Report: IBM's 'Jeopardy' computer and $1 billion group headed to 51 Astor Place

There are multiple reports this morning that IBM is making Watson, that smart AI computer system who kicked some "Jeopardy" ass a few years back, the centerpiece in the company's new $1 billion business unit.

And why should you care? Let's go to Forbes to tell the story!

IBM says it plans to spend over $1 billion on the new unit, which already includes over 2,000 employees, in the next several years, out of the new 51 Astor Place. Mike Rhodin will head up the group, which the company hopes will help it reach a $20 billion revenue projection for its big data and analytics services by 2015.

The announcement of the new unit and its headquarters in ‘Silicon Alley’ is for a simple reason: to find some positive momentum for IBM within CEO Ginni Rometty’s 2015 roadmap, while showing techies in New York that IBM can be cool, the company hopes.

Here's the official Watson website with more details on the company's new 51 Astor Place space.

Perhaps 51 Astor Place developer Edward Minskoff will have the joint fully leased by the end of this month after all.

And say — do artificially intelligent computer systems like tuna melts?

Updated:

Reaction from Twitter...

.@evgrieve Wait...what? I thought @KenJennings was moving in. This is completely different.

— 51 Astor Place (@51deathstar) January 9, 2014

RIP Don Holley

Don Holley, a beloved champion of the East Village, was struck and killed by a car upstate early Monday morning. He was 62.

According to WKTV-Utica, Holley, who is from the area and was in town visiting friends, was taking an early-morning walk along Route 20 in the town of Sangerfield in Oneida County when he was struck by a car. Oneida County Sheriff's Deputies said that they have not located the driver who initially hit Holley.

In the East Village, Holley was a tireless volunteer in all the schools his boys, Vance and Charlie, attended. He served as president of the Earth School Parents Association and was a familiar figure in the Tompkins Square Park playground.

"Don was an education activist. He went to umpteen school board and Parent Association meetings and was always vocal about changes that were needed in East Village schools that his boys attended," his friend Bonnie Stein told us. "Don helped plan and get things done. He was a doer not just a talker. Reliable. Smart. Fun. Serious. People loved Don. Except maybe some school board officials..."

Most recently Holley had been living in Coney Island. But his presence was still felt here.

"The community is deeply saddened by the loss of this dynamic and caring human being," said his friend Tim Schellenbaum.

There's no word just yet about a memorial service.

[Image via Facebook]

Stuff that you can't make up: More FroYo for the East Village

Hey now. EVG reader Malin passes along the above photo... sadly noting that the former New Amici Pizza space on Third Avenue at East 12th Street will become home to... Funkiberry.

MORE FROYO!

Per their website: "Funkiberry is the land of endless yogurt possibilities, where you rule the portions, the choices and the scene."

Perhaps this will make up for that Yogurt Crazy shop that never opened across Third Avenue.

There are two Funkiberry locations in Brooklyn.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village FroYo craze lives on, apparently

Quintessence mourning death of an owner; wrapping up crowdfunding campaign to save restaurant

We heard that sad news that Steve Bohen, an owner of Quintessence and the husband of co-founder Mun Chan, died Tuesday night following a short illness. He was 62.

One friend of the couple shared this about Steve: "He was dedicated to making Quintessence a success and a truly wonderful human being."

Meanwhile, Quintessence, the 13-year-old vegan restaurant on East 10th Street, is currently fighting to keep the doors open.

The owners launched an Indiegogo campaign back on Dec. 27, and are not even close to their goal by midnight tomorrow. (Sorry for the short notice — we just learned of this ourselves.)

Here is part of the appeal from the owners:

A business such as this is not a money maker, or get rich and retire operation but more of a non-profit community serving operation serving a needing market. Therefore if we do not maintain a certain level of business to generate a certain level of cash-flow we will not survive. We do not have backers or investors to float us through a low season or even a momentary lull. We need customers daily to keep things moving.

All this said winter is particularly difficult for us as patrons tend to eat more cooked/hot foods pulling their business from us and going somewhere else. I understand and realize this as each year for the past 13 years this has been the case. We have run special incentive programs during the winter months in the past and they have help us until business picks up again but it was not so easy and it was only a small part of what carried us through the winter months.

This year has been particularly tough as the economy has forced our patron to spend less at the same time as Organic and Raw Products have jump in price to an all-time high. We try our best to offer our very special foods at a reasonable price but our cost of goods sold is simply too high for any substantial profitablility. All Quintessence owners work second jobs, our employees are paid first and the rest goes to operations cost.

