Report: New owner of the Boys' Club building on 10th Street and Avenue A — revealed!

Aaron Sosnick, an East Village resident and founder of the investment fund A.R.T. Advisors LLC, is the new owner of the Boys' Club of New York's Harriman Clubhouse, Crain's reported yesterday.

Last month, the Boys’ Club completed a deal to sell its East Village property on Avenue A and 10th Street. The buyer was only mentioned as "a wealthy, anonymous individual." The 7-story building was sold to 287 East 10th Street LLC c/o Denham Wolf Real Estate Services for $31.725 million. (The only rumor we heard was that the buyer lived in the neighbor.)

More from Crain's last month:

Paul Wolf, a real estate broker and adviser who specializes in working with nonprofits and who represented the foundation, said the buyer wanted to remain anonymous. Wolf said the buyer was planning to sell the property, potentially at a substantial loss, to a nonprofit that would maintain its civic use.

"The goal is to keep this as a community facility," said Wolf, who is co-president of the firm Denham Wolf. "The intent is to sell it to a nonprofit at a lower price than the purchase price."

And as for figuring out who the buyer was:

City records show that a limited liability company, 287 East 10th LLC, named for the address of the Boys’ Club building, purchased it. A woman named Carey Thorpe is listed as the authorized signatory for the LLC. Thorpe, according to public records, is the spouse of Benjamin Pierson, the chief operating officer and general counsel for Sosnick’s A.R.T. Advisors.

A.R.T. Advisors has $3.7 billion in assets under management, according to The Real Deal in January 2018. Sosnick’s name has been in the news here before for reportedly opposing Gregg Singer's plans to redevelop P.S. 64 on Ninth Street. (Sosnick owns two units in the Christodora House next door, as news reports have pointed out.)

Sosnick is also the principal trustee of La Vida Feliz Foundation, "and uses his foundation quietly to support philanthropy in the arts, education, human services and community projects."

The Boys' Club quietly began the sales process in June 2018, as I first reported. Stephen Tosh, executive director of the Boys' Club, said that the sale of the East Village building would allow the organization the opportunity to start new programs in other neighborhoods in need of its services. (To be clear, the Boys' Club decided to sell their building — they were not forced out. The building was pitched for educational purposes as well as residential conversion.)

For their part, community activists and parents said that a compelling need remains in the East Village and Lower East Side for the kind of activities that the Boys' Club offers.

The Boys' Club is expected to lease space here for another year.

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

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

RUMOR: The Boys' Club building on 10th and A has a new owner; will remain in use as a nonprofit

The Sunshine is gone, and an empty lot awaits a 9-story office building

Workers have finished the demolition of the circa-1898 building that last housed the Sunshine Cinema here on East Houston between Forsyth and Eldridge.



The lot has been cleared ... and all the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge have been hauled away for the time being. There's a clear view of Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery next door now too. (Open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Stop on by!)



The halt in construction is only temporary, though. The newish owners of the address, East End Capital and K Property Group, have approved plans to erect a 9-story office building. Our previous post has more details on what's to come.

The five-screen Landmark Sunshine Theater closed Jan. 21, 2018, after 17 years in business.


[EVG photo from December 2017]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Sunshine Cinema-replacing office building moving forward; demolition watch back on

Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

The boutique office building replacing the Sunshine Cinema will be 'unbounded by walls' with an outdoor space called Houston Alley

Former Nobletree Coffee space for rent

[Photo by Steven]

The for rent sign arrived yesterday on the northwest corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue.

This is the first time in six years that this high-profile retail space is on the market.

Nobletree Coffee closed here in May after just five months in business. A sign on the door for Nobletree's "beloved customers" offered thanks ... along with a reason for the closure: "Because of the slow foot traffic at this location we were forced to close." (And we've noted the notes here and here.)

The listing at Winick notes that this is the "busiest intersection in the East Village." And it very well may be...



The rent is available upon request. In 2013, the asking rent was $27,000, per listings at the time.

This storefront previously sat empty for three years — ever since DF Mavens closed in January 2016 after a Dec. 26, 2014 debut. (It took the Mavenators 14 months to open the space.)

