The EVG Election Night Central Headquarters

[Photo yesterday at an East Village polling station by Grant Shaffer]

Hey, Bill De Blasio won. He takes office on Jan. 1 as the 109th NYC mayor.

Also elected: Letitia James for public advocate and Scott Stringer as comptroller. Rosie Mendez too.

Thank you all for your support! Excited to serve District 2 for four more years!

— Rosie Mendez (@RosieMendez) November 6, 2013

And, likely unrelated to Election Night, the Knicks lost.

Anyway, I just really wanted to post the above photo from Grant.

Jeremiah Moss has more on De Blasio's landslide victory and "20 years of living under the thumbs of the cops and the billionaires" at Vanishing New York.

Noted

From The New York Times today on the Citi Bikes bike-rental program:

As of Monday, though, after more than five months and five million trips, none of the program’s riders have been killed on the bikes. About two dozen injuries, most of them minor, have been reported.

Last year, according to the city’s Transportation Department, 18 cyclists were killed in car crashes from January through October, compared with 10 so far this year, though citywide, cyclist injuries have remained consistent. There was one cyclist death this year in the neighborhoods served by the bike-share program, in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, though the cyclist was not riding a Citi Bike. Over the same period last year, there were two bike deaths in these areas.

And while sidewalk cyclists, red-light-running cyclists and “salmoning” cyclists — those who ride against traffic — remain a daily scourge for many New York pedestrians, no one has been killed by a cyclist in the city since 2009.

Meanwhile at the polls...

From the EVG inbox...

Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street just after exercising her Dog given right to vote today. In addition to looking forward to a De Blasio administration, she’s hopeful a new Police Commissioner will back off just a bit on the leash laws at off hours at the East River Park. She’s getting a bit tired of the fines.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Meet Kita

The further adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

The further (often truly) amazing adventures of Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street supports Bill De Blasio for Mayor

Construction watch: 401 E. Eighth St., now with rendering

Some progress to report since we last checked in at 397-401 E. Eighth St., a stalled development for nearly nine years. Approved plans are in place for a nine-story residential building with a penthouse.

There has been activity at this lot at Avenue D.



And the plywood sports a rendering of the new building. Brace! And behold...



Akeeb Shekoni of Queens-based Akson Architect is listed as the architect... and the building's owners are the vague 399 E8 Development LLC.

Also, in closing, they are asking nicely now, so... no graffiti!



Previously on EV Grieve:
Meanwhile, before we christen Avenue D the next Greenpoint...

Stalled development site on Eighth Street and Avenue D asking $5.2 million

Long-stalled East 8th Street lot coming back as 9-story residential building — with penthouse

Banjara moving soon to the Haveli space on Second Avenue

Word is that Banjara, the reliable Indian restaurant on First Avenue at East Sixth Street, will be moving this week... into the Haveli space on Second Avenue near East Sixth Street...



Haveli has been closed for the past month.



EVG reader @SeanCarlson dined at Banjara the other night ... and picked up a new business card...



One member of the staff explained, "business down, rent up."

An Italian restaurant called Figaro Bistro Grill was looking to take over the Banjara space, as we noted last month. The Figaro principals were on last month's CB3/SLA committee docket, but withdrew their application.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Banjara space yielding to Figaro Bistro Grill, 15 comments

A few more details on Momofuku Ko (aka, TBD) coming to Extra Place

Extra Place seems extra quiet these days... though likely not for too much longer. As The New York Times first reported, Momofuku Ko is planning to move its "counter-only tasting-menu restaurant" from First Avenue to Extra Place.

Of course, there's a big vacancy here since sister restaurants Extra Place and Heidi closed earlier in the fall at 6-8 Extra Place, the alleyway that runs behind the former CBGB space on the Bowery off of First Street.

Paperwork filed ahead of this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting for 4-8 Extra Place seems to have an air of Kremlin-like secrecy.



There's no mention of Momofuku or chef-founder David Chang on the documents on file at the CB3 website. Just TBD.

As for other details. There will be four tables seating four people each as well as a counter for 25 diners. The proposed hours are from noon to midnight Sunday through Wednesday; until 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. There will be 20 employees... and, uh, a sound system featuring an iPod with two small speakers, per the documents.

The Times reported that Momofuku Ko will possibly move by the end of the year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Extra Place now officially a Dead End

Extra Place and Heidi currently 'closed for renovation' in Extra Place

Now will Extra Place become Extra special?

