East Village now minus 2 beverage distributors

The beverage distributor housed inside 188 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B is gone... and now the single-level, 2,600-square-foot space is available to a retail-commercial tenant...


[Image via Leslie J. Garfield]

Per the listing at Leslie J. Garfield, the monthly asking rent for the raw space is $13,000. For now, the property isn't being offered as any kind of development site.

Back in 2013, the address was home to an Urban Etiquette Signage Campaign between neighbors and the beverage company. Residents said that the building housed rats. Not so, said the beverage people, who noted they frequently had the property exterminated. Per the sign left for neighbors: "If you see rats going in or out it means they're just passing to or from other places."

Meanwhile, further east on Second Street... the Houston Street Beer Distributors between Avenue C and Avenue D has left the building, as BoweryBoogie noted yesterday.



We first reported back in September 2014 that the one-story warehouse was for sale. Per the listing:

It is located in an R8A zoning district with an FAR of 6.02 (approx. 15,941 SF) or up to 7.2 FAR with Inclusionary Housing designated area bonus (approx. 19,066 sq. ft.) This prime development site is across the street from Hamilton Fish Park and a branch of the New York City public library, offering unobstructed southern exposures.

A new development would enjoy sweeping views of downtown and midtown Manhattan, Williamsburg, LIC and more.

The asking price was $8.9 million. According to public records, it sold for a little more than $7 million last fall to 298 East Village Owner LLC with an East Ninth Street address.

To date, there haven't been any any work permits filed for this property, which sits adjacent to two other new developments — The Adele on East Houston and Avenue D and The Robyn on East Third Street near Avenue D.

Previously on EV Grieve:
298 E. 2nd St. latest development site up for grabs

Banana Leaf slips away on East 6th Street

[EVG photo from Jan. 29]

The Sri Lankan restaurant Banana Leaf moved from its Chelsea location to 328 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... opening in the former Spice Cove space (same owners) in December.

We noticed that they were closed on a recent weekend night.

And now after just a few months on the block, they are apparently closed for good.

Vinny & O sent along these photos from last night... showing that the place is now called Tonkatsuya...



... and they are hiring waitstaff and delivery people, per the sign on the door...



We called Banana Leaf's number... only to hear an outgoing message for Spice Cove.

Tonight in fairly incredible parking jobs

Between the dumpsters on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... photo via Derek Berg

Evening shade

Earlier this evening via Bobby Williams....

Take a chance on living in a rent-stabilized apartment in Stuy Town

The Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village affordable housing lottery is underway.

DNAinfo has the details:

The lottery will give as many as 15,000 applicants a spot on a waiting list for affordable apartments in the complex, according to a spokeswoman for Blackstone, the firm that purchased the twin housing complexes last year.

Prices for the affordable apartments vary widely based on unit size and household size. The cheapest option is a studio apartment for $1,210 per month for people making between $36,300 and $48,400, while the priciest is a five-bedroom apartment for $4,560 for families of five to 10 members making a total of between $136,800 and $210,870 per year.

You can head over to DNAinfo for more details. The lottery submission process ends on March 31.

Putting an end to the sinking at the 1st Avenue sinkhole

The sinkhole that made its debut on First Avenue at East Seventh Street last week at this time is receiving some TLC from workers in a fairly large operation...



No word just yet when the sinkhole will return.

Photos today by Derek Berg

P.S.
And yes — there is a nice sinkhole in the works on Avenue A and East Third Street too.

The Calyx has been branded on Avenue C

As we first reported back in June, the 10-story rental building at 189 Avenue C at East 12th Street that debuted in early 2011 would be converting to condos.

The building has been rebranded, and The Calyx — with the slogan "Choose what you C" — made its debut several weeks ago... with sales and marketing courtesy of Ryan Serhant and Nest Seekers International. (This is the sixth development in the East Village that Serhant's team is representing. His other projects include 100 Avenue A and Thirteen East + West.)

Here's the building description via The Calyx website:

Introducing The Calyx, one of the finest full service condominiums to ever emerge within the colorful maze of streets known the East Village. Built in 2010 and recently converted to luxury living, The Calyx captures the best of old vintage vibes and blends them with modern and stylish living. The building rises 10 stories and sits on Avenue C, an East Village strip lined with tasteful restaurants and cafes and located only a few blocks away from Tompkins Square Park and popular nightlife scenes.

Designed by OTL Enterprises—the same firm whose passion and vision were behind The Blue Building of the Lower East Side—The Calyx offers 35 residences dressed with groomed interiors, a fitness facility, and a rooftop lounge boasting panoramic views of Manhattan. Pairing sophistication with the vibrancy of the East Village, The Calyx is a captivating proposition for first time buyers and veteran real estate investors alike.

