On the CB3-SLA docket: Schmuck on 1st Avenue

There's a pretty light agenda for Community Board 3's SLA & DCA Licensing Committee meeting this month. Just a handful of applicants are on tonight's agenda, and most of them are below Houston. (See below for info on watching online — or in person.) 

Here's one applicant of potential interest:

• Schmuck, 97 1st Ave (op) 

There's a new bar-restaurant in the works for the long-vacant SW corner of First Avenue at Sixth Street. 

According to the application on file at the CB3 website (PDF here), Miami-based bar owner Dan Binkiewicz is behind a new concept called Schmuck.

The restaurant, with proposed daily hours of 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., will offer Middle Eastern-style cuisine. The sample menu includes items such as pan bagnat sliders, hummus, pomme dauphine and a burrata stick ("a playful Mediterranean take on the corndog.") 

The application shows that Schmuck is also seeking curbside dining for both the First Avenue and Sixth Street sides — 22 tables for 44 guests ... as well as five tables (10 seats total) for sidewalk seating on First Avenue. 

Binkiewicz's résumé includes the Miami Beach cocktail bar Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company.

In the 10 years since Banjara moved out in late 2013, the restaurants at 97 First Ave. have gone through through multiple name changes/concepts... including, but not limited to, Figaro Villaggio, an Italian bar-restaurant that later changed its name to Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill.

They eventually gave up part of the space to Apna Masala. In March 2015, Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill changed its names/concepts to La Esquina Bar & Grill ... then the name evolved to La Esquina Burritos and Bar ... and eventually East Village Burritos & Bar. Then Spicewala Bar Indian Cuisine. And then Mancora moved here from across the street. And...

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link here. This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Signage time for Seasoned Vegan

Photos by Steven 

Seasoned Vegan Real Quick debuted on Aug. 23 at 128 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

At the time, they opened without the official signage ... which arrived this past Thursday...

... and a final look...

The spot is a new vegan concept from mother and son restaurateurs Brenda "Chef B" Beener and Aaron Beener, who closed their Harlem restaurant Seasoned Vegan this spring after nine years in service.

According to a restaurant rep, they decided to relaunch as quick service takeout and delivery with a few of their most popular dishes offered as sandwiches.

To date, readers have had many good things to say about Seasoned Vegan, which is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight.

A look inside the incoming Popeyes on 14th Street

With the Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers outpost set to open Wednesday on Astor Place ... a few people have asked about another fried-chicken chain. 

The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at 442 E. 14th St., just west of Avenue A, is looking nearly ready for deep-frying action. Workers removed the plastic graffiti barrier on the storefront... which provides a look inside... (H/T Edmund John Dunn!)

Still no word on an opening date here.

This incoming Popeyes combined two storefronts — the Lower East Side Coffee Shop, which closed here after 13 years in February 2021 ... and New Herbal World, which left in September 2019. 

Mr. Kim arrives on St. Mark's Place

A very St. Mark's Place-like business has opened on St. Mark's Place. 

Mr. Kim is a new tattoo-piercing shop at 22 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Thanks to Steven for the photo!)

We also noticed two display cases of budget sunglasses and some umbrellas for sale out front on Friday evening. 

Mr. Kim takes over the retail space from WAGA, which sold handmade goods primarily from West Africa. The shop closed in the spring after 22 years in business.

Sunday's parting shot

Currently on the wall outside the Second Avenue F stop at Houston: A 9/11 tribute to firefighter Robert W. McPadden by Clown Soldier. (H/T William Klayer.)

Here's more about him: 

Robert William McPadden‚ 30‚ firefighter‚ FDNY‚ Engine 23. McPadden was continuing his family's proud tradition of public service when he joined the FDNY. His father had served the department for almost 40 years‚ and his brother and sister are both police officers. While he waited for an opening in the FDNY‚ he earned a graduate degree in criminal justice and played a lot of Jeopardy. He and his wife had just bought a home in Pearl River so they could be closer to family and friends.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on Second Avenue by Derek Berg) ... 

• A memorial for Dennis Edge in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday) 

• Hold it now, hit it: Beastie Boys Square is finally becoming a reality on the Lower East Side (Thursday) 

• Report of a stabbing Friday night in Tompkins Square Park (Saturday) 

• Vintage video shop 8 Bit and Up is closing in the East Village (Wednesday) 

• Flashback to 2011, when the Big Gay Ice Cream shop opened on 7th Street; and today's current legal battle (Monday) 

• Indian hit masters Unapologetic Foods opening Filipino restaurant Naks on 1st Avenue (Tuesday)

• About Tunji Dada's 'Phon(e)y Selections' (Friday) 

• Reader report: This tree could use some help on 4th Street (Thursday) 

• Openings: Cafe La Fe on 1st Street (Wednesday) ... Joey Bats on Avenue B (Thursday)

• Reports of smashed car windows on East Village side streets (Monday) 

• Concerns about some basic playground amenities in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday)

• Total 'Recall' — new exhibit explores unsettled memories (Friday)

• Storefront shuffle on Avenue A (Wednesday) ... Whim Golf has closed on Avenue A (Tuesday) 

• ICYMI: Petopia is temporarily closed on Avenue A (Tuesday) 

• Raising Cane's is on the clock for opening day (Thursday) 

• Hello to Hello, Yam! on 9th Street (Tuesday) 

• The J Crew on the Bowery is back open (Tuesday)

... and Saifee's on First Avenue at Seventh Street is ready for fall even if we're not feeling it just yet (photo by Stacie Joy)...

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Cafe Mogador is donating profits tomorrow to help the victims of Morocco's deadly earthquake

Photos and story by Stacie Joy 

Tomorrow (Sept. 11), Cafe Mogador on St. Mark's Place (and the Brooklyn location) is donating all of its profits to relief efforts in Morocco after the devastating earthquake there on Friday. 

Danny Orlin (below left) and Jacob Ahiyon, the general manager and operating partner, are also encouraging people to donate to a credible disaster relief service ...

The Orlin family lost relatives in a previous earthquake in 1960 in Agadir, Morocco, where they are from.

Cafe Mogador, which opened here in 1983, is at 101 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. The Williamsburg location is at 133 Wythe Ave. (Not pictured: Co-organizer Rafael Ohayon, Danny's brother, is owner and operator of the Brooklyn outpost.)

How to help:

• Doctors Without Borders • Global Giving • Red Cross • UNICEF

Sunday's opening sunrise shots

Thanks to Jeanne Krier for the top photo this morning... and an EVG pic below...

While we're looking at the sky, there is a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, per the weather folks.

Saturday's parting shot

Midtown views from the East Village tonight...

Report of a stabbing last night in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven

A 39-year-old man is in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries after being stabbed multiple times in the torso last night in Tompkins Square Park, according to published reports. 

The stabbing took place around 11:30 p.m. inside the entrance at Seventh Street and Avenue A. Sources said the victim was sitting on a bench about 30 feet past the chess tables...

Here's more via ABC 7: 

It's unclear whether the two individuals knew each other or if there was a dispute, but police say the 39-year-old was stabbed in the torso. The incident took place as many other people were in the park at the time. The suspect took off, fleeing the busy scene. 

The Post reported that the NYPD is "looking for a man wearing black pants, and a black shirt with white lettering." No other description of the at-large suspect was immediately made available.

The NYPD added solar-powered auxiliary lights on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A last fall after someone slashed a delivery man in the face during the afternoon hours.