Friday, February 6, 2015

Former St. Mark's Place Pinkberry storefront for rent



The former FroYo hotspot abruptly closed at 24 St. Mark's Place a few weeks back.

The for lease sign via Eastern Consolidated arrived yesterday. The listing isn't online just yet, so we're not sure how the brokers are pitching the property here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

What do you think might possibly be next? Tattoo/piercing shop? Bong store? FroYo? .49-cent pizza? A combination of all those things?

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Did the Pinkberry close on St. Mark's Place? (34 comments)

Why doesn't FroYo sell on St. Mark's Place? (23 comments)

The $1.50 2 Bros. on St. Mark's Place has apparently closed



In other St. Mark's Place closure news on this block … we hear that the 2 Bros. Pizza (with the upscale $1.50 SUPREME slice!) has closed at 36 St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue…

The "pizzeria" has been dark of late during stated business hours. Meanwhile, an EVG tipster reports seeing one of the employees from this shop working at the $1 2 Bros. at 32 St. Mark's Place. The worker said that the $1.50 space was "no more."

If this location at No. 36 is officially closed, then it will mark the second of the three East Village 2 Bros. to close. The location on First Avenue near East 14th Street abruptly shut down last summer.

The Met Foods on 3rd Avenue in Gramercy Park is closing



Several readers have passed along word that the Met Foods on Third Avenue between East 16th Street and East 17th Street will be closing in the months ahead.

Readers made these comments on the Open Pantry post last Friday:

Just heard that the Met Supermarket on Third Ave. between 16th and 17th will be closing in April due to new rent demand. It will be a real loss for the neighborhood. They are all very nice people and the store is a real asset to have nearby.

---

I live on 19th off 3rd and I have to say, that Met is a dive. Always walk the few extra blocks to the Dag on 23rd and 2nd Ave or the new WestEnd Market. If they took care of the place a little better, maybe they'd have been able to afford the increase.

---

...this Met isn't the shiniest apple on the cart. When pressed, however, they did bump up their produce game. That was a clear response to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and even the health food market on the corner of 16th Street.

But it wasn't enough. Their space isn't meant to house a 21st-century grocery store: low ceilings, three or four registers, exceedingly narrow aisles, and White Rose this and that. It's low-end, low-margin merchandise inside a marginal space, staffed by people who give off an unmistakable vibe of indifference (and I'd probably do no better after a spell working there, bless them).

The sad part is regular shoppers probably rely on it for location and cheaper necessities. Whenever I go in, I invariably see older folks and others who don't appear to have a lot of disposable cash. Coincidentally, the Duane Reade a block north has yet to undergo renovation --- it's still an "old" DR. So I wonder more about the economics of Third Avenue. There are a couple independent and excellent restaurants around 16th and 17th, and no shortage of foot traffic.

Still, the grocery business has notoriously thin margins and much competition; I'm surprised this Met lasted as long as it did.

---

A worker confirmed the April closure to us. The worker didn't really seem to know why the grocery would be shutting down.

We exchanged emails with EVG reader Harry Weiner about the upcoming departure of Met Foods.

"It has been in the neighborhood for many years – one of the last old-school stores. It will be a great loss to many residents. Prices were reasonable," he said. "I'm sad about this. I live nearby and have been shopping there for about 18 years. There are many longtime employees who will lose their jobs.

"Frankly, it's my favorite neighborhood store because it's a vestige of a fading grocery store era and reminds me of my Brooklyn youth."

Met Foods was founded in 1941 in Syosset, Long Island. It was purchased by its current owner DiGiorgio Corporation in 1964-65.

Tenements of the holy: 'Physical Graffiti' 40 years later

Feb. 24 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Led Zeppelin's double studio album "Physical Graffiti."

And on Feb. 24, the band is releasing a remastered/expanded super-duper-deluxe version of the album.

Over at Dangerous Minds, Richard Metzger relays some facts about the "Physical Graffiti" cover — a heavily doctored photo of 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place…



Anyway, in case you are new to all this. Per Dangerous Minds:

The front cover is a daytime shot, while the back cover was taken at night. Amongst the tenants who can be seen through the die-cut windows are JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, astronaut Neil Armstrong, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, King Kong, the Virgin Mary, Judy Garland and the main cast of The Wizard of Oz, members of Led Zeppelin in drag, their infamous manager Peter Grant, body builder Charles Atlas, the Queen and Laurel & Hardy.

