Thursday, May 2, 2019
Graduation Day
Army & Navy Bags over at 177 E. Houston St. between Orchard and Allen is closed today... for a very good reason, per the signage...
Closed to attend daughter's graduation!
I like this touch – a simple way to humanize a business. Of course, you never want to get too cutesy about such notes.
Anna returning to the East Village
Some positive small business news to share: Nearly two years after Anna left the neighborhood for Christopher Street in the West Village, the womenswear boutique is returning to the East Village this summer.
The Anna team made the announcement on Instagram this week...
Their new home looks to be the space recently vacated by So-Hair here just east of Second Avenue.
Designer Kathy Kemp first opened Anna in 1995 on Third Street near Avenue A. Anna relocated to 11th Street in 2012. Read more about Anna and Kemp in this Out and About feature from 2014.
A look at the all-new 101 E. 10th St.
[Photo by Steven]
A new for-lease sign went up yesterday at 101 E. 10th St., the now-taller residential building on the northeast corner of Third Avenue.
The newish building has been undergoing a four-story addition exterior renovation in recent years... it was only recently unveiled from behind the sidewalk bridge and construction netting...
The helpful arrows highlight the new portion of the building...
The new units are on the market for starting at $4,500 (one bedroom) to $10,000 for the two-bedroom penthouse with private terrace, per the listings.
A little recent history of the corner... the building was converted into luxury rentals in 2015 ...
[November 2015]
SVA used the sixth-floor building as a dorm until the spring of 2014.
Prior to construction of the dorm, the address housed Bendiner & Schlesinger blood labs, which was demolished in 2005.
A Town Hall to discuss the future of the neighborhood's former religious properties
[The former Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue]
The Cooper Square Community Land Trust has organized a Town Hall for Monday night at Cooper Union (details below) to discuss potential future opportunities for former religious properties in the neighborhood.
As previously reported, the Land Trust had explored buying the former Church of the Nativity on Second Avenue to use as low-income housing. However, the Archdiocese of New York reportedly didn't seem too keen on that idea, perhaps intent on garnering top dollar for the prime real estate for luxury housing between Second Street and Third Street.
In early April, Catholic Homes New York, the affordable housing unit of Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New York, announced plans to redevelop several existing properties to provide 2,000 affordable units in NYC over the next 10 years. Not on the affordable-housing list: Church of the Nativity and the Church of Saint Emeric on 13th Street near Avenue D.
Here are more details about Monday's Town Hall via the EVG inbox...
The community is extremely concerned about the losses of religious properties, as well as the redevelopment of these buildings into luxury housing which has led to the severe displacement of our senior and working-class neighborhoods and communities of color.
“We recognize the good that religious institutions do for our community, but these institutions also have a moral obligation to avoid doing social harm,” said Valerio Orselli, project director of the Cooper Square Community Land Trust.
The agenda will include a brief presentation that is based on a recent international conference in Rome titled, “Doesn’t God Live Here Anymore?” It will answer the questions of just what is the appropriate re-use of closed or at risk religious-owned properties and who is to be involved in making the decision.
A focal point of the discussion will be the Church of the Nativity, which is closely identified with Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and candidate for canonization by the Catholic Church.
Joanne Kennedy from The Catholic Worker said, “We are disheartened by the unnatural inflation of Manhattan’s property values but hopeful that Nativity will be developed into low-income housing that would be consistent with both Dorothy Day’s and the Archdiocese’s mission of social justice.”
The Case for Community Land Trusts, the final segment, will enhance the necessity for land trusts and also emphasize the Town Hall Meeting’s goal: to advance toward a new, transparent relationship between communities and religious institutions.
The Town Hall is set for Monday (May 6) at 7 p.m. in the Rose Auditorium at Cooper Union, 41 Cooper Square at Seventh Street.
The meeting is sponsored by the Cooper Square Community Land Trust, Community Board 3, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council members Carlina Rivera and Margaret Chin, Habitat for Humanity, Cooper Square Committee, and several other political representatives and organizations.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Residences rising from the former Mary Help of Christians lot will now be market-rate condos
Looking at the Church of Saint Emeric on East 13th Street
From St. Emeric's to St. Brigid's
Educator: Turning the former Church of the Nativity into luxury housing would be a 'sordid use' of the property
The fight to keep Church of the Nativity from becoming luxury housing
Report: Archdiocese of New York announces affordable-housing projects; fate of 2 East Village churches unknown
Avenida Cantina is now Eastpoint on Avenue B
Avenida Cantina is in the final stages of a renovation/rebrand over at 25 Avenue B.
