6th Street wine bar Grape and Grain is closing this weekend

Grape and Grain is closing its doors for good after service on Saturday (Aug. 6). 

However, there's already a new G&G-related suitor for the space at 620 E. Sixth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Ownership of the wine bar made the announcement on Instagram yesterday: 

We've loved every minute of being part of this community and we've been very fortunate to have met so many amazing people along the way. We're very proud of what we've built here over the years, and it’s hard to say goodbye! But, it is time to move on. ... 

We’re excited to say that we are keeping the space in the family, and we can't wait to share with you what's next for you on 6th St. Keep an ear out! 

The OG G&G closed in the fall of 2017 after 12 years in service... then, in June 2018, new owners took over and kept the name. 

Grape and Grain is open from 5-10 p.m.

Photo via @grapeandgrainnyc; H/T BVinny & O!

Reader report: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen slated for the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue A

EVG photo from early 2022

Renovations are taking inside the former coffee shop at 442 E. 14th St., just west of Avenue A. Two EVG readers/tipsters reported that workers at the scene said the incoming tenant is — Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

Haven't received any other confirmation of this at the moment. (And if this is true, hopefully the restaurant will have a better exhaust system than the Wing Stop several storefronts away.)

This would also make the second EV Popeyes: an outpost opened in October 2020 at 39 First Ave. between Second Street and Third Street.

No. 442 was previously the Lower East Side Coffee Shop, which closed here after 13 years in February 2021. Next door, 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 various trucks, drill rigs, pile drivers, compressors and generators. 

Several businesses were forced to shut down due to 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.  

Takahachi removes its curbside dining structure

Workers on Tuesday removed the curbside dining structure from outside Takahachi, the 32-year-old restaurant on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

As far as we can recall, the space hadn't been used since last fall (though it was pretty festive when it was in service).

And here's how the space looked last evening...

There is a No Standing sign in place here, and parking is not allowed between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. seven days a week. 

The signs arrived in late June ahead of the new Bus Only lane on the southbound section of Avenue A below Fifth Street. (Not sure why the city placed the signs here, when there isn't a bus lane — unless that's coming soon. Somtum Der next door still uses its curbside dining space.) 

Meanwhile, as you likely read, a new lawsuit was filed that seeks to end the city's outdoor dining program. The suit blames the Open Restaurants program, which was implemented during the pandemic in 2020, for excessive noise, traffic and garbage. 

The story was well-covered. You can read more at NBC 4 ... the Post ... NY1 ... ABC 7 ... and Crain's, among many other outlets.

Wednesday's parting shot

Summer night in Tompkins Square Park...

Openings: SMØR Bakery on 12th Street

A regular EVG contributor informs us that SMØR Bakery (first mentioned here) opened this past week at 437 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The Nordic-inspired shop is baking breads and pastries (i.e., sourdough, croissants, danishes, donuts) and serving coffees and sandwiches (try the Salmon & Co., with smoked salmon, dill plus scallion cream cheese, red onion, tomato and capers). 

As well as seating for 15, a mini-general store offers housemade provisions (granolas, pickled and curried herrings, chicken salad) as well as local and imported specialty items, like smoked salmon, charcuterie and prepared foods.

The shop is run by the same co-owners, Sebastian Perez and Sebastian Bangsgaard, as the SMØR cafe a few doors east. The partners, who grew up in Denmark, met while working in a Scandinavian restaurant in Tribeca before opening SMØR in 2019. 

“We were always planning to open a bakery to complement our restaurant, but the pandemic put a delay on our initial plans,” Perez said in an announcement about the debut. “We have always been inspired by the bakery scene in Copenhagen, and to say we’re excited to finally open our doors is an understatement.” 

He added that Baker Rowan Gill has been R&D-ing the recipes for months, putting their spin on signature items.

Hours are Wednesday-Sunday from 8 a.m. until sold out. For more information, visit the bakery’s website or Instagram account.

A mural representing the Ukrainian spirit at the Standard East Village

Last evening, the Standard East Village officially unveiled a new mural in support of Ukraine outside the hotel's Fifth Street side. 

Kyiv-based artist Waone Interesni Kazki created the work. Titled "From Legend to Discovery," the mural "represents the resilience, life and spirit of the Ukrainian community."

The hotel on Cooper Square held an opening party for the unveiling, with proceeds said to be going to the Ukrainian Museum nearby on Sixth Street and Palianytsia, a Ukrainian charity initiative based in Lviv, Ukraine, that helps refugees and war victims.

An idea for this 'vacancy hotspot' on Avenue A

Per our lead post from Monday, there's a new report titled "Crisis and Adaptation: Storefront Trends in the East Village, 2019 – 2021." 

As noted, there are many takeaways from the 20-page report, including a section titled "vacancy hotspots."

Among those: The retail spaces in the NYCHA-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. Three of the seven Avenue A-facing storefronts remain vacant and have been for years.

The report offers this recommendation:

Urge the NYCHA to make their vacant spaces on Avenue A available for vendor markets, micro-entrepreneurs living in NYCHA developments, and local businesses more generally.

We don't know why the city/NYCHA hasn't made more of an effort to lease these high-profile spaces.

The other two vacancy hotspots are the retail spaces at Steiner East Village on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street (for lease signs have been posted for the past four years) and the renovated storefronts at 250 E. Houston St. 

The report, released by the Cooper Square Committee, Village Preservation and East Village Community Coalition, provides a deep dive into the neighborhood's commercial landscape that builds off of the 2019 "East Village Commercial District Needs Assessment" to give a 2021 snapshot of the EV commercial district.   

Tuesday's parting shot

Tonight's sunset photo overlooking Tompkins Square Park courtesy of @cecilscheib ...

The 6th Street pedestrian bridge over the FDR will be closed for the next 2 days

The Sixth Street pedestrian bridge, which connects residents from the East Village to the East River Park track and field, is expected to be closed tomorrow through Friday, according to the city's latest Weekly Construction Bulletin.

Per the notice: 

Ongoing Con Edison utility work in East River Park at the Greenway will necessitate a temporary closure of the E. 6th Street Bridge. All park amenities will remain. Access the park from E. Houston St. and the E. 10th St. Pedestrian Bridge. Pedestrian detour in effect. Please follow all posted signs.

As of 6:30 this evening, there weren't any posted signs letting the dozens of people who were heading to the Park know that they'd need to use a different route in the days ahead. The notice also doesn't specify the hours... does the bridge reopen on Friday? If so, when?

To date, work on the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency project has focused on cutting down trees and demolishing all the amenities, mostly below Stanton Street. Workers will bury the 57.5-acre land under fill and elevate it by 8-to-10 feet above sea level to protect the area from future storm surges. 

The city has said they will maintain public access to a minimum of 42 percent of the park throughout construction, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2026.

Wheatpasters 1, Property Managers 0

Earlier this summer we noted how the plywood along the demolished storefronts at 250 E. Houston St. had become a wheatpaste hotspot in recent months.

Later, the property managers here between Avenue A and Avenue B unveiled their line of wheatpaste defense — some rando 2x4s on the plywood, intended to prevent the Wheatpasting Gangs of New York from putting up ads for, say, that sold-out Andrew Bird show at Pier 17 or the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs' record, Cool It Down (which I think will be good). 

Anyway, as the top photo shows... the green guards are fairly useless. Hope there's a money-back guarantee!