Tenant advocacy group names Icon Realty and Steven Croman among NYC's worst landlords

[Photo from June by Derek Berg]

Some familiar names to East Village residents have reportedly made the inaugural list of bad landlords by Stabilizing NYC, a coalition of City-funded tenant advocates and neighborhood organizations.

Politico New York has the story and background:

As the de Blasio administration engaged in a push to reform rent regulations in June, a coalition of tenant advocates and neighborhood organizations seeking to protect renters from landlord harassment received a $1.25 million boost in City Council funding for the upcoming fiscal year.

Stabilizing NYC, which formed last year with seed money from Councilman Dan Garodnick, has since created its own version of the typical "bad landlords" watch list, including seven companies that own or run a combined 509 buildings throughout the city.

Icon Realty and Steve Croman were among the seven landlords named. According to Politico New York, the reps for the two landlords either did not respond to messages or declined to comment about making the list.

Croman remains under investigation by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for allegedly using illegal tactics to force rent-stabilized tenants out of their units.

At the Icon Realty-owned 128 Second Ave., tenants in March filed a HP Action for Repairs and Services, citing inconsistent heat, lack of fire alarms, a broken fire escape, front door, and stairs, and other dangerous living conditions. Residents have also alleged "harassment from the landlord in order to push out rent-regulated tenants." In June, the tenants filed a contempt of court motion against Icon for the ongoing building issues.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Steve Croman facing another lawsuit from East 8th Street residents

Report: East 8th Street residents sue landlord Steve Croman, allege intimidation, harassment

Watch a lot of people speak out against Steve Croman and 9300 Realty

Report: State Attorney General launches Steve Croman investigation

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

The Wall Street Journal on the ongoing issues at Icon Realty's 128 2nd Ave.

East Village tenants demand end to months without heat, gas at 128 2nd Ave.

Tonight's sunset spectacular

[Photo by James and Karla Murray]

We should have torrential downpours in the morning more often!

Right? Hello?


[Photo by Mike Brown via Twitter]

Noted

Spotted on the Joe Strummer mural outside Niagara on East Seventh Street and Avenue A…



Photos by John Penley

Previously

EV Grieve Etc.: The past and present of LES community gardens; the Block Drugs T-shirt

[Tango in Tompkins Square Park Sunday via Grant Shaffer]

A history of LES community gardens, with a perennial concern about the future (The Guardian)

Get your Block Drugs T-shirt (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Checking out the tortas at Miscalanea on East Fourth Street (Gothamist)

New restaurant in the works for former Wash House space on East First Street (BoweryBoogie)

High marks for Oiji on First Avenue (Eater)

Donors say they were misled by a Jewish calendar mailed annually to thousands of homes (The Forward)

... and EVG reader Greg Masters notes that the excavation is getting serious at the former Mary Help of Christians property, where a retail-residental building with frontage on Avenue A, East 11th Street and East 12th Street, is in the works...



... and remembering Robin Williams, who died one year ago today...

K E E P S M I L I N G ☺️ honoring the great #RobinWilliams today 1951-2014 with our infamous hand-painted tribute mural outside B Cup. #neverforget #bcupcafe #art #mural #streetart

A photo posted by B Cup Cafe East Village (@bcupcafe) on Aug 11, 2015 at 9:51am PDT

Why The Robyn is a deal

As we first pointed out last Friday, the Robyn, the newish-still 33-unit luxury rental at 316-318 E. Third St., is for sale.

However, the listing for the building between Avenue C and Avenue D didn't have a price listed.

According to Crain's, the asking price is $26.3 million. And this is being billed as a deal, at least according to the broker, Cushman & Wakefield's James Nelson.

Mr. Nelson noted that the building, even though it is newly constructed, will likely sell at a discount, per square foot, compared with a recently sold prewar walk-up in the neighborhood at 117-119 E. Seventh St. That building sold for about $1,300 per square foot in June. Mr. Nelson is expecting to fetch less than that amount for 316-318 E. Third St.— about $1,100 per square foot.

Why? Because in the older buildings, new landlords are converting the one-bedroom places into two-bedroom units; two-bedroom units into three ... well, you get the idea.

