Report: Upright Citizens Brigade closing East Village outpost next month

Amid financial difficulties, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater is closing its East Village outpost, UCBeast, on Feb. 9, Vulture reports.

This tip comes to Vulture via an attendee of an all-theater meeting last night. (There hasn't been any official notice from UCB on the closure.)

Last month, UCB announced staff layoffs to help streamline their operation, as the Times reported at the time.

Pat Baer, the theater’s longtime technical director, is also leaving UCB as of Feb. 9.

After Feb 9th, I will no longer be a UCB employee. April would have been 15 years. I’m heartbroken and a bit numb. I will accept condolences, high fives, and job offers.

— Pat Baer 2019 (@patbaer) January 9, 2019

Baer also made a suggestion last night on Twitter to help save UCBeast...

Should we ask Lin Manuel Miranda to buy UCB East?

— Pat Baer 2019 (@patbaer) January 10, 2019

The venue on Avenue A and Third Street opened in September 2011 ... after so much drama (Hot Chicks Room! New Jack Cornballs!) for a comedy club. More later on all this.

Updated 10:30 a.m.

The Times reports:

U.C.B. will be partnering with SubCulture, a 130-seat Bleecker Street venue where U.C.B. will host shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights — for three evenings of programming as opposed to the full seven at the East Village U.C.B., where the last show will be on Feb. 9. Shows at SubCulture, a venue that opened five years ago, will begin on Feb. 15.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Your 'Hot Chicks Room' sign update

[Updated] Resident starting a petition to have the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign removed at the Upright Citizens Brigade

Breaking: UCB will remove the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign!

'Hot Chicks Room' sign will now bring ruin to compost

Find the history of every neighborhood building with East Village Building Blocks

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) has created a new tool to make sure that you never leave the internet to explore the history of every building in the neighborhood.

Here's more about East Village Building Blocks, via a GVSHP email yesterday:

This online resource, which took 10 years to complete, used primary source research on every building in the East Village to determine (when possible) date of construction, original architect, original use, alterations over time, and any significant figures, events, businesses, or institutions connected to the existing building or prior buildings on the site.

Buildings can be searched by address, location, architect, building type or style, or significant figures, cultural groups, or types of activities associated with it. Present day and historic photos are also provided for each building, along with historic documents establishing dates of construction, owners, architects, uses, and alterations. Buildings include scores of houses of worship, theaters, schools, libraries, the country’s first public housing development, and one of the largest collections of intact tenements from the early 19th to the early 20th centuries.

Pack a bag and head into East Village Building Blocks at this link.

The arrival of the new tool coincides with the publication of "A History of the East Village and Its Architecture" by Francis Morrone.

Per GVSHP:

This report by the noted architectural historian documents the East Village’s history from Dutch settlement in the 17th century, to its development in the 19th century as a prosperous merchant burg and then immigrant gateway, to its evolution in the 20th century as an epicenter of abandonment and blight to a mecca for cultural innovation and rebirth, and its struggle in the 21st century to maintain its identity in the face of renewed popularity and success.

Read the report at this link. And you can find more about GVSHP's ongoing preservation efforts here.

Brodo opening a bone-broth outpost on Astor Place

The Brodo kiosk has arrived on Astor Place near the uptown 6 stop (thanks to Vinny & O for the photos)...



Marco Canora opened a Brodo to-go window on the First Avenue side of Hearth back in 2014... and bone broth became a thing, with the arrival of three more Brodo outposts (four with Astor Place), as well as a nationwide delivery service.

In an email, Canora told me that the Astor Place outpost is expected to open the last week of January.

Brodo is taking the place of the La Newyorkina kiosk on the north plaza for the winter season. La Newyorkina, which sells Mexican palettas and ices, returns this summer.

Ellis looking to bring comfort food to 6th Street

Updated Jan. 14: This item was withdrawn ahead of tonight's meeting.

A bar-restaurant called Ellis serving American comfort food is in the works for 503 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

A group of applicants are on this month's CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license for the address.

