If it's October, then it might be time to throw away last season's Christmas tree, probably

Dave on 7th spotted the above on East Sixth Street today... what was, most likely, or not, a Christmas (holiday) tree. "The branches are in the bags," Dave on 7th hopefully pointed out.

Fine. But where is the verification/authentification/random -tion word to prove that this is actually from today?


[Boosting the circulation]

OK, fine. But where is the stump and the bags with the remains of the Christmas (holiday) tree? We called him out on this, said something like FAIL, though in a jovial way that may have been misinterpreted via email.

"Actually, not a fail. Note the same car across the street."

OK. Hold all tickets. This might take awhile.

Current record for Christmas (holiday) tree discarding: June 29-30.

Revamped Astor Place subway plaza apparently won't need its existing trees

[Image via Curbed]

As you know, the long-awaited revamp is happening at Astor Place and Cooper Square these next two years... The plan includes enlarging Cooper Park, streamlining the street grid and creating new permanent pedestrian plazas. Not to mention adding 60 additional trees. Also among the changes: a new-look subway plaza with raised flower beds, more seating and wider sidewalks... and trees ... per the rendering above...

Unfortunately, the existing trees here were either in the wrong place or just not fit for the new-look Astor Place. Several readers were shocked to find that workers had chopped down the trees (Birch?) along here...


[Photo via @EVPinhead]

To echo what @EVPinhead put on Twitter about this: #WTF

Updated:

Here's another view via EVG reader John M.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

An updated look at the all-new Astor Place

Workers chopping down the trees at 51 Astor Place

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village. James is traveling this week. East Village writer and photographer Joann Jovinelly compiled today's post.



By Joann Jovinelly

Name: Sally Young
Occupation: Mixed-Media Artist, Political Activist and
Preservationist, Photographer
Location: Sixth Street Community Garden
Time: 10:30 AM on Friday, Sept. 27

Part II (Read Part I here)

Beginning in 2005, we started to see a lot more redevelopment [in this neighborhood]. A huge glass hotel went up on the end of my street, the Cooper Square Hotel. We began to see the scaffolding go up around the buildings and then the buildings came down. That was when I started photographing like crazy, both on film and digitally. That was also around the same time the Cooper Union Hewitt building came down; I was photographing it every morning, photos that I eventually assembled in an accordion book.

I was looking at what was going on my block, East Fifth Street, and I noticed that there was a Federal house there, 35 Cooper Square, and it was still standing. I became very interested in Federal houses and the [older] architecture of New York.

In 2006, I set up a stand in front of my apartment building as part of the Art in Odd Places exhibit where I gave away my photo postcards. And I created a book with wooden pages that people could flip through to learn more about the architecture in the neighborhood. That is how I got my Deconstructing Bowery book together.

Eventually, I wrote a history of 35 Cooper Square from the time it was built in 1826, information that was used to help unsuccessfully landmark the structure, which was demolished in 2011. Even though there were major protests to save that building, the landmark proposal was rejected.

Another address I researched, 135 Bowery, which was built in 1817, had been slated for preservation and approved, but it was sold off to build “affordable” office space. In that case, just one council member had overturned the decision to preserve the building in order to provide the aforementioned offices, but the new owners lied, tore the building down, and immediately put the lot up for sale. In 2007, a group of other concerned citizens, myself included, formed the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors to preserve what’s left of the Bowery’s architecture.

I know that when artists come in, eventually gentrification follows, but today we’re talking hyper-gentrification. For instance, now there are areas on West Fourth Street that are so heavily congested with students that you can barely get through the block. I remember a few years ago before the big explosion of NYU, and there were signs up in the West Village that said, ‘Do you think this neighborhood is safe enough for NYU students?’ and I kind of wanted to flip that around and ask, ‘Do you think that the neighborhood is safe enough to withstand NYU development?’ I saw that question as a reversal, much before all of the redevelopment began happening.

The concerns of the newcomers today are far different from those waves of people who came to New York in past generations. We were involved with our community; most of today’s newcomers are not. We had rent strikes. We were committed. There were a lot of problems; there was a lot of crime. Most of those areas were just bombed out. We were under siege. All we could do then was work together. That’s around the time, in the early 1980s, when we stared creating the gardens like the Sixth and B Garden. While this is among the most protected of those green spaces in the neighborhood, others are still at risk.

