Explanation for this splop on St. Mark's Place this morning

What have we here?

Probably a perfectly reasonable explanation... and just up ahead... incriminating evidence.

Ah, thought there was a scent of hickory smoke in the morning air.

We'll always have Craigslist: 'Seeking third roommate that doesn't suck'

There is a listing on Craigslist with the heading "$1750 Seeking third roommate that doesn't suck (East Village)"

What constitutes a roommate who sucks? In this case, the people who placed the ad — "two cool guys from Michigan who went to school at the University of Michigan" — explain what went wrong with the third roommate, a woman who has agreed to move out.

And to the ad:

Here are some of the things we experienced in our first three months with her. Stop reading if you seriously might do one of the things listed below. Otherwise, take humor in our past suffering.

1) You own a non-spaded dog that gets dog period juice (that's right, I called it that) all over the apartment, and then you decide not to tell us about it until we find it is an epidemic of disgustingnesss. It was cleaned up by a maid.

2) You pull stuff out of the garbage and attempt to reuse it. In this case, the prior roommate removed a water bottle container that had been used to store urine during an emergency situation. Yes, our roommate drank from a plastic water-bottle filled with piss for seven days that she pulled out of the garbage. Fireworks followed. More can be told in person.

3) You attempt to fix a freezer frozen completely shut with a hammer. I can't make this shit up.

4) You let us know the day before rent is due that rent+utilities exceeds your budget during your first month living with us.

5) You regularly and randomly start crying during any serious conversation.

Oddly enough, we started regularly and randomly crying while reading this ad...

Wylie Dufresne's rent on Second Avenue

As you may recall, chef Wylie Dufresne will open a pub concept early next year on Second Avenue, as Grub Street first reported last Thursday. Given all the interest in the new project, we thought we'd pass along the listing that we found for the space...

As you can see, the asking rent was $15,450/month ... with a term of 11 years. Plus an undisclosed amount for key money.

Previously.

New life for old deli on First Avenue

The deli over on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place was closed on Monday...

...and yesterday, the plywood and workers arrived. These days, you can't help but think it will become a 7-Eleven or something. However, workers on the scene told EVG regular William Klayer, who took the photo below, that the same owners were renovating the space...

Our friends at East Village Wines next door confirmed this as well...

Will be curious to see how the spruce up the place...

Busted

East Fourth Street between Lafayette and the Bowery.

For whom the Spa Belles toll

EVG reader Corey noted the following about the Spa Belles location on Second Avenue at East Seventh Street:

I was walking by there last night a bit after 10, and saw a moving truck. A group of maybe 5 were loading up equipment, chairs and stuff into the nearly full truck. The nail salon looked nearly empty ...

And the place is empty today... and someone removed the "Belles" from the sign. The other NYC locations remain open.

Hot buns: Burger-burlesque concept on tap for the East Village

Per DNAinfo's Serena Solomon today:

A new restaurant project is looking to blend burgers with burlesque in the East Village, under a plan by a veteran nightlife operator to combine classic American fare with the risqué dance performance.

The man behind the concept is Timothy Simpson, aka Lorenzo Cortelli, who has worked for BR Guest Hospitality, which owns the Dos Caminos Mexican food chain.

And in a Craigslist ad, he is looking for an investor with $150,000 to be part of this project. (That posting has expired.)

Back to the article:

The concept is "fully developed," said Simpson, who has a business plan in place and is eyeing several existing bars near bustling St. Mark’s Place to convert into a space with a 1890s Paris feel in the coming months.

[Image via ...and it is not part of this project]

Backhoe Beamer — explained!

[ Via @DicksCottons]

So the Post set out to learn more about the Backhoe Beamer, which residents discovered on Bleecker near Mott this past weekend. Just what happened here?

The heavy-duty piece of construction equipment lost battery power over the weekend, and ended up in back of, above and in front of the vehicle ...

A construction worker finally moved the John Deere machine yesterday morning, telling The Post that its battery ran down by “accident.”