Several tipsters yesterday shared photos of the newly painted marquee for Eastpoint.
In an email from March, management said that they would be changing names in the near future: "Still doing Tex-Mex, however slightly more elevated."
More elevated might appeal to the writers at The Infatuation, who once filed one of the more scathing reviews about Avenida Cantina ...
At a real Tex-Mex place, tortillas are soft, fluffy vehicles for taco nirvana. At Avenida Cantina, tortillas are dry, except for the spots where they’re wet, presumably because someone tried the flick-it-with-water-then-nuke-it trick. Or because they dropped them in the sink. At a real Tex-Mex place, the refried beans should taste like fat, salt, and glory. At Avenida Cantina, they look like a poop emoji and taste much less cute.
Avenida Cantina opened in January 2016 ... after several dubious concepts under different ownership at the address, including Matty's, Station B and Billy Hurricane's.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Wednesday's parting shot
The 19th annual Mai-Fest at Zum Schneider, Avenue C at Seventh Street... thanks to Aaron Wilson for the photo...
EVG Etc.: Homeless in NYC shelters hits record high; lead dust issues persist
[Vinny & O check out the newly paved 1st Avenue]
Coalition For The Homeless gives failing grades to city, state government, says shelter population will grow by 5,000 by 2022 (CBS2 ... amNY)
Another East Village building, at 332 E. Fourth St., found to have elevated lead levels during renovations (Curbed)
Commuter says riding the M14D "is a dehumanizing disaster" (Streetsblog)
About the DOB's Quality of Life unit (Town & Village)
Renovations afoot for the Bijou, "one of the East Village’s best-kept secrets until it closed a week ago" (B+B)
Highlights from the May CB3 calendar (The Lo-Down)
Sutton not impress by the grilled pizza at Violet (Eater)
Alex checks out the Museum of Art & Design’s “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” retrospective of punk graphics (Flaming Pablum)
Another look at Cha-An Bonbon, opening today on Ninth Street (Gothamist... previously on EVG)
Random recommendation: Bi Gan's "Long Day’s Journey Into Night" at the Metrograph (Official site)
Confirmed: At least 2 chicks for red-tailed hawks Amelia and Christo in Tompkins Square Park
[Photo by Goggla]
Good news from Goggla yesterday evening: "Looks like Amelia and Christo have at least two chicks! Hoping for a third, but we'll have to wait and see..."
Head over to Goggla's site for more photos and info on this brood of chicks.
And my previous post here has more background on the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park.
Demolition nearing for the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
Workers yesterday started erecting the sidewalk bridge around the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place, marking the next phase of demolition. (H/T Steven, Nick Solares and @unitof!)
Until yesterday, the prep work was going on inside the vacant assemblage of buildings — 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Avenue. This has been a long time coming: Permits were filed in March 2018 to tear down the existing structures to make way for an office building with ground-floor retail.
[Photo yesterday afternoon by Steven]
The size of this new building has yet to be determined. As previously reported, Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) wants to transfer the air rights from the landmarked Hamilton-Holly House at 4 St. Mark's Place to add more floors and square footage to their office building.
REEC has already filed permits (last October) for an as-of-right five-story, 29,030-square-foot building on the corner. If the air rights deal is ultimately OK'd, then the Morris Adjimi-designed building at 3 St. Mark's Place would rise to 10 stories.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission heard the application to transfer the air rights back on April 9. In the end, they asked REEC and Adjimi to return with some modifications.
REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties — housing McDonald's, the Continental, Korilla BBQ and Papaya King, among others — for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The corner assemblage is owned by the Gabay family.
Meanwhile, the once-completed sidewalk bridge should make for a popular hangout this coming summer.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
New building plans revealed for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
Concern over potential air-rights transfer for new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue
Developers of 3 St. Mark's Place are looking to increase the size of their proposed office building at 3rd Avenue to 10 floors with air-rights deal
The lobbyists behind the air-rights transfer and zoning variance for 3 St. Mark's Place
It's May — time for Lower East Side History Month
Today is May 1, which, among other things, means that it's time for Lower East Side History Month, an annual "celebration of the rich and diverse history" of the neighborhood.
Per the EVG inbox:
First week activities (all free) include:
• Saving History: Community Advocacy in the East Village
Saturday (11 a.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.)