Other tenants in recent years include Eastside Bakery (.net?) and Roastown Coffee.

And the only business to last here in the past 30 years: the Gap, from 1988 to 2001...


[Photo by Barry Joseph]

Any thoughts on how much longer the space was sit empty... or who the next tenant might be...?

Previously on EV Grieve:
What a 'prized position' will cost you on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Something finally happening at the former Gotham Pizza

[Photo via EVG reader Laura K.]

Brown paper has arrived in the front windows at Gotham Pizza, the first activity at the space since the pizzeria closed late last August here on Third Avenue and 12th Street.

Workers are now demolishing the interior... and how...




[Interior pics via Steven]

One of the workers told EVG interior demolition corespondent Steven that the space was going to be a Chinese restaurant. There isn't any other proof of this at the moment.

Anyway, the storefront adjacent to multiple dorms (NYU, New School and Cooper Union) has been vacant since Gotham's demise. There hasn't even been a for-rent sign.

Before Gotham, we had the one, the only...



H/T Laura K., Steven and @JCooper911!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Funkiberry-replacing pizzeria revealed on 3rd Avenue

Café Social 68 debuts on A

From the EVG tipline: Café Social 68 is now open at 68 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

For now the Café is serving coffee and pastries ... and will expand their offerings with a lunch-dinner menu featuring sandwiches, salads and rice bowls. (Let us know if you try Café Social 68!)

Croissanteria closed in the spring after seven years of service.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Café Social 68 coming to Avenue A

Thoughts on Ray's (the new bar on the LES)

Actor Justin Theroux along with business partners Jon Neidich, Taavo Somer and Carlos Quirarte (the last three are behind the Smile, and Freemans, among others) opened Ray's, a bar on the Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side, several ago weeks ago.

The bar was mocked in some quarters for its trying-too-hard nightlife entrance. For instance, as BoweryBoogie first noted, they sent out a press release pointing out their that brand new bar is a dive bar.

Ray’s joins New York City’s roster of iconic dive bars, delivering to the Lower East Side an artfully simple watering hole reminiscent of 1950s Americana.

Ray’s hopes to be a tribute to the concept of the local watering hole, where your bartender knows your drink and is your confidante.

“The vibe of Ray’s fits squarely into what I believe makes a downtown bar great,” said collaborator Justin Theroux. “Not fussy. Quick drinks. A place you can carve your initials into the table. The kind of downtown bars I used to work behind for years.”

Apparently Ray's is modeled after local stalwarts Lucy’s, Sophie’s and Josie’s.

Today the Post takes some shots at Ray's in a piece headlined "Justin Theroux’s new NYC pub is a lame excuse for a dive bar."

[T]he place teems with buttoned-up bros and Soho scenesters, with eye-popping prices (a shot of Evan Williams and a PBR is $12), fake-looking decor (even the Townes Van Zandt posters look brand-new) and clean, red leather bar stools (OK, they’re pretty comfortable).

Then they go low!

Ray’s has the cringe-inducing air of a brand desperate for cool points — think Target’s re-creation of CBGB ...

The Post also quotes Molly Fitch (Molly!), the owner of the International (and the Coal Yard before) on First Avenue. "Anyone who runs a ‘dive’ doesn’t set out to achieve such a low standard," she said. "I don’t think we’re a dive bar, just a neighborhood joint. We’re a bit worn in, like an old pair of comfortable sneakers."

Grub Street was kinder in a recent write-up:

Dives are as defined by their regulars as they are by their owners. Ray’s hasn’t had time to grow any barflies, obviously. The patrons the night I went were young and appeared to be gainfully employed. That some of them ordered buckets of KFC [ed note: wut?] from 14th Street and were eating it at the bar lent the joint an appealingly low-rent air, however. While there, I ran into a couple bartenders I know, and we ended up discussing who stood the best chance in the NFL central division this fall. I rarely talk about sports in bars. That got me to wonder if, in this, too, Ray’s was working its counterfeit dive-bar magic on me. Is there something about wood paneling and Dale Earnhardt posters that sucks all pretension and pose out a person? Possibly.

And...