New Corner Magazine closed for renovations; new operator to take over

New Corner Magazine (or King's Magazine), the longtime newsstand on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue, is currently closed for renovations.



Said a distraught resident yesterday: "Workers are tearing the place apart; the guts are on the sidewalk."

We checked in with the building's landlord, who said that the space will remain a newsstand, though there will be "an upgrade in the operator and the space."

We always rather liked the old space…


[Via Yelp]

Picnic has apparently closed on Second Avenue

Picnic opened to great fanfare last September, garnering write-ups everywhere from Gothamist to Fork in the Road. (We cut-n-paste the news release here.)

The menu from chef Nicholas Nostadt, formerly of Williamsburg's Berry Park, leaned toward American comfort food. (Cheese Ball with Roquefort!) And the space was lovingly renovated.

In any event, it appears that Picnic has closed. Several readers have noted the space has been dark the past week or so. The phone kicks into a generic voice-mail greeting after a lot of rings. There's no sign on the door or mention of a closure on their Facebook page or website.

However, one person with knowledge of the restaurant, which formerly housed the Kiev one day a long time ago, said that it was closed.

The restaurant is also listed (PDF) for rent at Eastern Consolidated.

Per asking rent per the marketing flyer: "$14,354 per month with 4% increases per annum."

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

A Picnic for Second Avenue

Report: Jerry Delakas receives 2 weeks to reach deal with city to operate Astor Place newsstand

Some potentially good news to pass along. The city has granted Jerry Delakas two weeks to reach an agreement with the city to continue operating the newsstand at Astor Place, Serena Soloman reports this afternoon at DNAinfo.

Per her article:

"This will give us two weeks to work things out," said Arthur Schwartz, an attorney from Advocate for Justice, which is representing Delakas. "If someone else gets in that would be a big mess."

Schwartz also filed a petition Wednesday in an ongoing effort to get the 64-year-old Delakas temporary approval to operate the newsstand — his only source of income — while the city makes its decision.

Schwartz said the fight for Delakas to be granted his own license by the Department of Consumer Affairs will be "an uphill battle," because he had been operating under the umbrella of a former owner and never had the license transferred into his name.

"He will only get his license back if the mayor intervenes," Schwartz said.

Mayor de Blasio is said to be aware of the situation with the newsstand, which Delakas has operated since 1987.

Previously on EV Grieve:
City shutters Jerry's Newsstand on Astor Place for 'operating illegally'

The story about the city shutting down Jerry's Newsstand on Astor Place actually gets worse

More about saving Jerry's Newsstand

Helping Save Jerry

Claim: Serge Becker and Josh Picard are taking over the soon-to-be-former 7A

Since our post this morning about East Village mainstay 7A closing by the end of this month... various readers/tipsters have passed along word of who is apparently taking over the space: Serge Becker and Josh Picard.

Becker and Picard are heavy nightlife/hotspot restauranteurs with names like Lafayette, Miss Lilys, the revamped Joe's Pub and The Dutch among their credits.

Here's a passage from a feature on Becker from the Times in 2011:

After three decades of designing many of downtown’s most distinctive hot spots, Mr. Becker has earned a reputation as a night life impresario whose presence assures an attractive clientele and discerning doormen. The Box is a nightclub that mixed bottle service with burlesque. La Esquina is a taco stand that propelled the speakeasy trend (there’s a “secret” Mexican restaurant underground) to absurd heights. Before that, there were the Bowery Bar, Fez, M.K. and Area. His latest project, Miss Lily’s, is a Jamaican restaurant on West Houston Street with hosts whose job often involves shepherding patrons elsewhere.

A tipster told us back in November that 7A would become a southern-themed restaurant.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Reader report: 7A will close at the end of the month

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Judge halts NYU expansion (Curbed)

The Lower East Side: Now cheaper than Bushwick? (Brooklyn Magazine)

Meet street performer Qween Amor (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

The Barnes & Noble on lower Fifth Avenue has closed (Gothamist)

Massive tribute to Nelson Mandela on Mulberry Street (BoweryBoogie)

A Greenwich Village map from 1925 (Off the Grid)

John Lennon's last major TV interview (Dangerous Minds)

And MetroFocus will air a feature on the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS)

WLIW (@WLIW21) Wednesday 7:30 pm

Thirteen (@ThirteenNY) Thursday 8:30 pm

NJTV (@NJTVonline) Thursday 10:30 pm

The segment will also be on the MetroFocus website this afternoon.