East Village Community Coalition, northwest corner of 11th Street and Avenue A
Details here
• East Village LGBT Historic Sites Tour
Sunday, 4-6 p.m.
Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark's Place
Details here
• Wild Edibles Walking Tour — East River to the Lower East Side
Sunday, 11 a.m.
Meet at East River and 23rd Street
Details here
Find the full May schedule at this link.
Per the EVG inbox:
Each year in May, Lower East Side cultural and community groups, small businesses and residents create a variety of public events, exhibits, tours, and learning opportunities. All events take place in the historical boundaries of the Lower East Side.
Conceived and launched by Downtown Art and FABnyc in partnership with LES-based cultural and community groups, LES History Month aims to connect our present to our past, exploring how our history can inform and inspire our future.
First week activities (all free) include:
• Saving History: Community Advocacy in the East Village
Saturday (11 a.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.)
East Village Community Coalition, northwest corner of 11th Street and Avenue A
Details here
• East Village LGBT Historic Sites Tour
Sunday, 4-6 p.m.
Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark's Place
Details here
• Wild Edibles Walking Tour — East River to the Lower East Side
Sunday, 11 a.m.
Meet at East River and 23rd Street
Details here
Find the full May schedule at this link.
Schmackary's bringing cookies to Cooper Square
Signage arrived Monday for Schmackary's, a bakery offering 40-plus varieties of cookies, at 35 Cooper Square between Fifth Street and Sixth Street... next door to Meet Fresh, the Taiwanese dessert and tea chain here in the base of the dorm for Marymount Manhattan College students.
This is the second NYC outpost for the brand (the other is at 45th Street at Ninth Avenue). Signage points to a summer debut here.
The last tenant here, Pourt, the cafe-work space combo, closed after 11 months in December 2017.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Pourt softly opens on Cooper Square
Pourt signage arrives at Cooper Square dorm retail space
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Tuesday's parting shot
A not-too-old (15 years?) ghost signage reveal at the former Foot Gear Plus on First Avenue at St. Mark's Place... the shop closed in July 2018 after 40-plus years on this corner.
The empty storefront is currently being divided up into several retail spaces.
6 posts from April
[East Village sunrise from April 26]
A mini month in review...
• First red-tailed hawk egg hatches this year in Tompkins Square Park (April 23)
• Q&A with East Village filmmaker Michael Levine, whose documentary on Streit's airs on PBS (April 18)
• Making the case for 2-way bike lanes on Avenue B (April 15)
• A visit to the Pyramid Club on Avenue A (April 12)
• 1 month in: Basquiat at the Brant Foundation (April 5)
• The Hells Angels have left the East Village (April 2)
Mount Sinai Beth Israel files plan for 7-story hospital on 13th Street
[Photos from Sunday]
The initial work permit has been filed for part of the new Mount Sinai Beth Israel complex on 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
According to the permit filed last Wednesday, the "hospital building" will stand 7 floors — encompassing more than 112,000 square feet. (H/T New York Yimby!)
This will rise on the now-empty lot where a 14-floor building (321 E. 13th St.) stood that housed training physicians and staff of the nearby New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.
As previously reported in the fall of 2016, the Mount Sinai Health System is in the midst of its years-long project to rebuild Mount Sinai Beth Israel, transitioning to a network of smaller facilities throughout lower Manhattan. The plans include an expanded facility on 14th Street and Second Avenue, which includes this 7-story building.
Mount Sinai Beth Israel had not previously specified how many floors the new building would be. Officials briefed Community Board 6 in February, which Town & Village covered:
The new Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital planned for East 13th Street may be shorter than initially planned due to newly-discovered unused space at the adjacent New York Eye and Ear facility, representatives announced at a sparsely-attended Community Board 6 meeting ...
"We discovered that there was more property available inside the New York Eye and Ear building, which allowed us to reconfigure what we’re going to do with the new building on 13th Street," said Brad Korn, corporate director of community affairs for Mount Sinai Beth Israel. "We're not changing any of the programs or promises we made on beds or anything like that, but it just makes it a little easier and will be a little less intrusive in the new build-up."
Brad Beckstrom, senior director for community and government for Mount Sinai, told CB6 that the new plan will connect to the New York Eye and Ear building "so it will become an integrated hospital."
Find more info on the Mount Sinai Beth Israel restructuring at their FAQ page.
