RIP Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street (2009-2023) 

Text by Jose Garcia 

The lovely Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street took her earthly leave of us on the night of Aug. 1. While she remained happy and engaged until quite recently, she had been in declining health for several months.

A native of Tennessee, Kita came north as a puppy and somehow made it to Bide-a-Wee Manhattan from which she graduated as a three-and-a-half-year-old stunner with a winning personality to boot. She was clearly well-loved and cared for by her previous owner who had named her Kita — a name she recognized and responded to so we figured it was none of our business to go about changing it to Sugar, which may have been the original plan.

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street made her EV Grieve debut on March 9, 2012. Over the years she became something of a local celebrity once removed through a combination of grit, good looks and a nose for news. In addition to her coverage in EV Grieve, Kita was named Bide-a-Wee "Pick of the Litter" for January 2012, and had a cameo appearance on the "Second Chances" episode of the Netflix series, "Dogs." 

She was frequently spotted around the neighborhood and seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting her neighbors, graciously accepting ear scritches (and the occasional illicit dog treat) while doling out her own sweet kisses to the lucky few. 

Kita enriched our lives immensely and we were every bit as lucky to have found her as she may have been to have landed with us. 

Thank you for the many kindnesses you showed her and us. 

We will miss her terribly. 

Jose Garcia & Family

Keybar has left 13th Street for life in Bushwick

ICYMI: Keybar is now closed at 432 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The bar concluded 20-plus years in business at the end of July, ahead of a move to Troutman Avenue in Bushwick. Management told us they'd debut there in the middle of this month. 

Ownership previously said that a rent hike courtesy of landlord Steve Croman was behind the relocation.

No. 432 likely won't remain vacant for long. In May 2022, CB3 approved a new liquor license for John Cutillo, who operates The Spotted Owl on the corner at 211 Avenue A, Iggy's Keltic Lounge on Ludlow and Local 138 at 181 Orchard. 

At the same meeting, CB3 denied an application for the Keybar principals to relocate to the SE corner of 13th Street and Avenue A (now a smoke shop) "because it does not show public interest and seeks a full on-premises license in a location that has never been licensed for a full on-premises liquor license in a saturated area with a history of quality of life issues on upper Avenue A."

Report: City Council set to vote on a permanent outdoor dining program

Updated 4:15 p.m.

Council reportedly passed the legislation ... and it is now awaiting the signature of Mayor Adams to become official. District 1 City Councilmember Christopher Marte voted no, as the Commercial Observer reported, "on the basis that it would allow bad actors to continue with outdoor dining for years at a time." 

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City Council is expected to vote today to make outdoor dining a permanent part of the NYC street landscape. 

Per Gothamist: 

The bill, sponsored by Council Member Marjorie Velázquez with vocal support from Mayor Eric Adams, has gone through multiple revisions since it was first introduced in February of last year, as the Adams administration and Council members have spent more than a year in negotiations for a permanent setup. 

In the latest version, roadway cafes will be allowed from April until the end of November. Sidewalk seating will be authorized for restaurants year-round with the proper permitting, which covers a four-year period. Curb-based roadway seating will require a separate permit spanning the same length of time, with each permit costing $1,050, according to the bill text.

As City & State previously noted, "The establishment of a permanent outdoor dining program has been held up in part by lawsuits, but also by disagreements between City Hall and the Council on what the program should look like."

The most recent lawsuit to end the pandemic-era Open Restaurants program was filed last month. As Streetsblog reported:

The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, makes many of the plaintiffs' previous arguments about the open restaurant program taking away parking, causing noise and congestion, and allegedly inviting rats to move in (though this has been debunked).

But central to the latest effort to undermine the restaurant industry is the claim that the city itself has deconstructed its own pandemic edicts and, as a result, should do the same with the restaurant program.

Meanwhile, if passed, there's still a lengthy approval process for a restaurant to receive streetside dining status. Take it away, Streetsblog:

Business owners will have to send their petitions for outdoor dining to DOT, the Council, the borough president, and the local community board, the latter of which will have 40 days to give recommendations on whether to approve the applications. 

If the business is in a historic district or adjacent to a landmark, it will also need to get approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

The Council can review petitions and hold a vote on whether to approve them.

And one question we've heard people ask: If City Council passes this legislation, what does that mean for the outdoor structures that restaurants and cafes set up during the temporary program? According to various published reports, those streeteries that don't comply with the new rules must come down by Nov. 1, 2024.  

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo and text by Stacie Joy 

Today marked the last day at C&B Cafe on Seventh Street near Avenue B for Bailey Anderes, the coffee shop's stylish barista/counterperson/general happy presence. 

Bailey is pursuing a dream career (blogging?) in another profession... and everyone who has been through the doors here will miss him!

