Plywood report: The Commodore at 14 Avenue C

Renovations continue at 14 Avenue C at Second Street, where an outpost of the Commodore is in the works.

This past December, CB3 approved a full liquor license for the space (previously licensed) for the operators of the retro bar-fried chicken joint that opened on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg in 2010.

 

Eater reported a late fall opening here.

Recent tenants included Sanatorium, the hospital-themed cocktail lounge ... and the hookah lounge C Lounge.

Plywood report: El Pulpo at 51 Avenue B

Also behind the plywood ... at 51 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street... a notice from the State Liquor Authority shows that the establishment will be called El Pulpo...

The principals here, identified as Mina Ibrahim and Mido Emad, were OK'd for a liquor license here in March 2022 via CB3. The Community Board's minutes describe this as a "full kitchen serving Mexican food." 

The questionnaire (PDF here) on file at the CB3 website includes a menu, showing more high-end items (i.e., wagyu beef huarache and potato tetela with caviar) and a list of specialty cocktails.

It's hard to believe that the last tenant here, the Italian stalwart Max, closed 10 years ago.  

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Cecil Scheib 

Midtown views from the East Village this evening...

A Fresh new look for CTown on Avenue C

Exterior renovations got underway at the CTown on Avenue C at 11th Street back on Saturday. (Thanks to EVJackie for the top photo.) 

And Jose Garcia provided an update on the supermarket that's getting a Fresh rebranding ...

So far, the renovations are contained to the outside. Perhaps an interior makeover is in the works too.

CTown shopper Edmund John Dunn reports "Under New Management — Much more selection at better pricing!" signage at the grocery.

After 2 bagel shops, Cuban cuisine is next for 238 E. 14th St.

Photo by Pinch

Signage is up now for Tina's Cuban Cuisine at 238 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

This will be the fourth NYC location for the quick-serve restaurant offering — as the name suggests! — authentic Cuban cuisine. 

The arrival of Tina's marks the end of two consecutive bagel shops at the address.

Bagel Market opened in February before the gate stayed down three months later. In an Instagram message, the owners of the chainlet said there was a leak from the unit above the kitchen, "and it destroyed our oven." They were looking to reopen here.

The previous tenant didn't have much better luck here. The Bagel Boss chainlet opened a location in July 2021, and they closed several months later in October for, per management, "gas and electric problems" in the building. Bagel Boss never reopened here.  

Hopefully, the building issues have been resolved for Tina's. 

Dim sum joint looking closer to being a go (go) on 1st Avenue

Dim Sum Go Go is looking closer to opening now at 221 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. (First reported in July 2021.)

The signage is lit up now... there are also hiring notices on the front window for part-time help...

The soft opening is expected SOON. 

As previously noted, this will be the second outpost of the Michelin- and Zagat-rated restaurant... after the flagship space at 5 E. Broadway in Chinatown that opened in 2000.

7 floors of steel for 1 St. Mark's Place

In the five weeks since our last post on 1 St. Mark's Place, the steel frame has reached what will be the seventh floor here on the NE corner at Third Avenue...

The 9-story building — 53,000 square feet of office space and some 8,000 square feet for retail — has a July 2024 completion date, per the plywood rendering...

The foundation work started here late last summer.

The developer, Real Estate Equities Corp. (REEC), picked up the 99-year leasehold for the corner lot for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The previous assemblage, which included retail tenants such as Korilla BBQ, the Continental and McDonald's, was demolished in 2019.

Smoke shop comings and goings

For those of you keeping track at home... NoHo Green Oasis is now open at 356 Bowery between Fourth Street and Great Jones.

The shop sells the usual — drinks, exotic snacks and smoking accessories. (No cannabis-related products.)

As far as we can recall, this storefront — directly next to the incoming 21-story office building — has been vacant for years. (Hecho en Dumbo was next door at No. 354.)

Meanwhile!

St. Marks Convenience & Smoke Shop at 103 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue has closed... for rent signs now hang on the storefront (thanks to Steven for the photo).

Among other things, the unlicensed shop sold cannabis-related items and had drawn the scrutiny of law enforcement officials...  who busted the business multiple times.

There are also new smoke shops on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue and Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The 9th Precinct's Sector D NCOs are hosting a Build the Block meeting tomorrow night

The 9th Precinct is hosting a Sector Safety Summit tomorrow (Aug. 30) evening for East Village residents and business owners — this time for those who live in Sector D. 

This Sector encompasses the north side of Seventh Street to the south side of 14th Street from the west side of First Avenue to the east side of Broadway. (Find your sector here.) 

The meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5 p.m. at Downtown Social, 149 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. (The bar will not be in service during the meeting.)

As for these Sector meetings: "This is an avenue for you to voice your grievances or concerns with issues in and around the neighborhood."

This is part of the NYPD's initiative called the Neighborhood Coordination Officers (NCO) program. The 9th Precinct is split up into four sectors, with two officers assigned to each sector. Find a list of the 9th Precinct's NCOs here. 

Someone Barbified Basquiat's former space on Great Jones

Sometime in the past two days, someone rolled over all the art with pink paint at 57 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette... even painting over the memorial plaque for onetime tenant Jean-Michel Basquiat, who lived and worked here from 1983 to the time of his death in 1988...

Earlier this summer, Angelina Jolie announced a new venture, Atelier Jolie — "a creative collective for self-expression" — opening this fall inside the space.