A pop-up shop for damaged East Village boutique Enz's

125 Second Ave. was badly damaged during the explosion and subsequent fire that brought down its neighboring buildings to the south on March 26.

Enz's, the rockabilly boutique in one of the retail spaces at 125 Second Ave., is continuing to try to reopen its longtime home here with the help of a crowdfunding campaign.

Meanwhile, as The Lo-Down first noted yesterday, owner Mariann Marlowe is operating a pop-up shop at 103 Allen St. just below Delancey through next Wednesday...



Made in the Lower East Side (miLES) operates the storefront, which is available free of charge to any East Village business affected by the Second Avenue building collapse. Details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to Enz's Boutique

14th and C now waiting for the Karl Fischer-designed 15-story retail-residential complex

Crews have demolished the one-level structure at 644 E. 14th St. at Avenue C.



Coming soon, as previously reported: a 15-story mixed-use retail-residential complex here on the southwest corner.

The Karl Fischer-designed building will total 61,789 square feet. DOB permits show 8,578 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The remainder of the first five stories will host a community facility, which will span 18,937 square feet, and 50 apartments will sit above.

Per the signs not he plywood, the work will be completed by summer 2015. Hurry! Unless they mean the demo...



The previous tenant here was the R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Development back in play for East 14th Street and Avenue C

More details on the sale of 644 E. 14th St.

Here comes a 15-story retail-residential complex for East 14th Street and Avenue C

Prepping the former R&S Strauss auto parts store for demolition on East 14th Street and Avenue C

City OKs 15-story mixed-use retail-residential building on 14th and C

Here's what's coming to the former Hummus Place space on St. Mark's

Last Thursday, we noted that a new tenant was in line to take over the recently shuttered Hummus Place at 109 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Eater has more details on what's coming soon here: Ori Apple, who owns the Hummus Place mini-chain, is opening a restaurant called Timna NYC in the space.

Amir Nathan, one of the partners in the new venture, described Timna NYC as "a casual but elegant Mediterranean place."

There are plans for Yemenite kubaneh bread, tacos made with Jerusalem's signature mixed grill of sweetbreads, preserved lemon, and tahini, and sea bass sashimi with tabouli and tzatziki. Nathan says the team is a couple of weeks from a soft opening.

Hummus Place closed for renovations in early February, never to reopen (at least as Hummus Place).

Patti Smith is headlining the East Village relief benefit Sunday at Theatre 80

Author Alan Kaufman, who's helping to organize the fundraiser at Theatre 80 Sunday evening for displaced East Village residents, confirmed to EVG contributor Stacie Joy this afternoon that Patti Smith is now headlining the event.

All the money collected will be donated to the Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) to help those affected by the deadly gas explosion at 121 Second Ave. on March 26.

The benefit at Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will feature “performers and celebrities from the world of music, literature and drama,”per the Facebook event page.

As previously noted, Sting and Trudie Styler donated a sum reported at $36,000 for the benefit.

There are a handful of tickets, ranging from $70 to $150, left. You may order them here.

We'll have more information about the event from Stacie tomorrow.

Image by smial via Wikipedia

Reminders: Fundraiser for 2nd Avenue tonight at the Parkside Lounge

Tonight at the Parkside Lounge (East Houston at Attorney) ... Details via the EVG inbox...

Please join us as we come together as a community to raise money for all those affected. $5 at the door gets you awesome food from neighborhood establishments, a drink ticket, drink specials, DJs and live music. Try your luck in the raffle and win big in the silent auction! All food, entertainment and prizes are being generously donated by local businesses.

ALL proceeds from the door, raffle and auction will be donated directly to LES Ready!, a wonderful group that focuses on both preparedness training and recovery in the event of a disaster, and works specifically with residents of the Lower East Side and the East Village. LES Ready! has generously agreed to earmark the funds contributed from this event specifically for those displaced by the explosion and fire. It will be used to help families and residents pay for security deposits and rent in their new homes, as well as related expenses.

Visit the Facebook event page for more details on the area businesses who donated items for the evening.

Report: Investigators eye potential murder charges for up to 6 people in 2nd Avenue explosion

[Photo from March 26 by Peter Brownscombe]

Law enforcement sources told the Post that investigators are "looking at potential murder charges" in the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion on March 26.



