An EVG reader spotted this in a First Avenue building... (You can email us if you found Chica...)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
[Updated] How much for this new-to-market home on 1st Avenue?
This arrived on the market this morning on First Avenue at East 12th Street...
Details are scarce. However, as you can tell, this coveted location offers easy access to public crosstown/uptown transportation and the First Avenue bike lane. Close to some of the neighborhood's best restaurants, shops, schools and bone broth.
What are you willing to pay for the chance to live here? (And don't be put off by the small size!)
1 p.m.
This is a project called #smokersnyc via photographer Mark Reigelman II ... taking this around the city and putting it over manhole covers to make it look like the chimney is in use...
[Via our friends at @academyrecords]
Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon
It's now a little more obvious that the now-closed Chase branch on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place is for rent.
The retail ribbon has arrived on the property via Icon Realty. The retail space has been on the market, with an asking price of $72,000 a month, per the listing, which notes the address is acceptable for "General Retail Use, Restaurants/Bar, Office Space, Gyms/Fitness Centers."
As the Commercial Observer first reported back in August, J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy the gas-challenged No. 128 next door.)
The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, the Observer noted.
The branch here at 130 Second Ave. closed after Nov. 12 and consolidated with the location two blocks to the north at No. 156.
Photos by EVG correspondent Steven
Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent
The retail space at 20 Avenue A is on the market
2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12
Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner
The East Village is down 2 Chase branches
Out and About in the East Village 2015 recap
Since Aug. 1, 2012, East Village-based photographer James Maher has interviewed residents of the neighborhood for our series Out and About in the East Village.
Well, we're wrapping up OAAITEV (as we like to call it) for the year to prep for the incoming Valentine's Day holiday. So here's a look back at the people we featured during the year. We'll be back with more OAAITEV in January 2016. Many thanks to James for continuing to provide us with these stories every week. (And thanks to Stacie Joy for filling in!) And thank you to everyone who has shared their stories.
Meanwhile, happy holidays and see you in the next post.
Jan. 7 — Zachary Mack
Jan. 14 — Magic Brian
Jan. 21 — Gala Darling
Feb. 4 — Adrianna Grezak
Feb. 11 — Eileen Johnson
Feb. 18 — Sheila Rothenberg Part 1
Feb. 25 — Sheila Rothenberg Part 2
March 4 — Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero Part 1
March 11 — Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero Part 2
March 18 — Regina Bartkoff and Charles Schick Part 1
March 25 — Regina Bartkoff and Charles Schick Part 2
April 8 — Kecia (and Hazel)
April 15 — Diane McLean
April 22 – Mildred Guy
April 29 — Mark Mace
May 6 — Philip Van Aver
May 13 — Rineke
May 20 — Robert Shapiro
May 27 — Alicia Mercado
June 3 — 2015 recap!
June 10 — Sharon Jane Smith
June 17 — Ilyse Kazar (and Shiro)
June 24 — Glenora Blackshire
July 1 — Nelson Vercher
July 8 — Jeremy X. Halpern
July 15 — Maurice Whitaker and Laura K. Reich (Lulu)
July 29 — Wendy Scripps
Aug. 5 — Norman
Aug. 19 — Arthur Rivers
Aug. 26 — George Cameron
Sept. 2 — Jennifer Bonilla
Sept. 9 — Lisa Arbetter
Sept. 16 — Kim Gallagher
Sept. 23 — Eva Dorsey
Sept. 30 — Matthew (with Vincenzo)
Oct. 7 — Elsie Flores
Oct. 14 — Mickey Davis
Oct. 21 — Gina
Oct. 28 — Robert with Stellar
Nov. 4 — Jose Ilarraza
Nov. 11 — Willie Correa
Nov. 18 — Karen Platt
Dec. 2 — Andru Cann
Dec. 9 — Tony Feher
Feel the need for speed? Then think twice about taking the M101/102/103
A few bus lines that East Village residents may — or more likely, may not — depend on have been recognized. And not really in a good way.The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives have handed out their annual awards highlighting poor bus service in NYC.
To the news release!
The “winner” of the 2015 Schleppie is ... a tie! The 2015 Schleppie goes to the M1 and the combined M101/102/103, both with a dismal 37 percent of buses arriving with big gaps in service or bunched together.