And via @evgrieve this morning...

Saabsicle discovery this morning on East 12th Street

Apparently a pipe broke on East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B sometime recently... Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C noted the Saabsicle (his term!) ... and several other cars in the same predicament.

Sucks. But it's likely much less off a disaster than our dear old friend... the Icicle Audi of East Second Street... back in the balmy days of the winter of January 2011...

Out and About in the East Village 2013 recap

Since Aug. 1, 2012, East Village-based photographer James Maher has provided us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the neighborhood for our series Out and About in the East Village.

Thank you to James! And thanks to Joann Jovinelly and Stacie Joy who contributed features when James was traveling. And thanks to everyone who took the time to be interviewed... So here's a look back at our 45 subjects from 2013... we'll be back with Out and About in the East Village on Jan. 15.

-----



• Jan. 9 — Lee Schramm

• Jan. 16 — Chris Riffle

• Jan. 23 — Jane Kelton and Little Egg

• Jan. 30 — Paul Kostabi

• Feb. 6 — Cheryl Pyle

• Feb. 13 — Mike Bakaty

• Feb. 20 — Jacquelyn Gallo

• Feb. 27 — Reverend Jacqui Lewis

• March 6 — Manny Garcia

• March 13 — Annette “Mistress Evil” Moccaldi

• March 20 — Katie Kenney

• March 27 — Lucille Krasne

• April 3 — 2013 recap

• April 10 — Jasmin Olmo (and Rocko)

• April 17 — Nicolina Johnson

• April 24 — Bryan Alejandro Scott



• May 1 — Terry

• May 8 — Jeff Underwood

• May 15 — Markian Surmach

• May 22 — Edward “Eak the Geek” Arrocha

• May 29 — Matt Torres

• June 5 — Danny Lama

• June 12 — Elisabeth Diekmann

• June 19 — Yadi Maria

• June 26 — Phillip Giambri

• July 3 — Phillip Giambri, Part 2

• July 10 — 2013 recap

• July 17 — Michael Duggan

• July 24 — Elizabeth Cunningham

• July 31 — Elissa Jiji

• Aug. 7 — Hannah Rad

• Aug. 14 — Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba and son Jake

• Aug. 21 — Kathy Von Hartz



• Aug. 28 — Angel “Petroleum” Luis Roman

• Sept. 4 – The Baroness

• Sept. 11 — Sven Furberg

• Sept. 18 — Christopher Tanner

• Sept. 25 — 2013 recap

• Oct. 2 — Sally Young, Part 1

• Oct. 9 — Sally Young, Part 2

• Oct. 16 — Seth Tobocman

• Oct. 23 — Tom Kopache and Chia

• Oct. 30 — Jerry

• Nov. 6 — Melissa Hotchkiss (and Jess)

• Nov. 13 — Nico D Smith

• Nov. 20 — Manuel

• Nov. 27 — Jenny Adams

• Dec. 4 — Rew Starr

• Dec. 11 — Santo Mollica

• Dec. 18 — Nick Sitnycky, Part 1

• Dec. 19 — Nick Sitnycky, Part 2

• Dec. 25 — Merry Christmas!

[Updated] Reader report: 7A will close at the end of the month

Back in November, we started hearing rumors that Avenue A mainstay 7A would close in the coming months… sold to a group who planned to open a southern-themed restaurant. (Mama Lulu's or something similar, said a tipster at the time.)

Fast-forward to yesterday when, according to a tipster, management informed staff that the 24-hour restaurant will close at the end of January.

We didn't hear any official reason for the closure. However, it is not because of a rent hike, we're told. 7A owner Moshe Hatsav also owns part of the building at 130 E. Seventh St., which was recently renovated ... where the penthouse is fetching $16,995 a month. (Also, 7A had been closed for renovations last January … as well as in January 2011.)

In any event, there have been rumblings that the restaurant that has anchored the southwest corner of Avenue A and East Seventh Street since the mid-1980s had been going downhill of late, that staff moral was waning.

Per our tipster: "The saddest part, other than the loss of an institution in the community, is that many of the employees have worked there for a decade at least."

No official word just yet on what will take 7A's place.

Updated 1 p.m.

7A confirmed the closure on the restaurant's Facebook page, noting simply: "7A will be closing for good by the end of the month."

Updated 2:22 p.m.
Are Serge Becker and Josh Pickard taking over 7A?