7 Spices has been on vacation for awhile on Second Avenue

Reyna Exotic Turkish Cuisine quietly opened and closed during the summer of 2012 at 82 Second Ave. ... the same owner reopened the space in January as 7 Spices here between East Fifth Street and East Fourth Street...

Now a reader notes the following: They've had a sign in the window indicating that they're on vacation and will be back next week for the past three to four weeks.



Aside from serving Turkish and Mediterranean fare, 7 Spices arguably has/had the largest delivery zone around...



Per their website (which doesn't mention any temporary vacation or closure):

7 Spices delivers delicious Turkish food to the East Village, ABC City, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, ChinaTown, Bowery, Lower East Side, Stuyvesant, Gramercy Park, Midtown South, Greenwich Village.

A look inside a gutted Death & Co.

Saw the above sign the other day outside Death & Co. on East Sixth Street ... pointing out that the speakeasy is putting in a new bar...


[Not the new bar, prolly]

The folks from the Wineshop happened by and shared these photos...







Death & Co. is scheduled to reopen next Friday.

Business opportunity available

Wonder when they're gonna start scalping CitiBike parking spaces in the East Village. Just spent 5 minutes circling around in the rain.

— ryan sutton (@qualityrye) October 18, 2013

Previously on EV Grieve:
Docking blues: Doing the 'checking-all-of-the-Citi Bike-stations dance' (43 comments)

Today in Tompkins Square Park photo opps

No idea what this is for (maybe you do?) ... but everyone looks happy.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

DF Mavens opening non-dairy ice cream outpost on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue

That prime northwest corner space on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place has a new tenant — a retail outpost of DF Mavens... as their tagline says, "The finest dairy-free ice cream in the world. Made in NYC."



Their dairy-free desserts have been available in various retail outlets ... though we believe that this is their first dedicated NYC storefront.

Eastside Bakery (.net?) closed down here at the end of April. And once upon a time, the space was home to the Gap in the late 1980s into the early 1990s.

DF Mavens will be arriving in 2014, per the sign.

Updated 10/18
This came up in the comments: Lula's is back open on East Sixth Street as of Aug. 3.

Report: Pulino's closing to make for new French restaurant on the Bowery

[EVG file photo]

Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria, which apparently tripled nearby rents and caused men to urinate in the co-ed sink, will close in January to make way for a new Keith McNally concept, Eater is reporting.

The McNally-owned Pulino's will reopen in March as a French restaurant called Cherche Midi, which was also the name of a French military prison in Paris.

Eater quotes McNally:

Through no one's fault but my own Pulino's hasn't fully worked and I've decided to change it quite radically.

Pulino's opened on the Bowery at East Houston Street in March 2010.

East Village resident looking for help with new health-insurance exchange

An EVG reader and East Village resident asked us the following yesterday...

I am wondering if there are other East Village residents struggling to sign up for health care insurance through the new federal program. If so, then I would love to hear how they are faring and get any advice or tips they might offer on how to get through the application process and which insurance is best.

I have gone onto the New York Health Exchange site several times in the last couple of weeks, failing to get through the entire application process every time because of apparent glitches in the system. Today, I got through it with some help from a phone rep, but even she couldn't figure out why I couldn't input certain key information, and she actually gave me wrong information about whether I should put in my total income for 2013 or my adjusted gross income.

I asked her if it was possible to go somewhere in my area and have someone help me in person with the application. She asked for my zip code and said there wasn't anyone here who could help me in person. It is pretty frustrating.

Is there anyone who has successfully navigated the new system who can offer any tips...?

128 Second Ave. has been sold

Back in late August, a tipster told us that 128 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street was in contract.

Per the tipster, the building was being sold "to a group of four relatively young guys" ... who were heard outside 128 "talking about 'clearing out' the shop in the front" of the building. There are two businesses here: A tattoo/piercing parlor and the Stage restaurant.

According to public documents filed at the beginning of October, the building was sold for $7.5 million. The listed buyers are LLCs... with addresses that match up to Stellar Management ("known as a premier owner and operator of commercial real estate") and Icon Realty Management.

Ikon is familiar to the East Village, as far as gut renovations and additional stories go. Among the company's recent purchases: 326-328 E. Fourth St., 205 Avenue A and 154 Second Ave.

As for the beloved Stage, we understand that they have six years remaining on their lease.

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation: Breakfast at Stage

Troubling talk about 128 Second Ave, and the long-term future of the Stage

Fencing in the future 6-story residential building on E. 9th Street

Progress check at 327 E. Ninth St., a former parking lot between First Avenue and Second Avenue. As we first reported in August 2012, a six-story, two-unit residential building will eventually rise here.

A crew was working on an upgraded fence yesterday ...



...to protect the current pit ...



The plywood includes a rendering of the future 327 E. Ninth St. ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The big dig begins for 6-story, 2-unit condo on East 9th Street

East Ninth Street parking lot will yield to 6-floor residential building

Extra Place and Heidi looking closed on Extra Place

Several week ago, we noted that Extra Place and Heidi, the sister restaurants along Extra Place, the pedestrian walkway off East First Street, were closed for renovation, per a sign at the door.

That sign is gone, and an EVG tipster noted workers removing tables and equipment from the restaurants yesterday... The Extra Place website is no longer active.



In July, CB3 dropped the hammer on the restaurants, denying renewal of its beer and wine license. (Per CB3: "The applicant has usurped a public pedestrian plaza for its private use in violation of New York City Department of Transportation restrictions by setting up an illegal sidewalk café in said public plaza.")

Extra Place was originally on the October CB3/SLA agenda for a new liquor license. However, they were a scratch before Oct. 7's meeting.



The restaurants opened in July 2012,and received fairly positive notices for their food.

At this point, it doesn't appear the restaurants will return... or that Extra Place will ever work as a shopping-dining destination...

Previously on EV Grieve:
With new restaurant opening, will Extra Place finally become a dining destination?

Extra Place now officially a Dead End

Meanwhile, Extra Place continues to maintain its proud heritage

Extra Place and Heidi currently 'closed for renovation' in Extra Place