Today in (possible) Rivington House mis-deeds

More headlines about the controversial sale of the former Rivington House on the Lower East Side.

Another top de Blasio aide was also involved in talks concerning Rivington House as early as January 2015 (New York Post)

LES resident quizzes de Blasio about the Rivington House during Brian Lehrer's "Ask the Mayor" segment (The Lo-Down)

The Mayor must now sign off on any future deed lifts (The New York Times)

To the usual recap: In February 2015, the Allure Group paid $28 million for the property, promising that 45 Rivington — the former Rivington Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation — would remain a health facility. In November, a city agency lifted the the deed in exchange for the Allure Group's $16 million payment to the city. Earlier this year, Allure then reportedly sold the property for $116 million to the the Slate Property Group, a condo developer who plans to create 100 luxury residences in the building that overlooks Sara S. Roosevelt Park.

The 40th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival is this weekend

One of our favorite neighborhood activities (traditions?) is this weekend... here are some highlights of the 40th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival via the EVG inbox...

This year's festival on East Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square will run from Friday evening, May 20, through late afternoon Sunday, May 22, with stage performances featuring folk dancing and singing beginning at:

Friday 5/20 - 6:30 pm
Saturday 5/21 - 2 pm & 6 pm
Sunday 5/22 - 1:30 pm & 4 pm

Admission: Free

A KidsZone will be active on Saturday and Sunday, with activities for children including Ukrainian art-making stations and face painting.

Tens of thousands of sought-after Ukrainian dumplings have been prepared in advance by church volunteers (see Dumplings for the Lord) and in addition to these "varenyky," there will also be plenty of cabbage rolls (holubtsi), beet soup (borsch), sausage (kobasa) and sauerkraut for sale. NYC mainstays Veselka Restaurant and Korchma Taras Bulba will also be on hand all weekend long with some of their favorite Ukrainian menu items.

Saint George Ukrainian Catholic Church, located at 30 E. Seventh St., was founded in the East Village in 1905. The church has sponsored an annual festival since the very first one in 1976, then officially a co-celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial and 100 years of Ukrainian immigration to America. The historic parish will open the church to the public in between stage shows on Saturday, and four Divine liturgies will be celebrated on Sunday beginning at 8:30 am. Visitors will be able to enjoy the breathtaking church ornamentation, paintings, and incredible mosaics in the Byzantine-Ukrainian style.

Find the official Facebook event page here. (And you can find our previous coverage here.)

The festivities officially begin Friday at 4 p.m. And let's hope the weather holds off for Saturday. (Ditto for the Dance Parade, which will post about later.)

The Tang bringing Chinese noodles and wraps to 120 1st Ave.

Over on First Avenue next to the International, a new restaurant is in the works...

EVG correspondent Steven spotted friendly signage up from the proprietors behind The Tang, "a contemporary Chinese noodle bar" ...



The Tang expects to be open in late July here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. The previous tenant, Wechsler's Currywurst and Bratwurst, closed in December 2014 after nearly five-plus years in business.

Historic 25 Bleecker St. one step closer to being demolished for a 6-story building (w/ penthouse)

Over in the NoHo East Historic District, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a proposal to demolish the existing 25 Bleecker St. to make way for a new mixed-use building, as New York Yimby reported.

The existing three-story structure was originally constructed around 1830, though as NYY points out, its facade was heavily altered in 1984 ... there was also the addition of a rear extension.

Plans here call for a six-story (plus penthouse) mixed-use building with three residential units. Here's a look at a rendering...



Here's more from the article:

Commissioner Adi Shamir-Baron struggled with what to do here, but in the end decided the approach was “excellent” and supported it.

On the matter of demolition, Commissioner Michael Goldblum said there was still some historic material there, but not on the front. He said the only case for maintaining the existing structure could be volume, not appearance. Of course, its neighbor is seven-stories-tall. “What are you holding on to?” he asked rhetorically, concluding that the remnant doesn’t rise to the “gotta keep it standard.”

Community Board 2 recommended against the approval, as did reps from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and NoHo-Bowery Stakeholders, among others.

The plan still needs the approval of the Board of Standards and Appeals.

Head over to New York Yimby for more on the story, some renderings and a cool shot of No. 25 from the 1940s.

Previously

Formerly elusive night heron makes triumphant return to Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by @nitenateperry]

The black crowned night heron that captivated audiences around Tompkins Square Park just about this time last year ... is back!

Several readers tonight reported seeing the heron hanging out in the Park near the entrance on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place...


[Photo by Jose Garcia]

Here's more about the heron via the National Audubon Society:

Seen by day, these chunky [ed note: husky?] herons seem dull and lethargic, with groups sitting hunched and motionless in trees near water. They become more active at dusk, flying out to foraging sites, calling "wok" as they pass high overhead in the darkness. Some studies suggest that they feed at night because they are dominated by other herons and egrets by day.