New York City Transit calculates “wait assessments” for “42 high-volume routes,” the same routes first chosen by Transit two decades ago. Wait assessment measures how closely a line sticks to scheduled intervals for arrival. Wait assessment becomes poorer the more buses arrive in bunches or with major gaps in service.
“In the realm of unreliable bus service, the M1 is the king, and the local M101/102/103 is the queen," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "Their unhappy subjects, the riders, must endure the tyranny of frequent and long waits, followed by a parade of buses that pass by in bunches, like a herd of lumbering elephants."
In addition, the M14A was named the fourth-slowest bus in the system, according to this report, with an average speed of 3.9 MPH at noon on a weekday. (Topping the list was the M66 crosstown at 3.1 MPH.)
Still not too late to ask for a hoverboard for xmas.
[Updated] CB3 committee to hear proposal to landmark the Provident Loan Society Building on East Houston
[EVG file photo]
CB3's monthly Landmark's Committee meeting tonight will include a hearing on the proposal to landmark the circa-1912 Provident Loan Society Building, 223-225 E. Houston St. at Essex. (This item was withdrawn from a previous month.)
Why landmark the building? Well, for starters, to save it from receiving a 12-story extension...
[Image from Bluarch Architecture via BoweryBoogie]
As BoweryBoogie first reported in late October, the building's owners want to add 41,000 square feet for 38 residences (and a gym and bike storage) and well as commercial space. BB noted on Nov. 30 that the owners have already filed the permits for the new floors.
According to the Request for Evaluation (PDF!) of the circa-1912 building:
The Houston St. corridor continues to re-invent itself, now including new high-rises, redeveloped tenements, and dazzling penthouse additions to historic commercial buildings. Developers continue to create a newer, more diverse context with glass-clad high rises towering through unchanged rows of ornate tenements.
Unfortunately, we are losing some commercial buildings, which helped to open up the tight streets and sidewalks into their private spaces, adding to the context of this corridor. Further south, commercial spaces like this one-story branch office building are becoming less common. The Provident Loan’s branch office on Essex and Houston is a valuable contributor to the neighborhood, and helps balance the diversity of uses in the area.
After a string of random clubs and concepts through the past 20 years, the Provident Loan Society Building is currently unoccupied. The space served as a studio for Jasper Johns in the 1970s.
The Landmarks Committee meets at 6:30 p.m., University Settlement at Houston Street Center/273 Bowery.
Updated 12/17
BoweryBoogie attended last night's committee meeting, in which CB3 backed the bid to landmark the building. BB has more on the longtime residents who own the building plus the latest rendering right here.
$1 million will get you a studio at Ben Shaoul's new East Houston Street condoplex
The pricing for Ben Shaoul's incoming condoplex on East Houston and Orchard Street (the official address is 196 Orchard) is now available.
The Real Deal had the scoop yesterday:
Prices at Ben Shaoul’s new Katz Deli-adjacent condominium, designed by Ismael Levya Architects, will start at just under $1 million for studio apartments and $1.23 million for one-bedroom units, the developer tells The Real Deal.
With studio sizes starting at 555 square feet and one-bedroom homes starting at 655 square feet, that pegs the starting price per square foot above $1,800. The total blended price per square foot is likely to top $2,000 a foot, however.
And the latest rendering of the building, which will include an Equinox in the retail space, looks like...
The property on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard previously housed a single row of storefronts, including Ray's Pizza, Bereket and Lobster Joint.
Meantime, no word yet if Ben will choose a naked-lady motif to sell the units like he is over at 100 Avenue A, where the residences will range in price from $1.3 million to $2.3 million.
While the units are more expensive here, you'll save money by joining Blink Fitness, the $25-amonth club that is taking the retail space in the building between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Someone threw black paint bombs at the naked women condo ad along 100 Avenue A
Making way for Ben Shaoul's new retail-residential complex on East Houston
Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The gift of SantaCon keeps on giving
This gentleman on East Fourth Street near Second Avenue told EVG contributor Derek Berg today that he picked up the Santa outfit on Saturday ... after a SantaConner had removed it for the evening ...
Biang! is now open on 2nd Avenue
Biang! — the sit-down Chinese restaurant via Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang — is now open at 157 Second Ave.
