Goodbye De Robertis

[Photo from June 2012 by Gudrun Georges]

After 110 years at 176 First Ave., DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe will close its doors for good this afternoon at 3.

The economy, age and health concerns reportedly weighed on their De Robertis family's decision to sell the building.

Meanwhile, leading up to today, there have been a number of tributes to the bakery.

It Was Her New York has a 2-part series ... here and here.

The Daily Beast stops by too.

It is one of those city relics New Yorkers gush about without ever darkening its door — or only go when they learn it’s shutting down. “I’ve passed this place a thousand times but never came in,” says Ranesh, who grew up in Staten Island and has lived in Park Slope for 20 years. “You take it for granted and think it will always be here.”

[Photo from June 2012 by Gudrun Georges]

Previously on EV Grieve:
174-176 First Ave. is in contract

[Updated] 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe looks to be closing once the building is sold

174-176 First Ave., home of DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe, is for sale

Let's take a look at the DeRobertis in-house bakery

Ugh: The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closes after Dec. 5 (43 comments)

What was that?

We went to bed early… and woke up to a whole lot of emails/tweets about an explosion/boom last night after 11 that most everyone from Avenue D to Third Avenue seemed to hear… at this point, we haven't heard any plausible explanations.

And we have power. And not the first time there have been unexplained booms/explosions/jet landings.

Updated 10:04 a.m.

An EVG Facebook friend points us to this Newsweek article ... which notes: "Protesters on Twitter claimed police deployed LRAD 'sound cannons' to control crowds" during last night's Eric Garner rallies.

176 E. 3rd St. changes hands for the 3rd time in 7 years

[Via Stone Street Properties]

Catching up to some news from last week. A package of buildings dubbed "The East Side Elevator Portfolio" has sold for a reported $126.3 million.

The portfolio features four Upper East Side properties as well as 176 E. Third St., a 48-unit building between Avenue A and Avenue B. According to the Commercial Observer, investors Nader and Lisa Shalom bought the East Third Street building. The asking price had been $38.5 million.

The Shaloms become the third landlord in seven years here. Icon Realty paid $14 million for No. 176 in August 2007, according to public records. Accusations of harassment and buyout offers followed in the year ahead. Here's a passage on the situation from an article in the Post from September 2008:

“They want to buy people out and renovate the apartment, and then they want to flip the building,” said Heather Gradowski, who pays less than $700 a month for her one-bedroom apartment.

Icon flipped the building a few years later. You can read a little more about the building's recent history in the link below.

There's no word on what No. 176 fetched this time around.

Previously on EV Grieve:
176 E. Third St. hits the market for $38.5 million

More about the End of Avenue A Block Association

[Photo via RyanAvenueA]

Earlier in the week, we noted the arrival of a newly formed (and apocalyptically named) End of Avenue A Block Association.

At the time we thought this was the work of residents. Turns out it is a group of bar/restaurant owners on the block between East Second Street and East Houston.

Jaime Felber, an owner of Boulton & Watt, offered some background via email.

"I approached all the bars on our block to join us, and was happy that Yerba Buena, 2A, the Library and Ella chose to join in," Felber said. "While this was set up by the managers and owners of the bars on our block, we obviously welcome the inclusion of anyone within our community."

There was a small turnout for the meeting. (He said that Boulton & Watt had flyers promoting the meeting up in their windows in recent weeks. He promised to share meeting info with EVG in advance of the next meeting.)

"A few issues regarding sidewalk congestion, noise and consideration of garbage were brought to our attention, and we worked out a basic course of action to hopefully mitigate these problems as best we can."

Felber said that he and one of his Boulton & Watt partners within a few blocks of here.

"So we consider ourselves part of the neighborhood as residents as much as bar operators, and look forward to further conversations." (Residents can use this email for any correspondence with the group.)

Oh, and how about the name — the End of Avenue A Block Association?

