Revamped McDonald's ready to reopen on 14th Street

[Photo from July 2 by Tara Cox]

The McDonald's at 404 E. 14th St. near First Avenue closed back on July 2 for an interior-exterior renovation combo... and yesterday, a new McDonald's sign arrived ... EVG regular Greg Masters shared these photos...



This McDonald's was expected to reopen sometime today...



You can see the difference now in the facade...


[Google Street View from November]

Not sure of the extent of the makeover inside just yet. The McDonald's on Essex and Delancey reopened in April after a five-month renovation. Changes there included the arrival of digital self-order kiosks, table service and mobile ordering.

Perhaps the renovation will help boost those Yelp reviews here. Some one-star Yelpers state that this is among the worst McDonald's in the city.

Report: 14th Street busway debuts in January to prep for the upcoming L-train stoppage

[Not really an M14 bus]

The city and MTA have decided to get an early start on converting 14th Street into a bus-only corridor ... beginning on Jan. 6 — three-plus months ahead of L-mageddon time.

City officials said that they need the extra months to test M14 SBS service and make adjustments before the shutdown begins.

amNY first had the story:

To ensure buses are up to the task of absorbing some of that crowd, the city and MTA plan to institute bus-only restrictions on 14th Street between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week. The restrictions will be in place between Ninth and Third avenues eastbound, and Third and Eighth avenues westbound. A DOT spokeswoman said the city is hashing out “specific access points” for local traffic and trucks.

The SBS route will initially make five stops between First Avenue and Tenth Avenue. The SBS route will complement existing M14A and M14D service so that buses will arrive every two minutes during morning and evening rush hours. Combined, the local and SBS service is expected to handle about 84,000 riders per day.

The shutdown of the L — between Bedford Avenue and Eighth Avenue to repair the Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel — is expected to last 15 months.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Cars to give way to a bus-only corridor most hours on 14th Street during the L-train shutdown

Full moon rising: Read and share stories in the Green Oasis Garden gazebo

[Image via Facebook]

Via the EVG inbox...

Join the Green Oasis Garden’s Little Library book & story share on the full moon

• Share what you are reading and/or tell a story

• Donate or swap a gently used book* for the little library (optional)

7-9 pm at the Green Oasis Garden gazebo, Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Thursday, July 26 (rain date Friday, July 27)

Monday, Aug. 27 (a day late, we know...)

Tuesday, Sept. 25

Wednesday, Oct. 24

All ages - 12 and under with an adult please

*Children’s, teen, eclectic, Arabic, Chinese, French, or Spanish books appreciated

... and the info in flyer form...

Noted

Our friend Miss Heather spotted this incident on the Citizen app... reported from StuyTown...

The East Fifth Street Tree Committee helps expedite removal of these downed branches

There are several reports of downed tree limbs in the neighborhood these past 18 hours or so with the rain and strong winds ... starting on Fifth Street near Cooper Square, where two large branches fell yesterday afternoon, landing near the Standard East Village.

Per the EVG inbox: "The East Fifth Street Tree Committee was on the job and contacted the Parks Department immediately." There weren't any injuries reported.

Meanwhile, there were reports of a small branch down at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park at Avenue A ... and a limb fell across Sixth Street near Avenue B.






Previously on EV Grieve:
The East Fifth St. Tree Committee back in action

The East Fifth St. Tree Committee is alive and well, and they do not mess around

And now, a word from the East Fifth St. Tree Committee

The East Fifth St. Tree Committee reveals its policy about carts

Summer begins with random bags of soil and a note from the East Fifth St. Tree Committee

Demolition watch: 321 E. 13th St., future home of the new Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital

There isn't much left of 321 E. 13th St., a former 14-floor building here between Second Avenue and First Avenue that previously housed training physicians and staff of the nearby New York Eye and Ear Infirmary...



As previously reported back in the fall of 2016, the Mount Sinai Health System is in the midst of its years-long project to rebuild Mount Sinai Beth Israel, transitioning to a network of smaller facilities throughout lower Manhattan. The plans include an expanded facility on 14th Street and Second Avenue.

This new, 70-bed Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital will apparently go up where No. 321 previously stood and be ready, optimistically, sometime in 2021.



Here's more info from a Mount Sinai FAQ page:

Central to the downtown transformation is the new Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel inpatient hospital, and a brand new state-of-the-art Emergency Department (ED), located at 14th Street near Second Avenue – just two blocks south of the current MSBI campus. The hospital will feature operating and procedure rooms, lab services and imaging equipment, and will be able to handle general surgeries such as gall bladder, hernia and appendectomies.