Still, Ray’s is not a dive. It’s just theoretically impossible. But it may be a good lo-fi bar. No one is going to feel uncomfortable or underdressed when they walk in. And, given a decade or two, with minimal housekeeping, it may even start to look genuinely lived-in. For the time being, it’s got heart and chill and good intentions.

Tuesday's parting shot

From this morning, a pizza-loving pigeon on Ninth Street... thanks to Vinny & O for the photo...

14th Street busway free to roll on, judge says

The city may now turn parts of 14th Street into a busway with vehicle restrictions after a judge today lifted a restraining order on the redesign, according to published reports.

In late June, a coalition of Manhattan landowners used state environmental law tried to permanently stop the busway plans with a lawsuit.

West Village resident Arthur Schwartz, arguing on behalf of several block associations, claimed that the Department of Transportation’s proposed busway violated state environmental law because the agency didn’t conduct a serious assessment of the impact that banning cars from 14th Street would have on neighboring residential streets. The suit also demanded the removal of the bike lanes on 12th Street and 13th Street.

As Gothamist reported today, New York State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Rakower gave the city the OK to move forward. (And the bike lanes are staying put.)

According to Rakower, the Department of Transportation "went to great lengths to describe the consideration that went into the analysis, considering pedestrian deaths, dangerous intersections and not just the speed of the bus that is going to traverse 14th Street."

Reaction via Streetsblog:

“Today’s court decision is a huge victory for New York’s two million daily bus riders,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance. “The 14th Street busway will provide faster and more reliable bus trips, saving precious time for tens of thousands of people who badly need it. The judge’s ruling also sets the stage for future victories and better bus service citywide.”

Analysis from Transportation Alternatives and Riders Alliance had found that rush-hour M14 bus riders spent a combined 8,654 additional hours commuting over the last month than would have been the case under the city’s plan to transform 14th Street into a busway, as amNY reported.

The busway aims to help move people during the L-train slowdown. Private through-traffic will be banned between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on 14th Street between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Buses, trucks and emergency vehicles will be given priority in the center lanes between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Cars will be allowed to make pickups and drop-offs as well as access local garages.

No word yet when the DOT will launch the busway.

RIP Unkle Waltie

Longtime East Village resident Walter Kohl (aka Unkle Waltie) died on July 30 at NYU Langone. He had been recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Kohl was 69.

Kohl was born in Switzerland in 1950. He moved to New York around 1970 and attended The Juilliard School.

A music engineer, Kohl had an incredible ear for music.

Friends said that he was known for his quips and barbs and the ability to effortlessly charm strangers. As they said, he would make friends for life after meeting somebody just for a few minutes.

There will be a memorial to celebrate his life at the International Bar on First Avenue in several weeks on Sept. 7 at 3 p.m.

Updated:



Thank you to EVG contributor Steven for reporting on Unkle Waltie.

The tree nest in El Jardín del Paraíso has been removed

[Photo by Roderick Romero]

The unique tree nest that surrounded a willow in El Jardin del Paraiso, the community garden on Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D, is no more.

An EVG reader spotted the former octagonal treehouse broken up and lying in piles late last week...


[Photo via @artisanmatters]

East Village resident Roderick Romero created the structure in the fall of 2003. He also learned of its fate last week. No one from the garden, where he is a member, consulted him about the removal.

"It's horrible. It was a total surprise to me," he told me in a phone call.

Romero said that a garden committee member thought the structure had become decrepit, and started taking it down. When Romero saw what had happened — and what was remaining of the structure — he told the garden to just remove the rest.

"So many kids loved," he said. "Adults did too, but the kids got a lot of joy of it."


[Photo by Roderick Romero]

Romero, a well-known treehouse architect known for unconventional designs, has built structures for residential properties in the United States, Central America and Europe. This was his first treehouse in the "public domain," which he created at no charge to the garden. (This article for the Times in 2003 has more background.)

He said that he had done maintenance on the tree nest through the years and was unaware any structural issues.

The tree nest's departure reminded some residents of the removal of the Tower of Toys from the Sixth Street and Ave B Community Garden in 2008 a year after its creator, Eddie Boros, died. When told of this, Romero responded, "the only difference is I'm not dead."