Bong World is officially cashed on 14th Street

Unfortunately, ownership of Bong World at 226 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue could not resolve the back-rent issues with the landlord. 

An eviction notice arrived on Wednesday...

... and the interior of the shop is in the process of being packed up...

... a few items remain, including a topless and armless female mannequin in an orange camouflage hat...

Bong World debuted here to some fanfare in March 2022. 

Several readers have asked for recommendations for other local businesses that sell smoking accessories. 

Unfortunately, we're unaware of any other place in the immediate area that sells, say, rolling papers/trays, dab rigs, bubblers, or exotic Cheetos snack collections sourced from China, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and India.

Saturday's opening shot

New work up on the Bowery Mural Wall at Houston... wheatpaste panels by Tomokazu Matsuyama... with piano accompaniment this morning via Kristopher Hull. 

Not sure at the moment if this is an officially commissioned work (probably: updated confirmed YES) via Goldman Properties. 

After the art kept getting bombed in the spring of 2022, Jessica Goldman Srebnick, co-chair of Goldman Properties and curator of this wall, put the space on hiatus. And the street took over in the interim. 

H/T @catscoffeecreativity

Updated 9/3

 

Someone quickly tagged the collage of murals...

Let the 'Goodtime!' roll

 

After two buzzy records, the Nashville-based Be Your Own Pet called it quits in 2008. 

Here then, 15 years later, the band is back with Mommy, which shows BYOP staying true to their garage punk roots. 

The video here is for "Goodtime!"

The New Up & Up Laundromat has closed on Avenue A

Photos by Daniel Carlson 

Multiple EVG readers have shared the news that the New Up & Up Laundromat at 13 Avenue A between Houston/First and Second Street has closed. 

Starting yesterday, workers were spotted removing the equipment from the longtime business...

The space is for lease, though we haven't spotted any listing online just yet.

About the VIP portable toilet in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven

Several readers have asked about the luxury portable trailer — VIP to Go! — that has been near the Seventh Street entrance between Avenue A and Avenue B this past week. 

Perhaps the city found some extra budget $$$ and is treating us to some upscale facilities while the field house is closed for renovation? 

Haha! No! 

The facilities remain here after the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival on Sunday. These were brought in for the use of the musicians backstage. 

But, they remain... and are unlocked... as an intrepid EVG correspondent discovered... 

By the way, this model is the two-station Rolls Royce restroom trailer. Per the description: "Impresses everyone who sees it with its clean, simple white exterior that opens to a beautiful, warm wood interior and all the luxuries of home." 

Anyway, enjoy it while you can.

A new Indian restaurant for the former Little India on 6th Street

Photo by Goggla 

A coming soon sign for a restaurant serving Indian cuisine has arrived outside 324 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... and next door to the shuttered Raj Mahal. 

And just last week, we noted that the block was down to one Indian restaurant, Malai Marke, when there were more than 25 at one point in its Little India heyday.

We don't know at the moment who's behind the new establishment.

Koo'k just closed at No. 324 after eight years in service.

6 posts from August

A mini month in review... 

• Asylum seekers are no longer staying at the former St. Brigid School in the East Village (Aug. 28) 

• 9th Street parking garage being offered for redevelopment (Aug. 21) 

• These 6 East Village buildings will be demolished for a new development on 3rd Avenue (Aug. 14)

• At the opening night of the O'Flaherty's Café (Aug. 12) 

• These are longtime food writer Robert Sietsema's 10 favorite East Village meals (Aug. 10) 

• RIP Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street (Aug. 3)

Miles away: the Moon and Saturn in Aquarius from Third Street

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

Aquarius is low in the sky, and the glare from the streetlights on East Third Street made it very difficult to make out Saturn, some 800 million miles distant. Thanks to everyone who stopped by...

... and for a little constellation perspective...

The long-neglected 6 Avenue B is for sale

After sitting abandoned for over a decade, 6 Avenue B is suddenly a hot property. 

While the gut renovation of the 6-story building on the NW corner of Houston and B continues, a listing for the property is active. 

Some details: 

• Building is currently being gut renovated and is near completion.

• The building consists of 10 free market apartments ( 5 two bedrooms, 5 three bedrooms) & a ground floor retail space. 

• Retail store is approximately 1500 sf with 14-foot ceiling heights. 

No mention of a price.

Here's a rendering (with an older photo — RIP Red Square shops) showing the retail potential here ... coffee!

An LLC linked to Penn Capital South, whose portfolio includes multiple EV properties, bought the building in February. According to public records, the building changed hands for just $1.05 million. However, the new owners also had to pay $4.2 million in real property transfer and real estate transfer taxes.

This was one of the abandoned buildings owned by the estate of the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, both long deceased. However, No. 6 has been generating some income with the cell-phone towers on the roof. 

The liquor store in the retail space closed when the owner passed away in the fall of 2009 at age 89. (Chico created the tribute to her on the gate in February 2010.)

As we've pointed out (here and here), the building was in dismal shape and needed significant work to bring it up to code. Before the renovations, the DOB had cited No. 6 for emergency repairs several times in recent years.

Previously on EVG: 

• Because you've always wanted to know what the inside of the long-empty 6 Avenue B looks like 

• Let's take another look at the eerie remains of the long-abandoned 6 Avenue B 

• Time passages: Check out the interior of the long-empty Mom's Liquor Store on Avenue B

Openings: Salter House on 2nd Street

Photos by Stacie Joy

Salter House, a shop offering sustainable housewares and clothing, opened an outpost earlier this month at 34 E. Second St., just west of Second Avenue.

Former East Village residents Sandeep Salter and her husband, Carson, opened the first Salter House in 2017 in Brooklyn Heights.

Here's more about the EV storefront via ArchDigest...

Dating back to the 1900s, the former tenement building has a series of past lives, from a headquarters for a revolutionary political group in the '70s to the Russian music bar previously known as Anyway Cafe. 

"One of the things that we really loved when we cleaned up the space was this floor from when it had been a barber shop," says Sandeep. "It's lived so many lives, and when you spend time in here, you can feel that. It’s this charming cellar spot that’s been a storefront for 200 years and has seen so many things."

During the demolition period, which took nearly three months to complete, they uncovered original cobalt and white metro hex tiles from the 1930s underneath low-quality layers of linoleum tile, glue, and cement. "Once we saw that, it changed our whole idea of what the space would look like, and we just went with that," Sandeep recalls.

And here's a look inside the 450-square-foot shop...

Hours: Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.

The previous tenant here, Anyway Cafe, closed this past February after 28 years.