The wood for David Schwimmer's roof deck has arrived

[Photo yesterday by Michael Hirsch]

The wood arrived yesterday to presumably join the garden that was airlifted in back in the spring here on East Sixth Street...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Here is David Schwimmer's East Village home

Report: Golden Cadillac will pay homage to the Lenox Lounge and Odessa Cafe

The New York Times has more on Golden Cadillac, the new bar-restuarant opening Thursday at 5 p.m. on First Avenue and East First Street.

The space is going for a 1970s vibe.

“Images of discos come to mind,” said Giuseppe Gonzalez, a bartender whose past posts include the cocktail bars Clover Club, Dutch Kills and Painkiller. “We’re going to try to make people think differently about the ‘70s.”

Mr. Gonzalez’s vision of that decade is all about the New York he grew up with. “The birth of punk music, birth of hip-hop,” he said. “Keith Haring moved here in 1978. Martin Scorsese made four films set in New York in the ‘70s. That’s what I wanted.”

And!

The interior, designed by Jeannette Kaczorowski of Crow Hill Design Studio, along with Fieldlines Architecture, pays homage to two recently vanished New York landmarks: the Lenox Lounge in Harlem and the Odessa Cafe in the East Village. “Jeanette said there were lots of layers in those bars,” Mr. Boehm said. “You started with Art Deco, and then it was built upon. Lots of oranges, burgundies and browns.” Another inspiration was the fictional Volpe Bar in Mr. Scorsese’s film “Mean Streets.”

The space was previously home to Boca Chica since 1989.

As for the Odessa Cafe and Bar ... as we noted last week, the Odessa will serve drinks in a cozy ambiance similar to the former Cafe and Bar in the back of the restaurant Wednesday through Saturday nights starting at 8.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's Golden Cadillac, the '70s-nostalgic bar' opening at the former Boca Chica space

[Updated] Claim: Employees restyle 'No 7-Eleven' sign for new Avenue A storefront

We've heard from several readers who claim that an employee of the new, much-maligned 7-Eleven on Avenue A and East 11th Street was spotted removing a "Stop 7-Eleven" flyer from a storefront across the street... (the flyers are up in several businesses along Avenue A and East 11th Street and elsewhere.... courtesy of the No 7-Eleven blog.)

As you can see, someone then repurposed the flyer, which is now in the new 7-Eleven's front window...


[Image via @matteominasi]

And another photo courtesy of Anton van Dalen...



Updated 1 a.m.

Shawn Chittle notes that someone has ripped down the sign...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[At Union Square Stadium 14 via Michael Sean Edwards]

Laurie Anderson's lovely tribute to Lou Reed (New York)

Owners of the Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel suing longtime tenant who always sues them (New York Post)

Family puts up rent-stablizied apartment in the East Village to make bail for gypsy (Daily News)

Remembering See/Hear on East Seventh Street (Flaming Pablum)

The extreme first release from Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label (Dangerous Minds)

Orchard Hell Building grows (BoweryBoogie)

"[A] vote for Bill de Blasio is a vote against Bloomberg's vision of the city" (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Night in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

Luscious Jackson back after 14-year hiatus (Gothamist)

Construction watch: 100 Avenue A

[Bobby Williams]

Prep work for the demolition of 100 Avenue A is getting serious... the scaffolding has arrived... and workers put up the plywood along Avenue A...

The city OK'd a demolition permit in June for 98-100 Avenue A, which housed East Village Farms until Feb. 7, 2012.

Developer Ben Shaoul purchased the former theater turned market in May for $15.5 million, according to public records.

We don't know specifically what will be here... Shaoul's reps filed the plans in the hub self-service... and they will not be made public until the city approves them.

But a rendering on the plywood shows a building looking like this:



...six floors of residences above the retail component here between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.



A retail listing that we posted in May stated that the building will contain 40 residential units.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

East Village Farms is closing; renovations coming to 100 Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

Reader reports: Village Farms closing Jan. 31; building will be demolished

Asbestos abatement continues at 98 Avenue A, Ben Shaoul's latest East Village trophy

Otto's Tacos (soft) opens today

Otto's Tacos has its soft opening today at 141 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

Per the Otto's website:

Otto's Tacos is an LA inspired grab and go taqueria focusing on freshly prepared tacos. We make all of our tortillas, salsas and marinades from scratch every day.

(Otto Cedeno told us more about his first restaurant back on Aug. 21.)

You can find Otto's menu here.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Otto's Tacos, opening this fall on Second Avenue

[Photos via Facebook/Otto's Tacos]