Why 'Stomp' might be leaving the East Village after 21 years

Let's head to the Daily News for the story:

Owners of The Orpheum Theater, where STOMP has played for 21 years, say the producers of the show are violating a licensing agreement requiring them to give the landlord more notice and valid reasons if they want to relocate.

STOMP’s producers notified Orpheum “out of the blue” last week that they plan to move out as of June 15, according to court papers.

They have arranged to go to a rival off-Broadway theater, New World Stages, a multi-theater complex on West 50th St.

The producers said they are leaving because the air conditioning system at the historic Orpheum Theater has been inoperable for 72 straight hours — triggering their opt-out clause.

For their part, an attorney for the Orpheum on Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street says that such a sudden move will cause "serious and irreparable harm" to the theater. The Orpheum says that they do not any other productions in the pipeline.

Per the News: "The theater is asking the court to issue an emergency order blocking STOMP from making the move and forcing the producers to arbitration as required by the license."

The News has updated their story here.

Report: The Stage is suing landlord Icon Realty to halt eviction process

[Photo by Grant Shaffer]

Landlord Icon Realty has accused the Stage of illegally siphoning gas, which was the basis for a recent eviction notice in the aftermath of the deadly blast across from the diner on Second Avenue.

Roman Diakun, the owner of the 35-year-old Stage, has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Now, the Stage is suing Icon to stop the eviction process. The Post has the story:

Diakun "says in his Manhattan Supreme Court suit that Con Ed advised him to hire a plumber to restore gas service four days after the March 26 building explosion.

Diakun says there was no siphoning, claiming the plumber he hired discovered a gas leak in the basement of 128 Second Ave. and then removed extraneous pipes to fix the problem.

As The Wall Street Journal reported on April 20:

Since the explosion, 128 Second Ave. has accrued 87 violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, along with two additional violations and a stop-work order from the Department of Buildings, according to city records. The building has been without heat, hot water, or cooking gas for three weeks.

Icon bought the building in October 2013.

The Stage, 128 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street, has been closed since March 30.

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

City serves stop work order on Icon Realty-owned building for installing gas pipe without permit across from deadly 2nd Avenue blast zone (48 comments)

Petition to help reopen the Stage

Tenants at 128 2nd Ave. file suit against Icon Realty in housing court

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

[Updated] Report: Icon Realty serves the Stage an eviction notice

Stage owner Roman Diakun responds to allegations of illegally siphoning gas

Petition to help reopen the Stage

[Updated] The Stage is giving away its bulk food and supplies to charity

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: Mark Mace
Occupation: Retired, Chef, former Director of Operations for Natural Gourmet Institute
Location: East 3rd Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue
Time: 4 pm on Friday, April 24

I’m originally from Flatbush, Brooklyn. All my family are Brooklynites. My parents moved out to Long Island during the early 1960s when everybody moved out to the suburbs. I lived by the water.

So by the time I was 18, I was a real beach kid. The people I hung out with were all artists and musicians. We were all sort of an artsy crowd as teenagers, but I got bored with that, so we started hanging out here in the 1970s, around 1974. It was dangerous; it was wild. The city was a shithole, plain and simple — an absolute shithole. It was everything that you wanted as a teenager. There was graffiti everywhere; there was filth everywhere. The buildings were dirty; the air was dirty.

There were a lot of things happening in the city. For young people, it was interesting and exciting. There was a lot of good music, a lot of good blues, a lot of good rock, and lot of good performance art. There was a lot of interesting graffiti. The city was a big crucible of art — in all forms.

I had friends who were artists here. They went to Cooper Union. We used to have scotch parties and clam bakes in the school. I remember going to loft parties on the Bowery, and we sat on the ledge of the window and smoked joints and just watched the city. There was almost nobody on the streets. Where the Bowery Hotel is, I remember that was a gas station and there were two junkyard dogs that used to sleep on the pavement ... you could walk right by them and they wouldn’t bother you.

I remember on Second Avenue seeing the junkies hanging out by Gem Spa and we used to call them weebles because they would be standing there with the phone in their hand at the public telephone and they would be leaning over so far that it would be impossible for any human to do that without falling over. That’s why we called them weebles because they would never fall over. Second Avenue was bad and then it pushed back to First and then to Alphabet City.

I’ve had so many careers. I started out in music, as a soundman for a 10-piece bar band with horns and everything. They broke up and then I went to cooking school in Philadelphia. I moved there in 1985 and Philly food-wise was the place to be for some strange reason. I don’t know why and I just happened to be there. I had a great time there and the people were great, but I was a New Yorker. I came back in 1988 and I moved into my apartment on 6th Street.

New York in the 1980s was a great place to be a cook. Food started taking off like crazy. If you were a good cook, and I was a good cook, you could get a job anywhere. I spent 12 years cooking and I moved up the ranks. I must have worked at maybe 15 restaurants, anything from neighborhood places to two- and three-star places.