As the Post reports, sources said there are "six prime suspects" in the blast at 121 Second Ave.: landlord Maria Hrynenko, her son Michael Jr., contractor Dilber Kukic as well as an unidentified subcontractor and two workers.

"Ultimately, it's going to be up to the DA’s office and, most likely, a grand jury, but we’re not ruling that out as we gather evidence," a source told the paper.

Per the Post:

In addition to murder — which carries a maximum 25 years to life in the slammer — other charges said to be under consideration include second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Officials have said that the blast that killed two men and brought down three buildings was the result of an illegally tapped gas line.

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Kecia (and Hazel)
Occupation: Nurse
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 4:30 pm on Tuesday, March 17

I’m a nurse at Bellevue. I used to be in the ER, but I just changed to the baby unit. I’ve been a nurse for about 15 years and I’ve moved here around two or three years ago. I live in the Baruch Houses on Delancey Street, but I’m originally from Brooklyn.

My family lived in Brooklyn for a long time. My parents came from the islands. My dad settled in the Saratoga area of Brooklyn from Jamaica and then he sent for my mother and two siblings. I’m the youngest of seven.

I have family on Avenue A and some people on Avenue C, and then in the Baruch Houses, so I used to come here when I was younger. There’s been a very rapid change, for the better though. I always say for the better. Now I walk these streets with no problem, no fear and no trepidation.

When I used to come here to visit family as a child, it was drug infested. Not to say that the drugs are gone, because they’re not, but they’re not as prevalent. The buildings were dilapidated, garbage everywhere. It was not so much scary, but you had to know people in order for things to not happen to you. You can’t really talk much about the rats because they’re still here. They’re infinite. But it was still very family oriented. In the summertime we’d go over to the East River Park and have picnics. The family would pack picnics and we’d go over there and play basketball and soccer and different things like that.

The area itself — it’s so up and coming. I can [relate to] that because the same thing happened in Brooklyn. I really couldn’t afford Brooklyn prices anymore. I was in Crown Heights, which is a very popular neighborhood now. The gentrification has taken over to the point where people are being pushed out. I had a beautiful apartment, beautiful – high ceilings, fireplace and when I came around here I had to lose a lot of things. But at the same time I still enjoy it because it reminds me a lot of Brooklyn.

Family also brought me here and I took advantage of it when I got the opportunity to come over, because I felt comfortable in the area. I enjoy it. Everything is in proximity. I walk everywhere. I walk to work in the morning. I walk with my dog all the time. This is Hazel’s favorite dog park. She loves it here.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

New website offers East Village Relief for businesses and displaced residents

East Village Relief is a new website offering "support for those affected by the East Village disaster and those wishing to help."

There's a list of resources and contacts for residents and businesses.

The site's sponsors are Community Board 3, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, Councilmember Rosie Mendez and the Lower East Side Buisness Improvement District.

Find the site here.

Tuome expected to be back open in another 2 weeks

[Photo of Tuome from August 2014]

As we've been reporting, a small kitchen fire on March 29 temporarily put Tuome out of commission at 536 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Aside from a sign on the door last Thursday…there hasn't been any official notification about the closure from the well-regarded restaurant that opened last August.

Yesterday, though, a Tuome rep sent us this statement:

On behalf of the entire Tuome team, we are relieved to announce that we plan to reopen the restaurant within approximately two weeks following renovations to repair the damages from the kitchen fire we experienced on March 29.

We are very sorry to have disappointed our new and existing guests during this unexpected closure, and we are remarkably grateful to all who have been so supportive since we opened in August 2014. We look forward to reopening as soon as our renovation and cleanup have been completed. Thank you all for your concern and support — we're excited to reopen and to welcome you back to Tuome.

Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard

The one level row of storefronts on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard are now business-free with the exception of Katz's.

Empanada Mama is the last to bow out...


[Photo via @fnytv]

They aren't going to far away as the sign notes — 95 Allen St., as first reported by BoweryBoogie.

So everyone else, including Ray's Pizza, Bereket and Lobster Joint, among others — have closed or moved to make way for Ben Shaoul's new development... Oh, there it is!



Shaoul's latest is a 10-story building with 83 residential units spread out over 95,000-square feet... plus 13,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Katz's, who sold their air rights to help make this happen, isn't going anywhere.

H/T EVG reader Chris F.