"The rather ominous-sounding name we chose for our block association was also pointed out at [the] meeting," Felber said. "Of course we didn't have that intention, but now it's out there, it seems almost a shame to change it."

Checking in on Checkers

As we noted back in late August, a Checkers is opening at 225 First Ave. between East 13th Street and East 14th Street … they've been collecting résumés the past few weeks…



… and the logo for the burger chain is now up inside…



No word on an opening date. Higher rents forced the previous longtime tenant, Gabay's Outlet, to leave the storefront for a new home at 195 Avenue A last summer.

Union Square tonight

Thousands of protestors have taken to NYC streets again tonight to protest yesterday's grand jury decision not to indict the NYPD officer involved in the Eric Garner chokehold case.

A march to 1 Police Plaza started at 5 p.m. from Union Square.

Photos by James and Karla Murray.

Meanwhile...

@ChristRobbins at Gothamist is among the many reporters providing live updates.

Among many tweets…

#EricGarner protests continue in force. Follow @joejackson, @bkesling, @ZushaElinson on streets coast to coast. http://t.co/Xxg8YtMuS2

— Pervaiz Shallwani (@Pervaizistan) December 5, 2014

And the livestream…

NYPD arrives full force ahead of tonight's Eric Garner rally on Union Square

The NYPD arrived en masse this afternoon along Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue (where they have been camped out the past 10 or so days) between East 10th Street and East 14th Street...













Another night of protests are expected around the city in the wake of yesterday's grand jury decision not to indict the NYPD officer involved in the Eric Garner chokehold case.

One rally begins at the north side of Union Square at 5 ... with a march down to 1 Police Plaza.

Photos via EVG reader Robert F.

A new (old) awning arrives at the Holiday

This morning, workers installed a new awning outside the former Holiday Cocktail Lounge at 75 St. Mark's Place.

And it's an exact replica of the previous awning...



Back in July, some dude on a skateboard came by and slashed the name off of it.

The new awning is the next step for the new venture here. As previously reported, Barbara Sibley, the owner of La Palapa next door, will help run a tavern-restaurant in this space.

First, though — the building had to undergo a top-to-bottom renovation. And it has taken awhile. Sibley has firsthand experience — she lives in the building. She talked to us about it back in January.

The building was in terrible condition ... It’s been such an exercise in zen and archaeology. As much as we’ve been trying to maintain it, you couldn’t keep everything. We were lucky on their closing night that we didn’t all fall through. Every time we look behind a wall it’s been a major repair. It’s been an endless process.

The Holiday 2.0 closed Jan. 28, 2012.

No word yet on an opening date... but the new place will go by the name the Holiday.

Tough times for desserts on 2nd Avenue

Several readers noted that the Red Mango on Second Avenue just below East Fourth Street had been closed in recent weeks. Winter hiatus?

The ownership confirmed to us that this location has permanently closed.

Red Mango just opened here in February, which may not have been the best time to open a FroYo shop…

A Red Mango also came and went pretty quickly on St. Mark's Place back in 2008.

Meanwhile, directly next door, Gelato Ti Amo, which was part of an international Tuscany-based chain, has also permanently closed. Workers were cleaning out the 2-year-old space last night.



Perhaps there are enough dessert choices in the neighborhood?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Uh-huh: Red Mango returning to the East Village (19 comments)

Movement underway to reoccupy the Yippie Museum

Several EVG Facebook friends shared this campaign with us... Yippie activist Dana Beal has launched a crowdfunding effort to take back the group's longtime home at 9 Bleecker St.

Here's some of the info via GoFundMe:

For over four decades, #9 Bleecker Street has been the headquarters of American and even international counterculture. It is the official home of the Yippies, (Youth International Party) a group of late 60's activist pranksters initiated by the legendary Abbie Hoffman working to create positive social change by mocking and subverting the establishment.

