20 months later, A Building finally free of sidewalk shed, construction netting

Over on East 13th Street, the pool-topped A Building is visible again... On Aug. 31, 2010, workers put up a sidewalk shed here between Avenue A and First Avenue ... On Sept. 12, 2011, workers put up the construction netting...

So, roughly 20 months later, the crews have cleared up all signs of the repair work...

According to a DOB permit, workers were completing "balcony repairs."

You can read about the background on the "massive headaches" at the A Building in The Real Deal.

People apparently love the condo with the giant metal slide, according to article about how much people love the condo with the giant metal slide

[Jeff Bachner, The Daily News]

Hey! Speaking of The A-Building on East 13th Street ... The Daily News checks in with the condo that's equipped with the giant metal slide. (We first wrote about it on March 17, 2011, here.)

The place has been for sale... and the News has some funnish anecdotes... Like!

• "There’s a media/game room with a wet bar and a $35,000 custom pool table, which could be negotiated into the sale of the apartment."

• "One man in his 70s who lives in Miami sent his broker to look at the apartment, wondering if the slide hole was big enough to fit his large dogs down it."

• "A broker in her 70s went down the slide four or five times when she came to look at the apartment."

• The owner, professional poker player Phil Galfond, who moved to Canada after some pesky Justice Department crackdowns, used his rooftop space as a putting green.

• "Because of the East Village location, a common rooftop with a sundeck, pool, cabanas and barbecue area, the building had a reputation of being a party hot spot when it opened in 2008. Now it’s a bit tamer" the real-estate brokers say.

The place is going for $3.99 million, by the way. Oh, and only one person reportedly asked about removing the slide.

Now, questions:

• Do you need work permits to add a giant metal slide in your condo?
• Do you need approval from anyone on the condo side of the ownership?
• Is the A Building "a bit tamer"? We have no idea! (Please let us know via email.)

It has been nearly three years since the Daily News ran the piece on "amenity-rich" properties, starring the A-Building. The story included this amazing photo.

And this passage about the A Building weekends:

Come Friday night, residents start the party. Without a formal invite, everyone seems to converge on the landscaped roof, this time to watch the sunset and admire the skyline, with the Empire State Building twinkling in the distance.

In the background, the Beach Boys play. Hula-Hoops twirl, beach balls bounce and the crowd convenes around the black marble bar for building-wide drinking games. "Flip Cup is a drinking relay race," explains Evy Rodrigues, 32, a regular.

The roof's perfectly manicured lawn becomes a happy hour ballfield where losing Flip Cup teams have to play Dizzy Bat — they chug beer from a plastic baseball bat and run circles around it while their friends cry, "Watch out for the wall!"

Previously on EV Grieve:
Just your everyday penthouse combo connected by a stainless steel slide

This is what 619 E. Sixth St. looked like on March 22, 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...

Japadog remains closed after Monday's DOH inspection

On Monday, the DOH temporarily closed Japadog on St. Mark's Place. We were waiting for the inspection report to show up on the DOH website. It finally arrived yesterday.

DOH inspectors handed out 57 violation points... the usual stuff that everyone gets points off for... evidence of things or actual things, such as mice...


The restaurant, which opened in January, was still closed as of last night.

[Updated] Overturned car shuts down part of Williamsburg Bridge

In case you are wondering why all the news copters are hovering over the Lower East Side at the moment...

According to multiple reports, there's an overturned car on the outbound lanes of the Williamsburg Bridge ... the Bridge is partially closed at the moment...

[Photo via @agreatbigcity]

Updated:

The Lo-Down has more photos and info here.

Deed for 'community facility use only' at the former P.S. 64 now on the market

The saga continues for the former P.S. 64, now entering its 10th year of sitting empty. A listing for 350 E. 10th St. appeared today at Massey Knakal. Here are the details:

The property is currently an approximate 152,000 rentable square foot H-shaped building located in the heart of the East Village, adjacent to Tompkins Square Park. The structure runs block-through from East 9th Street to East 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C and features 150’ of frontage on both sides of the block. The property previously operated as a public school and is situated to become a tremendous benefit to the neighborhood as there continues to be a shortage of educational facilities throughout New York City. Ideally, the highest and best use for the property would be to renovate the existing structure and convert it into a modern school or college dormitory. Numerous educational and institutional campus’s are located just a few blocks away from the subject and their student body continues to grow year after year creating an on-going demand for student housing. Prospective users have a rare opportunity to redevelop and transform this 100 year old building into a new modern facility which will provide a variety of educational options.

So, as you know, there's a long, complicated history here. Briefly. Gregg Singer bought the formerly city-owned building in 1998 for $3.15 million. His plan: a 23-story megadorm. But, in the face of strong community opposition, he was never able to get those plans off the ground, and the building sits rotting (with help from the owner). The Villager has extensively covered this story through the years. Check out their archives here.

The new marketing materials come with some fresh renderings...

Anyway, we've seen rebranding campaigns here before... such as in 2009.