As for that super-duper-deluxe release ...



And since we're all here…



Previously on EV Grieve:
Fire scare on St. Mark's Place at iconic Physical Graffiti building

I'm not waiting on a lady...say, what the hell is Mick wearing anyway?

[Photos via Off the Grid, who has a nice history of the buildings here]

More about 'Straight Outta Tompkins,' in theaters March 6



As you may recall, crews for "Straight Outta Tompkins" filmed scenes for the feature in and around parts of the neighborhood back in March 2013.

The drama, written, produced and directed by Zephyr Benson, who also plays the lead character, opens on March 6 at the Cinema Village on East 12th Street.

Per the the film's Facebook page, "Straight Outta Tompkins" is "a shocking, brutally honest view of today's Lower East Side, New York City drug trade."

Indie Wire has a feature on the film and Benson this week:

There are definite signs in “Tompkins” that Benson has watched “Goodfellas” more than once, as his character, Gene, starts off selling pot-laced cupcakes to his classmates and ends up being recruited into selling hard drugs by a dangerous dealer.

“Goodfellas was my bible,” he said. “The amount of fake coke that I snorted was unbelievable. I was coughing out vitamin D powder.”

He also was influenced by an unlikely childhood favorite, “The Sopranos.” “I was 7 or 8 when it was on the air. It probably was not a good idea to watch the show then. It did something to me when I was younger.”

And here is the "Straight Outta Tompkins" trailer…



Benson, who attended attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in Filmmaking, is the son of Robby Benson, the boyish-looking actor your older sister totally had a crush on in the 1970s, and singer-actress Karla DeVito.

Previously on EV Grieve:
'Straight Outta Tompkins' is real, and it is now filming around the neighborhood

Thursday, February 5, 2015

[Updated] State seizes B.A.D. Burger on Avenue A for nonpayment of taxes



The state's fluorescent SEIZED sticker arrived on the front door of B.A.D. Burger at 171 Avenue A near East 11th Street showing a nonpayment of taxes.



So, for now, the breakfast and burger diner is closed. (These seizures aren't always permanent, as we saw at Sahara East, among other businesses.)

B.A.D. Burger opened in late 2011.

Updated:

Per the B.A.D. Burger Facebook page:

"Hey folks, we are temporarily closed for a few days. We will keep you posted. For now stay warm and carry on! Spring is around the corner."

Hanjoo has apparently closed on St. Mark's Place



The well-regarded Korean cold-noodle specialist from Flushing has apparently called it a day here at 12 St. Mark's Place.

There isn't any sign of life at the restaurant… the phone is disconnected … the website is down … and they are no longer active on Seamless.

CB3 granted Hanjoo's request to extend their beer-wine license to the sidewalk cafe back in June.

Hanjoo opened here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue in October 2012… and it seemed poised to stop the recent revolving door that included Hirai Mong, Gama, San Marcos, Siren and @Cafe. The address was also once home to the St. Mark's Bookshop.

Friends trying to help East Village resident stay in his home of 43 years



Some EVG Grieve readers shared the following about longtime resident Bobby Gorman's housing situation …. information via GoFundMe

I have lived in the same East Village apartment in New York City since 1971. As I am the only surviving original tenant, the co-op board now wants me out so they can realize a high profit from my low income apartment. For over 10 years they have used every trick in the book to get me to leave …

In April 2014, the co-op filed the case in New York Supreme Court to force me out. I am a cater-waiter by profession with a very modest income. All I could afford was a low-priced attorney who failed to file the correct documents, then coerced me into signing an affidavit that saved him and condemned me. As a result, on September 15th I got a Sheriff’s Vacate Order. I’ve since had three appearances before Judge Barbara Jaffe who decided on January 9th to terminate my tenancy. In addition I will lose all of my shares in the coop and be libel for a whopping $60,000+ for the coop’s legal fees.

What I desperately need now is to raise $80,000 to cover the costs of an appeal and trial.

I have a good lawyer on board this time who feels strongly about a successful appeal, and trial.

