Packing up the Urban Umbrella scaffolding around Cooper Union

Workers continue to remove the sidewalk bridge (yes, we were faked out here once), part of the more aesthetically pleasing Urban Umbrella scaffolding that has been around Cooper Union's Foundation Building for two-plus years... 

The structure arrived in April 2021... work permits pointed to a "renovation at the fourth floor."

The Urban Umbrella, made of recycled steel and translucent plastic panel, made its first NYC appearance in the fall of 2017.

Thanks to everyone who noted this ongoing removal, including @unitof and Lola Sáenz.

[Updated] 8 new trees on a truck in Tompkins Square Park

Workers have a truckload of new trees (eight in total) here at the St. Mark's Place entrance to Tompkins Square Park... presumably for planting in the park.

They were still on the truck when N&Lon7th snapped the photo this morning. 

We like new trees.

Updated 3 p.m. 

A few more shots of the trees... and their new home... via Steven...

The annual Ukrainian Festival is this weekend

The St. George Ukrainian Festival returns to Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square this coming weekend for its 45th edition. 

The three-day festival celebrates Ukrainian culture, music, and food with various performances and vendors selling traditional arts and crafts. 

The Festival runs from Friday evening, May 19, through Sunday late afternoon, May 22. Here are a few highlights: 

• Friday at 4 — Food and crafts vendors open for business 
• Saturday at 2 — Outdoor song and dance stage performances 
• Saturday at 5 — Ukrainian Liturgy inside St. George Church 
• Saturday at 6 — Outdoor stage performances 
• Sunday at 11:30 — Concert inside St. George Church by Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York 
• Sunday at 1 p.m. — Outdoor stage performances begin 

Find more details on the Festival's Facebook page.

With Community Board approval, Sammy's Roumanian Steak House takes another step to returning to the Lower East Side

Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse received a critical approval from Community Board 3 last night as the NYC institution continues to move toward a return to service on the Lower East Side.

As previously reported, Sammy's was looking to open in a new home at 191 Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton.

CB3's SLA committee signed off on the application, though with some debate on the language in the stipulations. Prior to last night's virtual meeting, owner David Zimmerman met with the local community group L.E.S. Dwellers and entered into a Memorandum of Understanding. The main sticking point: dinner seating in the outdoor garden behind the restaurant. Zimmerman has agreed not to use the outdoor space for any service. 

Neighbors/residents also agreed to the method of operation, which will be similar to its old basement space on Chrystie Street, including the services of a lounge singer on keyboards.

In addition, based on the day of the week, there were different proposed closing times, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. The new Sammy's will close nightly at 12:30 a.m.

After the unanimous approval, Zimmerman, who was on the Zoom meeting, flashed a Famous Sammy's T-shirt, stating, "We are all proud."

By the way, the new outpost will sell Sammy's merch.

Sammy's closed in early January 2021 after 45-plus years of serving up ice-encased vodka, smeared pitchers of schmaltz and enormous platters of meat from the lower level at 151 Chrystie St. between Delancey and Rivington.

The restaurant had been shuttered since the PAUSE of March 2020, and this wasn't a business ready-made for delivery or outdoor dining.

In an Instagram post at the time, Zimmerman left the door open for a return.  

And now it's happening, though no word on an opening date. The space has been vacant for nine years, and needs a lot of work to bring it into service.

Noted

We're coming up on the 1-week anniversary of the porta potties arriving in Tompkins Square Park for patrons to use during the field house renovations. (What are you doing to celebrate?) 

EVG regular Jose Garcia shared this photo and some preliminary thoughts on Day 6 

"This entire area truly smells like shit. It's actually impressive how much it smells. No kidding." 

Just 17 months and 3 weeks to go under renovations are complete!

Mayor Adams visits Tompkins Square Park

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

On Friday morning, Mayor Adams toured Tompkins Square Park, where he met with several local elected officials, community leaders and business owners to discuss various issues, including the state of Tompkins Square Park.

It was part of the Mayor's "Get Stuff Done" campaign (there's a podcast titled that too). While this was not an official media event, EVG contributor Stacie Joy was in the Park and shared these photos of the Mayor's tour...

During the walk-through, which lasted nearly 45 minutes, the Mayor fielded questions about the former P.S. 64/CHARAS at 605 E. Ninth St. ... and drug use, homelessness and unpermitted late-night parties in Tompkins Square Park...he also received an update about the reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park field house...

And via social media...

The #GetStuffDone team is on the move! @NYCMayor joined @HarveyforNY in the East Village to talk with constituents this morning. pic.twitter.com/lqc2Ignt0H

— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) May 12, 2023

Tompkins Square Park is a cultural hub, a place to enjoy nature for thousands of local residents. TSP needs investment to keep it safe for NYers. We talked to @NYCMayor about the need for more gardeners & resources for NYers experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders. pic.twitter.com/WJHrxfX7Ne

— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) May 12, 2023

Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera was also by the Mayor's side and thanked him for the visit. "We look forward to continued partnership to improve quality of life and well-being in our communities."

