City using the former St. Brigid School to help asylum seekers with transportation

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The city is once again putting the former St. Brigid School to use to aid asylum seekers.

Sources confirmed to us that the city's Office of Emergency Management has repurposed the school, which the Archdiocese of New York closed in the spring of 2019, for "reticketing" services ... which help provide transportation to asylum seekers who are bussed to NYC, but whose final destination is elsewhere. (We're told that other administrative services may also be offered here under the auspices of the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers.)

The posted hours of operation here are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Signs at the site note the following (in five languages), "Attention: this is a reticketing hub! This is not a respite site/shelter. There are no beds at this site. We are here to help you get transportation to any state, or country, of your convenience."

Yesterday, we spotted several asylum seekers at the school. Two people were consulting a computer-printed map to get to Astoria. A city medical staffer told us they could only provide a single emergency meal — today, a tuna fish sandwich was available. Staff members are also not authorized to provide medical aid.  (Updated: The City has more on this story here.)

Before this development, the city was again ready to house arriving asylum seekers — adults only — in the building on Seventh Street and Avenue B. In early October, workers filled the facility with cots — set up in classrooms and other open areas throughout the building — for the arriving asylum seekers...

The facility included showers in the rear parking lot adjacent to the church...

However, according to sources, the school was susceptible to flooding, and with the heavy rains in recent weeks, workers had to make repairs before anyone could stay on-site. The flooding and a sewer issue made the basement and cafeteria unusable here. In the end, there were too many issues to address in order to house people.

As we previously reported, the city used the building for asylum seekers from late May to the end of August. The space was said to accommodate 350 people. The city struggled to meet the basic needs of the new arrivals here. (Our previous post highlighted some of the issues at the school.) 

Locals helped organize several clothing-and-supply distributions, and many East Village residents graciously donated a variety of items as well as their time. 

According to published reports, more than 120,000 asylum seekers have arrived in NYC in the past year, and about 60,000 are currently in shelters run by the city.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Inside the East Village 'respite center' for asylum seekers

• Missed meal deliveries and a need for basics: the developing situation at the East Village respite center for asylum seekers

• At the former St. Brigid School, a generous outpouring of community support for asylum seekers

• Despite the city's endless bureaucracy, East Village residents continue to aid asylum seekers at the former St. Brigid School 

• How these East Village volunteers finally made Wi-Fi a reality for asylum seekers

Openings: Ayat on Avenue C

Photos by Stacie Joy

Ayat made its soft-opening debut on Oct. 13 on the NW corner of Avenue C and Seventh Street. (We had the scoop on this arrival back in April.)

The Palestinian bistro has several Brooklyn outposts, including the original in Bay Ridge, and one in Pennsylvania. This is their first restaurant in Manhattan.

Here's a look inside the space, the longtime home until February 2020 of Zum Schneider...

The manager, Eli, shared the menu with us (which you can find online) and pointed out some popular dishes...

... such as the Mezze Filistini Plate with hummus, baba ganoush, muhammara, tabbouleh, salata tahina and labneh...

... and the Flatbread Zaatar Margarita ...

They don't serve alcohol ... though you can BYOB — there's no corkage fee.

Hours right now: Daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., depending on the night.

Hateful remarks and negative reviews

Ayat has been in the national headlines since war broke out between Israel and Hamas. 

Co-owner Abdul Eleanani was featured in an ABC News piece on the challenges facing Palestinian businesses in the U.S. and Canada.

Eleanani, who is of Egyptian descent, said that "the company has faced hateful remarks made to company staff face-to-face and over the phone, as well as an onslaught of negative Google reviews." Someone also reportedly walked into the East Village location and yelled, "'You guys are terrorists,' while adding an expletive."

Eleanani told the Associated Press that Ayat "was forced to disconnect its phone after receiving 'nonstop' threatening voicemails."

Still, the hostile reception was overshadowed by the support he has received from his neighbors, many of whom are Jewish and share his views about minimizing civilian deaths, he said.

"In New York, we all live together, we work together, we grow together," Elenani said. "And we all want this violence to stop."

