Fire-ravaged Gut-renovated apartment at 240 E. Houston now on market

A new listing appeared Friday for a two-bedroom apartment at 240 E. Houston St. at Avenue A... Here are the details via Synergy New York:

Gorgeous GUT RENOVATED 1050 Square foot Penthouse One Bedroom + Home office 2 full bath apartment in Prime East Village Location.Open Living/Dining/Kitchen with brand new stainless steel appliances and W/D in suite, top floor with 2 dramatic skylights make this space bright and welcoming. Private 500 SF roof terrace with stunning views of the city. Master bedroom 12x21 with large walk in closet and built in storage cabin, Large Home office 11x14, 7 East Facing Windows. Beautiful prewar 5 Storey Elevator Building with original details and New York Charm.

The rent is $5,500 a month, and this is what it looks like... Very nice!

GUT RENOVATED? Indeed! Perhaps enough time has passed in which there isn't a need to mention the four-alarm fire that scorched the building in July 2010...

[Josh via Twitpic.]

The morning after the fire...

[EVG reader Chris]

According to multiple published reports, the fire was caused by the "unapproved use of electrical wiring," according to a FDNY official, who explained that residents had extended various cords to the roof, and stretched wires beneath roofing materials.

(You can watch video of the fire here.)

Extra lights for Extra Place

The looooooooooooongtime makeover of Extra Place enters its fifth year... Workers just added new strands of lights over the former alley...

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

(And has anyone seen my catering van that I left parked somewhere?)

And later...

Meanwhile, just noting that Scott James, the Boston-based menswear brand that opened on East First Street in late October, has moved on ...

Apparently it was only supposed to be a pop-up shop... which closed up at the end of January.

Report: Midnight raid at the Sunburnt Cow

[Marcus Cohn]

This information is via Marcus Cohn's website. He wrote that on Saturday night around midnight, a group of 30 or so NYPD and other various officials paid a visit to the Sunburnt Cow on Avenue C near East Ninth Street. Per Marcus:

They were there for about 30 minutes and were examining everything from the menus, to the liquor license, to actual bottles of alcohol. They did not ask patrons to leave, yet most left on their own volition as their drinks ran empty. The bartenders were also made to pour out all the mixers.

Real-estate office becomes real-estate office on East 10th Street

The 123 Third Avenue sales office moved out of this space here on 10th Street just east of Third Avenue last May ...


And what makes sense to take over the space?

Retna at work on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Work continued today at the Houston-Bowery mural ... where Los Angeles-based graffiti writer Retna is creating the next work for the space... readers shared some photos from today...

[@MichaelTSanchez]

[Bobby Williams]

[@JeanaCosta]

[EVG]

Today at the Avenue C sinkhole

After growing for about the past year, ConEd is getting on it here at 13th Street.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously.

There was a black-tie wedding reception at Katz's last night

A reader sent us this photo from last night... Katz's was closed for a wedding reception...

A look at Twitter produced the following photos ... a look at the menu...

...and a look at the party favors.

Oh, and these were both via Ivanka Trump's Twitter account.

DJ Ray from Jarrell Entertainment provided the entertainment... or part of it... the above photo came from a Jarrell blog post on unique NYC wedding venues. "This weekend, DJ Ray is spinning at a wedding in a very unlikely location – the famous Katz’s Deli in NYC. Known for it’s hot pastrami sandwiches and potato pancakes, it may come as a surprise to some that the delicious deli could easily serve as a wedding venue too."

Now, we just need to know whose wedding it was (Bess & Steven on the Katz's wedding stuff) ... does anyone know Bess and Steven?

Updated:
Oh, a reader just said that the wedding was for public relations executive Steven Rubenstein and playwright Bess Wohl.

Updated 4:26 p.m.:
A reader who was there just sent this along... something else all the guests received as parting favors...

Updated:
Our friends at Runnin' Scared have more on the story here.

Katz's annexes the Punjabi Food Express next door

So while Katz's was closed for the wedding yesterday... they used the space next door for food to go ...

[Via the Katz's website]

[Photo by @roni_sue]

As BoweryBoogie noted, the space next door to Katz's has been a variety of restaurants... and they've all closed...

Now it looks as if the address has a new tenant...

Obscura Antiques and Oddities now open on Avenue A

RyanAvenueA passes along word that, as of yesterday, Obscura Antiques and Oddities is now open at 207 Avenue A. The reality TV favorites moved out of their East 10th Street store at the end of January ... arriving here at the onetime Sparacio & DeMarco Funeral Home, which closed in 1995.

When we stopped by, the place was full... nice to see a lively storefront along an otherwise quiet retail block.... and funny how lively it is considering they sell so many dead things. Or something.

Previously.

Update: Transit worker didn't fall though subway grate in front of the IHOP

On Friday, we quoted news sources that reported "A worker fell through a subway grate on E. 14th Street ... said FDNY officials."

We later linked to a Times City Room article, but obviously didn't read it too closely. According to that piece:

The worker, in his 60s, was on a ladder beneath the grate in front of the IHOP restaurant at 237 East 14th Street, near the Third Avenue stop on the L, about 10:35 a.m., the authorities said.

He was inspecting the grate when he fell from the ladder, said Charles Seaton, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The Times noted that the worker was not seriously injured.

Several people said that falling through a subway grate was one of their worst city fears... wanted to put your mind at ease.

[Outside IHOP this morning ... solid grates!]

Anyway, you should be more worried about falling air conditioners.

Week in Grieview

[Along Avenue A]

About Joe Strummer's moustache (Friday)

Another look at the old theater on Avenue B (Wednesday)

Vancouver now has an East Village (Thursday)

Looking at the March CB3/SLA docket (Thursday)

A Linsanity mural on East Second Street (Tuesday)

Life Cafe will be split in two (Thursday)

Key Food renovates (Monday)

Union Market opening next month, probably (Monday)

People waiting in line for free IHOP pancakes (Tuesday)

And it was Big Reveal week... at 100 Third Ave. ... and 219 First Ave. ...

Another feature on one of those really nice Flowerbox Building homes

[Elizabeth Felicella for Trendland]

We've seen several features on this 2,400-square-foot duplex home in the Flowerbox Building on Seventh Street between Avenue C and Avenue D... (For example, the Times featured the home in 2009.)

The young couple's home popped up yesterday in a spread at Trendland. Lots of Pinterest in this.

Among other features, the condo has a wall of ivy along the interior balcony that overlooks a 12-foot-long reflecting pool stocked with goldfish.