Verizon Wireless closes for good on 2nd Avenue

The Verizon Wireless on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place has closed up shop, EVG correspondent Steven notes.

The storefront looks to be in the process of being cleaned out...



This Verizon outlet opened in September 2013, taking over the space from Cohen's Optical. This building seems to have a tough time holding on to retail tenants, such as DF Mavens and 7-Eleven. However, the owner of 99 Favor Taste is bringing Korean-style barbecue and Chinese hot pot to two of the empty storefronts on the St. Mark's side.

As for the Verizon, the space once housed in part the St Mark's Cinema... as seen here in "Moscow on the Hudson" with Robin Williams from 1984...



The cinema closed in 1985.

Cadillac's Castle has closed on East 9th Street

Several readers have noted that Cadillac's Castle, the consignment/thrift shop, has closed at 333 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

There wasn't any word about the closure. A neighbor mentioned that the shop, named for the owner's dog who was a familiar presence in the store, is now empty, and there isn't any note on the gate for customers. The shop had been here since 2001, when the owners moved to this spot after running another shop across the street.

There is a listing for the storefront. "Ideally suited for a retail use given the current installation is move in ready but all uses will be considered for qualified users." The rent is negotiable. Jared Kushner bought this property and other adjacent buildings from Icon Realty in February 2013.

There's also an empty storefront next door to Cadillac Castle that Fabulous Fanny's gave up as they consolidated spaces.

Spring (still)

Today's springtime photo (without the real-feel temperature) on St. Mark's Place comes courtesy of @cj__ts...

Out and About in the East Village 2016 recap

Taking a week off from Out and About in the East Village (OAAITEV) ... So until next week, here's a quick look back at our interviewees to date this year ... many thanks to East Village-based photographer James Maher and everyone who has taken part in this series.

Also, James has a new website here ... where he has compiled many of the interviews dating back to 2012.

Jan. 13 — Spike Polite (part 1)

Jan. 21 — Spike Polite (part 2)

Jan. 27 — Leslie McEachern

Feb. 3 — Niall Grant

Feb. 10 — Kevin Cloutier

Feb. 17 — Rafael Hines (part 1)

Feb. 24 — Rafael Hines (part 2)

March 2 — Annie Ju and Melissa Scott

March 9 — Parker Dulany

March 16 — Shari Albert

March 23 — Brother Rasheim

March 30 — Jon R. Jewett

11 stories of condos to join the growing East Houston residential corridor

[Via Google Street View]

A new residential project has been in the works for East Houston between Clinton and Suffolk going back to late 2014. (BoweryBoogie and NY Yimby had the coverage.)

Plans call for 11 stories of condominiums at 287 E. Houston, at the site of this now-vacant two-story building. (Previously it housed a tax-preparation business; a landscaping business also used part of the property.)

And yesterday, NY Yimby got the first look at a rendering for the development (in two pieces)...




Here are the details via NYY:

The 120-foot-tall building will hold 28 apartments and slightly more than 29,000 square feet of residential space ... The boutique development will have two to four apartments on each story, including two duplexes on the first and second floors and a penthouse duplex on the top two floors. The plans indicate that the penthouse will have a private roof deck, and the rest of the residents will have access to a shared terrace. The apartments will range from one- to three-bedrooms, and asking prices will start at $1.1 million and go up to $5 million, according to PR reps for the development.

To date, though, the plans are awaiting city approval. There is a teaser site up to register for more residential info.

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Maybe this is a good time to do an East Houston new residential development recap...

The Adele at Avenue D...



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Jones LES between Attorney and Ridge...



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179 Suffolk St. ...


[Old photo!]

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PROPOSED!

255 E. Houston between Suffolk and Norfolk...



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223-225 E. Houston St. at Essex...



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TK TK TK

196 Orchard. St. ...



And under TK maybe. There are also plans for a new development at the former Mobil station property at East Second Street and Avenue C...this is the last rendering we've seen... from November 2014...new building plans still await city approval ...

[Updated] New York state AG's office investigates Rivington House; city orders full Stop Work Order on the demolition

The New York state attorney general's office is in full-on subpoena mode in its investigation into the sale of the Rivington House to a residential developer, The Wall Street Journal reported last evening.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office sent out subpoenas — via the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit — last week to several players involved in the deal.

Karen Hinton, a spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio, said the city welcomes any investigation.