As Eater reported, the negative response was due to, in part, "the restaurant's outspoken identity and its 'call to end apartheid'" on social media.

Eleanani and co-owner Ayat Masoud told Eater that "they do not support Hamas and simply want Palestinians to be treated fairly."

Monday's parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Sawyer hosted the annual BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) event last night at the Parkside Lounge on Houston and Attorney... and there were prizes...

A 'boutique micro hotel' is in the works for this former Bowery flophouse

The former Whitehouse Hotel, the last flophouses on the Bowery, will see a new life as a "boutique micro hotel" for solo travelers. 

This information comes via a new listing at Meridian Retail Leasing for the space at 340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond. Here are hotel details per a PDF about the ground-floor space being pitched for retail or restaurant use: 

338-340 Bowery will undergo a full renovation repositioning itself into an 182-key modern boutique micro hotel inspired by European Luxury train sleeper cabins. The hotel will focus on creating a hub for solo travelers to connect while providing a beautiful, affordable and exceptional experience ... 

The Bowery Boutique Hotel will have a target demographic of adventurous, curious, global travelers ages 25-40 seeking a shared experience and appreciation for design and culture. The social profile will consist of design-focused and brand-aware young professionals who align their values with the NoHo culture.

The PDF includes renderings of the hotel...

And a rendering of the retail...

This 2,200-square-foot retail space has a monthly ask of $27,000.

Some recent history here: In August 2022, a "retail opportunity" banner arrived by the front door. (The Meridian signage arrived early last week.)

There is a lot of history with the Whitehouse, a four-story building that has served as a single-room occupancy hotel dating to 1899.

As we understand, a handful of residents remain here, and their presence has reportedly hindered any new building plans through the years. We hadn't heard anything about the building since late 2018, when Alex Vadukul profiled the artist Sir Shadow, who was one of the six remaining residents of the Whitehouse, in a feature at The New York Times.

As Vadukul noted: "A few residents have died, and buyouts have lured away others. The men who remain in the flophouse have refused these deals. The Whitehouse Hotel's future appears to now hinge on a grim but simple waiting game." (Sources tell us that Sir Shadow no longer lives at this address.)

Ahead of the renovations, the residents were moved to space at 338 Bowery. (We covered this here.)

The building was spruced up in 2011 to appeal to the thrill-seeking backpacking set. (For $45, guests could stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling... while the long-term residents remained on another floor.)

However, the Whitehouse stopped accepting reservations in September 2014. Plans were previously filed via Sam Chang in 2014 to "convert a 4-story lodging house into a 9-story hotel," according to DOB records. The Renatus Group now owns the property located in the NoHo Historic District.

At its height in 1950, the Whitehouse had 234 "cubicles" for its occupants. Take a tour of the space here.  

1 week in on the reconstruction of the Tompkins Square Park multipurpose courts

The pavement reconstruction of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park (along 10th and A) got underway last Monday....

Here's a look at the work to date...

According to a landscape architect with the Parks Department (from a presentation in February), there's a lot of "asphalt structural damage," and it "needs to be replaced and repaired. And the only way to do that is to take all the asphalt down to the sub base and put new asphalt down." 

The new walking/running track has garnered the most reaction from readers. This track will be painted on the new asphalt, not a rubberized coating.

Additions also include new benches (the 1939 World's Fair models!), a kickball court, a high-low fountain that kids and adults can use simultaneously, and three new basketball backstops at the eastern end. And moving forward, the space will no longer host permitted sports, including hockey in the fall or softball in the spring-summer.

According to Quartersnacks, the assortment of ramps, rails and boxes that the skaters used were placed in storage (at least the ones still in decent shape).

And some thoughts on the new era of the TF via Quartersnacks...

Tricks that were learned over those cracks in the asphalt took some people around the world. Lifelong friendships were forged on those benches. Over time, new cracks will form in the ground, and new friendships will form on the benches between people who never sat on the old ones. Regardless of how mystical you want to get about the place, it was a profound part in the life of anybody who spent time there. It's not disappearing, but it's changing.

