The Schumacher announces itself on Bleecker Street

Just noting the recent arrival of branding for The Schumacher on Bleecker at Mott... the building was once the Schumacher & Ettlinger printing company, which began in the 1860s. They were one of the many German lithographic companies that created advertisement art for the cigar industry.

Curbed has been reporting on this project. Among the details:

The building will contain 20 two- to four-bedroom apartments priced from about $3 million to $25 million.

And it will look like this...



Read more at Curbed here.

Citi Share docking stations arrive on St. Mark's Place at 1 a.m., quickly tagged

EVG regular Stephen Popkin notes that the Citi Bikes docking stations arrived on the north side of St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue (in front of the former Holiday Cocktail Lounge) ... around 1 a.m. (Per Stephen's estimation, the installers were working quietly...)



Plans called for 31 docks here in a no-parking area of the street.

Updated:

Well, later, someone felt compelled to write RAMEN on the docking station...



...and another angle via Shawn Chittle...



Meanwhile! On East Fifth Street at Avenue C... EVG reader Mish noted that workers installed the docking station here around 11 p.m.



Per Mish: "We're already taxed as it is parking wise, and the street is a dead end. Really failing to see the logic in this choice of location. I'm not sure they realize how much of an adverse effect this is going to have on commuters in the neighborhood."

6 months after Sandy

I don't have anything really to add to the numerous "6 months after Sandy" stories (like this one) that were in the media today... However, I did notice that a temporary boiler is still needed at the NYCHA houses on East Sixth Street at Avenue C... it's the last one that I'm aware of in the neighborhood.

Today outside 100 Avenue A

Still waiting for something to happen with the building. Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

East Village Farms is closing; renovations coming to 100 Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

Breaking: Citi Bikes docking station arrives on East Ninth Street and Avenue C

They ... are... everywhere... now... can't keep ... up.. with ... all ... the ... docking.. stations... arriving...

Thanks to to EVG reader Greg for this shot.

Updated:

Ah! Per @TYJK, the docking station is now parked on the north side of East Ninth Street... across from 9th Street Espresso...



And whatever happened to the bike guy here...? Also! Probably would have still been room for the Mystery Camper...

Updated:



Another shot of the final product via Bobby Williams...

[Updated] Here is your East Fourth Street Citi Bikes docking station

Dropped in fresh this afternoon on the south side of the street ... just a little west of Second Avenue, as these photos by EVG reader John Iz show...







Who's next?

Updated:

Derek Berg passed along a few more photos from East Fourth Street...

[Updated] 'Street Safety Managers' back on the East Village streets

This is becoming a common sight now weekday mornings... the presence of so-called Street Safety Managers.

To refresh your memory, per a DOT news release:

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced that DOT Street Safety Managers (SSM) are assigned to key bike and pedestrian corridors and bridge paths in Manhattan to help enhance safety among pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, further enhancing street safety as bike ridership grows, as DOT starts enforcement of commercial cycling laws and in advance of the 6,000-bike launch of the Citi Bike system.

EVG reader John took these photos... he chatted with the manager on duty this morning on Second Avenue at East 11th Street.

Per John: "They alternatively show a stop or wrong way sign to the bike lane as the lights change ... and he thinks the 'worst' corridor is 20-30s & Broadway."

And!

"He seemed pretty upbeat about being in the rain, shrug. Not too many bikes around now but they seemed to obey the sign."



And here's a shot on First Avenue at East Ninth Street from 10:30 a.m. via EVG regular Derek Berg...

New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

Back in February, a tipster told us that New York Health & Racquet Club is taking over all of the floors above Gracefully on Avenue A near East Second Street... turns out that's not quite accurate. According to documentation (PDF) on file at the CB3 website, the proposed new tenant for the upper floors of 28-30 Avenue is New York Sports Club.



This item is on CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public and Private Housing Committee docket for May 8, as Serena Solomon pointed out Friday at DNAinfo.

Off the Grid completed a thorough history of the building back in July 2011. The building dates to 1871. And in its early days, it was part of Little Germany, serving as a German ballroom known as Concordia Hall.

Later, per Off the Grid:

The earliest evidence of furniture seller Burger-Klein occupying the building is from 1939.

In 1959, a four-alarm fire destroyed the roof and top floor of the building, resulting in a significant alteration of building’s façade, most likely the face of the building we see today. It is noteworthy that the owners chose to replace what had once been an architecturally significant facade with a mid-century modern wrapping that in its own way and for its own time is as extraordinary as the 19th century face of the building.

The Burger-Klein building’s uniqueness in the streetscape is a big part of what inspires so much curiosity about it.

Read the whole post here.

Maybe the Sports Club will keep the Burger-Klein sign?

Previously on EV Grieve:
RUMOR: New York Health & Racquet Club taking over the space above Gracefully on Avenue A (24 comments)

Veselka Bowery has closed

After a 17-month run at Avalon Bowery Place, Veselka Bowery has closed, as we first reported yesterday morning. They closed at 4 yesterday, then held some "private event" in the space. (Food for Cheap Trick?)

The consensus among readers and others we talked with: Sad but not surprising. It never seemed all that full. There were attempts to get a bar crowd by showing Yankees games ... Veselka also launched a free pedicab service: "If you don't want to wait for a table at the original Veselka, we will give you a free Pedicab ride to our new restaurant Veselka Bowery."

And we recall an inauspicious opening in October 2011, where Veselka Bowery teamed up with Urban Daddy, who usually champions the likes of Superdive, for a $75 sneak preview tasting menu that includes a "five-course pierogi-and-vodka pairing." (Read the comments from that post.)

At the end of the day, people seemed to just want a diner. But that concept isn't going to work here, at a glass-and-steel factory like Avalon Bowery Place.

Anyway, the food press will likely have some exit interviews with the Veselka folks about what happened here. For now, the signs on the Veselka Bowery door thank people for their patronage, "Love and Light to you all!"

[Updated] Making way for the Citi Bikes docking station on East Second Street

The docking stations for the Citi Bikes bike share continue to pop up around the neighborhood... We've heard a few stories where cars were towed from areas where the docking stations were going in — despite the lack of warning via No Parking signs. (Gothamist has more about this here.)

These signs are up on East Second Street just east of Avenue, as EVG reader Mark White points out...

Per Mark, the signs are "taped facing straight out to the street, not at an angle for drivers POV. As you can see, they are not easy to spot and on a congested block where where is never any parking as it is, I'm sure they will be angrily torn down in no time."





And the Citi Bikes drama continues...

Updated 1:01 p.m.

As predicted, Mark notes that someone ripped off part of the No Parking notice ...