In the 1980s, people bonded together, and that bond literally grew this neighborhood. Look at all these beautiful places that you can still enjoy. These days, newcomers moving to the neighborhood have slick, renovated apartments for which they pay a great deal. They’re often living with a bunch of people. But there are few among them who are actually fully invested in the East Village; instead they are in transition. They aren’t living here to put down roots. For years, I never saw a moving van on my block; now I see them all the time.

Read Part 1 of our interview with Sally Young here. Check out Sally's website here.

Joann Jovinelly is a freelance writer and photographer who still calls the East Village home.

Never-ending battle wages on over additional floors at 515 E. Fifth St.

[EVG file photo]

A familiar address makes an appearance at tonight's CB3 Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee meeting:

• BSA 266-13-BZ, 515 E 5th St: request variance of ZR23-145 to legalize enlargement of a 6-story family dwelling

To quickly rehash a few previous posts: Back in 2008, the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) decreed that developer Ben Shaoul's additions to 515 E. Fifth St. were illegal and should be removed. Work on the additional 6th floor and penthouse commenced in 2006 after the Buildings Department approved the enlargements ... however, the additions were later found to skirt certain fire and safety regulations, per published reports. (Read more about the ruling at the Post and Curbed.)

In recent years there have been protests ... and hearings...

In early September, attorneys for a handful of 515's longer-tenured residents argued that not only was there no legal basis for granting Shaoul vesting under the old zoning laws, there was also no guarantee that he would use this opportunity to correct the violations of the Multiple Dwelling Laws that exist in the building. The BSA upheld this argument.

However, Shaoul's attorneys are appealing the BSA's decision. You can find volumes of legalese about all this right here. (PDF!)



To make a long legal document short, Shaoul's attorneys are requesting that the city grant a zoning variance to "permit the constructed enlargement, minus the penthouse, to remain, which is in character with the surrounding neighborhood." (According to the documents, the estimated cost of removing the sixth floor and penthouse is $452,000.)

In 2010, the BSA told Shaoul that he needed to remove the seventh-floor penthouse at a nearby property at 516-516 E. Sixth St. (The BSA said that the sixth-floor addition could stay.) Workers finally started removing the penthouse, which was never occupied, last month.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 5 years later, another BSA hearing on illegal rooftop addition at 515 E. Fifth St.

Protest at 515 E. Fifth St. this morning, site of Ben Shaoul's illegal addition

The disappearing illegal penthouse of 514-516 E. 6th St.

Retail space for renovated 205 Avenue A seeks $10k monthly

[EVG file photo]

As we've been noting, 205 Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street received a two-floor extension courtesy of developer Terrence Lowenberg and architect Ramy Issac. The construction wrap came off in July ...



... and now, the retail portion of the building is on the market...



A few details from the listing:

Occupancy: Immediate
APPROXIMATE SIZE:
Retail Space total:
700sq – Ground Floor
400sq — Basement

RENT:
$10,000 Per Month

CEILING HEIGHT
Ground Floor - 11ft

FRONTAGE:
20ft on Avenue A

No word just yet on the residential floors of 205.

Previously on EV Grieve:
2 additional floors coming to 205 Avenue A; another Lowenberg-Issac production

205 Avenue A primed for 2 new floors

Is the under-renovation 205 Avenue A already too tall?

Report: Last night for The Living Room is Oct. 26 on Ludlow Street

The Living Room sent out word last night that the live-music venue's last day at 154 Ludlow St. will be Oct. 26, via an email published by The Lo-Down.

It’s hard to believe we have been here on the Lower East side for over 16 years. First on the corner of Allen and Stanton and for the last 11 years here at 154 ludlow. We were hoping to announce our new location, but we can’t do that at this time. Steve and I are continuing our search for a new home for the club. We will keep you informed of our progress.

Back in May, Living Room co-founders Jennifer Gilson and Steve Rosenthal were unsuccessful in getting CB3 approval to take over the soon-to-be-former Klean & Kleaner laundromat on East Second Street. (Read the background on this here.)

The Living Room had received several lease extensions for 154 Ludlow St. earlier this year, as BoweryBoogie has reported.

