A pop-up no more, Apollo Bagels opening first outpost in the East Village on 10th Street

Photo yesterday by Steven

Pop-up hit Apollo Bagels will open its first outpost at 242 E. 10th St., just west of First Avenue. 

According to Grub Street's Chris Crowley, who first reported on the EV location, Joey Scalabrino and his business partner Mike Fadem first started making and selling bagels from their Williamsburg pizzeria, Leo, in 2020... before launching Apollo Bagels as a pop-up at Fanelli's in 2022. The two later hosted a series of bagel pop-ups in several cities, including Paris and Montreal. 

Here's more about the bagels and the new space via Grub Street:

The bagels are crispy and chewy on the outside, baked to a shade of deep brown, with little blackened patches. And, as one recent fan put it, they've got "a good fluff-to-crunch ration." Made of sourdough, they're less dense than they look, bubbly on the outside with an airy interior. 

The 800-square-foot storefront is divided by a long counter for ordering. Seating is outside only, and the menu will remain tight: Sandwiches included smoked salmon with capers, red onion, and dill; whitefish salad; and a summertime tomato with olive oil. (Bagels will also be sold by the half-dozen and dozen, straight from the oven, with the standard spreads like cream cheese available, as well.) 

Apollo had been teasing an East Village debut since late December...

 

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Apollo will have some competition with Black Seed Bagels not too far away on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street... and the two outposts of Tompkins Square Bagels are close enough.

No. 242 was most recently home to Pink's Cantina.

[Updated]: Woman killed by tow truck on 10th Street and Avenue C

Photo by Dave on 7th

Updated: Police identified the woman as longtime East Village resident Merle Ratner.

A tow truck struck and killed a 67-year-old woman carrying a bag of groceries and crossing 10th Street at Avenue C early this evening, according to police and media reports. 

The collision occurred around 7 p.m. on the east side of the intersection as the woman crossed 10th Street.

ABC 7 said that the truck driver from an automotive shop — making a left from the southbound lane of C — remained on the scene. 

The Collision Investigation Squad questioned the driver and conducted a field sobriety test. He has reportedly not been charged while the investigation continues.

Noted

As seen on Sixth Street near at Avenue C... And thnaks to our friends at the DeColores Community Yard on Eighth Street between B and C for the photo.

New landlord serves Lucy's with a termination notice on Avenue A

Lucy's is another step closer to a permanent closure at 135 Avenue A.

This past week, someone affixed a 30-day Notice of Termination to the front door (thanks to Lola Sáenz for the photos below).

According to the documents, the new landlord (West Lake 135-139 Avenue A LLC) is terminating the bar's lease effective Feb. 29...

As we previously reported, owner Ludwika "Lucy" Mickevicius' lease expired in May 2015, and she was on a month-to-month arrangement with the previous landlord. (The buildings were recently sold for $19.1 million.)

Lucy must "quit, vacate and surrender" the space between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street or face court action by the end of the month.

The bar (aka Blanche's Lucy's Tavern) has not been open since November when some paperwork issues forced what was to be a temporary closure.

It's still possible Lucy could decide to find a new location for the bar. Plenty of people would support and applaud that.

And for those who've asked, the legal document states the lease started at the address in December 1987.

City unveils the final rules for the permanent outdoor dining program

Workers remove the curbside dining structure from Phebe's on Jan. 27 

The final rules for the city's permanent outdoor dining program, set to launch next month, are now in the books. 

On Friday, city officials released the new guidelines, titled "Dining Out NYC." The significant change: Enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November. 

According to city officials, if restaurants plan to offer diners open-air options, owners will have to remove their old outdoor dining setups and replace them by the summer. 

Per the city's release announcing "Dining Out NYC" ...

Final program rules include clear design requirements, siting criteria on where outdoor dining setups can be located in relation to other street features, like subway entrances, fire hydrants, and more, and the types of materials that can be used in outdoor setups. They also require that the setups preserve clear sidewalk paths and emergency roadway lanes — including water-filled, rat-resistant protective barriers for roadway setups —– and use easily moveable furniture and coverings. Ultimately, the final rules will create a lighter-weight outdoor dining experience with lines of sight, as compared to the fully enclosed shacks of the temporary COVID-19-era program. 

"This administration has found a way to continue outdoor dining in New York City while prioritizing cleanliness,' said New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. "Under these rules, New Yorkers will be asking for a table, and the rats will be saying, 'Check, please!'"

 This link has guidelines for roadway and sidewalk dining.

Meanwhile, Kazuka at 107 Avenue A has brought the booths outside for some open-air hookah action here near Seventh Street... 

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Untitled building now with more Untitled

A surprising number of readers pointed out the new Untitled signage on the three residential entrances of the recently branded building at 58-72 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

The block letters arrived Friday on the newish awnings on the A, Fourth and Fifth Street sides...

The two-floor high "Untitled" sign arrived on the SE corner of Avenue A and Fifth Street back in the fall, setting off some speculation over the name. (Some people thought it had something to do with the bookstore Mast, the tenant in the corner space. It did not.)

Derby Copeland Capital bought the 6-story building for $64 million in the fall of 2022. The building is entering its second year of gut renovations, which has seen the conversion from prewar 1- and 2-bedroom units to 3-4-bedroom apartments with asking rents as high as $10,000 per month. 