The Park has been proven to be a good foraging ground... as seen here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The night heron apparently comes out at night in Tompkins Square Park

Elusive night heron becoming less elusive

Noted

EVG reader Camila spotted this flyer on the corner of Houston and the Bowery...



Who's gonna email them and fork over a $1???

Everything is waiting for you, downtown

[Click to go big]

East Village-based artist/photographer Daniel Root shared this photo looking toward the East Village from the MetLife building... They have some kind of film over the windows, which led to some distortion, but you get the idea...

Headline H/T

On this Urban Etiquette Sign, grease is the word

Goggla spotted this Urban Etiquette Sign on East Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

"Do Not Sit on the railing of the tree guard. Your weight bends the planter holder.

As a deterrent the railing has been coated with grease."

To which someone responded, "You are a freak."

You are in the East Fifth St. Tree Committee territory here. Please act accordingly. And keep your butt off the tree guard!

Report: Residents at 444 E. 13th St. will receive a $1 million settlement over claims of harassment by Raphael Toledano

[Photo from May 2015 by Stacie Joy]

Landlord Raphael Toledano has agreed to pay a little more than $1 million to settle claims that he harassed tenants at 444 E. 13th St., according to The Real Deal.

Last spring, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue accused Toledano, 26, and a management company he hired of harassment and intimidation. A staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center, who is representing the East 13th Street tenants, told reporters during a rally outside the building last May that "there are tape recorded conversations where the landlord is threatening to drop dynamite on the building and then let everyone 'figure it out themselves.'"

Jeffrey Goldman, an attorney for Toledano, denied the harassment claims at the time.

"I have not seen him engage in any behavior or conduct that would give rise to an investigation let alone a finding of harassment,” Goldman told the Daily News.

The settlement between Toledano and several rent-stabilized tenants at No. 444 was finalized May 6, per The Real Deal, who reports that the New York Attorney General’s office and the state Homes and Community Renewal’s tenant protection unit are continuing their joint investigation into the harassment claims.

Toledano bought the building for $6.1 million in January 2015. Later in 2015 he bought a 16-building parcel in the neighborhood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust

Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel 'will cut its inpatient capacity'

Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials are expected to make an announcement soon "that it will cut its inpatient capacity after the hospital lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two years," Crain's reports.

This announcement is expected within the next two weeks, based on a message sent to union members by the New York State Nurses Association, per Crain's.

The timing comes after a report in the current issue of The Villager, which, citing three anonymous nurses, reported that the facility would be closing.

According to Crain's, top Mount Sinai officials refuted that story in an email sent to faculty, staff and students... a copy which Crain's republished:

“We are well aware of the understandable stress and confusion that has been caused by an inaccurate story in today’s Villager newspaper. We are working on a plan which will enhance existing services and develop new facilities in the Mount Sinai Beth Israel community. In the meantime, there will be no disruption in any of our patient care services.”

However, as Crain's pointed out, the email doesn't directly address whether the 856-bed teaching hospital will downsize.

As Gothamist noted: "since St. Vincent's Hospital shuttered in 2010, following a series of increasing layoffs, there have been just a handful of hospitals serving Lower Manhattan, the largest being Mount Sinai Beth Israel" at First Avenue and East 16th Street.

The former St. Vincent's is on its way to becoming a luxury condo complex called Greenwich Lane.



Imagine what developers would pay for Mount Sinai Beth Israel ... with its views of Stuyvesant Square Park off Second Avenue..

This dessert continues to take the East Village by (ice) storm

[Photo by Steven]

A coming soon sign for Roll It Up ice cream has arrived at one of the empty retail spaces at 65 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.



Roll It Up will join the other coming-soon shops in the East Village that will serve rolled ice cream... Pink Bear on East 14th Street and Lab 321 on St. Mark's Place. (And, in a variation, Bingbox Snow Cream Co. recently opened on Second Avenue.)

The east storefront at No. 65 was previously home to Smooth Skin Factory.

Movies at MoRUS this week

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) is hosting Movies @ MoRUS, a monthly film series exploring themes such as social justice and political reform.

Playing tomorrow night:

• Thursday, May 19 — "Food Inc.," dir. Robert Kenner, 2008, 94 min. The documentary examines how big corporations influence all aspects of food production in the United States.



Also this week...there's a special screening of "The World According to Monsanto" Friday at 7 p.m. The film will be followed by a discussion and Q-&-A with the filmmakers.

The screening is a warm-up for the global March Against Monsanto, which starts at Union Square Saturday afternoon at 1.

Movies @ Morus are free to the public but a suggested donation of $5 is appreciated. Showtime is 7 p.m. at MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.