Fog and steam

Photos today via Bobby Williams...


[East 11th Street near B]

Reader report: Marshal seizes Subway (sandwich shop) on East 14th Street

A reader notes that the Marshal has seized the Subway on East 14th Street (IHOP Way!) near Second Avenue...



Three East Village Subways have closed in the East Village now dating back to October... the one on Second Avenue near East Ninth Street... and the one on First Avenue near East 14th Street (though that one did later return under new management).

Too much competition from $1 pizza ... and 7-Eleven?

Report: East Village bank manager allegedly stole $300k from a customer's account

A bank manager at Sovereign Bank on Avenue A at East Fourth Street was arrested after allegedly stealing $300,000 from a customer's account, the Post reports this afternoon.

He was arrested last Thursday at the 9th Precinct. He reportedly returned the money to the account. Police charged him with four counts of grand larceny.

The Post inexplicably notes that the manager is 5-foot-2, which we will inexplicably mention here as well.

Landmarks Commission wants more info about hotel planned next to the historic Merchant's House

The developers who want to build a 9-story hotel next door to the Merchant's House on East Fourth Street returned to face the Landmarks Commission today. (Plans call for demolishing the one-level garage/repair shop adjacent to the circa 1832 Merchant's House.)

Curbed's Jeremiah Budin was there. The developers discussed how the construction could occur without compromising the structural integrity of the Merchant's House.

And the end result? Another meeting!

The Commission found the presentation to be, if not completely convincing, very thorough. Ultimately, though, they decided that they would need more information, possibly from some sort of expert third party, to determine whether or not the construction would pose a real threat.

Read the whole Curbed post here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Early this morning on St. Mark's Place]

CBGB Film Festival shopping at SXSW (Billboard)

A visit to Fabulous Fanny's on East Ninth Street (The Wall Street Journal)

More drama for Finale at 199 Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

Highlights from last night's CB3/SLA meeting (The Lo-Down)

Peacefood Cafe opens outpost on East 11th Street and University (DNAinfo)

Casa Havana disappears on 8th Avenue (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Lawsuit at Hotel Chelsea (Curbed)

And if you have 10 minutes to spare... Joe Franklin interviews Joey and Marky Ramone in 1988...

A good sign at the Native Bean?

Back in September 2011, a "for rent" sign went up above Native Bean at 50 Avenue A... Per the listing, it's a 10-year lease at $10,000 per month.

Well. Now 18 months later, workers have removed the "for rent" sign. (On March 1.)



And in its place last Thursday, a new Native Bean sign now greets passersby...



While the listing remains online, a tipster who frequents the cafe believes that they are staying put. Plus, as the tipster notes, the Native Bean has just added new menu items, such as a grilled chicken sandwich and caramel apples(!). Plus! They just installed a small aquarium.

We haven't heard any official confirmation. Ali, the owner, is currently away.

Be the only resident in this East 10th Street building

The plywood and scaffolding came down here at 84 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue in November ... exposing a rather ugly glass front...

Here's what it looked like a few years ago...



Anyway, retail spaces are available. (There used to be retail here — 99X.) And now the residential portion of the building is on the market. Here's the listing per Bond:

**This is an amazing apartment in a great neighborhood.** **As the only residential unit in the bldg, it is very private.** **Located in a Prime Greenwich Village area, it is close to the best dining & nightlife (and not too far from the subway & Union Square).** **There are many charming features as well: hardwood floors, high ceilings, skylights throughout, lots of windows, washer/dryer in the unit, separate kitchen w/ dishwasher & a huge private roofdeck.** **Stunning 2BR/2.5 Bath Loft w/ Tons of Space!!** **This is a great deal for the area...a must see for anyone & everyone!!**

And what is "a great deal for the area"?

$7,500 a month. (A listing with a different realtor had it going for $8,500.)

A few photos.







As Jeremiah Moss wrote back in November, "These buildings between Third and Fourth Avenues were once the epicenter of the Abstract Expressionist movement in the 1950s." Read that post here.

And I wonder if anyone ever figured out that rooftop noise here?

An update on Biker Bill's whereabouts

[Photo by Clayton Patterson]

Here's an update about Biker Bill, a regular through the years at Ray's and in Tompkins Square Park ... and a familiar figure at Bob Arihood's Neither More Nor Less...

People haven't seen him in some time ... Clayton Patterson passes along a message from Biker Bill yesterday:

I was involved in a hit and run. I have a broken arm and broken hip. I'm in the Richmond Center for Rehabilitation in Staten Island. I would like someone to come visit me at 91 Tompkins Ave., Staten Island NY.

And no word if Biker Bill ever started a Twitter account.

Happy birthday Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was born on this date in 1922...

In his honor, a photo of Kerouac that Allen Ginsberg shot in the East Village outside Tompkins Square Park...


The caption reads:

Jack Kerouac wandering along East 7th street after visiting Burroughs at our pad, passing statue of Congressman Samuel "Sunset" Cox, "The Letter – Carrier's Friend" in Tompkins Square toward corner of Avenue A, Lower East Side; he's making a Dostoyevsky mad-face or Russian basso be-bop Om, first walking around the neighborhood, then involved with The Subterraneans, pencils & notebook in wool shirt-pockets, Fall 1953, Manhattan.

You can find other photos online that Ginsberg took of Kerouac and Williams Burroughs in the East Village ... like this one from Ginsberg's apartment at 206 E. Seventh St.

RIP JoBear la Stuffing

In early March, Goggla spotted this on East Second Street near Avenue B ... the note around the neck read "can't bear it anymore."



Now! Someone has cut the bear from the tree... and added this sign...



Previously on EV Grieve:
A brief history of humiliating Teddy bears in the East Village

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Tompkins Square Park yesterday, via Bobby Williams]

88-year-old old artist Taylor Meade has to live like this during the luxury renovation of his building (BoweryBoogie)

Judge tosses Bloomy's soda ban (Reuters)

Meet Pastor Richard Del Rio, who's running against Rosie Mendez (DNAinfo)

The end of the Rawhide (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Great photos of when Domino was still a sugar factory (Curbed)

Controversial Bow already closes on the Bowery (Eater)

Norfolk Street synagogue won't tear itself down (The Lo-Down)

...and more from the No 7-Eleven chalkers last night on Avenue A...

Report: DOH temporarily closes the Sunburnt Cow on Avenue C

[File photo]

The DOH has temporarily closed drunk-brunch hotspot the Sunburnt Cow, reports Serena Soloman at DNAinfo this afternoon.

Inspectors found 56 violation points during a visit on Friday, including "the space not being considered 'vermin proof' and its toilet facility not being well maintained and having no toilet paper," per the DOH website.

Owner Heathe St. Clair blamed the ongoing Hurricane Sandy recovery for the failed inspection. The bar-restaurant on Avenue C was one of the many businesses along Avenue C to suffer from extensive Sandy-related flood damage last fall.