Cocktail specialist looking to take over Double Wide on 12th Street

Cocktail specialist Greg Boehm is on tonight's CB3-SLA committee docket for a new liquor license for 503-505 E. 12th St. — the current home of Double Wide.

Boehm, the founder of Cocktail Kingdom, a manufacturer and distributor of professional barware, is a partner in the cocktail bar Mace on Ninth Street and Boilermaker on First Avenue.

According to the public documents on the CB3 website (PDF here), the unnamed bar-restaurant would have proposed hours of 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday; until 3 a.m. Thursday-Saturday. (The outdoors space in the back would be open from 5-9 p.m. daily.)

The sample menu on the questionnaire features small plates and "not so small plates," with items like oysters on the half shell, moles frites and a tuna baguette...



... a contrast to the current menu at Double Wide, which serves chicken-fried steak and Frito pie, among other things.

The questionnaire describes this as a sale of assets. If this all goes through, then this would mean the end of Double Wide, which opened here between Avenue A and Avenue B in late 2011.

Two previous bars in this space, Mundial and Totem, were especially problematic, according to nearby residents.

CB3's SLA committee meets tonight at 6:30 in the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another nightmare bar for 505 E. 12th St.?

Last night's CB3 recap: Residents 1, Bar Owners 0

Here comes the fear again: 505 E. 12th St. back on the market

Illegal work continues at former Mundial space on East 12th Street

Report: Kushner Co. filed false paperwork with the city over number of rent-regulated tenants

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Jared Kushner’s Kushner Cos. routinely filed false paperwork with the city declaring that it had zero rent-regulated tenants in buildings it owns when, in fact, they had hundreds.

A tenants' right watchdog group, Housing Rights Initiative, compiled the work-permit application documents and shared them with the AP.

In addition, the AP points out what has been previously covered in other outlets: In Kushner buildings across the city, records show frequent complaints about construction going on early in the morning or late at night against the rules, improper or illegal construction, and work without a permit.

Here's a passage about a tenant in 170-174 E. Second St.:

At a six-story walk-up in Manhattan’s East Village that was once home to the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, the Kushner Cos. filed an application to begin construction in late 2013 that, again, listed zero rent-regulated tenants. Tax records a few months later showed seven rent-regulated units.

"All of a sudden, there was drilling, drilling. ... You heard the drilling in the middle of night," said one of the rent-regulated tenants, Mary Ann Siwek, 67, who lives on Social Security payments and odd jobs. "There were rats coming in from the abandoned building next door. The hallways were always filled with lumber and sawdust and plaster."

A knock on the door came a few weeks later, and an offer of at least $10,000 if she agreed to leave the building.

"I know it's pretty horrible, but we can help you get out," Siwek recalls the man saying. "We can offer you money."

Siwek turned down the cash and sued instead. She said she won a year's worth of free rent and a new refrigerator.

Read the full AP piece here.

For their part, Kushner Cos. told the AP in a statement that it outsources the work-permit preparation to third parties that are reviewed by independent counsel, and "if mistakes or violations are identified, corrective action is taken immediately." The statement added: "Kushner would never deny any tenant their due-process rights."

Kushner currently serves as an adviser to his father-in-law, President Trump.

Updated

Here's a statement from City Councilmember Carlina Rivera...

“As the representative of a district with one of the highest rates of Kushner-owned property in the city, I am outraged to see the Trump family’s continued alleged criminal abuse of working-class New Yorkers. These alleged false work permits may come from the biggest name in corrupt real estate in this city, but Kushner is certainly not the first to allegedly commit this kind of fraud. The lax enforcement by DOB and HPD of these illegal filings has allowed not only Kushner, but also names like Croman, Tolidano, and countless other bad actors to plague the residents of my district for decades with clear-faced harassment disguised as permitted construction.

I have fought alongside activists for hundreds of residents who have lost their lifelong homes to the Kushner family’s harassment, and the city must take action to punish those responsible. I look forward to participating in the Council’s investigation into Kushner Cos., and I expect to hear from city agencies as to why this abuse of power continued for so long.”

Updated 3/20

According to reports, AG Eric Schneiderman will meet with tenant representatives affected by the alleged tactics of Kushner Cos.

File photo of 170-174 E. 2nd St.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Report: Jared Kushner buys $130 million portfolio of East Village rental buildings

Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

Reports outline how Kushner Companies is aggressively trying to empty 170-174 E. 2nd St.

Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

Jared Kushner's East Village tenants wish he'd resolve issues closer to home

Positive vibes: Aum Shanti on the move to larger space on 14th Street

Aum Shanti, a bookshop specializing in spirituality and crystal gallery, will move to a larger space in April on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...



Just two storefronts away to the former Discount Cleaners... Perhaps Aum Shanti got a rent discount, as this space has been for lease for more than two years...



