Mayor's Fund raises $125,000 in response to East Village gas explosion

[Photo yesterday by Vinny & O]

News release via the EVG inbox yesterday…

The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City today announced that $125,000 has been raised to date to support individuals and families directly affected by the Second Avenue explosion and building collapse on March 26.

The Mayor’s Fund launched a fundraising campaign on March 27 to coordinate direct financial support for those impacted by the tragedy. So far, the Mayor’s Fund has received over 350 contributions from everyday New Yorkers, totaling more than $50,000 – the majority of which were donated by individuals contributing amounts ranging from $5 to $15,000.

The total of $125,000 in pledges also includes support from corporate partners, including Con Edison, Gramercy Theatre and Irving Plaza, and Google. In response to New York City Google employees’ interest in helping those affected, Google launched a Disaster Relief Campaign that will run through the end of April. To date, Google employees and Google’s matching funds have raised over $25,000. In addition, local concert venues Irving Plaza and Gramercy Theatre will be offering patrons the option of donating to the Mayor’s Fund when purchasing tickets during the month of April. Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of these venues, has committed to matching the donations collected up to $10,000.

“It is truly characteristic of our city to join together in the face of adversity, and to show compassion and love to our fellow New Yorkers when they need it most – and these combined efforts of everyday New Yorkers and community and corporate partners are no exception,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Whether they are giving a little or giving a lot, the people of this city clearly have each other’s backs. The donations we’ve seen in recent days prove yet again that a tragedy that affects some New Yorkers touches us all.”

Read the full news release here.

Reminders: Small Biz Crawl is today at noon

... and recent additions include stops at Via Della Pace, San Marzano and ... the Enz's pop-up shop at 103 Allen St. (Enz's is currently displaced from their longtime home at 125 Second Ave.)

Find more details about the Small Biz Crawl at the Facebook event page. Click here to print out signs — and to find out more about #SaveNYC.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that B&H will be open for the event... the diner was locked up yesterday...


[Photo via Derek Berg]

... and here's a peek through the door on Wednesday... looks to be in good shape...


[DB]

B&H posted this on Facebook early this morning….



Several sources on the block have said that B&H will likely return by Wednesday...

Also... Standings, Burp Castle and Jimmy's No. 43 reopened last night at 41-43 East Seventh St. just west of Second Avenue.

[Updated] Chuckie is missing

Via the EVG inbox...

The Kraus House for the disabled is missing a resident. He has been missing since 5 this evening. His name is Chuckie. If you see him, please try to get him back to the The Kraus House, 224 East 5th Street. 212-677-1390

Updated: His full name is Andrea Signore. He has Down Syndrome. There are flyers up along the Bowery and elsewhere…



Updated 1:49 p.m.
The NYPD found Chuckie safe in Brooklyn...

Standings, Burp Castle and Jimmy's No. 43 have reopened on East 7th Street

[41-43 E. 7th St. early this morning]

The three bars at 41-43 East Seventh St. had been closed since the explosion and building collapse on March 26 … the city has lifted the vacate order for the retail spaces… (residents have not been OK'd to return).

3,2,1.... Here we go!! We just WHIPPED open our doors!! Great to be back EAST VILLAGE!! @evgrieve

— Standings (@StandingsNYC) April 10, 2015

To everyone going to @StandingsNYC this wknd-- remember to TIP THE SHIT out of your bartenders. It's been 2 weeks. @evgrieve @Deadspin

— DP (@davidpiz) April 10, 2015

So Standings, Burp Castle and Jimmy's No. 43 are all open now.

And Jimmy's No 43 owner Jimmy Carbone shared this with us...

Jimmy’s No. 43 is re-opening with a limited menu this weekend (our go-to dishes: beef sliders, shishito peppers, cheese plates, fries). Our wifi and phones are still down, so we cannot accept credit cards and our ATM machine is offline … please bring cash to pay for food and drinks.

We want to thank all the first responders and the many people who have shown support for us these past two weeks: FDNY, the Office of Emergency Management, NYC Small Business Services and all the patrons who we invite to come in and celebrate our re-opening.

Petition to help reopen the Stage

The Stage, the beloved diner at 128 Second Ave., hasn't been open since March 28, as we've been reporting. It's a complicated situation involving Con Ed and the landlord, Icon Realty.

Now Stage owner Roman Diakun's son Andrew has started a petition … collecting signatures to help generate support for the restaurant between East Seventh Street and St.Mark's Place…

Stage Restaurant has been in business for 35 years in the East Village of Manhattan NYC. A few days after the explosion which happened on Second Avenue on Thursday March 26, 2015, a tenant living in the building where Stage Restaurant is located called Con Edison stating that he/she smelled gas in their apartment. As a precaution and safety measure, Con Edison shut off the gas supply to the entire building located at 128 Second Avenue. As a result, Stage Restaurant has been without gas for 2 weeks already, and has been closed as a result. Stage Restaurant has tried to reopen during this time, but is having trouble with the landlord in order to do so.

