Today in classic cars on Astor Place

EVG reader 8E shares this photo of a Lotus parked on Astor Place near Broadway...

AG announces details on how Croman tenants can receive restitution for harassment

Here’s what Croman tenants should know to apply for restitution: pic.twitter.com/Ic3rjMmoQN

— NY AG Underwood (@NewYorkStateAG) August 7, 2018

New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood yesterday announced that tenants who live or formerly lived in buildings owned by Steve Croman may now apply for restitution, as part of the $8 million settlement deal reached last December.

Here's part of the release from the AG's office:

The settlement arose out of an investigation and lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s office against Croman for engaging in illegal conduct — including harassment, coercion, and fraud — in order to force rent-regulated tenants out of their apartments and convert their apartments into highly profitable market-rate units.

“This office has zero tolerance for predatory landlords who seek to line their pockets at the expense of their tenants’ wellbeing,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Now, Croman tenants will finally get the restitution and protections they deserve as a result of this unprecedented settlement — the largest-ever with an individual landlord. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure landlords play by the rules, and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law when they don’t.”

The consent decree requires Croman to pay $8 million into a Tenant Restitution Fund – the largest-ever monetary settlement with an individual landlord. Tenants are eligible for restitution if they are or were a tenant in a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartment owned by Croman between July 1, 2011 and the date of the agreement (December 20, 2017); they received a buyout of less than $20,000, not including any amount that purported to cover rent or arrears; and no other tenant in their apartment received money from the restitution fund. Several hundred current and former tenants are potentially eligible to apply for these restitution funds.

This week, JND Legal Administration, the claims administrator, mailed claim notices and forms to current and former rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants in Croman’s buildings. Those forms and additional information are also available at www.cromanrestitutionfund.com.

The $8 million will be divided equally among eligible claimants and distributed to tenants in installments over a period of 38 to 42 months, with the first installment coming as soon as the claims administrator processes all of the first-round claim forms.

In addition to this $8 million Tenant Restitution Fund, the settlement requires that a new, independent management company run Croman's residential properties for five years. In June, the AG's office selected Michael Besen’s New York City Management to oversee Croman's real-estate empire, which includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.

Croman was released from the Manhattan Correctional Facility on June 1 after serving eight months of a one-year jail sentence and paid a $5 million tax settlement following separate criminal charges brought by the AG's office for fraudulent refinancing of loans and tax fraud.

Previously on EV Grieve:
AG's office: Steve Croman agrees to pay $8 million to the tenants he harassed

RIP Milton Ellison

You may have seen the small memorial that recently arrived on the northwest corner of Houston and Avenue B... it's for Milton Ellison, a familiar presence (very likely asking for change) at this spot through the years ...



A few more people added flowers to the site since EVG reader Romy Saplicki first shared this photo back on Friday...



On Saturday, another EVG reader met one of Milton's siblings who was paying his respects on the corner. He said that his brother had died from lung disease.

Ellison was the focal point of a Page 1 article from April 1992 in The New York Times titled "Gauging Threat of Recalcitrant TB Patients."

Ellison, then 34 and homeless, had tuberculosis, and he "repeatedly failed" to take the medicine that he needed.

So last month health officials took a step that they said was the only way to protect Mr. Ellison and the people around him: They detained him in Orange County and took him to a hospital where he was guarded by sheriff's deputies and shackled by wrist and ankle to his bed.

The article provided more background on Ellison.

Mr. Ellison said he grew up in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn with four sisters and three brothers. He attended public school and spent one year in Brooklyn College studying liberal arts. He said he did not know how he got TB.

Doctors in Orange County said in court records that Mr. Ellison apparently tested positive for TB as a child but did not complete a nine-month preventive treatment with isoniazid or INH, the most common anti-tuberculosis drug. As an adult, he was treated for the disease as recently as last year but told doctors that he stopped taking medication after a week.

Over the last decade, Mr. Ellison has been in and out of psychiatric institutions, shelters and residential hotels. His misfortunes seemed tied to two unrelated events: He developed schizophrenia and his mother, with whom he lived, died. His father, a truck driver, had died earlier.

Ellison's brother told the reader that Milton had a room in subsidized housing on Pitt Street, and that he always had a good heart.