Late morning mannequin break

Photo by Steven 

As seen on St. Mark's Place this morning between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Well, this is not a boat accident! It wasn't any propeller! It wasn't any coral reef!

Report: The historic 137 2nd Ave. — the former Stuyvesant Polyclinic — has a new owner

One of the neighborhood's most unique properties has a new (mystery) owner. 

The landmarked three-story building at 137 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street just changed hands for $18.95 million, the Post first reported. 

The unknown buyer was listed as 137 Second Avenue Holdings, LLC. No word on what the new tenant has planned for the space, which hit the market back in March. 

According to the listing, possible uses included "a future townhouse or residential redevelopment."

The neo-Italian Renaissance brick building is the former German Dispensary, which opened in 1884. (In 1905 it became the Stuyvesant Polyclinic.) 

Here's more about the building from a 2008 New York Times feature:

Like the branch library next door, the Second Avenue building of the German Dispensary was the gift of Anna and Oswald Ottendorfer, who ran the German newspaper New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung. That journal had great influence in Little Germany, on the Lower East Side around First and Second Avenues below 14th Street. The 1886 edition of Appleton's Dictionary of New York described an area in which "lager-beer shops are numerous, and nearly all the signs are of German names."

The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1976. Learn more about No. 137's history and architecture at Off the Grid here.

In 2019, the space became the headquarters of the female-focused co-working club The Wing. Per reports at the time, "the HQ is intended to riff off the building's original details, such as existing terracotta tile floors, decorative pillars, moldings and skylights."

According to Curbed, who first reported on this availability in March, "The Wing's furniture is still in the building and can be included in the sale."

Apparently, the new owner didn't want that furniture. On July 20, EVG contributor Derek Berg spotted workers trashing some pretty nice-looking office fixtures... not to mention some books...

Derek alerted the folks at Village Works around the corner on St. Mark's Place, who were able to salvage some of the books...

Butter Lane leaves 7th Street for a new home in the American Dream Mall

Photos by Steven

Butter Lane has closed its East Village outpost here at 123 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The small bakery, which offered a variety of cupcakes, baking classes and catering, winded down operations this past weekend... ahead of a move to the American Dream Mall (located across from the Angry Bird Mini Golf ticket booth) in East Rutherford, N.J.

Butter Lane debuted here in late 2008 ... with new ownership taking over in 2014.

Signage alert: Anjelly on St. Mark's Place; Rice Bird NYC on 9th Street

Photos by Steven 

Signage went up yesterday for Anjelly at 103 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

We're told this will be an Asian dessert spot. 

The previous tenant, CJ Tattoo, relocated to 55 Avenue C in March. 

Meanwhile... signage arrived last week for Rice Bird NYC at 334 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

A worker said this would be a Chinese restaurant. 

This retail space has been vacant for years.

Midnight moon over 2nd Avenue

Felton Davis of the Second Avenue Star Watchers shared this dispatch from last night...

"After two months of haze and smoke, finally, an almost-full moon hovers over Second Avenue at midnight."

Expect a full moon tonight... and then there's a rare blue supermoon coming at the end of the month.

East Village Loves NYC aids asylum seekers in Midtown during Saturday's heatwave

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

On Saturday morning, a reporter covering the humanitarian crisis at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown asked me if anyone in the neighborhood did emergency aid crisis response. 

She mentioned witnessing hundreds of people on the sidewalk, with the heat index hovering around 100, without food or water while they waited for a spot to open up at the intake center. (All arriving asylum seekers are now processed through a centralized system, but they are no spaces available, so long lines have formed while people wait — up to several days — for a chance to get inside.) 

I contacted some mutual aid groups I'd worked with in the past, including East Village Loves NYC, and we set up a plan to provide 250 meals to people midday after being told they'd only had a "block of cheese" and a bottle of water the night before.

In less than four hours, the volunteers with EVLovesNYC prepared hundreds of meals (beef and vegan options) at their home base, the Sixth Street Community Center, and had them ready to go...

We arrived at the city's intake center at the hotel on East 45th Street. We received assistance from DocGo (the subcontractor managing the site) to hand out the halal meals, watermelon slices, chocolate croissants (courtesy of C&B Cafe on Seventh Street) and bottles of water. 

With so many people waiting (some transported to area hospitals), the city was scrambling for places to put them. The Mayor's office hoped to move people to the Port Authority while waiting for space to open up. MTA buses were brought in as emergency mobile cooling centers. 

The situation at the center was tense, and later that night, after we left, people tried to break the barrier to get inside. There isn't an end in sight, and the city repeatedly has stated they have no more room to house the influx. (City and state officials also continue to ask for assistance from the federal government.)

For information on volunteering with or donating to EVLovesNYC, visit this site.