The equipment belongs to a Long Island contractor fixing a nearby city water main. A company rep said that they would pay for the damages to the car (a few dents on the hood), which belongs to an anesthesiologist who lives across the street.

The story also sparked debate: Is it Beamer, Beemer or Bimmer (via purists)?

Next for 255 E. Houston St.: Community facility/school/medical building?

The other day, Goggla sent me these photos of the levels monitoring the cracks of the long-vacant building at 255 E. Houston St. between Norfolk and Suffolk.

It has been a long time since we heard anything about the site's future. Last December, Crain's reported that the destabilized building, which once housed the Action for Progress school (they left in 2009), was on the market. Bids for the for the L-shaped parcel were due on Dec. 20. Real-estate types figured the building would house rentals rather than condos.

Earlier in December 2011, BoweryBoogie reported that the owner wanted a commercial zoning overlay for the property.

Per BB:

By gaining this amended zoning overlay, those involved could reap more cash from ground-floor commercial tenants like bars/restaurants rather than a community facility (if demolished under current zoning, would need to build a residential-compliant building).

However, there's still an active listing for the property, now being marketed this way: Community Facility/School/Medical Building for Net Lease.

A few of the details on the four-story building, roughly 29,000 square feet plus the playground adjacent to the property on Suffolk Street.

• Whole building identity
• 11 large classrooms, each with bathrooms; numerous private offices; a commercial kitchen;
• Large meeting room; two small terraces; a large roofdeck; 4,600 sf playground.
• Expandable to 70,000 sf.

That expansion would likely take the building up to 12 floors. The property is in some disrepair (call it a fixer-upper), and the sidewalk bridge has long been providing shelter for some less-fortunate individuals. Here's a quick look around the building.

It's not clear if the deal includes 179 Suffolk St. next door, where there are plans on file for a five-floor (or taller!) residential development. Construction mishaps here prompted the evacuation of 255 E. Houston. Today, the stalled site is currently home to empty cans of cat food.

200 Avenue A back in play?

What's going on with the storefront space at 200 Avenue A, previously haunted by Superdive? A group calling themselves Hospitality LLC with a concept for an "art gallery with a full-service restaurant" had appeared before and been rejected by the CB3/SLA committee three times.

They fought and fought and fought... and finally, in April, the State Liquor Authority OK'd a liquor license for the group.

Now this sign recently appeared on the front window...

We'll see what we can find out about the situation here...

Updated 9:09:
Word along here is that Hospitality LLC figured they wouldn't be able to make a go of it with a midnight closing time, per the SLA stipulations.

Reader requests: 'At least you...' WHAT?

From an EVG reader:

I need your help. Every morning while walking on 2nd Ave, I see half of a phrase written on the top of a building on the NW corner of 7th St. and 2nd Ave. All I'm ever able to make out is "AT LEAST YOU", but I am dying to find out what the rest of it says.

Anyone have access to the roof? A helicopter? Anyone know the rest of what is written there...?

Letter to a record store

Gimme Gimme Records closed for good on East Fifth Street Sunday. And on the last weekend, the following letter arrived.

[Click image to enlarge]

The letter writer, a woman named Harriet, has several items of business to discuss. First, does this store buy cassettes? There is also a hard-luck tale about "2 males from Long Island" who came to her apartment in Brooklyn and took her record collection. In all caps, she explains that she was supposed to be paid for all this.

I "thought to God I'd trust them, and I made a terrible mistake."

Lastly she'd like some REO Speedwagon CDs, specifically one that had the following three songs "ON THE SAME CD":

• Keep on Loving You
• I Can't Fight This Feeling
• Take it on the Run

"The store got a lot of weird letters like that. I figured I would put one up in honor of the last day," said Gimme Gimme clerk Eden Brower. "We sort of made fun of it, but I feel badly if her stuff really was stolen. People make up stories like that all the time to get records cheap or free. It's hard to tell who is scamming."

Meanwhile, Gimme Gimme owner Dan Cook has plans to eventually reopen the store in Los Angeles.