Banjara space yielding to Figaro Bistro Grill

We continue to look at a few of the items on this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting... here's some bad news for fans of the always reliable Banjara, the Indian restaurant on First Avenue and East Sixth Street... according to paperwork (PDF!) filed ahead of next Monday's meeting, an Italian restaurant called Figaro Bistro Grill is taking over the space.

It's from the same owner as La Pasta Bistro Grill on MacDougal ... and the same owner currently has a Figaro Bistro Grill on Second Avenue between 50th and 51st...

An appreciation: Star Shoe Shop

Star Shoe Shop has been over on Bleecker Street between Lafayette and Broadway for the past 60 years... the shop recently moved a few doors to the west... East Village-based photo Gudrun Georges stopped by late last month to document the wonderfully cluttered shop before it switched locations...





As Gudrun writes: "This is one of those places that you just have to experience ... these tiny shops might all be gone one day."

Indeed, though we're happy that this one has survived. See more of Gudrun's Star photos here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Favorite East Village places: Ink on A

Gas problems temporarily KO AlphaBet Cafe on 14th and B

Over on East 14th Street and Avenue B, AlphaBet Cafe, a fine little place for an inexpensive meal, has been closed of late... the sign out front points to a problem with the gas...



Photos by Bobby Williams.

Here's more about Picnic, now open on Second Avenue

We noted the new-look exterior at 117 Second Ave. yesterday ... the restaurant space here at East Seventh Street (home to the Kiev, some time ago) is now apparently out of soft-open mode ... we received the official news release about Picnic yesterday afternoon.

To the release!

Partner Kamran Malekan and Executive Chef Nicholas Nostadt debut Picnic, offering a contemporary take on homespun classics inspired by Nostadt's Midwestern roots. The lofty, 70-seat restaurant is located on a sunny corner in the heart of the East Village, inviting nostalgia with a nod to picnic fare with a creative spin.

Chef Nostadt, formerly of Williamsburg's Berry Park, offers a menu of modern riffs on American classics, from small bites including the Cheese Ball with Roquefort, Bresaola, Dill, Braised Bosc Pear, Pickled Red Onions and Grilled Bread (cheese selections will rotate) and Mussels with Hard Cider, Apricot Nectar, Dijon Cream, Soft Herbs and Spices, to salads such as the Celery with Celery Leaves, Celery Root, Tarragon, New York State Apples, Capers, and Meyer Lemon Dressing. Sides and snacks include Scratch-Baked Beans, Boiled Peanuts and a riff on a Roll-Up made with Mortadella and Roquefort.

Entrees range from "Between the Bun" options such as the Pulled Pork Sandwich with Rootbeer BBQ and Roasted Corn & Cabbage Slaw, to a bucket of Fried Chicken with House-made Ranch Dressing, and a Whole Roasted Fish with Lemon, Garlic and Herbs. An assortment of house-made donuts, a rotating selection of pies and chef Nostadt's take on the beloved Midwestern Puppy Chow round out the menu. The beverage program consists of American beers on tap, bottled and canned brews, all-American wines and Counter Culture coffee.

Picnic is open seven days a week for dinner and late-night dining: Sunday through Thursday from 5 pm to 11 pm, and Friday and Saturday from 5 pm to 12 am.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Storefront renovation for 117 Second Ave.; last call for Song 7.2?

A Picnic for Second Avenue

Tonight

Houston and Norfolk via @Speakman

...and from Bobby Williams...

12 years later: Looking at the reign of Bloomberg

The new New York magazine unleashes a whole lotta Bloomy this week. (Find the package of stories here.) I'm still wrapping my head around it all...

Here's an excerpt from Justin Davidson's essay titled "Shiny, Alluring, Ugly, Visionary, Inspiring, Incomplete."

The present, however, hasn’t always gone so smoothly. For an irresistible city, New York can be awfully ugly. Ghastly glass towers have laid waste to entire neighborhoods, and sharklike chain stores have swallowed small businesses. The once-derelict industrial zone along the Greenpoint-­Williamsburg waterfront metamorphosed into a new, high-density neighborhood, which would’ve been great, except that the change resulted in a phalanx of big ungainly buildings with a paltry, broken strip of greenery out front. The permissive rezoning of Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue, too, produced buildings of such slipshod “luxury” that the Wall Street Journal columnist Robbie Whelan called it a “canyon of mediocrity.”

Why did so much terrible stuff get built? The answer is that bad, overpriced buildings are the price of civic ambition. In lean times, most architecture is crap because only what is cheap gets built; in better times, most architecture is crap because developers can’t wait to start cashing in. Bloomberg made New York safe for high-quality design — and at the same time triggered a plague of prosperous awfulness. As long as the city remains attractive, there will always be money in ruining it.

[Bloomy photo via]

What can we expect on the former Mary Help of Christians property?

[Aug. 29, by Dan Efram]

Well, to answer our headline: We have no idea!

You know the background: Developer Douglas Steiner bought the property last fall for an unspecified residential complex. This summer, workers demolished the structures on the Mary Help of Christians lot on Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 11th Street.