Aum Shanti opened as Aum Namaste, an offshoot of Namaste Bookshop, in December 2014.

Dim Sum Palace planned for 59 2nd Ave.

The owners of the two locations of Dim Sum Palace in Midtown are planning to open a similar establishment at 59 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street.

And they will be appearing before CB3's SLA committee tonight to apply for a new liquor license for this EV Dim Sum Palace.



The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website (PDF here) shows that the restaurant will open daily at 11 a.m. (Closing time is listed as 2 p.m., which is likely a mistake — unless they will open for just three hours a day.) The proposal calls for 15 tables seating 65 diners. The specs only reveal a service bar.

Until October 2015, the address was home to Allied Hardware, which was on a month-to-month lease with the building's owner until Icon Realty bought the property in early 2015.

The adjacent space (the former Alex Shoe Repair) is now Kona Coffee and Company, which opened this past November.

Target is hiring on 14th Street and Avenue A

Over at 14th Street and Avenue A, Target is now hiring for its new small-format store set to open later this summer here in EVGB (East Village's Greatest Building, duh)...



The wall has all the hiring details...

1st Avenue back to being 1st Avenue-y

All lanes of traffic are back open today on First Avenue at Seventh Street ... this after five days of repairs for the sinkhole/swallow hole/collapse due to a broken pipe... which backed up traffic all the way south to ____ during that time...



... there appeared to be a sinkhole setback last evening, as this photo via EVG regular Raquel Shapira showed...



Anyway, all good now.

Week in Grieview

[Photo from Astor Place via @AlexInNewYorkCity]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

Ciao for Now starting a Tuesday evening soup service (Tuesday)

The latest installment of I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Friday)

Maguey y La Tuna closes on East Houston (Monday)

Upcoming restaurant openings: French for 7th Street; Italian for 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

Scenes from National School Walkout (Wednesday)

Banksy's message to 'Free Zehra Doğan' at the Bowery Mural Wall (Thursday) Banksy mural tagged (Saturday)

Get well soon, Gino! (Friday)

A memorial for Elizabeth Lee on Cooper Square (Thursday)

NYPD looking for suspect who robbed 87-year-old man on 1st Avenue (Friday)

World's tallest rhino sculpture arrives on Astor Place (Monday ... Wednesday ... Thursday)

Construction watch: 127 Avenue D (Wednesday)

Call of the wild: Seems like old times for Christo and Dora in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday)

Not a lot of information about what's next for the Grassroots and The International (Friday)

Report: Cooper Union moves to reinstate free tuition (Friday)

This really nice townhouse is for sale on 7th Street (Thursday)

Robataya to become Sakagura on 9th Street (Thursday)

Todd Hase Furniture closes on 7th Street (Monday)

Thoughts on Raphael Toledano: 'The dude was imploding' (Thursday)

217 E. 3rd St. sells for $5.1 million (Monday)

About the Juice Generation opening soon on Astor Place (Thursday)

Former Out East space for lease on 6th Street (Wednesday)

Fired up to start a new year at La Plaza (Wednesday)

East Village Cheese lives on in Season 2 of 'Jessica Jones' (Wednesday)

Sticky's bringing the chicken fingers to Union Square (Thursday)

Former Red Square lobby gets the plywood treatment on East Houston (Monday)

For a limited time only, catch the J/Z on 9th and C (Monday)

Construction (and gold-dusted brick) watch: 196 Orchard St. (Tuesday)

Zen Yai Pho Shop coming to 6th Street (Monday)

Taco Bell nearly ready for Taco Belling on 1st Avenue (Monday)

... and the post St. Patrick's Day hose down at the Grayson on 1st Avenue...



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Report: 7th Street resident dies in early-morning apartment fire

FDNYalerts MAN ALL HANDS 244 E 7 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON FIRST FLR,

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) March 18, 2018

An early-morning fire at 244 E. Seventh St. between Avenue C and Avenue D reportedly left one man dead and three other people injured.

According to the Daily News, the fire started on the first floor of the six-story walk up around 6:10 a.m.

Per the News:

The fire was confined to the rear apartment, where the victim was found dead in a cluttered rear bedroom...

Fire Marshals are investigating the cause of the deadly blaze.

Updated 12:25 p.m.

amNew York reports that the victim was 71 years old.

Updated 3/19

NY1 reported that the victim was Barry Allen. There wasn't a smoke alarm in the apartment where the fire started, and the alarm in the hallway was not working, the FDNY said.

A look at the restored St. Stanislaus

Workers removed the sidewalk bridge, scaffolding and construction netting this past week that had been up since late last spring... bringing into to view the restored facade at St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Church on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...



The church was completed in 1901...

Saturday's parting shot

Kilts and CitiBikes... thanks to Janice Ellsworth for this photo outside Stillwater on Fourth Street near Second Avenue today...