Night falls on 'Manhattan'

 

A Saturday night Friday-at-5 special edition... former East Village resident Cat Power (aka Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshal) released this track, "Manhattan," on her 2012 record Sun ... an instantly great song that some saw as "a celebration and elegy at once." 

Cat Power is the special guest on the Modest Mouse-Pixies bill this summer ... which includes two sold-out nights this Monday and Tuesday at the Rooftop at Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport.

Noted

Updated 9/2: The shop is back open.

A few readers have noted that the J.Crew Men's Shop is currently — and temporarily! — closed for unspecified reasons on the Bowery at Bleecker...

This comes about 11 months after the brand made its debut in this long-vacant retail space.

Saturday's opening shot

The sunflowers of Cooper Square...

Burning the 'Midnight' oil

 

The B-52s, the new wave icons out of Athens, Ga., are wrapping up a farewell tour.

Meanwhile, the group's singer and co-founder, Cindy Wilson, is releasing her second solo album, Realms, on Aug 25 via Kill Rock Stars. 

All early tracks sound solid, like this dance-floor groove "Midnight."

Back on the street with Mscady1965

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The most recognizable car in the East Village is back on the streets.

The 1965 Cadillac Eldorado convertible can usually be spotted around Il Posto Accanto, the rustic, 28-year-old Italian restaurant at 190 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

It belongs to husband-wife owners Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta and Julio Pena. (Julio bought the Caddy in 1992, around the time the two met and fell in love.)

The car was in the shop for a new paint job and some work on a sticky window earlier this summer.

The other day, Bea and Julio met me for a quick ride around the neighborhood. The show-stopping vehicle always draws a happy response from passersby (and without the aid of any Phil Collins!). 

Julio has set up an Instagram account for the car — @mscady1965 along with a hashtag, #mscady.

You can also contact him to rent the car for photoshoots. 

On 7th Street, neighboring businesses 75 Degrees Cafe & Bakery and Baonanas have closed

Photos by Steven 

Two side-by-side businesses have closed at 93 E. Seventh St. just east of First Avenue. 

Door signage states that Baonanas, which offers its take on banana pudding and other desserts, "is closed until TBD."

Their neighbor to the west, 7th Street Burger, is selling half-pints of their desserts. 

Real-life couple Trisha Villanueva and Lloyd Ortuoste started Baonanas in Jersey City in 2014... and debuted here in the spring of 2022.

Meanwhile, in the storefront to the east, 75 Degrees Cafe & Bakery has officially closed...

A note on the door states, "Unfortunately, our time in the East Village has come to an end..."

The business, described as a "modern Japanese-inspired cafe," opened in November 2021. 

Friday's opening shot

Photo by Michael Kramer 

The view before the downpour at 6:46 this morning. 

Per Weather Channel sources, the showers should taper off by 8 7:25... with a good chance of some sun this afternoon. Expected cooler, dryer conditions in the great East Village metropolitan area into tomorrow.

I know what you did last summer

Photo by Steven 

Yes, not the right movie reference in the headlines for the masks. 

First Avenue at Second Street this afternoon.

Openings: Cafe Chrystie and Chrystie NYC on 7th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Earlier this month, East Village resident Pep Kim (above) debuted a new café-boutique concept at 184 E. Seventh St. at Avenue B (SE corner).

The small retail space houses Café Chrystie and his Chrystie NYC clothing brand.

The space also features a curated selection of photo books, records and ceramic collections...

Kim, who has worked as a filmmaker and photographer, envisions this space as a community center and plans to host photo shows and other art events here.

For now, the café is just serving coffee drinks as well as a (non-alcoholic) specialty — Yuja-Ade, made from the citrus fruit cultivated in East Asia. Kim plans to offer pastries in the weeks ahead as well.

The summer business hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

You can follow the café on Instagram here ... and Chrystie NYC here. 

Report: How 1 East Village landlord stopped a mega-development from rising next door

News of the pending demolition of six buildings — 50-64 Third Ave. — on Third Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street prompted some reader questions about the stalled development at 42-46 Second Ave.

As previously reported (first here), there were approved work permits for an 11-floor mixed-use building on the site of a former three-building parcel between Second Street and Third Street.

Gemini Rosemont Development was behind this 100,568-square-foot new building ... the development, using 42 E. Second St. for its address, included 88 residential units and 9,600 square feet for retail.

However, those plans are officially dead as the city moved to revoke the permits.

Earlier this month, The Real Deal took a deep dive into what happened:

All that stood in Gemini's way was a small-time landlord next door. Robert Proto, however, proved to be a big-time problem.

Proto made unceasing calls to officials for weeks, triggering an audit by the Department of Buildings that found code and zoning issues that had initially slipped past the agency.

Proto owns the building on the SE corner of Third Street — the last one standing on this Second Avenue block, not to mention the home of Proto's Pizza. 

Here are a few more details:

Proto's landmarked building was built in 1899 with brick with wood joist construction and rubble stone foundation walls, making it "fragile and highly susceptible to settlement and cracking," according to court records.

Gemini Rosemont brought in a hydraulic hammer to break up the foundation of the former church, shaking Proto's building violently, bursting heat pipes and water lines and flooding a retail tenant, he said. He filed a lawsuit last year alleging that Gemini Rosemont broke its construction agreement with him. The suit is pending.

Gemini Rosemont is reportedly moving on from the project. A rep told us previously, "The project is frozen, and we are currently evaluating options for the site." 

In 2020, Gemini Rosemont bought the former La Salle annex at 38 Second Ave. and Second Street. The $14.5 million purchase of the four-story building was the third of three contiguous plots they acquired. The Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment company closed on 42-44 Second Ave. and 46-48 Second Ave. (the former Church of the Nativity) in March 2020 for $40 million. 

So they're out $55 million just for the properties, not including any other associated costs for the design and preliminary work on the lot. 

Still waiting for word on what might be next for the space. Whoever the new owner turns out to be, they must be made aware of the past development crisis here — and maybe even work with Proto on the project.

Speaking out which... back to The Real Deal:

Proto stopped the firm's project but says he's out $500,000 from legal expenses, engineering fees and damages to his building. He hopes to recover some of that with his lawsuit.

Yet he considers himself fortunate to have had the time and resources to defend his building.