This past November, a handful of East Village residents met at Theatre 80 to discuss the possibility of turning the space into a community center and nonprofit space.

Will something finally happen to the space now?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[51 Astor Place, by Bobby Williams]

At Union Square for the Million Hoodies March (Gothamist)

Lobster frites replace books on East 12th Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

118 E. Fourth St. now without mail service (Occupy East 4th Street)

Another neighborhood park battling rats (BoweryBoogie)

Marty visits Tompkins Square Bagels (Tripping With Marty)

Cheetah Chrome in the Central Park bandshell circa 1979 (Flaming Pablum)

Cops nab that alleged Dunkin' Donuts groper (Town & Village Blog)

Creator of "Grand Theft Auto" buys Truman Capote's historic Brooklyn Heights home (New York Post)

More phone booths hiding in the city (Ephemeral New York)

"A Greenwich Village McDonald’s on West Third Street that has been the site of at least three violent altercations — one as recently as Saturday night — is a haven for male hookers, drug dealers and scammers who use the 24/7 fast-food joint as a base of operations, frightened neighbors say." (New York Post)

Is Kate's Joint adding meat to the menu?

Perhaps!

But first. The Wall Street Journal takes a look today at the recent closures of some East Village vegetarian eateries, such as Curly's and Quantum Leap, as well as the financial struggles of Kate's Joint on Avenue B. The cause, according to some diners and restaurant owners? "Rising rents were a factor in a least some of these cases, but so too were the shifting tastes of young hipsters away from vegetarianism."

Plus, are places like Kate's all that faboo looking to the foody set?

Per the article: "Kate's Joint looks increasingly out of place in a world where young diners flock to meat-centric restaurants such as Meatball Shop and Porchetta."

Which is one reason why Kate's owner Kate Halpern contemplates adding the meat to the menu. She told the Journal: "I hate to admit it, but put bacon on it, and they will come."

As for adding meat products, she has discussed it. She met with resistance from some longtime patrons. Plus, "she said she would need a financial partner to build a kitchen that would allow the restaurant to prepare meat and vegetarian entrees separately."

The article also quotes local blogger EV Grieve, who works "farm to table" into a quote. (Woo! Shot!)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Save Kate's Joint on Avenue B

One way to patch up a $111.6 million building

[EVG file photo]

Walking along the backside of 41 Cooper Square the other day...

Perhaps it's some kind of post-modern art... or maybe a tribute to the tenement buildings nearby...

The end is near(er) for the Mystery Lot

We knew this day was coming... not that it makes it any easier... an unhappy East 13th Street tipster points us to the DOB website, where there are three permits pending approval (dated March 15) related to building over this beloved land of bricks, discarded holiday trees, aliens, etc.

[EVG file photo]

As the Post first reported on Jan. 19, the space will become an 82-unit, eight-story development that should break ground this summer for a late 2013 opening. "Prices are still to be determined for the project’s studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units," according to the Post.

The work permits say that the space will include 86,409 square feet for residential and 5,275 square feet for retail. The good news about the retail: You can likely count out an iHop ... 7-Eleven... KFC... Dunkin' Donuts...Duane Reade...

BKSK is listed as the architect of record... according to the BKSK website, their residential work includes 25 Bond Street, home of $20 million apartments and, once, Will Smith, as Curbed has noted.

We leave with this aerial view of what became the Mystery Lot circa 1913... from ConEd looking at the southeast corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue...

And you can spot the former Jefferson Theatre...

(And apologies — have had this for so long we don't recall the original source... Per Mick in the comments, this is a Shorpy photo.)

Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants

On Monday, we pointed out that workers have the scaffolding and sidewalk shed in place outside 154 Second Ave., the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel. Plans call for several new floors here with the help of architect Ramy Issac.

And we spotted a listing (PDF) for the retail space over at developer Terrence Lowenberg's Icon Realty....

There is nearly 4,600 square feet of ground-floor space "perfect for: retail store, restaurant," per the listing. Rent is upon request.

The rendering looks similar to Lowenberg's other current projects at 147 First Ave. and 326-328 E. Fourth St.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'

[Updated] City fixes Avenue C Sinkhole, Jr

On Friday, we pointed out the longtime sinkhole getting sinkier along Avenue C... on the east side of the sidewalk between Sixth Street and Fifth Street ... it's the neglected sinkhole on the block, the one that wasn't named to Page Six the Magazine's "Sinkholes to Watch" list for 2012 or once rumored to play Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games."

But!

EV Grieve reader Steven noted that a crew arrived this week to start work on the long-sinking sinkhole... Tuesday...

And yesterday...

Per a reader: "I just wanted to share with you the *very* exciting news that after years and years, the sidewalk pothole on Ave. C between 5th and 6th street has finally been filled..."

Updated: Via Steven, how's the former sinkhole is looking this morning...

Meanwhile! Up at 13th Street... the city/ConEd have finished repairs on the star sinkhole... Filled!

Previously.