[Image via Facebook]

Plans for Brownstone Lounge and Grill on hold for now on Avenue B; Ludlow St. replacements go 0-3

A quick note about Monday evening's CB3/SLA committee meeting. Members of the East 4th St. Block Association and other nearby residents had concerns about the applicant looking to take over the former Affaire space at 50 Avenue B (aka (240 E. Fourth St.).

Among other concerns, the applicant for the Brownstone Lounge and Grill apparently doesn't have any restaurant experience ... with a business plan that relies upon private party rentals of the basement.

As we understand it, in lieu of a likely denial recommendation to the SLA from CB3/SLA committee, the Brownstone principal withdrew his application (for now), and was told that he was welcome to come back with more robust plans for a restaurant.

BoweryBoogie reported that the principal is an IT business manager in Harlem and none of the investors have any track record in the nightlife/restaurant industry. Given the nightlife fuckery around here through the years (LeSouk and China 1, for starters), residents were understandably concerned about about any potentially noisy operation here.

Meanwhile! One other note... the applicants looking to take over three Ludlow Street mainstays didn't fare so well.

• Chicken-and-waffles restaurant Sweet Chick was looking to open a second outpost in the Max Fish space. As BoweryBoogie reported: "Residents of the 100-year-old tenement were ultimately worried that a fried food establishment in a 'porous' building would negatively impact quality of life." The committee ultimately did not approve this application.

• The committee reportedly convinced the applicant looking to take over the former Motor City space to temporarily withdraw his application. The Lo-Down described the new concept as a restaurant "featuring skewers from around the world." Oh boy.

• The committee also denied Artichoke's bid to take over El Sombrero's space, via The Lo-Down.

Now that was a sunset

Photo this evening via Shawn Chittle.

Now that was a sunset II

Meanwhile looking south from East Ninth Street via EVG regular Terry Howell...

The most amazing cat painting likely discarded today in the East Village

'Tis true. Spotted earlier on East Eighth Street near Avenue C.

Report: 2nd Avenue bike lane will extend from 14th to 23rd streets

Cyclists (and maybe parkers!) take note. The Department of Transportation plans to remove a lane of traffic on Second Avenue between 14th Street and 23rd Street to make room for about 35 parking spaces, which will provide a buffer for cyclists using the bike lane along this busy stretch, DNAinfo is reporting.

"It would create a continuous protected path on the avenue...and makes a shorter pedestrian path for those crossing Second Avenue who might need to walk a little slower," DOT spokesperson Patrick Kennedy said last night during a CB6 committee meeting.

The full CB6 Board will vote on the proposed plan next week, per DNAinfo. Read the article here.

City OKs 13-floor dorm for Cooper Square

[EVG file photo]

The city has approved developer Arun Bhatia's plans for a 13-floor "new student housing building" on Cooper Square at East Sixth Street, according to public records. The DOB website shows that the plans were OK'd this past Friday.



Bhatia's reps first filed paperwork for a 9-story dorm for an unspecified school in this space back in August 2012, as we first reported. Along the way, the dorm grew by 4 floors.

The paperwork on file with the DOB shows a building with 55 units and 3,517 square feet for commercial space. Kossar + Garry Architects, LLP are the architects of record.



There are many unknowns publicly about the project, such as who the dorm is for... and when construction will commence. The Arun Bhatia Development Organization has developed dorms for the New School and Marymount Manhattan College, among others, through the years.

The dorm will sit on a lot previously occupied in part by 35 Cooper Square, the Federal-style building that dated to 1825. The closing of the Asian Pub in January 2011 at 35 Cooper Square set in motion a sequence of events that led to the demolition of the building in 2011.

Neighbors haven't been so supportive of all this, as various signs left on the fence here have shown the past two years... like this one from March 2012...

An aside: The DOB website shows that there is still a "partial vacate" on 35 Cooper Square... dated from November 2008. Per the all-cap DOB speak: "NO 2ND MEANS OF EGRESS AT REAR YARD."



Thankfully the demolition crew took care of that egress problem.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Something 28,998 square feet or so coming to Cooper Square (and goodbye Cooper 35 Asian Pub?)

Here's what's coming to 35 Cooper Square: 9-story dormitory

Proposed dorm for former 35 Cooper Square looks to be 4 floors taller