The ED will accept ambulances and will be able to handle all of the same emergencies that the current ED handles, including: broken bones, asthma attacks, appendicitis, heart attacks, pneumonia, stroke and all other emergencies. It will also include a pediatric ED. Services at the existing MSBI ED will continue without interruption until the new facility opens, which is expected in about four years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mount Sinai's 13th Street residential building


[No. 321 in 2016]

Tatsu Ramen debuts on 1st Avenue

Tatsu Ramen, with two locations in Los Angeles, opened its first NYC outpost last evening at 167 First Ave.

For now, Tatsu will be opening in the evening hours...

Mark your calendar, our doors open today, 07/24! We’ll be satisfying your dinner and late-night ramen cravings with our temporary limited hours: Sun-Wed: 6PM-2AM Thurs-Sat: 7PM-3AM · Stay tuned for our 11AM opening time in the near future: Sun-Wed: 11AM-2AM Thurs-Sat: 11AM-3AM · Until then, #LateNightsAtTatsu #SlurpOn #✌️ · 🍜 📸: @sgmphoto

A post shared by Tatsu Ramen (@tatsuramen) on Jul 24, 2018 at 8:13am PDT

Here's more about Tatsu, via their website:

Tatsu was founded by a handful of tight-knit USC family who fell in love with Tokyo and ramen. Having tasted the best, we went on a mission to find the best ramen in LA — and were terribly disappointed.

This sparked our (neon) lightbulb to bring Tokyo "home" to LA. We reimagined the typical Japanese ordering vending machine as iPads and flew multiple chefs from Japan to deconstruct the chemistry-laden recipes and have them painstakingly house-made from scratch with natural ingredients (and tough love!).

We shocked the ramen traditionalists by also offering gluten-free option, 100% chicken and vegan broth.

"Tatsu" means dragon and opened its door in 2012, the year of the dragon. It has since become an LA institution that’s frequented by A-listers, hipsters and blacklisters.

You can find the Tatsu Ramen menu here.

The last tenant in this space between 10th Street and 11th Street was Ashiya Sushi, who moved away in 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
L.A.-based ramen shop opening outpost on 1st Avenue

Report: Madam Vo team opening Madam Vo BBQ on 2nd Avenue

[104 2nd Ave. from December 2017]

The owners of Madame Vo at 212 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue plan to open a restaurant specializing in Vietnamese barbecue called Madam Vo BBQ later this year on Second Avenue at Sixth Street.

Eater had the scoop yesterday:

Owners Yen Vo and chef Jimmy Ly grew up in Vietnam eating Vietnamese barbecue, a part of the cuisine that is traditionally reserved for weddings and special celebrations ...

“We wanted to show New York that Vietnamese food is a lot more than what people are used to,” Ly says. “Vietnamese barbecue is a real thing in Vietnam, and a lot of people don’t know about it. We grew up eating it.”

And...

The focus of the menu is on a seven-course beef tasting with dishes such as lime-juice-dressed beef salad (bo tai chanh), beef wrapped in betel leaf (bo la lot), and beef grilled with scallion (bo luoi). Other meats include whole grilled sea bass, stuffed squid, lobster, and scallops. Dipping sauces run from orange butter-garlic to anchovy sauce with pineapple, and accompanying drinks will be beer, wine, sake, fresh juice, and sake-based cocktails.

Madam Vo BBQ will take over 104 Second Ave., which housed Wall 88 for seven months until last fall. Previously, the address was the Lions BeerStore — part retail shop, part restaurant — for 16 months.

P.S.

Bring back Bamboo House to this corner (because someone always brings this up)!


[Photo via Jeremiah Moss]

Remembering some disappearing storefronts courtesy of Karla and James Murray

[Mars Bar photo courtesy of Karla and James Murray]

Karla and James Murray, the East Village-based photographers, currently have a storefront installation (through July 2019) in Seward Park titled "Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S."

Meanwhile, starting tonight, their photography — spanning the past 20 years — will be on display in an exhibit titled "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York" at The Storefront Project, 70 Orchard St. between Broome and Grand.

Per the exhibit description:

The Murrays have captured the out of the way bodegas, candy shops and record stores just as faithfully as the historically important institutions and well-known restaurants, bars and cafes. From Katz’s Delicatessen to Ideal Hosiery and the Mars Bar, James and Karla reveal how New York’s long-standing mom-and-pop businesses stand in sharp contrast to the city’s rapidly evolving corporate façade.

The opening is tonight from 6-9. The storefront photography will be on display here through Aug. 12.

The Murrays were also the focus of this feature in The New York Times yesterday.

At play in the fields of the hawks

The younger of Amelia and Christo's two fledglings has been putting the main lawn in Tompkins Square Park to good use... Derek Berg shared these photos from the Park this afternoon...





Goggla has more photos and a great video of the fledgling playing in the Park ... right here.