"Living rooms are a fast-disappearing amenity in apartments in the East Village and other neighborhoods where young renters like to go," Mr. Nelson said. "Living rooms don't create revenue, but bedrooms do. That's why my building is unexpectedly cheaper. It has living rooms."

Barnyard Cheese will reopen later this week

[Photo by Will Steacy via nycgo]

Last Tuesday we noted that Barnyard Cheese Shop at 149 Avenue C was closed until further notice.

A note on the door here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street explained that that they were going "to make much needed improvements in order to be able to continue to bring you the quality food, service, and comfort that you deserve and that we strive to bring you every day."

We asked owner Beatriz Arremony for an update.

"We are actually installing a better AC system because our old one was not doing the job," she said. "It just got too hot for anything to operate, including our crew, and we needed board approval so I made the decision to shut it down and use the time to do deep cleaning, repainting and replacing a few pieces of equipment. We'll be back before the weekend."

A.K. Shoe Repair needs a new home

[Photo by Allen Semanco]

We're hearing that a rent hike will make it impossible for A.K. Shoe Repair to continue in business much longer at 350 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

EVG reader Allen Semanco spoke with Albert, who took over the longtime business from his retired father.

Per Allen:

In order to afford the higher rent, he would have to increase his business, but rent plus fixed expenses plus supplies would be $7,000-$8,000 per month. Dividing that by 24 working days per month just does not compute. Albert tells me his best hope is to find a business with a lot of space that wants to sub-rent some of it for him and his equipment.

Hopefully Albert can find ideal space around here or in another neighborhood. If A.K. Shoe Repair does end up closing, then this is the second East Village shoe-repair shop to shut down in recent weeks. Alex Shoe Repair closed at the end of July at 57 Second Ave. after Icon Realty reportedly upped the monthly rent from $4,000 to $14,000.

At some point we'll do a post on the remaining shoe-repair shops in the neighborhood... what's left of them.

Former Mercadito Cantina space remains on the market, and now with a new broker

Mercadito Cantina closed at the end of January 2011 at 172 Avenue B ... and the space between East 10th Street and East 11th Street has remained empty.

The proprietors of Ditch Plains had hoped to open a lounge called The Asphalt Jungle here ... However, in April 2013, the CB3/SLA committee voted to deny the Asphalt Jungle application during a rather ugly meeting. (Read about that here.) ... and the owners reportedly decided to scrap their plans.

Anyway, we recently noticed the arrival of a new for rent sign from a different broker.

Per the listing, the asking rent on the 1,000-square-foot space is $7,800... that's down from $10,000 a month from a listing in October 2013.

Meanwhile, across the street, the flagship Mercadito space remains on the market...



The popular taco spot closed back in March. We never heard an official reason for the closure, though one EVG reader said they were facing a triple-rent increase.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About Mercadito Cantina closing:'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3' (58 comments)

Noted

Spotted by Derek Berg this morning outside Ballarò on Second Avenue between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street... the sidewalk chalk sign reads "We do not play Taylor Swift here you cunts. Grazie."

Not sure who left the message... the cafe or some patrons upset by the lack of Tay Tay on the sound system. (Updated: Read the comments for more on what happened here.)

Sustainable NYC has closed

As many of you likely noticed, Sustainable NYC has closed on Avenue A near East Ninth Street.

The eco-minded general store and café was closed for several days starting Aug. 1 … a sign pointed to an inventory.



And the store was open for awhile then this past Wednesday and Thursday. By Friday evening, though, workers were clearing out the space. There were some free shelves and tables for the taking.



On Sunday, the thank you note arrived on the door from the founder.


[Photo by Bayou]

We reached out to Valeria Patterson, an employee of the store for seven years who took over ownership in 2013. She said that she had been making monthly payments to the prior owner, but fell behind when business trailed off this year.

"I would love to keep going but we didn't have an agreement with the former owner," she said via email. "I wanted to run the store for many years more."

The store opened in March 2008.

With this closing, there are now four vacant storefronts between 139 Avenue A and 147 Avenue A. (The other storefronts being Cafe Pick Me Up's two spaces and La Lucha.) … not to mention the several small shops on Ninth Street just west of Avenue A that Icon forced out with rent hikes.