To date, Gorman, a 67-year-old Vietnam veteran, has raised nearly $6,500. Find more details at GoFundMe.

The 4th annual Poetic License starts tonight at the Wild Project



The Poetic Theater festival starts tonight at the Wild Project at 195 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... here's a quick overview via the EVG inbox...

Now in its fourth year, Poetic License is Poetic Theater Productions’ annual festival of new poetic theater, which has grown from five days to three weeks, features two fully realized mainstage productions of thrilling new poetic plays written by company members, a reading series of six new works of poetic theater, and three special events: Love Redefined, an evening of new work devoted to non-traditional love; Breaking Our Silence, a celebration of LGBT voices; and Generation Now, a showcase of youth voices in poetic theater.

POETIC LICENSE 2015: subconscious kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday, Feb. 22. Performances are at the Wild Project. Tickets to each event are $18; the 6@6 Reading Series is free. Tickets can be purchased from OvationTix on 212.352.3101 or online at www.poetictheater.com.

Rent this charming 5-bedroom duplex on East 7th Street where a hammock awaits out back



Over at 264 E. Seventh St., on the lovely block between Avenue C and Avenue D, you can rent a new-to-market five-bedroom duplex in a 1842 Greek Revival house (one of six along here).

Let's check out the Spire Group listing:

This is a rare unit in a charming brownstone on one of the most scenic blocks in the east village. It's directly across the street from the beautiful Flowerbox Building [EVG note: This is a selling point????]. This is an absolutely enormous duplex with a private patio, leading down to a large private garden.
• Enormous living/ dining with white washed exposed brick wall
• 12 foot ceilings with halogen dimmer lighting
• Large Eat in kitchen on top floor leading out to private patio with staircase down to garden
• On top level, one large bedroom, one enormous one
• 2nd private exit to garden on bottom level
• On garden level, 3 large bedrooms

The asking rent is $5,500.

While the inside looks all fine and dandy... the garden is the selling point... (not sure if the hammock is part of the deal)...



If you like the rental, then consider buying the whole building, which has been on the market for the past five months. The current price is $4.395 million.

Per the Streeteasy listing:

No. 264 "offers a rare opportunity to create a unique single family townhouse with approx. 4,000 additional square feet available to enlarge the house to a total of 8,200 buildable square feet."

So it's possible your rental might be on the short-term side... ditto for the charming brownstone in its current state.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Reader report: Nike building a pop-up shop on the Bowery for the NBA All-Star game



Crews are erected some kind of structure this afternoon on the Bowery at Great Jones… home of the Downtown Auto & Tire until April 2012…



A tipster said that workers are building a "Nike sneaker box" ahead of next week's NBA All-Star game in NYC…



Quite a production at the moment… No word just yet when any of this goes live…



This corner space previously housed the Deth Killers of Bushwick pop-up shop.

Updated 6:25 p.m.

Goggla shared a few photos from this evening…





[Updated] Man armed with boxcutter attacks 4 around Union Square


[Image via the NYPD]

An apparent argument on an uptown 4 train early this morning sparked a slash attack that left 3 people in the hospital, police said.

The Daily News reported that the spree started when the attacker cut a man during an argument around 1:30 a.m. on the 4 train. The man left the train at Union Square, where he preceded to slash two other men as well as slap a woman in the face.

DNAinfo noted that the attacks happened after the victims refused the suspect's request for money.

Per DNA:

As the suspect left the station, climbing the stairs near the Food Emporium at 10 Union Square East, he asked a 46-year-old man for $2, police said. When the man refused, the suspect slashed him on the right side of his face.

The suspect then crossed 14th Street near Fourth Avenue, demanded a dollar from a 59-year-old man who was waiting for the M14 bus and then cut the man's face, police said.

EMTs took the three victims to Bellevue, where they are reportedly listed in stable condition.

According to an NYPD report cited by the Daily News, the suspect is "a heavy-built and clean shaven black man with a missing tooth, 5-foot-9, 180-pounds, age 20-25."

He was last seen wearing red and white sneakers, a black knit hat and a grey hoodie.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Updated 2-6 6:30 p.m.

Police have arrested and charged a man in the attacks, CBS New York reports.