Next, presumably, there's construction of the new building. At this point, you'd figure Steiner reps would have filed the plans with the Department of Buildings... and we could all see the proposal... and await city approval (or not).

Steiner reps did file plans in July. Unfortunately, we just can't see them.



In our six years of blogging and digging through DOB files, we've never seen this before. In the words of an EVG friend who we shared this with, here's where things get interesting. Through the Hub "self-service" thing, architects and engineers "can professionally certify plans for small construction projects (Alteration 2 and Alteration 3) without visiting a Department office."

However! Since bigger projects like the demolition of a church and school for a residential complex include change of use, we don't understand how those would quality as "small construction projects." As our EVG friend theorized, "maybe what's happening is they're just electronically submitting permit applications for like interior demo and debris removal and scaffolding installation."

So given all this, we won't be able to see these applications until they are accepted into the DOB system.

But we got a few possible clues about the space back in May ... when a retail listing at Ripco Real Estate popped up .. then quickly disappeared. From that listing:

Size
11,356 sf - Ground Floor
11,508 sf - Basement Possible
*Divisions possible

Asking Rent
Upon Request

Possession
4Q 2014

Currently
New Construction

Frontage
150’ on Avenue A
70’ on 11th Street

Notes & Highlights:
• New construction at the base of 140 unit market luxury rental building
• Steps from Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village with 30,000 residents
• Close proximity to Tompkins Square Park
• Located in the heart of the East Village and Alphabet City

So, going back to our headline... to answer the question: What can we expect?

Something big.

[Via Off the Grid]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site

Scaffolding arrives for demolition of Mary Help of Christians

The 'senseless shocking self-destruction' of Mary Help of Christians

3 new AC units at incoming 7-Eleven prompts Partial Stop Work Order

Last week, workers installed three AC units adjacent to the incoming 7-Eleven at 500 E. 11th St. (aka 170 Avenue A). A tipster sent in the above photo to show the apparently really annoying new units.

The No 7-Eleven blog first reported on this development Friday.

We'll go there for more:

Between 500 and 502 East 11th Street there is a narrow alley originally created to allow air circulation between the two buildings which were built sometime in the late 1800s/early 1900s. 7-Eleven has dug down into the alley and installed cement pillars and i-beams to hold three massive AC units which go off at 15 minute intervals.

Writes a neighbor:
“The units make a loud “WHOOSHING” noise every 15 minutes and since all the bedrooms are located off the alley, there has not been much sleeping going on in either building. The units are also blocking light and part of a window on the first floor of 502 East 11th Street.”

The city has investigated the complaints from neighbors and issued a Partial Stop Work Order.



As the No 7-Eleven blog noted: "Thank heaven!"

Work on this space is now in the 12th month.

The latest from the 7-Eleven franchise site — updated Sept. 3 — shows that the store has a September 2-013 opening date.

New-look 117 Second Ave. revealed

[February]

Earlier in the year, workers started replacing the floor-to-ceiling aluminum/windows at the landmarked 117 Second Ave. at East Seventh Street... at the time, we thought that all this might ruin (OK) the distinctive characteristics of the corner building

[2007, via Curbed]

But! Workers have removed the renovation wrap...


[Robert Miner]


[RM]

And, well — actually looks pretty good, huh?



As previously noted, the restaurant space will be something called Picnic... which will reportedly be serving American comfort food like meatballs, sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. They are in soft-open mode ... and already garnered a 5-star review on Yelp.



--

And how the building looked a few years back ... circa 1979 and the Kiev.

[By Michael Sean Edwards]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Storefront renovation for 117 Second Ave.; last call for Song 7.2?

A Picnic for Second Avenue

And now, the last post ever about a laundromat at 173 E. 2nd St., maybe

[EVG file photo]

The end and a new beginning.

Closure on the Klean & Kleaner saga on East Second Street. The laundromat here between Avenue A and Avenue B had been on the market for use as a bar-restaurant. The Living Room unsuccessfully tried to relocate here. The place then closed in the middle of July... then reopened as a laundromat a few days later under new ownership.

And now, the laundromat has unveiled its new sign. Please welcome Fresh Laundry & Cleaners.



The Free Dry with washer use (details!) remains in effect through September.

There's a moon over...

Photo by Bobby Williams tonight...

Week in Grieview

[Bobby Williams]

2013 East Village summer in review (Tuesday)

The life aquatic at the Avenue D Rite Aid (Friday)

"Modern Australian" for Avenue A (Thursday)

We love The Baroness (Wednesday)

The changes coming to Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street (Friday)

About a burlesque mentoring project (Tuesday)

Dr. Doom loses the hot tub (Tuesday)

The incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A looks fucking horrible (Wednesday)

Your CB3/SLA September highlights (Tuesday)

First Avenue Pierogi & Deli returns from summer break (Tuesday)

Memories of the Odessa Cafe and Bar (Wednesday)

FroYo confirmed for Avenue A (Tuesday)

Welcome Taverna Kyclades (Thursday)

New sponsor for the Halloween Dog Parade (Thursday)