The building's previous market-rate tenants were not offered lease renewals (with a 90-day notice), and now only a handful of rent-controlled and stabilized tenants are still in residence. (Read more about the situation via this Hellgate piece.) 

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo yesterday from Tompkins Square Park by Stacie Joy)...

• East Village Loves NYC seeks a new commercial kitchen to help feed NYC’s food insecure (Tuesday) 

• Amid an influx of asylum seekers in the East Village, elected officials urge the city to open more reticketing centers (Monday) 

• Report explores the impact of Mount Sinai Beth Israel's potential closure on the local community (Wednesday) 

• On the Job: Talking with playwright Max Wolf Friedlich at the Connelly Theater (Thursday) 

• Ongoing building issues force Caffe Corretto to close after only 2 months in service on 12th Street (Tuesday)

• Happy 25th anniversary to Lavagna! (Thursday) 

• Everytable has closed its Avenue B outpost (and every other NYC location) (Wednesday) 

• Music venue wanted for former Rockwood Music Hall 2 space on the Lower East Side (Friday) 

• That penthouse with a cottage atop 1st Street and 1st Avenue is ... back... on... the... market! (Wednesday) 

• The piebald squirrel of Tompkins Square Park (Sunday) 

• Report: Kushner Cos. continues East Village exit plan (Friday) 

• More about the new taqueria opening in the former Chicken & the Egg space (Monday) 

• Today in vibrating severed hands (Sunday) 

• Dunkin' shutters on Cooper Square (Monday) 

• Looking at the Astor Place CVS renovation plans (Friday) 

• Yuca Bar remains closed for renovations (Monday)

... and keep your eyes open...    

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These East Village tenants held a dance party to call out their landlord's sewage treatment

This past Tuesday, East Village residents and their supporters gathered outside 256 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue to call on their landlord for safe building conditions. 

The newly formed EV Scharfman Coalition, along with the Cooper Square Committee, was behind this "Scharfman, Cut The Sh*t!" Dance Party. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Assembly Member Harvey Epstein also spoke on behalf of the tenants.

Some background, per Cooper Square officials: 

Tenants of landlord Mark Scharfman are calling on their landlord to meet with them as they've requested, stop taking tenants to court for legally withholding rent during sewage flooding, treat them respectfully, and provide safe, sanitary living conditions. 

After three rounds of sewage flooding in one East Village building and similar issues in another building, several responses from the fire department, and requests for repairs and maintenance unanswered or seriously delayed, tenants have banded together to bring attention to the terrible conditions they've lived through as well as their experiences with their landlord and management company as some now face housing court because they legally withheld rent for unlivable conditions. 

Mark Scharfman, the owner of the buildings and a landlord associated with close to 150 buildings in NYC, many of which are managed under his Beach Lane Property Management Company, has been accused of tax fraud by multiple organizations, serious maltreatment of tenants, and more for years. In addition, Scharfman has been on the Public Advocate's Worst Landlord List, coming in at number 44 in 2021 and number 28 in 2020.

"The conditions that these tenants have suffered through, including fecal matter entering into their apartments, is beyond the pale," said Cooper Square Committee organizer Illapa Sairitupac. "Scharfman has an obligation to listen to his tenants and keep his buildings in good repair at the very minimum. We demand he take them seriously."

 

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Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Zines for sale outside Tompkins Square Park today by Jasper Krents... find 'em online here.

EVG Etc.: Remembering Wayne Kramer; celebrating Black History Month

Early evening view from 2nd Avenue

• RIP Wayne Kramer of the MC5 (Pitchfork ... The Associated Press... Detroit Free Press) 

• New York eyes rule changes to hire thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers who have legal work status in the U.S. (Bloomberg ... Gothamist) 

• Police seek four men who robbed the market on Eighth Street at Avenue D (CBS 2 ... The Post)

WANTED ROBBERY: 1/31/24 @NYPD9pct @ 8:00 AM inside 403 E 8 St four unidentified individuals approached a store employee. One of the individuals displayed a firearm & the others proceeded to remove currency & tobacco products from the deli. Any info call us at 800-577-TIPS pic.twitter.com/cj8PBdb5u7

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) February 1, 2024

• Gov. Hochul called the rollout of New York's cannabis program a "disaster" (The City) 

• Celebrating Black History Month at the Abrons Art Center on the Lower East Side (Official site) ... take a guided tour of African American history in the East Village (Village Preservation)

• Inside the new exhibit, called "A Union of Hope," at the Tenement Museum (PIX11 ... official site) 

• Veselka has closed its outpost in the Market Line food hall on the LES after five years (Eater) 

• Inside the home of a yoga instructor on St. Mark's Place (Curbed)

• East Village students call for a ban on horse carriages in the city (The Village Sun)

• Sietsema praises the Thai dishes at the newish Rynn, 105 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue  (Eater) 

• A quickie review of Potenza Centrale on Avenue B (The Infatuation ... previously on EVG) 

• A tiny Orthodox synagogue, a relic of the old Jewish Lower East Side, struggles to survive (NY Jewish Week) 

• Yu and Me Books reopens on Mulberry Street after fire (NY1 ... NBC 4) 

• Check out NYC's new garbage truck (Gothamist)

• Next up in the 35mm series at the Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue and 12th Street — "Casablanca" on Feb. 12 (Official site) 

• Vaya con Dios! It's the North American premiere of a new 4K restoration of... of "Point Break"! (Metrograph) Too cerebral? You could also see "Alphaville."