The well-regarded restaurant, — it received one star from The New York Times — has relocated from its original location in Flushing to here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.
A sign on the door notes cash only for now. (Not sure about alcohol — they were just on the CB3/SLA docket yesterday.) And for now they are using the sidewalk cafe guard from the previous tenant — Wylie Dufresne's bistro Alder, which closed after two-and-a-half years at the end of August.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Jason Wang bringing Xi'an Famous Foods offshoot Biang! to the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue
Report: Armed robber takes hedge-fund manager's $26k Rolex
The incident occurred on East Second Street near Second Avenue about 2:15 a.m. when a man approached the 33-year-old victim and showed him the butt of a gun. The robber also took $200 in cash, according to the News.
Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer
According to the article:
In the summer of 2014, a New York landlord with a modest portfolio received a letter from a certain Raphael Toledano, Esq. In the letter, Toledano allegedly identified himself as belonging to Truman & Wildes LLP, a Park Avenue law firm. He claimed to be representing real estate investor Josh Zegen in a 1031 exchange, and assured the landlord that his client was interested in one of his buildings and would “pay above market value” for it.
The issue, however, is that Truman & Wildes LLP is bogus. It is not a licensed law firm in the tri-state area, and isn’t even a registered entity in Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey or New York. Its website, which was taken down shortly after The Real Deal began making inquiries, appears to be a basic web template with language lifted verbatim from legitimate law firms. Misrepresenting oneself as a lawyer is illegal.
For his part, Toledano, a former broker and now a prominent local real estate investor, denies any connection with the law firm. But property records and interviews with his former employees, business associates and industry players indicate otherwise.
In compiling nearly a 20-building portfolio, the majority of them in the East Village, the 25-year-old Toledano "has been peppered with allegations of cheating his partners and harassing his tenants," as The Real Deal put it.
To date, rent-stabilized tenants at 444 E. 13th St. have filed suit against him for alleged harassment. In addition, in August, Aaron Jungreis, one of the city's elite multifamily brokers, sued Toledano, "claiming he was squeezed out of a $100 million deal" to acquire 16 East Village buildings. (That suit was later settled.)
In addition, the landlord of Toledano's Flatiron office reportedly filed suit against him for failing to pay rent.
As for multiple identifications, City Limits noted this in an article about Toledano and 444 E. 13th St. back in September:
Curiously, there are numerous websites with similar URLs purporting to have been created by Raphael Toledanos across the country that fill up Google search results for his name. One Raphael Toledano is "a fervent traveler from the incredible state of Chicago," another is a "19-year-old boy from Ohio who wants to become an internationally recognized soccer player," and still another is "an Assistant Principal in one of the reputed schools of Rhode Island." Each of these sites was created on January 28, 2015 according to registration information on whois.net.
The last post on each of the sites is Feb. 24.
Toledano and Brook Hill closed on the 16-building East Village portfolio for $97 million back in the fall.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'
Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands
Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano
Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal
Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio
More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties
Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive
In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'
'Invisible City' at Theatre 80 tomorrow night
Photographer Ken Schles is giving a free presentation tomorrow night from 6-7 at Theatre 80.
Schles, a Brooklyn native, lived in the East Village in the 1980s. His black-and-white photos from this period are the backdrop for the book "Invisible City" from 1988. A companion volume, "Night Walk," came out in 2014.
"New York always has stories about what the city used to be," he told The Wall Street Journal back in January. "I think it's up to all of us to take what we've been given and try to see beyond, to make it something new. That's what this was for me."
We asked Schles, who now lives in Fort Greene, what people can expect from his talk.
"I'll be showing images from 'Invisible City' and 'Night Walk' as well as the video trailers with music by Live Skull and Sonic Youth and telling some of the stories from when I moved to the East Village when I was 17, how I ended up on Avenue B, what the neighborhood was like and what happened when the landlord abandoned the building. I'll talk about how I came to make these two books — especially 'Night Walk' more recently. I'll have copies of some of my books for a book signing at the end. I timed the talk at about 50 minutes. That'll give me time to take questions ..."
You can read more about Schles and see some of his 1980s photos from the neighborhood in this feature at the Times.
Theatre 80 is at 80 St. Marks Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Find the Facebook event page here.
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