In 2006, the space was converted into The Yippie! Museum and Cafe. a space devoted to preserving the history of American activism and providing a location where young activists can mobilize – such as the Occupy Wall Street movement who used it to stage meetings and hold fundraisers.

In late 2013, the Yippie! Museum was snatched away by unscrupulous real estate developers who specialize in gentrification. They used deceptive and outright illegal tactics to take possession of the space and shut it down, robbing the national activist community and the world of a vital one-of-a-kind resource and historic location.

We are asking for ALL who read this message to join our crusade to Re-Occupy The Yippie! Museum by making a donation!

As of last night, there were two donations for $38 ... with a $50,000 goal. The money would go to pay "legal bills, maintain the museum's objets d' art, artifacts and documents — including irreplaceable Yippie! archives."

The three-story brick building at No. 9 has been the centerpiece in a long-running foreclosure battle. (Read this story in the Times from January for all the legal wrangling.)

As the Times reported in June 2013, Steven L. Einig, a lawyer for Centech, which holds the building's mortgage, "stated that Yippie Holdings, which bought Number 9 along with a nonprofit called the National AIDS Brigade, had failed for more than five years to make payments on the $1.4 million mortgage."

For their part, a lawyer for Yippie Holdings, said that the group was "compelled into foreclosure with payments being rejected" by Centech as part of a scheme or plan to take over the building.

The Yippies had to be out this past Jan. 17 for new tenants while the fight continued about No. 9's ownership.

The new tenant, Overthrow, named for one of the countercultural newspapers that the Yippies published here, is a boxing gym/training facility/party spot.

In an interview published Nov. 18 at Bedford + Bowery, Beal said, "We’re still fighting the case. We're trying to get a group of people together to pay off a foreclosure, and then we'll have the building – we’ll have the title. And then I'll be renting to [Overthrow]."

Beal also said that he was glad that the space was being rented to some "Yippie-flavored people" who appreciate No. 9's counterculture history.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble

The Yippie Museum Cafe will reopen next Wednesday

A bad sign at the Yippie Museum

Last day for the Yippies at No. 9 — for now

Fights of a different kind coming to 9 Bleecker St., longtime home of the Yippies

About Overthrow NYC, the boxing gym coming to the former home of the Yippies at 9 Bleecker St.

Report: Debris falls from long-vacant 6 Avenue B, breaking the foot of a passerby

On Tuesday evening, debris from atop the corner building on Avenue B at East Houston fell, apparently breaking the foot of a 57-year-old man passing by on the sidewalk, the Lo-Down reported.

The FDNY promptly ordered a structural stability inspection and logged a complaint with the Department of Buildings.

As for the rest of the building here at 6 Avenue B, the liquor store has been closed since the owner passed away in the fall of 2009.

And as previously noted, this is one of the abandoned buildings owned by the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, now both deceased.

BoweryBoogie has some photos from the scene here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Cleaning out the long-closed liquor store on Avenue B and East Houston

Is something finally happening to the long-vacant, mysterious 6 Avenue B?

d.b.a is temporarily closed for renovations

We walked by d.b.a. last night and noticed that the gates were down at the bar at 41 First Ave. We didn't spot any signs offering an explanation.

However, there is a message on d.b.a.'s Facebook page dated Monday:

Dear Customers!!! d.b.a is temporarily closed for renovations. Stay tuned for reopening date - and Yes! new loos!!!

As previously noted, David McWater is the bar's new owner. On Nov. 17, CB3's SLA committee approved a new liquor-license for the 20-year-old bar. As BoweryBoogie reported: "Nothing about the bar is changing; it’s the same name, same method of operation, and same staff."

Ray Deter and Dennis Zentek opened d.b.a. in 1994. Deter died in July 2011 from the injuries he suffered in a bicycling accident. Zentek died on March 23 from head injuries he sustained in a fall down a flight of stairs.

The d.b.a. in Williamsburg closed for good after service this past Sunday.