Previously on EV Grieve:
An empty lot awaits the future home of the new Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital on 13th Street
Permits filed to demolish Mount Sinai's 13th Street residential building
[No. 321 in 2016]
Those sidewalk bridges around Village View will be there for at least 2 years
In recent weeks you've likely seen the extensive sidewalk bridge(s) weave around the buildings on the Village View property.
Well, get used to it — it promises to be there for quite some time.
Village View, which opened in 1964 as a a Mitchell-Lama co-op, consists of seven buildings with more than 1,200 residential units between First Avenue and Avenue A, from Second Street to Sixth Street.
An EVG reader who lives in Village View shared this posted information about what's happening on the property...
[Click for more details]
Local Law 11, or the Façade Inspection Safety Program, requires that owners of buildings with more than six stories above grade have their exterior walls and appurtenances inspected periodically. The last report here was filed on Feb. 21.
As the notice to residents states:
"The findings of the report were that many balconies have cracks and pieces of concrete sticking out and when the concrete is tapped, it becomes dislodged and falls out. There is also a lot of visible cracking from the underside of balconies. As a result of these findings all seven Village View buildings were filed as 'Unsafe.' This means that we are required to put up scaffolding around the five remaining buildings as soon as possible. (Buildings 6 and 7 already have scaffolding.)"
Bottom line: "Local Law 11 is likely to cost Village View an estimated $3.5 million and will take all of 2019 and 2020 to complete the work."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Village View ends talk of privatization (for now)
Corner market arrives at 20 Avenue A
[Photo by Aaron Wilson]
A deli/market opened this past weekend in the retail space on the southeast corner of Avenue A at Second Street (the owners of Avenue A Deli & Food on the northeast corner of Avenue A and Second Street must love this) ...
[Photo by Steven]
Not sure of the name at the moment. A worker there told EVG New Deli Correspondent Steven that their signage was arriving soon. (Members of the 20 Avenue A Watchers Club — our next meeting is Thursday from 1-1:15 p.m. — have been brainstorming possible deli names, a list that includes Alphabet Deli, Avenue A Food & Deli, Deli on A, 2A Deli and To Live and Deli on Avenue A.)
---
Updated 5/1
Hello Omega Salad Bar & Deli!
Updated 5/3
The shop's new entryway is now in place...
[Photo by @jason_chatfield]
---
With this, three of the four retail spaces born from the former Chase branch have been filled.
The unnamed deli joins Halo Spa and Alphabet Pizza here...
Chase vacated this storefront in November 2015. Perhaps one day the landlord will even sandblast the traces of the Chase name from the façade.
The Marshal takes over Bar Taco on Avenue C
That's apparently it for Bar Taco at 185 Avenue C between 11th Street and 12th Street.
The Marshal recently came calling, putting the space in the legal possession of the landlord...
Bar Taco arrived in early 2018, taking over the space from a short-lived venture called Malcriada, a self-described "Latino Gastropub" ... which arrived after Kaz, another short-lived venture that lasted seven months.
Cafecito, the Cuban-style cafe, had a good run here, closing in early 2016 after 14 years in business.
Monday, April 29, 2019
Noted
Thanks to @davidpiz for sharing this photo (Bears of Anarchy) today from 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.
Grant Shaffer's NY See
Here's the latest NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood — and NYC.
Grant is taking a week off — look for the next panel (No. 46!) a little later in May.
1 weekend down: L-train slowdown recap
We are now officially in L-train slowdown mode for the next 15-18 months.
On Friday evening, the MTA started its service reduction to repair the Sandy-damaged tubes between Manhattan and Brooklyn, ramping down L times to 20-minute waits starting at 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the week and around the clock on weekends. (Here's the MTA press release on it.)
The slowdown's debut on Friday received so-so to negative reviews, based on various published reports and social media accounts.
Line for the L train. Things are going great New York! #mta #nyc pic.twitter.com/pAkGr6XIU3
— Eric Yearwood (@EricYearwood) April 27, 2019
Officially a slowdown. #LTrainSlowdown pic.twitter.com/W2mblzsr97
— Edgar Sandoval (@edjsandoval) April 27, 2019
Jake Offenhartz has a nice recap of the first night — featuring broken arrival clocks and hour-long waits for trains — over at Gothamist.
