins Square Library branch

Local stories of interest from other sources this past week include...  

• Compost avoiders will be fined starting on Tuesday (Gothamist) ... How the city will enforce mandatory composting (CBS 2) ... A guide to composting (The City) 

• An explainer on applying for unemployment in NYC (The City) 

• Postal workers at Cooper Station on Fourth Avenue indicted for kidnapping, attempted rape of co-worker (1010 WINS ... DA's release) 

• How can NYC's next mayor bring down homelessness? (Gothamist) 

• A feature on La Sirena Mexican Folk Art on Third Street (ABC 7... owner Dina Leor has a crowdfunding campaign here) 

• Sauerkraut fish stars at this new Third Avenue restaurant (Grub Street... previously on EVG)

• Momofuku's Kabawa, serving Caribbean cuisine, debuts in Extra Place (The Times) 

• The Post picked up our bunny-on-B story (The Post... previously on EVG) 

• Now playing: "Julie Keeps Quiet" is "a drama of startling revelations" that made a splash at Cannes last year (Metrograph) 

• Cult classic "Harold & Maude" gets a screening on April 14 (Village East by Angelika)

• Luna Park at Coney Island officially opened for the season yesterday (NY1) 

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

At East Village Tattoo, celebrating its first anniversary today at 207 E. Fourth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B...

At the closing party for Lori McLean's jewelry shop

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Last Saturday, Lori McLean held a closing party at her eponymous jewelry shop at 207 Avenue A, between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

As we reported, McLean decided to retire from running a storefront after two decades.

After a summer hiatus, she will continue doing custom work for clients. (Check her website for details.) 

EVG's Stacie Joy stopped by for the shop's farewell...

McLean had two East Village storefronts, first on 11th Street then 207 Avenue A. 

"My landlord is great and really saved us during the COVID shutdown," she said of No. 207, which will be available to rent in May.

A week left for 'Before the Clean-Up' at new East Village gallery Smilers

Flyer via @smilersnyc 

You have a week left to catch the latest exhibit at Smilers, a small basement gallery that debuted in Janaury on Sixth Street. 

"Before the Clean-Up" features photography by Nick Waplington and Lizzi Bougatsos as they documented the 1990s NYC underground club scene...

The show, which opened on March 6, runs through next Saturday. Hours: noon to 6 p.m., Thursday to Saturday. The gallery, launched by Mark Beasley and Laura Tighe, is at 431 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. (The address was also home to William Wegman's studio.) 

Also: Our old EVG friend James Maher has launched a new video series about photography books and shows in conjunction with Miwa Susuda of Dashwood Books and Session Press. His first interview is with Nick Waplington. Watch that here.

Noted

Photos by William Klayer 

This morning on First Avenue and Ninth Street... OK, who stole the lug nuts?

Saturday's opening shot

Morning view from Ninth Street and Stuyvesant... High of 80 (!!) today with a mix of sun and clouds and the possibility of a passing shower, though likely not. There's also an 80% chance of being annoyed by large groups of people having brunch outdoors.

Tainted love

 

"Liquorice" is the latest single from Freak Slug... on the recently released deluxe LP I Blow Out Big Candles (But with a Cherry on Top). 

You can catch Manchester's finest at the Bowery Ballroom this coming Wednesday. Find tickets here.

A moment with East Village artist Scooter LaForge

Photo by Stacie Joy 

We caught up with East Village-based artist-designer Scooter LaForge yesterday. 

He is enjoying a moment in "The White Lotus" season three spotlight.

Fans of the HBO series, which people enjoy discussing and dissecting far too much (all in on the monkey theory, btw!), likely spotted two of LaForge's T-shirt designs that Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who suspiciously became friends way too fast, wore as party dresses during the full moon party episode that aired March 16. 

His upcycled design collection is available at Patricia Field's newish boutique on the LES or online.

LaForge talked about his art and designs with NBC 4's Ashley Bellman the other day. Watch that here.

Welcoming back another East Village sidewalk

Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The scaffolding/sidewalk bridge is coming down around PS 64/Earth School on Avenue B between Fourth Street and Sixth Street. 

The construction crew says, "80% of the structure is coming down, and there is still work being done on a small part."

It will be nice to see the building again. It seems like that sidewalk bridge went up when Mayor LaGuardia was in office.

Thursday's parting shots

An EVG reader shared these photos from today in Stuy Town... where the cherry blossoms are in FULL bloom...

March 27

Thanks to EVG reader Guillermo for a photo of this late-March discard on Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

On St. Mark's Place, sidewalk emerges after lengthy construction stint

Photo by Jacob Ford 

On the NE corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue, workers have pushed the barricades closer to the new 9-story building ... allowing use of the sidewalk again for the first time in five-plus years. 

Pre-leasing is underway for the boutique office building, which includes 7,700 square feet of retail space.

The return of the sidewalk might mean the end of this from the sidewalk bridge and construction zone era.