Planet Fitness muscling in on Essex Crossing

Gyms are always a popular topic around here (for instance), so...

Planet Fitness has signed a deal to open a 22,000-square-foot complex on the second floor at 145 Clinton St., on Essex Crossing site 5, according to The Lo-Down.

And via Crain's:

"Planet Fitness [offers] a $10 monthly membership fee that makes it accessible to everyone, which was very important to us." said S. Andrew Katz, a principal at the Prusik Group, which is a minority partner in the $1 billion-plus development and oversees the leasing of retail space. "There are gyms that charge $250 a month for membership, but those don't fit the community's needs.”

The 145 Clinton St. building is expected to be completed in 2017.

Report: Woman dies after jumping from actor's East 3rd Street apartment

A woman leaped to her death early yesterday evening from the East Third Street apartment of actor David Harbour, according to multiple published reports.

The Post reports that Harbour met the woman at a treatment center. Harbour was in Canada when the woman jumped from his third-floor window into the backyard of the six-story building between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Authorities have not yet released the woman's name. She was 29.

Per the Daily News:

“She was someone who struggled,” said Harbour, who was in Toronto for the premiere of his film "Black Mass."

“She was in the shelter system. I was trying to help her out,” he said.

Police told the News that the woman had a history of mental health issues.

Harbour received a Tony Award nomination in 2005 for his role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" He appears on the HBO series "The Newsroom" and has had supporting roles in films such as "Quantum of Solace" and "Revolutionary Road."

"I'm very confused, I don't understand how this happened," Harbour told the News. "It's a terrible tragedy. I'm very shaken by this."

Silver Monuments Works packs up its tombstones for a move to Queens

Workers yesterday began packing up Silver Monuments Works on Stanton Street and Essex Street for a move to Woodside, Queens, as these photos by EVG contributor Derek Berg show...



Silver Monuments, nearly 70s years old, was the last tombstone business on the Lower East Side... in the city's former monument district...



Here's more on the business via the Times in 2006:

Situated in a five-story walk-up, the store is owned and run by Murray R. Silver, 65, who lives in an apartment above the business, which absorbed three other gravestone dealers, Forsyth, Weinreb & Gross.

Inside, the selection ranging from standard marble “toaster” shapes with the Star of David in relief (customary for men, while women usually get Shabbat candles) to massive granite Torahs rests on squares of tattered artificial green grass to capture the feel of a real cemetery. The oldest gravestone sample, hand carved by Mr. Silver’s late father, Samuel Silver, depicts a broken tree and a flying dove.

“You are now in the house of satisfied customers,” a sign proclaims. Mr. Silver inherited the business from his parents. His father died 20 years ago and now rests in a cemetery on Long Island under a modest family marker engraved “Silver.” His mother, Minnie, who is 95, became the first woman on the Lower East Side to run a monument store’s showroom. She would leave work early so she could put out milk and cake for her children arriving home from school.

According to BoweryBoogie, who first noted Silver's upcoming move, Mr. Silver prefers to "rent the storefront to a 'quiet' business, not a restaurant; perhaps a gallery” after the departure.

CB3 wants your input on 2017 budget priorities

Via the EVG inbox...

CB3 Public Hearing — FY 2017 Budget Priorities
Wednesday September 16 at 6:30 pm — Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. (between Second Avenue and the Bowery)

This is an opportunity for organizations and residents to tell the Community Board their budget priorities.

What parks need reconstruction? What programs need funding? Help us assess the needs of our community.

Every year the Community Board submits a list of capital and expense budget priorities to city agencies. This hearing is your opportunity to have input into these district budget priorities. Tell us how money should be spent in Community Board 3.

Organizations, groups, and individuals representing all segments of the community are encouraged to participate.

Budget clip art via

Veselka is free from its sidewalk bridge

After nearly four and a half months, workers have removed the sidewalk bridge from the building that houses Veselka on Second Avenue and East Ninth Street...





Back in late April, Veselka owner Tom Birchard told us that several small pieces of masonry fell off the building… and the building's landlord quickly had a crew erect a sidewalk bridge ahead of the repair work… unfortunately, the work wasn't completed quite as quickly, and the restaurant's sidewalk cafe was under cover for the late spring and the entire summer.

Photos via EVG correspondent Steven

Avant Garden is now open on East 7th Street

[EVG file photo]

Team Ravi DeRossi (Death & Co., Cienfuegos, Proletariat, etc.) opened Avant Garden, their vegan restaurant/wine bar at 130 E. Seventh St., last night, per Eater.

The chef is Andrew D'Ambrosi, who ran the kitchen at DeRossi's Carroll Gardens seafood restaurant Bergen Hill.

As DeRossi told Eater back in the spring:

D'Ambrosi put a hen of the woods mushroom dish on the menu that DeRossi, who "always hated mushrooms," loved. That dish turned out to be vegan, and so from there DeRossi had the chef begin experimenting with other vegan dishes, offering them as specials at Bergen Hill. Two years later, they've pulled together a list of about 20 that will make up Avant Garden's vegan menu. Those include things like charred onion with chimichurri and seasoned breadcrumbs, and roasted carrots with orange, honey, pumpkin seeds and quinoa, as well as that hen of the woods dish.

Here's a look at their menu…





The opening of Avant Garden coincides with DeRossi's new nonprofit, BEAST (Benefits to End Animal Suffering Today), which will host regular fundraisers for animal rights organizations.