According to the questionnaire on file for public viewing at the CB3 website (PDF here), the establishment has proposed hours of 2 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, with opening hours of 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The configuration shows 11 tables seating 48 guests and a bar with 15 stools.

The sample menu for Ellis on the questionnaire features a variety of salads and sandwiches, categorized under Smaller Plates and Larger Plates...



The applicants have operated a handful of bars, including the Trading Post on John Street in the Financial District and the Globe on 23rd Street. Closer to home, the applicants also own Solas on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, which regularly serves as a main stop during SantaCon.

Cholo Noir, the Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant, went out of business here last August, first with handwritten notes indicating the trusty "closed for renovations." They never reopened after 13 months at the address.

The CB3 committee is Monday night at 6:30. Location: the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.

Wednesday's parting shot

Discarded art on Seventh Street ... photo by Derek Berg...

A solo show for PhoebeNewYork at 212 Arts

[Image via Instagram]

A solo show featuring PhoebeNewYork, the alter ego of local artist Libby Schoettle, will be on display starting tomorrow night at 212 Arts Gallery, 523 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Per 212:

Her new exhibit titled “Wall to Wall” will celebrate the always vulnerable, yet strong PhoebeNewYork, while laying bare how imperfect the life of a woman and an artist can be.

In this show, PhoebeNewYork is clearly conjured from an alchemy of the artist’s intimate introspections and public persona. Through her distinctively raw, cut-out forms PhoebeNewYork reveals so much about identity, woman-power, and rebellion.

The opening tomorrow night is from 6-9:30. The exhibit will be up through Jan. 29.

Some more of her work recently arrived outside the Bean on 3rd Street at Second Avenue...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Libby Schoettle (@phoebenewyork) on Jan 2, 2019 at 1:46pm PST

Report: Andy Byford talks L-train changes and next steps at CB3 committee meeting

Andy Byford, CEO of the New York City Transit Authority, attended CB3's Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment Committee meeting last night for an L-train update.

As transportation reporter Aaron Gordon noted at Gothamist:

Byford only attends higher profile events like town halls and dispatches underlings to small community board meetings. But he told the roughly three dozen residents of CB3, which encompasses the Lower East Side from 14th Street to the Brooklyn Bridge, that he came in person because “I owe it to the community to come out and explain to you as best I can what we know about what has changed and to go through what hasn't changed.”

He outlined what Gov. Cuomo's new plan is... then went on to other topics, such as:

On the safety front, Byford is convening an engineering team, which he promises will be independent not just of the MTA but of New York politics, to review the new plan and ensure it does not jeopardize anyone’s safety. But he has not yet determined who will be the independent reviewers or when their report — which he promises to publicly release — will be done.

At the same time, his team at Transit will review how often the MTA can run L trains on nights and weekends when one of the two tubes is closed, what alternate service should be provided, and how best to communicate those changes to riders.

He reiterating throughout his talk that he will "not be steamrolled" by Cuomo's L-train desires.

About three dozen people were in attendance (there were rumors of Byford's appearance in the hours leading up the meeting). A few people asked questions:

Most of the questions focused on what would happen to the new bike lanes and 14th Street busway that had planned to ease commutes during a full L train shutdown. The bike lanes are entirely up to the Department of Transportation, said Byford, while the future of the 14th Street Select Bus Service will be a joint decision.

Read Gordon's full post at Gothamist via this link.

Mayor's new East River Park flood plan faces City Council scrutiny

On Jan. 23, City Council is holding a hearing with de Blasio administration officials about the updated East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. (Find the agenda item at this link.)

As you know, the Mayor's office announced a new vision for the long-delayed revamp to stormproof East River Park back in the fall. The updated plan is radically different than what had been discussed, and its expected cost will increase from $760 million to $1.45 billion, while closing and gutting the current East River Park for up to three and a half years. (The city's new design renderings are at this link.)

City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, whose district is most impacted by the new plans, announced the joint hearing of the City Council’s Committees on Parks and Environmental Protection yesterday.

Here's part of her statement:

"This hearing will finally give the Council and our community the chance to hear directly from the Mayor’s team and relevant agency commissioners regarding the recent changes to this monumental coastal protection project. Even with multiple community briefings and meetings with elected officials, we still do not have important details about this project, and I expect the Mayor’s team to come well prepared and help us understand the need for these drastic changes.

