Momofuku Noodle Bar closes for a month-long renovation

Momofuku Noodle Bar closed after service on Sunday evening at 171 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Management announced last week that this flagship outpost in David Chang's empire would be closing for a month-long renovation.

Yesterday, workers were spotted outside the restaurant, hauling out tables, chairs, etc. ... (thanks to Choresh Wald for these photos)...

The Noodle Bar — Chang's debut restaurant — first opened at 163 First Ave. in 2004 before moving a few storefronts away to this space several years later.

Monday's parting shot

Photo on Second Avenue today by Derek Berg...

The window displays at Blue Door Video

Goggla let us know that the scaffolding/sidewalk bridge came down late last week at 87 First Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street... which once again provides unobstructed views of the window displays at Blue Door Video ...

The shop continues to attract tourists, families and fashion enthusiasts to watch the unveiling of the window displays ... which radiate the same classic New York elegance that the Blue Door embodies.

And, as Eden pointed out, the details really make the displays, as DC Comics regular Superman is shown in a thirst trap ... and maybe more... 

UPDATED: News about Casa Adela

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated noon:

The news about a new lease for Casa Adela was apparently a little premature. An attorney for the restaurant said that a deal has not been finalized.

Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela, facing an uncertain future during recent rent discussions with the landlord, has a new lease. 

According to Frank Gonzalez of Loisaida Realty, who helped organize the Save Casa Adela Committee, the two sides agreed for now to a two-year lease — with discussions continuing for a longer-term arrangement.

"Thank you to the Casa Adela Committee and our beloved community. Casa Adela was able to renegotiate a better deal," he said. (Locals came out to support the Puerto Rican restaurant at 66 Avenue C between Fourth Street and Fifth Street during a rally on Dec. 11.) 

As reported in early December, the building's landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) — was looking to increase the rent on the 45-year-old LES institution to a rate that the current owner Luis Rivera, son of the late founder Adela Fargas, said was not feasible. (This post has background about the landlords and the situation in the building. As local activist Malu told The New Yorker, this "wasn't a story of a big, bad developer kicking out a neighborhood joint.")

Adela Fargas started serving her Puerto Rican cuisine here in 1976. She died in January 2018 at age 81.

Gonzalez said they will next work on getting the corner of Fifth Street and Loisaida Avenue co-named after Adela.

In early December, EVG contributor Stacie Joy was provided access to the restaurant and took these photos of the staff and other behind-the-scenes areas of Casa Adela...

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Rent hike threatens Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela

A Taco Bell is coming back to 3rd Avenue for the first time in 15 years (or so)

Renovations continue in the storefront on the SW corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street, where we learned that a — ding! ding! — Taco Bell is on the way. 

DOB records list the new tenant as Taco Bell... (taco emoji NOT part of DOB permit...ditto for the helpful EV arrow)...

In 2017, Taco Bell announced that it would be opening 50 (!!!) outposts in NYC over the next five years. Perhaps this is one of them. 

There was a Taco Bell at 58 Third Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street until sometime in late 2007 or early 2008. 

TB will be right next door to Yellow Rose, which serves really good tacos, tortas and chalupas ...

That SW corner spot was previously Bluemercury, the luxury beauty retailer, which closed during the pandemic.

And previously: Gothic Cabinet Craft shop closed in January 2016 after 47 years in business on this corner.

[Updated] Thai Direct is open for now

Updated 2/19: Thai Direct has reopened amid an ongoing COVID-related rent dispute with the landlord, per the restaurant's ownership. 

Thai Direct has closed at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

A rather stern note on the front door tells would-be patrons that the landlord "has taken possession of the premises effective February 11" ... with a "DO NOT ENTER" thrown in for anyone attempting to access the door with three new padlocks...   

Steven took these photos Friday night — someone removed the sign by Sunday.

There isn't any mention of a closure of the restaurant's website or Instagram account. 

The quick-serve establishment, which billed itself as offering a healthy take on Thai street food, opened here in September 2018. It was a nice spot. 

The space was previously Yoshi Sushi, which got the boot in 2015.

For-rent signs arrive on these 2 storefronts on 14th Street and Avenue A

For-rent signs have arrived on two long-vacant storefronts on the SW corner of Avenue A and 14th Street. (The listings are not online just yet.)

The Lower East Side Coffee Shop closed here after 13 years in February 2021. New Herbal World, which offered a variety of herbs, teas and tonics as well as acupuncture, moved to Lafayette Street in September 2019. 

It was a tough time for all the businesses on this corner in recent years. For nearly three years this side of 14th Street was an active construction zone for L-train repairs and Avenue A entrance construction ... with a variety of trucks, drill rigs, pile drivers, compressors and generators. 

Several businesses were forced to shut down due to severely limited access to their storefronts. Outside the now-shuttered Dion and the Coffee Shop, customer access included only 28 inches of sidewalk space — not big enough for a wheelchair in spots. 

In any event, the arrival of for-rent signs might dispel the speculation that this corner is ripe for development (of course there may not be any air rights given the residential building called EVE next door at the former post office).

Sunday's parting shot

A moment during the Super Bowl tonight at Phebe's on the Bowery (which hosts Cincinnati Bengals games) ... photo by Derek Berg...

A Bloom Bloom-Book Club mashup for Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day tomorrow, Book Club hosts the East Village-based Bloom Bloom floral design studio in store. 

Starting at 11 a.m. to whenever the flowers are gone, Bloom Bloom is selling grab-and-go wrapped bouquets and custom floral arrangements. 

Book Club is at 197 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

Bloom Bloom is a studio-based florist. Founder Tasha Muresan recently moved to the East Village from Greenpoint.

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week included (with a photo on Seventh Street by Derek Berg) ... 

• Where are they now? Catching up with Willie from Odessa (Wednesday) 

• You may now open a business in the former NYC HQ of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (Friday)

• A new 10-year lease for Astor Place Hairstylists (Thursday) 

• City Council hosting public hearing on permanent outdoor dining legislation today (Tuesday, 59 comments) 

• East Village artist Tom Manco opens a gallery-studio on Avenue B (Monday)

• Farewell to Dress Shoppe II (Monday) 

• Last looks at today's 'Law & Order' shoot (Wednesday) ... 'Law & Order' creates a new tent city for Tompkins Square Park (Monday) ... Real-life 'Law & Order' in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) 

• Le Phin debuts on 10th Street (Wednesday) 

• The remains of the Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge (Thursday) 

• A memory of Love Saves the Day (Friday) 

• For rent signs for the empty storefronts on the SW corner of 14th and 3rd (Monday) 

• Eileen Fisher has apparently closed on 9th Street (Monday) 

• A message for the camper on 10th Street (Friday) 

• A look at '340 E. 9th Street' on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Steak out: Man reportedly walks out of Trader Joe's with 10 packs of meat (Wednesday, 52 comments) 

The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer is hosting a free Valentine's Day concert... it starts at 7:30 p.m. at 173 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... read more about the concert here.

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