Avant Garden takes over the storefront here just west of Avenue A from Gingersnap's Organic, who decamped to the West Village in January.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Veggie friendly Avant Garden in the works for former Gingersnap's space on East 7th Street

Looking at Futura's 'Concrete Jungle' on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

FUTURA (aka Lenny McGurr) finished up work yesterday at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall … the shadows of the early evening kept us from getting a decent shot… Here are some other shots of "Concrete Jungle" via Instagram…

A photo posted by Marite Iglesias (@maritemianyc) on Sep 14, 2015 at 5:32am PDT

Futura with magnificent finished mural "Concrete Jungle" in a style reminiscent of his radical 1980 "Break" piece. #graffiti #streetart #houstonbowerywall #nyc

A photo posted by @marthacoopergram on Sep 13, 2015 at 7:39pm PDT

Mural madness today as pro BMXer Nigel Sylvester @nigelsylvester leaps over @futuradosmil at #houstonbowerywall. #bmx #streetart #graffiti #futura2000

A photo posted by @marthacoopergram on Sep 12, 2015 at 8:35pm PDT

LES Jewels died 2 years ago today

And someone placed memorial flyers with a rose at the entrances to Tompkins Square Park…





On Sept. 14, 2013, Joel Pakela, aka neighborhood fixture LES Jewels, was found unconscious on Avenue A at East Ninth Street. He died a short time later at Beth Israel. He was 43.

The Medical Examiner's office told The Villager that the cause of death was "blunt injuries of head," though "the manner of death is undetermined."

Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP LES Jewels (80 comments)

Memorials for LES Jewels in the East Village

From St. Mark's Place to 'Moonbeam City'

EVG TV Show Mural correspondent Steven has been watching the progress along the wall outside Footgear Plus on First Avenue at St. Mark's Place... where work started on an ad for the new Comedy Central animated series "Moonbeam City," a sendup of 1980s cop shows, back on Wednesday (above)...





... and here's a look at the final product... an ode to the art-deco stylings of Patrick Nagel...

More about the Birdman closing Rainbow Music on 1st Avenue this month

[Photo in March 2014 by EVG reader Chris F.]

As you may have heard, the Birdman, who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes at Rainbow Music, is retiring and closing his 17-year-old store at 130 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street at the end of the month.

The Times today has more about his decision.

“I don’t need the aggravation anymore, and this is aggravation,” he said, looking around at the clutter. “It kept me busy, but now I’m tired.”

And!

He estimates that he has crammed 250,000 CDs and perhaps 50,000 more video and audiocassettes into the small space. Just to enter the store, at 130 First Avenue ... seemed to risk setting off a cascading avalanche of thousands of plastic cases.

“The store is so jammed, people are amazed by it, but then they see I got good stuff,” he said. “I can dig out anything I want. The thing is, I just don’t want to dig anymore.”

To date, the Birdman has never revealed his name, not even for Jessie Auritt's 10-minute short about the store...

However, in the Times, he "reluctantly confirmed that his given name was Bill Kasper."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

The shoe repair post that you've been waiting for

For rent signs arrived Friday at the former A.K. Shoe Repair on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The shop closed at the end of August. The proprietor told DNAinfo that his rent went from $2,000 to $4,500. Coupled with other expenses, he said that he couldn't make the business work any longer.

At the end of July, Alex Shoe Repair closed on Second Avenue between East Third Street and East Fourth Street. The owner was paying $4,000 a month in rent. The new asking rent from Icon Realty is $14,000.

Other neighborhood cobblers to close in recent years include David's Shoe Store on East Seventh Street and A. Fontana Shoe Repair on East 10th Street ... while East Village Shoe Repair closed on St. Mark's Place, only to relocate to Bushwick.

Here's DNAinfo with an explanation for the cobbler closures:

Across the city, experienced cobblers are closing the doors of their small businesses as they see their rents rise, potential customers buying new shoes rather than repairing old ones, and a dearth of apprentices interested in learning their trade.

As for who's left in the East Village, we counted four, including two shops with Alex in the title (neither are related to the Alex who closed on Second Avenue…)



Alex Shoe Repair, 99 Avenue C between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street…

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Alex Shoe and Watch Repair (and barber shop!), 71 First Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Fourth Street…

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Firm Shoe Repair, 116 Fourth Ave. at East 12th Street…

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Steve's Express Shoe Repair, 311 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue…

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Ugh… forgot this one...



14th Street Shoe Repair Shop, 428 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue…

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And there are a few shops on the periphery of the neighborhood, such as Star Shoe & Watch Repair at 74 Bleecker between Crosby and Broadway … and John’s Shoe Repair at 30 Irving Place between East 15th Street and East 16th Street.

I'd take my business to John's when I worked nearby. Once, I brought in a pair of shoes that another shop kinda screwed up. The proprietor looked at the shoes, and with a great deal of disgust, said, "The person who did this wasn't a cobbler." He paused. "He was a butcher."

East Village Cheese, now with an East Village Cheese sign

Still no word on an opening date just yet here at 80 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... but this is a good sign, so to speak.

Updated 9:15 a.m.

Two photos showing how the interior is shaping up...





Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Duane Reade expansion will take over adjacent storefronts, including East Village Cheese (74 comments)

[Updated] Confirmed: East Village Cheese will be moving to Avenue A later this year

East Village Cheese makes move to 7th Street official

[Updated] Work starts on new home of the East Village Cheese Shop

Looking at the incoming East Village Cheese shop on East 7th Street