This new plan represents a fundamental departure from anything the City has previously discussed and would reportedly bring the projected cost of the project to $1.45 billion. The Mayor’s Office has failed to provide detailed analyses for explaining why this $700 million increase is necessary.

In addition, this new plan would require the closure of East River Park, the only real green space for tens of thousands of NYCHA residents and community members on the Lower East Side, for three years. Officials have not explained in any way how they will provide alternate outdoor space for this community, which has one of the highest asthma rates in the city.

We want a resilient city, and we will use this hearing to ensure that this project and others like it throughout the city can actually accomplish our progressive environmental goals."

The previous stormproofing as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Plan would have required closing a lane of the FDR and working around Con Edison power lines. However, city officials have said that building out the flood protection and reconstructing the park would eliminate these FDR traffic issues as well as speed up the construction process by one hurricane season.

In addition, the most recent version of the plan would transform the East River Park into a "world-class park" with a variety of courts for tennis and basketball and (fields for soccer) — all protected from storms and sea-level rise.

Meanwhile, tomorrow night, CB3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee will hear updates on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. The committee meeting starts at 6:30. Location: BRC Senior Services Center, 30 Delancey St. between Chrystie and Forsyth.


[Proposed schedule via the city. Click to go big.]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: The reality of storm-proofing East River Park in 2020

Storm center: Questions linger over updated plans for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project

New Ukrainian restaurant at 136 2nd Ave. now in the hiring phase

It has been a slow-go over at 136 Second Ave., where workers have been completing extensive renovations on the space between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street for the past two-plus years.

On May 6, 2016, workers erected the plywood in front of the vacant storefront, last in use by Bar 82. (RIP March 2013.)

The restaurant, whose name hasn't been disclosed just yet (going as UKI Freedom LLC on CB3 materials), is now hiring...



The applicants, listed as Greg Lebedowicz and Jerry Lebedowicz, were previously licensed for Nitedreams in Greenpoint from 2003 to 2008.

Back in July, CB3 OK's a full liquor license for No. 136.

Here are a few items from the meeting's official minutes (PDF here):

• "The applicant has stated that this location will be a restaurant which will host Ukrainian events, meetings and dinners by organizations from the longstanding local Ukrainian community."

• "It will operate as a full-service French American Ukrainian restaurant, with a kitchen open and serving food during all hours of operation."

• "Its hours of operation will be 8 A.M. to 2 A.M. all days"

There is a basement space here fitted with a bar and dining room for those meetings and events.

No word on an opening date.

Thanks to Steven for the photos yesterday!

Spellbound: From Cake Shake to Potter-themed Steamy Hallows on 6th Street?

Brown paper now covers the front windows at Cake Shake USA, the extreme milkshake establishment at 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (The place had been dark since late November, per nearby residents.)

The space was run by Zach Neil, the pop-up theme bar entrepreneur behind Beetle House on Sixth Street as well as the now-closed Will Ferrell bar Stay Classy on the LES and the short-lived 'Merica NYC on Sixth Street. Cake Shake debuted back in August.

The storefront is a good bet to become Neil's latest venture — a Harry Potter-inspired coffee shop called Steamy Hallows. The Wall Street Journal mentioned the coming-soon cafe for the East Village in a feature last week on themed restaurants in NYC.

No address has been mentioned yet for Steamy Hallows, described on Instagram this way: "This witchy goth coffee shop serves up delicious coffee and tea potions, huge homemade cookies, in an atmosphere inspired by Harry Potter & Halloween."

View this post on Instagram

We will be waking the dead in four weeks!!! Stay tuned, spread the word. #coffee #halloween #witchy #harrypotter #goth #magic #latte #cookies #veganoptions #pumpkinspice #fallallyear #halloweeneveryday

A post shared by Steamyhallows (@steamyhallows) on Jan 6, 2019 at 4:27pm PST

Previously on EV Grieve:
Beetle House founder brings ridiculous milkshakes to 6th Street with Cake Shake