Noted

EVG regular Peter Brownscombe shared this from the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A by the Samuel S. Cox statue...

This is the story of how Geoffrey Weglarz died on 12th Street, and why it took a week to find him

[Photo on Aug. 31 by Blair Hopkins]

On Aug. 31, police found the body of a man in a car on 12th Street just west of Avenue B ... and steps away from Joseph C. Sauer Park.

Michael Wilson at the Times files a lengthy piece on 61-year-old Geoffrey Corbis, who changed his surname from Weglarz, a software engineer who took his life in the car by ingesting a vial of poison. His body remained in the car for a week.

The chain of events serves as a stark reminder that even in 2018 Manhattan, a city that lives beneath the nonstop gaze of countless surveillance cameras, one that for years has urged its citizens, if they see something suspicious, to say something, it is still possible for a dead man in a parked car on a busy block to go unnoticed for days.

The events leading up to and following that August day also unspool a story about a distressed man’s plan to raise some fast cash, thwarted by circumstance, and his grim resolve in his final hours to end his life, detailed in farewell text messages to his loved ones.

What's especially striking and heartbreaking is that his family asked the police for help in finding him, but they were met with resistance — and bureaucracy.

You can read the article to learn more about how the Connecticut resident ended up in the East Village. (It's a lot to summarize.)

Weglarz lived in NYC for many years, and worked at the software company Hyperion with Yale, Harvard and Brown among the schools who were his clients. As the article noted, he was married and had a son, and later lived in a 19th-century house in Fairfield, Conn. Following a series of mergers in the software industry, he ended up at Dell, but eventually grew tired of the travel. Now in his 50s, he struggled to find work, having applied for nearly 500 jobs. He was divorced earlier, and shared custody of his son.

Weglarz, who had been growing despondent over job prospects and financial difficulties, apparently drank the vial of poison used for euthanasia in his car on 12th Street on Aug. 24. (Earlier he told his sister that he bought the vial on the dark web.)

On that day, he texted Sal Biagini, a friend in New York. Concerned by the tone of the texts, Biagini called 911. The NYPD traced Weglarz’s phone to the closest address, 520 E. 12th St. However, they didn't take notice of the car parked nearby. Other neighbors and city employees also overlooked the man slumped behind the wheel.

Traffic officers who write parking tickets most likely passed by him at least twice, on days that his car was parked illegally. Officers looking for violators on street-cleaning days — on East 12th Street, those days were Tuesday and Friday — routinely ignore vehicles when the driver is sitting inside. Mr. Weglarz’s vehicle received no tickets on the Tuesday or Friday when it was parked illegally, suggesting an officer might have seen him and assumed he was just another idle driver.

A week passed before he was discovered.

The episode left Mr. Weglarz’s family furious with the police. They don’t believe the chances were high that their brother could have been rescued after ingesting the poison, but they said he should not have been left there for a week.

The police spokesman, J. Peter Donald, said officers did what they could with the information they had, including canvassing city hospitals. “Unfortunately, those efforts did not locate Mr. Corbis,” he said.

Mr. Weglarz was cremated in September. His sister plans to scatter his ashes in Manhattan, home to many successes in his acting years and where he began his computer career, long before the day he parked his car on the street and never left.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Body found in car on 12th Street near Avenue B

News roundup: At the SBJSA hearing Monday

[Image via Facebook]

As you may have read, the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA), which seeks to protect small businesses against massive rent hikes, had its public hearing before City Council on Monday.

Per Vanishing New York: The SBJSA gives existing commercial tenants several basic rights, including: 1. the right to renew the lease, 2. a minimum 10-year extension, and 3. equal rights to negotiate a fair rent, with third-party arbitration if an agreement between tenant and landlord cannot be reached.

In 1986, then-City Council member Ruth Messinger first introduced a version of SBJSA, though it never came to a vote. In 2009, the bill came up for discussion at the City Council committee level, but then-speaker Christine Quinn declined to bring it to a full vote, as Curbed noted.

City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez introduced the latest SBJSA.