I then took a job and opened a restaurant in Warsaw, Poland, for a couple in LA, in 1995. My friend called me from LA and said, ‘Hey I got some friends who want to open a restaurant in Poland, do you want to do it?’ My interview was at the Delta Air Lines lounge at JFK and then like six months later I was in Poland opening a California-style cuisine restaurant. It was tough because they didn’t have a restaurant industry.

Then I came back to New York. I worked in a couple of restaurants and then I got a job at a cooking school on 21st Street as the steward. I worked my way into director of operations and I just retired from it. After 25 years of cooking, I hate cooking now. I’ll make a big batch of something and I’ll put it in the freezer.

I appreciate the fact that the city has come up in that it’s renovated and clean, safe and the subways are efficient. You can ride the subways at 3 in the morning and be relatively safe. Now it’s very expensive. A drink will cost you $20. That was a joke when Studio 54 opened up in the heyday of the disco days. Now that’s the normal price. And everything’s a little too precious. I appreciate artisan this and artisan that but it’s gotten to the point where everything is so precious.

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

The million dollar views from atop 170 2nd Ave.

There's a new listing for a penthouse unit at 170 Second Ave. at East 11th Street.

Here are the details via Core:

This pre-war penthouse with an enormous wraparound terrace is perched atop a majestic Art Deco full-service building in the heart of the Village. A rare offering, this two-bedroom aerie is centrally located at 170 Second Avenue at the corner of 11th Street, and features breathtaking panoramic skyline views to the north, south and west

This lovely residence is a "diamond in the rough," waiting to be updated into a refined "modern classic." Many of the original details have been kept intact including parquet oak floors, beamed ceilings, cut glass doorknobs and original deco light fixtures throughout.

A large central entry foyer/gallery opens onto the spacious dining room and living room which has a wood burning fireplace and 10-foot ceilings. Two sets of French doors lead directly onto that glorious terrace which wraps the home on all sides. Both spacious bedrooms boast abundant northern light and ample closet space. The large, original bathroom features a cast iron soaking tub and separate shower.

Here are more of the rooftop views...







This "diamond in the rough" is asking $3 million.

Have you tried Timna yet?

Timna is now in soft-open mode at 109 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The space previously housed Hummus Place. However, as Eater first noted, Hummus Place owner Ori Apple decided to upgrade the space and offer more menu choices.

Per Eater:

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.

To date we've heard several positive comments about the space and food. (Yelp is quiet though — just one review.)

@evgrieve Timna (used to be hummus place) opens tonight at 109 st marks. Menu looks good! pic.twitter.com/5PpZUI9qp3

— Nicholas G. (@TheRealNGA) April 23, 2015

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

Take a quick trip back to Avenue A and East 7th Street in 1986

In case you missed this yesterday, Gothamist posted several recently uploaded videos from the East Village … specifically 1986 and the corner of East Seventh Street and Avenue A… here's one of the short (54 seconds) videos...



Gothamist posted two other East Village home movies from the same time … which came via the Kinolibrary archive film collections.

1 more week before the beloved B&H Dairy can reopen on 2nd Avenue

Unfortunately, it has been slow going for the lunch counter to reopen at 127 Second Ave. since the deadly gas explosion on March 26.

Gas service was restored a few weeks ago. Now, in a Facebook post, owner Fawzy Abdelwahad says they need another week to repair the ceiling for safety reasons. (Apparently city inspectors were at the diner yesterday.)

In a separate post he wrote: "Meeting for business still one more week so sad."



Photos today via Facebook

Previously on EV Grieve:
How to help 73-year-old East Village mainstay B&H Dairy get up and running again

95 Avenue A now free of construction netting and sidewalk bridge

Workers today removed the rest of the construction and sidewalk bridge that has encased 95 Avenue A for several months.

Apparently the structural repairs (sinking building???) here at East Sixth have been made.

During the rehab, Gin Palace, one of the three bars (along with Cienfuegos and Amor y Amargo) that make up the retail component of the building, closed for service last November.

As the Times reported last week, work gutted the Gin Palace interior. So co-owner Ravi Derossi is taking the opportunity to re-imagine the space, opening a "tiki-influenced" bar later next month called Mother of Pearl.

Today

A familiar face at First Avenue at East Seventh Street via Derek Berg.

The Marshal seizes Luca Bar (again) on St. Mark's Place

[Photo via EVG reader Bayou]

Tough times for some bars/restaurants on the north side of St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

On April 10, the state's fluorescent SEIZED sticker arrived at sister bars The Belgian Room and Hop Devil Grill. Both establishments have yet to reopen.

And now there's a Marshal's notice (photo above) on the door at Luca Bar, 119 St. Mark's Place.

And this isn't the first time that the Luca Bar has had landlord/tax-related issues. There was an eviction notice posted here back in November 2013. The bar reopened several days later. The state also seized the property in June 2011.

H/T EVG reader Bayou