Something Sweet is back open

We hadn't seen Something Sweet, the homespun bakery on the corner of First Avenue and East 11th Street, open at all so far in 2012. A few weeks ago, we called the shop, and received a "temporarily disconnected" message.

They've been known to close here or there through the years (death in the family, broken oven, vacation) without leaving a note taped to the gate. So we don't worry (too much)...

Last week, a reliable source said that the owners were having a few issues with the landlord... not to mention Verizon... the doors were semi-open last week, and we saw some people working inside...

In any event, the bakery reopened yesterday... another shop to appreciate...

City issues new work permit for Life Cafe

Not much has been happening here on East 10th Street and Avenue B since Life Cafe abruptly closed "until further notice" this past Sept. 11, as we first reported...

As The Villager pointed out in September, the sidewalk shed and scaffolding have been covering Life's sidewalk cafe for more than a year. Meanwhile, exterior renovations have yet to start.

Making this more challenging — Life "spans a space belonging to two different buildings with two different landlords whose dispute over the price of the work contract has prevented construction from starting," according to The Villager. At the time, owner Kathy Kirkpatrick said that she'd stay closed until the landlords complete the repairs.

[Last week outside 343 E. 10th St. By Bobby Williams]

On Tuesday, the city issued a new work permit for 343 E. 10th St. ... the first sign of any substantial exterior work here...

Anyway, none of this means that Life will actually reopen here once the repairs are made. Kirkpatrick was spotted removing kitchen equipment back in the fall... Regardless, it would be nice to see some kind of life here again... (ad: something useful and not horrible!)

A look inside Life on Dec. 22...

Luke's Lobster now a selling point for East Village apartments

Here's a listing for a bedroom apartment on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B ... the usual blather... but one selling point jumped out at us...

Steps from Lukes [sic] Lobster

Wonder if the real-estate types know that Luke's delivers?

This is what the southwest corner of 14th Street and Avenue C looked like on Feb. 6, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

Prom night at Doc Holliday's

Doc Holliday's is holding a Prom Night tonight at Ninth Street and Avenue A. Gentleman, don't forget your corsages. Ladies, please be careful putting on the boutineer!

Though Doc's is calling for "redneck formal attire," we understand that "retro" is back in for the Big Night... as seen in these obvious pop-cultural references...

For Spike...

Landmarks Preservation Commission sets June date for East Village landmarking

From the EV Grieve inbox ... via the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation ...

A date has (finally!) been set for a hearing on the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District and a vote on the proposed landmark designation of 128 East 13th Street, the former stable/horse auction mart that also served for years as a the studio of artist Frank Stella. Both will take place on June 26.

WABC files report on East Village Farms, mentions local blogger

WABC Eyewitness News reporter Lisa Colagrossi has a report this morning on the probably doomed East Village Farms on Avenue A ... as well as a wider look at the ongoing demolition of so many buildings around here... we exchanged emails with her leading up to the report, and we thank her for including EV Grieve in the broadcast.

The piece is online ... and will be rebroadcast during the 4 p.m. newscast...

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

East Village Farms is closing; renovations coming to 100 Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

Reader reports: Village Farms closing Jan. 31; building will be demolished

Did David Schwimmer do anything illegal by tearing down 331 E. Sixth St.?

That's the question BrickUnderground asked an expert, real-estate attorney Steven Wagner of Wagner Davis, about the destruction of the circa 1852 home on East Sixth Street. Here's the rather longish short answer:

“Personally I think what he did was wrong if the building was distinctive and worthy of preservation, but that is not a legal issue,” Wagner says.

“When a building is not landmarked, but Landmarks has issued a letter that [it] is being considered for landmarking, the DOB will hold the any plans (including demolition) for 40 days, which is the maximum time the DOB has to review plans and issue a decision," says Wagner.

The DOB can usually find issues, says Wagner.

But, he adds, if the owner of the property files an application for demolition prior to the landmarking and gets a permit before the property is landmarked, the right to demolish survives the landmarking.

So you see, he did nothing illegal. I wish that you people would just leave him alone then!

Oh, and that photo illustration is via BrickUnderground.

Hat tip to Curbed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Noted

A reader pointed out this new listing for an apartment on East Sixth Street... looks like a nice place ... near restaurants and coffee shops and...

Not exactly sure where they were going with this description. We'll just go ahead and put it down for tranny bars.

So Max probably won't be opening that outpost on Second Avenue then, huh?

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Max will close its Avenue B location after the Italian eatery opens a branch in Williamsburg this spring...

Which reminds us... back in January 2010, as Eater first noted, Max was on the CB3/SLA docket to open a location at the rather mysterious northwest corner of Second Avenue and Second Street ...

Those plans never materialized, for whatever reasons... the CB3/SLA sign is even still on the front window...

We dug through the CB3 archives... Max appeared before the CB3/SLA committee in February 2010, and it looks as if they were approved for a license here...

Anyway, anyone know what's going on with this space here at 39 Second Ave. (aka 36 E. Second St.)? The building was owned by Wilbert Tatum, the publisher and editor of The New York Amsterdam News who died at age 76 in February 2009. Tatum's wife, Susan Kohn Tatum, transferred ownership of the building to Zubrinski & Co. LLC last April, according to city records.

Brown out at Boukies

There's noticeable work taking place at the former Heartbreak Cafe on the southwest corner of Second Street and Second Avenue... Workers recently painted the exterior from that red ...

to this...

[Bobby Williams]

Owner Christos (Pylos) Valtzoglou is planning on opening a place called Boukies that will specialize in small plates of Greek food

Many years back, the address here was home to The Second Avenue Theatre, later the Molly Picon, a Yiddish-language playhouse built in 1911. This info is via the invaluable New York Songlines. As the site notes, Walter Matthau got his start playing bit parts here.

For more information, we turn to Cinema Treasures. "David Kessler’s 2nd Avenue Theatre opened on September 14, 1911 and was the first of the Yiddish theatres to open along the 'Rialto.'" In 1958, the theatre went dark and was demolished for a parking lot.

Here's a photo of the theatre in its heyday via a Cinema Treasures reader.

For more on Yiddish theatre along lower Second Avenue ... visit The Villager here ... and here.

The East Houston Hotel is for sale; how about a new rooftop bar?

The Hotel East Houston over at Eldridge Street is for sale, according to an item in citybiz Real Estate. Price tag: $21 million.

Per one of the real-estate types marketing the place:

"The building's rooftop area and basement level could easily accommodate a restaurant, bar, lounge or a combination of all three, and preliminary architectural designs for such space have been completed."

As BoweryBoogie notes, "Despite the umpteen hotels currently in the development pipeline for the Lower East Side (Orchard Street in particular), it’s still not completely the greatest economic climate for pricey inns."

But we'll keep building — and selling — them anyway...