"I don’t know if anyone in City Hall received a subpoena, but we will cooperate with the AG’s investigation, any investigation, because we want to get to the bottom of what happened," she told the Journal.

As previously reported, a city agency removed deed restrictions on the former Rivington Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation last November that limited the building’s use to a not-for-profit residential health-care facility.

Several months after paying the city $16 million to lift the deed restriction, the building’s owner, the Allure Group, sold the property to a developer for $116 million. The developer, the Slate Property Group, plans to create 100 luxury residences on the property that overlooks Sara S. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side.

Last week, the city OK'd a partial demolition permit for the building...



However, that was short-lived...Yesterday, the Borough Commissioner placed a full Stop Work Order on the property...


[Click for to go big]

Meanwhile, this morning at 11, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council member Margaret Chin and CB3 chair Gigi Li are holding a news conference outside the building at 45 Rivington St. (at Forsyth).

Per The Lo-Down, the three "will be calling on Mayor de Blasio’s administration to compensate the Lower East Side community for the loss of Rivington House."

The Lo-Down has really been all over this story. They spoke with powerful lobbyist James Capalino, a key player in this story to date.

Updated 3 p.m.

DNAinfo has coverage of today's press conference here. ... and Curbed's coverage is here.

The Lyric Diner has closed once again in Gramercy Park

Heading out of the neighborhood for a quick post... the second time around didn't work so well for the Lyric Diner on Third Avenue at East 22nd Street. The restaurant recently closed... and the for rent sign has now arrived.

A little recap.

In August 2012, the Lyric owners decided to shut down the diner... they reopened the space as Taverna, a white tablecloth Greek restaurant. That concept lasted six months. The owners then decided to reopen the Lyric in October 2013.

Previously

H/T @urbanmyths!

[Updated] Noted

And late this afternoon on Avenue A near East Seventh Street, the owner of this Lamborghini received a parking ticket for reasons unknown (expired parking receipt? no front plate?) ...



Just reminded us that we've missed EV Lambo.

Photos by Derek Berg

Updated 10:35 p.m.

Dang...

@evgrieve @dens I've been impounded since '14. But if I were still rollin', there's no way I'd get stuck w/ a parking ticket.

— East Village Lambo (@EVLambo) April 6, 2016

[Updated] Prepping for the mayor's arrival in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Mayor de Blasio is expected in the Park today at 1... we hear it's about an outreach program for the homeless...


[Photo by EVG reader Ronnie]

You may watch the livestream here.

Or you can be like Ese ... and bring your own cushion in and find a nice spot to sit...


[DB]

Updated 12:30 p.m.

A Park worker told an EVG reader: "The mayor's coming to talk about the homeless and they moved all the homeless so he wouldn't see them."

And the Park regulars were absent from the freshly cleaned area around the chess tables by East Seventh Street and Avenue A ...


[Photo by Steven]

...and the Mayor making his way from the Park...


[Photo by Steven]

Updated 5:30 p.m.

The Post reports that Avenue A and Park regular Jerry got the boot from the Park. (The Post refers to Jerry as a "drunk vagrant.")

“Politicians suck!” shouted Jerry Foust, 41, who had grabbed one of the blue folding seats in the East Village park set up for the mayor’s Tuesday afternoon press conference in hopes of hearing how he planned to improve life on the streets.

“I want to see what the mayor had to say about homelessness because I’m homeless and I want to f–king help homeless people,” he said.

But around 1 p.m., two cops approached Foust and booted him from the park, where he regularly hangs out and which is a haven for homeless encampments.

Foust said he was told to leave because he was taking swigs out of a bottle of gin, but was not issued a summons for an open container.

5:35 p.m.

The Mayor was there to announce that the city's Home-Stat program was now fully operational. Per the Mayor's office:

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced over 500 workers are helping homeless people move from the streets of New York City to shelters with an array of services now that the Administration’s new HOME-STAT initiative has been fully staffed. The Mayor also announced that beginning May 2, the City will be adding three new homeless counts, in addition to the annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE Count).

“HOME-STAT represents an unprecedented response to street homelessness in New York City. Today, we are doing even more to count and connect homeless people to care. Every homeless person had a path to the streets. Each one needs to find a path back from the streets. It is our responsibility to help them get there, and we will continue these efforts until we reach each person. The only way to do that is to literally walk the streets.”

East 3rd Street buildings sell for $58 million, $34.5 million over the 2012 price

In the spring of 2012, GRJ, a fund co-founded and co-managed by brothers Graham and Gregory Jones, bought the 78-unit, three-building package of 50-58 E. Third St.