While a few hecklers were in the Park, the tour and conversation were seen as positive by those in attendance...

Report: 8 months after fire, residents want their landlord to repair their Avenue D building

Photo from September 2022

Eight months after a two-alarm fire at 11-13 Avenue D, some residents of the 6-floor residential building between Second Street and Third Street say their landlord is "dragging his feet" in making the necessary repairs.

PIX11 reports that three tenants are taking landlord Gregorio Nunez to housing court via Mobilization For Justice. Residents say no work has been done to the rent-stabilized units.

"The landlord originally told us six months, and that's obviously not the case," Ise White... told PIX11 News. "Our apartments are in great condition. It's mostly the windows that need to be fixed very easily. There was no structural damage."

"Apparently, he's dragging his feet," Nikita Salehi-Azhan, the Mobilization For Justice lawyer and tenant advocate, told PIX11 News. "Unfortunately, it takes a lawsuit to do anything about it. Because only four of the 16 units were occupied and three of the four are rent-stabilized. You can say he doesn't have an incentive to get the repairs going," Salehi-Azhan added.

When PIX11 contacted Nunez, he reportedly said, "no, no, no" and hung up the phone.

After the fire, the DOB issued a vacate order on the building.

Per the city: 

Due to extensive fire damage at 1st-floor restaurant along with fire, water and smoke damage throughout building... fire fighting operations to vent out entire building where all windows and doors have been removed along with removal of the skylight for venting. These hazardous conditions have therefore rendered the ENTIRE premises unsafe to occupy. 

Sources previously said the fire started in the New Chinatown Restaurant. 

There were no injuries in the fire.

PIX11 says the tenants will be back in housing court today.

The all-new Bleecker Street Bar debuts on Wednesday

The new location of the Bleecker Street Bar debuts Wednesday morning at 648 Broadway between Bleecker and Bond.

Opening day hours: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Follow the bar on Instagram for updates.
 

As previously reported, the neighborhood bar's 30-year tenure on the corner of Bleecker and Crosby ended in August 2020. Per the owners at the time: "All of our efforts to negotiate a reasonable lease extension with our landlord have failed." (The storefront is now home to the New York flagship store for Sabah, which offers high-end leather Turkish slippers and other accessories.) 

BSB fans were pleased that management could line up this new space just around the corner on Broadway... and along a corridor without a lot of neighborhood bar options.  

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a new line era underway at the Orpheum on 2nd Avenue via Steven)...

• A new record and lineup for Bush Tetras (Wednesday)

• A new name and (familiar) owners for the currently closed Downtown Bakery (Thursday) 

• Pour one out for the champagne of East Village storefront signs (Monday)

• Porta potties arrive in Tompkins Square Park for use during field house renovations (Tuesday)

 

• On Astor Place, the cube will BRB to spin again (Tuesday) 

• A visit to a Ketamine-assisted therapy practitioner (Friday) 

• Inside Don Ceviche, opening soon on 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• More details about the new home for Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse on the Lower East Side (Monday) 

• At Ray's Candy Store, you can now pay for those beignets and deep-fried Oreos via Venmo (Monday) 

• Stand back, here are photos from Night of 1000 Stevies at Irving Plaza (Thursday) 

• Signage alert: Village Works on St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• &Beer is a new pop-up concept on 7th Street (Wednesday) 

• The fruit vendor returns to Astor Place (Wednesday) 

• Someone artfully wrapped this drinking fountain in Tompkins Square Park with aluminum foil (Thursday) 

• East Village Pizza and Beron Beron remove its curbside dining structures (Monday)

• Gorin Ramen has closed on 14th Street (Monday) ... Beloved Cafe has closed on the Lower East Side (Thursday)

• Openings: Offside Tavern on Avenue A (Monday) 

• The Laurels takes over for Bait & Hook on 2nd Avenue and 14th Street (Tuesday) 

• The former Mighty Quinn's space is for rent (Tuesday) 

• Gotham — NYC's 'first cannabis concept store' — debuts today on Third Street (Thursday) 

• 'The Legend of Zelda,' bus edition (Wednesday) 

• A J Crew for NoHo (Thursday)

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Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

Reader report: Apartment fire at 182 Avenue B

The FDNY responded to a late-night (after 2 a.m.) fire at 182 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street. 

EVG reader Joe shared these photos from this morning, showing soot and broken glass on the sidewalk... and a burned-up office chair on the fire escape outside the third-floor apartment where the fire started...

Officials at the scene blamed a lithium battery from an e-bike. (And per the Citizen app: "Firefighters advise that a lithium battery was involved in the fire.") 

There weren't reports of any injuries... and no word on the extent — if any — of damage to the ground-floor tenant, Haile Bistro. 

CBS 2 reported last month that "lithium-ion battery fires are prompting more and more apartment buildings to pull the plug on e-bikes." 

As NY1 reported yesterday: "The FDNY says 66 fires have been started by lithium-ion batteries, killing five people. Last year, the city saw 216 fires and six deaths related to the batteries." 

This past week, two people died after a fire on West 190th Street sparked by a lithium battery.