Here's a rundown of coverage on the eight-hour hearing:

• SBJSA Hearing (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

• John Banks Clashes With Corey Johnson Over Commercial Rent Bill at Marathon Hearing (The Real Deal)

• Small Business 'Survival' Bill Debated at City Council Hearing (amNewYork)

• What Can NYC Do To Stop Small Businesses From Dying Out? (Gothamist)

• De Blasio Administration Opposes Commercial Rent Control Bill (The Post)

• Commercial Rent Bill Not ‘Silver Bullet’: Council Speaker (Commercial Observer)

• City Council Debates Small-Biz Bill at Heated Hearing (Curbed)

• Landlords, Activists Clash as City Council Mulls Small Business Jobs Survival Act (Bedford & Bowery)

• Speak to Speaker Johnson (The Brian Lehrer Show)

• What Restaurants Need to Know About the Bill Trying to Save Mom-and-Pops from Rent Hikes (Eater)

• NYC Council Hearing Exposes Opposition to Commercial Tenants’ Rights, Impacting Artists and Galleries (Hyperallergic)

And Jeremiah Moss talks more about the SBJSA in this EVG podcast from the summer.

210 1st Ave. is for sale; and a visit to Gena's Grill

A listing arrived earlier this month for 210 First Ave., a 6-story residential building between 12th Street and 13th Street.

There's not much posted with the listing at Douglas Elliman: "Great Building With 20 Rental Units, Two Stores ... 7 Free Market Apts And 13 Rent Stabilized."

The asking price: $17 million.

Coincidentally (or not), on Oct. 3, the Marshal seized one of the two retail businesses here — Papa John's.

And it doesn't appear that this outpost of the pizza chain will reopen... the space has been gutted...


[Photo by Steven]

Old-timer Gena's Grill is the other business at the address.



Hopefully a sale here won't impact Gena's.

Last week, Robert Sietsema highlighted Gena's in his "Cheap Eats" feature at Eater. Here's part of his lunchtime post:

Behind the counter are steam-table tubs containing the café’s daily dishes. There’s no printed menu, so check the chalkboard outside before you walk in. The other day the offerings included stewed pig’s feet, paprika roast chickens, and a codfish casserole. Available every day, though, is the roast pork leg or shoulder called pernil.

I chowed down on the braised pork ribs, the meaty bones cooked with onion, green pepper, and garlic. It came with a mountain of yellow rice and black beans, but I could have picked white rice and red beans. The full plate set me back $8.70 — indeed, all the luncheon size plates cost less than $10 ...

Gena's is open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Check out their menu at this link.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Gena's Grill is back open, and that is a good thing

The Marshal seizes Papa John's on 1st Avenue

Court papers served at Shinbashi Sushi

As we noted in late August, Shinbashi Sushi hadn't shown any signs of life over at 85 First Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

A comeback for the restaurant seemed unlikely (it never looked all that busy to begin with) ... yesterday, EVG reader Jonathan Michael Fung spotted some legal documents taped to the front door of the still-closed restaurant showing the owners owe nearly $29,000 in back rent. (And this is the second round of legal documents spotted at the address, as Eden B. noted last month.)

Shinbashi Sushi opened in the spring of 2016 ... and we've never heard anything about the place. The Yelp reviews range from "Excellent excellent excellent excellent!!!" to "WHATEVER YOU DO...DO NOT EAT HERE!"

Noted

The city has unveiled its new #KeepNYCTrashFree campaign on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place...



Not sure at the moment who's responsible for this street art ... (and thanks to Christine Champagne for the photo!)

Updated

Thanks to the readers who shared the artist's name...

View this post on Instagram

#keepnyctrashfree 1/3

A post shared by WINSTON TSENG (@winstontseng) on Oct 23, 2018 at 1:25pm PDT

Updated 9 p.m.

That didn't last long, as Christine noted...

NYPD light tower back in illuminating action on 2nd Avenue and 7th Street

[Photo by Nick Solares]

On Sunday night, some kind of malfunction KO'd the police lights that were set up last week on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street...



However, after one night off, the lights were back on last night...