Let's not lose one of the last neighborhood staples which has been around for this long.

If you are interested in signing the petition, you may find it here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The possibility that the Stage won't reopen on 2nd Avenue

The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill closed for nonpayment of taxes

The state's fluorescent SEIZED sticker arrived today at sister bars The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A …



There isn't any other information about the situation at the moment…



So, for now, the two spaces remain closed. (These seizures aren't always permanent, as we saw at Sahara East, among other businesses.)

The big Sleep

Crocodiles have a new record (their fifth!) out next month titled "Boys." And the band will be playing at the Mercury Lounge on June 7.

Meanwhile, here's "Sleep Forever" from 2010.

Parkside Lounge fundraiser brings in more than $5K for LES Ready!

On Wednesday night, the Parkside Lounge hosted a fundraiser to help residents rebuild their lives after the deadly explosion on Second Avenue on March 26. EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the bar on East Houston and Attorney...

At last count, more than $5,000 was raised, all of which goes directly to the people who were affected by the disaster on Second Avenue. All the proceeds will go to LES Ready!, which can disperse funds directly to those involved and in need.

Event organizer and host Jen Shih said 95 percent of the donations (which were plentiful) for the raffle were from within a 1-mile radius of Parkside Lounge.




[DJ Mouthlove and Jen Shih]

Damaris Reyes, executive director of GOLES and LES Ready! board member was there with fellow GOLES manager and LES Ready member Carlina Rivera.


[Damaris Reyes and event co-host Frank Stewart]

Reyes and Rivera talked about how the long-term recovery group organization formed after Superstorm Sandy to bring Lower Manhattan emergency response preparedness teams together. More than 30 organizations (including Henry Street Settlement, Occupy Sandy, Ryan-Nena Community Health Center, Sixth Street Community Center, Asian Americans for Equality, and Nazareth Housing) make up LES Ready!

The coalition focuses its work on preparing for and responding to emergencies in the East Village and LES as well as adjacent areas. It also works at advocating for long-term solutions for those affected by disasters such as Sandy and the East Village explosion.





Parkside Lounge owner Christopher Lee, who donated the space and drink tickets, was happy to help out. He and co-host Frank Stewart, representing Asian Americans for Equality, were both impressed and pleased with the community response and happy to know the money raised would help neighbors directly affected by the disaster.


[Christopher Lee]

EV Grieve Etc.: No contract renewal for Cooper Union prez; last look at Streit's Matzo Factory

[Photo outside Gem Spa by Derek Berg]

Cooper Union's Board offers not to renew President Jamshed Bharucha's contract (The Wall Street Journal via The Chronicle of High Education)

A 16-year-old opened fire on a group of people outside the Riis Houses on Avenue D (DNAinfo)

A final tour of Streit's Matzo Factory on Rivington Street (Slate)

Taste of 7th is this weekend (Luke's Lobster)

Christo and Dora now have three eggs at the Ageloff Towers (Gog in NYC)

The International Center of Photography makes it official on the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

The dinosaur of Third Avenue (Flaming Pablum)

Remembering John Sex (Dangerous Minds)

A look back at the Five Spot Cafe (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Behind the scenes at Clinton Street Baking Company (Gothamist)

Red flags over potential sale of a synagogue/nursing home at 25 Bialystoker Place just south of Delancey (The Observer)

Broker repositions Madison Street tenement as the "Epicenter of Cool" (The Lo-Down)

New Broome Street Bar owner promises "Nothing's Going to Change" (DNAinfo)

Some activity at the former Mary Help of Christians lot, plus a lot of discarded stuffed animals

[Photo by Peter Brownscombe]

Several readers have been curious about the recent activity in the dormant lot off Avenue A between East 11th Street and East 12th Street that was formerly home of Mary Help of Christians.

Of late there has been some mysterious activity … Per EVG reader Peter Brownscombe: "What appears to be a rabbit-proof fence has been erected creating an East-West divide of this desolate tract."

As we have quickly recapped in the past: Developer Douglas Steiner bought the property in 2012 for $41 million. During the summer of 2013, workers demolished the church, school and rectory. The permits that Steiner's reps filed with the city in October 2013 called for a 7-story, 64,720-square-foot structure with frontage on Avenue A, East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

This changed when Steiner's reps told CB3 in February that the residences would actually now be market-rate condos.

As for updates, well the pool design drawings went on file at the DOB on Wednesday…

Meanwhile, a few other Former Mary Help of Christians Empty Lot Watchers we talked with figure the fencing is for the renovations next door at East Side Community School …


[PB]

… but there isn't much explanation for why the lot has become a stuffed animal burial ground…


[PB]

Previously on EV Grieve:
New residential complex at former Mary Help of Christians lot may include rooftop swimming pool

Meet your new neighbor on Avenue A

Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site

The 'senseless shocking self-destruction' of Mary Help of Christians