Here's a quick overview:
For many of the city's regular L riders — a group that numbers 400,000 on a normal day — the reality underground was a far cry from the governor's description of "service that would still work." In Union Square, crowds were penned in along barricades on the mezzanine level, in some cases waiting to board an open train that wouldn't arrive for close to an hour. Transit workers, stationed across the system in large numbers, practically begged customers to make use of the increased service on the M, G, and 7 lines, or the free transfers on the M14A/D and Williamsburg Link buses.
Those who did stay encountered extended waits not only inside stations, but on unmoving trains as well. The dwell times seemed especially bad at Union Square, where the MTA's interlocking system means that Brooklyn-bound service must wait for a passing train to arrive before switching over to the shared track, in order to avoid the construction area between 3rd Avenue and Bedford.
"It's worse than I thought," said Alfredo Fernando, a dish-washer at a restaurant near Union Square.
Transit reporter Vin Barone has his recap for amNY here. As he notes, the MTA's biggest challenge might be happening as you read this: making sure there isn't any lingering construction left to disrupt this morning's commute.
“[We] are aware of how critically important it is to have that smooth transition so that at 5 a.m. we can start back in service,” said Ronnie Hakim, the MTA’s managing director, during a trip along the L line on Sunday. “We do this. We know how to do it. It’s a function of working out all the kinks.”
You can also find coverage at the Times, who was more sympathetic in its tone with a headline: "First Weekend Disruption Is Frustrating, but Not Disastrous."
By Saturday, the L-train situation had mostly righted itself. Christopher Robbins at Gothamist explored one of the alternative methods touted by the MTA to get around — the M14 — on Saturday afternoon. "And while there were definitely more M14 buses, there is nothing to save them from getting stuck in the miserable traffic that clogs 14th Street. It took us 47 minutes to get from Grand Street on the Lower East Side to 8th Avenue and 14th Street."
Help may be on the way. In June, the city plans to convert 14th Street into a busway from Third Avenue to Ninth Avenue with very limited access to car traffic.
Look how many buses are trapped on 14th Street! Ugh.
— Thomas DeVito (@PedestrianTom) April 27, 2019
Seeing it in person just makes me more 😡 that a few cranks in the West Village almost succeeded in dictating the policy response to the #LTrainSlowdown
Now let’s activate this busway, please. #Peopleway @TransAlt pic.twitter.com/NU3hXxu9v6
Now to a few other observations related to the slowdown...
The MTA is stockpiling extra M14s on the east side of Avenue A between 11th Street and 13th Street ...
This means no parking/or standing along here for the foreseeable future... from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday, and all weekend long...
The MTA also has extra buses at the ready on the east side of Third Avenue between 12th Street and 14th Street...
This also means no parking on this side of the Avenue ...
Meanwhile, the SBS bus services starts in June... and more ticketing machines have been unveiled... on the north side of 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...
... and the east side of Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street...
Anyone have any L-train stories to share from this past weekend?
2nd Avenue gas-explosion defendants due back in court June 21
[Photo of 119 2nd Ave. from Friday]
On Friday, we noted how quickly the 7-story condoplex was rising at 119 Second Ave. at Seventh Street, site of the deadly gas explosion on March 26, 2015.
The work, which started in January, is moving along much more quickly than the legal case against the defendants.
The previous owner of 119 and 121 Second Ave., Maria Hrynenko, was due back in New York County Criminal Court on Friday. As in the previous 25 appearances, the outcome was the same since the first appearance in February 2016 — "adjourned/bail continued."
Hrynenko, her son Michael Hrynenko (now deceased), contractor Dilber Kukic and their plumber Anthanasios Ioannidis illegally tampered with the gas line at 121 Second Ave. then failed to warn those in the building before the blast, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.
Charges against Hrynenko, Kukic and Ioannidis include second-degree manslaughter. All three are due back in court on June 21, according to public records.
In March, the fifth defendant, Andrew Trombettas, was sentenced to probation and community service. Trombettas had previously pleaded guilty for his role in rubber-stamping a modification to 121 Second Ave. prior to the explosion that killed two men and injured 20 others on March 26, 2015. The D.A.'s office charged him with two counts of "Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony."
Shaky Cohen's Nexus Building Development Group, Inc., paid $9.15 million in June 2017 for the lots at 119 and 121 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Remembering Nicholas and Moises: the Figueroa family marks the 4-year anniversary of the 2nd Avenue gas explosion
2nd Ave. explosion — landlord, 3 others charged with 2nd degree manslaughter; showed 'a blatant and callous disregard for human life'
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