Sushi in the works for former Polonia space

[EVG file photo]

We're curious about what will take the place of the dearly departed Polonia, the Polish diner that closed in December on First Avenue near East Seventh Street. We had heard rumors about a big-name suitor...

The address is on the docket for the October CB3/SLA committee meeting. According to documents on file with CB3, the space will become a Japanese restaurant called Sushi Dojo. There's not much information on the CB3 website. Proposed hours are Sunday-Monday from 5 p.m.-1 a.m.

The CB3 documents lists a "David Bouhadona" as an applicant ... maybe that's a typo, and that should be David Bouhadana, the onetime executive chef of the former Sushi Uo on Rivington Street.

Men of steel top off 51 Astor Place

Do you notice something atop of 51 Astor Place...?

Per these photos by Bobby Williams, you can see that the workers have signed the top beam and placed a Christmas holiday tree here...they must have reached the top.

Anyway, say what you want about the incoming 51 Astor Place (like calling it a Death Star) ... there is something rather hypnotic about watching the workers' high-wire act...

As a bonus, a shot of the top of the crane here...

[EVG]

Photos by Bobby Williams.

The Standard East Village debuts its new awning

The Standard East Village is currently undergoing some major renovations on Cooper Square ... some progress to report. A new awning with the hotel's usual upside-down logo... I believe this entrance will lead to the new cafe ... at least based on the plans the Standarders submitted to CB3 in April.

[Click on image to enlarge]

Changes coming to Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street

On Friday, a tipster noted that the Forum had a "closed for renovations" sign on the door ... and the bar on Fourth Avenue near East 13th Street remained closed for the weekend...

Meanwhile, in April, a retail listing went up for the Forum's neighbors, the Dryden Gallery and Brothers Deli... (The Dryden moved to another block in August.)

Here's the latest from our tipster, who heard that:

"Dryden is to become a pizza place. Deal is done and they are building out now. Forum is to become another club .. Brothers Deli is leaving at the end of November. Negotiations are ongoing but it is almost certainly to become a restaurant."

Happy Columbus Day

[Via EVG reader Steven Matthews]

A happier day if you are off work today (like me) for the holiday... a reader asked if the flag went up outside Veniero's Pasticceria and Caffe on East 11th Street in honor of Columbus Day ... seems as if it has been up for longer than that...

Anyway, here's a photo of the place in 1969 ... it opened in 1894.

[Via Veniero's]

Week in Grieview

[East 14th Street yesterday. Photo by Bobby Williams]

Plans revealed for the former Life Cafe space (Wednesday, 26 comments)

Mickey Leigh on his brother Joey Ramone's "New York" video (Tuesday)

Affordable housing development coming to East 11th Street (Thursday, 46 comments)

City OKs additions to East Ninth Street buildings (Tuesday)

Angel Memorial House now for sale on Avenue B (Wednesday)

Mendez to crack down on crusties (Tuesday, 35 comments)

Dollar Plus store for million-dollar condos (Monday)

Mystery Lot building revealed (Wednesday)

Bowery retail inventory (Thursday)

Remembering the Frenchmen on First Avenue (Monday)

Can we expect a club like the DL on Avenue C? (Wednesday)

[Updated] Report: NYPD makes arrest in Tompkins Square Park sexual assualt

Police have reportedly arrested a suspect believed to have sexually assaulted a woman in Tompkins Square Park late Friday night. As DNAinfo reports, there are few details about the attack, which occurred near the entrance at East Eighth Street and Avenue B.

The Daily News describes the suspect as a homeless man, and that the victim, a 31-year-old woman, was sleeping on a bench in the Park when the attack occurred. (The News article isn't currently available online.)

DNAinfo quotes a hostess at an unnamed restaurant on Avenue A and East Seventh Street as saying, "This area is, no joke, not safe. There's not much security."

Updated:
1010 WINS reports that the suspect is Ruben Canales, 27.

Today in lines for Octoberfest at Zum Schneider

Octoberfest started last Saturday at Zum Schneider at Seventh Street and Avenue C ... and the lines remain as long today, via this picture by Goggla...

Zoltar is the greatest thing to happen to St. Mark's Place since ______________?

[Submitted by an EVG reader, Zoltar fan]

Zoltar, the all wise and knowing fortune teller, arrived at Gem Spa on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue on Sept. 23. Since then, it's all everyone a few people can talk about.

Have you been by?

Don't get too close.



That's the one thing. Get too close to Zoltar and he starts hitting you up. By the time I got to Gem Spa on this day, five people along here had already asked me for change, cigarettes or directions to Little Italy.

A few things to make your Zoltar Experience more pleasant.

1) Zoltar only accepts $1 bills. So no quarters or $2 bills in the well-marked $1 slot.

2) Despite the sign, the ATM is not inside Zoltar's box.

Open houses, gardens and cemeteries this weekend

As you may know, the 10th Annual openhousenewyork is going on this weekend ... more info is here. Among the local places open to the public — the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street, where the resident historians will be around to discuss the Cemetery's history and those interred here.

This weekend will also provide you the opportunity to take a first look at MoRUS — the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space at 155 Avenue C in the C-Squat storefront. MoRUS co-found Laurie Mittelmann said that while the space isn't finished yet, it's coming along nicely ... find more info here at the MoRUS website.

Finally, as a reminder, this weekend is the "Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens" in community gardens on the Lower East Side. Find the list of participating gardens here.

Did you lose a cat?

A reader reports the following:

We found this beautiful cat, who had been living in the bushes at the 14th Street loop in Stuyvesant Town for quite some time. I personally saw him for about a month prior to getting him ...

We have taken him to the vet. He is healthy and sweet. Definitely was someone's pet. We would love to find his owner. If we don't find his owner soon we are looking for a forever home for him.

If the cat belongs to you ... let us know via the EV Grieve email ...

It must be Love

Julian Cope with "Greatness and Perfection of Love" circa 1984.