Posted signs say the work will be complete by Dec. 1... though the Parks website still lists June 2024.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Big changes are coming to the iconic skate spot in Tompkins Square Park

You will be able to hone your comedy skills at a former 7-Eleven with the Upright Citizens Brigade

Back in the summer, the Upright Citizens Brigade announced plans to open a theater at 242 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

And they're expanding their footprint on this corridor of 14th Street (aka, IHOP Way!) — the empty retail space across the street now has the UCB branding on the front door...

Greg Goldberg, senior director at Meridian Retail Leasing, confirmed that UCB will use this space for comedy classes. (We reached out to UCB as well. Updated: UCB confirmed the usage for training as well!)

The address, 239 E. 14th St., has been vacant ever since the 7-Eleven here closed in December 2021. 

This new theater space marks a return for the comedy brand. Amid ongoing financial difficulties made worse by the start of the pandemic, UCB closed all its remaining NYC locations in April 2020.

You can find more UCB/East Village background in our previous post. 

This East Village building is now Untitled

Reporting by Stacie Joy 

Late this past Thursday afternoon, this two-floor high "Untitled" sign arrived on the SE corner of Avenue A and Fifth Street...

We fielded several reader queries about the sign. Given its placement (and despite its permanence), a few readers thought this might be related to an event at Mast, the bookstore-gallery in the corner retail space. 

Well, it has nothing to do with Mast. An employee there was just as confused and surprised as others, and they questioned the placement above the business. (And Untitled isn't out of the realm of possibilities for the name of a bookstore.)

Sources tell us this is now the name of the 6-story building here at 58-72 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, which an LLC purchased for $64 million last fall. 

Meanwhile, readers also noted another new detail in the building: A copy of David Hockney's "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" recently arrived in the refurbished Avenue A lobby... (the painting sold in 2018 for more than the building cost... and to be clear, this is not the original)...

As previously reported, Ink on A was a casualty in the block-long building's storefronts ... and as previous commenters noted, the landlords are not offering lease renewals to market-rate residential tenants.

Several renovated apartments, now configured with up to four bedrooms (previously one and two) plus in-unit washer-dryer combos and split-unit AC, are currently on the rental market. 

At the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Dog lovers turned out in droves — The New York Times estimated the crowd size at 15,000 — to watch the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade yesterday afternoon.  

Contestants and their humans strolled along Avenue B from 12th Street to Seventh Street ... a team of judges selected 40 finalists (Best in Show!), who continued onto the stage in the center of the Park (read more on the background here) ...

Here's a look at a few of the costumes... drawing heavily as always from pop culture, including the "Barbie" movie, Joker from Batman and Cruella de Vil ... and there were multiple NYC rat czars...

Pookah, a Pomeranian going as "Winnie the Pookah," received the top prize...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included ... (with a photo outside Cabin on 9th by Chris Rowland)... 

• An overhead view of Tompkins Square Park when the lights are off (Wednesday) 

• RIP Maryanne Byington (Tuesday) 

• The milling of the multipurpose courts in Tompkins Square Park is underway (Tuesday) 

• This nearly block-long parcel on 2nd Avenue is now for sale (Monday) 

• A last look inside Wegmans before its grand opening on Astor Place (Monday) 

• The DOT wants your feedback on the future of East River Park waterfront access (Friday) 

• Capturing Monday's rainbow action (Monday)

• On Union Square, Target debuts ahead of its announced opening day (Thursday) 

• Speaking out against the ongoing sweeps on 9th Street and 1st Avenue (Friday)

• On the CB3-SLA docket: A new home for Han Dynasty on 3rd Avenue; a Sunflower for 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• The Dash Snow tribute has been painted over on the Lower East Side (Thursday) 

• How to tote around the Essex Card Shop with you (Saturday) 

• What's happening at the former Trader Joe's Wine Shop on 14th Street? (Thursday)

• About the Earth School's Fall Fair on Nov. 4 (Thursday)

• Storefront signage alert: Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart on 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

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Sunday's opening shot

Morning Midtown and pigeon views... 

As for those clouds. Per the Weather Channel, "Considerable clouds this morning. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. High 56F." Turning to sports, the New York Giants are still in search of their second win of the season.