The Calyx is for those seeking to capture the energy of an evolving neighborhood, to experience the edge of the city’s past and the shimmering promise of its future.

According to Streeteasy, the prices range from $675,000 for a studio to 1.45 million for a two-bedroom home. Of the nine listed at Streeteasy, seven of the homes are in contract.

There's also retail space available... per the listing, the asking rent is $15,000, with retail, restaurant or gym usage being offered up to potential tenants...



Previously on EV Grieve:
189 Avenue C is converting to condos

Final visits to 5 downtown businesses

[Patricia Field, center with red hair, with her friends and fans in front of her namesake store on its closing day Sunday at 5 p.m.]

Text and photos by Nick McManus

This past Sunday, a team of close friends and I took group portraits at five downtown businesses that are either moving from their longtime homes or closing forever as February came to a close.

We started at Patricia Field at 306 Bowery with Patricia herself. She's giving up the boutique business after 50 years to focus on her film and TV work.

We continued on to Trash and Vaudeville on St. Mark's Place where we were joined by longtime manager Jimmy Webb. (The store is moving to 96 E. Seventh St. this month.)




[Jimmy Webb in the front row with co-workers at Trash and Vaudeville]

We then walked to Soho to Pearl River Mart, where the staff was camera shy but let us take photos in the store on Broadway. The 45-year-old Pearl River Mart closes this week after its monthly rent multiplied 12x to upwards of $500,000.


[Last purchases at Pearl River Mart]

Afterward we visited the Soho location of Eastern Mountain Sports on Broadway to offer them warm wishes before heading back to the East Village to say goodbye to one of the best bookstores NYC will ever know, St. Mark's Bookshop.


[The staff and patrons of Eastern Mountain Sports' Soho location on its closing day Sunday]


[St. Mark's Bookshop staff member and artist Janet Bruesselbach, top right, sharing wine with her customers on the shop's final day at 7 p.m.]

Our team consisted of nightlife scion Pebbles Russell, who herself said goodbye to her home at Sway Lounge last December, artists Gabriel Specter and Jackson Lin, stylist Goldie Rush, costume tailor Amy McClure and Cara Brininstool. All were fans of these businesses and everyone did a great deal of shopping as we thanked those behind the counter for so many years of good times.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Closing time: Portraits of 3 newly shuttered storefronts

Closing portraits at The Sock Man

A final group photo at Vic's Pizza on Essex Street

So much for that Fairway coming to East 14th Street and Avenue A then

[EVG photo of Avenue A and East 14th Street from the other day]

In a July 2014 post about the incoming retail-residential complex along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, an EVG commenter left the following:

I live directly behind demolition on 13th street. The other day I was approached by a pollster for fairway market asking me a bevy of questions about my thoughts on a new fairway on the corner of 14th and Ave A.

And we heard this rumor from another source as well: That Fairway was looking into opening a market in the East Village. (And didn't someone float the idea of a Fairway for the Stuy Town Associated space?)

In any event, it appears Fairway won't be expanding anywhere anytime soon (like they did in Kips Bay a few years back). Grub Street published an article yesterday titled "Inside the Collapse of Fairway, New York’s Favorite, Failing Grocery Store."

To some key excerpts:

The company is saddled with $267 million in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy, and its stock price, which once peaked at $28 per share, is selling for roughly 30 cents. The collapse has been swift and brutal. "Lives have been totally changed and ruined," says one former buyer for the chain. "What happened was an injustice."

And!

[A]lmost everyone agrees that a confluence of issues — including an overly aggressive and poorly executed expansion plan and rising competition in the quality-produce business — are the reasons Fairway is now in crisis. "It was a perfect storm," says a former executive for the company.

Reader Report: Issues in Tompkins Square Park

Several readers have now noted that the light in this lamp post in the southwest corner of the Park ... near the Avenue A and East Seventh Street entrance ... has been out for months... One reader said that she finds this particular troublesome given the groups that often congregate in the evenings at the nearby chess tables.

Meanwhile, over in the playground along Avenue A at St. Mark's Place, there are reports of a man who lets his dog use the children's sandbox as a toilet on a regular basis early in the morning.

The 100-foot journey

East Village resident Helen Mirren had a short commute to work today... traveling to Second Avenue to film a scene (no fake snow today!) for "Collateral Beauty" (here with Michael Peña) ...



The dramatic comedy via Warner Bros., due in theaters on Dec. 16, also stars Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Naomie Harris and Edward Norton.

Photos today by EVG Helen Mirren correspondent Derek Berg.

BluDog10003 leaving his mark on 2nd Avenue and East Houston

NYC-based artist BluDog10003 has been creating a new work on the mural wall outside the Second Avenue F stop at East Houston... EVG regular Lola Sáenz shared the above photo showing the progress.

You can keep tabs via @bludog10003