The light tower arrived last Wednesday night after increased complaints over unruly travelers/crusties gathered on the corner.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: It's 'Crusty vs. Postie' on 2nd Avenue

NYPD installs patrol tower in the middle of Tompkins Square Park (149 comments)

NYPD installs light tower on 2nd Avenue and 7th Street

Boys' Club fast tracks sale of East Village clubhouse as final bids are due Oct. 30

Officials at the Boys' Club of New York (BCNY) are expediting the sales process of the Harriman Clubhouse on 10th Street and Avenue A.

A listing for the 7-story building arrived on the Cushman & Wakefield website earlier this month, with a $32 million asking price.

Now, the listing notes an Oct. 30 bid deadline for the property, which opened in 1901...



The terms are all cash...



The building is being pitched as either "an ideal conversion opportunity or continued educational/recreational use by an end user." The accompanying materials highlight the recent luxury condo developments that have cropped up nearby, including Steiner East Village and Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A.

Local elected officials — including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera — have urged the BCNY board to postpone the sale until they consult with the community in "good faith." However, the BCNY has declined to meet with the elected leaders, and continue with plans to vacate the building in June 2019.

Executive Director Stephen Tosh has said the BCNY will look to rent space elsewhere on the Lower East Side to continue with programming for Harriman members after the closure next summer. He also stated that the sale of the East Village building would allow BCNY the opportunity to start new programs in a neighborhood such as Brownsville or East New York.

Community activists and parents have said that a compelling need remains in this neighborhood for the kind of activities that the Boys' Club offers.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local elected officials urge Boys' Club officials to postpone sale of the Harriman Clubhouse

Boys' Club of New York selling East Village building; will remain open through June 2019

During noon rally today, local elected officials will seek postponement of Boys' Club building sale

[Updated] Exclusive: The Boys' Club of New York puts the Harriman Clubhouse on the sales market for $32 million

Cocoa Grinder bringing coffee and all-day breakfast to 1st Street

Cocoa Grinder, a cafe chainlet with multiple locations in Brooklyn, is opening an outpost here on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



Some background via the Cocoa Grinder website:

Started by Abdul Elenani in his college years during 2013, Cocoa Grinder is more than a coffee shop. It’s an idea that for the hardworking individual of today, convenience is everything: why shouldn’t you have your specialty cup o’joe and healthy meal in the same place? Perfect for the person on the go, or the busy individual seeking to get some work done, Cocoa Grinder offers the perfect environment to enhance your daily grind or take a well-deserving break from it.

Unlike most coffee shops, we roast our own coffee to ensure quality and flavor so that a better brew ends up in your cup. We support local farmers overseas by sourcing the beans directly from their regions. In a small farm in Chiapas, Mexico, we grow some of the best decaf you’ll ever taste. From bean to cup, we make every effort to ensure our coffee exceeds standards.

They feature a menu of all-day breakfast, burgers, protein shakes, and freshly squeezed juices. Prices range from $4 for a to-go egg-and-cheese wrap to $12 for the "Poachy Poach," an ensemble of poached eggs and gravlax salmon on an English muffin with a side of tater tots and greens.

No word on an opening date. Here's a current look inside the space...



This address previously housed the bar-restaurant Joe and Misses Doe at No. 45.

So long St. Dymphna's

[Photo yesterday by Rob Mastrianni via Instagram]

Last call came and went late Saturday night/early Sunday morning at St. Dymphna's, bringing an end to the tavern's 24-year run at 118 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The remaining signs came down yesterday morning ... and later (thanks to Steven for these photos)...







No official word why St. Dymphna's closed (aside from unsubstantiated claims of a pending rent increase).

The owners, Eric Baker and sisters Patrícia and Raquel Sanguedo (Baker and Patrícia Sanguedo are married), left this message about the bar on Instagram:

Our shelves are now empty and our hearts are hurting but full of the love she gave us over the 24 years. She is way more than the four walls that held us all together. Those walls will be holding us all together for the rest of our lives even though we will no longer be inside them. Patrícia, Raquel and I and our families would like to thank all of you for making our bar and our lives a better more beautiful place to be. Thank you to you all and all the love we have is yours.

The same message is all now taped to the front gate...



The three also own Taberna 97, currently used for special events, across St. Mark's Place. At least one of the St. Dymphna's signs will live on there, per various Instagram comments.

Previously on EV Grieve:
St. Dymphna's is closing this weekend after 24 years on St. Mark's Place