Updated:

Checking in on the condoplex where 1st Street meets 2nd Avenue

A quickie look at 24 Second Ave. (aka 32 E. First St.), where the 10-story condoplex continues shaping up on the lot of the former BP station...



Newish signage notes that this intersection of Second Avenue and First Street is inexplicably where Chrystie meets Bond...



Chrystie is close enough... but Bond is a few blocks to the west, as the arrow points out...



What this area needs is a good nickname — ChryBo? BonTie?

Anyway, as previously noted, the building will house 30 condos, with homes ranging from $1.125 million to $10.5 million along with ground-floor retail.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 2nd Avenue BP station has closed

Permits filed to demolish former 2nd Avenue BP station

More about the 10-story building taking the place of the former BP station at 24 2nd Ave.

Check out the new 10-story building for the former 2nd Avenue BP station

A ballerina for 2nd Avenue

2nd Avenue residential complex now complete with renderings on the plywood

Citi Bikes with larger baskets are now roaming the streets

Citi Bike yesterday unveiled more than 100 new bikes with larger, three-sided baskets, as seen here docked outside Cooper Union.

Motivate, Citi Bike's (now former) parent company, reportedly tested the baskets with riders and received a positive response. They'll be standard on new bikes now, per Streetsblog.



Unlike the old design (done this way to prevent people from dumping garbage in them, as Streetsblog noted)...


[Image via Citi Bike]

... the larger size will likely make it easier to transport pizzas and, maybe, mattresses...


[Photo on St. Mark's Place from 2013 by Julius Klein]

Tuesday's parting shot

Thanks to James and Karla Murray for sharing this photo tonight... a lightning strike over the East Village...

Noted

Crews filming for season two of the HBO series "The Deuce" are learning about a common problem in the neighborhood ... an EVG reader spotted this sign on a trailer parked on Third Street and Avenue A...



It's a rather lyrical note ...

Please check your feet

Dog Poo !!!

All over the place

Thank you Timmy!!!

(Also, register to vote.)

Where to enjoy your National Night Out with the NYPD today

The NYPD is celebrating the annual National Night Out today... which is:

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships to help make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. It seeks to strengthen the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement, fostering a true sense of community.

The National Night Out-ing around here includes:

9th Precinct
321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue

Time: 2-7 p.m.

Activities: Face painting, music, entertainment, refreshments, games for children, giveaways, crime prevention information

PSA 4
East Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D

Time: 4-8 p.m.

Activities: Arts & crafts, games, petting zoo, bouncy house, refreshments, crime prevention information

And a Night Out flashback to 2013...


[Photo by Slum Goddess]

Signage arrives for East Village outpost of Sakagura

Over at 231 E. Ninth St., signage is up for Sakagura here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue ...



This former Robataya space will be the second outpost of Sakagura, which has been serving sake to New Yorkers since 1996 in Midtown.

Sakura Yagi, COO of the TIC Restaurant Group, confirmed the news in an email. "Customers will be able to enjoy selections from our renowned sake list as well as familiar, Sakagura-signature dishes as well as new dishes specific to our downtown location," she said.

Sakura and her father, Shuji Bon Yagi, operate a handful of nearby Japanese establishments, including Soba-ya, Curry-Ya, Rai Ken and Hi-Collar.

Expect a September opening date.

Robataya, which featured the robata technique of cooking proteins over a charcoal grill, closed at the end of 2017 after nine years in operation.

Lucky dog: Boris & Horton expanding on Avenue A

Workers are renovating the empty storefront at 195 Avenue A near 12th Street...



Boris & Horton, the dog friendly cafe next door, is taking over the space, which was Gabay's Outlet until the end of 2017.

The owners are on this month's CB3-SLA docket for the expansion. According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, they are "expanding seating on dog side of cafe."

As previously noted, daughter-father co-owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman created three separate areas in the cafe, including an indoor seating area where dogs can go but food cannot be ordered (this appears to be the area to be expanded), and a cafe separated by plexiglass where dogs are forbidden per Department of Health rules.

Boris & Horton opened on Feb. 2.

The August CB3-SLA meeting is Aug 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.