There was plenty of drama in subsequent months here between First Avenue and Second Avenue, as a number of longtime tenants lost their leases. The residents formed a tenants group; local politicians came out to offer support during a rally in May 2012. However, as one former resident put it, the Big Real Estate Machine was too great to overcome.

After extensive gut renovations, the buildings were later rebranded the "East Village3" (aka "EV3"), where the newly renovated apartments were fetching from $4,900 to $11,000 per month.

Per Gregory Jones in the news release announcing the sale: "We see a real opportunity to reposition the buildings. We'll invest significant capital and we look forward to creating the most desirable walk-ups in the East Village."

All the capital improvements paid off for GRJ. As The Real Deal first reported on Friday, GRJ has sold the buildings to developer Anbau Enterprises for $58 million.

The deal marks the first purchase of an income-producing asset for Anbau, which is best known for its ground-up projects. A spokesperson for Anbau told The Real Deal that the company’s move into income-producing assets was not a sign of limpness in the condominium market but simply a bet on a neighborhood they believe is good value.

“We want to augment our growing in-house condominium business by investing in New York City markets that have long-term growth potential – the East Village certainly fits the bill,” said Anbau managing director Barbara van Beuren.

A broker on the deal said that about 25 percent of the apartments remain as rent-stabilized units.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Three apartment buildings sold on East Third Street

Advocate for East Third Street buildings moving to Washington Heights

More about the lease renewals at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St.

Tenants at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St. banding to together in face of building sale

More drama at 50-58 E. Third St.; 'heavy construction' awaits tenants who stay

And now the renovations really begin at 50-58 E. Third St.

The 'East Village3' is ready for you; for that 'Industrial Chic feel'

Owner of 99 Favor Taste bringing Korean-style barbecue and Chinese hot pot to St. Mark's Place

Those long-empty storefronts at 37 St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue will finally (probably!) be getting a new tenant.



The applicant seeking a beer-wine license for the location is Liju Lin, who has run the 99 Favor Taste restaurant in Sunset Park since 2011 ... and the Grand Street location since 2012.

Per the questionnaire (PDF) posted to the CB3 website, the St. Mark's spot will be 98 Favor Taste. The restaurants specialize in traditional Korean-style barbecue and Chinese hot pot meals. The hours will be noon to 2 a.m. daily.

Upon opening on Grand Street, the Voice gave 99 Favor an enthusiastic review... calling it "a feastly orgy: trays heaped with raw meats and fishes, feathery greens and fungi, boiling and bubbling pots, and popping and sizzling meats top every table. Diners crowd around, heads-down, slurping noodles and soup with chopsticks, only looking up to tend the meat, cooking at arm's distance away."

These storefronts have been vacant going on five years now. Timi's Gelateria Classica™ closed at the end of 2011 in one of the spaces… while Michael "Bao" Huynh's Baoguette Cafe shut down at summer's end in 2012.

The SLA meeting is April 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Timi's Gelateria Classica™ facing eviction on St. Mark's Place

[Updated] Baoguette Cafe still looks rather closed

Here's the rolled ice cream shop taking over the former Sock Man space on St. Mark's Place

[Photo from last week]

Back on Friday, we told you that an ice cream shop is opening at 27 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The coming soon signage arrived yesterday for Lab 321, which will serve their variation of the traditional Thai street food — rolled ice cream...



Last July, 10Below opened a rolled ice cream shop in Chinatown at 10 Mott St. ... and soon enough there were three-hour lines for the desserts.

Here's the Post with more about rolled ice cream:

The frozen concoction is created by pouring liquid homemade ice cream onto a cold plate reaching temps well below zero. Employees mix in toppings, flatten it out like a crepe, and then scrape it into ice-cold rolls with a putty-knife-like tool. The result is five cute little rolls with toppings ranging from fresh strawberries to a blowtorched marshmallow and Teddy Grahams.

Will the lines form here too?

A lot of people (me included) figured they'd be a crowd on this block when the popular Japadog opened its first U.S. outlet in early 2012. That never happened.

Until Jan. 16, the storefront at No. 27 was home for 30-plus years to The Sock Man.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Sock Man is closing on St. Mark's Place

The Sock Man says thank you; store closes on Saturday

Closing portraits at The Sock Man

The scoop on the former Sock Man space on St. Mark's Place